People take photos in Times Square as the snow gets heavier during a large winter storm in New York City, Jan. 23, 2016. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Millions of people in the eastern United States dug out Sunday from a historic blizzard that brought New York and Washington to a standstill, but travel woes look set to persist into another week.
The storm — dubbed “Snowzilla” — killed at least 18 people after it walloped several states from Friday into early Sunday, affecting an estimated 85 million residents who were told to stay in doors and off the roads for their own safety. Forecasters said 26.8 inches (68 centimeters) of snow fell in New York’s Central Park, the second-highest accumulation in the city since records began in 1869, and more than 22 inches paralyzed the capital Washington.
Near-record-breaking snowfall was recorded in other cities up and down the East Coast, with Philadelphia and Baltimore also on the receiving end of some of the worst that Mother Nature could fling at them. (AP)
Please click the photos for larger images:
In an image taken with a fisheye lens, tourists take photos of a snowman in New York City’s Times Square on Jan. 23, 2015. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday, dumping as much as 2 feet of snow, stranding tens of thousands of travelers. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
In this photo provided by Michael Watkins, traffic is at a standstill on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near Bedford, Pa., Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. The Duquesne men’s basketball team and Temple University’s women’s gymnastics team are stuck on the Turnpike due to treacherous weather conditions. A mammoth winter storm crawled up the U.S. East Coast on Saturday, making roads impassable, shutting down mass transit, and bringing Washington and New York City to a standstill. (AP Photo/Michael Watkins via AP)
A vehicle with a plow gets stuck in a snowdrift as the operator attempts to dig his truck out during a large winter storm in New York City, Jan. 23, 2016. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Pedestrians battle the elements as they walk across E.57th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Children enjoy some fun in the snow in Central Park in New York City, Jan. 24, 2016. Over 25 inches of snow in Central Park marked the third-largest snowfall since record-keeping began in 1869, police and weather officials said. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Pedestrians make their way through heavy snow and deep embankments in midtown Manhattan in New York City, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
A snowdrift covers the sidewalk and blocks the entrance of stores on W.57th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Children enjoy some fun in the snow in Central Park in New York City, Jan. 24, 2016. Over 25 inches of snow in Central Park marked the third-largest snowfall since record-keeping began in 1869, police and weather officials said. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
Pedestrians seek some temporary relief from a bus shelter as they walk across E.57th Street in midtown Manhattan in New York City, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016. A blizzard with hurricane-force winds brought much of the East Coast to a standstill Saturday. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
People take photos in Times Square as the snow gets heavier during a large winter storm in New York City, Jan. 23, 2016. (Gordon Donovan/Yahoo News)
On January 19, 2016, The Malay Mail Online published an article by Clive Kessler, “Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation”.
Stating that ,” Malaya and then Malaysia was created as a secular nation”, Clive Kessler who is an Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of New South Wales maliciously called Uncle Azril Mohd Amin as a “creative legal innovators and myth-maker” when it is him (Clive Kessler) himself who had maliciously distorted the facts about the Federal Constitution of Malaysia in his article.
I sent the article to Uncle Azril and he sent me Uncle Aidil Khalid’s statement:
It was with interest, if also great bemusement, that I read the article entitled “Enough of this nonsense! Malaysia was created as a secular nation” by Professor Clive Kessler and published on January 19, 2016 in The Malay Mail Online. Without citing any binding or persuasive legal authorities whatsoever, the professor had had the audacity to dismiss those affirming the constitutional position of Islam as the religion of the Federation (and thus rejecting the alleged secular notion of our nation), like Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar of the Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association and Azril Mohd Amin of the Centre for Human Rights Research and Advocacy, as mere “creative legal innovators and myth makers.”In 2014, I wrote an article, also published in The Malay Mail Online, entitled “Wither the Myth of a Secular Nation”, wherein I argued that the secular notion of our nation is actually a myth not supported by any legal or constitutional basis. I shall reconstruct my arguments therein, albeit trancated, as a response to Professor Kessler herein, but for a more complete and holistic perspective, it is advisable to read my full arguments there.When one reads the provisions of the Federal Constitution, it is important that the provisions be read as it is, and not to disingenuouosly add words that are not there just to satisfy a certain ideology that one believes in. In Dato’ Menteri Othman bin Baginda & Anor v Dato’ Ombi Syed Alwi bin Syed Idrus [1981] 1 MLJ 29, the Late Royal Highness Raja Azlan Shah (as HRH then was) cautioned that “[r]espect must be paid to the language which has been used and to the traditions and usages which have given meaning to that language.”In this regard, a plain reading of the language used in Article 3(1) says that “Islam is the religion of the Federation.” So to suggest, as Professor Kessler did, that Islam is merely the “official emblamatic religion” of Malaysia, when neither the word ‘official’ nor ‘emblamatic’ ever appeared in the provision, is nothing short of constitutional fraud, not to mention intellectual dishonesty. It makes a world of a difference here, between the former and the latter.
Islam is the religion of Malaysiaand not merely the official religion of Malaysia, please watch my latest video:
At least seven were killed in a series of bombing in Jalan MH Thamrin, Jakarta, near the Sarinah shopping complex 10:50 this morning, Local time (Western Indonesia).
