Pacific Spirit Marine Institute
Monday, July 28, 2008
Bejing has spent at least $17 Billion dollars to clean up only it’s air
quality for the 08-08-08 Olympics. They’ve closed down, moved or otherwise quashed every factory, plant or other operation that belched pollution into the air.
One of China’s great hopes was to clear their filthy air so that people could actually see the games.
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing the same way, over and over,but expecting somehow, someway, that the outcome will change; the Chinese are definately sane.
They’re bustin’ moves the likes of which haven’t been seen before.
These are unpresedented actions in the quest to clean-up the air and yet the outcome doesn’t change. Bad air and poor visability; company’s coming and the place is a mess.
Ordering more than 1 Million cars off the streets is a huge committment. Still after all of these measures and tossing $17 Billion at the problem it still hasn’t been fixed. In fact levels of microscopic particulates “suspended in the air remain stubbornly high” although some levels of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide have been reduced.
In some places the sky seems to get a good scouring after a rain leaving the air crisp and clean, but not in Beijing. Guo Hu, director of the Beijing Meteorological
Observatory says the rainy weather has reduced visibility in the city.
Believe none of what you read and half of what you see.
Or, believe none of what you see either…Du Shaozhong, Beijing’s Environmental Protection Bureau says observers should not rely on the visual appearance of the sky.
Du still says, “We can guarantee good air quality during the Games.”
Crazy Eights.
Maybe that guarantee has more to do with astrology and numerology than science. The chinese gave much thought and planning into opening the Games on 08-08-08 at 8:08:08 p.m. China Standard Time in Beijing.
There is a point to all of this…
The monumental actions China has taken to clean-up the air illustrate that, laying on the breaks can’t stop a downward racing locamotive. We should all be sobered by the fact that once we’ve hit the tipping point, no amount of money, time or lucky eights can fix what is broken.
Photo July 27, 2008 James Fallows, link to his amazing smog chronicle as it unfolds in Beijing.
Labels: Air Pollution, China, Climate Change, Olympics, Smog
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Tossing money at it won’t fix the planet’s problems.
Friday, July 25, 2008
If you were an Odorrana tormota frog you could just tune that sound out by closing the canals in your ears.
The discovery that the Odorrana tormota species of frogs can close down their Eustachian tubes is being described as “Bizarre” by UofI at Urbana-Champaign researcher Albert Feng.
These little frogs live near a noisy hot springs in central China. They can tune out low frequency background noise of rushing waters to pick up the calls of mates or rivals.
The Odorrana tormota is also known as the concave-eared torrent frog.
Meanwhile…
The oh so much smarter humans go to great lengths to annoy surrounding motorists with their bass beat. They can even let the fathers of their dates know they nearing the house from 8 blocks away, thereby eliminating the need to sit in front of the house and honk!
While the Odorrana tormota would like to be able to hear the chirps of its potential mates, the reportedly more advanced species of humanoid would like to blast his girlfriends hair from her head.
I’ll assume he does this in an effort to make her less attractive to other potential mates. She will also be less attractive to other mates if she is constantly saying, “what?”
Take if from an old rock’n roller kids…turn down the bass. It will be much nicer to hear your sweetheart whisper in your ear, “I love you”, and equally as nice to hear your grandchildren’s first words.
The discovery of how these little creatures control what they hear may help researchers design better hearing aids in the future. There will be a big market for all those destroying their hearing today.
Photo thanks: Margaret Kowalczyk
Labels: Bass, China, Odorrana tormota, frogs, video
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Ever wish you could crush that car blasting so much bass YOUR chest thumps to the beat?
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Russian pilots accidentally dropped an un-pulverized chunk of cement into a house while trying to assure a dry holiday. Yet another attempt to ‘fool mother nature’.
Let’s have a look at what is commonly found in cement shall we? Calcium oxide which is corrosive to human tissue. Crystaline silica which can cause damage to lungs, and is abrasive to the skin. Toss in a trace amount of chromium and voila! allergic reactions.
Silver oxide, another cloud seeding favorite, is said to be non-toxic to humans yet it is known to have severe detrimental affects on fish. Salt, popular also, is being widely used to change the weather too. Salt lessens the ability of soil to transfer nutrients to plants…there are few enough nutrients left in the food we eat as it is.
