Category: Reblogged


We Do Disturb Them So!

2029443241Being down and out is in and of itself not bad enough for the general public. Now they have to complain everywhere that their eyes are being molested by the sight of us and that we should be robbed of the means to keep warm(-ish) at night. Would that everyone were to walk a couple of miles in our shoes and then ask them what it felt like! This articled from the Ilford Recorder disgusts me:

Police swoop on the homeless taking sleeping bags and food parcels in co-ordinated raids in Redbridge

Police swooped on the homeless, grabbing sleeping bags and food parcels donated by the public, in co-ordinated raids around the borough.

Adam Jaskowiak was one of the men targeted and said he pleaded with police to be able to keep his things but was ignored.

He was sleeping with eight other people finding shelter for the night in the former Ilford Baths in High Road, Ilford.

All of their belongings were bundled into a police car leaving the men, one in his 60s, stunned.

A police chief told the Recorder the operation was carried out to “reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers”.

But Mr Jaskowiak, 34, said: “They were just taking the sleeping bags and chucking out everything. I asked to keep it and the food, but they said ‘no’.

“I just grabbed as many of my things as possible and put them into a bag and ran.”

He was given the sleeping bag by the Salvation Army, Clements Road, Ilford, over the winter months after becoming homeless when his friend died.

John Clifton, 26, corps officer at the Salvation Army, said: “I’m shocked and disgusted. Why would you take the only form of shelter someone has from them?

“We have tried to find out why they were taken and if we can get them back.”

After the raid happened on Thursday, the men went to the Refugee and Migrant Forum of East London, High Road, Ilford, for help.

Chief executive Rita Chadha said: “I am appalled because there’s no logic in this – it’s not as though if they take someone’s sleeping bag they will automatically walk into a house.

“It’s not a lifestyle choice and becoming homeless can happen to anyone.”

She also said the action will damage relations between the police and those sleeping on the streets.

Ilford Ch Insp John Fish said: “The public rely on police to reduce the negative impact of rough sleepers, this includes the need for us to assist in the removal of temporary structures, tents, and bedding from public spaces and other inappropriate locations.”

From: http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/news/crime-court/police_swoop_on_the_homeless_taking_sleeping_bags_and_food_parcels_in_co_ordinated_raids_in_redbridge_1_2206446#.UZ-Wx9n9XEc.facebook

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From Cetacean Rights:

From time to time we like to contact you to bring you news of the latest development in the campaign to have the rights of whales and dolphin recognised. This week the campaign has taken a giant leap forward with a national government citing the evidence for dolphin personhood and rights as one of the reasons for instigating a ban on dolphin captivity.

In a remarkable, but long-awaited move, the Indian Government has made the ban on dolphinaria in their country official.

Following the announcement in the Hindustan Times that India’s Minister of Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan would not allow the building of dolphinariums in India, the Central Zoo Authority issued a circular on 17th May to reiterate the Ministry’s decision not to allow the establishment of dolphinaria in the country and advising state governments across India to reject any dolphinarium proposals. This is a highly progressive stance from India’s Minister of Environment and Forests on this important issue.

In the only dolphinarium ever to operate in India, Dolphin City, all three Black Sea bottlenose dolphins died within months of the facility opening near Chennai in 1998. The facility was subsequently denied permission to import further dolphins but in recent years state governments across India have faced proposals to build dolphinaria and import dolphins from overseas.

The new government policy states, among other things, that ‘cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that the unusually high intelligence; as compared to other animals means that dolphin should be seen as “non-human persons” and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose’. They state further that ‘cetaceans in general do not survive well in captivity’ and that ‘confinement in captivity can seriously compromise the welfare and survival of all types of cetaceans by altering their behaviour and causing extreme distress’; therefore, ‘the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India have decided not to allow establishment of dolpinarium in the  country’.

Thank you again for signing the Declaration and being part of this movement. Please help continue to expand the campaign by forwarding the Declaration to your contacts, so that the groundswell of opinion can continue to influence similar debates and bring about real change for whales and dolphins.

To read more <Click here!>

May 20, 2013 — Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer’s disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons in the brain.

For the first time, scientists at Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry have been able to map in detail the pathway that generates “aberrant” forms of proteins which are at the root of neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s.

They believe the breakthrough is a vital step closer to increased capabilities for earlier diagnosis of neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and opens up possibilities for a new generation of targeted drugs, as scientists say they have uncovered the earliest stages of the development of Alzheimer’s that drugs could possibly target.

