Thousands evacuated from path of raging Southern California wildfire

Close to 6,000 people in Southern California have been forced to leave their homes as a wildfire spreads through dry brush. At least 2,000 homes are threatened. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

By Henry Austin, NBC News contributor

More than 6,000 people were forced to evacuate the southern California town of Idyllwild when a wind-whipped wildfire changed direction, officials said Thursday.

Residents and tourists were ordered to leave some 2,200 homes and 4,100 premises including hotels, condominiums and cabins as the so-called "Mountain Fire" continued to rage through 19,600 acres in the San Jacinto Mountains. They were taken to three nearby high schools.

?It?s scary. I thought they had it under control,? Roccio Gutierrez told the Riverside Press Enterprise,?as she prepared to leave with her two daughters. ?

Forest Service spokeswoman Melody Lardner said winds that had been pushing the 30-square mile blaze towards the wilderness had changed direction, forcing evacuations in the town Wednesday afternoon.

?Yesterday it was pushing away from the communities,? Lardner said. ?But later in the afternoon the winds moved North Westwards towards to the Idyllwild, so they called for an evacuation. It moved a little earlier than expected.? ?

She added: ?We have three centers down the mountain at three different high schools. Some of the people evacuated were kids at various camps, so not everybody is a resident up there.?

Six homes were destroyed or damaged by the fire soon after it broke out Monday, along with 11 outbuildings and around four to six vehicles,?inciweb.org reported.

Frank Bellino / Press-Enterprise via AP

Smoke rises behind the burned remains of a home near Lake Hemet, Calif.

But despite the fire being only 15 per cent contained, the 2,985 firefighters tackling the blaze had so far managed to prevent further damage.

They were joined by 228 fire engines, 17 helicopters, 10 fixed-wing aircraft, 51 hand crews, 21 water-tenders and 15 bulldozers.

?With the heavy fuels we?ve got and the temperatures we?re experiencing, it?s making it a very aggressive, hot fire right now," California Fire spokesman Scott Visyak told NBC4 on Tuesday. ?The fire had just gone through there very aggressively.?

Heavy smoke has made the local air unhealthy, according to the?South Coast Air Quality Management District. Ash from the fire is falling in portions of the Coachella Valley, it said in a smoke advisory, Wednesday.

Lardner said the winds had lightened but the flames continued to spread through timber and chaparral - or shrubland - that have been left highly flammable by the dry winter,

She added that a night-flying, water-dropping helicopter and a fix-wing spotter plane were working on the fire overnight.

The cause of the blaze was also still unknown, she said. ?

Related:

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This story was originally published on Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:27 AM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2ed56163/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A70C180C195380A140Ethousands0Eevacuated0Efrom0Epath0Eof0Eraging0Esouthern0Ecalifornia0Ewildfire0Dlite/story01.htm

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Live link: Detroit Mayor Bing reacts to bankruptcy filing

2 hours ago | July 18th, 2013 22:26:03 GMT by Eamonn Sheridan | 1 Comment

Mayor Bing and Kevyn Orr speaking

Watch live here:

h/t Zero Hedge

Categories: All, Asia | Tags: bankruptcy, detroit | Permalink

Source: http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2013/07/18/live-link-detroit-mayor-bing-reacts-to-bankruptcy-filing/

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Court deals setback to shipyard nuclear safety union

RICHMOND? The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday sided with Newport News Shipbuilding in its refusal to recognize a union of nuclear safety workers.

The shipyard, the nation's sole manufacturer of nuclear aircraft carriers and one of two makers of nuclear submarines, had sued that the National Labor Relations Board had no authority when on August 2012 it ordered the company to begin contract negotiations with a newly elected International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union.

Specifically the shipyard, a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries, said President Barack Obama acted unconstitutionally when he bypassed the Senate and appointed three NLRB members over the winter holidays while lawmakers were in their home states.

"(W)e conclude that the President's three January 4, 2012 appointments to the Board are constitutionally infirm, because the appointment were not made during 'the Recess of the Senate,'" the opinion reads.

