The Anthropocene...

Humans existed when the Pleistocene ended and the Holocene began, 11,500 years ago. Among scientists, there is now serious talk that the Holocene has ended and a new era has begun, called the Anthropocene....
..“a vivid expression of the degree of environmental change on planet Earth.”
It means that human activity has left a “stratigraphic signal” detectable thousands of years from now in ice cores and sedimentary rocks.

We are the only species to have defined a geological period by our activity — something usually performed by major glaciations, mass extinction and the colossal impact of objects from outer space, like the one that defines the upper boundary of the Cretaceous.

Humans were inevitably going to be part of the fossil record. But the true meaning of the Anthropocene is that we have affected nearly every aspect of our environment — from a warming atmosphere to the bottom of an acidifying ocean.

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Nearly 20 years after this young girl's plea... has anyone in power listened, or cared enough to make the differences in the world she asked for on behalf of herself and future generations...

...those in power continue on today still acting as if we can go on forever...


The Anthropocene - NYTimes.com

Republicans Against Climate Science.

We are in a climate crisis because the government has frustratingly spent the last 20 years listening to 'climate cranks.'

Climate cranks have made up their minds. They're not going to be swayed by any of the facts. That's what makes them not skeptics, but cranks.


Why Are Republicans Against The Science?

...take 5: Summer 2011 - (details will be continually updated)

Just decided a few days ago (late for us) to try and put together a summer trip... it will bring us to England for a few days in the countryside, before going into London.

And we've confirmed our reservation, the stop out in the country will be in Wiltshire at The Bowood Hotel. ...located between Derry Hill & Calne... on the grounds of the old Bowood Estate (dating back to the late 1800's).
Have yet to decide on the hotel in London.

Then we travel to Southampton to pick up a Regent Seven Seas cruise on the Voyager - 'Connoisseur's Europe' stopping in these ports...

We will be traveling with our cruising friends from the UK, Stephen & Brenda.. they've decided to come along.. their cabin will be right across the passageway from ours.
The cruise for us will finish up in Monte Carlo, where we plan to spend an additional few days, somewhere in the area (maybe up in Provence...haven't spent much time there yet).

While in the English countryside for a few days we hope to be able to make our way to one or more of the crop circles that still might be available for viewing. The formal touring season pretty much ends in early August, as farmers work their crops and clear the fields... but more of them are starting to keep formations longer, available for folks to see... like this farm manager did at Little Durnford Farms. 

 Then there is a visit to Avebury.
Avebury lies at the heart of England's most ancient and mysterious countryside. Records of human activity here date back thousands of years. Avebury is the site of Europe's largest stone circle or, to be more precise, several stone circles, dating from between 4,000BC and 2400BC. These stones were erected up to 2000years before Stonehenge.

Originally three medieval cottages, the building now The Henge Shop was enlarged and heightened in the seventeenth century. Thatched until the early twentieth century and constructed of sarsen stone, chalk blocks and brick, and has served as the village post office and fire station in the past.
Within one of the stone circles at Avebury is the Red Lion Pub, one of the most haunted pubs in England. The building dates back to the early 1600s, and was a farmhouse until 1802, when it acquired a license and became a coaching inn.
There have been reports of at least five different ghosts at the Red Lion and a large amount of paranormal activity recorded here over the years.
The Red Lion has been voted as one of the top ten most haunted pubs in the world.

Summer 2011

(an idea of what the itinerary will be like)


*************************************************************

Notes:

Currency Converter 
Bowood Hotel & Spa
UK Street Map (interactive)
Wiltshire-Web
Gardens Guide  
Gardens - Regions Map

Car service - Heathrow to Derry Hill  -  £85

Practical Car Rental  (Calne, Wiltshire)

Enterprise Car Rental (Chippenham)

Derry Hill to Stonehenge 

Bowood post code -   SN11 9PQ
Wiltshire Crop Circle Study Group

Worst Places To Live: 61 Failed States

From Haiti in the Western Hemisphere to the remnants of Yugoslavia in Europe, from Somalia, Sudan, and Liberia in Africa to Cambodia in Southeast Asia, a disturbing new phenomenon is emerging: the failed nation-state...
... a state whose central government is so weak or ineffective that it has little practical control over much of its territory; non-provision of public services; widespread corruption and criminality; refugees and involuntary movement of populations; sharp economic decline.

List of countries by Failed States Index.. (notice we're in the 'moderate' grouping)

YouTube - Worst Places To Live: 61 Failed States

... take 5: ... what's with the music videos...

Been asked about, and had some comments made concerning the music vids listed on the blog.
They're at hand purely for personal enjoyment, and when there's a need to take a 'break.'
No special rules to the selection process, sometimes it's just what I've come across most recently, although most are long time favorites. As for the order in which they're listed... they get moved round arbitrarily.

Selections come and go, if I had to say there was one main quality about them as a whole, it's the fact that I can time and again watch every one of them and still not be bored with the performance. Once they get a bit stale, they're taken off the list for awhile.

Many (not all) are artists we have seen in concert through the years, and that lends considerably to the enjoyment quotient.
Entertainers, like any any art form, have an individual and a personal appeal ...

...(special performances will send a chill down your spine every time)...

