U.S. Chamber Welcomes Progress in U.S.-Cuba Relations

President Barack Obama delivers a statement on Cuba and the release of American Alan Gross, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Dec. 17, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Article posted by Canada Sentinel   Photo by Chuck Kennedy
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue today issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s announcement that the U.S. government will take steps to normalize relations with Cuba:

“The U.S. business community welcomes today’s announcement, and has long supported many of the economic provisions the president touched on in his remarks. We deeply believe that an open dialogue and commercial exchange between the U.S. and Cuban private sectors will bring shared benefits, and the steps announced today will go a long way in allowing opportunities for free enterprise to flourish. In countries around the world, where leaders from across the political spectrum have made a concerted effort to liberalize their economy, we have seen a sharp rise in the quality of life of their citizens.

“As we witnessed on our exploratory trip to Havana earlier this year, Cuba has changed some of its economic policies to lessen government control or ownership of Cuban businesses, and subsequently, their private sector is growing. There is still work to do, on both sides of this relationship, but the changes outlined today are a substantive and positive step forward. It is imperative that the Cuban government build on today’s positive steps with a more ambitious economic reform agenda at home, while we continue to push for the end of the embargo here in Washington.

“The Chamber and its members stand ready to assist as the Cuban people work to unleash the power of free enterprise to improve their lives.”

International trade and investment are key components of the Chamber’s 2014 American Jobs, Growth, and Opportunity Agenda, an ambitious plan to generate stronger economic growth, create jobs, and expand opportunity for all Americans.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations. Its International Affairs division includes more than 70 regional and policy experts and 25 country- and region-specific business councils and initiatives. The U.S. Chamber also works closely with 117 American Chambers of Commerce abroad.

44 Year Old Northern White Rhino Dies At San Diego Zoo.

Article by affiliate California Gazette Photo by San Diego Zoo

San Diego,CA--A 44 year old Northern White Rhino named Angalifu has died at the San Diego Zoo on Sunday. Angalifu was one of six Critically Endangered Northern White Rhinos left in the world. Northern White Rhinos have been killed by heavily-armed poaching gangs which has pushed the Northern White Rhinos to the edge of extinction. To learn more about the San Diego Zoo click here

Auburn Tight End Jakell Mitchell Dies After Shooting

Article by David Lear with Canada Sentinel. Photo by Auburntigers.com
Auburn, AL--Auburn Police were called to an early morning shooting at 12:25 a.m. Sunday. When officers arrived they found 18-year-old freshman Auburn tight end Jakell Mitchell with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Mitchell was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The shooting took place at the Tiger Lodge apartment complex, a few miles from the Auburn campus.

Auburn Tigers Head Coach Gus Malzahn released the following statement: "I'm devastated and saddened by the passing of Jakell Mitchell. My thoughts and prayers are with Jakell's family and friends, who are suffering through this senseless tragedy. I know the Auburn Family is hurting, especially our players and coaches, and we are going to love and support them through this difficult time. We have lost a member of our family too young, too soon."

Police have arrested Markale Deandra Hear of Camp Hill, Alabama.

70,000 Customers In The Dark After Storm Hits San Francisco.

Article by our Affiliate California Gazette. Photo by Twitter user Friends of SJFF's

SAN FRANCISCO -- One of the windiest and rainiest storms in five years swept across the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday. Power was cut to the tens of thousands and delaying travel by air, train and ferry. Pacific Gas & Electric is reporting outages to over 70,000 across the Bay Area due to weather.  The National Weather Service said," A storm an associated front off the West Coast will move inland to the Northern Rockies/Great Basin and the Southwest by Friday evening. The system will pull a plume of moisture into California that will produce moderate to heavy rain over Northern California and parts of the Pacific Northwest that will move southward to Southern California by Friday morning. The rain will wane to light rain along the West Coast by Friday evening. Moderate snow will develop over the Sierras late Thursday night into Friday morning, waning to light snow by Friday evening. A band of moderate to heavy rain will move farther inland, on Friday evening, to parts of the Great Basin/Southwest, with an area of light to moderate rain over the Northern Intermountain Region. Snow will also develop over parts of the Northern Rockies by Friday evening, too. Meanwhile, deep storm over the Northeast will slowly weaken and move out over the Western Atlantic by Friday evening. The system will produce light snow over parts of the Northeast that will wane to a band over parts of the Northern Appalachians by Friday. Light rain will develop over parts of New England Coast ending on Friday morning. Elsewhere, upper-level energy and moisture flowing northward from the Western Gulf of Mexico will produce rain with embedded thunderstorms over parts of the Southern Plains into parts of the Lower Mississippi Valley on Thursday and Wednesday."

