R.I.P. Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter

September 4, 2006

STEVE Irwin probably died instantly when his chest was pierced by a stingray's barb, the producer of the documentary he was making said today.

John Stainton, who has worked as a director and producer on a number of Mr Irwin's film and television projects since 1996, said it was unlikely Mr Irwin had felt any pain.

He said he had gone “over the top of a stingray and a stingray's barb went up and went into his chest and put a hole into his heart”.

Mr Stainton said Mr Irwin had been rushed back to his research vessel but had not regained consciousness despite desperate attempts to revive him. Read more in the Herald Sun

Photo of Steve Irwin

Photo of Steve & his wife

Recognizing a Stroke Victim

Who's had a Stroke? "STROKE": Remember The 1st Three Letters... 'S.T.R.' Please read: STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a woman guest stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine and had only tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They cleaned her up and got her a new plate of food, and while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.)She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead. It only takes a minute to read this... A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the problem was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medical care within 3 hours, which is tough. RECOGNIZING A STROKE Remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn! Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke however doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: S * Ask the individual to SMILE. T * Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e.. . It is sunny out today?)? R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. NOTE : Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that may also be an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 000 ( or your own local emergency number e.g USA= 911) and seek medical attention immediately!! and describe the symptoms to the medical professional / dispatcher.

What is a Stoke? Wikipedia Stroke Information sponsored by:Plaza Lotto.com

Beaconsfield, Tasmania mine rescue

More Pictures NineMSN

The two miners, Brant Webb & Todd Russell, who have been trapped underground, in Beaconsfield, in the State of Tasmania, Australia, for 13 days, have been rescued, alive and healthy. A minor earthquake triggered a collapse when several miners were working their shift about a kilometre ( 3000 feet) underground, killing Larry Knight and entombing the two. Rescuers used innovative rescue techniques to save them, after first punching through the rock with a small hole to place a PVC pipe through which food, clothing, iPods, bedding, medical supplies and items the trapped miners could use to assist their own rescue, were sent. The rock was said to be 5 times harder than concrete but could not be blasted due to the precarious nature of the mine roof. Rescuers used a $6 million vertical boring machine, lent by another mine in Western Australia, to create a horizontal tunnel about 80 feet long and a metre (3 feet) in diameter and then dug the remaining 4 metres ( 12 feet) hand drilling and using low impact explosives to chip away the rock centimetres ( cm=about half inch) at a time. Because paramedics were on station throughout the ideal, the men emerged in good health and on their own feet, with their mining lights blazing.

The ambulances drove from the site with the doors open so the locals and the nation could see for themselves that the men had, indeed, been rescued. an important part of healing the traumatised. As a show of Australian good humour (humor) the first thing they did was to 'log off' their 'long shift' by removing their name tags from a wall outside the mine elevator. Another touch of humour was the attitude they had to the collapsed area of the mine where they were located... they called it a "two star hotel" and they were the two "stars". Congratulations to all those, from right around Australia, who co-operated to rescue these men from so far down in the earth.

Thank you to those near and far who sent words of hope. In a selfless act, the family of the deceased miner, Mr Knight, delayed his funeral until his colleagues could be rescued and they would be able to attend his funeral which is now scheduled for 1:pm Tuesday ( today) local time. This is the "mateship" Australians are known for. "Mateship", in Australia, simply means that we are one large 'family' and you stick by your mates, you do not abandon them, you protect them, you defend them. Any nation which is a friend of Australia, has a good mate to rely on.

R.I.P Larry Knight.

Iranian Earthuake- 300 towns destroyed

Several Earthquakes Hit South Western Iran

Picture shows earthquake destruction at an Iranian village, near the city of Brujerd, caused by a powerful earthquake which devasted western Iran during the night. Early reports indicate up to 300 small villages and hamlets may have been destroyed.

Photo Yahoo April 1, 2006

A strong earthquake has hit western Iran, killing at least 70 people and devastating villages.

More than 1,200 people were injured in an area around the cities of Doroud and Boroujerd in the province of Lorestan, said Ali Barani, head of the provincial emergency team for disasters.

Some survivors were dug out of the rubble of buildings alive, rescue officials said. In the worst hit areas, brick buildings collapsed into piles of masonry and mud homes were reduced to mounds of dust.

ninemsn news Australia

Horrific Car Accident

Six Teenagers Dead

On Saturday evening, a horrific car accident occured in the Victorian rural region of Cardross where several teenagers were hit by a car, as they stood by the side of the road. The group. numbering about 15 persons, was leaving a birthday party.

Witnesses reported that, as the car approached the area, other groups of people were walking along the road, towards another party in the area, and the driver braked so hard to avoid hitting them that a front tyre exploded and threw the vehicle sideways off the road into the victims.

As at writing, 6 teenagers, from as young as 15, are dead and others are still in hospital.

The driver, a 34 year old male, was threatened by other persons at the scene and fled in fear into nearby grape vines. Later in the evening he was arrested and is facing several charges. Two of his own children were in his car and he said he had to abandon them to prevent what he thought would be his own death or serious injury at the hands of the enraged spectators.

Substandard Street Lighting

A senior police officer stated that the lighting along the road is extremely poor, which has been a source of complaint for many years. The reflective visibility is almost zero in some areas of Mildura city and surrounding districts

This is probably caused by the exteme heat in summer which melts the roads and alters the dispersion ratio of bitument to gravel throughout the tarmac. The road surface becomes covered in the black, non-reflective tar as vehicles squash the gravel down into the substance.

A solution seems to be to cease using a bitumen road surface and use concrete, as is used in Sydney and elsewhere in Australia, or coat the existing roads with silicone or another product with light reflecting properties.

The headlights of a car perform almost as if they are not turned on at all and people are forced to drive as if blind.

Please pray for the recovery of those persons who are still in hospital and for the families of all the victims of this aweful disaster.

Please lobby the Mildura City Council, Mildura, Victoria, Australia, 3500 to fix the atrocious street lighting in the city and district by spraying the roads with a reflective substance, add such a product to roadmaking materials when building or maintaining the roads or to use a safer road making material altogether, such as cement.

Please pray for Carolyn's Nephew Mikie

See Carolyn's Blog for Details

R.I.P. Mr. Kerry Packer

Mr. Kerry Packer.

You made a grown man cry on the passing of an era in Australian business.

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Australia's richest man passed away in his sleep and left behind, not only a business empire, but also an indelible influence on some of the Australian way of life. The author of this blog post never met you nor could his meagre disability pension match the millions you accumulated by hard work and business accumen however you are not envied nor is there any animosity for you at all. You earned your success and your place in Australian history, for good or for bad. Your acute sense of a good deal provided work for thousands of Australians. Your personal down to earth approach to dealing with fools, government & bureaucracy was the same as that of the person in the street. R.I. P.