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Humancafe
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 - 06:52 pm: | |
This discussion is on the future of Earth, its wildlife ecolocy, survival of the species, earthquakes, tsunamis, and how to save our world from Global Warming and other ecological disasters.
Create your own topics, or copy and paste (fair use copyright) articles of issues related, as you wish. The world needs awareness more now than ever, a kind of 'Silent Spring' II. |
IVAN
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 03, 2006 - 07:12 pm: | |
LOST SEA IS FOUND
This Salton Sea is a potential jewel in the California desert, to bloom with salt marsh and wildlife, for both human enjoyment and wilderness creatures. Its restoration is a great enterprise, bringing back the flower of an ancient lake used by native Americans long ago to life again.
Ivan |
IVan
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 10:13 pm: | |
quote:In a matter pertaining to gravity and earthquakes that should be probably posted on your other thread, I just noticed that the Earth on Jan 4 2006 0900 CST reached perihelion, its minimum distance from the Sun.
Dear Ed, that's fascinating info, and I did notice the large 6.6 earthquake in Bay of California, about half way down the coast of Baja. Lots of little earthquakes all over the Pacific basin too.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/recenteqsww/
About the other thread, alas we're still trying to rescue what we can from our Y2K+6 data loss. In part my fault for not backing it up better, especially when old server's account was terminated.
So, anyone, feel free to start any new threads of ideas you'd like.
Ivan |
IVAN
| | Posted on Sunday, January 08, 2006 - 02:57 pm: | |
Past gives clue to climate impact, BBC science news.
quote:One theory is that an initial warming changed the distribution of heat in the oceans so that deposits of gas hydrates on the sea floor were released, with carbon dioxide and methane rising to the surface and entering the atmosphere, causing further greenhouse warming.
This is a concern today, where the large human generation of atmospheric CO2 may trigger release of oceanic and tundra locked greenhouse gasses, which could rapidly warm the Earth's atmosphere by several degrees, with disastrous results.
Ivan |
Ed Chesky
| | Posted on Sunday, January 08, 2006 - 09:28 pm: | |
Yes Ivan,
The massive release of CO2 is possible, and is in line with the briefing I sent you months ago on the potential effects of global warming.
The problem is severe and the full results of it are not yet known. Many would bury their heads in the sand and ignore the issue. As the great ocean currents change the effect it has on the rest of the planet's systems is enormous.
All we can do is wait and see and improve our disater response mechanism's. Unfortunately only the West has the capability to respond to disasters of the magnitude we are likely to see. The other nations/ethnic groups, China, the World of Islam, India and South and Central America have squandered their resources and focused them on the wrong priorities due to corruption and military dictatorships built around cults of personality and religious extreamism.
When push comes to shove the challenge will be to sustain what we have built during the environmental changes associated with global climate change.
I continue to hope for the best and will do my best to assist in whatever way I can. Hence my push to integrate all data sources and predict earthquakes and disasters based on my lifetime of experience. One day I will walk back into a command center and stand watch or consult for the federal government. I suspect that will take another less corrupt, more open and less secrative administration however.
My Best
Ed Chesky |
IVAN
| | Posted on Sunday, January 15, 2006 - 12:31 pm: | |
ON NIHILISM - in the balance.
The new television Mega-Churches are something of a phenomenon, a kind of super advertising oligopolistic Church of vast numbers, an army of believers to go forth and confront the ills of the world, while self servingly feeling they are on the right team, and Saved. To be more balanced, however, it should be noted that such vast numbers are also raised periodically, and command the same kind of large flock allegiance, perhaps even herd like allegiance, such as witnessed during the Haj.
That said, they all found ways to do good in society as well, both in saving souls from self destruction as well as charitable compassion, though most often only for their own.
My own latent Nihilism can be reduced even further to include all religions. Yet, I love them all, like a lover who cannot gain access to their hearts, and thus stalks them on the darkened periphery. In my mind, there is a kind of word game going on, to match up which word goes with which, or is opposed.
| COMPASSION___GREED | | | LOVE___HATE | | | INDUSTRY___SLOTH | | | FREEDOM___SERVITUDE | | | GNOSIS___SUBMISSION | | | AGREEMENT___COERCION | | | LIBERTY___SLAVERY | | | JOY___FEAR |
These to me seem to embody the human condition in how we interact with ourselves and each other. What is missing from all religions is the Joy, while they seem to dispaly plenty of Fear. Where does religion fall into place on Submission? They ALL want that. And on Liberty? Nearly none.
The issue is not Christian Nihilism. To keep it more in the balance, the issue to my mind is that of Religious Nihilism, to which I must admit.
Ivan |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, January 30, 2006 - 09:22 pm: | |
BBC News, on global warming.
"Star warning over climate change"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4660938.stm
then follow the links to more to get whole story, this is all we understand for now, like oceans rising, arctic ice meltintg, dangerous for wildlife, could be worst disaster in a million years, man-made and serious. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 07, 2006 - 11:06 pm: | |
LAUGHTER IN HEAVEN
Mohammud and Allah are enjoying tea in heaven together, and the conversation turns to events on Earth...
Allah: So tell me, Mohammud, what are the people of the book doing in submission to My Will?
Mohammud: The are acting in all humility to do you bidding, my Lord, and to this they had been faithful, except for those infidels who had caricatured me in cartoons. For them there is only torment, and as my minions are angry, they are rioting in your Name.
