U.S. commercial flights resume to Haiti
(February 19, 2010 11:58 a.m.)




The first flight to Haiti since the earthquake on January 12 was an American Airlines flight from Miami to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. It left at 7:36 a.m. ET after about an hour's delay, according to the airline's Web site. The flight landed at 9:22 a.m. ET in Haiti, the company said.
The Haitian Government says the death total is at least 212,000. The quake damaged some buildings at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in the Haitian capital. Regardless, American Airlines plans to have 3 flights a day from Florida to Haiti.
The airport main terminal was damaged so the Haiti customs officials will work out of a cargo facility.The restoration of commericial air service will go a long way to healing Haiti but more importantly it will allow families and friends to reconnect.

This is a map representing the countries with suspected nuclear weapons in 2002. Iran and North Korea are not represented on this map. The U.S., U.K., France, China, Israel, Inda, and the Russian Federation are those estimated to have the most nuclear weapons. Other territories that are suspected of having nuclear weapons have few in comparison so that map wouldn't change much.



Africa is a huge hub of wireless connection and mobile phone companies are making moves to be the main providers. Mobile phones are cheaper than what it would cost to invest in a cable infrastructure. The top eight mobile phone companies are not from Western countries although Maroc Telecom (Morocco) is partly owned by the French conglomerate Vivendi. The two largest phone operators in the African Market are Globacom (Nigeria)and Mobinel (Egypt).

There are around 3 mainline telephones for every 25 people in the World. Western Europe has an average of 28.5 per 50 and Central Africa just 3 per 100. The cost of mainline telephones are greatest in regions that are rich or poor. Those regions in the medium range have a cost at a third of both extremes. The world earning average from mainline telephones is $630(US dollar) and from $265(South Asia) to $2805(Japan).

Teutonic Plate line in the Carribean. It's interesting to think that the islands are the plateaus for huge underwater mountains.




Another view of the narrow isthmus between North and South America.