The opinion dismissed arguments from the White House and lawyers for the NLRB that the appointments were valid since they were made while the Senate was on recess.

The case was decided by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Clyde Hamilton and Allyson K. Duncan, both Republican appointees, said the NLRB appointments ignored the meaning of the word recess as understood by the Framers of the Constitution. The lone Democratic appointee on the panel, Albert Diaz, an Obama pick, disagreed.

The term "the recess," the opinion states, "as used in the Recess Appointments Clause, refers to the legislative break that the Senate takes between its 'Session[s].'"

"We are pleased that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has accepted the company's argument that denies enforcement of the NLRB order," said shipyard spokeswoman Christie Miller by email late Wednesday.

However the opinion was only a partial victory for the shipyard's legal team.

Before Hamilton took up the constitutional question he rejected separate shipyard arguments that the union election of the 223-member Machinists local had been improperly carried out.

The company had argued that the Machinists should have had to organize all the shipyard's 2,400 technical workers, not just the subset of radiological control technicians, trainees, laboratory technicians and calibration technicians.

The shipyard argued that by allowing the formation of a "micro-bargaining unit", the NLRB was lowering the bar for future union organization efforts at the shipyard.

The board's decision, the company said could lead to a patchwork of small shipyard unions that are difficult to negotiate with. Ultimately, the lawsuit said, such conditions "could be disastrous for the defense industry."

The NLRB argued that federal law permits unions to be formed among any group of workers with sufficiently distinct work functions group of workers, and that the radiological control department, or E85 RADCON for short fit the bill.

On this point the appeals court sided with the government and the Machinists.

"It was within the discretion of the (NLRB) to find that the technical employees in the E85 RADCON department possessed a sufficiently distinct community of interest apart from other technical employees at the shipyard to warrant their establishment as a separate bargaining unit," Hamilton wrote in his decision.

The judges also found unconvincing the shipyard's argument that its case mirrored that of decisions shooting down organizing efforts by radiological control workers at a Westinghouse Electric Corp. facility in eastern Idaho in 1962 and 1990.

The NLRB had said the Westinghouse workers in question worked closely with other technical workers at the Idaho facility, whereas the shipyard's radiological technicians don't have the same level of contact with their fellow non-nuclear technical employees.

"We agree with the Board that the Westinghouse cases are distinguishable from our case," Hamilton wrote for the court.

Supreme Court-bound

The Richmond court joins two other appeals courts in its rejection of the White House's NLRB appointees, and an court expert said the Supreme Court will ultimately have to settle the question.

"This is the third appellate court that's basically agreed," said Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

The Supreme Court's next term starts in October.

Miller, the shipyard spokeswoman, said the company "will continue to monitor any further rulings on the union representation issue."

If the Supreme Court goes on to agree with the logic of the appellate rulings, such a decision would invalidate a raft of NLRB decisions regarding union elections at companies across the country.

A new NLRB would have to take up the cases like that of the shipyard and the Machinists afresh, Tobias said, "but they make so many decisions it's a pain in the neck."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/hrdailypress/business/~3/y4xmjMTsulc/story01.htm

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Tainted meal sickens Indian schoolchildren, 22 die

PATNA, India (AP) ? The children started falling violently ill soon after they ate the free school lunch of rice, lentils, soybeans and potatoes.

The food, part of a program that gives poor Indian students at least one hot meal a day, was tainted with insecticide, and soon 22 of the students were dead and dozens were hospitalized, officials said Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear how chemicals ended up in the food at the school in the eastern state of Bihar. One official said that the food may not have been properly washed before it was cooked.

The children, between the ages of 5 and 12, got sick soon after eating lunch Tuesday in Gandamal village in Masrakh block, 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of the state capital of Patna. School authorities immediately stopped serving the meal as the children started vomiting.

Savita, a 12-year-old student who uses only one name, said she had a stomach ache after eating soybeans and potatoes and started vomiting.

"I don't know what happened after that," Savita said in an interview at Patna Medical College Hospital, where she and many other children were recovering.

