Brickyard 400

The Brickyard 400 is an annual 400–mile (644 km) NASCAR Dash Cup points race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Illinois. The event, when first held in 1994, marked the first race other than the Indianapolis 500 to be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1916. Since the inaugural race, the Brickyard 400 has become NASCAR's most–attended event, drawing an estimated crowd of over 250,000 fans yearly. It also has become NASCAR's second highest paying race in dollars (behind the Daytona 500).

The term "Brickyard" is in reference to the nickname historically used for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1910. The course was paved in brick in 1909, and a one-yard strip of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. From 2005-2009, the race was known as the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, under a naming rights arrangement with Allstate Insurance.



The latest Brickyard Race took place on 25th July, 2010...

Former Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya dominated most of the race for the second year in a row, leading 86 laps. However, Montoya gave up the lead when they took two tires in a late pit cease. They restarted the race in 7th with 18 laps to go & could never recover. Montoya crashed with 16 laps to go. Before the caution came out Kevin Harvick had passed race leader Jamie McMurray for the lead. On the final restart of the race McMurray passed Harvick to go on to win the 400. they became the third driver to win the Daytona 500 & Brickyard 400 in the same season joining Dale Jarrett (1996) & Jimmie Johnson (2006). McMurray's win also gave automobile owner Chip Ganassi a Daytona 500 win, Indianapolis 500 win & Brickyard 400 win in the same season, the first owner to do so.

My Morning Jacket

The band first came to surface in 1998 with music from Neil Young's classic rock genre, then it steadily spread its sound, by trying everything from neo-psychedelia to funk, Americana, reggae and prog. The band had successfully transformed themselves into Kentucky's reply to Wilcom, by the time Evil Urges arrived in mid-2008.

Vocalist/guitarist Jim James, founded the band with Johnny Quaid (guitar), his cousin. The other two members were J. Glenn (drums) and Two-Tone Tommy (bass). Headquartered in Louisville, KY, the first album was released on Darla Records in 1999. Keyboardist Danny Cash joined them a year later. Even though The Tennessee Fire became a smash hit overseas, especially in the Netherlands, it found modest success in U.S.

My Morning Jacket then launched a tour to Europe, where the Dutch music press showered accolades on them. The band also featured in a Dutch documentary film. They released Christmas EP in 2000, but it was 'At Dawn' in 2000 that really helped them earn recognition at home. When the album released stateside, Patrick Hallahan, became the band's new drummer.

Throughout the early 2000s My Morning Jacket had a hectic tour schedule with acts such as the Foo Fighters, the Doves and Guided by Voices. In 2003, 'It Still Moves' was released under a major label (RCA/ATO Records).
However the schedule had taken its toll on Cash and Quaid. They left in 2004. Soon after, the group was joined by guitarist Carl Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster, they continued to tour as a five-piece.

In 2005 My Morning Jacket released Z. The addition of reggae influences and synthesizers , under production of John Leckie; showed audiences My Morning Jacket's unseen side. The band continued with Evil Urges. Evil Urges showed James' expanding vocal range, its keenness to challenge the alternative country-rock boundary and their fascination with Prince.

Michael Clayton

Michael Rashard Clayton was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on October 13, 1982. Before attending Louisiana State University, Clayton completed his high school studies from Christian Life (Baton Rouge, LA). In the year 2004, Clayton debuted professionally for Tampa Bay Buccaneers at NFL in 2004 and for his entire 3 year career played for them.

The season of 2004 was Michael Clayton's best year, he hauled in 80 receptions, caught 7 TD passes and had 1193 receiving yards.

Clayton can be described as an amazingly fit physical receiver who is equally good in pass-catching as also in run-blocking. He showcases fearlessness over the field and great route-running ability. He displays a knack for catching passes and also consistently fights for yards after catch.

Clayton has played in 84 career games with 56 starts. He has to his name 221 receptions for 2,936 yards and 10 touchdowns. Has rushed 18 times for 100 yards, caught one two-point conversion attempt, returned one punt for two yards, returned 11 kickoffs for 241 yards.

