AngloGold Shamed

Anglo Gold shamed at Davos.

South African mining giant AngloGold Ashanti scooped the unwanted "Public Eye Award" for environmental and social "irresponsibility" Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

"AngloGold Ashanti has destroyed over 50 rivers in Ghana that are indispensable for the residents. The rivers dry up, or mining toxins cause them to die off completely," the activists alleged.

Did anyone hear about the "minor explosion" at Davos?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE70Q14T20110127

And i saw a comment about "global burnout" presented at Davos too. Global economical burnout??? WTF ... and why are they talking about that, and we keep getting told how great it all is?

EGYPT: Stay strong. Libya, Zimbabwe, you guys taking notes?

The world on fire

Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon. All happening at once.

What is most surprising is that Egypt has been a very firm dictatorship for many years, and the people had become very afraid of voicing any protest.

That has just changed.

http://egypt.failar.nu/

Go look at those pictures, thousands of people in the streets, with only hundreds of riot police. You tube is growing with everyone taking as much footage as they can on cell phone cameras. I really believe this is taking the establishment by surprise. Nobody else is surprised, because it's been building a long, LONG time, but suddenly enough is enough for these folks, and they are not afraid to show it anymore. I believe pricing on basic commodities has gone through the roof, and people are tired of Mubarak, a 30 year tyrant who is nothing more than a paid american dictator, yes another.

Lookee here, and have a great day.

PS, a request from a blogger on that side (Mohamed Abdelfattah), make THIS go viral!!!

My Motherland

1.

Chorus

This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats

Solo

This is a great river, its waves are wide and calm
The wind blows through the rice flowers, bearing fragrance to either shore
My home is right there by the water
I am used to hearing the punters' whistle
and seeing the white sails on the boats

Chorus

This is the beautiful motherland
The place where I grew up
In this expansive stretch of land
Wonderful landscape can be seen everywhere

2.

Solo

Young ladies are like flowers
Young men have a big heart and grand visions
In order to construct a new realm
They have waked the sleeping mountains
And made the rivers change their appearance

Chorus

This is the motherland of heroes
The place where I grew up
In this stretch of ancient land
There is youthful vigour found everywhere

3.

Solo

Great mountains, great rivers and an amazing place
Every road is flat and wide
When friends are here, there is fine wine
But if the jackal comes
What greets it is the hunting rifle

Chorus

This is the strong motherland
The place where I grew up
On this stretch of warm and friendly land
The sunshine of peace is everywhere


"My Motherland" was called as "A Big River" (Chinese: 一条大河) by the author initially; it represented the hundreds of rivers that flowed by the homes of the Chinese people. The title was changed when it was published with movie.

Although the song was written for the movie about Korean War in 1950s, there is no mention of the war at all. It describes a soldier (or anyone who is away from home) thinking about his home and his family. Thus, this song is extremely popular even when the movie itself is almost forgotten.
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A chinese nationalist song, played on the piano by Lang Lang, for Hu Jintao and Barry Soretto in the white house.

Mo Shaik US Patsy

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Wikileaks-exposes-SA-spy-boss-20110123

The cable – one of 250 000 leaked to Whistleblower website Wikileaks but obtained exclusively by Media24 Investigations – also reveals that the US Embassy in Pretoria actively cultivated Shaik as a key source of information on Zuma’s inner circle and the “motivations and strategies of the Zuma camp”.

Dated September 10 2008, two days before corruption charges against Zuma were initially dismissed by Judge Chris Nicholson, the cable was sent to the Secretary of State in Washington DC and copied to US consuls in Durban and Cape Town, the CIA, the US Defence Intelligence Agency and the White House National Security Council.

It is one of a number of classified cables recording meetings between Shaik – who was controversially appointed head of the South African Secret Service (SASS), South Africa’s foreign intelligence wing, in October 2009 - and an unidentified US embassy political officer.

“Shaik complained that all these people know Zuma is innocent and that he does not understand why they have not come to Zuma’s defence before now,” the cable noted.

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Let the sh1t hit the fan. Way for wikileaks, this is where it takes all the lies and backstabbing and shines a little light. Enemy of the people comes to mind.

M & M Adventure bikenstein

Thank you Burst Sausages

That grabs me, totally. Not just the female profile *grin* but look at that bike!!

The front wheel is big, the nose perfect. The exhaust is spot on, the rear spring and swingarm assembly ... the whole bike screams ride me!!!

Mine would be silver with bright red trim.

More on it here ... alas a photoshop :(

Fabricating God

http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv.aol.com/msg46991.html

Ok, so at the link above, i found what was there, as one does. It covers a lot of ground, over many wide ranging topics. So why does it resonate so strongly with me?

Myths of old that still haunt mankind, and you're never sure whether it's just an old scar that is visible or fresh marks, evidence of recent activity. There's a link that goes straight from modern science to ancient superstitions, but everywhere the tracks have been washed out, covered over, obscured and false trails laid over them.

I think to know any truth of value, you have to climb so far out the paradoxical reality we have created, that the only appropriate state of mind for you is insane. But of course, not all insane people have truth of any sort ... so who is the madman and who is the visionary? Is there a difference? And do those differences even matter? And are we not all insane anyhow, rushing around all day taking money from everyone we can make believe our carefully scripted stories?

All a delusion, all of it, a carefully manicured delusion which wastes our lives and energies and intentions all day every day, leaving us unable to contemplate any more than a soap opera. Anyhow ... play a delusional, and read the link, perhaps it shines some light into your deluded soul.

Comet Elenin

Staying with stellar matters, we are about the welcome Comet Elenin (C/2010 X1) to our solar system.

http://spaceobs.org/en/tag/comet-elenin/

http://planetarydefense.blogspot.com/2011/01/comet-elenin-c2010-x1.html

Hey look, it's going to cross right in front of earth, bringing lots of lovely space debris our way. Twinkle twinkle little star? More like "hey look, another fireball".

