One-legged man takes five hostages in US post office

I just saw a news today that a one legged man has taken five hostages at a US post office.

A ONE-LEGGED man has taken five people hostage at a US Post Office in western Virginia, Wytheville Mayor Trent Crewe told Fox News.

Three of the hostages were employees, the mayor said.

The other two were customers.

According to the mayor, the handicapped man entered the post office on Main St in Wytheville at approximately 14.30 (06:30 AEDT) today and immediately fired a shot.

Hostage negotiators are on the phone with the suspect, who told police officials that the vehicle he parked outside the building was laden with explosives.

At least one person was able to escape at the start of the situation, the mayor said.


An employee in the ABC store across the street told WDBJ-TV that police said a gunman was shooting out of the post office and that they should lock their doors and stay away from the windows.

More to follow.

Read more...

Health care bill clears last hurdle before passage

By ERICA WERNER,
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – Exultant Senate Democrats pushed President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul past a final procedural hurdle Wednesday, setting up a Christmas Eve vote to pass the legislation extending coverage to 30 million Americans.

Democrats voted 60-39 to end a GOP filibuster and move to a final vote Thursday. All 58 Democrats and two independents hung together against unanimous Republican opposition.

It was the 24th day of debate on the 10-year, nearly $1 trillion bill.

"It is now only hours until this Senate will pass meaningful health care reform," said Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.

"It has been a long time coming," Baucus said. "I thank God that I have lived to see this day."

It was the third time Democrats have put up 60 votes on procedural measures since Monday. Final passage requires just a simple majority so Democrats should triumph easily. It will be a big victory for Obama and the Democrats, although the Senate bill will still have to be reconciled with a House-passed version before Obama could sign a final package.


There are some thorny differences between the two chambers, including stiffer abortion curbs in the House bill and a new government-run insurance plan in the House bill that's not in the Senate version.

The sweeping legislation, crafted over months of laborious negotiations, would dramatically remake the country's health care system with new requirements for nearly everyone to purchase insurance. The government would provide subsidies to help lower-income people pay for coverage. Unpopular insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions would be banned.

Powerless to stop the bill, Republicans stepped up their attacks, contending the sweeping bill threatened to harm Medicare and add billions to the deficit.

"Tomorrow the Senate will vote on a bill that makes a bad situation worse," Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said on the Senate floor. "This bill slid rapidly down the slippery slope to more and more government control of health care."

The final vote is now set for 7 a.m. Thursday, not 8 a.m. as agreed to earlier in the week. It had originally been scheduled for 7 p.m., but Republicans agreed not to use all their debate time so they could leave town earlier for the holidays and avoid bad weather looming in the midwest. On Wednesday, senators advanced the vote from 8 a.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., suggested moving it up some more and holding it Wednesday night, but Republicans didn't agree to that.

The last time the Senate voted on Christmas Eve was Dec. 24, 1895, on a military affairs bill concerning employment of former Confederate officers, according to the Senate Historical Office.

Democrats also cast several votes Wednesday turning back points of order raised against the bill by Republicans, including one by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., questioning the constitutionality of requiring most every American to buy health insurance.

Away from Capitol Hill, special deals on Medicaid obtained by some Democrats — notably Ben Nelson of Nebraska, who provided the crucial 60th vote — continued to provoke grumbling. Under the Senate bill the federal government will pay the entire cost of an expansion of Medicaid in Nebraska, unlike other states, which will have to start picking up a portion of the tab themselves after several years.

In New York, state Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos sent a letter to the attorney general and the governor urging them to join other states, including South Carolina, that are considering legal challenges over the issues.

Read more...

American Airlines flight 331 Crashed

-Reuters

An American Airlines Boeing 737 has overshot the runway while landing at the international airport at Kingston, Jamaica, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) said.

An FAA spokeswoman said the plane was American Airlines flight 331 from Miami. She had no further details.

The plane crashed and broke in two after landing at Kingston, Fox News said on its website, quoting local reports.

There were no immediate reports of casualties but an airport official said that passengers were being evacuated and some were sent to the hospital.

updates to follow.
Read more...

