August 31, 2012
Full Moon in Pisces: Let’s Get Lost... Great Piece! I Can Totally Relate. :)
Big Sky Astrology
written by April Elliott Kent
Wednesday August 29, 2012
I’m four days into a two-week “staycation” – that is, a vacation spent entirely at home. I’ll admit that the astrologer in me found it a bit strange to begin this vacation just after the Sun had entered Virgo, the sign of work. But fortunately, this Friday brings a Full Moon in Pisces, with its seasonal call to review the balance between work (Sun in Virgo) and rest (Moon in Pisces).
I’ve traveled more than usual in the past nine months, and on the face of it that might seem like a series of mini-vacations. But every trip has included at least one work-related event – not to mention the logistical rigors of arranging care for the cats and house, packing, and making sure the travel arrangements are in order. It’s a clichรฉ, I know, but every “vacation” has left me more desperately in need of rest. Things had definitely reached the point where I was too tired to be very effective in my work, let alone creative. And so, I put out the “Gone Fishing” sign (Pisces reference?) and took a time-out.
So far, I’ve had no problem downshifting. I’m taking naps, watching movies – and bit by bit, taking our house apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together. Next month we’ll celebrate 15 years of living in this house, by far the longest I’ve lived anywhere in my life, and as you might expect we’ve accumulated a vast amount of junk and crud during that decade and a half. Last month we cleaned out the scariest Black Hole of Crap in our house – the closet in the master bedroom. Inspired, I turned to our long-neglected pantry. Then, I managed to file and throw away baskets of junk that had been collecting dust in a corner of my office for years. I’ve even color-coded my client files!
The floodgates opened, and now it seems there’s no stopping me. As I wrapped up my work last week, I found myself daydreaming about cleanser and little organizing shelves for the cupboards. I’d sneak odd half-hours between clients and answering email to clear out a drawer or cabinet. It seemed that the tasks I’d spent years avoiding had suddenly become my refuge; setting things right was more refreshing than an afternoon power nap.
Those close to me were surprised enough to learn that I’d be taking a real, honest-to-goodness vacation. When they found out how I planned to spend my time – cleaning, purging, and organizing the house – they were aghast. “But don’t you want to just… relax?” they’d ask. But the thing is, all this hard Virgo work has actually been surprisingly restful. Not sitting at the computer for hours on end is restful. Not answering email, planning projects, writing articles, or booking appointments is restful. Being in my body as I sort, scrub, rearrange, and vacuum is very restful indeed.
Pisces’ territory is the realm of retreat and restoration, including sleep, the daily core dump of our unconscious data. But there are ways to retreat and rest that don’t involve sleep at all, such as immersion in the single-minded pursuit of some task – like housecleaning, for instance. This Pisces Full Moon makes aspects to Mars in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn, so perhaps there is more to my little housecleaning flirtation than meets the eye. Scorpio and Pluto are reminders that even a seemingly innocuous interest may become a preoccupation, compulsion, or even obsession as we use it to coax the unconscious out into the light, where we can wrestle with it. The more formidable the unseen foe, the greater the power that can potentially be released. We need only give ourselves some measure of daily, restful downtime – Pisces’ bailiwick – to access that power.
After four days I finally felt a desire to sit down at the computer again to write this, so I suspect my zealous embrace of Olympic-caliber housecleaning will fall short of a full-blown obsession. In the meantime, I’m doing this work with the intention of appeasing the feng shui gremlins of my subconscious. And while this passion lasts, I’m enjoying one of life’s greatest pleasures: waking up in the morning with delicious enthusiasm that “today, I get to do that!” Today, I get to jettison a little more of the debris that’s been cluttering my personal force field. Today, I get to make room for new and joyful things. Today, I will get thoroughly and deliciously lost, happily scrubbing and sweeping and tossing and rearranging, setting my house – and my spirit – in order. Today, though I appear to be working very hard indeed, I am in fact resting – and very much at peace.
Pisces Full Moon, August 31 2012
Astrodynamics
written by Lynn Hayes
Thursday August 30, 2012
Tomorrow’s Full Moon is packed with planetary goodness. First we have the opposition of the Sun and Moon in the eternal dance that marks the midpoint of the lunar cycle. As the Sun steps back and the Moon is illuminated in her full glory, the hidden can be revealed. We can stop buzzing around long enough to sense the quieter magic that is normally hidden from view – the delicate sounds that hang in the air when the darkness falls.
This Moon is in Pisces, the sign of transcendence, and it opposes the Virgo Sun with its need for order and details and respect for the mundane details of life. Under the Pisces Moon the soul longs for connection to something that transcends everyday life – an experience where magic and divine experience become the norm and not the exception. Pisces is ruled by Neptune, and this Full Moon contains a Neptune double whammy because the Moon also conjoins Neptune which enhances that magic wand of illusion and fantasy as well as a spiritual yearning.
The Moon also conjoins Chiron, which opposes the Sun and becomes a part of the Full Moon planetary alignment. Chiron’s role here is to utilize the Pisces/Neptune deep longing for the purpose of soul evolution and release, so the emotional pull will be very powerful.
Uranus and Pluto are tightly wound into the fabric of this Full Moon, with the Sun in a trine to Pluto, ensuring that transformation occurs as we let go (Pluto) of the dead weight that we typically carry with us. Pluto is also in a harmonious sextile to the Moon, helping us to go deeper and more fearlessly into the void where we can find our true nature underneath the delusion of everyday life.
