S@turns World - my blog

what the .....

2010-10-04T09:48:00.000-07:00

Everything has its advantages

Being home alone, being my own boss, it's nice
Being home together, is nice as well, especially because it is lovely to see the hard working woman that I love so much next to me and relaxing a bit.

I dont mind that my days get less freedom than, such as today.
I was a large part of the afternoon in the kitchen, preparing chicken soup, pan cakes, cleaning.

And since the smell was a bit through the house I wasnt surprised to hear: shall we open some more windows?

I said, sure, go ahead, and went on with baking the pancakes.

But I did stop for a second when I heard the reaction..
O? Should I do it? Are you afraid of being overworked?

So pardon me, but that made me thinking.. what the ....................

Is it me? Or that time of the month again?

Losers behavior

2010-09-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

I add this without a comment

And I skip the names as well

Should I wonder if I was wrong or am I right?

The fact that I quote this here, might tell you how I think about it.

Mind, this is an email 'conversation' what happened within 24 hours.

Me: 10 September at 22:56
I dont think you'd notice it, but I did skip you from my friends list. Dont worry, I am not a coward like some others that blocked me right away after it, and I come to you with a short explanation. In one or another reason I take the effort, oh well.

Anyway, I am pretty sick about your behavior, for a longer time already. All that comes from you is I love you, and a serious word about matters I havent read from you. In fact never, it was always about your ego.

I think that I dont need it anymore. I dont need all the warnings from people about you, the stories how you did hurt others, and most of all YOUR stories, how bad the world is against you, you the innocent little baby.
The difference between you and a baby is that babies grow up.
Nevertheless, whilst I did run into your FB site somewhere this week, I thought that that better not happens to me again, so I deleted you as from the friendslist. You have my FB address and yahoo, also when you need you can find me.

I know you cannot understand what I mean, but you know the basical message, that I try to select my people. For the games I dont care, but Queen friends should be more than a number, definitely when they are considered to the 'queen and a bit more' friends

Take care and I do realy hope for you that you tackle your problem one day. I mean that serious and sinsere.
he
what happenned ?

me
if anyone can answer that question it is you

he
Me? You deleted me bur no worries mate I have never needed to get in touch with you I am sure I won’t now; if I ever did get in touch with you it was because I considered you a friend but obviously I was wrong and do not ever in your wildest dreams judge my behavior I don’t know what makes you think you are in the position to judge others but you ever voice your opinion about what me or how I behave I will properly check your ass meaning I will put you in your place and please spare me the philosophy crap you have nor the inclination or the education to go against me I don’t have to grow up but you;
Lol well you are just a pathetic person I am not mad you deleted me but do not ever tell me how to act you are not fit to do so

me

your reaction is exactly what I expected from you, but there is no way I go into your bitch fighting. I can lower to your level if I should want to, and for people who are worth it I should.

Enjoy your wonderful life, enjoy your wonderful behavior, be proud at who you are. Maybe someone else beliieves it longer than a few years

Oh, I forgot something.
I will never stop speaking my mind, no matter what kind of threathenings you put up.
You obviously have reason to be afraid about that some facts about you come under the eyes of some people, well I am sorry, you shall have to live with that.
he
Oh I am sorry mate how exactly wanted a reply?? You are still in no position to say anything about me and speaking of childish as I recall correctly you at whatever age you were the one making jokes at me for being fat well look love I am not fat anymore but you are still the same person and I would hate to be you !
p.s need I remind you that you are in no place to judge me fuck you don’t even come close
LOOK YOU FUKICING DUTCH I HAVE ACCHIVED MORE THAN YOU IN MY FINGER THAN YOU EVER COULD SO FUCK YOU FUCK THAT COW YOU WANT TO FIUCK IN CANADA AND FUCK YOUR GIRLFRIEND WHOM YOU CAN’T MAKE MARRY YOU, you worthless piece of shit, your mind cant work like mine you are a bloody fuck head
I AM NOT
Do not contact me again people told me the Dutch were fucking idiot I thought they were wrong
and think you arrogant prick why would I want to contact you ?

LOL, who would I be affraif of ? and what facts I'll give you money to come to the convention you dof if you answer either one of those

me

I never ever want any of your shit money, no worries, and I only hope that one day you find the answer to the questions and the fears that bother you.

be careful with your words, you can never know where they show up again

he
1
fuck you
2
here we have free speech so I can say what ever the fuck I want
3
do not contact me you crazy fuck, who do do you I would be concern to see these words to wanker? it's ok I'll throw you some money like the dog that you are you LOL
he
P.s FUCK YOU
me:11 September at 17:01
appearantly your language is limited to 2 words, one starting with an F.
I think that I will publish those messages, if you dont mind

Eclipse Shadow Cone Over Patagonia

2010-08-04T03:38:00.000-07:00

Eclipse Shadow Cone Over Patagonia
Credit & Copyright: Daniel Fischer (Cosmic Mirror)

Explanation: Sometimes, during a total eclipse of the Sun, a strange shadow of darkness can be seen stretching off into the distance. Called shadow cones, they are visible because the Earth's atmosphere is not completely transparent, scattering sunlight and hence appearing blue during the day. Shadow cones are particularly dramatic for eclipses near the horizon, as geometry creates a long corridor of sun-blocked air. Visible above is a shadow cone caught during a sunset total solar eclipse visible last month from Patagonia, Argentina. The eclipsed Sun itself still appears bright around the edges of the Moon because of light from the surrounding corona. A few minutes later, the Moon began to move away from the Sun as both set behind distant Andes mountains.

China's '3D Fast Bus' Straddles the Road So Cars Can Drive Under

2010-08-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

China's '3D Fast Bus' Straddles the Road So Cars Can Drive Under

Photos: Chinanews

Too Expensive to Go Under? Go Over...
What if there was a way to get most of the benefits of a subway, but without the costs of digging up all those tunnels? The Chinese company Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co. thinks it might be able to do just that with a concept it calls the 3D Fast Bus (which has also been called the straddling bus), and kind of giant bus/train that straddles the street and allows cars to drive right under it. This means that it isn't slowed down by traffic and it doesn't add to traffic either. Read on for more details and a video showing a rendering of the 3D Fast Bus in action.

