General News Items

[Eagles Disobey]

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100201/ap_on_re_us/us_air_force_academy_earth_religion

Earth religions get worship area at AF Academy

By DAN ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 1, 5:53 pm ET

DENVER – The Air Force Academy has set aside an outdoor worship area for Pagans, Wiccans, Druids and other Earth-centered believers, school officials said Monday.

A double circle of stones atop a hill on the campus near Colorado Springs has been designated for the group, which previously met indoors.

"Being with nature and connecting with it is kind of the whole point," said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, who sponsors the group and describes himself as a Pagan. "It will dramatically improve that atmosphere, the mindset and the actual connection."

The stones were moved to the hilltop last year because erosion threatened to make them unstable in their previous location near the visitors center. Crews arranged them in two concentric circles because they thought it would be a pleasant place for cadets to relax, Longcrier said.

When Longcrier and academy chaplains were looking for an outdoor worship space, they discovered one already existed in the form of the circles.

Lt. Col. William Ziegler, one of the academy's chaplains, said designating the space is part of the school's effort to foster religious tolerance and to defend the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.

"It's about our commitment as airmen to protect freedom and defend freedom. To me this is a freedom thing," he said.

The school also has worship facilities for Protestant and Catholic Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists.

The academy superintendent, Lt. Gen. Michael Gould, has made religious tolerance a priority. It became a concern in 2004 when a survey found many cadets had heard slurs or jokes about other religions and that some felt ostracized because they weren't religious.

Longcrier and Ziegler said they've heard no criticism of the new worship space but both noted its presence was just made public.

"Not to say that it's not coming, but so far we haven't had any real issues," Longcrier said.

He said 15 to 20 cadets have shown an interest in Earth-centered beliefs, and eight to 10 regularly attend Monday night meetings. Of those, six or seven are devout believers and the others are "searchers," Longcrier said.

The academy has about 4,000 cadets. The school is one of five U.S. service academies, including West Point and Annapolis. Cadets graduate as second lieutenants.

"Earth-centered" spirituality encompasses many beliefs, Longcrier said, many that recognize multiple gods and goddesses and observe holidays tied to the seasons.

Longcrier said he personally doesn't consider gods and goddesses to be actual beings but personifications of natural events that human ancestors wanted to put a face on.

"The goddess is symbolic of the Earth," Longcrier said. "Do I believe I'm worshipping this female entity living in the Earth or up in space somewhere? No. The symbolism is very important."

The group's meetings are usually devoted to mediation, lessons or ceremonies, he said.

Longcrier, who oversees laboratories in the academy's astronautics labs, said he has military designation as a "distinct faith group leader."

Anyone is welcome to visit the new worship site but it should be treated as a religious structure, he said. A formal dedication is planned in March.

[Eagles Disobey]

THE EAGLES DISOBEY FLAGSHIP WEBSITE IS NOW UNDERGOING A MAJOR SECURITY UPGRADE AS ORDERED BY DR. DAN, BEING DONE BY A TEAM OF TECHNICIANS EMPLOYED BY THE COMPANY, AND PICKED BY SQUIRREL.

WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

[Eagles Disobey]

www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/02/nasa-budget/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29&utm_content=Yahoo+Search+Results

Obama Gives NASA More Money, Cuts Manned Trip to Moon

February 1, 2010 | 2:02 pm



The Obama administration has officially decided to end the Constellation mission back to the moon, although the replacement plan faces a tough route through Congress.

The new plan, which had been rumored for months, was announced today with the release of the Obama administration’s NASA budget request, which despite the axing of the moon plan delivers a $6 billion funding increase over the next five years.

“NASA’s Constellation program — based largely on existing technologies — was begun to realize a vision of returning astronauts back to the Moon by 2020. However, the program was over budget, behind schedule, and lacking in innovation due to a failure to invest in critical new technologies,” the budget summary concluded. “Using a broad range of criteria, an independent review panel determined that even if fully funded, NASA’s program to repeat many of the achievements of the Apollo era, 50 years later, was the least attractive approach to space exploration as compared to potential alternatives.”

As anticipated, the independent Augustine Panel’s work was used as the basis for the new NASA direction. Though the blue-ribbon panel did not officially take a position on which future plan made the most sense for NASA, statements made by members and the tone of their report made it clear that a continuation of the Constellation mission was not the group’s favored choice.

Constellation had been heavily criticized since it was unveiled in 2005 by President George W. Bush. Even before the plan was announced, some scientists pointed out that manned exploration has drawbacks, such as high costs, extreme safety requirements, and humans’ biological sensitivity to radiation. Scientists such as Ronald Arkin of the Mobile Robot Laboratory asked whether robots could do exploration better. The high-profile success of the Mars Rovers, Cassini, and Mars Phoenix mission suggested that robotic exploration was viable, at the very least.


Even among those who supported blasting humans out of the atmosphere, the details of the Constellation program were subject to attack. Many criticized the Bush administration for not providing enough money to back its grand Vision for Space Exploration.

In commenting on the Augustine report, David Mindell, a science and technology historian at MIT, called it, approvingly, “an utter rejection of the Bush plan because it’s unfundable, unbuildable and dangerous. ”

NASA administrator Charles Bolden made measured statements, ultimately noting that regardless of Constellation’s merits, it was not going to put humans back on the moon as envisioned.

“We were not on a sustainable path back to the moon’s surface,” Bolden said.

The Obama administration’s budget also knocked the Constellation program for siphoning money “away from other NASA programs, including robotic space exploration, science, and Earth observations.”

While Bolden painted a sweeping portrait of positive change, several key congressional representatives are spoiling for a fight over the loss of programs in their districts.

Richard Shelby, a Republican from Alabama, whose district includes the Marshall Space Flight Center, lashed out against the administration plan.

