photo time

I thought it was time to remind myself and those who check this blog about my little piece of paradise. to the untrained eye it may seem just like another property but to me it's my bliss.
I'm including a photo of my son and Shnooky, the donkey, with the neighbours horses looking on. The alpaca is standing at the back.

Economic scenario

The engineers of the economic collapse aren’t finished with you yet. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to scare you into agreeing to more outright theft of your sovereignty, freedom and wealth.The first milestones have been reached. As US Congress was warned in March, the economic collapse gained steam in September - right on schedule. The federal government has successfully created over $3 trillion, with MUCH more to come, in order to ensure the coming hyper-inflationary nail in the coffin. With that, they managed to nationalize banks and insurance companies and rescued other incompetent partners-in-crime on Wall Street and it is only beginning.Now for what is coming next:It was predicted at the end of October that the U.S. Dollar would collapse within 30 days.The dollar collapse will be accelerated by a COMEX default beginning on November 28th. More on what this will look like here. Colin Powell has warned of a “crisis” that will happen on January 21st or 22nd, 2009. It remains to be seen whether this staged event will be financial in nature.The U.S. government is expected to go bankrupt/default in February 2009.Make no mistake, none of this is happening by accident. Nor is it happening as a result of “bad” policy, not enough regulation etc. On the contrary, what is unfolding has been planned for decades.Preposterous you say? Not necessarily. Everything is not as it seems.

quake

A strong earthquake hit off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Monday, but Australian seismologists said it was unlikely to trigger a tsunami or cause other damage. Geoscience Australia initially said the undersea quake, centred about 200 kilometres south of Port Vila between Vanuatu and New Caledonia, had a magnitude of 6.6.It later downgraded the tremor to a 6.3 magnitude."It would have been felt in some of the southern Vanuatu islands," duty seismologist Hugh Glanville said, but he added that the radius of the quake zone meant it was unlikely to have caused any damage on land."We issued a nil threat for Australia in terms of a tsunami warning. There's quite a slim chance there would be a local tsunami - but it's very unlikely," he said. 5pm 08/09/08

Eat a banana today or a woolfberry or 3

Bananas are a good source of potassium, fibre and energy.
There remains some debate regarding whether or not bananas have a high glycemic index value, which spikes blood sugar and disrupts long-term energy levels.
An alternative to the humble banana is celery which contains more potassium than the banana and also Chinese wolfberries are better still.They are a more balanced form of energy and nutrition, and provide a host of other vitamins.
Below is what the wolfberry looks like. It is one of the most promising health-supporting foods; with over 15 percent protein, 21 essential minerals and 18 amino acids, it is nutrient-dense and is a superfood in a class all its own.It provides the immune system with much necessary properties. There is substantial evidence that the lycium polysaccharides in the wolfberry have significant antioxidant and immune-supporting properties. Research studies revealed that berry young juice increased spleenic phagocyte cell counts which are the immune cells by 81%. A most significant increase by any ones account.

Chinese wolfberries had been used for thousands of years to treat a wide range of illnesses. People in China who consumed them on a regular basis have been found to live remarkably healthy lives for 100-plus years.The berries have been found to boost the immune system, protect the liver, improve the quality of blood, and improve vision.

stop cancerous cells

Australian scientists say they have had a breakthrough which could help prevent diseases such as leukaemia, rheumatoid arthritis and asthma.Researchers from the St Vincent's Institute in Melbourne and the Hanson Institute in Adelaide say they have unravelled the structure of an important part of white blood cells. Scientists say when a part of the cell is damaged and keep replicating, it causes leukaemia and inflammatory diseases. Scientists know cells get the information to replicate through an antenna which picks up the signal from the body, but new 3D imaging has allowed researchers to see exactly how it works. Study co-head Professor Michael Parker from the St Vincent's Institute says it means they can now work on a possible cure."If we can stop those strings forming, then there's no signal. And if there's no signal, then the cells will stop proliferating," he said. It is hoped the discovery can lead to more targeted treatments and cures, such as a cure for asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. The scientists have signed an agreement with pharmaceutical company CSL to develop a treatment that will stop the protein from controlling the spread of cancerous cells. The findings have been published in the Science Journal, Cell.

Aliens exist,, well fancy that?!

FORMER NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr Edgar Mitchell - a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission - has stunningly claimed aliens exist.And he says extra-terrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions - but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades.Dr Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview that sources at the space agency who had had contact with aliens described the beings as 'little people who look strange to us.'He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a small frame, large eyes and head.
Chillingly, he claimed our technology is "not nearly as sophisticated" as theirs and "had they been hostile", he warned "we would be been gone by now".Dr Mitchell, along with with Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard, holds the record for the longest ever moon walk, at nine hours and 17 minutes following their 1971 mission."I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we've been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real," Dr Mitchell said."It's been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it's leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it."I've been in military and intelligence circles, who know that beneath the surface of what has been public knowledge, yes - we have been visited. Reading the papers recently, it's been happening quite a bit."Dr Mitchell, who has a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering and a Doctor of Science degree in Aeronautics and astronautics claimed Roswell was real and similar alien visits continue to be investigated. He told the astonished Kerrang! radio host Nick Margerrison: "This is really starting to open up. I think we're headed for real disclosure and some serious organisations are moving in that direction." Mr Margerrison said: "I thought I'd stumbled on some sort of astronaut humour but he was absolutely serious that aliens are definitely out there and there's no debating it."Officials from NASA, however, were quick to play the comments down.In a statement, a spokesman said: "NASA does not track UFOs. NASA is not involved in any sort of cover up about alien life on this planet or anywhere in the universe.'Dr Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue.'http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24070088-13762,00.html

Immortal Invader

Don't smoke, drink or eat meat and you can extend your life by decades, though what you're going to do with all that time is another question. Now it seems that an animal has taken this to the logical extreme, and can live forever - the only drawback being it lives forever as a small clump of jelly.The Hydrozoan, a small predatory sea creature like a jellyfish but without all their well known exciting higher functions, can achieve the dream of millions and become a child again. When adverse environmental conditions threaten death it can collapse into a rugged blob of cells to survive. When it re-emerges, it does so as a child - literally building itself up all over again. Since this isn't just a shell to hide in, but a complete structural restart, it seems possible that it could keep this up forever.
Since one of these adverse environmental conditions is "getting sucked into the ballast tanks of a freighter", the hardy hitchhiker has spread all over the globe. It possesses stingers and eats things, which are definitely qualities you don't want in something that's unkillable and spreading worldwide, but if you're larger than a shrimp you're still safe. If you are currently smaller than a shrimp, get Rick Moranis to block the laser and try to be in a better comedy next time.
We aren't in any immediate danger of knock-on effects either, as the jetsetting jellyfish-ettes seem to be integrating quite harmlessly into their new homes (though some shrimp might disagree). The rather damp phoenix-stylings of the hydrozoan have obviously made them a hot topic in genetics, but don't expect to buy your immortality pills just yet - this is one life extension option that isn't even remotely applicable to humans.
Posted by Luke McKinney from The Daily Galaxy

