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THE death toll in cyclone-ravaged Burma could hit 500,000 – more than TWICE the total killed by the Boxing Day Tsunami. Last night’s warning came as it emerged that 17 Britons, including ex-pats and backpackers, were still missing. Sources said 200,000 people were already dead or dying. But the figure could rise to HALF A MILLION through disease and hunger if the nation’s hardline army rulers continue to block aid for the devastated lowlands of the Irrawaddy Delta. That would dwarf the 230,000 deaths across South East Asia in the 2004 catastrophe. Nyo Ohn Myint, of exiled opposition party The...

New Jersey: Public Opposition to Toll Roads Leads to ArrestFormer elected local officials are arrested for opposing toll road plans at a public town hall meeting attended by the New Jersey governor. Middle Township, New Jersey Police arrested two motorists on Saturday for speaking out at a public town hall meeting against Governor Jon S Corzine's plans to increase the use of tolling i the Garden State. Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan had been standing calmly outside of Middle Township High School dressed in a suit and winter coat. He was surrounded by a handful of sign and pamphlet-wielding toll...

Iraqi war death toll slashed by three quarters 22:00 09 January 2008 NewScientist.com news service Jim Giles The death toll in Iraq may be far lower than previously claimed, according to a team working for the Iraqi Ministry of Health. The researchers estimate that the number of violent deaths in Iraq between the US-led invasion of March 2003 and the end of June 2006 to be between 104,000 and 223,000. This loss of life is described as "massive", but is well below the figure of 600,000 violent deaths claimed by a team of Iraqi and US scientists in autumn 2006...

I found a working toll-free US Capitol switchboard numba....... CALL TOLL-FREE: 1-800-965-4701 Ask for your (or someone elses) Senator or Rep office....

Man Jailed Over 50-Cent Toll Mass. Resident Considering Lawsuit POSTED: 6:49 am EDT September 14, 2007 UPDATED: 1:18 pm EDT September 15, 2007 ROCHESTER, N.H. -- A Massachusetts man who insists his New Hampshire highway tokens are still valid just spent three days in jail because he insisted on using two tokens to pay a 50-cent toll. Thomas Jensen, 68, of Braintree, said the state broke a contract with him and everyone else who bought tokens by refusing to accept them after January of last year. He was convicted of theft of services for continuing to use tokens after they...

BELLEFONTE -- One of up to 10 Interstate 80 toll booths would be put up in Centre County near the Clinton County line and another would be located 40 miles to the west in Clearfield County, according to unofficial plans seen by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Benner Township. Corman, majority policy chairman of the Senate Republicans, made the disclosure during a news conference Monday where he assailed Gov. Ed Rendell as "irresponsible" for holding the state budget "hostage until he gets everything he wants done." The senator said the I-80 map he saw is an early draft and could change...

JERUSALEM - Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday during an expanded offensive in Lebanon, the army said, making it the highest one-day toll for the Jewish state since the war against Hezbollah erupted. The deaths, which occurred in several battles in Lebanon throughout the day, brought to more than 100 the number of Israeli troops killed so far. In its statement Sunday, the military also said that a five-member crew of a downed helicopter was missing. The transport helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah guerillas. Only the crew were on board at the time, the army said. On Saturday, more...

Swanton Woman Killed in Fiery Crash on Indiana Toll RoadAug 3, 2006 06:46 AM PDT BRISTOL, INDIANA (AP) -- A semitrailer plowed into vehicles stopped in a construction zone on an interstate highway, killing the truck driver and four members of a family, including an Ohioan, police said Wednesday. The fiery crash occurred about 4 p.m. Tuesday about 20 miles east of South Bend, said state police spokesman Sgt. Trent Smith. The Indiana Toll Road, which runs on Interstates 80/90 through the area, was closed while crews cleaned up the wreckage. A preliminary investigation showed that three vehicles, including a...

