Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Ancient Civilizations? Check Out These Mysterious Structures Found On The Bottom Of The Ocean Floor


The Truth Wins | Apr 28, 2014 | Michael Snyder

In cultures all over the world, there are ancient stories about beautiful, prosperous cities that became submerged in the ocean and were never seen again.  The most famous of these is the story of Atlantis, but there are many others.  So could it be possible that some of these cities actually exist?  In recent years, modern technology has allowed humanity to investigate the ocean floor like never before.  As we have done so, we have made some incredible discoveries.  You are about to see some amazing mysterious structures that have been found on the bottom of the ocean floor all over the world.  Could these mysterious structures actually be evidence of very advanced ancient civilizations?  As we learn about these ancient civilizations, will this knowledge turn the conventional version of human history that we all learned in school upside down?

We live at a time when mind blowing discoveries are being made at a pace never seen before.  Just last month, I wrote about the megalithic ruins that have just been discovered in Russia that contain the largest blocks of stone ever found (even bigger than Baalbek).

Nobody can explain where those stones came from, who lived there, or how ancient humans could cut and move such massive blocks.

Well, similar things could be said about many of these mysterious structures on the bottom of the ocean floor…

The Ancient Underwater City Of Yonaguni-Jima, Japan
For as long as anyone can remember, residents of Okinawa have passed on stories of a vast underwater city to their children.  Most considered those stories to simply be myths.  But after what happened in 1986, that all changed
In 1986, a diver near the island of Yonaguni Jima, off the southern tip of Japan (around Okinawa) came across some strange structures about 25 metres below sea level.
They appeared to be stepped structures with terraces and ramps.

One of the largest pyramid structures is 600 feet wide and 90 feet high –with five separate levels of stone blocks with what appears to be road surrounding the structure.

Tool marks and carvings have been discovered upon the stones (and documented) which indicate that they have were constructed rather than being natural stone structures.

Masaaki Kimura, a marine geologist from Japan’s Ryukyus University, Japan has been studying and mapping the site for over 15 years and believes that the site is over five thousand years old – but was sunk during an earthquake two thousand years ago.
I have posted a YouTube video about these incredible ruins below.  As you can see, they truly are remarkable…


Dwarka – Off The Coast Of India
An incredible underwater city can be found just off the coast of India as well.  It is known as “Dwarka”, and at the longest point it stretches for five miles.  Once again, this city provides evidence of a highly advanced civilization in the ancient world…
The Bay of Cambay was discovered by marine scientists in early 2002. The city is located 120 feet underwater in the Gulf of Cambay off the western coast of India. The city is five miles long and two miles wide, carbon dating estimates the site to be a whopping 9,500 years old, and, more amazingly, architectural and human remains are still intact. The discovery astounded scientists because it predates all other finds in the area by 5,000 years, suggesting a much longer history of the civilization than was first assumed. Marine scientists used sonar images and sum-bottom profiling to locate the lost ruins and it is believed the area was submerged when the ice caps melted in the last Ice Age. The Indian nationals have dubbed the find ‘Dwarka’ (The Golden City) in honor of ancient submerged city said to belong to Hindu god, Krishna.
In the YouTube video posted below, you can learn much more about Dwarka…


Cuban Underwater City

In 2001, the BBC reported on the discovery of a “lost city” in Cuban waters…
A team of explorers working off the western coast of Cuba say they have discovered what they think are the ruins of a submerged city built thousands of years ago.
Researchers from a Canadian company used sophisticated sonar equipment to find and film stone structures more than 2,000 feet (650 metres) below the sea’s surface.
Some have speculated that this could be the location of the mythical city of Atlantis, but since 2001 follow up work has been slow.  The following is what Wikipedia has to say about this “lost city”…
Cuban underwater city refers to a site thought by some to be a submerged granite complex structures off the coast of the Guanahacabibes peninsula in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba.
Sonar images interpreted as being symmetrical and geometric stone structures resembling an urban complex were first recorded in early 2001 covering an area of 2 square kilometres (200 ha) at depths of between 600 metres (2,000 ft) and 750 metres (2,460 ft). The discovery was reported by Pauline Zalitzki, a marine engineer, and her husband Paul Weinzweig, owners of a Canadian company called Advanced Digital Communications, working on an exploration and survey mission in conjunction with the Cuban government. The team returned to the site a second time with an underwater video robot that filmed sonar images interpreted as various pyramids and circular structures made out of massive, smooth blocks of stone that resembled hewn granite. Zalitzki said “It’s a really wonderful structure which really looks like it could have been a large urban centre, However, it would be totally irresponsible to say what it was before we have evidence.”
Lake Huron

Did you know that there are ancient ruins under Lake Huron?

They have just been discovered.  According to USA Today, “an elaborate network of hunting blinds and animal-herding structures” has been found that is potentially thousands of years old…
Deep below the surface of Lake Huron, scuba-diving researchers have found an elaborate network of hunting blinds and animal-herding structures dating back roughly 9,000 years.

Lake levels of the day were some 250 feet lower, exposing a narrow bridge of land running from one side of Huron to the other. Prehistoric people evidently thought this isthmus was a perfect place to intercept caribou on their seasonal migrations. The hunting site they built, now inundated, opens a window onto prehistoric America and provides valuable evidence in a region where such artifacts are practically non-existent.
Underwater City Near Saipan
Thanks to Google Earth, ordinary people like you and I are able to examine our planet like never before.  For example, one gentleman named Scott Waring believes that he has been able to spot a massive underwater city near Saipan using Google Earth.  The following is what he had to say about what he discovered…
Hey guys, was looking over Google Earth and came across this remarkable looking underwater anomaly. The massive walls seem to go for about 50 miles, but long ways is about 250 miles. Sure these anomalies could be an ancient Asian civilization that sank under the ocean long ago, but it also could be an underwater alien base. Its size and location would insure millions could use it and since its in such a secluded area, few humans will ever see their UFOs leaving/entering the water.
Video of him discussing this discovery is posted below.  Check it out and come to your own conclusions…



I have a feeling that we are just scratching the surface of these underwater discoveries.  And since many of these sites have been totally undisturbed by human activity for thousands of years, we could potentially find some things that are absolutely mind blowing.

But the question is this – as more information about our ancient history comes to light, are you going to be able to handle it?

About the author: Michael T. Snyder is a former Washington D.C. attorney who now publishes The Truth. His new thriller entitled “The Beginning Of The End” is now available on Amazon.com.

Living in a World Where Your Appliances Spy on You

© TruthStream Media
TruthStream Media | Apr 29, 2014 | Melissa Melton

Imagine this happened to you.

You are fast asleep in the middle of the night, when suddenly you hear the voice of a strange man talking to your baby daughter… from inside her room.