However, Pluto is still locked in the square to Uranus that is fostering revolution and change and unrest around the world, and Uranus is agitating the Full Moon chart with an inconjunct and quincunx to the Sun and Moon. These are awkward aspects that aren’t problematic so much as they create unrest and perhaps a bit of frustration. The power of transformation that Pluto brings is strong in this Full Moon, but Uranus makes everything a little bit harder. Nothing will go exactly as planned, and perhaps that IS the plan.
Fortunately Mars, which is in Scorpio now where it is quite powerful in its aggressive force and pure drive and inspiration, harmonizes with the Moon and the Sun to motivate us to seek the kind of peak experience that will culminate in greater awareness and personal understanding.
Enjoy the magic of this Pisces Full Moon! It is riper and richer than what we can normally ever expect.
Last 'Blue Moon' Until 2015 Lights Up Night Sky Tonight
Space.com
written by Mike Wall
Friday August 31, 2012
A blue moon will grace the night sky tonight (Aug. 31), giving skywatchers their last chance to observe this celestial phenomenon for nearly three years.
The moon will wax to its full phase at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT) today, bringing August's full moon count to two (the first one occurred Aug. 1). Two full moons won't rise in a single month again until July 2015.
But don't expect tonight's full moon to actually appear blue, unless you're peering through a thick haze of volcanic ash or forest fire smoke. "Blue moon" is not a reference to the satellite's observed color.
The term has long been used to describe rare or absurd happenings. And farmers once employed it to denote the third full moon in a season — spring, summer, autumn or winter — that has four full moons instead of the usual three. [Photos: The Blue Moon and Full Moons of 2012]
This somewhat obscure and complicated definition, in fact, is found in the 1937 edition of the "Maine Farmers' Almanac." But in 1946, a writer for "Sky and Telescope" magazine misinterpreted it, declaring a blue moon to be the second full moon in a month with two of them.
Widespread adoption of the new (and incorrect) definition apparently began in 1980, after the popular radio program "StarDate" used it during a show.
Blue moons occur because lunar months are not synched up perfectly with our calendar months. It takes the moon 29.5 days to orbit Earth, during which time we see the satellite go through all of its phases. But every calendar month (except February) has 30 or 31 days, so two full moons occasionally get squeezed into a single month.
Though the phrase "once in a blue moon" suggests the phenomenon is exceedingly rare, that's not quite the case. On average, blue moons come around once every 2.7 years, making them more common than the Summer Olympics, or a presidential election in the United States.
Some years even boast two blue moons. This last happened in 1999, and it will occur again in 2018.
Tonight's blue moon also happens to fall on the day of late astronaut Neil Armstrong's memorial service. Armstrong, who on July 20, 1969 became the first person to set foot on the moon, died Aug. 25 following complications from heart surgery.
So stargazers may want to keep Armstrong's "one small step" in mind as they gaze up tonight.
"For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request," Armstrong's family wrote in a statement shortly after his death. "Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink."
August 30, 2012
August 29, 2012
A Tale Of Four Cats...
Four men were bragging about how smart their cats were.
The first man was an Engineer,
The second man was an Accountant,
The third man was a Chemist, and
The fourth man was a Government Employee.
To show off, the Engineer called his cat, "T-square, do your stuff."
T-square pranced over to the desk, took out some paper and pen and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle.
Everyone agreed that was pretty smart.
But the Accountant said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said,
"Spreadsheet, do your stuff."
Spreadsheet went out to the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies. He divided them into 4 equal piles of 3 cookies.
Everyone agreed that was good.
But the Chemist said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said, "Measure, do your stuff."
Measure got up, walked to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a 10 ounce glass from the cupboard and poured exactly 8 ounces without spilling a drop into the glass.
Everyone agreed that was pretty good.
Then the three men turned to the Government Employee and said, "What can your cat do?"
The Government Employee called his cat and said, "CoffeeBreak, do your stuff."
CoffeeBreak jumped to his feet.......
Ate the cookies........
Drank the milk.......
sh*t on the paper.......
Screwed the other three cats.......
Claimed he injured his back while doing so.......
Filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions.......
Put in for Workers Compensation...............and
Went home for the rest of the day on sick leave............
AND THAT, MY FRIEND IS WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT RUN BY PUBLIC UNIONS!!
The first man was an Engineer,
The second man was an Accountant,
The third man was a Chemist, and
The fourth man was a Government Employee.
To show off, the Engineer called his cat, "T-square, do your stuff."
T-square pranced over to the desk, took out some paper and pen and promptly drew a circle, a square, and a triangle.
Everyone agreed that was pretty smart.
But the Accountant said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said,
"Spreadsheet, do your stuff."
Spreadsheet went out to the kitchen and returned with a dozen cookies. He divided them into 4 equal piles of 3 cookies.
Everyone agreed that was good.
But the Chemist said his cat could do better. He called his cat and said, "Measure, do your stuff."
Measure got up, walked to the fridge, took out a quart of milk, got a 10 ounce glass from the cupboard and poured exactly 8 ounces without spilling a drop into the glass.
Everyone agreed that was pretty good.
Then the three men turned to the Government Employee and said, "What can your cat do?"
The Government Employee called his cat and said, "CoffeeBreak, do your stuff."
CoffeeBreak jumped to his feet.......
Ate the cookies........
Drank the milk.......
sh*t on the paper.......
Screwed the other three cats.......
Claimed he injured his back while doing so.......
Filed a grievance report for unsafe working conditions.......
Put in for Workers Compensation...............and
Went home for the rest of the day on sick leave............
AND THAT, MY FRIEND IS WHY EVERYONE WANTS TO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT RUN BY PUBLIC UNIONS!!