Allah: Tell me, are these the offending cartoons? (And projected over the whole heavens for all to see are the hapless Danish cartoons showing Mohammud) Is THIS what my people are rioting over?
Mohammud: (sheepishly before God) Yes, my Lord. They are obeying your Will, my Lord.
Allah: Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Then they are a great people! For I gave humanity humor, same as I gave them humility, to do my Will! Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha! (at which Mohammud also began laughing along with God) But those cartoons are silly! Who made them?
Mohammud: They were unbelievers, my Lord, the Danes.
Allah: But they are believers, my dear Mohammud! Because they can laugh! (heaven once again resounds with laughter as both God and Mohammud laugh, joined by all the angels) Ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!.... (then God turns momentarily serious) Now tell them to Stop. I made humanity from the clay of the Earth, and to laugh is also doing my Will. There has been enough pain and violence done in my Name. Laughing does not offend me, for it is Joy. To hurt and hate, and to kill, That offends Me. (all turned serious at God's words, then He smiled at Mohammud) Now, let us dance! Mozart?
... An all the angles broke into song as the madness on Earth stopped at once. Humor, once more was allowed in the name of God, brought joy humility in submission to laughter, for in doing God's Will, it was not offending. |
Ivan
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - 10:45 pm: | |
HOW COULD ISLAM BE REFORMED?
By Ivan A. (ac903093.ipt.aol.com - 172.144.48.147) on Monday, October 31, 2005 - 10:56 pm:
What would it look like, philosophically? What if?...
I can only offer my thoughts here, a purely hypothetical idea, of what may possibly issue from Islam's Reform. But this is only one man's idea, and it is not up to me to suggest that this is how it will be, since I do not know the future. And if such Reform was to take place, it would have to come entirely from within Islam, and not from outside, as myself. I only offer this as an idea, in all humility and respect.
If we were to identify God as Everything , that in His (and Her, axiomatic) infinity is both Good and Evil, and if Man (and Woman) were given a mind with which to choose one from the other, that we are endowed with reason and a free will, then doing God's will means that it is for us to separate the two. Of our own free will, we choose. This means that all teachings about God, and from God, are of necessity both sublime and pure, as well as evil and mean. So there is both a True teaching given to the highest achievements of humankind, as well as one mysterious and Kabbalistic given to the darker side of our being human. And if God created us in His image, then both sides reside is us.
What does this mean for a possible future Reformed Islam? This is the great opportunity, to consciously separate the two, the Good from the Evil, and in so doing, to catapult the religion far into the future, as perhaps the most desirable teaching available to Man. To do this, in my mind, would require that there be a separation of God's Word into its True form, as well as its Kabbalistic form, so that all the teachings that elevate humanity in its goodness, in its highest ideals, and in its ability to coexist with one another through tolerance, and love, would be set to one side; while all the teachings that coerce, that force human beings against their will, against their agreement, against the reality of Who they are as created by God in His image, these are the other darker side. Each human being is sublime as an entity of God, created in His image, and thus sacred. But not each human being is aware, nor will make choices in life that are conscious of this. So it is up to the teachings to split in two where God's Word is sublime and beautiful, and where God's word is dark and fallen. This will be the filter of human reason, and human love, that will separate the two halves of infinity into the duality of Truth and Evil.
How to do this? It will take the finest minds, the most elevated and conscious minds of humanity (within Islam) to find the distinction between the two. And that distinction can be cut like with a knife, in the way Alexander of legend solved the riddle of the Gordian knot, by slicing through it with his sword. But the sword here is conscious reason, conscious choice of Good over Evil, and a choice of finding agreement for all humanity as opposed to forcing it into coercion. In the holy book of the Qur'an exists side by side both. And what these minds must do is take a fine comb through the writings to create two parallel worlds, that of Good and that of Evil. It should be expected that the Good will be smaller in size than the Evil, but that is because we as humanity are still young. And in this cutting the knife will fall on Jihad: on the good side will be the 'greater' Jihad, where between each human being and God is the dialogue to bring him (and her) closer to the Truth of God's Will; on the Evil side the knife will fall on the 'lesser' Jihad, the war on human beings which negates their beauty in God. This comb will pass through all the writings, including the suras and the hadith . The first will be the True and Pure Islam, that propels humanity forward into a glorious, beautiful, and peaceful future; while the latter will be remembered as where humanity came from. These will be the two halves, and it will be for each human being to choose, as is their God given right, of their own free will.
What will this mean for Reformed Islam? It means that rather than drawing forth men and women to the dark side of God, they will be drawn in vast numbers to the light as never before, because the purity of God's Love will be identified, as the New Jihad. While on the other side, the old Jihad will be drawn only for those who cannot see the light of God, who are obscured by darkness, and fallen. It is the same Qur'an, not changed one word; but it is now in two parts. While humanity will gravitate to the Good, as clearly revealed, there will be those who are drawn into the Evil side, which will be fertile ground for the Jad. Do not think this will be easy, for there will be much argument, for the side of Evil will need its expression. But if humanity chooses peace, because we consciously believe in our planet as at One, then it will be World Peace. This is Who we are, as beautiful and shining human beings. Yet, this is also where human faith in God will be tested most, because there will always be those who need to coerce, to abuse and harm, to kill. But if God hears our calling for the chosen Good, then it will be delivered, and the Good in God's Love for humanity will win. Why? Because each one of us will act, consciously, to make it so. For this we must have faith. How each human being answers in his and her faith will be the future of God's vision for the planet. Will the planet evolve as a conscious world of agreement between humanity, or will it fall back into coercions instead? That is the great unknown, and that unknown rests with our prayers, and our faith in God. The New Islam can be this vehicle, this lens, through which the light will pass into the world, and from that light the world will choose freely. It will be a philosophical choice, open to all humanity. If we are truly conscious as human beings, we will choose rightly.
