Plastic Circulating Endlessly in Oceans - must be made reusable.

Plastic bottle or plastic take-away coffee lid that has 20 minutes of use can spend decades killing countless seabirds, marine animals and fish.

There is now so much plastic in the oceans, it is likely that virtually every seabird has plastic in its belly if its feeding habits mean it mistakes plastic bits for food... same is true for sea turtles.

Every square kilometer of world's ocean has an average of 13,000 pieces of plastic litter floating on the surface... the cumulative impact of marine debris is a major issue for the oceans.  

"We need to become less reliant on plastics."

Degradable or compostable plastic should be banned... the bio-plastics have as much plastic as those made from oil. The so-called degradable bio-plastics simply break down into micro-plastic particles faster than traditional plastics... we might not be able to see them with our eyes but the plastic is still there.

A Fatal Addiction to Plastic

One time use of plastic is simply unsustainable. It is a wonderful material... real plastic is valuable... it can be, and must be made safe and reusable. 



Plastic Circulating Endlessly in World's Oceans - IPS ipsnews.net

Financial Scam of the Century.

The discontent roaming across America is that the economic recovery is targeted to a small portion of the population.

The number of millionaires in the United States soared once again last year... millionaire households jumped to 8.4 million in 2010, increasing by 600,000 last year.
Now to contrast this rise in millionaires in 2010, we added 5,000,000 Americans to the national food stamp program.
The number of U.S. millionaires is back near its 2007 peak... at the same time, we have an underemployment rate more than 20 percent... and 45,000,000 Americans on food assistance.

The stock market going up over 100 percent from the March 2009 lows has helped the top 1 percent that control 42 percent of all financial wealth.
While the primary source of wealth for the top 1 percent is stocks and this sector continues to improve thanks to bailouts and the Federal Reserve pumping easy money into investment banks, millions of other Americans are being kicked out of their homes that are losing value.
Americans have lost $6.3 trillion in household real estate wealth.
If your primary asset for your net worth is collapsing is it any wonder why the majority of the population does not feel this as any sort of economic recovery, even though the stock market is now up over 100 percent in a relatively short time frame.
People don’t need a doctorate in finance to figure out their incomes are declining and the quality of life for the middle class is shrinking.

How are we to stop the millionaire train, while more and more Americans depend on food assistance.
What about the investment banks... what austerity measures are they taking?
Their profits are even higher since they have unlimited access to Federal Reserve funds at zero percent interest rates.

Expect income disparity to continue, since with Obama we have another Wall Street run government.... and most all of this will not be broadcast on national television, which again is being controlled by the rich and powerful.


The financial scam of the century

Peak Water - already come and gone.

Nearly a billion people don't have good access to safe fresh water. In a single generation, that number could double as growing demands for water will exceed the available and sustainable supply by 40 percent.

In another 10-15 years two-thirds of the worlds population will be without a safe supply of water and basic sanitation services.

Water cannot be created, it can only be managed... and leaky water infrastructure is losing 20 to 50 percent of the water it is supposed to deliver.
Domestic water use is just eight percent of overall water consumption. Industrial use is the other major user of water (agriculture taking the lion's share).

All products have a water component, often called 'virtual water', to describe the volume used to make something. "A desktop computer, for example, requires 1.5 tonnes (1,500 liters) of water; a pair of denim jeans, up to six tonnes; a kilogram of wheat, one tonne; a kilo of chicken, three to four tonnes; a kilo of beef, 15 to 30 tonnes."
The annual global trade in 'virtual water' today is said to exceed 800 billion tonnes, the equivalent of 10 Nile Rivers.

"What people don't often realize is how much water there is in everything we make and buy, from t-shirts to wine."


Peak Water Has Already Come and Gone

Kiberia Slum - an urban crisis

Cities in Africa are exploding in size at an alarming rate. In one such city Nairobi, Kenya, the population increased from 119,000 in 1948 to 3.1 million today. Many people live in some 200 slum settlements spread across the city and have limited access to safe water and sanitation.
Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa.
The neighborhood is divided into a number of villages. Conditions in Kibera are extremely poor, and most of its residents lack access to basic services, including electricity and running water.