Bored brains shrink

The old adage "use it or lose it" is literally true, according to Australian research showing the brain shrinks faster if it is not stimulated.Brain scans have revealed that people who do not engage in complex mental activity over their lifetime have twice the shrinkage in a key part of the brain in old age.The finding sheds more light on the link between lifestyle and dementia, and adds strength to the evidence that mental gymnastics, like puzzles and new languages, stave off ageing diseases.
"We've got strong evidence here that people who use their brains more have less brain shrinkage," said Dr Michael Valenzuela, from the school of psychiatry at the University of NSW."I hope people take this as a further call to arms to get out there and use their brains, get engaged in anything from tai chi to world travel, in the knowledge that it may help delay or prevent the onset of dementia." Mental activity has been found to delay the onset of the degenerative brain diseases, such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, in large population studies. Dr Valenzuela and his team were investigating the reasons behind this "use it or lose it" principle by studying the brains of 60-year-olds over three years and testing their lifetime mental agility with questionnaires.Of the 50 people studied, those who had been more mentally active over their lives had a larger hippocampus, an important memory centre in the brain.Critically, over the three-year period the area shrank at half the rate of those who had lower mental activity."This is a significant finding because a small hippocampus is a specific risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Valenzuela, whose work is published in the journal PLoS ONE.He said while many drug companies were trying to find a pharmaceutical target to prevent the shrinkage of the hippocampus, the good news is that people can help themselves."Our prior research shows the risk for dementia is quite malleable, even into late life," the researcher said."It is vital that everyone is involved in cognitive, social and physical activities in late life such as dancing, tai chi, sailing, travelling and learning a new language, for example."

UFOs invade NT town

27 Jun 08
A SMALL Northern Territory community is still reeling with shock after four UFOs descended on their Outback homes.Families spent hours in fear as what appeared to be three spaceships hovered in the distance with another just metres above their houses.
The drama at Marlinja, population 112 and 730km south of Darwin, began at 8pm on Sunday.Resident Janie Dixon said it started as an "ordinary" night."The kids were on the basketball courts, shooting a few hoops, and I was indoors talking to my two nieces when we heard a strange, loud noise," she said. "We ran outside but at first we couldn't see anything -- it was really dark and we could hear the sound. "The sound was horrible. It sounded like something was going past. We thought it was a jet. I saw what I thought at first was the evening star, the first star you usually see at night. "But then we saw three red lights in the distance, and the sound kept getting louder. "The ground felt like it was shaking, so we ran inside and shut the doors."My nephew and niece were looking out through curtains. The thing came closer, circled around the basketball courts and then came so close above our house. "The kids at the basketball courts ran -- two girls stood there looking towards the sky.
"They tried to see what it was but all they could see was this bright red light in the pitch black."Ms Dixon said the UFO hovered above the homes for what seemed like a couple of hours. She said at one stage the phone rang, but went dead when she tried to answer it."Then the light in the house became so bright, it was like we were sitting in a football stadium," she said."After a while, after the things all disappeared... I think it was about 11pm by then."We went outside and were just sitting around drinking tea and talking about it all. The kids were put to bed.
"We heard the noise again and it came back, but disappeared again moments later.
"We were all really frightened."It was a big shock and I couldn't sleep."

Rain, rain once again! Yay!

Two significant rain bands are delivering rain everywhere from the south-west of WA, to Alice Springs to Victoria.According to The Weather Company, which provides forecasting on FarmOnline, widespread cloud is spreading across all eastern states due to an upper trough.This is generating rain areas across Queensland, western NSW, southeast SA and western Victoria.And a second band of thick cloud is spreading over southwest WA from a cold front, causing rain with locally heavy falls.Already big falls have been recorded overnight and more rain is expected throughout the nation's cropping and grazing areas as both systems move further east today.According to the Bureau of Meteorology's overnight figures, the big falls in Queensland have been in the Channel Country with Birdsville receiving 57mm, Ballera 58mm, and Thargomindah 25mm.In NSW, there has been some coastal rain as well, with Ballina receiving 11mm and Dorrigo 16mm, but it was the western division which received the most promising falls, with Broken Hill recording 14mm, Lake Victoria 96mm, Tibooburra 26mm, White Cliffs 20mm, and Wilcannia 16mm.In Victoria Hopetoun has received 7mm, Walpeup 8mm, Longerenong 8mm, Nhill 7mm, and Warracknabeal 7mm, while in SA Edinburgh recorded 8mm, Strathalbyn 10mm, Nuriootpa 9mm, Kadina and Kingscote 11mm, Minlaton 7mm, Keith 6mm, Loxton and Renmark 11mm, Clare 12mm, Pt Augusta 14mm, Snowtown 10mm, Ceduna 10mm, Moomba 20mm, and Woomera 11mm.The system in WA has brought Dwellingup 9mm, Mandurah 10mm, Bunbury 50mm, Witchcliffe 33mm, Busselton 16mm, while further north Carnarvon received 28mm and Geraldton 13mm.
FarmOnline
http://www.farmonline.com.au

Is a Wormhole a portal to another Universe?

Wormholes are a strange consequence of Einstein's theory of general relativity. These "shortcuts" through the fabric of space and time may link two different locations in the universe; they may even connect two different universes together.
This also leads to the possibility that wormholes can allow travel between two points in time. These strange entities have provided science fiction stories with material for many years, but there is credible physics behind wormholes. Now it seems that in theory slowly-rotating wormholes may be able to generate their own magnetic field. Could this be used to detect the presence of wormholes in our observable Universe?
Last month, researchers from the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan investigated the properties of a slowly rotating wormhole and the effect this would have on a surrounding volume of space. Their calculations assume as the wormhole rotates, it drags space with it.
This gravitational effect is known as "frame-dragging". Einstein's general relativity predicts that space-time will be warped. The best way to visualize this is to imagine a heavy ball on an elastic sheet; the ball causes the sheet to stretch downward, in a cone-shape. If the ball is spun on the sheet, friction between the ball and elastic will cause the sheet to distort in another way, it will begin to twist out of shape. If you apply this idea to space-time (the elastic sheet), and you have a slowly rotating wormhole (the ball), distortions in space-time will have a dragging effect on the surrounding particles, causing them to spin with the wormhole.
If you have a rotating mass of charged particles like this, a magnetic field may be generated. Therefore, in theory, a slowly-rotating wormhole could have its own opening inside … ‘negative energy’ if you will, allowing something – or somebody – to travel through and end up somewhere else …. or somewhen else!

