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Japan tsunami: One year on It has been almost one year since a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, unleashing a terrifying tsunami. The wall of water caused widespread destruction, left almost 22,000 people dead or missing and triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Here, examine interactive imagery of the destruction at the time of the disaster and how those areas look now. This imagery follows on from before and after sliders published in the aftermath of the tsunami, and side-by-side street-view panoramas published late last year. View high resolution

Japan tsunami: One year on

It has been almost one year since a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, unleashing a terrifying tsunami. The wall of water caused widespread destruction, left almost 22,000 people dead or missing and triggered a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Here, examine interactive imagery of the destruction at the time of the disaster and how those areas look now.

This imagery follows on from before and after sliders published in the aftermath of the tsunami, and side-by-side street-view panoramas published late last year.

NPR: For Afghan Policewomen, Sex Abuse Is A Job Hazard

Protection of women’s rights in Afghanistan remains a focal point for the West — and American officials regularly tout the fact that the Afghan security forces now include hundreds of women. In northern Afghanistan alone, about 300 women are serving in the police force.

But in a culture that is not fully comfortable with women working outside the home, these women face significant risks. An NPR investigation in the city discovered disturbing allegations of systematic sexual coercion and even rape of female police officers by their male colleagues.

The women at the recent training session at a huge base outside Mazar-e-Sharif hardly looked like victims as they assembled and loaded assault rifles. But none dared to give their names as they alluded to what is an open secret in the city.

Foreign Policy: Burma’s mysterious president insists that he wants democracy. But can he deliver? View high resolution

Foreign Policy: Burma’s mysterious president insists that he wants democracy. But can he deliver?

Super PACs: A new media weapon

Super PACs are funded by American individuals, corporations and unions, who are legally allowed to donate as much money as they want to supposedly independent organisations but which are linked to a particular candidate. These Super PACs then unleash a slew of political TV ads that are not designed to support their candidate but rather take down the opposition. And so far they seem to be working.  

In this week’s News Divide, we analyse this new media weapon and look at how it is impacting the Republican nomination. 

See this episode of Listening Post at Al Jazeera English.

Reagan was, ‘in many ways, a moderate’

The man who became the most important American conservative icon in the 20th century was, in many ways, a moderate, says [Ronald Reagan biographer Craig] Shirley.

In 1978, Reagan campaigned against a referendum in California called Proposition 6 that would have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported gay rights, from working in the state’s public schools.

The bill was supported by the Christian right and sponsored by state legislator John Briggs. The measure failed, and Briggs later said it was solely because of Reagan.

Right now, each candidate is vying for the mantle of Reagan conservatism. Yet some historians, and even some of the folks who worked for Ronald Reagan, are now wondering whether Reagan himself was enough of a Reagan conservative — at least the way it is defined today.

So what exactly is a Reagan conservative anyway?

» NPR’s All Things Considered

Philippines storm triggers deadly flash floods

Flash floods sparked by a tropical storm in the southern Philippines have killed at least 180 people and left scores missing, officials say.

Many of the victims were asleep when it struck Mindanao island, killing many in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to higher ground, the authorities say.

Benito Ramos, head of the national disaster rescue agency, said reports were still coming in and the casualty figures could rise.

Mr Ramos said the floodwaters had risen alarmingly fast overnight as people slept.

“Massive flooding had been reported over the region, especially in Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City,” he said

Many people in Cagayan de Oro were trapped in their homes as floods rose rapidly

(Source: currenteye)

(Reblogged from currenteye)

Saudi Arabia beheads woman for 'sorcery'

Human rights group describes execution as “truly appalling” and notes steep rise in country’s use of capital punishment.

Al Jazeera English and agencies:

A Saudi woman has been beheaded after being convicted of practising sorcery, which is banned in the conservative Gulf kingdom, the country’s interior ministry said.

The ministry gave no further details of the charges for which the woman was convicted.

London-based newspaper al-Hayat quoted a member of the Saudi religious police as saying Nasser was in her 60s. The official claimed she had tricked people into giving her money, claiming that she could cure their illnesses.

According to the report, she apparently charged up to $800 a session.

Amnesty International said the beheading brought the number of executions in the kingdom to 73 this year. Another woman was beheaded in October for killing her husband by setting his house on fire. 

There are no available statistics on how many women have been executed in Saudi Arabia.

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You can’t just say, “There’s a God, because the world is beautiful.” You have to account for bone cancer in children. You have to account for the fact that almost all animals, in the wild, live under stress with not enough to eat, and will die violent and bloody deaths. There is not any way that you can just choose the nice bits and say, “That means there is a God,” and ignore the true fact of what nature is. The wonder of nature must be taken in its totality.
Stephen Fry, Apoplectic Skeptic (via cocknbull)

(Source: youtube.com)

(Reblogged from liberal-life-deactivated2011110)

Apollo 11

(Reblogged from scipsy)

kateoplis:

Murray Fredericks, Lake Eyre: Sunrise, Sunset (time-lapse)

(Reblogged from kateoplis)

(Source: tumblrtribune)

(Reblogged from tumblrtribune)
Market Day in Ghana - 1972 View high resolution

Market Day in Ghana - 1972

(Reblogged from peacecorps)
eso1131 View high resolution

eso1131

(Reblogged from peteuplink)

(Source: jimmywhacked)

(Reblogged from ellobofilipino)

scipsy:

Dwarf Planets. (Pictures: Eris, Pluto, Makemake, Ceres, Haumea)

Pluto was first added as ninth planet of our solar system in 1930. In 2005 Caltech astronomer Mike Brown discovered Eris, an object about the same size as Pluto. In 2006 the International Astronomical Union decided that Eris, Pluto and Ceres were dwarf planet.

There are currently 5 officially recognized dwarf planets.

According to the International Astronomical Union a dwarf planet is:

A celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. (via IAU)

(Reblogged from scipsy)