Nothing is discarded of the old Qur'an, but it is newly defined as the two halves of God. Though none of this may ever happen, in my mind's eye, I see this as a possibility of how Islam, as Peace and submission to God's Love, can become. I can see a golden opportunity for humankind to evolve into full consciousness. And if this path is taken, then Islam will act as a great magnet for humanity in ways never imagined. The New Islam becomes a shining beacon of light for all, and all religions, for the true path to Peace on Earth. Can it happen, will it happen? I leave that to God. My idea is not a vision of prophecy, nor the future, but merely one man's idea of how it can be done, and no more. And if it does happen, then the world will be a very different place a thousand years from now. Will the Jad win? No.
(This was cross-posted on the Examined Life Forums, on Islam.)
* * * * * * *
It is not all so grim, in that we may be witnessing a historic event in the making. Islam is bumping up against all the developments of the modern world, and for this they are seeing their own reflection clearly for once, where their own backwardness is being reflected back to them. It is damnable, and such they need a way to find how to accomodate their own belief system, which now appears jaded and atavistic, in the evolving norms of humanity, especially as it involves our human freedoms. The fact that their initial response is so inwardly violent, where they riot and die in these riots, shows once more how damaging their internal beliefs are to themselves. One way to cope is to then forcefully try to impose validations of their beliefs onto the rest of the world, to which the modern world responds with rejection. Think how they are becoming alienated in our eyes, and how the world is now scrutinizing their philosophies, and actions, in greater detail then ever before. How many of the West, or East, will now want to turn to Islam without some inner embarrassment of what had just taken place? No, they are less of a threat than we realize, for in their 'last days' they are being forced to reconsider their own mores, and perhaps even to change. We all must adapt to change, or perish, and Islam is not immune from this necessity, even if they believe that what 'was written' in their holy texts was for all mankind forever. It is not. Rather, just the opposite, we may be witnessing a great world religion in its final days, as it is now believed, and future Islam will be a very different historical event than what we see today. Really, they have no choice but to evolve, or perish. Thus far, however, they had not shown a very good faith in their evolution, but rather a poor showing that is self damaging, once again. They need not do this, and reason can prevail. |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 12:04 pm: | |
Japanese 'whale burgers' for dogs?
How very sad for the whales, to feed fat fluffy little pampered dogs, and people. Gross! |
Ivan
| | Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 09:57 am: | |
AFRICAN QUAKE - 7.5 - MOZANBIQUE
{Earthquake Details
* 7.5 Date-Time Wednesday, February 22, 2006 at 22:19:08 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
* Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 12:19:08 AM
= local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 21.211°S, 33.510°E Depth 11 km (6.8 miles) set by location program Region MOZAMBIQUE Distances
210 km (130 miles) SW of Beira, Mozambique
230 km (145 miles) S of Chimoio, Mozambique
535 km (330 miles) N of MAPUTO, Mozambique
990 km (620 miles) NNE of Durban, South Africa
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 10.9 km (6.8 miles); depth fixed by location program Parameters Nst= 64, Nph= 64, Dmin=863.9 km, Rmss=1.31 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7 Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
... followed by big aftershocks...
Magnitude 5.4
* Date-Time Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 01:23:42 (UTC)
= Coordinated Universal Time
* Thursday, February 23, 2006 at 3:23:42 AM
= local time at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location 21.313°S, 33.385°E
Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program
Region MOZAMBIQUE
Distances
225 km (140 miles) SW of Beira, Mozambique
245 km (150 miles) S of Chimoio, Mozambique
520 km (325 miles) N of MAPUTO, Mozambique
975 km (610 miles) NNE of Durban, South Africa
Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 17.9 km (11.1 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters Nst= 24, Nph= 24, Dmin=863.9 km, Rmss=1.38 sec, Gp= 68°,
M-type=surface wave magnitude (Ms), Version=9
Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Ed, this was a truly big one, with another one off the southwest coast of South Africa.
USGS: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/usjmac.php
Ps: I also have a bad feeling about the shrine bombing in Iraq. The fundamentalist Islamics may finally have their evil wish come true: pan-Islamic war with the rest of Earth's civilization. Too bad, their world will quake in suffering they cannot imagine, if so. How much death will their evil belief require to appease their bloody war god?
Ivan |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Sunday, March 05, 2006 - 01:23 pm: | |
GAS GIANTS
Jupiter and Saturn:
http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~larry/CLASS/AST1001/jupsat/Jupiter+Saturn.html
Uranus, Neptune (and Pluto, an ice dwarf):
http://webusers.astro.umn.edu/~john/Ast1001/jupsat/Uranus+Neptune.html
Why are the gassy outers so different from the rocky inners? |
Ivan
| | Posted on Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 10:26 pm: | |
SAVING THE SALTON SEA, CALIFORNIA
Here is a group that wants to save the sea from becoming a sump: Saltonseacoalition.org
At present farm runnoff is filling the sea with urea and nitrate-posphate waste, with little concern from agricultural interests to stop it. Government agencies seem little interested, and environmental interests are underfunded. The sea's wildlife suffers, fish dying off, and high bacteria counts sickens and kills water fowl. And then on bad days it smells bad, a kind of fecal smell. The place really needs help, or it will turn into a waste sump.