You jump up and rush in there to find that, other than your infant sleeping in her crib, no one is there.

Then you hear him again, screaming, “Wake up, baby! Wake up!”

You focus on the source of the sound — your WI-FI baby monitor camera, which suddenly turns its lens on you without your prompt, so whoever has hacked it can scream obscenities at you in your own home in the middle of the night.

That’s what happened to one Cincinnati, Ohio couple just last week according to WBTV FOX19:
“Someone had hacked in from outside,” Heather said.

So how many other times had someone hacked into their camera and watched their baby through their Foscam IP Camera.

“You do kind of feel violated in a way,” Adam said.

According to tech experts, wireless IP cameras like the one the Shrieks have are an easy way for hackers to open a cyber door directly into your home.

“Any kind of Internet-connected device essentially could be subjected to this,” said Dave Hatter, a solutions expert for Infinity Partners.

And experts say once they get inside the camera in your home, hackers may also be able to get inside your lives.
They go on to recommend changing your password and making sure your software is up-to-date, but that’s it? Is that really going to make these parents feel safer about having a WI-FI, smartphone camera trained on their daughter?

The takeaway is, if you can use it to spy on your child, it can be used to spy on you. The same goes with all this “smart” technology.

And if you think it’s just hackers randomly spying on people this way here and there, think again. It’s corporations. It’s the government. It’s the government in consort with corporations.

Last fall, LG Electronics was caught sending data about its customers viewing habits on several of its “smart TV” models to a company in South Korea — even after one customer changed his privacy setting to “off,” supposedly disabling the TVs ability for “collection of watching info” in the options menu (it is a creepy enough sign of the times that this “option” comes standard anyway).

The company later released an apology statement.

ABC News also released a list of the nine household appliances that might be spying on you: on your habits, on your usage, on the minutia of your daily life:
  1. Your TV (obviously)
  2. Your Cable Box
  3. Your Dishwasher, Clothes Dryer, Toaster, Clock Radio and Remote Control
  4. Your Lights
  5. Your Heat and Air Conditioning
  6. Security Alarms
  7. Insulin Pumps and Pacemakers
  8. Smartphones
  9. Your Tablet and Computer
(They obviously miscounted, but still.)

And Back to the Future promised us hover boards…

Last Spring Wired reported that former CIA Director David Patraeus could hardly wait to spy on people through their appliances when he was discussing how this is all a part of the coming “Internet of Things” — a future where everything is technologically connected to everything else:
“Items of interest will be located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters — all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing,” Petraeus said, “the latter now going to cloud computing, in many areas greater and greater supercomputing, and, ultimately, heading to quantum computing.”

Petraeus allowed that these household spy devices “change our notions of secrecy” and prompt a rethink of “our notions of identity and secrecy.” All of which is true — if convenient for a CIA director.
Why do you think the NSA built a $3 billion data hub in the Utah desert?

We are living in an era of Big Data. It was a big talking point at last year’s Bilderberg Conference, after all. Periodicals like MIT Technology Review pose the question “Has Big Data Made Anonymity Impossible?,” which is essentially telling you we live in a ubiquitously monitored information age, so you might as well get used to it Jack.

With the smart grid being raised all around us, life is only going to get more tracked, more traced, more analyzed…and a lot less…private.

How much do you value your privacy these days? Do younger generations even know what privacy truly is anymore?

Well, in the new smart grid we’re all being assimilated into, you really aren’t meant to have any.

Our Brave New World will start in the now forthcoming brave new cities. Go ahead and take a look at your “smart” future:

Selling Hydraulic Fracking: The Myth Of Energy Independence Used To Hoodwink The American People

© GR
Global Research | Apr 29, 2014 | Dylan Murphy and Jo Murphy

”Cheap energy [from oil and gas fracking] is making sure that America now has a manufacturing renaissance,” Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor and President Obama’s former chief of staff told CNBC. Emanuel added. “The biggest revolution equal to the Internet is the energy independence in the United States.”

In the last year the corporate media has been full of triumphant articles declaring that America is on the way to becoming energy independent thanks to oil and gas fracking. The hyperbole goes further declaring that fracking will lead to America overtaking Saudia Arabia as the world’s biggest oil producer and so become an oil and gas superpower. This will spur an economic renaissance that will create large numbers of jobs while driving down electricity prices for consumers and industry. It gets even better. The crisis in Ukraine means that America can step in to save Europe from energy dependence on big bad Russia by exporting ”clean” natural gas to Europe.

The objective behind these extravagant claims is to help sell the poisonous oil and gas fracking industry to an increasingly sceptical population that is pushing back against fracking in many areas.

In a recent address to people in Europe Dr. Sandra Steingraber, Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Ithaca College and science advisor to  Americans Against Fracking, observed that America’s population have been hoodwinked into believing the fracking industry’s extravagant claims.

This hoodwinking has been achieved by an unholy alliance between the oil and gas industry and their puppets in Congress and a pliant mass media, which is an uncritical cheer leader for the industry.

Energy independence claims are also behind the push to sell U.S. fracking oil and gas abroad which would give a huge boost to the profits of the rapacious oil and gas companies.

Now let’s pull back the curtain and look at the reality behind the extravagant claims  made for hydraulic fracking.

The myth of unbounded energy independence exposed

The hype over the ”shale revolution” which will allegedly produce a hundred years of cheap ”clean ” natural gas has gone into overdrive as the industry seeks to sell its product to the American people. Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon has claimed that oil and gas fracking resources to be greater than ”two Saudia Arabias”. Such statements are to expected from the industry. However, these extravagant claims are repeated over and over again by the presstitute mass media and by the corrupt political class whose devotion to big oil and gas knows no bounds.

Energy anaylst Chris Nelder, has observed that:

”A fever has swept over American energy observers in recent weeks as they compete to write the most optimistic story of impending energy independence. …Or if not a fever, then perhaps a mental illness, or heavy doses of good acid. Because as far as the data shows, none of these projections have any basis in reality.”

Two major reports have exposed these massively over hyped claims as not corresponding with reality. J. David Hughes, a geoscientist who worked for 32 years with the Geological Survey of Canada,  has produced a very detailed report called ”Drill, Baby, Drill:Can Unconventional Fuels Usher In A New Era of Energy Abundance?” for the Post Carbon Institute. The other report that undermines the ”shale revolution” myth is  ”SHALE AND WALL STREET: WAS THE DECLINE IN NATURAL GAS  PRICES ORCHESTRATED?” by Deborah Rogers, a financial consultant who has worked for several major Wall Street firms.

The exuberant claims for America’s energy bonanza are based upon vast increases in unconventional oil and gas production from hydraulic fracking. As J. David Hughes points out the United States is highly unlikely to become energy independent unless it drastically reduces its energy consumption.