Indonesia death toll passes 500 People are still desperately looking for loved ones The death toll in the Indonesian tsunami has risen to at least 520, fuelling questions over why no warning was given ahead of the disaster. Government officials said they received a warning that the island of Java was threatened by a tsunami following an underwater earthquake off the coast. But they said they were unable to pass on the warning to coastal areas. A fresh earthquake hit the island on Wednesday, but no injuries or major damage have been reported so far. The epicentre of the latest...

Java tsunami death toll over 300 12:25 18 July 2006 NewScientist.com news service Damian Carrington The tsunami that struck the south coast of Java in Indonesia on Monday is now reported to have killed at least 300 people, with another 140 missing and over 50,000 displaced. The earthquake that generated the wave struck at 1519 local time (0819 GMT), 245 kilometres south of Java's coast. As more seismological data has been collated, its magnitude has been upgraded from 7.2 to 7.7. The logarithmic scale used means this signifies a fivefold increase in energy from the previous estimate. The earthquake's depth...

Motorists reportedly were forced to line up and pay to get out of a chaotic fire scene in England's Birkenhead Tunnel after a taxi exploded. One witness said panicking drivers had to line up as long as 10 minutes while toll operators continued to charge vehicles as flames engulfed the taxi, the Liverpool Echo said. A motorist said the tunnel emergency phone wouldn't work although Merseytravel, the tunnel's operator, insisted the phones were all working.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE ASADABAD, Afghanistan, April 12, 2006 – Combined Forces Command Afghanistan officials now say seven children died and 34 more were injured - some critically -- when rockets fired by al Qaeda and Taliban extremists operating in the area slammed into the Salabagh Primary School yesterday. Coalition medical staff members race to evacuate five Afghan children to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, for emergency treatment after a rocket hit their school April 11. At least one rocket exploded in the courtyard of the Salabagh Primary School in Asadabad, killing seven children and wounding 34 others. Photo by Pfc....

Indiana Is Open for Business Mitch “the Blade” Daniels is putting the state on the free-market cutting edge. By Bret Swanson There’s about to be a building boom in Indiana, which is desperate good news for a state that has been severely challenged by the global manufacturing shift and years of ambivalent leadership. The chief architect of the boom is the state’s decisive Governor Mitch Daniels, President Bush’s former budget director. In Washington, Daniels drew scorn from congressional big spenders, acquiring the nickname “the blade” for his cost-cutting and privatizing ways. (The moniker could just as easily apply to his...

PORTAGE | Northwest Indiana Regional Planning Commission members quizzed three top Indiana transportation officials for two hours Thursday on the controversial Indiana Toll Road lease. They received firm answers to some questions that allayed some fears. But answers to others only heightened apprehensions. "Our concern is what happens to the next generation and the next generation," said NIRPC chairman Kevin Breitzke. "Will they be cussing at us?" For some questions, INDOT Director of Planning John Weaver admitted the answer simply won't be known until legislation is passed, public rule making is done or the lease signed. "It's a work in...

Two people die in horrendous car accident Posted: 11/23/2005 10:27 pm It is not yet known if weather was the cause of the accident Niles, MI - A deadly crash occurred Wednesday night near the Indiana/Michigan state line, on south 11th Street in Niles, just north of State Road 933. Two people died in a violent crash that left the cars completely mangled. At least three other people were hurt. One car ended up in a building, another smashed up like an accordion. One witness we spoke to was amazed that anyone was able to walk away. Linda Miller says,...

New York City is studying a plan to charge $7 to motorists who drive into midtown during peak hours. The New York Times reports that the Partnership for New York City -- is engaged in a nine-month study of so-called "congestion pricing.'' Such a pricing model would theoretically lead more people to carpool or use mass transit, as well as help air quality and allow for speedier bus routes. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's spokesman told the paper it is not on his second-term agenda. According to outlines of the plan, the 840,000 cars that enter Manhattan south of 60th Street on...

SAN ANTONIO -- Hurricane Katrina smashed “a good 95 percent” of Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., turning it into a pile of debris and mud, said a base spokesperson. Lt. Col. Claudia Foss, 81st Training Wing public affairs officer, said water surges from the Gulf of Mexico and the Bay of Biloxi reached depths of five to six feet at times. “Whether it was five feet, one foot or a few inches, at one point everything was covered with bay or Gulf water,” she said. Fortunately, there have been no reports of people killed or injured at Keesler, she said....

