BRIC must create a new world order: Lula
The BRIC group of the world's four biggest emerging powers has a fundamental role in creating a new world order, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday.
Lula was speaking at the end of a summit in Brasilia with the leaders of China, India and Russia. The countries reiterated their call for developing nations to have a bigger role in global economic and financial decision-making.
PM pitches for close cooperation among BRIC nations
Noting that India, Russia, China and Brazil are resource-rich, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday pitched for close cooperation among them in the fields of energy and food security besides tapping potential in other sectors like trade and investment, science and technology and infrastructure.
Addressing the Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) Summit here, he said the four countries can benefit by sharing their experiences in the field of inclusive growth.
Illuminati Hand Signs and Handshakes - Ron Paul
ArchangelSandalphon — 09 December 2007 — you'd think ronnie paul would know better...
and why would Ron Pauls youtube campaign site run a subliminal messege of Saddam Hussein's face???
at :45 seconds in...
http://i7.tinypic.com/8184i85.jpg
from from RonPaul2008dotcom
Ron Paul is Bill Maher's New Hero
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUYDt7...
Reptilian/Masonic/illuminati Handshake
Freemasons use many forms of secret handshakes or hand gestures to show loyalty to their fellow members. At times, members use the secret handshake so that the person they shakehands with, can then come to know that person is a fellow mason.
Many of the men world leaders are members of the freemasonry.
The Paul/Palin Divide Within The Tea Party
Markos and Keith Olbermann discuss Sarah Palin’s recent comments that she’d like to see an end to the separation of church and state.
Clearly, Palin hasn’t read the U.S. Constitution.
An routley, they give the secret handshake to each other that can be seen in many photos on web sites.
Reptilian Ron Paul Vids by Alexorcisto
and meatclown07;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvWUhk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYFIYj...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMenmG...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHojj8...
song; ATB - Love Will Find You
Ben Creme: Raj Patel is not Maitreya, but the World Teacher is here – and needed
Published on 04-20-2010
Source: London Guardian
Raj Patel writes about how a series of coincidences led to his receiving "a trickle, then a flood, of email" asking whether he was Maitreya, the World Teacher, whose coming I have been predicting for 35 years [We don't need a messiah (and anyway, it isn't me), 12 April].
I would like to make clear that we at Share International have absolutely nothing to do with this mistaken identity and that we regret the inconvenience caused. Patel accepts that he does have much in common with Maitreya: "As it happens, I do think that sharing, fraternity, justice and co-operation are terrific things. I also think that prioritising the needs of the poor, hungry and oppressed is a non-negotiable part of a sustainable future." This is part of the reason for this silly misidentification.
Patel writes: "In part, I suspect the reason the story isn't going away … is because it fits a narrative in which we're steeped from birth … in crappy times, a single person will emerge to make all the difference and turn everything around … Ultimately, tales about messiahs are bedtime stories steeped in power … inducements to be passive as we wait for social change because, some day, our prince will come."
However, I have never presented Maitreya as a messiah figure who comes to make all things bright and beautiful for a supine humanity. Maitreya himself is at pains to clarify his position that every stone and brick of the new civilisation must be put in place by humanity itself; humanity's free will is sacrosanct.
My biggest difference with Patel is my conviction in the reality of a "World Teacher". Patel clearly does not think we need one. Millions disagree, and have invoked Maitreya's help.
To my mind Patel leaves out a huge and irreplaceable dimension. Why do we think that over the centuries, people like Confucius, Krishna, the Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad have come into humanity's midst? Over and over, the doctrine of a World Teacher has manifested to aid humanity in times of crisis.
I am not a "mystic" as Patel suggests, and this is not a mystical "bedtime story" but a profound part of the history of the world. The role of World Teacher is now held by Maitreya; the previous holder of the office was the Buddha. This is an office in our Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters, who are gradually returning to the everyday world where once they lived as men.
Maitreya is not a religious teacher but a spiritual teacher in the broadest sense. He is really speaking about freedom: freedom for each of us to be ourself, and he has come to show humanity how to attain this freedom from indoctrination, conditioning, poverty and want.
The world is already awakening and growing in understanding through the energies and ideas released by the man who Patel thinks is irrelevant to our needs. Incognito, Maitreya is already speaking to millions on US television, and his ideas and energies are inspiring many with new hope, and the resolve to change their lives for the better.
