Friday, December 30, 2005
The Australian Centre for Languages, a company which has a multi-million dollar contract with the Australian government to provide refugee services, has been accused of breaching its duty of care following the death of a chronically ill child and allegations of failing to provide three women in their care with food.
Is Ban on Texting for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Enough?
by
Larry Drexel
Over the past few years, several states have enacted laws prohibiting drivers from using handheld electronic devices to text or talk while operating a motor vehicle. However, the limitations set on the use of such devices vary throughout the country, and some states, such as Florida, Montana, and South Dakota, have no laws banning the deadly activity, explains a lawyer. While the federal government has acted to implement a ban on texting for the drivers of commercial motor vehicles, it should create a uniform ban on all cell phone use. As long as laws permit some use, the incidence of fatal and injury crashes like those that recently occurred in Orange County, California and Billings, Montana may remain high.
Despite the fact that more than 3,000 people were killed in traffic accidents in which distraction was a factor in 2010, the federal government has not enacted a nationwide ban on the use of all portable electronic devices while driving. As of February 2012, using a hand-held cell phone while driving was against the law in 10 states, and sending text messages was prohibited in 35 states. In addition, the use of a cell phone by novice drivers was restricted in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Even in states where the use of a hand-held cell phone is prohibited, having the device in the vehicle has proven too tempting for drivers. Currently, a case is underway in Orange County, California in which a woman was distracted while sending text messages and failed to decelerate for stopped freeway traffic, rear-ending a vehicle at 80 miles per hour, explains a lawyer. The occupant of that vehicle suffered fatal injuries. Although the woman contends that her cell phone was in her cup holder at the time of the crash, authorities believe she was distracted and are charging her with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, reported KABC-TV Los Angeles. Although there are no statewide laws prohibiting cell phone use or texting while driving in Montana, certain municipalities have enacted their own bans, including Billings, the location of a fatal crash last August. While traveling on Highway 87, a semi-truck driver veered into the oncoming traffic of the opposing lanes and into a jeep and a white car, killing the two occupants of the jeep and the driver of the car and critically injuring a mother and child. Authorities claimed that the truck driver was distracted at the time of the accident, reported KTVQ.com. Recognizing the risk truck and bus drivers pose to others on the rode when they operate these heavy vehicles while distracted, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently prohibited the use of hand-held and push-to-talk cell phones by all commercial drivers. While the municipal, state, and federal laws against distracted driving currently in place may prevent some accidents, a greater impact on the incidence of injuries and deaths caused by the dangerous activity could, arguably, be made by enacting a federal ban on the use of all portable electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle, as was recently recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board.
Larry Drexel is a Public Relations manager. To obtain free, informative books or articles he suggests visiting
Orange County injury lawyer
.
Article Source:
Is Ban on Texting for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers Enough?
Friday, April 25, 2008
At 15:35 UTC this afternoon (23:35 local time), the Chinese Long March 3C (CZ-3C) carrier rocket lifted off on its maiden flight, from launch pad 2 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre. It placed the Tianlian-1 satellite into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. Tianlian-1, also known as Tian Lian 1 and TL-1, a spacecraft tracking and data relay communications satellite, similar in function to the American Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), will be used to track and communicate with manned Shenzhou spacecraft in low Earth orbit. It will be able to cover around half of the spacecraft’s trajectory, compared to the 12 percent which can be covered by China’s fleet of tracking ships and ground stations. The next Shenzhou mission, Shenzhou 7, is currently scheduled for launch in October. Tianlian-1 is based on the DFH-3 satellite bus.
This is the 19th orbital launch of 2008, and the first this year to be conducted by the People’s Republic of China. It is currently believed that China intend to conduct one more launch before the end of April, however due to secrecy surrounding China’s space programme, it is difficult to be certain of this.
The Long March 3C is a new version of the Long March 3 rocket, which serves as an intermediate between the Long March 3A, and the Long March 3B. It is 55 metres tall, and can place a 3,700 kilogram payload into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
On Sunday, Wikinews interviewed creator of memorial site LisaMcPherson.org, former Lisa McPherson Trust employee and long time Scientology critic Jeff Jacobsen.
LisaMcPherson.org is a memorial site created in 1997 containing information on her death and the resulting legal case against the Church of Scientology.
