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  • KatRobin said:

    My first thought when the Zika story broke was " oh, that'll be man made too then". Once a cynic, always a cynic...
    Veering off from the subject just for a moment, here in the East of England, 5 sperm whales have washed up on local beaches. Lots of theories being put about as to why they died- hunting squid too far into shallow water; sonar disturbance caused by either the Navy or the off shore wind turbines in the area etc..it's been interesting to contrast though the 2 differing actions of locals. One daubed " man's fault" , R.I.P and a pro-CND sign on the whale's body. Another was seen yesterday hacking teeth out of the poor animal as trophies or ( presumably) to sell on eBay, or spin a yarn about down the pub. Which sums everything up I think. Half the world is sensitive, the other half is scum.


    Or Empathic/Psychopathic
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
  • KatRobin said:

    Latest on the whales on the local news...the poor creatures have been towed off the public beaches, covered in sand and will apparently be taken to landfill sites. Which doesn't make much sense to me...could they not have been towed back out to sea and given a fitting send off there? Maybe it's because the water is too shallow too far out..but I don't see how a whale can be taken to landfill on the back of a lorry without causing more difficulties?!
    Am I guilty of female logic..



    I agree - I'd hope they get autopsies done too, though. A lot of beached whales in recent years have extreme levels of PCBs and other man-made chemicals in their tissues. Even though PCBs were banned a long time ago, they are still in the food chain, and there are a lot of ther nasties that seem to be contributing to toxic deaths in cetaceans. We need to listen to what they are telling us about the way marine ecosystems works.
  • Zika's been around a long time.  

    I've mentioned this before but it is getting more serious.  They are seriously discussing and already have begun implementing the eradication of some species of mosquitoes.

    It does seem we have more power than sense, sometimes.  We are willing to implement all of these various forms of control of nature without considering the long term ramifications beyond the thought that the short term ramifications are supposedly good for mankind.  They seldom are.  In the U.S., they had a program called "YOU can prevent forest fires" without thinking through the ramifications (as usual).  So, there was a massive build-up of burnable material in the forest causing out-of-control wildfires.  Now, they have finally changed it to "YOU can prevent wildfires", which is kinda bs.  So, in this microcosm of mankind's arrogance and obsession with control, we see how a simple change can have unforeseen results.  What about something as poorly understood as genetics.  The profit motive combined with humanity's irrational fear of death assure that this will continue until something changes.  As far as I can tell, the only thing that fear of death brings is fear of life, as well.  I won't even get into trashing that western view of medicine which promotes the repair mentality rather than the maintenance mentality of traditional eastern medicine.  Western medicine, as far as I am concerned, has not gone much past its phlebotomy roots - mostly scams with an emphasis on experimenting on humans and calling it medicine.
  • WW, please read my recent note written in the Dreams section. It will enlighten you.

    Yeah, let's discuss genetics a bit more. Alison's song "Utopia" was ahead of the curve as usual. Unfortunately the rudimentary knowledge of the genome is already in the wrong hands. Corporations are using this to make the masses become and do what they want. Nature is Utopia, Genetic engineering is Dystopia. That's because Man's need for control and domination creates a slave culture. Not only for insects and animals, but for humans as well. Living things- Life itself, is now viewed as a product...like slaves are viewed. There is no "humanity" in this. This is the dark side of the human mind when given power. This is happening now with the food supply. It's real. This is not the distant future or some science fiction, it's happening now. Should it scare you that the government invoked a "Dark Act" keeping citizens from knowing that the food they are eating is genetically modified? YES, it should.

    I've been awakening- my real wake-up call occurred in 2010 though. It concerns a genetic modification which turns skin cells from dark to white via application of a chemical cosmetic...think Michael Jackson. It's a heat shock protein within the skin that the "cosmetic" chemical modifies and changes. Heat or friction then turns the cells white. Did you ever wonder why Michael Jackson walked around with an umbrella? That's because heat from the UV radiation would turn his skin cells white. When I told the cosmetics company about my findings..they said "we know" and then threatened me. Why would a corporation threaten me?! It's because they don't want the public to know what they're doing. This is a permanent change to the DNA. If you buy a cosmetic or hair dye etc, would you want to know if your DNA is being permanently changed through application? YES, you should..yet there is no FDA regulation for this because it's considered "cosmetic."

    Well, who's in charge of all these covert genetic manipulations then? Why would a corporation want to turn skin white? Why is ALL of this going on WITHOUT consumer knowledge? Why aren't safety protocols implemented? It is the veil of Eugenics. You see, when the US allowed former Nazi war criminals to run corporations- this is what happens. This would make a great science fiction book- except it's not fiction.

    Will Mankind weaken and sterilize the Human Race through genetic manipulation? Will this depopulation method wipe out all life? You see, life starts with the seed..or pulse. There are seed vaults now. They are meant to protect life. Protect Life. Shouldn't all of Humanity want to protect life? Even if the plants and animals are to be consumed later in the food chain..respect of life should come first. These rampant corporations don't care. They want to weaken, distort and kill life. It's not a little thing like a mosquito..it's a monster like man.