Pony up Paul McCartney! In 2004 Mc Cartney’s team reportedly spent 55,000.00 to have 3 jets spray clouds over the Palace Square in St. Petersburg, Russia to stave off rain.The former Beatle needed to spread his former corrupting influence in a rain free environment, so he influenced the weather by spreading, not corruption but, dry ice so that his 50,000 fans there could stay dry. (The former Soviet regime had banned Beatle music as a ‘corrupting influence.)
China has guaranteed rainless medal ceremonies for the Olympics. A quick google search brings up more countries in the world and more state agencies ‘practicing weather modification’ than any sane person would hope to find. It’s absolutely daunting and the reasons, in some cases, are beyond belief.
The United States, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Australia,China, Russia…You name it. It seems if a nation or a state has two nickles to rub together they are going to get into the weather modification game. Beyond a playful picnic, or drought busting, I think it would be a mistake not to at least consider many nations are eyeballing weaponization of the weather…Operation Popeye is just one, now public, example.
No wonder our weather is so screwed up!
The world would do well to remember “The slightest change in the initial conditions of a chaotic system can accumulate in the long run into an enormous effect.” Edward
Lorenz.
I personally think the world has gone ‘fractal’.
Photo Cloud seeding 1957 near Sydney naa.gov.au
Labels: China, Climate Change, Cloud seeding, Credence Clearwater Revival, Russia, weather modification
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Credence Clearwater Revival Finally Get’s An Answer! Who’ll Stop the Rain? Anyone that can afford to; that’s who.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
On May 14, KGET channel17in Bakersfield CA, reported another strange infestation of frogs. So many frogs in fact one couple in the Rosedale neighborhood said, “You’d see cars go by, and see them slinging up frogs like they were rocks.” KGET reports the forgs have literally spread out through this entire neighborhood.
On May 9, thousands of toads were spotted in Jiangsu province, in China. The picture is erriely simaler, except for the crowd on bicycles as that in the video I have posted about the frogs invading in bakersfield.
It is reported the same phenomenon was also noticed in some of the areas affected by the massive earthquake in China on May 13. There were similar toad stories throughout China in the days leading up to the devasting earthquake, Mianzhu, China being one.
It is also interesting to note that swarms of frogs or toads were reported before the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in California.
One geologist, Jim Berkland,has a 75% accuracy rate when it comes to predicting earthquakes. Berkland thinks animal behaviour is one of the key indicators of coming quakes. One thing he’s been tracking for decades is the number of lost pet entries in newspapers prior to events. The number of lost pets, cats especially seem to take a sharp curve upwards in the days just before an earthquake. Berkland also says high tides, floods. Reservoir water storage is another factor that contributes to seismic events. Dams are built to withstand the seismic potential the structures themselves pose to an area.
Check out this information on the 3 Gorges Dam project and the seismic research, precautions, and seismic supervision system in place to supervise an earthquake caused by the reservoir water storage that was set up before the water storage at the ‘Three Gorges Project.’ Really interesting information!
Labels: China, Frogs Bakersfield, Toads Bakersfield, earthquake, frogs, reservoir water storage seismic
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
If It Jumps Like A Toad, Croaks Like A Toad…it’s probably not a duck.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Where Has All The Water Gone? On A Slow Boat To China?
It may be crazy to think about but consider this for a moment. China now has more than 37,000 peasants working to produce rain. That’s right.
While millions of people are suffering from horrific wide spread drought, China says it has added a staggering 275 Billion..That’s Billion…cubic yards of additional rainfall by using rocket launchers. Rocket launcher are filled with artillery pieces loaded with silver iodide and other chemicals and then blasted into clouds.
China has been testing it’s rainmaking prowess for more than a dozen years now and they think they have a pretty good record. The Gutlan Reservoir in Fujian province is reported to have had a 24% increase since the testing began.
China has the largest rainmaking operation in the world followed by Russia and Israel.
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should!
I don’t need to tell any of you again that I’m no rocket scientist but, I’m going to fall down on the side of some of China’s Henan province residents. 2 years ago a 5 city squabble broke out with accusations of ‘cloud theft’ broke out. In my mind it only stands on the side of reason that unnaturally bleeding water from clouds in one part of the world would send empty clouds to another part.
Whether or not my theory is true sending chemicals into the sky with rocket launchers has to be a bad idea on so many levels.
Keep your eye on the prize!
Scientists using satellites analyze cloud content from several major cities. When the time look right they put out the call for any number of the 37,000 weather troops to assemble. Each team can assemble in a matter of minutes and begin firing chemicals into promising clouds in their area.
To the victor go the spoils!
Do we not have enough evidence that everything in this world is tied together in an inextricable knot?
