Author Archives: marcia

July 1-7

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This is a week for revelations, and you might just find yourself making some fireworks of your own.  A lot of the things that you have been dealing with, putting up with, accepting are no longer acceptable.  There are choices to be made in this.  You can keep on in this way or let it be known that you have moved beyond.  Either way, you will be changing yourself, how you look at yourself, and how others see you.  You will also be finding more and more the joy in little things.  This will delight you and at the same time, will assist in doing some of the clearing out you have been wanting to do.  It is one thing to know that you have to un-stuff.  It is quite another thing actually to go ahead and do it.  This can bring up issues of worth and value in terms of things, but they must be dealt with.  You are beginning to see what is important in a different light.  By the end of the week, you will have opened up areas of opportunity in your life.  It will be interesting to see how, in the next few months, people, opportunities, and things come in to fill it up!

On the larger scale, things will be up and down in all areas.  There is a good chance that there will be a number of unlikely tropical storms rolling in.  Some of these lows will be dismissed as nothing, only to show themselves as players to deal with as time goes by.  The Earth movements will accelerate, and there will be reverberations in unexpected areas.  Fear will become very palpable as things that have been planned fall apart even at the last moment. People are reaching breaking points in various places, and this will become obvious as lawsuits get filed, grass roots movements begin to make themselves heard, protests abound, and non-violent actions start to happen. Finances become more and more of an issue as other countries find themselves in precarious positions.  The Stock Market remains questionable.  There will be electronic disruption as communications become garbled in all areas.  More and more stuff will be coming out in the media which will uncover various conspiratorial acts.  History is bringing to light much that will change the view of Earth’s History.

Sunday, July 1:    Clearwater Blue

A lot of things will be coming to the surface today, and for the first time, you will be able to see them for what they are.  It is your choice as to what you are going to do about all that.  Emotions can be close to the surface as old ways, friendships, relationships, ideas, and opinions are shown for what they are and always have been.  Behind the façade there is always a truth that is waiting to be discovered.  The question is one of when are we willing to discover that truth and accept it for what it is. There can be a bit of shaking up going on today, but it will all end with a sense of accomplishment if you stay grounded, center in your Core, and trust the knowing of your true heart.  You are always as brave and as strong as you need to be.

Monday, July 2:     Grainy White

There is not much happening in the morning, and that is probably a good thing.  The day starts on a down note, perhaps a reflective note.  There are things that have been coming up in your life that have been a bit unsettling.  You have been able to ignore them for some time, however they are becoming a bit too obvious right now, and they are demanding your attention.  All of this can lead to some physical symptoms.  It is time to choose which way you wish to go in terms of taking things on.  It is a good idea to sit down and focus on your priorities.  List them, draw them, sing them, poeticize them, but most of all know what they are.  As time goes on, it is these things that will guide you, ground you, and fulfill you.

Tuesday, July 3:    Dark Violet

Full Moon — Thunder Moon/Full Buck Moon:    There are things stirring n the shadows today.  You will be aware of them in many different ways.  In conversation, you will recognize that there is much that is not being said.  Then there will be those things you catch out of the corner of your eye.  This is a good time for working inside, within your Core.  Much is changing now, and you are getting a sense of it.  The questions will remain because so much has not yet reached maturity.  This is not a time for judgment.  All the facts are not out there yet.  Take time to work with your inner knowing.  Your perspective is changing, and you will feel better if you are directing the process, rather than reacting to what has happened.

Wednesday, July 4:    Pea Green

Independence Day:    Traditionally a time to spend with family and friends, but it will be advisable to keep everything on a very light note.  There is unrest in the day’s energies and that will translate easily to those who are letting stuff take them where it will.  This is a time for remembering that you control what you do and you create your outcomes.  Do not give away your power.  Take time to know what true Independence means to you.  Then stand up for WHO you are.

Thursday, July 5:    Silky Red

This is a day when emotions can run high.  There is a quiet sense of desperation in the air which everyone is reacting to.  If you are grounded and work from your inner heart’s true knowing, then you will see through the façade to what is lying behind the scenes.  The energy is erratic.  It is not following one direct course today.  This throws things into turmoil.  You might be feeling that you can no longer rely on the old stuff.  There is some truth in that.  Work on your priorities.  Take time to focus on what it is you wish to get out of the day.  Just getting through on a positive note sometimes is enough.

Friday, July 6:    Silky Blue

Take a good look around you today at what is going on, who is saying what, who is doing what.  Actions speak louder than words, and today that will be very obviously true.  The hidden agendas, thoughts, words, acts are coming to the surface.  Stay centered in your Core because you just might find yourself challenged by what you are seeing and you will be needing that grounding to give you the necessary focus.  Much of what happens today will not be quickly resolved.  You can find that some of the events of the day have reverberations.  Approach everything from the point of the heart’s true knowing and you will be able to see tings for what they are at their very essential nature.  There is much to be learned.  Sometimes lesson involve tears, but you are all the better for it once you have gotten it.

Saturday, July 7:    Red Orange

This is a day for doing what you have to do and being okay with it.  If you take that attitude, there is much positive that will come out of it all.  There are surprises in the air, but they are tied to things you had thought were set in stone and completely defined.  No surprises.  Some things can lead you to look at things from a different perspective. You have been looking for a change while change has been staring you in the face.  Embrace the day’s energies and you might just get clear on what that is all about.

Genetic Engineers Report on GMO’s

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Genetic Engineers Publish Damning Evidence-based Report About GMO Food

2nd July 2012

By – anh-europe.org

A damning new evidence-based report about genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) has just been published – and it reveals that most of the claims made by the pro-GM camp are nothing more than hot air.

Genetic engineers on genetic modification of food

This comprehensive and fascinating report, published by non-governmental organisation Earth Open Source, is entitled GMO Myths and Truths: An evidence-based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops.