The study, published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is a milestone in the long-term research established in Cambridge by Professor Christopher Dobson and his colleagues, following the realisation by Dobson of the underlying nature of protein ‘misfolding’ and its connection with disease over 15 years ago.

The research is likely to have a central role to play in diagnostic and drug development for dementia-related diseases, which are increasingly prevalent and damaging as populations live longer.

Credit: Dr. Tuomas Knowles

Credit: Dr. Tuomas Knowles

Empathy in Apes!

From  I fucking love science

From
I fucking love science

From Support For The Elderly:

“Binti Jua is a western lowland gorilla female in the Brookfield Zoo, in Brookfield, Illinois. Binti is most well known for an incident which occurred on August 16, 1996, when she was eight years old.A three-year old boy climbed the wall around her zoo enclosure and fell 18 feet onto concrete below, rendering him unconscious with a broken hand and a vicious gash on the side of his face.

Binti walked to the boy’s side while helpless spectators screamed, certain the gorilla would harm the child. Another larger female gorilla approached, and Binti growled.Binti picked up the child, cradling him with her right arm as she did her own infant, gave him a few pats on the back, and carried him 18 meters (59 ft) to an access entrance, so that zoo personnel could retrieve him. Her 17-month-old baby, Koola, clutched her back throughout the incident.

It’s been debated amongst primatologists as to whether this behaviour was a result of training or behaviour. Binti was specially trained to care for her infant, and so it’s possible that this behaviour was simply an extension of that. Other experts cite her as an example of empathy in animals.

Similar situations have occurred before – male gorilla Jambo, of Jersey Zoo, protected and cared for a five year old child who fell into his enclosure.

More information on empathy in apes: http://bit.ly/10IBJwm

The boy spent four days in the hospital and recovered fully.”

Red Bull – Public Health Warning!

image001 13

From http://rense.com/general88/bull.htm

France & Denmark have banned it from the country… RED BULL – slow death … Do NOT drink this drink anymore! Pay attention…read everything… As a public health safety, please pass on this email to all the contacts in your address book especially those with teenage children. This drink is SOLD in all the supermarkets IN OUR country and our children ARE CONSUMING IT ON A TRIAL BASIS. IT can be FATAL. RED BULL was created to stimulate the brains in people who are subjected to great physical force and in stress coma and never to be consumed like an innocent drink or soda pop. RED BULL IS the energizer DRINK that is commercialized world-wide with its slogan: “It increases endurance, awakens the concentration capacity and the speed of reaction, offers more energy and improves the mood. All this can be found in a can of RED BULL, the power drink of the millennium.” RED BULL has managed to arrive in almost 100 countries worldwide. The RED BULL logo is targeted at young people and sportsmen, two attractive segments that have been captivated by the stimulus that the drink provides. It was created by Dietrich Mateschitz, an industrialist of Austrian origin who discovered the drink by chance. It happened during a business trip to Hong Kong , when he was working at a factory that manufactured toothbrushes. The liquid, based on a formula that contained caffeine and taurine, caused a rage in that country. Imagine the grand success of this drink in Europe where the product still did not exist, besides it was a superb opportunity to become an entrepreneur. BUT THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS DRINK IS ANOTHER THING FRANCE and DENMARK have just prohibited it as a cocktail of death, due to its vitamin components mixed with GLUCURONOLACTONE ‘ – a highly-dangerous chemical, which was developed by the United States Department of Defense during the sixties to stimulate the moral of the troops based in VIETNAM, which acted like a hallucinogenic drug that calmed the stress of the war. But their effects in the organism were so devastating, that it was discontinued, because of the high index of cases of migraines, cerebral tumors and diseases of the liver that was evident in the soldiers who consumed it. And in spite of it, in the can of RED BULL you can still find as one of its components: GLUCURONOLACTONE, categorized medically as a stimulant. But what it does not say on the can of RED BULL are the consequences of its consumption, and that has forced a series of WARNINGS… 1. It is dangerous to take it if you do not engage in physical exercise afterwards, since its energizing function accelerates the heart rate and can cause a sudden attack. 2. You run the risk of undergoing a cerebral hemorrhage, because RED BULL contains components that dilute the blood so that the heart utilizes less energy to pump the blood, and thus be able to deliver physical force with less effort being exerted. 3. It is prohibited to mix RED BULL with alcohol, because the mixture turns the drink into a ” Deadly Bomb ” that attacks the liver directly, causing the affected area never to regenerate anymore. 4. One of the main components of RED BULL is the B12 vitamin, used in medicine to recover patients who are in a coma ; from here the hypertension and the state of excitement which is experienced after taking it, as if you were in a drunken state. 5. The regular consumption of RED BULL triggers off symptoms in the form of a series of irreversible nervous and neuronal diseases. CONCLUSION: It is a drink that should be prohibited in the entire world as when it is mixed with alcohol it creates a TIME BOMB for the human body, mainly between innocent adolescents and adults with little experience. Forward this mail to Everyone and Let them know about this..