At Atlanta(12/14/08), Clayton made his 200th reception.

Clayton has tied for the team lead receiving yards in 16 games during his career, has caught 7 passes of 40 or more and 39 passes of 20 or more yards. Has at least one reception in 70 of his 83 career games.

Clayton set the Buccaneers' record for most receiving yards (1,193), receiving touchdowns (7) and receptions (80) in his rookie season in 2004. It is one of the five most prolific by a first-year wideout in NFL history.

Tampa Bay’s first-round selection (15th overall) in 2004. The highest wide receiver ever taken by the Buccaneers and just the second wideout selected by Tampa Bay in the first round.

Roto Rooter

Roto-Rooter is a company based in United States which specializes in clearing tree roots and other obstructions from sewer lines. Roto-Rooter was started by Samuel Oscar Blanc in the late 1920s. A clogged drain in his son’s apartment being the motivation.

The father-son duo of Samuel & Milton Blanc had already made sewer-cleaning machine from roller skate wheels, washing machine motor and steel cable, by the year 1933. The machine helped eliminate the expensive and tedious need to dig and clean, by rotating the sharp blades using the cable to cut tree roots from the clogged sewer lines. The name "Roto-Rooter" was suggested by Blanc's wife 'Lettie', she called it a heavy-duty plumber snake.

Blanc sold “Roto-Rooter” machines for around $250 in the mid-30s. Many started their own Roto-Rooter businesses throughout the Great Plains, the Northeast and upper Midwest.

In 1980, Roto-Rooter Corporation was sold to Cincinnati-based Chemed Corporation.

The Roto-Rooter has one of the best-remembered and longest-running musical jingles:

“Call Roto-Rooter, that’s the name, and away go troubles down the drain.”

Even today, servicemen from Roto-Rooter use same kind of machine.

Around-the-clock service was being provided by some Roto-Rooter franchises, in the 1980s. Along with it, they also provided general plumbing repair for commercial as well as residential customers. Today, sewer and drain-cleaning work represents half of the company’s business & plumbing serviceforms the other half.

Roto-Rooter Corporation, has a manufacturing plant, at West Des Moines, Iowa for producing machinery for the plumbing and Roto-Rooter tools.

The company celebrated it's 70th anniversary in 2005.

Roto-Rooter Employees are mostly non-union. Spencer Lee is Roto-Rooter Group's CEO. Kevin J. McNamara, is CEO of Chemed Corporation. The President of Roto-Rooter Corporation in West Des Moines is Charles Scavo, while Rick Arquilla serves as President and COO of the Company, based in Cincinnati.

West Memphis Three

3 eight-year-old boys — Christopher Byers, Steve Branch and Michael Moore were reported to be missing on 5th of May, 1993. Byers' adoptive father made the first report to the police around 7:00pm. A neighbour had last seen the three boys entering a playground named Robin Hood Hills, together at 6:00pm. Initially, the police made limited searches that night. Even the neighbours and friends made unsuccessful and improptu searches that night, which had finally led them to the place where the bodies were found.

The term West Memphis 3 is name given to three teenagers who were convicted of the murders of these three children at West Memphis, in 1993. Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. Damien Echols was sentenced to death. Jessie Misskelley, Jr., was sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years.

The case has received considerable attention. Supporters of the convicts feel that the convictions and arrests were not properly carried out and the defendants were convicted wrongfully. The legal proceedings are ongoing, but the defendants remain imprisoned.

A status report jointly issued by the State and the Defense team on July 17, 2007 states, “Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it cannot be attributed to either the victims or the defendants.” On October 29, 2007, a Second Amended Writ of Habeas Corpus was filed by the defense, to outline the new evidence.

Judge David Burnett denied Echols’ application for a hearing, in September 2008, on the new DNA evidence. Hearings for Misskelley and Baldwin were scheduled to continue in August, 2009.

