A new assessment by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has revealed that a quarter of the world's
sharks and rays are at risk of extinction.
A new assessment by the International Union for Conservation of Nature
(IUCN) has revealed that a quarter of the world's sharks and rays are at
risk of extinction.
The latest update to the IUCN's "Red List" of threatened species, which
found ray species to be at higher risk than sharks, is part of a
first-ever global analysis of these marine species.
Researchers assessed the conservation status of 1,041 shark, ray and
chimaera species, which are all so-called "cartilaginous fish," meaning
they have skeletons made of cartilage rather than bone. A chimaera is
type of jawed fish closely related to sharks and rays.
The researchers found that sharks, rays and chimaeras face a substantially higher risk of extinction than do most other animals.
In fact, only 23 percent of shark, ray and chimaera species are
categorized as being safe, or of "least concern," IUCN officials said.
Nick Dulvy, co-chair of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group and Canada
Research Chair at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada,
said in a statement that the analysis shows that sharks and their
relatives are facing an alarmingly elevated risk of extinction,
LiveScience reported.
He said that in greatest peril are the largest species of rays and
sharks, especially those living in shallow water that is accessible to
fisheries, where they can become entangled in fishing gear a phenomenon
known as bycatch.
The world's biggest trees, such as this large Scots pine in southern Spain, are also the world's fastest-growing trees, according to an analysis of 403 tree species spanning six continents. Credit: Asier Herrero
Like a fairy-tale beanstalk, a tree can grow and grow until it scrapes the sky.
Instead of slowing down as the centuries add up, old trees speed up their growth, according to a study published today (Jan. 15) in the journal Nature.
"Trees keep growing like crazy throughout their life span," said Nate
Stephenson, lead study author and a forest ecologist with the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) in Three Rivers, Calif.
The
results of the survey of 403 tree species around the world suggest that
trees never suffer the ill effects of old age. In animals, cells change
and break down over a lifetime, eventually causing death. But trees
seem free from this growth limit, called senescence. Instead, only
disease, insects, fire or accidents such as lightning will kill a tree,
Stephenson said. (He forgot to mention logging, of course.) "They never
stop," he said. "Every year, they are always putting on more weight than
before."
Abby Martin remarks on a recent discovery of five Jupiter sized planets
that contain water within our milky way, and outlines the Drake Equation
by astrophysicist Carl Sagan.
Art is dangerous. It makes people move out of standard-response channels.
They don’t see what they’re supposed to see anymore. They see what they’re not supposed to see.
That’s why colleges teach brain-deadening courses in art history. Every attempt is made to codify the students’ reactions.
I’m not just talking about political art. I mean anything that truly comes out of reliance on imagination.
Those who run things—and their willing dupes—want reality to look a certain way and be experienced and felt in certain ways. These limited spectra form a shared lowest common denominator.
Even so-called spiritual experience is codified. It’s called organized religion. I call it “give money to the ceiling.” You give your money and they tell you high how the ceiling of your experience is and what you’ll find when you get there.
Art has none of these limitations. It’s created by people who’ve gone beyond the shrunken catalog of emotions, thoughts, and perceptions listed by authorities.
Art, by which I mean imagination, throws caution to the winds. It invents realities that engender new reactions, never before experienced. It blows apart old rigid perception.
The hammer blows and the soft propaganda of the common culture install layers of mind control: “See things, experience things in these prescribed ways.”
Over the years, I’ve encouraged a number of people to become artists. Aside from the work they then invented, I noticed their whole approach to, and perception of, life altered radically.
Their sense of vitality, their courage, their adventurous spirit came to the foreground.
Mind control, externally applied and self-induced, is all about putting a lid on creative power. That is its real target.
The one trap an artist—which is to say anyone who lives through and by imagination—has to avoid is thinking of himself as a victim because he is “an outsider.”
Outside is good. Outside has great strength.
When an artist invents himself as a victim, he then goes on to lash out at people who have nothing to do with the fate to which he’s consigned himself.
Authorities in any society, no matter what they call themselves, are invested in systems that will maintain a status quo of perception. They are constantly producing new systems for that purpose.
Technocrats would like you to believe that hooking your brain up to some super-brain computer will fulfill your needs and desires. They seek to prove that all invention, all creation, all art, all imagination is merely a set of calculations within a closed system.
This effort betrays their own despair. They see no way they can truly create.
It is the vacuum in which all elites live. They build up a frozen dead consciousness of models and algorithms and “solutions,” and they seek to impose it, as reality, on the minds of populations.
Essentially, they’re saying, “If we have a soul-sickness, you have to have it, too.”
It’s called hatred of life.
On the other hand, individual creative power launches from a platform of freedom and rises through layer after layer of greater freedom.
From that perspective, authoritarian power looks like a sick-unto-dying charade.
Jon Rappoport
The author of two explosive collections, THE MATRIX REVEALED and EXIT FROM THE MATRIX, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails at www.nomorefakenews.com
I felt this sensation in the pit of my stomach -- it was a combination
of sympathy and anger -- listening to Annie tell me, through tears,
about her postpartum journey into the world of psychiatry.
Three separate psychiatrists dismissed me when I expressed concerns
about taking an addictive medication like Klonopin. It's been two years,
I can't get off it, I'm on four psych meds and I feel worse than I ever
did before I started this treatment.
Annie was ushered into the promise-filled halls of psychiatry three
months after the birth of her first baby when she began to experience
racing heart, insomnia, vigilance, irritability, and a host of physical
complaints including joint pain and hair loss. No one did blood work,
asked about her diet, or cared about any of the myriad observations
about her body and its changes in functioning. This was a "head-up"
intervention. I believe women deserve better. People deserve better.
Most patients who come to me for treatment of depression and anxiety do
so because they want answers. They want to know WHY they are struggling.
