UPDATES ARCHIVE FOR APRIL 2007
HOME PAGE	KLEINER'S KORNER FOR WEEK OF APRIL 30, 2007 THOUGHTS ON A SUNDAY MORNING At three minutes and four seconds after 2AM on the 6th of May this year, the time and date will be - 02:03:04 05/06/07. Of course, this does not apply to Europe and other parts of the world where their calendar is correct with the day/month/year order (meaning May 6 = 06/05/07). Outside of the USA though, this will happen for you on June 5 - 02:03:04 05/06/07. HMMM! “The Roman Catholic Church has effectively buried the concept of limbo, the place where centuries of tradition and teaching held that babies who die without baptism went. In a long-awaited document, the Church's International Theological Commission said limbo reflected an "unduly restrictive view of salvation". The 41-page document was published on Friday by Origins, the documentary service of the U.S.-based Catholic News Service, which is part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Pope Benedict, himself a top theologian who before his election in 2005 expressed doubts about limbo, authorized the publication of the document, called "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptised". The verdict that limbo could now rest in peace had been expected for years,” quoting Reuters. [Ed. Note: Oh, my Gawd! Who is going to tell all of those souls who have passed-on and are in limbo because of the Holy Mother Church? Religion = the great lie and great enslaver of society, ever! Does not matter which one.] link here 1. “REFLECTIONS OF ABSOLUTE ZERO” IN WASHINGTON STATE “If you want to really see quantum mechanics in action, you've got to turn the temperature down so low that even atoms stop moving. Physicists have come close to achieving this "absolute zero" state by using precision-tuned lasers, but the technique has only allowed researchers to freeze small groups of atoms at a time. Now members of an international team say they have managed to cool a dime-sized mirror to within one degree of absolute zero, the lowest laser-induced freeze yet achieved with a visible object. One of the greatest enigmas in physics is how matter can be governed by the four basic forces of nature--electromagnetism, which governs light, heat and electricity, the strong and weak nuclear forces, which bind atoms together, and gravity--and still follow the rules of quantum mechanics, which operate only at the subatomic level. In other words, scientists want to know how solid objects keep from flying apart when their atoms are also influenced by the chaotic nature of quantum physics. The major research obstacle has been that natural forces overwhelm quantum effects. The only way to cancel those forces entirely is to cool an atom down to absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius), where quantum forces apply exclusively. In an upcoming issue of Physical Review Letters, a team of physicists involved in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)--which is located in facilities in Washington State and Louisiana--reports that they have cooled a 1-gram mirror to about 0.8 degrees above absolute zero by combining two laser-cooling techniques. The first, called optical trapping, maintains the mirror in a precise position, while the second, called optical damping, cools it. There's still a long way to go before quantum effects can be observed, cautions lead researcher Nergis Mavalvala of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, but "the most important thing is that we have found a technique that could allow us to get large objects to ultimately show their quantum behavior for the first time," quoting Science Now. link here . 2. WASHINGTON LEADS AGAIN - "DEPLETED URANIUM: POISONING OUR PLANET” "On April 14, an event was held at Portland State University that was titled, "Our Poison Planet." One of the main focuses of the event was the effects of depleted uranium. Truthout's Geoffrey Millard and Lance Page were there and filed this story... Lori Brim has joined other parents, hundreds of other sick soldiers, legislators, research scientists and environmental activists who say the cause of their problems. Results from exposure to depleted uranium, a radioactive metal used in the Manufacture of U.S. tank armor and weapon casings. Health and environmental effects of depleted uranium are at the heart of scientific studies, a lawsuit in the New York courts and legislative bills in more than a dozen states (although not in Florida)," quoting Truthout. link here The Seattle P-I reported last year that earthquakes in the Hanford area [America’s nuclear waste dump along the Columbia River] were not adequately included in hazardous waste protection: link here And: link here And: link here [Ed. Note: No one even considered what will happen if the area is flooded from rising sea levels coming up the river and floating that nuclear waste, either!]. 3. “OUR POISONS, OURSELVES” “The author [David Ewing Duncan] is tested for 320 chemicals, from DDT to Teflon. My journalist-as-guinea-pig experiment is taking a disturbing turn. A Swedish chemist is on the phone, talking about flame retardants, chemicals added for safety to just about any product that can burn. Found in mattresses, carpets, the plastic casing of televisions, electronic circuit boards and automobiles, flame retardants save hundreds of lives a year in the United States alone. These, however, are where they should not be: inside my body. Åke Bergman, PhD, of Stockholm University tells me he has received the results of a chemical analysis of my blood, which measured levels of flame-retarding compounds called polybrominated diphenyl ethers…I ran the tests to learn what substances build up in a typical American over a lifetime, and where they might come from," quoting David Ewing Duncan who wrote "The Pollution Within," which was originally published in National Geographic, October 2006. link here Further, "Evidence that pesticides can cause Parkinson’s disease is stronger than it has ever been after a meeting of experts who have put together links in animals and people, scientists say. One study shows that farm workers who used the common weedkiller paraquat had two to three times the normal risk of Parkinson’s, a degenerative brain disease that eventually paralyzes patients. A second study shows that animals exposed to paraquat have a build-up of a protein called alpha-synuclein in their brains. This protein has been linked to Parkinson’s in the past. A third piece of the puzzle shows that this buildup of protein kills the same brain cells affected in Parkinson’s. 'All of these pieces really look like they are coming together now,' Dr. William Langston, founder of the non-profit Parkinson’s Institute, told Reuters." link here . 4. MAJOR SUNSPOT ACTIVITY PREDICTED FOR 2010 A. GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM [GPS] OUTAGE COULD OCCUR AGAIN “It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. Mysteriously, on Dec. 6, 2006, Global Positioning System devices suddenly malfunctioned across large swaths of the planet. The good news is that the cause was not invading aliens. It was an intense burst of radio energy, called a solar flare, emitting from the sun’s surface. And there’s more good news — although the event temporarily knocked out many GPS receivers, no airplanes fell from the sky, and no ships lost their way at sea. But the event nonetheless generated concern among scientists... It’s more serious than we thought. We didn’t think this was going to happen until the next solar maximum, which is about 2011,” said Paul Kintner Jr., professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University and head of Cornell’s GPS Laboratory. “We’ve been monitoring solar flares for four years. [The Dec. 6 event] suggests that monitoring has been inaccurate. And we don’t have a good historical basis for predicting what’s going to happen, so we’re concerned.” link here B. NASA- “SOLAR STORM WARNING” “This week [March, 2006] researchers announced that a storm is coming--the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)…Dikpati's prediction is unprecedented. In nearly-two centuries since the 11-year sunspot cycle was discovered, scientists have struggled to predict the size of future maxima—and failed… The key to the mystery, Dikpati realized years ago, is a conveyor belt on the sun. We have something similar here on Earth—the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, popularized in the sci-fi movie The Day After Tomorrow. It is a network of currents that carry water and heat from ocean to ocean--see the diagram below. In the movie, the Conveyor Belt stopped and threw the world's weather into chaos… The sun's conveyor belt is a current, not of water, but of electrically-conducting gas. It flows in a loop from the sun's equator to the poles and back again. Just as the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt controls weather on Earth, this solar conveyor belt controls weather on the sun. Specifically, it controls the sunspot cycle. Solar physicist David Hathaway of the National Space Science & Technology Center (NSSTC) explains: "First, remember what sunspots are--tangled knots of magnetism generated by the sun's inner dynamo. A typical sunspot exists for just a few weeks. Then it decays, leaving behind a 'corpse' of weak magnetic fields." Like most experts in the field, Hathaway has confidence in the conveyor belt model and agrees with Dikpati that the next solar maximum should be a doozy. But he disagrees with one point. Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011,” quoting NASA. link here C. NEW 3D VIEW OF SUN TO SHED LIGHT ON SOLAR STORMS "NASA released the first three-dimensional images of the sun Monday [April 23], saying the photos taken from twin spacecraft may lead to better predictions of solar eruptions that can affect communications and power lines on Earth...The images from the STEREO spacecraft (for Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) are available on the Internet and at museums and science centers nationwide," quoting the AP. [Ed. Note: The pictures are a must-see!] Thep ictures from NASA: link here . 