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

In 2008 an independent team of researchers began a door-by-door survey with the aim to map physical and socio-demographic features of the slum. A trained team of locals gathered census data of over 15,000 people and completed the mapping of 5000 structures, services (public toilets, schools), and infrastructures (drainage system, water and electricity supply) in the village of Kianda. Population of the whole Kibera slum can be estimated between 235,000 and 270,000 people.

Kianda - one of the 'villages' of the Kiberia slum.

The Uganda Railway Line passes through the center of the neighborhood, providing passengers aboard the train a firsthand view of the slum. Kibera has a railway station, but most residents use buses and matatus to reach the city center; carjacking, irresponsible driving, and poor traffic law enforcement are chronic issues.

Kibera is heavily polluted by human refuse, garbage, soot, dust, and other wastes. The lack of sanitation combined with poor nutrition among residents accounts for many illnesses and diseases. The slum is contaminated with human and animal feces, thanks to the open sewage system and the frequent use of "flying toilets". 
(A flying toilet is a facetious name for the use of plastic bags for defecation, which are then thrown into ditches, on the roadside, or simply as far away as possible.)

The ground in much of Kibera is literally composed of refuse and rubbish. Dwellings are often constructed atop this unstable ground, and therefore many structures collapse whenever the slum experiences flooding, which it does regularly. This means that even well-constructed buildings are often damaged by the collapse of nearby poorly constructed ones.

Currently the least urbanized region in the world, but changing fast. Urban dwellers without access to safe drinking water jumped from 30 million in 1990 to over 55 million in 2008. Over the same period, the number of people without reasonable sanitation services doubled to around 175 million.
Africa is now the fastest urbanizing continent on the planet, and the demand for water and sanitation is far outstripping supply in its' cities.

Note:
A reality show-cum-documentary called Famous, Rich and in the Slums, which has been shot in Kibera, has been airing on a British TV in the last few days.
'Slum Tourism' is one of the fastest growing trends in Kenya, particularly since the films, The Constant Gardener (partially shot in Kibera), and Slumdog Millionaire won Oscars.
For many Kenyans, film is the worst form of slum tourism exploitation because it turns poverty into entertainment in the name of charity. What has this kind of tourism done to the residents of Kibera, except to  erode their self-respect further and make them objects of foreigners' pity.

There may be slightly more sanitation facilities in the slums now, but living conditions have become only slightly less appalling, they have not improved dramatically. And the slum continues to grow.

 

In This Nuclear World, What Is the Meaning of "Safe"?

Barbara Rose Johnston is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Political Ecology and occasional lecturer at UCSC. Barbara is an environmental anthropologist who studies the relationships between environmental crisis and human rights.

...opening 'Pandora's box'... creating an evil that cannot be undone.

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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Barbara Rose Johnston <bjohnston@igc.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: In this nuclear world, what is the meaning of 'safe'? | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
To: bjarias@gmail.com

Some six decades ago, we humans opened Pandora's Box.  The immense energy, light, and heat that comes from toying with radioactive elements is power in its' rawest form. It is seductive. It is a powerful master. And, in its nature, it consumes.   I

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From:  bjarias@gmail.com

The way we currently operate nuclear power is inefficient and mind bogglingly dangerous.
You folks are allot more up to speed on this than the average individual.
Is it in the realm of possibility to make the entire process (start to finish) a safe one. Could we... should we... redirect resources, putting on a full court press, and make nuclear work.
If we can't, then it would appear we've got to stop and bury it... cause continuing on the way we are now is a sure fire recipe for disaster after disaster.



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On Mon, Mar 21, 2011 at 2:20 PM, Barbara Rose Johnston <bjohnston@igc.org> wrote:

I share your concerns. What is all the more worrisome is that "safe" reprocessing technology (taking old waste and reprocessing to use again as mixed (MOX) fuel) is what is now the biggest threat at Fukushima (content of reactor 3 that has partially melted and vented into the atmosphere, as well as many of those stored depleted fuel rods)...