More Humor To Help Lighten The Mood! ;)
God's Favorite Sound Is LAUGHTER!
Q: What do you call a schizophrenic Buddhist?
A: Someone who is at two with the universe.
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A Buddhist nun, an atheist and a Catholic Priest are on the Titanic when the ship hits an iceberg. So they all run out on deck to get into a lifeboat.
"Women and children first!" yells the Buddhist.
"Screw the women and children!" yells the atheist.
The Catholic Priest yells,"Do you think we really have that much time?".
*********************************************************
So the Zen master steps up to the hot dog cart and says: "Make me one with everything."
The hot dog vendor fixes a hot dog and hands it to the Zen master, who pays with a $20 bill.
The hot dog vendor puts the bill in the cash drawer and closes the drawer.
"Where's my change?" asks the Zen master.
The hot dog vendor responds: "Change must come from within."
**********************************************************
Q: What is the name of the best Zen teacher?
A: M.T. Ness
**********************************************************
Disciple: Oh wise and all knowing one, show me the place of perfect peace.
Master: If I show it to you it will no longer be peaceful.
Master: If I show it to you it will no longer be peaceful.
**********************************************************
Q. Have you heard of the cow who attained liberation?
A. It was dyslexic and kept on repeating OOOOMMM !
**********************************************************
A new monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old texts by hand. He notices, however, that they are copying copies, not the original books. So, the new monk goes to the head monk to ask him about this. He points out that if there were an error in the first copy, that error would be continued in all of the other copies.
The head monk says "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son." So, he goes down into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the original.
Hours later, nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to look for him. He hears a sobbing coming from the back of the cellar, and finds the old monk leaning over one of the original books and crying. He asks what's wrong. "The word is 'celebrate'," says the old monk.
******************************************************
Q. What happens when a Buddhist becomes totally absorbed with the computer he is working with?
A. He enters Nerdvana.
******************************************************
Three monks decided to practise meditation together. they sat by the side of a lake and closed their eyes in concentration. Then suddenly, the first one stood up and said, "I forgot my mat." He steeped miraculously onto the water in front of him and walked across the lake to their hut on the other side.
When he returned, the second monk stood up and said, "I forgot to put my other underwear to dry." He too walked calmly across the water and returned the same way. The third monk watched the first two carefully in what he decided must be the test of his own abilities. "Is your learning so superior to mine? I too can match any feat you two can perform," he declared loudly and rushed to the water's edge to walk across it. He promptly fell into the deep water.
Undeterred, the wet monk climbed out of the water and tried again, only to sink into the water. Yet again he climbed out and yet again he tried, each time sinking into the water. This went on for some time as the other two monks watched.
After a while, the second monk turned to the first and said, "Do you think we should tell him where the stones are?"
**********************************************************
Four monks were meditating in a monastery. All of a sudden the prayer flag on the roof started flapping.
The younger monk came out of his meditation and said: "Flag is flapping"
A more experienced monk said: "Wind is flapping"
A third monk who had been there for more than 20 years said: "Mind is flapping."
The fourth monk who was the eldest said: "Mouths are flapping!"
HUMOR: Religious Perspectives On Why Shit Happens! LMAO! ;)
Religious Perspectives On Why Shit Happens
compliments of my friend Charles
Taoism: Shit happens.
Confucianism: Confucius say, "Shit happens."
Buddhism: If shit happens, it isn't really shit.
Zen Buddhism: Shit is, and is not.
Zen Buddhism #2: What is the sound of shit happening?
Hinduism: This shit has happened before.
Islam: If shit happens, it is the will of Allah.
Catholicism: If shit happens, you deserve it.
Protestantism: Let shit happen to someone else.
Presbyterian: This shit was bound to happen.
Episcopalian: It's not so bad if shit happens, as long as you serve the right wine with it.
Methodist: It's not so bad if shit happens, as long as you serve grape juice with it.
Unitarian: Shit that happens to one person is just as bad as shit that happens to another.
Lutheran: If shit happens, don't talk about it.
Fundamentalism: If shit happens, you will go to hell, unless you are born again. (Amen!)
Fundamentalism #2: If shit happens to a televangelist, it's okay.
Judaism: Why does this shit always happen to us?
Calvinism: Shit happens because you don't work.
Seventh Day Adventism: No shit shall happen on Saturday.
Creationism: God made all shit.
Secular Humanism: Shit evolves.
Christian Science: When shit happens, don't call a doctor - pray!
Christian Science #2: Shit happening is all in your mind.
Unitarianism: Come let us reason together about this shit.
Quakers: Let us not fight over this shit.
Utopianism: This shit does not stink.
Darwinism: This shit was once food.
Capitalism: That's MY shit.
Communism: It's everybody's shit.
Feminism: Men are shit.
Chauvinism: We may be shit, but you can't live without us...
Commercialism: Let's package this shit.
Impressionism: From a distance, shit looks like a garden.
Idolism: Let's bronze this shit.
Existentialism: Shit doesn't happen; shit IS.
Existentialism #2: What is shit, anyway?
Stoicism: This shit is good for me.
Hedonism: There is nothing like a good shit happening!
Mormonism: God sent us this shit.
Mormonism #2: This shit is going to happen again.
Wiccan: An it harm none, let shit happen.
Jehovah's Witnesses: >Knock< >Knock< Shit happens.
Jehovah's Witnesses #2: May we have a moment of your time to show you some of our shit?
Jehovah's Witnesses #3: Shit has been prophesied and is imminent; only the righteous shall survive its happening.
Moonies: Only really happy shit happens.
Hare Krishna: Shit happens, rama rama.
