The military rulers are moving the seat
of government to a secret compound outside Pyinmana, a city
about 200 miles north of the current capital Rangoon. The
service personnel from nine ministries including the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs were told on Friday 4 November to pack their
things to move on Sunday. A family member of a staff who was
ordered to move said, "People are saying that those who refused
to go will be sacked and arrested. Therefore, the staff dared
not say no to the order."
Minister
for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told media persons that
the reason for the move was a necessity to place the seat
of government to a "command and
control centre" based in a strategic location for all-round
development of the country. But he did not say clearly whether
Pyinmana will become the new capital of Burma.
Suspended
Sediment Database Phasing Into Daily Value Dataset
Transport
of sediment and associated contaminants in streams is a water-quality
issue of national concern.
John R. Gray, Sediment Specialist-Hydrologist at the USGS
in Reston, Virginia said today that this static
database was put on-line in about 1998, and contains
data only through about September 1996.
The current dataset contains
only the earliest electronically available daily sediment
data. The full USGS daily-value sediment dataset
should come on-line as part of the NWIS-Web program ( http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis )
in spring of 2006. When it does
go online, the static database will probably be taken
off line.
The U.S. Geological Survey has operated a number of daily
suspended sediment stations throughout the country.
These daily gaging stations provide the best information
on sediment flux in the Nation's rivers and represent a sizable
investment in time and money.
Geographer Amy Glasmeier
on NPR: Hunger in America
from 22-Nov-2005 NPR online article
More than 13 million families in 2004 were unable at times
to buy the food they needed, according to the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. Finances are so strained for 5 million of those
families that one or more members goes hungry as a result.
In An Atlas of Poverty in America, Penn State University
economic geographer Amy Glasmeier takes a historical and contemporary
look at the problems faced by the country's poor. Here, she
discusses the phenomenon of hunger in America.
Geomythology studied
by folklore researchers and scientists
Geologists have found that Middle Eastern flooding myths,
including the story of Noah, could be traced to the sudden
inundation of the Black Sea 7,600 years ago. Western North
American Indian lore describes what are now known as tsunamis.
"Myths can tell us a great deal about what happened
in the past and were important in establishing what happened
here 300 years ago," said Brian Atwater, of the US Geological
Survey in Seattle.