Washington Post/Univ Today

Mt. Etna Volcano Italy

Etna's a bubbling...Eruptions started yesterday May 10 from Mt. Etna Volcano
in Italy. Lava fountains were visible at the SE
crater and lava flowed into the Valle del Bove.

Burma cyclone tragedy

NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
The city of Yangôn (also called Rangoon) in Burma (Myanmar), is tucked into a "V" between two rivers that empty into the Gulf of Martaban through a large estuary. When Cyclone Nargis passed over the city in the first week of May 2008, the entire coastal plain flooded, surrounding Yangôn with water.
This pair of images from NASA's Landsat satellite shows the city and surrounding agricultural land before and after the storm. On March 18, 2008, the built up part of the city and its suburbs appear bluish purple, fallow cropland is pinkish-tan, and vegetation is dark green. The wide rivers are a muddy green.
After Nargis inundated the area with heavy rains and storm surge, standing water covered almost the entire area. As of May 5, flooding in the heart of the city appeared to be less than in the surrounding areas. (Flooding probably exists, but it may be at a smaller scale than Landsat is able to detect.) However, all the land to the west and southwest and most of the area to the east and southeast are still submerged. Across the river to the southeast of the city, a swath of relatively dry land—perhaps higher in elevation, or protected by a levee—extends toward the lower right corner of the image. Across the rest of the scene, standing water varies in shades from muddy brown, to green, to purplish blue.
12 May 2008 15:26:40 GMT
Source: Reuters By Darren Schuettler
BANGKOK, May 12 (Reuters) - The ships, aircraft, money and people are slowly getting into place for a 'tsunami-style' international aid operation for cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. Now all they need is government permission.While aid trickles into the former Burma 10 days after Cyclone Nargis, relief agencies say the storm's 1.5 million survivors in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta are getting only a fraction of the food, water and medicines they need.The World Food Programme (WFP) said it only had 10 percent of the staff and equipment it needed inside the army-ruled country."We think we need to be moving 375 tonnes of food a day down into the affected areas. We are doing less than 20 percent of that," WFP spokesman Marcus Prior told a news conference.The agency, which is flying food aid into the former capital Yangon and using local staff to distribute it, was "essentially operating by remote control", he said."It puts enormous pressure on the staff that we do have in the field. Although it is do-able, it's not sustainable and it's not do-able on the scale that is necessary," Prior said.
The military, which has ruled for 46 years, has welcomed "aid from any nation" but has made it very clear it does not want an influx of foreign experts or equipment distributing it.The reclusive regime is not granting visas for foreign logistics teams needed to ramp up the relief effort and avoid a second wave of deaths due to hunger and disease."Aid is being delivered daily by boat, helicopters and trucks," Soe Tha, Minister for National Planning and Economic Development, told foreign diplomats in Yangon on Sunday.Seven military helicopters are running an air bridge from Yangon west to Pathein, a staging area for the government relief effort. The regime is also using small boats and two larger ships to deliver aid, U.N. officials say.Myanmar's air force has 66 helicopters, ranging from French-made Alouettes and U.S.-built Bells to Russian Mi-17s, and more than a dozen fixed-wing transport planes, experts say. Little is known about their airworthiness or maintenance.
The United Nations has called for nearly $50 million in logistical support as part of a wider appeal for $187 million in aid for Myanmar."We need air assets, boat and road transportation made available, as well as warehousing. We need a tracking system and the staff to run this operation," Terje Skavdal, head of the U.N. humanitarian affairs office, told reporters.In past disasters, they were up and running in 3-4 days."The fact that we are on day 10 now shows how delayed we are in the response," he said.
Nargis is Asia's worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami, which triggered a massive international relief effort which involved Australia, U.S. and EU.Five days after the killer waves struck Indonesia, where more than half of the 230,000 tsunami victims died, helicopters began ferrying aid from the clogged airport at Banda Aceh.
The aircraft from many nations formed the backbone of supply lines to remote villages and helped stave off a second wave of deaths.