Hydraulic fracking over the last 8-9 years has led to an explosion of natural gas production. Shale gas now accounts for 40% of U.S. natural gas production. However, shale gas production plateaued in late 2011. There are no media stories about this inconvenient fact that totally undermines the lies about one hundred years of natural gas production.

There are thirty shale plays yet only six of them account for 88% of shale gas production. Two thirds of fracking gas comes from three major plays: Barnet in Texas, Haynesville in Eastern Texas and Western Louisiana and the Marcellus play of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. However, production appears to have peaked in both the Barnet and Haynesville plays despite the growth in the number of operating wells.

The most productive wells, the ”sweet spots”, are drilled first. Then drilling moves on to the less productive wells. Due to the rapid decline in wells which ranges from 80-95% after 36 months there is a need to constantly drill new wells which is very capital intensive. Across America overall shale gas fields deplete at such a rapid pace that they require 30-50% of production to be replaced annually by more drilling.

It is estimated that 7,200 wells a year are needed just to maintain current levels of production. This translates to $42 billion of annual capital investment just to maintain current production, this does not include leasing costs or the costs of other infrastructure such as pipelines and roads, etc. However, this investment was not covered by shale gas sales in 2012 which only amounted to $32 billion. No wonder the oil and gas industry are screaming for the U.S. Congress to authorize export abroad where prices are much higher.

The problem facing the industry is that as production  moves from the highest producing wells to lower quality areas then even more capital will be required for a lower rate of return. This is sharply illustrated by looking at the Haynesville play.

In his report, ” Drill, baby, Drill’ J. David Hughes has observed that:

”Average well quality (as measured by initial productivity) has fallen nearly 20 percent in the Haynesville, which is the most productive shale gas play in the U.S., and is falling or flat in eight of  the top ten plays. Overall well quality is declining for 36 percent of U.S. shale gas production and is flat for 34 percent.”

Hughes predicts that once the six major shale plays go past their peak, which for Barnet and Haynesville appears to already have happened, then investment will decline as will production of gas which will,”facilitate considerably higher gas prices going forward.”

To compound matters the EIA (Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy) has drastically revised downwards its estimates of recoverable shale gas resources by a whopping 42% to 482 trillion cubic feet. This amounts to 24 years of supply at current production rates. Yet this underpins the century of gas claims made by the industry and trumpeted by the corporate presstitute media.

Hughes has commented that the EIA estimates of recoverable gas are overly optimistic bordering on the fanciful.

”This is an extremely aggressive forecast, considering that most of this production is from unproved resources, and would entail a drilling boom that would make the environmental concerns with hydraulic-fracturing experienced to date pale by comparison.”

The prognosis for future production in the top 9 shale gas plays does not bode well for a century of gas. In 5 of the top 9 plays production is forecast to decline. Hughes observes that for the Haynesville, Barnett, Fayetteville, and Woodford plays, which collectively produce 68 percent of United States shale gas, terminal decline awaits them unless there is a dramatic increase in price and a massive increase in drilling.

Meanwhile, the huge Marcellus shale play which is touted as one that will help give America its energy independence will not be as productive as the industry had hoped. In 2011 the EIA claimed that the Marcellus shale play had an “estimated technically recoverable resource base of about 400 trillion cubic feet.” However, in August 2011 the U.S. Geological Survey slashed the estimate of technically recoverable resources by 80% down to 43 trillion cubic feet.

Energy analyst Chris Nelder has observed:

”Assuming that the United States continues to use about 24 tcf [trillion cubic feet] per annum, then, only an 11-year supply of natural gas is certain. The other 89 years’ worth has not yet been shown to exist or to be recoverable.”

Industry insiders, more well versed in resource potential, support such assessments. John Hofmeister, the former chief of U.S. operations for Shell, stated in September 2012, “Unless something seriously changes in the next five years, we’ll be standing in gas lines because there won’t be enough oil to go around.”

Hofmeister has admitted that to sustain growth the industry will need to drill wells at a rate “beyond the capacity of the industry as currently defined …”

More worrying still is the fact the EIA estimates that an eye watering 410,722 wells will be required to recover the estimated 482 tcf reserves of shale gas!This would mean a huge increase in air pollution. Millions of truck journeys would be required (up to 1,975 heavy truck and 1,420 light truck round trips per well) never mind a massive increase in air pollution of methane and VOC’s from drilling, fracking, cleaning of equipment and storage of gas. On top of this you have to factor in the hundreds of millions of gallons of toxic waste water to be disposed of and the billions of gallons of water required (between two and eight million gallons per well) to frack these wells. Many of which are in areas experiencing water shortages. To top it all off, you would probably see a large increase in the number of  earthquakes which would be triggered by this vast increase in fracking across the country.

Arthur Berman, a Houston-based petroleum geologist, and petroleum engineer Lynn Pittinger have been sceptical for many years about the claims for shale gas. They have produced a detailed analysis of the inflated claims made for shale gas. They note that national policy decisions are being made on overly optimistic projections and wells that are significantly under performing original projections. Their analysis:

”… indicates that industry reserves are over-stated by at least 100 percent based on detailed review of both individual well and group decline profiles for the Barnett, Fayetteville and Haynesville shale plays.”

Along with shale gas there are over inflated expectations for shale oil. Chris Nedler has pointed out that shale oil also does not live up to the over hyped expectations:

”Alternatively, if we take the “energy independence” path and turn all of America into a pincushion, open all the wilderness, accept all the risks of freshwater contamination from fracking and salt-water contamination from offshore spills, and improbably raise oil production to meet …all of our needs domestically, … then we could drain the dregs in just 22 years.”

The business model of the fracking industry is simply unsustainable. The steep declines in production rates that happen once the more productive sweet spots have been drilled force them to keep up a frantic drilling programme that moves into less productive areas which have higher extraction costs. As production plateaus many companies find it more profitable to sell their leases and move on to more lucrative areas.

In August 2011 it was reported that Encana was selling all of its assets in the Barnet shale of North Texas. In a press release Encana stated:

“We’re going to focus our energies on our higher growth properties that are at earlier stages of development and have more opportunity for growth…The Barnett is not the best place for Encana to put its money.. It’s a mature area and the sweet spots have been drilled out.”

Some companies have found drilling to be increasingly uneconomic and resorted to making money from bundling up leases on land and selling them to foreign investors. Gas operators would drill a few wells and claim that the field was ”proved up” with little evidence to support their claims of high production potential.

Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, which is one of the biggest players in the gas shale industry, stated as early as 2008 that: ”I can assure you that buying leases for x and selling them for 5x or 10x is a lot more profitable than trying to produce gas at $5 or $6 mcf.”

Massive over drilling has resulted in falling domestic gas prices. Combined with significant reserve downgrades and under performance this has led to ”massive write-downs of shale assets”. Deborah Rogers has detailed the billions of losses recorded by many of major oil and gas producers.