The presenter in this video is Song Youzhou, chairman of Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Co., the company that is proposing the 3D Fast Bus. Chinahush has a translation of what is said at the bottom of this post. Here are some highlights:

What you can see from the video is traffic jams, what you can hear is noise, and there is also invisible air pollution. At present, there are mainly 4 types of public transits in China: subway, light-rail train, BRT, and normal bus. They have advantages and disadvantages, for example, subway costs a lot and takes long time to build; BRT takes up road spaces and produces noises as well as pollution to the air. How to develop environmental-friendly public transportation? Straddling bus provides a solution. Let's watch a demonstration.
The straddling bus combines the advantages of BRT, it is also a substitution for BRT and subway in the future. As you all know, the majority vehicle on the road is car, the shortest vehicle is also car. Normally our overpass is 4.5-5.5 m high. The highlight innovation of straddling bus is that it runs above car and under overpass. Its biggest strength is saving road spaces, efficient and high in capacity. It can reduce up to 25-30% traffic jams on main routes. Running at an average 40 km/h, it can take 1200 people at a time, which means 300 passengers per cart. [...]

The bus can save up to 860 ton of fuel per year, reducing 2,640 ton of carbon emission. Presently we have passed the first stage demonstration and will get through all of the technical invalidation by the end of August. Beijing's Mentougou District is carrying out a eco-community project, it has already planned out 186 km for our straddling bus. Construction will begin at year end.

Compromise Between BRT and Subway
It's certainly a very interesting idea. Now we'll have to see if it can be pulled off without too many cost overruns and technical problems (though we might never know, China isn't exactly transparent about that stuff). Most cities would probably still be better off with a BRT, but in places where land is at such a high premium that you can't spare extra lanes for buses, and where it would just be too expensive and take too long to build a subway, this type of technology might be a good compromise.

Via Chinahush, Engadget

More Green Tech
Sanyo's New Battery Factory Can Make 1 Million Lithium-Ion Cells Per Month
New AC Refrigerant Has 99.7% Lower Global Warming Potential Than Current Chemical
Melting Steel With Only the Sun (Video)

DIY Electroluminescent Bike is Perfect Project for Paranoid Pedaler

2010-08-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

Good news for the car drivers. This will be an easy target for you!!

DIY Electroluminescent Bike is Perfect Project for Paranoid Pedaler

A few other bikes-with-beaucoup-lights we like include a highly logical wind-powered light, the self-powered laser concept that lights up a circle around the bike and rider so cars know not to cut too close, and of course the obxoniously bright bike that is wrapped in reflective tape so it looks black during the day but like a thing from another solar system at night.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

More on Bike Safety
Cycle Superhighways, or BlueWashed Bike Paths? (VIDEO)
Green Box Biking and Safety: It's All in Our Heads
Wire Bike Lanes in The Sky Are Faster, May Be Safer, Certainly More Badass

Islands of Garbage Filling China's Three Gorges Dam

2010-08-04T02:56:00.000-07:00

Islands of Garbage Filling China's Three Gorges Dam

Image via China Daily

Torrential rain in China has caused extreme flooding, affecting at least 134 million people in 28 provinces. But many more could be impacted due to another major issue caused by the rain. Massive islands of trash are threatening the Three Gorges Dam area, with some patches so thick people can actually walk on it. Nearly 3,000 tons of garbage is being collected daily from the dam, but it might prove to be too much for limited equipment and workers.

According to China Daily, the amount of garbage in the river has been decreasing in the last few years, but the downpour brought loads of it washing into the Yangtze River, including everything from domestic garbage to plastic to tree branches. The mess started with a layer nearly two feet thick and covering about half a million square feet began to form at the front of the dam in July as the rainy season began. The recent rainstorms have caused much more junk to pile up.

"The large amount of waste in the dam area could jam the miter gate of the Three Gorges Dam," Chen Lei, director of the key water project department under the China Three Gorges Corporation, told China Daily. "Such a large amount of debris could damage the propellers and bottoms of passing boats," he said. "The decaying garbage could also harm the scenery and the water quality."

WATCH VIDEO: G Word Shorts: Three Gorges Dam

With over 150 million people living near the dam and upstream, many will be affected as only a handful of boats are able to help with clean up and most people are simply adding to the problem by dumping household garbage directly into the river. On a average year, the China Three Gorges Corporation spends around $1.48 million to clean up floating waste that gathers at the dam, the world's largest hydropower project that environmentalists expected for years to be a problem in terms of sewage and industrial pollution backing up, along with other ecosystem issues. It looks like this year could be much more expensive -- and much more problematic considering most efforts will not be focused on the imperiled dam but on the 9.61 million people who have been evacuated so far, the 875,000 homes have been destroyed, and 22 million acres (8.76 million hectares) of crops ruined.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

More on China's River Pollution
What's It Feel Like to Swim the Yantze? Big River Man Shares His Story (Interview)
China Cleaning Up Two Toxic Spills on Yangtze River, Drinking Water Source of Millions
Toxic Spill at Chinese Copper Mine Kills Nearly 1,900 Tons of Fish
10 Million Tons of Chemical Fertilizer Discharged into China's Water Every Year

birth dogs

2010-08-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

Hello you lovely lot

and another day has come :) and it is already far over, and I feel it is time for me for a nap. LOL

I was preparing breakfasts this morning, half past 6, and afterwards, when I finally was home again, I did enjoy the last piece of the home made applepie -sigh- where did that go? lol.

Now all the official work is done and it is time for some relaxation, but not before I dump the cat into your mailboxes.

Have a wonderful day you all, take care and til next Cat
TT f N

Hallo allemaal

Zo, de dag is alweer ver om, ik heb alles gedaan wat ik moest doen, dus is het nu tijd voor wat rust in de tent, en ik denk er sterk over even een klein tukkie op de bank te doen. Ja, dat moet kunnen he, ik doe dat eigenlijk nooit, maar vandaag.. ach waarom niet?

Het was nog geen 7 uur vanmorgen en toen had ik al 50 broodjes gesmeerd, ;) eenmaal weer thuis alles gedaan wat ik moest doen, dus... nu is het goed rusten.
Tot de volgende Kat!

lionfish

2010-08-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

this is art!!

A venomous lionfish breaks into a huge ball of swirling baitfish.

About phone calls and cats

2010-08-03T03:35:00.000-07:00

Goede middag allemaal.

De dag schiet alweer aardig op, het is prachtig zonnig weer hier en ik heb een hoop dingen gedaan, een paar die echt MOESTEN (dus een opluchting dat ze gedaan zijn), en een paar die gewoon moesten (huishouding,haha).
Kortom, de dag is weer niet spectaculair, maar wel heerlijk. Geen vervelende teelfoontjes of opdrachten van wie dan ook :) haaaa, houden zo!

