A strong surge of warm air is flowing into the central U.S. early this week dramatically rising temperatures from near record cold to near record heat at some locations. Meanwhile Alaska continues to be much colder than normal while Washington State much warmer than normal. Here is a brief review of the extremes.
The NWS office in Fairbanks, Alaska announced that the five week period of April 3 through May 7 was the coldest in station history (temperature records began in 1904) with an average of just 19.9°F (previous coldest such period was 20.6°F in 1924). As of today (May 13) the city has not seen an above normal daily temperature since April 2nd. A record daily low for May 13th was set with a 22° reading (old record 26° in 1938). Further north, temperatures fell below zero (-6°F at Killick Pass and -5°F at Antigun Pass) on May 13th as well. The 10° at Bettles beat its previous record low for the date by a full 10° (old record 20° in 2007) and is the coldest temperature ever recorded here so late in the season.
Meanwhile, Washington State enjoyed a record warm spell between May 5-11. In Seattle (at the Sea-Tac Airport site) the temperature rose from a daily record low of 37° on May 1st to record highs of 80° on May 5, 87° on May 6, and 80° on May 11. The 87° on May 6 was the warmest ever recorded so early in the season. Yakima, Washington saw an amazing string of six consecutive days above 90° from May 6-11. The average high for this period is 70°. Like Seattle, May 1st was a record or near-record cold morning in Yakima with a 26° reading just shy of the all-time May record of 25° (set on May 1, 1954). By May 10th the temperature peaked at 97°, the 3rd daily record high in a row (94° on May 8, 95° on May 9) and was also the warmest ever measured so early in the season. It was also the warmest temperature recorded anywhere in the U.S. for that day.
At this time a dramatic warm up is taking place in the central U.S. Chicago saw a low of 36° this morning (May 13) above its record for the date (30° in 1938) but by Tuesday it is expected to be as warm as 87°, a 51° rise in one day which, if it occurs, will be one the greatest one-day warm ups in the city’s history. The greatest was 58° from 0° on February 13, 1887 to 58° on February 14, 1887. Rockford, Illinois saw a near record low of 33° on May 13 (record is 32° set in 1938) and is expected to hit close to 90° on May 14 (record is 92° in 2007). The greatest one-day temperature rise in Rockford’s history was 63° (from 30° on April 9, 1930 to 93° on April 10, 1930). Bismarck, North Dakota measured 23° on May 12th (record for date was 20° in 1888) and reached a high of 91° on May 13 (tying record of 91° in 1932). Pierre, South Dakota saw a record daily low of 25° on May 12 which warmed up to 93° on May 13 (short of the record high of 99° set in 1941). The temperature rose 70° in Aberdeen, South Dakota from the low of May 12th (22°) to the high of May 13th (92°) and the story was just about the same in Huron where 26° on May 12 (1° short of the record 25° set in 1971) rose to 93° on May 13 (record 95° in 1894). Fargo, North Dakota which hadn’t seen its temperature rise above 50° all winter and spring until April 26th (the latest on record for such), spiked up to 93° on May 13th. It was just 24° the day before (May 12th).
Surface temperature map and wind flow for the Upper Midwest at 1 p.m. CST on May 13th. Note the almost 55° spread in temperatures from the Lake Superior area to the central Plains.
The warm surge will be much welcome for the folks in Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie measured 5.9” of snowfall on May 11-12, one of its greatest May snowfalls on record (the snowiest month of May was in 1927 when 7.9” accumulated). Gaylord, Michigan (in the north-central portion of the Lower Peninsula) had a high of just 35° on May 12th, the coldest daily high ever measured during the month of May. They also picked up 2.0” of snow.
Huge wet flakes of snow accumulate in Kalkaska, Michigan on May 12. This was one of the heaviest, latest snowfalls the area has ever seen. By Wednesday or Thursday the cold and snow should be just a memory as temperatures are expected to soar into the 70°s here. Photo by Sarah Robinson for The Weather Channel.
The Midwest U.S. is under the gun again today, as a potent storm system that spawned a preliminary count of 24 tornadoes in five states on Sunday reloads and prepares to dish out another afternoon and evening of atmospheric mayhem. Sunday’s tornadoes swept through Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois, with Oklahoma bearing the brunt of the assault. The outbreak’s only deadly tornado hit Shawnee, Oklahoma, a town of 30,000 located 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The twister leveled a trailer park, killing one person, and blew a semi-trailer off of an expressway overpass on I-40. At least 21 people were injured and 300 homes destroyed over the five-state area by the tornadoes. The 24 tornadoes from May 19 make it the biggest day for tornadoes in the U.S. this spring, and the highest number reported in one day since January 30, when 44 tornadoes touched down from Georgia to Indiana.