Her report ”Shale and Wall Street” notes how many companies are selling assets and starting to pull out of an industry still touted as one that will give the US energy independence and a massive boost to job creation.

”Industry is demonstrating reticence to engage in further shale investment, abandoning pipeline projects, IPOs and joint venture projects in spite of public rhetoric proclaiming shales to be a panacea for U.S. energy policy.”

The Bakken oil play which is the most productive tight oil play in the U.S. provides a good example of this failing investor confidence. In November 2012 plans to build a $1.8 billion pipeline to carry oil to a storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma were abandoned due to lack of investor interest.

Rogers has noted the significance of this blow to the industry:

”This is of particular interest. Pipeline projects are expensive and require that a steady and consistent stream of gas or oil can be counted on for a long period of time in order to recoup initial capital outlay. Once initial capital is recouped, however, they tend to be cash cows. Given the steep decline curves for shale oil that are now readily apparent, it appears that operators recognize that the Bakken will not be a long-term play. As such, they are not prepared to invest the needed capital up front for a pipeline: again, a distinct lack of confidence in the long term viability of shales.”

The big oil and gas companies together with their corporate mouthpieces in Congress and the presstitute media are trying to hoodwink the American people into accepting hydraulic fracking as being in the national interest. They dishonestly claim that fracking will deliver energy independence for America and thereby reduce its oil imports that will reduce America’s trade deficit and deliver the added benefits of cheap electricity and large numbers of new jobs.

Across America local communities are facing an onslaught of increased drilling from the rapacious oil and gas industry with their inflated promises of multiple benefits. The goal of making these promises about energy independence, job growth and extra tax revenue for local authorities is to facilitate their primary goal of extracting oil and gas as cheaply as possible.

Deborah Rogers in her report, ”Shale and Wall Street”, exposes the true motives of the  oil and gas companies:

”Platform rhetoric about energy independence is nonsense as most within the industry realize. Further, oil and gas companies are not in business to steward the environment, save the family farm or pull depressed areas out of economic decline. If these things should by chance happen, they are merely peripheral to the primary mission of the companies … . Oil and gas companies are in the business to extract hydrocarbons as cheaply and efficiently as possible and get them to the customer that will pay the highest price. If they can shave dollars off already thin margins by refusing to use pollution control devices then that is precisely what they will do if it is not mandated, regardless of whether this will increase costs for a region due to pollution or negatively impact other industries.”

The ordinary people of the United States have a very simple choice to make. They can take the snake oil salesman claims of the fracking industry at face value and accept the poisonous consequences of a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling as America powers its way to an illusory energy independence. Or they can simply say no to more fracking and fight for an end to this toxic industry.

As Dr.Sandra Steingraber has pointed out, ” no evidence exists to show that it can be made safe through regulation” the only safe alternative is to ban fracking outright.

Failure to stop the frackers will have dire long term consequences. All of the talk about energy independence is merely a distraction from the need to deal with the day when all of the oil and gas has gone. It will take many decades to transition the infrastructure and economy to fossil free energy sources yet the political class dominated as it by big oil and gas seems intent upon using fossil fuels until they run out. Capitalism offers ordinary people a bleak future unless they take their destiny into their own hands and abolish an economic system with suicidal tendencies.

Raymond T.Pierrehumbert, Professor of Geophysical Sciences at Chicago University and a lead author of the third IPCC Third Assessment Report has noted the dire consequences of failing to move away from fossil fuel energy sources:

”Whales were driven to the brink of extinction before petroleum replaced whale oil, and we may well fry our planet—and bankrupt ourselves while doing so—before we’re finally forced to kick the fossil fuel habit. It will be hard to muster the resources to develop replacements for fossil fuel energy if we wait until both the economy and climate are in ruins.”

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Deadly Fracking in Sichuan: Is Underground Drilling Suitable for China’s Unique Geology?


Global Research | Apr 24, 2014 | Fatima Hansia \ CorpWatch

A deadly explosion in Jiaoshizhen, Sichuan province, has raised concerns about the risks involved in hydraulic fracking in China. The explosion occurred at a facility operated by Sinopec – one of China’s biggest oil and gas companies – that is being advised by Breitling Energy, a Dallas-based company.
China, which recently became the world’s largest producer of greenhouse gases, is trying to diversify into natural gas production as a new source of energy, especially as much of its energy is produced from burning low-grade coal, which has also exacerbated urban pollution.

The latest technology that China is experimenting with to extract natural gas is horizontal fracking – the process of drilling and injecting water and chemicals into the ground at high pressure in order to shatter underground rock formations to help release trapped oil and gas. First invented in the U.S., horizontal fracking has sparked a boom in energy production, helping boost U.S. output by over 50 percent in the last five years to 7.4 million barrels a day.

Fracking may come at a difficult price for China as its unique geology of twisted and folded faults makes underground drilling two to three times deeper than required in the U.S. “There is no guarantee that the technology will be suitable for China,” Tao Wang, scholar at Beijing’s Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, told Public Radio International.

China’s State Council – the chief administrative authority in the country – issued a call in October 2013 for industry to produce 6.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from underground shale formations by 2015. The Jiaoshizhen facility, which is situated in a small remote mountain valley in western China, is one of the first such projects.

A New York Times account of the Jiaoshizhen incident described villagers being awoken by a large explosion boom last April to witness a “tower of flames” approximately 100 feet high at one of the oilrigs.

Eight Sinopec employees were allegedly killed in the explosion, according to interviews conducted by the Times in August 2013 and February of this year. Villagers told the newspaper that the explosion had created an all-encompassing foul smell around the village and that diesel run-off from drilling sites were polluting local streams.  The drilling “makes so much noise and the water that comes down the mountain has become so much dirtier to drink; now it smells of diesel,” Tian Shiao Yung, a local farmer, said.

Li Chunguang, president of Sinopec, denied the incident in an interview with the New York Times last month. “There is no basis for this,” he said.

Sinopec is being advised on fracking by Breitling Energy, a Texas company, that has beenaggressively promoting the technology around the world. “They (China) want to have other avenues of natural gas and oil coming into the country, as they know their economy hinges on it,” Chris Faulkner, CEO of Breitling told World Finance magazine. “China wants energy security and I think that that is what we need to think about when countries are looking at shale gas development,” said Faulkner in an interview with World Finance.

After news of the Jiaoshizhen incident broke, Faulkner now claims that China is unwilling to discuss the long-term environmental and health impacts of fracking with him.

However, just four months ago, Faulkner dismissed any environmental or health concerns connected to fracking in a commentary piece he wrote for the Guardian newspaper in December.