China 7.8 mag quake

BEIJING (Reuters) - An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 struck China's Sichuan province on Monday, less than 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital of Chengdu.The quake was felt across much of China and as far southwest as Bangkok, Thailand's capital, some 3,300 km (2050 miles) away, where office buildings swayed for several minutes. Chengdu a fast-growing metropolis of 10 million people and home to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base is around 1,300 km (2070 miles) southwest of Beijing."All the buildings are swaying back and forth," said a university student in the central city of Wuhan, adding that people had rushed outside and one single-storey building had collapsed. "We felt continuous shaking for about two or three minutes," said another office worker. "All the people in our office are rushing downstairs. We're still feeling slight tremblings." China's tallest building, the Jinmao Tower in Shanghai, as well as other high-rise buildings were ordered evacuated after the quake and aftershocks.Many workers poured from their buildings in Bejing's financial centre, but there were no visible signs of damage. The subway system was unaffected.The U.S. Geological Survey said on its website http://earthquake.usgs.gov) that the quake struck at 0628 GMT at a depth of 29 km (18 miles). The agency originally put the strength of the quake at 7.8. Japan's meteorological agency said no warnings for a tsunami has been issued.Sources said there was no immediate impact to the Three Gorges Dam project, the weight of whose massive reservoir, hundreds of kms from Chengdu, experts have said could increase the risk of tremors.(watch what happens with the Three Gorges Dam, this is the last indicator of major earth cataclysms escalating)A source at the biggest refinery in western China, Lanzhou, said the plant also appeared unaffected by the quake.An official with the Sichuan provincial seismic bureau said the epicenter of the quake was in Wenchuan county, in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, a mountainous area populated mostly by Han Chinese but with sizeable Qiang and Tibetan populations.On Chinese state television, a reporter said that telephone calls to Wenchuan were not connecting. State TV also said the government was preparing to send rescue and aid teams to the region.A receptionist at the Tibet Hotel in Chengdu said the hotel had evacuated its guests, but said things were "calm" there now. "It was very sudden and I am not sure what has happened elsewhere, but we are OK here," the receptionist said.The quake was felt as far away as Vietnam and Thailand, startling office workers in high-rise buildings."We have a number of reports that high buildings along Sukhumvit and Sathorn roads (in Bangkok) felt the tremors, but there are no reports of damage," a geologist at Thailand's Meteorological Department told Reuters.High-rise residential and office towers in the western suburbs of Vietnam's capital, Hanoi also shook for several seconds, witnesses said, but there was no visible damage. Hundreds of residents and office workers left the buildings as a precaution.(Reporting by Jason Subler and Darren Schuettler; Writing by David Fox; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
China quake toll nears 10,000
CONTINUATION OF NEWS
Nearly 10,000 people were killed by the earthquake that hammered south-west China, officials said on Tuesday as rescuers struggled to reach the worst-hit areas.Rescuers worked frantically through the night, pulling bodies from schools, homes, factories and hospitals that were demolished by the 7.8 magnitude quake, which rippled from a mountainous area of Sichuan province across much of China Monday afternoon.The toll from China's worst earthquake for over three decades appeared sure to climb as troops struggled on foot to reach the worst-hit area, Wenchuan, a hilly county of 112,000 people 100km from Sichuan's provincial capital, Chengdu.China's state-run Xinhua news agency said the death toll from the quake had reached nearly 10,000, quoting the disaster relief headquarters.The previous toll stood at more than 8,700, including 8,533 confirmed dead in Sichuan province alone.The area had been rocked by more than 1,180 aftershocks of up to magnitude six as of 5am (0700 AEST) on Tuesday, the sichuan provincial seismological bureau said, according to Xinhua.About 900 teenagers were buried under a collapsed three-storey school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan.Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed there, bowed three times in grief before some of the 50 bodies already pulled out, Xinhua reported."Not one minute can be wasted," Wen said, state television showed.
"One minute, one second could mean a child's life.""Several thousand" people at a single factory in Sichuan province had been killed or buried, Xinhua reported on Tuesday.The report, which gave few other specifics on the casualty numbers, said the disaster occurred when a steam turbine factory collapsed on Monday in the town of Hanwang in Mianzhu city.China's Communist Party leadership announced that coping with the devastating quake, and ensuring that it did not threaten social stability, was now the government's top priority."Time is life," said an official announcement from the Communist Party Standing Committee, according to the Xinhua news agency."Make fighting the earthquake and rescue work the current top task.""The situation is worse than we previously estimated and we need more people here to help," Premier Wen said, speaking at the disaster relief headquarters in Dujiangyan, 100km from the quake's epicentre."We cannot just rely on medical teams inside Sichuan province, we need teams to come in from outside," Wen was quoted as saying on CCTV.President Hu Jintao, describing the quake as the top government priority, urged an "all-out" effort to rescue victims.Troops were ordered to help with disaster relief work.Buildings swayed in Beijing and Shanghai, while the quake was felt in Hong Kong, Vietnam and in the Thai capital Bangkok, 1,800km from the epicentre.Xinhua earlier quoted disaster relief officials saying up to 5,000 people died in one Sichuan district, Beichuan, where 80 per cent of buildings collapsed.Dozens of military vehicles were heading there, the agency said.The Sichuan quake was the worst to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan tremor in north-eastern China where up to 300,000 died.Then, unlike now, the Communist Party kept a tight lid on information about the extent of the disaster.
In Chengdu, many residents slept outside or in cars Monday night, fearing more tremors in the city where at least 45 people died and 600 were injured.The government rushed troops and medical teams to dig for survivors and treat the injured.But severed roads and rail lines blocked the way to Wenchuan, and local officials Described crumpled houses, landslides and scenes of desperation."We are in urgent need of tents, food, medicine and satellite communications equipment," the Communist Party chief of Wenchuan, Wang Bin said, according to Xinhua.Most farmers' homes in two townships had collapsed and there was no word from the three townships nearest the epicentre, which have a population of 24,000, the report added. So far Wenchuan has reported 15 dead, a number likely to rise steeply.

Global Warming

Believe it or not, the choice is yours...
by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
I've decided to give it to you upfront and straight, so here it is. The current warming trend is real and escalating. What I have stumbled across and was quite shaken to find; is what the global warming zealots knew all along.
Many of you have been following my work for over 10 years, so it is no surprise for me to tell you once again the Sun is the primary culprit. So let me simply set that aside and go right to what you didn't know.
I'm going to make this short and to the point. There is "NO" such thing as "prevention" of the coming earth changing events. Why the global warming army choose to present this false information is still unfolding and yet to be fully revealed. My first instinct is shallow but realistic; it is simply about money. It's a "lets make it while we can" mentality. I would surmise it is not hard to believe as we watch the gas prices go up every week for "no apparent reason whatsoever". Yet, we just take. My second thought is the governmental fear of "anarchy". If the world's population had knowledge that severe and unstoppable earth changing events are ahead, what measure would need to be taken to control the masses?
More for you to know right here---right now. The IPCC not only knew that climate change is "unpreventable", they have also knew "mass migration" is imminent. So why pretend the current warming trend is "preventable" spending billions on a red hearing? The answer can only be 'greed' and 'fear'.

Krakatau awakening

Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia April 22, 2008
Alert status at Krakatau Volcano, Indonesia has been
raised to Level 2. Since April 15th there has been an
increase in volcano earthquakes. Ash emissions resumed
at Anak Krakatau Volcano. Booming noises were heard at
Pesauran 42 km from the volcano.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour
~ William Blake ~

ok, so what shall I call this?
I have just posted, without realising I may add the same info about a sun tsunami. The first post was made at 10.20 and today's post was at 20.10. I just love playing with numbers like this, especially when it's not planned by me, it just happens.

Sun tsunami

Astronomers have captured the first footage of a solar "tsunami" hurtling through the Sun's atmosphere at over a million kilometres per hour.
The event was captured by Nasa's twin Stereo spacecraft designed to make 3D images of our parent star. Naturally, this type of tsunami does not involve water; instead, it is a wave of pressure that travels across the Sun very fast. Details were reported at the UK National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast. In half an hour, the tsunami covered almost the full disc of the Sun.In a solar tsunami, a huge explosion near the Sun, such as a coronal mass ejection or flare, causes a pressure pulse to propagate outwards in a circular pattern.
Last year's solar tsunami, which took place on 19 May 2007, lasted for about 35 minutes, reaching peak speeds about 20 minutes after the initial blast.
Co-author David Long, from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland, commented: "The energy released in these explosions is phenomenal; about two billion times the annual world energy consumption in just a fraction of a second.The shockwave moved out exactly like a tsunami on Earth. "A series of troughs and crests in pressure causes it to propagate outwards. But on the Sun, it is hot gas."
When a person talks to someone in a room, their voice is carried by pressure waves in the gas that's between them; it's the much the same on the Sun except on the Sun, magnetic fields also help the waves along. The phenomenon is therefore known as a magneto-acoustic wave.