Revealing the Secrets of “San Francisco’s Titanic”

Article By Katie Teshima

The morning of February 22, 1901, was much like any other on San Francisco Bay.

A thick blanket of fog spread across the water as the steamer City of Rio de Janeiro approached the Golden Gate, laden with passengers and freight from Hong Kong, Yokohama and Honolulu. Returning to San Francisco after more than two months at sea, the City of Rio’s cabins brimmed with the hopes and dreams of Chinese and Japanese immigrants seeking a new life in the United States. Up on deck, Captain William Ward and Pilot Frederick Jordan steered what they thought to be a safe course into the narrow mouth of the Bay, but could make out no landmarks through the damp gray void.

Present day photo at the entrance of the Golden Gate looking westward with Fort Point at the far left where the SS City of Rio de Janeiro struck the rocks and foundered on February 22, 1901. (Photo: Robert V. Schwemmer NOAA)

Shortly after 5 a.m., with visibility still at zero, disaster struck. The 345-foot steamer had veered too far south on its approach and suddenly ground to a halt on the jagged rocks of Fort Point, tearing a massive gash in its iron hull. A strong ebb tide soon pushed it back off of the rocks and allowed the frigid winter waters of the Pacific to rush into the engine room and cargo holds.Passengers and crew fought their way to the deck, but confusion reigned on the rapidly sinking ship. Within a matter of minutes, the City of Rio succumbed to its wounds and slipped beneath the waves, taking with it 128 of the 210 lives on board.Now, with the help of several private partners and cutting-edge technology, NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries has brought back the first-ever 3-D images of this long-lost shipwreck, which historians have called the “Titanic of the Golden Gate.”

Multibeam sonar image at San Francisco's Golden Gate highlighting the shipwrecks City of Rio de Janeiro, City of Chester and Fernstream. (Credit: Gary Fabian for NOAA)

This November, a joint archaeological expedition led by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Maritime Heritage Program set out to document the wreck as part of a two-year study of shipwrecks in Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the surrounding area. Bay Marine Services LLC provided a vessel and crew for the mission, while Hibbard Inshore LLC and Coda Octopus equipped the research team with a high-powered remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and 3-D sonar array to aid in the search.West Coast Regional Maritime Heritage Coordinator Robert Schwemmer worked in cooperation with Maritime Heritage Program Director James Delgado and sonar expert Gary Fabian to pinpoint the location of the City of Rio, which lies 287 feet below the surface just outside the Golden Gate, not far from where it ran aground in 1901.

CodaOctopus 3-D Echoscope sonar images of the SS City of Rio De Janeiro. (Credit: Coda Octopus/NOAA)

The 3-D model generated by the Coda Octopus “Echoscope” sonar also gave researchers an entirely new perspective on the condition of the wreck site. What they found was a crumpled, scarcely recognizable iron hulk encased in more than a century worth of mud and sediment, lending support to the narrative that the ship sank quickly before many of its passengers could escape.The expedition team also remapped the S.S. City of Chester,a second nearby wreck that was rediscovered in May 2013 by NOAA’s Office of the Coast Survey. In stark contrast to the City of Rio, the Echoscope revealed in great detail the surprising level of preservation of the City of Chester’s frame and propulsion machinery, telling a very different story about the circumstances of its sinking.

Survivors from SS City of Rio de Janeiro after the sinking at Baker's Beach. (Credit: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park safr_21374_a11-14617_p)

Through advanced technology and innovative partnerships, NOAA is breaking new ground in our quest to explore and understand our nation’s maritime heritage. Shipwrecks once believed to be lost forever are now within our reach, and those we have studied in detail continue to give up new secrets with each subsequent expedition. This discovery is a reminder of NOAA’s commitment to protecting the profound ties that the nation has to our history lying beneath the ocean’s surface. 

We Have Lift Off of the Orion Spacecraft

 Article posted by The Canada Sentinel Photo credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Cape Canaveral-The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy with Orion atop it lifted off at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Orion will orbit Earth twice, reaching a peak altitude of 3,600 miles during its trip. The spacecraft is scheduled to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in approximately 4.5 hours.
Orion’s flight test is a critical step on NASA's journey to Mars.