5. "AN ISLAND MADE BY GLOBAL WARMING" "The map of Greenland will have to be redrawn. A new island has appeared off its coast, suddenly separated from the mainland by the melting of Greenland's enormous ice sheet, a development that is being seen as the most alarming sign of global warming. Several miles long, the island was once thought to be the tip of a peninsula halfway up Greenland's remote east coast but a glacier joining it to the mainland has melted away completely, leaving it surrounded by sea. Shaped like a three-fingered hand some 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it has been discovered by a veteran American explorer and Greenland expert, Dennis Schmitt, who has named it Warming Island (Or Uunartoq Qeqertoq in Inuit, the Eskimo language, that he speaks fluently). The US Geological Survey has confirmed its existence with satellite photos, that show it as an integral part of the Greenland coast in 1985, but linked by only a small ice bridge in 2002, and completely separate by the summer of 2005. It is now a striking island of high peaks and rugged rocky slopes plunging steeply to a sea dotted with icebergs," quoting UK's Independent. link here . 6. AUSTRALIA DROUGHT CAUSING STRICT MEASURES “The Australian government warned Friday [April 20] that a threat to cut off water to drought stricken farmers in the country's southeast could trigger a fivefold increase in farm produce prices. Prime Minister John Howard, releasing a new report on the health of the Murray-Darling rivers, said Thursday [April 19] that the current dry spell was "unprecedentedly dangerous" for Australian farmers and the economy as a whole... But the country's worst drought on record has reduced the rivers to a trickle, crippling Australia's farming sector and forcing many cities and towns to enact drastic water restrictions as reservoirs dry up. Howard said there would be water only for "critical urban supplies" plus farmers' domestic use and watering stock. National Farmers' Federation chief executive Ben Fargher said that thousands of farmers could lose their citrus, almond and olives trees if they cannot be watered this year - losing production for more than five years,” quoting the AP. link here . 7. “SUDDEN SEA LEVEL SURGES THREATEN ONE BILLION” “More than 1 billion people live in low-lying areas where a sudden surge in sea level could prove as disastrous as the 2004 Asian tsunami, according to new research presented on Thursday [April 19]. New mapping techniques show how much land would be lost and how many people affected by rapid sea level rises that are often triggered by storms and earthquakes, a U.S. Geological Survey [USGS]-led team determined. E. Lynn Usery, who led the team, said nearly one-quarter of the world's population lives below 100 feet above sea level -- the size of the biggest surge during the 2004 tsunami that pulverized villages along the Indian Ocean and killed 230,000 people,” quoting Reuters. link here The USGS Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS) Sea Level Rise animation maps: link here . 8. “WHERE EVEN THE TOILET IS HIGH-TECH” “...In the future, people no longer require bathroom tissue to clean themselves. In many parts of urban Japan, that future is now. Walk into a restroom at the opulent Omotesando Hills mall or the chic Matsuya department store in Tokyo's famed Ginza district, and you'll be struck by what you don't hear: the rattling of toilet paper being unspooled in the stall next door. That's because there's a new generation of toilets in place that clean you top to, er, bottom with a retractable, self-cleaning wand that shoots a jet of warm water. You control the temperature, pressure, and direction of that water with a keypad. Press another button, and the toilet dries you off with a blast of warm air. Even though these toilets-made by companies such as Toto, Inax, and Matsushita Electric-cost $500 to $5,000, millions of Japanese families have installed them in their homes. Toto has sold more than 20 million of these toilets since 1980, and industry-wide nearly 3 million of them are sold every year,” quoting US News & World Report. link here . 9. COCOA LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE “Drinking a traditional cup of cocoa at bedtime can help to lower blood pressure as effectively as prescription medications, researchers say. Foods rich in cocoa, such as dark chocolate, also appear to improve circulation and reduce the risks of heart attacks, but drinking tea may not, an analysis of several studies suggests. Polyphenols or flavonoids, chemicals found in cocoa and tea, are thought to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Dirk Taubert and colleagues at the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany, conducted a meta-analysis of ten previously published trials, five of cocoa’s effects on blood pressure and five involving tea…The findings are published to-day in the American Medical Association’s Archives of Internal Medicine,” quoting The Times (UK). link here . 10. “MAXIMUM SECURITY EDUCATION” “The United States is good at getting criminals into prison: we have over two million people incarcerated right now, more than any other Western country. But what we're not good at is keeping them out once they've served their time—half of all ex-cons end up right back in the penitentiary. No one doubts that one of the best ways to rehabilitate criminals is through educating them while they're in prison, but who wants to pay for prisoners to go to college when most people have trouble coughing up money for their own kids' education? Correspondent Bob Simon found one college that does. Bard, an elite private college is offering true liberal arts degrees to some inmates in New York State. It's not what you’d imagine goes on behind the bars of a maximum security prison. And by the way, the program doesn't cost taxpayers a dime,” quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. [Ed. Note: this is a story not to be missed. And, an enlightened one, at that!] link here . 11. "RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING THE COGNITIVE SKILLS OF THE PRIMATES” "Four-year-old Bernas isn't the computer wizard his mom is, but he's learning. Just the other day he used his lips and feet to play a game on the touch-screen monitor as his mom, Madu, swung from vines and climbed trees. The two Sumatran orangutans at Zoo Atlanta are playing computer games while researchers study the cognitive skills of the orange and brown primates. The best part? Zoo visitors get to watch their every move," quoting MSNBC. link here . 12. “HARRY HOUDINI’S (EHRICH WEISS) BODY TO BE UNEARTHED" “Why is Harry Houdini's great-nephew having his body dug up? On March 26 2007, legal paperwork was filed to allow forensics specialists to dig up the body of Harry Houdini in order to find out whether he died of a ruptured appendix, as was previously believed, or if he was poisoned by his enemies for debunking their claims about communicating with the dead,” quoting Scientific American. link here . RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS A. The RSE Newsletter for April is out and packed with knowledge! link here B. Miceal Ledwith’s Bleeping Herald columns this month is titled “Atheism: Humanity’s loss”. link here Dr. Ledwith’s expanded website: link here C. Nice to see Mark Vicente’s comments on this edition of the Bleeping Herald. Mark, where have you been hiding? link here "Mark Vicente lives in New York and spends his time making movies and studying the human psychodynamic. His aim is to apply that understanding to create motion pictures to shift human perception and consciousness." link here D. The web page with Ramtha's appointed Teachers has been recently updated: link here E. Greg Simmons is offering a Mother's Day opportunity - Give a gift of his book These Things You Shall Do ... AND GREATER and he will sign a copy and have it mailed to your mother. When you place your order, put the mother’s name in “quotes” and place your order by May 5th so that she will receive hers by her big day! link here . LOCAL NOTES Stories covered on Yelm’s FIRST Community blog last week were: A. Thurston County roads projects on tap. B. Planning Commission to draft Traffic Chapter C. Clearwood Community considering cell tower D. Yelm Happeings in recent days E. Budget cuts affect Nisqually Refuge F. Washington State's first statewide shred-a-thon program G. Children's School of Excellence (CSE) newly updated website H. Thoughts on a Sunday morning -- about Yelm link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." Charles Darwin (1809-1882) English Naturalist and Author of the theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1871. . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com . KLEINER'S KORNER FOR WEEK OF APRIL 23, 2007 JIB JAB GUYS BRING HUMOR TO SERIOUS ISSUES OF THE DAY -- AGAIN "The Drugs I Need" link here And, "What We Call News" link here On Wednesday, April 25, you can learn the answer by watching his [Bill Moyers] newest documentary, "Buying the War," broadcast live on your local PBS station. Just before the screening, Moyers will be available to answer your questions during an exclusive conference call with Free Press activists around the country. link here 1. "THE GREAT OCEAN CONVEYOR - THE ACHILLES HEEL OF THE CLIMATE SYSTEM?" "The global ocean is not a static pond, but a body in constant motion. Winds blow across its surface, generating waves and currents, while the pull of gravity gently sloshes it back and forth in a lunar rhythm of tides. But beneath these familiar surficial motions lies an enigmatic process which has profound implications for climate: the Great Ocean Conveyor (also called the thermohaline circulation). The Conveyor is one of the great unknowns in humanity's unintentional climate change experiment. The Conveyor is slow-moving - at most, 10cm per second - but its vast extent includes a flow equivalent to 100 Amazon rivers. On average, 30 million cubic metres of water enter the Conveyor every second...If not for the North Atlantic loop of the Conveyor, European winters would be much colder. Berlin might have the climate of Edmonton, which lies at the same latitude, while Stockholm might be more like Iqaluit... "Global warming" may cause severe local cooling It is well accepted that the earth - as a whole - is warming as a result of human activity. Ironically, the lessons of distant earth history show that warming may cause a sudden drop in temperature around the North Atlantic... If greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise rapidly, the chances of the NADW (North Atlantic Deep Water Conveyor) shutting down - or of some other abrupt change - will continue to grow," quoting the Davis Suzuki Foundation. link here . 