News summaries :: important, unusual, but real

Commuter Saves Man From Oncoming Train

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 22:57:14 GMT

NEW YORK (Jan. 5) - A man's daring rescue of a teen who fell on the subway tracks earned him the unique title "the hero of Harlem" plus $10,000 from Donald Trump and a trip to Disney World.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg bestowed the title upon Wesley Autrey as he presented him with the city's highest award for civic achievement on Thursday, calling the 50-year-old construction worker "a great man, a man who makes us all proud to be New Yorkers."

Past recipients of the Bronze Medallion have included Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali and Willie Mays. The last honoree was Housing Authority employee Felix Vasquez, who caught a baby thrown from a burning building in 2005.

On Tuesday, Autrey saw Cameron Hollopeter, a 19-year-old film student, suffering a seizure while waiting for a train. After stumbling down the platform, Hollopeter, of Littleton, Massachusetts, fell onto the tracks with a train on its way into the station.

Autrey, traveling with his two young daughters, said something needed to be done and he thought: "I'm the only one to do it."

He jumped down to the tracks, a few feet below platform level, and rolled with the young man into a drainage trough between the rails as the southbound No. 1 train came into the Manhattan station.

Some train cars passed over Autrey and Hollopeter with only a couple of inches to spare, but neither man suffered any harm from the incident. Hollopeter, hospitalized for his medical condition, was in stable condition Thursday.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Executive Director Elliot Sander called Autrey's action "a death-defying act of bravery. We truly have not seen anything like this. ... He was at the right place at the right time and did the right thing."

After the City Hall ceremony, a limousine whisked Autrey, who also received a year's worth of free subway rides, to a meeting with Trump, who presented him with $10,000.

He also has received $2,500 from the New York Film Academy to start a scholarship fund for his children, and tickets and a backstage tour to the Broadway musical "The Lion King."

Autrey, who did the morning news show circuit on Thursday and taped a David Letterman appearance later in the day, will be flown to Los Angeles for an appearance next week on Ellen DeGeneres' show.

As for his new celebrity, he concluded, "good things happen when you do good."

The Big Wheel and Angels in Indiana

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:45:09 GMT

(My brother just sent me this story and I’d like to pass it along. There was no author listed. It fits in perfectly with the John Doe ideas we talked about in this latest newsletter, and reminds me of our “Phantom” from the Lost Teachings. Nice little story to lift your heart a bit. )

The Big Wheel and Angels in Indiana

In September 1962, I woke up one morning with six hungry kids and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds.

He did manage to leave $15 a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either.
If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it. I scrubbed the kids and then put on my best homemade dress, loaded them into the old 50 Chevy and drove off to find a job.

The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed in the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was willing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job.

Still no luck. The last place we went to, just a few miles out of
town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel.

An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour, and I could start that night. I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with
her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep.

When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money. As the weeks went by, heating bills added a strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had begun to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home.

One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just beautiful brand new tires. Had Angels taken up residence in Indiana ? I wondered.

I made a deal with the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would clean up his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.

I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't
enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys, then hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.

On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the tough truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a gruff state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.

When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning, to my amazement, my old Chevy was filled full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door and crawled inside.

Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts. Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes. There was candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was a bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll.

As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude.
And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning.

Yes, there were Angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.…

Tapped-out trees threaten frankincense

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:44:30 GMT

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A word to the wise men: The world may have plenty of gold and myrrh, but it could run short of frankincense.
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Trees in the Horn of Africa provide most of the world's supply of the prized incense that was carried to the infant Jesus by the wise men from the East, in the New Testament's Nativity story. But researchers say the trees are failing to reproduce because they are overexploited for the sap that yields the Christmas staple.

According to a study co-authored by botanists and ecologists from the Netherlands and Eritrea and published this month in The Journal of Applied Ecology, the more heavily a frankincense tree is tapped, the less likely it is to produce viable seeds.

That's not a big problem as long as new trees take root, but other recent studies by scientists and observers from the U.N. Environmental Program have found the number of trees is dwindling in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia — which together make up the bulk of the export market.

They say humans are clearing trees for farmland, and allowing their goats to feed on sapling leaves.

The new study found that remaining plants cannot reproduce because they are tapped too heavily and too often.

"At the moment there's not a shortage of frankincense, but there's no regeneration of the forests. There are no young trees anymore," said Frans Bongers, the study's lead author.

In clusters of trees untapped for at least four years, seeds germinated at a rate above 80 percent, the report said. Heavily tapped groves produced one-third as many seeds and their germination rate was less than 16 percent.

Eugene Bozniak, chairman of the botany department at Weber State University in Utah, who was not involved in the research, called it a "good solid study" in an area where it is notoriously hard to get good data.

Frankincense trees "grow in arid climates. So when you create a wound, which is what you do to make the sap run, they have to devote resources to plugging the wound," he said.

Frankincense is dried sap harvested from several related species of trees found on high scrublands at the southern end of the Arabian peninsula and the Horn of Africa.

In biblical times, Southern Arabian kingdoms such as Sheba, the Yemen of today, had a monopoly on the frankincense trade and the substance was worth its weight in gold.

Frankincense and myrrh came by ship north through the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, or by camel through the Arabian desert.

Today, top-quality frankincense sells for roughly $100 a pound in the West, though lower quality can be bought for a tenth of the price.

It's still used in perfumes and herbal medicines, especially in China, and in incense mixes used by various religious groups — notably the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches — because of the fragrant, citrus-like odor it emits when burned.

The World Conservation Union's "red list" includes 10 species or subspecies of the Boswellia genus — frankincense — as "vulnerable" to becoming extinct in the wild.

No one is certain which species of frankincense the wise men would have carried, though many think it came from modern-day Oman. Botanists aren't even sure how many species there are.

"The consensus view is that there are only four or five," Bozniak said, and the differences in the resins would be apparent only to experts.

In western Christianity, tradition holds that the wise men were three kings on camels: Melchior, of Arabia, bringing gold to represent Jesus' royal nature; Balthasar, from Ethiopia, bringing frankincense, representing his divinity; and Caspar, from Tarsus (modern Turkey), bearing myrrh, another sap incense once used in death rites, presaging the Crucifixion.

The Gospel of Matthew doesn't say there were three of them or how long it took between Jesus' birth and their arrival, saying they came from the east following a star that led them to Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:11 says: "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when ... they saw the young child with Mary his mother, they fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh."

US to put polar bears on endangered list

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:43:48 GMT

The United States government has announced plans to list polar bears on its endangered species list.

The Secretary of the Interior, Dick Kempthorne, says he is concerned that the bears ice-bound habitat is melting.

A statement from the department said it was not analysing why the climate in Alaska was changing.

But it stressed that the Bush administration treated climate change seriously and recognised the role played by greenhouse gases.

"Global warming is the single biggest threat to polar bears' survival, and this will require the government to address the impacts on the polar bear," said Andrew Wetzler, a senior attorney with Natural Resources Defence Council, one of the groups that sued the government seeking action to protect the polar bear.

Scientists have concluded that global warming is caused mainly by heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and motor vehicles. The United States is the largest producer of those pollutants worldwide.

Twenty-Five Sq. Miles of Ice Broke off Canada's North

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 03:43:09 GMT

An ice floe with an area of 25 square miles (66 square km) broke off the Ayles Ice Shelf at Ellesmere Island. The break occurred in the summer of 2005 but was only detected recently by satellite photos, said Luke Copland, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's geography department.

Ellesmere Island is about 800 km south of the North Pole.

"The Arctic is all frozen up for the winter and [the floe] it's stuck in the sea ice about 50 km (30 miles) off the coast," he said. "The risk is that next summer, as that sea ice melts, this large ice island can then move itself around off the coast and one potential path for it is to make its way westward toward the Beaufort Sea, and the Beaufort Sea is where there is lots of oil and gas exploration, oil rigs and shipping."

The ice chunk is now 19 square miles in size. Initially, it was larger than Manhattan which only has about 24 sq. miles. It is basically a floating ice island. Only five Canadian ice shelves remain connected to land, and measurements show they are 90% smaller than they were a century ago.

The breakup was so powerful that earthquake monitors 250 km away picked up the tremors as the 3,000 to 4,500 years old shelf tore away from its fiord on Ellesmere.

Copland said the break was likely due to a combination of low accumulations of sea ice around the mass's edges as high winds blew it away, as well as one of the Arctic's warmest temperatures on record. The region was 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees F) above average in the summer of 2005, he said, according to Reuters.

"It's hard to tie one event to climate change, but when you look at the longer-term trend, the bigger picture, we've lost a lot of ice shelves on northern Ellesmere in the past century and this is that continuing," he said. "And this is the biggest one in the last 25 years."

Thinking about buying some real estate? Forget that house on the beach. Some scientific reports think that most polar ice could be gone by 2040.

One in five species of livestock endangered: FAO

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:14:11 GMT

ROME (AFP) - Some 20 percent of the world's livestock species -- cattle, pigs and poultry -- are threatened with extinction, with one breed disappearing each month, the Food and Agriculture Organization warned.

Over the past five years alone, some 60 breeds of cattle, goats, pigs, horses and poultry have become extinct, the Rome-based UN agency said in a draft document, blaming globalization as the "biggest single factor" in the erosion of livestock biodiversity.

"Of the more than 7,600 breeds in FAO's global database of farm animal genetic resources, 190 have become extinct in the past 15 years and a further 1,500 are considered at risk of extinction," the draft says.

Some 150 experts from 90 countries met in Rome this week to review the findings, the first of their kind on a global scale.

"The globalization of livestock markets is the biggest single factor affecting farm animal diversity," the FAO says.

"Traditional production systems require multi-purpose animals, which provide a range of goods and services, (while) modern agriculture has developed specialized breeds, optimizing specific production traits," the report says.

"Maintaining animal genetic diversity will allow future generations to select stocks or develop new breeds to cope with emerging issues, such as climate change, diseases and changing socio-economic factors," said Jose Esquinas-Alcazar, secretary of the FAO's Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

Rearing livestock contributes to the livelihoods of one billion people in the world, the FAO says.

A final report will be published for the first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources, to be held in Interlaken, Switzerland in September next year.

Headlines - Update as of April 12th, 2006

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:57:07 GMT

Update as of April 12th, 2006

Headlines

UN's bird flu point man says that HSN1 has spread to 30 new countries in the last 3 months. "This is a really serious global situation." David Nabarro said. - AP

A health expert said Tuesday that A potential flu pandemic is like waiting for an earthquake along the San Andreas fault: It's just a matter of time before the next big one strikes - AP

An updated 2006 hurricane forecast predicts an unusually active season with an 81% chance that a major hurricane will hit the US.

Tami flu is among very small number of drugs that can help limit the severity of the HSN1 bird flu in humans if given enough. - Reuters

Air over Antarctica is warming faster than anywhere else in the world according to 30 years of weather balloon data said the Journal Science.

The nations first vaccine against bird flu is only modestly effective, producing apparent protection in slightly half the people who received 2 mega dose shots - initial testing shows. - AP

International Press Institute calls 2005 a "desperately bad year" for reporters with the killings of 65 journalists and the jailing, harassment and intimidation of scores of others.

A swan found dead in Scotland - Update as of April 11th, 2006

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:56:26 GMT

Update as of April 11th, 2006

A swan found dead in Scotland has tested positive for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. - From the BBC News Online

The Scottish Executive has extended surveillance zones in Scotland to include 175 properties with 3.1 million birds, as well as free-range poultry.

The dead mute swan was found in Cellardyke, Fife, eight days ago. Fourteen other birds are being tested.