Solar tsunami

Astronomers have captured the first footage of a solar "tsunami" hurtling through the Sun's atmosphere at over a million kilometres per hour.
Naturally, this type of tsunami does not involve water; instead, it is a wave of pressure that travels across the Sun very fast.In a solar tsunami, a huge explosion near the Sun, such as a coronal mass ejection or flare, causes a pressure pulse to propagate outwards in a circular pattern. Last year's solar tsunami, which took place on 19 May 2007, lasted for about 35 minutes, reaching peak speeds about 20 minutes after the initial blast.
Co-author David Long, from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland, commented: "The energy released in these explosions is phenomenal; about two billion times the annual world energy consumption in just a fraction of a second on the Sun, magnetic fields also helped the waves along. The phenomenon is therefore known as a magneto-acoustic wave.
Stereo's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) instruments monitor the Sun at four wavelengths, which allowed astronomers to see how the wave moved through the different layers of the solar atmosphere. "We were able to show for the first time that this wave actually propagates almost all the way from the surface of the Sun to high up in the Sun's atmosphere," said Dr Gallagher. The researchers even saw the pressure wave bouncing off irregular regions of the Sun’s atmosphere, generating reflections or diffraction patterns - exactly as tsunamis have been observed to do on Earth when they crash against land.

Dangerous pinwheel

Earth could be in for a neighborhood dispute with a death star, according to an Australian astronomer. A spectacular rotating pinwheel system just down the astronomical road from Earth — 8,000 light years away — includes an unstable Wolf-Rayet star that could explode. Eight years ago, WR104 was discovered in the constellation Sagittarius by Sydney University astronomer Peter Tuthill.
A Wolf-Rayet star is the last step on the way to a supernova — the explosion of a star at the end of its life. Images from the Mauna Kea in Hawaii telescope show that every eight months the two stars at the centre of the pinwheel orbit each other, leaving a trail of hot gas, carbon and dust. "Viewed from Earth, the rotating tail appears to be laid out on the sky in an almost perfect spiral," Tuthill said. "It could only appear like that if we are looking nearly exactly down on the axis of the binary system." Tuthill and his team worry this box-seat view might put us in the firing line when the system finally explodes."Sometimes, supernovae like the one that will one day destroy WR104 focus their energy into a narrow beam of very destructive gamma-ray radiation along the axis of the system," he warns. "If such a 'gamma-ray burst' happens, we really do not want Earth to be in the way." Even a short gamma-ray burst at supernova strength could zap away half the Earth's ozone layer, drastically increasing the amount of deadly space radiation that penetrates our atmosphere. One leading theory blames the Ordovician mass extinction of 443 million years ago on such an interstellar gamma-ray burst. There's no need to move planets just yet, however, because Tuthill is uncertain whether Earth is precisely on WR104's axis. We probably have hundreds of thousands of years before it blows, so we have plenty of time to come up with some answers," he said.
Tuthill's research is published in the latest edition of the Astrophysical Journal.



University of Sydney
A composite of 11 images of Wolf-Rayet 104, an unstable binary star system that could direct a deadly burst of gamma rays at Earth.

Sudden Global Cooling Has Scientists Perplexed

The past year has seen extraordinary and unexpected global cooling--inconsistent with global warming models, but completely consistent with the Superstorm model of how new ice ages begin.
For Great Britain, Ireland and Scotland, 2007 was a year without a summer. China has had its coldest winter in a hundred years. North America's snow cover is the most extensive in 50 years. The Antarctic is experiencing its coldest summer on record. It snowed in Baghdad for the first time in memory, and most of the world has seen exceptional and record breaking cold, and, across the US midwest, the most violent winter tornadoes ever recorded.
While scientists caution that this may or may not represent a trend, it is strikingly similar to conditions that appeared during the Little Ice Age that lasted into the 1740s, when there were very few sunspots and solar radiation appeared to decline.
At present, even though a sunspot of the type that usually heralds the beginning of a new solar maximum was observed in February, the sun's face has remained totally absent of sunspots.
While measurement of solar output is in its infancy, it is believed that solar variability is a major factor in the cycle of ice ages separated by brief interglacials that earth has been experiencing for the past three million years.
During the Little Ice Age, greenhouse gas levels in earth's atmosphere were low, with the result that the cooling resulted in ferocious winters and short summers, but not the extreme weather that has characterized past collapses from interglacial conditions to a new ice age.
That may not be true this time. Time will tell...

Kangaroo cull

Australia should do everything in its power to avoid culling hundreds of kangaroos in Canberra, Greens leader Bob Brown says.Defence Department contractors are preparing to cull about 400 kangaroos on a former naval site at Belconnen, in Canberra's north.
A report to the ACT government released last week recommended the cull go ahead without delay to protect lowland native grasslands and threatened species. The plan has drawn international condemnation by animal activists including British group Viva! which has the support of celebrity rock stars Sir Paul McCartney and Chrissie Hynde. Expert advice to the ACT government said relocating the animals would be inhumane, but Senator Brown said on Thursday he did not think that option had been properly explored. "In the report given to ACT government, it's dismissed in one paragraph, but the reasoning behind that dismissal is not there," Senator Brown told ABC Radio on Thursday. He is advocating a pilot program to relocate some of the animals to see if it is feasible. "Australia is coming into the spotlight over this, it's very rapidly becoming an international cause celebre. "We ought to be able to demonstrate to the world that we have done everything possible to obviate the need for killing 400 to 500 kangaroos." Senator Brown said a cull should go ahead only if a pilot program was unsuccessful."If it's found that can't be done without a great deal of cruelty then we're left with no option," he said. But ACT Liberal senator Gary Humphries said Senator Brown was engaging in populist politics and scientists agreed a cull was necessary."They said translocation on this scale has not been tried before in Australia and it would not work," Senator Humphries told the ABC.He said a trial relocation program would be expensive and would take several months. "And, of course, while that trial is going on, the kangaroos will continue to overgraze that area which is the habitat of a number of endangered species."
I agree with Senator Humphries. They are a real problem on the road causing 75% of all road accident insurance claims in the ACT.

Icicles that kill

While on the theme of ice... Plummeting chunks of ice is an annual hazard for pedestrians in Russia during the spring when the sun finally melts thick layers of ice and snow which build up on roofs over months of freezing temperatures and darkness.Medical authorities in the region of Samara told ITAR-TASS that five people died in the city of Samara and another person died in the nearby town of Otradny between February 23 and February 25.