Joe Bonamassa - Stop!

...among the group, should you happen to find some of interest, that's great....
... enjoy.


Note:
... enhance enjoyment of the performance.. view it 'full-screen,' using a good headset or quality ear-buds!

... take 5: National Geographic: Machu Picchu

On this last trip to South America had thought about the possibility of re-visiting Machu Picchu. If it was just a bit closer, would have gone again a heartbeat.
I remember seeing my first picture of Machu Picchu when I was just 16 years old.... and I vowed to get there one day.. had hoped it would be much sooner... but at least I made it!
It's one of the most magical and spiritual places we have ever visited... there's just no other experience like it!

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is mostly known for its architectural beauty and its near inaccessibility.

If you have not yet been, and are maybe considering a trip there, be sure and try and work it out to at least spending one night at The Sanctuary Lodge. It's right outside the Machu Picchu entry gate. You can then go back and forth from the lodge and the sacred site whenever and as many times as you want.

Be sure and visit soon... as the ground is slowly sinking with so many tourists visiting (over one million a year), they are now considering putting in viewing platforms in many areas. Once this were to happen, the overall atmosphere surrounding the mystical nature of the location would be altered dramatically... the experience would nowhere be the same.

<<< Machu Picchu >>> 

(pix from our visit in 2008.. be sure and watch 'full-screen' and use a headset)

 
National Geographic Photos: Machu Picchu--Aerial

2012 Solar Flares

Yea.....
..."certain to experience solar flare activity unlike any we have ever experienced before"..... ..."cycle does in fact repeat every 21,000 years and the planet is still here"... 

 

....but who was around 21,000 years ago so we can say how bad it got?? ... 

....sure we'll be hearing LOTS more bout this... doomsday scenario in 2012...
....check that... 2013!...

Doomsday Flares!

2012 Solar Flares

200,000 farmer suicides & counting... an Indian disaster!!

 With Citizens United... corporations are now 'persons'....

...Monsanto and company are evil 'people.'

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Deregulation destruction... another corporate induced disaster...
Had read this article about 200,000 Indian farmers committing suicide... had to do more research...

Before 2000, there were no reports of any farmer suicides.

Rooted in the policies of trade liberalization and corporate globalization...

In 1998, the World Bank’s structural adjustment policies forced India to open up its seed sector to global corporations like Cargill, Monsanto and Syngenta. The global corporations changed the input economy overnight. Farm saved seeds were replaced by corporate seeds, which need fertilizers and pesticides and cannot be saved.

Corporations prevent seed savings through patents and by engineering seeds with non-renewable traits. As a result, poor peasants have to buy new seeds for every planting season and what was traditionally a free resource, available by putting aside a small portion of the crop, becomes a commodity. This new expense increases poverty and leads to indebtedness.
The shift from saved seed to corporate monopoly of the seed supply also represents a shift from biodiversity to monoculture in agriculture. The district of Warangal in Andhra Pradesh used to grow diverse legumes, millets, and oilseeds. Now the imposition of cotton monocultures has led to the loss of the wealth of farmer’s breeding and nature’s evolution.

There is a Seeds of Hope campaign to stop farmers suicides. The transition from seeds of suicide to seeds of hope includes:
A shift from GMO and non renewable seeds to organic, open pollinated seed varieties which farmers can save and share.
A shift from chemical farming to organic farming.
A shift from unfair trade based on false prices to fair trade based on real and just prices.

The farmers who have made this shift are earning 10 times more than the farmers growing Monsanto’s Bt-cotton.


ClimateStoryTellers.org

Our neighbors... and Blu-Med Africa

Recently we received an email from a friend and neighbor up in the Berkshires, and thought with so much sadness and turmoil in the world today, here was a story worth recounting... a story worth passing on.
We all know about organizations doing good works, but it doesn't always hit home that these are at times friends and neighbors that are the ones doing the good works, in far off places in the world. People out there helping others, tirelessly volunteering their time without seeking recognition. They do it just because they care a lot about others, and it's an effort always worth acknowledging.

There's a neighboring family that are long time members of the community. This year instead of flying off to a posh resort for a get-a-way, they chose to have a wonderful experience together, traveling  to Ghana, Africa on a humanitarian mission. Staying with a Ghana host family, they will be working with a non-profit organization based in Ghana called...

Blue- Med Africa
Blue-Med Africa is a Ghanaian non-governmental and non-profit organization in health set up in 2008 by a group of young, dynamic, and dedicated doctors, nurses and social workers. The mission of Blue-Med Africa is to support the reduction of morbidity and mortality, especially of children and youths, through education, treatment, advocacy, training, and liaising with government and non-profit organizations.

As a physician, he will be assisting in the community hospital, in order to provide much needed medical care in an impoverished area. And as a nurse practitioner, she will be placed in either the hospital, or in the community, outreach teaching and providing care, as well as in a Leprosy wound care clinic. They will also be working with those afflicted with HIV and AIDS.
Their children, the driving force behind the endeavor, will be helping in the clinics as well, and teaching in the schools.  Helping teach at the orphanage, they will also be involved teaching sports and have plans to bring soccer balls, school supplies and gifts for the orphans. They also held fundraisers at school and collected monies to bring supplies to the Ghanaian community.