Figure 1. The Shawnee, Oklahoma tornado at 6:44 pm CDT May 19, 2013, as it passed just NW of Shawnee. The tornado killed one person in a mobile home park in Shawnee. Viewer submitted photo. #okwx pic.twitter.com/UCH9e8o9G8 Matt Mahler@themahler
Figure 2. The Shawnee tornado hurled a semi-trailer off of an expressway overpass at Highway 117 and I-40 in Oklahoma, and toppled another semi. Four people who sheltered under this overpass were injured, one seriously, and taken to the hospital. Highway overpasses can act to amplify a tornado’s winds, and are very dangerous places to be during a tornado. According to the NWS in Norman Oklahoma, during the tornado outbreak of May 3, 1999, tornadoes crossed three highway overpasses, and at all three locations, there was a fatality. One of the fatalities occurred from an EF-2 tornado in a rural area, which suggests that a tornado need not be a large, violent tornado with a considerable debris cloud to cause fatal injuries to people seeking shelter from storms under overpasses. In addition to the fatal injuries to three people, there were also many severe, potentially life-threatening and gruesome injuries inflicted upon people underneath the overpasses, that in some cases, has left these people with permanent disabilities. Don’t take shelter under a highway overpass from a tornado! Image credit: KFOR.com.
Figure 3. Radar reflectivity image taken at 6:08 pm CDT May 19, 2013 of the supercell thunderstorm that spawned the Shawnee, Oklahoma tornado.
Figure 4. Doppler velocity image taken at 6:08 pm CDT May 19, 2013 of the supercell thunderstorm that spawned the Shawnee, Oklahoma tornado. Note the couplet of dark red colors right next to light blues near the center of the image, showing that the air was moving both towards the radar and away from it within a short distance, indicating a tight rotation of the tornado’s parent mesocyclone.
Iowa’s record tornado-free streak ends at 359 days
A tornado touched down near Slater, Iowa at 6:10 pm CDT on Sunday, May 19, one of six tornadoes reported in the state that day. Remarkably, it was the first tornado recorded in the state since May 24, 2012 (Fayette County.) The 359-day streak without a tornado was the longest tornado-free period in state history. The previous record was 355 days, set between May 5, 1955, and April 26, 1956. The new streak is far more impressive because digital technology and spotter networks today are so comprehensive, resulting in far fewer missed tornadoes. There was a much higher likelihood back in the 1950s for tornadoes to be missed. The exceptional tornado-free period was due to the combination of the state’s dry summer of 2012 (3rd driest on record) and cold spring of 2013 (8th coldest March – April on record). Thunderstorms like heat and moisture to form, and its tough to get a tornado if you’re experiencing a top-ten driest or coldest spring or summer.
Figure 5. Radar reflectivity image of the tornado-spawning supercell thunderstorm that dropped an EF-1 tornado just to the southwest of Wichita, Kansas, on May 19, 2013.
Wichita gets lucky
At 3:30 pm Sunday, Kansas’ largest city, Wichita, got a major scare when a large supercell thunderstorm spawned a half-mile wide tornado to the southwest of the city. The tornado headed directly for the airport and downtown Wichita, prompting the issuance of “Tornado Emergency” for the city. In the wake of the deadly EF-5 tornado that leveled Joplin, Missouri in 2011, the NWS decided to give local NWS offices the option to issue special, strongly worded tornado warnings to let the population know when a particularly dangerous tornado–one that has been confirmed by spotters to be on the ground–is approaching. The NWS issued one of these very strongly-worded tornado warnings on Sunday for Wichita:
Statement as of 3:47 PM CDT on May 19, 2013
… A Tornado Warning remains in effect for southern Sedgwick County until 415 PM CDT…
… Tornado emergency for Wichita…
At 345 PM CDT… a confirmed large… violent and extremely dangerous tornado was located on the southwest side of Wichita… and moving northeast at 30 mph.
This is a particularly dangerous situation.
Hazard… deadly tornado.
Source… weather spotters confirmed tornado.
Impact… you could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Complete destruction of neighborhoods… businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.
Locations impacted include…Maize… downtown Wichita… Wichita… Bel Aire… McConnell Air Force Base…east Wichita and Oaklawn.
Precautionary/preparedness actions…
This is an extremely dangerous tornado with complete devastation likely. You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Do not delay… seek shelter now! If no underground shelter is available seek shelter in an interior room of the lowest level of a structure… or if time allows… consider moving to an underground shelter elsewhere. Mobile homes and outbuildings will offer no shelter from this tornado.