The closest they will be offered by their prescribing psychiatrist or
primary care doc is some reductionist hand waving about serotonin
imbalances. I think it is time to speak to these patients with respect,
truthfulness, and to offer them more than a life-long relationship with a
pill (or pills, as it will inevitably become over the years). First,
let's review some basics:
A group of archeologists have made a significant discovery in Turkey,
unearthing an ancient Roman column piece touted as the largest of its
kind. Ataturk University's archeology team brought to light on Friday a
colossal Corinthian capital measuring 1.9m in diameter and 2.5 m in
height in Erdek district.
"This is the largest and most exquisite Corinthian capital built within
the territory of the Roman Empire," said team head Nurettin Kochan. The
piece is crafted in the Corinthian order, chronologically the latest of
three recognized ancient Roman architectural styles. It was found at the
site of Kyzikos Hadrian Temple where excavation work has continued
since August 15. Kochan said the discovery bore significance on a global
scale and would contribute to Turkey's tourism sector.
He said the dimensions of the capital surpass those at the
world-renowned Baalbek Temple in Lebanon, among the best preserved Roman
temple sites.
"There's no other capital of this size in the Corinthian order," he
said. "Kyzikos Hadrian Temple outshines even the Baalbek Temple of
Jupiter in Lebanon, considered the largest and most spectacular
Corinthian temple in the world."
Kochan said they have also found large pieces of frieze decorated with
reliefs featuring larger-than-life representations of human, eagle and
bull figures. Hadrian Temple is similar in size to the Temple of Artemis
in the ancient city of Ephesus and the Temple of Apollo in Didim, both
located in Turkey's Aegean region.
The excavations, carried out by a team consisting of university
professors, grad and undergrad students and dozens of workers, will
continue until October 8.
As research continues to confirm the
deadly effects of sitting for long periods of time, savvy workers are
switching to standing desks and reaping the benefits.
Notable advocates of tall work stations
include Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Ernest
Hemingway, among others. All sensed the inherent reward of increased
creativity, alertness and physical stamina. What they may not have known
is that standing desks can save lives.
Health perils of sitting
Linked with an increased likelihood of
heart disease, inflammation, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer,
lengthy periods of sitting are bad news for health. According to the Natural News article, “More evidence suggest that desk jobs and excessive sitting are deadly,” researchers at Leicester University in the U.K discovered:
“… the longer a person sits each day,
the more likely he or she is to develop markers of metabolic syndrome,
which include high levels of both glucose and fatty acids in the
bloodstream. As it turns out, an individual’s metabolic rate, which
represents the amount of energy expended while at rest, also plummets
while sitting, which in the absence of proper exercise can lead to being
overweight or obese.”
Additionally, the Mayo Clinic states:
“From previous studies we also know that
a sedentary lifestyle is associated with increased risk for type 2
diabetes, heart disease and certain cancers (breast and colon).”
Thankfully, we need not succumb to such
dire consequences of a sedentary life. When we take a stand for health,
we can fend off disease while encouraging better focus, productivity,
energy and zest. Not to mention a svelte waistline.
Stand-up and thrive
Instead of slouching over your computer
for hours on end, consider a standing desk. Used by great minds
throughout history, standing upright while working burns calories,
increases blood flow, reduces neck strain and keeps us healthy. Steve
Connor notes in The Independent:
Scientists have found that a person’s
metabolic rate crashes to a minimum when sitting and that standing up
for an extra three hours a day, even without exercising, would on
average burn off about 3.6kg of fat a year.
And Chris Adams in “The Benefits of a Standing Desk,” observes:
Another benefit of a standing desk is an
increase in your focus, alertness and activity level. These all support
each other. When standing it is easier to release restless energy.
Combine that with the good circulation, stable blood sugar and an active
metabolism and it is easier to focus on the task at hand. Many authors
and statesmen throughout the centuries who swear by working at a
standing desk have claimed that it helps get the creative juices
flowing. It also fights fatigue and improves tiredness.
If you are sold on the idea, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Place the computer screen at eye level to avoid neck strain
- Arms should be kept at a 90 degree angle
- Stand straight with feet shoulder width apart
Also, do not purely stand throughout
your work day as this increases the risk of carotid atherosclerosis
along with varicose veins. Gentle movements such as shifting weight from
one foot to the other as well as an anti-fatigue mat are helpful to
keep leg circulation humming.
Design of a “squatterman” stylised as a lizard in the headdress of a
wooden figure representing the first ancestor, Senufo people, Ivory
Coast (mid-twentieth century). Courtesy National Museum of African Art,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, United States of America.
The Sun Man
July 31, 2013 | Thunderbolts.info | Rens van der Sluijs
Aug 01, 2013
A common theme in creation myths is that the first human
being appeared in the sky, often as a metamorphosis of a divine creator.
On Tahiti, people remembered the time before creation when “an
expanse of water … covered the abyss, and the god Tino-ta’ata … floating
on the surface.” The god’s name was stated to mean “Human Form”. The
Yuki (Mendocino County, California) told a similar myth concerning the
first appearance of their creator and civiliser:
“There was only water, and over it a fog. On the water was foam. The
foam moved round and round continually, and from it came a voice. After a
time there issued from the foam a person in human form. He had
wing-feathers of the eagle on his head. This was Taikó-mol [‘solitude
walker’]. … He stood on the foam, which still revolved. There was no
light.”
On Pentecost Island (Vanuatu, Melanesia), it is said that, long ago,
the god “Tagaro came down from heaven”, adopting “a human form, with
superhuman power” and acting as a creator, who “made men and other
things”. And the Kamilaroi (New South Wales, Australia) envisioned the
supreme god, Baiame, “as of an incomprehensible greatness in
appearance”, physically indistinguishable from his “throne of
transparent crystal of vast magnitude, which has its base in the great
water, and rises to a stupendous height towards the stars”: “In their
notion of God’s appearance he is great beyond conception, beautiful to
look upon, and immovably fixed in this crystal rock, with only the upper
half of a supernatural human body visible.”
Some traditions specify that this anthropomorph apparition served as a
sun, before the current sun had commenced to ply the ecliptic path.