“The opposition to fracking is a product of scientific misunderstanding – or worse, an agenda put forward by supposed environmental advocates who stand to profit if natural gas never lives up to its full potential,” wrote Faulkner.

Activists, on the other hand, says that fracking poses grave risks to the environment particularly to ground water which can be contaminated by the toxic liquids pumped into the ground. “The rapid expansion of shale gas development and fracking in the US has resulted in significant environmental and public health problems, and become an ongoing public health and environmental experiment,” writes Food and Water Watch in “Fracking: A New Global Water Crisis Report.” “Many of these problems are inherent to the practice and cannot be avoided through regulation.”

Indeed some Chinese government reports have drawn attention to the risks of drilling for shale in a country where 40 percent of the rivers are highly contaminated and 300 million people lack access to safe drinking water. “Most of the nation’s shale gas lies in areas plagued by water shortages,” the 2013 Report on China’s economic energy states.

Even though Sinopec denied the Jiaoshizhen explosion took place, it has acknowledged the dangers of excessive water use. “Drillers need ten times more water to extract natural gas from underground shale formations,” said Bao Shunjing, deputy director of Sinopec, “than to pump equivalent amount of oil and gas from conventional wells.”

RELATED:

60% Of China's Water "Too Polluted To Drink" 
'Straight from the Horse's Mouth': Former Oil Exec Says Fracking Not Safe
Methane emissions from fracking vastly underestimated by EPA - study

Watching the U.S. Tornado Outbreak from Space

Watts up With That | Apr 28, 2014 | Anthony Watts


NASA has just released an animation of visible and infrared satellite data from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite that shows the development and movement of the weather system that spawned tornadoes affecting seven central and southern U.S. states on April 27-28, 2014. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured infrared data on the system that revealed powerful storms, high into the troposphere.

This storm system generated reports of tornadoes from Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Coupled with local weather observations, soundings, and computer models, data from satellites like NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite or GOES-East (also known as GOES-13) gives forecasters information about developing weather situations. In real-time, the NOAA’s GOES-East satellite data in animated form showed forecasters how the area of severe weather was developing and moving.

NOAA’s GOES-East satellite sits in a fixed orbit in space capturing visible and infrared imagery of weather over the eastern U.S. and Atlantic Ocean. The GOES-East satellite is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA/NOAA’s GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. created the animation of GOES-East satellite data that covered the period during the tornado outbreak.

The GOES-East animation of visible and infrared imagery runs 31 seconds. The animation begins on April 27 at 00:15 UTC (April 26 at 8:15 p.m. EDT) and runs through April 28 at 14:15 UTC/10:15 a.m. EDT. By 14:45 UTC/10:45 a.m. EDT on April 27 the animation shows the squall line of thunderstorms developing.


To create the video and imagery, NASA/NOAA’s GOES Project takes the cloud data from NOAA’s GOES-East satellite and overlays it on a true-color image of land and ocean created by data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua and Terra satellites. Together, those data created the entire picture of the storm system and show its movement.

A NASA satellite also captured an image of the storm, collecting infrared data on it as it passed overhead on April 27. At NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. a false-colored image was created of the storm system using data gathered by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite on April 27 at 18:59 UTC (1:59 p.m. CDT). The AIRS image showed very cold cloud top temperatures indicating that the thunderstorms had strong uplift that pushed cloud tops to the top of the troposphere. Some of those thunderstorms had cloud tops as cold as 200 kelvin (-99.6 F/-73.1C). Temperatures drop to just under 220 degrees kelvin at the top of the troposphere (and where the tropopause begins).

“AIRS data shows spatial extent of strong convection [rapidly rising air that condenses and forms clouds] in the slow-moving severe storm system that spawned tornadoes in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Iowa,” said Ed Olsen, creator of the AIRS image at NASA JPL. The AIRS image showed the thunderstorms with coldest cloud top temperatures stretched from eastern Nebraska, through western Iowa, western Missouri, northern Arkansas and southeast into northern Mississippi and Alabama.

According to the Examiner.com, the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center counted 31 tornadoes on Sunday, April 27, however, that number is being refined as reports are analyzed.

CBS News reported that one tornado touched down 10 miles west of Little Rock, Arkansas around 7 p.m. CDT (at around 22:02 UTC in the GOES animation) and stayed on the ground for about 80 miles passing near several suburbs north of the city. That tornado was reported to be one-half mile wide.

The same system that spawned these tornadoes is expected to bring the possibility for severe weather further east on April 28 from Cincinnati, Ohio to New Orleans, La. For more information about current risks for severe weather, visit NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov.

GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis.

Geostationary describes an orbit in which a satellite is always in the same position with respect to the rotating Earth. This allows GOES to hover continuously over one position on Earth’s surface, appearing stationary. As a result, GOES provide a constant vigil for the atmospheric “triggers” for severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hail storms and hurricanes.

To download the GOES animation:  http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/pub/goes/QTmovies/140427-8_tornados.mov

For updated information about the storm system, visit NOAA’s NWS website:  www.weather.gov

For more information about GOES satellites, visit: www.goes.noaa.gov/ or goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/



Following is a list of (preliminary) tornado reports from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center for April 27, 2014 (1200 UTC – 1159 UTC)

Time             Location        County          State            Lat     Lon     Comments

1929             1 N UPLAND           FRANKLIN    NE      4033   9890   TORNADO ON THE GROUND FROM ABOUT 226 TO 229. (GID)

2000             1 N FLORIS DAVIS          IA                 4088   9233   OBSERVER SAW A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN IN A FIELD. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE. (DMX)

2000             LOVILIA       MONROE     IA                 4114   9291   TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OBSERVED. HOUSE ROOFS TORN OFF. TREES SNAPPED OFF. (DMX)

2012             1 N FLORIS DAVIS          IA                 4088   9233   OBSERVER REPORTS GUSTNADO AT 312 PM JUST AHEAD OF STORM ARRIVAL. DIRT KICKED UP IN FIELD PRIOR TO HEAVY RAIN. (DMX)

2141             2 NE MOUNT VERNON     LINN   IA       4194   9140   SPOTTERS REPORTED TORNADO ON GROUND NEAR LINN RIDGE ROAD AND HIGHWAY 1. IT WAS LIFTING BACK UP BY 442 PM. RELAYED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. (DVN)

2142             5 N BRADSHAW     YORK           NE      4096   9775   BRIEF TOUCHDOWN NEAR INTERSECTION OF ROADS 18/H THAT LASTED FOR 30-45 SECONDS. WILL PROVIDE VIDEO FOR VERIFICATION. NICKLE HAIL ONGOING AT 448 PM. (GID)

2142             SPRINGVILLE        LINN   IA                 4206   9144   TORNADO TOUCHDOWN JUST SOUTH OF SPRINGVILLE. (DVN)