An appeal to the Arkansas Supreme Court, is Echols’ next stage in the legal process. He will proceed to federal court on his pending writ of habeas corpus, Unless that court reverses the conviction.

The West Memphis 3 case has gained attention and interest from celebrities, who have spoken out in support, staged fund-raising events and recorded albums.

Jamie Mcmurray

Around his hometown of Joplin, Jamie McMurray began racing at the age of eight on the local tracks. In 1991, McMurray won the World Go-Karting Championship. In 1992 McMurray moved to NASCAR and from 1998-1999 took part in the NASCAR RE/MAX Challenge Series.

In 1998 McMurray debuted in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and competed in 15 truck races in 2000, earning two Bud Pole Awards and three top-10 finishes and posting one top-five.

McMurray then advanced to the Busch Series from NASCAR in 2001 and 2002 racing seasons. In 2002 Busch Series, he scored 2 victories and finished six times in the top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, finally finished sixth in the point standings.

Jamie McMurray shocked everyone by winning his first NASCAR Cup race in only his second start in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. After winning the Lowe's Motor Speedway, he set a new NASCAR modern-era record by becoming the quickest driver to win a Cup race.

At the start of the 2003 season, for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates McMurray assumed driving duties behind the wheel of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge . The Joplin native laid a solid foundation during his rookie year, scoring five top-five and 13 top-10 finishes and finished 13th in the final point standings. McMurray grabbed his first career Bud Pole Award at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He was named the 2003 Raybestos ookie of the Year.

The 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season was no different from 2003. During the 36-race stretch, McMurray posted nine top-five and 23 top-10 finishes. In addition, McMurray finished 11th in the 2004 season and as a bonus earned $1 million for his efforts. McMurray posted 12 top-10 finishes in the last 14 races of the 2004 season and scored the second-most points during the 10-race Chase for the Championship.

Continuing his success from 2004, McMurray drove another great season in 2005, posting four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. Near the end of 2005, McMurray signed a multi-year deal to drive for Jack Roush at Roush Racing beginning with the 2006 season.

Prader Willi syndrome

Prader-Willi syndrome is a congenital (present from birth) disease characterized by decrease in muscle tone, decreased mental capacity, hypogonadism and obesity.

Prader-Willi is caused by the deletion of a gene on chromosome 15. However, the reason for this is still unknown. Only the father's copy of the gene on chromosome 15 is active. The gene from the maternal side is inactive. The disease occurs, when the only copy received from father's side is deleted; since the maternal copy is always inactive.

At birth, new infants born with the disease are often very floppy (hypotonic) and small. Testicles in male infants may be undescended. The child shows slow mental and motor development, characteristically small hands and feet and increasing obesity.

The patient develops uncontrollable hunger, which becomes a cause for rapid weight gain. The weight gain leads to Obesity, respiratory failure with hypoxia and corpulmonale (right-sided heart failure). There is slow mental development, and the IQ seldom exceeds 80.

There is no general consensus as to the cause for morbid obesity, although genetic abnormalities in chromosome 15 obstructs the normal functioning of the hypothalamus. Since appetite and many other basic processes is regulated by hypothalamus, the resulting insatiable appetite maybe because of the failure. But the post-mortem investigation doesn't reveal any organic defect.

High ghrelin levels in Prader–Willi syndrome patients have direct contirbution in the increased appetite, obesity, and hyperphagia seen in this syndrome.

The mental health difficulties experienced by them include anxiety and compulsive behaviour. Approximately 5 - 10% of young adults have showcased psychiatric symptoms, like hallucinations, paranoia and depression. The most common cause of hospitalization are behavioural and psychiatric problems.

Symptoms/ Warning Signs
# Floppy new born infant (hypotonic)
# Slow mental development
# Delayed motor development
# Very small hands and feet
# Insatiable appetite
# Undescended testicles in the male infant
# Narrow skull
# Almond shaped eyes
# Rapid weight gain with marked obesity

Red River

The Red River, or The Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers located in the United States of America. The red-bed country of its watershed is the source for the river's name. There are many rivers with the same name. It is the second largest river basin in the southern Great Plains. At Texas Panhandle it rises in two branches and then flows east, it then acts as border between Texas and Oklahoma. It also forms a short border between Texas and Arkansas, turning south near Fulton, Arkansas and flowing into Louisiana. The length of the river is 1,360 miles (2,190 km).