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http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/nuclear-world-what-the-meaning-of-safe

From:  bjarias@gmail.com

Does our current use of nuclear power make sense?
At Fukushima each reactor has between 60 and 83 tons of spent fuel rods stored next to them.
In the US at Vermont Yankee Power Plant there are a staggering 690 tons of spent fuel rods on site...(left over from boiling water to create steam to generate electricity... brilliant).

How much potential disaster are we talking about?
It's said the atomic bomb that exploded at Hiroshima created about 2,000 curies of radioactivity.
Spent fuel pools at Vermont Yankee are said to hold about 75,000,000 curies of radioactivity (reportedly without backup cooling systems).

What's wrong with this scenario?
Running out of oil at an alarming rate, the world should be desperately seeking new sources of energy.
With hundreds of reactors spread around the globe, seems to be allot just lying around at the moment... unused & extremely dangerous!!
Why can't we come up with technology for reuse of this 'spent' material? What's stopping this initiative?

Spending hundreds of billions elsewhere... how much money is presently going to solve these critical issues?

Fuel rod pool - the US alone has 71,000 metric tonnes of spent nuclear fuel.

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Nuclear Kamikazes: A Morality Tale of Energy Madness

_____________________________________________________

...take 5: Two Choices

One of our neighbors up in Canaan sent an email with a pic of the road after a recent spring snowstorm...

Subject: Happy Spring from Shaker Ridge Drive

Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 12:33:57 -0400

On this first full day of spring sometimes a picture IS really worth more than a 1000 words
Sigh
Paulie

... it's typical spring up in the north country, but getting near the end of a long, long winter it just makes it seem that much longer.. it's as if winter will never end.

We tried it for a couple years once we both retired, but the short days and overcast skies drove us south... and then west.

Now winters are spent with increased sunshine and warm weather (of course warmer in Florida than out in Nevada).

... take 5: The Wave, Arizona

'The Wave'

(click on for slideshow)

The Wave is a sandstone rock formation located near the Arizona and Utah border on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes, in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, on the Colorado Plateau. It is famous among hikers and photographers for its colorful, undulating forms, and the rugged, trackless hike required to reach it.

Made of Jurassic-age Navajo Sandstone that is approximately 190 million years old. Scientists who study The Wave say that the old sand dunes turned into hard compacted rock over the ages, calcifying in vertical and horizontal layers. Erosion by wind and rain has created the spectacular landscape which appears now.

The soft sandstone of The Wave is fragile, one needs to walk carefully to not break the small ridges. In order to limit damage to the fragile area, the Bureau of Land Management -BLM limits access to the North Coyote Buttes Wilderness Area to just twenty permits per day.

Ten of the permits are available in advance by an on-line lottery conducted four months before the month for which the permit is sought. Remaining ten permits are made available by lottery the day before one's intended hike at the Paria Ranger Station on highway 89 west of Page, Arizona.

We have applied a couple of times for a permit, but so far have been unsuccessful.



The Wave, Arizona - Wikipedia

Nuclear Nightmare: Technological Optimism

As Japanese engineers struggle frantically to keep calamity from escalating into catastrophe, we cannot ignore the fact that nuclear fission is an inherently and uniquely toxic technology.
The problem with nuclear fission is that the stakes are unimaginably high.
There is no such thing as a fail-safe system... stuff happens.

The world knows technologically, no country is more advanced than Japan... and therefore 'safe nuclear power' has to be understood to be an oxymoron.
Nuclear power is not safe there, nor should it be considered safe anywhere.

And in our country, like in Japan... you would think it would be a no-brainer that atomic reactors would not be built near quake fault lines, and close to the coast where they would be directly in the path of tsunamis ... but guess what, Japan has more than a few that were, and California's got several that are as well...
... and when ya do some checking, would bet there would be a bunch of others in the US in addition.

These plants are now releasing radioactive steam into the atmosphere. Be skeptical about the statements that the "levels are not dangerous."... made by the same people who said these meltdowns could never happen.

Over years, not days, there may be a thousand people, two thousand, ten thousand who will suffer from cancers induced by this radiation. The carcinogenic isotopes that are released at Fukushima are already floating to Seattle with effects we simply cannot measure.

