Tunnel Collapses in Japan

Early Monday morning, nine people were discovered dead after their cars were crushed by concrete that feel from the ceiling of a tunnel in Japan. The collapsing tunnel severed a major highway that led into Tokyo.

According to News reports have said that investigators believed that the supports in the ceiling, of the 35 year old tunnel, have grown brittle and weak. An official has said that each slab weighed around 1.2 tons. The concrete trampled three vehicles, one being a van that was carrying six people. Only one of the van’s riders had survived.   

The collapse caused a long traffic jam on one of the major highways that led to Tokyo. The drivers and passengers, who got out of the tunnel, reported to the media those they had escaped on foot. Some of them also reported that they could hear cries of people trapped but were too fearful of another collapse prevented them from helping. The company of the tunnel said that a regular routine inspection didn’t see and signs of danger and apologize for the accident. The collapse of the tunnel had people questioning if other tunnels and highways made around the same time were also growing too old and needed to be replaced.

Reading this news report made me sad and hoped that the people who weren’t discovered dead and were injured were ok. It also makes me kind of scared of driving on the highway, more scared than I already am, and I will probably think about it whenever I go out driving or drive on the highway.

(WC 262)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/world/asia/tunnel-collapse-outside-tokyo-traps-motorists.html?ref=world

US Intervenes with the Conflict in Syria

                Hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, the Obama administration, has considered having a deeper intervention to push the current President in Syria Bashar al-Assad from power. The administration has considered several different alternatives even though no decisions have been made. One of the alternatives, that are being considered, would be that they would directly provide arms to some opposition fighters.

The main urgent decision is whether NATO should set up surface-to-air missiles in Turkey. The chemicals could be carrying chemical weapons. Some of the strategists and administration officials think that the Syrian Air Force pilots might be afraid how the missiles batteries may be used.

Another option, that was mentioned earlier, providing the opposite fighters weapons rather than the continuous use in other countries. One of the riskier ideas was to put C.I.A. officers on the grounds in Syria. All the steps were considered before the presidential election.

Whether America should heavily intervene in another conflict is remained uncertain. Compared to Libya’s conflict Syria’s is far more complex. Officials continue to worry that risk or the intervention to too great to give a good reason for action. Other officials have argued that being more aggressive steps are necessary Syria by the loss in life there and the opening to deal a huge blow to Iran’s only ally in that region. America’s officials and independent specialists on Syria have said that the administration was reviewing its policy, in Syria, gain credibility and sway with opposition fighters.

The thoughts I have thought well typing this blog post was that I had no idea what half of this stuff actually means. I think, from what I understand that we are trying to help the conflict in Syria by intervening which could be a good thing? I honestly don’t know. When I read it I tried my best to understand what it was saying but I do not and I probably won’t understand it is saying for a while.

(WC 330)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/world/us-is-weighing-stronger-action-in-syrian-conflict.html?ref=world&_r=0

Mount Tongariro Erupts in New Zealand

                                On December 21, a volcano that is neighbors with a well known volcano known as Mount Doom in the Lord of the Rings movies erupted. It is located in a remote part of New Zealand’s North Island.  On November 21, the volcano had erupted for five minutes and spewed around the amount of 2.5 miles of ash. The 6,490 foot volcano, Tongariro, had first erupted in the year of 1897. Scientists have predicted another eruption, with a similar size, to erupt in the next couple weeks, according to the newspaper the New Zealand Herald.  On that same day several flights were canceled on the New Zealand’s North Island.

                My thoughts on the volcano are that it seems like there was not a lot of damage so I don’t think much on the subject besides that it is good that no one was harmed during the volcano’s eruption. The only bad thing that has seemed to occur that day was that some plane flights were canceled on November 21^st. The reason that I picked this article was because the Lord of the Rings thing caught my eye on the subject. I haven’t seen any of the films but the whole thing made me think the report was going to be a little more interesting. I also decided to write about it because volcanoes are also appealing things to read or write about. I honestly thought I would enjoy the news report more than I did but I did not really like it that much. It didn’t really say much and went back and connected with things that didn’t really have to do with the volcano.
(WC 274)

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/11/121121-mount-doom-volcano-new-zealand-science-eruption/