Wichita TV station KSNW did an excellent job covering the tornado, but were forced to abandon the studio during the height of the storm, as seen on this video clip. You can hear hail pounding the roof as the news crew scrambles for shelter. Station meteorologist J.D. Rudd has this to say: “We are okay. I’ll tell you though, it got intense. That thing passed right over our studio. Luckily, it had lifted. But I truly thought the roof of our studio was about to peel off. And the sound of the hail was deafening. What a day. Three hours of coverage with the largest city in the state under a TOR warning for a long time. Weather service called it a Tornado Emergency…’Large, violent tornado on the ground’. Words that gave me chills when I read them.” Preliminary damage surveys from the NWS indicate that the Wichita tornado was an EF-1 with a path length 4.6 miles that lifted two miles south of the Wichita airport.
Figure 6. Severe weather outlook for Monday, May 20, calls for a “Moderate Risk” of severe weather over much of Oklahoma, and portions of surrounding states. You can follow today’s severe weather outbreak from our Severe Weather page.
Another big severe weather day today in the Midwest
The latest forecasts from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center call for an active severe weather day again on Monday, with a “Moderate Risk” of severe weather over much of Oklahoma, plus portions of Southwest Missouri, Northwest Arkansas, and extreme North Texas. The highest threat for tornadoes will be in Southern Oklahoma and into North Texas. The severe weather outbreak will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, progressing eastwards into the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes. Only a “Slight Risk” of severe weather is expected those days.
Video 1. Impressive footage (peaking at 4:30 of the video) of the huge tornado that devastated Carney, Oklahoma on May 19, 2013.
Video 2. The “Dominator 3” armored tornado intercept vehicle saw plenty of action on Sunday, as seen in this video, taken just northeast of Edmond, Oklahoma. From the http://tvnweather.com/ description of the video: “This tornado was one of the strongest ever intercepted, and we needed all 10,000k pounds of the new Dominator because I have never felt vibration like that before as we were slammed by suction vortices wrapping all around the vehicle. Jim Cantore was on board and he’s hooked. All part of #TornadoChasers, Season 2013 coming up this fall on http://tvnweather.com/ondemand”
Additional info
Wunderblogger Lee Grenci has an interesting post discussing how last Wednesday’s Granbury, Texas tornado was able to form in an atmosphere that seemingly had too little wind shear to get a supercell thunderstorm spinning. The Granbury tornado was an EF-4 with 166 – 200 mph winds that killed six people, and was part of a weather system separate from the one that is generating the current Midwest U.S. tornado outbreak.
news9.com out of Oklahoma City had some excellent live helicopter coverage of Sunday’s storms, and will likely be out there again today.
Last update: May 20, 2013 at 12:03 pm by By Ashish Khanal
A very strong earthquake struck in the transform zone of the West Chile Rise. No danger for a tsunami.
590km (367mi) WSW of Puerto Quellon, Chile
600km (373mi) WSW of Chonchi, Chile
610km (379mi) WSW of Castro, Chile
618km (384mi) W of Puerto Aisen, Chile
1532km (952mi) SSW of Santiago, Chile
Late afternoon, going into sunset , May 18, 2013 (100UTC May 19, 2013) … several plumes appeared in central west Mexico — quickly followed by large prominent columns (steam or smoke?) produced near the Texas border.
Location .. somewhere very close to:
29°12’52.46″N , 102° 1’15.06″W
If you look at the area on Google earth, you will quickly come to see
1) It is a desert
2) There are several very old (dormant) volcanoes at this location
In China, the Book of Changes (I Ching) is one of the most important books used for divination and self-realization. Its principle may have been developed from the perception of eye floaters during altered states of consciousness.
“Eye floaters” (mouches volantes or muscae volitantes in French and German ophthalmology) is a collective term used in ophthalmology for all possible opacities in the vitreous. Many of them can be traced to physiological disorders like retinal detachment or diabetic vitreoretinopathy. The floaters at issue, though – which are also the most experienced floater type – are considered as ‘idiopathic’, i.e. without pathological cause. I call them “shining structure floaters” (Tausin 2012a). They are seen as mobile and scattered semi-transparent dots and strands in the visual field, best perceived in bright light conditions (fig 1). These dots and strands float according to the eye movements which makes them hard to focus on.
Fig. 1: ‘Idiopathic’ eye floaters in the visual field (FT).
