Everything Matters

  

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. Its primary function is collecting and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons in order to advise public policymakers.

Prior to December 2004, the CIA was literally the central intelligence organization for the US government. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 created the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), who took over some of the government and intelligence community (IC)-wide function that had previously been under the CIA. The DNI manages the United States Intelligence Community and in so doing it manages the intelligence cycle. Among the functions that moved to the DNI were the preparation of estimates reflecting the consolidated opinion of the 16 IC agencies, and preparation of briefings for the President.

When discussing the CIA, it is critical to understand when one is speaking of the older IC-wide responsibilities, or its present set of responsibilities. The IC still has internal politics,[6], although an increasing number of interagency "centers", as well as the Intellipedia information sharing mechanism, are hoped to be improvements.

 

  

 

The Thai government reports 8,457 confirmed deaths, 8,457  injuries and 4,499  missing after the country was hit by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on December 26, 2004. The Thai authorities estimate 8,000 are likely to have died. The popular tourist resort of Phuket was badly hit. The smaller but increasingly popular resort area of Khao Lak some 80 km north of Phuket was hit far worse with 3950 confirmed deaths, while the total amount of dead in Khao Lak may exceed 4,500. The severity of the situation in Khao Lak is probably explained by the fact, that unlike the high-rising city of Phuket, the village of Khao Lak only had low built bungalows instead of high-rise concrete hotels. Khao Lak also has an extensive area of flatland only a few metres above the sea level, on which most bungalows were situated. Hundreds of holiday bungalows on the Phi Phi Islands were washed out to sea. Tuk-tuk drivers were quick to offer assistance, driving victims to the hospital and higher ground and away from the surging waters. Bhumi Jensen, grandson of HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was among those killed. The nearby Ko Lanta Yai island escaped serious damage.
 

 

 

At some places in Phuket and Phang Nga provinces, elephants were used to move and lift heavy wreckage to search for victims and clear roads. These were, or included, six male Indian elephants which had previously been used in making the movie Alexander.
  

  

 

On a beach in Thailand, a man was leading an elephant to entertain tourists, when the tsunami came. He put several children on the elephant’s back and so saved them from the flood.