The southern and largest fork of the river, is generally called the Prairie Dog Town Fork. It is formed by the confluence of intermittent Palo Duro Creek and Tierra Blanca Creek, in Randall County, Texas near the county seat of Canyon.
Near Natchitoches, Louisiana, and left behind Cane River Lake, the river changes its course.

At the Palo Duro Canyon in Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Red River turns and flows southeast through an elevation of 3,440 feet (1,050 m). After the meeting the north fork near Elmer, it continues to follow winding route through arid parts of Great Plains. While passing the Wichita Falls, the river receives from the Wichita River as well. Near Denison, the Red river along with Washita river from north fills Lake Texoma.

The river then runs towards Arkansas and receives from Muddy Boggy Creek and then turns southwards near Texarkana. Before spreading into marshlands near Atchafalaya and Mississippi river, the river crosses Louisiana to bisect Shreveport and Bossier City. Its waters eventually discharge into both rivers, and then into the Gulf of Mexico.

Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM) is a Waterloo, Onatrio based Canadian designer, manufacturer & marketer of wireless devices & solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. It is best known as the developer of the Blackberry clever phone. The company was founded in 1984. It has its offices in Asia Pacific, North America and Europe.

With wireless connectivity to information, RIM know-how allows third party developers & manufacturers to enhance their products & services.

While RIM celebrated its 25 years, BlackBerry celebrated its 10th anniversary. With around 50 million handsets sold as of Q4 2008, its the second best selling smartphone worldwide.

RIM acquired Viigo, BlackBerry application developers on March 26, 2010.

To acquire QNX Program Systems, RIM reached an agreement with Harman International.

In addition to expanding the opportunities for QNX in the automotive sector, they think the acquisition will bring value to RIM in terms of supporting unannounced product designs for clever peripherals, adding valuable intellectual property to RIM's portfolio & providing long-term synergies for the companies based on the significant & complementary OS expertise that exists within the RIM & QNX teams today.

Recently launched Bleackberry 9800, also known as the BlackBerryTorch, was unveiled at New York. Alongwith a touch-screen interface the device is provided with a Qwerty keyboard in a slide-out version. Based on the new BlackBerry 6 operating system, the device offers better integrated social features and web browsing experience .

It also allows to receive instant messages from BlackBerry Messenger and updates from social networking sites, Windows Live, Twitter and Facebook; in its universal inbox.
BlackBerry 6 OS provides universal search feature across the whole device in addition to browsing album art & photographs.

Solar

A spectacular aurora was displayed across the Northern Hemisphere because of a large solar storm that blasted from the Sun few days ago.

On 1 August, the side of the Sun that faces the Earth erupted in a blaze of activity, called as "coronal mass ejection". The storms throw up to 10 billion tons of plasma off the surface of the star and hurling into space at around a million miles an hour. The distance between Earth and Sun of around 93 million miles was covered in just three and a half days by the storm.

According to Leon Golub, a scientist at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), it was the "first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time".

The flare was categorized as class C3, which is relatively small. Flares of X or M class, capable of doing damage on Earth. Beyond auroras, the C-class flares dont have that much effect on Earth.

Dramatic auroras were seen in Norway, Denmark, Germany, Greenland and across the Canada and northern United States as the expanding bubble of gas slammed into the Earth's atmosphere. The cause behind this beautiful display is the charged particle interacting with Earth's magnetic fields. The solar matter collide with nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the atmosphere, at the poles where the are drawned.

This flare have done no damage so far, but NASA astronomers have already warned that the electrical systems will be heavily damaged if a solar storm of much larger size hits the planet. The Sun is expected to spurt out large storms in 2013, as part of its 11-year cycle.