But experts fear the virus could mutate to gain this ability, and in its new form trigger a flu pandemic, potentially putting millions of human lives at risk. Scotland's Chief Veterinary Officer Charles Milne, announcing confirmation of H5N1, said a surveillance zone was being extended to 965 sq miles (2,500 sq km). The zone contains 175 registered premises, with in total 3.1 million poultry. About 48 are free-range premises with 260,000 birds. A total of 14 birds are being checked for bird flu from Scotland including 12 swans and two other species. Mr Milne said: "There is no indication that any of these are positive."

Farmers are being ordered to house their birds where possible, or separate them from wild birds. However, the Scottish Executive said it would be "disproportionate" to house poultry UK-wide. Officials were also banning the gathering of birds and enhancing their surveillance. An initial 1.8 mile (3km) protection zone was set up around Cellardyke on Wednesday, surrounded by a six-mile (10km) surveillance zone. The infected bird, a native UK breed, was collected from Cellardyke harbour on 30 March - a day after it was reported by a resident. Mute swans are considered to have a "stable" population in Scotland at this time of year, but Mr Milne said he "cannot entirely rule out" that the swan had migrated.

BIRD FLU FACTFILE :

*

Bird flu viruses have 16 H subtypes and nine N subtypes.
*

Four types of the virus are known to infect humans - H5N1, H7N3, H7N7 and H9N2
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Most lead to minor symptoms, apart from H5N1
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H5N1 has caused more than 100 deaths in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam
*

The World Health Organisation says not all H5 or H7 strains are severe, but their ability to mutate means their presence is "always a cause for concern".

OXYGEN - Update as of April 9th, 2006

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:55:25 GMT

Update as of April 9th, 2006

This This information is taken from Stephen R. Krauss' new book: "Oxygen: Nature's Most Important Dietary Supplement".

OXYGEN:
Harnessing The Earth's Most Abundant Element

While we don’t know that every facet of this article is totally correct, (some parts are fairly advanced), it is a very informative and thought provoking piece of work, taken from the book by Stephen Krauss called “Oxygen: Nature’s most Important Dietary Supplement.” I’m posting it because we’ve recently had so much information come to us regarding the importance of proper oxygenation, and the importance of “anti-oxidants”. Soon, we’re going to be recommending an oxygen tab supplement, which also helps you clear out your bowels, which is a well known aspect of keeping your system healthy and strong. It also touches upon a very important topic- body ph. The acidity or alkalinity of your body has a lot to do with your predisposition to catch viruses, or get a bacterial infection or a fungus infestation. Are you acid or alkaline? We’ll write a bit more on that subject soon, too. In the meantime, soak this up and see if it makes sense to you, and if you can glean any important health tips from it. There’s never been a more important time to be strong and clean internally, with a powerful, happy immune system.

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining."
John F. Kennedy

OXYGEN CHEMISTRY

Oxygen is one of the five basic elements of all life (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) and is colorless, tasteless and odorless. None of these five basic elements, or any other element for that matter, is as abundant as oxygen. In addition, only oxygen is capable of combining with almost every other element and is essential in combustion. The earth's crust is estimated to be 49.2% oxygen by weight; almost 20% of our atmosphere is oxygen and the rest is nitrogen; oxygen constitutes almost 85% of sea water, 47% of dry soil, 42% of all vegetation, 46% of igneous rocks and over 65% of the human body. The two men credited with the discovery of oxygen in 1773 are the Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele and Englishman Joseph Priestley. But it wasn't until 1777 that the French scientist Antoine Laurent Lavosier demonstrated that oxygen was a pure substance and a component of air.

OXYGEN - THE BASIS FOR ALL LIFE

No other element is as important as atomic oxygen (with its eight electrons per atom.) Oxygen is absolutely critical to the life processes of all living creatures. Oxygen is brought to the lungs by respiration where it diffuses from the air into the blood stream through over 140 square meters of internal lung surface area called the "gastric mucosa". The average individual takes in approximately 6 liters of air per minute, (about 14 breaths per minute of about 500 ml,) during what is called a "resting state". Under heavy exertion or stress, this rate can increase to more than 125 liters per minute. Oxygen from the lungs rapidly diffuses into the blood plasma where it is then taken up by the hemoglobin in the red blood cells. The hemoglobin becomes over 95% saturated with the available oxygen where it is then carried and eventually transferred to every one of the billions of cells in our bodies. The oxygen, once in these "recipient" cells is consumed as sugars are converted to energy and heat. The more energy or warmth our body needs, the more oxygen that is consumed. This process is called "oxidation" and carbohydrates (sugars) are what are oxidized (or "burned") for the body's fuel. Therefore the cells, to remain healthy and to continue to perform their function of providing energy for the body, must have an adequate and continuous supply of oxygen. Do we get enough oxygen into our blood stream? And if we don't, what happens to our cells and vital organs when they are denied an adequate supply of oxygen? These are vital questions that scientists and researchers have debated for many years. Let's look at some of their conclusions.

THE BLOOD STREAM: THE RIVER OF LIFE

Human blood has three main components: plasma, white blood cells and red blood cells. Our blood will settle into three distinct layers if left in a test tube. The red blood cells, the most numerous in the bloodstream, will settle on the bottom. White blood cells, including lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils, and platelets, will form a thin white line in the middle. A deep, yellowish, watery plasma will float to the top. Plasma is the actual "river" in which all the working constituents of our blood are carried in our remarkable circulatory system. Among the many constituents in this river is dissolved oxygen - up to 5% can be dissolved in this fluid. Unlike fish that can exist on this dissolved oxygen in the plasma stream, the human body requires more oxygen than the plasma can provide. Hence, the great importance of red blood cells which can carry tremendous amounts of oxygen to the tissues in our body. But these red blood cells get their oxygen from the plasma. The body, in its own remarkable way, does not allow all of the red blood cells' oxygen to be consumed as it courses through our bodies. Under normal conditions, 70% to 75% of the oxygen that started the journey in the red cells completes the return trip to the lungs. Thus, from 25% to 30% of the oxygen is consumed by normal cellular metabolism. If, however, the body undergoes exertion, stress, or any other prolonged physical activity, this "reserve" can drop to 20% to 25%. Thus, if you can raise the amount of oxygen dissolved in the plasma, you will increase the amount of oxygen that gets to the cells and that can become a part of the oxygen "reserve". The red blood cells, as carriers, gather oxygen from the plasma and transport this oxygen to the capillaries where it is released again into the plasma for the cells to use for metabolism.

An amazing statement was included in the research by Dr. Arthur C. Guyton, M.D. in his medical text The Textbook of Medical Physiology. He wrote: "...all chronic pain, suffering and diseases are caused from a lack of oxygen at the cell level." (1) In his research, Dr. Guyton discovered that in order for our cells to get their oxygen from the blood stream, the cells must be in what he described as a "dry state". In this condition there will be "...no excess fluid around the cells. There is only enough fluid to fill the crevices around the cells." Dr. Guyton believed, as well as most of the medical profession, that as long as the fluid around the cells was at the proper water level, contained the right mineral balance, and was free of toxic wastes, the cells would continue to live, function and grow in a healthy manner. Dr. Guyton's research revealed that blood proteins in our blood stream, (which is 91% water,) make sure that the water is kept in our blood stream so that no excess fluids seep around the cellular walls. If our blood proteins escape out of our blood stream and find their way into the spaces between the cells, then our lymphatic system must immediately remove these proteins from these spaces. The proteins' present in this altered condition will pull both sodium and water out of the blood stream.

This reverse transfer causes a water and sodium-potassium imbalance, alters the cells' "dry state", inflames the cells and reduces the cells' ability to produce energy. When this situation occurs, the presence of excess water between the cells pulls oxygen as well from the bloodstream. This reduces the amount of oxygen that can get to the cells through the blood stream. A prolonged blood protein imbalance will cause pain, sickness, disease and, if serious enough, could produce immediate death in just a few hours. Blood proteins are not the same as the proteins we eat. We eat proteins to obtain the amino acids from them. From these amino acids, the body manufactures its own proteins, especially those for the blood stream (albumins, globulins, and fibrinogens.)

Until Dr. Guyton's discoveries, it was believed that our blood proteins were simply too large to escape through the blood capillary membranes into the cellular spaces. Dr. Guyton proved that this assumption was untrue. He wrote: "The importance of this function of the lymphatics cannot be stressed too strongly, for there is no other route besides the lymphatics through which excess proteins, (which seep out of the blood capillaries into the spaces around our cells,) can return to the circulatory system." Fluids in the lymphatic system move up the legs, into the large thoracic duct in the chest where the fluids eventually empty into the subclavian vein at the base of the neck. At this point the fluids return to the blood stream with the "captured" blood proteins to re-balance the system. Dr. Guyton showed that the lymphatic vessels have one-way check valves in them. These valves keep the fluids in the system flowing on only one direction.

Approximately three quarts of blood pulses through the capillaries every minute of every day we are alive. (That's over 32,000 gallons of blood pumped through your capillaries each day!) During those same sixty seconds, the heart will beat eighty times and diffuse (pump) water through the tiny capillary pores to supply the cells with minerals, nutrients and oxygen. Fluid engineers calculate that the pressure is so great, and the pumping action so rapid, that the distance the water actually travels is microscopically small. In less than one second, the water flow must rapidly exchange its nutrients, minerals and oxygen for toxins and waste products before the blood proteins pull the water back into the blood stream. (2)

This is why it is so important for the cells to be in their "dry state". For every cell to take part in this healthy exchange, the cells must be packed as closely as possible together. The cells must be as little distance as possible from the capillaries.

HOW DO CELLS GET THEIR ENERGY?

Dr. Otto Warburg has done considerable research on why healthy cells need oxygen to create the "energy" for the life process. In fact, he received two Nobel Peace Prizes for Medicine based on his research findings on the importance of oxygen to cellular life. Healthy cells in the body break down the carbohydrates we eat into simple "glucose" sugars. The glucose is then stored in the cells. The cells, when they need energy to perform their functions, (reproduction, heat, etc.,) take the stored glucose and in a chemical reaction with oxygen, create A.T.P. (Adenison Tri-Phosphate) which becomes, as described by Dr. Warburg", the "pure energy of the cell." If there is a lack of oxygen at the cellular level, no life process can take place and the cell dies. But Dr. Warburg also discovered that a poor supply of oxygen is also detrimental to the cell. When cells lack the right amount of oxygen, the glucose in these cells begins to ferment and a chain-reaction starts taking place. Instead of living off the A.T.P., the cell begins to live off of the fermentation of the stored glucose.

THE BREAKDOWN OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

Dr. Stephen Levine, (a well respected molecular biologist and geneticist,) and Dr. M. Kidd completed research (3) that confirmed that "...oxygen is the source of life to all cells." The constant abuse we subject our bodies because of our eating and drinking habits, as well as a lack of exercise, robs precious oxygen from our bodies. This situation is further complicated by pollutants and toxic additives in our water, food and the air we breathe. Dr. Kidd wrote: "Oxygen plays a pivotal role in the proper functioning of the immune system..." especially as it relates to the system's resistance to disease, bacteria, and viruses. Dr. Levine added: "We can look at oxygen deficiency as the single greatest cause of all diseases." It is believed, and supported by a great deal of research, that a shortage of oxygen in the blood could very well be the starting point for the breakdown of the immune system.