Ivan |
IVAN
| | Posted on Sunday, April 09, 2006 - 10:46 pm: | |
In Our Garden
There is something pleasant in our garden.
It is a natural thing, a feeling, with a natural kind of joy.
I, and others who feel it, we are but spectators of it.
I notice it most in early morning when hummingbirds take their ritual bath in the dewy leaves of the fig tree. Or watch finches drink from loquats ripening in the far corner. The tree is by the bee’s nest. They take delight sitting on the small yellow fruit, picking at it, when not scattering seeds at their bird feeder. They do that with gusto, much noise, perched precariously. The same fate awaits the peaches and apricots and figs later, though the Fiji apples are spared, save for the occasional wasp tunneling into it. Why these fruits? Is it the treasured sweet inside? At morning the garden awakens with the noisy songs of birds high on the wires, sweet as nightingales, which also we hear some nights. It is all as if alive with a spirit of its own. Or watching that smart bee eater stomp atop the wall over the bees nest to awaken them, and then dart in to catch a sleepy one and dart off before being stung. Smart move, and now his two female companions have learned the trick. They then stomp out the stinger before swallowing their dazed prey. In my early morning musings, I wonder what the bees think of these new neighbors? Or do they simply accept it as part of living here? One dies, another is born, so the hive lives on. The black crows are clowns too. A few days ago three of them were flying about squawking loudly as one had found a black sock and would not let the other two have it. The competition for that dirty old sock was fierce, with much flapping of wings. In the end, they flew off chasing after that sock. What were they thinking? Treasure? Mostly it is peaceful in the morning hours before the sun gets hot, a fine calm rests to calm the soul and soothe the eyes. Though, underneath the competition is fierce. There is something living here with a soul of its own, a mysterious kind of magic thing.
My wife is usually later to bed and later to rise than me. Her morning ritual is a meditation under and sky, looking up at white clouds, a dreaminess in her eyes as our hummingbirds hover in for a closer look. I watch them from the glass paned patio over coffee when our two wolf dogs saunter over. One lies at her feet, the other dozes nearby, under the sugarcane. What are they thinking when she wraps her aethereal libation to nature with circular movements of her hands, in closing meditation? What are the mushrooms thinking, after a rare southern California rain? Today, as the sun rises, so do the fresh cool breezes from the ocean. It is spring and the grasses are thick and green, unlike summer when they are brown. They grow by what the birds bring, or the wind, nothing bought. Some are edible native plants, others standard desert fare, tough as cacti spines. Nothing intrudes in our garden, rather they work together. Pacific currents bring moisture, Santa Anas bring the dry, and somehow they balance out without much help from us. Our garden’s décor is its own, nature’s folly as well as her beauty, at their best. Water is the magic currency here, for in the desert water is precious. Our hands are light on our garden, clipping here or there, watering, digging, but mostly it is her own work. Thick wild fern adorn the north side of our simple home. Morning glory vines vie for attention, the bees happy to oblige. We all learn to live in peace, taking as little as nature allows, giving as much as we will. Our neighbors may think our gardening odd, but they have come to accept it. Nature's beauty is her own meditation.
There is clear competition, though. The green plants push one each other for space, of which there is only so much within these garden walls. But they all find accommodation somehow, if uncomfortable for some. Others are kept in pots, like floral cages, some for their own protection. The large fichus in front is growing roots in our drainpipe, so will need cutting. When not yet aware of the bees in the corner, while cutting back foliage, I got stung. It was a painful reminder there is a perimeter to what I may do. It happened once before when I was not careful, as it happened to the dogs. We tried having the hive moved, even killed, but to no avail. We finally accepted them as part of our garden, they busily pollinating our flowering fruit trees. Our neighbors agreed. So we all made peace. It is a special harmony, a useful truce, and the bees no longer attack. Everyone has a place here; and now that the wisteria is blooming, as the jasmine next to the lush bougainvillea, and peaches, their scents remind us of how beautiful they are.
We all have to make space for each other, somehow, if giving up something means gaining something else. A fair exchange, and we all win. A thick coarse tropical grass would take over everyone if allowed, so this gets pulled back, but not entirely. None edible plants, or snails, would take over the vegetable garden. They get pulled or resettled, but they come back. This is okay with us, really, everyone has a place. The microbial flora of the soil does its work, as do the ladybugs, so we never need chemicals sprayed, nor fertilizers. All the trees are healthy, even the dwarf citrus, though a natural sulfide was used on the peach in bloom. When Argentine ants attacked the artichokes, they fought back with their own chemistry, and the ants stopped. Somehow, we must all figure it out. Though they cannot move from where rooted, our garden is very busy, breathing in and breathing out with its own special meditation. Competition, yes, but also cooperation, and patience. The end result is life, and love, and beauty. But the dangers are real, and they must be attended to. When a little lizard is surprised or disturbed, it will drop off its tail and scurry off, leaving the tail behind as a decoy furiously trashing about. It is a needless show for us, but that is his best defense. So now when I see a little skink in the grass, I smile.