Ice Tsunami

I have come across some of the most spectacular photos of Antarctica and its "Ice tsunamis". This really illustrates the point that "a freeze" happens very rapidly.
here is the link http://m3.bestpicever.com/piles/?s=icetsunami
just to tantalise your taste buds I am posting a couple of the photos.
Enjoy!

Glacial Volcanoes

New research of a previously unknown underwater volcano first discovered in 2004 off the coast of Antarctica has just been released. The presence of a volcano was first suggested in sonar studies during the January 2004 research expedition. The finding helps explain mariners' historical reports of discolored water in the area. Material from underwater volcanoes is known to cause discoloration in water over them.
Published this Sunday (Jan. 2008) in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers Hugh Corr and David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey, report the identification of a layer of volcanic ash and glass shards frozen within an ice sheet in western Antarctica. Vaughan states: "This is the first time we have seen a volcano beneath the ice sheet punch a hole through the ice sheet."The eruption occurred close to the massive Pine Island Glacier, an area where movement of glacial ice towards the sea has been accelerating alarmingly in recent decades. Co-researcher Hugh Corr states: "We believe this was the biggest eruption in Antarctica during the last 10,000 years. It blew a substantial hole in the icesheet and generated a plume of ash and gas that rose around 12 kms (eight miles) into the air."Volcanic heat could still be melting ice to water and contributing to thinning and speeding up of the Pine Island glacier, which passes nearby. Vaughan suggests the heat from volcanoes is the cause of glacier melt. This report adds another damaging blow to the Al Gore regime.

Asteroid TU24

For as long as TU24 is inside Earth's magnetosphere there is going to be disturbance.
Severe weather is being reported worldwide since TU24's entry into the magnetosphere. From extreme conditions in China where thousands of motorists have been stranded on roads in blizzard conditions to Canada and the States to extreme cold in the Middle East and snow in Jerusalem and torrential dumping of rain in Australia. Cobar Shire Council is investigating State Government disaster relief to help the dozens of businesses and homes that were flooded when 100 millimetres of rain came down.There have been bitumen roads ripped up, fences lost, a problem at the cemetery with some of the grave sites sinking, homes completely flooded. The Mayor, Lillian Brady, says she has never seen so much rain.
Across the Midwest of USA the temperatures are plummeting by as much as 30 degrees in just a few hours. Meanwhile, a storm along the leading edge of the cold air mass led to an outbreak of blizzard conditions across eastern Iowa.
The severe cold can lead to hypothermia and frostbite after a brief period of exposure. Anyone spending extended periods outdoors and motorists traveling in isolated areas should be prepared for the extreme cold and snow.
There is severe risk of electromagnetic disturbance and extreme weather conditions between the dates of January 29 and February 5 2008 when the asteroid is closest to the Earth and well within our magnetosphere.

Australia Day 2008

A reminder of what the then Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard said in 2007 during a vexing time when Australia was put under pressure about not accepting Muslim ways. I think he made a difficult stand that needed to be taken by the person who leads the country. I guarantee many people thought this but none had the courage to publicly make such a statement.
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.' 'This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom' 'We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language!''Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.' 'We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us.''This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'.''If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.'

climate change and recession

The upcoming recession is being talked about in the news right now, and it's mainly being blamed on oil prices and the sub-prime mortgage situation. But there's another area where the US economy is leaking money: the insurance industry. They've taken a beating from the bad weather caused by global warming. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted a 21st century rise in ocean levels of 32 inches, but now they say it could be twice that: 64 inches. This is what happened the last time the earth got this hot, 100,000 years ago. This news has the insurance industry terrified, since they’ve already lost $75 million from natural catastrophes in 2007. cIn MarketWatch, Steve Goldstein quotes insurance expert Torsten Jeworrek as saying, "The trend in respect of weather extremes shows that climate change is already taking effect and that more such extremes are to be expected in the future. We should not be misled by the absence of megacatastrophes in 2007." The 11 warmest years worldwide have been recorded during the last 13 years.

Looting angers flood-hit town of Emerald

Looters have ransacked a number of inundated homes in the flood-hit central western Queensland town of Emerald, adding to the woes of locals still waiting for flood waters to recede. While residents living in Emerald's northern parts have returned to their homes after they escaped unscathed, 166 houses and 97 units - mostly in the town's south - remain under water.Police said they were investigating reports of break and enters at a number of evacuated home units between Tuesday and Thursday morning.As the area is still surrounded by floodwaters, it is unknown what property has been taken," police said in a statement.Five complaints were under investigation but the number could rise as residents return to their homes, police said.Emerald Shire mayor Peter Maguire reacted angrily to the reports."I think people that do that sort of stuff are the lowest form of scum," he said."People are in dire straits and can't get to their property, and then people go out and, I don't know exactly what's happened, but people are taking advantage of those who are in those sort of situations. "We'll tip them (the offenders) in the river, it's running fast enough to get rid of them." The main road into Emerald, the Vince Lester Bridge, is set to remain closed until at least Sunday afternoon while engineers wait for the Nogoa River to fall low enough for them to inspect the underside of the roadway. The river, which peaked at 15.4m on Tuesday night, is falling at a frustratingly slow rate. It was still at 14.85m at 3pm (AEST) on Thursday. Australia Day celebrations have been cancelled in the town, with the venue still under four metres of water. However, Emergency Management Queensland (EMQ) spokesman Andy Christie said the community spirit is strong, with those who escaped flood damage responding to the aid of those in need."A lot of the people I spoke to, when they found their own homes weren't affected, the first thing they did was jump in their car and actually drive around to see who they could help," Mr Christie said.Supplies are currently being transported to isolated areas around the region, particularly the Gemfields district, with refrigerated trucks delivering milk, eggs, bread and other essentials to stranded locals.Farmers along the Nogoa have lost at least $80 million in damaged crops, infrastructure and livestock.Rural lobby group AgForce will request military assistance to help feed stranded cattle on farms in the flood-hit regions. President Peter Kenny said up to 90 per cent of stock was unaccounted for on many properties, and large numbers of stranded cattle would be impossible to salvage."There have already been reports of cattle being washed 40 kilometres downstream while unfortunately, larger numbers of younger calves have perished," Mr Kenny said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came to the assistance of those in disaster-declared areas on Thursday, allowing individuals to access grants of up to $10,000, and businesses up to $25,000, to clean up and restock, under Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).The Queensland government also opened the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal with a $100,000 donation. The public can donate at any branch of the Commonwealth, Westpac, National Australia and ANZ banks.Meanwhile, Australia Day celebrations have also been cancelled in Rockhampton, about 200km east of Emerald, as the city prepares to be hit by flood.The Fitzroy River - which bisects Rocky - is tipped to rise to over eight metres on Tuesday.A disaster management centre will be established in the city on Friday.Rockhampton's Australia Day fireworks and celebrations were due to be held on the banks of the Fitzroy.Gavin Steele, the executive officer of the area's disaster management group, said the expected peak of 8.2m would not cause significant damage to property."Part of our flood plain area will see some inundation there, probably between 10 to 20cm of water in most cases," Mr Steele said."Most of the houses in that area are used to flooding, so their habitable areas are well above that mark."

