Massive Blast in Lebanon

Jack by the hedge said:
After the initial shock of seeing how violently the adult inside the room is hurled across the room, I'm puzzled that one of the youngsters on the balcony doesn't even get knocked off her feet. Is it just that luckily by standing slightly to the side of the doorway, she avoids being picked up and thrown by the pressure wave driving into the room?
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Well at least outside on the balcony there was a low wall that might have blocked some of it on the lower half of the body. I think you can think of it as like a very strong gust of wind. We know how damaging strong wind can be due to natural phenomena like tornados and hurricanes.
 
Lebanon protesters storm ministries as violent protests grip Beirut

Beirut, Lebanon (CNN)Lebanon's protesters stormed several government ministries as violent protests gripped Beirut on Saturday night.
The foreign ministry, the environment ministry and the economy ministry were occupied by angry demonstrators who called for the downfall of Lebanon's ruling elite five days after a blast ripped through the Lebanese capital causing widespread destruction.
The Banking Association, which protesters blame for the country's worsening banking crisis, was also taken over by protesters and set ablaze.
Hours after the protests first rocked Beirut, Lebanon's Prime Minister Hassan Diab has vowed to hold early elections as his beleaguered government faces calls to resign.
Diab said he would introduce a law calling for early elections and said he would remain in government for two months until major parties can reach an agreement.
Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as protesters hurled stones and fireworks at security forces. Parts of the central district were set ablaze and when the protesters took over the Foreign Ministry, the first in a succession of popular takeovers, they declared it the "headquarters of the revolution."
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Since it's Lebanon I have to wonder if there's a sectarian quality to the protests or if people of all demographic groups are equally represented among the protesters. I hope there is some true reform, but I'm not especially optimistic.
 
eh maybe? WTC7 was struck by debris from the falling WTC1, and had a kerosene storage tank that went. Fires causing explosions are about the only correlation.
 
Apparently there was a miracle.
St Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church in had it's nave completely ruined but the sacred altar space protected by the "iconostasis" (wall of icons), was unscathed.
It's being hailed as a miracle.
If only the city had been surrounded by icons!
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Apparently there was a miracle.
St Dimitrios Greek Orthodox Church in had it's nave completely ruined but the sacred altar space protected by the "iconostasis" (wall of icons), was unscathed.
It's being hailed as a miracle.
If only the city had been surrounded by icons!
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Yay god! Allow a big chunk of the city to blow up but save some knick-knacks.
 
catsmate said:
Who pays? Legally who owns the cargo? AN isn't valuable, in bulk it's around €200 per tonne. Shipping costs (container) run around €0.75 per tonne.nm.
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When you export waste under the Basel Convention (usually hazardous waste), you need to set up a Financial Guarantee in case something goes wrong (eg. the waste company goes bust and they can't take it after its shipped.)

This means there is money available to dispose of the waste if it gets stranded in some port somewhere.

Given the level of risk with AN, it would seem prudent to have a similar system in place for that (assuming no such system is already in place). Such a lump of money could have been used to deal with the material long before now.
 
Prime Minister Hassan Diab to announce resignation of Lebanese government after deadly Beirut blast
Diab will appear on television at 7.30 pm on Monday local time, where he is expected to announce that the entire Lebanese government has resigned following the deadly explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people.

SkyNews
 
catsmate said:
But you can follow standard safety procedures and listen to experts.
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It's good to listen to experts, but if you don't have the resources to implement their recommendations, you're still screwed. If there was an expert that said, "maybe we shouldn't impound this particular cargo", they probably needed to listen to that guy.
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Prime Minister Hassan Diab to announce resignation of Lebanese government after deadly Beirut blast
Diab will appear on television at 7.30 pm on Monday local time, where he is expected to announce that the entire Lebanese government has resigned following the deadly explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people.

SkyNews
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Okay, so then who's in charge of the country if the whole government resigns?
 
Captain_Swoop said:
Prime Minister Hassan Diab to announce resignation of Lebanese government after deadly Beirut blast
Diab will appear on television at 7.30 pm on Monday local time, where he is expected to announce that the entire Lebanese government has resigned following the deadly explosion in Beirut that killed more than 200 people.

SkyNews
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Whoa. I didn't think they would step down that quickly, if at all. Interesting turn of events.
 
wobs said:
When you export waste under the Basel Convention (usually hazardous waste), you need to set up a Financial Guarantee in case something goes wrong (eg. the waste company goes bust and they can't take it after its shipped.)

This means there is money available to dispose of the waste if it gets stranded in some port somewhere.

Given the level of risk with AN, it would seem prudent to have a similar system in place for that (assuming no such system is already in place). Such a lump of money could have been used to deal with the material long before now.
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To be blunt this is overstating the risk immensely. AN is produced and shipped by the tens of millions of tonnes annually. Serious accidents are uncommon compared to petroleum liquids or gases.

Wolrab said:
Why didn't they just give it or sell it to Lebanese farmers?
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Who owns the AN? Who authorises its distribution? Who pays the expenses?
 
Mike! said:
Okay, so then who's in charge of the country if the whole government resigns?
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theprestige said:
I assume this is one of those parliamentary things where the legislature elects an emergency interim government from among their members, until elections can be held and a new government elected.
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In such a system saying the "government" has resigned means the elected lawmaking body (typically referred to as the "legislature") has dissolved itself. No new legislation can be created or passed until elections are held and a new assembly is sworn in. The remainder of the government consists of permanent, paid civil servants, and they continue to function. Things get dicey only if there's a considerable delay putting the new legislature into place and existing authorities to spend money start to expire.

To people familiar with this system, the US system where the existing lawmaking body is still in session during and after an election is nonsensical. It creates a "lame duck" session that can pass laws with no intent other than to screw with the incoming legislature. In parliamentary governments that's not possible, because as soon as the election is called the legislature is dissolved and no new laws can be passed.
 
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Jack by the hedge said:
After the initial shock of seeing how violently the adult inside the room is hurled across the room, I'm puzzled that one of the youngsters on the balcony doesn't even get knocked off her feet. Is it just that luckily by standing slightly to the side of the doorway, she avoids being picked up and thrown by the pressure wave driving into the room?
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How can you tell what happened to the two people who went out on the balcony? We don't see them after the blast.
 
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