2218             5 W OSCEOLA       POLK           NE                4118   9764   BRIEF TOUCHDOWN LASTED APPROXIMATELY 1 MINUTE. VISUAL CONFIRMATION VIA LIVE STREAM. (GID)

2218             8 WNW OSCEOLA POLK           NE                4122   9769   THIS IS A CORRECTED … APPROXIMATE TORNADO LOCATION BASED ON STORM CHASER VIDEO AND RADAR DATA THAT SHOWS TORNADO WEST OF HIGHWAY 39. BRIEF TOUCHDOWN LASTED APPROXIMATEL (GID)

2232             QUAPAW     OTTAWA      OK               3695   9479   FIRE STATION DESTROYED. NORTH END OF TOWN SUSTAINED HEAVY DAMAGE. (TSA)

2239             BAXTER SPRINGS CHEROKEE KS      3702   9474   *** 25 INJ *** A TORNADO DAMAGED OR DESTROYED NUMEROUS HOMES AND SEVERAL BUILDINGS IN DOWNTOWN BAXTER SPRINGS. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTED 25 INJURIES WITH 9 OF THOSE (SGF)

2240             HAMMOND   BOURBON   KS                3794   9469   A TORNADO PRODUCED AN INTERMITTENT DAMAGE PATH TO THE NORTHEAST OF HAMMOND AFTER DAMAGING A GRAIN ELEVATOR AND OVERTURNING A RAIL CAR. (SGF)

2249             3 ESE PRESCOTT LINN   KS                3804   9465   TORNADO SEEN FROM VIDEO SHOT BY BROADCAST MEDIA. (EAX)

2259             5 ENE MARKS        QUITMAN     MS     3428   9019   TORNADO REPORTED MOVING FROM QUITMAN COUNTY INTO PANOLA COUNTY NEAR HOOD ROAD. WAS MOVING INTO FORESTED AREA. (MEG)

2300             3 WNW HUME        LINN   KS                3811   9463   TORNADO WAS STILL ONGOING AT THIS TIME BUT BEGINNING TO ROPE OUT PER BROADCAST MEDIA VIDEO. (EAX)

0025             ROLAND      PULASKI      AR                3490   9250   TORNADO IS REPORTED ON THE GROUND … AND CONFIRMED BY STATE POLICE. (LZK)

0034             1 SE MAYFLOWER FAULKNER AR      3496   9241   TORNADO HAS CROSSED INTERSTATE 40 AT MILE MARKER 140. SPOTTER ESTIMATED HALF A MILE WIDE. (LZK)

0039             SALTILLO     FAULKNER   AR                3503   9233   SEVERAL HOUSES DAMAGED IN SALTILLO. (LZK)

0042             2 E MAYFLOWER   FAULKNER   AR      3497   9238   ARKANSAS GAME AND FISH HEADQUARTERS EAST OF MAYFLOWER HAS BEEN HEAVILY DAMAGED. (LZK)

0050             VILONIA       FAULKNER   AR                3508   9221   NUMEROUS HOUSES AND FAST FOOD RESTAURANT DAMAGED … ALONG WITH NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. (LZK)

0050             DENMARK    WHITE         AR                3548   9158   STATE POLICE ARE REPORTING A TORNADO AT DENMARK. (LZK)

0050             PLEASANT PLAINS          INDEPENDENCE    AR      3555   9163          THERE IS A REPORT OF A TORNADO JUST SOUTHEAST OF PLEASANT PLAINS. (LZK)

0101             1 N EL PASO          WHITE         AR      3513   9208   STORM SPOTTERS HAVE CONFIRMED TORNADO AT HIGHWAY 64 AND HIGHWAY 5. (LZK)

0120             6 W SEARCY          WHITE         AR      3524   9184   HOUSE WAS DAMAGED ON BLOODWORTH ROAD. A POWER LINE WAS DOWN ON TANNER ROAD. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED. (LZK)

0135             STEPROCK WHITE         AR                3543   9169   TIN ON THE GROUND AND POWER LINES DOWN. (LZK)

0150             DENMARK    WHITE         AR                3548   9158   STATE POLICE ARE REPORTING A TORNADO AT DENMARK. (LZK)

0150             PLEASANT PLAINS, INDEPENDENCE   AR      3555   9163   THERE IS A REPORT OF A TORNADO JUST SOUTHEAST OF PLEASANT PLAINS. (LZK)

0205             MACKS        JACKSON     AR                3562   9137   A TORNADO IS REPORTED NEAR MACKS. (LZK)

0205             3 E OIL TROUGH INDEPENDENCE      AR      3563   9141   POWER LINES WERE DOWNED A FEW MILES EAST OF OIL TROUGH. (LZK)

0210             JACKSONPORT     JACKSON     AR      3564   9131   A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT JACKSONPORT. (LZK)

0224             3 W CAMPBELL STATION JACKSON    AR      3567   9131   SHERIFF HAS THREE DEPUTIES REPORTED TORNADO ON THE GROUND ON HIGHWAY 17. (LZK)

0813             5 ENE HOSSTON   BOSSIER     LA      3291   9381   *** 1 INJ *** HOME DAMAGED ON BUCKSHOT RD (SHV)

Monday, April 28, 2014

Studies Show Pine Bark as a Natural, Cutting Edge Cancer Fighter

Natural Society | Apr 27, 2014 | Christina Sarich

Many foods can fight cancer, and none should be overlooked, but one tree as old as the Egyptian pyramids provides an ample source of bioflavonoids which can help fight cancer with no nasty chemotherapy side-effects. Pcynogenol, derived from pine tree bark, the French Pinus pinaster, is full of vitamins and minerals which the body needs to stop cancerous tumor growth and stave off inflammation.

Pcynogenol is a patented blend of bioflavanoids (that are naturally available as well) that boosts immunity and fights cancer in numerous forms. It has been proven to cause apoptosis in breast cancer cells, and the necrosis (death) of other cancer cells in multiple patients.
“These results suggest that pycnogenol selectively induced death in human mammary cancer cells (MCF-7) and not in normal human mammary MCF-10 cells.”

“The ability of pycnogenol to inhibit NF-kappa B activation and VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 expression suggests that this phytochemical may play an important role in halting or preventing the atherogenic process.”

Pcynogenol also scavenges the body for free radicals, which leads to all forms of disease, and also mitigates cardiovascular disease by relaxing the vaso-reponse in the body and increasing capillary permeabilityPreliminary studies are underway to see if pine bark compounds will help treat diabetes, osteoarthritis, attention deficit disorder, and erectile dysfunction with promising results.

