The News Of …

Sunday, March 20, marked the vernal equinox: the traditional start of official day of spring and the end of winter.
The Sun yesterday was directly over the equator on the Tropic of Cancer. The Sun crossed into the Northern Hemisphere and will shine there for the majority of the time for the majority of time in the coming next six months.
But, the vernal equinox does not mean that the length of day exactly becomes equal to the length of night.
According to Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory (Washington) the equality in the lengths of day and night always emerges before the vernal equinox and after the autumnal equinox.
Speaking on the topic, Chester said: “Exactly when it happens depends on where you are located on the surface of the Earth.”
The next equinox, the Spring Equinox, will occur in six months time.
The vernal and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year when an individual standing on the Equator can see the sun passing directly over his\her head.

Vernal Equinox.

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti. A spokesman for Wyclef Jean says the hip-hop star has been released from a hospital after being treated for a gunshot wound to his hand.
Joe Mignon (senior program director for Jean’s Yele Foundation) says Jean was shot in the hand after 11 p.m. local time Saturday in the city of Delmas, just outside Port-au-Prince.
Jean’s brother (Samuel) confirmed the musician was shot. Neither he nor Mignon had additional details.
The shooting comes on the eve of presidential elections in Haiti. Jean is supporting fellow musician Michel Martelly.
A spokesman for the Haitian National Police could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wyclef Jean wearing haiti flag.

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In his first comments, Aristide mostly avoided overtly political issues but stressed the importance of including all Haitians in national life. He did mention the ‘exclusion’ of his Fanmi Lavalas party, Haiti’s biggest, which was barred from registering its own candidate for the elections.
“We condemn all kinds of violence so that the education of young people can bring peace in the head and the belly” – he said, recalling one of his old campaigning slogans.
Remembering the victims of the 2010 earthquake and hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors still living in
squalid tent camps across the wrecked capital, he said: “Your suffering is running through my blood like a river”.
U.N. peacekeepers, who are providing security for the polls, reinforced Haitian police in the streets.
A large crowd at the airport carried banners and posters welcoming ‘Titide,’ as Aristide is affectionately known.
“This is a great day for the Haitian people” – said Ansyto Felix, an activist for the Fanmi Lavalas party.

Haiti beach.

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Chicago. Keisha Hampton has been to the NCAA tournament and has come home a first-round loser along with the rest of her DePaul teammates the past two years.
She’s tired of it.
“The first two tournament games (2009 and 2010) we lost because we didn’t defend anybody and we didn’t rebound” – said Hampton, who leads the Blue Demons in scoring at 16 points per game. “Last year, after we lost to Vanderbilt, coach (Doug Bruno) made an emphasis that we were going to defend and rebound (this year). That’s how we’re going to win in March.”
DePaul (27-6) tied a school record for victories this season and takes a lofty No. 3 seed into Saturday’s NCAA tournament game against Patriot League champion Navy (20-10) in University Park, Pa.
The Blue Demons beat six ranked teams this season, including then-No. 2 Stanford, and finished second in the tough Big East. Their best previous seed was a No. 4 in 2006.
“The No. 3 seed put an exclamation point on the regular season” – Bruno said. “Now the real season, the postseason, starts in earnest. Now we have to go out and win.”

NCAA tournament.

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St. Patrick’s Day revelry in Savannah is expected to fill the streets of Georgia’s oldest city with thousands of tourists.
The sprawling parade started in 1824 by Irish immigrants to the Georgia coast kicks off Thursday morning. And hotel managers and bar owners in the city expect the celebration to continue through the weekend.
Some bars plan to begin pouring at 7 a.m. Thursday, a full three hours before the parade begins. They won’t close until last call at 2 a.m. Friday.
Savannah last studied the economic impact of St. Patrick’s Day a decade ago, when the celebration on the cobblestone riverfront alone was estimated to bring in 30 million dollars. Turnout on peak years has been estimated at up to 400.000 people.

St. Patrick’s Day.