China doesn’t just want to produce more rainfall to fill their newly completed $25 Billion dollar Three Gorges Dam which is the largest to date in the world, they want to also stop the rain from falling.
Don’t rain on my parade!
Zhang Qiang, a ‘weather modifier’ at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau will try to stop the rain from ruining the Olympics. Zhang will try to intercept the rain clouds by calling out his troops to divert them.
Microwaves aren’t just for popping corn.
One way scientists are scheming to stop hurricanes is by dumping black soot on to the top of a hurricane. They are thinking that the dark color will draw the sun’s heat and warm the icy clouds at the top causing it to loose it’s power.
If the soot isn’t black enough how about shredding tires and dropping black them across the top?
Maybe the beaming of microwaves from space to the tops of the hurricanes thereby changing their airflow is a better idea.
I’m in agreement that we have to start finding ways to adapt to our changing environment, but there are light years between the word adapt, and the word control.
Man has apparently learned nothing from his quest to maintain dominance on the planet.
Is this going to be the key that unlocks the trap we have set for ourselves, or will this be just one more nail in the coffin?
Labels: China, Climate Change, Cloud seeding, Environment, Water, drought
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
China Wages War with Clouds! Cloud Seeding and the Environment
Thursday, October 4, 2007
I’m feeling betrayed on so many levels these days. When the spinach and the carrots were recalled due to contamination I starting thinking about all the things most of us do these days to make ourselves and our families, healthier and enriched mentally.
Now this latest recall comes up. If there isn’t a law now, we need to see that some new laws are written. I have links posted at the end of this article and I have assigned homework.
While I was reading the list of today’s recalled tainted toys and other items 2 things leaped off the page at me. First, some of the product recalled today have been on the market since March of 2005. These items were sold in book stores and gift stores. Second, why on earth has it taken more than 2 years to make the public aware.
The Baby Einstein Discover & Play Blocks and been in the mouths of babies and toddlers for 5 months now. Every mother, hopeful she may raise the next Einstein has thoughtfully provided an enriching toy for her child. A lead laced toy that after 5 months of being in the hands and mouth of her toddler, may very well have given her child a learning disability.
There are Alphabet and Math blocks, learning blocks and Activity learning carts that have been in the hands and mouths of toddlers for a gut wrenching 2 years. Long enough in fact to have gone into subsequent children’s hands.
It makes me sick to think about it.
Every now and again we hear a blip in the news about an illegal drug that had been manufactured, where is anyone’s guess, poisoning a number of users. As sad and tragic as something like that may be most of us can just let it pass and think ‘oh well they shouldn’t have been doing that anyway.’ Maybe we think, ‘they should have known what they were taking was made by some loaded, incompetent idiot in a basement somewhere,’ and we move on.
When young mother, and grandparents are buying toys they believe are to the developmental benefit of children and find they have, unknowingly put poison in their child’s hands the case needs to turn criminal.
I believe waiting up to 2 years to recall some of these items is criminal, and should be punishable by prison time. Waiting 5 months to recall these toys is criminal. Letting them into the hands of a child for any amount of time is unspeakable.
This is your homework assignment today:
First follow this link to see the list of items in the latest recall and send this link to anyone you know that may be affected by the recall.
Second write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Start the drums beating.
If you can’t write a letter to your editor (for some reason).
Send an email to your Representative in the U.S. you can find them at this link.
Canadian Members of Parliament: follow this link
Labels: China, Recall, Tainted, Toys, lead paint
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
More Poison Toys from China! Time People on This Side of the Pacific to do Some Real Time! PSMI Extra
Friday, September 21, 2007
In what is being billed as Mattel’s mea culpa for the unprecedented toy recalls over the past several months Mattel apologizes to China.
Nothing says, ‘I’m sorry please don’t stop making our products for a fraction of the cost it would take to make them anywhere but in China’, like a personalized apology.
There is no question China’s reputation of being a nation of pariah has been increasing almost daily; now Mattel wants to mend that perception by telling the world and China that the recent recalls are all their fault.
It’s said that fear has a recognizable scent. Is that the odor wafting out of Barbie’s Dream House?
Mattel is now claiming the majority of toys recalled were in fact recalled as a result of poor Mattel engineering, and that only a small percentage of the recall involved banned lead-based paint.
80% of children’s toys are manufactured in China equaling a mind blowing 7.5 BILLION dollars worth of products. We’ve held the opinion that regardless of what was going on in China, Mattel, as other toy companies, own the responsibility for producing safe toys.