So far, there has not been much reporting on problems with spent fuel storage pools, but these pools that hold used fuel rods could prove to be the most dangerous of all facets of the disaster.  They contain vast amounts of radiation, several times the amount in a reactor core. Spent fuel rod pools are actually highly radioactive, very unstable, extremely dangerous and, compared with reactors, not well supported, contained or looked over.
Expose them to air for a day or two, and they begin to combust, giving off large amounts of radioactive cesium-137, a very toxic, long-lasting, aggressively penetrating radioactive element with a half-life of thirty years. When cesium-137 it enters the environment, it essentially acts like potassium and is taken up by plants and animals that use potassium. (For the record, that includes you.)

If these spent fuel pools lose their cooling source, they could spew radiation into the atmosphere, creating a tragedy of even greater proportions than did the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine.
Should the spent rods start to burn, huge amounts of radioactive material would be released into the atmosphere and would disperse across the Northern Hemisphere.
Note: At Fukushima each reactor has between 60 and 83 tons of spent fuel rods stored next to them. 
And in the U.S., Vermont Yankee has a staggering 690 tons of spent fuel rods on site. 
How much disaster are we talking about? 
The atomic bomb that exploded at Hiroshima created about 2,000 curies of radioactivity. 
Spent fuel pools at Vermont Yankee are said to hold about 75,000,000 curies of radioactivity.

With the risk of extreme events becoming greater as each day passes, it's really only a matter of time before a disastrous situation will occur in this country as happened in Japan.
The track record of the atomic energy industry in the United States—less so in Japan—is to spend as little money as possible and extend the life of old plants for as long as possible, no matter the risks.

Once again, all the government seems to have the stomach for and chooses to do in these matters is close its' eyes and 'hope for the best.'

Heaven help us... cause Obama won't.

Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare: The Price of Technological Optimism | Common Dreams

Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand

American democracy arose because those consciously locked out of the system put their bodies on the line and demanded justice.

We have tolerated the intolerant... and we are paying the price.
If enough say 'no'.... if enough refuse to cooperate... despots will be in trouble.

If there is no struggle there is no progress. The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle.

Power concedes nothing without a demand.


Truthdig - Power Concedes Nothing Without a Demand

...take 5: Canaan Neighbor

One of our neighbors up in Canaan sent out some pix of the local fox.

We've seen this guy quite a bit when we were last there, and we have a hunch he's making his home under the pool deck.. (from where he'll have to be 'evicted' sometime this spring).

(click on the image for a 4 pic slideshow)

Films You Should Watch

Wither you like them, or not... or agree with them, or not... there are certain films you should just make it a point of seeing...

(Netflix makes viewing easy... the majority of these films are in their 'Watch Instantly' category.)

NOTE:  Please see the HOME tab at the top of the main page of the blog for additional films.

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COLLAPSE

His detractors call him a conspiracy theorist and an alarmist.
The title refers to Ruppert’s belief that unsustainable energy and financial policies have led to an ongoing collapse of modern industrial civilization.
The obsession with the collapse of industrial civilization has led to the collapse of his life. In the end, it is a character study about his obsession.

Roger Ebert wrote...  "I don't know when I've seen a thriller more frightening. I couldn't tear my eyes from the screen. "Collapse" is even entertaining, in a macabre sense. I think you owe it to yourself to see it."

No matter what... there will be 'peak oil'... just a matter of when that day will come... and how much of a calamitous effect it will have on our civilization.

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

 

Quake Could Irradiate Entire US

There's good cause to pay attention to what just happened in Japan... and what could happen on the West coast of the US.

The most definitive recent study of the 1986  disaster puts the Chernobyl death toll at 985,000. The accident irradiated a remote rural area. The nearest city, Kiev, is 80 kilometers away.
Heavy radioactive fallout spread from Chernobyl blanketed all of Europe within a matter of days. It covered an area far larger than the United States. Fallout did hit the jet stream and then the coast of California, thousands of miles away, within ten days. It then carried all the way across the northern tier of the United States.

