A diplomat in the city of Yangon spoke to the Reuters news agency, giving them a description of the scene. He said that the area around him looked like a 'war zone' as a result of the cyclone. Burst sewage mains caused the landscape to flood with waste, ruining the rice crop. An official from the United Nations also talked about the situation, at the time of the event. "It's a bad situation. Almost all the houses are smashed. People are in a terrible situation," he said. Another UN representative also talked about the incident. He reported that "The Irrawaddy delta was hit extremely hard not only because of the wind and rain but because of the storm surge." The "Daily Telegraph", a UK newspaper, reported that food prices in Myanmar could be affected by this disaster.
On 6 May 2008, the Burma government representation in New York formally asked the United Nations for help. But in other ways, it remains resistant to the most basic assistance. As of 7 May 2008, the government of Burma has not officially endorsed international assistance, but stated that they are, "willing to accept international assistance, preferably bilateral, government to government." The biggest challenge at present is obtaining visas for entry into the country.
According to Thai Rath Newspaper of Thailand on 8 May 2008, in the afternoon (Bangkok time) of 7 May 2008, the Burmese junta permitted Italian flights containing relief supplies from the United Nations, and twenty-five tonnes of consumable goods, to land in Myanmar. However, many nations and organizations hope to deliver assistance and relief to Burma without delay. Most of their officials, supplies and stores are waiting in Thailand and at the Yangon airport, as the Burmese junta does not want to issue visas for many of those people. These political tensions raise the concern that some food and medical supplies might become unusable, even before the Burmese junta officially accepts the international relief effort.
Cyclone Nargis caused destruction in Burma, now officially called Myanmar.
It happened on 2 May 2008.
The storm was estimated to be category 4 (105 mph)
Cyclone Nargis Caused destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities. There were around 55,000 people missing and lots of other deaths were found in other places. In Sri Lanka the cyclone produced masses of rainfall which led to flooding and landslides across ten districts across the country. The districts Ratnapura and Kegalle were the most affected, where more than 3,000 families were dead. Thousands of houses were flooded, with 21 reported destroyed. As a result, the rainfall left 4,500 people homeless, and more than 35,000 people were affected on the island. Three people were reported injured on the island, with two others dead. The power of the cyclone lowered temperatures along the Indian coastline. Estimates of the people still missing were 53,836, with 84,537 confirmed dead already. Thousands more people were still missing or washed out at sea and drowned, it was feared up to 1 million people might have died in this disaster.
Thailand sent US $100,000 in supplies, thirty tones of medical supplies and twelve tones of food supplies. As well as this, Italy provided 30 tons of emergency relief equipment, like stretchers, generators, and water purifiers. Also, the United Kingdom committed ₤17 million. Australia gave $25 million and 31 tonnes of supplies, whilst Belgium sent €250,000. China sent $10 million in relief resources. France gave 1,500 tons of medicine, food, and water, and Germany sent $3.0 million. All to help the people who had been affected.
Toilet paper
Toilet paper is soft paper, used to wipe urine or feces after using the toilet. It is usually sold in white rolls, made up of square sheets. Modern toilet paper is very absorbent and is designed to break up in the sewage system. The paper is often available in different textures and colours. One square sheet of toilet paper is called a "ply". 4-ply toilet paper has a thickness of 4 square sheets of toilet paper.
In former times people had no toilet paper and used other things. The Greeks, for example, used stones or human hair, Germans used leaves and straw. Some people used maize leaves. Some used sand instead of toilet paper.
In the Middle Ages people used moss and the rich ones preferred sheep wool. In the 6th century AD, people in China were the first to use paper for hygiene, but at the time it wasn't specially designed to clean feces. The first toilet paper was produced in China in the 14th century. In 1857 Joseph Gayetty produced toilet paper in cartons in the USA. The first rolls of toilet paper were produced in 1890 in Great Britain. In many parts of the world, newspaper is used instead of toilet paper.
Fox Interactive
Fox Interactive was a video game publisher and developer that made games based on 20th Century Fox works, such as "The Simpsons". The company was founded in December 1994. It went out of business in 2006.
Sauropod
Sauropoda are an infraorder of saurischian ("lizard-hipped") dinosaurs. They had very long necks, long tails, small heads (in comparison to the rest of their body), and thick, pillar-like legs and peg-like teeth.
They are notable for the enormous sizes of some species. The group includes the largest animals ever to have lived on land. Well-known genera include "Brachiosaurus", "Diplodocus", "Apatosaurus" and "Brontosaurus".
Sauropods first appeared in the Upper Triassic period. Their probable ancestral group was the Prosauropoda.
By the Upper Jurassic (150 million years ago), sauropods had become widespread (especially the diplodocids and brachiosaurids). By the Upper Cretaceous, those groups had mainly been replaced by the titanosaurs, which had a near-global distribution. They were larger relatives of the brachiopods. As with all other non-avian dinosaurs, the titanosaurs died out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. Fossilised remains of sauropods have been found on every continent, including Antarctica.
The name Sauropoda was coined by O.C. Marsh in 1878. Sauropods are one of the most recognizable groups of dinosaurs, and have become a fixture in popular culture due to their large sizes. Complete sauropod fossil finds are rare. Many species, especially the largest, are known only from isolated and disarticulated bones. Many near-complete specimens lack heads, tail tips and limbs.
There is a long-running debate about sauropod necks. How flexible were they, how high or low was the neck in life: these are some of the issues. Many displays in museums are faulty. A review of the issues is available in free text.
Here's another view: "Sauropods held their necks erect".
Blockade
A blockade is a physical blockage of a port or other place. Usually used of enemy ships surrounding a port.
By extension, a blockade is any effort to make sure that supplies, troops, information or aid do not reach an opposing force. Blockades are used in nearly all military campaigns and the tool of choice for economic warfare on an opposing nation. The International Criminal Court planned to include blockades against coasts and ports in its list of acts of war in 2009.
Historical blockades include:
Bursa
Bursa is a city in northwestern Turkey and the seat of Bursa Province. The population of city is about 2 million. It has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ("Csa" in the Koeppen climate classification). Bursa is the fourth largest city, and also one of the most industrialized cities in the country. Sometimes the city is called "Yeşil Bursa" which means "Green Bursa" because of the large parks, forests and gardens in the urban area of the city. Bursa is home of Uludağ University. Uludağ is an important ski resort in Turkey. The city has a national park in Uludağ to protect the nature life in the mountainous area.
2008 United States presidential election