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Since 2008 – Progress Through Politics

New Zealand Earthquake- OPEN THREAD

What a busy week for news. If not the Wisconsin uprising, or the apparent civil war in Libya, now a powerful earthquake rocks Christchurch, New Zealand.

Believe it or not, my idiot sister and her fiancee are in Christchurch. It being summer down there and all, they decided to be unconventional and do their honeymoon BEFORE their June wedding…their honeymoon being a seven day cruise to Antarctica from Christchurch, which ended yesterday They are due to come home on Thursday.

She shot a text to me. They’re fine. They’re heading to Sydney ASAP.

what’s making news by you this busy February?  


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 67 Comments

67 comments

  4. Shaun Appleby

    An old flame of mine has her whole family in Christchurch and the “OKs” are slowly dribbling in via SMS here in Australia.  Her girlfriend visiting today has a husband who normally works in a central business district office building which now looks like a pile of rubble, haven’t heard from him yet; she’s off to Brisbane to wait for the first flight home even though Christchurch airport is reported closed.  She saw her fire-fighter daughter on TV in the middle of things just before she left.  Must be tough.

    Have been on the phone and relaying CNN reports for hours.  What a day!

  5. Nag

    We had bears in the back yard night before last. It was a Momma and get this 4 cubs! It’s still cold here in Northeast Pennsylvania, but this group has been seen here and there all winter. The cubbies were quite young and small.

    A local hunter told me that they don’t always hibernate, it depends on the year. I never knew that.

    They ravaged all my bird feeders and bent a shepherd’s hook right to the ground. At least they filled their bellies with seed and corn before getting spooked and running off. Didn’t get pictures.

    I put my game camera up the next day. Story of my life… day late, dollar short. 🙂  

  6. HappyinVT

    oh wait:

    “Social Security does not cause our deficits,” [OMB Director Jack Lew] writes in a USA Today op-ed. “According to the most recent report of the independent Social Security Trustees, the trust fund is currently in surplus and growing. Even though Social Security began collecting less in taxes than it paid in benefits in 2010, the trust fund will continue to accrue interest and grow until 2025, and will have adequate resources to pay full benefits for the next 26 years.”

    http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo…

  7. Rashaverak

    sent to a list that I read….

    Many of you will be hearing on the morning news of a major earthquake in Christchurch, NZ, with buildings collapsing, and a reasonable number of people killed.

    Christchurch is NZs second largest city, built on a flat plain that is alluvial deposit, and many of the buildings were damaged in the large earthquake last September. That quake was force 7.4, but was deeper and further away from the city than this one, which measured around 6.5, and was much closer to the surface. The result is that the alluvial plain has suffered liquefaction to a greater extent than the September one, and done a lot more damage.

    For those wanting some pictures, here is the website of the country’s biggest newspaper: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

  8. spacemanspiff

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

    Denise really hit it out of the park. Extraordinary person.

    I quoted a piece of the diary but those who are going to read it can skip it and read it for themselves.

    (spoiler alert)

    My own memory of Minister Malcolm is one I often share with young people.  I did not know him.  I did not change my last name to X or become a member of the Nation of Islam, though I had cousins who did.  But right after graduating from High School I took a job in Harlem working as a waitress at the Truth Coffee Shop, a center for the growing  community of black cultural nationalist poets, playwrights and activists of the day.  I ran afoul of a customer who felt I shouldn’t be in Harlem at all.  I was the wrong skin-color.  He used to taunt me and rant about “half-breed bi**hes” need to be killed. One day, I had enough of his harassment and dumped a bowl of chili in his lap.  

    He ran out and came back with a gun to shoot me.  A quiet patron who was sitting in the corner drinking tea and playing chess, stood up and stepped in front of the man with the gun, placing himself between me and my persecutor.  He told the man that “blackness had nothing to do with skin-color”.  My assailant grew pale, spun around and ran out.  The gentleman assured himself that I was okay, and went back to his chess game.  Shaking still I went back into the kitchen and asked the owner who the soft-spoken man with freckles was.  The owner shook his head and said, “Girl…don’t you know anything?  That is Minister Malcolm”.

    Wow.

  9. sricki

    in New Zealand, and I’ve been watching to see if she gets online. No sign of her last couple of days. I hope she’s okay. Scary stuff, earthquakes.

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