I am not a betting man, but I would wager that Raj Patel would be among the first to respond to Maitreya's teaching.
4/20 is an important day for many people in our movement. You may be one of the thousands of people gathering next week at rallies in Boston, Boulder, New York, Santa Cruz, Seattle and other cities. Or maybe you just believe our country’s backwards marijuana laws need a major overhaul.
Whatever your plans on 4/20, let’s use the day to join together and declare our support for ending marijuana prohibition. Click here to show your support for legalizing marijuana and help us reach 10,000 signatures by midnight, 4/20.
Maybe you smoke marijuana and are tired of being considered a criminal. Maybe you’re a teacher or public health advocate tired of politicians cutting money for education and health to pay for new jails and prisons. Maybe you’re a civil rights activist appalled by racial disparities in marijuana law enforcement. Or maybe you just don’t want your tax dollars wasted on ineffective policies.
Now is the time to make your voice heard. Sign our pledge and make a commitment to help legalize marijuana. After you sign, tell 10 friends to add their voice.
Our movement includes people who love marijuana, people who hate marijuana, and people who don’t care one way or the other. But we all agree on one thing – marijuana prohibition is doing more harm than good.
The tide is quickly turning against the war on marijuana. Lawmakers across the country are introducing legislation to regulate marijuana like alcohol. Newspapers are calling for major reform. Sting and other prominent people are speaking out. In November California voters will have the historic opportunity to vote on ending marijuana prohibition.
More Americans support legalizing marijuana than ever before, and it’s time for us to speak out. Help us reach 10,000 signatures by midnight, 4/20 by signing our pledge to legalize marijuana.
Sincerely,
Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance Network
Radio host warns that agent provocateurs will commit terror to frame patriots
Listen to and go to Alex Jones website at the bottom for more
information.
Pass this On !
4-20-10
Dear ladies and gentlemen,
We are indeed living in interesting times. We are seeing all sorts of
crazy chaos erupting all over the world. The really great news is people
are waking up and seeing the light. Thank God it is not as hard as it
used to be to discuss this stuff compared to how it was in the early
days of the awakening.
We are faced with an extreme possibility of another govt sponsored
planned false flag event. It is looking like it could be in Nevada, but
who knows. The location has been changed and we have yet to see where it
will be held at.
What is important to remember is that there is still a missing nuke that
was stolen under cheney’s command and no doubt that evil cretin
is going to use that thing to further the evil empires efforts to kill
our once great country of America. Here are a few links to remind you
all about the missing nuke. EVERYBODY KNOWS they have the weapon to
cause the false flag. When and how it is used remains to be seen. Check
it out:
Missing Nukes:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7158
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread302187/pg1
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/196.html
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/exopolitica/esp_exopolitics ZZZZX.htm
And this is the little baby that was stolen. It could have a blast
potential anywhere between 5-150 Kilotons which puts a ten ton blast
that the NLE 2010 document describes in the ball park.
W80-1 thermonuclear warhead:
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Weapons/W80.html
Available Yields (kt)5 / 150
Let us not forget all the fear mongering hype from the evil doer cheney.
Oh yeah, he is probably sticking the truth in our face and laughing at
the same time, but the fat lady ain’t sang yet. The world knows
that cheney will be responsible for ANY kind of false flag event
involving a nuke. Here is some of what has been said already. Cheney
says we will have a nuke attack:
http://www.infowars.com/print/terrorism/cheney nuke.htm
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18390.html
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/nuke_iran.html
And more from the blabber mouth of darkness.
Cheney says obama’s policies will make U.S. vulnerable to
terrorist attack:
http://themoderatevoice.com/26192/cheney-says-obamas-policies- will-make-us-vulnerable-to-terrorist-attack/
Oh, and you can be sure that evil old chiseler from Wyoming has done his
best to wrap up any loose ends too. Dead men tell no tales:
http://cryptogon.com/?p=1299
Another blast from the past. We see the two faced forked tongued
flip-flopping beck in this video agreeing that a nuke attack is what we
all need. How about that you tea party people. Do you see this heathen
trying to co-opt the anti-war pro-constitution tea party movement?