Ik wens jullie ook een fijne dag, zonder vervelende opdrachten!

Tot de volgende Kat
---------

Good afternoon lovely world

I hope you have a wonderful day, just like mine is. I did a few things that were a HAVE TO DO, so a relieve now they're finally done, and a few things that were a must, hmm household, argh.. :)

In short, the day is nice and not spectacular, and so is the weather as well. No orders from bring me this or that, ha! that's the way it should be.

I wish you a nice (rest of) the day, and we meet with next cat again
TT f N

Week in Pics: The News In Review Avatar Trees: Right Here On Earth Back to School: Great Green Gear th top picks International Transport Expert Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Wuppertal Institute for Climate,... ED Eugene, OR Civil Liberties Defense Center Energy Efficiency Specialist Santa Cruz, CA (San Mateo, Mountain View) Ecology Action Internship Oakland, CA Bay Localize LEED/Commissioning Consultant Jefferson, AR NRDC Water, EJ, and Energy Program... Santa Monica, CA NRDC See more jobsPost your job here Powered by JobThreadGet your own job board Ant Colony Living in a Scanner Is Recorded Over 5 Years

2010-08-03T03:29:00.000-07:00

Image via Make

Ants are amazing creatures. When we stop to really take a look at them, their status bumps up from pest to anything from hero to inspiration for biomimicry. So it's no wonder some people like to keep ant farms for a close-up look at how these phenomenal insects work. But one ant keeper, Fran�ois Vautier, took their farm a step further. The colony was placed inside a scanner, where the nest was scanned each week for five years! Check out a time lapse video of the ant farm after the jump.

ANTS in my scanner > a five years time-lapse! from fran�ois vautier on Vimeo.

Watching the construction and remodeling of an ant colony over time is fascinating. And hopefully it lends a greater appreciation for the capabilities of these tiny beings.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

More on Ants
Mark Moffett, Adventures Among Ants (Audio Interview)
Great Mini-Doc Highlights Ants as Invaluable "Invisible Majority" (Video)
Man Kills 200,000 Ants To Make Artistic Statement

Patten Pond - Maine

2010-08-03T00:37:00.000-07:00

the winning picture in a photo contest

I am jealous! All that hair! :D:D

900 Foot Offshore Wind Turbine Mimics Spinning Sycamore Seeds

2010-08-02T05:57:00.000-07:00

900 Foot Offshore Wind Turbine Mimics Spinning Sycamore Seeds

Image via Dezeen

The mantra of offshore wind turbine design seems to be "Bigger! Bigger!" in order to get more power out of single turbines. But going hand in hand with making turbines bigger is that they become heavier. British engineers are hoping that a new design that mimics the way sycamore seeds spin through the air will help lighten up the weight of offshore turbines. While the challenge remains to boost efficiency and durability while making it ever lighter, the new design looks promising -- and big. Check out a video of the next wave of wind power.

Daily Mail reports, "British engineers are working on a design for the Aerogenerator which would rotate on its axis and would measure nearly 900 feet from tip to tip, generating up to 10MW."

The new Aerogenerator X was revealed by London architects Grimshaw and engineers Arup, which back the design by British company Wind Power.

Photo via mrpbps

The turbine has two blades that form a V-shape, with sails along their length -- much the way a sycamore seed has a "sail" attached that makes it spin in the breeze to travel farther before landing. Wind passes over the sails, generating lift which can turn the structure at around three revolutions per minute.

The engineers behind the design say that the turbine could be scaled up to produce as much as 20MW or more, but that's after perfecting the design to balance weight and efficiency -- this newest design, the Aerogenerator X, is twice the power and half the weight of Wind Power's original design. The first iterations of the new turbine design could be up and running as quickly as 2013.

10MW Aerogenerator X � Wind Power Limited & Grimshaw from Wind Power Limited on Vimeo.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

More on Biomimicry in Alternative Energy
Biomimicry Breakthrough: Butterfly Wings Could Lead to Better Solar Panels
Top 5 Areas Where Nature-Inspired Innovation Works
Biomimicry Revolutionizes the Movement of Air and Water

Squirrel: A Sustainable Meat, and "Tastes Lovely"

2010-08-02T05:54:00.000-07:00

how about a suirrel sandwich? LOOOOLLL :)

Squirrel: A Sustainable Meat, and "Tastes Lovely"

Photo credit christophercarfi @ flickr.

Move over kangaroo, horse, and nutria - there's a new meat on the supermarket shelves at Budgens in the UK - it's squirrel. Squirrel has been eaten in the U.S. south for ages, and Budgens owner Andrew Thornton told the Guardian that he sells as many as 15 squirrels a week. Rather than cull these furry animals that abound on urban streets, Thornton said he thinks it is more sustainble....

to eat them. The UK's animal protection group Viva calls this a "wildlife massacre."

The question of whether or not we should be eating meat - grass-fed versus factory farmed just one of the debates - has never been more discussed than it is now. That's because most people in older civilizations simply ate what they could hunt, grow, or domesticate. It is only now that our society has matured and the true costs of meat eating have been exposed in books like Jonathan Safran Froer's Eating Animals that we are all forced to examine our ethics and our choices around meat.

Thornton said squirrel is a better meat choice than beef. Why - because raising a beef steer requires 15 tons of grain, he said, to produce one ton of meat, and also because the squirrels would probably be culled anyway.Squirrel meat is provided to Budgens by a wild-game supplier.

The U.K. has an ongoing battle with squirrel populations, with the grey North American squirrels invading the habitat of the British red squirrel.

Eating squirrel is actually not entirely new to the Brits, who have seen a campaign aimed at saving the red squirrel by eating the grey squirrel since 2006. Many British chefs and cooking are serving squirrels (which are said to be very difficult to skin).

The idea is not so different from the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) and U.S. oceans agency NOAA's joint campaign to get chefs interested in the lionfish, which is invasive to Carribbean waters and threatens stocks of grouper and snapper. "Eat Them to Beat Them" is NOAA's slogan.

In this Voice of America article, however, Dan Simberloff of the University of Tennessee said that campaigns to get people to eat invasive species haven't fared well, He cites the example of New Orleans chefs attempting to get people to start eating the nutria, a rat-like mammal that is invasive and destructive to U.S. wetlands.