San Luis Obispo is some ten miles directly downwind from Diablo Canyon. The region around San Onofre has become heavily sub-urbanized.
Two huge atomic reactors at San Onofre and two at Diablo Canyon are not designed to withstand powerful shocks. All four are extremely close to major faults.

All four reactors are located relatively low to the coast... and vulnerable to tsunamis.


Japan's Quake Could Have Irradiated the Entire US | NukeFree.org

Gulf spill sickness wrecking lives

Steven Aguinaga of Hazlehurst, Mississippi and his close friend Merrick Vallian went swimming at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in July 2010.

Aguinaga's health has been in dramatic decline since that day.
"I have terrible chest pain, at times I can’t seem to get enough oxygen, and I'm constantly tired with pains all over my body," Aguinaga explained, "At times I'm pissing blood, vomiting dark brown stuff, and every pore of my body is dispensing water."

Merrick Vallian has since died from his exposure to contaminants.
"After we got back from our vacation in Florida, Merrick went to work for a company contracted by BP to clean up oil in Grand Isle, Louisiana," Aguinaga said of his 33-year-old physically fit friend.
"Aside from some gloves, BP provided no personal protection for them. He worked for them for two weeks and then died on August 23. He had just got his first paycheck, and it was in his wallet, uncashed, when he died."

Scores of sick people across the Gulf Coast attribute their illnesses to chemicals from BP's oil disaster.

'Aftermath of Disaster' - 8 part series

Gulf spill sickness wrecking lives - Features - Al Jazeera English

Decline of bees - a global phenomenon

A warning sign for all mankind...

Leading honey-bee experts, issue a stark warning about the disappearance of bees, which are increasingly important as crop pollinators around the globe. Without profound changes to the way human beings manage the planet, they say, declines in pollinators needed to feed a growing global population are likely to continue.

The way humanity manages or mismanages its nature-based assets, including pollinators, will in part define our collective future in the 21st century.... of the 100 crop species that provide 90 per cent of the world's food, over 70 are pollinated by bees.

Human beings have fabricated the illusion that in the 21st century they have the technological prowess to be independent of nature. Bees underline the reality that we are more, not less, dependent on nature's services in a world already under severe strain with a population of seven billion people.

Decline of honey bees now a global phenomenon, says United Nations - Nature, Environment - The Independent

HealthDay - Overworked Nurses

Anyone having friends or relatives in the nursing profession know first-hand how taxing the work is both mentally and physically... the toll it takes can be very high.

The question-post below sums up the sentiments of many in the profession.

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http://allnurses.com/emergency-nursing/over-worked-er-512644.html

Over worked ER Nurses

Oct 27, 2010 06:52 PM written by Code_VSA | 5 Comments

Print   Email   Follow  

I could have swore I read somewhere that ENA recommends no more than three 12 hour shifts as an ER Nurse. Has anyone else heard or read this? And if you have, can you give a reference?

Our ER currently has us working four 12 hour shifts a week. Sometimes two days off and then scheduling another 12 hour shift.

I am getting old and tired fast. 

_______________________________________________________

HealthDay Articles

The Questions Continue

Your read these kinds of reports and wonder how are we ever going to recover from this mess.
Without some form of regulation over these kinds of highly speculative transactions, those who are continually willing to make the markets a crap shoot, will over and over keep trying to beat the odds and hit another jackpot.

And when (not if) they fail, the way they've got it set up and are manipulating the system, the government will step in and bail them out.. more money gets printed...and they stay in charge to do it all over again.

Eventually this mother of all super-ponzi schemes has to come to a catastrophic ending... all we have left to take bets on, is when (not if) that actually is going to happen.


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The Questions Continue MatrixSentry | March 9, 2011 at 10:44 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pYjo8-10j

Each day this week, silver has been hammered down at approximately 9:00 am EST. Now, we all know that this isn't atypical...the EE have been doing this for years and we did see copper sell off at roughly the same time. However, several readers have brought to my attention the little nugget below and I think it requires your serious consideration.
First things first, here's a 15-minute May silver chart to peruse. Keep in mind that today's smackdown was in the face of ongoing strength in gold and crude, so, silver acted somewhat independently.