Fox News: A nuke attack on US soil would be great for America:
http://www.atlargely.com/atlargely/2009/07/fox-news-a-nuke-attack-on-us-soil-would- be-great-for-america. html
This is the story that has placed some light on this issue after the
document was taken down a few weeks back. Read the story and follow the
links for more information. Why did the NLE 2010 doc get disappeared?
http://publicintelligence.net/why-is-fema-trying-to-cover-up-nle-10/
This sure has some interesting twists and turns. Maybe they will make a
movie out of this before it happens. Oh wait, they did! If you watch the
4th episode in the second series of Jericho, it finally comes out that
it was the govt that set off all the nukes in the country under a
planned event. A total take over of all powers was the agenda.
In the later part of this episode we see Hawkins take a call from the
govt man at 40:30. The caller tells him about Project Box Car, but the
more attention getting part of this episode is at 41:30 in which the
caller describes the “classified disaster plan� and the
picture he sends to Hawlkins is of a Continuity of Government Report
(COG) done by the DOD in 1993. From the looks of the map, it seems like
it was a exercise in which multiple events were to take place. As we all
know in the series, it went live.
Is not cheney involved in the COG plans? When you think of the
implications of this it is chilling especially in the light of this new
twist of the disappearing NLE 2010 document or, the classified disaster
plan. Here is that episode and you will have to endure the commercials
to get to the 40:30 mark to see this one scene. It is not an exact
match, but it sure is relative and could be the looking glass tip off
from those who bring us these events. They have thrown this stuff in our
faces before.
http://www.imdb.com/video/cbs/vi4111269913 /
Here is something interesting to play with. A interactive map that you
can pick the target site, the weapon, and nuke it to see what the
effects might be. Fallout map:
http://www.carlosla bs.com/projects/ 200712B/GroundZe ro.html
Another map. It is interesting that the fallout pattern is in Nevada:
http://www.parowanprophet.com/Nuclear War Comes/target map.htm
And now as the drums are being beat, here is the latest Fear Mongering
from the scare masters. It is the same dang pattern. The one thing about
predictable evil is it is always the same pattern of dirty tricks and
skulduggery.
Barak: The Only Way out of Iran Crises is a Bold
Israeli Move:
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/barak- E2%80%9Cthe-only-way-out-of-iran-crises-is-a-bold-israeli-move%E2%80% 9D/
Obama: Al-Qaida would use nuke if it could:
http://www.sfgate. com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi? f=/n/a/2010/ 04/11/national/ w111328D59. DTL
Preparations for the event have already started. Here is the institute
of Medicine assessing preparations for an ten ton event.
Assessing Medical Preparedness for a Nuclear Event
http://www.iom.edu/Activities/PublicHealth/NucEventPrepWS/2008-AUG-07.aspx
And this is from the report about the missing document. They plan to
mediacize and publicize this event in a more spectacular way. From the
report previously mentioned:
“During NLE 2010, the Ogilvy PR team will develop and implement
simulated media responses to the exercise “disasters�
that mimic the intensity of media coverage during disaster situations
and stress the abilities of top officials’ and public
information officers’ to communicate effectively with the
public.�
FEMA’s National Exercise Division Selects Ogilvy PR and the L-3
Communications Team to Support the National Level Exercise 2010
http://www.ogilvypr.com/en/press/fema%E2%80% 99s-national- exercise-division-selects-ogilvy-pr-and-l-3-communications-team-support-nation
Now here is something from England depicting what? Yes, you guessed it,
a nuclear attack on London. It is called Black Jack. It is programming
the people to accept this kind of possibility. :
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/4220575/Blackjack.html
One last link is to the new movie from Jason Bermas and the infowars
gang called INVISIBLE EMPIRE:
http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=NO24XmP1c5E Well there you go good
people. Lots to ponder and share with your friends and associates. The
two things that are significant are the scene in Jericho and the
disappeared NLE 2010 Document. Please talk this up because if they
really actually think the people of the world are going for another
false flag attack to further the New World Order’s agenda they
are sadly mistaken. The people will drag these evil unholy murderers out
of their holes and hang the evil beasts out to dry while singing, ding
dong the wicked witch is dead.
In deep prayers for the salvation of our country.