Rastafarianism: Let's smoke this shit!
Zoroastrianism: Shit happens half of the time.
Church of SubGenius: BoB shits.
Practical: Deal with shit one day at a time.
Agnostic: Shit might have happened; then again, maybe not.
Agnostic #2: Did someone shit?
Agnostic #3: What is this shit?
Satanism: SNEPPAH TIHS.
Atheism: What shit?
Atheism #2: I can't believe this shit!
Nihilism: No shit.
Narcisism: I am the shit
Taking Day Off Nurturing My Inner-Child. ;)
I woke up early this morning with the desire to watch cartoons. So I've spent the day nurturing my inner-child that's been a little pouty lately. ;) I hope you're having a great lighthearted day too! Hugs! ♥
August 28, 2012
AFGHANISTAN: 17 INNOCENT Civilians Including 2 Women Have Been BEHEADED In A Southern Afghanistan Village! :o
The Australian
written by AP staff
Monday August 27, 2012
SEVENTEEN civilians were beheaded, 10 Afghan soldiers killed and two NATO troops shot dead in a new insider attack in a bloody few hours across Afghanistan, officials say.
The civilians, including two women, were beheaded in a southern Afghanistan village in a region plagued by the Taliban insurgency.
"Last night 17 local villagers, two women and 15 men, were beheaded by unknown people in Kajaki district," Daud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Helmand provincial administration, told AFP.
"We don't know who was behind the killings at this time. We're investigating," Mr Ahmadi said.
A senior police official in the province, Mohammad Ismael Hotak, confirmed the incident, giving a similar account.
Taliban insurgents are active in the troubled region and they have in the past been blamed for beheading local villagers, mostly over charges of spying for Afghan and US-led NATO forces.
Haji Musa Khan, a tribal elder in the neighbouring district of Musa Qala, said the region had seen a surge in such killings in recent months.
"We had three people beheaded during the month of Ramadan. Another person, the son of a tribal elder, was beheaded recently," he said.
Mr Khan said the killings followed major military operations by Afghan and NATO troops in the area.
Hours later, an Afghan army soldier killed two NATO troops in a new "green-on-blue" insider attack, the US-led International Security Assistance Force said.
"A member of the Afghan National Army turned his weapon on ISAF forces, killing two ISAF service members in (eastern) Laghman province today," a spokesman told AFP.
"ISAF soldiers returned fire and killed the attacker."
The latest deaths take the toll from insider attacks this month alone to 12 and to a total of 42 this year, making up around 13 percent of all NATO deaths in 2012.
NATO has struggled to stem the attacks in which uniformed Afghans turn their weapons against their international allies and they have become a major issue in the Afghan war, eroding trust between the two forces.
Taliban insurgents claim responsibility for many of the attacks, but NATO attributes most to cultural differences, stress and personal animosity between Afghan troops and their international allies.
In a pre-dawn attack Monday, 10 Afghan soldiers were killed when Taliban insurgents overran their post in the troubled southern province of Helmand in a what one official said was an insider attack.
Four soldiers were wounded and six others were missing following the attack in the province's Washir district, the senior police official Hotak told AFP.
Mr Ahmadi, the Helmand provincial administration spokesman, confirmed the incident and said the attack was an "insider" plot in which some army soldiers helped the rebels attack the post.
"The Taliban attacked a post in Washir and killed 10 soldiers. Four other soldiers were wounded and five others have gone with the Taliban with their guns," he said.
Mr Hotak could not confirm Mr Ahmadi's account but said an investigation was underway.
JAPAN: Japanese Government Making 2 Billion-Yen Bid To Purchase Senkaku Islands Contested By China
The Japan Times
written by Staff
Monday August 27, 2012
The government is making a ¥2 billion bid for the Senkaku Islands as it forges ahead with a plan to bring them under state control around next month, sources familiar with the matter said Sunday.
The government is engaged in serious behind-the-scenes talks with the Kurihara family, which owns four of the five isles at the center of Japan's diplomatic strife with China.
Although members of the Kurihara family had earlier said they would only entertain bids from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the family has recently taken a more flexible stance on accommodating the government's desire to buy them, the sources said.
Hawkish Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara got the whole idea rolling in April by proposing to buy the islets of Uotsuri, Kitakojima and Minamikojima to clarify Japan's ownership. This eventually goaded the national government into making a bid.
Anti-Japan protests have been taking place throughout China to assert Beijing's sovereignty claims over the islands, which lie southwest of Okinawa in the East China Sea. The protests were spurred by the arrest of a group of Hong Kong activists that managed to land on the biggest islet, Uotsuri, earlier this month.
The Senkaku Islands have been administered by Japan since 1895. China and Taiwan — which know them as Diaoyu and Tiaoyutai, respectively — began making claims to them in the 1970s after U.N. studies suggested potentially lucrative gas fields might be near them. Of the five main uninhabited islets, Taishojima, the smallest one, is already owned by the central government, which is leasing the other four.
According to the sources, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Nagahama secretly approached the Kurihara family around the end of July on orders from Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
Talks with the metropolitan government have stalled over price differences, the sources said, and central government officials have met several times with the family.
Earlier this month, the Kuriharas cancelled a meeting with the outspoken Ishihara, a nationalist who insists the purchase will clarify the disputed isles' ownership.
In Noda's government, calls have been growing since the Aug. 15 landing to quickly put the Senkakus under state control. With China set to install in a new president this autumn, Japan doesn't want to risk irritating Beijing over the issue around that time. So Noda's government is stepping up efforts to buy them, the sources said.