Muelmar Magallanes - TIME hero of the year

The Young And Heroic Life of Muelmar Magallanes.
Muelmar Magallanes with his Nephew
Eighteen year old Muelmar "Toto" Magallanes, a construction worker, sacrificed his life during the wrath of tropical storm Ondoy to save his fellow country men. More than 30 people from being swept away by the mighty alluvion during the worst flood in Philippine history.

Lies dead in a white coffin in the public gymnasium of Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. The people he saved were all there standing at rigid attention around his coffin, all eternally grateful to the boy who saved their lives. "I shall forever be grateful to him because he saved me and my mother from drowning " teary-eyed NIla Milan qouted, one of the people saved by this young hero. I remember it was 2 o'clock and the nearby river was rapidly reaching our neighborhood. There was no time to evacuate, it happened so fast. The water submerged our house in just minutes. I thought that we will die there. Then this boy suddenly appeared to our rescue and pulled us from the flood".



Menchie Penalosa and her baby also survived the terrible ordeal of September 26 because of Toto's heroic effort. As the waters rapidly reached her house, she quickly climbed to the roof carrying her baby. "But it all happened too fast. As soon as we reached the roof, our house collapsed and the flood swept me and my child. Thankfully Toto spotted us and saved us into the higher ground. I will always be grateful to him".

Earlier Saturday morning, with non-stop rains and raging flash flood, Toto together with his father, Mang Samuel, and older brother Joefran, decided to evacuate the whole family from their house near the river in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City. They fastened ropes around Toto's mother Aling Maria Luz and the little siblings. Together, they waded in deepening flood as the waters reached human levels. With his family in tow and safe, Toto decided to go back to the neighborhood and rescued the people pleading for help.

The rain grew stronger by the hour, and as the flood deepened, the torrent became mightier. In a few minutes, all houses were submerged. In the afternoon, no houses can be found in the neighborhood. It was like a deluge, with people crying for help while clinging to whatever solid thing that they can hold on to. Little children and mothers were being swept by the flood*.

Though a powerful swimmer, Toto became tired and exhausted, but he kept coming back into the deepening flood to rescue people. After saving a mother and a baby girl from the raging flood, Toto came back to save more people. But suddenly a solid wall of concrete collapsed that instantly killed him. His lifeless body was swept by the raging torrent.

Toto's family didn't know what happened until the early morning hours of the following day. All night long, they were waiting for Toto to return. Aling Maria Luz: "I was really worried that something might happen to him. Although I know he was a good swimmer, yet there is something in my heart that I cannot explain. I thought that I'd never see him again".

Mang Samuel: "The flood was really very deep and I became very worried about Toto. I shouted to him to save himself, because he already saved many people. But he kept on rescuing, and of course, I couldn't really stop him from saving people, but deep inside I was very very worried".

The Magallanes family spent the whole night of stormy Saturday in the Barangay Evacuation Center, keeping vigil on Toto's return. Toto's mother Aling Maria Luz says: "We didn't sleep all night. My eyes peered into the stormy darkness trying to figure out the arrival of my son. But he never came back".

The news came the following morning. As the flood receded, the rescue team found Toto's lifeless body in a heap of debris left by the storm. His face and body had large bruises. They wrapped Toto's body in a sheet of cloth and a neighbor identified it. Afterwards, they brought the body to Toto's family. It was 10 in the morning when Mang Samuel and Aling Maria Luz heard the news.

Aling Maria Luz: "At first, the people were saying that Toto was already found. But I couldn't be sure if they found him alive or was he dead already? Then something suddenly struck me. I felt that Toto was already dead... and I then suddenly felt that all the heavens had crashed on me".

Meanwhile, all the others in the family were hoping that Toto would be alive. They disregarded the rumors that Toto was already dead. But the denial was bound to be short-lived. In a moment, the rescuers came with a heap bundle, wrapped in a sheet. It was Toto's body. Toto, the heroic boy who saved numerous lives, had sacrificed his own life. He was dead.

"I felt like I wanted to die, too." says Aling Maria Luz, weeping."He's a very good son. Always helpful and very thoughtful. Why did he have to die? I should have died, not him."

Suddenly, a woman neighbor hugged Aling Maria Luz, weeping with her. She was one of those anonymous people whom her son had saved during the nightmarish night of the disaster. Then came some more people, making a pilgrimage to their valiant hero while he lays cold and dead, wrapped in a mantle of white cloth, the heroic boy who laid down his life for his neighbors.