ROSE KING
Oklahoma City bombing: Is 1995 repeating itself today?
Americans observed the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing Monday. Some believe that the extremist political climate in which the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, operated is resurging
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T Lee Buyea - Editor in Chief
Fla.News Service, Miami, Fl. USA
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L.Tatum..Asst. Editor.Fla. News Service
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http://MyFlaNews. com/main. html
http://www.MiamiHer ald.com/
http://www.MiamiNew Times.com/
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Join the Re-Elect No Incumbents Movement, Show Them Who Owns the USA
- No Joining, No Meetings, No Dues Just "Do Not Vote for Any Incumbents
!"
If you vote in many new Congressmen, It may take one or two
years to Corrupt them, Entrap them and be able to use Blackmail to make
them vote for whatever Giant Corporations and Israel want.
So they may actually "work For The American Public" For a change ! Let's
Do It !
------------ --------- --------- --------- -------
Hear the Truth for a Change !
Why the Census is GPS'ing all the front doors.......
Seen elsewhere. FYI:
Quote:
The report further states, "According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, 'There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived "enemies of the state" almost instantaneously.'" At this point, Skousen noted, "And that is precisely why the census bureau took a GPS coordinate on every front door in America, secretly linking this to dissidents and their known addresses."
BTW - the gps locating of residences and businesses is being done as a
mandate from the UN -
http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/mee...ocs/AC98_14.pdf
|
Hollywood reporting film depicting "Waco Siege" in production
Source: KXXV
Hollywood trade magazines and Web sites say three big name stars have signed for a feature film about the 1993 "Waco Siege."
Monday marked the 17th anniversary of the end of a 51 day Branch Davidian compound siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents. A total of 86 people died including Branch Davidian leader David Koresh.
Rupert Wainwright is set to direct the film. Kurt Russell, Sharon Stone and Academy Award winning actor Adrien Brody have reportedly already signed with the project.
The movie will reportedly be titled "Waco," however, the events actually took place in Mount Carmel, about 10 miles northeast of Waco.
The state film commission denied tax incentives for the film last year, saying the script did not accurately depict Texas or Texans.
On Monday, Former Clinton advisor Dick Morris said Bill Clinton was calling the shots for the government during the siege and not attorney general Janet Reno, as was widely believed.
The film will reportedly be shot in another state and will be released sometime next year.
You may find more information on the film by visiting Director Rupert Wainwright's Web site.
GOP Neocon Gatekeepers influence is infiltrating tea parties
This Pat Miller from WOWO radio last week that wouldn't let me ask the Republican Indiana Senator Candidates a question and now this wek the Federal Regulatated MSM Media is Hijacking what once was the Ron Paul revolution and still using fear to sell their failed war of terror and the past terror events as what united the nation and stole our freedoms. They are still using religous extremism to justify envading Iraq for 9/11. The really disturbing thing is how many in the local Glenn Beck 912 group are not afraid to admit their Neocon War Monger Agenda.
Rank and file Tea Partiers are, politically speaking, lost at sea in the dead of night, looking for the light of common principles. On land, those manning right-wing lighthouses are broadcasting ideas loaded with hidden motives into this ocean of conservative public opinion. What the Tea Party will become is presently unknown; but those with an agenda will do their best to steer lost boats at sea in their direction, with potentially dangerous consequences.
http://www.countercurrents.org/scooke...
Dear Friends and Enemies,
- The "cost" of true Freedom.
- The total "myth" of our so-called government.
Death to the Spork World Order Remix
The Anti-Defamation League has condemned the Allentown-based rock band Poker Face as xenophobic and anti-Semitic in light of its loose connection with a group of Christian militants arrested last month.
One of the songs by Poker Face, a staple for two decades on the Lehigh Valley music scene, has been featured in a training video used by Hutaree, the Michigan-based Christian militia.
Paul Topete, singer and guitarist for the four-man band, dismissed the comments by the Anti-Defamation League, which he said has a history of "character assassinations."
"It is the last gasp of a dying group of liars and thieves whose lies are coming home to roost," he said in an e-mail interview.
Topete said he does not condone Hutaree's alleged behavior and the band's interaction with the group is limited to granting permission to use a song.