“The President’s proposed NASA budget begins the death march for the future of U.S. human space flight. The cancellation of the Constellation program and the end of human space flight does represent change — but it is certainly not the change I believe in,” Shelby wrote in a statement. “Congress cannot and will not sit back and watch the reckless abandonment of sound principles, a proven track record, a steady path to success, and the destruction of our human space flight program.”

Shelby harped on the need for safety in manned missions and held that commercial companies could not provide the low levels of risk that NASA could. Bolden, though, in his statements to the press, provided a personal guarantee that he’d protect astronaut lives.

“I flew on the space shuttle four times,” he said. “I lost friends in two space shuttle tragedies, so I give you my word that these vehicles will be safe.”

Predictably, commercial spaceflight companies were ecstatic at the news.

“Working with NASA, the industry can develop the capabilities to safely launch U.S. astronauts just as commercial spaceflight providers are already trusted by the U.S. government right now to launch multi-billion dollar military satellites, upon which the security of our nation and lives of our troops overseas depend,” wrote Bretton Alexander, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, in a prepared statement. “Investing $6 billion will fund a full program of multiple winners for commercial crew, so that robust competition in the marketplace can reduce costs and generate innovation.”

[emeraldsun]

Celebrating Black History Month


Then & Now: Shoshana Johnson

CNN) -- In March 2003, when her battalion was ambushed in Iraq, Spc. Shoshana Johnson became America's first black female prisoner of war. Today, Johnson is out of the military, but she shares her story in lectures across the country.

Americans were first introduced to Johnson -- a U.S. Army cook with the 507th Maintenance Company out of Fort Bliss, Texas -- early in the war when videotape of her interrogation with her Iraqi captors was broadcast worldwide on television.

During the gruff interview, Johnson looked tense, her eyes darting quickly left, then right. Barely an hour before, she'd been shot in both ankles and captured along with five other soldiers, including Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who was badly wounded and was held prisoner at a separate location.

Nine of Johnson's fellow soldiers died in the standoff, including her close friend, Pfc. Lori Ann Piestewa, the first Native American woman killed in combat.

"I was terrified. I didn't know what was going to happen to me," Johnson recalled in a recent CNN interview. "And I was in a lot of pain."

Johnson's ordeal began when her supply convoy took a wrong turn in the desert near the city of Nasiriya and was ambushed and captured by Iraqis.

During captivity, Johnson and the other POWs were moved several times. She was treated for her wounds, even enduring a surgery where she was put under general anesthetic.

"I feared for my life the whole captivity," she says. "I was trying to keep as much information to myself ... they ask you where you from? Texas? You know they ask your name. You know you're giving them a little bit of info, but I don't want to give them everything."

Johnson and the other POWs spent 22 days as prisoners until Marines rescued them. They returned to the United States to great fanfare and instant celebrity.

Johnson appeared on talk shows and even got to drop the ball in New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve 2003.

"As a cook in the Army, do you ever think you're going to go to a Golden Globe after-party and [meet] Queen Latifah?" she says. "You never think that's going to happen, but it did."

But Lynch got a million-dollar book deal and more in disability payments from the military than Johnson. Some said it was an issue of race, but Johnson wasn't one of them. And she says reports that she and Lynch were at odds aren't true.

"Everything happens for a reason," she told CNN. "I've had a lot of good fortune. I'm healthy. My family's healthy: my daughters, my nieces. I don't ask God for anything more than that."

In December 2003 Johnson was discharged from the Army. She'd served her country for five years, and along the way was awarded the the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Prisoner of War Medal for her service in Iraq.

Today, she spends as much time as possible with her young daughter at their El Paso, Texas, home and tours the country for speaking engagements at corporations and schools.

"I have a little bit of influence with some young people that I speak to which is really unbelievable to me, and I try my best to influence them in, I think, a positive way," she says. "But it can be stressful at times because you feel like: if I make a misstep, everybody's going to be there watching."

Johnson says she still struggles with the psychological scars of her time in Iraq, but talking with a psychiatrist and veterans from the Vietnam War helps her.

"I've had the honor to speak with some of the Vietnam vets, and they've told me basically that you're going to be dealing with this for the next 20 years, the next 30 years to come," she says. "And it actually helps. Because it doesn't make me feel like I'm crazy or that I'll never get better or that it'll never get easier. They really help me out a lot."

She also considers herself lucky, considering many soldiers return from the war zone with severe burns or lost limbs. The whole experience has made her appreciate life more, she says.

"I think I'm a stronger person," Johnson says. "Things don't bother me as much, you know? Quite frankly, I'm just so very happy to be still on this earth


link here: www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/23/cnn25.tan.johnson/

[nodstar]

Hi Everyone ..

I found this on my travels today ..



Now thats MY KIND of UFO ... nice star shaped one ;D

I'm sure you've all seen this one too .. but will post it anyway
Unlike a lot of UFO sightings .. this one was viewed above Moscow
for about 20 minutes..



Of course I can't verify these sightings .. but they sure are interesting

Peace Out

Nod

[ninathedog]

Another major storm headed to snowy Mid-Atlantic

By Brett Zongker, Associated Press Writer – 3 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Snow blew across the Midwest on Tuesday and headed for the hard-hit Mid-Atlantic region, where federal government offices have been closed since last week and utility workers struggled to restore power already knocked out by a weekend blizzard.

The latest storm hit the Midwest early, closing schools and greeting commuters with slick, slushy roads from Minneapolis and Chicago to Louisville, Ky. Hundreds of flights were canceled at Chicago's airports as the storm moved across Illinois, where up to a foot of snow was forecast.