Telegraph wires were burned out across Europe and the USA by a huge flare in 1859.. The so-called "Carrington flare", named after its discoverer, “smothered two-thirds of the Earth’s skies in a blood-red aurora a night later, and crippled all global navigation and global communication, such as it was at that time. Compasses spun uselessly and the telegraph network went down as phantom electricity surged through the wire,” according to Dr Stuart Clark, author of The Sun Kings.

Power grid in Quebec went down for 9 hours because of another solar storm in 1989, causing revenue loss of hundreds of millions' .

Rim

Best known as the developer of the BlackBerry smartphone, Research In Motion (RIM)(TSX: RIM, NASDAQ: RIMM) was founded by Mike Lazaridis (current co-CEO with Jim Balsillie), is a Canadian telecommunication and wireless device company.

Headquartered in Waterloo, Canada, It is a sponsor of RIM Park in the city.

RIM has also worked with RAM Mobile Data and Ericsson to turn Mobitex wireless data network into wireless e-mail network and two-way paging, before manufacturing BlacKBerry. The release of the Inter@ctive pager 950 was pivotal in this development, in August 2000 its shipping started. About the size of a bar of soap, The device gave SkyTel two-way paging network by Motorola a run for its money.

Through a private placement in a privately-held company, Canadian institutional investors financed RIM's early development in 1995. Working Ventures Canadian Fund Inc.'s $5,000,000 (CAD) investment were used to complete RIM's two-way paging system hardware and software. Prior to its initial public offering under the symbol RIM on Toronto Stock Exchange in January, 1998 ; a total of $30,000,000 (CAD) was raised by the company.

RIM has released a variety of devices running on CDMA, Motorola iDEN networks and GSM,. The compulsive use of its ability to quickly send and receive e-mail in the corporate environment, has earned it the nickname "Crackberry" in reference to crack cocaine as users feel they cannot live without it.

A licensing agreement between Research In Motion and Information Appliance Associates will offer the complete version of PocketMac for BlackBerry to Macintosh users free of charge.

Static Kill

ON THE GULF OF MEXICO — BP on Tuesday embarked on an operation to seal the biggest offshore oil leak in U.S. history, forcing mud down the throat of its blown-out well using a tactic known as "static kill" or a "bullheading."

As a sign that everything was going as planned, in the first 90 minutes of the procedure, the pressure in the well dropped quickly , wellsite leader Bobby Bolton told The Associated Press. The vessel being used to pump in the mud is Q4000. Bolton told the AP that the procedure was still going well.

"Pressure is down and appears to be stabilizing," he said.

It was assumed that work could be complete by Tuesday night or Wednesday, though BP said it may continue through Thursday. The actual success will be known only after a week, if the well is choked properly.

The 122 crew members onboard Q4000 were excited to be a part of the final resolution to a drama, that started with the April 20 explosion on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon.

"I'm very confident we'll be able to kill this well. It's been one magical time trying to get this thing plugged", Schultz said onboard the vessel. He is on his second 28 day tour, since the spill started.

As a temporary measure, a 75 ton cap was placed in July on the well to keep the oil from spilling. However, BP and the Coast Guard, with a column of heavy drilling mud and cement, want to plug up the hole more securely.
The static kill involves slowly pumping mud down lines running from a ship to the top of the ruptured well a mile below. BP said that may be enough by itself to seal the well.

But retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said the gusher will have to be plugged up from two directions, to be safe. He said the 18,000-foot relief well will be used to execute a "bottom kill" to inject mud and cement into the bedrock 2.5 miles below sea-floor.

Blackberry Torch 9800

BlackBerry Torch 9800 is a crazy-thin touchscreen slider running Waterloo's latest and greatest software, the revamped BlackBerry OS 6. It is interesting.