What makes it so powerful is that two of the authors are genetic engineers – Michael Antoniou PhD, of King’s College London School of Medicine in the UK, and John Fagan PhD, a leading sustainability expert in food system, biosafety, and GMO testing, and founder/chief scientific officer of the Global Id Group.

Dispelling the GM myths

 

The report effectively dismisses the “far reaching claims” used as the basis for extensive promotion of GMO crops by the biotech industry, governments and government agencies and proponents of GMO technology.  It reveals that the exact opposite of the pro-GM claims is true pretty much universally. Most notably, the reports shows that GMOs are associated with hazards to health and the environment – none of which comes as a surprise to those of us who have been following GMO developments closely.

Rather than representing the solution to world hunger, GMOs, according to these authors, not only fail to deal with the problem, but they also distract from its real causes: “Poverty, lack of access to food and, increasingly, lack of access to land to grow it on”.

Traditional plant breeding outperforms GM

The report provides evidence that conventional plant breeding outperforms GM crops in terms of yield, drought tolerance, disease and pest resistance – all of which confirms the findings of a 30-year study comparing organic with conventional farming methods, including GMOs. GMO-free farming is absolutely able to meet our present and future food needs, without all the risks and damage being wreaked by GMO technology!

The new report also echoes the findings of 400 scientists from 60 countries who concluded, back in 2008, that GMOs were no solution to food shortages in the developing world. This research was detailed in the UN’s International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report.

The 2008 report concluded that GM raises numerous contentious issues for developing countries, such as gene transfer, contamination of organic crops, undermining of local practices, reduced food security and unpredictable or reduced yields.

The biotech industry and government agencies must now be answerable

Opposition to GMO technology can no longer be dismissed as emotional anti-science or pseudoscience.  With every uncomfortable truth and dirty trick now exposed by solid science from genetic engineers themselves, GMO food and agriculture now looks less like an impressive, modern technology, and more like a dangerous and foolhardy con trick designed to secure ownership of the world’s food supply for highly unscrupulous and unethical corporations.

Call to Action

  • Select organically certified foods or others guaranteed to be free of GM ingredients 
  • Support the Californian ballot initiative campaign, which, if it successfully forces mandatory labelling of GM foods in California, has the potential to cause a domino effect across other states in the USA.  This is critical because US citizens, without their informed consent, have become the biggest consumers of GM-containing foods anywhere in the world
  • Let your elected representatives know about this new, comprehensive, evidence-based report written by genetic engineers, and express your concern about the mounting evidence of harm to human health and the environment from GMOs
  • Stay informed on the GM issue, and share our stories widely.  See the summary of our concerns on our Say NO to GM campaign page

from:   http://wakeup-world.com/2012/07/02/genetic-engineers-publish-damning-evidence-based-report-about-gmo-food/

Four Foods That Benefit Your Health & Sunlight

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Five Food-Medicines That Could Quite Possibly Save Your Life

2nd June 2012

By Sayer Ji

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

Though Mother Nature’s formulas are proprietary, she does not grant patents.

Some of the most powerful medicines on the planet are masquerading around as foods and spices. While they do not lend themselves to being patented, nor will multi-billion dollar human clinical trials ever be funded to prove them efficacious, they have been used since time immemorial to both nourish our bodies, and to prevent and treat disease. So valued were these in ancient times that they were worth their weight in gold, and entire civilizations either rose to great power or collapsed as a result of their relationship to them.

What is even more amazing is that many of these “plant allies” are found growing in our backyards, and often sitting there in our refrigerators and spice racks, neglected and under appreciated.  In fact, many of us use these daily unaware that this is why we don’t get sick as often as those who do not incorporate them into their diet. Let’s look at a few examples….

1) Garlic – with the increasing prevalence of multi-drug resistant bacteria and the failure of the conventional, drug-based model to develop effective solutions against them (nor accepting responsibility for creating them), spices have regained their once universal reign as broad spectrum infection-fighters with sometimes life-saving power. Garlic, in fact, has several hundred therapeutic properties, confirmed by a growing body of scientific research, which you can view directly on GreenMedInfo.com.[i]  One quick example of garlic’s power, is in killing multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which the mainstream media has termed the “white plague,” roiling the masses with a fear of drug-resistant (but not plant-extract resistant) they are made to believe they are defenseless against.  Last year an article was published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal showing that garlic was capable of inhibiting a wide range of multiple drug resistant tuberculosis strains.[ii] The authors concluded “The use of garlic against MDR-TB may be of great importance regarding public health.”  Garlic’s anti-infective properties do not end with MDR-TB, as it has been demonstrated to inhibit the following pathogens as well

  • Amoeba Entamoeba histolytica (parasite)
  • Cholera
  • Clostridium
  • Cytomegalovirus
  • Dermatophytoses (a type of topical fungal infection)
  • Haemophilus Influenzae
  • Helicobacter Pylori
  • Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1
  • Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2
  • Klebsiella
  • Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus A. (MRSA)
  • Parainfluenza Virus
  • Peridontal Infection
  • Pneumococcal Infections
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa
  • Streptococcus Mutans
  • Streptococcus Infections: Group A
  • Streptococcus Infections: Group B
  • Streptococcus pyrogenes
  • Thrush (oral fungal infection)

This amazing list underscores how important it is to keep a supply of garlic close by!

2.)  Honey – bees produce a wide range of therapeutic substances beyond honey, e.g. propolis, bee venom, royal jelly, beeswax, bee pollen, etc., but this sweet, sticky stuff that we all love to dip our paw into occasionally, is the most well-known and most copiously consumed of them all – and for good reason, it tastes great!  But did you know that this sweet treat is one of nature’s most powerful healing agents, as well? Here is just a smattering of some of honey’s more scientifically researched health benefits and/or applications:

  • Aspirin-Induced Gastrointestinal Toxicity  (honey  coats the delicate linings of the stomach, preventing aspirin-induced lesions and bleeding)
  • Bacterial Infections
  • Burns
  • Candida infection (despite the fact that honey contains sugar, it demonstrates anti-fungal properties)
  • Conjunctivitis
  • Dental plaque (a recent study showed that Manuka honey was a viable alternative to chemical mouthwash in dissolving dental plaque)[iii]
  • Dermatitis
  • Diabetic Ulcer
  • Herpes-related ulcers
  • MRSA (especially for Manuka honey)

There are many more uses for honey than covered here. Needless to say, replacing synthetic sweeteners or highly processed sugars or high fructose corn syrup with a moderate amount of honey may be a great preventative health step to take.