In Western culture, the phenomenon of eye floaters is primarily understood in line with modern ophthalmology as “vitreous opacities” (Trick, 2007; Sendrowski/Bronstein, 2010). However, there are alternative explanations: In the mid-1990s, I met a man named Nestor living in the solitude of the hilly Emmental region of Switzerland. Nestor, as well as his friends, have a unique and provocative claim: that they focus on a constellation of huge shining spheres and strings which have been formed in their field of vision. They interpret this phenomenon as a subtle structure formed by our consciousness which in turn creates our material world. Nestor and his friends call themselves ‘seers’. They ascribe this subjective visual perception to their long lasting efforts to develop their consciousness (Tausin 2010a, 2009). I did some research and found that in history of religion and art, a multitude of cases are known in which spiritually committed individuals report or depict abstract or figurative subjective visual phenomena they experienced in altered states of consciousness (cf. Tausin 2010b; Müller-Ebeling 1993). This may even trace back to Paleolithic times where early “shamanic” ritual practices and techniques of ecstasy gave rise to evolving homo sapiens’ awareness of so-called entoptic phenomena, including shining structure floaters (cp. Dowson/Lewis-Williams 1988; Eliade 1957; Tausin 2012b, 2010b). If so, these subjective visual phenomena were seen and interpreted by shamans and mystics over and over, passed down e.g. as religious symbols and artistic conventions, and eventually incorporated into the art and philosophy of the first civilizations (Tausin 2012c, 2012d). It is reasonable then to examine the I Ching for floater structures.
The I Ching (Yijing)
Bronze Age China was ruled by expanding dynasties and warring states. In 1027 BC, the Zhou established a dynasty that would last until the formation of the first Chinese Empire by the Qin in 221 BC. To legitimize and ensure their rule, the Zhou subordinated the king and the officials to a universal moral law, the “Heaven’s Mandate” (tianming). This law was thought to endow the king with heavenly, and therefore absolute power (Kohn 2009; Von Glahn 2004; Gernet 1989; Chen 1963). Ancient Chinese texts served to harmonize one’s conduct with the heavenly law. In the 5th century BC, these texts were compiled by K’ung Fu-tse (Confucius) into a canon of several classic works that also served as a basis of studies. The five most important (Five classics) are the Shujing (Book of Documents); Shijing (Book of Poetry); Lijing (Book of Rites), Chunqiu (the Spring and Autumn Annals, which are the official chronicles of the State of Lu), and the Yijing (I Ching) (Book of Changes) (Gernet 1989; cp. Raphals 1998).
Let’s have a closer look at the I Ching. Historically, there were several versions of the I Ching. It is likely that each Chinese dynasty had its own official version. According to scholars, these texts have developed from the oracle rituals of the Longshan period: animal bones and tortoise shells were heated to produce cracks which were the sources of divinatory interpretation (cp. Kohn 2009; Cheng 2009; Liu 2004; Lynn 1998). The I Ching, as it is known today, is based on the dualism of two principles yang and yin, depicted as an unbroken line and a broken line respectively. They represent the dynamic and creative forces of the Ultimate (qi/chi, later dao). Yang and yin lines are combined to eight trigrams (set of three) and 64 hexagrams (set of six). Each trigram and hexagram is attributed with a specific meaning, resulting in a complex and rich symbolism that is used for divination, undertakings and self-realization up to this day (cp. Roberts 2010; Kohn 2009; Ames 1998; Rawson/Legeza 1974).
Fig. 2: The development of the eight trigrams (pa-kua) from the Supreme Ultimate. From top to bottom and from right to left: The Supreme Ultimate (t’ai-chi); the male principle yang and the female principle yin; the four double line images: big or old yang, young yang, young yin and old yin; the eight trigrams: Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth (Prunner 1986).
Visually, the floaters spheres and the floater strings with their core-surround structure have nothing to do with the yang and yin principle, depicted as unbroken and broken lines in the I Ching. However, there are indications for arguing that the trigrams and hexagrams are stylized representations of circles or spheres. I will discuss three points: First, in the Chinese art, circles and curves were frequently reshaped to rectangles and straight lines. This is exemplified by the sun symbol in the ancient Chinese scripture and ornamentation (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3: Ancient Chinese pictograms for “sun”, “day”, “eye” etc. (Hentze 1951).
This also seems to be the case with the I Ching, at least if we consider the mythical origin of the trigram system: According to the legend, the eight trigrams are attributed to the culture hero and mythical ruler Fu Hsi (or Fu Xi) (Roberts 2010). One day, he was walking along the Yellow River when a white horse with the head of a dragon emerged from the water. On its side, there was a map (Ho Tu) consisting of bright and dark dots (Legge 1882; cp. Kohn 2009).
Fig. 4: Ho Tu (“map of the river”). The Ho Tu and its twin, the Lo Shu map, both were used for divinatory and numerological ends and as basis for Feng shui practice. (http://www.tao-chi-duisburg.de/I-Ching/Das_Ho_Tu/das_ho_tu.html (15.12.12); cp. Legge 1882; Prunner 1986).