2. "WATER IS UP FOR GRABS IN THE UNITED STATES....." Two weeks ago, you read here about THIRST: The Movie. "Now THIRST, the book, picks up where the documentary left off, revealing the emergence of controversial new water wars here in the United States," quoting their site. link here . 3. WANT TO HELP CLEAN UP EARTH? The Washington State Toxics Coalition has a fabulous site listing toxic items we all use in our homes everyday. Changing the use of these items can help. link here . 4. EARTH'S ANIMALS SHOWING 'BIZARRE' BEHAVIOR A. "...SCIENTISTS MONITOR LONGEST MAMMAL MIGRATION” “Marine scientists recently published a research paper in the science journal, biology letters, that found humpback whales migrate over 5,100 miles from Central America to their feeding grounds off Antarctica; a record distance undertaken by any mammal. Kristin Rasmussen, a biologist with Cascadia Research Collective, and lead author in the study, finds the record-breaking migration interesting, but is most pleased that the study validates a long held assumption that humpback whales travel to warm water areas during the winter,” quoting Science Daily. link here B. SEA LION ATTACKS GIRL "A sea lion leaped out of the sea and attacked a 13-year-old girl as she surfed behind a speedboat off Australia's west coast, a newspaper reported Sunday [April 15]. A marine scientist said the attack by the sea lion, which can grow to more than 880 pounds in weight but usually stay away from humans, was bizarre and that the sea lion may have been trying to play with the girl. Ella Murphy had her jaw broken and lost three teeth after the sea lion attacked her on Friday as she was being towed on a surfboard behind a speedboat at Lancelin, a town 80 miles north of the Western Australia state capital of Perth, The Sunday Times newspaper reported. link here . 5. UN: “MILLIONS FACE HUNGER FROM CLIMATE CHANGE: REPORT” “Warming temperatures could result in food shortages for 130 million people by 2050 and threaten to cause drought and higher seas in Australia and New Zealand by 2030, according to a UN report released Tuesday [April 10]. The climatic changes threaten ecologically rich sites like the Great Barrier Reef and sub-Antarctic islands, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A summary of the full, 1,572-page document written and reviewed by 441 scientists was released Friday [April 6]. The latest document, the second of four reports including the summary, tries to explain how global warming is changing life on Earth. Further details were unveiled Tuesday in a series of regional press conferences around the world,” quoting the AP. link here . 6. “AN ARID WEST NO LONGER WAITS FOR RAIN” “A Western drought that began in 1999 has continued after the respite of a couple of wet years that now feel like a cruel tease. But this time people in the driest states are not just scanning the skies and hoping for rescue. In Spring Valley, Nev., a proposed pipeline would carry groundwater from this northern ranching region to serve Las Vegas's growing population. Some $2.5 billion in water projects are planned or under way in four states, the biggest expansion in the West's quest for water in decades. Among them is a proposed 280-mile pipeline that would direct water to Las Vegas from northern Nevada. A proposed reservoir just north of the California-Mexico border would correct an inefficient water delivery system that allows excess water to pass to Mexico. In Yuma, Ariz., federal officials have restarted an idled desalination plant, long seen as a white elephant from a bygone era, partly in the hope of purifying salty underground water for neighboring towns. The scramble for water is driven by the realities of population growth, political pressure and the hard truth that the Colorado River, a 1,400-mile-long silver thread of snowmelt and a lifeline for more than 20 million people in seven states, is providing much less water than it had,” quoting the New York Times. link here . 7. USA’S WATERWAYS LACED WITH PRESCRIPTION DRUGS “The U. S. Geological Survey says its recent studies of the nation’s waterways are detecting trace levels of chemicals commonly found in prescription drugs. It is suspected that most of it comes from discarding medications into household toilets, which is typically recommended as the safest way to dispose of unwanted or expired medications. A recent article in the AARP Bulletin says trace levels of chemicals from these drugs were found in 80 percent of the streams across the country,” quoting Costco Connection Magazine. link here then click on the April, 2007 magazine on the left, then click "Consumer Connection 11", then see story titled "No drugs down the drains". 8. “BUILDING STONEHENGE – THIS MAN CAN MOVE ANYTHING” “Wally Wallington has demonstrated that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs and moved a barn over 300 ft. What makes this so special is that he does it using only himself, gravity, and his incredible ingenuity,” quoting You Tube. link here [Ed. Note: Is this the secret of Coral Castle located south of Miami? link here ] . 9. “SECRET SCIENCE ANTI GRAVITY REVEALED HOMEMADE” “Levitation with only a CELLULLAR PHONE and battery. You can make this at home!!!!!” quoting MetCafe. link here . 10. ECONOMICAL, ELECTRIC SCOOTERS ARE HERE! “Welcome to eGO, home of the award winning eGO and Helio electric cycles. eGO and Helio electric bicycles are energy efficient, practical and fun! How can an eGO or Helio electric motor scooter make your busy life a little more fun?” quoting eGo vehicles. link here [Ed. Note: When sunspots are occurring disrupting electricity, then bring out pedal power link here ]. 11. “OUT WITH THE LAWN, IN WITH THE EDIBLES” “Gesturing to a patch of dirt lined by rocks and driftwood, Megan Haas proclaims that basil will spring forth from the soon-to-be "pesto section" of her petite front yard. Where a lawn once greeted visitors to Haas' modest Central District house, hardy oregano, thyme, and rosemary already are thriving. Lettuces and chard are sending out tender leaves that unfortunately invite a party of slugs,” quoting the Seattle P-I. DIG INTO URBAN FARMING [Ed. Note: These are just some of the sites listed for ideas of gardens in an urban setting for Seattle. Check you local city's sources for listings in your city.] Seattle Tilth: link here Seattle Urban Farm Co.: link here P-Patch Community Gardens: link here WSU King County Extension: link here P-I garden experts: link here Fritz Haeg's Edible Estates: link here link here . 12. “FREEING A LOCKED-IN MIND” “The patient opens her eyes, but they are unfocused. She is awake yet apparently unaware of anything going on in the hospital room around her. After the accident, she lies in her bed, unresponsive, day after day. What is she thinking? Soon we may be able to communicate with such "locked-in" minds--trapped in bodies that no longer respond to their mental control. In a blitz of publicity last fall, a team of British researchers announced they had imaged the brain of one of their "vegetative" patients and discovered that she was in fact conscious and aware. Now that same team has developed a way to ask yes-or-no questions of such patients. The idea is radical: We might soon be able to reach a number of people, including 250,000 Americans, who suffer from consciousness disorders--patients who, until now, had been considered beyond treatment,” quoting SCIAM. link here . RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS A. DAVE ROSS INTERVIEW WITH JZ KNIGHT NOW EASILY ACCESSED ON RAMTHA.TV JZ Knight's interview along with Aries Hygaard on KIRO 710 radio's Dave Ross Show is online at: link here RSE's page about the UW contest and 2 CSE award winners is at: link here B. GREG SIMMONS ON TELEPHONE CONFERENCE THIS WEEK On April 26th @ 7pm PST, Greg Simmons will discuss his first book, These Things You Shall Do and GREATER: The Physics of Change. Greg Simmons is an appointed teacher of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. He teaches students the practical applications of Ramtha's ancient philosophy through specific disciplines. He has been a student in the school since 1982 and an appointed teacher since 1998. He has a degree in psychology and postgraduate studies at the Burklyn Business School. He has been the marketing director of RSE for the past sixteen years and, since 1999, a principal teacher and project leader for the World Tour Retreats, having trained tens of thousands of students in twenty foreign countries. Greg says, "What I have to offer is insights into the mystery of the human condition and a 'way out' for those willing to take the challenge. The way out is simple in theory but made extremely difficult because of the investment each of us has in our accepted, controlled reality.” See you on the other side of S.H.O.C.K.: Seeking Higher Omnipotent Conscious Knowledge! link here Greg's April newsletter is just out and packed with fabulous knowledge: link here . LOCAL NOTES These stories were covered on Yelm's Community Blog last week A. Cell phone use in cars likely to see new limits in WA. B. Local art show April 21 featuring the work of Neil Kaber C. Congressman Adam Smith to visit our area D. Former Mayor Kathy Wolf passes E. Local-based interent business upgrades website F. "Robust business growth puts Olympia on Forbes list" G. Guest Entry: Bruce Smith writes about local beekeepers being vigilant H. Happy 10th anniversary to Ylem's Chinese Wok I. Rep. Jim McCune to visit area link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening, When I counted my scanty store; For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have paid.” Jessie B. Rittenhouse (1869 - 1948) American poet and author From “My Wage,” The Door of Dreams, p. 25 (1918).. Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com . KLEINER'S KORNER FOR WEEK OF APRIL 16, 2007 EARTH DAY, 2007 is Sunday, April 22. Learn more from Earth Day Network (EDN): link here "WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?" Lee Iacocca, author of the original business management best-seller, is giving President Bush an "F" in leadership. In a book to be released Tuesday, the former Chrysler CEO -- who supported Bush's first campaign in 2000 but backed Sen. John Kerry four years later -- accused Bush of leading the nation to war "on a pack of lies" and lacking the basic components of good leadership. 'I think our current President should visit the real world once in a while,' Iacocca writes, according to excerpts from "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" released on the Web site of publisher Simon & Schuster," quoting the Detroit News. link here 1. “ELECTRONS HAVE FREE WILL” This writer read this important story in SEED Magazine link here . Here is a quote: "Free will has traditionally been reserved for big things, like brains and people. But what if free will were embedded in the very essence of everything? What if elementary particles--matter in its most minute form--were also endowed with some existential elbow room? John Conway and Simon Kochen, two Princeton mathematicians, have given this strange idea an elegant mathematical proof. ...After acknowledging their debt to various quantum paradoxes (like quantum entanglement), they argue that "the particles' response to a certain type of experiment is not determined by the entire previous history of that part of the universe accessible to them." ...What then, is determining the outcome of the experiment? The obvious yet absurd answer is that particles themselves are determining the outcome. As Conway and Kochen write, "No theory can predict exactly what these particles will do in the future for the very good reason that they may not yet have decided what this will be!" And, I did research to verify the authenticity: “Two Princeton mathematicians have cast new light on the question of whether the behavior of particles in the universe is predetermined. In research that is not yet finalized, they have also posited an unexpected link between the answer to this question and a centuries-old debate over human free will. The professors, John Conway and Simon Kochen, have proven what they call the Free Will Theorem. It says that given three assumptions, if particles' behavior is truly predetermined, then people cannot have free will. In other words, if the behavior of a particle is fully determined by its past, so too are all the so-called decisions people believe they are making. Conversely, if even one experimenter in the universe can make decisions that are not fully determined by the past, then every particle in the universe must be indeterminate as well, the theorem states. '[The theorem] may cause people to rethink some things that they've basically known all along,' said Philip Anderson, a University physics professor and 1977 Nobel Laureate in physics. 'It may cause me to rethink some things that I've basically known all along.'...Conway and Kochen said they believe that people have free will and thus they accept that the universe does have inherent indeterminacy. But they point out that others can suggest a determinate universe, as long as they also reject at least one of the three assumptions, or free will itself. 'Therefore, if you really take free will seriously, the universe is full of it,' Conway said. The most controversial aspect of the new theorem is likely to be the use of the term "free will" to describe a particular choice an experimenter can make. To many, the term belongs more to philosophy than to physics,” quoting the Daily Princetonian. link here The Free Will Theorem can also be found on Wikipedia: link here . 2. FAMILY USES RAMTHA’S TEACHINGS TO HEAL PARAPLEGIC SON "Brett McLean was diagnosed as a complete paraplegic in 2005 after spinal surgery. His doctors informed him and his family that he would never walk again. However, this young man is walking today, thanks to his parents’ application of healing techniques learned at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment. The Toowoomba Chronicle of Queensland, Australia, reported this story February 19, 2007: “The 25-year-old Toowoomba man now runs, swims, rides a bike, plays basketball and wrestles his little brother Ryan. His recovery has confounded the medical profession. However, parents Lynn and Bruce are quietly confident they can explain what science can't...Mrs. McLean explained, “I went to America to learn an advanced technique based on the power of the mind, and worked with Brett. Every night Brett would tell his body to repair the damage, and we refused to allow the hydraulic lift because it seemed like it was accepting that he couldn’t walk. One month later, he wriggled his toes.” link here "In a letter to Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment (RSE), Lynn McLean stated, “I came over [to RSE] specifically to learn the Blue Body® dance for Brett when he was in hospital. I remember putting something on the notice board while I was there about Brett being in hospital. On my arrival back home I instructed the doctors that they were not to tell Brett he would never walk again and every night told Brett to instruct his body to heal and to imagine himself running. I thought everyone over there may be interested in this story.” Ramtha has been teaching his message of hope, personal empowerment, and healing openly since he began channeling through JZ Knight three decades ago. Many people have experienced extraordinary events and changes in their lives as a result of these teachings. Blue Body® is the registered service mark taught at RSE of Ramtha’s healing teaching and technique. This service mark safeguards its authenticity and originality," quoting the Ramtha School's Press Release." . 3. RAMTHA SCHOOL STUDENTS' DREAM COMES ALIVE “Angel Covers UK is a British based charity committed to improving the lives of orphans and children living in extreme poverty,” quoting their website. link here Angel Covers UK is a sister organization to Angel Covers, which based in the USA link here Under the Angel Covers umbrella is Angel Cottage, which is the dream of three Ramtha School students from the UK: Jane, Vicky, and Lesley. “Angel Cottage is a refuge for vulnerable children and orphans. It was created to provide a safe haven for deaf children, as these children are frequently abused, abandoned, and neglected. Many are traumatized and withdrawn as a result of violent physical abuse or from years of being unable to communicate. The loving and supportive atmosphere of Angel Cottage, allows these children to develop trust and learn to express themselves within a safe and caring environment. With the increase of HIV and AIDs, more children are being orphaned or abandoned in the slum and the pressures on Angel Cottage are immense. Angel Cottage is no longer exclusively for deaf children, however due to limited resources accommodation is severely over-extended and cramped. Currently children are sleeping two or even three to a bed. Conditions are difficult and it is just not possible to squeeze even one more child into Angel Cottage. There are many children in very desperate situations waiting to be admitted. Their well-being and maybe even their lives depend on getting a place in Angel Cottage. A new Angel Cottage is urgently needed. Land has been purchased and foundations dug…but further funds are needed to complete this project. The new refuge, which will be home to 80 children, is outside the slum and will give the children room to play and to enjoy their childhood. Angel Cottage provides a safe and loving home for children who have been orphaned, abandoned or whose parents are currently unable to care for them,” quoting their website. link here . 4. "THE RELENTLESS ITCH ... SCIENTISTS ARE DEVELOPING NEW THERAPIES" "It happens to all of us — beginning, perhaps, as a little tickle, hardly noticeable. Maybe you're in an important meeting and you don't want to fidget. Or maybe your hands are full. So you try to ignore it, but the sensation grows — an irritating, niggling feeling that gradually occupies more and more of your attention. Finally, you can't take it any longer. You have to scratch the itch. Itching is as fundamental a sensation as pain and hunger, one we share with other creatures: "Every two-legged and four-legged animal itches and scratches," says Dr. Gil Yosipovitch, a dermatologist at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. Yet for such a seemingly simple sensation, it's also surprisingly complicated. Scientists have long wondered why pain — for example, from scratching — relieves an itch. They've searched for the nerves that send the itchy signal to the brain, and they've wondered what switches those nerves on and off… Today, a small group of dermatologists and neuroscientists are starting to look at the biological mechanisms that lie behind itching. As they do so, they are finding curious overlaps between itching and that different-seeming sensation, pain. Though sometimes pain is itching's opposite, the latest findings are showing more and more similarities between the two. And as they begin to understand the sensation's biology, dermatologists — including ones at the world's only clinic dedicated entirely to the treatment of itch — are developing new therapies for people who suffer the torment of chronically itchy hides.... For many people, the itchiness also prevents them from sleeping. In a study in 2002, Yosipovitch found that 84% of 102 eczema patients had trouble falling asleep due to itching... Lack of sleep due to itching can affect people's physical health, Yosipovitch says. "It affects even mortality," he says," quoting the LA Times. link here . 