:D

Ophiuchus

Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
Pisces: March 11- April 18
Aries: April 18- May 13
Taurus: May 13- June 21
Gemini: June 21- July 20
Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

"The tilt of the Earth's axis has gradually shifted since the ancient times when the Babylonians determined the dates of the Zodiac. The calendrical rejiggering also supposedly re-introduced a sign discarded by the Babylonians: Ophiuchus, alternatively called the much-cooler sounding Serpentarius," according to ABC News.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa
Brilliant ... everybody who "believes" in astrology has just been kicked up the jack. Certainly it doesn't change any of the basics, much, but well, all the crap i ever heard about how i'm a "typical taurus" .. well i'm not. Another label done with ... nice!

Acid water ... time

News24

Venter said that while South Africans were witnessing the "catastrophe", the government committees were debating the water crisis in boardrooms, and nothing was been done to prevent the decanting of acid water.

The increased rainfall over the last few months had considerably raised the level of the acidic mine water in the underground mined-out pockets of the Witwatersrand.

On the West Rand there were now reportedly about 40 million litres of sour mine water in the Tweelopiespruit each day.

In July 2010 the department stated that potential decant within the Johannesburg area could take place within 18 months, or by early 2012. Those 18 months had now shrunk to 12 months, Venter said.
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I feel the storm approaching, powerless to do anything, save what meager preparations i can, and wait. The rain we've had has been great for the water table, if the system is capable of handling it, but if it gets polluted, then johannesburg will become a very nasty place to be.

Coronal Hole

Full size image here: http://hfradio.org/images/20100615_1415_f0193_coronal_hole_lrg.jpg

Comments? I have NOTHING to add ...

Perspective

Whenever i find a new object or situation, i try approach it with an empty mind. Of course i have ideas, i just try ignore them until i get the ideas inherent in the object i'm looking at. Then i see what it is, and what it does, and can evaluate it according to those values. It possibly needs repair, or adaptations, to suit "my" purposes, but essentially i leave things as they are, and i'm happy to have some aspect of it that seems incongruent, having aspects of life that are not perfect is par for the course ... but on the whole it will remain as it is, with me changing to suit it, which is often easier than trying to change it.

When the wife approaches an object or situation, she sees it "as it should be" ... according to standards and expectations of her own. She then proceeds to change it and everything around it, until the object is "as it should be". Perfection is a requirement, and any incongrueties are dealt with ruthlessly.

So i get a runalong concept that works, with little involvement.

She gets perfection, at whatever price.

I'm not going to bother going deeper than that, i couldn't anyway, this kind of comparison is enough to bend the mind, and i'm bent enough as it is thank you. Just thought it important somehow, or merely noteworthy. I don't believe there's a "better" in this anywhere, just an "other". They are opposing ideals, and effectively colour any activity with their tones.

One Note

Big Note concept


"Everything in the universe is ... is ... is made of one element, which is a note, a single note. Atoms are really vibrations, you know, which are extensions of THE BIG NOTE ... Everything's one note. Everything, even the ponies. The note, however, is the ultimate power, but see, the pigs don't know that, the ponies don't know that ..."
Spider in Very Distraughtening ~ Lumpy Gravy


Spider: We are ... actually the same note, but ...
John: But different octave.
Spider: Right. We are 4,928 octaves below the big note.
Monica: Are ya ... are you trying to tell me that ... that this whole universe revolves around one note?
Spider: No, it doesn't revolve around it; that's what it is. It's one note.

Spider: Everybody knows that lights are notes. Light, light, is just a vibration of the note, too. Everything is.
Monica: That one note makes everything else so insignificant.
A Different Octave ~ Civilization Phaze III


In Frank's world, every sound had a value, and every action was part of the universal diapason, a colossal vibration that made energy rather than reflecting it.
Germaine Greer - Frank Zappa's Treasure House - The Guardian (14th April 2005)

The Sea Shepherd

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Mission Statement

Established in 1977, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization. Our mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world's oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species.

Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. By safeguarding the biodiversity of our delicately-balanced ocean ecosystems, Sea Shepherd works to ensure their survival for future generations.

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I'm spellbound by their website, the videos and stories and their life really. All year all they do is patrol the Southern Oceans, and get in the way of the Japanese whaling ships, who conduct the equivalent of a rhino or elephant tusking orgy, that of the slaughter of whales. Against all international convention, they continue the facade of "research" to plunder what is not theirs. It's the lie, that they are researchers that make me the angriest. Like a rapist performing an "interview" ... there is no comparison.

The Sea Shepherd group stands proud on the tradition that they do not cause injury, a massive task since the whalers have no such compunctions. Beginning of last year the whalers deliberately rammed a boat ... 1200 miles from the nearest port, and did not assist with their SOS. That's against every single moral principle and maritime law since the first man set off in his canoe. I am grateful that someone, somewhere has the resources and courage to stand up to the corporate rapists.

Here's an excellent article from the mainstream press:
Gojira-High-tech-anti-whaling-vessel-clashes-Japanese-fleet

The Celtic Cross

We've all seen it, the cross with the circle, on monuments, jewellery, designs, tombstones, and just about everywhere else you could imagine. A religious icon, one that shows the early spread of christianity ... we imagine?

Not so according to Crichton E M Miller, who has patented the "celtic cross" as an: "astronomical, surveying and navigational instrument" ... in 2000 in Britain. Indeed.

This one particular detail can literally transform our understanding of "pre-historic man", and explain so much in terms of architecture, shipping, and several other "scientific" mysteries of the time. A simple device, easily made, which is as important as the wheel, or even perhaps the humble ruler.

The Working Celtic Cross.