Lisa McPherson died in 1995 while in the care of the Church of Scientology. After a car accident, she became mentally unstable. Scientologists removed her from the hospital and placed her in the Introspection Rundown, she died 17 days later while still in care of the Church. She was used as an icon during Project Chanology, the protest of the Church of Scientology by Anonymous. Protesters were pictured with signs that said “Remember Lisa McPherson” and “Ask Scientology Why Lisa McPherson Died”, other protesters had posters with her picture on it.
byAlma Abell
Granite is one of the most cost effective, durable and practical countertop options. It is a beautiful natural stone that’ll add warmth and color to your kitchen. In addition, granite is a very tough and highly resistant material which can sustain its properties in practically any environment. Granite’s hardness is second only to diamond, the hardest natural material in the world. In fact, diamonds are utilized to cut as well as polish granite.
The popularity of granite countertops has increased dramatically over the past ten years, and, as such, prices have reduced considerably. This natural stone is available in several different colors, from different tones of white to reds, browns, blues, greens, black and blues. The most popular shades are beige and brown. Granite kitchen countertops Minneapolis can withstand hot items like pans and pots, and are highly resistant to stain when it is sealed using a silicone based sealant.
Granite kitchen countertops Minneapolis are unique for the reason that no two granite pieces are exactly alike. What this means is that each natural granite countertop is a beautiful, one of a kind masterpiece. Granite kitchen countertops can create an elegance and brilliance that’s only found in nature. These countertops possess a natural loveliness that can complement any style of cabinets or tone of wood. It does not matter whether you intend to remodel your present kitchen or build a new house, with a granite kitchen countertop, you can be certain that you’ll add value to your house.
Even though granite countertops can be a little costly to install, they’ll pay for themselves in the end. When you decide to sell your house, you will discover that home purchasers who want granite kitchen countertops will be prepared to pay you more for your house than if you installed plastic laminate or ceramic tile. If you are looking to replace your old countertop with granite, make sure you hire a professional granite installer, such as Granite Unlimited Inc. to do the job for you. If you plan to install new kitchen cabinets during your kitchen remodeling project, ask your granite fabricator or installer what they suggest for cabinetry.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Construction workers and next of kin of deceased workers filed a lawsuit in Tokyo, Japan Friday seeking damages of approximately 6.6 billion yen (about US$64 million) from the government and manufacturers related to illnesses stemming from exposure to asbestos. 178 plaintiffs; including construction workers and family members filed the suit in Tokyo District Court against 46 building manufacturers and the Government of Japan.
According to the Mainichi Daily News, the class action suit is the first that has been filed in Japan related to health damages caused by asbestos exposure at construction sites. The plaintiffs hail from the Japanese prefectures of Tokyo, Saitama and Chiba.
The plaintiffs claim that the government and manufacturers knew of the dangers of asbestos inhalation but failed to take proper precautions, including ceasing to promote asbestos as a cheap fire retardant and banning production of the material.
They state that after inhaling asbestos in the workplace, 172 people have developed lung cancer or mesothelioma, and that almost half of those afflicted are now dead. Plaintiffs argue that the government and health ministry did not act quickly enough after international organizations issued warnings in 1972 that asbestos could be a carcinogen.
Plaintiffs also place blame with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for sanctioning the use of asbestos under Japanese Industrial Standards, and with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for approving the use of materials comprised of asbestos and other substances under Japan’s Building Standards Law.
| We will do our utmost until we win the suit. | ||
“We will do our utmost until we win the suit,” said Kazuo Miyajima, 78, who heads the group of plaintiffs. Lawyers for the plaintiffs released a statement saying: “We seek complete relief for the victims by clarifying the liability of the state and the manufacturers.”
Approximately 40 construction workers from Kanagawa Prefecture plan to file a similar lawsuit in June in Yokohama District Court.
After a 2005 revelation that residents who lived near a factory in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture developed diseases related to asbestos, the government implemented a law in 2006 which provides monetary assistance to asbestos victims and relatives of deceased family members. The plaintiffs argue that the amount of financial assistance given to families and victims of asbestos-related diseases is not sufficient.
Asbestos has been used in Japan as a fire retardant, for sound absorption, and for insulation. It was mixed in concrete and water and sprayed on walls and ceilings, but the practice of spraying asbestos in this manner was banned in Japan in 1975.
Friday, November 16, 2007
45 of Indonesia’s 51 air carriers as well as some airport management companies signed a safety deal with the Indonesian government yesterday. The deal will be delivered to the European Commission ahead of a November 19 meeting in Brussels to review the placement of all 51 of Indonesia’s airlines on the list of air carriers banned in the EU in June after a string of aviation accidents earlier in the year. Indonesia is already planning to give a presentation on air safety improvements at the meeting.