Helmi@Coolfishermann

Guilt-free clothing!

From Avaaz.org

From Avaaz.org

From http://www.avaaz.org/en/crushed_to_make_our_clothes_loc/?fp - Sign the petition!

524,431 have signed. Let’s get to 1,000,000

Posted: 3 May 2013
We’ve all seen the horrific images of hundreds of innocent women burned or crushed to death in factories while making our clothes. In the next few days we can get companies to stop it happening again.

Big fashion brands source from hundreds of factories in Bangladesh.Two brands, including Calvin Klein, have signed a very strong building and fire safety pact. Others, led by Wal-Mart, have been trying to wriggle out of signing by creating a weak alternative that was pure PR. But the latest disaster has triggered crisis meetings andmassive pressure to sign the strong version that can save lives.

Negotiations end in days. H&M and GAP are most likely to flip first to support a strong agreement, and the best way to press them is to go after their CEOs. If one million of us appeal directly to them in a petition, Facebook pages, tweets, and ads, their friends and families will all hear about it. They’ll know that their own and their companies’ reputations are on the line. People are being forced to make *our* clothing in outrageously dangerous buildings – sign on to make them safe, and share this page widely.

Victory For Bees!

Bee macro

Bee macro (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

 

From http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/Victory-For-Bees:

 

If you’re an organic gardener, then you know pesticides are a bad thing. They are not only harmful to humans, but all living creatures and our ecosystems as well.

Good news, at least for Europeans. The majority of EU countries have recently supported the European Commission’s proposal to temporarily ban the use of three pesticides harmful to bees. Bayer and Syngenta are two of the companies that produce these pesticides used to coat the seeds, add to the soil, or sprayed on plants.

One of the pesticides, neonicotiniod is based on nicotine. It’s coated on the seeds and infused through the plants as they grow (much like nicotine infiltrates a smoker’s lungs). It’s very effective against harmful insects, but what are the effects on humans?

According to a CBS news report, in the last eight years the bee population has been in a steady decline due to these pesticides. They become disorientated and can’t find their way back to their hives, therefore, dying in the fields. Bees are a farmer’s best pollinating friend. Without bees, the agriculture industry estimates 1/3 of the food we eat would disappear.

 The EPA is looking into this, but as all things relating to the U.S. federal government, it should be about five years before they make any decisions about the future of pesticide usage nationwide.

 

 

Stage 5: The Old Soul

English: In this 8-meter (25-foot) tall Buddhi...

English: In this 8-meter (25-foot) tall Buddhist relief from the Dazu Rock Carvings in China, built sometime between the years 1177 and 1249, Mara, Lord of Death and Desire, clutches the Wheel of Reincarnation, which outlines the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation. Français : Un relief de 8 mètres parmi les Sculptures rupestres de Dazu près de Chongqing en China. Il représente Mara, le Seigneur du Mort et des Désirs, éteignant la Roue des réincarnations. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stage 5: The Old Soul.

Excerpt:

At last, the soul is ready for the final leg of the journey: the return to unity and the end of reincarnation.

This return to unity does not involve any loss of individuality, as some imagine. The end of reincarnation — “ascension” or “enlightenment” or what have you — does not mean fading out of existence, dissolving into nothingness. Rather, the soul completes its adventure as a unique individual, like a distinctive star in the night sky, a completely realised Self.

So to begin this stage, the soul will tend to focus on true self-expression and self-actualization, seeking experiences which provide personal fulfilment within life on the physical plane. This could be found in, say, acting, painting, wine-growing, gardening, flying old aeroplanes, or simply being a grandparent. The soul is not interested in success or fame so much as doing something it loves well, and finding inner satisfaction.

