Sept 23 (Reuters) – A dust storm swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness and stripping thousands of tonnes of topsoil off Australia’s main farmlands.

Following are answers to questions about the storm.

WHAT CAUSED THE DUST STORM?

During winter in Australia low pressure storms are generated in the Indian and Southern Oceans, whipping up huge seas and creating severe cold fronts which sweep across southern and eastern Australia. A severe thunderstorm with 100 km per hour (60 miles per hour) plus winds formed in South Australia state on Monday and began whipping up dust from drought-hit outback lands. As vegetation gets dried off the topsoil is loosened, and it easily blows away. As the dust storm travelled into the eastern seaboard state of New South Wales, one of the worst hit by drought, it grew in size and by Wednesday morning was affecting most of NSW, the fifth biggest state or territory representing 10 percent of the island continent, and had descended on Sydney like a thick blanket.

IS THE DUST STORM LINKED TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

Weather scientists are reluctant to directly link climate change with extreme weather events such as storms and droughts, saying these fluctuate according to atmospheric conditions, but green groups link the two in their calls for action to fight climate change.

Dust storms in Australia, the world’s driest inhabited continent with a vast desert-like outback interior, are not uncommon. Central and eastern Australia is a major global source of atmospheric dust, say weather experts. But dust storms are usually restricted to the inland of Australia. Occasionally, during widespread drought they can affect coastal areas. Australia is battling one of its worst droughts and weather officials say an El Nino is slowly developing in the Pacific which will mean drier conditions for Australia’s eastern states.

Before the Sydney dust storm, one of the most spectacular storms swept across Melbourne in February 1983, late in the severe El Nino drought of 1982/83. The extended dry period of the 1930s and 1940s generated many severe dust storms, culminating in the summer of 1944/45 when on several occasions dust in Adelaide was so thick that street lighting had to be turned on. Satellite images showed a 2002 dust storm, about 1,500 km (930 miles) long by 400 km (250 miles) wide and 2.5 km (1.5 miles) high, stretching across New South Wales and Queensland states.

WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF DUST STORMS?

While dust storms may cause temporary disruptions to towns and cities, by far the worst effect is the stripping of topsoil from Australia’s farmlands. In the late 1970s and early 1980s severe drought in Australia saw dust storms strip millions of dollars worth of topsoil, causing massive crop and stock losses, according to the country’s Emergency Management Authority. Crop analysts say the current dust storm is unlikely to have an immediate impact on wheat crops which are already struggling with dry conditions. Harvesting starts next month in NSW, the country’s second largest grain producing state. Australian Crop Forecasters estimates the NSW wheat crop will be down by about one million tonnes to around 6.5 million tonnes.

WILL THERE BE MORE DUST STORMS?

Australian weather officials are warning of another severe storm to sweep across the southern and eastern parts of the country on Thursday and Friday. Australia’s main farmlands are located in the eastern part of the country. The next storm could again whip up a dust storm, cause damage with gale-force winds and send temperatures plummeting and dump snow on Australia’s alpine region. If El Nino weather conditions continue in the western Pacific then Australia’s dry conditions and then more dust storms can be expected, but whether they remain confined to inland or outback regions or sweep across farmlands and reach more populated centres remains unknown. (Reporting by Michael Perry; Editing by Dean Yates)

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSYD488537

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as September 11th or 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners.The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights. In total 2,993 people, including the hijackers, died in the attacks.The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 90 countries. In addition, the death of at least one person from lung disease was ruled by a medical examiner to be a result of exposure to dust from the World Trade Center’s collapse.The United States responded to the attacks by launching a “War on Terrorism”, invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists, and enacting the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week following the attack, and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The destruction of billions of dollars worth of office space caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan. The damage to the Pentagon was cleared and repaired within a year, and the Pentagon Memorial was built on the site. The rebuilding process has started on the World Trade Center site. In 2006 a new office tower was completed on the site of  World Trade Center. The World Trade Center is currently under construction at the site and at 1,776 ft (541 m) upon completion in 2011, will become one of the tallest buildings in North America. Three more towers were originally expected to be built between 2007 and 2012 on the site.

Source from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks

Don’t fall for a pair of fake Crocs

THEY say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but Crocs isn’t biting. Following a story in The Washington Post last July that reported “the impending demise of Crocs,” there has been a proliferation of fake Crocs from China flooding the Malaysian market, touting themselves to be the real deal with marked down prices.