To start, it still looks a lot like a BlackBerry! But it has a touchscreen and default full QWERTY keyboard. It's on AT&T, and it will cost $199 with a two year contract. The product goes on sale on August 12. The name 'Torch' comes from a new WebKit company with the same name, acquired by RIM.
What makes the Torch really new, is BlackBerry OS 6, WebKit browser, social networking bits, multimedia stuff and BlackBerry App World 2.0 and revamped homescreen and interface.
RIM's CEO is selling the device using handful of features like: Universal search across the device—apps, feeds, emails, music, contacts, internets, etc.
The device comes with a universal inbox, which streams in all your emails, messages, updates from networking sites and RSS feeds; and wireless music syncing similar to Zune.
RIM is saying at the announcement event that the BlackBerry Torch offers something "familiar."
Below are the basic specifications for the Torch itself:

Specification:
• Approximately 4.4" x 2.4" x 0.57" (closed), 5.8" x 2.4" x 0.57" (open)
• Approximately 5.7 oz.
• 512MB Flash memory, 4GB on‐board memory, microSD/SDHC memory card
slot (4GB card included, cards up to 32GB supported)
• Half‐VGA+ touchscreen display, measuring 3.2" (480 x 360 at 188 ppi)
• 5 MP camera with flash, continuous autofocus, face detection, geotagging
• 802.11 b/g/n
• Built‐in GPS
• Audio format support: MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, FLAC, OGG
• Video format support: MPEG4, H.263, MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile H.264, WMV
• Network support: GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz; HSPDA/UMTS: 800/850/1900/2100 MHz
• Talk Time: 5.5 hrs, Audio Playback: 29.8 hrs, Video Playback: 6 hrs
• Operating System: BlackBerry 6

Tsunami

The word "tsunami" comes from the Japanese words tsu (harbor) and nami (waves). A tsunami is a wave or series of waves in the ocean that can be hundreds of miles long and have been known to reach heights of up to 34 ft (10.5 m). The waves can travel as fast sa commercial jet. The massive tsunami on 26th December, 2004 traveled 375 miles (600 km) in 75 minutes. around 300 mph (480 kph). The waves are capable of causing huge damage along coastal lands.
The natural occurrences capable of causing a tsunami are referred to as tsunamigenic events. In addition to earthquakes and volcanism, submarine volcanoes and submarine landslides are two less likely tsunamigenic events. Mostly these events occur alongside major earthquakes, adding to the overall power of a tsunami. They work the same as the earthquake in that the extreme upward release of energy from the event affects the overlying water.

The greatest earthquake in 40 years occurred on Sunday, 26th December 2004, about 150 kilometers off the west coast of northern Sumatra Island in Indonesia. It resulted in a disastrous tsunami that destroyed 11 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

Origin Time and Epicenter

The great earthquake occurred on Sunday, 26 December 2004, at 00:58:50 UTC (6:58:50 a.m. local time). The epicenter was at 3.298 N, 95.779 E and its focal depth was very shallow (much less than 33 km - possibly about 10km)

Magnitude and Energy Release

The quake was widely felt in Sumatra, Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, the Nicobar and Andaman Islands, Malaysia, Bangladesh and India.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)), the moment magnitude of the earthquake was 9. An earthquake of such magnitude would make it the fourth largest in the world since 1900 - and the largest since the 1964 Alaska earthquake.

However, on subsequent analysis of additional seismograms from around the world, scientists from Northwestern University determined the its magnitude to be 9.3. Therefore, the calculated energy release was 1.13 X 10 (raised to the 30 power) dynes-cm. The revised estimate makes this earthquake to be the second largest ever instrumentally recorded. The largest earthquake ever recorded, which measured 9.5, was in Chile on May 22, 1960.

Tectonic Setting

The region where the great earthquake occurred, marks the seismic boundary formed by the movement of the Indo-Australian plate as it collides with the Burma subplate, which is part of the Eurasian plate. However the two plates have separated many million years ago and that the Australian plate is rotating in a counterclockwise direction, putting stress on the Indian plate, according to recent studies reported in the Earth and Planetary Science Letters (vol 133).