Sections of Texas 45, MoPac poised to open early, under budget, but savings won't result in lower drivers' fees. The complex of structures alongside the road — well, in the road, actually — is unlike any other built before in Central Texas. A tidy two-story office building, with a secure bay out back for Brinks trucks to haul away the public's spare change. A narrow tunnel going east under the road, with 16 doors leading to 16 stairways going up to what will be 16 toll booths. And out there between the concrete booth islands, raised metal skeletons with electronic...

RELEASE: It’s official: Ferguson, Plum to square off Nov. 8th An already heated race became official when the Fairfax County Electoral Board certified Donny Ferguson, a Reston Libertarian, for the Nov. 8th ballot. Republicans failed to field a candidate. “For the first time in nearly a decade, and for the first time since redistricting, voters have an alternative to the high taxes and increased traffic proposed by Ken Plum,” said Ferguson. “This district opposes his County Income Tax proposal and high taxes, traffic congestion and Tyson’s Corner-style development that are part of his expensive Metro plan.” Ferguson faces Delegate Ken...

For Immediate Release March 30, 2005 FERGUSON MEETS WITH VOTERS, SLAMS PLUM TOLL HIKE Reston and Herndon-area residents congregated last night at Langston Hughes Middle School to voice their opposition to the Dulles toll hike in a meeting organized by NoTollIncrease.com. Donny Ferguson, a Reston Libertarian, spoke with voters about his opposition to the Dulles toll hike backed by incumbent Del. Ken Plum (D-36th,) his support for the a Dulles freeway project and proven solutions to traffic congestion. "After a quarter-century of demanding endless toll hikes while watching traffic just get worse, Ken Plum still doesn't get it," said Ferguson....

Church bells have tolled in mourning of a loved one's death for centuries. (The toll is a slow, somber, usually single sound from the lowest, largest bell; very different from the joyous pealing of the whole set.) Perhaps it's time we asked our pastors, of every church we know of, to ring a single bell each hour for as long as Teri fights for her life. One bell, rung once each hour, can be programmed into electrical carrilions, or rung mechanically, or even struck by hand manually by watchstanders. It'd be a "rining" effort that would remind people who satnds...

Reston - February 17, 2005 One of Virginia's most strident advocates of tax hikes will have to defend his record, and his support for both the proposed toll hikes and a new county income tax, in November's general election. Donny Ferguson, a Reston Libertarian, will oppose Delegate Ken Plum in the Nov. 8 general election. Ferguson works for the [Republican] Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, dealing with traffic, growth and budgetary issues. "You'd think Plum would know his district doesn't support his call for higher tolls, seeing as they already voted against his call for higher taxes for transit in...

Officials just reaching hardest hit areas in Indonesia. BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (CNN) -- The latest death toll from the Asian tsunami has increased to more than 80,000 as relief workers and supplies begin to reach some of the most devastated areas.The dramatic rise of the number of deaths came Wednesday as officials were finally able to reach remote regions -- like Indonesia's Aceh province, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Maldives.More than half of those deaths were reported in Indonesia, the nearest land mass to Sunday's undersea earthquake that triggered the deadly waves and flooding in about a dozen...

Threat of Hunger, Disease Looms As Reeling Nations Appeal for Aid COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Dec. 28 -- Devastated coastal areas across South Asia struggled Tuesday to prevent hunger and outbreaks of disease as dazed survivors searched desperately for the missing two days after a tsunami surged across the region. The death toll rose to more than 51,000 people, a large percentage of them on this island nation in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lankan officials said Tuesday that the freakish, earthquake-driven waves had killed more than 18,700 people here, a dramatic increase from earlier calculations. They said many more were...