Ishihara is proposing that the government nationalize the islands after Tokyo buys them. But senior officials in Noda's government are not supportive of Ishihara's proposal, saying "there is no guarantee that nationalization will come through," and even if there was, it would likely take too much time.
On Wednesday, the metropolitan government asked the central government for permission to land on the islands to conduct a prepurchase survey but was unable to attach a consent form from the owner.
The central government has been leasing the four islands from the family for many years and "bans" unauthorized landings in principle. The officials, who declined to be named, said the government is unlikely to grant permission.
As of last week, the metropolitan government had received about ¥1.4 billion in donations from people across the country for Tokyo's bid.
Last Friday, Noda told a news conference that he had already met with Ishihara about the metropolitan government's plan to buy the Senkakus, and there is speculation that the pair discussed what to do with the donations collected by Tokyo.
HAITI: More Than 150 Illegal Haitian Migrants Detained In Bahamas After Boat Runs Aground. Haiti Has A Horrible Economy Offering No Opportunity To Sustain Oneself.
Reuters news
written by Neil Hartnell
Sunday August 26, 2012
More than 150 illegal Haitian migrants are in custody in the Bahamas, after their sail boat ran aground on Andros islands during stormy seas, officials said on Sunday.
Jack Thompson, the Bahamas' director of immigration, said in a statement that the Haitians had been detained and were being held in a warehouse and a Roman Catholic Church center on Andros.
The Bahamian authorities said they believe up to 200 migrants may have been aboard the boat, which ran aground on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard has provided a helicopter to transport Bahamian officials to Mangrove Cay, Andros, to assist in a search and rescue operation.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the Americas and there is a long and tragic history of people drowning while trying to escape its crushing poverty in rickety boats headed for the United States.
The Haitians were apprehended on Saturday near Mangrove Cay, seven days after leaving Cap Haitien in Haiti, officials said.
The survivors have already been examined by doctors and found to be in good health, apart from several suffering from dehydration.
Thompson said the authorities believed some migrants may have drowned, but search and rescue efforts were being hampered by tropical storm Isaac's heavy winds and rough seas.
"We are strategizing on how to proceed. Once the weather subsides, we stand ready to take the appropriate action," he said.
SOUTH AFRICA: Six Horses Burnt Alive In Muldersdrift Stables In Possible "Revange Attack" >:/
iAfrica news
written by Staff
Monday August 27, 2012
Six horses burnt to death in their stables in Muldersdrift on the West Rand over the weekend, in what is thought to be a revenge attack connected to a labour dispute, the Beeld reported on Monday.
Plot residents Willie and Petro Basson kept eight horses on their property and were alerted to a blaze at the stables in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Willie Basson went to investigate, and found the burnt carcasses of his prized stallions Spirit and Sea Biscuit, and mares Rainbow, Fasset, Soekie, and her foal Grace.
Only two horses had managed to break out of their stables and survive the blaze.
"Our stable hand told me this morning that it looks as though somebody set the fire on both sides of the stable, to prevent the horses from escaping," a shocked Basson told reporters.
He said he was devastated, as his horses had been like members of his own family.
Five of the Basson family's seven workers left the plot in recent months after a labour dispute, it was reported.
Muldersdrift police are investigating the case, and Boykie Snyman, an investigator for the fire brigade, said a report about the cause of the fire would be released later this week.
CHINA: 50 Die In 3 Accidents Within 3 Days
Before It's News - China
written by Staff
Monday August 27, 2012
A bus and a tanker collided and burst into flames, killing 36 people in China’s northwestern Shaanxi Province, on Aug. 26.
The accident occurred around 2:40 a.m. near the city of Yan’an. A double-decker sleeper bus appeared to have rear-ended a tanker carrying methanol, killing all but three of its 39 passengers.
An incident investigation group was sent to the site by the State Council, according to a report by state-run media Xinhua, indicating that central regime officials were concerned about the incident.
Another crash killed 11 of 12 passengers when a van hit a large truck on an expressway in Sichuan Province Sunday afternoon. The truck had pulled to the side of the road for repairs, local workers said, according to Xinhua.
Three more people died when a bridge collapsed on Friday, Aug. 24, in the city of Harbin in northeastern China. The Yangmingtan Bridge had been in use for less than a year and cost 1.88 billion yuan (US$294 million) to build. The collapse led to questions about official corruption, especially after sticks and bags were found in the debris. Corrupt officials in China have been known to use substandard materials in infrastructure projects while embezzling the difference.
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The Washington Post
written by AP staff
Saturday August 25, 2012
BEIJING — A double-decker bus rammed into a tanker loaded with highly flammable methanol on a northern Chinese highway on Sunday, causing both vehicles to burst into flames and killing 36 people, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 39 people were on the long-distance sleeper bus when it crashed and only three survived. It said the survivors were hospitalized, but didn’t describe their condition.
The tanker had just returned to the highway after a rest stop when it was apparently rear-ended by the bus at around 2:40 a.m. close to the city of Yan’an in Shaanxi province, the official China News website said.
The bus had left Hohhot in Inner Mongolia and was headed south to Xi’an city, it said.
Xinhua photos showed the charred metal skeleton of the bus rammed up against the back of the tanker.
An official with the local Communist Party propaganda bureau in Yan’an confirmed that the crash occurred but was unable to give details and was unsure of the death toll.
Road safety is a serious problem in China. According to Xinhua, poorly maintained roads and bad driving habits result in about 70,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries a year.