They have in addition been diligently contacting U.S. medical companies in order to help bring desperately needed medical supplies. A little effort in time and money goes a long way in helping these impoverished places in our world... regrettably that are growing in size and number each day.
It is a great story of giving and helping others, and we all should take great satisfaction we have such individuals in our communities and part of our lives.


Blu-Med Africa

Spreading Anti-Union Agenda

Some public sector unions have contracts and benefits that are too rich for these times, but even when they have made concessions, Republican officials have kept up the attack. The Republicans’ claim to be acting on behalf of taxpayers is not believable.

In Wisconsin, union leaders agreed to concessions requested by Mr. Walker: to pay nearly 6 percent of their wages for pension costs, up from nearly zero, and double payments for health insurance. At that point, most governors would declare victory and move on. Instead, Mr. Walker has rejected union concessions and refuses to negotiate. It's obvious his true priority (and that of the oligarchs he represents) is stripping workers of collective bargaining rights and reducing unions to a shell. Then unions would no longer be able to raise money to oppose him, as they did in last year’s election, easing the way for future Republicans as well.

The game is up when unionized state workers demonstrate a sense of shared sacrifice but Republican lawmakers won’t even allow them a seat at the table. For unions and Democrats in the Midwest, this is an existential struggle, and it is critical, and one worth waging.

Spreading Anti-Union Agenda - NYTimes.com

Monsters on Maple Street... (repeat the 30's)

"The monsters are on Wall Street, where state pension funds were sunk into toxic sub-prime mortgage-backed securities. The monsters are on K Street, where lobbyists are fighting financial industry oversight. The monsters are the politicians (and financiers) who are using Wisconsin's deficit as a pretext to demonize public employees and bust their unions."

But of course these guys are going to see it another way... to them they are the 'saviors' that brought us back from the brink. That we rely so heavily on speculation is important to them, but for entirely opposite reasoning. It's their function and purpose to maximize profits, what happens otherwise is of little concern to them, and therein lies the real problem for the world.

To tackle the enormous issues before us, we need individuals today to rise above and separate themselves from that kind of misplaced motivation. This is why Obama believers are so disappointed. Even those of us who had not voted for him had hoped he was going to truly do what he was prophesying, and make a difference. The continuation and strengthening of the oligarchy leaves us all bewildered and in dire need of a kind of leadership at opposite odds with those now holding all the power, to whom he continually keeps bowing.

And we have less and less time left to have this all accomplished. Much more valuable than all the money that has been stolen, it is the most precious commodity that is continually being taken from us. Given enough time we could have eventually 'got things right,' but we are being brought to a place where that option is disappearing rapidly.
Every day we loose more control over what quite soon is going to engulf us all.

***************************

Note:
And if we are to follow the historical pattern, we are going to be in for another large drop... to date our economic crisis has matched the 30's in scary fashion... many believe what is very soon to come will no doubt be the same...

The Monsters on Maple Street

Money Pollution: US CoC Darkens Skies

The U.S. Chamber was composed, “for the most part, of political action committees and business lobbyists. They hold little resemblance to the local chambers of commerce that have been the cornerstone of their communities for generations.”

The talk in public has done nothing to change the agenda the chamber pushes so powerfully in private. The organization petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to take no action on global warming on the grounds that “populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations.”

Now, read that again. No suggestion that companies adapt their business model to a reality that now includes melting ice caps, desertification and massive flooding, ever fiercer storms and acidifying oceans. Instead, they would prefer that every human being (and every other species) be so kind as to adapt their behavior and physiology to the needs of their tiny coterie of massive contributors. Forever.

As long as monster companies are pumping money into chamber coffers, they’ll simply keep on with their dodgy operations.

Bill McKibben | Money Pollution: The US Chamber of Commerce Darkens the Skies

...take 5: Delray Beach - 10 Year Anniversary

Hard to believe, now been 10 years living in Delray.

Once Bern had retired from Greenpoint Financial, we tried spending a couple years up in the Northeast, but the looong winters took their toll, and eventually forced us south. 
We took a trip and spent a week at a friends condo in Hollywood, FL, but all the time we were there, time and again, we found ourselves gravitating back up to Delray Beach, a place we had discovered roaming all along the coast from town to town, seeing what's what, and looking at real estate.

As luck would have it, a snowstorm up North delayed us from returning home for a couple extra days. So we took the time, and went out again on the hunt for an apartment. We received a call from a realtor we had been working with... he mentioned something new had just come on the market that morning (sounded like that same old line)... but it in fact in this instance it was true.

He told us that he was going to bring us three places, and we would 'connect' with the third... he did, and we did!
Walking in the door, we both looked out at the view, then towards each other, and in unison said "we'll take it!"

The Delray Summit, Lowry Street, Delray Beach, FL

Ten years later, we're still as much enjoying that same view.

Each year we say this is the last, 'we have to sell'... another year goes by... same thing.

Delray's a great little town... the local CoC likes to call it the...

....  'Village-by-the-Sea'... guess it is.

Not having to get into the car to go out to eat was our main priority when first started looking for a place. Having the beach and the intracoastal right on top of us was (is) an enormous bonus.