Thus, a tribe of the Wiradjuri from the headwaters of the Murrumbidgee
River (central New South Wales, Australia) recounted that summers were
milder when a human ancestor served as a permanent sun:
“It was not always so. The aborigines have a legend … which tells of a
time when the earth was not parched by such a sun; when it was ever
day, but the daylight was the radiance of a human ancestor, and when the
trees and shrubs and flowers were as bright and plentiful as they are
now in the regions that are not wilted by our sun. The sun, they say, is
an ancestor – a human – that was not understood …”
Just so, the Quiché Maya remembered the excessive heat of the sun
when it had risen in the east for the first time and possessed a human
countenance:
“And then the face of the earth was dried out by the sun. The sun was
like a person when he revealed himself. His face was hot, so he dried
out the face of the earth. Before the sun came up it was soggy, and the
face of the earth was muddy before the sun came up. And when the sun had
risen just a short distance he was like a person, and his heat was
unbearable. Since he revealed himself only when he was born, it is only
his reflection that now remains. As they put it in the ancient text, /
‘The visible sun is not the real one.’
Pursuing this theme further, in many cultures the enigmatic ‘sun man’ manifested as an expression of the luminous axis mundi or
‘world axis’, often doubling as a cosmic mountain or tree. For the
ancient Egyptians, Shu, who lifted up the sky with his two arms, was “a
god of light, or light personified”. As the Coffin Texts have it:
“I am this soul of Shu which is in the flame of the fiery blast which
Atum kindled with his own hand. … I am the soul of Shu, for whom Nūt
was placed above and Gēb under his feet, and I am between them. … I am
Shu whom Atum fashioned, and this garment of mine is the air of life. …
It is I who make the sky light after darkness, my pleasant colour is
(due to) the air which goes forth after me from the mouth of Atum …”
Judaeo-Christian Gnostics portrayed the first ancestor, Adam, as a
giant man standing in the centre of the earth, who was endowed with a
“glorious appearance”, “the image of his face burning with glorious
splendor like the orb of the sun, and the light of his eyes was like the
light of the sun, and the image of his body was like unto the sparkling
of crystal.”Indian philosophers similarly equated the fig tree
Aśvattha, whose light was “the yonder sun”, with the prototypical man
Brahman or Puruṣa (‘person’):
“… that indeed is called the Bright, that is called Brahman, that
alone is called the Immortal. All worlds are contained in it …”
“I know that great person (purusha) of sunlike lustre beyond the
darkness. … This whole universe is filled by this person (purusha), to
whom there is nothing superior, from whom there is nothing different,
than whom there is nothing smaller or larger, who stands alone, fixed
like a tree in the sky.”
On Kiribati (Micronesia), “the beam of wood that had lifted the sky”
was styled “the First Tree, the Ancestor Sun”. And the Desana (Brazilian
Amazonia) submitted that “the creative Sun holds and carries the
cosmos, of which it is the center or axis, as the spine holds and
carries the body … It is the ‘sun axis’ that holds together the upper,
middle, and lower worlds …”
The notion of a transient blazing humanoid in the sky was fated to
remain utterly bizarre until a decade ago, when plasma physicist Anthony
Peratt reported on high-energy density plasma instabilities that
transform an initially cylindrical plasma beam via a stack of toroids
into a so-called ‘squatting man’, emitting extremely dazzling
synchrotron radiation light. Recognising this modern-day homunculus in
countless petroglyphs, Peratt was man enough to go public with the idea
that such ‘stickmen’ had graced prehistoric skies in the form of
intense aurorae. Mythical data such as presented above, of which Peratt
was unaware, bolster this hypothesis, especially insofar as the
preternatural ‘man’ materialises as a form of the axis mundi.
In other traditions, the creator dispatches a paradigmatic man to the
earth shortly before departing; drawing a curtain over the ‘golden age’,
the teachings of the ideal man usher in the age of ‘history’. Peratt’s
simulations converge to the extent that the ‘squatting man’ emerges
towards the end of the plasma sequence, just before the pinch collapses.
So far, the literature on the experimental formation of a ‘plasma
man’ appears to be limited to Peratt’s enunciations. Hopefully this work
will be given hands and feet by fellow plasma physicists with access to
the requisite resources and an attitude that is neither spineless nor
lacklustre.
Image Caption: (Left) Rotating disc in solar prominence. (Right)
Superheated jet striking a prominence. The jet is emitted to the left of
the prominence and travels in an anticlockwise arc, striking the top of
the prominence. Credit: NASA/SDO/Li/Smith/Aberystwyth University
Scientists studying the solar atmosphere have spotted some fascinating moving features in the Sun’s sky.
A team using the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) telescope on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
satellite has found unusual solar prominences, including: a giant disc
that rotates for several hours; feathery streams as long as fifty
Earths; a super-heated jet striking the top of a prominence; and twisted ribbons flowing in opposite directions.
Prominences are cold gaseous features on the Sun with temperatures
millions of degrees cooler than the surrounding hot solar atmosphere.
They can be seen as features extending outwards from the Sun’s surface.
Scientists often call prominences filaments when viewed against the
solar disc.
Solar prominences help supply most of the material released in coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are eruptions on the Sun that leads to space weather.
The new observations of a rotating disc caused by turbulence produced at the interface of two gases of enormously different temperatures.
“We think the rotation is produced when hot gases enter a cold medium
in an organized fashion. The magnetic field serves as a thermal barrier
between the two media. The resulting rotation can last hours,” said Dr. Xing Li of Aberystwyth University.
Li and colleagues observed persistent horizontal motion of feather streamers
from a solar prominence over a period of more than 15 hours. They
believe the likely cause is a large-scale, slow restructuring of the
magnetic field through a process known as magnetic reconnection.
The scientists also observed a jet of superheated gases
that were sucked from the coronal cavity surrounding a prominence. They
spiraled up a helical path to strike the top of the prominence.
“The feat of the jet hitting the top of the prominence, and the
distances involved, is comparable to a ballistic missile hitting a
satellite in geostationary orbit!” said Li.