Over a period of million years, the India tectonic plate moved in a north/northeast direction, to collide with the Eurasian tectonic plate and hence the Himalayan mountains were formed. Because of this migration and collision with the Eurasian and the Australian tectonic plates, the Indian plate's eastern boundary is characterized by extensive faulting and large earthquakes, forming diffuse zone of seismicity and deformation.

The triple point junction of three tectonic plates formed the epicenter for the earthquake that occurred on 26th December.

Previous major earthquakes have occurred north, in the Andaman Sea and South along the Sumatra, Java and Sunda; sections of one of the earth's greatest fault zones, a subduction zone known as the Sunda Trench. This great trench extends for about 3,400 miles (5,500 kms) from Myanmar (Burma) south past Sumatra and Java and east toward Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands, ending up near Timor. The volcanoes of Krakatau, Tambora and Toba, well known for their violent eruptions, are byproducts of such tectonic interactions.

The Sunda Trench alongwith the Sumatra fault is responsible for high seismic activity on the Island of Sumatra. The fault extends along the entire length of the island.

The Burma plate encompasses the northwest portion of the island of Sumatra Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. A divergent boundary separates the Burma plate from the Sunda plate.

More specifically, in the region off the west coast of northern Sumatra, the India plate is moving in a northeastward direction at about 5 to 5.5 cm per year relative to the Burma plate.

Aftershocks

As of 1 January, 2005, there were about 84 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 5.0 to 7.0 in the region of Northern Sumatra and the Nicobar and Andaman Islands. Twenty six (26) of these - including the largest- occurred on 26 December 2004itself. The aftershocks are expected to continue for several weeks and months. Some of the major aftershocks have occurred in the vicinity of the epicenter of a past earthquake which had occurred on 26 June 1941 and some in the area near the Nicobar Islands where the 1881 earthquake had occurred.

The distribution of afteshocks suggests that the earthquake resulted by the sudden slip of these two plates and that there was a slip as well as an upward thrust of the Burma plate along this boundary.

VMA Nominations

Perhaps in an attempt to drum up some drama for this year's ceremony, which will air live on September 12th from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, both Taylor Swift (Best Female Video for "Fifteen") and Kanye West (Best Hip-Hop Video for "Forever") were nominated, making a reunion between the two at the VMAs seemingly inevitable.

B.o.B. wound up with five nominations, and Ke$ha earned three for "TiK ToK." The Black Keys and Gorillaz both scored nods for Breakthrough Video (for "Tighten Up" and "Stylo," respectively) and Justin Bieber will compete against Ke$ha, Jason Derulo, Nicki Minaj and Broken Bells for Best New Artist. See the full list of 2010 nominees below:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Florence + The Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"
30 Seconds To Mars - "Kings and Queens"
Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé - "Telephone"
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams - "Airplanes"

BEST COLLABORATION
B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams - "Airplanes"
Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga - "Video Phone (Extended Remix)"
Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce – "Telephone"
3OH!3 featuring Kesha - "My First Kiss"
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind"

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Ke$ha - "Tik Tok"
Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg - "California Gurls"
Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga - "Video Phone (Extended Remix)"
Taylor Swift - "Fifteen"

BEST MALE VIDEO
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
Usher featuring Will.I.Am - "OMG"
B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams - "Airplanes"
Drake - "Find Your Love"
Jason Derulo - "In My Head"

BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO
B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams - "Airplanes"
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
Drake, Kanye West, Lil Wayne & Eminem - "Forever"
Jay-Z & Swizz Beats - "On To The Next One"
Kid Cudi featuring MGMT & Ratatat - "Pursuit Of Happiness"

BEST NEW ARTIST
Ke$ha - "Tik Tok"
Jason Derulo - "In My Head"
Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris - "Baby"
Nicki Minaj featuring Sean Garrett - "Massive Attack"
Broken Bells - "The Ghost Inside"

BEST POP VIDEO
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg - "California Gurls"
Ke$ha - "Tik Tok"
Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga - "Video Phone (Extended Remix)"
B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars - "Nothing on You"