OK now, with this chart in mind, read this. Dated last November, our friend "Wynter" wrote the following:
"WB: JPM is in worse shape then we ever dared to hope 20-Nov-10 07:06 am
Blythe,
This is what I am now hearing from traders on the floor. These traders are not even sure if Blythe knows the full extent of JPM's silver exposure.
When I first started to realize that JPM has shorted far more silver than they could ever hope to cover, my first question was "why would they do that?" Not only that, why do it with a commodity where you must report your positions through the COT and Bank Participation Report? After all,the whole world can see what you are doing. [my added comment: Ted Butler included!]
Now I know the answer. According to Max Keiser and now a couple of other independent sources, it seems the reasons why first Bear Stearns and now JPM are so desperate to manipulate the price of silver down is due to the fact that BS and JPM shorted billions (yes billions not millions) in ounces of silver through their derivatives.
Just like Joe Conason at AIG, silver shorting through derivatives have caused literally billions in losses not the millions that we know about publicly. That is why JPM has been so desperate to manipulate the price of silver downward so blatantly. If I am right about this, then JPM will be dead when silver hits $60 or so. Based upon the COT and BPR, if silver hits $60, JPM will lose around an additional $6 billion dollars, a large number but not nearly large enough to bring down mighty JPM.
But what is not known is that due to the way that its derivatives are written, JPM's losses are exponentional once silver breaks $36 or so. Rumors has it that JPM could be losing as much as $40 billion once silver is above $50. It has something to do with how the derivatives are written with payment tied to the price of silver.
Since JPM was a price manipulator with respectt to the price of silver, JPM assumed that any derivative payments tied to silver would be less than they would be tied to some other index like the CPI or TIPS implied inflation index. JPM's inability to hold down the price of silver relative to other measures of inflation will cause unbelievable losses due to a mismatch in their derivative structures.
In essence,JPM has bet (a huge amount)through derivatives that silver will never outperform inflation. And why not,since JPM assumed that it will always be able to manipulate the price of silver. We have now come to understand that JPM's loss exposure to silver is much greater than we have ever dared to hope.
WB: In an effort to clear up some recent confusion regarding my latest posting, I will try to explain what I have recently uncovered.
JPM's current short silver position is estimated to be approximately 150 million ounces down from the recent 180 million ounces in August. The losses from these positions are easy to figure out. For every $10 rise in the price of silver, JPM will lose $1.5 billion. But what I have recently discovered is that through its derivative positions, JPM will lose about 5 times that amount ounce the price of silver is above $36. And ounce silver is above $45 dollars, JPM's losses will increase to 8 times the amount of losses in their short positions. The reason is that as the price of silver increases, certain provisions get activated which multiplies the losses.
One reader asks the question why isnt the price of JPM going down to reflect the lossesd in silver. My answer is that the price of silver is not high enough to begin to trigger losses in their derivative positions. But once silver approaches this critical level say around $36, then you should begin to see the price of JPM stock begin to reflect these losses.
In fact, traders are saying that once the price of silver surpasses the stock price of JPM, then for every dollar the price of silver go up, JPM should lose around 70 cents or so. This means that if silver hits $60, JPM will be a single digit stock.
JPM market cap is around $170 billion. If silver losses are as great as $40 billion in cash , then JPM will be insolvent. Period.
From your former traders (whom you dismissed so callously)"
Look, I still have absolutely no idea if this whole "WB Group" thing is real or imagined. There are, though, a lot of coincidences and in a rigged and manipulated "market" such as silver, the old phrase about "there are no coincidences" certainly rings true.
Lastly, I had planned on rolling my April 105 crude calls into some May 110s today. However, for now, the chart gives the appearance of another, impending up move. For now, I'm sitting tight.

As I publish this, I have lasts of:
April gold $1432.20
May silver $36.09
April crude $105.21
Lets go have a fun day! TF
http://tfmetalsreport.blogspot.com/2011/03/questions-continue.html
Sent with MobileRSS for iPhone

Add a comment to this post

Gmail - [New post] The Questions Continue - bjarias@gmail.com

...take 5: Mall At Sea...