Sky News reported, there were several large explosions across the city – with reports suicide bombers targeted multiple locations, including a Starbucks cafe at a busy shopping centre near the presidential palace and United Nations offices.
Police said a gun battle with attackers also took place inside a cinema at the retail complex.
Bodies could be seen in the streets as the Starbucks cafe windows were blown out due to the explosion.
Footage showed two suicide bombers blow themselves up outside the cafe, and a militant was also believed to have been captured on film exchanging gunfire with police.
Two civilians died in the attacks, and there were conflicting reports of a foreign national was either injured or killed.
A United Nations building close to the scene was in lockdown, and other high-rise buildings in the area have been evacuated.
Cats crowd the harbour on Aoshima Island in the Ehime prefecture in southern Japan February 25, 2015. An army of cats rules the remote island in southern Japan, curling up in abandoned houses or strutting about in a fishing village that is overrun with felines outnumbering humans six to one. (REUTERS/Thomas Peter)
Two baby orangutans play with each other at the wildlife department in Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia, October 19, 2015. The Malaysian wildlife department in July seized two baby Sumatran orangutans, found in duffel bags, from traffickers who were attempting to sell them to buyers in Malaysia. According to local media, the orangutans will be returned to Medan, Indonesia on Tuesday. The illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be $8 billion a year worldwide, according to TRAFFIC, a wildlife trade monitoring network. (REUTERS/Olivia Harris)
Four white lion cubs, born two weeks ago, are seen in a basket at the Taigan Safari Park, in Belogorsk, about 50 km (31 miles) east of Simferopol, Crimea, Wednesday, July 29, 2015. The newly born white lion cubs were shown to the media for the first time Wednesday. (AP Photo/Alexander Polegenko)
Sparrows fly around a bird feeder in Putgarten, Germany, September 29, 2015. (REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke)
Dairy cows nuzzle a barn cat as they wait to be milked at a farm in Granby, Quebec July 26, 2015. Pacific Rim officials meet in Hawaii this week for talks which could make or break an ambitious trade deal that aims to boost growth and set common standards across a dozen economies ranging from the United States to Brunei. Canada’s refusal so far to accept more dairy imports is a major sticking point in the talks, infuriating the United States as well as New Zealand, which has said it will not sign a deal that fails to open new dairy markets. (REUTERS/Christinne Muschi)
A leaf falls onto a horse’s head during a sunny autumn day in a forest outside Almaty, Kazakhstan, October 2, 2015. (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov)
A gull flips a herring in order to swallow it whole while flying away with a meal robbed from a delivery truck, Wednesday, July 8, 2015, in Rockland, Maine. Herring is primarily used for lobster bait, with a small percentage of it going to the sardine industry. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Cezar, a 32 year-old polar bear eats a watermelon in its enclosure in Belgrade’s zoo, Serbia July 20, 2015. Temperatures in Serbia have risen up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), according to official meteorological data. (REUTERS/Marko Djurica)
A tropical fish swims in a fish tank as a passer-by walks at a business district in Tokyo, July 2, 2015. (REUTERS/Toru Hanai)
Animals are cute and awesome, and they come in many species.
Here are some cute photos of animals from the year 2015 for all of us to enjoy…
Age of Empires is a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game which is published by Microsoft Studios since 1997.
New versions of the game came and expansions were released until November 2015 when the African Kingdoms joined the Age of Empires II expansion packs.
Age of Empires held a monthly contest called the Wololo Wednesday, challenging people to create something creative according to the theme given.
I first participated in the Wololo Wednesday contest on November 2014 after I found out about it from the Age of Empires website.
For the contest, I submitted my drawing of my favourite unit, an Age of Empires III Janissary.
The theme was to make an Age of Empires fan art. So I made a Turkish Janissary.
And on December 2014 when the winners were announced, I found out that I was part of the winners of the November contest and I could chose two prizes from the prize list; and so I picked Age of Empires: HD Edition + The Forgotten Steam Key and 250 Gold for Age of Empires: Castle Siege.
I won another prize in the March 2015 contest where I chose another Age of Empires: HD Edition + The Forgotten Steam Key as a gift for my father.
The theme was to remake an Age of Empires CD cover. So I remade the Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion, featuring King Julien of Madagascar.
I won again on August 2015 when I submitted a slogan to call for new recruits to join my army and for the prize, I chose an Age of Empires III: Complete Collection Steam Key and the Age of Empires: Castle Siege PAX Prime Bandana.
The theme was to make a slogan to call for recruits to join our army. So I made one complete with a picture featuring the heroes from Age of Empires: Castle Siege.
Last few days, I was announced a winner once more for my submission of a picture of how Salahuddin Al-Ayubbi celebrated the new year by inviting all his friends and foes to where he lives to celebrate the new year together in peace and harmony instead of fighting with each other.
The theme was to make how our favourite unit celebrate a holiday or their birthday. So I made a New Year celebration party hosted by Salahuddin Al-Ayubbi.
This time I chose two of the latest Age of Empires II: The African Kingdoms Expansion Steam Key; one will be a gift for my father and the other one will be for me.
I’m very excited to win the competitions because the Wololo Wednesday is an international competition organised by the Microsoft Studios and I hope that I could win more competitions in the future.
Ahmad Ali Karim's Weblog 