Then, towards the end of the stage, there is more of an emphasis on teaching rather than simply learning: passing on the lessons learnt, showing others the way.

A must read, by the way!

I’ve just read this wonderful article and have come away with more questions than answers, as per usual. I have qualities and defects that fit in every stage, but do not feel fit to even assume myself a first-stage soul. I am an enigma to myself. Could it be that I am a soul that reincarnated prematurely and am still in embryonal stage, but who was raised by two old souls? Another conundrum.

Distressed dolphin seeks out diver for help

From rawstory.com

From rawstory.com

By Stephen C. Webster
Wednesday, January 23, 2013 15:05 EST

Diving in waters near Hawaii recently, a group of photographers were surprised to see a Bottlenose dolphin swim right up to them seemingly in distress.

As they discovered on the night of Jan. 11, the dolphin had a hook embedded in its mouth and fishing line wrapped around one of its pectoral fins, and it was wound so tightly that it had cut into the creature’s tissue.

Diver and photographer Martina Wing made sure her cameras were rolling when an associate took out a pocket knife and began trying to cut the line away. Amazingly, it did not resist and appeared to be communicating its need for assistance.

Then the dolphin briefly vanished, returning to the surface for air before swimming back down to the divers for more help. It even rolled over to let its new friends get a better angle on the line.

Once they freed the creature from its snare, it sped off into the darkness, leaving behind eight minutes of absolutely incredible video.

This video was aired by San Diego-based KMFB-TV on Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.

Raw Story (http://s.tt/1yR5v)

If you would like to watch the awesome video footage, click the link below:

San Diego, California News Station – KFMB Channel 8 – cbs8.com

Gobekli Tepe – 11 Millennia Old Temple!

The sculpture of an animal at Gobekli Tepe, cl...

The sculpture of an animal at Gobekli Tepe(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A temple-like structure of megaliths, weighing several tons was discovered in Turkey, predating the oldest pyramid of Gizeh by 8 thousand years!?

From Wikipedia:

Göbekli Tepe is located in southeastern Turkey. It was first noted in a survey conducted by Istanbul
University
and the University of Chicago in 1964, which
recognized that the hill could not entirely be a natural feature and postulated
that a Byzantine
cemetery lay beneath. The survey noted a large number of flints and the presence
of limestone slabs thought to be
Byzantine grave markers. This work was first mentioned in print in Peter
Benedict’s article “Survey Work in Southeastern Anatolia” (1980). In 1994,
archaeologist Klaus Schmidt of the German Archaeological Institute
of Istanbul noted Benedict’s article
and visited the site, recognizing that it was in fact a much older Neolithic
site. Since 1995[7]
excavations have been conducted by the German Archaeological Institute of
Istanbul and the Şanlıurfa Museum, under the direction of
Schmidt (University of Heidelberg 1995–2000,
German Archaeological Institute 2001–present). The hill had been under
agricultural cultivation before being excavated. Generations of local
inhabitants had frequently moved rocks and placed them in clearance piles and
much archaeological evidence may have been destroyed in the process. Scholars
from the Hochschule Karlsruhe began documenting the
architectural remains and soon discovered T-shaped pillars facing south-east. Some of these pillars had
apparently undergone attempts at destruction, probably by farmers who mistook
them for ordinary large rocks.[8

{Click here to read more!}

Related Links:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heV7CebZKw8

http://archaeology.about.com/od/huntergatherers/ss/Gobekli-Tepe.htm

Toddler’s Exceptional Basketball!

He’s a true champ!

to Ralphie

Reblogged from reepken:

Talking to you guys has caused my in-head-processor to meltdown, it has supergowed down through my lungs, leaving what's left of my brain to reside in my penis. I told you I wus schitzo-sophical (sophisticated? (dunnow...)), how many times do I have to remind you? Now I am convinced that my cat is an alien, and that he is talking to me, saying: "Relax, man, you wus thinking with your penis anyways, al he did was disconnecting and removing such questionable and inconvenient functions as there are, morals, values and what you humanoids refer to as common sense; there is no sense in it, actualy sense is not common, you should be glad your spinal chord has been by-passed, it moves so much faster, in fact; we'd like to remove your spine allong with the rest of your bone-structure all together, since you don't seem to have any use for it; the one thing you really need, you are lacking; a good sense of humor; you should visit www.ralphiesportal.me more often"

Read more… 62 more words

Here's to Brother Reepken, who's gone zany after visiting our site once too often. Cheers, Peter!