I really get satisfaction from cruising... but this is about as far away from what I find enjoyable about cruising as possible.
This is like vacationing in a gigantic floating 'Mall of America' for a week... I have no idea where the attraction is in that... personal opinion... it's really not enticing at all.
Is bigger always better?

Most folks have seen images of the ship by now, but if you have not, take a 5-minute look here:

Oasis of the Seas
• ...  1,180 feet long, 208 feet wide, and 236 ft. high above the waterline, with a draft of only 30 ft.
• ...  accommodates over 5,400 guests in 2,700 staterooms, with a crew of 2,165.
• ...  that's almost 8 times more passengers than the Regent 'Navigator' we'll be sailing on this August.
• ...  actually accommodates over 6,296 total guests.
• ...  225,282 gross tons,...over four times the size of the Titanic.
• ...  15 passenger decks, 24 passenger elevators placed both forward and aft.
• ...  art work on board is eclectic and numerous, with 9,800 pieces.
• ...  took 5,800 man-years to complete.
• ...  most expensive cruise ship ever built, at a cost of $230,000 per berth.
• ...  upright, dwarfs the One Canada Square building at Canary Wharf and NYC's Chrysler Building.
• ...  one and a half times taller than the O2 Arena... longer than four football fields.
• ...  almost one-and-a-half times the length of London's Tower Bridge, which spans 800 feet.
• ...  stands taller than Nelson’s Column at 240 feet high.
• ...  accommodates more guests per sailing than the capacity of the Royal Albert Hall (5,544 seats).
• ...   several venues: a Flow Rider for surfers, an 82 ft long Zip Line Ride, an Aqua Theater (600 seat) Pool, a Central Park (with 2,178 trees), a Boardwalk complete with Carousel, and a myriad of other attractions in its Seven Neighborhoods.



Additional ship facts and information.

Part of the mix...

Hey...don't think with each and every trip, world craziness does not enter into the equation, everyone traveling regularly today has it in the back of their mind.
We have some folks we know visiting Jordan at the moment, and right up to the time they left, we were talking about the situation over there with them. Anyway, in the end they went because several people they knew living in the country all assured them it would be okay to visit.

It was several years ago we made the direct decision to travel as much as we can, visiting as many places in the world as possible. First of all, while we are still relatively healthy and in shape to still do pretty much anything (Antarctica ain't easy dealing with a walker)... and while the political situation and state of the world permits. In the recent past we have had several trips affected (a visit to Egypt in the late 90's, and more recently India come immediately to mind).
It's one of the driving forces to visit the Amazon next year...  even a year down the road makes it a more risky proposition, who knows what will happen in that length of time.

In the future there's no doubt more and more places are going to be 'restricted' in one way or another, for one reason or another. In addition, with the huge numbers of baby boomers now retiring each day, the cabins and rooms throughout the world are getting filled even that much quicker. They can't build those 5,000+ passenger ships fast enough to meet the increased demand... as for the smaller ships, forget about it, at times we've booked cruises up to two years in advance.

And it's going to get to the point cost will increasingly matter more in the mix. Prices for everything are going to skyrocket unimaginably over time.. and those now looming energy shortages will become more of a reality... (planes require jet-fuel, solar power's not an option).

So the time's gonna come (hopefully not for a few years) when our journeys will be more local than international... until then, I keep telling Bern, stay on the lookout for a new trip, and... BOOK IT!

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On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 8:49 PM,  <@optonline.net> wrote:

Plan for your next vacation early BJ !!!   LOL   Thinking About Taking A Cruise? If you're "bored" with cruises to Alaska, the Bahama's, You're going to love this cruise!  THINKING ABOUT TAKING A CRUISE?   L u x u r y    C r u i s e    L i n e s Now Accepting Reservations! Additional cruise information available below.   To The Point Cruise Lines is excited to offer the ultimate adventure cruise, along the pirate-infested coast of Somalia   Ultimate Adventure Cruise Route Rates and Availability  Ship Name Starting Price Days Availability  Sun Splendor $5,200.00 5 Fully Booked  Grand Voyage $6,150.00 7 Reservations Available  Horizons IV $7,091.00 10 Reservations Available  Horizons III $5,200.00 7 Fully Booked  Grand Voyage II $6,300.00 7 Fully Booked  Grand Voyage III $5,200.00 5 Reservations Available  Coastal  Paradise $5,200.00 7 Reservations Available  Coastal  Paradise II $8,200.00 10 Reservations Available  Peril Princess $5,200.00 7 Fully Booked  Peril Princess II $5,200.00 7 Reservations Available We board our luxury cruise ships in Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea , and disembark in Mombasa Kenya , seven adrenaline-charged days later. Reservations start at only $5,200 per-person (double occupancy, inside room) and $6,900 (veranda complete with bench rest).   You'll relax like never before! That's because you are welcome to bring your own arsenal with you. If you don't have your own weapons, you can rent them from our onboard Master Gunsmith. Enjoy reloading parties every afternoon, with skeet and marksmanship competitions every night! But the best fun of all, of course, is...   ...Pirate Target Practice! The object of our cruise is to sail up and down the Somali Coast waiting to get hijacked by pirates!   Weapons rentals:   Weapon Selection Price Description AK-47 Light Assault $12.00 Per Day On a budget? Rent a full-auto scope-mounted AK-47 for only $9/day with 7.62 ball ammo at $12 per 100 rounds: M-16 Full Automatic $25.00 Per Day Rent a full auto M-16 for only $25/day with ammo attractively priced at $16 per 100 rounds of 5.56 armor-piercing: Barrett M-107 50 Caliber $59.00 Per Day Hello! Nothing gets a pirate's attention like a Barrett M-107 50-cal rifle; only $59/day with 25 rounds of armor-piercing ammo affordably priced at only $29.95. RPG Launcher $175.00 Per Day Want to make a real impact? Rent an RPG for only $175/day with three fragmentation rounds included! A true favorite among pirates, rent one today and show you care!   Customer Testimonials "Six attacks in 4 days were more than I expected. I bagged three pirates, my wife nailed two, and my 12-year old son sank two boats with the mini-gun. This wonderful cruise was fun for the whole family"-- Fred D., Cincinnati , OH "Pirates 0, Passengers 32! Well worth the trip! Can't recommend it highly enough!" -- Ben L., Bethesda , MD BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!Twin mounted mini-guns are available for rental at only $450.00 per 30 seconds of sustained fire!   Additional Cruise Line Services ·  Need a spotter? Our professional crew members can double as spotters for only $30/hour. (spotting scope included, but gratuities are not) ·  Also included: Free complimentary night vision equipment - and throughout the night, coffee, pastries and snacks are always available on the main deck from 7pm until 6am ·  Our deluxe package comes complete with gourmet meals and all rooms offer a mini-bar   OUR SATISFACTION GUARANTEE!   We guarantee you will experience at least two hijacking attempts by pirates or you'll receive an instant $1,000 refund upon arrival in Mombasa . How can we make that guarantee? We operate at 5 knots just beyond 12 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia , thus in international waters where pirates have no rights whatever. In fact, we make three passes through the area's most treacherous waters to ensure maximum visibility by Somali mother ships. We repeat this for five days, making three complete passes past the entire Somali Coast . At night, the boat is fully lit and bottle rockets are shot every five minutes, with loud disco music directionally beamed shore side to attract maximum attention.   ACT NOW! Cabin space is limited so you need to respond quickly. Reserve your package before Feb 28th and get a great bonus - 100 rounds of free tracer ammo in the caliber of your choice! So sign up for the Ultimate SomaliCoast Adventure Cruise now!   BUT THERE'S EVEN MORE! Reserve Now -and be automatically entered to win a 5 minute time slot on the Captain's own Twin Browning 50 Caliber M2HB installation! "I haven't had this much fun since flying choppers in ' Nam . Don't worry about getting shot by pirates... they never even got close to the ship with the crap they shoot and their lousy aim... Come on board and bag your own clutch of genuine Somali pirates!"