According to Dr. Levine, "oxygen nutrition" optimizes the concentration of oxygen in relation to a natural food diet. In other words, the amount of oxygen in relation to food density is the key for excellent cell metabolism. Dr. Levine went further to show that complex carbohydrates are oxygen rich foods. The complex carbohydrates include vegetables, whole grains, seeds and nuts. (Fruits are too high in simple sugars to be classified as complex carbohydrates.) Since Dr. Levine is a research chemist, he defines a complex carbohydrate as having 16 parts of oxygen and only 14 parts carbon and hydrogen. "More than half the weight of complex carbohydrates is oxygen," he stated. "But the percentage of oxygen in fats is less than ten or at the very most fifteen percent, so fats are very low in oxygen. In fact, fats are oxygen robbers. Protein is composed of 0 to 50 percent oxygen, depending on the specific amino acid profile. It is obvious that complex carbohydrates have the most oxygen." No nutrient -- whether it is protein, fatty acid, vitamin or mineral -- fulfills its functions in its original form. Nutrients, as they occur in our diets, are simply mechanical substances necessary for converting the potential energy in our foods into usable chemical energy for living. For this conversion to take place, oxygen must be present. Dr. Warburg's research adds further emphasis to these findings. He stated that sub-optimal oxygenation of tissues and cells seen in cellular hypoxia is not only the underlying cause of diseases, like cancer, but also results in a predisposition towards degenerative diseases. The lack of oxygen is the outstanding factor in immuno-depressive illnesses. Thus, all three researchers conclude, an increased oxygenation of the bloodstream and cells will enhance may restore overall health.

THE OXIDATION PROCESS

Oxygen is used by the cells in many processes that break down excesses of toxic substances in the body. This process of combining a substance with oxygen at the cellular level is called "oxidation". Dr. Levine describes "oxidation" this way: "Oxygen provides the spark of life. Nutrients provide the fuel for burning. The correct fuel/oxygen mixture is required for the best of health." A lack of oxygen in proper amounts prevents oxidation and oxygenation, two processes that energize the cells to biological regeneration. These processes are the very foundation of life and death. If the normal environment of the cell is maintained, it will not lose its growth and reproduction potential. Poor oxygen supplies will result in poor oxidation. Poor oxidation results in increased cell contamination. Oxygen is a vital cell detoxifier. When body oxygen levels are deficient, toxins build and may eventually devastate the body functions and deplete the body of life-giving energy. Without oxygen, there can be no nourishment. Without nourishment, there can be no heat or energy and the body cannot purify itself. A body with an excellent oxygen supply, and an unhindered development of the oxidating and oxygenation metabolic processes, will be considered healthy and sound (sound health).

FREE RADICALS: ENEMIES OR ALLIES?

Over the last 30 years, over 6,000 scientific studies have revealed that free radical activity represents a major cause of all degenerative diseases. These same studies also indicate, quite clearly, that there is an effective way to control and in most cases eliminate free radical damage. Unfortunately, free radical science is totally misunderstood by the general public and misinformation on this subject is often provided by both the media and by manufacturers of nutrients and supplements designed to solve the free radical dilemma. What is the truth? What is a free radical? How are they created? Are all free radicals harmful to the body? Is there an effective way to deactivate free radicals? Is oxygen the real villain in free radical production? The simplest definition of a free radical was written by Dr. Kurt Donsbach in his book Oxygen-Oxygen-Oxygen: "It is an element or compound which has an unpaired or unmatched electron. This lack of balance causes the substance to have a very reactive character. However, it must be noted that these free radicals are very short-lived, usually in the one ten-thousandth of a second range. But during this short time, these free radicals can cause damage by joining with other body chemicals and changing their character, sometimes even producing a chain reaction by creating new free radicals that carry on." (4)

Dr. Peter Rothschild, in his work Free Radicals, Stress and Antioxidant Enzymes wrote: "Due to their over-reactive nature, free radicals can be extremely toxic and are a direct consequence of the primary stress factors that adversely affect the immune system and threaten our health. However, this is not to imply that free radicals are always harmful or dangerous. Minute amounts of free radicals are essential for many important functions of the immune system and other vital cellular activities. For example, the immune system will actually generate free radicals to use in the process of removing a virus or bacteria. Only when high concentrations of free radicals are present, or when the levels of free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to remove them, does a threat to our health occur. Maintaining the balance between free radical activity and antioxidant enzyme supply is one of the important functions of the body." (5)

Free radicals are missing electrons, and in this quantum atomic state, they will do whatever they can in stealing an electron from another source. Around every atom orbit electrons in what are called shells. These shells (or sub-orbits) vary in distance from the center of the atom's nucleus. Each sub-orbit can accommodate two electrons, each "spinning" or generating what quantum physicists call "wave forms" or "wave packets" in a different directions. If one of these electron's is missing in the outer orbit it will seek out its matching electron. It will not stop looking for this match until it finds one. Such an unstable and reactive atom is called a free radical. Free radicals can be of various sizes, from single atoms to more complex molecules. They can be one, two, three and four atom molecules based on oxygen, or formed from more complex atoms. They can be beneficial and they can be destructive. But best of all, they can be controlled by molecules produced in the body, like the enzymes superoxide dimutase (SOD) and gluthathione peroxidase, and naturally occurring vitamins and nutrients we can daily obtain like E, C, beta-carotine and bioflavonoids.

From the book “Freedom from Disease: How to Control Free Radicals”: "They are an inescapable feature of all oxygen based life. As part of the life-giving processes that create energy in every cell, free radicals are created as toxic waste. When the immune system sends special forces to fight infection, free radicals are used as a weapon...If the body takes in pesticides, industrial chemicals, processed foods, cigarette smoke, or alcohol, free radicals are the most common result. And when the mind and body come under stress, free radicals are mass produced." (6)

PAIN IS CAUSED BY A LACK OF OXYGEN

Dr. C. Samuel West, a specialist in the science of lymphology and a distinguished member of the International Society of Lymphology, has proven that food present in cells without enough oxygen will turn into toxic waste and fat. The less oxygen present in the cells, the more pain we experience. Dr. West is a strong advocate of exercise since a lack of exercise reduces circulation and thus the transfer of oxygen to the cells. This leads to high blood pressure and fluid retention (2). As mentioned previously, it is the lack of A.T.P. (Addenison Tri-Phosphate) that causes the glucose in the cells to ferment creating an anaerobic (without oxygen) condition. This upsets the metabolic processes of the cell. These cells, lacking sufficient oxygen, start manufacturing improper chemicals and soon these cells and their surrounding cells become weak and unhealthy. If prolonged, the entire immune system may start breaking down.

A lack of cellular A.T.P. drastically alters the body's sodium-potassium balance in the individual cells, in the bloodstream, and in the fluid that surrounds the cells. The chemical change also alters and reduces the "electrical fields" in the cells and the bloodstream. Once this electrical change occurs, minerals begin to "fall out" of the fluids surrounding the cells and the bloodstream and start sticking together in what is called "mineral deposits". If these minerals settle in the joints, arthritis occurs; in the eyes, cataracts occur. When they settle in the arteries, we describe the process as "hardening of the arteries." Our muscles also respond to electrical charges sent by the brain. These messages tell the muscles to contract and release. Anything that upsets this delicate and intricate electrical transfer of energy, as does a lack of adequate A.T.P., will cause the muscles spasm and work or respond poorly.

OXYGEN-EATING CHOLESTEROL

We live in the world of fast-foods and instant-gratification. In addition, no modern society consumes more red meats and dairy products than does America. Research currently estimates that over 45% of the American diet is fat. Unfortunately, animal and dairy products contain high concentrates of cholesterol. While the body needs some "good" cholesterol to run efficiently, the cholesterol from meats and dairy products passes directly into the bloodstream and begin to "trap" blood proteins which are so important for stabilizing and regulating the flow of oxygen to the cells. Excessive consumption of cholesterol/fat-ridden food robs oxygen from the bloodstream. Fats easily combine with oxygen and form "free radicals". These free radicals use more oxygen to form peroxides that damage and destroy the cells. As far back as 1977, it was reported in the Scientific American (February Issue) that "...cholesterol epoxide (peroxide) and other substances formed from cholesterol will cause cells to mutate and which will cause cancer." This is how fatty foods, which are consumed so much by Americans, cause an oxygen deficiency that helps promote cancer.

Thus, cells that lose their ability to utilize oxygen can and do become cancerous. These cells have been oxygen-starved so long that they have undergone a metabolic "shift" and revert to a metabolism without oxygen (called anaerobic metabolism). This is, of course, the ultimate and last stage of degeneration caused by a low oxygen lifestyle. It is also interesting that research shows that people who consume very high quantities of fat have a far greater incidence of cancer as well as other degenerative diseases. Thus, cholesterol rich foods, (those lacking the life giving oxygen found in raw vegetables, etc. which are easily converted into energy,) are converted into toxic waste and fat in the cells. This toxic waste and fat in the cells impedes the nutrient supply to the cells from the bloodstream. Dr. Levine has described the consequences of cellular oxygen deficiencies this way: it is "An acidic condition, caused by the accumulation of acidic byproducts, occurs in poorly oxygenated cells. Soft drinks, caffeine, alcohol, and red meats are among the substances that cause systemic (whole body) acidity where there is an excess of positively charges hydrogen ions (H+)." When excessive numbers of hydrogen ions are in the tissue environment they will combine with (and thus utilize) oxygen resulting in an oxygen deficiency state. "When cells are deprived of oxygen, lactic acid accumulates and the cellular environment becomes acidic. This reduces available oxygen for the primary function of metabolism because more oxygen is needed to neutralize the acid."

THE CHAIN REACTION

As meat and dairy foods, which are high in cholesterol, break down (dissolve) in our stomach and intestine, poisonous by-products are manufactured. These by-products dilate (widen or expand) the capillaries making the distance that the water has to travel to and from the cells much greater. The greater the distance that the fluids must travel, in the same amount of time, the less the transfer of nutrients, oxygen and minerals. Also the less toxins, waste products, poisons, etc. are transferred back out of the cells and into the bloodstream. The waste products, toxins, etc. start to accumulate in the cells. The stretched capillary walls allow the blood proteins to escape and lodge themselves between the cells. The trapped proteins permit the accumulation of excess fluids around the cells. This prevents the cells from getting the oxygen they need and so the glucose begins to ferment resulting in electrical changes as the mineral and salt balances change.

The oxygen rich red blood cells carry a negative electrical charge. They travel through the capillaries single file. As the capillaries dilate and the electrical balance of our body changes because of a lack of oxygen, these blood cells are now dispersed over a greater volume in the capillaries, and are unable to travel the now greater distances to the cells. To further complicate matters, the red blood cells, because of the electrical change, begin to clump together to cause a microscopic traffic jam in the capillaries. This further dilates the capillary pores and allows more blood proteins to escape and lodge in the spaces around the cells. This produces more fluid around the cells and the process repeats itself until the cells begin to die because of a lack of oxygen.

EFFECTIVE PREVENTATIVE ALTERNATIVES

Most individuals when they are "sick" turn to conventional medicines to correct the problem. Researchers have learned, however, that many "effective" cures for illnesses have side-effects. Antibiotics, for example, are effective for removing pathogenic bacteria from the body. Many thousands of lives have been saved from bacterial infections by using penicillin as well as other antibiotics. Yet, many studies indicate the possibility that the recent drastic increase of candida albicans yeast infections is primarily due to the widespread use of antibiotics as prescriptions for humans. Statistics indicate that the majority of antibiotics produced and used today in the U.S. are purchased by the poultry, dairy and beef industry to prevent animal diseases. These antibiotics are eventually stored in the tissues of these "food" animals. When they are slaughtered and prepared for market, these "stored" antibiotics are eventually consumed by each of us and added to those that are already in our bodies. The problem is that antibiotics may remove beneficial as well as pathogenic bacteria. This situation could create an imbalance which could lead to an overgrowth of candida as well as many other problems. Therefore, when we use antibiotics, we make a trade-off. We often sacrifice our beneficial bacteria to rid ourselves of the pathogenic bacteria. (This can be corrected by taking a good intestinal flora supplement.) While antibiotics have great importance in life-threatening situations, to use them routinely for every ill is considered by many practitioners to be inappropriate.

