Did Haiti's Earthquake Damage Extremist Islam's Foundation?

By Uri Marks

On Tuesday of this week, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake. The destruction has been widespread and the Red Cross estimates that 50,000 people have been killed.
Sadly, that figure could be conservative.
Aid organisations and the United Nations have appealed to the international community for assistance. The response has been overwhelming, and planes are being turned away from Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport.
Haiti is regarded as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It has a population of 10 million, with per capita GDP at $US790. 80% of the population live below the poverty line.
Haiti has nothing to offer to the Western world. No natural resources. No oil. Haiti is no threat to the Westerm world. It does not even have an army. There is no need for the Western world to support, or assist, Haiti. The Western world has nothing to gain by assisting Haiti. And the Western world has no Haitian threat is has to be fearful of.
However, news agencies were quick to report on those countries, NGO's and aid agencies that have responded to pleas of assistance.
I praise The Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. They have been essential in providing assistance and attempting to coordinate relief efforts.
The United States has pledged and intial $100 million in aid, and Barack Obama has promised more. 800 American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were deployed from North Carolina. 2000 marines will be joining them.
America is also sending a naval hospital ship, the USNS Comfort. It is best described as a 'floating hospital'. It has a trauma facility that can treat 1000 patients at a time.
Britain has sent a team to Haiti that will assist with rescue and relief efforts. Gordon Brown has appealed to the Brtish public to donate money to the relief effort.
Israel was one of the first countries to respond, with assistance in search and rescue as well as field hospitals. An Israeli military official, Gidi Shenar, said "We have been in several places in the world. We are bringing our knowledge and we are coming to assist the people over there and save lives. As fast as we can, we will be over there."
This kind of assistance, from the West, is not unique. And it's not limited to predominantly 'Christian countries', like Haiti.
For example, following an earthquake in Iran, in June 2002, America sent aid and supplies to Iran. President Bush stated "Human suffering knows no political boundaries". Following a December 2003 earthquake in Iran, the USA, Russia, Britain, Germany and Spain all offered help.
Israel has sent teams to assist in rescue and aid efforts following, for example, the August 1999 earthquake in Turkey, the January 2001 earthquake in India, the June 2006 earthquake in Indonesia, the December 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Here is a list of countries that were reported, in the 'West' and the 'East', as first to respond to Haiti's calls for assistance:
United States, United Kingdom, China, Brazil, the European Union, Britain, Germany, Israel, France, Switzerland, South Korea and Canada.
There has been amazing support being sent to Haiti from the Muslim and Arab world as well as Muslim and Arab charities. South Africa based Gift of the Givers is just one example of a charity that responded within hours of the news breaking. Turkey is sending a mobile hospital and humanitarian aid to Haiti.
However, there is something that stands out, for me, from the list of countries that were first to respond to Haiti's humanitarian crisis.
A huge fire has broken out at an oil refinery in Ichihara ...
What Causes An Earthquake ? An Earthquake is a sudden tremor or movement of the earth's crust, which originates naturally at or below the surface. ... 

What Causes An Appreciation In The Exchange Rate

By Richard Pettinger
Platinum Quality Author
An appreciation in the Exchange rate can occur for various reasons. The most significant reasons include higher interest rates and lower inflation. An appreciation of the exchange rate can have a significant impact on a country's economic growth and inflation therefore it is important to understand what can cause an appreciation in the exchange rate.
1. Higher interest rates. If interest rates rise then it makes it more attractive to save money in UK banks and UK financial securities like bonds. Therefore this causes increased demand for sterling to deposit money in the UK. This is called "hot money flows" The higher demand for sterling causes an appreciation of the exchange rate. It is a significant factor because of the high volume of foreign exchange which is transferred between countries to take advantage of differences in interest rates.
2. Inflation Rates. If inflation in the UK is lower than elsewhere then it makes UK goods relatively more attractive. Therefore there is an increase in demand for UK exports and therefore higher demand for sterling this will cause an appreciation. This is a significant factor in the long term.
3. Speculation. A lot of exchange rate movements are due to speculation. If people think an exchange rate may increase in the future then they will buy now to try and make profit. Therefore this speculative buying causes significant fluctuations in the exchange rate. The attitude of foreign currency dealers to an economy is very important for determining the exchange rate.
4. Increase in competitiveness. This is related to lower inflation. If a country becomes more competitive because of increased labour productivity then there will be more demand for UK goods and the exchange rate.
5. Current Account Surplus. This means the value of imports (of goods and services) is less than the value of exports. Therefore more foreign currency is coming into the country than going out. (although it may be offset by a surplus on financial / capital account.
Earthquakes are triggered by the tectonic plates that make up the earth's surface snagging, breaking or bending as they move past each ...