Simberloff says getting people to eat new things is just too difficult, and shouldn't be depended upon as a conservation measure.

What do you think? Should we try to conserve certain species by extensively hunting others?

Read more about the Eat-Them-To-Save-Them theory at TreeHugger:
Eat Kangaroo To Save the Planet: Australian Study Says
Eat a Camel, Save Australia's Environment
Eat the Enemy; Invasive Squirels Introduced as Ethical Food in UK Butcher Shops

Prometheus Creating Saturn Ring Streamers

2010-08-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

Prometheus Creating Saturn Ring Streamers
Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

Explanation: What's causing those strange dark streaks in the rings of Saturn? Prometheus. Specifically, an orbital dance involving Saturn's moon Prometheus keeps creating unusual light and dark streamers in the F-Ring of Saturn. Now Prometheus orbits Saturn just inside the thin F-ring, but ventures into its inner edge about every 15 hours. Prometheus' gravity then pulls the closest ring particles toward the 80-km moon. The result is not only a stream of bright ring particles but also a dark ribbon where ring particles used to be. Since Prometheus orbits faster than the ring particles, the icy moon pulls out a new streamer every pass. Above, several streamers or kinks are visible at once. The above photograph was taken in June by the robotic Cassini Spacecraft orbiting Saturn. The oblong moon Prometheus is visible on the far left.

Dwarf Minke Whale

2010-08-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

Dwarf Minke Whale

ahh what an incredible beauty again..

Venus' Once Molten Surface

2010-08-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

Venus' Once Molten Surface
Credit: E. De Jong et al. (JPL), MIPL, Magellan Team, NASA

Explanation: If you could look across Venus with radar eyes, what might you see? This computer reconstruction of the surface of Venus was created from data from the Magellan spacecraft. Magellan orbited Venus and used radar to map our neighboring planet's surface between 1990 and 1994. Magellan found many interesting surface features, including the large circular domes, typically 25-kilometers across, that are depicted above. Volcanism is thought to have created the domes, although the precise mechanism remains unknown. Venus' surface is so hot and hostile that no surface probe has lasted more than a few minutes.

Lake of the Moon, India

2010-08-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

watch out for your -sea-food :)

2010-08-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

Nederladns onder het engels

Hello you lovely lot, wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend, hopefully it is as relaxing for you as it is for me. The weather is fine, not too hot, and the pancakes were fine too LOL.

I guess the only one who has a bit to complain might be our cat, now with the fish-shock, I love his new look.
also, that's my news, pancakes today, other than that there's nothing to say. After this poem in pocket format there is nothing else to do as sayying bye bye for now, also TT f N :)
The song under the pic, has NOTHING to do with food anyway, just a cool song
-------

Hallo allemaal

Een heelrijk ontspannen zondag, heerlijk weer, heerlijke pannenkoeken en een heerlijke Garfield. Arme kat, zelfs het eten keert zich diit weekend tegen hem..
In elk geval, HIER is het een heerlijk weekend, hopelijk bij jou ook en ik zeg dan maar weer, tot de volgende kat!

Overigens heeft het liedje niets te maken met voedsel, het is gewoon een super-lied!

Four Planet Sunset

2010-07-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

Four Planet Sunset
Image Credit & Copyright: Jia Hao

Explanation: This mesmerizing sunset photo was taken from the summit of volcanic Mount Lawu, 3,265 meters above sea level, on July 21. The view looks west, toward the city lights of Surakarta (aka Solo), Central Java, Indonesia. Two other volcanic peaks, sharp Merapi (left) and Merbabu lie along the colorful horizon. Four planets shine in the twilight sky above them. Spread out near the plane of the ecliptic are Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Saturn, along with bright Regulus, alpha star of the constellation Leo.

In fact, these four planets still shine in western skies at sunset, with Venus, Mars, and Saturn grouped much more tightly this weekend and in early August. By August 12, a young crescent Moon will join the four planet sunset.

Whooping Cranes, Canada

2010-07-31T02:02:00.000-07:00

(translation below the dutch)

Soms denk ik wel dat de soldaten
Die in de oorlogen gevallen zijn
Niet onder witte kruisen zijn begraven
Maar dat zij kraanvogels geworden zijn

Ze roepen ons uit lang voorbije tijden
Hun hese stemmen roepen in hun vlucht
't Is misschien daarom dat wij zo dikwijls kijken
Diep in gedachten naar de avondlucht

Daar, in de laatste lichtglans van de schemer
gaat een vermoeide vogeltrek voorbij
Ik zie een lege plaats in hun geleed'ren
Misschien is dat de plek bestemd voor mij

Als ik met hen de hemel zal bevolken
Voorbijtrek in het schemerend verschiet
Dan zie ik jullie uit de verre wolken
Dan roep ik jullie, die ik achterliet

Soms, soms denk ik wel dat de soldaten
Die in de oorlogen gevallen zijn
Niet onder witte kruisen zijn begraven
Maar dat zij kraanvogels geworden zijn

Ze roepen ons uit lang voorbije tijden
Hun hese stemmen roepen in hun vlucht
't Is misschien daarom dat wij zo dikwijls kijken
Diep in gedachten naar de trieste lucht

Sometimes I think that the soldiers
That are fallen in the warsWars
Not be buried under white crosses
But that they have become cranes

They call us from a long past time
Their hoarse voices calling in their flight
It's perhaps why we look so often
Deep in thought to the evening sky

There, in the final glory of Twilight
is a tired bird migration over
I see an empty place in their rows
Perhaps that is the place for me to be

If I will fill the sky with them
Passing the dim horizon
I see you from the distant clouds
Then I call you, who I've left behind

Sometimes, sometimes I think that the soldiers
That are fallen in our Wars
Not be buried under white crosses
But they have become cranes

They call us long past time
Their hoarse voices calling in their flight
It's perhaps why we so often look
Deep in thought to the sad air

to do list ...

2010-07-31T01:38:00.000-07:00

Nederlands onder het engels

Hello everybody.

Sooo it's Saturday, the to do list for me is not that huge, also time enough for relaxing and a good laugh, the cat realy made my day.. like all days!
It is again a Formula 1 weekend, and there is an applepie in the oven, it smells heavenly.

Take care, enjoy your whee end ;), the nice song under the picture and see you at next cat
TTf N

Hallo allemaal

Zo, zaterdag en een relatief kleine 'to do' lijst, dus tijd genoeg voor ontspanning en een lach. De kat maakt me elke dag wel aan het lachen, en deze is ook weer heerlijk.