The SDO observations showed counter-streaming flows at under a
million miles per hour along a filament channel consisting of many very
thin threads.
“These fabulous motions suggest more complex magnetic structures of
filaments/prominences than scientists previously thought,” said Li.
“These events are beautiful to observe and also set a fascinating
challenge to get to the bottom of the physics involved.”
A team of British Geological Survey (BGS)
researchers are working on a program to help scientists better
understand how space weather caused by activity on the Sun could affect national grids.
They are conducting continuous measurements of the background electric
field in the UK to help nations be better prepared for interruptions
caused by the Sun’s CMEs.
Source: Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online
It is easy to explain to you what Bigfoot is. It is what we don't know
that is troubling. According to Merriam-Webster online dictionary
definition, the name Bigfoot is derived "from the size of the footprints
ascribed to it." It is known by many other names such as Sasquatch,
Swamp Ape, as well as a variety of names used by the Indian tribes of
the North American continent.
The Encyclopedia Britannica describes it as "a large, hairy human-like
creature believed by some persons to exist in the northwestern United
States and western Canada. It seems to represent the North American
counterpart of the Abominable Snowman, or Yeti."
The Britannica goes on to say that a "British explorer David Thompson is
sometimes credited with the first discovery (I 1811) of a set of
Sasquatch footprints, and hundreds of alleged prints have been adduced
since then." It continues by mentioning the Patterson photographs taken
at Bluff Creek, California in 19667, referring to it as a legend.
The Britannica explains that "Sasquatch is described
as a primate ranging from six to fifteen feet tall, standing erect on
two feet, often giving off a foul smell, and either moving silently or
emitting a high-pitched cry." It also states that "footprints have
measured up to twenty-four inches in length and eight inches in width."
It further explains that "a Soviet scientist, Boris Porshnev, suggested
that Sasquatch and his Siberian counterpart, the Almas, could be a
remnant of Neanderthal man, but most scientists do not recognize the
creature's existence." Fortunately, this concept is changing!
While you might think this is Bigfoot in a nutshell, there is much more
to the creature than meets the eye. Indian Nations across the North
American continent have legends and folklore featuring Bigfoot that go
back to the beginning of recorded history. Since much of the history has
been handed down from father to son, mother to daughter, and retold by
the storytellers of the Indian People, there is a lot of confusion.
According to Living Myths, authored by Kyle Thompson, "Native American
myths could equally be called folktales: They seem to be about ordinary
people, not gods. However, the Native American attitude is that
everything is animated by divinity. Hence ordinary people, animals and
places are divine...Universal principles are held to be more important
than individual traits."
According to the livingmyths.com website, "Claude Levi-Strauss, a
structuralist anthropologist, saw myths as stemming from a human need to
make sense of the world and to resolve cultural dilemmas."
The Ojibwa call him Ragaru and many feel that he appears to warn of
danger-- a disruption in the harmony. The increasingly frequent
sightings seem to bring dire warnings for the Indian People. Perhaps
this powerful entity, who many believe can change form, is trying to get
our attention. Is it bringing the message that we have been charged
with caring for and protecting the earth and we are not honoring this
sacred trust?
Many of the Indian Peoples believe that Bigfoot is more than flesh and
blood. He seems to represent a spiritual concept. His role I the Indian
People's society is complicated, for his hold on them is more spiritual
than physical. They allude to the elusive nature of the creature by
explaining that those who seek him out, no matter what their motives,
will not be able to see him.
The social contract is a concept that liberals and conservatives
interpret very differently, but In this video we're probably going to
make both sides angry.
College education in the United States has become a cruel joke. We
endlessly push our high school kids to invest tens of thousands of
dollars and at least four years of their lives to get a college
education because they won’t have any sort of a “future” without it. So
they sign up for decades of debt slavery and spend years listening to
pompous windbags fill their heads with utter nonsense. The sad truth is
that most college courses are a total joke and they do very little to
actually prepare those students for the real world. I know – I attended
public universities in the United States for eight years. Most college
courses are so easy that the family dog could pass them. When they
finally graduate, our young people discover that they were lied to all
along. The promised “good jobs” are not there for most of them, but the
huge debts that they committed themselves to will follow them around
permanently. When you are just starting out and you are not making a
lot of money, having to make payments on tens of thousands of dollars of
student loan debt can be absolutely crippling. This is why I say that
college education in America is a giant money making scam. Our young
people are seduced by the idea of college being a five year party that
will provide an automatic ticket into the middle class, but the reality
is that the only guarantee is that it is a ticket to serfdom unless you
have wealthy parents that are willing to foot the bill for you. And
bankruptcy laws have been changed to make it incredibly difficult to get
rid of student loan debt, so once you have signed up for student loan
debt slavery you are basically faced with two choices: either you are
going to pay it or you are going to die with it.
Yes, college graduates do make more money and they do have a lower
unemployment rate. But most of them are also burdened by absolutely
suffocating levels of student loan debt that will haunt them for
decades.
So who is really better off?
If you can get someone to pay for your college education that is
great. Because otherwise you are probably getting a rotten deal. The
following are 29 shocking facts that prove that college education in
America is a giant money making scam…
#1 In 1993, the average student loan debt burden at graduation was $9,320. Today it is $28,720.
#2 In 1989, only 9 percent of all U.S. households were paying off student loan debt. Today, 19 percent of all U.S. households are.
#3 Young households are being hit particularly hard by student loan debt. In America today, 40 percent of all households that are led by someone under the age of 35 are paying off student loan debt. Back in 1989, that figure was below 20 percent.
#4 According to the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, Americans owe more than a trillion dollars on their student loans.
#5 According to the Federal Reserve, the total amount of student loan debt has increased by a whopping 275 percent since 2003.
#6 Approximately 65 percent of all student loan debt is owed by those under the age of 40.
#7 The delinquency rate on student loans is currently 14 percent and it is steadily rising.