CUBA: The Vice President's Daughter Defects To The United States! Living In Cuba Isn't So Great Folks! So Don't Listen To People Who Promote/Admire Che Or Cuba's Govt Run Healthcare System
The Malaysian Star
written by AFP staff
Tuesday August 28, 2012
The daughter of Cuba's vice president has defected from the communist-run island and now lives in Tampa, Florida, the site of the Republican National Convention, a newspaper reported Monday.
Glenda Murillo Diaz, 24, daughter of Vice President Marino Murillo, crossed over into Texas from Mexico, according to a report in the online version of US Spanish-language newspaper El Nuevo Herald.
Cubans who set foot on US soil are allowed to remain in the country as part of Washington's "wet foot, dry foot" policy. Cubans intercepted at sea are returned to Cuba.
The cause of Diaz's defection is not yet known, but the newspaper said the incident represents "a vote of no confidence in the economic reforms (President Raul) Castro has ordered, and that her father has a mandate to implement."
Cuba's vice president, an economist by trade, is known as the "reform czar."
Thousands of delegates have descended on Tampa for the Republican convention, which began Monday and will culminate in the formal nomination of Mitt Romney to take on US President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race.
INDIA: Man Beheaded On Train In West Bengal :o
Hindustan Times
written by AFP staff
Tuesday August 28, 2012
The West Bengal police were searching on Tuesday for a gang of knife-wielding youths who beheaded a man on a train in front of horrified passengers. Khokon Ghosh, a 37-year-old sweet seller, was set upon on Monday afternoon near Bazarshau station, about 190 kilometres (120 miles) north of the city of Kolkata in West Bengal.
"The assailants escaped after the driver stopped the train midway hearing passengers scream," district police superintendent Humayun Kabir told AFP.
"Preliminary investigation has revealed that Ghosh was murdered over some local issues in his village," he said.
VENEZUELA: Oil Refinery Burns For Fourth Day After 48 Die In Blast
Bloomberg news
written by Daniel Cancel and Jose Orozco
Tuesday August 28, 2012
Venezuelan firefighters struggled to contain the last fire at the South American country’s largest oil refinery after a second flare-up at a fuel storage tank.
Flames and black smoke billowed from the storage area of the Amuay refinery at 10:05 a.m. local time, about 30 minutes after Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told state television that the fires had been extinguished completely. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state oil company known as PDVSA, has put out two fires that began on Aug. 25 after a gas explosion killed 48 people.
Ramirez, who also heads PDVSA, said firefighters were attempting to cool the storage area and PDVSA was looking to begin output “in a few days.” He said previously that restarting production won’t begin until all fires are out.
Amuay, which has the capacity to process 645,000 barrels a day, forms part of the Paraguana complex 240 miles west of Caracas. Damage was limited to the storage tanks and Venezuela has had enough gasoline inventories to meet all commitments, Ramirez said. An extended shutdown threatens supplies of refined petroleum products as U.S. Gulf Coast plants halt operations with Tropical Storm Isaac heading toward the region.
A gas leak that formed a cloud at the refinery exploded at 1:10 a.m. on Aug. 25, sending a ball of flame into the air and destroying a National Guard post and damaging about 500 homes. President Hugo Chavez, who faces elections in October, declared three days of mourning and ordered an investigation.
Gasoline Inventories
Venezuela has stockpiles of 4 million barrels of gasoline and other petroleum products and continues to produce 735,000 barrels of the motor fuel a day at plants, including nearby Cardon, according to Ramirez. State-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA shipped five tankers of crude from Paraguana on Aug. 26, he said at the time.
“It’s probably going to be far longer than their public statements given the track record we’ve seen of maintenance at PDVSA facilities over the last couple of years,” Andy Lipow, president of Houston-based Lipow Oil Associates LLC, said by phone. “I think it concerns the market that it could take a long time given that it’s their largest refining complex.”
PDVSA is the sole owner and operator of the refinery. The blast is among the world’s deadliest at an oil refinery. Fifteen workers were killed at BP Plc (BP/)’s Texas City refinery in 2005, while more than 50 people died in a fire at Hindustan Petroleum Corp.’s refinery in Visakhapatnam, India, in 1997.
‘Earthquake Like’
Amuay, Cardon and Bajo Grande form the Paraguana complex, which has capacity of about 950,000 barrels a day. That’s second in size to Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL)’s Jamnagar refinery in India, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. CRP, as the complex is known, supplies 67 percent of gasoline to the local market, according to PDVSA’s website. Cardon and Amuay also export refined products to the Caribbean and the U.S.
Stella Lugo, governor of Falcon state in western Venezuela, described the early-morning blast as similar to an earthquake. Lugo told Union Radio yesterday that the death toll had risen to 48 from a previous estimate of 39. There have been no other official comments about a death toll since Aug. 26.
Gasoline, which rose to the highest level in almost four months yesterday, declined as floor trading opened on the New York Mercantile Exchange. September futures fell 4.18 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $3.113 a gallon at 9 a.m. in New York.
BP and other companies have suspended some crude and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The area is home to 23 percent of U.S. oil production and 44 percent of refining capacity, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
Stand to Benefit
Refiners with Texas operations that are less exposed to Isaac stand to benefit by exporting more product after the Venezuela explosion, said John Auers, senior vice president at Turner Mason & Company, a Dallas-based energy consultant.
“On a sustainable basis, Venezuela hasn’t been able to produce as much product as they used to,” Auers said by telephone. “The U.S. refiners have taken their place. Now in a short term, they certainly can step up and do even more.”
Shares in Valero Energy Corp. (VLO), based in San Antonio, Texas, have gained 7.3 percent in the past two days, while Marathon Petroleum Corp., based in Findlay, Ohio, has risen 2.9 percent.