Mattel has announced plans to upgrade its safety system?
Here is a bulletin Mattel!
The time to upgrade your safety standards is:
frequently and prior to one child being harmed while engaged in the act of play!
Don’t wait until your stock values fall. Companies making anything that comes in contact with our most valuable, precious and helpless children owe those children and their wallet carrying parents a reasonable expectation of safety.
When companies are charging obscene prices for their goods, when they are making obscene profits they need to go overboard to make their products safe. These companies spend obscene amounts of money to advertise and bend the minds of their ‘target’ consumers.
It is time that consumers ‘target’ these purveyors of hazards and tell them we have had enough! Tell the makers of Polly Pocket to stay out of your pocket until they can prove they have changed their bad practices.
Contact Mattel: http://service.mattel.com/us/contactus.aspx
Labels: China, Mattel, Tainted, Toys
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Mattel Seeks to Pull Their Moo Shu Pork From the Wok!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
China, China China. What am I to think of China. With all the bad news, bad products and bad feelings swirling around China these days suddenly and inexplicably the rare white dolphin has been filmed in the Yangtze River.
The little guy that spotted the, thought to be extinct, rare white dolphin said he had never seen such a large creature in the river before so he filmed it.
What a stroke of good fortune coming on the heels of all that bad fortune. Good fortune on all accounts in fact. China needed some good news to send to the rest of the world.
Good fortune that seemingly the only fellow to see the rare white dolphin, thought to be extinct happened to have a video camera handy.
Good fortune with Beijing hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics they will now be able to sell Olympic accouterments sporting the rare white dolphin. You may remember the white dolphin being sported on everything from ball caps and coffee mugs to kites during the Hong Kong handover celebrations in ‘97.
Good fortune that after not seeing hide nor hair of the rare white dolphin for years and after a top notch team of Zoologists spent an intense and unprecedented 6 week search for the rare white dolphin and came up empty.
The last time the dolphin had been spotted was in 2002 the same year the last baiji, rare white dolphin, died in captivity. The elite survey team including the US, Britain, Japan and China failed to site or find any evidence there were any surviving baiji.
The baiji as the Chinese call it numbered more than 5,000 less than one hundred years ago. Experts say there needs to be at least 50 to keep the gene pool from degenerating and the rare dolphin from going extinct after an illustrious run of more than 20-million-years.
The white dolphin had no enemies in its natural habitat save man who created devastating pollution, illegally fished, and ran them down with ships…
Good fortune for the Chinese indeed…color me dubious, but ever hopeful.
The timing of the sighting of the white dolphin couldn’t be better as Hong Kong Dolphinwatch, a commercial dolphin watching tour company entices tourists to tour their dolphin habitat.
“Welcome to the Year of the Dolphin!
2007 is also the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunion with Mainland China. Chinese White Dolphins here were made the official mascot of the 1997 Handover; ten years have passed, how are those mascots doing today? What has Hong Kong done to protect them? Can anyone say that we have done enough to eliminate the threats that they have been facing? What does the Hong Kong Government have in mind for their future?”
“Hong Kong Dolphinwatch has been dolphin watching since 1995 and witnessed the changes before and after the Handover. We hope we will have the chance to take you to our dolphins’ habitat and show you the remaining population of our lovely threatened pink dolphins, and let us tell you what our answers to the above questions are.”
Labels: China, Chinese, Dolphin, Rare, White Dolphin
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Rare Chinese White Dolphin Thought to be Extinct Maybe Alive After All!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Yes, one more bit of bad news when it comes to your babies today. Now it turns out there is lead in certain baby bibs.
Lead bibs would, of course, makes sense with all the gamma rays and what not contained in strained peas and apple sauce. This bib thing really may be the straw that breaks the camels back. Not every kid puts toys in their mouths, not every kid stuffs things up their noses, but unlike the lead paint issue, and the inhaling of magnets: Every baby spits food out…therefore the bib.
Feeding a baby is all about attrition. Who will last the longest, the spooner or the spoonee. Younger babies may be amateurs when it comes to eating solid foods, but they are professionals when it comes to pushing that food right back out
Every mother has take the spoon and in a scrapping motion reclaimed food from babies face. Every mom too must admit to reclaiming food that has been rejected from a clean bib. My kids had dozens of bibs, some were even plastic so they could be wiped down instead of tossed in the laundry after every use. This is the long way of saying, if lead is being used in baby bibs, the babies that were being fed in those bibs most certainly have lead in them. Conversely all children that played with the most recently recalled toys will not have magnets in them.