State approves bid for I-35 toll alternative Spanish group led by Cintra and Zachry would pay for $6 billion of turnpikes, and give state a $1.2 billion concession payment. By Ben Wear AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF The Texas Transportation Commission, not prone to staring at the mouths of gift horses, today chose a consortium to build an alternative to Interstate 35 that pledges to construct most of that road on its own dime. Actually, the partnership led by Spanish tollroad operator Cintra and Zachry Construction corporation would spend $6 billion worth of its dimes to lay down a four-lane toll road from...

BEN WEAR: GETTING THERE This session, toll roads will get full attention GETTING THERE This session, toll roads will get full attention Everything you ought to know about toll roads Buses' controversial 200-foot trip An unlikely new face at Cap Metro Anti-toll founders plot a revolution Ben Wear --------------------------------------------------------- Monday, December 13, 2004 When I moved back to Austin about 16 months ago after living elsewhere since early 2001, everything I saw and was told indicated that Texas had a discussion about toll roads while I was gone and decided that turnpikes were the wave of the future. Texas 45...

Seventy-one US troops were killed in the offensive led by US Marines to take control of the Iraqi city Fallujah from insurgents, the US military has said. The toll was 20 higher than previously reported. Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim city of 300,000 people 50 kilometres west of Baghdad, was the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since the initial US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. The Fallujah offensive caused more than half of the total US military fatalities in Iraq in November, the second-deadliest month of the 20-month war. According to Pentagon figures released on Wednesday, 134 US...

Death Toll Rises to 166 China Coal Blast 7 minutes ago World - AP Asia By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer BEIJING - The death toll in a massive coal mine explosion in central China rose Wednesday to 166 after scores of missing miners were declared dead, government radio reported. The report on the Web site of China National Radio came after officials said rescue efforts were being blocked by fires and toxic fumes in the Chenjiashan Coal Mine, which was hit by the huge gas explosion on Sunday. The death toll earlier was reported at 65, with 101 miners...

Technology and Funds to Drive "Smart Highways"

US soldiers in Iraq say 1,000 death toll meaningless 2 hours, 30 minutes ago BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) - The deaths of 1,000 American troops in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein has only strengthened US resolve to restore security to the strife-torn country, soldiers said. Dismissing parallels with the 1961-75 war in Vietnam, officers lashed out at the media for playing the grim-reaper over the mounting casualty toll and failing to appreciate the sacrifices made by each soldier. "It sucks. The newspapers glorify it. Everyday, reporting the numbers going up and up, trying to push a point,"...

BESLAN, Russia (AP) - Commandos stormed a school Friday in southern Russia and overcame separatist rebels holding hundreds of hostages as crying children, some naked and covered in blood, fled the building through explosions and gunfire. Health officials said more than 200 people died, the Interfax news agency reported. Ninety-five victims were identified - many of them children whose shattered, bloodied bodies were placed on lines of stretchers - and Interfax quoted unnamed sources in the regional Health Ministry as saying more than 200 people were killed by fire from the militants or died from their wounds. Hundreds of hostages...

Caribbean Death Toll from Floods Nears 2,000 Wed May 26, 2004 07:05 PM ET PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in Haiti and the Dominican Republic rose to at least 1,950 on Wednesday. The toll rose dramatically with the discovery of more than 1,000 bodies in Mapou, a southeastern Haitian town where communications are poor, said Margareth Martin, the head of the civil protection office for Haiti's southeast region. Haiti's death toll stood at about 1,660, including 1,000 in Mapou, 500 elsewhere in Haiti's southeast region, 158 in the riverside town of Fond Verettes, and...

Norfolk Southern Corp. could make Roanoke, Va. once again the crossroads of two major rail corridors. Robert Martinez, Norfolk Southern vice-president for business development, told the Roanoke Times on March 29 the railroad wants to upgrade its tracks southwest of Roanoke in the Interstate 81 corridor. That alone would be a change from the railroad’s focus for the past 15 years. If the tracks were upgraded, NS could capture more of the business of shipping container freight from the Southeast to the Northeast and possibly slow the growth of truck traffic. The railroad also wants to improve its east-west corridor...