*More than 38 people, mostly children, drowned during the raging flood in Barangay Bagong Silangan. Muelmar saved more than thirty women and children (as well as some older men), from drowning.

That's Muelmar Magallanes. A true hero.

Check out latest sports here!
Showbiz and Entertainment here!
Latest Gadgets and Technology here!
Need to find that Lyrics? Try here!


Read more...

Tips for Better Productivity

9 Tips for Better Productivity

The following 9 tips can give you more opportunity to add additional activities to your day.

• Tip #1 - Focus on the Critical Few. Eighty five percent of the things you do account for only 15% of your results. And vice versa. Therefore, only work on the critical things and you'll get there faster and with less effort.

• Tip #2 - Take more free time. Relaxing is absolutely essential to your success. Just make sure you take time off at the right time, that is after you tackle your 15% top activities. Losers do the opposite, they tackle the 85% and leave the 15% out.



• Tip #3 - Re-think your to-do list. Create a 85/15 list. Write the top priority items at the top. Write the low priority items at the bottom. Throw a line between them. Only work on the top of your list.

• Tip #4 - Reward yourself for doing the right things. The Things That Get Rewarded Get Done. If you reward yourself for your best actions, you will get more of these done... almost effortlessly.

• Tip #5 - Do your Feared Things First. Take a look at your list and ask yourself "What's the activity that I fear most?" Start your day with that activity. By training yourself to do do your feared things first, you unconsciously urge yourself to tackle tougher tasks.

• Tip #6 - Don't Multitask. Having multiple tasks going on at the same time might seem productive, but in actuality it slows you down from actually focusing on a task and completing it - and it stresses you out in the meantime.

• Tip #7 - Exercise. It helps you work harder, longer, and think more clearly. It increases your health span and your life's span. When your body feels good, the work that comes after will also feel good and easier to do.

• Tip #8 - Write out your goals daily. This comes from Brian Tracy, the famous public speaker. On a daily basis, write your four major goals. Do this each morning as you start your day. Don't just read your goals aloud, but physically write them down again on paper. It magnetizes your mind to what you really want to accomplish that day.

• Tip #9 - Just say "No". Don't let other people dump their "monkeys" on you. Learning to say no to more requests helps reduce stress levels, and this can be one of the biggest favors you can do for yourself.

Check out latest sports here!
Showbiz and Entertainment here!


Read more...

Great Place to Unwind (Maribago Bluewater Beack Resort)

I've been thinking lately.... Hey! it's almost December, still doing my old boring routine everyday (as what my colleagues would often told me) like going to the gym, then go to work after a sweaty and heavy workout. Sleeping all day long while others are busy doing something during the day.. And here I am, seating on this 4 walled cubicle thinking what am i missing.... or am i missing something? And that's when a thought came into my mind. Hey! Charlie, yah need a break! yah need a place to unwind, a place where you can chill and relax.. And YES! I think that's what i need right now. I missed going out with my friends, college classmates, and colleagues. Thanks to Mark, a friend of mine from Cebu Bloggers Society (CBS). I asked him if he knew a place where i could relax and chill after a stressful day from work. Good thing he told me about "Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort", which is located at Maribago, Buyong Mactan Island, Lapulapu City. He told me almost everything that I needed to savor. Mark told me how he was overwhelmed with the staff and amenities at Maribago which sounds great.. That's the first thing to consider when you go to a place where you want to relax and enjoy. And wait, they also have the so called "AMUMA SPA" that caught my interest. I might try this one to relief from stress. And here's what really makes me decide to go to Maribago, they have this interesting "Floating Island". I would definitely check this one out. I'm 100% sure about that! And oh, by the way, this sunday would be the best day to go there, as Pinoyworld invites all Bloggers in the country.

So, need a place to relax and enjoy? Then visit Maribago Bluewater Beach Resort. See yah this 25th day of October.

Moreover, check links below to know more about the most visited Beach resort in the country.

1. Maribago bluewater blog
2. Maribago Bluewater video
3. PinoyWorld
Read more...

Home

This will be the main home page of the site. I will be posting here all the latest gigs and happenings around town and everything under the sun. -thanks
Read more...