3) Apples – an apple a day does in fact keep the doctor away, especially cancer specialists it would seem.  For instance, one of the most well-established health benefits of consuming apples is to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. The more apples you consume, the less likely you are to develop this potentially fatal disease. To view the 5 studies that reference this relationship, go to the GreenmedInfo.com apple research page where you will also find 50 other health benefits of apple or apple byproducts (e.g. apple vinegar) consumption which include:

  • Aging, Reduce Rate
  • Allergies
  • Allopecia (Hair Loss)
  • Diarrhea
  • Insulin Resistance
  • Liver Cancer
  • Radiation Induced Illness
  • Staphylococcol Infection

4) Sunlight – this one may throw some of you off, but sunlight possesses both energy and information with real, metabolic value and is therefore a source of usable energy for the body – and so, in a very real sense it can be considered a form of food that we consume through our skin by way of its built in, melanin-based “solar panels.”  Not only does adequate sunlight exposure result in the production of vitamin D, a hormone-like substance that regulates over 2,000 genes in the human body — and as a result prevents or ameliorates hundreds of vitamin D deficiency associated health conditions – but sunlight exposure itself has a unique set of health benefits not reducible to simply vitamin D production alone.  One of the more interesting studies performed on sunlight exposure, based on data gathered from over 100 countries and published earlier this year in the journal Anticancer Research, showed that there was “a strong inverse correlations with solar UVB for 15 types of cancer,” with weaker, though still significant evidence for the protective role of sunlight in 9 other cancers. Here are some additional benefits of sunlight exposure:

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Depression
  • Dopamine Deficiency
  • Dermatitis
  • Influenza
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Psoriasis

5) Turmeric  – quite possibly the world’s most important herb. Named “Kanchani,” or literally “Golden Goddess,” in the ancient Indian healing tradition, its healing properties have been deeply appreciated, if not revered for countless centuries. Turmeric has been scientifically documented to have over 500 applications in disease prevention and treatment. It also has been shown to modulate over 150 distinct biological and genetic/epigenetic pathways of value in health, demonstrating a complexity as well as gentleness that no drug on the planet has ever been shown to possess.

As there are too many health conditions that turmeric may benefit to list, we are listing the top 10 as determined by the GreenMedInfo algorithm which calculates both the evidence quantity (number of articles) and evidence quality (human study valued higher than animal, and so on). Also, the number in parentheses denotes the number of studies on the database demonstrating the beneficial relationship.

  • Oxidative Stress (160)
  • Inflammation (51)
  • DNA Damage (48)
  • Lipid Peroxidation (34)
  • Colorectal Cancer (24)
  • Breast Cancer (60)
  • Colon Cancer (52)
  • Chemically-Induced Liver Damage (34)
  • Alzheimer’s Disease (34)
  • Tumors (23)

from:   http://wakeup-world.com/2012/07/02/five-food-medicines-that-could-quite-possibly-save-your-life/

 

Dr. Jeff Masters on Extreme Heat, Etc.

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Extreme storms and extreme heat hit the U.S.
Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 5:50 PM GMT on June 30, 2012 +36

A violent line of organized severe thunderstorms called a derecho swept across the U.S. from Illinois to Virginia on Friday, damaging houses, toppling trees, bringing down power lines. The storms killed six people in Virginia, two in New Jersey, and one in Maryland, and left at least 3.4 million people without power. The thunderstorms in a derecho (from the Spanish phrase for “straight ahead”) create violent winds that blow in a straight line. The traditional definition of a derecho is a thunderstorm complex that produces a damaging wind swath of at least 240 miles (about 400 km), featuring a concentrated area of thunderstorm wind gusts exceeding 58 mph (93 km/hr.) A warm weather phenomenon, derechos occur mostly in summer, especially June and July in the Northern Hemisphere. They can occur at any time of the year and occur as frequently at night as in the daylight hours. As seen on our wundermap with the “go back in time” feature turned on, Friday’s derecho began near Chicago in the early afternoon, then marched east-southeast, peaking in intensity over Virginia and Washington D.C. on Friday evening. The derecho was unusually intense due to the extreme heat, which helped create an unstable atmosphere with plenty of energy to fuel severe thunderstorms.


Figure 1. Radar image from our wundermap with the “go back in time” feature turned on for 11 pm EDT Friday June 29, 2012, showing the derecho over Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Click on the “hour” button above the wundermap to advance the time by one hour to watch the progress of the derecho across the country.


Figure 2. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC) logged 871 reports of damaging winds on Friday. Twenty one of these reports were for winds over 80 mph. The highest wind gust was in Oswego, Illinois: 92 mph.


Figure 3. A dramatic change in the weather in Buckeye land: the temperature at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio dropped from 97°F to 68° after passage of Friday’s derecho. The storm brought a wind gust of 82 mph to campus, and 0.86″ of rain.

Historic heat wave topples Dust Bowl-era extreme heat records
A historic heat wave on a scale and intensity not seen in the U.S. since the great heat waves of the 1930s Dust Bowl era set new all-time heat records for at least ten major cities Friday. According to wunderground’s weather historian Christopher C. Burt, fifteen of the 303 major cities he maintains records for on the wunderground extremes page have set all-time heat records in the past four days. The only year with more all-time heat records is 1936, when 61 cities set all-time heat records. In 2011, which had the 2nd warmest summer in U.S. history, only ten of the 303 cities set all-time heat records during the entire summer. With the the hottest month of the year (July) still to come, 2012 threatens to rival the great Dust Bowl summer of 1936 for extreme heat.