A Delray builder over 50 years ago built four tall buildings in town... then they changed the zoning, not allowing anything higher than four stories.

Our apartment on the 8th floor looks north and south towards the ocean, and out over the intracoastal... in our opinion, some of the best views in town....

... always will be.

Critical Power Play... a very BIG deal.

A critically important battle is shaping up here...
...it is about power.... trying to make America a less functioning democracy, and more of a third-world-style oligarchy.

In principle, every American has an equal say in our political process. In practice, some of us are more equal than others. Billionaires field armies of lobbyists; finance think tanks that put the desired spin on policy issues; funnel cash to politicians with sympathetic views (ie- Koch brothers, in the case of Mr. Walker in Wisconsin).
On paper, we’re a one-person-one-vote nation; in reality, we’re more of an oligarchy, in which a handful of wealthy people dominate.

"Instead of making the tough choices necessary to help their states weather the current crisis with some semblance of the social safety net and basic government services intact, Republican governors are instead using it as an opportunity to advance several longtime GOP projects: union busting, draconian cuts to social programs, and massive corporate tax breaks. These misplaced priorities mean that the poor and middle class will shoulder the burden of fiscal austerity, even as the rich and corporations are asked to contribute even less.

"It's ironic... the fiscal crisis in Wisconsin, as other states, was largely caused by increasing power of America’s oligarchy. It was super-wealthy players, not the general public, who pushed for financial deregulation, and thereby set the stage for the economic crisis of 2008-9, a crisis whose aftermath is the main reason for the current budget crunch.
And now the political right is trying to exploit that very crisis, using it to remove one of the few remaining checks on oligarchic influence.

Anyone who cares about retaining government of the people, by the people, should be on the side of the demonstrators.

Wisconsin Power Play - NYTimes.com

...take 5: Small World...

When I was very young, we moved from our apartment on Riverside Drive in Manhattan, up to the Bronx. My Dad for years had been working a bar-restaurant on 14th Street and with a young family, he just became tired of the late hours.   

Pooch is Mondego, brought over from Portugal by a friend of Dad

He took a job with a blacktop construction company located in the Bronx. (He was an apprentice carpenter as a young boy in Ourense, Spain... coming to this country when he was 17 years old.)
The Bronx apartment was on 169th Street on Jerome Avenue (across the street from the old Cascades Pool).. not very far up from Yankee Stadium on 161st.

I was six when Whitey Ford started pitching for the New York Yankees... and many years later... I was one year out of college at the time he retired (from the Yankees)... that's longevity!!
I attended many Yankee games through the years, and watched him pitch numerous times.
New York loved him for lots of reasons, none the least of which he was truly one of them. He was a kid that signed on with the Yankees coming from Astoria, Queens.... and he proved himself to be something very special.

'The Chairman of the Board'
18-years with the New York Yankees.
10-all star appearances
  6-World Championship Titles (played in 11 World Series).
236-106  Won-Loss Record
Most career wins in the history of the club.
Started a record 22 games in the World Series
Cy Young Award - World Series MVP - Babe Ruth Award
NY Yankees #16 Retired

*****************

Whitey now spends winters in Fort Lauderdale, in the same building as one of our longtime best friends, Ilene... she's also a New York kid...

Ilene & Whitey...

.... small world.

Our Future with Comcast.... allot less...

A very few companies control all... and it will be getting worse...

If corporations are 'people'... well, the people are not getting equal treatment.

'We, the people', it's said... don't feel we were excluded, but we didn't have meetings every single day like Comcast and NBC did. And we don't have hundreds of lobbyists on call like they do."

Comcast spent $100 million to get the merger approved. It hired 100 former government employees and paid $8.8 million to 30 lobbying firms to help seal the deal. It dumped a lot of cash all over Capitol Hill in the past two years.

Comcast met behind closed doors with the FCC to map out the future of broadband service and video streaming over the Internet. Anyone who wonders how federal banking regulators got captured by the financial industry, or how lawmakers got neutered by the insurance companies on the health care bill, or how big money is going to buy the next presidential election, all they have to do is to study the Comcast merger. It is a cautionary tale of things gone awry in Washington, where corporate speech is heard and heeded and the voices of actual citizens are ignored.

This how things get accomplished in 'our government.'

Good article... be sure and read all of it.

Note:
And once again.. deregulation rears its' insidious head: In 1984, we got the Cable Act. It was the first major revision of telecommunications policy in the U.S. since 1934. The law deregulated the industry that quickly spread like a cancer all over the country and into fewer and fewer hands. By 1991, just nine companies owned more than half the cable business in the US. Today, six media giants control most of what we see, hear and read.

Regulators presume the innocence, if not the good will, of industry players in whatever game they referee. They are hopelessly utopian in a dystopic world.  
All corporations engage in the single-minded pursuit of money. They aren't moral or engaged in fairness, and it sometimes takes years before some kind of remedy can be found for the bad things they do. And by then it can be too late. Think Bernie Madoff, not Bill Gates.

Back to the Future With Comcast

U.S. Uncut - Corporations don't pay taxes!

 2.27.11 folow up...
"....one dollar in my wallet. That’s more than the combined income tax liability of GE, Exxon-Mobil, Citibank, and the Bank of America. That means somebody is gaming the system.”


