Gov. Mike Easley of North Carolina has warned that his state and eight to ten others served by gasoline pipelines from New Orleans are in immediate danger of running out of gasoline. It has been rumored in North Carolina that the governor had ordered gas stations to shut down for periods of time. The governor’s press office denied the rumors, but some gas stations in the state have closed due to lack of gasoline supplies.
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There are already Katrina donation scams appearing on the internet and in spam, and even FEMA prominently lists the controversial Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” as third on its list of suggested charities, which is overwhelmingly dominated by religious charities. However, there are many more organizations and charities more directly involved in hurricane relief in the area than the ones recommended by FEMA, and the Networkforgood website lists most of them on its special hurricane page. Here, for example, you can donate directly to New Orleans’ stricken Charity Hospital. To explore this superior list, click here.
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An earthquake swarm is being reported by the US GeologicService Earthquake Hazards Program in the Brawley SeismicZone immediately south of the Salton Sea in southernCalifornia. The swarm began on August 28, and reached asustained level of higher activity (quakes in the 4.5-5.0region of intensity) on August 31. The swarm is continuingat this time.
It is similar to swarms that occurred in the Brawley area inthe 1970s and 1980s. In the past, a quake on thecross-fault of the type that is taking place now triggeredmagnitude 6.2 and 6.6 events in 1987. The activity takingplace at present is ten miles from the major San Andreas,San Jacinto and Imperial faults, and shows no obvious signsof destabilizing them at this time.
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Animal feed contaminated with human remains may have caused the first cases of Mad Cow Disease. Previously it was assumed that Mad Cow began when the ground up remains of other cattle were fed to cows as a source of protein. But now scientists believe it may have begun when the theremains of human corpses were imported into the UK to be added to cattle feed. In the Indian subcontinent, some religiousgroups leave their dead unburied for vultures to consume,andit is being speculated that bones may have have beencollected from these bodies, ground up and imported to the UK, where they were added to feed for cattle.
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