As evening sets, a hawk will appear, and all the birds disappear. High above seagulls find their way back to the sea, far from some inland adventure. Probably pecking at the dump! The bee eaters catch their last snack as their quarry retire to the hive for the night. A lonesome dove will call her mournful song one last time before dark. Wild pigeons had already found their roost, and hummingbirds after a day of furious hovering secreted themselves to sleep. Even the finches and sparrows have quieted. We live in the city, and as night falls the distant sounds of traffic filters through the branches. Our old dogs had their walks, now lounging about awaiting dinner. When the sun shone, the bird of paradise and roses were in bright glory; now all is quiet. Do they meditate on the day gone by? When dark clouds threaten rain, it is as if all the leaves of the garden look up, dancing in the wind. I think of that when watching the tall cyprus leaning. But it is a peaceful evening with but a light breeze, though tomorrow is may rain. The grass needs cutting… We moved the cacti to a new place, they seem to like it. The bees are back in their nest. Maybe a lone straggle will still come in, if not lost. All these living things. What do the flowers think of as they close their petals back into themselves? Can our plants hear their neighbor’s chatter, the ones living over the wall? Can they hear the mountains in the distance, or sway with the waves coming in? Can they feel the sun’s warm rays same as the distant ocean roar, or the song of whales? Or the stars sing?
As evening deepens, do they all tell each other stories? If only there were a babbling brook, or the avocados yielded more… Ah, but I ask too much. Yet, in her humble way nature teaches us to live, together and personally, enjoying her beauty, and ours. It is as if her meditations flow through to us from some infinite distances, across light years and galaxies, she teaches us a quiet life. To meditate and breathe, to think and feel, to still our noisy brains and once again become innocent as spectators, not to intrude but watching. In that there is joy.
All is silent now. Tomorrow will be a busy day. Maybe tonight the nightingale will sing. I smell something good in the kitchen. So I leave off here with a single thought, not anthropomorphic but true: Trust in nature’s beauty, she will bare her bosoms to you; and in her naked beauty give you her soul.
Ivan Alexander
|
Anonymous
| | Posted on Thursday, May 25, 2006 - 06:12 am: | |
Coconut oil forums: http://www.coconut-oil-uk.com/coconut-oil-forum/
Any more info to be added on Coconut Oil in your forums. I would like to http://www.coconut-oil-uk.com |
Humancafe
| | Posted on Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 10:55 pm: | |
 |
Ivan/bees
| | Posted on Saturday, September 08, 2007 - 01:55 am: | |
Collapse of honey bee colonies.
Now there seems to be a viral link to why so many honeybee colonies had collapsed, as per this BBC Science article: Virus implicated in bee decline. Bees are necessary for crop and other plant pollination, so their health directly affects agriculture and biodiversity.
We have a colony of bees living in a back wall of our property, hope they survive. Last I checked, and they only let me get within 10 feet of the hive before I get buzzed, they seemed fine.
Ivan |
Ivan/honeyeater
| | Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2007 - 01:14 pm: | |
Bee's honey keeps you young, NewScientist article.
I believe this true, same as it was told to me by an old Diegino Indian friend of mine, who also believes in raw foods and is in excellent health. Sugar on the other hand, especially refined sugars, are bad for you, since they not only convert quickly into body fat but also raise cholesterol LDL, very bad. |
Ivan/wilderness
| | Posted on Sunday, September 16, 2007 - 11:56 am: | |
Wilderness, why we need them.
Bryce Canyon, Utah, Banff National Park, Alberta, Bolsa Chica, California
Nature, the wilderness, is something we can never really leave behind in our quests of human existence. For me, to be without a natural environment is stifling, it makes me ill, so periodically I must escape urban civilization for the vast open spaces away from people and their manufactured things. I need open space and air and water to reconnect with all of existence again. Then I feel whole once more.
This is not a unique feeling, though for some it carries little importance while for others it is a necessity, that we need to at times reconnect with nature. Why is it so pleasing, for example, to sit on a shore looking out over the water? If there is a rhythm of life in water, the waves come in as a reminder, or the stillness of a perfectly smooth lake pleases the eye as few other things do except perhaps the beauty of another human being. When I look at a distant mountain, I find myself drawn in to its flanks and peaks, like I am already there though I know the climbing is hard, yet I am drawn. The vast open spaces of prairies and llanos, or desert wilderness with blue sky and crisp dry air, these fill me from the inside, like I'm connected with all of it spontaneously. I love the vast open wilderness. Or when in a large forest where its edges may be a hundred miles away or more, there is a cool moist presence of living things all around me, the trees and their light seeking branches, thick moss, sunlit clearings with grasses and flowers, the sounds of birds calling each other, wind through the leaves, a snapped twig underfoot, or distant roar, these all fill me. And the crashing of the sea upon some distant white sandy beach, or rocky cliff, all these communicate to us, like the rush of a waterfall, right down into our blood. We are alive with them when we are there. That is wilderness, what connects us not only with ourselves inside our soul, but with existence of the most distant stars and planets. To stand perfectly still, or sit, on the edge of existence and listen, or just feel, is something we can find in the wild places of the Earth, listen to song birds, or crickets, and they are magic gardens. For me, there is no greater worship of all existence then when I am there.