5. “PHYSICIST NEEDS $20,000 FOR TIME-TRAVEL EXPERIMENT” "The Seattle scientist who wants to test a controversial prediction from quantum theory that says light particles can go backward in time is, himself, running out of time. It's not a wormhole or warp in the space-time continuum. The problem is more mundane -- a black hole in the time-and-money continuum spawned by today's increasingly risk-averse, "performance-based" approach to funding research. ‘I guess you could say we're now living on borrowed time,’ wryly joked John Cramer, a physicist at the University of Washington. ‘All we need to keep going is maybe $20,000, but nobody seems that interested in funding this project.’ It's a project that aims to do a conceptually simple bench-top test for evidence of something Albert Einstein called "spooky action at a distance." The test involves using a crystal to split a photon, a light particle, into two reduced-energy photons that -- through careful manipulation -- Cramer thinks could reveal a flash of time traveling backward. The UW physicist has applied for funds from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Both agencies have, in the past, funded far-fetched ideas and, on occasion, had big hits -- such as the Internet," quoting the Seattle P-I. link here . 6. STEM CELL NEWS “SEX DIFFERENCES FOUND IN STEM CELLS” "Stem cells taken from the muscles of female mice are better at regenerating tissue than those taken from male mice, a new study finds. This revelation could have a major impact on the development of stem cells as therapies for many diseases and conditions. The discovery came when scientists who had done many studies with these muscle stem cells realized that all of the ones they had used came from female mice. They then did an experiment with both male and female cells to see if they would perform similarly," quoting Live Science. link here "BONE STEM CELLS TURNED INTO PRIMITIVE SPERM CELLS" "In a first step towards creating artificial sperm cells, researchers have turned human bone marrow tissue into primitive sperm cells. If these precursor cells can be coaxed into becoming fully functioning sperm cells, the technique could allow infertile men to father their own children, and even allow women to produce their own sperm. But experts caution that provoking the sperm precursors to fully mature presents a serious challenge," quoting New Scientist. link here . 7. “SOLAR POWER BREAKTHROUGH...” “New solar cells developed by Massey University don't need direct sunlight to operate and use a patented range of dyes that can be impregnated in roofs, window glass and eventually even clothing to produce power. This means teenagers could one day be wearing jackets that will recharge their equivalents of cell phones, iPods and other battery- driven devices. The breakthrough is a development of the university's Nanomaterials Research Centre and has attracted world-wide interest already - particularly from Australia and Japan. Researchers at the centre have developed a range of synthetic dyes from simple organic compounds closely related to those found in nature, where light-harvesting pigments are used by plants for photosynthesis,” quoting New Zealand’s Stuff website. link here . 7. “U.N. TO DISCUSS CLIMATE AS SECURITY ISSUE” "The U.N. Security Council will discuss potential threats to international security from climate change for the first time later this month. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, the current council president, said Wednesday [April 4] the meeting will highlight "what a sensitive, difficult issue" climate change is and the importance of addressing its potential security ramifications -- from rising temperatures increasing water levels and swallowing up island nations to possible famine...British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett will chair the April 17 meeting and has invited the 14 other council nations to be represented at ministerial level if they wish, Jones Parry said. ‘The traditional triggers for conflict which exist out there are likely to be exacerbated by the effect of climate change,’ he said. The council will look at the impact of climate change on water, agricultural production, the potential for famine and crop surpluses, he said," quoting the AP. link here . 9. "CABLE LAID FOR NEW DEEP-SEA OBSERVATORY” "On April 1, 2007 researchers completed an important step in constructing the first deep-sea cabled observatory in the continental United States. In a multi-institution effort managed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) and funded by the National Science Foundation, 52 kilometers (32 miles) of cable were laid along the seafloor of Monterey Bay. This undersea cable will provide electrical power to scientific instruments, video cameras, and robots 900 meters (3,000 feet) below the ocean surface. It will also carry data from these instruments back to shore, for use by scientists and engineers around the world," quoting the Monterey Bay [CA] Aquarium Research Institute. link here . 10. "ENGINEERS CREATE 'OPTICAL CLOAKING' DESIGN FOR INVISIBILITY” "Researchers using nanotechnology have taken a step toward creating an "optical cloaking" device that could render objects invisible by guiding light around anything placed inside this "cloak." The Purdue University engineers, following mathematical guidelines devised in 2006 by physicists in the United Kingdom, have created a theoretical design that uses an array of tiny needles radiating outward from a central spoke. The design, which resembles a round hairbrush, would bend light around the object being cloaked. Background objects would be visible but not the object surrounded by the cylindrical array of nano-needles, said Vladimir Shalaev, Purdue's Robert and Anne Burnett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering," quoting Purdue University. link here . 11."NANOGENERATOR PROVIDES CONTINUOUS POWER BY HARVESTING ENERGY FROM THE ENVIRONMENT" "Researchers have demonstrated a prototype nanometer-scale generator that produces continuous direct-current electricity by harvesting mechanical energy from such environmental sources as ultrasonic waves, mechanical vibration or blood flow. Based on arrays of vertically-aligned zinc oxide nanowires that move inside a novel "zig-zag" plate electrode, the nanogenerators could provide a new way to power nanoscale devices without batteries or other external power sources. 'This is a major step toward a portable, adaptable and cost-effective technology for powering nanoscale devices,' said Zhong Lin Wang, Regents' Professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology," quoting Science Daily. link here . 12. FOLLOW-UP: WAS THE GOVERNEMENT INVOLVED IN 9/11? MORE! A. WAS WTC #7 A CONTROLLED DEMOLITION? See this site and check it out for your self: link here B. NEW VERSION OF 9/11 VIDEO LOOSE CHANGE TO BE DISTRIBUTED "A controversial new film about 9/11 is raising eyebrows, not only for its content, but also for the people involved in the project: Rosie O'Donnell and Charlie Sheen. The sitcom actor and talk show hostess have both become spokespeople for the 9/11 conspiracy movement. 'If the government is lying about flight 93, is it hard to believe the rest is a lie?’ That line can be heard on the video "Loose Change," which has been floating around the Internet for years, but now Sheen is in talks with Magnolia Pictures to narrate a new version of the video and redistribute it," quoting CBS News. link here From the Loose Change website: "This is where you'll find all the information you need on Loose Change, the independent documentary that has grown from a cult following to a grassroots organism that can no longer be contained. The central premise of Loose Change is that the United States Government was, at the very least, criminally negligent in allowing the attacks of September 11th, 2001 to occur. However, when one looks deeper into the evidence, one might come to the startling conclusion that our own government might have been directly responsible for the attacks themselves. Loose Change merely scratches the surface of information that points to a massive government cover-up regarding 9/11. We highly encourage you to take it upon yourself to research the events of 9/11 for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Loose Change is currently in two editions, with a third being developed for American theaters, intended to be released in 2007." link here C. NY911 TRUTH "NY 911 Truth is committed to educating the public on the alternative research on 9/11, obtaining a new, independent investigation of the attacks, and working to involve the wider public in this same effort." link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS A. JZ KNIGHT & ARIES HYGAARD EDUCATE SIMPLY ABOUT RSE ON RADIO INTERVIEW Aries Hygaard, age 5 from the Rainier, WA based Children's School of Excellence and a UW art contest student award winner [ link here ] was interviewed with JZ Knight on Seattle's CBS radio affiliate KIRO-710am, April 12, 2007. Host Dave Ross asked her to do a remote view and she identified a paper clip correctly on-air. Along with JZ's simple explanations about the observer and creating