National

A fireworks factory in China exploded on Monday killing 19 or 20 people, and leaving 150 people injured. According to Sky News, the factory was operating illegally, and after their permit was restricted, “The factory had its license confiscated in June after safety concerns were raised according to the official Xinhua news agency.” The Monday explosion took place in the Heilongjiang province, near the city of Yichun. Currently, the cause of the explosion is unknown.

An eyewitness recently commented on the factory explosion. “We assumed it was an earthquake because the office building trembled and the lamps and clocks fell. A huge black mushroom cloud was visible. It rose and grew from where the fireworks factory is located.” The blast was felt up to 3 miles away, and even shattered building windows nearby.

After the explosion, 2,000 residents were evacuated from their homes, and 550 firefighters were called to the scene to fight the blaze. You can see a photo of firefighters attempting to put out the blaze, here.  Currently, costs of damages are unknown. Telegraph.co.uk has stated that 5 people are still missing, from the explosion.

When it comes to college rankings and the month of August, we’re all probably thinking about the coaches top 24 NCAA college football polls. But today, the rankings we’re dealing with rate and rank the best schools in the country, and thanks to Guardian.CO.UK, we have the top 10 results to share with you, along with the complete list of the rankings, (shown in the last paragraph of this article).

The following poll rankings are according to the US News and World Report college rankings. If you don’t remember, last year, Harvard and Princeton were tied in the #1 spot. This year, Harvard managed to beat Princeton to the #1 spot, by a single point, in the rankings. According to the Guardian, Harvard received it’s outstanding #1 position because of the universities’ high graduation rates, amazing financial resources, and staff.

Christian Science Monitor recently gave some details on how these rankings were established, “US News college rankings were released Tuesday and, not surprisingly, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale grabbed the three top spots. But US News also rated the colleges and universities by value. Here are the Top 5 high-quality national universities whose typical financial aid package covers the most college costs, including books and transportation.”

Here is a list of the complete top 10 standings. #1 Harvard. #2 Princeton. #3 Yale. #4 Columbia. #5 Stanford and Pennsylvania. #7 Cal Tech and MIT. #9 Dartmouth, Duke, and the University of Chicago. A complete list of the National University rankings can be seen at US News: Best Colleges 2011.

In a recent ad campaign video, Ben Quayle calls Barrack Obama the “Worst President In History.” He says, “Drug cartels in Mexico, tax cartels in D.C. What’s happened to America?” He also notes that he wants to “knock the hell out of Washington,” in an attempt to teach them a lesson. At the end of the video, Quayle states, “My name is Ben Quayle, and I approve this message.” Well, that’s one way to go about getting your name out there.

If you’re looking to go viral (video here) as a political figure, just say, “Barrack Obama is the worst president in history,” and you will have your fame. Look, I realize we live in a free country, but who else thinks Quayle is a little crazy? Maybe, I’m the only one. I mean, I thought rapper Eminem was crazy when he came out with his song, “Mosh,” which clearly states, “F**k [President] Bush.” Regardless, Quayle’s message seems to be extremely effective, and at the least, it’s gaining the attention of people around the world, and more importantly, those who actually agree with him.

Since the video was first posted on Youtube, it has received a few thousand views, but by tomorrow, we’re sure that number will rise in the hundreds of thousands, if not, millions. The video has also received 490 dislikes, and 76 likes. If you’re unfamiliar with Quayle, he’s also the son of former Vice President, Dan Quayle.

Dan Rostenkowski, Chicago Democrat known for being around during the time of Ronald Reagan, has past away at the age of 82. Reports were first confirmed by a friend of Rostenkowskis, reports the Huffington Post. During his time, Rostenkowski was elected into the US congress, and completed many goals during his political career, including his role in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. LA Times blog reports, “Dan Rostenkowski, an old-style Chicago ward boss who became one of the nation’s most powerful legislators during the Reagan era before a stunning fall to corruption charges that left him branded a political anachronism, died Wednesday. He was 82.”

In 1994, Rostenkowski was investigated by the Justice Department for laundering office money through postage stamps. He would then purchase gifts for those who supported him. Rostenkowski served 17 months in prison for his crimes. The Huffington Post notes that Rostenkowski had “been ill for quite sometime.” The funeral for Rostenkowski will be held Tuesday at St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, in Chicago, Illinois. The cause of death is currently unknown. Information for this article was obtained via the Huffington Post and LA Times Blog.

63-year-old Rush Limbaugh, a popular political radio host known for his conservative views, married 33-year-old Kathryn Rogers back in June. The wedding took place in Palm Beach, Florida. At the time, rumors were that Elton John played at the couples’ wedding. Now, those rumors are confirmed with the wedding photos that Rush Limbaugh has posted on his official Facebook page.

Blogger David Weigel was extremely surprised that John played at the couples’ wedding. “Honestly, I’m more surprised that John took the gig because of his often-stated disgust with how the media treated Hillary Clinton in 2008. If anti-gay rhetoric hasn’t played much of a role in Limbaugh’s show, sexism against liberal women certainly has. I think liberal anger at John for playing the wedding was more of an issue than conservative confusion about Limbaugh.”

This will be Rush Limbaugh’s 4th marriage. Information for this article was obtained from the Washington Post and USA Today. To see all of the pictures from the wedding, be sure to check out Rush Limbaugh’s official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/RushLimbaugh.