When the body encounters pathogens, (like viruses, fungi and bacteria,) in the bloodstream or in tissues, the immune system cells will surround or "engulf" these invaders. They then bombard these pathogens with self-generated free-radicals called "superoxides" which scientists call O2. These "superoxides" are manufactured in the cells during normal cell metabolism using the oxygen they get from the red blood cells in the capillaries. If the immune system is working properly, as described earlier, it will generate more anti-oxidant enzymes to remove the free-radicals to protect the surrounding tissues. The importance of this anti-oxidant defense system cannot be overstated. Without it, the immune system actually works against the body by generating too many free radicals which will go about doing damage to the surrounding tissue and our bodies. Although there are other factors, this breakdown in the immune system in many people has helped create an epidemic of auto-immune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

OXYGEN: THE KILLER?

Oxygen is both a life-giver as well as a "killer." It is one of the body's primary guardians and protectors against unfriendly bacteria and other disease organisms. In fact, one of oxygen's major functions is "disintegration". Brian Goulet, a Certified Herb-ologist and a Nutritional Consultant, wrote in his article "The Magic of Aerobic Oxygen" (7): "Rubble, garbage, toxins, refuse, debris, and anything useless are destroyed by oxygen and carried out of the system. Just as a clean house holds little interest to passing flies, likewise an oxygen rich body is a difficult fortress to assail." Harmful anaerobic bacteria and viruses cannot survive in the presence of oxygen. But oxygen is also naturally selective in what it kills. Unlike drugs and antibiotics which may and usually kill all bacteria in the body, oxygen kills only harmful bacteria while allowing beneficial bacteria to thrive thus insuring good health. Oxygen molecules, like those found in stabilized oxygen supplements, are missing electrons in each of the molecules' outer shells. Because of this, the oxygen molecules will pull electrons from anything that will give them up. Anaerobic bacteria and anaerobic viruses, (as do all living things) possess an electrical charge. These anaerobic organisms cannot prevent the oxygen molecule from stealing electrons from them. As soon as this process occurs, the organisms die. Aerobic beneficial bacteria will not give up their electrons to the oxygen molecules. Neither will beneficial bacteria which live under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, like in the intestines, be adversely affected by oxygen. In fact, these organisms are actually stimulated in the presence of oxygen.

OXYGEN CLASSIFIED AS A VITAMIN

In view of all the scientific evidence available today, an excellent oxygen ratio in the bloodstream is a prime requirement for good health. Stabilized oxygen supplements are packed with nutrient oxygen. This oxygen certainly fits the definition of a vitamin which is a substance found in foods, (or the environment) and is necessary for life, but not necessarily manufactured by the body. Dr. Levine calls oxygen the "very spark of life!"

Contributing Editor Zane Barnowski in the October 1988 issue of Health Freedom News wrote: activated oxygen "...products are made primarily of chlorine, sodium and water, with extra oxygen stabilized in the water. This is done by replacing chlorine and/or sodium ions with oxygen molecules. This allows the water to carry larger amounts of oxygen in its whole, stabilized, O2 state. The amount of chlorine in these solutions is small and easily excreted." James Lembreck, D.C.H., C.M.P. wrote in Natural Physique: "Activated oxygen is often confused with hydrogen peroxide, but has a very different action and is very safe to use. The product was originally developed by Dr. William F. Koch, M.D. and Ph.D., and was later used by N.A.S.A. for the space research program. It was originally designed to destroy any known bacteria or virus and not harm the host when taken internally or used externally."

OXYGEN STARVATION

Our bodies are now experiencing oxygen starvation on a daily basis. The following factors rob oxygen from our bodies:

Toxic Stress ... Whether derived from the water we drink, the air we breathe or the food we eat, we are now subject to over 70,000 different toxic contaminates, many that did not exist a decade ago. Oxygen is required for the body to even attempt to metabolize and eliminate these lethal chemicals from the body.

Emotional Stress ... Adrenaline and adrenaline-related hormones are created by the body during emotionally stressful times (like every day for many of us). The body must use its available oxygen to metabolize these chemicals back out of the body to reestablish metabolic balance.

Physical Trauma & Infections ... Bacteria and viruses can put tremendous stress on the body's immune system. When this occurs, the immune system is robbed of the oxygen that is necessary for the body's normal metabolic functions.

Reduction in available atmospheric oxygen ... Studies reveal that increased environmental pollution and "green plant" destruction has reduced the amount of oxygen (by as much 50%!) in our atmosphere over the last 200 years.

Improper Diets ... Saturated fats can reduce oxygen in the blood stream. Foods with high fat contents and low nutrient values, (i.e. junk and highly-processed foods,) have less than half of the oxygen content than do foods containing complex carbohydrates.)

Lack of Exercise ... Exercising increases the body's metabolic rate as well as the intake of oxygen to help cleanse the body of built-up toxins. A sedentary lifestyle reduces the body's ability to process out toxic contaminates and to perform normal metabolic functions.
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
Tolstoy

Planet Uranus Has Rare Blue Ring - Update as of April 8th, 2006

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:54:05 GMT

Update as of April 8th, 2006

Planet Uranus Has Rare Blue Ring
By Sara Goudarzi - space.com Staff Writer

The recently discovered outermost ring of gas giant Uranus is a bright blue, scientists said today.

Saturn is the only other planet with an identified blue outer ring in the solar system. Both blue rings are associated with small moons; Saturn with Enceladus and Uranus with Mab.

"The outer ring of Saturn is blue and has Enceladus right smack at its brightest spot, and Uranus is strikingly similar, with its blue ring right on top of Mab's orbit," said Imke de Pater, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley.

All other rings, such as the those around Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, sport a reddish color because they are composed of larger particles that reflect red light. The particles themselves may also be reddish, possibly from iron.

The color of Saturn's blue ring has been credited to the tiny particles spewed into space by Enceladus as it orbits around the planet. But the same probably isn't true for Uranus, scientists say.

Uranus' newly discovered moon, Mab, is a small, dead, rocky ball only about 15 miles across—one-twentieth the diameter of Enceladus.

The scientists however suspect that both of these rings are subject to forces acting on dust in the rings, which allow the tiny particles to survive while the larger ones are captured by their moons.

These fragments are subject to forces that push them away or toward the planet out of the moon's orbit. The result is a ring of small particles, each only a fraction of a human hair in width, that reflect and scatter mostly blue light.

"This model can be transferred directly to what we now see in Uranus," de Pater said. "Although we still need to understand the details of the process."

The study is detailed in the April 7 issue of the journal Science.

http://www.space.com/060406_uranus_blue.html

Tornadoes - Update as of April 7th, 2006

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 05:42:57 GMT

Update as of April 7th, 2006

Tornadoes

The number of tornadoes in the United States has jumped dramatically through the first part of 2006 compared with the past few years, according to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center.

Through the end of March, an estimated 286 tornadoes had hit the United States, compared with an average of 70 for the same three-month period in each of the past three years.

The number of tornado-related deaths was 38 before Friday’s storms. The average number of deaths from 2003 to 2005 was 45 a year, the prediction center said.

Geomagnetic flip may not be random after all - Update as of April 6th, 2006

Sat, 08 Apr 2006 05:41:57 GMT

Update as of April 6th, 2006

From Physicsweb.org

by Belle Dumé

21 March 2006
Geomagnetic flip may not be random after all - One of the most fascinating natural phenomena on Earth is the flipping of its magnetic field, which has occurred hundreds of times in the last 160 million years. When the magnetic field flips, the North Pole becomes the South Pole and vice versa. The last time this happened was some 780,000 years ago, so we could be heading for another reversal soon. Now, physicists in Italy have found that the frequency of these polarity reversals is not random as previously thought but occurs in clusters, revealing some kind of "memory" of previous events (physics/0603086).

Although a full geomagnetic polarity reversal can take thousands of years to complete, the implications could be enormous. As well as affecting the migration trajectories of birds and other animals, the disruption to the Earth's magnetic field could expose the Earth to hazardous cosmic rays -- a scenario that some researchers have linked to mass extinction events like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs around 65 million years ago. Geoscientists believe that our planet's internal magnetic dynamo is responsible for pole reversals, but the actual mechanism is not well understood.

Previous analyses assumed that the number of times the poles have reversed over last 160 million years follows a Poisson distribution, implying that the events are random. The Poisson distribution tells you the probability of a number of events occurring in a fixed time if the events are independent and the average rate is known. A good example of the Poisson distribution in physics is the likelihood of unstable radioactive nuclei decaying in a certain period.

Now, a team of physicists led by Vincenzo Carbone of the University of Calabria have discovered that the sequence of polarity reversals can be well described by a Lévy distribution instead. In contrast to Poisson statistics, the Lévy distribution describes stochastic processes that are characterised by the presence of "memory" effects -- or long-range correlations between the events in time. Lévy distributions are widely used to study many critical phenomena, such as earthquakes, and also when analysing financial data. The researchers obtained their results by careful statistical analysis of different sets of paleomagnetic data containing estimates of when the Earth's poles reversed.

"The result means that polarity reversals are not random events that are independent of each other," explains team member Fabio Lepreti. "Instead, there is some degree of memory in the magnetic dynamo processes giving rise to the reversals," he says. "We hope that our work will serve as a useful reference point for models that aim to describe the phenomenon of pole reversal." The Italy team now plans to build new dynamic models to describe the field reversal sequences in a simple way, so that the physical mechanisms that trigger pole reversals can be more easily explained.

Time and Date Hands us A Royal Straight Flush - Update as of April 4th, 2006

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 03:17:03 GMT

Update as of April 4th, 2006
Time and Date Hands us A Royal Straight Flush
This is interesting - Tonight, (technically Wednesday morning) at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06. This won't ever happen again. Pretty cool, huh?

Lime Juice for Angina - Update as of April 3rd, 2006

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 18:47:26 GMT

Update as of April 3rd, 2006
Lime Juice for Angina - According to official U.S. Patent No. 6,457,474, issued October 1, 2002 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, there is a new method of alleviating
chest pain, especially from angina pectoris, as an alternative to nitroglycerin. This newly patented remedy is drinking lime juice!

According to the official patent abstract:
A method of alleviating chest pain that stems from the heart, which method comprises: (a) noticing a pain in the chest; and shortly thereafter (b) taking an effective amount of lime juice into the body to alleviate the chest pain."

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides an alternative to taking nitroglycerin to combat chest pain such as angina pectoris. In accordance with this invention, a person takes in lime juice after noticing the onset of the chest pain. As the term is used in this document, "lime juice" means lime juice or limeade or any combination that includes the juice of a lime whether in concentrated or diluted form.

The inventor surprisingly discovered that by taking lime juice shortly after noticing that he was experiencing an anginal attack that his chest pain immediately subsided.

But, before you go out and start planting your new lime orchard, there was a Director Ordered Reexamination of this patent.

From: http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/con-news/con-news-4.2006.html

News Headlines and Blippets - Update as of April 1st, 2006

Sun, 02 Apr 2006 05:44:13 GMT

Update as of April 1st, 2006
News Headlines and Blippets
Greenhouse gases blamed for global warming climate changes reaching their highest levels ever in the atmosphere says world Meteorologist Organization.
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Levitt said to put a can of tuna and some dried milk under your bed, in reference to the bird flu coming our way.
Scientists say the reason why bird flu doesn't spread easily from person to person is the virus concentrates itself deep into the respitory tract and can not be spread by coughing or sneezing, but they warn that a mutation of the virus could change that.
A Swedish study shows that 10% of all brain tumors are from long term exposure to microwaves from cell phone users.
The price of gold is at a 26 year high coming in at a whopping $594.60 an once.
The fault that caused the devastating earthquake in Indonesia in December 2004 and the destructive tsunami that followed could still cause some big ruptures, US researchers said on Thursday.
Scientists likely will never know why more than 30 whales beached along North Carolina's Outer Banks last January, although some evidence indicates sonar wasn't the cause, said a report the Navy released Wednesday.(The Navy uses sonar technology, which bounces sound waves off underwater objects to map the geography underwater, to detect threats and navigate. But sound waves also are suspected of hurting whales, possibly by damaging their hearing or causing them to rise to the surface too quickly and get the bends.)