BEST ROCK VIDEO
30 Seconds To Mars - "Kings and Queens"
Muse - "Uprising"
Paramore - "Ignorance"
Florence + the Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"
MGMT - "Flash Delirium"

BEST DANCE MUSIC VIDEO
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull - "I Like It"
Cascada - "Evacuate The Dancefloor"
David Guetta featuring Akon - "Sexy Chick"
Usher featuring Will.I.Am - "OMG"

BEST ART DIRECTION
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Florence + The Machine - "Dogs Days Are Over"
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
30 Seconds To Mars - "Kings and Queens"
Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga - "Video Phone (Extended Remix)"

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé - "Telephone"
Beyoncé featuring Lady Gaga - "Video Phone (Extended Remix)"
Usher featuring Will.I.Am - "OMG"
Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi - "Tightrope"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Eminem - "Not Afraid"
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind"
Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Mumford and Sons - "Little Lion Man"
Florence + The Machine - "Dog Days Are Over"

BEST DIRECTION
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind"
Director: Hype Williams

Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
Director: Francis Lawrence

Eminem - "Not Afraid"
Director: Rich Lee

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Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
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BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO
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Asif Ali Zardari

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said the international community was losing the war against the Afghan Taliban and rebuked Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron for questioning Islamabad's resolve.

Zardari set the stage for a difficult meeting with Cameron, before leaving France for Britain for a visit that could define Pakistan's troubled relations with the West. He said that he hoped a "frank exchange" would clear the air.

During a visit to India last week, Cameron had asked Pakistan to do more to prevent "the export of terror,". The comments didn't go down well with the politicians at Islamabad, and the Britain's envoy was summoned.

In a statement released by Zardari's office , it was quoted that it was "unfortunate that certain individuals continue to express doubts and fears about our determination to fight militants to the end."

The statement also said, "Pakistanis were disappointed by Cameron's comments especially as he said them in India and for this reason it was even more important for the president to visit Britain to address this issue."

"Such fears will only weaken the international effort to fight militants and extremists."

In an interview with Le Monde, Zardari also went onto say that West was to blame for failing to win the support of ordinary Afghans.

"I believe that the international community, which Pakistan belongs to, is in the process of losing the war against the Taliban," Zardari said. "And that is, above all, because we have lost the battle for hearts and minds."

The International coalition had "underestimated the situation on the ground and not recognized the extent of the problem" following the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 to oust the Islamist Taliban movement and fight its al Qaeda allies.

"The success of the insurgents has been to know how to wait. They have time on their side," he told the newspaper. "The whole approach seems wrong to me. The population does not associate the presence of the coalition with a better future."

Hasan Nasrallah

After Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced that Special Tribunal for Lebanon would indict members of his group for the 2005 assassination of PM Rafik Hariri, it was understood that Hizbullah would create a distraction on the border — one that reminded the Arab world of Hizbullah's relative success against the Israeli war machine in the 2006 war, TIMES magazine said.
"The timing is not surprising," Giora Eiland, a retired Israeli major general, told TIMES.

Immediately after Tuesday's border clash between the Lebanese and Israeli armies, the two countries issued a statement holding each other responsible, but all eyes were on Hizbullah.

"Hizbullah is and will be the only effective military force in Lebanon and it is responsible for strategic decisions in Lebanon," Eiland said.
"Now, was this event only some kind of difference about the border or something more deliberate than that? Well, I would guess that it's more deliberate than that. And due to the fact that Hizbullah is the only significant military force north of border, I would not hesitate to think Hizbullah persuaded a Lebanese commander to do something," he added.
Another Israeli official who spoke with TIME pointed out that the number of Shiites officers in the army has increased.
Eiland feels that there is close cooperation between the Hizbullah and Lebanese army.
However TIME's was not clear whether the gunbattle Tuesday was an isolated incident or the just the beginning of a new war. Predicting a summer of new fighting between Israel and Lebanon has been a favorite pastime in the Middle East.