It is said that the Yellow River Map inspired Fu Hsi to develop the eight trigrams, arranged in the four cardinal and four ordinal (diagonal) directions.
Fig 5: The eight trigrams arranged around the Ho Tu (http://www.kheper.net/topics/I_Ching/history.html (16.12.12)).
This is known today as the “Early Heaven” arrangement of the eight symbols or trigrams (pa-kua, bagua).
Fig 6: The “Early / Earlier Heaven” pa-kua by Fu Hsi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua_%28concept%29 (16.12.12)).
How exactly, according to the myth, the transition from the dots to the trigrams was done is not known to me. My point here is that the trigrams have been developed from dark and bright dots. And that – with regard to the shamanic influence on ancient Chinese culture and the shining floater forms found on craftwork (Tausin forthcoming) – these dots might represent concentrated male (bright core) and female (dark core) floater spheres (Tausin 2011, 2010a).
This view is supported by my second point, the cosmogony or development of the material world that features the same characteristics in the seers’ seeing as in the I Ching (see fig. 2). Central to both the I Ching and the Emmental seers is an Ultimate called chi (qi) or t’ai-chi by the Chinese and “source” by the seers. Whereas seers claim that they see this source as a sphere (Tausin 2010a, 2009), the Chinese depict chi as a circle. This sphere or circle contains the two original opposites. Chinese philosophy understands these opposites as separate creative forces, yin and yang. Seers see them as dark and bright parts of the core-surround structure of floater spheres, or as the two kinds of spheres (dark core, white surround; white core, dark surround) respectively. The interplay of these forces gives rise to the diversity of the material world – and mundane consciousness – which increasingly substantiates and removes from the original abstractness of chi or the “source”. This process of diversification is depicted in the I Ching as the multiplication of yang-yin-combinations in the digrams, trigrams and hexagrams. Similarly, the Emmental seer see that the “path in the shining structure” is a way from many floaters to a constellation of few floaters to the “source” – based on that, they suggest that the “path in the shining structure” is an inversed creation process.
My third point is that the digrams, trigrams and hexagrams are a system to express the visual changes of shining structure floaters. In different states of concentration and intensity, floaters differ in size and the area ratio of core and surround, resulting in different luminosity as well (cp. Tausin 2011). Taking yin as the dark parts and yang as the bright parts of floater spheres, the digrams, trigrams and hexagrams are able to express these states in different degrees of acuteness. The figure below shows the transition of a male (yang) and a female (yin) sphere from the big relaxed (center) to the small concentrated (left and right) states, expressed by the trigrams.
Fig. 7: A possible correlation of trigrams and shining floater states of concentration. Source: author.
To address one last obvious question: If shining structure spheres have been transformed into straight broken and unbroken lines – why is that? I have mentioned above that the reshaping of circles to rectangles – or dots to lines – are an artistic convention of some of the Bronze Age Chinese art. But there could also be practical reasons: Lines are fast and easy to discern and write; they are space saving; and as trigrams and hexagrams, they express well defined states or phenomena. For example, the trigrams „lake” and „fire” are clearly distinguishable and therefore can be used for divinatory ends, while the concentrative states of shining structure spheres permanently alter and thus are less clearly assignable to particular concepts. In other words: the lines are better suited for writing and divinatory and philosophical reasoning.
Conclusion
The article is based on the assumption that ancient Chinese shamans or ecstatics have seen shining structure floaters and other entoptic phenomena during altered states of consciousness. They have understood these phenomena as meaningful and powerful signs and passed them down as spiritual and philosophical symbols and artistic conventions. I’ve made three points in order to suggest that floaters have become stylized and systematized in early divinatory texts which later were compiled as the I Ching. If so, two mutually exclusive conclusions follow from that, the ophthalmological and the seers’ interpretation: Either the I Ching is based on a “degenerative vitreous syndrome” which would prove its ridiculousness. Or floaters have a perceptual (and spiritual) dimension that goes far beyond the ophthalmological knowledge. Based on my personal experience and my research, I tend to the second.
We are truly living in exciting times. The challenges and crises facing the world today are portents of imminent change in civilization. We are on the threshold of an incredible global evolutionary shift.
The current panoply of global crises collectively reveals we are facing our own extinction. Scientists acknowledge that the current degradation of the environment and the massive loss of species are evidence that we are deep into the sixth mass extinction to hit Earth since the origin of life. Unlike the first five massive die-offs, attributed to physical causes such as life-destroying geological upheavals and the impact of comets and asteroids, the current wave of extinctions is due to a source much closer to home: human behavior. Our way of life is wreaking havoc in the global community and our survival is now in question.