Described by some people as “bizarre gardening shoes”, the colourful Crocs was an overnight success, having sold 100 million pairs in seven years.

However, given the current worldwide recession, the company took a beating in 2008 and one financial commentator, Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle, went as far as to say: “The company’s toast.’’

The real thing: When viewed up close, you can see the difference in the logo between the real and fake pair of crocs (the fake is on the right).

This, apparently, is far from the truth, as the financial results for the second quarter (Q2) from Crocs announced last month that the innovative footwear brand is still going strong, contrary to the mischievous rumours.

While it was true that the company was in the red and downsizing at one point, the latest results were highly satisfactory with revenue in Asia up 30.5% in Q2 of 2009 from Q2 of 2008, overcoming the initial challenges from rapid growth. Crocs has also completely repaid the US$17.3mil (RM60.5mil) borrowed under the company’s credit facility as of June 30 this year.

Due to the growing popularity of the brand, there has been a growing presence of counterfeit Crocs products. In the past, Crocs was not too bothered as the imitation products often bore different design elements, didn’t carry logos and were branded differently. These appealed to consumers who clearly knew that they were not original Crocs but were willing to accept the inferior quality by paying much lower prices.

However, thanks to market gossip of how Crocs is currently “stuck with a surplus of shoes” and “facing bankruptcy”, fuelled further by the Washington Post article, importers of counterfeit Crocs are having a field day.

The fakes come with hangtags, plastic bags, logos and embossed wording that is similar to original Crocs, and being sold as “marked down real Crocs” for anything between RM35 and RM100. These are often seen at night and morning markets, in residential areas and are also sold via several blogs and websites.

According to these pirates, the “original Crocs are now being sold cheaply” because the company is dumping stocks, to explain why they are now available outside of Crocs concept stores and authorised dealers.

The most often cited reasons are “Crocs owes its suppliers in China a lot of money, the company along with the China factory is closing down, and therefore the China suppliers are disposing of the shoes at cost to recover their money.” The counterfeiters use these excuses to justify why they only have limited colours and sizes compared to Crocs concept stores and authorised dealers.

Conversely, Kinderdijk, the official distributor of Crocs in Malaysia, says such rumours are unfounded and Crocs Asia is doing better than ever before.

“In fact, Asia was the first to come up with concept stores while Crocs were still being sold online, at small booths or in shoe stores along with other brands in the United States. This has stamped the idea that Crocs is a serious brand. The financial crisis is not so bad in Asia and our stores have been doing well as our marketing approach is more aggressive. Only now the States is going into concept stores as well,” explains managing director Gwei Tze-Co.

“Crocs is such an easy shoe to copy. The difference lies in the material used. The patented material Crosslite is odourless, slip resistance, anti-bacterial and offers unparalleled comfort in that it moulds to your feet. The fakes use really poor quality plastic and you can feel a difference when your wear them,” explains senior marketing manager Warren Chan.

The only other authorised dealer in the country is Pinang Medical Suppliers, and its stores carry similar models to those brought in by Kinderdijk as well as the Crocs RX (medical shoes) exclusively.

Altogether, there are 18 Crocs concept stores nationwide, and the shoes are also sold by authorised dealers at department stores like Parkson and Isetan which stock some exclusive designs. The only authorised factory outlet is located at the Mines Shopping Fair in Balakong, Kuala Lumpur, which sell out-of-season models at discounted prices.

“Any other ‘warehouses’, ‘online sales’ and unofficial setups touting to offer discounted Crocs are selling fakes. In fact, there is no way the factory in China could have ‘overruns’ or ‘rejects’ as there is never any excess of material supplied by the United States for the shoes. And, even if there are ‘mistakes’, these are recyclable, and thrown back in the mould and remade. In a worst-case scenario if the shoes are problematic, these are recalled and incinerated, and this has to be verified by insurance to ensure that things are properly done,” says Gwei.

