bhphdallastx.com

Sunday, October 9, 2005

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law a bill that bans the sale or rental of violent video games to minors. The bill requires violent video games sold in the state of California to be labeled with a decal reading “18” and makes their sale to a minor punishable by a fine of $1000 per offense.

AB 1179, written by Assemblymember Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), defines a violent video game as one that “enables the player to virtually inflict serious injury upon images of human beings or characters with substantially human characteristics in a manner which is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved in that it involves torture or serious physical abuse to the victim.”

The bill also states, “Exposing minors to depictions of violence in video games, including sexual and heinous violence, makes those minors more likely to experience feelings of aggression, to experience a reduction of activity in the frontal lobes of the brain, and to exhibit violent antisocial or aggressive behavior.”

The bill will take effect January 1, 2006. Groups opposing the bill, including free speech advocates and the video game industry, already plan to challenge its constitutionality in court.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

A gold mine collapse in Copiapó, Atacama Region, Chile has trapped 33 miners since last Thursday. Another collapse occurred on Saturday, that provoked temporary suspension of the rescue works.

Rescue efforts were first focused on a ventilation shaft, but attempts to reach the miners failed. Rescuers have been drilling into the mine since Sunday. “The situation is very complex, the mine continues to have collapses because there is a geological fault-line,” said Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, who “pledged to do everything possible to get to the trapped miners,” but acknowledged he was pessimistic.

There is no certainty that the miners, who are trapped about 400 meters (1300 feet) below the ground, are still alive.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

On Monday, 46-year-old Dolores O’Riordan, lead singer of Irish rock band The Cranberries, was found dead, her publicist Lindsey Holmes confirmed; reports suggested she was found in her room at the London Hilton on Park Lane hotel. O’Riordan’s agent said she was in London, England, for a recording session. According to the police, her death was considered “unexplained” and no cause of death disclosed, though it was to be investigated.

Later one of the richest women of Ireland, O’Riordan joined the rock band, then known as “the Cranberry Saw Us”, as a teenager around 1989, after Niall Quinn had left the band. Also featuring drummer Fergal Lawler, bassist Mike Hogan and his brother Noel Hogan, the lead guitarist, the band released their first album Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? in 1993. The debut album featuring single Linger was an international success. The band went on to release six more albums featuring O’Riordan’s voice, including Something Else, which was released last year.

A year later, in 1994, the band released their second studio album, No Need to Argue, which featured the song Zombie, a song about bombings related to Northern Ireland. Zombie topped the singles charts in various countries. In the same year, O’Riordan married Don Burton, sometime manager of the Duran Duran band. Their third album, To the Faithful Departed, was released in 1996. The album did not receive the acclamation of the first two.

In 2003, the band split, and it was reunited in 2009. During those six years, O’Riordan released two solo albums — Are You Listening? in 2007 and No Baggage in 2009. 2012’s Roses was the first album The Cranberries released after reunification.

Last year, O’Riordan revealed through London’s Metro newspaper she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. She also spoke of suffering from depression to The Irish News. In 2014, the singer was involved in assaulting a flight attendant and three police officials on a flight from New York, US to Ireland. She was fined €6000 (US$6600) after she pleaded guilty; medical reports said she suffered from mental illness during that incident. Last year, the band’s tour to North America and Europe for Something Else was cancelled partway through as O’Riordan suffered from a back problem.

After announcement of O’Riordan’s death, Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar tweeted, “For anyone who grew up in Ireland in the 1990s, Dolores O’Riordan was the voice of a generation. As the female lead singer of a hugely successful rock band, she blazed a trail and might just have been Limerick’s greatest ever rock star. RIP.”

The official twitter handle of The Cranberries posted a tweet saying, “We are devastated on the passing of our friend Dolores. She was an extraordinary talent and we feel very privileged to have been part of her life from 1989 when we started the Cranberries. The world has lost a true artist today.”

Born on September 6, 1971 in Ballybricken, a town in southeastern Ireland, O’Riordan had six older siblings. She wrote songs since the age of twelve. James Walton, a priest from her home area, said, “The plan is for her to be buried here at home. When that will be will depend on when her body is released.”

Dolores O’Riordan is survived by three children and ex-husband Don Burton.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company World Wrestling Entertainment issued a press release last night, stating that wrestling performer John Cena is expected to recover from his injuries, after a surgery.

WWE Medical Program head, described in a press release as a “renowned neurosurgeon” Dr. Joseph Maroon performed the operation on Cena, after he sustained injuries during the SummerSlam match on Sunday August 24. He suffered a herniated disc in his neck, in a lost match against a wrestler named Batista.

Just hours after surgery, he visited the locker room of the SmackDown/ECW taping, commenting to the WWE website that: “I feel great. Dr. Maroon is fantastic. He explained every possible procedure he could and could not perform, and the potential risks of all of them. I explained to Dr. Maroon not only my immediate goals, but also my long-term goals. He took them all into consideration and recommended the most commonplace procedure with the least amount of side effects.”