70% of Queensland is currently UNDER WATER.

The hill

The other day my son took me for a drive up to the top of our hill. I have never been there before because it is such a steep climb and you cross a river aswell, even though there are a few places where you can cross it where there is no water. I took my camera to take some photos.
This is my paradise, I love living here even though it's dry again. Home is where the heart is, and this is where mine is.

my son with shnooky the donkey and the neighbours horses looking on







view facing south












view to the east and the neighbours vinyard

A Warming Climate Can Support Glacial Ice

New research challenges the generally accepted belief that substantial ice sheets could not have existed on Earth during past super-warm climate events. The study by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego provides strong evidence that a glacial ice cap, about half the size of the modern day glacial ice sheet, existed 91 million years ago during a period of intense global warming. This study offers valuable insight into current day climate conditions and the evironmental mechanisms for global sea level rise. The new study in the Jan. 11 issue of the journal Science titled, "Isotopic Evidence for Glaciation During the cretaceous Supergreenhouse," examines geochemical and sea level data retrieved from marine microfossils deposited on the ocean floor 91 million years ago during the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum. This extreme warming event in Earth's history raised tropical ocean temperatures to 35-37C (95-98.6F), about 10C (50F) warmer than today, thus creating an intense greenhouse climate. Using two independent isotopic techniques, researchers at Scripps Oceanography studied the microfossils to gather geochemical data on the growth and eventual melting of large Cretaceous ice sheets. The researchers compared stable isotopes of oxygen molecules (d18O) in bottom-dwelling and near-surface marine microfossils, known as foraminifera, to show that changes in ocean chemistry were consistent with the growth of an ice sheet.
The second method in which an ocean surface temperature record was subtracted from the stable isotope record of surface ocean microfossils yielded the same conclusion.
These independent methods provided Andre Bornemann, lead author of the study, with strong evidence to conclude that an ice sheet about 50-60 percent the size of the modern Antarctic ice cap existed for about 200,000 years. Bornemann conducted this study as a postdoctoral researcher at Scripps Oceanography and continues this research at Universitat Leipzig in Germany."Until now it was generally accepted that there were no large glaciers on the poles prior to the development of the Antarctic ice sheet about 33 million years ago," said Richard Norris, professor of paleobiology at Scripps Oceanography and co-author of the study. "This study demonstrates that even the super-warm climates of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum were not warm enough to prevent ice growth."Researchers are still unclear as to where such a large mass of ice could have existed in the Cretaceous or how ice growth could have started. The authors suggest that climate cycles may have favored ice growth during a few times in the Cretaceous when natural climate variations produced unusually cool summers. Likewise, high mountains under the modern Antarctic ice cap could have been potential sites for growth of large ice masses during the Cretaceous.Ice sheets were much less common during the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum than during more recent "icehouse" climates. Paradoxically, past greenhouse climates may have aided ice growth by increasing the amount of moisture in the atmosphere and creating more winter snowfall at high elevations and high latitudes, according to the paper's authors.The results from the study are consistent with other studies from Russia and New Jersey that show sea level fell by about 25-40 m (82-131 ft) at the same time that the ice sheets were growing during the Cretaceous period. Sea level is known to fall as water is removed from the oceans to build continental ice sheets; conversely, sea level rises as ice melts and returns to the sea.
The presence or absence of sea ice has major environmental implications, specifically in terms of sea level rise and global circulation patterns. As humans continue to add large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that accelerate the heating of the atmosphere and oceans, research on Earth's past climate conditions is critical to predict what will happen as Earth's climate continues to warm.
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego
by Staff Writers
San Diego CA (SPX) Jan 11, 2008

Just a thought to consider...

Fascism - "A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism."

Corporatism - "Control of a state or organization by large interest groups, set out to maintain stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition, reduce feelings of individual empowerment."

Sir Edmund Hillary 1919-2008

Below are some of the notable comments made by Sir Edmund Hillary, who died today aged 88.
* Announcing to his climbing companions that he and Tenzing had reached Everest's summit: "We knocked the bastard off."
* On the changes fame brings: "I used to walk down Broadway, Papakura, in my tattered overalls and the seat out of my pants. Now, I thought 'That's gone forever. I'll have to buy a new pair of overalls now'."
* On life's inner challenges: "It is not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves."
* On the motivation for climbing mountains: "Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it."
* On what is attainable by Everyman: "You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things -- to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals."
* At the 50th anniversary of the conquering of Everest: "I like to think that I am a very ordinary New Zealander, not terribly bright perhaps but determined and practical in what I do."
* On 'giving back' later in life: "The fact that we (in NZ are affluent) is a blessing, and with it comes responsibilities."
* On his reasons for establishing his humanitarian project, the Himalayan Trust, to assist the impoverished in Nepal: "It is impossible not to see that they lack all the things that we regard as essential in life. They don't have schools and they don't have any medical care or anything of this nature. And I suddenly decided that instead of just talking about it - why didn't I try and do something about it."
* On becoming a knight: "It was a tremendous honour, of course, but I had never really approved of titles and couldn't really imagine myself possessing one."
* On the news that his face would adorn a banknote - the five dollar note, the first living New Zealander to be so honoured: "I guess I'll have to be respectable for the rest of my life."
* On the decision by NZ climber Mark Inglis who passed a dying British mountaineer during an ascent of Mt Everest for the Discovery Channel: All I can say is that in our expedition there was never any likelihood whatsoever if one member of the party was incapacitated that we would just leave him to die."

One hundred years ago

The year is 1907. What can happen in just one century--- (in America)

The average life expectancy was 47 years.
Only 14% of the homes had a bathtub.
Only 8% of the homes had a telephone.
There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles of paved roads.
The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.
The average wage in 1907 was 22 cents per hour.
The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year.
A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, a dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95 percent of all births took place at home.
Sugar cost four cents a pound.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Coffee was fifteen cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or
egg yolks for shampoo.
Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into their country for any reason.
Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis
3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was only 30.
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea hadn't been invented yet.
There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day.
Two out of every 10 adults could not read or write. Only 6 % of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, Heroin, and Morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect "guardian of health."
Eighteen percent (18%) of households had at least one full-time servant or domestic help.
There were about 230 reported murders in the entire U.S.A.
What can we expect in the next 100 years from now?