The fire at Amuay, which opened in 1950, highlights the risk to supplies of oil products from large, aging plants and may lead to more exports from Asia to the U.S., according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Other major refinery fires elsewhere caused months of delays before full operations resumed, Nilesh Banerjee, an analyst at Goldman in Mumbai, said in a note e-mailed yesterday.
Venezuela, one of the 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and South America’s biggest crude producer, had an average output of 2.7 million barrels of oil a day last year, according to BP statistics. Its main export markets are the U.S. and China.
Crude Exports
Venezuela was the fourth-largest source of crude for the U.S. in May, after Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico, at 821,000 barrels a day, based on data from the U.S. Energy Information Agency. Venezuelan product imports from the U.S. nearly doubled in the first five months of 2012 to 38,000 barrels a day from 23,000 in the year earlier period, according to the EIA. They include gasoline, fuel additives and liquefied petroleum gas.
Cardon has closed units several times this year after incidents. PDVSA had to halt production and evacuate workers from its Petropiar heavy-crude upgrader last year after a gas leak and a fire.
Jose Bodas, an oil union leader, told Globovision on Aug. 25 that PDVSA has ignored calls by workers to improve “hazardous” working conditions at refineries.
Seven out of nine planned maintenance programs for the Amuay refinery were postponed last year because of a lack of materials, according to PDVSA’s 2011 annual report.
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NORTH KOREA: Typhoon Bolaven Buffets South Korea, Killing Fishermen, Heads For North Korea
The Malaysian Star
written by Jack Kim and Meeyoung Cho, Reuters
Tuesday August 28, 2012
A typhoon with winds of up to 170 kmh (106 mph) buffeted South Korea's west coast on Tuesday, leaving four dead and a dozen people missing after two Chinese fishing vessels capsized.
Typhoon Bolaven was expected to eventually make landfall in flood ravaged North Korea late on Tuesday, hitting already damaged farmlands as the country struggles to feed its 24 million population.
Emergency authorities and refiners reported little damage from Bolaven as it tracked through the Yellow Sea, dumping heavy rains on the southern island of Jeju and along the Korean peninsula's coastal regions.
China's Meteorological Administration issued warnings of possible flooding in the coming days that could affect corn and soy crops in parts of its three northeastern provinces that produce about 30 percent of corn output and 40 percent of soy.
Coast guard rescuers pulled 13 surviving Chinese fishermen from the vessels that capsized off the southern shore of the Jeju island, along with four dead, and were searching for 12 others still missing, the emergency services said.
In South Korea, schools were closed for the day in the capital region and in the south, but financial markets, industrial and energy installations and government services remained in operation as the storm steered off the coast.
Hundreds of international and domestic flights serving South Korea were cancelled, most scheduled to depart or arrive at the main gateways in Incheon and Gimpo, the transport ministry said.
The storm was expected to hit the southern part of North Korea's west coast, near the farming regions surrounding the capital Pyongyang, the South's national weather service said.
The destitute North, which has trouble feeding its people even in years with good harvest, has said heavy rains in July and August inundated farmlands and triggered landslides, killing hundreds and leaving families homeless.
The U.N. World Food Programme and an alliance of South Korean aid groups have offered to provide food aid.
SOUTH KOREA: 4 Dead, 12 Missing As Typhoon Bolaven Pounds Country
The Malaysian Star
written by AFP staff
Tuesday August 28, 2012
Four Chinese crew members were confirmed drowned and 12 were missing after a strong typhoon battering South Korea pushed their ships onto the rocks Tuesday.
Officials issued an alert for almost the entire country as Bolaven - the strongest typhoon for almost a decade to hit the country - swept towards flood-affected North Korea.
Scores of flights were grounded, ferry services were suspended and schools in Seoul and several other areas were shut Tuesday, while almost 200,000 homes lost power.
No deaths were immediately reported, apart from at the shipwreck on the southern island of Jeju. Coastguard rescuers swam or waded through storm-tossed seas to link ropes to one of the boats and rescue 11 crewmen, a coastguard spokesman told AFP.
Six others swam ashore of their own accord. One ship was pushed close to shore while the second was broken in two and sank, he added.
Dramatic video footage showed coastguards in wetsuits struggle through high waves to reach the first boat 50 metres (yards) offshore and connect ropes.
Crew members were then seen pulled to safety one after another. The ships were registered in Weihai city in China's Shandong province.
The transport ministry said all 87 sea ferry services had stopped running. A total of 247 flights - 183 domestic and 64 international - have been cancelled since Monday.
The typhoon - packing winds of 144 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) - brought heavy rain and strong winds to southern and western areas. It toppled street lights and signs, shattered windows, uprooted trees, tore off shop signs and even demolished a church spire.
On Jeju, TV footage showed homes with collapsed roofs and uprooted trees.
The US and South Korean armed forces called a temporary halt to a large-scale joint military exercise which began last week.
The weather service said Bolaven was passing over the Yellow Sea west of South Korea and would come closest to Seoul, a city of some 10 million people, around 2:00 pm (0500 GMT).
It was expected to make landfall in North Korea around 6:00 pm. The impoverished North is already struggling to recover from a devastating drought followed by floods earlier this summer.
In the South, the National Emergency Management Agency said 197,751 homes in Jeju and in the southwest and south-central regions had so far lost power.
A total of 54 people, mostly in the southwest, were evacuated from their homes and taken to shelters. Some 16 homes were damaged.
Weather officials said Typhoon Tembin was also threatening the Korean peninsula, moving at a speed of 16 kilometres an hour northward from Taiwan. Tembin was forecast to be some 200 kilometres west of Jeju early Friday.