I'm a desert man more than ocean or lake, but that's me. Others are mountain men, or forest people, and some are truly water people, happier in it than out of it. It's like some prefer a sunny beach day while others would rather sip a warm cup of tea by a foggy shore. Some love the cold crisp of a snowy winter, while others the languid hot of the tropics. We're all different, so nature calls to us in all different ways. When I am climbing a rocky outcrop in the desert I am totally at home. It's hard to explain this, but under that big blue sky and red rock at my feet, I am connected. My wife is a water person, she feels this underwater at a coral reef, watching bright colored fishes darting in and out, and for her this is heaven. I'll sit on the shore and watch the sky over the waves, and I'm happy. My time in the water counts in minutes, while hers can be in hours. But we compliment each other because we are different. The wilderness, life, beauty, is our connection with something deep inside ourselves. This is why it is so important to preserve our wild and open spaces, for our own well being, for life of all natural living species there, plants and animals, for migrating birds and sea turtles, for clean water and air, for oxygen for our blood, for our soul. We need this. Desert or ocean, or mountain or forest, arctic tundra or blue lagoon, they make our lives beautiful. That far off lonely cry of a loon, or howling of wolves on a winters night, or the deep songs of whales, or low rumble of elephants on the savanna, or light flutter of a humming bird, they are all us. We are that. That colorful butterfly that just landed on a leaf next to you.... that's you!
coral reef, Australia, Hawaiian surfer, sunset at Long Beach, CA.
We must preserve our wild places, because we need them. And in some mysterious way, they may need us, because we too are part of nature. I pray wilderness will always be there.
Ivan |
Ivan/earthquakes
| | Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2007 - 10:01 pm: | |
'Earthquake rocks' see daylight BBC Science
They dug down 3 kilometers to retrieve rock of the San Andreas fault at Parkfield, CA, which is a highly active fault area. Will this help them understand earthquakes better? They will send down monitoring probes into the core hole to study activity there. Another similar project, deeper still, is carried out in Japan on the other side of the Pacific.
More on earthquakes study:
http://www.earthscope.org/
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/research/parkfield/index.php
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/
This last gives an up to date register of earthquakes worldwide. |
Ivan/soCal fires
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 - 07:49 pm: | |
Broke Back soCal brush fires.
SoCal fires, 2007 (interactive) as seen from space
This image shows how much out of control these dozen or so fires had become in so Cal. The air is hazy with smell of smoke nearly everywhere. Most started by high Santa Ana winds knocking down trees and powerlines, though some were set, arson. Bad combination, extreme dry conditions, high winds, and flames. Over 300,000 people evacuated from fire danger, some of whom I know personally. Many hundreds of homes destroyed, lives at risk, animal livestock and wilderness as well as human. An act of nature? Or acts of man? Some 350,000 acres burned. It's like a war zone... A war zone?
More from BBC News, next day: Wildfires force California exodus
quote:More than 500,000 people have been ordered to leave their homes to escape wildfires in California in the biggest US evacuation since Hurricane Katrina.
Ivan
Ps: 10/26/2007: http://www.globalincidentmap.com/eventdetail.php?ID=5512 Al Qaeda said they'd burn us... A war zone? |
Ivan/oil renewables
| | Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 - 07:22 pm: | |
Oil is a renewable resource?
I've seen this sort of thing before, but this article seems to make a compelling argument, that wells are not going dry, but replenishing themselves in some cases.
Oil Fields Are Refilling... Naturally - Sometimes Rapidly
There Are More Oil Seeps Than All The Tankers On Earth.
By Robert Cooke
http://www.rense.com/general63/refil.htm
If there are traces of methane on distant solar planets, especially the gas giants, and Saturn's moon Titan is reputed to have hydrocarbon lakes, then why not the same seeping up from the Earth's crust? They all were made from the same solar gaseous cloud, and hydrocarbons are part of it. Most interesting...
Ivan
[Ps: There's a very fine discussion in progress at BAUT, presented by 'William' on abiogenic oil and gas formations (see pg. 4) where such deposits concentrate on continental fault lines: Non Organic Formation of Oil & Natural Gas?.] |
Le Chef
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 08:22 pm: | |
'Earth rise', what a beautiful sight.
 -interactive-
'Earth set' taken from Moon's surface near the south pole, where Earth is seen upside down, with Australia center left, and Asia lower right. Which way is up?
Such a lovely world, glad I live there. 
le Chef |
Ivan/Earthrise
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 10:15 pm: | |
Walking the Earth with 'Mohammed'...
Thanks Le Chef, for this interesting view of Earth from the Moon. I turned it 180º so now we're right side up, and expanded it to give a better view. Hope you like the 'Earth set', which is really what this is. Now, compare this with our 'self importance' post earlier, and walk the Earth as would an outsider on his or her first visit. If Allah had shown this to Mohammed, what would have been his idea of the world? Perhaps he would have fallen in love with it? One wonders... Fear is a difficult thing to over come, and primitive people are especially susceptible. Love is much harder.
What can I say? Our home's beautiful!
Ivan |
Ivan/arctic warming
| | Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2007 - 06:10 pm: | |
Global warming under polar ice cap?