Powerful winds and snow were expected to hit Mid-Atlantic states by the afternoon, and could leave as much as 20 inches of new snow in Washington and 18 inches near Philadelphia — a Northeast travel hub — by Wednesday night. New York City announced students would have a rare snow day Wednesday, only the third in six years.

Parts of the region were already buried under nearly 3 feet.

In rural Maryland, a state police helicopter rescued a man stranded in a remote mountaintop home where he had been staying alone with no electricity since the storm this past weekend.

On Capitol Hill, the House called off all votes for the week because many members couldn't get back from their districts. A committee hearing on the Toyota gas pedal recall was postponed. The Senate was scheduled to hold two votes later Tuesday, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to bring senators back to Washington to take up a jobs package.

The White House, meanwhile, moved a Black History Month concert featuring Bob Dylan, Smokey Robinson and Natalie Cole up a day to try to beat the storm. President Barack Obama held a bipartisan meeting with congressional leaders and joked that it went so well that Reid and Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky had gone out to play in the snow.

"In fact, I understand that McConnell and Reid are out doing snow angels on the South Lawn together," Obama joked as he made an unannounced stop in the White House briefing room.

Residents worried they might be stuck at home hit grocery stores to stock up. A Safeway grocery store in the Dupont Circle area of Washington had milk and some bread Tuesday, but many other items were picked over from the last storm. There was no shredded cheese, and people who wanted Diet Coke or Brussels sprouts were out of luck.

David Fiore, 49, a federal employee off for the second day, left with two bags of groceries. He had gone to four stores looking for milk the night before, but they were either out of it or too crowded. By Tuesday morning, Safeway had restocked, so he left with a gallon of milk, more than he usually buys.

"It's that sort of hoarding instinct," he said.

Airlines that shut down flights to Washington over the weekend warned that more would be canceled and that travelers who didn't depart by Tuesday night were likely out of luck. In Chicago, Southwest Airlines canceled all of its flights at Midway International Airport through Wednesday morning.

James Allen, 25, of Northampton, England, arrived Sunday on the first flight to land at Baltimore's airport after its runway reopened from the last storm. He was visiting friend Julia Tracey, 25, a nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and the two were at a SuperFresh downtown Tuesday searching in vain for fresh herbs for a recipe.

Allen said the United Kingdom has also endured a colder-than-usual winter, but it can't compare to what the Mid-Atlantic is going through. He had planned to stay in Baltimore for a few days, but "it's probably going to turn into a few weeks now."

The storm brought out the best in some: In Alexandria, Va., when word got out that a family living at the bottom of a hill on an unplowed street needed to get their teenage daughter whose cancer is in remission out to an important doctor's appointment, neighbors quickly converged. The entire street was shoveled before many neighbors even had shoveled their own driveways. Up the street, children tired of playing outside in the snow created craft items and had an impromptu sale to benefit victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

In West Virginia, where 40 counties were under winter storm warnings, Gov. Joe Manchin urged people to make sure snow was cleared from roofs of public buildings to avoid a repeat of 1998, when cave-ins were blamed for at least three deaths. Collapses have already been reported at a mobile home in Delaware and a food warehouse in North Dakota.

Some spots, including parts of Maryland, had nearly 3 feet of snow from the earlier storm. One scientist said if all that fell on the East Coast were melted, it would fill 12 million Olympic swimming pools or 30,000 Empire State buildings. Philadelphia and Washington each need about 9 more inches to give the cities their snowiest winters since 1884, the first year records were kept.

The storm that began Friday closed schools, and some 230,000 federal workers in Washington had Monday and Tuesday off. Power was still out for tens of thousands of homes and businesses, and utilities said deep snow was hindering some crews trying to fix damaged power lines before the next storm hits.

A new wave of cold residents checked into the Hilton in Silver Spring, Md., including Bill and Ann Hilliard and their two elderly cats. Temperatures in their powerless home had dropped into the 40s and with another foot of snow forecast, they didn't want to stay home.

Ann Hilliard recently had part of her leg amputated and their neighbors helped them out of the neighborhood.

"There was no way to get her out otherwise," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Jessica Gresko, Laurie Kellman, Philip Elliott and Nafeesa Syeed in Washington; Sarah Karush in Falls Church, Va.; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Md.; Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pa.; Nancy Benac in Arlington, Va.; Tom Breen in Charleston, W.Va.; Joann Loviglio in Philadelphia and Sarah Brumfield and Stephanie Stoughton in Silver Spring, Md., contributed to this story.


news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_winter_weather

[emeraldsun]

A New Wings Report......enjoy

Moving Into Our New Spaces


February 10, 2010



The high/low, up/down pattern with the energies continues, as we move forward with creating the new reality one piece at a time. Now, we are creating and moving energy at some very deep levels, as we have made great progress enabling us to begin new phases in setting up a very new reality.

Last Thursday, February 4th, we had yet another shift, and although these shifts feel very unpleasant when they occur, they are none-the-less creating their original intentions…the purpose being to move us into a very new space, and then align with that new space and way of being and living.

When these new blueprints arrive, they always feel wonderful at first, and then we must align with them in order to bring them into form and to make them “stick.” So even though it may feel like not much is occurring at times, we are indeed making progress as these energies are pushing and pulling if even in some strange and uncomfortable ways.

We have begun the “pushing out” phase that I have described in WINGS past. We anchored and grounded into the earth, and because we are progressing right on track, we are now pushing these new and higher vibrating energies and patterns “out” in order to overtake the remaining illusion of the old reality.

This pushing out and expanding of our new and authentic selves, and our visions of a new and different reality, can at times feel like a collision is occurring. We can feel a tightness, an anger, a frustration, and a smothering effect as we strive to break through the old energies with our very new and higher vibrating energies.