Make corporate tax avoiders pay....

... nearly two-thirds of US corporations don't pay any income taxes, instead opting to abuse tax loopholes and offshore tax havens. According to this study from the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, 83 of the top 100 publicly traded corporations that operate in the US exploit corporate tax havens.

Since 2009, America’s most profitable companies such as ExxonMobil, General Electric, Bank of America and Citigroup all paid a grand total of $0 in federal income taxes to Uncle Sam.

US Uncut

Methane Time Bomb!!... Permafrost Melt Irreversible... (It's happening NOW!)

"Our model projects a starting point 15 to 20 years from now."

Yep... everything is always 'down the road'... yet when the facts hit home, the real time-frames are always MUCH shorter. 

The article indicates all that has NOT been accounted for... what this all truly means is anyone's guess... and THAT'S the real scary part.

We really have no clue what we're doing... what a way to play it... full speed ahead, and whatever happens.... happens!

2.21.11  follow up...
.... scientists themselves may become targets of criminal investigations.


Permafrost Melt Soon Irreversible Without Major Fossil Fuel Cuts - IPS ipsnews.net

An American Uprising !!!

Protest movement aimed at protecting the poor and middle class is in the works. Cities around the country are preparing for a February 26 Day of Action, “targeting corporate tax dodgers.”

Corporations are beneficiaries of billions in taxpayer dollars under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Morgan Stanley boasts 273 subsidiaries in tax havens, with 158 in the Cayman Islands alone. Citigroup's got 427, with 90 in the Cayman Islands, and 59 of Bank of America's tax-haven subsidiaries are there as well.

The GAO found 18,857 businesses are registered at just one address in the Cayman Islands -- the "Ugland House." 
Obama has directly referred to Ugland House as the "biggest building in the world... or the biggest tax scam in the world"

The report said that "Ugland House registered entities included investment funds, structured-finance vehicles, and entities associated with other corporate activities."

Why should the government not eliminate these 'scams,' and collect from corporations and the outrageously wealthy those monies they're now 'avoiding' paying in taxes... then lets just see how much of a 'shortfall' we wind up with.


An American Uprising? From Wisconsin to US Uncut by Sarah van Gelder

Wagering Our Lives - shale natural gas.

A high-stakes gamble with no scientific consensus that unconventional drilling for gas in the shale by a method called "hydraulic fracturing" - which entails injecting millions of gallons of water and thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into each well bore at very high pressures - will not cause irreparable environmental harm, perhaps despoiling water aquifers that supply millions of people, including those in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and New York City.

Yea... we should all not be concerned leaving this 'play' entirely up to the government, and the energy companies ... we all know how well they do at protecting our welfare!!

2.23.11 ...follow up...   ... gas industry goes after anyone who tries to punch a hole in their lie.



Wagering With Our Lives

Berlin Efforts to Prevent Iraq Invasion: German Warnings to Bush

Bush wouldn't allow anyone to change his mind. ... he was dead set on launching a war against the Iraqi dictator... giving them a freedom Bush described as "God's gift to mankind." Over time, however, this would-be gift from God has grown to become the biggest foreign-policy disaster in US history since the Vietnam War.

Berlin believed the rapid establishment of a democracy in Baghdad was "not to be expected." The Germans also predicted that the real beneficiary of a war in Iraq would actually be Iran, and that a US-led attack would further complicate efforts to reach a solution in the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

They prophesied going to war would precipitate a "terrorist backlash," stressing it was important "to win over the hearts and minds of the Muslim elite and youths," and this was "not to be achieved" by going to war...also adding that doing so would greatly increase the danger of prompting an "influx to Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism."

“When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities."


Berlin Efforts to Prevent Iraq Invasion: Classified Papers Prove German Warnings to Bush - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Reject Canada Tar Sands!! - How is that going to be possible?

From all appearances this is another catastrophe in the making.
Besides the environmental devastation now taking place in Canada (as detailed in the video), there is the elevated risk of pipeline spills throughout both nations as a result of new corrosive oil products being increasingly delivered to the United States.

Tar sands oil is significantly more acidic and corrosive than standard oil, and requires increased heat and pressure to move through pipelines. These unique characteristics brings with them new liabilities to the integrity of the American oil pipeline system that is currently unprepared to handle this product, and new threats to the waterways and aquifers that cross paths with these pipelines.

This new product has a significantly different chemical composition from other petroleums that creates difficulty in transportation and cleanup when spills occur.  Tar sands diluted bitumen has five-to-ten times as much sulfur as conventional crude and more chloride salts. Both substances can weaken pipelines and make them more likely to break during a pressure spike. Refiners have reported finding more quartz sand and other solid material in tar sands diluted bitumen. At high pressure, this material basically sandblasts the inside of the pipe.

Naturally occurring or crude bitumen is a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum that is so thick and heavy that it must be heated before it will flow. At room temperature, it has a consistency much like cold molasses. Most natural bitumens contain sulfur and several heavy metals such as nickel, vanadium, lead, chromium, mercury and also arsenic, selenium, and other toxic elements.
Naturally occurring crude bitumen impregnated in sedimentary rock is the prime feed stock for petroleum production from "oil sands", currently under development in Alberta.

