The demonstrators – some armed with bamboo sticks – blockaded roads, smashed vehicles, burned tires and attacked factories at Gazipur, just outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.”The situation is very volatile. Hundreds of thousands of workers have joined the protests. We fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them,” M. Asaduzzaman, an officer in the police control room, told AFP.The rioting also spread to several districts in the capital, local media reported. The protesters have demanded the arrest and execution of those responsible for the disaster, and blamed the building’s owners for the deaths.The collapsed eight-story building at Savar, a town on the outskirts of Dhaka, housed five factories. Rescuers have recovered nearly 300 bodies form the rubble, and the death toll may rise further.The building reportedly developed cracks on Tuesday evening, but the owners ordered fleeing workers to return to their production lines, survivors said.The incident was the worst to befall Bangladesh since a fire in November 2012 that killed over 100 workers. … Read More
Pick of the week: “Oblivion,” Tom Cruise’s gorgeous sci-fi allegory
Science fiction is always more about the present, and even the past, than it is about the future, which by definition we don’t know anything about. That’s certainly true of “Oblivion,” the sly, surprising and visually magnificent Tom Cruise vehicle that has forced me – and many other people, I suspect – to revise my first opinion of director Joseph Kosinski. In fact, on some bizarre level “Oblivion” feels like a more grown-up and vastly improved version of Kosinski’s murky and ludicrous “TRON: Legacy,” a movie I compared to sticking your head into a barrel of ink full of fluorescent glow-sticks.Continue Reading… … Read More
Filipinos reenact crucifixion in grisly Easter celebration (PHOTOS, VIDEO)
The act of mock-crucifixion has been practiced for decades in the Philippines, despite strong condemnations by the Catholic Church. The morbid celebrations take place in the city of San Fernando, 67 kilometers north of Manila, where the so-called ‘passion play’ is enacted every year.Tourists and worshippers looked on as 18 men had nails driven through their palms, and were then hoisted up onto crosses in a re-enactment of the crucifixion of Christ.”I am used to it already,” AFP quoted Alex Laranang as saying, who was nailed up for his 14th time.Two of the men who were mock-crucified had to be removed from the celebration to receive medical attention. The religious devotees who participate in the practice believe that the act is a way of atoning for their sins, or of healing a loved one.In the village of San Pedro Cutud, religious devotees marched the streets while whipping their backs with bamboo sticks, spraying passers-by with flecks of blood.The act of mock-crucifixion has for many years been a bone of contention between the Catholic Church and the zealous devotees who take part in the gruesome practice.”The bishops have been saying for a long time they disapprove of this. But people make such vows. They sacrifice themselves for others,” Father Francis Lucas, executive director of the Philippine bishops’ media office said to AFP.The Catholic Church now discourages the practice of self-flagellation in favor of less violent activities.”We have so many crosses to bear in life. We don’t need to bear a real one,” said Father Lucas, condemning the use of the festival to attract tourism to the area.The Philippines remains a stronghold for the Catholic Church where it maintains considerable influence. Abortion and divorce remain illegal in the country largely because of the Catholic Church. … Read More
64 SHTF Medical Tips That Work
I’ve left out the honey,onions and garlic because we all know about those! These are practical tips that need no medical kit and no medical knowledge. … Read More
TSA announces biggest loosening of security since 9/11
“This policy was designed to make the lives of TSA staffeasier, but not make flights safer,” Stacy Martin, president ofthe Transportation Workers Union, said in a statement. “While weagree that a passenger wielding a small knife or swinging a golfclub or hockey stick poses less of a threat to the pilot locked inthe cockpit, these are real threats to passengers and flightattendants in the passenger cabin.”The policy changes, which were made to conform to internationalrules and shorten the amount of time checkpoint officials spendconfiscating items, take effect April 25, TSA Administrator JohnPistole announced Wednesday. Knives with retractable blades shorterthan 2.36 inches (6 cm) will be permitted in carry-on baggage.Sports equipment like lacrosse sticks, ski poles and golf clubswill also be allowed in the passenger cabin.“The idea that we have to look for, to find and then somehowresolve whatever that prohibited item is — that takes time andeffort,” Pistole said at an aviation security conference in NewYork. “That may detract us from that item that could lead to acatastrophic failure on an aircraft.”But labor unions representing flight attendants are outraged atthe new policy and claim that the changes will simply put morepeople in danger.“We believe that these proposed changes will further endangerthe lives of all flight attendants and the passengers we work sohard to keep safe and secure,” the Flight Attendants UnionCoalition said in a statement, describing the TSA decision as“poor and shortsighted”.The decision marks the largest loosening of TSA travelrestrictions since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.Passengers interviewed by AP largely agreed with the new policy,claiming that almost anything – including a sharpened credit card –could be turned into a weapon anyway.“There are a lot of things you can use on an airplane if youare intent on hurting someone,” John L. Sullivan, an aviationsecurity consultant, told AP. “Security is never 100percent.”But TSA told USA Today that security agents will be able tospend more of their time searching for bomb threats, which are moreserious, rather than confiscating small pocket knives thatpassengers too often try to take with them.“This is part of an overall risk-based security approach,which allows transportation security officers to better focus theirefforts on finding higher-threat items such as explosives,” theagency said.But to flight attendants who lack the same protections as an airpilot, the new policy has instilled concerns about their safety ina cabin where passengers may soon carry knives in theirpockets. … Read More
TSA to allow some small knives in carry-on luggage
The US transport safety authority has said it will allow some small pocket knives aboard US flights for the first time since the 9/11 attacks. … Read More
Syrian refugees turn on helpers after storm wrecks camp
Syrian refugees in a Jordanian camp have attacked aid workers with sticks and stones after winds swept away their tents and torrential rain flooded muddy streets.
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