I checked the 'This Day in History' and it was pretty lame stuff. So no history today.
I do have the word of the day:
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*2 : marked by arbitrary often ruthless disregard of individual differences or special circumstances
The company abandoned its procrustean scheduling policy and began allowing single mothers and other employees to work more flexible hours.
I'll have you know that my spell checker says procrustean is wrong! good grief!
Volcano update:
Chaitén - June 11-17
Visual observations of Chaitén were inhibited due to inclement weather during 10-12 June. Customs officers in the town of Chaitén reported noises on 11 June. They also reported the presence of two new craters to the S that emitted ash-and-gas plumes on 12 June. The plumes drifted S. Later that day in Chaitén town, an abrupt swelling of the river Chaitén was observed. Seismic events increased in number and intensity.
An overflight on 14 June revealed spines rising above the top of the new lava dome, which had grown in height to exceed the old dome. Gas, ash, and steam plumes were primarily emitted from a vent, about 100 m in diameter, at the SE contact between the old and the new lava dome. Previously, emissions came from the NW contact between the old and new domes. Continuous explosions produced ash plumes that rose to an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E. Several other points of gas-and-steam emissions were seen along the contact. Small block-and-ash flows from the new dome had descended the S flank of the old dome and occasionally reached the caldera floor. The Alert Level remained at Red.
Based on observations of satellite imagery, SIGMET reports, and pilot observations, the Buenos Aires VAAC reported that during 11-16 June ash plumes rose to altitudes of 2.1-3.7 km (7,000-12,000 ft) a.s.l. and drifted N, NE, and E.
China Earthquake update:
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The death toll from last month's massive earthquake in southwestern China is expected to exceed 80,000, state media reported Tuesday.
Officially 69,181 people are dead with another missing 18,498, according to authorities."Because it is presumed that the missing people are already dead, the total death toll of this disaster is likely to exceed 80,000," said Vice Premier Hui Liangyu.
If all the missing are dead, then the death toll would top 87,000.
The magnitude 7.9 quake devastated Sichuan province and surrounding areas on May 12, leaving more than 5 million people homeless.
On Monday China reported it had fired 12 officials for dereliction of duty and misuse of earthquake relief.
Supervision Minister Ma Wen said her department had received 1,178 complaints involving officials' response to the May 12 quake in Sichuan province and had dealt with more than 1,000 of them.
Administrative punishments were handed out to 43 officials, the most serious being removal from office, Ma said at a news conference. She didn't specify when the officials had been fired.