Life is short, ask the butterfly

Reblogged from Vicky Nanjappa:

Wonderful sentiment. beautiful picture. Thank you, Vicky.

Beauty Everywhere!

Mister Peter Scharpach of the site http://reepken.wordpress.com/ brought these wonders to my attention:

Exquisite photography by Diane Paquin Photographe:

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Along one of Diane’s pictures were these words, which I thought a wonderful poem, but are actually the lyrics to a song(Youtube link) by LOREENA McKENNIT:

The Mystic’s Dream…

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It’s there that my heart is longing for
All for the love of you

A painting hangs on an ivy wall
Nestled in the emerald moss
The eyes declare a truce of trust
And then it draws me far away
Where deep in the desert twilight
Sand melts in pools of the sky
When darkness lays her crimson cloak
Your lamps will call, call me home.

And so it’s there my homage’s due
Clutched by the still of the night
And now I feel, feel you move
Every breath is full
 So it’s there my homage’s due
Clutched by the still of the night
Even the distance feels so near
All for the love of you.

A clouded dream on an earthly night
Hangs upon the crescent moon
A voiceless song in an ageless light
Sings at the coming dawn
Birds in flight are calling there
Where the heart moves the stones
It’s there that my heart is longing for
All for the love of you.

New Beginnings

Reblogged from It's All About the Journey:

Have moved here to Wordpress, thanks to ralphiesportal.wordpress.com.  Thanks Ralphie, for your help. (Still working on it.)

Check out a dear friend of mine, Kathy's new blog, folks! Hugs from me.

LOOK at the elderly, – Pause

…then we might SEE…

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when t…he nurses were going through his meagre possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Melbourne.
The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem. And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this ‘anonymous’ poem winging across the Internet.
Cranky Old Man
What do you see nurses? . . .. . .What do you see?
What are you thinking .. . when you’re looking at me?
A cranky old man, . . . . . .not very wise,
Uncertain of habit .. . . . . . . .. with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles his food .. . … . . and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice . .’I do wish you’d try!’
Who seems not to notice . . .the things that you do.
And forever is losing . . . . . .. . . A sock or shoe?
Who, resisting or not . . . … lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding . . . .The long day to fill?
Is that what you’re thinking?. .Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse .you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am . . . . .. As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, .. . . . as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of Ten . .with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters .. . . .. . who love one another
A young boy of Sixteen . . . .. with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now . . .. . . a lover he’ll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty . . . ..my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows .. .. .that I promised to keep.
At Twenty-Five, now . . . . .I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide . . . And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty . .. . . . . My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other . . .. With ties that should last.
At Forty, my young sons .. .have grown and are gone,
But my woman is beside me . . to see I don’t mourn.
At Fifty, once more, .. …Babies play ’round my knee,
Again, we know children . . . . My loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me . . . . My wife is now dead.
I look at the future … . . . . I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing .. . . young of their own.
And I think of the years . . . And the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old man . . . . . . .. and nature is cruel.
It’s jest to make old age . . . . . . . look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles .. .. . grace and vigour, depart.
There is now a stone . . . where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass . A young man still dwells,
And now and again . . . . . my battered heart swells
I remember the joys . . . . .. . I remember the pain.
And I’m loving and living . . . . . . . life over again.
I think of the years, all too few . . .. gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact . . . that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .. . . . .. . . open and see.
Not a cranky old man .
Look closer . . . . see .. .. . .. …. . ME!!

The Importance of Time.

Inspirational Speaker/WriterBob Perks

Inspirational Speaker/Writer
Bob Perks

Someone on Experience Project found this and I decided to share (part of) it with you. The end of the story is particularly poignant and moved me.

A touching short story by Bob Perks:  http://www.bobperks.com

A young man learns what’s most important in life from the guy
next door. It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone his mother told him, “Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday.”

Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he
sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

….

To read more {Click here!}

Reblogged from Humanistic Paganism:

Click to visit the original post
  • Click to visit the original post

There are very few instances where scientific idea evolves into something most would deem “supernatural theory,” but ley lines followed such a path. Usually it is the other way around, where the inexplicable becomes scientific subject matter, i.e. the heavenly bodies, but since the proposition of their existence in 1921 by Alfred Watkins, ley lines have become a hot topic in the Pagan community.

