Dam breaks.

Two dam breaks this month uccuring in the US.
(1) July 24th 21010: Delhi Dam, Iowa. This is due to water overtopping the earth dam after heavy rain.
(2) July 20th 2010: Rubber dam – Tempe Lake, Arizona. A section of rubber dam burst open thus draining a lake.
Property damages yes, but no loss of life.
Can't imagine the same occuring in this country, it'll cause a national uproar...

Save fuel, save money?

The new 3rd generation Prius hybrid car can give up to 38km per liter of fuel. That's super economy considering it's quite a big car with a 1.8l engine. But at RM175,000 each there's no economic sense in owning one. A 2.4l Toyota Camry in high trim costs about the same. Other 1.8l cars are priced at around RM100k and are just as roomy though not as economical - they gave around 13km/l. People who buys this Prius in this country now either that they want to be different, or they like the technology or just want to make a statement wrt the environment. As it is there is no chance that people are going to buy this car in any quantity in this country (since we moved here in January, I've seen it on two occasions, not sure whether they're the same one) . In other countries the premium of hybrid cars over similarly sized cars with conventional engines are not that great that it makes sense to go hybrid.