#8 The delinquency rate on student loans for students that attended a “for profit” college is an astounding 23 percent.
#9 Today, 34.9 percent of all student loan borrowers under the age of 30 are at least 90 days behind on their student loan payments.
#10 Since 1986, the cost of college tuition has risen by 498 percent.
#11 The cost of college textbooks has tripled over the past decade.
#12 The average cost of a four-year college education is projected to soar to $120,000 by the year 2015. #13 Back in 1952, a full year of tuition at Harvard was only $600. Today, it is over $35,000.
#14 According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, approximately 167,000 Americans currently have more than $200,000 of student loan debt.
#15 At most U.S. colleges and universities, the
quality of the education that you will receive is very poor. Just check
out some numbers about the quality of college education in the United
States from an article that appeared in USA Today….
-”After two years in college, 45% of students showed no significant
gains in learning; after four years, 36% showed little change.”
-”Students also spent 50% less time studying compared with students a few decades ago”
-”35% of students report spending five or fewer hours per week studying alone.”
-”50% said they never took a class in a typical semester where they wrote more than 20 pages”
-”32% never took a course in a typical semester where they read more than 40 pages per week.”
#16 One survey found that U.S. college students spend 24% of their time sleeping, 51% of their time socializing and 7% of their time studying.
#17 Federal statistics reveal that only 36 percent of the full-time students who began college in 2001 received a bachelor’s degree within four years.
#1827 percent of those with student loan debt said that they moved back in with their parents after college.
#1914 percent of those with student loan debt said that they delayed marriage because of their student loans.
#20 Real earnings for young college graduates have fallen by 15 percent since the year 2000.
#21 If you think that you will be able to “beat the
odds” and land the job of your dreams once you graduate from college,
perhaps you should consider these numbers….
-In the United States today, approximately 365,000 cashiers have college degrees.
According to government data, compiled by the Treasury
Department at the request of SmartMoney.com, the federal government is
withholding money from a rapidly growing number of Social Security
recipients who have fallen behind on federal student loans. From January
through August 6, the government reduced the size of roughly 115,000
retirees’ Social Security checks on those grounds. That’s nearly double
the pace of the department’s enforcement in 2011; it’s up from around
60,000 cases in all of 2007 and just 6 cases in 2000.
#23 According to a survey of 4,900 recent college graduates, more than half of them regretted choosing their major or their school.
#24 One poll found that 70% of all college graduates wish that they had spent more time preparing for the “real world” while they were still in school.
#2548 percent of all recent college graduates have not been able to find a job in their chosen field. #26 During 2011, 53 percent of all Americans with a bachelor’s degree under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed.
#27 According to the ABA, only 56 percent of all law school graduates in 2012 were able to find a full-time job that requires a law degree.
#28 The median student loan burden for medical school students that graduated in 2012 was $170,000. #29Close to half of all recent college graduates are working in jobs that do not even require a college degree.
When you are overwhelmed by nightmarish student loan debt that you
can never get away from, it can literally take over your life. A recent
Businessweek article shared some real life examples of this…
If student loans are good debt, how do you account for
the reaction of Christina Mills, 30, of Minneapolis, when she found out
her payment on college and law school loans would be $1,400 a month? “I
just went into the car and started sobbing,” says Mills, who works for a
nonprofit. “It was more than my paycheck at the time.” Medical student
Thomas Smith, 25, of Hamilton, N.J., is $310,000 in debt and is
struggling to make ends meet even before beginning to repay his loans.
“I don’t even know what I eat,” he says. “I just go to the supermarket
and buy the cheapest thing I can and buy as much of it as I can.” Then
there’s Michael DiPietro, 25, of Brooklyn, who accumulated about
$100,000 in debt while getting a bachelor’s degree in fashion,
sculpture, and performance, and spent the next two years waiting tables.
He has since landed a fundraising job in the arts but still has no idea
how he will pay back all that money. “I’ve come to the conclusion that
it’s an obsolete idea that a college education is like your golden
ticket,” DiPietro says.
What about you?
Do you have student loan debt or do you know someone who does?
If you would like to share a student loan debt story, please post it below…
When we consider that the ionosphere surrounding our planet is
electrically positive charged whilst the earth’s surface carries a
negative charge, we must conclude that this amounts to a prevailing
electrical tension within the earth/ionosphere cavity. This tension is
discharged when thunderstorms develop in this cavity. In physics two
concentric electrically charged balls, one placed inside the other, are
called ball condensers, or capacitors.
The inside of the ionosphere layer is used in wireless information
transfer to bounce off radio waves emitted by transmitters on the
earth’s surface. In this way the information can be transferred over
large distances.
The physicist and inventor Nikola Tesla was the first to carry out
wireless energy experiments at Colorado Springs, USA, which produced
such powerful electrical tensions that they resulted in the creation of
artificial lightning. These lightning flashes also produced radio waves.
Due to their extremely low frequency these waves could penetrate the
earth without resistance and thereby Tesla discovered the resonance
frequency of the earth. Unfortunately Tesla was before his time and his
discoveries were not taken seriously.
It wasn’t until more than half a century later in 1952, when the
German physicist Professor W.O.Schumann of the Technical University of
Munich predicted that there are electromagnetic standing waves in the
atmosphere, within the cavity formed by the surface of the earth and the
ionosphere. This came about by Schumann teaching his students about the
physics of electricity. During a lesson about ball condensers he asked
them to calculate the frequency between the inner and outer ball,
meaning the earth and ionosphere layer. They came up with a calculation
of 10Hz.
James Russell’s excellent film production trailer (above), in full (below)
This was confirmed in 1954 when measurements by Schumann and König
detected resonances at a main frequency of 7.83 Hz. In the years
following this discovery, several investigators worldwide have
researched “Schumann resonance” and a number of properties and
characteristics have now been established.