House and garden update

Time for a house and garden update. Living out in windy Wamboin has some drawbacks the greatest of which is the wind and crumbly shale that's supposed to be soil. The rain has greened up the earth and the grass is tall and becoming dry and a fire hazard of the future. This happens every year and the grass gets broken and blown away by the wind each year. This year Shnooky has been grazing in the bottom paddock which has the river trickling through it and the top paddock's grass has not been eaten.
The chooks keep getting out of their yard and wandering around in the tall grass laying their eggs. Well, I'm not looking in tall grass for eggs as there are snakes in there who have probably eaten the eggs anyways.
I have always loved my flowers and have my favourites growing and flowering in pots at the front of the house. I have beautifully coloured Iris's, magnificent lillies, molusk azalea, ordinary azaleas, camelia and gardenia and of course my magnificent roses.
These are some of the flowers growing in pots at the front of my house. Enjoy them as I do.

these are the first roses of the season, their colour is just stunning!

in the foreground are the rhododendrons and my azaleas in the background

not only do I have pot plants but I have cat plants too! this is a cat size pot with "Wiggles" in it. There were bluebells flowering in it before.

Cyclone shelters open in Darwin

Cyclone shelters in Darwin's rural area and in the city have opened their doors as the Disaster Committee declares stage three for tropical Cyclone Helen.
The category one cyclone is continuing to head towards the west coast of the Northern Territory and is predicted to be upgraded to category two by the time it reaches land early tomorrow morning.At 6pm AEDT, it was about 225 kilometres west-south-west of Darwin and moving east at 16 kilometres per hour. A cyclone warning is current from Port Keats to Cape Hotham, including Darwin and the Tiwi Islands.Gordon Jecklin from the Bureau of Meteorology says Cyclone Helen is bringing gale force winds with it.
"We're actually seeing the system still developing, so we expect by the time it hits the coast at about midnight, we'll be looking at wind gusts of 130 kilometres an hour and category two," he said.Those using the cyclone shelters are being asked to bring essential medicines, foods and minimal personal supplies. Northern Territory Police Commissioner Paul White says those wanting to seek shelter outside of Darwin should leave as soon as they can."The cyclone track is forecast across the Stuart Highway and the last thing we want is people leaving at the last moment and getting stuck because the road's closed," he said."So we want people to take a measured approach. We want them to remain calm but we want to give people every opportunity that if they feel they need to leave Darwin to do so."Acting Police Commander for the Darwin region, Mike Stevens, says it is possible gale force winds will be felt across the Darwin region from later on this evening. "We expect the winds to start impacting at around nine o'clock tonight [local time]," he said. "I would urge people to limit their movements after eight o'clock tonight." He says people going to public shelters should take food and warm clothing.
Darwin Airport says it expects all flights to go ahead as scheduled but a meeting is being held at 5:30pm ACST to consider the latest cyclone update.
The Territory's Infrastructure Department says bus services will run as usual until 8:30pm ACST, and the situation will be looked at again after th

2008 The Grand Finale

SOLARA'S SURF REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2008 INTO THE NEW AND TRUE
The Grand Finale !
Welcome to the Massive Breakthrough Year of 2008!
2008 is the year that we've been waiting for. It is a tremendously powerful and exciting year in which all things are possible.
Since it is a year of immensely deep Monolithic Shifts, we will experience profound life altering inner and outer changes throughout the year. By the end of the year, we shall find ourselves in very different circumstances from where we are now. We will be with new people in new places with new career paths that incorporate our creativity. Most of all, we will have a very expanded awareness with a totally new set of priorities.
2008 signifies the beginning of the end of illusion and will bring numerous challenges. These challenges will be immeasurably greater for those who have not yet stepped onto their new level and become True Core Beings.
Some of these challenges will be personal ones in which any elements within us that have expired or which have held us back from being our true selves will rise to the surface greatly magnified in order to be released once and for all. This is because we can no longer carry anything untrue within us. Throughout the year, we will be continually challenged to live our lives as True Core Beings. For if we do, we will be on the Fast Track to the Fulfillment of our Wildest Dreams.
In 2008 we will experience an infusion of the heightened energies of LOTUS LOVE at a frequency never before experienced on planet Earth. This has already begun. LOTUS LOVE originates from the realm of the deeper Invisible known as the Lotus World and brings in a totally new level of awareness that I can only call an Ultra Greater Reality, as well as a core level resonance of Pure True Love that affects absolutely everything. It's vital that we fully align ourselves with these energies as soon as possible. One of the side effects of the powerful infusion of Lotus Love is the breaking down of all illusion. Because of this, the outer world will experience occasional upheavals. There may be times of outer chaos and heightened fear. The area of finance is especially susceptible; there may well be a collapse of some world currencies, financial markets and monetary systems. Since we are in the Time of Completion, this breakdown of the old is to be expected. This makes it even more important for us to remain centered in the Heart of the Lotus at all times and to remain REAL and TRUE. If we do, all will be well. We will be in the Ultra Greater Reality in which there is true abundance and we will be able to do whatever we need to do, without any major financial challenges. We will be fully supported on all levels in our New Lives. Throughout the year, we will experience a steady procession of Green Lights, Golden Opportunities, Major Intersections, Monolithic Shifts and Quantum Breakthroughs. These will take place on levels that we cannot yet imagine. And after that, nothing will ever be the same....
Bring it on I say!
http://snoedel.punt.nl/index.php?r=1&id=381034&tbl_archief=0#381034

LOVE

Start the new year with Love.
All energy comes from a base energy of love. Love is the mother energy from which all other energy forms are created. You do not usually think of electricity or gravity as a form of love, so let us introduce that idea now. Light is a form of unique energy. Energy never dies; it never ends, nor does it begin; it is infinite. It only transforms from one form of energy to another. and when you have love in your heart for any reason you infect the molecules around you with particles of your love. You change everything around you just by your presence. You are a chemical, electrical, magnetic being and your own magnetic field creates your reality just before you walk into it. Even within a relationship both people take on physical aspects of the other person. Have you noticed that people who are together a long time begin to look like each other? It can be said that a relationship is when you like the way you look on them. This is the way you mirror each other and if find that you like the image you see of yourself in them, and then you have a friendship. If you love the way you look at your own image on them, then you have a love relationship.

HAPPY NEW YEAR