Under the deal, the airlines have promised to increase supervision of security and safety issues, while the government pledged to increase numbers and abilities of regulation staff. The deal comes a week after EU inspectors suggested that the airlines would benefit from increased safety standards and larger numbers of more highly trained management staff. Ultimately, the deal is intended to bring Indonesia fully up to the standards set down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
This is a part of a serious effort by the operators and regulators to improve our aviation safety and meet international standards,” Transport Minister Djusman Syafii Djamal told Radio Elshinta of Jakarta after the ceremonial signing of the document, adding hopes that the deal would cause the removal of the EU ban.
The deal was arranged by the National Team for Transportation Safety and Security, which was set up to investigate Indonesia’s failing transportation infrastructure, particularly the aviation sector.
The six-man group was chaired by Marshal Chappy Hakim, a retired Air Force chief of staff. He told reporters that he felt “We need to work hard to prove we can meet international standards, and that starts with this declaration,”
| We need to work hard to prove we can meet international standards | ||
The ban was orriginally placed after three accidents involving Indonesian airliners – the New Year’s Day crash of Adam Air Flight 574, which killed 102 people, the subsequent accident involving Adam Air Flight 172, which cracked in half on a hard landing but held together, preventing serious injury, and the March crash of state-run Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, which claimed 23 lives. All the accidents involved aging Boeing 737 aircraft.
Indonesia has also since been the subject of regulatory action by the United States Federal Aviation Administration, who warned US citizens wishing to travel to use alternatives to Indonesian air carriers.
Despite originally threatening a retaliatory ban on European airlines in Indonesian airspace, Indonesia quickly admitted to a poor safety record. Indonesia has since been taking steps recently to improve it’s air safety, having already started ranking airlines on safety and signing a deal with the ICAO to set up an independent regulatory body and improve Air Traffic Control operations. Earlier this year, Indonesia shut down several airlines that it viewed as not meeting safety standards. A team from the European Aviation Security Agency has inspected Indonesian airports and interviewed the managers of Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Air Fast to gauge how far safety has improved.
The ICAO will evaluate Indonesia’s progress in late 2008.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wikinews has learned that the internet group known only as “Anonymous” has hacked the website of the No Cussing Club (NCC), nocussing.com, for at least two days in a row. On day one, the group hacked into the website, replacing the content with links to images of alleged e-mail conversations. The e-mails appear to be from the founder’s e-mail account, accusing organization members of forgery and using the site for their own personal financial gains. The website was also replaced with Anonymous’s logo and a message. On January 22, they again attacked the website, by means of a Distributed Denial-of-service attack (DDoS), bringing it offline periodically throughout the day. Anonymous attacked the Scientology website in 2008 with a DDoS attack, taking it off-line for at least two days.
“It has come to our attention that the creators of the no cussing club, McKay and Brent Hatch have done so at great personal gain. Their material promotes the organization as the brainchild of their 14-year-old son, when actually the material is written by his parents, who also manage his profitable career while using his speaking events to plug their own material,” said Anonymous on the hacked website. On Encyclopedia Dramatica, a satire Wiki, they claim further responsibility for the hack and exposition saying they managed to break into McKay and Brent Hatch’s email accounts. “[the accounts got] haxx0rd and via this astonishing development passwords were got and a certain website got its shit ruined.”
According to the NCC’s website, it has 20,000 members worldwide, was founded in 2007 by McKay Hatch, a 14-year-old boy, and aims at discouraging swearing in public places such as schools. In 2008, McKay even succeeded in making cussing illegal in his hometown of South Pasadena, California and has appeared on various talk shows such as that of Doctor Phil. However, according to e-mails leaked to Wikinews, allegedly written by the boy’s father Brent, a motivational speaker also owning Dawson Publishing, the parents are allegedly using the site and their son’s material for their own personal financial gain. Anonymous also claims that the parents have forged some of their son’s writings and claim it to be his.
The e-mails allege that Brent along with his publishing company, the name which “nocussing.com” is also registered under, were trying to set up assemblies in the No Cussing Club’s name at schools across the United States for US$1,500.00 per show and would then pocket the money, doing the same for postcards they created for churches and schools.
“McKay spoke last night to a group of 40 people, and at the end of his presentation, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. I know this is going to work because the message is so important. Thanks for all you do and I hope we can work together for a long time, and of course make money in the process,” said Brent in an alleged e-mail conversation on November 25, 2008. Earlier in August 2008, Brent spoke about hoping to reach a “goal” of “2.5 million dollars” by selling thousands of postcards to “schools and churches”.