August 26, 2012
KOREA: Typhoon Bolaven Heads For Korea After Lashing Japan
Yahoo news
written by AFP
Sunday August 26, 2012
One of the most powerful typhoons in decades churned towards the Korean peninsula Monday after lashing Japan's Okinawa with heavy rains and wind, leaving at least five injured.
Typhoon Bolaven hit the southern Japanese island chain on Sunday, packing winds of up to 252 kilometres (157 miles) per hour, the Japanese meteorological agency said.
Five people were injured with some 550 others forced to evacuate in the wake of the typhoon, one of the strongest since the weather agency started keeping records six decades ago.
Residents of the Okinawan capital Naha were advised to stay indoors as public broadcaster NHK showed footage of deserted streets lined with trees felled by strong winds.
As of 11:00 am local time (0200 GMT), the typhoon was about 300 kilometres north of Naha, moving north at a speed of 40 kilometres with gusts of up to 216 kilometres per hour, the agency said.
The storm was expected to pass near South Korea's southern island of Jeju early Tuesday before moving towards the Korean peninsula, the weather agency said.
Traffic in Okinawa remained paralysed on Monday, with all flights to and from Naha airport and ships linking the main island with smaller islands in the chain cancelled.
"But if the weather permits, airlines may be able to resume flights in the afternoon," an airport official said.
On Sunday, roads and bus services were closed on the island while an elevated rail link in Naha city had also been shut down, news reports said.
About 17,500 homes in Okinawa and 58,300 homes in Kagoshima prefecture, just south of the Japanese mainland, were hit by blackouts, according to local governments.
JAPAN: Powerful Typhoon Lashes Japan's Okinawa Island
The Associated Press
written by Malcolm Foster
Sunday August 26, 2012
TOKYO - More than 75,000 households lacked power on Monday after a powerful typhoon lashed the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, injuring four people but doing less damage than feared before moving off to sea.
Weather officials had warned that Typhoon Bolaven would be the strongest to hit the region in several years, but its gusts weren't as powerful as predicted.
Disaster authorities reported no major damage as of early Monday aside from the blackouts.
Roughly 75,000 households were without power on Okinawa and the nearby Amami islands as heavy rain and winds continued Monday. Many schools and government offices were closed because of the blackouts. Much of the public transportation system - including buses, shipping and airlines - had also not yet been restored, officials said.
The center of the slow-moving storm, the 15th of the season, passed over the island late Sunday and was moving northwest into the East China Sea on Monday. It could affect coastal areas of South Korea by Tuesday, weather officials said.
As the typhoon approached Okinawa on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said wind speeds near the center of the typhoon were about 180 kilometers per hour (112 miles per hour), with gusts reaching 252 kph (155 mph), possibly equaling or surpassing past records for the area.
But public broadcaster NHK reported that the gusts measured on the island of Amami, north of Okinawa, reached just 140 kph (87 mph).
Okinawa disaster authorities said four people were hurt.
More than half of the 50,000 U.S. troops based in Japan are stationed in Okinawa. At Kadena Air Base, one of the biggest bases on the island, all shops and service facilities were ordered closed and movement around the base was to be kept to a minimum. All entry into the ocean was prohibited.
Bolaven comes on the heels of Typhoon Tembin, which soaked southern Taiwan on Friday, largely sparing populated areas before blowing out to sea again.
EL SALVADOR: A Powerful 7.4 Magnitude Earthquake Struck Off The Coast; Tsunami Warning Issued To Several Adjacent Countries!
UPDATE 11:49pm PST: Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancels tsunami warnings for Central American countries issued after El Salvador earthquake - @NOAA
Reuters news
Reuters news
written by Philip Barbara
Sunday August 26, 2012
A major earthquake of 7.4 magnitude hit in the Pacific Ocean about 78 miles (125 km) off the coast of El Salvador late Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
No destructive Pacific-wide tsunami is expected, and there is no tsunami threat to Hawaii, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
The center said, however, that although it did not know if a tsunani had been generated, a warning was in effect for Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Panama and Mexico.
The earthquake struck 74 miles (120 km) south of Usulutan, El Salvador, at a depth of 33 miles, the Geological Survey said.
There were no immediate reports of damage to coastal areas or to shipping.
****************************************
The Los Angeles Times
written by Staff
Sunday August 26, 2012
California is not included in a tsunami warning issued Sunday night after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake off the coast of El Salvador.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued the warning for parts of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. But it did not extend to the United States.
The temblor struck at 9:37 p.m. about 69 miles off shore. The epicenter was about 105 miles southwest of San Salvador.
There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The quake comes after a swarm of more than 300 quakes Sunday in Imperial County, including at least two greater than 5.0 magnitude. Those temblors caused minor damage and forced evacuations from some buildings.
I Hope You Dance... ♥
Enjoy this beautiful song with awesome lyrics... ♥ Great advice.
I Hope You Dance ~ by Lee Ann Womack
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance
I hope you dance
(Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder, where those years have gone?)
August 25, 2012
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever... ♥ (1970)
Hmm... I think I'm going to watch this classic feel good movie tonight. One of my favorite's! Love everything about it. I have it on VHS lol need to upgrade this vid to DVD. ;)
On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
by Barbra Streisand
On a clear day
Rise and look around you
And you'll see who you are
On a clear day
How it will astound you
That the glow of your being
Outshines every star
You'll feel part of every mountain sea and shore
You can hear
From far and near
A word you've never, never heard before...
And on a clear day...
On a clear day...
On a clear day...
You can see forever...
And ever...
And ever...
And ever more. . .
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