Schumann Resonance Properties
The spherical earth-ionosphere cavity is created by the conductive
surface of the earth and the outer boundary of the ionosphere, separated
by non-conducting air. Electromagnetic impulses are generated by
electrical discharges such as lightning, the main excitation source, and
spread laterally into the cavity. Lightning discharges have a
“high-frequency component”, involving frequencies between 1 kHz and 30
kHz, followed by a “low-frequency component” consisting of waves and
frequencies below 2 kHz and gradually increasing amplitude. This
produces electromagnetic waves in the very low frequency (VLF) and
extremely low frequency (ELF) ranges.
ELF waves at 3 Hz to 300 Hz are propagated as more or less strongly
attenuated waves in the space between the earth and the ionosphere,
which provides a waveguide for the signals. Certain wavelengths
circumnavigate the earth with little attenuation due to the fact that
standing waves are formed within the cavity, the circumference of which
is “approximately equal to the wavelength which an electromagnetic wave
with a frequency of about 7.8 Hz would have in free space” (König, 1979,
p34). It is the waves of this frequency and its harmonics at 14, 20,
26, 33, 39 and 45 Hz that form Schumann Resonances.
On a global scale the total resonant spectrum is the effect of the
global lightning worldwide which is estimated at an average of 100
strokes per second. Since there is a concentration of lightning activity
during the afternoon in Southeast Asia, Africa and America there are
Schumann Resonance amplitude peaks at 10, 16 and 22 UT (universal time),
with activity over America around 22 UT being dominant.
There are also +/-0.5 Hz variations in the center frequency, caused
by a diurnal increase in ionization of the ionosphere as a result of
radiation from the sun, having the effect of reducing the height of the
ionosphere at 12 local time. Another factor which influences center
frequency is sunspot activity.
A Tuning Fork for Life
Although the existence of the Schumann Resonance is an established
scientific fact, there are very few scientists who are aware of the
importance of this frequency as a tuning fork for Life. I propose that
it is not merely a phenomenon caused by lightning in the atmosphere, but
a very important electromagnetic standing wave, acting as background
frequency and influencing biological oscillators within the mammalian
brain.
Natural electromagnetic processes in the environment (I-IV), human EEG
readings in comparison. Schumann oscillations (I) and the EEG a-rhythm,
as well as locally conditioned fluctuations of the electric field (II)
and the EEG d-rhythm, show a noticable similarity in their temporal
variation. From König, 1979.
At the time when Schumann published his
research results in the journal `Technische Physik’, Dr Ankermueller, a
physician, immediately made the connection between the Schumann
resonance and the alpha rhythm of brainwaves. He found the thought of
the earth having the same natural resonance as the brain very exciting
and contacted Professor Schumann, who in turn asked a doctorate
candidate to look into this phenomenon. This candidate was Herbert König
who became Schumann’s successor at Munich University. König
demonstrated a correlation between Schumann Resonances and brain
rhythms. He compared human EEG recordings with natural electromagnetic
fields of the environment (1979) and found that the main frequency
produced by Schumann oscillations is very close to the frequency of
alpha rhythms.
Dr König carried out further measurements
of Schumann resonance and eventually arrived at a frequency of exactly
7.83 Hz, which is even more interesting, as this frequency is one which
applies to mammals. For instance, septal driving of the hippocampal
rhythm in rats has been found to have a minimum threshold at 7.7 Hz
(Gray, 1982).
This relationship has been explored by a number of investigators. For further information see Natural electromagnetic fields research on the h.e.s.e. project website.
One of the foremost researchers in this field is Dr Wolfgang Ludwig,
who has been investigating Schumann Resonance and its place in nature
for many years.
The Research of Dr Wolfgang Ludwig
It was Dr Wolfgang Ludwig who carried out further measurements whilst
writing his thesis on the Schumann Resonance. His aim was to measure
what kind of natural signals actually exist in a healthy environment. He
became aware of the fact that due to manmade electromagnetic signals
within the atmosphere, the accurate measurement of Schumann waves was
almost impossible in the city. For this reason he decided to take
measurements out at sea where, due to good electrical conductivity, the
Schumann waves are stronger. He than had the idea to take underground
measurements in mines. Here he recognized that the magnetic field of the
earth fluctuated too. This was also investigated by Dr Robert Becker in
his book `Electricity and Vitality: The spark of Life’.
Dr Ludwig came up with an excellent idea to take accurate
measurements. When taking measurements at the earth’s surface, the
reading is the result of two signals, one coming from above and one from
below. But subsequently taking measurements below ground makes it
possible to come up with exact readings by separating the two.
YIN and YANG
During his research Dr Ludwig came across the ancient Chinese
teachings which state that Man needs two environmental signals: the YANG
(masculine) signal from above and the YIN (feminine) signal from below.
This description fits the relatively strong signal of the Schumann wave
surrounding our planet being YANG and the weaker geomagnetic waves
coming from below, from within the planet, being the YIN signal
The Chinese teachings state that to achieve perfect health, both
signals must be in balance. Dr Ludwig found that this is indeed the
case. He writes in his book `Informative Medizin’ that research carried
out by E.Jacobi at the University of Duesseldorf showed that the one
sided use of Schumann (YANG) wave simulation without the geomagnetic
(YIN) signal caused serious health problems. On the other hand, the
absence of Schumann waves creates a similar situation. Professor R.Wever
from the Max Planck Institute for Behavioural Physiology in
Erling-Andechs, built an underground bunker which completely screened
out magnetic fields. Student volunteers lived there for four weeks in
this hermetically sealed environment. Professor Wever noted that the
student’s circadian rhythms diverged and that they suffered emotional
distress and migraine headaches. As they were young and healthy, no
serious health conditions arose, which would not have been the case with
older people or people with a compromised immune system. After only a
brief exposure to 7.8 Hz (the very frequency which had been screened
out), the volunteers health stabilized again.
The same complaints were reported by the first astronauts and
cosmonauts, who, out in space, also were no longer exposed to the
Schumann waves. Now modern spacecrafts are said to contain a device
which simulates the Schumann waves.
All the aforesaid points to the fact that the ancient teachings are
correct. Mankind depends on two subtle environmental signals, the Yin
from below and the Yang from above.