Wat ook heerlijk is is de geur van vers gebakken appeltaart, over een half uurtje moet ie klaar ziujn. Ze ruikt heerlijk, dat is alvast meegenomen! En nog wat heerlijks vind je onder het plaatje, dus klikkerdeklik!

Een fijn weekend nog, formule 1 weer )), en tot de volgende Kat

-------

Greenwashing? Sandra Bullock Gets Duped by Big Oil's Restore the Gulf Campaign

2010-07-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Photo: Youtube

Something's Not Right With This Campaign
Not long ago, many celebrities got together to make a PSA for the "Be The One" campaign, urging people to sign a petition to save the Gulf of Mexico on the website RestoreTheGulf.com (very similar to the government's website at RestoreTheGulf.gov, which might have caused confusion). This all seems good, until you look at the fine print and dig below the surface... Which is what DeSmogBlog did. It turns out that the campaign's sponsors are "America's WETLAND Foundation", a front group for oil companies (Shell, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, etc), and "Women of the Storm", a Louisiana group with strong ties to America's WETLAND (the founder of the former is married to the chairman of the latter). Read on for more details.

Here's the video of the campaign, featuring many celebrities (even Wendell Pierce! He was great in The Wire and Treme...):

The campaign made the rounds last week. We featured it on TreeHugger, it was on Perez Hilton, NOLA, Ecorazzi, etc.

Are They Trying to Have Taxpayers Pay for BP's Mess?
Now aside from the fact that this campaign has been put together by groups funded by Big Oil or with Big Oil ties, the main problem of the campaign is that it seems to be suggesting that taxpayers need to pay for the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico, not BP and the other oil companies and sub-contractors responsible. Nowhere in the petition or in the campaign's press material are oil companies mentioned, and the petition is extremely vague. The full text (if there's one) doesn't seem available on the website. All you see is this:

"I demand that a plan to restore America's Gulf be fully funded and implemented for me and future generations."

This seems to imply that the petition will be used to try to pressure the U.S. Government to pay for this, sticking taxpayers with the bill (or at least part of it). The oil companies would certainly like you to Be The One for that!

Photo: Youtube

Sandra Bullock Disowns the Campaign
The website Think Progress has contacted Sandra Bullock's people to let her know about this, and her reaction was to immediately disown the campaign, at least until it can be determined that it wasn't greenwashing. Her statement says:

Ms. Bullock was originally contacted through her attorney to be a part of the PSA in order to promote awareness of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. At no time was she made aware that any organization, oil company or otherwise had influence over Women of the Storm or its message. We have immediately asked for her participation in the PSA be removed until the facts can be determined. Her commitment to the Gulf region has been apparent for many years and she will continue to pursue opportunities that will bring awareness and support to the plight of the Gulf region.

There's little doubt that Ms. Bullock and the other celebrities who appear in this campaign had very good intentions, and I wouldn't be surprised if after Bullock's public statement others were to follow suit and withdraw their support. The oil groups were pretty subtle (unless you look at America's WETLAND's sponsor page, that is), and that's probably why it work. They didn't come out clearly to defend oil companies, and they didn't explicitly say that the taxpayers should pay for the restoration of the Gulf, but they are still trying to shift blame and take themselves out of the equation as much as possible.

Finally, an image is worth a thousand words. Here are the main sponsors of America's WETLAND (recognize any of these logos?):

Via Desmogblog, Think Progress

More on the BP Gulf Oil Spill
Tropical Storm Bonnie Goes to Early Grave, Oil Cleanup Resumes
Tropical Storm Bonnie Nears Oil Spill, Could Delay Surface Operations by 2 Weeks
BP Relief Well 'days from completion', Oil Seepage Traced to Other Well

Ponies, Mongolia

2010-07-30T05:13:00.000-07:00

Eclipse on the Beach

2010-07-30T05:12:00.000-07:00

Eclipse on the Beach
Credit & Copyright: Guillaume Blanchard

Explanation: As the New Moon's shadow slid across the southern Pacific on July 11, people gathered along the white, sandy Anakena Beach on the north side of Easter Island to watch a total solar eclipse. The experience was captured in this tantalizing composite image, constructed from a sequence of 50 consecutive exposures. At their center is the totally eclipsed Sun surrounded by a shimmering solar corona. From the well chosen viewpoint, palm trees appear in silhouette against a darkened sky and the faint light reflected in the water. Of course, towering above the onlookers, at the boundaries of land, ocean, and sky are Moai, the island's mysterious monolithic statues.

Sunset, Shadowrise

2010-07-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

Sunset, Shadowrise
Credit & Copyright: Peter Ward (Barden Ridge Observatory)

Explanation: From central Australia, this serene 360 degree panorama follows a clear horizon as twilight began on May 28. At left, a bright western sky is still illuminated by the setting Sun. But sweeping right, toward a view centered on the countryside's dominating sandstone formation called Uluru or Ayers Rock, the sky takes on progressively darker hues and subtle colors. Behind Uluru is the shadow of planet Earth itself, a dark blue arch rising in the east. Cast through the dense atmosphere and still close to the horizon, Earth's long shadow is bounded above by a pinkish glow or antitwilight arch. Known as the Belt of Venus, the lovely color of the antitwilight arch is due to backscattering of reddened light from the setting Sun. On that night, a nearly full Moon also rose above Earth's shadow in the eastern sky.

Giraffe and its shadow

2010-07-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

Giraffe and shadow - Zoo London

just the way

2010-07-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Nederlands onder het engels

Good afternoon world, here's your favorite cat again.

Isnt love sweet? It can be bitter as well, hehe, but in fact.. it is sweet :) and Bless the world that it are not only the machos that impress :)))))).
It's a tough day for me today, but I manage and I guess that I will sleep way better next night, so that I might have to tell again a little bit more!

Stay tuned, stay happy, TT f N :)

--------

Halloooo allemaal

Zo, het was een zware nacht, dus het is worstelen door de dag vandaag, maar ook dat gaat wel weer lukken en ik weet zeker, als ik vannacht lekker slaap (dat moet wel lukken), dan ben ik morgen weer een stuk meer mezelf :).
Of, misschien, misschien ben ik dat nu ook wel, alleen heb ik niet zo veel te vertellen.