    ...but I will say right now, there are others like us who care. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. (that woman is both Nature and myself) B-)
    Post edited by Ponygurl at 2016-01-29 15:22:21
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light

  • The  reason for unreason

    Read it, PG.  You'll feel better.
    Post edited by Whickwithy at 2016-01-29 16:57:19
  • Some facts about mitochndria - the tiny bits of our cells which generate the energy we need and which we inherit from our mother (and not our father, the idle get)

    1. The mitochondria generate energy by pumping protons across the mitochondrial membrane. Together, your mitochondria pump about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 protons EVERY SECOND.

    2. This generates more energy per gram than THE FRICKIN SUN puts out  - weight for weight, we generate about 10,000 times more energy than that lazy bastid, in fact. So stop hassling me  - like, think of the WORK I am doing just lying here in bed. Even if it is 11 o'clock already.

    3. The electrical potential across the mitochondrial membrane is about equivalent to that of a lightning bolt. Yeah, baby.

    4. The mitochondria use that potential to pass electrons down a chain of membrane proteins, generating useable energy as they go. The electrons move from protein to protein by quantum tunnelling, which is well weird and dont ask me how they do that, we didnt even have the concept a few years ago. Anyway, the process is so delicate that if one of those protein molecules is misplaced by just 1 angstrom unit (that's the diameter of an atom), the chain breaks down and you die. So DON'T EVEN TOUCH ME! The diameter of an atom!!!!!!
    Post edited by whisperit at 2016-01-31 14:03:58
  • Wow. I could hear the Mitochondrial energy crackling all the way through that post. I actually cooked a slice of toast off of it ! I could have done the whole loaf if you had been out of bed !
    Perhaps some bright spark (sic) should invent a Mitochondrial generator. The size of an egg, it would generate the power to run an entire neighbourhood!
    The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ.
    Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit.
    Shall lure it back to cancal half a line,
    Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
  • ^You'd think so, UT. But actually, the amount of power that all this energy can be turned into (ie how much work you can get out of it) is suprisingly low. Despite all the big numbers, your body runs at about the same energy output as a 100W light bulb.

       


  • Menawhile, it's definitely Spring in these here parts. There's snow on the hilltops, but the snowdrops have been joined by the first daffodils. I've been hearing Great Tits doing their territorial song for a few weeks already, and yesterday, they were joined by a couple of duelling Dunnocks.
  • A slow walk beside the river this morning, lamenting my misfortunes when on the bank beside me, an Otter materialised. She slid noiselessly into the water to watch me from midstream. Then she dissolved. I waited and she appeared again at the same spot, staring right int my eyes; I could see the drops of water on her whiskers and the steam of her breath. Her tail beat the water, holding her still without effort. Then she was gone.

    A short way further on, a Kingfisher peeped and alighted on a bush next to me.

    What's to worry, when you are gifted these things?

    Oh, and to continue the energy theme... Otters have energy requirements about twice that of any other similar sized mammal. A man engaged in strenuous physical work needs to eat about 250 KJ for every kilogram of his bodyweight every day. An Otter needs about 720 KJ/kg/day.
     
    Post edited by whisperit at 2016-02-26 05:39:52
  • A similar thing happened to me ( well, sort of similar) last weekend as I was walking the dogs on the beach. There was this woman on her own standing looking very sad. I was quite worried about her, even though I couldn't make out her face and if she was crying or anything, just a sense. My super sensitive dog Jake couldn't stop turning round to look at her, he woofed quietly a few times too. Then the lady started walking behind us at some distance. I'd like to think my dog broke into her chain of thought and moved her on from a bad place perhaps?
  • I've been seeing lots of red (male) cardinals lately. I love them...someone told me they symbolize love. It's a nice thought. Sometimes I'll see the males chase the females all around the wood, spring has sprung.
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light
  • Are they butterflies PG? How lovely...and I hope you're right about Spring round the corner. In the North of England there's still snow, but here in the Mid-South we ve escaped it so far. I get so excited when I see my bulbs and plants coming up.
  • Nope, they're birds Kat...beautiful bright red (male) and rusty brown (female) colored birds. I've also been watching a pair of Black Swans. They built their nest together, and protect it and each other. Now they have 6 chicks. They took turns sitting on the eggs, now they do the same with their chicks. They take turns sitting on the nest and rearing them. In fact, I can't even tell the male from the female..they are both the same size and colored. Oh, what humanity could learn from watching a pair of black swans....
    Post edited by Ponygurl at 2016-03-06 22:23:46
    U R I E L
    What is done in the dark will always come to light
  • KatRobin said:

    ... I get so excited when I see my bulbs coming up...



    ..arrgh...must....resist.....inappropriate....comment.....must....resist...

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