Crises are harbingers of evolution. Albert Einstein wisely proffered, “We cannot solve the problems with the same thinking that created them.” Consequently, the planet’s hope and salvation lies in the adoption of revolutionary new knowledge being revealed at the frontiers of science. This new awareness is shattering old myths and rewriting the “truths” that shape the character of human civilization.
New science revises four fundamental beliefs that shape civilization. These flawed assumptions include:
1) The Newtonian vision of the primacy of a physical, mechanical Universe;
2) Genes control biology;
3) Evolution resulted from random genetic mutations; and
4) Evolution is driven by a struggle for the survival-of-the-fittest. These failed beliefs represent the “Four Assumptions of the Apocalypse,” for they are driving human civilization to the brink of extinction.
Modern science is predicated on “truths” verified through accurate observation and measurements of physical world phenomena. Science ignores the spiritual realm because it is not amenable to scientific analysis. As importantly, the predictive success of Newtonian theory, emphasizing the primacy of a physical Universe, made the existence of spirit and God an extraneous hypothesis that offered no explanatory principles needed by science.
In the wake of Newtonian theory, with the Hand of God out of the way, society has been preoccupied with dominating and controlling Nature. Darwin’s theory further exacerbates the situation by suggesting that humans evolved through the happenstance of random genetic mutations. Accordingly, we evolved by pure “chance,” which by extension means: without an underlying purpose for our existence. Darwinian theory removed the last link between God, spirit and the human experience.
Additionally, Darwinism emphasizes that evolution is based on “the survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence.” For science, the end of the evolution struggle is simply represented by “survival.” As for the means to that end, apparently anything goes. Darwinism leaves humanity without a moral compass.
A mechanical Newtonian Universe in combination with Darwin’s theory of random evolution disconnects us from Nature and spirit, while legitimizing the exploitation and degradation of our fellow humans and the environment.
Modern science has led the world to shift from spiritual aspirations to a war for material accumulation. In addition to terrorizing the world’s human population, scientific “progress” has terrorized Mother Nature herself. Our credo, “Better Living Through Chemistry,” has led to our efforts to control Nature with toxic petrochemicals. As a result, we have polluted the environment, undermined the harmony of the biosphere and are rapidly driving ourselves toward extinction.
All is not lost. Advances from science’s frontier offer new insights that provide a bright light at the end of this dark tunnel. Firstly, in contrast to the emphasis on the Newtonian material realm, the newer science of quantum mechanics reveals that the Universe and all of its physical matter are actually made out of immaterial energy. Atoms are not physical particles; they are made of energy vortices resembling nano-tornadoes.
Quantum physics stresses that the invisible energy realm, collectively referred to as the field, is the primary governing force of the material realm. It is more than interesting that the term field is defined as “invisible moving forces that influence the physical realm,” for the same definition is used to describe spirit. The new physics provides a modern version of ancient spirituality. In a Universe made out of energy, everything is entangled, everything is one.
Biomedical research has recently toppled the widespread belief that organisms are genetically controlled robots and that evolution is driven by a random, survival-of-the-fittest mechanism. As genetically controlled “robots,” we are led to perceive of ourselves as “victims” of heredity. Genes control our lives yet we did not pick our genes, nor can we change them if we don’t like our traits. The perception of genetic victimization inevitably leads to irresponsibility, for we believe we have no power over our lives.
The exciting new science of epigenetics emphasizes that genes are controlled by the environment, and more importantly, by our perception of the environment. Epigenetics acknowledges that we are not victims, but masters, for we can change our environment or perceptions, and create up to 30,000 variations for each of our genes.
Quantum physics and epigenetics provide amazing insight into the mystery of the mind-body-spirit connection. While Newtonian physics and genetic theory dismiss the power of our minds, the new science recognizes that consciousness endows us with powerful creative abilities to shape our lives and the world in which we live. Our thoughts, attitudes and beliefs control behavior, regulate gene expression and provide for our life experiences.
In contrast to random mutations, science has identified “adaptive” mutation mechanisms, wherein organisms adjust their genetics to conform to existing environmental conditions. We did not get here by chance. Every new organism introduced into the biosphere supported harmony and balance in the Garden. Every organism is intimately engaged with the environment in a delicate pas de deux. Human existence is not a random accident, but a carefully choreographed event that takes into account the cooperative nature of the biosphere. Humans evolved as the most powerful force in supporting Nature’s vitality. However, we have misused that power and are now paying the price for our destructive behavior.
The crises we face present us with the greatest opportunity in human history-conscious evolution. Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the Garden and not destroy it.
The story of human life on Earth is yet to be determined. Our evolution depends on whether we are willing to make changes in our individual and collective beliefs and behaviors, and whether we are able to make these changes in time. The good news is that biology and evolution are on our side. Evolution — like heaven — is not a destination, but a practice.