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Rapper Nate Dogg has died at the age of 41.
His death was confirmed late last night, March 15, in his home town of Long Beach, California by the Press-Telegram. The cause of death is not yet confirmed.
Dogg (real name Nathaniel D Hale) had suffered two strokes previously – one in 2007 and another in 2008.
The rapper made his debut on Dr. Dre’s 1992 debut solo album “The Chronic” and went on to sign with Death Row Records. He also collaborated with Eminem, Ludacris, Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Warren G.
He released three studio albums of his own, most recently his 2004 self-titled effort.

Nate Dogg.

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The threat of radiation exposure was heightened Tuesday following an explosion and fire at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which later prompted officials to warn people in a 30-kilometer (19-mile) radius to stay indoors.
“Please do not go outside. Please stay indoors. Please close windows and make your homes airtight. Don’t turn on ventilators. Please hang your laundry indoors” – Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano said to the residents in the danger zone. “These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that.”
According to the Associated Press, about 140.000 people were impacted by the warning.
Hours after the explosion and fire, elevated levels of radiation were detected in Tokyo (175 miles away) though government officials said there was no health risk there, according to the Associated Press.
The explosion, which occurred at 6:10 a.m. local time Tuesday came shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced that the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were shut down.
While the previous explosions at Fukushima Daiichi reactors Nos. 1 and 3 were hydrogen blasts caused by a buildup of steam in the reactor units, the new blast at reactor No. 2 has officials very concerned.
This time, the roof did not blow off and it’s now believed the trapped pressure cracked the containment vessel around the reactor’s core, allowing radio active material to seep out.

Radiation exposure.

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It’s March 14 – National Pi Day, a day to celebrate the number that is beloved by math geeks and wizards the world over – 3.14.
For those of you who, like me, doodled during math class, here’s a refresher – Pi represents the relationship between a circle’s diameter (its width) and its circumference (the distance around the circle). And I know this because that’s what I read over at PiDay.org, the website dedicated to this numerical phenomenon.
I also know this – You can celebrate National Pi Day with a slice of pie. How about this beauty from the L.A. Times Test Kitchen – Boysenberry-Strawberry glazed Pi…er, I mean Pie.
If you know any bakeries or restaurants celebrating with great deals on pies or desserts, let us know in the comments section below.

Pi Day.

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Tonight is the start of Daylight savings time 2011 and this will be officially starting at 2:00 am this March 13, 2011. Most of the residents in the United States must set their clocks one hour ahead to 3:00 AM with the exception of Hawaii and Arizona.
Most of the countries in Europe observe Daylight saving time but the following countries like Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Guam, US Virgin Islands and American Samoa don’t participate or observe daylight savings time.
In the year 1895 – the daylight saving time (DST) was originally proposed b George Vernon Hudson in order to save energy. The Daylight saving time’s goal is to line the work-day up with the day light.
In order to remember the Daylight saving time, some people used the term ‘fall backwards’ and ‘spring ahead’. In the fall we get an extra hour of sleep while during the spring we lose an hour.
The fall back will be on November 13th 2011 meaning we will get back to standard time adding one hour sleep. If your using an atomic clocks you shouldn’t be minding if the time change in spring and in fall.

Daylight savings time 2011.

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The NFL lockout inched closer to reality as the players and team owners failed to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement to save the 2011 season.
The NFL Players Association decertified as a union and said that it will become a professional trade association.
That allowed the players to file an antitrust suit against the league and let the court decide the future of the NFL.
The complaint reads: “The NFL has a long history of violating federal antitrust law in an effort to minimize its labor costs.”
Among the plaintiffs of the antitrust suit were the Indianapolis Colts’ Peyton Manning and the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady. The players accuse the owners of colluding to force an NFL lockout.
“The owners’ collective purpose in imposing the ‘lockout’ is to force the non-unionized NFL players to agree to the massive wage reductions and anticompetitive restrictions, which the NFL defendants are seeking from the players” – the filing stated.
Team owners and the players union were at odds over the sharing of the league’s nine billion revenue per year. The union said financial documents were withheld from them while owners said the union intended to go to court all this time.

NFL lockout.

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