Bird-Flu Pandemic Would Likely Start in California - Update as of March 31st, 2005

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 08:51:29 GMT

Update as of March 31st, 2005
Bird-Flu Pandemic Would Likely Start in California
03.30.06, 12:00 AM ETForbes Magazine
THURSDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- If a bird-flu pandemic does hit the United States, it may well start in California and spread across the country in just two to four weeks.
And the best way to slow its spread would be to have workers stay at home.
That's the scenario drawn from results of a computer model created by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center. And while the results of that computer model should be interpreted with caution, it is based on data from ordinary flu epidemics for the last three decades, said study author Dr. Mark A. Miller, associate director for research at the center.
"The unique feature of this model is that it challenges conventional wisdom, which says that flu is spread by children bringing it back to the household," Miller said. "That may be true at the household level, but regionally it is spread by adults."
That's why measures to keep people at home could slow the spread of infection, Miller said. Another finding in the study is that states with large populations, such as California, are more likely to reach epidemic levels of the flu at the same time than less-populous states, where transmission tends to be more erratic, he said.
So California, the most populous state, would be the most logical place for a pandemic to start, Miller said. Another factor pointing toward California is that bird -- also called avian -- flu is expected to arrive from Asia, he said.
As for the speed of spread, the estimate is based on ordinary epidemics. "What we see is that epidemics with more pathogenic viruses spread more quickly, two to four weeks versus five to seven weeks for less pathogenic viruses nationwide," Miller said.
The findings appear in the March 31 issue of the journal Science.
The Fogarty researchers used epidemiological data on seasonal flu epidemics that have occurred yearly in the United States since 1972. They connected that information with data from the Census Bureau and the federal Department of Transportation, looking at variations in yearly epidemics from state to state and links with local flows of people to workplaces.
Bird flu is pathogenic, but it does not yet spread easily from person to person; close exposure to an infected bird is needed to cause a human infection. The danger will come when, and if, a mutation makes human-to-human transmission easy.
Since 2003, the H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected in 45 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. More than 100 people have died after coming into contact with infected poultry.
The model developed by the Fogarty researchers can go just so far in predicting what might happen if such a mutation occurs, Miller said. This model notably doesn't include previous pandemics, just ordinary epidemics, and a pandemic might have different characteristics, he said.
Still, the model can help plan for ordinary, predictable epidemics by showing how they start and spread, Miller said. It's also not the first of its kind, he said: "We did a similar model to explain the spread of measles."
More information
For more on bird flu, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Are you living in a "kill zone"? - Update as of March 30th, 2005

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 04:31:52 GMT

Are you living in a "kill zone"? Greenpeace has released maps that are a result of EPA and Army studies. It shows 112 manufacturing facilities (which use dangerous chemicals) in the US, which could threaten the lives of millions of people in the event of a disaster or attack from hostile sources. On the up side, the number of dangerous facilities has gone down a bit from what it was a couple of years ago. The EPA report listed 30 cities in 25 states as being a danger. On another hopeful note, most of these facilities can switch to safer, less toxic chemicals and still produce whatever they make. Convincing them to switch is, of course, another matter. Leading the nation in number of dangerous facilities are: Texas, Illinois, California. Click on this link to read the full article and see the map.
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/does-a-chemical-plant-in-your

Are you living in a "kill zone"? - Update as of March 27th, 2005

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 04:31:43 GMT

Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip - Update as of March 27th, 2005

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 04:50:22 GMT

Update as of March 27th, 2005
Here is another very interesting and scary story that livescience.com posted earlier today:
Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer

The line between living organisms and machines has just become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed "neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are coupled together.

The achievement could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers that crunch numbers using living neurons.

To create the neuro-chip, researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in size.

They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.

"They also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli from the University of Padua in Italy.

The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were used to stimulate the neurons.

It could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.

"Pharmaceutical companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.

The researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.
http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060327_neuro_chips.html

Comets Posing as Asteroids Might be Source of Earth’s Water - Update as of March 26th, 2006

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 05:29:42 GMT

Update as of March 26th, 2006
Here is another article posted by space.com we thought you might find interesting.
Comets Posing as Asteroids Might be Source of Earth’s Water
By Tariq Malik - Staff Writer

Icy comets embedded the in belt of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter may point to the origin of Earth’s own water supply, scientists said Thursday.

Three comets exhibiting quite uncomet-like behavior have been found orbiting the Sun in a manner more expected of rocky asteroids. Dubbed “main-belt comets” by researchers, the objects suggests that comets and asteroids share more in common than previously thought, and that water found on Earth may have also taken root in the asteroid belt.

“It’s just the tip of the iceberg,” said University of Hawaii astronomer David Jewitt in a telephone interview. “We said in our study there may be hundreds of them out there, but there could be thousands.”

The difference

Asteroids tend to be made of rock and metal. Comets, which typically spend most of their existence beyond Neptune and visit the inner solar system infrequently if ever, hold more water ice and other icy chemicals and are often called icy dirtballs.

Jewitt and graduate student Henry Hsieh, who led the study, used the Gemini North Telescope atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea to find that on object dubbed Asteroid 118401 was not really an asteroid at all.

Their observations found the “asteroid” was ejecting dust like a comet. The Nov. 26 discovery came one month after a similar object was discovered by the Spacewatch project in Arizona. Astronomers have known of a third comet-like object, 133P/Elst-Pizarro, for about 10 years; it no longer seems an isolated oddball.

“The main-belt comets are unique in that they have tight, circular, asteroid-like orbits, and not the elongated, often tilted orbits characteristic of all other comets,” Hsieh said in a statement. “At the same time, their cometary appearance makes them unlike all other previously observed asteroids.”

The research was detailed March 23 in the online version of the journal Science.

Watering a planet

Astronomers believe that the Earth formed under hot and dry conditions, relying on ice from comets to build up its stores of water and become habitable. But studies of traditional comet ice have found that their water composition is quite different that that of Earth’s oceans, Jewitt said.

Main-belt comet ice appears to have formed while the solar system was still a vast protoplanetary nebula of raw material under much warmer temperatures than the conditions where traditional comets formed, out in the Kuiper Belt on the frigid fringe of our planetary neighborhood, Jewitt said.

Because of their proximity, main belt comets could have served as a major source for Earth’s water, the researchers said.

More study is needed to determine if the main-belt comet ice is chemically similar to that found on Earth. To do that, Jewitt says, a full-sky survey is required to scan the myriad asteroids in the for other comet-like objects.

Since main-belt comets are somewhat predictable in their orbits and relatively close to Earth, they might even prove attractive targets for future missions.

“These guys are close astronomically, so yes, we could probably do something with a spacecraft,” Jewitt said.

London 'under water by 2100' as Antarctica crumbles into the sea - Update as of March 25th, 2006

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 03:51:12 GMT

Update as of March 25th, 2006
We thought this was an interesting one published by the UK's "The Times".
London 'under water by 2100' as Antarctica crumbles into the sea
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent

DOZENS of the world’s cities, including London and New York, could be flooded by the end of the century, according to research which suggests that global warming will increase sea levels more rapidly than was previously thought.

The first study to combine computer models of rising temperatures with records of the ancient climate has indicated that sea levels could rise by up to 20ft (6m) by 2100, placing millions of people at risk.

The threat comes from melting ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, which scientists behind the research now believe are on track to release vast volumes of water significantly more quickly than older models have predicted. Their analysis of events between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago, when the Arctic last warmed to temperatures forecast for 2100, shows that there could be large rises in sea level.

While the Greenland ice sheet is expected to start melting as summer temperatures in the Arctic rise by 3C degrees to 5C (5.4F-9F), most models suggest that the ice sheets of Antarctica will remain more stable.

The historical data, however, show that the last time that Greenland became this warm, the sea level rise generated by meltwater destabilized the Antarctic ice, leading to a much higher increase than can be explained by Arctic ice alone.

That means that the models of sea-level rise used to predict an increase of up to 3ft by 2100 may have significantly underestimated its ultimate extent, which could be as great as 20ft.

Such a rise would threaten cities such as London, New York, Bombay and Tokyo. Large parts of the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Florida would be inundated, and even smaller rises would flood extreme low-lying areas, such as several Pacific islands and New Orleans.

“Although the focus of our work is polar, the implications are global,” said Bette Otto-Bliesner, of the US National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, who led the study. “These ice sheets melted before and sea levels rose. The warmth needed isn’t that much above present conditions.”

Her colleague, Jonathan Overpeck, of the University of Arizona, said: “This is a real eye-opener set of results. The last time the Arctic was significantly warmer than the present day, the Greenland ice sheet melted back the equivalent of two to three metres (6ft-10ft) of sea level. Contrary to what was previously believed, the research suggests the Antarctic ice sheet also melted substantially, contributing another 6ft to 10ft of sea level rise.”

The findings, which are published today in the journal Science, have emerged from a study that used data from ancient coral reefs, ice cores and other natural records to reconstruct the climate during the last gap between Ice Ages. In this interglacial period, between 129,000 and 116,000 years ago, temperatures in the Arctic were between 3C and 5C above present levels — a similar level to that predicted for the end of this century.

The scientists found that meltwater from Greenland raised the sea level by up to 11ft, but coral records showed that the total global rise was between 13ft and 20ft. Dr Overpeck said that the melting of Antarctic ice sheets was the most likely explanation. As sea levels rose, the floating ice shelves off the coast of the continent would have become more likely to break up. That in turn would have allowed glaciers to dump more ice from the continent itself into the sea.

He said that this was particularly worrying at present as the base of the West Antarctic ice sheet lay below sea level, which would allow ice to escape to the sea easily.

Several recent studies have indicated that the Greenland ice sheet, which contains enough water to raise sea levels by 23ft, and the West Antarctic sheet, which holds enough for a 20ft rise, are thinning. Both are expected to take several centuries to melt completely, but could release substantial quantities of water by 2100.

Dr Overpeck said that the results added to the urgency of measures to control the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2100776,00.html

London 'under water by 2100' as Antarctica crumbles into the sea - Update as of March 25th, 2006

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 03:51:06 GMT

Some Say World Events Mean End of Days-Update as of March 24th,2006

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 06:01:16 GMT

Some Say World Events May Mean End Of Days - CBS, Chicago reported that some Christian sects are expecting Jesus to return to earth in the prophesized second coming of Christ.
According to the Book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible, it says right after before Jesus comes, there will be a time of great tribulation.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The War in Iraq. The Southeast Asian tsunami of December 2004. Hurricane Katrina and much more. Could this be THE "time of great tribulation"?

All of these were catastrophic events that happened within a short period in the planet’s history, and as CBS 2’s Jim Williams reported, some Christian sects believe they might indicate that the end could be near.

And as to recent disasters and events, the author of "Left Behind" Jerry Jenkins says, "It sure seems like we're headed toward something."
Jenkins added: "We do believe that everything on prophetic calendar that is to predict the second coming of Christ has happened, so it could be today, it could be tomorrow."

Whether you believe in the "rapture" or that the world is going to come to an end or not, Christians aren't the only one's who have the end of the world in our life time as a prophecy. The Hopi Indians, Hawaii's Kahunas, some Jews, Mormons, and so many others.
If you open your eyes and look around, it's not to hard to see. Look at what's going on in the world, let alone in nature, and it's bound to get worse. Reading the news and what's going on can help put the "walk with death by your side" concept in perspective.