Read more… 925 more words

Humanistic Paganism, consider this a link to their blog, which is a portal to a wide diversity of alternative interest groups. Bravo, B.T.!

A tour of the International Space Station!

From Youtube: (sent to me via email by a friend)

In her final days as Commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams of NASA recorded an extensive tour of the orbital laboratory and downlinked the video on Nov. 18, just hours before she, cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Aki Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency departed in their Soyuz TMA-05M spacecraft for a landing on the steppe of Kazakhstan. The tour includes scenes of each of the station’s modules and research facilities with a running narrative by Williams of the work that has taken place and which is ongoing aboard the orbital outpost.

Pull Down The Ivory Towers

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From The Flaming Vegan:

I know  that this is a depressing subject for a blog but there has been a lot in the news lately about  the poaching of wild animals so I felt moved by my anger and sadness to write about it. The news items lately have mainly featured  the  spate of killing by poachers of endangered species like rhino and elephants in Africa. Just recently an entire family of elephants, twelve of them (eleven adults and a calf) were brutally slaughtered in the Tsavo National Park in Kenya for their ivory. The family were ruthlessly gunned down by automatic rifles and their tusks were hacked out. In 2012 alone the number of elephants killed by poachers is believed to be 360, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

Shockingly, the illegal ivory trade is believed to be the highest it has been in two decades, since being banned internationally since 1989. Apparently there is a growing demand for ivory in Asia, particularly in China, among the expanding middle class. Organised crime syndicates are thought to be behind the buying up and smuggling of ivory into Asian countries such as China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and the Philippines. A report  shows that over half the illegal ivory ends up in China, where it is openly sold, despite certification which bans it. It is sickening to discover that most of the large-scale seizures of ivory fail to result in arrests and prosecutions which it obviously should do, so we need to really pile on the pressure to get these scumbags who deal in ivory to feel the full force of the law! Unbelievably, some are proposing lifting the international ban , in the wake of this growing demand for illegal ivory. How can we justify making something legal when it causes so much suffering and death to wild animals, and is  causing the near-extinction of certain species? What we need is better law enforcement against poachers and to deter consumers from buying it, not re-legalising it. Unfortunately, the very fact that it is banned and illicit is what makes it so desirable to many people. Why are the lives and well-being of other creatures of so little value?

Please sign this petition to keep ivory  illegal: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/779/245/607/keep-the-ban-on-elephant-ivory/

I gather that the park rangers in Africa are all armed and have a shoot-to-kill policy when it comes to poachers, which I am very pleased about! There was at least  one report of a poacher being shot dead recently in a stand-off with rangers, whilst trying to kill rhino. I don’t feel sorry for any poachers who die this way: after all, they have absolutely no mercy towards defenceless animals, they are hunting them for sheer human greed and vanity. So I say GO park rangers! Ah, if only the poachers were the endangered species, eh?

Sorry this is such a sad and angry blog, but I hope it has at least raised more awareness of the scale of this problem. Your votes and comments are much appreciated.

Picture courtesy of http://www.faceofmalawi.com

Poem Against the First Grade

Reblogged from Teacher as Transformer:

When I read this poem, I do so with care. George Venn wrote it in the voice of a six-year-old, but I can easily imagine anyone so excited about learning that they trip over their words and speak so fast words just run together. The poem reminded me of the way small children or a learner of any age, stops in mid-sentence and makes pronouncements in ways that do not always fit the conversation, but seem so right.

Read more… 244 more words

Lovely poem about the innocence of youth.

New Series of Yes, Prime Minister!

From the BBC

From the BBC

From The British Comedy Guide:

David Haig and Henry Goodman interview

The lovely and well-spoken Henry Goodman and  David Haig kindly gave up some of their valuable time to talk to The British Comedy Guide about the brand new series of Yes, Prime Minister. Here’s what we discussed…

Hi Gents. Could we start by asking you to introduce this revival?
Henry: Certainly. I play Sir Humphrey Appleby and I assist the Prime Minister – the famous Jim Hacker – played by my dear colleague David Haig here. What happens is we go off to Chequers for a weekend. Sir Humphrey has encouraged Jim not to invite certain members of the Government so he can manipulate him to take part in a deal. I don’t want to give everything away, but it’s a deal that will transform his future and save Britain.
David: And Europe!