On January 19, 2009, ABC News.com reported that McKay claimed Anonymous was sending him and his family hate e-mail and death threats, nearly 50,000 per day, “almost all of them filled with obscenities” and spam. On the NCC’s website, McKay calls himself the “most cyberbullied kid on the planet” because of Anonymous’s attacks.
“A lot of people were saying I was taking away their freedom of speech,” said McKay to ABC News on January 16. “All I was trying to do was raise awareness.” He says he formed the club because his schoolmates were sick of hearing people swear in public. Wikinews contacted the NCC to confirm or deny the reports, but would only say that “the FBI is [working] on it [the case]” including “our attorney and we will press charges” against those who are responsible for the crimes.
Anonymous is known to prank and hack websites and e-mail accounts. In September 2008, the group hacked into BillOreilly.com, the official website of Fox News Channel commentator Bill O’Reilly, exposing personal information of the site’s users in a document posted on the internet.
The NCC is located in South Pasadena. According to the California Penal Code §502 part C of the computer hacking laws, depending on the offense if caught, punishments could be a “fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by imprisonment in the state prison for 16 months, or two or three years, or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment”.
On October 20, 2008, Dmitriy Guzner, aged 18 from New Jersey, admitted to the charges related to carrying out the DDoS attack on Scientology’s website. He was subsequently charged with computer hacking crimes and faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment.
By Paul Hu
B2C, C2C these concepts believe everyone has not unfamiliar, from 1999 until now, we have already seen, e-commerce has changed people’s life style.
Said to public life, as the c-terminal, more is buy goods on the net, then B end or the shopkeeper put commodity plug into the box, through the logistics companies to front of consumers.
This kind of electronic commerce mode experienced 12 years of change that makes the market continuously subdivision: from represented comprehensive mall (taobao), to the department store (dangdang, excellent) to vertical (red children, colorful valley) and then into light brand shop (PPG, every guest), the user choice more individuation, is no longer a monopoly in. In su ning, gome, large and medium-sized high-profile in succession to launch their own 3C electronic mall, to jingdong $1.5 billion in financing increase warehouse and logistics of the investment; The from baidu yes to the rise of pour jan.7 platform; The electronic information from 1025 plan as pillar industries to countries decided to use five years of the life of the service industry by 40% share of GDP ascent to 50%.
Everybody in the consideration, e-commerce what is the next stage?
Admittedly, the goods plug into the box to front of consumers, the market has matured. 2010 shopping online sales reached 50 million RMB, getting users in per capita 2,400 yuan RMB investment. The market has a lot of potential, but the entry threshold already high, from entrepreneurs to capital markets are looking for e-commerce next mode.
We found, bars, KTV, restaurants, gas stations, barber shops, gymnasium, dry cleaners, etc., can’t take it services bundled into the box to us, but must we to offline field to enjoy services.
We found that a RMB 30,000 annual income of the consumer, only 2400RMB into online shopping, the remaining 2 million seven thousand yuan most consumption was spent on the bar, KTV, restaurants, gas stations, barber shops, gymnasium, dry cleaners, please nannies, etc.;
We found that the share of GDP than manufacturing industry that can plug to produce the box of goods) high, in the future five years countries will improve services, if the goods occupancy of GDP to jam the box sent to the front of consumers have 5000 million online sales, then life of online sales service will reach trillion.
We also found, life service kind of goods in bulk order on more easily to be consumers accept, it turned out, this online pay for goods and services, offline again to line to enjoy service mode quickly accepted. And we even apartments-and photo from day one platform from a paragraph, more than a day of a paragraph of a day to sell, sell many days from group to group services, commodities from a city radiation to the country. As the comparatively jan.7 e-commerce form, will tend to commodity diversification, eventually took to the life of the form of discount mall service.
Then, a new e-commerce mode was born: O2O
Simple said: Online2Offline mode (online to offline, the abbreviation O2O)
O2O mode is very simple, that is the core of the online stores in consumer to reality to — the online payment to buy goods and services, offline again to line to enjoy services.
O2O and B2C, C2C distinction: B2C, C2C is online payment, buy goods will plug into the box by logistics companies to your hand
O2O is online payment, buy the goods, services, offline again to line to enjoy services.
O2O and a bulk distinction: O2O is online mall, 43,200 is low discount of provisional promotion.