Bird flu reaches China as death toll rises to eight By Jan McGirk in Bangkok 28 January 2004 Bird flu sweeping across Asia has reached China, authorities said yesterday, after dead ducks tested positive to the virus. A second boy died in Thailand yesterday, pushing the official number of human fatalities from bird flu in Vietnam and Thailand to eight. Five other suspicious deaths may be linked to avian influenza, but the test results in Bangkok are incomplete. Officials were due to gather in Bangkok today for an emergency health summit. The infected Chinese duck farm is located in Dingdang,...

Flu panic grows as death toll rises By Jan McGirk in Bangkok 25 January 2004 Thai officials were battling yesterday to contain mounting public panic over the outbreak of avian influenza, which has left millions of chickens dead and killed at least eight people across Asia. Up to 13 deaths have been linked to the disease.By the weekend it was apparent that the widespread slaughter of chickens, including burying them alive in Thailand, had failed to stop the bird flu from spreading through Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, in south-east Asia, as well as South Korea and Japan. The latest reports...

Doctors warn of death toll from 'silent epidemic' of hepatitis C By Jeremy Laurance Health Editor 01 January 2004 Hospital specialists criticised the Government yesterday for failing to act to curb the spread of hepatitis C, a lethal blood-borne virus. The silent epidemic of hepatitis C is officially estimated to have infected 200,000 people in the UK - four times as many as HIV - and more than 100 people are being infected each week. It is already the main reason for liver transplants and is predicted to be killing more people than Aids by 2020, yet only a quarter...

Iran Quake Kills 4,000, Toll Expected to Rise By Parisa Hafezi BAM, Iran (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake struck the ancient Silk Road city of Bam in southeastern Iran on Friday, killing at least 4,000 people and injuring some 30,000 others, state television said. "This is only an initial statistic," the television said, indicating the death toll was expected to rise further. Iranian television said about 70 per cent of the buildings in the historic city, a popular tourist destination 600 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran, had collapsed in the earthquake which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale. Reuters...

Did anybody catch Imus this morning? I've transcripted this because I thought it was kind of funny. As soon as I heard Imus talking to the correspondent from Turkey...I knew there would be problems. LOL!!! Imus:"Alright Charles, Whats going on in the news this morning? Whats this about Turkey and Iraq I hear?" Charles:"Well I-Man the Uh...um...there was a bomb explostion in Levent, Istanbul. Apparently near a shopping mall." Imus:"What about Iraq?" Charles:"Well I-Man the Uh...um...there was a bomb explosion in uh Ram..." Imus:"You don't seem to even know what in the hell you are talking about!" Charles:"Well I-Man you...

So you think you accomplished something by stealing another election and putting that dummy goon "Ahhnuld" in as Governor. Well he's an idiot just like that other installed resident George (imbecile) W. Bush. The reason California's economy is so bad is the fault of the white house resident and his moronic economic policies. Also, his Enron buddies screwed California with the energy contracts. So after Ahhnie screws California royally and the nation sees what corrupt fools W and the repuggies are, the Democrats will take control of the nation again for 40 years. Hasta La Vista baybee

Smart cards track commuters By Aaron Scullion BBC News Online staff Civil rights campaigners have expressed concerns about the new smart travelcards introduced for London commuters. Under the new system, Transport for London will be able to track a commuter's movements and it plans to retain information on journeys made for "a number of years" Each card has a unique ID number linked to the registered owner's name, which is recorded together with the location and time of the exchange every time the card is used. The data, retained for business purposes, could be released to law enforcement agencies...

<p>PARIS — The death toll in France from August's blistering heat wave has reached nearly 15,000, according to a government-commissioned report released Thursday, surpassing a prior tally by more than 3,000.</p> <p>A study by scientists at INSERM, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (search), determined that 14,802 people had died in August.</p>

As many as 5,000 people could have died as a result of the recent heatwave across France. The estimate, up from an original 3,000, has been acknowledged by French Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei. "The figure of 5,000 was mentioned. It's one hypothesis. It's plausible but it's just a hypothesis," Mattei said. He said available death tolls were currently based on estimates. "We won't have definitive and indisputable figures for several weeks," he added Most of the dead were elderly people who could not cope in the temperatures of more than 40C. But they included two Britons caught up in forest...

