John McTernan
On October 20, 2007, a series of 18 wildfires erupted in Southern California.  The fires grew into massive a conflagrations from the Mexican border to north of Los Angeles which would consume nearly 500,000 acres and destroy 2000 homes in one week!  The fires spread rapidly by the force of the Santa Ana winds which reached hurricane speed with gusts over 100 mph.  An outstanding characteristic of this fire was how fast it traveled.  People literally had minutes to flee from their homes to escape the flames.  It was the suddenness and swiftness of these wildfires which made them so remarkable.
A severe drought has settled over Southern California for the last few years making the land very dry.  The Santa Ana winds blow from the east with extremely hot and dry air.  The combination of the drought and Santa Ana winds made Southern California very vulnerable to this massive conflagration.
San Diego County was the hardest hit area as some 560,000 people had to evacuate their homes and flee to safety.  Approximately, one million people throughout Southern California were forced off their land and had to flee the raging wildfires.  This was the largest evacuation in California ...   more »

Claim human rights violated by special nightly menu offered during Ramadan
Ramadan prison menu
A prison menu offering ham sandwiches has prompted a multi-million-dollar lawsuit by Muslim inmates who claim their human rights were violated.
Officials at the high security prison in Leeds, England, denied they gave any of their 200 Muslim prisoners ham sandwiches. But they admitted a mistake in the special menus printed during the Islamic Ramadan holiday, the London Daily Mail reported.
Islam forbids eating any products from pigs.
The Muslim prisoners complained after discovering ham sandwiches were one of three options on the menu. Prison officers on duty explained the menus had been printed in error.
Some inmates, however, claim that when they ordered cheese sandwiches they found boiled ham between the bread slices, the London paper reported.
One inmate, 28, said some inmates were so hungry they ended up eating the ham sandwiches.
He's among the prisoners who could get up to $20 million in the legal action.
"It was a breach of my human rights and I want compensation," he said.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice stated: "An inappropriate menu card was printed during Ramadan. This mistake was rectified immediately. Appropriate menu ...   more »