It’s getting hot in here -Update as of March 23rd, 2006

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 20:57:00 GMT

It’s getting hot in here
Ice sheets are melting, the weather is changing and Eugene Linden wonders why no one seems to care

by Kit Stolz

You don’t need to be a climatologist to see which way the weather is heading. It’s getting warmer. Glaciers around the world are vanishing into the sky; if the current warming trend continues, Glacier National Park will be without glaciers by 2030. The Greenland ice sheet is melting at 250 percent the rate it was 10 years ago, according to a report just published in Science magazine. The Antarctic ice sheet is also shrinking, which has come as a surprise to experts. In Canada, the mountain pine beetle—no longer controlled by cold winters—is expected to destroy most of the forests of British Columbia. The Canadian Forest Service says it is the largest insect epidemic in North American history and expects it to continue to spread.

But will this matter to us? Eugene Linden, a former science writer for Time, fears it will. In his recently published book, The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations, he looks at how climate shifts have devastated civilizations in the past, and connects that to the recent discovery, based on eons-old ice records, that “in the past, climate made many large, sudden shifts from warm to cold and cold to warm.” This he calls a “flickering climate.”

For decades, scientists thought climate was like a dial that could be turned up or down without causing chaos. Now, studies of Greenland ice cores have convinced scientists it’s more like a switch, and that, if thrown, the basic structure of the climate could change hugely and rapidly, with potentially extreme winds and drops in average temperatures of as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit in just a few years. This is what Linden is trying to bring to our attention. He discussed it recently in an interview:

How does our state of knowledge regarding global warming compare with what people in the Middle Ages knew about the Black Plague? Are we equally ignorant?

I would say we’re ahead of the people of the Middle Ages, who didn’t understand disease theory, but we’re not anywhere near close to a full understanding of what we’re facing. Everything is a surprise right now. We think the Antarctic ice sheet should be getting bigger, but it’s not. The Greenland ice sheet is wasting far more quickly than we thought it would. But we do know that we have put more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than at any point in the last 400,000 years, and we can normalize for everything else, including sunspot activity. Since CO2 started going off the charts, crazy things have started to happen.

According to the White House, the president focuses every day on the hazards facing the American people. In ignoring global warming, is he ignoring a threat as great as or greater than Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein?

The weather is a weapon of mass destruction. I think Bush was blindsided by Katrina because he somehow has been convinced that climate is a non-issue that doesn’t involve national security. But the fact is that Katrina did more damage than 9/11; there was less loss of life, but much greater economic damage, and we were warned about Katrina. I agree with Sir David King [the scientific adviser to Great Britain], who argues that global warming poses a greater threat to humanity than terrorism.

Regarding the dangers of a flickering climate, you write that the cities would be hard pressed to maintain their infrastructure, that FEMA would be bankrupted and that businesses would struggle to show profits. This would mean that “governments would find tax receipts drastically reduced, and in the world’s tightly coupled markets, financial tsunamis would rocket through the system, leaving banks and corporations insolvent. Financial panics, largely absent for over 70 years, would return with a vengeance.” Could this be worse than the Great Depression?

Yeah. It would be. I put a lot of thought into that paragraph; I was very measured. And I don’t even think that’s the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario is simply unimaginable: mass starvation. We had one little hurricane last year that played a big role in knocking two points off the GDP in the fourth quarter, but we’re not talking about one little hurricane; we’re talking about lots of different events happening around the world simultaneously. Not to act to reduce the risk is lunacy.

What sort of prudential measures, if any, have you and your family taken against societal breakdown caused by global warming?

We haven’t taken prudential measures. I’m not a survivalist. I compare our situation to that of Europe in World War II. When you think about that history, you wonder: Why on earth did people stay in Europe? But if you look at what happened, once Stalin and Hitler took control, people found there was nowhere to go. If the wheels really do come off, there will be no place to go. Somebody said to me, well, if that happens, the rich will still have their vehicles. But if nobody else has vehicles, the rich won’t be able to keep theirs, either.

When did you first get interested in climate change?

I’ve followed this issue forever, but back in l988 we had that incredibly hot summer in Washington during which [Sen.] Tim Wirth [a Democrat from Colorado] held hearings that put the issue on the map. Scientists first started speculating about this issue decades earlier, and George Woodwell and Roger Revelle started to raise alarms about loading the atmosphere with carbon, and accurately predicted that without action on greenhouse gases, the weather would be changing by 2000. If we’d listened back then, we might not be seeing the effects we’re beginning to see now.

You quote Wallace Broecker of Columbia University on Greenland ice: “Through the record kept in Greenland ice, a disturbing characteristic of the Earth’s climate system has been revealed, that is, its capability to undergo abrupt switches to very different states of operation....” Could such an “abrupt switch” lead to a decades-long El Niño?

That would be one of the possibilities. I’m hedging on El Niño because there are still a lot of unknowns about how El Niño links with other climate cycles, such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Some speculate that El Niño might be a delivery system for global warming…. If you change the geometry of atmospheric circulation over the Pacific, for instance, it might lead to a shutdown of the California Current, and in short order you’d have no more redwoods.

A prominent climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Bill Patzert, jokes that El Niño has always been part of our climatic pattern and ought to be called “El Nincompoop” for people who aren’t prepared for its effects. Is it possible that a decades-long El Niño wouldn’t be so bad?

El Niño barely budges the needle as a climate-change event. Even the big l998 El Niño that caused $100 billion damage represented a global temperate change on the order of one degree. The threat is change many times that magnitude.

Most people don’t realize that the consensus IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] projections in the 21st century, although sometimes criticized for being too extreme, are actually very middle-of-the-road.

The fact that the international consensus statement from the IPCC was as strong as it was is something of a miracle, but you know, consensus doesn’t matter to nature. Nature isn’t going to say, well, the humans made their best effort to reduce emissions, and we’ll try to meet them halfway.

What reaction do you hear from scientists on this?

Enormous frustration. They feel they’ve done all they can do, but no one seems to be listening. Thomas Karl, in a 2003 paper in Science, wrote that we are now entering the unknown, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

A reporter for ABC, Bill Blakemore, blogged recently that the few reporters who cover this beat exclusively often find themselves checking in with colleagues, partly “to do some mutual therapy.” Has the story taken a psychological toll on you?

I haven’t talked about it that much with other reporters, but I understand why you might need a support group, because we’re kind of out in the wilderness on this subject. Every time something dramatic happens, such as the collapse of an ice shelf in Antarctica, then the experts get wheeled out of storage, but then something else happens and the story gets pushed to the back burner.

Do you ever hear complaints that reporting on this issue is too negative, too depressing? Or is that the kind of question you only get from Californians?

The complaint that the issue is too depressing seems kind of silly to me. Either climate change is a threat, or it’s not. Our emotional reaction to the facts is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what we’re doing, and we’re doing nothing. The issue ought to be galvanizing.

In your book, you write that the coverage of global warming has been “fitful” and “timid.” Can you talk a little about the reporting on this issue?

You used to see the same four naysayers trotted out in every story to supply the contrarian view, long after the scientific consensus was settled. It never seemed to dawn on anybody that it was the same four guys dismissing it, whereas any number of scientists are eager to talk about the threat. I’d like to believe the media is getting over that. When you see a story about the dangers of smoking, you don’t see a reporter on a story about tobacco searching out someone to say that smoking is good for you, but even though the consensus on global warming rivals the consensus on the dangers of smoking, reporters still feel that obligation.

But it’s not just reporters who are at fault, is it?

A lot of the confusion is the result of a well-organized effort to mau-mau editors by fossil-fuel companies who did not want to see the U.S. join the international effort [to control CO2 emissions]. And the attention span of editors is like an 8-year-old’s—they’re always looking for the next story. The media and the public look at the story as something far off in the future, but what happens if the future comes up and taps you on the shoulder?

Climatologist James Hansen did get coverage lately, but for being muzzled by a public relations official from the Bush Administration, not for what he advocated, which is an end to the construction of new power plants.

You’re right, he has been covered more for being muzzled than for anything else… but Jim Hansen had the guts to stand up to the administration and say, “You’re not going to muzzle me,” and it totally backfired on them. What you’re seeing these days is that the muzzlers and the naysayers are looking more and more like idiots. For years they were out there saying, “Don’t believe your eyes on the melting glaciers, looking at these temps from the stratosphere or whatever,” but the evidence of warming is so incontrovertible now that this isn’t working anymore.

In your book, you write that one of the world’s biggest insurance companies, Swiss Re, has warned some of its clients, such as ExxonMobil, that they may drop coverage for liability on climate change-related lawsuits if Exxon continues to oppose action to reduce emissions. Will they act?

As soon as Swiss Re sees that liability for climate-change related lawsuits is a serious possibility, they will likely take some action. If they see some clear paths for action, and [statistical] outlier corporations that refuse to respond, then they will call for an exclusion in their insurance for directors and officers. That’s what they’ve told me, and I’ve been talking to insurance executives on this issue since the early 1990s. If you as a corporation are going to knowingly court the risk of lawsuits, why should we, the insurance company, be responsible? One executive compared it to the situation with asbestos, where damages were apportioned according to market share. Since ExxonMobil is estimated to produce 1 percent of the CO2 emissions around the world, that’s a lot.

In Winds of Change, you write of insurance companies “off-loading” increased risk caused by global warming. Have you seen any evidence of that?

Insurance rates in Southern Florida have already doubled. We’re already seeing off-loading of risk. Insurance executives are taking this seriously. They were blindsided by 9/11 and bore that risk for free, and they took a big hit. That has opened their eyes to other risks they’re insuring for free. It’s complex, because insurance uses past behavior to assess violent, extreme events, but the past is no longer a guide to the future. We’re seeing insurance costs rise in anticipation of more frequent and extreme climatic events. For example, in Massachusetts, which is facing increased hurricane risk, the [state] FAIR plan rates have risen in anticipation of more claims.

You wrote a piece on a flickering climate for Fortune magazine in January. What kind of response did it receive?

Fortune ran the piece because they think their audience is getting interested in these issues, and it got a very big response, and mostly positive. Even the Wall Street Journal takes this issue seriously in their news coverage; it’s the editorial page that’s in cloud-cuckoo land.

Some of the facts of climate change are, as you say, very complex and even paradoxical. Is it too complex for the average citizen to understand?

It’s not complexity. It’s that in the 17 years since global warming was first explained, the issue has been muddied by disinformation. If people think this is something that’s far off in the future and a matter of debate, they’ll wait for the scientists to sort it out. But if people realize that the scientists agree, then I think they’ll be perfectly capable of understanding the threat.

As I read this book, it’s about 50-50 whether the switch toward a flickering climate will be thrown.

We don’t know what the tipping point is. I say that having surveyed scientists on this question intensely. We do know that we’re headed for 550 parts per million [of CO2] and probably more, but nobody knows where the runaway effect begins, and nobody can tell you that 550 ppm equals two degrees of warming. [Currently the world is at about 380 ppm of atmospheric CO2; in 1950, it was at about 310 ppm; in 1850, it was at about 280 ppm.] There are so many unknowns. We can only hope that we’re not seeing the beginnings of a transition to a flickering climate right now.

In your book, you get depressed when you see the comparison between us as a species and fruit flies, because we seem equally blind to our environment. Where, if anywhere, do you see hope?

Katrina opened our eyes to the destruction potential of extreme weather, just as the heat wave of 2003 that killed 35,000 in Europe opened eyes over there. We should have some advantage over past civilizations that fell because of climate change in that we can look back at their example as well as better understand how changing climate might impact our future. The scientists have done their job; we just have to listen, and I have to believe we will. There’s an old Chinese proverb: If you don’t change direction, you end up where you’re headed. Makes sense to me.