Earthquake Causes

By Juan Valks
Earthquakes are a naturally occurring shock or movement that occurs on or just below the earth crust. This can cause massive devastation in the area of the earthquake and in areas spreading out from the center of the quake.
All true earthquakes are natural and are not linked to any man made activities such as shocks from nuclear testing or landslides that result from extensive building work. There are two main causes of earthquakes - Tectonic activity which is caused by the earth plates moving or faults or volcanic activity which is caused by volcanic eruptions.
Out of the two earthquake causes tectonic activity is the most common, although volcanic activity can cause earthquakes in certain areas of the world. Tectonic earthquake causes begin when there is movement in the earth Tectonic plates. These plates are made up of sections of the earth crust and they float on the earth mantle. Most of the time these plates are slowly in moving; they might slide towards or away from each other or even slip past each other. However, it is when these Tectonic plates collide or move too closely to each other that an earthquake is caused.
Scientists have devised the Elastic Rebound Theory to describe what happens during these times of movement. To explain this, think about bending a green twig. You will know that you can bend the twig and it will hold up until a certain point, until the energy on the twig becomes too much and it snaps. The point of snapping is known as the Elastic Limit. When this happens the energy created during the bending process is released which makes the twig vibrate.
When Tectonic plates collide or rub against each other the same process occurs and this will cause an earthquake. One example of constantly moving plates is the San Andreas Fault in the US. Here the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate both move in the same direction, but one is faster than the other. This leads to small shocks and occasionally large quakes in the San Francisco area of America.
Volcanic earthquakes are created when a volcano erupts, which can be quite a violent explosion. Usually these earthquakes will affect an area of up to 20 miles around the volcano and the earthquake is not likely to be felt anywhere else in the world.
A volcano is more likely to explode if it contains acidic lava. This is lava that will quickly cool and set when in contact with the air. When this happens the vent of the volcano will become blocked and pressure will build up inside it. Over time this pressure will increase until the volcano erupts. Volcanoes that do not contain acidic lava or which have free flowing lava tend not to erupt in this way and are considered to be much safer.
As you can see there are two main earthquake causes - Tectonic plate activity and volcanic eruptions. Tectonic earthquakes are much more common although there are still instances of volcanic earthquakes in various countries around the globe.
An earthquake is caused by a sudden slip on a fault. The tectonic plates are always slowly moving, but they get stuck at their edges due ...

Biggest Earthquake Ever? San Francisco Doesn't Even Make Top 15 List! Helpful Suggestions to Prepare