reality, this radio show is precious. Scroll to April 14, 2007 here for instructions on accessing the podcast. link here B. YELM TIMBERLAND LIBRARY WINTER READING PROGRAM AWARD WINNER IS RSE STUDENT Reva Geise was one of three lady winners of the Yelm Timberland Library's winter reading program. A total of 34 people entered locally and read an average of a dozen books each, 427 books total. Congratulations to Reva! C. SALMA HAYEK FORMS NEW PRODUCTION COMPANY WITH MGM "Salma Hayek and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. have formed a new production company, aiming to create movies that not only feature Latino themes and talent but have mass-market appeal. The company, Ventanazul, will be an equal partnership between the Mexico-born actress and MGM, according to a joint announcement Monday [April 9]. Under the deal, Hayek will be chief executive and her production partner, Jose Tamez, will serve as president. The company was expected to release between two and four films a year, with MGM handling marketing and distribution," quoting the AP. [Ed. Note: Congratulations to Ms. Hayek for this monumental achievement!] link here And this from Hispanic Business: link here . LOCAL NOTES On the Yelm Community Blog last week: A. YHS grad returns to hometown for performance B. Rainier art exhibition announced C. Yelm City Council rejects county tax increase to fight crime D. Yelm Park Advisory Committee still has openings E. State Senate passes hospital-acquired infections bill F. Yelm requests $3.5 million from state for railroad line upgrades G. Thurston County's Comprehensive Plan update I. Aries Hygaard on Dave Ross Show with JZ Knight J. Children's School (CSE) records a first Check-out all of these local stories and more: link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "No man is worth his salt in public life who makes on the stump a pledge which he does not keep after election." Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (1858 – 1919) 26th President of the USA In a speech at Osawatomie, Kansas August 31, 1910 . KLEINER'S KORNER FOR WEEK OF APRIL 9, 2007 SCIENTISTS BAND TOGETHER TO ISSUE THE WORLD "WARNING OF DIRE THREATS" "An international global warming conference approved a report Friday warning of dire threats to the Earth and to mankind — from increased hunger in Africa and Asia to the extinction of species — unless the world adapts to climate change and halts its progress. Africa will be hardest hit, the report concluded. By 2020, up to 250 million people are likely to exposed to water shortages. In some countries, food production could fall by half, it said. Agreement came after an all-night session during which key sections were deleted from the draft and scientists angrily confronted government negotiators who they feared were watering down their findings.... The final IPCC report is the clearest and most comprehensive scientific statement to date on the impact of global warming mainly caused by man-induced carbon dioxide pollution," quoting MSNBC. link here The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)website: link here "Winter Arctic sea ice this year was the second smallest area on record in a sign of greenhouse warming, U.S. climate scientists said on Wednesday [April 4]. Sea ice extent, or the area of ocean that is covered by at least 15 percent ice, was 5.7 million square miles in March, the Colorado-based National Sea and Ice Data Center said on Wednesday," quoting Reuters. link here 1. WATER SOON TO BE MORE VALUABLE THAN OIL? "THIRST investigates eight recent high-profile controversies over the corporate takeover of water in the U.S, and illuminates how citizens are fighting back in heartland communities like Stockton, CA, Lexington, KY, Holyoke, MA, and Mecosta County, MI. Political corruption, high stakes financial takeovers, and behind the scenes maneuvering by some of the richest corporations characterize a David and Goliath battle in which local citizens muster creative and often surprising organizing methods to preserve their right to local, public control of this precious resource. The PBS documentary Thirst showed how communities around the world are resisting the privatization and commodification of water. Now THIRST, the book, picks up where the documentary left off, revealing the emergence of controversial new water wars here in the United States. THIRST exposes the corporate attempts to: * Take over municipal control of water in communities around the country * Buy up rights to groundwater in the US * Create and corner the market on bottled water It also shows how people in affected communities are fighting back to keep water affordable, accessible, sustainable and public: * By creating new methods to challenge the corporate juggernaut in an age of globalization * By challenging tired clichés of Republican and Democratic political alignments We are at the tipping point in the new, global water wars. The United States is ground zero. What happens in the next few years will determine the fate of water and our basic democratic rights. THIRST is a battlefield account of the conflict,” quoting the website. link here Water Under Threat is a "...richly documented book [that] asks the major questions about the enormously important political and geostrategic issue of water. Does water have a price? Is it a right or a need? Is there a water crisis? Will wars be fought over water? Should we be worried about water pollution? Can the available technological solutions keep it under control? It also provides some elements of an answer. It shows that the ways in which water is used and managed raise central issues about our lifestyle, our ethics, and our relationship to nature and the biosphere. It makes the case for a society that is more economical with water, and calls for global management of water resources in a spirit of solidarity, openness, and respect for the rules of democracy," quoting Powell's Books. link here . 2. “ARCHITECT SAYS PYRAMID BUILT INSIDE OUT” “Ancient Egyptians built the 480-foot-high (146-meter-high) Great Pyramid of Giza from the inside out, according to a French architect. Based on eight years of study, Jean-Pierre Houdin has created a novel three-dimensional computer simulation to present his hypothesis. He says his findings solve the mystery of how the massive monument just outside Cairo was constructed. The 4,500-year-old tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, he concluded, was built using a ramp that spirals around the pyramid's interior 30 to 45 feet (9 to 14 meters) behind the exterior surface...," quoting National Geographic. link here And: "The secret of the construction of the pyramid of Khufu in Egypt has always held people in fascination. Numerous theories have been put forward but none has yet stood up to analysis. Eight years ago, the architect Jean-Pierre Houdin had a flash of intuition and developed a revolutionary theory. Considering Khufu' monumental undertaking as the first industrial construction project in history, he turned to Dassault Systèmes technology to test his hypotheses and feed his thought processes. So it was that he joined the 'Passion for Innovation' programme. Having demonstrated the validity of the theory with the aid of their scientific 3D solutions, Dassault Systèmes invite you to enjoy an extraordinary journey through time and space. Relive the Great Pyramid construction project in real-time 3D!" quoting Dassault Systèmes. link here . 3. "SHARP FREEZE" COULD HAVE KILLED OFF NEANDERTHALS IN EUROPE "A sharp freeze could have dealt the killer blow that finished off our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals, according to a new study. The ancient humans are thought to have died out in most parts of Europe by about 35,000 years ago. And now new data from their last known refuge in southern Iberia indicates the final population was probably beaten by a cold spell some 24,000 years ago. The research is reported by experts from the Gibraltar Museum and Spain. They say a climate downturn may have caused a drought, placing pressure on the last surviving Neanderthals by reducing their supplies of fresh water and killing off the animals they hunted," quoting the BBC. link here . 4. FOLLOW-UP: "STEPHEN WILTSHIRE-THE LIVING CAMERA" Covered here several times is Stephen Wiltshire- "Autistic savant draws perfect Rome" as seen on this terrific video: link here And, Stephen's website: link here . 5. "THE AGE OF WARMING" "If you were waiting for the day global warming would change the world, that day is here. It’s happening, far from civilization’s notice, in a place about as remote as you can get. Scientists believed Antarctica, at the bottom of the world, was too vast, too remote, to be bothered by climate change any time soon. But now glaciers are setting speed records for melting. Whole colonies of penguins are disappearing. Why does it matter? Antarctica is a climate giant, driving ocean and wind currents worldwide, with enormous potential to raise sea levels. To find out what’s happening down south, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley set out on an expedition; the first stop was the high mountains of Patagonia in Chile, where you can actually see a new age beginning," quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. link here . 