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Monday, 18 August 2008 |
NATION
High gas prices, Americans drive less
As gas prices averaged over $4 dollars per gallon in June Americans drove 12.2 billion less miles compared to the same month a year ago. The 4.7 percent decline was the sharpest monthly decline in a downward trend that began in November 2007. From November to June this year Americans drove 53.2 less miles than they did over the some period a year ago.
These figures released by the Federal Highway Administration is a strong indication that rising gas prices have curtailed the driving habits of Americans, especially during the traditional peak-driving summer month of June. The data does indicate that Americans are driving less in the current gas-price crisis than they did during the decade of the 1970’s a period when there were shortages of gas brought about by oil embargoes, and characterized by extremely long gas lines all over the country.
The published data showed that in Florida, a state whew residents have a tradition of driving many miles to vacation spots in cities like Orlando, Kissimmee, Tampa and Miami Beach, driving declined by six percent.
A survey supporting the June data indicated that people over 50 were driving less, and more people were taking public transportation. The survey also revealed that with the decline in miles driven, gasoline consumption fell by 400 million gallons in the first half of the year and 318 million in diesel oil.
REGIONAL
Fidel Castro turns 82
Notwithstanding frequent rumors of his death, Fidel Castro, Cuba’s ex-president has survived ill health to reach his 82nd birthday on August 13. Unlike former years there were no nationally planned celebrations to mark the Cuban leader’s birthday. However, according to reports, Cuban workers and other groups sent Castro greetings in the state’s media. Also, Cuban athletes at the Beijing Olympics commemorated his birthday referring to him as the “unconquerable gladiator.” President Hugo Chavez, Castro’s close friend and ally called Castro and sent him a gift of a portrait of South American and Venezuelan hero Simon Bolivar.
Since Castro’s 80th birthday in 2006, he has been ailing from a still unrevealed ailment. Due to his illness, Castro has not appeared in public in Cuba, although his image has often been seen in Cuban newspapers, and on Cuban TV. In February of this year, he resigned as president of the Cuban republic, after seizing power in 1959. His brother, Raul, have succeeded him as Cuba’s president.
NATIONAL
Active rest of hurricane season predicted
Residents of the hurricane prone regions of the United States, and the Caribbean, should not be fooled by the relatively tranquil hurricane season to date. U.S. government scientists say they expect much more activity for the remainder of the 2008 hurricane season. The lead hurricane forecaster, Gerry Bell, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, has upgraded the prediction from 12 to 16 storms to 14 to 18 named storms, including seven to 10 hurricanes, of which as many as six could be intense with winds above 110 miles per hour.
The prediction is based on the warm ocean temperatures and strong storm activity in June and July which saw two hurricanes and three tropical storms. The National Hurricane Center in West Miami also concurred with the new predictions.
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