Read: Garlic Proven to Kill Brain Cancer Cells
“PBE rich in polyphenolic compounds has been shown to cause endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation and decrease the amount of circulating inflammatory substances in the blood stream. Intake of PBE is useful in order to reduce the risk of heart disease and is effective in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency and retinal micro-hemorrhages venous disorders.”
The active compounds in Pcynogenol are oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs) as well as several other bioflavonoids: catechin, epicatechin, phenolic fruit acids (such as ferulic acid and caffeic acid), and taxifolin. Procyanidins are oligometric catechins found at high concentrations in red wine, grapes, cocoa, cranberries, and even apples.

The same phytonutrients which keep the pine tree ever-green can help keep the body full of life and health. High levels of flavanoids, vitamin C, and bio-active ingredients can help keep everything from cancer, to obesity, arthritis, and eczema at bay. Pine bark has also been shown to hold promise in treating HIV.

Former NASA Scientist: Global warming is nonsense

© Breitbart, London
Sott.net | Apr 26, 2014 | Source

A former NASA scientist has described global warming as "nonsense", dismissing the theory of man-made climate change as "an unsubstantiated hypothesis" and saying that it is "absolutely stupid" to blame the recent UK floods on human activity.

Professor Les Woodcock, who has had a long and distinguished academic career, also said there is "no reproducible evidence" that carbon dioxide levels have increased over the past century, and blamed the green movement for inflicting economic damage on ordinary people.

Professor Woodcock is Emeritus Professor of Chemical Thermodynamics at the University of Manchester and has authored over 70 academic papers for a wide range of scientific journals. He received his PhD from the University of London, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a recipient of a Max Planck Society Visiting Fellowship, and a founding editor the journal Molecular Simulation. (h/t Climate Depot)

Professor Woodcock told the Yorkshire Evening Post:
"The term 'climate change' is meaningless. The Earth's climate has been changing since time immemorial, that is since the Earth was formed 1,000 million years ago. The theory of 'man-made climate change' is an unsubstantiated hypothesis [about] our climate [which says it] has been adversely affected by the burning of fossil fuels in the last 100 years, causing the average temperature on the earth's surface to increase very slightly but with disastrous environmental consequences.

"The theory is that the CO2 emitted by burning fossil fuel is the 'greenhouse gas' causes 'global warming' - in fact, water is a much more powerful greenhouse gas and there is 20 time more of it in our atmosphere (around one per cent of the atmosphere) whereas CO2 is only 0.04 per cent.

"There is no reproducible scientific evidence CO2 has significantly increased in the last 100 years."
He also said:
"Even the term 'global warming' does not mean anything unless you give it a time scale. The temperature of the earth has been going up and down for millions of years, if there are extremes, it's nothing to do with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it's not permanent and it's not caused by us. Global warming is nonsense."
Professor Woodcock dismissed evidence for global warming, such as the floods that deluged large parts of Britain this winter, as "anecdotal" and therefore meaningless in science.
"Events can happen with frequencies on all time scales in the physics of a chaotic system such as the weather. Any point on lowland can flood up to a certain level on all time scales from one month to millions of years and it's completely unpredictable beyond around five days."
Also, the only reason we regularly hear that we have had the most extreme weather "since records began" is that records only began about 100 years ago.
"The reason records seem to be being frequently broken is simply because we only started keeping them about 100 years ago. There will always be some record broken somewhere when we have another natural fluctuation in weather.

"It's absolutely stupid to blame floods on climate change, as I read the Prime Minister did recently. I don't blame the politicians in this case, however, I blame his so-called scientific advisors."
When asked how can say this when most of the world's scientists, political leaders and people in general are committed to the theory of global warming, Prof Woodcock answered bluntly:
"This is not the way science works. If you tell me that you have a theory there is a teapot in orbit between the earth and the moon, it's not up to me to prove it does not exist, it's up to you to provide the reproducible scientific evidence for your theory.

"Such evidence for the man-made climate change theory has not been forthcoming."
This lack of evidence has not stopped a whole green industry building up, however. At the behest of that industry, governments have been passing ever more regulations that make life more difficult and expensive.
"...the damage to our economy the climate change lobby is now costing us is infinitely more destructive to the livelihoods of our grand-children. Indeed, we grand-parents are finding it increasingly expensive just to keep warm as a consequence of the idiotic decisions our politicians have taken in recent years about the green production of electricity."
Professor Woodcock is the latest scientist to come out against the theory of man-made global warming. James Lovelock, once described as a "green guru", earlier this month said that climate scientists "just guess", and that no one really knows what's happening.

Judith Curry, chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, also said that she was "duped into supporting the IPCC" and added "If the IPCC is dogma, then count me in as a heretic."

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Milky Way's Structure Mapped in Unprecedented Detail

Live Science | Apr 25, 2014 | Katia Moskvitch. Space.com

The Milky Way arches over an old windmill near Paulden, Arizona.
Astrophotographer Sean Parker sent this image to SAPCE.com on Dec. 30, 2013.
Credit: Sean Parker | www.sean-parker.com
Astronomers are one step closer to solving a longstanding mystery — just what our Milky Way galaxy looks like.

It may seem odd that a comprehensive understanding of the Milky Way's structure has so far eluded researchers. But it's tough to get a broad view of the galaxy from within.

"We are fairly confident that the Milky Way is a spiral galaxy, but we don't know much in detail. At the most basic level, we'd like to be able to make a map that would show in detail what it looks like," said Mark Reid of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, who led the new study.

Read more..

Riot of Colors: Blooming tulip fields filmed by drone

RT | Apr 27, 2014 | CHANNEL


certified organic flower bulbs

Saturday, April 26, 2014

USA: Daryl Hannah and Native Americans march on Washington

RuptlyTV | Apr 26, 2014 | CHANNEL

Fukushima disaster kills entire North Pacific, far worse than Chernobyl -radio host

Photo: RIA Novosti
Voice of Russia | Apr 26, 2014 |

It's long since nuclear energy has proved to be both ineffective, utterly destructive and failing -exactly since the tragic April 26, back in 1986, as the world saw the deadly Chernobyl blast. However, the industry is still being upheld, as Fukushima soon followed, with a numerous more disasters looming ahead, Jeff Rense, a radio talk-show host of the Jeff Rense Program, broadcast on US satellite radio, assumes. In an interview to radio VR he talks about the implications of modern-day nuke industry, Fukushima and its unthinkable consequences rendering the whole North Pacific almost dead.

What lesson has the humanity learnt from the catastrophe in Chernobyl?

Nuclear power has proven itself to be the worst extinction event potential that we have ever faced on the planet; there is no question about that. I am really afraid our species hasn’t learnt anything from Chernobyl. In a practical or pragmatic sense, think about it – Chernobyl really should have been the beginning of the end of using nuclear power to boil water, to create steam, to turn turbines to make electricity.