But the ADL -- which says on its website that it was "founded in 1913 to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all" -- said the band advocates an anti-government and anti-immigration ideology.
Barry Morrison, ADL regional director for eastern Pennsylvania, said the band's extreme positions are dangerous because it could influence younger fans.
"The rhetoric being fed to them through the violence of these songs are pretty violent," he said.
Topete, the ADL claims, has expressed anti-Semitic views and maintains affiliations with Holocaust deniers, militia figures and conspiracy theorists.
Topete said he is opposed to illegal immigration, but not all immigrants and he opposes not government, but government corruption.
Source: Lehigh Valley Live
The Deadly Sick Legacy of Sanctuary Cities
IMF: Rising public debt threatens world financial system...
NOLINKNEWS — 20 April 2010 — Last night I meet with Mark Souder (R) Congressman for N.E. Indiana and he was presented with the question, why not enforce the Immigration laws already on the books instead of making new ones?
This is his reponse to the Giant Problem being created by the United States Federal Government.
Are Cities in N.E. Indiana Sanctuary cities for Illegal Immigation?
Citizens ask Mark Souder that illegal immigration is a clear violation of the law and should be punished as such. Mark describes not just one law the Illegal Aliens Violate but the mulitiple Laws that are broken and that our Local Governments can't handle the amount of
work the Federal Government Refuses to Address.
In the War on Terror, four times more Americans died at the hands of illegal aliens within the United States than U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan--for the past seven years. Illegal aliens continue their own killing zone against Americans in every corner of American society.
What did all those illegal aliens hold in common? Answer: police arrested every single one of them multiple times. Many sported rap sheets five pages long with felonies, drunken driving, rapes, burglaries, car theft and worse. What else did they hold in common? Answer: every single one of them enjoyed exemption from the law. How did they accomplish freedom from the law? Answer: every one of them lived and worked in a Sanctuary City within the United States that gave them immunity from arrest and deportation for their status as illegal aliens.
In other words, our laws do not pertain to them. They could drive drunk, drive without a license, drive without insurance, work without papers, not pay taxes and live within the United States totally against our laws. As the Southwest Airlines ad says, Youre free to move about the country!
This story turns your stomach. It sickens your heart. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It grinds at your senses. It bedevils your sense of right and wrong.
Why do you obey our laws, but our own elected officials refuse their obligations to serve and enforce our statues?
The carnage wrought by illegal alien murderers represents only a fraction of the pool of blood spilled by American citizens as a result of an open border and un-enforced immigration laws.
All of those illegal alien criminals enjoy Sanctuary City protection from nearly 30 major cities in the United States—all in violation of the U.S. Constitution. (USC 8, 1374, 274, 275, 276)
http://www.newswithviews.com/Wooldrid...
Thanks for the heads up Sunny
" Author of the video seen by everyone by now has been stabbed near Kijow on 4.15 and transported in critical condition to the hospital in Kijow. On 4.16 three unidentified individuals unplugged him from life support system and stabbed him 3 more times. Andrij was pronounced dead that afternoon. Russian government claims it was a coincidence. "
Link
A new movie has been released with some English translation see below!
Quote from Video:"Some people say this is the pilot, I don't know."
Here is the second movie, the first one was deleted and the guy who shot the film is now dead!
From The Big Wobble 13/04:'Russia engineered air crash that killed President Kaczynski,' claims Polish MP
EARTH CHANGES MEDIA NEWS*****
British Prime Minister Says Iceland Volcano Worse Than 9-11
by Mitch Battros - Earth Changes Media
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the ash cloud had created "the biggest challenge to our aviation transport network for many years," and European officials said the disruption was worse than that caused by the Sept. 11 attacks.
The British government said it was sending three Royal Navy warships, including the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, across the English Channel to bring home stranded citizens. One ship was heading to Spain to pick up soldiers trying to get back to Britain after a tour of duty in Afghanistan.
The crisis caused by the volcano has hit everyone from Icelandic fisherman - unable to transport their catches abroad - to Kenyan farmers whose Europe-bound produce sits rotting in warehouses.
Airlines said the test flights showed the danger was exaggerated. But a senior Western diplomat said Monday that several NATO F-16 fighters suffered engine damage after flying through the ash. The official declined to provide more details on the military flights, except to say that glasslike deposits were found inside the planes' engines after they patrolled over European airspace.
