Earthquake in Northwest China:

Hundreds Dead in Earthquake in Northwest China
By ANDREW JACOBS
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/world/asia/15quake.htm

BEIJING — A powerful earthquake in northwest China killed at least 300 people, injured 8,000 and left many others buried under debris on Wednesday, Chinese state media reported.

The quake, which struck at 7:49 a.m. in Qinghai Province, had a magnitude of 7.1 according to China’s earthquake administration.

According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the earthquake struck in Yushu County, a remote and mountainous area sparsely populated by farmers and herders, most of them ethnic Tibetans. The region is pocked with copper, tin and coal mines and rich in natural gas. A government Web site said the county’s population was around 80,000.

China National Radio said that more than 80 percent of the homes in the area had collapsed but that schools and government buildings had largely remained standing.

Karsum Nyima, an employee of a local television station in Yushu, told the national television broadcaster, CCTV, that the quake had sent people running into the streets.

“All of a sudden, the houses collapsed,” he said. “It was a terrible earthquake. In the park, a Buddhist pagoda fell down. Everyone is in the street in front of their houses. They are trying to find family members.”

In the same broadcast, Wu Yong, an officer in the Chinese Army, said that the road to the airport was impassable and that soldiers were digging out people from collapsed homes by hand.

“The most important thing now is that this place is far from everything, with few accessible rescue troops available,” Mr. Wu said. “I feel like the number of dead and injured will keep going up.”

Local officials said that phone service was limited and that rescue efforts were stymied by a lack of heavy equipment. Medical supplies and tents, they added, were in short supply.

State news media reported that 700 paramilitary officers were already working in the quake zone and that another 3,000 troops would be sent to the area to assist in search and rescue efforts. The civil affairs ministry said it would also send 5,000 tents and 50,000 blankets.

Last August, Golmud was hit by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake that destroyed dozens of homes but caused no deaths. Qinghai is an ethnic melting pot of Tibetans, Mongols and Han Chinese. It is adjacent to Sichuan Province, where at least 87,000 people died in a powerful earthquake in 2008.

Campus Gossip

source: StyleBits.com

JuicyCampus.com was a website focusing on gossip, rumors, and rants related to colleges and universities in the United States. As of February 5, 2009, it is out of business, and its website now redirects to its blog, juicycampus.blogspot.com.

JuicyCampus described itself as an enabler of "online anonymous free speech on college campuses." Through strict privacy policies, it allowed users to post messages and comments without having to worry about identification. Readers were able to vote on which posts they found "juiciest," or most provocative. As of March 16, 2008 the site contained rumors for 59 colleges and universities. By October 2008, JuicyCampus had expanded to over 500 college campuses. Much of its content was related to fraternities and sororities.

Another site, CollegeACB (the letters stand for Anonymous Confession Board), paid the defunct JuicyCampus $10,000 to redirect visitors from its Web address to CollegeACB.

These spawn of JuicyCampus are likely to give college administrators grief this academic year, and some legal experts say current laws will not help them fight back.

High-school students have also gotten into the act. A forum called Peoples Dirt hosts discussion boards aimed at students, organized by state. This year Maryland's attorney general opened an investigation into the site, describing it in a written statement as "home almost exclusively to abusive, harmful, and embarrassing personal attacks on high-school-aged children." Peoples Dirt recently added a few college-focused sections, including a message board aimed at students at the University of Maryland at College Park.

his time, however, student leaders, newspaper editorials and posters on the site are fighting back — with some even asking administrators to ban JuicyCampus.

It's a kind of plea to save the students, or at least their reputations, from themselves.

"It is an expression from our student body that we don't want this junk in our community," said Andy Canales, leader of the student government at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., which recently voted 23-5 to ask for a ban.

She had recently come across a teary transfer student who had been humiliated on the site barely a week after arriving on campus.

"I can't imagine the disgust she must have for Pepperdine if that's what [students] say," Frazier said.

Black Friday Comes Early at Walmart.

Black Friday is starting early at Walmart this year. Revealing their early Black Friday advertising campaign on their website, we know sales begin this very weekend--when they open their doors on Saturday morning. Time to break out your wallet for big holiday savings.

Walmart will be giving an amazing Black Friday deal with specially electronics products such as, plasma HDTV, Laptop Disc Player, DVD player, XBO 360 and LCD HDTV 42 minimum of 10 per store. Get 'em while they last.

The HP Pavilion G60-519WM Entertainment Laptop will be offered for a mere $298 in stores while supplies last. Similar notebooks at Walmart are in the $450 dollar range.

Also sure to be a popular sales items is the Xbox 360 Arcade console for $199, which will be accompanied by a $100 gift card.

Not to be outdone, other retailers like Sears, Kmart, and even ToysRUs, have jumped on the band wagon and have announced their early Black Friday sales for this weekend.

I say, let the price wars begin so we can save a few bucks or get our kids some extra presents this year.

Illegal alien costume controversy targets Target

Target, the department store chain, has come under fire for selling a Halloween costume on its website that depicts an extra-terrestrial alien, with an orange prison jumpsuit, that has the words "Illegal Alien" emblazoned across it's chest. It also comes equipped with a large "Green Card" that the trick-or-treater is supposed to walk around with.

CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles) has asked Target to remove these costumes from their website, calling them "distasteful, mean-spirited and ignorant of social stigmas and current debate on immigration reform."

After being bombarded with complaints, Target told the Associated Press that it would take the costume of its website. Target spokesperson Joshua Turner even purported that the retail giant never intended to sell it in the first place. This seems unlikely given that other major retailers--like walgreens.com, toysrus.com, amazon.com, and buycostumes.com--are also selling it on their website

Balloon Boy Hoax

AP News in Brief
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 16, 2009
Filed at 6:09 a.m. ET

'Boy in Balloon' family at center of saga that caused national panic not afraid of spotlight

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) -- Richard Heene and his family have never been afraid of the spotlight as they made a name for themselves chasing down storms, starring in a reality TV show and experimenting with a series of unusual inventions including hovercraft, a weather-gathering flying saucer and a rocket launcher.

They found themselves at the center of yet another strange saga Thursday when 6-year-old Falcon Heene vanished around the time that a homemade helium balloon floated away from their home, setting off a national panic as authorities scoured the plains of northern Colorado for the youngster. As it turns out, he was hiding in the rafters of the family's garage the whole time.

The disappearance and sudden discovery of the boy have raised questions about whether it was all an elaborate attention-getting stunt orchestrated by the Heenes or simply a bizarre case of a child who ran away and hid after getting spooked by a scolding from his father.

Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden said authorities do not believe at this point if it was a hoax but he would meet with investigators Friday to decide whether to look into the matter further. Asked during an impromptu news conference outside his house whether the incident was a stunt, Richard Heene said: ''That's horrible. After the crap we just went through. No. No, no, no.''

It was five hours from the time the oldest boy reported that Falcon, the youngest, had climbed into a saucer-shaped balloon that had drifted off, setting off a search that included military helicopters and a plan to either lower a person to the craft of place weights on the balloon to bring it down. Officials rerouted planes around the balloon's flight path and briefly shut down Denver International Airport.

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Rajaratnam, Galleon Hedge Fund Exec, Charged with Insider Trading

By Chad Bray
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and five others have been arrested and charged in an $20 million insider-trading case, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Rajaratnam, the founder of the $7 billion Galleon Group and portfolio manager for the Galleon Technology Funds, has been charged with four counts of conspiracy and eight counts of securities fraud.

Others charged criminally in the case include Rajiv Goel, director in strategic investments at Intel Corp.'s (INTC) investment arm; Anil Kumar, a director at global management-consulting firm McKinsey & Co.; Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland of New Castle Partners LLC, the one-time equity hedge fund group at Bear Stearns Asset Management Inc.; and Robert Moffat, a senior vice president at International Business Machines Corp. (IBM).

A call to Galleon Group wasn't immediately returned Friday.

Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, is expected to discuss the case in more detail at a press conference at 1 p.m. EDT Friday.

The allegations put Rajaratnam at the center of several insider trades in which he allegedly caused Galleon funds to act on inside information or passed along tips to others.

In one instance, prosecutors allege that Rajaratnam, between January 2006 and July 2007, received nonpublic information about Polycom Inc. (PLCM), Hilton Hotels Corp. and Google Inc. (GOOG) and caused Galleon Technology Funds to make improper trades on that information. As a result, the Galleon fund earned more than $12.7 million, prosecutors said.

In another instance, Chiesi, the New Castle employee, allegedly received inside information regarding Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) from an Akamai executive and Moffat, the IBM executive, prosecutors said.

She allegedly passed the information to Rajaratnam, who allegedly provided her with information regarding AMD and other publicly traded companies, the government said.

As a result of information Chiesi received from Rajaratnam, Moffat and others, New Castle earned a profit of more than $2.4 million, prosecutors said.

-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; chad.bray@dowjones.com

"Balloon Boy" Not In Balloon. Found Alive at Home.

The guy from Colorado, who was regarded as driving alone in a balloon could reach 10,000 feet has been found alive. Earlier today, people watched news cameras follow a homemade-air balloon floating away, reportedly with the stow away boy, Falcon Heene, 6, inside.

The Heene family owns a saucer-shaped Mylar balloon, measuring 20 feet by 5 feet, which was tied down in their backyard in Ft Collins when it unanchored. Then the mad worry for the well being of Falcon began. Falcon was reported to be last seen by his older brother, 8, who said that Falcon was in the balloon.

The balloon left Colorado at air speeds as fast as 25 MPH. After more than one hour's travel of more than 50 miles, the balloon floated back down to the ground.. But nobody was inside.

News reports from the various outlets say that Falcon was recently discovered hidden in a box in the attic of his parents. He was hiding because he was afraid he would get in trouble, according to reports.

Falcon's family are "storm hunters" that are devoted to scientific experiment. She appeared on the television series "Wife Swap" with their three young sons. According to the website of Wife Swap, Richard and Mayumi Heene brought their children with them to chase Hurricane Gustav.