A miraculous healing awaits this planet once we accept our new responsibility to collectively tend the Garden. When a critical mass of people truly own this belief in their hearts and minds and begin living from these truths, our world will emerge from the darkness in what will amount to a consciousness-based world-shift — a spontaneous evolution for humans, by humans.
In search for lost world: A Shinkai 6500 manned submersible belonging to the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology probes the seabed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro on April 30. | JAPAN AGENCY FOR MARINE-EARTH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY/KYODO
Japan agency finds unique granite mass off Brazil coast
RIO DE JANEIRO – A large mass of granite has been found on the seabed off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, suggesting a continent may have existed in the Atlantic Ocean, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and the Brazilian government announced.
A Brazilian official said the discovery of the granite — which normally forms only on dry land — is strong evidence that a continent used to exist in the area where the legendary island of Atlantis, mentioned in antiquity by Plato in his philosophical dialogues, was supposedly located.
According to legend, the island, host to a highly developed civilization, sunk into the sea around 12,000 years ago. No trace of it has ever been found.
The finding was made using a Shinkai 6500 manned submersible operated by the Japanese agency. The seabed where the granite mass was discovered is estimated to have sunk into the sea several tens of million years ago. No man-made structures have been found there.
It is the first time such research using a manned submersible has been conducted in the South Atlantic. In late April, the agency used the device to explore the Rio Grande Rise, a seabed more than 1,000 km southeast of Rio de Janeiro. At a depth of 910 meters, it found a rock cliff around 10 meters in height and breadth.
After analyzing video data, the agency concluded it was granite. Also discovered in the area around it was a large volume of quartz sand — which is also not formed in the sea. The bedrock is believed to consist mainly of basalt rock.
The rise itself stretches around 1,000 km at the widest point, and is considered part of the continent left behind when South America and Africa split apart more than 100 million years ago. The agency said it assumes the area was above sea level until about 50 million years ago but became submerged over a period spanning several million years, based on fossils found in the nearby seabed and other data.
According to the agency, the Rio Grande Rise is the only plausible area that could possibly have been dry land in the past.
Despite the latest discovery, however, experts remained cautious about jumping to conclusions about Atlantis.
Shinichi Kawakami, a professor at Gifu University versed in planetary sciences, said the granite could have been a part of a big continent before it separated into what is now Africa and South America.
“South America and Africa used to be a huge, unified continent. The area in question may have been left in water as the continent was separated in line with the movements of plates,” he said.
Kawakami said researchers must look further into the composition of the granite and see if it matches the granite now found in Africa or South America.
“The concept of Atlantis came way before geology of the modern age was established. We should not jump to the Atlantis (conclusion) right away,” he said.
Witches’ broomsticks are considered similar to any heavier-than-air transportation device that is airborne, reports The Star.
Broomstick-flying witches to be brought down in Swaziland
Times LIVE | 13 May, 2013 10:53
Fictional wizard Harry Potter riding his broomstick. Image by: HO
Witches flying broomsticks in Swaziland above 150 metres will be subject to arrest and a hefty fine of R500 000, civil aviation authorities said, according to a report.
“A witch on a broomstick should not fly above the [150-metre] limit,” Civil Aviation Authority marketing and corporate affairs director Sabelo Dlamini told the newspaper.
No penalties exist for witches flying below 150 metres.
The report said it was hard to say how serious he was, but witchcraft isn’t a joking matter in Swaziland, where the people believe in it.
The statute also forbids toy helicopters and children’s kites from ascending too high into the country’s airspace.
Dlamini was asked by the Swazi press to explain the country’s aviation laws following the arrest of a private detective, Hunter Shongwe, for operating a toy helicopter equipped with a video camera, of which he boasted using to gather surveillance information similar to the way a drone aircraft operates.
The detective was charged with operating an unregistered aircraft and for failing to appear before his chief to be questioned by traditional authorities about his toy drone, the first of its kind in Swaziland.
Swazi brooms are short bundles of sticks tied together and do not have handles. Swazi witches are known to use them to fling potions about homesteads – but not for transport.
Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Kenya, 2009. USAID Photo Gallery
Nearly two decades after their mid-’90s debut in US farm fields, GMO seeds are looking less and less promising. Do the industry’s products ramp up crop yields? The Union of Concerned Scientists looked at that question in detail for a 2009 study. Short answer: marginally, if at all. Do they lead to reduced pesticide use? No; in fact, the opposite.
Yet despite all of these problems, the US State Department has been essentially acting as of de facto global-marketing arm of the ag-biotech industry, complete with figures as high-ranking as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mouthing industry talking points as if they were gospel, a new Food & Water Watch analysis of internal documents finds.