It is the stupidest technology ever to make power and energy for our use. Not one nuclear power plant has ever brought cheaper electricity, in this country at least, to the people and the consumers it is supposed to serve; quite the opposite is true, in fact. Every nuclear plant in the US has been a huge money loser and has cost the consumers countless billions of dollars and higher energy costs.

And furthermore, every nuclear plant in this country emits radiation around the clock. Cancer rates and the concentric ring circle overlay around every plant proved the point. People are dying and now we have Fukushima.

So, what have learnt from Chernobyl and all the brave and heroic people who worked to stop that tragedy, I would submit nothing.

That’s a pretty powerful statement. Although, I would agree that it is true. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster shook the world back in 1986, but several years ago there was a similar catastrophe that was repeated in Japan, which you’ve just mentioned – Fukushima. In your opinion, does it mean that we are still unprotected in the face of nuclear power?

We are completely unprotected. We are minutes away from another Fukushima or even worse. We have 104 nuclear reactors in this country. Most of them are operating well beyond their projected, initial life spans. The nuclear regulatory people continue to give them extension after extension. They are rotting, they are falling apart, they are leaking, they are a disaster waiting to happen.

Fukushima, I would submit, is far worse than Chernobyl. When you take into account that the entire North Pacific Ocean may have been killed off, we may have lost the entire ocean; we don’t know.

For example, the sardine fishing fleets from Alaska to Mexico is a big business. They go out and net up countless tons of sardines. This year, three years after Fukushima, they saw not one sardine. They caught none. They didn’t catch any fish.

And one other thing, a man who frequently, I guess every four or five years, sails his yacht from Japan to San Francisco always raves about how much life there is in the Pacific Ocean. This year he held a news conference when he completed the 4000-plus-mile trip in San Francisco and said – the ocean is broken. He saw on his trip – think about this! – two fish, one bird and one whale with a tumor on its head.

The dimensions of losing an ocean are almost imponderable. And that is apparently what is happening to our North Pacific Ocean – the largest ocean on the planet.

That was the entire time that he was sailing from San Francisco to Japan?

That’s correct!

It is a pretty amazing story. I haven’t heard that one before, but that is a powerful and shocking reminder of what had happened. And I also would like to point out that Fukushima still hasn’t been cleaned up yet. It is like the gift that keeps on giving. It is still pushing out lots of radiation every day. And you’ve mentioned the fact about the fish stocks that are being depleted. I haven’t heard the story about the sardines, but, of course, we have the salmon stocks that are being depleted as well.

80% of the salmon did not come back to spawn.

Ban Fracking! Listing Chemicals Won't Solve Drilling Dangers, say Critics

(D. Grinbergs via Compfight)
Common Dreams | Apr 25, 2014 | Jon Queally

Move by one company to disclosure toxic ingredients used for shale gas drilling called "tip of iceberg" in terms of progress needed 

In a move reportedly designed to win back the "public trust," a major supplier to the gas and oil industry has announced it will begin disclosing the secret chemicals used by its clients for the high-pressure drilling technique known as fracking.

Critics, however, say that though the possible end of secrecy is welcome, such disclosures will do nothing to make the inherent dangers of fracking go away.

In an email to Common Dreams, water quality expert at Food & Water Watch Kate Fried responded to the news by saying the disclosure of the chemicals "is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the controversies surrounding fracking."

On the surface, the announcement by the Houston-based company Baker Hughes—first reported by EnergyWire on Thursday—appeared to answer the repeated demand calling for the industry to reveal the full spectrum of chemicals used in the process. According to a large and growing body of evidence (see here, here, and here) the use of numerous chemicals in fracking—also known as hydraulic fracturing—compounds the contamination of groundwater, drinking wells, and surface areas in and around drilling sites.

Dr. Bernard Goldstein, the former dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, told the Associated Press, "This really good news." He added that he hoped other industry members would follow, calling the move "a step in the right direction."

Other reporting, however, was quick to point out the caveats contained in the Baker Hughes announcement, which made clear the disclosure of the chemicals would only take place "where accepted by our customers and relevant governmental authorities."

And for critics like Fried, the possibility of disclosures are notable but do nothing to end the real dangers of fracking. Short of a national moratorium on the practice, she said, nothing will be seen as a complete victory.

"Knowing what chemicals are pumped underground doesn't prevent the accidents that can contaminate people's water and air," Fried explained to Common Dreams, "nor does it compensate for the economic, social and environmental disruptions that fracking imposes upon communities and consumers."
"The only real way to make fracking safe, is to ban it altogether," she said.

This video created by SAFENC, a North Carolina anti-fracking group also calling for a ban on the practice, presents much of what is known about the chemical makeup used by the industry and highlights that simply knowing the destructive and harmful properties of these toxins has so far done little, if anything, to slow the push for additional fracking nationwide:

Fukushima Didn’t Just Suffer 3 Meltdowns … It Also Suffered Melt-THROUGHS and Melt-OUTS

Washington's Blog | Apr 25, 2014

The Nuclear Core Has Finally Been Found … Scattered All Over Japan

We reported in May 2011 that authorities knew – within days or weeks – that all 3 active Fukushima nuclear reactors had melted down, but covered up that fact for months.

The next month, we reported that Fukushima’s reactors had actually suffered something much worse: nuclear melt-throughs, where the nuclear fuel melted through the containment vessels and into the ground. At the time, this was described as:
The worst possibility in a nuclear accident.
But now, it turns out that some of the Fukushima reactors have suffered even a more extreme type of damage: melt-OUTS.

By way of background, we’ve noted periodically that scientists have no idea where the cores of the nuclear reactors are.

And that highly radioactive black “dirt” has been found all over Japan.

It turns out that the highly radioactive black substances are likely remnants of the core.

The Journals Environmental Science & Technology and Journal of Environmental Radioactivity both found (hat tip EneNews) that the highly radioactive black substances match fuel from the core of the Fukushima reactors.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission agrees.

Indeed, “hot particles” with extremely high levels of radiation – 7 billion, 40 billion , and even 40 billion billion Bq/kg – have been found all over the Fukushima region, and hundreds of miles away … in Tokyo.

Let’s put this in perspective. The Atlantic notes:
Japanese regulations required nuclear waste with 100 or more bq/kg of Cesium to be monitored and disposed of in specialized containers.

***

The new government limit for material headed for landfills is 8000 bq/kg, 80 times the pre-Fukushima limit.
So the hottest hot particle found so far is 5 million billion times greater than the current government limits of what can be put in a landfill.

In other words, the core of at least one of the Fukushima reactors has finally been found … scattered all over Japan.

How did material from the cores get dispersed so far? Remember, there was a huge explosion at reactor number 1 , and an even bigger explosion at reactor number 3.

RELATED:

'Kids die, govt lie!' Ex-mayor exposes real scale of radiation in Fukushima (FULL INTERVIEW)