While the option of fusion surgery was chosen previously by other WWE wrestlers (Edge, Steve Austin, Chris Benoit), Maroon removed a fragment from Cena’s spinal cord, which had been blocking a nerve.

The operation lasted 90 minutes; recovery is expected to take three months, instead of a previously suggested 12-14 months.

In his WWE career, Cena is a three-time WWE Champion, a three-time United States Champion, and a two-time World Tag Team Champion. He also won the 2008 Royal Rumble. Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Cena trained in and wrestled for Ultimate Pro Wrestling and Ohio Valley Wrestling, holding the top titles of both promotions.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Australian Minister for Vocational Education and Training, Gary Hardgrave has announced the government will provide AU$15.8 million to establish an Australian Technical College in North Adelaide. The minister said the government was entering into a partnership with the Archdiocese of Adelaide and consortium of industrial and manufacturing companies.

The North Adelaide college will be located in Elizabeth and be operated as an independent non-government school. The college is one of 25 to be established across the country.

Enrolments at the college will begin in 2007 and will offer courses in areas where identified skills shortages exist in the North Adelaide region, specifically – engineering, construction, electronics and cooking.

Mr Hardgrave said that the proposed college had been popular among the North Adelaide business community. “This important initiative has been well received by North Adelaide business and industry, and will help to address skills needs and provide opportunities for those in greatest need, including a lot of Indigenous students in the region,” Mr Hardgrave said.

“The fact that this College is being led by local employers, local government and other key stakeholders, means it will be truly industry and community driven,” he said.

Australian Technical Colleges were established to cater for year 11 and 12 students who wish to do an apprenticeship as part of their school education.

The Australian Education Union has expressed a number of concerns about the model put forward by the government. In a report, they claim that trade facilities at TAFE colleges (operated by state governments) will deteriorate as funding is diverted to the ATCs. The union is also concerned that ATCs are supposed to be selective VET schools. According to the union they will have selective entry and preferential funding. It is feared that teachers will be lured away from schools and TAFE colleges to higher paid positions in ATCs.

The Education Union suggested that the government invest in schools that already offer vocational education programs.

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, said a civil war in Iraq is looming, “… civil war could erupt at any moment, although some people would say it is already there.”

“There are a lot of individuals now playing games with the future of Iraq, and there is no clear strategy, there is no clear leadership… We are now in a mission to bring people together,” said Moussa.

Sunni Arab leaders met Saturday to discuss the possibility of a boycott of the up-coming referendum on the Iraqi draft constitution. The group came just short of calling for the boycott, and instead asked followers to vote “no” on October 15th referendum. They called on their followers to oppose the referendum “by all legitimate means.”

The constitution was drafted by mainly Shia leaders, the majority in Iraq. The Kurdish leaders also supported the new constitution.

The Sunnis make up 20% of Iraq. They most likely fear a political movement that would allow the Shia and Kurds to control the government and lucrative petroleum industry.

Violent acts have been on the increase lately. Most carried out by suicide bombers targeting Iraq police and new recruits into the nations army.

UK Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has also been expressing concerns over violence in Iraq. The most worrying was “the apparent breakdown in trust” between local authorities and UK troops.

These comments come after UK troops were attacked by a mob after they tried to free two soldiers who had been arrested. UK troops later broke into a Basra prison while looking for the two arrested soldiers. They were found later in houses, police had handed them over to Shia militiamen. Kennedy has also been pushing for the removal of troops from Iraq.

Other Arab countries have been expressing their concern over the violence in Iraq.

Amr Moussa told the BBC, “The situation is bad and our work now is to bring all communities together; we want to do something constructive.”

Friday, December 10, 2021

On Wednesday, India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash in the hills near the Coonoor city of Tamil Nadu. The general was flying to Wellington, Tamil Nadu with 13 others. Among the dead were his wife and other top defence personnel. The aircraft involved in the crash was a Mil Mi-17 v5. The Indian Air Force later confirmed the death of all but one of the 14 persons on the flight.

The helicopter took off from Sulur Air Force Station and was headed to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) in Wellington, Tamil Nadu. General Rawat, his wife and his staff were travelling to the DSSC, where Rawat was to address the college’s faculty and student officers. At 12:08 PM local time (0638 UTC), the helicopter lost contact with the Sulur Air force base. It subsequently crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola Panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor Taluk, Nilgiris district.

Krishnaswamy, an eyewitness told the BBC, “Even the electric poles shook. Trees toppled. There was smoke everywhere, there was a raging flame above the trees. I saw just one person with my own eyes, he was burning, and he fell down.” Reportedly, the crash victims were burnt beyond recognition. The only survivor Group Captain Varun Singh is undergoing treatments in the military hospital in Wellington. The cause of the crash remains unknown but is suspected to be bad weather and poor visibility. The Indian Air Force has initiated an inquiry about the crash to ascertain the reason.

The Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh expressed deep condolences about the incident and stated, he was “deeply anguished by the sudden demise of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident today in Tamil Nadu. His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country.” Rawat was the first Chief of Defence Staff of India who was appointed in December 2019 by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.