No matter if you first heard O2O, this market is activated.
station rampant advertising spending a large amount of money, baidu yes in life is found out by “after the orientation transformation needed” living platform; Taobao add channel “beer and skittles” link to its reputation nets, reputation nets in roads, immediately after the communitization togeth launch take-away business; Market, 58, people in life such as information platform, plans to start C rounds of financing in the whole life service market before activated IPO; Ctrip.com website takeover 30 million shares, a 51% roscoe life one-stop reservation; layout Public comments on 1 billion beauty knife pioneering two third-line city life services; Baidu 2010 17 November launch baidu side, start localization life information platform; Tencent launched food channel, start localization life information platform.
We have seen it all, as if in the 2007 season appeared, the round of life is just information service platform, by thousands of websites, phasing out to numbered. Now in O2O mode, through the online payment to purchase, this is round and market-chain robbed a trillion market.
O2O is an incremental market, service industry enterprise huge, and regional especially strong, hard to advertise in Internet platform in baidu, rarely bars, KTV, restaurants to buy keywords, and the mode O2O can completely satisfy the market. The incremental market development as initially baidu development small and medium-sized enterprises,
especially manufacturing enterprise to sell products to the country to the same, but these small and medium-sized enterprise impossible to CCTV, sina this portal to vote, so baidu caught demand. Taobao actually also is same, individual operator found a place of business. So in O2O in this field are likely to emerge a market than baidu and taobao even higher Internet company.
O2O this service pattern, service industry for the enterprise measure effect also more direct-viewing, because consumers have to pay later to field consumption, so the merchants are easy to understand today, a week or a month this site to give him along many guests, produce much water. And advertising this way, everyone said it was not clear what the guest is the commercials.
About the Author: I’m Paul Hu from http://www.xjelectric.com, which offers quality products such as
Electric Deep Fryer Manufacturer
,
Others Manufacturer
, and many more. Know more , please visit
Room Humidifier
.
Source:
isnare.com
Permanent Link:
isnare.com/?aid=809035&ca=Business
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
The Iranian police forces have faced criticism from Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrudi, the head of the judiciary who was appointed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for their re-invigorated campaign to do away with un-Islamic dress.
Ayatollah Shahroudi proclaimed, “Tough measures on social problems will backfire and have counter-productive effects.” Others have, of course, made it clear that un-Islamic dress can lead to moral corruption, engender innumerable vices, and hurt the Islamic character of the nation.
Some believe that no one had any issue with the creation of an Islamic atmosphere. The core of the matter revolves around the implementation of the Islamic dress code; additionally, heavy-handed measures should be shunned. For instance, Mehdi Ahmadi, information head of Tehran’s police, told Al Jazeera: “Some citizens may complain about the way the law is being enforced but they all agree with the plan itself.”
According to one student, “You simply can’t tell people what to wear. They don’t understand that use of force only brings hatred towards them, not love.” Nevertheless, Hojatoll-Islam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Iran’s interior minister who is in charge of policing, prognosticated positive feedback from the populace when he said, “People are unhappy with the social and moral status of the society. They expect that the fight against social insecurity be properly implemented.” Thus, Hujjat al-Islam Pour-Mohammadi re-iterated the necessity of proper implementation and methodology towards the restoration of morality in the Islamic Republic. Islamic officials and religious people affirm that this is indispensable to promote righteousness, curb sin, and bring open sinners to justice.
Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, hijab became mandatory in Iran for every woman including foreigners after over 98% of citizens voted for an Islamic government. Women may face caning up to 74 strokes for failing to observe hijab. In this recent crackdown, the authorities have arrested many citizens throughout the country. Not only have women been taken into custody for their hair being uncovered on their foreheads and tight clothes that show body shapes, For men they need to cover from knee to their waist as according to Sharia. Even a foreign journalist was detained because the photograph on her press card was indecent.
It has not been clear whence the directive for the re-newed clampdown emanated. Some have blamed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while Gholam Hossein Elham, the government spokesman, stated to reporters, “The police work as agents of the judiciary to confront crimes. The government as an executive body does not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.” The following pre-election speech seems to corroborate this latter statement:
| “ | In reality, is the problem of our people the shape of the hair of our children? Let our children arrange their hair any way they wish. It doesn’t concern me and you. Let you and me overhaul the basic problems of the nation. The government should fix the economy of the nation and improve its atmosphere…[It should] better psychological security and support the people. People have variegated tastes. As if now the arch obstacle of our nation is the arrangement of our kids’ hair and the government disallowing them <He chuckles>. Is this the government’s responsibility? Is this the people’s merit? In actuality, this is the denigration of our people. Why do you underestimate and belittle the people? It is the real issue of our nation that one of our daughters donned a certain dress? Is this the issue of our nation and the problem of our nation? | ” |