Ach, wat kan liefde toch mooi zijn he :) hahaha :) heerlijk, zo een plaatje. En godzij dank is het niet alleen groot en macho wat kan imponeren!

Een fijne dag en tot de volgende Kat, die ook nu weer van een heel toepasselijk liedje is voorzien

The Trifid Nebula is Stars and Dust

2010-07-28T04:20:00.000-07:00

The Trifid Nebula is Stars and Dust
Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler; Data Acquisition: Ryan Hannahoe

Explanation: Unspeakable beauty and unimaginable bedlam can be found together in the Trifid Nebula. Also known as M20, this photogenic nebula is visible with good binoculars towards the constellation of Sagittarius. The energetic processes of star formation create not only the colors but the chaos. The red-glowing gas results from high-energy starlight striking interstellar hydrogen gas. The dark dust filaments that lace M20 were created in the atmospheres of cool giant stars and in the debris from supernovae explosions. Which bright young stars light up the blue reflection nebula is still being investigated. The light from M20 we see today left perhaps 3,000 years ago, although the exact distance remains unknown. Light takes about 50 years to cross M20.

Camel, Socotra Island

2010-07-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Camel, Socotra Island

July 28, 2010

a long way

2010-07-28T02:55:00.000-07:00

(Nederlands onder het engels)

A good day to you all, I wish.

Yes, it is a great day, I got some NCE mail in my postbox, a child borne and a card from my daughter, that had done about 38 days to come to me LOL :)

And further, I do have far less more pain than yesterday at my knee, did even walk a bit outside again, also soon I am a real man again. Talking about real man... I LOVE that cat!

Take care and enjoy the song under the picture, I love it, TT f N

---------
Een heel fijne dag wens ik jullie allemaal.
En voor mij is het een fijne dag hoor.
Er waren twee heel leuke berichten in de post, een geboorte-kaartje EN een kaartje van mijn dochter, dat kaartje had er ruim een maand over gedaan om hier te komen, maar goed, het is er :)

Met mijn knietje gaat het een stuk beter, ik ben zelfs even kort buiten geweest, jaja, nog even en ik ben weer een echte man. Over echte mannen gesproken, ik houuuuuuuuuuu van Garfield! :):):)

Tot de volgende kat maar weer en geniet van het plaatje onder het plaatje!

The Milky Way Over Bryce Canyon

2010-07-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Milky Way Over Bryce Canyon
Credit & Copyright: Ben Cooper

Explanation: What are those strange rock structures? They are towers and walls of sedimentary rock that are particularly plentiful in Bryce Canyon in Utah, USA. The rock columns may rise higher than 50 meters and are called hoodoos. On the far left is Thor's Hammer, perhaps the most famous hoodoo. The tall rock columns were carved, most typically, when a unusually dense cap of rock provided a layer of protection to rock underneath from rain-based erosion. In the above panoramic picture taken earlier this month and compressed horizontally, the foreground rocks were momentarily illuminated by a roving spotlight. Visible in the background are a few water clouds a few kilometers away hovering over the nearby Earth. Visible well beyond that are thousands of individually discernible stars averaging a few hundred light years away in the nearby Milky Way Galaxy. Far in the distance lie billions of stars that are thousands of light years away and compose the faintly glowing arch that is the visible central band of the flat disk of our Milky Way. Over many years, wind and rain will eventually cause the tops of the hoodoos to topple, whereafter the underlying column will likely completely erode away.

A beautiful day - Een mooie dag

2010-07-27T02:45:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely world, on this nice and not that rainy day, no, still no weather for the beach.
Poor Jon, but in fact I think that that idiot 'full of muscles and empty brains' person is the pitty one. Yes, it might be clear, I do not have anything with muscles. Content counts -lol- and even tho that that might be a bit under-valued in Jon, he has the wonderful cat at his side, so he will never be the looser, even if the girls' eyes might be impressed by the wrong view for a moment.

Okay, that was my moral speech -smile- have a wonderful day, until next cat, and under the picture is a (I think) wonderful clip

TTf N

---------------

Goede middag allemaal

Het is een mooie dag, niet te veel regen, af en toe zon, maar natuurlijk niet genooeg voor een gezellig dagje strand.
Arme `Jon, ik heb bijna medelijden met hem, maar natuurlijk is de echt zielige figuur die klerenkast, een hoop spier maar verder helemaal niks natuurlijk. Nee, ik heb het niet zo op mensen die het van uiterliujk (machts)vertoon hebben moeten, maar dat weten jullie al langer dan vandaag.

En Jon, soms is ie niet al te slim, maar als het er op aankomt heeft hij toch wel de kat als maatje, dus die redt het wel, zelfs als de dame in kwestie misschien wat te lang door de gebakken lucht geimponeerd is :)

Zo, dat was mijn preek voor vandaag, tot de volgende kat maar weer, en onder het plaatje zit een heerlijk liedje!

Not for the first time - Niet voor het eerst

2010-07-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

it is time for a small poem again. The dutch translation is below the english.

As many of you know, I love to write. And I need to write. About the things that affect my life, the things that I have to face, the things that I have to go through.

Now, we all know the bad thing that cancer can do. Not only to the victim, but to the people around them as well. We all know people who passed away from it, or who are suffering from it. We know it, and we .. have to .. live with it.
But every time I hear such a bad message, it hits me again. And that's where this poem is about.

Yesterday I heard the news from one of them, that he is in his last few weeks.
This morning I heard of one of them, that the doctors can not do much for him.
Two in two days. I need to write about that.

Below the translation of these lines are the words that I wrote.
------

Ik heb een gedichtje geschreven, weer eens.
Zoals de meesten van jullie wel weten, moet ik mijn emoties, wat mij raakt in het leven, van me af schrijven. En ook nu moest dat weer.

Gisterenavond hoorde ik dat de buurman is opgegeven, nog een paar weken te leven heeft.
Vanmorgen hoorde ik ook weer van iemand, die uitbehandelt is en waarschijnlijk nog een paar maanden te gaan heeft.

Kanker is zo een ongrijpbare, onbegrijpelijke ziekte.

Tijd dus om er weer eens een gedichtje over te schrijven. In gedachten bij de mensen die al gingen, die nu gaan, en met een onzekere blik naar voren, wie de volgende zal zijn.