With the large “germination” phase nearly over (yes, we still hunker down and hibernate with these ups and downs during the “down” phase), our new budding selves are breaking through the earth and reaching for the sun.

Hitting and making contact with the old energies can indeed feel unpleasant, but we must know with complete certainty, that we will indeed, without exception, overtake them (sounds like some kind of a nasty battle! …smile). I have had recent experiences with this scenario in grand situations, resulting in what I could only describe as genuine miracles. What we are being told is this: “The light is now the true and rightful steward of the new earth, and thus, the earth will be gifted to the light in all rightful ways. This is our new home…our heaven on earth…and it is indeed in the making now.”

Holding true to our stance and holding true to what we know is a higher vibrating way of living and being, can greatly served to ensure our new residency and rightful place in the new reality. And if becoming angry and very insistent that we have our way is the vehicle, so be it, as anger can at times be a great vehicle for movement and change, and certainly take us out of any old world victimization we may be feeling.

In addition, this shift on Thursday and Friday created yet another sort of split, as some energies went one way, and other energies went another. There will indeed be rungs of differing vibrational frequency in the new reality, and these powerful movements are simply moving things into their true and rightful positions and spaces. Order is being created, and this is how it should be. If we were somewhere we should not have been, we were moved back. If we needed to move forward, we were moved forward. If we needed to shift out of one space and into another, no matter in which direction that took us, the energies during this time accomplished this task. All with divine perfection.

On January 15th, we experienced several cosmic events all on the same day, which supported the blueprint for a new beginning for each and every one of us. So although this blueprint arrived with a bang, and then appeared to suddenly have vanished, in actuality, it did not. We have been aligning with it ever since. Looking back to where we are now, compared to where we were on January 16th, we have indeed traveled far and come much, much closer to that new beginning reality. As with all of ascension, we take things in steps because we must integrate and align, and Phase Two is no exception.

We “plug in” to the new energies, feel upbeat, positive, and see with clarity and hope, can remember who we are and perhaps what is next for us, have some new sense of security, and then it vanishes. While this new connection seemingly vanishes, we are germinating still, aligning, resting, burning off any lower vibrating energies within us, and preparing for what we are in the midst of creating.

So in this way, we may think everything is okay one minute, and then drop into a dark pit the next, feeling only despair and futility. This process for Phase Two (which began after we “crossed over”) is very different from the process for Phase One, as we are creating very new and from scratch (due to the fact that we separated from the old reality and there are now no ascension rungs below us to hold things intact). So then, it is up and then down because we are literally creating the new one minute and one piece at a time. (This new and unusual process is described in detail, along with much more, in the new mini e-book which is nearly complete now, so I will not go into it in great detail in the WINGS messages.)

Yesterday, February 9th, brought in yet another wave of seeming darkness and a deeper alignment. We are moving through old layers still within us, and at the same time, our outside reality is adjusting and re-calibrating with great intensity. Things are moving into position, are being set up, and are connecting together, as the next layer of the new grid comes into form. In this way, at pivotal times we must stay back and allow this to occur. Strange dreams at night (about how and where we had fit into the old reality, as we are now releasing these old spaces during dreamtime), needing to sleep more often and more deeply, and needing more fuel, are indicators of this process.

We are aligning at very deep levels now. We are connecting to a new inner strength and power, and this can take a tole on a human body and spirit. And as always, exhaustion and fatigue play a major part when we are moving massive amounts of energy within ourselves. And during these times as well, we may not be able to see the forest for the trees, as seeing through a filter of the density that is shifting makes everything look dark and gloomy, if even for a brief time.

I was on a walk the other day along the river at the bosque near my home. It was a rare sunny day (we have been having unusual weather patterns here in New Mexico, not unlike many other places around the globe). Weeks of no sun and unusual cold do not jive with my vision and prior experience of living in the southwest! But things felt different that day. I could feel that the weather was beginning to change, even though it was only the first week of February and still very cold. There were tiny, tiny new buds on the trees. There was a new green weed in my yard. The sun was actually out and shining. The geese were flying and honking. And is a very subtle way, it was getting warmer.

And this is the way it is with the creation of the new reality as well. Behind the scenes, things are changing and shifting. Much is being put into place. We are preparing for something very new and very different…much different than we have ever known before. And much different than we could have ever imagined in our old minds which existed in the old reality.

With much love and gratitude,

Karen

link here: www.emergingearthangels.com/2010/wings2.10.2010.html

[emeraldsun]

I am hesitantly posting this new Wings report. With the latest videos from Dr's Dan and Marcia I realized that these reports probably seemed like nonsense. However since some GT members have indicated they like the report here it is.


EARTH CHANGES

Although a WINGS message was just recently posted, there are noteworthy events on the near horizon, and knowing the higher level reasons behind them before-hand, will hopefully serve to ease any stress and confusion that may result.

The Haiti earthquake jump-started the emergence of the new reality by opening our hearts and bringing people together once again. It literally cracked open the new earth, and prepared it for its very new beginning.

In very near times to come, we will experience additional natural disasters, and these will not occur in third world countries. Although the areas where these disasters will occur are most likely already known to many, personally, I do not see the need to report this aspect. We are always right where we need to be, at any given time. At our soul levels, we are always, but always, navigated to our perfect places and spaces. In this way, some of us will remain in these areas when these disasters occur, as our earth angel role will be greatly needed. Others can serve better by being removed from these areas, all according to who and what we have all come to do.

In addition, I rarely report these things well in advance, as I feel that there is always room for a different scenario. We never really know how and if all things will indeed actually occur. Reporting these events usually creates fear, and we are already having enough insecurity as it is. In addition, we might just create an unneeded situation simply because we are focusing on it, and it may have not been necessary at all. If we can take this ascension process step-by-step, and focus on each step we are experiencing at the time, then we are always right where we need to be.