Oil Sands Create Energy Boom and Environmental Problems

Canada has most of the world's supply of natural bitumen, covering 140,000 square kilometres (an area larger than England), giving it the second largest proven oil reserves in the world. The Athabasca oil sands is the largest bitumen deposit in Canada and the only one accessible to surface mining, although recent technological breakthroughs have resulted in deeper deposits becoming producible by in-situ methods (recovery techniques which apply heat or solvents to heavy oil or bitumen reservoirs beneath the earth... the ones which work best in the oil sands use heat).

As of 2006 Canadian crude bitumen production averaged about 1.1 million barrels per day and was projected to rise to 4.4 million barrels per day by 2020. The total amount of crude bitumen in Alberta which could be extracted is estimated to be about 310 billion barrels which at a rate of 4,400,000 barrels per day would last about 200 years.
Because of oil price increases since 2003, upgrading bitumen to synthetic crude oil has become highly profitable... increased speculation pushing prices even higher will only make it more so!

 Note:
This is what the tar sands area looks like on Google Maps ... (remember these images are always months behind 'real time').


Tell Obama to reject Canada tar sands!!

Deep in the Washington Quagmire | Change Our Thinking About Making War!

"We had a moment of opportunity... Obama had such a moment of opportunity... and it's now gone."

Trying to summarize Tom Engelhardt's works there is just too much of importance being said.

You just have to read it... a very good piece.

Tomgram: Engelhardt, Waist Deep in the Washington Quagmire | TomDispatch

New Vision. - Rebuilding regional food organizations

Local and regional food organizations seeking to continue a home garden and small scale agriculture practice amid a fast food and industrial agriculture that has systematically de-educated people of food, farming and gardening skills and knowledge.

Now that the health, community and ecological bills of the externalizing system of industrial agriculture are coming due in ways they can no longer be ignored, these past community and regional food organizations resonate with greater authority and importance as we seek to bring their visions from the margins to the forefront.

With eyes wide open in optimism for the possibilities of arriving at a more sustainable future for ourselves and those who will find themselves on these same soils a hundred years hence... our future in increasing measure in regards to future food production must learn from and copy the past.

New. Clear. Vision. | Shoulders to the Wheel

Fix the Pentagon Part I: Create an Independent Audit Agency

While the nation and tens of millions of it's citizens suffer through one of the most difficult economic periods in history, and might not be able to get free of the enormous mess that has been created.... there are outrageous sums (tens, maybe hundreds of billions) that are being squandered.

... and... READ THIS ARTICLE... it should make your blood boil!

Fix the Pentagon Part I: Create an Independent Audit Agency

Empire of U.S. Bases

We don't know the real number... and we don't know how much all this is actually costing us... and much of the world where we are looked upon as 'occupiers' we are pretty much despised... how insane is all of this!

Chalmers Johnson in his book 'The Sorrows of Empire' is concerned with the potentially destructive consequences of U.S. actions for our constitutional republic. It is a powerful indictment of current U.S. military and foreign policy.... forewarning what may be the last days of the American Republic.

Empire of US Bases | Common Dreams

.... a septillion...1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

"Knowing we are not alone just might be the kick in the pants we need to grow up as a species."

At first thought, I was not going to include this item on the blog... feeling it might be thought of as frivolous... as in general, so many crop circle events through the years have been ignored, downplayed, or derided by government, the media, and a majority of the general population.

But there is a growing awareness this is a phenomenon that is not going away, and it is constantly progressing in scope and importance. Although the lifespan of each individual formation is momentary by it's nature, as a whole the medium has existed for quite some time. And we should strive to make more of an effort to acknowledge its' existence, and increase our understanding of the meaning behind these magnificent formations.

Are they in fact - Communications of beings from outside (or inside) our known world.  /  Evidence of other dimensions.  /  Or a catalyst to advancing our way of thinking?
Governments have discussed them and then sought to confuse and misinform the populace through their control and manipulation of the popular media. The military have endangered life and safety in order to investigate and monitor crop formations, yet when asked about their findings they deny involvement. Hollywood has sought to manipulate the truth and credibility of scientific evidence and facts, yet film goers become ever more intrigued. And having the most negative impact, hoaxers have sought to deceive, confuse and muddy research waters, in the same way that computer virus hackers  seek attention and attempt to contaminate and disrupt information.

The phenomenon of crop circles became widely known in the 1970's and late 1980s. To date, nearly 10,000 crop circle formations have been discovered across the world, from the former Soviet Union, the UK and Japan, the U.S. and Canada. More elaborate and complex geometric patterns are continually emerging. Early formations (1970 - 2000) seem based on  principles of 'SACRED GEOMETRY'. Those after 2000, appear based on natural sciences & mathematics designs. Many have fine intricate detail, regular symmetry and careful composition, (some are immense in size, up to 400-500 yards across).

Metatron's Cube

Elements of three-dimensionality have become more frequent, culminating in spectacular images of CUBE-SHAPED STRUCTURES. Today crop circle designs have increased in complexity to the point where they have become a dramatic art form in and of themselves.

Look Closer - At How Perfect Are The Formations! 
'Stop and study them.. formation after formation, there's not one mistake in the enactment of these designs... they are all too error free...  humanly impossible!'