Contrary to claims that Crocs is a one-shoe company, Crocs actually offers more than 120 styles of casual, comfortable footwear, including sandals, boots, heels, wedges and flats, along with the signature model, the “Beach”. Crocs also offers functional footwear for people who work on their feet, as well as products especially designed to help people who have foot or back problems.

other related link

http://blog.samjoywallet.com/2009/09/07/telling-the-real-from-the-fake-crocs/

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/7/lifeliving/4603134&sec=lifeliving

Monday September 7, 2009

Crocs would like to warn consumers not to be deceived by those offering counterfeit products and learn to identify real Crocs products by using these simple guidelines:

1. Every pair of Crocs has its own unique barcode/serial number printed on its hangtag. If you see the same serial number appearing on the hangtags of any other pair of shoes of the same model or other models, then you definitely have an imitation in your hands.

2. Every original Crocs hangtag contains information relating to its corresponding pair of Crocs shoes such as its style name, colour description and size.

3. Check for authorised retailers and Crocs concept stores selling Crocs footwear listed in the official website at crocs.com.my. Only stores listed on the website sell genuine Crocs shoes.

4. Check the website product listing and compare the available designs and colours. If you see a shoe with the brand Crocs in a design or colour that is not shown on the website, then it is not an authentic Crocs product.

5. You can also go to facebook.com/crocsmalaysia and post a query.

>Customers can contact the official Crocs Service Centre ( 03-6203 2336) if they have any enquiries about the availability of genuine Crocs products in Malaysia.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/9/7/lifeliving/4640755&sec=lifeliving

Other related :

http://blog.samjoywallet.com/2009/09/07/crocs-from-china-which-crocs-are-you-wearing/

Palin says FBI is not investigating her
July 6, 2009, 1:19 pm

Sarah Palin is online and is proclaiming she is not under investigation by the FBI.

It didn’t take the resigning Alaska governor long to return with a public explanation of her plans for the future, following her surprise announcement of an early resignation on the eve of the Fourth of July.

She’s on Facebook: “Happy 4th of July from Alaska!”

“I am now looking ahead and how we can advance this country together with our values of less government intervention, greater energy independence, stronger national security, and much-needed fiscal restraint,” the Republican Party’s 2008 vice-presidential candidate writes in her Facebook posting.

Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton vouches for the authenticity of Palin’s posting in which Palin casts herself as just a soul who has been misunderstood.

“How sad that Washington and the media will never understand; it’s about country,” the statement says. “And though it’s honourable for countless others to leave their positions for a higher calling and without finishing a term, of course we know by now, for some reason a different standard applies for the decisions I make.”

In the meantime, Palin lawyer Thomas Van Flein is warning all those people who think they have got a line on the surprise decision of the Alaska governor to call it quits 18 months before her term ends, to keep their speculation free from libel.

“For months now, I have consulted with friends and family, and with the lieutenant governor about what is best for our wonderful state. I even made a few administrative changes over that course in time in preparation for yesterday. We have accomplished so much and there’s much more to do, but my family and I determined, after prayerful consideration, that sacrificing my title helps Alaska most,” Palin explains in the note on her Facebook page.

“And once I decided not to run for re-election, my decision was that much easier – I’ve never been one to waste time or resources. Those who know me know this is the right decision and obvious decision at that, including Senator John McCain. I thank him for his kind, insightful comments.”

“The response in the main stream media has been most predictable, ironic, and as always, detached from the lives of ordinary Americans who are sick of the ‘politics of personal destruction’,” Palin writes. “But every American understands what it takes to make a decision because it’s right for all, including your family.”

Her lawyer has issued a see-you-in-court warning for doubters.

“To the extent several websites, most notably liberal Alaska blogger Shannyn Moore, are now claiming as ‘fact’ that Governor Palin resigned because she is ‘under federal investigation’ for embezzlement or other criminal wrongdoing, we will be exploring legal options this week to address such defamation,” Van Flein said in a statement issued Saturday.

“This is to provide notice to Ms Moore and those who re-publish the defamation, such as Huffington Post, MSNBC, The New York Times and The Washington Post, that the Palins will not allow them to propagate defamatory material without answering to this in a court of law.”

“I can say definitively I am aware of no criminal investigation whatsoever involving Sarah Palin. Zero,” the governor’s lawyer told the Anchorage Daily News.

The FBI has said the same of Palin.

“There is absolutely no truth to those rumours we’re investigating her or getting ready to indict her,” Special Agent Eric Gonzalez, the bureau’s Alaska spokesman, told the Tribune’s Washington Bureau.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5705585/palin-says-fbi-is-not-investigating-her/