 (interactive)
Gakkel Ridge polar under ice 'hot spot'
The Gakkel Ridge is located in the Arctic Ocean between Siberia and Greenland, runs for about 1800 kilometers, and had been recently discovered to not only be producing Earth's crust spreading, but is also volcanically active with hot vents. Though the level of heat generated by the close magma in that area is not well understood, it was already mentioned in this 2003 article of Hindu: Current thinking on Earth's crust formation questioned
I suspect that in additional to recent solar heating and man made greenhouse gases causing Earth's recent warming trend, there may also be an additional factor from under the Arctic ice, of additional heating from volcanic vents, which may also hasten the big polar ice cap melt winessed over past two decades. Global warming may be much more complicated than we think, though there is no doubt it is happening. However, what cause and effect cycles are involved is still a matter of controversy, while the planet's oceans warm... and rise.
Ivan |
Ivan/wolf petition
| | Posted on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 12:45 pm: | |
Stop Alaskan aerial hunting of wolves.
 (interactive)
Please click on image to add your signature
Please sign a Petition to stop this 'gutless sport' of hunting wolves from the air. Running wolves to exhaustion is not a manly sport, but an act of cowardice. I wrote in mine:
quote:Stop aerial hunting of wolves, it is inhumane. Wolves are beautiful and necessary animals for the preservation of a healthy eco system, and such hunting is indiscriminately destroying a healthy wolf population by hunting them to exhaustion. It is grossly unfair to wolves, and a cowardly form of hunting for the humans who participate in this gutless 'sport'. Stop it!!
Signature # 71,151 9:25 am PST, Feb 10
Ivan
Also see: Nee Wolf - story of Alpha female 926 in Yellowstone park (video) |
Ivan
| | Posted on Sunday, May 14, 2006 - 02:39 pm: | |
CHASING COMETS IN THE DESERT
Full moon is not optimum viewing for chasing comets, unless you live on the coast where it is 'marine layer' overcast, so the desert with clear night skies is a better choice. This was my thought Saturday morning, May 13, 2006, when I set out to the Anza Borrego Desert, over the mountains east of San Diego, California, to see if I could spot Comet 73P/Schwassmann Wachmann 3 on its closest approach to Earth. This comet suddenly broke up into many pieces about a decade ago, unexplainably, and some of the brighter pieces could be seen with a magnifier, such as binoculars as they are close to Earth (animated).
Once over the mountains, the coastal marine layer dissolved into crystal blue skies, with tolerable warm temperatures, high 80s F, and that fresh dryness that so pleases me in the desert. (Always bring lots of water, and an easy to carry water bottle.) Having a few hours to kill until nightfall I thought to put my 2006 4WD Escape Hybrid through some trials off road. I selected the Pinon Mountains trail that goes into the heart of the desert park, a road not taken before. It may have been one of the old Butterfield Stage Coach lines (1858-1861), but definitely needs 4 wheel drive, since it is a well rutted sandy and rocky track. I started at the S2 highway entrance, just past Stage Coach Trails RV horse ranch, where I had stayed before, to see how far I could go. This trail connects after perhaps 20 odd miles, with the other side of the park, and goes through some spectacular scenery and hard scrabble desert. The hybrid worked through the sand traps no problem, and negotiated the rocky parts okay, sometimes in 4WD while in electric mode. When about 5 miles in we came across a rocky outcrop jutting out in the road that required some real work. Others before had positioned rocks in such a way to create a small 'staircase' to climb over it. I added to it to ease my way, but both engines had to really work to get over that rock, and my hands showed how rough those dry desert rocks can be (I forgot to brings gloves). Once over that obstacle, I prayed there would be no more, since it really is adrenalin pumping stuff. It's an expensive and fine machine, and I don't want to damage it, though I heard it scrape undercarriage. The going was smooth again, the mountain scenery beautiful. When I walked ahead to check the road, since it was rough in places, I noticed animal tracks of all kinds over the tire marks of prior adventurers. Hardly any human footprints. Mostly jack rabbits, but also big horn sheep, coyote, and small cat paws, probably lynx. It appeared from these that no one had driven here for sometime. In fact, the place was totally silent and awesome in its solitude. It felt good to be there, away from crowds and traffic. What a great place to feel God's country. I came across a fork in the road, and consulted my crude map of the desert park, but it gave no clue, so I followed the little arrow that gave direction, after walking the other trails to see where they led. Those went to camp sites, so dead ends. The trail got more rutted here, with a deep chasm in the center where desert rains had carved out a gully, so important to keep both wheels on either bank. Having negotiated this, and the rocky outcrop before, I felt pretty confident my machine could handle this road fine. That was until about 1 or 2 miles further when I came to a rocky chasm where the road had been blasted through. As prudence dictates, I walked ahead to see what the conditions were. Awful! Rocks had grown out of the ground, big ones, and again predecessors had piled a staircase to climb over them, very steep on the other side, nearly 45 degrees. But the passage between the rocks was narrow, no more than the width of a stagecoach, and if there were soil piled over the rocks, I could have chanced it. Those muleteers of old must have been one tough bunch. (I read a posted sign at one of the stagecoach stations that said the ride would be uncomfortable and dangerous, hostile Indians included, and this part they gained my respect. It also said not to smoke cigars in the presence of women and children riding.) The sun was getting lower in the sky, and I realized that this was where I had to turn back. I may enjoy a good challenge, but I'm not foolish. The boulders were too large, with gaps in between, and any slippage to either side would have damaged the car badly. Somebody made it, though, and I hope they did without getting banged up, maybe in an old large tire jeep or 4WD pick up truck. My new and spotless (though by now very dusty) machine was not worth the risk. So I had to turn around, no easy task in that small space strewn with large boulders aching to take a chunk out of your side. Finally, I pointed the other way, and my heart sank at the thought of having to negotiate the obstacle I passed once again. But as the sun was lowering, I did not want to do it in the dark, so set right off.