All-time records for any date tied or broken on Friday:

109° Nashville, TN (old record 107° 7/28/1952
109° Columbia, SC (old record 107° on two previous occasions)
109° Cairo, IL (old record 106° on 8/9/1930)
108° Paducah, KY (ties same on 7/17/1942
106° Chattanooga, TN (ties same on 7/28/1952)
105° Raleigh, NC (ties same on 8/21/2007 and 8/18/1988)
105° Greenville, SC (old record 104° 8/10/2007 although 106° was recorded by the Signal Service in July 1887)
104° Charlotte, NC (ties same on 8/9 and 10/2007 and 9/6/1954)
102° Bristol, TN (ties same on 7/28/1952-this site now known as `Tri-State Airport’)
109° Athens, GA. This is just 1° shy of the Georgia state record for June of 110° set at Warrenton in 1959.

All-time state June heat records set Friday:

113° Smyrna, TN (old record 110° in Etowah in June 1936)
109° Cairo, IL (old record 108° in Palestine in June 1954)

Also of note: Atlanta, GA hit 104° (its all-time June record), and just 1° shy of its all-time record of 105° set on 7/17/1980. The forecast for Atlanta on Saturday calls for a high of 105°F, which would tie for the hottest day in the city’s history.

Wunderground’s weather historian Christopher C. Burt has a new post called The Amazing June Heat Wave of 2012 Part 1: The West and Plains June 23 – 27 summarizing the early portion of this week’s historic heat wave. He plans to make a follow-up post on Sunday summarizing the records set on Friday and Saturday.

Relatively quiet in the Atlantic
An area of heavy thunderstorms, associated with an upper level low pressure system, has developed in the Gulf of Mexico along the Texas coast. This disturbance will probably move ashore over Texas before development into a tropical depression can occur, and NHC is giving it a 0% chance of development. The tropical wave approaching the Lesser Antilles (Invest 97L) has dissipated due to dry air, and is no longer a threat. None of the reliable computer models are developing anything during the next seven days.

Jeff Masters

from:    http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2141

Active Sunspot

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ACTIVE SUNSPOT: Sunspot AR1513 is crackling with impulsive M-class solar flares. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the extreme ultraviolet flash from one of them at 0920 UT on June 29th:

This M2-class flare illuminated Earth’s upper atmosphere with a pulse of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation. Waves of ionization rippled over Europe, altering the propagation of low-frequency radio signals around the continent. Using a receiver tuned to 60 kHz, Rob Stammes detected the sudden ionospheric disturbance over Norway. His antennas also picked up radio waves from the flare itself at 26 MHz and 56 MHz.

More ionization waves and solar radio bursts are in the offing. NOAA forecasters estimate a 40% chance of continued M-flares during the next 24 hours.

fr/spaceweather.com

Xinjiang, China Earthquake

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Xinjiang, China earthquake – collapsed houses, +37 injured, 40 workers and 80 people trapped, 500 houses collapsed, 22000 people affected + more to come

Last update: June 30, 2012 at 10:38 am by By

Update 10:25 UTC
– The damage toll is getting heavier every hour
– Most of the houses in the area have cracks in the walls
– luckily no killed people so far, but based on our China experience and the remote areas still to be inspected, the current state of damage and injuries is only temporary.
– The Chinese seismological agency has recorded 13 aftershocks of M3.0 or higher. 2 aftershocks surpassed the 4 level, an M4.2 at 08:46 local time and a M4.3 at 15:35 local time. All aftershocks have epicenters in the same area and the depths are more or less similar than the mainshock.
– Water distribution, roads, electricity, classrooms, hospitals, offices and other public facilities have various degrees of damage. Relief work is underway.

Big rocks on State Highway 2017 after a landslide – image courtesy and copyright Chinanews.com

Very important Update 06:47 UTC :
– a lot of houses collapsed during the shaking
– at least 37 people were injured
– As of 10:30 local time, there were 7223 households, containing 22000 people affected
– 40 workers have been trapped as well as 80 people when a landslide occurred at State Highway 217, Xinyuan county. The 40 workers were near a mountain top, and 80 people were at hot springs.70 police to the scene to conduct the rescue. An extra 40 soldiers and 10 local police were also sent later.
– 1650 rooms (around 500 houses) have been destroyed, 11300 rooms with moderate damage, and 8050 rooms with minor damage.
– 684 stalls have been damaged including 258 which collapsed killing 112 head of cattle and 245 sheep
– There have also been landslides reported given the torrential rain in the area combined with the shaking.
– temporary blackouts in a wide area
– emergency forces are currently trying to reach more distant locations. Chinese authorities have dispatched 220 assessment staff (analyzing what is needed and inspecting the damage) and 4500 specializeed SAR rescue troops.
– The quake also triggered landslides and caused cave-ins on several national and regional highways in Xinjiang, bringing traffic to a halt and making emergency help extremely difficult
– strong shaking was experienced in Urumqi, the capital of the province
– Two earthquakes measuring more than 7 on the Richter scale have jolted the region since 1900.

Emergency and rescue troops are helping a woman getting away from her partly collapsed house – image courtesy 92jn.com

 

Update 00:06 UTC :  We will have to wait at least another 3 to 4 hours before the assessment and emergency teams have reached the epicenter area. Trains have been stopped on various rails when the safety system enforced an emergency stop. Rails are currently being expected to avoid further problems (it is known that earthquakes often bend rails due to ground motion)

Update 23:52 UTC :  Emergency plans have been activated. The Chinese authorities are talking from a “larger earthquake disaster” although they have no detailed information yet.  Chinese media are indicating that SAR and assessment personnel has been rushed to the earthquake zone. They have the ability to help people and will tell the disasters offices what material they will need. Chinese will inspect EVERY house for eventual damage in the greater earthquake area. Chinese emergency forces are not perfect but based on what we have seen in the past earthquakes we have followed, ER calls them extremely well organized and disciplined people.