3/22/06

The Year’s First Cyclone Rips Across Australia - Update as of March 21st, 2006

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 03:36:29 GMT

The Year’s First Cyclone Rips Across Australia- Looks like we’re headed for more record- breaking cyclone/hurricane seasons this year (and probably to continue). Cyclone Larry- a category 5 cyclone (the equivalent of our hurricanes) – came ashore recently, on Australia’s Queensland Coast, with winds of 180 mph. The good news is that they sustained a lot of property damage, but no one lost their life. Hopefully some folks will use the extra time to love more. (Reminds me of a “joke” email I recently got, which had some cute picture on it and said, “If you woke up this morning and you are still breathing, congratulations – you have another chance.” But, I digress. Anyway, the “bad” news is that the second storm of the season - Cyclone Wati is in the wings, building strength and is expected to follow a similar track right to their door again. We’ll get the scoop on that and post it soon, and a projection regarding our own upcoming hurricane season here in the US.

Report faults humans for extinctions - update as of March 20th, 2006

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 04:38:58 GMT

Report faults humans for extinctions - People are responsible for the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaur era and must make unprecedented efforts to reach a goal of slowing losses by 2010, warns a new United Nations report.

Habitats ranging from coral reefs to tropical rainforests face mounting threats from pollution, expanding cities, deforestation, introduction of invasive species and global warming, says the report, issued Monday at the start of a U.N. meeting on biological diversity in Brazil.

"In effect, we are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of Earth, and the greatest since the dinosaurs disappeared 65 million years ago," says the "Global Biodiversity Outlook 2" report.

Apart from the disappearance of the dinosaurs, the other “Big Five” extinctions were about 205, 250, 375 and 440 million years ago. Scientists suspect that asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions or sudden climate shifts may explain the five.

A rising human population of 6.5 billion was undermining the environment for animals and plants via pollution, expanding cities, deforestation, introduction of “alien species” and global warming, it said.“Unprecedented additional efforts’ will be needed to achieve the 2010 biodiversity target at national, regional and global levels,” it said. The report was bleaker than a first U.N. review of the diversity of life issued in 2001.

According to a “Red List” compiled by the World Conservation Union, 844 animals and plants are known to have gone extinct in the last 500 years, ranging from the dodo to the Golden Toad in Costa Rica. It says the figures are probably a big underestimate.

“The direct causes of biodiversity loss -- habitat change, over-exploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species, nutrient loading and climate change -- show no sign of abating,” the report said.

Mad Cow in Alabama - Updates as of March 19th, 2006

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 21:39:00 GMT

Mad Cow in Alabama - With the news that there’s been another case of mad cow in the US, the government has announced that they’re going to trim down their testing program for mad cow.

In answer to the ensuing discussions regarding the apparently bad timing of this reduction, officials explained that the rigorous testing they’ve been doing in the last couple of years was always intended to be temporary, and that it’s simply time to reduce the surveillance based on their original plan.

USDA veterinarian John Clifford assured consumers that the cow posed no threat to the public. He explained that the cow was “non-ambulatory” (not sure why that’s pertinent), and had only been there at the farm for about a year. Of course, now that the cow’s been destroyed, it’s definitely non-ambulatory, in case that has to do with the threat of mad cow disease in the food chain…….

Short, Sweet and to the Point - Update as of March 18th, 2006

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 06:25:48 GMT

Short, Sweet and to the Point
Established authorities (companies or corporations) are now telling their employees what they may or may not eat at work. How frightening!

Plan for the next Flu Pandemic - US tactics include closing schools, restricting travel, rationing meds

Great Britain has found traces of Prozac in their drinking water supply.

Childhood Overweight and Behavior Problems -Because of the growing obesity epidemic there is concern that it effects children negatively. Those who are over overweight are more likely to be ridiculed or teased therefore developing low self esteem behavior problems. Scientists found that obese girls entering kindergarten were displaying more behavior problems than girls who were not. However they did not find this relationship among boys. If things happen early in life it's possible these things will stay with you till adolescence or adulthood.

A New Ocean Forming - Update as of March 17th, 2006

Fri, 17 Mar 2006 23:56:42 GMT

Update as of March 17th, 2006
A New Ocean Forming - In north-eastern Africa's Afar Triangle, hundreds of crevices splitting the desert floor. The ground has slumped by as much as 100 meters (328 feet) through out recent months. At the same time, scientists have observed magma rising from deep below as it begins to form what will eventually become a basalt ocean floor.

Of course a life time is too short to see a new river form or a valley opening up. But geologically speaking, it won't be long until the Red Sea floods the region. The ocean that will then be born will split Africa apart. The Afar Triangle, is the largest construction site on the planet consisting of three tectonic plates meeting. Two of the plates drifting apart along two separate fault lines by one centimeter a year.

A team of scientists working with Christophe Vigny of the Paris Laboratory of Geology reported on the phenomenon in a 2006 issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research. While the two plates move apart, the ground sinks to make room for the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The third crevice cuts south, splitting not far from Lake Victoria. One branch of the rift runs to the east, the other to the west of the lake. The two branches of this third crevice are moving apart by about one millimeter a year.

There was a dramatic event that some scentists witnessed in the Afar Desert on Sept. 26, 2005 . This was the first visual proof of this process -- and it was followed by a week-long series of earthquakes. During the months that followed, hundreds of further crevices opened up in the ground, spreading across an area of 345 square miles. "The earth has not stopped moving since," geophysicist Tim Wright of the University of Oxford says. The ground is still splitting open and sinking, he says; small earthquakes are constantly shaking the region.

Scientists have made repeated trips to the area since the drama of last September. Locals have reported a number of new cracks opening in the ground, says geologist Cynthia Ebinger from the University of London, and during each visit, new crevices are discovered. Fumes as hot as 400 degrees Celsius (752 degrees Fahrenheit) shoot up from some of them; the sound of bubbling magma and the smell of sulphur rise from others. The larger crevices are dozens of meters deep and several hundred meters long. Traces of recent volcanic eruptions are also visible.

In a number of places, cracks have opened up beneath the thin layer of volcanic ash that covers the region. As there is no ash in the fissures, it's clear that they opened up after the volcanic eruptions, most of which took place at the end of September or in October, 2005. A number of locals who fled the eruptions have reported that a black cloud of ash -- spewed out of the Dabbahu volcano -- darkened the sky for three days.

A number of recent eruptions have left layers of new basalt lava on the Earth's surface. And it's the exact same kind of lava that spews out of volcanic ridges deep under the ocean -- a process which slowly pushes older lava sediments away on either side. The process has only just begun in the Afar Triangle -- and scientists for the first time can witness the birth of a new ocean floor.

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite! - Update as of March 15th, 2006

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 08:03:04 GMT

Don't Let The Bed bugs Bite! Entomologists worldwide have noticed an upsurge in bedbugs in the last five years. Why this has happened is unknown. Prior to the 1940's, bedbugs were more common. With the advent of potent pesticides, bedbugs became almost unheard of. But they seem to be back, with a vengeance. So, it may be that our use of the chemicals has bred a new, improved bedbug, as with our over-use of antibiotics. Another possibility is that with more world travel today, both microscopic "bugs" and bigger bugs make the rounds too.
Hotels are one of the ways bedbugs can end up in your home. You may imagine that you wont pick them up unless you stay in a seedy hotel. Unfortunately, that's not the case. CNN just aired a story about a woman who went to a lovely resort hotel in New York State, and ended up with hundreds of bites. A survey of pest control companies found that hotels accounted for the largest proportion (37 percent) of bedbug infestations nationwide.
When you check into a hotel, it's wise to check for the bugs. They're reddish brown and about ¼" long, are very flat and have no wings. They leave brown spots or smears near the spots they hide in. Even if you don't find any, don't put your bags on the floor, especially near the head of the bed. Put them on the luggage stand if you have one.
Another way they manage to cuddle up with you in bed is to be brought in on used furniture. Be sure to check it out before you bring a Trojan horse into your home. Amazingly, they can fast for a year or more, with no food source, and still be alive and biting, so don't assume that because something has been sitting around in storage, it's not infested. They can also travel into your home when they're displaced from other feeding grounds by pesticides.

Here are a few natural tips from Barbara Ogg at the University of Nebraska: (http://lancaster.unl.edu)

Examine all items in infested rooms for bedbugs. Look for fecal spots to pinpoint hiding places. Kill bedbugs by dropping them in hot, soapy water and flushing. Remember that immature bedbugs are very tiny. Check under mattress buttons and between the mattress and box springs.

Launder your bedding and dry it in a hot dryer to kill all stages of bedbugs.

Thoroughly vacuum infested areas. This includes the mattress, box springs furniture, beds, headboards, sofas. Don't forget the void area underneath box springs--tear away the cambric fabric and look for bedbugs there. After you are finished, bag the vacuum cleaner bag and take it to the trash. Bedbugs are very resistant to being killed and you don't want them crawling out of the vacuum cleaner to re-infest the house. Vacuum every couple days until the infestation is gone.

Use a steamer on mattresses to kill eggs that might have been overlooked. Steaming is effective and safer than spraying mattresses with insecticides. Steam cleaning carpets is also a good idea, but work with the pest control company to make sure you are not interfering with the effectiveness of treatments.

Eliminate clutter in infested areas to reduce bedbug hiding places and make treatments more effective. Because these bugs like to hide in small cracks, stacks of clothing, paper items and corrugated cardboard are likely hiding places.

Update as of March 14th, 2006 - Smile Power

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 15:00:00 GMT

Do you remember the beautiful old Nat King Cole song called "Smile"?
Smile, though your heart is aching
Smile, even though it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by...If you smile
Through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear may be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile….

Research shows that smiling can indeed help you feel better when you're blue or stressed.
The psychological theory called the Facial Feedback Hypothesis is a little like putting the cart before the horse, but in a good way. Turns out that there are certain physiological mechanisms that run in the opposite direction of what we would expect. What I mean is, we know that when you're feeling joy or happiness, your heart and mind send a message to your muscles, and you smile physically. Now science is learning that the physical act of smiling also sends signals of well being back to your heart and mind.

This theory states that "involuntary facial movements provide sufficient peripheral information to drive emotional experience" (Bernstein, et al., 2000). Researchers Davis and Palladino explain that "feedback from facial expression affects emotional expression and behavior" (2000). So mustering as sincere of a smile as you can may actually help you feel better! Don't just show your teeth, really smile, and I think you'll feel the mechanisms click. Sure, it may not evaporate your troubles, but every little bit helps!

One study, conducted by Levenson and Friesen, found that autonomic changes similar to those seen with emotions were experienced by participants who were instructed to make certain faces. They asked a subject to make what they considered an angry face, and sensors indicated increased blood flow to their hands and feet, which something that happens in the bodies of folks who are angry. In another study, people experienced generally more positive impressions of other people when they themselves were smiling. In a third study, subjects were told to hold a pencil in their mouths in such a way that it either created a smile or frown in their facial muscles. Then they were instructed to rate cartoons. The ones who held the pencil in their teeth (smiling) found the cartoons funnier than the ones who couldn't smile because they had the pencil between their lips. (Davis & Palladino, 2000).

So if you're down - try a smile! (Along with anything else that lifts your spirit positively.) It's more important than ever that we carry on with the things that make us and the world better. Don't let the dark fog drag you down- look up. It's nice to remember that in these days of infectious hatred, apathy, hopelessness and a plethora of foul physical diseases, Love, compassion, hope and yes, smiles, are quite contagious too!!!