Onder het engels staat de nederlandse vertaling

--------------

Not for the first time

I know
It is not for the first time
And definitely not the last
But every time it hits me again
and probably, every time stronger

How often did I hear such message
How many lives did it disturb
How many tears have been shed
Shall I ever learn
To accept this

I saw it approaching for a while
Yesterday I knew it for sure
Today, a message from one more
Ah, I do not count them for a long time
I just remember the names
And, most of all, the human behind

I know
It is not for the first time
How many times will I hear it again
I take a very deep breath
Should almost swear about it

I cant change it
But as a very poor comfort
I share a tear in the sadness
The unreachable enemy
Who splashes life into pieces

Abd every time when I hear such news
It slaps me right into my face
That one slap might not hurt too much
The pain comes by the many repeats

I know
It is not for the first time
but it hits me deep
every time again

________________------------------------______________

Ik weet
het is niet de eerste keer
En ook niet de laatste
Maar steeds raakt het me weer
en misschien, telkens meer

Hoe vaak heb ik dit bericht al niet gehoord
Hoe veel levens heeft het verstoord
Hoe veel tranen zijn er gestort
Zal ik ooit leren
Het te accepteren

Ik zag het al aankomen, enige tijd
En gisteren hoorde ik het definitief
En vandaag, hoorde ik het van nummer twee
ach, ik tel al lang niet meer mee
Onthou slechts de namen
en vooral, de mens daarachter

Ik weet
Het is niet de eerste keer
Hoe velen malen zal ik het nog horen
Ik slaak een diepe zucht
Ik zou er haast van vloeken

Veranderen kan men het niet
Maar als schrale troost
Een traantje delen in het verdriet
Een vijand die niet je niet kan vatten
Die levens uit elkaar doet spatten

En elke keer, bij zo een bericht
Krijg ik een slag in mijn gezicht
Die ene klap doet dan wellicht niet zo zeer
De pijn komt door het telkens weer

Ik weet
Het is niet de eerste keer
Maar het raakt me
elke keer meer

Wood Frog

2010-07-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

Kepler-satelliet vindt planeten 'zoals de Aarde'

2010-07-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

Kepler-satelliet vindt planeten 'zoals de Aarde'

Amper zes weken nadat de Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA een nieuwe observatiesatelliet in gebruik nam, heeft het ruimtetuig al zo'n 700 vermoedelijke planeten ontdekt. 140 daarvan zouden qua grootte overeenkomsten met de Aarde vertonen.

Dit NASA-beeld toont de radius van 'planetenjager' Kepler
om bewoonbare werelden op te sporen.

Volgens de vroegste resultaten van planetenzoeker Kepler, een kleine NASA-satelliet die de ruimte in kaart helpt brengen, komen planeten zoals de onze veel vaker voor dan tot op heden werd aangenomen.

Kans op 'nieuwe Aardes' neemt toe

Voorbije onderzoeken gingen ervan uit dat de meeste planeten buiten ons zonnestelsel gasreuzen zijn, zoals Jupiter en Saturnus. De nieuwe informatie die planetenjager Kepler doorspeelt, wijst er op dat er ook heel wat 'vaste' werelden bestaan. Astronomen zeggen dat met deze ontdekking de kans sterk toeneemt dat we ooit werkelijk Aarde-achtige planeten zullen vinden.

Tot nu toe kondigde de NASA formaal nog maar vijf nieuwe exoplaneten - buiten ons zonnestelsel - aan op basis van de Kepler-missie. De betrokken onderzoeksteams moeten de Kepler-data nog verder onderzoeken vooraleer officieel kan worden bevestigd dat het wel degelijk om planeten gaat.

Identificeren

Maar hoopgevend zijn de data hoe dan ook. "De informatie wijst erop dat onze Melkweg (die meer dan 100 miljard sterren telt) meer dan 100 miljoen bewoonbare planeten bevat, en dat we binnen afzienbare tijd de eerste van deze planeten kunnen identificeren", zegt Dimitar Sasselov, astronomieprof aan de Amerikaanse Harvard University en betrokken bij de Kepler-missie. "Er is nog veel werk aan de winkel, maar de statistische resultaten zijn duidelijk: er zijn planeten zoals onze eigen Aarde."

Happy 61st, Roger Taylor

2010-07-26T04:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 61st birthday Roger Taylor!

Lutetia: the largest asteroid yet visited

2010-07-26T03:03:00.000-07:00

Lutetia: The Largest Asteroid Yet Visited
Credit: ESA, NASA, JAXA; Montage: Emily Lakdawalla (Planetary Society)

Explanation: As humans explore the universe, the record for largest asteroid visited by a spacecraft has increased yet again. Earlier this month, ESA's robotic Rosetta spacecraft zipped past the asteroid 21 Lutetia taking data and snapping images in an effort to better determine the history of the asteroid and the origin of its unusual colors. Although of unknown composition, Lutetia is not massive enough for gravity to pull it into a sphere. Pictured above on the upper right, the 100-kilometer across Lutetia is shown in comparison with the other nine asteroids and four comets that have been visited, so far, by human-launched spacecraft. Orbiting in the main asteroid belt, Lutetia shows itself to be a heavily cratered remnant of the early Solar System. The Rosetta spacecraft is now continuing onto comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko where a landing is planned for 2014.

Swinging "Cow Wash" Means Happy, Healthy Cows and More Milk

2010-07-26T02:50:00.000-07:00

Photo via Daily Mail, credit SWNS

Everyone loves to get their back scratched. And for cows hard at work in dairy farms, a little rub against the "cow wash" goes a long way for getting cleaner both cleaner and calmer. The swinging brush stimulates blood circulation and improves milk production, while also relaxing the cows and helping to keep diseases from spreading. The invention by DeLaval is already popular in Swedish farms and is now making its way to the UK. Check out a video of cows enjoying their brush-up.

The cow wash is a free-swinging brush that starts rotating when a cow rubs up against it. The cow can move around the brush as it pleases, getting rubbed wherever it wants - along its sides, back, and head.

The Daily Mail writes that the cow wash increases milk production by about 3.5% through improving blood circulation and decreasing the likeliness that cows will suffer disease. The company has already sold 30,000 cow washes in Sweden, and is moving on to the UK.

The cows definitely seem to enjoy it!

Though there are serious environmental issues with raising cows for milk (let alone beef), it's not likely that we'll see an end to dairy farming. So hats off to the dairy farmers who are doing all they can to make sure their cows are happy, healthy, and treated humanely.