Henry: Indeed. Jim then discovers Humphrey has his own nefarious reasons for wanting to do a deal… and the engine of the show takes off. I think it’s right not to give away everything, because the joy is that Humphrey has his own reasons for doing it, but the Prime Minister says ‘we can’t possibly do that, but how do we get out of the problem?’

To read more click the link up top!

Art Outdoors: Paint Fun

Reblogged from theimaginationmuscle:

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As with most of my ideas/projects there is rarely an enforced timeline for completion. I started this painting project in December 2011.

I finished the majority of the painting this week.

We use a large section from a fallen oak tree to cut the main body of the chair.

The chair topper adds neat detail.

 

 

 

 

 

Now for some random fun paint shots. 

Read more… 56 more words

Lovely artwork, congrats!

1. Skara Brae

Reblogged from HISTORY ZONE:

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The Neolithic village of Skara Brae was revealed during the winter of 1850 when a particularly ferocious storm battered Orkney. The combination of wind and extremely high tides stripped the grass from the top of a mound then known as Skerrabra. This revealed the outline of a number of stone buildings that, until 1868, the local laird William Watt of Skaill, excavated uncovering the remains of four ancient houses.

Read more… 629 more words

For those interested in history.

Lenticular clouds! – Wow.

From I fucking love science

From ScienceAlert.

From ScienceAlert.

Absolutely spectacular shot of lenticular clouds over the Sandwich islands.

Also known as altocumulus standing lenticularis, these are stationary, lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes. They are included in the middle layer cloud family because the bases of the clouds are stationed between about 2,000 and 7,000 meters. These clouds form when moist air is forced to flow up around mountains and large hills. The water is super cooled and condensed from air below the dew point temperature.

Pilots avidly try to avoid these clouds which cause extreme turbulence. The turbulence is caused by a rotor circulation. This circulation forms within the lee of the barriers (mountains or hills) or within a valley. The rotor is a type of lee eddy. The surface wind of the cloud is an opposite direction to the gradient wind. However, because of the large vertical air movements, sailplane and glider pilots favor these clouds which can give great vertical lift and climb to extreme altitudes for gliding.

Chevy Love

Reblogged from A p r o n h e a d -- Lilly:

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Outdated,

discarded,

once as orange as a pumpkin,

now more a cantaloupe—speckled one, at that.

Wind battered and dust rusted,

once showroom shiny,

now no one’s dream.

But I found you—you with your boy toy grill,

a faded smile in the fading light.

I found you alone by the side of the road,

and it was love at first blight.

Cute, I love it.

Forgotten Language By Shel Silverstein

Reblogged from Renard Moreau Presents:

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Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers.

Read more… 8 more words

Love it. My kinda writing!

FORMULERINGEN

Reblogged from adelaarwillem:

Er is sprake van steen
Er is taal
Die zich vermomt als stilte
Er is pijn
Geslagen in alle groei

En niets kan ons bevrijden
Van het lichaam van de tijd
--

Voor wie het allemaal niet bestemd is
Deze hand waarvan je afstamt
Dit woord waarop je afstemt

Je gaat het uit de weg
Vanwege het niet begrijpen

Kijk…

Read more… 1,451 more words

A masterpiece in Dutch from the father of a friend! Does this make him my adopted father, far away and not yet known, but still familiar?

Being Fat Is Officially Illegal In Japan

Reblogged from Renard Moreau Presents:

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Here is the link to the video: Being Fat Is Officially Illegal In Japan

Ahhumm, some people should NOT emigrate over there!

Reconnecting! – Pause.

Lipid bodies and peroxisomes

Lipid bodies and peroxisomes (Photo credit: TheJCB)

Practice makes perfect, but I’m a looooonggg way off.

To be truly alive, we must have a regular practice of connecting with the source.  We must engage with life and bring the passion and excitement of our inner world to manifest on the outer realm.  Connecting is not strictly a device of prayer, rather there are many ways in which people can experience the truth that they are much more than a mind and body.  We are spiritual beings in physical bodies, and when we get locked solely into the sensory and material aspect of life, we lose the intuitive beauty of our soul and the direct line of energy it is tapped into.

There are many people who, despite being biologically alive, are dead to the higher worlds.  They run around like emotional basket-cases, getting blown around by the currents of day to day affairs and focus themselves completely on the nonsense of physical gratification and temporal sensation.  They have been cut off from their source, or they do not attempt to bring it into their lives.  When people are cut off from their higher possibilities, their day to day existence turns into routine and lacks excitement.

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