FULL ARTICLE - CLICK HERE
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TRIANGULAR UFO IN ICELANDIC VOLCANIC CLOUD ?
Interesting video. Really annoying how many times it is played back and forth, I couldn't get any context before or after.
They were apparently not talking about that formation, but the camera most definitely zooms into that formation.
I doubt birds would be going to check it out, but who knows?
If it is UFO's, it definitely dovetails nicely into the Phoenixs Lights
David Wilcock's latest blog entry(love him or hate him, he continually presents good observations and insights).
Is ESA Planning to Announce Phobos is an ET Base?
_______
Mitch Battros Research on Sun-Earth Connection and 2012
Mitch Battros presents fascinating, and sometimes shocking, research from the world's top scientists. After years of dialogue with these experts, Mitch has been accepted into the guarded halls of NASA, NOAA, ESA, Royal Observatory, the US Naval Observatory and other highly esteemed scientific bodies. In addition to the latest research on the Sun's influence on our "weather", Mitch also presents ground-breaking evidence of how the Sun and other celestial orbs produce 'charged particles' and their impact on humanity.
Just as the Sun's solar activity affects the Earth's magnetic field which has a dramatic affect on Earth's weather i.e. earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, hurricanes; so does this wave of electrical currents affect the human body's magnetic field. Mitch also reveals a little-known development from modern medicine known as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). TMS provides empirical evidence of how magnetic fields can influence human emotions.
Solar Cycle 24 has begun - and it has been predicted by NASA, NOAA and ESA to be up to 50% stronger than its 'record breaking' predecessor Cycle 23 which produced the largest solar flare ever recorded. The Sun will reach its 'apex' (maximum) in late 2011 into 2012.
"I believe it will be the magnetic influence produced by the Sun which will usher in what is described by our ancient ancestors as "the transition" bringing us to a new state-of-being". (Mitch Battros)
Endorsements: CLICK HERE
Order Books: CLICK HERE
Nasa Spheres from an official Nasa film Part1
Read more: http://gazbom.blogspot.com/2010/04/guy-who-filmed-shots-fired-at-polish.html#ixzz0lmYPC1X0
Click "HERE" And follow the progress of 2cents and the "TEAM" digg deep to solve the mystery of what is orbiting our Sun!
Could an Asteroid Impact Knock the Moon into the Earth?
BREAKING: GIANT OBJECT STRIKES JUPITER 
All you have to do is hurtle a few comets at Earth, and its orbit will be altered. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
Rocking out, meteorite hunters make rare find in Wisconsin
A Chicago-area man and his two sons report the first recovery of a meteorite from the fireball that the night sky over much of the northern Midwest on Wednesday.
LIVINGSTON, Wis. — As dozens of meteorite hunters converged on southwest Wisconsin on Friday, a Lake Forest man and his two teenage sons stumbled upon what all of them had traveled hours to find.After they stopped to talk to a farmer, he showed them a small rock that had bounced off his shed roof the night before, shortly after a fireball exploded in the sky.
It was one of two such finds that made the Boudreaux father and sons the first to report the recovery of pieces of meteor that fell near this tiny rural town after lighting up the night over much of the northern Midwest on Wednesday.
One of the specimens, weighing 7.5 grams, was analyzed by a geologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who confirmed it was only the 13th known meteorite ever found in Wisconsin and the first in 50 years.
The other, at 11 grams, was bought for $200 by Terry Boudreaux, 49, a retired health care industry executive who often shares his finds with the Field Museum's Pritzker Center for Meteoritics and Polar Studies.
"I do this for the thrill of holding something that has traveled for billions of years in space," said Boudreaux, who had stayed up all night Wednesday studying radar maps so he and his sons could be among the first on the scene.
At least two dozen other meteorite hunters — professional scientists and amateur collectors looking to cash in on the valuable treasure — have arrived in the area from as far away as Arizona. After zeroing in on this chunk of farmland using radar and computer readouts, many of them gathered for reconnaissance at a gas station-convenience store off state Highway 80, just north of town.
Engineering the climate
Geoengineering could help with climate change, but the possibility of massive climate interventions raises big concerns.