Currently, we are right on top of the next impending earth change. Why are we having earth changes and can they be averted? Although they are certainly unpleasant and quite dramatic, they are none-the-less necessary at this time.

The earth is being prepared for a very new beginning. Certain geographical areas are thus being swept clean and cleansed, so that the palette for the new earth will be ready. As we are branching out now, and as the light is beginning to “take over,” a new bed is being made. There is no judgment here. Specific areas are not being targeted because they vibrate so low that they need a swift make-over. What is occurring here, is that there will be specific areas on the planet which will be the light centers, and these areas are being prepared for their new roles.

When a dramatic cleansing and movement with the energies takes place, the area that is cleansed always vibrates much higher after the cleanse and shift occurs. Haiti, for instance, will soon be a recognized sacred space. And some geographical areas may be re-arranged in quite a dramatic way as well.

This is all part of the process of creating the new world. We are starting all over from scratch, and so, the new world must have a new bed to lie in.

For some, we have recently been moved into a new energetic space in order to be energetically removed from these impending changes that will occur on the physical level of our new reality. Feelings of being “sequestered” for a awhile, of being removed, of suddenly feeling that one is now in a new and very calm, relaxed space, or even that we have finally landed somewhere that feels right, protected, and real, are some symptoms of having this experience. Several months ago, many of us were “sequestered” while a new hierarchy was being put into place. This occurred around the time of the separation of the worlds. We needed to be removed while something new was being set up, before we could move into it.

This new “sequestering” is very similar, but for different reasons this time. We are being removed while the new geographical earth is being prepared. These feelings of being removed are most prevalent for those residing in the areas that will be affected, as they are closer to them, and will thus, feel their impact much more. We are removed during these times so that we will not experience any trauma or reverberations from these dramatic changes.

Yes, these times are dramatic and stressful indeed. But if we can remember that we have planned this for a very long time, and know that things are being orchestrated and put into place in a perfect and divine way, hopefully, we can stay in spaces of peace, love, and calm while all of these changes occur.

With much love and gratitude,

Karen

link here: www.emergingearthangels.com/2010/wings2.12.2010.html

emeraldsun

[lumin8]

I am hesitantly posting this new Wings report. With the latest videos from Dr's Dan and Marcia I realized that these reports probably seemed like nonsense. However since some GT members have indicated they like the report here it is.

Hey Emeraldsun,

There isn't a person on this planet that knows everything about everything. If there are such individuals, I would love to meet them ;D

Our beliefs are etched into our lives over time by the things and people we are exposed to and have experiences with. What's important is what it means FOR YOU and no one can ever deny you that or take that away from you.

Much of what I personally have come to believe, I once sneered at not too many years ago. But I know and have known many wonderful individuals who have shown me BY EXAMPLE how they have manifested amazing things into their lives based on a belief system that many choose to make fun of. And most important, they practice but seldom preach what they believe and have a tremendous capacity for love and healing.

I too have observed great things come about in my own life because I learned, and am still learning, to open my heart.

There is more than one way to view Karen Bishops' posts. One is to understand that we are so much more than most of us have been raised to believe and that our true power lies always in our ability to love and see each other as one. We ARE connected and when we learn to see each other as fellow souls without any regard of our outer appearances, then...WOW !!! Try to imagine what kind of a world we can create IF WE WANT TO ;D. I takes daily practice.

Karens' posts are always positive and uplifting so please...KEEP POSTING

Much Love,
Lumin8

[lumin8]

Every time I see Dick Cheney on a news program, I know something's up.

[emeraldsun]

Feb 15, 2010 22:46:32 GMT 4 @lumin8 said:

Every time I see Dick Cheney on a news program, I know something's up.

Hey Lumin8,

Yes, I totally agree with this statement! I just remarked to myself this morning about Mr Cheney being in the news again. For some reason he always makes my red flags go up.

Thanks also for input on the Wings report. It helps me get out of my own way and accentuate the feelings of connectedness, if that's a word ;D.

Blessings to you and yours,

emeraldsun

[auroralaura]

Whistleblower Laura Magdalene Eisenhower, Ike’s great-granddaughter, outs secret Mars colony project

2010 02 15

By Alfred Webre | Examiner.com

redicecreations.com/article.php?id=9885

"In a public statement, Laura Magdalene Eisenhower, left, great-granddaughter of former President Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969), has exposed her attempted recruitment from April 2006 through January 2007 by a secret Mars colony project.

Ms. Eisenhower’s account of her targeting by time travel surveillance and attempted manipulation by trained intelligence agents attached to a Mars colony project were revealed in an ExopoliticsRadio.org interview, and in an extensive written statement at Ms. Eisenhower’s website....."(Click on above link for rest of article.)

In summary, if you read Dan Brown books and read the Project Camelot site and watch Sci-Fi movies, simply take all the juicy parts from all three categories and throw them into an article, hit publish and voila!

I wonder if Laura knows "Henry Deacon" ...Perhaps they've talked shop: Mars...??

I have lineage to Charles Cotin, but you don't see me giving interviews saying such things...Oh wait, maybe relatives in the 1600's goes a little too far back... Some people's kids...

AL

UPDATE: I would like to thank Dan for respectfully commenting on the above referenced article.

I must also speculate that perhaps the relative wasn't aware of how this article was going to unfold considering most of the article is based on an interview from a "friend" of hers? How easily twisted and manipulated words can become...

Hopefully people see through it and hopefully the relative and family can put a stop to such articles being published. If she is being used, hopefully that will cease.

[auroralaura]

Noddy,

As a chocolate lover I am happy to report that TimTams are now available in CANADA!!!!!

www.timtamslam.ca/about_us.php

It's a good thing.