Update 23:48 UTC :  The area is considered in China as very scenic and has some tourist infrastructure. We expect the majority of tourists to be Chinese.

Update 23:30 UTC :  Hongqiaolong looks to us the closest village to the epicenter. The epicenter is however poorly constrained (10 km more or less in another direction may be a big difference). This village and the nearby village of Wulan Hate, are called by ER at extremely high risk for damage and injuries is approx. 20 km from the epicenter. The village is located at an altitude of 2800 meter, the mountain range were the epicenter took place at approx. 3400 meter. The picture shows the traditional Chinese villages which we know are very vulnerable for earthquake damage.

The village of Hongqiaolong is at approx. 20 km from the epicenter. – Click on the picture to make it bigger

Update 22:58 UTC :  Chinese seismological services have reported 7 M+3 aftershocks so far.

Update 22:55 UTC :  Houses in a 50 km area are mostly simple and made from Brick, rocks and adobe. Generally spoken Chinese houses have little resistance against earthquakes. New constructions however are build with a very high earthquake resistance.

Update 22:53 UTC :  Some tourists living in the Xinjiang Nalati prairie cabins told the Chinese media that the earthquake duration was more than 20 seconds (numbers are very variable), and very strong shaking. Among the many residents in Urumqi, the capital was awakened by the earthquake, panic, people running down the stairs to escape (NEVER do this but remain in the house close to an inner wall until the shaking has stopped).

Update 22:42 UTC :  Blackouts are reported in the greater epicenter area.

Update 22:35 UTC :  the earthquake was strongly felt in Urumqi, Shihezi, Changji, Tacheng, Usu and Kuitun. People in these cities are standing in the streets out of fear for more aftershocks. None of these cities would have experienced a theoretical strong shaking (although people are talking different of course)

Update 22:25 UTC : People living in Urumqi (Urumqi  is the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China) are reporting heavy shaking that lasted 1 minute.  This is an additional reason to be concerned. The longer a strong shaking is lasting, the more chance on severe damage. Urumqi is located at approx. 200 km from the epicenter.

Update 22:16 UTC : The Xinjiang seismological bureau is currently organizing SAR teams to be dispatched to the epicenter area. SAR = Search and Rescue teams

Update 22:15 UTC : At least (but probably a lot more) aftershocks have hit the epicenter area. The 2 strongest ones measured M3.9.

Update 22:12 UTC : Chinese authorities have updated the data and are reporting now M6.6 at a depth of 7 km.

Update 22:10 UTC : Chinese seismological staff is among the best trained staff in the world. These people are very well organized and take swift action whenever an earthquake happens. China has a long history of cruel earthquakes.

Update 22:07 UTC : It will take many hours before an in-depth damage report comes in as the epicenter area is very remote and as roads my be blocked by avalanches, damages road cover etc.

Update 22:04 UTC : The shaking has been well felt in the neighboring countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Update 21:58 UTC : The shaking MMI data given below are based on a Magnitude of 6.3. The Chinese authorities however are reporting a 6.7 magnitude at an even shallower depth.

Update 21:54 UTC : One of the biggest treats in this area are landslides.

Landscape approx. 15 km from the epicenter – image courtesy 老何

Update 21:53 UTC : There are luckily NO hydrodams or Nuclear Plants in the greater epicenter area.

Update 21:51 UTC : The landscape in the area tells us high slopes on a high plateau but also a lot of soft land in the area.

Update 21:45 UTC : USGS is predicting a VII MMI (very strong shaking for 1,000 people. 9000 people should feel a strong shaking.

Update 21:45 UTC : GDACS report that 5 people are living in a 5 km radius, 27 in a 10 km radius, 483 in a 20 km radius and 8664 in a 50 km radius. 183,832 in a 100 km radius. We call the 50 km radius at risk for this earthquake.

Update 21:42 UTC : Earthquake-Report.com calls a radius of 50 km at high risk for serious damage and injuries

Update 21:40 UTC : 150,000 people are living in a 100 km radius

Update 21:37 UTC : The Chinese seismological authorities reported a depth of 7 km at a Magnitude of 6.7.

The preliminary Magnitude reported at EMSC is 6.3 at a depth of 2 km
The preliminary Magnitude reported at USGS  is 6.3 at a depth of 2 km
The epicenter is located in the Xinjiang mountains at the crossroads between the O217 and G218. Nearest big city (at a safe distance) : Xinjuan

Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 6.3 (USGS) 6.7 (CEN)
UTC Time : Friday, June 29, 2012 at 21:07:32 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 05:07:32 AM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 9.8 km (USGS) 7 km (CEN)
Geo-location(s) :
Closest village / city Gongnaisigouxiang at approx. 25 km
99 km (61 miles) S of Dushanzi, China
Xinjuan at +100 km
151 km (94 miles) SW (230°) from Shihezi, Xinjiang, China

http://earthquake-report.com/2012/06/29/extremely-dangerous-earthquake-in-a-sparsely-populated-area-in-xinjiang-china/

Brazilian Farmers Defeat Monsanto

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Five Million Brazilian Farmers Take on Monsanto and Win $2 Billion

15th June 2012

By  – timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Five million Brazilian farmers have taken on US based biotech company Monsanto through a lawsuit demanding return of about 6.2 billion euros taken as royalties from them. The farmers are claiming that the powerful company has unfairly extracted these royalties from poor farmers because they were using seeds produced from crops grown from Monsanto’s genetically engineered seeds, reports Merco Press.

In April this year, a judge in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, ruled in favor of the farmers and ordered Monsanto to return royalties paid since 2004 or a minimum of $2 billion. The ruling said that the business practices of seed multinational Monsanto violate the rules of the Brazilian Cultivars Act (No. 9.456/97). Monsanto has appealed against the order and a federal court ruling on the case is now expected by 2014.

