Another natural gas explosion. No one died, but, it was due to dumb luck.

Between seismic activity due to fracking and gas line leaks and explosions one might ask a state representative if this is a good combination.

11/23/2012 8:40 PM

By Derek Anderson and Melanie Dostis, GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS

SPRINGFIELD -- A natural gas explosion (click here) rocked downtown Springfield on Friday evening, injuring at least 18 people after leveling a downtown strip club in the city’s entertainment district, fire and hospital officials reported.

None of the injuries was considered life-threatening, according to spokeswomen at Baystate Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. Three of the injured were gas workers, two were firefighters, and at least one was a police officer, according to hospital officials and the New England Gas Workers Assocation, a nonprofit that promotes gas safety.

The explosion at 453 Worthington St., happened about 6 p.m., leveling the Scores Gentlemen’s Club, punching a large hole in the street, and blowing shards of glass and other debris through downtown streets. The Springfield Republican website reported that a nearby day care and five-story building were heavily damaged.

It was “just a mushroom cloud of an explosion -- big and orange,’’ said Victor Bruno, who owns Adolfos Italian Restaurant in the district. “It’s just a bad scene.”

Residents in Wilbraham and South Hadley felt the explosion, according to the Republican.

About 4:30 p.m., gas workers were reportedly finishing an investigation after receiving several calls about the smell of gas. Having evacuated the street during the investigation, workers were getting ready to let people back in when the explosion happened, according to Mark McDonald of the New England Gas Workers Association.

“It’s a good thing the people were still evacuated,’’ McDonald said. “If there were people in the building, it would have been a real catastrophe.”

The area is a bustling entertainment and residential area. It was quiet Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, although Bruno and other witnesses said it would have been crowded later in the night....

Magnitude 3.6 - ILLINOIS (click here)

2012 November 20 23:28:22 UTC

Seismic Hazard Map (click here)

%g - (click here) When there is an earthquake, the forces caused by the shaking can be measured as a percentage of gravity, or percent g.

I don't believe President Morsi will do anything strange.

I do not believe he has a strange agenda. I think he demonstrated that already, hasn't he? What do the Egyptian people expect a Jeckle/Hyde kind of thing? I don't think that is going to happen.

This is democracy. President Morsi needs to take a very cool approach to the demonstrations. He doesn't want to cause the people alarm more than they are already worried about.

Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi (click here) have ransacked an office of the Muslim Brotherhood, burning books and chairs in the street....

5:03PM GMT 23 Nov 2012

...President Morsi's decree puts his decisions above legal challenge until a new parliament is elected, which has caused fury amongst his opponents who have accused him of being the new Hosni Mubarak and hijacking the revolution....

The USA has no room to criticize. There are generals that retire and leave for a lot of reasons all the time. All one has to do is examine the number retiring during the Bush years. So, I am more concerned about the fact Egypt was experiencing militarized leadership over civilian leadership.

1:07PM BST 13 Aug 2012

Mohammad Morsi (click here) dismissed Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi as Egypt's defence minister and head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Sunday night in a dramatic attempt to stamp civilian control over an institution that has run the country for almost six decades.

The general's forces helped remove the former dictator Hosni Mubarak from power during the popular uprising last year. Tantawi then acted as Egypt's de facto head of state for 17 months.

However, in a clear signal that the balance of power is shifting away from the generals, Mr Morsi has issued a decree cancelling an army declaration that restricted the powers of the presidency.

Damien McElroy said the timing of the confrontation had come as a surprise in Egypt just a week after a Cabinet reshuffle....

There is some discussion by Morsi to replace the constitution and retry Mubarak. I guess. He is sentenced to life in prison now. There were many police and/or military actually carrying out the deaths of citizens that have gone untried. It may very well include the generals. Mubarak was tried and found guilty of complicity. I suppose, but, it was the military that removed Mubarak and replaced his authority until the elections when Morsi was elected. So, I don't really see Mubarak the greatest danger to the new government. All this assuming the new government is going to remain benevolent.

In some Arab nations there are Moral Police. I don't recall their formal names.

I always thought it helped with 'self talk,' 'self identity,' when people were reminded of the glory of their religious values while carrying out every day activities. I didn't think it was a bad idea, just something the leadership saw as important in assisting the sophistication of their country's to move forward.

Muslims pray five times a day and with that in mind it is easy to understand how person to person reminders of 'values of the day' would be very important. Their devotion to their theocratic authority is paramount to their lives. They are not 'thought' police so much as reminders of the way things are.

At this point in Gaza, where so many do not understand this is a ceasefire leading to larger summits of power to define borders and assist the Palestinians to autonomy, it might be a very good idea if there were Moral Police within Gaza.

The idea that Hamas had a victory against Israel is what brought on this movement of Palestinians to the border fence. How many Palestinians actually understand Israel, want to understand Israel and know there is a lot of tolerance by Israel to seek a peaceful solution? Probably not many.

The Palestinians have come a long way from the earliest years of Arraf. They are recognized as a peoples, a homeland while moving toward sovereignty. Yet, the Palestinian people do not comprehend their achievements or their 'place,' if you will. They chronically 'rage against the machine' when in fact the machine exists because they rage against it.

I have no doubt there are many Palestinians and those belonging to Hamas that absolutely hate Israel and Hebrews and the Jewish faith. That will only change with time and generational acceptance. But, today, Hamas and Palestine have an opportunity to live without violence while being supported by the global community. Today, their opportunity, if well done, will live for generations and generations. But, if they throw away this opportunity they will suffer as in times past because they are unable to reach an understanding of tolerance and peace.

There sincerely needs to be a connection to the leadership of Gaza and its people. If roving holy men without guns will work, then do it. Be sure the Palestinians understand they are moving forward without violence and it is a good thing. Let them know their children are not in danger and should be studying books of math, language, rules of writing well and science like biology, physics and the natural world to prepare for the future. Tell them the days of hatred and anger are ending. Allow them to be grateful for those that died in promoting their lands and bringing about calm. Redirect their anger to ceremony of celebration of the sacrifice and allow them to understand they are not alone in the world and their future has a great of hope.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli troops fired Friday (click here) to push back Gaza crowds surging toward Israel's border fence with the Hamas-ruled territory, killing one Palestinian and wounding 19 in the first violence since a truce between Israel and Hamas took hold a day earlier.

Hamas security tried to defuse the situation and keep the crowds away from the border, signaling the incident is unlikely to jeopardize the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire.

The truce, which calls for an end to Gaza rocket fire on Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, came after eight days of cross-border fighting, the bloodiest between Israel and Hamas in four years....

And give some real thought to ending, or at least reducing, celebratory firing of guns and anti-aircraft guns. The weapons are no longer necessary to secure their place on the Mediterranean, but, instead peace and an economy that will rob poverty of its power.