Love,

AL

[cosmicstar]

Feb 18, 2010 6:11:15 GMT 4 @auroralaura said:

Noddy,

As a chocolate lover I am happy to report that TimTams are now available in CANADA!!!!!

www.timtamslam.ca/about_us.php

It's a good thing.

Love,

AL

Yippie!!! So glad for you. I finally got to pick up some from Target here in Nevada which has them produced by Pepperidge Farms/Tim Tams but we have only 3 flavors - chocolate creme, caramel, and dark chocolate.

My daughter loved the chocolate hazelnut ones I brought back from Australia, but it will probably take another trip to OZ or an order from simply Australis that might send one package of it in a 6-pack.

Love,
cosmicstar

[ninathedog]

Whaling in Australia's sights as Japan FM visits

by Madeleine Coorey – 1 hr 55 mins ago

SYDNEY (AFP) – A row over whaling threatened to overshadow a visit to Australia by Japan's foreign minister on Saturday, a day after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned of legal action to stop Japan's annual whale hunt.

Australia opposes the slaughter and Rudd on Friday said it would take Tokyo to the International Court of Justice over the issue before the start of the next whaling season in November, unless Japan stopped the practice.

"Specifically, what we're putting to the Japanese is to take where they are now, which is the slaughter of some hundreds of whales each year, and reduce that to zero," Rudd said Friday.

"If we don't get that as a diplomatic agreement, let me tell you, we'll be going to the International Court of Justice."

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada's two-day visit to Sydney and Perth, the first by an official of Japan's five-month-old government, coincided with an anti-whaling protest outside the Japanese embassy in Canberra.

About 30 people demonstrated outside the gates of the mission, calling for an end to the annual hunts in the Southern Ocean, Australian news agency AAP said.

"We would like to remind Minister Okada that no matter what the outcome of the talks with the government are, if he intends to continue this barbaric slaughter Sea Shepherd will always be there," Benjamin Baldwin, a spokesman for the radical activist group said.

Militant activists onboard Sea Shepherd vessels are pursuing the whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean, attempting to hinder their slaughter of whales by throwing stink bombs onto their decks and getting in the way of their boats.

This season's clashes have been particularly fierce, with one encounter leaving the activists' high-speed powerboat Ady Gil sliced in two and sinking.

Ady Gil captain Pete Bethune later stole aboard one of the Japanese ships, intending to make a citizen's arrest of its skipper and hand over a three million US dollar damage bill. He remains in custody on board.

Okada, who will also discuss defence, nuclear disarmament and climate change during his meetings with Rudd, Defence Minister John Faulkner and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, visited a Japanese school in Sydney after his arrival.

He was due to meet Rudd at his Sydney residence Saturday before travelling to Perth to meet with Smith on Sunday.

Australia, along with New Zealand, has consistently opposed Japan's killing of hundreds of whales each year via a loophole in an international moratorium that allows "lethal research".

Japan's new government has maintained its support for whaling, which has deep cultural significance for the Japanese people, since coming to power in September.

Before coming to Australia, Okada said Japan's research whaling was a legal practice carried out in public waters under the international convention.

news.yahoo.com/s/afp/australiajapandiplomacywhaling

Jan 7, 2010 23:35:34 GMT 4 @ninathedog said:

Activists pursue Japanese whalers by helicopter

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 35 mins ago

SYDNEY – Japanese whalers and conservationists squared off Thursday for more hostilities in the Antarctic, a day after the hunters crushed one of the activists' boats in a clash each side blamed on the other but all agreed endangered lives.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society searched Antarctic waters by helicopter for a key Japanese whaling ship on Thursday, renewing its attempts to find and harass the whalers into giving up their hunt, the group's founder Paul Watson said.

The escalating Antarctic confrontations were broadly condemned, but no plan was immediately hatched to prevent future confrontations. Legal uncertainties about jurisdiction and the remoteness of the area make policing the international waters at the bottom of the world extremely difficult, experts say.

Japan kills about 1,200 whales a year in Antarctica under what it says is a scientific program allowed by the International Whaling Commission despite a broader moratorium on killing the mammals. Critics say the program is a front for illegal commercial whaling, and Sea Shepherd sends ships to Antarctica each season to try to stop the hunt — an effort portrayed on the Animal Planet TV series "Whale Wars."

On Wednesday, the Japanese whaling ship Shonan Maru plowed into Sea Shepherd's Ady Gil, knocking the bow off the wave-piercing trimaran speedboat that is one of the group's trio of vessels trying to harass the hunters out of business.

Australia and New Zealand, the closest nations to the latest confrontation, announced investigations Thursday into the crash.

The whaling is conducted in international waters, but usually within the huge patch of ocean that is designated as Australia's maritime rescue zone and that Canberra considers a whale sanctuary.

But rules governing Antarctica are not clear cut. The frozen continent and the oceans around it are administered by agreement between nations, and there are conflicting claims about sovereignty.

"There is very little ability for a sort of police force to just turn up on the scene to separate the two sides" when then is a dispute such as Wednesday's clash, said Don Rothwell, a professor in international law at the Australian National University who wrote a recent report for the government on Antarctic whaling.

It was possible Sea Shepherd could try to sue the whaling ship's master for negligence in Wednesday's clash, he said. But the whalers could also try to have the Ady Gil charged with terrorism at sea for trying to foul its propellers with rope — a tactic Sea Shepherd openly says it uses.

Japan said it had asked countries that let the conservationists register their ships or use their ports to help curtail the group's aggressive acts. Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson said Australia should send its navy or a customs vessel to stop what he calls illegal poaching.

But Wednesday's clash was unlikely to produce any useful change in policy, and had actually raised the chances of a further escalation in the whaling face-off, said Rothwell.