6. GREAT ECONOMICAL IDEA FOR SHELTERS "The Domes for the World Foundation employs the use of Monolithic EcoShell Domes to help provide safe and sanitary shelter to those who most need it. The name “Monolithic” means “one piece” and refers to the Monolithic Dome Institute which developed the EcoShells. The name “Ecoshell” means “Economical, Eco-Friendly and Thin-Shell”. At DFT W we normally refer to these Domes as simply, EcoShells. EcoShells are constructed with 2 or 3 inches of concrete and a modest amount of rebar. EcoShells use less than 50% of concrete and rebar when compared to a conventional, rectangular building of the same square footage. The compound curve of the dome makes it stronger than virtually any other structure. They also takes less money and time to construct. EcoShells are constructed of readily available and environment-friendly materials. Trees and other local natural resources are conserved. Construction can be done by hiring local labor with very little special skills and/or equipment. These Domes are as disaster proof as a building can get. They will withstand tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, and fire. They cannot be burned, eaten by bugs or destroyed by mold. They will last for centuries. And because of the concrete’s thermal mass, interior temperatures remain stable," quoting Domes for the World. link here . 7. "WEBSITE CHECKS YOUR CLIMATE CHANGE RISK" "A computerized service that assesses global warming risks and other environmental threats is now available for any address in the contiguous USA. Three University of Arizona scientists won approval from the board of regents this month to create Climate Appraisal Services with an East Coast entrepreneur. They call it the first online, address-based tool for gauging climate-change hazards in the next 50-100 years. It also lists natural and man-made dangers, from hurricanes and earthquakes to pollution and disease. The service taps the scientists' own climate research, numerous public databases and studies, and data from about a dozen government agencies. Company CEO David Purcell hatched the idea after wondering what sea-level rise might do to coastal property he was seeking for a home," quoting USA Today. link here And, Climate Appraisal Services website: link here . 8. “SCIENTISTS CLOSE IN ON CANCER ENZYME” "For decades scientists have known that a certain enzyme is present in cancer cells. But now Australian researchers have made a major breakthrough. They've discovered that the enzyme is made up of just two proteins, and that will let them narrow their attack on the deadly cells. Hidden deep inside most cancer cells is an enzyme called telomerase, an ingredient which keeps tumours growing. For the last 20 years, scientists have been trying to work out what was in it, narrowing it down to around 30 possible proteins. Now Australian researchers have cracked the code. ‘What we found by purifying telomerase from human cancer cells is that in fact it contains just two proteins,’ lead researcher Dr Scott Cohen said. The breakthrough came when doctors at the Children's Medical Research Institute worked out how to purify the enzyme. They could then identify what its components were," quoting ABC News Australia. link here . 9. “SCIENTISTS GROW HUMAN HEART VALVE FROM STEM CELLS” ”In a world first, British scientists grew a human heart valve from stem cells. The breakthrough, which took a decade to achieve, was led by internationally renowned heart surgeon Sir Magdi Yacoub, a professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College London. Animals tests are scheduled for later this year. If they prove successful, this method could be available within a few years to treat heart disease patients, the Daily Mail reported. Yacoub and his team used chemical and physical means to coax bone marrow stem cells to grow into heart valve cells. They then placed the cells into scaffolds made of collagen and grew small discs of heart valve tissue. This research is a major advance toward the goal of growing an entire beating heart, the Daily Mail reported," quoting HealthDay in Forbes. link here . 10. FOLLOW-UP: MASS. WIND-FARM PASSES REGULATORY HURDLE "A controversial plan to build the first large U.S. offshore wind-power farm won approval from Massachusetts authorities on Friday [Mar. 30] but still must clear federal regulatory hurdles. Cape Wind Associates LLC, a privately funded Boston-based energy company, has proposed constructing 130 wind turbines over 24 square miles in Nantucket Sound, within view of the wealthy Cape Cod resort region of Massachusetts. The project, which would meet the energy needs of some 400,000 homes, "adequately and properly complies" with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act, said the state environmental affairs secretary, Ian Bowles. The wind farm would consistently generate 170 megawatts of electricity, enough to power about 75 percent of Cape Cod and the nearby islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. At its peak, the wind farm could generate more than 400 megawatts," quoting Reuters. link here . 11. "ENLIGHTENED CITY KNOCKS THE WORLD’S LIGHTS OUT” "More than half of Sydneysiders - as many as 2.2 million - switched off their lights to celebrate Earth Hour on Saturday night, a poll has found. No one saw this avalanche of support coming - only 65,000 households had pledged to support the event. ‘It gives you a lot of hope about humanity,’ said Andy Ridley, a spokesman for the organiser, WWF. In the city centre alone energy consumption fell 10.2 per cent between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, saving 24.86 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. Central Sydney's mighty effort is the equivalent of taking 48,613 cars off the road for one hour. The overwhelming success of Earth Hour has inspired WWF to make it an annual international event," quoting the Sydney Morning Herald. link here . 12. HIGHLIGHTING A NEW ONLINE PUBLICATION "The Global Intelligencer is one small piece of the puzzle. Its mission is to serve as an information clearinghouse for topics concerning individual, social, and global transformation, making it available on a monthly basis to a maximum number of people worldwide," quoting Publisher Cate Montana. link here . RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS JZ Knight will be the special guest on the Dave Ross Show [ link here ] on KIRO-710 am radio, the Pacific Northwest's leading talk-show. She will be joined on-air by one of the K-2 grade CSE student winners of a University of Washington neuroscience art contest with entries from the world over. [ link here ] You can listen in to the Live Stream from 10am until 11am PDT on Tuesday, April 10 from anywhere in the world. link here then click "Listen Live" You will get a “kick” out of this: RAMSTER SURVIVAL KIT KNIFE link here . LOCAL NOTES Covered on the Yelm Community Blog last week were these stories: A. What happened to America? B. Tenino Activities Update C. NASCAR Track dead in Kitsap County D. Court: Thurston needs to remain more rural E. Book: Company Towns of the Pacific Northwest F. Yelm jeweler wins design award G. New chiropractic office opens in area H. Emergency Preparedness Fair coming to Lacey I. Yelm officials: Do you dare think out of the box like this mayor? link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” Charles Dubois . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com . KLEINER'S KORNER FOR WEEK OF APRIL 2, 2007 WHAT HAPPENED TO AMERICA? “More than 100 Haitians are awaiting a final decision about their future after they reached the Florida shore at Hallandale Beach [near Miami] on Wednesday [March 28]. NBC 6's cameras were rolling Thursday morning as nearly a dozen Haitian refugees were loaded into a Department of Homeland Security van and taken to area detention centers," quoting Miami's WTVJ-TV. [Ed. Note: My parents awoke to a lot of commotion on the beach from hovering helicopters and looked out their condo to see this boatload of people not far away. My question is how this boat got all the way to the shores of South Florida and inside our coastal waters without detection until being beached some 20 miles north of Miami? Are we spending too much money on “search and seizure” and taking away liquid carry-ons of our own people at this nation’s airports and not enough on the Coast Guard and other border services? Further, what happened to America? Here these people risked life & limb to escape some of the world’s worst poverty and a life with no hope for a jewel in the distant, shining the light of promise. How could we, as a nation allow these people to be sent back to the world's bastion of human indecencies in Haiti for what will assuredly be a worst hell for them than they left? Except for the native American Indian, all of us in the United States are here because our ancestors braved not-to-dissimilar risks for a better life, the very foundation of this nation’s greatness as a melting pot. How can we graciously open our arms and welcome Cubans to stay here who make a much shorter journey across the Florida Straits to these shores under identical circumstances and yet send these Haitian folks back? While this story gets NO play in the media, they languor in a Miami area detention center. This is not about the politics of our immigration policies or border patrol. This is about what all of us have allowed America to become today. What a hypocrisy & a disgrace! I say let them in and welcomed as heros for the bravery they garnered to do this! They deserve no less...What say you?] link here 1. “NEWFOUND DATA COULD SOLVE NASA's GREAT GRAVITY MYSTERY” "It’s been years since NASA last heard from either of its two Pioneer Probes hurtling out of the solar system, but scientists are still debating the source of an odd force pushing against the outbound spacecraft. Dubbed the Pioneer Anomaly, the unexplained force appears to be acting against NASA’s identical Pioneer 10 and 11 probes, holding them back as they head away from the Sun…’I would like to see this story reach its finality,’ said Slava Turyshev, an astrophysicist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) who has spent the last 14 years—some of it on his own time—studying the Pioneer Anomaly. ‘So if it’s conventional physics, that’s fine and we can all go about our daily business. But if it’s something else, there may be another page.’ He and other fellow devotees discussed the astrophysics oddity late Monday [Mar. 26] during the Seventh Annual Asimov Debate here at the American Museum of Natural History,” quoting Space.com. link here . 