This story is adapted from a broadcast audio segment; use audio player to listen to story in its entirety.
Story by Alex Gallafent, PRI's "The World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C1_tKWLDZM&feature=player_embedded
An environmental problem of a whole different order has got scientists and policy makers around the world contemplating drastic measures. They fear that governments aren’t doing enough to cut the pollution that’s contributing to climate change, so they’re considering something they call geo-engineering. They’re exploring technologies that could cool the planet and avoid the catastrophes that a warmer earth might suffer. But the possibility of massive climate interventions is raising big ethical and geo-political concerns.
It sounds like an evil plot: deliberately changing the global climate. And at first glance, you’d think geoengineering would be the domain of evil cranks and megalomaniacs. But Eli Kintisch, who actually met a few would-be geoengineers while writing his book "Hack the Planet," says that couldn't be further from the truth.
"Eaarth": Earth is over
A climate pioneer declares the planet -- with its rising humidity and hot oceans -- dead
According to Bill McKibben, the respected environmentalist and author of the pioneering "End of Nature," the planet Earth, as we know it, is already dead. Over a million square miles of the Arctic ice cap have melted, the oceans have risen and warmed, and the tropics have expanded 2 degrees north and south. Global warming has caused such pervasive and irreversible changes, he argues, that we now live on a new planet with a new set of environmental and climatic realities — and, as such, it deserves a new name: Goodbye, Earth. Hello, "Eaarth."
McKibben’s hair-raising new book, "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet," is a scrupulous and impassioned account of the severely compromised globe on which we now live. He lays out the myriad ways in which climate change has remade our world, but he also goes much further, chronicling its current and future human toll. He explains how droughts in Australia helped precipitate the 2008 food crisis and put 40 million people at risk of hunger, and how the rapidly melting glaciers of the Andes and Himalayas may soon threaten the water supply of billions. Our only hope of survival, McKibben suggests, is a reversion to small-scale, local ways of life. "We simply can’t live on the new earth as if it were the old earth," he writes. "We’ve foreclosed that option."
Salon spoke with McKibben over the phone about the meaning of "Eaarth," our grim future, and what Tom Friedman got wrong about global warming.
What is "Eaarth"?
The meaning behind the title is that we really have created a new planet. Not entirely new. It looks more or less like the one we were born into; the same physical laws operate it. But it’s substantially different. There’s 5 percent more moisture in the atmosphere than there was 50 years ago, much less ice at the top of the Earth, et cetera. Calling it "Eaarth," an admittedly weird word, is a way of calling people’s attention to the fact that the changes that have already happened are large enough that if you were visiting our planet in a spaceship, this place would look really different from the outside than it did just decades ago.
What’s the biggest observable difference?
The most visible change is what’s happening to ice around the world. But probably the most important is what’s happening to liquid water. Warm air holds a lot more water vapor than cold, so you get a lot more evaporation in dry areas, and hence more drought. Even easier to measure, and more troubling, is the fact that what goes up must come down, and what’s coming down are these intense precipitation events.
In the book, I describe the rainfalls in my small town in Vermont — record floods that cut us off from the rest of the world. But that’s happening around the world almost every day now. The 100-year storm comes three times a decade in a lot of places. Stuff like that is sobering, not only because it demonstrates how out of balance things are, but also because the consequences of a world run amuck are not to be taken lightly.
What consequences are we talking about?
India, for example, is constructing this massive wall to protect it from Bangladesh. Not because it represents a military threat, but because there’s 150 or 160 million people there who are increasingly squeezed by a rising ocean. As best we can tell, the failure of the monsoon across Africa is climatically related, and that’s clearly played a big role in what’s been happening in the wars in Sudan and Somalia. It’s not that there’s an out-and-out war about climate change; it’s that all the stresses that already plague the planet get harder and harder to deal with. If you’re already short of water, say, now you’re shorter.
Forty-four percent of Americans still don’t believe global warming is manmade. What’s the best way to convince them?
Most accounts terrifically underplay what’s actually going on already. But in my life as an organizer, we’ve been very successful without trying to scare people. Last fall, my organization 350.org organized 5,200 simultaneous demonstrations in 181 countries, what CNN called "the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history."