About 85% of Brazil’s massive soyabean crop output is produced from genetically engineered seeds. Brazil exports about $24.1 billion worth of soyabeans annually, more than a quarter of its total agri-exports.

Farmers say that they are using seeds produced many generations after the initial crops from the genetically modified Monsanto seeds were grown. Farmers claim that Monsanto unfairly collects exorbitant profits every year worldwide on royalties from “renewal” seed harvests. Renewal crops are those that have been planted using seed from the previous year’s harvest. Monsanto disagrees, demanding royalties from any crop generation produced from its genetically-engineered seed. Because the engineered seed is patented, Monsanto not only charges an initial royalty on the sale of the crop produced, but a continuing two per cent royalty on every subsequent crop, even if the farmer is using a later generation of seed.

The first transgenic soy seeds were illegally smuggled into Brazil from neighboring Argentina in 1998 and their use was banned and subject to prosecution until the last decade, according to the state-owned Brazilian Enterprise for Agricultural Research (EMBRAPA).The ban has since been lifted and now 85 percent of the country’s soybean crop (25 million hectares or 62 million acres) is genetically modified, Alexandre Cattelan, an EMBRAPA researcher told Merco Press. Brazil is the world’s second largest producer and exporter of soyabean. China is one of its biggest buyers.

“Monsanto gets paid when it sell the seeds. The law gives producers the right to multiply the seeds they buy and nowhere in the world is there a requirement to pay (again). Producers are in effect paying a private tax on production,” Jane Berwanger, lawyer for the farmers told the media agencies.

Source – timesofindia.indiatimes.com

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2012/06/14/five-million-brazilian-farmers-take-on-monsanto-and-win-2-billion/

(Note:  While not necessarily a step towards banning GMO seeds, it does show that governments are becoming aware of certain illegal and predatory practices used by Monsanto.)

Lessons from A Taoist Monk

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Nine Powerful Life Lessons From Studying with a Monk

29th June 2012

By Robert Piper – docakilah.wordpress.com

When I was 18 years old, I suffered from anxiety and stomach problems. A compassionate physician and practicing Buddhist referred me to a Taoist monk who specialized in meditation and martial arts. I ended up healing myself of anxiety and stomach issues by doing meditation, and went on a great journey of self-discovery.

Here are 9 lessons I learned while studying with a monk:

1. Keep trying until you get it right.

The most important life lesson I learned was trying something three times (maybe even four times) before you stop trying and move on. Also, this monk taught me that, even after multiple tries, you should work on different angles to approach things that are difficult.

If you keep trying, you’ll eventually get where you’re going.

2. The answer to your question is inside of you.

As part of the original monastery training, a monk didn’t answer direct questions from a student unless it was a well thought-out question. A Chinese proverb says, “Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.”

Some forms of Zen Buddhism use a very similar style of training. An old saying (by Taoist monks) goes like this: “In making a four corner table, the teacher shows the student how to make one corner. It’s the student’s job to figure out how to make the other three.”

They did this because they were preparing a student to deal effectively with problems in the real world.

I traveled to South Korea one time, and I found it fascinating how much you have to rely on your intuition when you don’t speak the native language of a country. I remember one instance, I had trouble explaining to the cab driver where my hotel was, and he didn’t speak English. So I had to get out of the cab and ask several people until I could find someone to tell the cab driver in Korean how to get to my hotel.

In life, whenever we try new things, we have to go into new places with only a small amount of information. The real world doesn’t give us all the answers. The greatest teacher is inside of us.

3. Real wisdom in life comes from doing something and failing.

Prior to starting meditation, I used to get upset when I’d try something and fail.

I’ve been in sales since I was sixteen. I remember going to work and getting so angry with myself because I didn’t get a sale. If I ever got rejected, I’d get upset with myself, and I’d want to quit my job. But I just keep failing over and over—until I became good at it.

I remember, when I first started doing meditation, I ran into several problems. For example, at first it was difficult to calm down; but if you stick with it, its gets easier and easier. I tried for only a few minutes, and then every day, I added more time onto my meditation.

When we struggle, we learn about ourselves and what we need to do to become stronger.

4. When you start to do meditation you recognize the egotistical mind.

Everything in the ego’s world is the result of comparing. I compared myself to other salesmen and would blame myself because I wasn’t making as much money as them.

When I started doing meditation, I began to build separation from this egoistical mind, which is consistently making these comparisons. A lot of us try something and get rejected, so we give up. Even worse, we blame ourselves for a long time and get depressed. When I started to do meditation, I began to identify my ego and was able to build separation from it.

That’s what happens when we meditate: We separate from the part of ourselves that dwells on comparisons, and start learning to live a life that isn’t driven by our egos.

5. We must be both compassionate and resilient.

The monk wouldn’t meet with me to train unless I called him a minimum of three times. I hated this part. I used to call and call and he would never answer. But this is how life is. How many times do you have to call or email someone to get something done in the real world? It’s usually several times.

Most of us blame ourselves when we try once to do something and fail. At the time, I hated this part of the training, but now I think it was the most important life lesson.

There’s a Taoist proverb that says, “Cotton on the outside, steel on the inside.”

It reminds us to be compassionate, but not weak.

6. Patience is a virtue.

The monk always made me wait—and I dreaded this.

For example, when I got to his house to train, he’d make me wait for a minimum of a half-hour, sometimes longer. We’d go out to dinner on Friday nights and he’d show up at the restaurant an hour late.

He’d tell me to meet him at a particular restaurant at 7:00. I’d get there and find out that he wasn’t there. So I’d usually be sitting in the restaurant by myself fumbling with my phone, acting like I was texting someone, while worrying about what everyone at the restaurant was thinking about me.

Keep in mind, it’s not like I could call him; I don’t think the guy ever turned his cell phone on. Then he’d show up at about 8:15 and act like nothing happened.

His first question was always, “How’s your mother and father?” (Of course in my head I’m thinking, “What do you mean, ‘How’s my mother and father?’ I just waited here for an hour and fifteen minutes.”)