Although there are crop circles that are obviously man-made, not everyone accepts the premise that all circles are of human origin, believing many of the designs are just too intricate and too perfect, and lack any tell-tale signs of human interaction (which are most obvious in the man made category). A good number argue there are circles that display a level of complexity and detail difficult to recreate on paper, let alone in a crop field after dark, as when most are formed... (leaving absolutely no traces of how they came to exist).. and at times being completed in astonishingly short time frames, sometimes in a matter of a few minutes, or even just a few seconds, with no clear evidence of damage at to the plants involved, and evidencing exceedingly high levels of electromagnetic activity, and with changes in the chemical composition of the underlying soils.

Would it be that beings having evolved over time-frames that may be millions of multiples of our own, can relate to, and understand this universal geometric patterning to a degree that is now totally incomprehensible to us.

They just might now be originating out of necessity… with so much negativity and turmoil in the world at the moment, there is much need to send a message of love and understanding around the globe, in order to heal the planet, and send inspiration to those who require it, whoever they are, and whatever their agenda.

Crop circles have had a profound effect on thousands of people who have witnessed and studied them throughout the years. Irrespective of origin, they have acted as a catalyst to learning, understanding and spirituality as we continue to strive to understand the meaning and purpose behind the genuine crop circles.
However they come about, and whoever might be 'the makers'... there is no doubt they are some of the most wondrous and amazing creations ever observed.

Most recently, I've been in email contact with a University of Wisconsin-RF Professor Louis J Greub (retired). He knows of two reported in Wisconsin in the summer of 2004... and he actually went on a recent trip to the UK last August to see first hand what was happening over there..
...(here's one of the eight formations he visited...Roundway Hill.. one of Lou's pictures is at the very bottom of the webpage).
And here's a piece that he wrote - 'Part of Something Bigger,' about his experiences, and thoughts on the crop circle phenomena.

Should you want to see some additional video regarding the formations, I've posted links to  several of the more informative ones that I've come across on this blog.. (bottom of right side column, under the heading - Absolutely Phenomenal!).

And do your own in-depth research... arrive at your own conclusions.
A starting point can be Lucy Pringle's website... she is a leading researcher, photographer, author, and lecturer, involved in recording and studying the formations. Her article 'Worth the Effort - 2010' succinctly summarizes this past year's formations.

You might just be rewarded with a greater insight into what could be the most important phenomena our civilization has encountered.

************************

Notes on the 2010 crop circle season:
The 2010 crop circle season has been an interesting time. There were many new formations of a mathematical or geometrical nature, along with several others which show nuclear fusion from subatomic physics. Plus a recent pair, which purports to show a 'message from above' that is intended for 'everyone on Earth', if its' meaning can be deciphered.

Here are some of the.... Formations of 2010.

************************

Special Note:
I have to make mention of this one formation, even though 10 years has passed since it appeared.
One of the most interesting circles to ever come about (and a personal favorite) was discovered early in August of 2001 at Milk Hill, Alton Barnes, Wiltshire and it was named 'The Galaxy'. It covered "nearly a square kilometer!"

'The Galaxy'

This formation was unbelievably comprised of 409 circles (79 main circles and 330 satellites), all perfectly aligned in an exacting psychedelic swirl. The whole formation measured a mammoth 1,500 feet across with the circles ranging in size from a few feet in diameter, to more than 70 feet across!
It was outrageously impressive. Even people who usually debunk most formations think this one was absolutely incredible. It was its' sheer size and complexity that set it apart. There have been big formations before (and since), but never with as many circles. People to this day are truly astounded by it.

CNN did a five-minute special on the Milk Hill crop circle formation in August, 2001. They observed that the area was flown over on Friday, and it was not there (it's very near the Uffington Horse, which is a very common flight path area).  It rained all day that Saturday, and the formation first appeared Saturday night while it was still raining. It was found on Sunday, and there were not any scuff or mud marks near any of the 409 circles. There were no traces of any human interaction whatsoever.

The Galaxy - 'Star of David' pattern, within a pattern

*********************************************************************

There are a billion - trillion stars... (not planets...stars)...
 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000  
(21 zeros - one sextillion stars!!)

....are we to self-importantly believe we are the ONLY intelligent life form.

Temporary Temples Image Library

Crop Circles 2010 - Look Closer

  

Drive Money Out of Politics!

When money flows into our political system, it's a cancer infecting politicians and through them our democratic institutions. With the Citizens United decision, the cancer is now metastasizing, accelerating, generating a downward political spiral threatening the very future of our country. "Outside spending"... the money channeled through organizations outside an official campaign, which nonetheless run ads, makes phone calls, and does lots of other things to support a campaign.

With Citizens United, the Supreme Court not only made it easier to fund this corrupting electioneering, it also made it much harder for citizens to know who's actually behind it. According to recent analysis over one-third of all outside ad spending in the 2010 elections came from secret sources, (made possible by Citizens United). The total funding it unleashed represented $1 for every $5 dollars spent by candidates, which translated to over $85 million in US Senate races alone.

Citizens United completely changed our understanding of how elections work by removing campaign contribution caps on corporations and wealthy individuals.
In 2012, money will flow at volumes never before seen.