Mr. News Breaker is reporting that award winning musician, Ramon Ayala is out of Mexican prison and back in the United States with his family. According to the source, Ayala was arrested on December 11th, after a shootout held at a Christmas party for Beltran-Leyva drug cartel. Currently, Ayala is being investigated for being involved in organized crime and money laundering. He was released from jail because health problems.

According to Ayala’s manager, Servando Cano, Ayala will be holding a press conference as soon as his health allows him to do so. In the conference, Ayala will discuss his “experience.” We’re assuming he means experience during the shooting and in jail, but only time will tell. These reports first came in to the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Although Ayala is being investigated for organized crime and money laundering, many of his fans still show their support, and some find that these claims are untrue. From Valley Central dot com: Rosa Hinojosa said: “Hey you all,ramon ayala is a great musician and maybe he knew who he was playing for maybe he didnt.so what is that you are so angry about?we all make mistakes,so stop judging him and take a look at yourself,i am sure you have got your lil secrets in the closet.” Currently, no other information is available.

Tracy Province has been captured and arrested, after escaping from an Arizona prison last month. Province was 1 of 2 convicted killers that escaped from the prison. John McCluskey, convicted of attempted murder, and suspected accomplice of Casslyn Welch, is still loose.

(In Picture – Tracy Province, left, and John McCluskey. Source: AP/Mohave County Sheriff’s Office). Authorities captured Province while he was hiding out in Northwest Wyoming, just 60 miles outside of Yellowstone. According to CBS News, Province was captured while in possession of a handgun. McCluskey and Welch, who are both still on the run, are expected to be hiding somewhere in the Wyoming – Montana area. Like Province was, they’re also expected to be hiding in or near Yellowstone National Park.

In what looks to be an exclusive KTAR.com interview, McCluskey’s father spoke to the press, “John McCluskey, if you’re watching this: Give yourself up. It’s a matter of time. You’ll never realize what you’ve done to me and your mother. They’ve already come and picked her up — locked her up. And they’re accusing her of helpin’. Myself, I have to take their word for it. I don’t believe it, but your mother’s in a spot. Give yourself up, you and (sic) and that other lowlife you’re running with.” That full video interview can be seen at KTAR.

If you have any information on the whereabouts of McCluskey or Welch, you are asked to contact the proper authorities.

The term “Barry Soetoro” has reached the #1 spot on Google Trends on the hour. If you’re unfamiliar with Google Trends, it’s a tool that shows the top 40 searches on Google every hour, and currently, the keywords “Barry Soetoro” are in the #1 spot. According to Top Paying Ideas, the name refers to President Barrack Obama. A site named Prison Planet notes that “Barry Soetoro” is Obama’s real name, all of which is better explained in the documentary: “Obama Deception.”

According to Top Paying Ideas, Prison Planet has been attempting to gain top spots on Google searches to gain more attention to their stories, and thus far, TPI reports that Prison Planet has been accomplishing their goals with the following story: Barry Soetoro AKA Barack Obama’s Political Dynasty Crashes And Burns, which has recently become popular on the net.

From the story, “Similarly, questions over Soetoro’s dubious origins have not abated. According to a recent CNN poll, 43 per cent of Americans think Obama was definitely or probably not born in the United States.”

To read the full story, be sure to check out Prison Planet, at “Barry Soetoro AKA Barack Obama’s Political Dynasty Crashes And Burns.” Currently, there are 30+ comments on the story. Be sure to leave your comments, as well.

About Prison Planet. Prison Planet has a page rank 6 and is one of the top 10,000 websites in the world, according to the rankings of Alexa Toolbar. Since 2002, they’ve been reporting popular politically related stories, keeping people around the world, up to date, on their news stories.

Today, August 6th, 2010, is a day of remembrance for those who died in the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The devastation, which will hopefully never occur anywhere ever again, has been a huge discussion in history classes across the world, ever since its occurrence, 65 years ago.

Many pictures of the devastation were taken and printed and one photographer in particular stands out. Yosuke Yamahata took 119 pictures of the areas that were hit, shorty after the bombs were dropped. Originally, the photos were confiscated by local authorities. In 1995, the photos were released and published in Nagasaki Journey, a book which can be purchased on Amazon.

Since the early days of war, photos of the events have been drawn and taken in remembrance of those who fought, those who didn’t, and those who lost their lives, during difficult times. To see more pictures and read an article about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, be sure to check out the Guardian.co.uk, the information source for our article.

Aimee L. Sword is easily one of the world’s worst and sickest mothers, as also described by Babble, after she slept with her own 14-year-old son, after reuniting on Myspace.

When Sword gave birth to her 14-year-old son, she immediately gave him up for adoption. The family who took her son in would write Sword yearly updates of how things were going with him. As Babble reports, one year, the letters stopped coming in.

When Sword lost contact with her son via post, she attempted to contact him on Myspace. When she was finally able to contact her son via Myspace, they got together, and that’s when a sexual relationship began.

In court, Sword plead guilty to third-degree sexual assault and having sex with her son multiple times. She could serve anywhere between 9 and 30 years in prison.

Swords lawyer released a statement on the situation: “When she saw this boy, something just touched off in her — and it wasn’t a mother-son relationship, it was a boyfriend girlfriend relationship.” Her lawyer continued to say, “Aimee’s searching for a reason why this happened. She can’t understand it. She’s going to get some counseling.”

The now famous story has peaked national attention, if not world wide attention, after reaching the number 4 spot on Google Trends; A popular tool that shows the top 40 searches performed on Google every hour.