But after a few years of this, it never bothered me; and not only that, it spread to every area of my life. Because of this training, I can honestly say that I very rarely get upset about anything. I never get agitated anymore when I have to wait in a long line or when someone cuts me off on the highway.

Patience is the gift of inner calm.

7. Detach from your ego.

At first, it’s hard to sit at a restaurant by yourself. You’re constantly worrying, thinking that people probably think you’re a loser because you’re sitting by yourself. But the reality is, you will never be happy if you care about what people think you!

Prior to starting meditation, I’d get upset over just about anything. Now, nothing really bothers me. Recently, I was in the airport and there was a several hour delay on my flight. I just used that time to do meditation. Ten years ago, I would have become extremely upset. An airplane delay would have ruined my day.

When you let go of your ego needs, it’s easier to accept and even benefit from whatever comes at you.

8. In Taoism, they say, “No self, No enemy.”

It’s the enemy within that causes all of our fears, worries, and insecurities. If you come to terms with this enemy within, it will impact every area of your life. It’s the identification with the “self/ego” that causes all of life’s problems.

How many times do we not go for something because of fear? Think about all the fears that we have conjured up in our minds that stop us from being truly happy. If you can conquer the enemy within yourself, you won’t have an enemy outside yourself.

9. Happiness come from within, and also comes from outside.

I learned this from observing the Buddhist Physician I met. He used to do meditation in his office before he would interact with his patients. He was one of the happiest and most compassionate people I’ve ever met.

By creating happiness inside, he was able to increase that emotional state by spreading it to others.

We must cultivate happiness from within, and work to spread it around to everyone we interact with. The monk used say, “Everyone has a purpose or a mission in life.”

We have to find happiness within, and also find our purpose on the outside.

About the Author

Robert Piper is a meditation instructor & the creator of monkinthecity.com. He studied with a Taoist monk for 9 ½ years & traveled to Asia & Australia in search of other meditation teachers. Robert is currently writing a book on meditation to make it more accessible for stress relief, health & happiness.

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2012/06/29/nine-powerful-life-lessons-from-studying-with-a-monk/

Advantages of Hemp — Time for a Re-evaluation

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Ten Great Reasons to Kill America’s Ban on Growing Hemp

30th June 2012

By Scott Thill – alternet.org

America’s industrial ban on hemp is “a poster child for dumb regulation,” argues lazy ass pothead! Wait, sorry, scratch that. Make that Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, introducing an amendment last week to the densely contested 2012 Farm Bill, which is either a subsidies and sustainability savior or callous food austerity, depending on who you ask. But if you ask Wyden, “the best possible Farm Bill” is one that repeals a ban on industrial hemp the United States is already quite busy, and expensively, importing from the few feet it takes to cross the Canadian border.

“I will be urging my colleagues to support this amendment,” Wyden announced last week on the Senate floor, reminding the assembled elected that his plan won’t cost American taxpayers a dime. “I want [them] to know I will be back at this again until there are smarter regulations in place.”

“America needs to get real about hemp, and fast, even if the country continues to fight about ending cannabis prohibition,” National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) executive director Allen St. Pierre told AlterNet. “There is virtually no one on earth who intellectually opposes farmers cultivating industrial hemp, other than anti-cannabis bureaucracies, politicians, drug testing companies and the U.S. law enforcement community.”

That’s some stacked opposition. But the list below provides more than enough firepower for encouraging an overdue repeal of the ban on industrial hemp, cannabis sativa’s low-THC strain.

1. America buys hemp from Canada anyway.

Maybe we should just burn money, too? “We’re already importing a crop that the U.S. farmer could be profitably growing right here at home, if not for government rules prohibiting it,” Wyden argued, reminding listeners that in 2010, Canada subsidized its hemp industry with over $700,000 more in funding, increased crop sizes and “fortified the inroads the Canadians are making in U.S. markets at the expense of our farmers.” All while our hemp imports have grown 300 percent in the last decade, and 35 percent since 2009. Meanwhile, Canada’s cropland devoted to industrial hemp doubled from 2011 to 2012, Wyden added, remarking that his local Portlanders who manufacture hemp products are doing brisk business, thanks very much.

2. Everyone is growing hemp and laughing at us. 

Besides Canada, Australia is enjoying an agricultural rebound because of hemp production. Over 30 countries permit its production, and as usual, resourceful China is the world’s largest producer with nearly 80 percent of global tonnage. Instructively, China has been around for thousands of years, so who on Earth is going to tell them shit about the future? Not the United States, which remains the only industrialized nation to forbid its farmers from growing industrial hemp. Cue the giggle track.

“Canada, France, China, Russia and the United Kingdom all have cannabis prohibition laws in place,” St. Pierre told AlterNet. “And yet, they still allow their farmers to cultivate and prosper from industrial hemp.” Speaking of…

3. We’re not talking about cannabis here. But who cares if we were?

Both should be legalized anyway, and everyone knows it. But even cannabis paranoiacs need to chill: THC levels of hemp are under .03 percent, which couldn’t get a tobacco lobbyist high. Under Wyden’s amendment, hemp production would be regulated, but by the individual states’ permitting processes rather than the federal government that has made a Kafkaesque mess of medical cannabis. Nine states have already put similar legislation in place.

“Why can’t the US government and its law enforcement community be as pragmatic and practical as other countries regarding making the logical ecological and economical distinction between ‘hemp’ and ‘cannabis’?” St. Pierre asked. “Is it that American narcs are less intelligent, or is it that they can’t be as educated about hemp as police in the UK, China or Canada?”

