Robber fly - Nature photographer Thomas Shahan specializes in amazing portraits of tiny insects. It isn't easy. Shahan says that this Robber Fly (Holcocephala fusca), for instance, is "skittish" and doesn't like its picture taken.

Eye-popping bug photos

Nature by Numbers (Video)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)


The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”



"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear > 20 Min)

Obama unveils landmark regulations to combat climate change

Obama unveils landmark regulations to combat climate change
In a bid to combat climate change, US President Barack Obama announced the Clean Power Plan on Monday, marking the first time power plants have been targeted by mandatory regulations on carbon dioxide emissions in the US.
Google: Earthday 2013

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Canada's tar sands oil a blight on Keystone

Deutsche Welle, 27 July 2013


Barack Obama has said that approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the US is dependent on it not increasing greenhouse gas emissions. But the oil inside it, from Canada, could be the real problem.

"The water's been polluted so badly, you can't drink out of any of the creeks, or even the wells," Violet Cheecham Clarke explains. The 85-year-old is among the elders of a tribe known as Fort McMurray No. 468, in Alberta. "Nowadays, you can't even give the water to your animals."

The sprightly old lady with dark grey hair has seen the world, also having lived in Germany for some years. She's been fighting to prevent the water in her native home from getting polluted by the oil, often in vain, she says.

The Cheecham family is concerned
about environmental impacts
"I've been to an awful lot of meetings over this water business, and we never seem to get anywhere," Cheecham Clarke said. "They've had to buy drinking water here for years; it comes delivered once or twice weekly."

Not many First Nation peoples have profited from the tar sands operation, which has meanwhile made the neighboring town of Fort McMurray wealthy. Corruption is everywhere, people here say.

Water-intensive process

The tar sands were first tapped in Alberta in 1967, after it was discovered that the soil in Canada's northwest is soaked in black gold. It took several decades, however, to develop a technique cheap enough to make separating the oil from the soil profitable. The oil only makes up about 10 percent of the volume.

Generally the oil is heated to liquid by steam in underground pipes or the earth is excavated and then washed to separate the oil, as in pit mining. One thing required for both is a vast amount of water, which in this case comes from the Athabasca River.

What's left over is a sludgy mix of water, sand and bitumen, which is stored in so-called tailing ponds, for example north of Fort McMurray. The landscape there is marked by many such toxic tailing ponds, and also by huge heaps of tailings, as unwanted leftovers from mining are called.

Sandy wasteland left over after tar
sands processing, where the oil has
been removed
"We're making sure that the tailings ponds are safe and that the water can be reduced so they can extract the water out of that mixture faster," said Greg Stringham of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

Stringham told DW that all the water in the tailings ponds is recycled, and not left to soak into the environment. A layer of mud seals the underside of the pond off from the water table according to Stringham.

High cancer rate

But environmental investigator Tony Boschmann doesn't believe Stringham's claims. He not only thinks that the official estimate of 2.7 barrels of fresh water usage for each barrel of oil produced is too low, he also believes the river is getting polluted.

"The chemistry of the water coming into the bottom of the river is completely different to what was in the river,'" Boschmann told DW.

Boschmann, at 53, is an expert at hunting polluters. But he said that the government has not been keen to follow up, also in this case. "We've brought it to the attention of the authorities, and we'd hoped that they would investigate this more deeply and fully," Boschmann said. "We've since realized that there's very little interest in showing anything negative in the oil sands domain."

Medical doctor John O'Connor is also concerned. He's been serving the Fort McKay area, north of Fort McMurray, for 15 years. He's also familiar with the medical situation in Fort Chipewyan, a nearby settlement accessible only by boat or plane.

Environmental investigator Tony
 Boschmann believes the tailings
ponds are leaking
The area has seen an unusually high rate of cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile ducts in the human body. "Nobody is saying this cancer is connected with the tar sands," O'Connor said. But he pointed out that toxins have entered the environment and the food chain as the result of industrial activity upstream, and that "many of these toxins can be linked with these cancers."

The authorities have been absent from dealing with this phenomenon, O'Connor said. "I'm very disgusted with the lack of action, the lack of interest," he added. At the same time, he admits that Alberta in general and Fort McMurray have profited from the extraction of oil from the tar sands. There's more education than before, life expectancy is higher and also the standard of living has generally risen.

A dirty fuel

The alleged water pollution isn't the only problem with the tar sands - it's also a comparatively dirty fuel. Greg Stringham of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers admits that per barrel of tar sands oil, six to nine percent more greenhouse gases are emitted than from oil, both light and heavy, coming into the US.

An oil sands refinery and tailings pond,
located north of Fort McMurray
Mike Hudema of Greenpeace Canada pegged tar sands oil as a climate culprit: "Right now the tar sands are the single largest and fastest-growing source of emissions in Canada." They are also the primary reason why Canada isn't able to hold to the Kyoto Protocol of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and why the country is blocking international progress on future climate commitments, he said.

Mining of Canada's oil sands is due to continue, to the tune of about 1.8 million barrels daily, Stringham said. That makes up almost half of Canada's total production. By 2030, production is supposed to rise to 6.7 million barrels, with the goal of this oil reaching refineries and ports in the Gulf of Mexico.

But in order for that to happen, the Keystone XL Pipeline will have to be built through the United States. At the moment, US President Barack Obama's administration is still set to make the decision on that, after environmental impact studies have been carried out.

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