"This is the great fear at the moment," he said.

"Sea Shepherd is using very strong language, talking about a war with the Japanese," he said. "Increasingly, the Japanese have become more aggressive in their responses — we can expect that there will be more clashes."

Sea Shepherd says the Ady Gil was sitting idle and the whaler deliberately rammed it. Japan says the activists' boat was moving toward its ship and a miscalculation on their part caused the collision. Neither side's version — which happened near Commonwealth Bay about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) south of Australia — could be independently verified.

Two cracked ribs to a Sea Shepherd volunteer were the only injuries reported.

"I've never been so close to death in my life," Laurens de Groot, a 29-year-old Dutch member of the Ady Gil's crew who was not injured, told The Associated Press by satellite telephone on Thursday. "While I was standing on the roof and that harthingy ship was coming in at full speed, you think: `This can't be real, it's not really happening.'"

Neither side showed signs Thursday of backing down.

"The series of sabotage acts by the Sea Shepherd were very dangerous and risked the life and safety of the Japanese crew members," Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Yasuhisa Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo.

Watson vowed his group would not step back, saying "We now have a real whale war on our hands."

He said a helicopter the group's main ship, Steve Irwin, was launched Thursday to try to find the Japanese fleet's whale processing ship and resume attempts to disrupt the whalers.

Meanwhile, crew were removing fuel, the boat's engines and other items from the Ady Gil, which was being attended to by the group's third vessel, the Bob Barker — named for the former U.S. "Price is Right" TV host who recently gave Sea Shepherd $5 million.

Watson said he expected the Ady Gil to sink, though de Groot, the crewman, said plans were afoot to have it towed to Dumont d'Urville Station, a French scientific base, for salvage or repairs.

"Our priority right now (is) to make sure there is no pollution from that vessel," Watson told AP.

Acting Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said there were no immediate plans to send a government vessel to the region. She said Canberra's ability to act was hampered because Japan did not recognize Australia's jurisdiction in the region.

"This is an issue where emotions run high," Gillard told reporters. "I am saying to everyone out in these dangerous and inhospitable waters that this is a time for calm judgments. We do not want to see people taking risks that result in a loss of life."

___

Associated Press writers Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Eric Talmadge and Malcolm Foster in Tokyo contributed to this report.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100107/ap_on_re_as/as_antarctica_whaling

.................
..................


Much of the meat from whales killed by Japan's scientific programs
ends up...in up-scale restaurants

Group rejects Japanese plans for coastal whale hunt

www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=8871245
By Jon Herskovitz
posted by ninathedog @ 2005-06-23 10:19:00

ULSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Japan suffered yet another setback on Thursday in its bid for more whaling when an international commission rejected a plea to allow Japanese coastal communities to hunt whales.

An annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Ulsan voted against Japan's proposal to change commission rules and allow it to catch 150 minke whales a year off its northern Pacific coast.

On Wednesday, the IWC chastised Tokyo for its scientific whaling program, which anti-whaling states say is actually a commercial hunt in the guise of science. A day earlier Japan was also voted down by anti-whaling states in two other ballots.

Twenty-nine member states voted against Japan's proposal on Thursday to allow its local communities to hunt whales, to 26 in favor. The plan needed a three-quarters majority to be implemented.

Many conservationists and anti-whaling nations said they supported whaling for aboriginal communities as a form of subsistence.

But they saw the measure brought by Japan — the world's second-largest economy — as a way to skirt rules to benefit coastal communities that are neither impoverished nor in need of whale meat to support a slim diet.

"We don't campaign against legitimate subsistence whaling, but Japan is trying to create a new category — cultural whaling," said Patrick Ramage, spokesman for the conservation group International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Japan said a ban on commercial whaling that went into effect in 1986 has hurt some of its communities that have relied on whaling and who need the whale trade to support their local economies and diet.

"This proposal was about human rights, equity, fairness and justice," said Joji Morinutsa, a commissioner for Japan, said after the vote.

CULTURE, LAW

The commission allows aboriginal communities to hunt whales for subsistence, as long as the catch is not used commercially. Anti-whaling states such as New Zealand are willing to allow this type of whale hunt.

The United States, which many see as a moderating force within the commission, also stood against Japan's proposal.

"The proposal always troubles us because it deals with culture and the law," said Rolland Schmitten, commissioner for the U.S. delegation. "But this is outside the convention."

Japan said it was willing to talk with neutral parties to develop a management scheme that would place strict regulations on its commercial whaling in order to end the whaling moratorium, but it does not think it will ever find a compromise with anti-whaling states such as Australia and New Zealand.

"With extreme, anti-whaling counties, we don't have any middle ground," Morinutsa said later at a press conference.

Japan's whaling ambitions were dealt a symbolic blow on Wednesday when the commission voted to urge Tokyo to cut its scientific whale hunt.

Although the vote puts more political pressure on Japan, it will still be able to expand its scientific whaling as the project is not regulated by commission rules. Resolutions, such as Wednesday's vote, are non-binding.

Japan's well-flagged plan to expand its research work made public at the start of the annual meeting on Monday includes nearly doubling its annual catch of minke whales to about 900 and eventually hunting 50 fin and humpback whales a year — two types of whales conservationists say are threatened.

Much of the meat from whales killed by Japan's scientific programs ends up on store shelves or in up-scale restaurants, rather than in laboratories. Japan maintains that killing whales helps them study what they eat, among other things.

ninathedog.livejournal.com/419702.html

..............................

Jan 5, 2010 2:45:06 GMT 4 @nodstar said:

Hiya Eagles ...

WOW ..
It was just a hunch ..

Thanks for looking in into this for me ..