4. Hemp is green. 

As any naturalist or historian will tell you, the uses for hemp — from paper, textiles and clothing to health products, biodegradable plastics and biofuels — are diverse and widely documented. But it’s a much more sustainable crop than most: It needs less fertilizer than King Corn, can be grown in several consecutive years in the same fields (monocultural!), rarely needs pesticides (if at all), and, irony of ironies, it’s a weed killer. Thanks to its fibrous density, it’s a construction material just begging for an increased American market. Wyden claimed that North Carolina builders are using hemp to make their structures stronger and greener, while Minnesota’s Original Green Distribution promotes it as the “perfect building material” — non-toxic, non-flammable, mold and mildew resistant, and cash-positive. The argument against local hemp production? A house of cards.

5. Hemp is patriotic. 

Our lionized Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it, and they helped create the nation. Hemp has been cultivated and consumed across the planet for millennia, from China’s Neolithic Age to New England’s Puritans and Virginian farmers — who were instructed by a House of Burgesses’ Act to sow it on their plantations. Americans even created a World War II propaganda film called Hemp For Victory, despite the destructive, embarrassing Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, which criminalized commercial use of hemp or cannabis. Whether that legislation, supported by progressive hero and president Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a back-door favor to the competing and eventually triumphant industries of his friends and sponsors Mellon, Hearst and DuPont, or just post-Mexican Revolution immigrant xenophobia, is ancient history now. This is a new century. We’re past it.

6. Hemp has carbon-negative promise. 

Those remaining hemp naysayers will eventually change their minds when global warming starts downsizing the planet’s arable land. Because it has significant climate change upside, whether you’re talking renewable energy, carbon sequestration or just food. (Yes, you can eat hemp.) According to the Hemp Industries Association, the U.S. Department of Energy considers hemp a biomass fuel alternative that could ameliorate our addiction to fossil fuels, as well as an alternative to toxic petrochemicals involved in plastic production. In fact, there are over two millions cars on the road right now — from Ford, GM and Chrysler to Mercedes, BMW and beyond — housing hemp in their interiors. And it’s a naturally occurring carbon sink too. Unlike more traditional concrete, Hempcrete is carbon-negative, storing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. The HIA also claims that hemp proper produces more pulp per acreage than wood pulp, which is great because we really need to stop cutting down forests so they can continue to suck all the carbon dioxide we’re pumping into the air before the world as we know it ends before we know it.

7. Nuclear apocalypse? Hemp has an app for that.

Even if we jump back onto hemp’s historical bandwagon and dodge catastrophic climate change with the help of other green alternatives, we still might nuke ourselves like idiots. But hemp can even give us a hand with that irradiated lunacy. Thanks to its sprawling canopy, it’s already a powerhouse weed suppressor, as well an impressive mop crop capable of sopping up contaminants and even radiation. The Princeton-based company Phytotech and others even planted hemp in Chernobyl alongside sunflowers and other impressively extractive plants. It’s logical that planting more phytoremediation-friendly crops will help us clean up proliferating chemical and nuclear dumps. Hemp is a phytoremediator just waiting for the innovation that repealing a lame ban on industrial cultivation can bring.

8. Hemp can help the sick.

The medicinal and rehabilitative value of cannabis is already well-known, despite certain compromised parties still claiming the science isn’t in. But once the ban on industrial hemp is inevitably repealed, expect stories about the healing properties of hemp oil to percolate above the subculture that presently contains them. American integrative medicine physician Andrew Weil has found that “some cancer patients have found it to be a superior remedy for the nausea caused by chemotherapy, and some people with multiple sclerosis are grateful for its relaxant effects on spastic muscles.” But repealing the ban on industrial hemp will put these contentions to the test for true believers and skeptics alike, once hurdles to cultivation and innovation are removed. It’s not an accident that more seniors are signing on with cannabis and hemp to deal with the ravages of age. It’s also no accident that my late, great father-in-law, who passed last year no thanks to Parkinson’s, extended and improved his deteriorating state with cannabis, or that his children who suggested it to him are mostly doctors.

9. Hemp means jobs.

As you may have heard, we’re mired in an ongoing recession with unemployment hovering near 10 percent and going nowhere. So why would we trash an economically logical, environmentally friendly crop whose industrial production could increase jobs and revenue? (Hey wait, is this why the Pentagon is built atop Uncle Sam’s hemp farm?) In 2010, U.S. retail sales of hemp-based products passed $400 million, and there’s likely a good reason that how much America pays annually to import hemp isn’t just a click away. But It doesn’t take 300 economists, including some Nobel laureates, arguing that decriminalizing cannabis and hemp could save us $7 billion a year to realize that domesticating hemp production will bring jobs back across the borders to unemployed Americans. Who then might just turn around and buy more hemp products with their hard-earned pay. No-brainer, bean counters.

10. Hemp can be a peacemaker. 

Bipartisanship haters, take notes. Senator Wyden’s reasonable amendment has been cosigned by the sometimes unreasonable Tea Party favorite, Senator Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, whose controversial father Ron Paul, R-Texas, introduced a similar measure earlier this year. Whether or not it immediately works should not overshadow the fact that it is Wyden and Paul who have brought legislation favoring hemp to the congressional floor for the first time since the ’50s. Not should it be forgotten than industrial hemp was once the second largest crop, after tobacco, of Kentucky’s antebellum economy, which grew more than any other state before its criminalization. Plus, legal hemp will stop pointless enforcements, like that of David Bronner, the fair-trade, sustainability entrepreneur and activist, who was recently arrested in front of the White House protesting the industrial hemp ban while locked in a metal cage alongside his plants.

Optimists with faith in humanity cannot help but look into the future and see more cannabis and hemp cultivation and consumption, as lab-rat mutations like soda, cigarettes and antidepressants finish off what’s left of the evolutionary skeptics. We can’t believe, for a second, that last century’s superpower could stoutly march right off a cliff, armed with pharmaceutical marketing and a very unhealthy disrespect for earthly reality.

About the Author
Scott Thill runs the online mag Morphizm.com. His writing has appeared on Salon, XLR8R, All Music Guide, Wired and others.

from:    http://wakeup-world.com/2012/06/30/ten-great-reasons-to-kill-our-absurd-ban-on-growing-hemp/