Importing goods from China has become the same as feeding a baby. China is the spooner that keeps sending us products for which we do not have a taste. We spew those distasteful tainted products back.
The interesting portion of this serving is going to be seeing who gives up first. Will we at some point say enough is enough, we won’t accept dangerous, unwholesome products from anywhere any more? Or, will we be worn down, until ultimately years from now our sallow ed faces and blank stares sing the refrain of:
it was gluten from China wot dun ‘em in.
Gluten, toothpaste, tainted fish, lead based paint, jewelry, baby bibs, pet food….you fill in your own blanks.
We need to contact our domestic manufactures and let them know they appear to be engaging in practices that are UNACCEPTABLE. We will not continue to return or spew back their products, but that those products will remain on the shelves….unless and until they change their practices!
We work hard for our money, we love our families, and our pets…we’ve come to expect better, we deserve better…..let’s not lose the game of attrition.
Labels: China, Chinese Tooth paste. DEG, Tainted, lead paint
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
Let China Off the Hook? Accepting Tainted Chinese Products is Our Own Fault.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Healthy and safety officials in the US are saying that parents shouldn’t trust Mattel to make safe toys for their children. That it is the parents responsibility to be sure products are safe! Just think about that statement for a moment. How in the world would anyone that wasn’t an engineer or a chemist be able to do that?
Of course a parent knows what pieces and parts can choke, pinch, or harm a child. But, there is no way on earth a parent can detect the hidden dangers in any product.
In a statement totally from left field the acting head of the Consumer Products Safety Commission in the US told viewers during a press conference that 9 million toys in the US, (18.5 million in total) recalled yesterday that were made in China, was only a small drop in the bucket. The vast majority of imports, when looking at the picture in totality, were safe. Oh really? This leaves the impression they are all being tested or monitored; clearly not so.
The very idea that the vast majority of imports from China, be they toys or any other product is ludicrous. How would anyone know? China knew.
Reuters is reporting today that China knew of the problems …”with magnets on toys as long ago as March”.
Lead paint has been banned from any type of use in the US since 1978. There is no presumable way the Chinese didn’t know the paint they were using was lead based.
The whole idea that any of these tainted products from China were honest mistakes would be comical were it not so serious. Deadly serious.
There are obviously no checks or balances when it comes to the poison being allowed to be shipped out of China.
Adding further insult CNN produced their in-house-doctor expert telling people if they think their child may have been exposed to lead they should have them tested. Okay…..and will Mattel be receiving the bill for that testing?
My opinion is, telling people not to depend on the safety of Mattel toys is the same as telling them not to depend on the safety of Gerber Baby Foods, or Heinz Baby.
Mattel is fact more responsible than the Chinese. It is their fiduciary responsibility to make sure the manufacturing of their products results in a safe product. They have shipped their production overseas to bulk up their profits, they need to spend some of those profits on inspection at the source.
Are we really to believe Mattel can’t afford to have one man on the ground at each manufacturing site that is in their pocket? Another ridiculous idea.
Are parents now being asked to preform their own lab tests on children’s products? What in the name of government are people paying the gate keepers of health and safety to do these days?
Confidence is the only currency any company has when it comes to gaining and keeping customers, one would think they would guard that confidence.
Are we to believe Mattel can’t or won’t afford a ’standard’ steward at manufacturing plants no matter where they are located? INCREDULOUS.
In light of China’s documented inability to produce safe products the public needs to start demanding truth in labeling, starting first with ‘China Free’ labels.
A company in Utah, food for Health International thinks so too. They have plans to start putting stickers on their products saying “China-Free”.
It has become nearly impossible to determine what portion of ingredients in any one product originate in China. International trade be damned. I’m fed up with being fed the party line.
“China-Free” stickers are an idea whose time has come….come and gone… in fact it’s way overdue.
Contact Mattel, Inc. and tell them you are going to be “Mattel-Free”, AG Brands-Free, Fisher-Price-Free until and unless they can prove they are putting the safety of our children and grandchildren ahead of their greed.
http://service.mattel.com/us/contactus.aspx for toll free numbers to call
http://www.mattel.com/contact_us/ US email
Labels: China, Chinese, Mattel, Recall, Tainted, imports, lead paint
© 2009, Pacific Spirit Marine Institute.
China-Free, Mattel-Free: It’s time to put our ‘collective’ foot down!