2. “CASSINI IMAGES BIZARRE HEXAGON ON SATURN” "An odd, six-sided, honeycomb-shaped feature circling the entire north pole of Saturn has captured the interest of scientists with NASA's Cassini mission. NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft imaged the feature over two decades ago. The fact that it has appeared in Cassini images indicates that it is a long-lived feature. A second hexagon, significantly darker than the brighter historical feature, is also visible in the Cassini pictures. The spacecraft's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer is the first instrument to capture the entire hexagon feature in one image,” quoting NASA. link here . 3. DRUG CAN “WIPE OUT A SINGLE MEMORY” “A single, specific memory has been wiped from the brains of rats, leaving other recollections intact. The study adds to our understanding of how memories are made and altered in the brain, and could help to relieve sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of the fearful memories that disrupt their lives. The results are published in Nature Neuroscience. The brain secures memories by transferring them from short-term to long-term storage, through a process called reconsolidation. It has been shown before that this process can be interrupted with drugs. But Joseph LeDoux of the Center for Neural Science at New York University and his colleagues wanted to know how specific this interference was: could the transfer of one specific memory be meddled with without affecting others," quoting the journal Nature. link here The Journal Nature story (subscriber access only): link here . 4. “S. F. FIRST CITY TO BAN PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS” “Paper or plastic? Not anymore in San Francisco. The city's Board of Supervisors approved groundbreaking legislation Tuesday to outlaw plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets in about six months and large chain pharmacies in about a year. The ordinance, sponsored by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, is the first such law in any city in the United States and has been drawing global scrutiny this week,” quoting the San Francisco Chronicle. link here . 5. CAUSE OF LOW SPERM COUNT IN MEN BORN BETWEEN 1949-1983 IDENTIFIED "A new study suggests that low sperm count in American men born between 1949 and 1983 is strongly linked to their mothers eating a lot of beef while pregnant. The study is published in the journal Human Reproduction and was led by researchers at the University of Rochester in New York...The intention of the study was to look at the relationship between semen quality and risks due to growth hormones and other chemicals in beef...Professor of Obstetrics and Director of the Center for Reproductive Epidemiology at the University of Rochester Medical Center and lead author of the study, Dr Shanna H Swan said that the study's main contribution is that it raises an issue rather than identifies a cause," quoting Medical News Today. link here . 6. "FOR WOMEN, APPARENTLY THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THE SMELL OF A MAN’S SWEAT” “Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley said women who sniffed a chemical found in male sweat experienced elevated levels of an important hormone, along with higher sexual arousal, faster heart rate and other effects. They said the study, published this week [Feb. 8] in the Journal of Neuroscience, represents the first direct evidence that people secrete a scent that influences the hormones of the opposite sex," quoting Reuters. link here . 7. "NEW RADIATION LAWS STYMY EUROPEAN DOCTORS, LIMIT MRI USAGE" "New legislation intended to regulate radiation exposure introduced by the European Union will drastically decrease the use of MRI scans to diagnose and treat patients in EU countries, experts claim. The new rules, set to become law in 2008, are part of the European Union Physical Agents Directive, according to The Guardian. This organization was created in order to protect workers in the telecommunications and electricity industries from health complications associated with overexposure to electromagnetic radiation. The new guidelines are based on the advice of the International Commission on Non-ionizing Radiation Protection and the National Radiological Protection Board. The rules set a limit on the amount of radiation a person can be exposed to during a given time period," quoting The Cavalier Daily. link here . 8. “MERCURY IN ENERGY-SAVING BULBS WORRIES SCIENTISTS” “There's an old joke about the number of people it takes to change a light bulb. But because the newer energy-efficient kinds contain tiny amounts of mercury, the hard part is getting rid of them when they burn out. Mercury is poisonous, but it's also a necessary part of most compact fluorescent bulbs, the kind that environmentalists and some governments are pushing as a way to cut energy use. With an estimated 150 million CFLs sold in the United States in 2006 and with Wal-Mart alone hoping to sell 100 million this year, some scientists and environmentalists are worried that most are ending up in garbage dumps,” quoting Environmental News Network. link here . 9. “COLLAPSE OF ARCTIC SEA ICE ‘HAS REACHED TIPPING-POINT’” "A catastrophic collapse of the Arctic sea ice could lead to radical climate changes in the northern hemisphere according to scientists who warn that the rapid melting is at a "tipping point" beyond which it may not recover. The scientists attribute the loss of some 38,000 square miles of sea ice - an area the size of Alaska - to rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as to natural variability in Arctic ice. Ever since satellite measurements of the Arctic sea ice began in 1979, the surface area covered by summer sea ice has retreated from the long-term average. This has increased the rate of coastal erosion from Alaska to Siberia and caused problems for polar bears, which rely on sea ice for hunting seals. However, in recent years the rate of melting has accelerated and the sea ice is showing signs of not recovering even during the cold, dark months of the Arctic winter. This has led to even less sea ice at the start of the summer melting season. Mark Serreze, a senior glaciologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said the world was heading towards a situation where the Arctic will soon be almost totally ice-free during summer, which could have a dramatic impact on weather patterns across the northern hemisphere," quoting UK's Independent. link here . 10. "LACK OF ICE KILLS THOUSANDS OF SEALS..." "Thousands of harp seal pups are assumed dead in Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence due to the lack of ice floes, which mother seals require to nurse their pups successfully. Experts with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), who have been carrying out daily surveillance flights over the region, report that the Gulf of St Lawrence - the annual birthing ground for hundreds of thousands of harp seals - is devoid of both ice and seals," quoting UK's Independent. link here . 11. “COASTAL MEGA-CITIES IN FOR A BUMPY RIDE” “About 643 million people, or one-tenth of the world's population, who live in low lying coastal areas are at great risk of oceans-related impacts of climate change, according to a global research study to be released next month. The study, by researchers at Columbia University's Centre for International Earth Sciences Information Network and the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development, is the first of its kind. The researchers identified populations, particularly urban populations, at greatest risk from rising sea levels and more intense storms due to climate change. ‘Of the more than 180 countries with populations in the low-elevation coastal zone, 130 of them - about 70 percent - have their largest urban area extending into that zone,’ said Bridget Andersen, a research associate at CIESIN, in a statement. ‘Furthermore, the world's largest cities - those with more than five million residents - have on average one-fifth of their population and one-sixth of their land area within this coastal zone.’ …Although globally this zone accounts for only two percent of the world's land area, it contains 10 percent of the world's population and 13 percent of the world's urban population, the study found,” quoting IPS News. link here . 12. “THOUSANDS SIGN PHOTO RIGHTS PETITION” IN UK “More than 2,200 Britons have backed a Downing Street petition that lobbies against 'restrictions' on photographers' rights to take pictures in public, less than a week since it was launched. The 'e-petition' was set up on the No.10 website five days ago by Hampshire-based photographer Simon Taylor who said: 'I and many other photographers like me are getting increasingly frustrated at the restrictions imposed upon us, suspicion we suffer and the incorrect assumptions that are made,’” quoting Amateur Photographer. [Ed. Note: Is the USA next for a photo ban? Beware.] link here . LOCAL NOTES On Yelm’s blog last week: A. Support these local businesses - PCI Pest Control Sebastian’s Best – Fine European Pastries Dreamtime Visual Communications B. Nisqually Valley Home & Garden Show C. Preserve Thurston County’s Rural Heritage D. Senator Marilyn Rasmussen announces local town hall meetings link here . RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS The latest Bleeping Herald is now available with a fabulous column by Miceal Ledwith titled “Have the burial boxes of Jesus and Mary Magdelene been found?” link here And the Herald’s Homepage: link here Did you miss Dr. Ron Mallett’s talk at the RSE campus? If so, order his book today! link here Ramtha One on One Questions & Answers special one day events coming to Australia & Italy: link here And: link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) 3rd President of the USA . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com .