The urgent need for further research into the Schumann Resonance Effect
Although Schumann Resonance could easily be confirmed by measurements
at the time of its discovery, it is no longer so obvious due to our
atmosphere being filled with manmade radiation noise at different
frequencies. This is almost drowning out the natural signals – signals
that have been there through aeons of evolution. It is possible that
these signals act like a natural tuning fork, not just for the
biological oscillators of the brain, but for all processes of life.
With the advent of new wireless technology, in particular microwaves
pulsed at frequencies close to Schumann Resonance as in mobile
telephony, another threat is emerging. We may be creating an environment
that is literally `out of tune’ with Nature itself. And it is at this
point that there is an urgent need for us to understand how everything
alive responds to the most subtle changes in magnetic and
electromagnetic fields surrounding us. For instance, we need to examine
the possible interaction between magnetite crystals within cells and
manmade magnetic fields in the environment.
There is a great need for independent research into the
bio-compatibility between natural and manmade signals. By linking
together the potential importance of Schumann Resonance and the dangers
posed by manmade pulsed frequencies, it will become apparent that unless
we find a way to use bio-compatible signals to power new technology, we
may expose all life to dangers previously not encountered. We may have
to pay a high price for this shortsightedness. Serious attention must
now be paid to the possible biological role of standing waves in the
atmosphere, so that we do not overlook the importance of oscillations in
nature that may be central to consciousness and life itself.
The late Dr Neil Cherry, a fierce opponent of the frequencies used in
mobile telephony, has also focused on the importance of Schumann
Resonance in his publications ‘Schumann Resonances, a plausible
biophysical mechanism for the human health effects of Solar/Geomagnetic
Activity’ (2002), and ‘Human intelligence: The brain, an electromagnetic
system synchronised by the Schumann Resonance signal’ (2003).
If organisms do in fact respond to, and perhaps depend on,
electromagnetic fields as weak as that produced by Schumann resonance at
0.22-1.12 mV/m (from Cherry, 2002), this is of major significance for
the development of present and future wireless technologies. Funding for
research projects investigating the Schumann Resonance Effect is now
being sought and scientists who support this call for research are
invited to contact by e-mail.
Gray, J.A., 1982, The Neuropsychology of Anxiety: An
Enquiry into the Functions of the Septo-Hippocampal System. Clarendon
Press.
Cherry, N.J., 2002, Schumann Resonances, a plausible biophysical
mechanism for the human health effects of Solar/Geomagnetic Activity,
Natural Hazards 26(3), p 279-331
Cherry, N.J. 2003, Human intelligence: The brain, an
electromagnetic system synchronised by the Schumann Resonance signal,
Medical Hypotheses 60(60):843-4
Cherry,N. Cell phone radiation poses a serious biological and health risk
http://www.drscheiner-muenchen.de/Cherryeng.htm
König, H.L Bioinformation – Electrophysical Aspects. In:
Electromagnetic Bioinformation, Popp, F.A., Becker,G.,
König, H.L.Peschka,W.,(eds.) Urban und Schwarzenberg
p 25, 1979
Schumann, W.O.Ueber die strahlungslosen
Eigenschwingungen einer leitenden Kugel, die von einer Luftschicht und
einer Ionosphaerenhuelle umgeben ist, Z.Naturforsch. 7a, 149, 1952
Schumann W.O.
König, H. Ueber die Beobachtung von Atmospherics bei geringsten Frequenzen, Naturwissenschaften, 41, 183, 1954
Comment: I've added the electric sun as the acronym ES as definitive.There are 16 roots that confirm this notion. The definitive root es- sits next to the conception of (e)su- which is the universe. This seems true because then it is immediately followed by the conception of empty as in the word vacuum. This information is provided by the American Heritage Dictionary, 3rd Edition.
Future Thought
Mar 3, 2013 | Veterans Today | Paul Balles
We must look forward to the future as that is where most of us will spend the rest of our lives. –Charles Kettering
A book that gave cause for thought in1970, Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock,predicted
some difficult tomorrows. Toffler presented clear evidence of how the
speed of change had increased drastically as human progress pushed
forward.
One couldn’t help being impressed by Toffler’s observation that more
changes have taken place in the past 2000 years than in the 200,000
years before that, and that more changes have occurred in the last 200
years than in either the previous 2000 years or 200,000 years.
What’s shocking about this is the realization that we no longer have a
generation for our children to adapt to change. Speed itself compels a
change in the rate of decision-making and, as Toffler says, “all
decision systems have limits as to how fast they can make complex
decisions.”
Though Alvin Toffler was by no means the first person with an
interest in futuristic thinking, he was the first modern writer to make
people aware of the importance of future studies.
Futurist Michael Findlay offered an interesting story about people missing Toffler’s ideas:
At a dinner party held for the Chinese ambassador in the late
1970s, Toffler found himself seated with the top executives from NBC and
RCA. Since it would be unlike him not to take advantage of such access,
he asked them how broadcasting would be different five years hence.
Both smiled languidly and assured Toffler there would be no major
changes.
They, like everyone else who would lose their jobs in the years
ahead for not seeing the approaching third wave, saw a future of fine
tuning and incremental adjustments. Amidst the tremendous upheaval of
our times, they were asleep at the wheel and proud of it.
CROSSROADS SYNOPSIS:
*Crossroads:
Labor Pains of a New Worldview* is a documentary exploring the depths
of the current human condition and the emergence of a worldview that is
recreating our world from the inside out.
Weaving together
insights and findings from biology, psychology, network science, systems
science, business, culture and media, the film reveals the inner
workings of the human experience in the 21st century, urging viewers to
step out of the box and challenge their own assumptions about who we
really are, and why we do what we do.
*Crossroads* places
evolutionary context to today's escalating social unrest, natural
disasters, and economic failures. It illuminates the footsteps of an
integrated worldview, penetrating its way through the power of social
networks to the forefront of our personal and collective awareness.