Update as of March 13th, 2006 - Amazon Book Reviews

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:06:07 GMT

Amazon Book Reviews
If you can spare a few moments, we'd like to ask you to go onto the Amazon Book website at www.amazon.com and write a short comment regarding The Lost Teachings of Atlantis. I popped on there a few days ago and noticed a couple of rather unpleasant reviews, which are currently sitting right at the top of about thirty really nice ones. Problem is, visitors will see the two negative ones first. But if you write one, it will sit on top of the list, so that would be great. Thanks for your help on this!

Update as of March 11th, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:05:35 GMT

North Carolina health officials are investigating the death of a woman who died last week of a flesh eating bacteria 3 days after accidentally jamming her hand in a wheelchair while working at a nursing home. - CNN

Puppy Love (or Kitty?)
We all know that dogs can be good for your heart and soul. Sometimes that sweet creature helps keep the spark of love, childlike playfulness and simple joy alive inside of your being. Now, science is catching up and discovering that dogs are indeed good for your physical heart and body too.

In a study of 369 patients, dog owners were significantly more likely to be alive 1 year after a heart attack than their non dog counterparts. Cat owners did not benefit. This may be due to the lack of a need to walk the cat, or some other factor. (Am J Cardiol 1995 12/15;76:1213)

A study from the American Heart Association is one of the first to use scientific measurements to document that using therapeutic dogs in hospitals lowers anxiety, stress and heart and lung pressure among heart failure patients.

Leslie Kern, director of cardiac research for the heart institute at Memorial Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif., said such visits help make patients' lives more normal.

In another study, a Dr. Cole studied 76 heart failure patients - average age 57 - who got either a visit from a volunteer, a volunteer plus a dog, or no visit. Anxiety as measured by a standard rating scale dropped 24 percent for those visited by the dog and volunteer team, but only by 10 percent for those visited by just a volunteer. The scores for the group with no visit remained the same.

Epinephrine, a hormone the body makes when under stress, dropped 17 percent in patients visited by a person and a dog, and 2 percent in those visited just by a person. But levels rose about 7 percent in the group that didn't get visitors. Heart pressure dropped 10 percent after the visit by the volunteer and dog. It increased 3 percent for those visited by a volunteer and 5 percent for those who got no visit. Lung pressure declined 5 percent for those visited by a dog and a volunteer. It rose in the other two groups.

In a U.S. Department of Health study, 28 percent of heart patients with pets survived serious heart attacks. Only 6 percent of those without pets survived. In patients with severe coronary artery disease, pet owners had a greater survival rate after discharge from the hospital than those without pets. Research shows that having pets lowers cholesterol levels by 2 percent, which reduces the chances of heart attacks by 4 percent - similar to the effects of switching to a low-salt diet.

I wonder what the world would be like if we cared for and opened our hearts to each other, the way we do our pets. If we let those kinds of feelings and reactions flow freely. It would definitely improve….

Update as of March 7th, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:05:03 GMT

Cnn reported that the next solar cycle, starting 2007, was going to make the solar flares 30-50% more intense causing magnetic storms and problems with communication. We think since the magnetic field has been going down that this could even cause global areas to be incinerated if a solar flare hits towards Earth.

U.S. residents in several states are being targeted by phone scam artists that sound legitimate enough to scare them into revealing confidential information, potentially leading to identity theft and fraud. Even folks who would normally be cautious about giving their personal data, were fooled and gave these criminals in depth information, including credit card and social security number. Why? The criminals claim to be with a court and threaten to issue a warrant for “failing to comply with jury service”. The fear response evoked by that approach causes people to forget their normal security standards. “Arrest me?!?!? I’m afraid! I’d better lay down and do exactly as I’m told!. A good lesson in remaining calm and rational at all times.

U.S. Representative Tom Udall, D-N.M., a former federal prosecutor and New Mexico Attorney General, warned the public about the phony jury calls.

“Jury duty is an important, significant responsibility of every citizen. Unfortunately, con artists are constantly inventing new ways to persuade people into divulging their personal information,” Udall said. “This scam is a perfect example. Federal courts do not require anyone to provide any sensitive information over the telephone. Most contact between a federal court and a private citizen is conducted by mail."
FYI: Courts do not call citizens for the purpose of seeking personal information. It’s a crime for an individual to falsely represent himself or herself as a court official. The best way to handle such calls is to hang up and contact police to report any suspicious phone calls or threats.

I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life. - Corazon Aquino

Act, and God will act. - Joan of Arc

Update as of March 2nd, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:04:29 GMT

US researchers say a global tuberculosis epidemic could be on the horizon. Two separate studies show super drug resistant forms of the disease could start spreading quickly. Tuberculosis kills and estimated 2 million people each year despite widespread efforts to control it. Strains that are resistant to several antibiotics are becoming increasingly prevalent in Russia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and China.

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
- Jimi Hendrix

Update as of March 1st, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:03:58 GMT

Polar bears are drowning at alarming rates and it appears to be a result of global warming, a new study states. The bears are being forced into long ocean swims to find food, because the ice floes from which they feed are melting.

"For anyone who has wondered how global warming and reduced sea ice will affect polar bears, the answer is simple -- they die," said Richard Steiner, a marine-biology professor at the University of Alaska. Some scientists predict polar bears could become extinct within the next century since they will not likely be able to adapt their means of hunting - on ice.

"As the sea ice goes, that will direct to a very great extent what happens to polar bears," said Steven Amstrup, a polar-bear specialist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Anchorage, Alaska.

In 25 years of aerial surveys of the Alaskan coastline before 2004, researchers from the U.S. Minerals Management Service said they typically spotted a lone polar bear swimming in the ocean far from ice about once every two years. In fact, bear drownings were so rare that they were not even documented.

The new study shows that between 1986 and 2004, only 4% of the bears spotted off the north coast of Alaska were swimming in open waters. Not a single drowning had been documented in the area.

The polar ice cap has retreated a record-breaking 160 miles north of the northern coast of Alaska. In September 2004, researchers counted 10 of 51 polar bears (about 20% of the animals sighted) swimming up to 60 miles offshore. That's a dramatic increase from the 4% in earlier years. A few days later, the researchers returned and found four dead bears floating in the water. They had apparently given up the ghost while trying to swim during a storm.

"We know short swims up to 15 miles are no problem, and we know that one or two may have swum up to 100 miles. But that is the extent of their ability, and if they are trying to make such a long swim and they encounter rough seas they could get into trouble," said Steven Amstrup, a research wildlife biologist with the USGS.

A study on Hudson Bay, Canada, by the US Geological Survey (USGS) and the Canadian Wildlife Service, shows the population fell 22% from 1,194 in 1987 to 935 last year. Also, the World Wildlife Fund has released a study done in Yakutia, on the northeast coast of Russia, which shows the region's first evidence of cannibalism among bears as they are forced to compete for food.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB113452435089621905-vnekw
47PQGtDyf3iv5XEN71_o5I_20061214.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1938132,00.html

Update as of February 26th, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:03:30 GMT

Here is a link to a story that CNN Headline News has been playing on the air for a while. If you haven't read or heard about the "botnet armies" out there, and how your pc could be being used as a pawn for criminal behavior without you knowing about it, read this article.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/01/31/furst/index.html

Update as of February 25th, 2006 - Some tips on facing lawsuits

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 02:02:56 GMT

Some tips on facing lawsuits - Getting sued is a difficult process that most people hope to never go through, but I have some advice to make it a little easier if you have to be caught in the middle of a lawsuit. First of all, if someone sues you, in most cases you will be notified by mail. The legal document will tell you what the charges are and how much time you have to respond. You can hire an attorney to represent you, but it may not be worth it in small claims court. If you want to do it yourself, check out these web sites www.abanet.org and www.nolo.com. They provide free advice, money saving legal tools, and links to state lawyers. At nolo.com you'll find a legal encyclopedia and answers to frequently asked questions. According to consumer reports, most lawsuits are auto related. If you're being sued for a traffic accident your automobile liability insurance should cover property damage or injury to others. But if you're found legally responsible for bills that exceed your coverage, you'll have to pay that difference out of pocket. If you own property or have investments and savings that are worth more than the liability limits in your policy, you may want to consider adding extra coverage. Make sure you get everything in writing. Those verbal agreements aren't going to hold up in court. Don't mess around, if you're facing a big lawsuit. Get an attorney asap. If you need help finding one, contact your state and local bar association.

Update as of February 23rd, 2006 - From The Associated Press

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:35:25 GMT

WASHINGTON - In the journal for the American Geophysical Union, we find a report from a panel of researchers which says they see no natural process that is likely to positively change the rate that Arctic ice is melting at. For the first time in a million years, it's possible that within a century we could see ice-free summertime oceans. For those of you who are afraid of sailing with icebergs, that may sound like good news. It's not.

The report comes just days after environmental ministers and officials from 23 countries met in Greenland to call on governments to quit debating the existence of global warming and start acting.

For example, in the town of Ilulissat, which is near the edge of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, there are reports that the glacier retreated nearly seven miles since 1960 and has become a symbol of fears that the planet is approaching a dangerous warming.

Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Says that the melting of land-based glaciers could take much longer but could raise the sea levels, potentially affecting coastal regions worldwide, and that Greenland's glaciers now dump twice as much ice into the Atlantic per year as they did in 1996. The flow accounted for about 54 cubic miles of ice lost in 2005. That compares with 22 cubic miles in 1996.

Jonathan Overpeck of the University of Arizona and chairman of the National Science Foundation's Arctic System Science Committee that issued the report, says,
"What really makes the Arctic different from the rest of the non-polar world is the permanent ice in the ground, in the ocean, and on land." Overpeck said that the frozen soil layer called permafrost will melt and eventually disappear in some areas. That could release additional greenhouse gases stored in the permafrost for thousands of years, he said.

Update as of February 21st, 2006 - Has the Earth's wobble stopped?

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:24:04 GMT

Has the Earth's wobble stopped? - We've received reports that the Earth's wobble- known as the Chandler Wobble - has paused. If this is true, it's a very interesting and significant story. It could be an indication of a potential pole shift in the future, or a harbinger of increased seismic and volcanic activity. We've searched the web, and it's not clear at this point if it's true or not. There are wildly conflicting reports on this topic.

One article stated that humans have been monitoring this since 1900 and that the last time it paused, around 1938, that there was a marked increase in earthquakes over 7.0 for the next 18 years or so along with more volcanic activity, and that this last event has been going on since 1999. Another site said that there was also a flux around 1963. One site said that the current activity confirms Edgar Cayce prophesies regarding the possible upcoming pole shift. Some reports state that it's just the Earth's crust which is shifting, and others say that it's the "X axis".

Also of interest, was a fascinating piece, which referred to the fact that Earth's wobble is affected not only by the Sun, but by Jupiter too.

Do some research, and see what you think.

Update as of February 16th, 2006

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 01:22:33 GMT

Imagine an electrical storm larger than the continental United States in which the lightning bolts are more than 1,000 times stronger than conventional lightning, and you'll have a good idea of the lightning storm -- the strongest of its kind ever seen -- that University of Iowa space scientists and their colleagues currently are tracking at Saturn with the Cassini spacecraft.

One scientist says that they have learned that lightning storms can emerge suddenly and last for several weeks or even a month. Although they have only observed a single smaller lightning storm throughout 2005, which is remarkably different compared to what they know about terrestrial thunderstorms.

US researchers say a global tuberculosis epidemic could be on the horizon. Two separate studies show super drug resistant forms of the disease could start spreading quickly. Tuberculosis kills an estimated 2 million people each year despite widespread efforts to control it. Strains that are resistant to several antibiotics are becoming increasingly prevalent in Russia, Eastern Europe, South Africa and China.

virologists say that chloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, was found effective in treating the SARS repertory illness