And people were organizing around a pretty obscure scientific data point, a parts-per-million concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. The lesson we took is that people are capable of understanding the science. It’s not harder than understanding that if your cholesterol gets too high, you’re going to have a heart attack. If the doctor says your cholesterol is too high, your first instinct isn’t to demand a rundown of how the lipid system works. You say, "OK, what do we do?"
At Copenhagen, we managed to get 117 nations to sign on to the 350-parts-per-million target, which NASA believes to be the safe percentage. They were the wrong 117 nations, of course. But in 18 months, with little money, we’ve had some real effects.
Then why was Copenhagen such a failure?
Simple: The countries that are most powerful and most addicted to fossil fuel aren’t ready to come to terms with it. You can’t really have an AA meeting while everyone’s still in denial. In each of the last three years, Exxon Mobil made more than any company in the history of money. That may give them enough political power to keep the U.S. in denial for years to come.
Thomas Friedman and others recommend a technologically advanced “green growth” project — big windmills throughout the Midwest, solar arrays in the Arizona desert, hybrid cars — to kick our addiction to fossil fuel. Won’t that work?
We eventually run into limits to further growth on the planet. All the things Tom Friedman would like to do are good things. They just cost an immense amount of money and an immense amount of resources. We can do some of them. We’d be very smart to think less about grand, continent-spanning schemes, and wise to think more about localized and somewhat humble versions of these same things. Nuclear power plants, for example, are off-the-charts expensive, because they’re highly centralized and dangerous. They’re the engineering example of too big to fail. By contrast, if the solar panel on my roof fails, I have to fix it, but it doesn’t destroy the electric grid, or release dangerous solar particles into the atmosphere.
Larry Summers, Obama’s chief economic advisor, said that "putting limits on growth because of some natural limit is a profound error." Is he wrong?
He’s wrong, but for an interesting reason. Economists, and many of us to some extent, have come to believe that the economy is more real than the physical world. Think about the incredible regard we have for the economy. "It’s healing," we say. "It’s going through a rough patch." We talk about it like it’s our aging mother. Whereas with the Earth, we say, "Oh well, it’s going through its natural cycles, don’t worry." Which is slightly crazy, because clearly the economy is a subset of the natural world, not the other way around. We lavish intense worry and affection and brainpower on the economy, but not so much on the environment. Summers is the perfect exemplar of that attitude: an incredibly smart guy whose context is so narrow it ends up making him very dumb indeed.
So what’s the best way to proceed?
First we need to reach an agreement capping our carbon emissions, and then help finance the developing world to skip the fossil fuel step and develop in different ways. Places like South Africa and Bangladesh haven’t yet gone through the development cycle that makes them rich, and they’re being told, "That’s not on offer anymore." At the moment, solar panels are more expensive than coal and will be for a while. Still, we’re going to have to provide these countries with a better alternative, and the resources to follow it, if we want to act in a way that could be described as moral.
As for the nuts-and-bolts engineering, over the long run, I’d recommend a combination of conservation; harnessing wind and sun, from both distant and nearby sources; and lifestyle changes. There's no good reason the Jersey Turnpike should be crowded with cars, not in a dense area easily served by better transit. In the transition, we'll be using a lot of natural gas to make electricity, would be my guess.
In the book you use Vermont, where you live, as an example of an environmentally forward-thinking state.
Vermont hasn’t gotten everything right. Its energy system isn’t very good. But it’s been ahead of the rest of the nation in experimenting with local food, for example, which is the easiest commodity to get back under control. Vermont is also important because of its political history (it declared its independence from New York in 1777 and was its own republic before becoming a state), and its ongoing campaigns against federal subsidies for big agriculture. Its attitude of self- determination is a reminder that small-scale activities — things like town meetings, farmers’ markets, composting — can work quite well.
But lately, in the U.S. as a whole, local and regional action has reached more than a level of experimentation. The number of farms across the country is growing for the first time in a century and a quarter, with 300,000 new farms this decade. The one business that boomed in the last two years was seeds — Burpee Seeds was up 40 percent or something. There’s an awful lot of land in American suburbs currently devoted to growing grass, often with lavish infusions of fertilizer and chemicals. Turn some of that energy and resources toward growing vegetables, and you’re getting somewhere.
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