The lunch was cooked in the school kitchen.

The children were rushed to a local hospital and later to Patna for treatment, said state official Abhijit Sinha.

In addition to the 22 children who died, another 25 children and the school cook were in hospital undergoing treatment, P.K. Sahi, the state education minister. Three children were in serious condition.

Authorities suspended an official in charge of the free meal scheme in the school and registered a case of criminal negligence against the school headmistress, who fled as soon as the children fell ill.

Angry villagers, joined by members of local opposition parties, closed shops and businesses near the school and overturned and burned four police vehicles.

Sahi said a preliminary investigation suggested the food contained an organophosphate used as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. It's believed the grain was not washed before it was served at the school, he said.

However, local villagers said the problem appeared to be with a side dish of soybeans and potatoes, not grain. Children who had not eaten that dish were fine, although they had eaten the rice and lentils, several villagers told the AP.

Sinha said the cooked food and kitchen utensils have been seized by investigators. "Whether it was a case of negligence or was intentional, we will only know once the inquiry has been conducted," he said.

India's midday meal scheme is one of the world's biggest school nutrition programs. State governments have the freedom to decide on menus and timings of the meals, depending on local conditions and availability of food rations. It was first introduced in southern India, where it was seen as an incentive for poor parents to send their children to school.

Since then the program has been replicated across the country, covering some 120 million school children. It's as part of an effort to address concerns about malnutrition, which the government says nearly half of all Indian children suffer from.

Although there have been occasional complaints about the quality of the food served, or the lack of hygiene, the tragedy in Bihar appeared to be unprecedented for the massive food program.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tainted-meal-sickens-indian-schoolchildren-22-die-005051811.html

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5 tips for speaking with more confidence | Informa Australia

Do you suffer from a fear of public speaking??Whether you?re a seasoned director or a new graduate starting at your first job, the chances are you feel some angst when delivering a presentation in front of others.

In fact, a whopping 75 per cent of people are thought to experience glossophobia (the fancy name for public speaking anxiety) to some extent.?To put this in perspective, that?s a higher percentage than those who fear dying, which is around 68 per cent.?And while it may help to know you?re not alone in your concerns over public speaking, here are a few more tangible tips for presenting with confidence.

Prepare

This seems obvious, but you?re only as good as your preparation. Know your subject matter inside out and ensure you can answer any questions that may crop up.

Avoid reading from a script

While it may be comforting to have your presentation laid out in front of you, your delivery is likely to be wooden if you?re reading straight from a piece of paper.

Write how you speak

If you decide to use cue cards or other forms of guidance, make sure they are noted down in a way that comes across as natural speech. The written word can often seem stuffy and dry when read aloud.

Practise, practise, practise

No matter how well prepared you are in terms of subject matter, you?ll need to practise your presentation over and over to ensure you are familiar with it.

Ask a friend or family member ? or better still a colleague or mentor ? to sit in and critique your performance so that you can iron out any kinks well in advance.

Open and close strongly

The most memorable parts of your speech are going to be the opening and closing comments, so try to start and finish convincingly.

Try to avoid ending on a Q&A, as you may find an audience member steals your thunder at the very end.

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Informa Australia is a member of Informa plc, listed on the London Stock Exchange, and specialises in the provision of high quality business to business information via established industry events and publications. The event portfolio boasts a broad range of conferences, seminars and exhibitions in Australia and abroad. For more information, please visit www.informa.com.au or contact 61 2 9080 4307.

Source: http://informaaustralia.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/5-tips-for-speaking-with-more-confidence/

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NASA Aborts Spacewalk After Water's Found in Astronaut's Helmet

Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano is sitting out a scheduled spacewalk on Tuesday after the crew found water leaking "inexplicably" into his helmet.

Read more...

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AQs7p_yve74/nasa-aborts-spacewalk-after-waters-found-in-astronaut-799319024

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India's 'War' on Gold Shines on Silver Investing :: The Market Oracle ...