By Scott Haskins
This week marks the 104th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906. The largest US relief effort ever was mobilized for that, even more than Katrina. But, it didn't even make the list of the top biggest 15 earthquakes ever recorded.
In 1964, Prince William's Sound, Alaska had a 9.2 which was the biggest ever in US recorded history. But, get this! On the top 15 list of the most powerful quakes of all time, ever recorder anywhere, 12 occurred along Alaska's coast! The biggest earthquake of all time happened in 1960 in Valdivia, Chile: the 9.4 triggered floods and a volcanic eruption. A recent news video on earthquakes stated that seismologist experts record over 27,000 earthquakes in the US each year! (most barely detectable but an indication of potential).
The U.S Geological Survey estimates the next San Francisco earthquake is likely to exceed $390 billion in damage. What about the seismic zone that runs the whole length of California? Whose to say some other area along the fault line won't be devastated before SF ever gets hit? Does it seem, to anybody else, that seismic and volcanic activity has increased in the last few years? What about the likelihood of a life altering natural disaster in your area? Is that occurrence a real possibility? Would you bet on it? Well, you are... past disaster's performance is always an indicator of future potential.
What kind of danger/exposure is your area afflicted with? Hurricanes, tornados, floods, heavy storms, infestations? Unbelievably, most San Francisco residents are not concerned about their exposure to damage and risk. Does your company have locations there? Do your customers have locations there? Do your vendors have locations there? The disruption to the U.S. economy, insurance industry, and financial services will be staggering when the next San Francisco quake hits. It may seriously affect you even though you may not be there. How can you prepare?
An assessment of your exposure to risk is essential. Not only should you have a plan to confront how it will affect you, your company and your employees but consider the following: Irreplaceable documents, historical matter, intellectual and creative property, insurance claim documents etc may be what allows your company to reopen if you are ground zero. Its not an earthquake story but, consider this story about losses...
A Sad Insurance Story
Making Copies and Keeping Them in Other Locations
In 2009 there were two devastating fires in Santa Barbara, California. One took out the home of a very successful businessman, politician and passionate collector whose base of operations was his office at home. In the fire he lost bronze sculptures of all sizes (the fire go so hot that a couple of life sized statures were melted into a puddle of molten metal!), numerous works of art on paper and paintings and everything else that goes along with a well furnished home. This man was well insured, on paper, with AIG (now Chartis).
The problem was that in the fire, all the files, receipts, photos and records of the art collection went up in smoke. That meant that the owners were unable to readily produce for their insurance company
• document how much they had paid,
• document and qualify the condition
• prove the level of quality
• document the provenance (history of the artwork)
These four missing "details" for each work of art meant the owner had nothing to go on for the insurance claim except an inventory sheet with minimal descriptions that was filed with the insurance company. And the fight began...
After a year, three insurance agents, a couple of lawyers, a couple of independent adjusters and a lot of frustration later, the matter is still not settled and the total amount of the settlement is bound to be significantly less than what the owners feel is appropriate or justified.
Devastation is at the heart of any natural disaster. But the idea of "total loss" by everyone is an uncommon occurrence. Usually, there is an "epicenter" of devastation but there is also a wide path of people affected around the impact area that are only marginally affected. So, its always worth being prepared.
Even in the event of total loss, you can do some very important things to protect yourself and reduce risk. Being better prepared in this particular sad situation could not have saved the contents. However, copies of photos, receipts, appraisals etc stored in a remote location would have empowered this businessman to get response quickly after the disaster. "Redundancy" is a term used in business when multiple copies are kept in different locations for just this reason.

The Importance of Earthquake Insurance

By Humayun Altaf

Earthquake insurance covers the chance of risk in the face of an earthquake event. Quakes can happen at any time and many people think that they know it will occur someday. In the past few years, claims have been filed that exceed over $12 Billion regarding earthquakes. If you believe that you may not need this add-on policy to your insurance, here is a list of reasons why you should not stop at any costs to cover your home investment.
The reason why earthquake insurance is listed as a separate policy is because this catastrophic event is the highest costing natural event in which to recover. There is a large percentage or risk in many areas of the United States, not only in California. Since the risk is so large and the cost so great insurance companies do not include this coverage in their normal residential policies or for business.
Endorsement is available for purchase for business owners on their policy to cover earthquakes. These cover damages to structural buildings and property. Many insurance companies offer these coverage policies through a separate quote from the business insurance.
Earthquake insurance is not offered through the regular policy for home or business use. These policies are separate. They may be purchased through the same insurer if they offer the policy.
Premiums for earthquake insurance are often high depending upon the area of the United States in which you live. Many areas in the West are the most expensive since they are at a higher risk for earthquakes. The valuation is usually based on $1,000 and upwards towards the home and property amount you wish to insure.
The deductible can often be high and in the event of loss, it is 10-15% of the amount of the loss. The amount can be staggering for the deductible, but think of how much you are saving. If you had to pay the entire amount, how much would that be?
In regards to business insurance policies, there are some things that are covered from earthquakes within the standard insurance policy. The business automobile is often covered from the damage of earthquakes as well as falling debris or any other event caused by earthquakes. Injuries to workers who may be on the job at the time of the earthquake hits are covered through workers' compensation. If business is interrupted, the earthquake is not excluded from this happening.
Calling to talk to your local insurance agent is recommended to figure out the facts about earthquake insurance and how it can save you a lot of money. Agents can give you details and quotes from many insurance companies at one time. Filling out online forms or contacting directly can have the quotes available with the information in just a few minutes. Protect your home and possessions today by purchasing an earthquake policy for your investment. If the big one hits, you will be glad that you were prepared in time to reduce loss and the cost to rebuild or repair.
The World Data Center for Seismology, Denver (a part of the ...
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