This return leg was more downhill, so the electric motor hummed along nicely. Having been this way, I found it easy to anticipate what lay ahead. At one dead end fork, I walked over to the edge and climbed some rocks to get a really good view of the desert valley below. Quite a sight, alone in that desert vastness, careful not to fall off the cliff, since there would be no one to find me if injured. I don't carry a cell phone on these escapades, on principle (so danger is more real), and even if I called, the coyotes would get there before help. Better to not get in trouble and remain totally alert all the time. Surpisingly, the rough spot of rock I passed on the way in was easier on the way out, because of the incline, but did scrape bottom again (found where scraped, but not damaged). By the time I made it back to S2, there was enough daylight left to find a place to make camp. I knew of a valley further south, Blair Valley, and thought it would be a good place to make a stop. No one was at my intended site, with a large mountain behind me, and a good sized rock against which to make a fire (in a metal container, I have an old oil pan, and bring own wood as the park requires), to boil some water for tea. By dark I had a cheerful fire, roasted hot dogs on a stick, and with a crust of break and one carrot, enjoyed a good meal, further washed down with a beer and some green carrot juice. Behind the mountain a full moon was rising in the east, and as the embers died down the sky was growing dark. My whole body smelled of campfire smoke, but it felt good, and the night was getting cooler. I was all alone, except for occasional echoes of distant voices off the mountain from other camp sites of the valley. It felt good in the dark, a light breeze carrying distant voices to the rocks above, and moonlight illuminating the valley.
The north star was to the left of the mountain, a clear sky, but the moon's light made stargazing difficult. With binoculars (Leitz 8x20) I could see deeper into the field, but not yet able to find comets. By now it was close to 10 PM, so doused remnants of fire and picked up to move to the other side of the valley, near the road, to get a better view of the eastern sky. From this direction the moon was already high in the sky, very bright, with its image of a 'rabbit pounding rice'. To look into it with binocs was to go momentarily blind. But to the left of it, about where I thought the comets should be, near Vega, I could spot two small smudges in the sky, with sometimes a third smudge, so I think I found Comet 73P/SW3, but not sure. I had seen comets before, but these were very faint, so maybe I saw them, or maybe not. Later towards midnight on the way home, I again stopped by the side of the road where the sky opens up in a valley, and looked. It was the same, and again at Fink Road, a usual pit stop which is deserted and has a wide open sky, to see if anything different. The three smudges were aligned up and down, some distance from each other, and they looked different from other stars, so I think that was the comets. Either way, it was a very fine day to go comet chasing in the desert. The hybrid passed its tests. She 'Black Moorea' averaged 30-32 mpg this (295 miles) trip.
More on the broken comet from BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4754797.stm
Ivan |
Ivan
| | Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 01:58 pm: | |
ALMOST SAW A MOUNTAIN LION!
I guess I should bring the pepper spray when I go into the wilderness.
After all that spring cleaning window washing, Sunday at home for the holiday, I felt like a little wilderness adventure. Nothing fancy, just a nice jog at Black Star Canyon, near Santiago Canyon on the turn to Silverado. We used to take the dogs there, back when they were younger and could jog along. Today, the doggies can't do it anymore. Gentle could still keep up, at a walk but not run, but Karu takes baby steps, so can't even keep up walking, dear old dogs. So I thought I needed a good jog, or at least a walk-jog, and a 4 miles round trip on this lovely day was perfect.
So I took a bottle of water, my old hat, and set of jogging, slowly, then walking when too tired, then jogging some more. My destination was that little creek where the dogs would go down to drink, with a little bridge over it. Before I got there, maybe 1/4 mile, I saw two wide eyed older men walking towards me. "We saw a mountain lion! Be careful alone joggin." They told me they happened on it while crossing the little bridge, and it was drinking water below, where the dogs used to. Because they were quiet, and the water drowned out noise, the lion didn't hear them. But once it saw them, it ran off up the creek. They said they walked up the creek too, but it had gotten away (their shoes were clean, so not sure of that part of story). About as tall as a man, maybe 150 lbs, is how they described it. I always knew they were there! When I left them, I continued on my jog towards the creek, but when I got there, no lion. So I hung around some, looking up and down, but that lion decided too many people are around, so it scat. Actually, the men also said they found mountain lion shit over by the car parking too. So if they're around, better be careful.
Anyway, it was a nice jog, though on the jog back before I caught up with the two guys, I did turn around a lot, to make sure I wasn't followed. I also had a couple of rocks in my hands, just incase. When I caught up with the men, they told me horror stories from Whithing Ranch, now a park, where a man was killed, his liver eaten and he half burried by the lion, which then killed a woman same day. I'm out there jogging to get rid of my belly, but not be dinner and end up in somebody else's belly! Still, I had a great time, except for that helicopter that kept flying overhead. Maybe they too were looking for that bad mountain lion? Well, I almost saw it. I had seen tigers in the wild in India, lots of coyotes here (they even attacked my old dogs at dusk, and I had to chase them off with stones), once a bear, but no lions. Maybe better luck next time.
Ivan |
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