MOSCOW, 9 August 2003 — More than 12,000 Russian soldiers have died in the nearly four-year war in separatist Chechnya, almost triple the officially disclosed figure, the Soldiers’ Mothers Committee rights group said yesterday. Valentina Malnikova, a representative of the respected group, told Moscow Echo radio that the figures included soldiers who died on their way to a hospital or from injuries at a later date — deaths that are not officially registered by the authorities. The estimate suggests that on an average, nearly nine Russian soldiers have died daily since President Vladimir Putin launched the self-declared “anti-terror” campaign while...

Death toll in Liberian capital rises to 600 Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria and James Astill Wednesday July 23, 2003 The Guardian (UK) The civilian death toll in Liberia's civil war soared to more than 600 yesterday, according to government officials, as fighting raged for a fifth day between rebels and government forces for control of the capital, Monrovia. As mortars and machinegun-fire ripped through residential districts, panicked residents and aid workers appealed for foreign troops to intervene and re-establish peace. The United Nations refugee agency described the situation in the capital as "horrific". West African ministers and security officers met...

I just noticed that Ann Coulter is scheduled to speak at The 25th Annual National Conservative Student Conference. Is Coulter the type of person who should be speaking at a high profile even? Coulter once said that her "only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building". She has never apologized for that comment. In fact, to this day, she stands by it. I think this comment clearly shows that she is a sympathizer of right wing terrorism. That begs the question... why was she invited to speak at a high profile republican...

June 25, 2003 - Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem was one of 30 people killed in a suicide bombing in the Park Hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, in the midst of the Passover holiday seder on March 27, 2002. On the eve of Passover, the terrorist walked into the dining room of the hotel, located in the center of Netanya, where 250 guests had just sat down to begin the seder. He detonated an explosive device, killing 22 immediately and injuring 140, eight of whom subsequently died. The bomber was identified as a member of the Hamas Iz...

<p>A garden where patients at the Central Teaching Hospital for Children could once stroll is now a cemetery. Eric Seals, Detroit Free Press.</p> <p>BAGHDAD, Iraq - The battle for Baghdad cost the lives of at least 1,101 Iraqi civilians, many of them women and children, according to records at the city's 19 largest hospitals.</p>

Sars toll soars to 235 as 17 more die in Asia By Joe McDonald in Beijing 23 April 2003 Asia reported a further 17 deaths from severe acute respiratory syndrome yesterday as Beijing officials were told to redouble the fight against the virus and schoolchildren in Hong Kong went back to class wearing surgical masks. Worldwide, the death toll rose to 235 and the number of infections passed 4,000. China reported 11 new Sars fatalities, Malaysia announced its second death and Hong Kong, which is worst hit, report five more deaths, pushing the toll to 99. In Hong Kong, 200,000...

Death toll tops 200 as countries struggle to stem spread of diseaseSars Outbreak The cost to the global economy may reach £19bn, says WHO as a sense of crisis increases in China By Paul Peachey 21 April 2003 The worldwide death toll from the Sars virus yesterday topped 200 as a sharp rise in casualties revealed that a hardcore of stricken countries was failing to stem the outbreak. Among the 26 nations affected so far, a clear split has emerged. The majority, which has its relatively small number of cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) under control, and others...

Sars death toll hits new high in Hong Kong By Severin Carrell 20 April 2003 The global crisis over the Sars virus intensified yesterday after the death toll in Hong Kong reached record levels and Singapore imposed draconian measures to control the outbreak. The authorities in Hong Kong said 12 people died yesterday from the flu-like Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome – the province's highest daily figure since the epidemic began last month, taking the total toll to 81. Clearly unnerved by the fast spread of the disease, the authorities in Singapore announced that from tomorrow Sars victims who flouted quarantine...