A refreshing reality check for all viewers and a clarion call for those who carry the seeds of the emerging worldview.
Scientists
and thinkers featured in *Crossroads* include: Amit Goswami, Neale
Donald Walsch, Elisabet Sahtouris, Bruce Lipton, Peter Joseph, Caroline
A. Miller, Nicholas Christakis, James Fowler, Michael Laitman, Ervin
Laszlo, Dean Radin, Dave Sherman, Annie Leonard, Jairon G. Cuesta, and
John St. Augustine.
ABOUT CROSSROADS' FILMMAKER:
Joseph
Ohayon, a filmmaker, writer and speaker based in Israel and New York, is
best known for his relentless quest to put pieces together and look at
the big picture. Joseph directs, writes, and hosts documentaries and
talk shows on Israeli and US television, and also lectures on the need
to adapt to an increasingly interdependent world.
CROSSROADS TOPICS, THEMES & MEMES:
(in order of appearance)
Who Are You?
Kony 2012
Albert Einstein Problems Quote
Interdependence
World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2012
Greece Riots 2011
Chile Protests 2011
Spain Protests 2011
Israel Protests 2011
India Protests 2011
Occupy Wall St.
G20
Egolution
Survival
Egoistic Competition
Separation Cosmology
Separation Sociology
Black Wolf vs. White Wolf
The Asch Experiment
Bruce Lipton Stem Cell Experiment
Genetic Determinism Vs. Environmental Influence
Social Contagion
Framingham Heart Study
Happiness
Philip Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment
Matter Vs. Meaning
Darwin Theory of Evolution
Isaac Newton
Newtonian Physics
Materialism
Love
Beauty
Harmony
Energy
Quantum Physics
Johannes Vermeer Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus
Van Meegeren Forgery
McDonalds
John Cage 4'33"
iTunes
Value of Gold
Values
Social Influence
Story of Stuff
Consumption
Advertising
Media
Mr. Rogers TV/Viewer Space Is Sacred Quote
Money
Work Watch Spend Treadmill
Obama vs. Romney
Change
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
It's the Economy Stupid
Worldview
Consciousness
What Is the Meaning of Life?
Identity
Group vs. Individuals
Stratafication
Unity
Caterpillar, Butterfly
Crisis as Transition
Imaginal Cells
Conscious Evolution
Mutual Respect
Giving
Health Care Crisis
Politics Crisis
Education Crisis
Selfishness
Exploitation
Negative Emotions
Greed
Jealousy
Anger
Positive Emotions
Human Superorganism
Connectedness
Solidarity
Family
Social Networks
Togetherness
Joy
Science
Why Are We Here?
Nature
Homeostasis
Balance
Critical Mass
Humanity
Awareness
Awakening
Ever can’t help but think you’re surrounded by idiots? A leading
scientist at Stanford University thinks he has the answer, and the bad
news is things aren’t likely to get any better.
Dr. Gerald Crabtree, a geneticist at Stanford, has published a study
that he conducted to try and identify the progression of modern man’s
intelligence. As it turns out, however, Dr. Crabtree’s research led him
to believe that the collective mind of mankind has been on more or a
less a downhill trajectory for quite some time.
According to his
research, published in two parts starting with last year’s ‘Our fragile
intellect. Part I,’ Dr. Crabtree thinks unavoidable changes in the
genetic make-up coupled with modern technological advances has left
humans, well, kind of stupid. He has recently published his follow-up
analysis, and in it explains that of the roughly 5,000 genes he
considered the basis for human intelligence, a number of mutations over
the years has forced modern man to be only a portion as bright as his
ancestors.
“New developments in genetics, anthropology and
neurobiology predict that a very large number of genes underlie our
intellectual and emotional abilities, making these abilities genetically
surprisingly fragile,” he writes in part one of his research.
“Analysis of human mutation rates and the number of genes required for
human intellectual and emotional fitness indicates that we are almost
certainly losing these abilities,” he adds in his latest report.
From
there, the doctor goes on to explain that general mutations over the
last few thousand years have left mankind increasingly unable to cope
with certain situations that perhaps our ancestors would be more adapted
to.
“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of
1000 BC were to appear suddenly among us, he or she would be among the
brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and
companions, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a
clear-sighted view of important issues. Furthermore, I would guess that
he or she would be among the most emotionally stable of our friends and
colleagues. I would also make this wager for the ancient inhabitants of
Africa, Asia, India or the Americas, of perhaps 2000–6000 years ago. The
basis for my wager comes from new developments in genetics,
anthropology, and neurobiology that make a clear prediction that our
intellectual and emotional abilities are genetically surprisingly
fragile.”
According to the doctor, humans were at their most intelligent when “every individual was exposed to nature’s raw selective mechanisms on a daily basis.”
Under those conditions, adaption, he argued, was much more of a matter
than fight or flight. Rather, says the scientists, it was a sink or swim
situation for generations upon generations.
"We, as a species, are surprisingly intellectually fragile and perhaps reached a peak 2,000 to 6,000 years ago," he writes. "If
selection is only slightly relaxed, one would still conclude that
nearly all of us are compromised compared to our ancient ancestors of
3,000 to 6,000 years ago.” That doesn’t mean it’s all downhill, though. Dr. Crabtree says, “although
our genomes are fragile, our society is robust almost entirely by
virtue of education, which allow strengths to be rapidly distributed to
all members."
"We have a long time to solve it. People 300 years ago had no idea where we'd be scientifically now," he says. "We'll be able to deal with this problem with a range of humane and ethical solutions."
Evidence of Revision is a six part documentary containing historical,
original news footage revealing that the most seminal events in recent
American history have been deeply and purposefully misrepresented to the
public. Footage and interviews provide an in-depth exploration of
events ranging from the Kennedy assassinations to the Jonestown
massacre, and all that lies between. The footprints left in this
archival footage reveal the coordinated, clandestine sculpting of the
America we know today. Evidence of Revision proves once and for all that
history has been revised even as it was written!