80 percent of Americans on the left, right and center view the influence of "special interest money" as a major problem. Strengthening the connection between people's stated desires for healthy democracy and their actual voting behavior is exactly where progressive forces need to now focus.
Stopping the flow of candidates beholden to big money is a crucial first step in halting the cancer's spread.
The massive infusion of Citizens United funding now swelling for the 2012 election makes nothing more urgent. The fragility of democracy, and our obligation to future generations, make nothing more important.


Citizens United vs. United Citizens

"We're Poisoned. We're Sick." ... BP & the Gulf Disaster.

Independent blood testing by environmental groups and independent scientists along the Gulf is finding exceedingly high concentrations of chemicals in people's veins ... people who live near the Coast, former BP cleanup workers and even one man who lives 100 miles from the coast ... everyone is testing positive with BP's toxic chemicals in their blood stream.
'...and the devastation continues in the Gulf... the chemical smell would knock you over. There is oil sheen everywhere, tar balls, crews walking the beach picking up buckets full of them."
FDA and NOAA were pushing to open Gulf waters to fishing, despite inadequate sampling and testing of the seafood.

"For decades seafood has been unsafe for human consumption throughout the North Atlantic, the Atlantic seaboard, and especially the Chesapeake Bay areas due to heavy metals, pesticides, sewage and agriculture run-off. Yet, with this in mind, the bureaucracies that regulate these have almost always only concerned themselves with economics. Concerns that lay offs and lost revenue seem to almost always dictate the choices that the so-called servants of the people follow. Money first and foremost, health concerns last.

What do you hear from the local, state, and federal governments? The 'all clear' was sounded, seafood is safe, let's promote our tourism and fishing industries to keep up our tax revenues ... this song has been sung way too many times.

"We're Poisoned. We're Sick."

Keeping Track... February 2011

Bern gets on me a bit when I get 'consumed' with the enormity of our situation, and get 'into it' too much for her. I'm not crazy to her, it's just she's a 'control' person, and has a harder time dealing with it than I do. But as I've told her, what we can do is understand it's not if, but when, and to try and keep on top of what just might happen, and prepare as best we can.
The rest of the world will of course be hit much harder than us at first, but in the long run we have allot farther to fall then they do... and our national migration policies will have to change dramatically, or it will turn into a much worse mess even quicker.

All the 'stuff' in life we've become very addicted to is a two edge sword... and as we start to feel the serious effects of what will be happening, the loss of those former lifestyles will hit home even more deeply, especially for the younger population who have known little other than prosperity.
And what is very troublesome is how well armed we are, unlike the time of the great depression, we are a completely different people today. Back then, with hats & ties on, the masses stood calmly in soup kitchen lines. Yea, can picture that happening today, with our attitudes, and armed with 300 million guns!

The world's being pushed to the edge right now, with food prices skyrocketing to all time highs. When most all your income goes for food, and the price increases the way it has been, well you get what's happening in the Middle East.
When it's oil, that will get more peoples attention... latest guesstimates talk about 2012 being the time of 'peak oil', from there it will get very serious... $6,7,8+ dollar a gallon gas will impact every facet of our lives. Everything will become much more scarce as companies stop producing what populations can't afford.
We'll be getting back to basics then, consumption will shrink more in line with where we've come from, in that regard it will not be a bad thing. The adjustment curve will be difficult, and unrest across the globe will seem unending.

How much the world will suffer is in direct proportion to measures we take now.. the less we do today, the harder it will be in the long run. It's being talked about in lots of circles, but regrettably that's it.  I try to be optimistic, but seeing how little has been done so far (and in fact, it's actually being made much worse), it's difficult to remain confident.

In line with 'knowing the situation'... not long ago I started this blog, to keep track of some of the important items chronicling what could be construed as 'hot points'..... bjarias.blogspot.com ...
 ...it's amazing to me how so many have piled up so quickly, and these are just a very small fraction of the total.....hope you can find it of some interest.

ps... the vids are for me a quick escape to a different place.

IRS Budget Cut: Penny-Wise But Dollar-Foolish

This article is from 2006... and they've just gone and done the same thing again... slashing the IRS budget.
Cutting $578 million from the I.R.S. enforcement budget... letting tax cheats run wild doesn’t exactly serve the cause of deficit reduction.

A revenue system undermined by widespread tax evasion does extreme harm to the country. But rich people do not like to be audited, and in today's politics they wield an awful lot of clout.

IRS Budget Cut Penny-Wise But Dollar-Foolish, Warns Baucus

NIE Fails to Register Taliban Growth... war goes on, and on, and on!

"There has never been a single reliable source for the size of the insurgency,"... all estimates of the insurgents are "highly unreliable".

...'sacrificing truth to support existing war policies.'

"Like Westmoreland (during the Vietnam War), Petraeus appears to have invoked the privilege of the military commander to avert the potential "political bombshell" of an estimate that would almost certainly have shown a large increase in the number of armed insurgents in Afghanistan."

Our 'go it alone' approach has always been exceedingly unpopular...

Nine years now, and much closer is the end... what are we doing there... it could go on like this for decades.

Deferring to Petraeus, NIE Failed to Register Taliban Growth - IPS ipsnews.net