The FWW report is based on an analysis of diplomatic cables, written between 2005 and 2009 and released in the big Wikileaks document dump of 2010. FWW sums it up: “a concerted strategy to promote agricultural biotechnology overseas, compel countries to import biotech crops and foods that they do not want, and lobby foreign governments—especially in the developing world—to adopt policies to pave the way to cultivate biotech crops.”
The report brims with examples of the US government promoting the biotech industry abroad. Here are a few:
The State Department encouraged embassies to bring visitors—especially reporters—to the United States, which has “proven to be effective ways of dispelling concerns about biotech [crops].” The State Department organized or sponsored 28 junkets from 17 countries between 2005 and 2009. In 2008, when the US embassy was trying to prevent Poland from adopting a ban on biotech livestock feed, the State Department brought a delegation of high-level Polish government agriculture officials to meet with the USDA in Washington, tour Michigan State University and visit the Chicago Board of Trade. The USDA sponsored a trip for El Salvador’s Minister of Agriculture and Livestock to visit Pioneer Hi-Bred’s Iowa facilities and to meet with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack that was expected to “pay rich dividends by helping [the Minister] clearly advocate policy positions in our mutual bilateral interests.”
The State Department hotly pushed GMOs in low-income African nations—in the face of popular opposition.
Another example: this 2009 cable, referenced in the FWW report, shows a State Department functionary casually requesting US taxpayer funds to to combat a popular effort to require labeling of GMO foods in Hong Kong—and boasting about successfully having done so in the past. Why focus on the GMO policy of a quasi-independent city? Hong Kong’s rejection of a mandatory labeling policy “could have influential spillover effects in the region, including Taiwan, mainland China and Southeast Asia,” the functionary writes, adding that her consulate had “intentionally designed [anti-labeling] programs other embassies and consulates” could use.
The report also shows how the State Department hotly pushed GMOs in low-income African nations—in the face of popular opposition. In a 2009 cable, FWW shows, the US embassy in Nigeria bragged that “U.S. government support in drafting [pro-biotech] legislation as well as sensitizing key stakeholders through a public outreach program” helped pass and industry-friendly law. Working with USAID—an independent US government agency that operates under the State Department’s authority—the State Department pushed similar efforts in Kenya and Ghana, FWW shows.
Yet, as FWW points out, in so aggressively pushing biotech solutions abroad, State is bucking against the global consensus of ag-development experts as expressed by the 2009 International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), a three-year project, convened by the World Bank and the United Nations and completed in 2008, to assess what forms of agriculture would best meet the world’s needs in a time of rapid climate change. The IAASTD took such a skeptical view of deregulated biotech as a panacea for the globe’s food challenges that Croplife America, the industry’s main industry lobbying group, saw fit to denounce it. The US government backed up the biotech lobby on this one—just three of the 61 governments that participated refused to sign the IAASTD: the Bush II-led United States, Canada, and Australia.
So why why are our corps of diplomats behaving as if they answered to Monsanto’s shareholders with regard to ag policy? My guess is GMO seed technology, dominated by Monsanto, as well as our towering crops corn and soy crops (which are at this point almost completely from GM seeds) are two of the few areas of global trade wherein the US still generates a trade surplus. The website of the State Department’s Biotechnology and Textile Trade Policy Division puts it like this:
In 2013, the United States is forecasted to export $145 billion in agricultural products, which is $9.2 billion above fiscal 2012 exports, and have a trade surplus of $30 billion in our agricultural sector.
I guess US presidents, Democratic and Republican alike, are bent on preserving and expanding that surplus. President Obama altered much about US foreign policy when he took over for President Bush in 2009; but he doesn’t seem to have changed a thing when it comes to pushing biotech on the global stage. And the impulse is not confined to the State Department. Back in 2009, when Obama needed to appoint someone to lead agriculture negotiations at the US Trade Office, he went straight to the ag-biotech industry, tapping the vice president for science and regulatory affairs at CropLife America, Islam A. Siddiqui, who still holds that post today.
Meanwhile, the State Department operates an Office of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Textile Trade Affairs, which exists in part to “maintain open markets for U.S. products derived from modern biotechnology” and “promote acceptance of this promising technology.” The office’s biotechnology page is larded with language that reads like boilerplate from Monsanto promo material: “Agricultural biotechnology helps farmers increase yields, enabling them to produce more food per acre while reducing the need for chemicals, pesticides, water, and tilling. This provides benefits to the environment as well as to the health and livelihood of farmers.”
A very strong earthquake struck in the transform zone of the West Chile Rise. No danger for a tsunami.
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Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Kenya, 2009.