Commodities / Gold and Silver 2013 Jul 17, 2013 - 02:21 PM GMT

By: Money_Morning

Tony Daltorio writes: There's a major government move right now that's giving a huge boost to anyone investing in silver...

You see, when things go awry, governments have a tendency to pin the blame away from the government and on a convenient scapegoat.

Take India, for example. It faces a record current account deficit and its currency, the rupee, continues tumbling to record lows against the U.S. dollar.

But it's not government policies that are the culprit here, says the Indian government and central bank. They say the blame lies squarely on Indians' centuries-long love affair with gold.

Gold imports into India hit a record 162 tons in May.

The government says that if only the populace would quit buying so much gold, all the problems would be solved. That is laughable, but the Indian government has implemented measures to curb imports of gold into the country.

It has raised the tax on gold imports to 8% from just 2%. India also put measures into place like stopping banks from making loans against gold jewelry and coins weighing more than 50 grams.

The government has also roped in private entities to help it wage its 'war' on gold. A major financial institution, Reliance Capital, has suspended sales of its gold-backed funds. In addition, India's largest jewelers' association - the All India Gems and Jewelry Trade Federation - has asked its members to stop selling gold bars and coins. This accounts for about 35% of Federation members' sales.

It remains an open question as to whether these measures can curb, in more than a very temporary fashion, India's cultural affinity for gold.

Investing in Silver is the Winning Move

But it does seem that another shiny metal will emerge a winner here. . .silver.

This precious metal also has been a part of Indian culture for centuries. And like gold, many Indians use silver as means of saving. Not a bad idea either with the rupee plunging.

Wealthy Indians may have moved their gold buying offshore to places in the Middle East like Dubai. But for average Indian citizens being shut out of the gold market by the government, they have quickly turned their attention to the silver market.

Just look at these astonishing numbers...

In 2012, India imported about 1,900 tons of silver. But through May of this year, imports have already surpassed last year's total at 2,400 tons.

India's record annual imports of silver occurred in 2008 with imports of 5,048 tons. But that record may be broken this year.

What is really impressive are the import totals after some of the government restrictions on gold started to bite. In April, imports were 720 tons. That was nearly the first quarter's entire total of 760 tons. And in May, silver imports surged to 920 tons.

One can only imagine what the demand for silver and the imports will be now that the government has really clamped down on sales of gold in the country. Especially when one considers that Indians in May spent more than 10 times as much on gold as silver.

A report from Sprott, using figures from the Silver Institute, gives us some idea of the magnitude of these numbers.

In 2012, there were 24,478 tons of silver mined globally. That means India so far this year imported roughly 10% of world production. If the country continues on its current pace of silver imports, over the next 12 months, it will import nearly 50% of global silver production.

That would be a titanic change in the supply/demand equation for silver.

Silver Investing in 2013

This would bode well for silver-based investments.

Investors could opt for purchasing exchange traded vehicles backed by physical silver bullion.

One such exchange traded fund is the ETFS Physical Silver Shares (NYSEArca: SIVR). It is backed by silver bullion held in a London vault. The annual management expense ratio is only 0.30%.

Another exchange-traded vehicle is from Sprott, the Sprott Physical Silver Trust (NYSEArca: PSLV). The silver bullion is held in vaults in Canada. Total annual expenses are 0.66%. The difference here is that

Sprott allows shareholders to exchange for actual physical bullion on a monthly basis with a minimum usually of 1,000 troy ounces.

Investors with a higher risk tolerance may even consider an ETF that invests in silver mining companies. One ETF example is the beaten down silver miners sector is the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSEArca: SIL). Its portfolio consists of 32 mining companies. Total annual expenses are 0.65%.

Source :http://moneymorning.com/2013/07/16/investing-in-silver-a-winning-move-as-indias-war-on-gold-continues/

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Disclaimer: Nothing published by Money Morning should be considered personalized investment advice. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized investent advice. We expressly forbid our writers from having a financial interest in any security recommended to our readers. All of our employees and agents must wait 24 hours after on-line publication, or after the mailing of printed-only publication prior to following an initial recommendation. Any investments recommended by Money Morning should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

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