The following article is relevant to this

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6973994.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084

SCIENTISTS SAY DOLPHINS SHOULD BE TREATED AS 'NON-HUMAN PERSONS'

[/SIZE]




Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans, with scientists suggesting they are so bright that they should be treated as “non-human persons”.

Studies into dolphin behaviour have highlighted how similar their communications are to those of humans and that they are brighter than chimpanzees. These have been backed up by anatomical research showing that dolphin brains have many key features associated with high intelligence.

The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year.

“Many dolphin brains are larger than our own and second in mass only to the human brain when corrected for body size,” said Lori Marino, a zoologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who has used magnetic resonance imaging scans to map the brains of dolphin species and compare them with those of primates.

“The neuroanatomy suggests psychological continuity between humans and dolphins and has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions,” she added.

Dolphins have long been recognised as among the most intelligent of animals but many researchers had placed them below chimps, which some studies have found can reach the intelligence levels of three-year-old children. Recently, however, a series of behavioural studies has suggested that dolphins, especially species such as the bottlenose, could be the brighter of the two. The studies show how dolphins have distinct personalities, a strong sense of self and can think about the future.

It has also become clear that they are “cultural” animals, meaning that new types of behaviour can quickly be picked up by one dolphin from another.

In one study, Diana Reiss, professor of psychology at Hunter College, City University of New York, showed that bottlenose dolphins could recognise themselves in a mirror and use it to inspect various parts of their bodies, an ability that had been thought limited to humans and great apes.

In another, she found that captive animals also had the ability to learn a rudimentary symbol-based language.

Other research has shown dolphins can solve difficult problems, while those living in the wild co-operate in ways that imply complex social structures and a high level of emotional sophistication.

In one recent case, a dolphin rescued from the wild was taught to tail-walk while recuperating for three weeks in a dolphinarium in Australia.

After she was released, scientists were astonished to see the trick spreading among wild dolphins who had learnt it from the former captive.

There are many similar examples, such as the way dolphins living off Western Australia learnt to hold sponges over their snouts to protect themselves when searching for spiny fish on the ocean floor.

Such observations, along with others showing, for example, how dolphins could co-operate with military precision to round up shoals of fish to eat, have prompted questions about the brain structures that must underlie them.

Size is only one factor. Researchers have found that brain size varies hugely from around 7oz for smaller cetacean species such as the Ganges River dolphin to more than 19lb for sperm whales, whose brains are the largest on the planet. Human brains, by contrast, range from 2lb-4lb, while a chimp’s brain is about 12oz.

When it comes to intelligence, however, brain size is less important than its size relative to the body.

What Marino and her colleagues found was that the cerebral cortex and neocortex of bottlenose dolphins were so large that “the anatomical ratios that assess cognitive capacity place it second only to the human brain”. They also found that the brain cortex of dolphins such as the bottlenose had the same convoluted folds that are strongly linked with human intelligence.

Such folds increase the volume of the cortex and the ability of brain cells to interconnect with each other. “Despite evolving along a different neuroanatomical trajectory to humans, cetacean brains have several features that are correlated with complex intelligence,” Marino said.

Marino and Reiss will present their findings at a conference in San Diego, California, next month, concluding that the new evidence about dolphin intelligence makes it morally repugnant to mistreat them.

Thomas White, professor of ethics at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, who has written a series of academic studies suggesting dolphins should have rights, will speak at the same conference.

“The scientific research . . . suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral standing as individuals,” he said.[/size]

[/quote]

"There are many similar examples, such as the way dolphins living off Western Australia learnt to hold sponges over their snouts to protect themselves when searching for spiny fish on the ocean floor."

Dolphins Protect Their Snouts With Sponges

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050606/ap_on_sc/dolphin_learning
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 41 minutes ago
posted by ninathedog @ 2005-06-06 19:29:00

WASHINGTON - A group of dolphins living off the coast of Australia apparently teach their offspring to protect their snouts with sponges while foraging for food in the sea floor.

Researchers say it appears to be a cultural behavior passed on from mother to daughter, a first for animals of this type, although such learning has been seen in other species.

The dolphins, living in Shark Bay, Western Australia, use conically shaped whole sponges that they tear off the bottom, said Michael Kruetzen, lead author of a report on the dolphins in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

"Cultural evolution, including tool use, is not only found in humans and our closest relatives, the primates, but also in animals that are evolutionally quite distant from us. This convergent evolution is what is so fascinating," said Kruetzen.

Researchers suspect the sponges help the foraging dolphins avoid getting stung by stonefish and other critters that hide in the sandy sea bottom, just as a gardener might wear gloves to protect the hands.

Kruetzen and colleagues analyzed 13 "spongers" and 172 "non-spongers" and concluded that the practice seems to be passed along family lines, primarily from mothers to daughters.

"Teaching requires close observation by the pupil," Kruetzen said. "Offspring spend up to four years before they are weaned, so they would have ample time to observe their mum doing it — if she is a sponger."

"This study provides convincing evidence that the behavior is transmitted via social learning," commented Laela Sayigh of the University of North Carolina Center for Marine Science.

"Such social learning appears to be widespread among the Shark Bay dolphins," said Sayigh, who was not part of Kruetzen's team.

Only one male was observed using a sponge. Kruetzen noted that, as adults, male and female dolphins have very different lifestyles.

Adult males form small groups of two or three individuals that chase females in reproductive condition, he explained. "I would think that they do not have time to engage in such a time-consuming foraging activity as adults, as they are busy herding females."

Currently at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, Kruetzen was at the University of New South Wales, Australia, when the research was conducted. The work was funded by the Australian Research Council, the
National Geographic Society, the W.V. Scott Foundation and the Linnaean Society of New South Wales.

ninathedog.livejournal.com/403295.html[/quote]