Follow Jaymi on Twitter for more stories like this

More on Happy Cows
Brit Study Says Organic Grass-Eating Cows Give Healthiest Milk
Dairy Cows Give More Milk When You Say Their Name
How to Be an Eco-Friendly Milk Consumer

Zephyr Solar Plane Lands After Over 2 Weeks (!!!) in the Air, Setting New World Record

2010-07-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

Zephyr Solar Plane Lands After Over 2 Weeks (!!!) in the Air, Setting New World Record

Photo: Qinetiq

22.5 Meters of Wingspan and Just 50 Kilos
The Zephyr can stay in the air for so long because it is powered by the sun. Extremely thin and light solar panels cover its wings and are used to recharge lithium-sulphur batteries, which are used to power the aircraft's engines at night. And with a 22.5-meter wingspan, the Zephyr has a lot of surface for solar panels and a lot of lift relative to its 50Kg weight (thanks to a carbon-fiber body).

Some are calling the Zephyr the first "persistent" airplane. More poetically, we're entering the era of "eternal flight".

More Green(er) Aviation
A Boeing 777 Hypermiled Across the Atlantic
MIT-Designed Futuristic Airplanes Use 70% Less Fuel Than Current Models
Green Hornet: F/A-18 Super Hornet Fighter Plane Flies on 50/50 Biofuel Blend
Best Video You'll See Today: Solar Plane Crossing the Alps

3-glasses of beer

2010-07-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

I think this is the best joke I'd hear in a very long time!

3-glasses of beer

A man walks into a bar in London and ordered 3-glasses of beer
and sits in the backyard of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in
turn.

When he finishes, he comes back to the bar counter and orders 3 more.
The bartender asks him, "You know, beer goes flat after I fill it in the
glass; it would taste better if you buy one at a time."

The man replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in
Dubai, the other in Canada and I'm here in London.

When they left home, we promised that we'll drink this way to remember
the days when we drank together.

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom and leaves it there.

The man became a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way.
He order 3-Beers and drinks them in turn.

One day, he came in and ordered only 2-Beers All the other regulars
notice and fall silent.

When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says,"
I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my sincere
condolences on your great loss. "

The man looked confused for a moment, then he laughs .... "Oh, no,"
he, said, "Everyone's fine - both my brothers are alive" .

The only thing is;

I quit drinking

Saving the Earth by Shrinking Humans

2010-07-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

yes.. Let's make us smaller
We start with you

Image: The Incredible Shrinking Man

If you have run out of controversial topics for dinner conversation, or websites to stumble upon, here's one for you. The Incredible Shrinking Man project researches and reviews the "implications of genetically downsizing the human species to better fit the earth." You might think this ranks somewhere between the lunatic fringe and a last-ditch gamble to avoid the extinction of humankind in a sci-fi novel. We did. That was before we meandered through one of the most thought-provoking sites on the web.

The Incredible Shrinking Man is the brainchild of Arne Hendriks, who has left the safe territory of previous projects like The Repair Manifesto and the Instructables Restaurant to dedicate himself to answering the question: why not reverse the trend towards tall? The result explores fascinating topics like prejudice against short people, redesigning infrastructure for a shorter race, and the science of height.

For example, how did Chinese cultural values change from the popularity of foot-binding to achieve tiny "Lotus feet" to the trend for painful leg-extension surgeries, sometimes necessary to get ahead in a society where minimum height requirements prevent entry into schools and professions. In western culture, healthy children are being turned into medical experiments in which 100-200 thousand US dollars of hormone treatment can buy an inch or two of height. Is it worth it for $789 per year per inch in increased wages?

Bonsai livestock and cheap trans-atlantic flights are just two examples of infrastructure impacts from engineering shorter people. Scientific challenges also receive review, like how to preserve brain mass and maintain the delicate duties of growth hormones in functions other than height while shrinking body size.

Given the historical dangers of attempts to engineer the human race, and the widespread protests against genetic engineering of other species, the Incredible Shrinking Man will certainly remain a purely theoretical premise. But this fascinating, mind-broadening, stumble-worthy collection provokes sensitivity towards diversity of size, as well as awareness of the resource requirements of the human race. Thankfully, the popularity of Lotus Foot has waned. But the era of "Lotus Footprint" is upon us...whether we like it or not.

More on Short People:
Little People, Big World
Let's Get Small

More on Cultural Change:
Making Stuff Cool, Making Stuff Uncool: Why Cultural Change is Key
Small is Beautiful

Pearl before swine

2010-07-19T02:01:00.000-07:00

LOL

That sound like my knees now and than

Peanuts

2010-07-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

Time

2010-07-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely people

Nederlands onder het plaatje

It's about time again for a small blog here, and as you see our dear Garfield did steal my motto! :)

Na, this Monday is definitely not the most productive, but that's fine, there are plenty of things coming up this week, official ones, and less official too, so I will have enough to do and enough to look forward to, as ever.

Pretty warm again, ah well, this summer is a true summer, I shall not complain and carry the (heat)load as man (argh, why do I need to do so 'macho' now and then? )

Okay, time to go. TIme waits for nobody and that's the song under the picture, enjoy, and have a wonderful start in the week!

Hoi hoi allemaal

Het is weer eens de hoogste tijd voor een kat en een krabbel hier, en de Garfield van vandaag is wel weer erg leuk, het zou mijn lijfspreuk kunnen zijn.
Hoewel vandaag niet de meest productieve dag is heb ik toch de nodige dingen voorbereid, van de week krijg ik nog een paar vervelende en leuke klusjes, dus de tijd zal wel voorbij vliegen, zoals altijd.

Omdat de tijd voor niemand wacht heb ik onder de Garfield een toepasselijk liedje gestopt.

Geniet van een weer warme dag, met een lach

The Antennae Galaxies in Collision

2010-07-18T10:14:00.000-07:00

The Antennae Galaxies in Collision
Credit: NASA, ESA & B. Whitmore (STScI) et al.; Image processing: Davide De Martin

Explanation: Two galaxies are squaring off in Corvus and here are the latest pictures. But when two galaxies collide, the stars that compose them usually do not. That's because galaxies are mostly empty space and, however bright, stars only take up only a small amount of that space. During the slow, hundred million year collision, one galaxy can still rip the other apart gravitationally, and dust and gas common to both galaxies does collide. In this clash of the titans, dark dust pillars mark massive molecular clouds are being compressed during the galactic encounter, causing the rapid birth of millions of stars, some of which are gravitationally bound together in massive star clusters.

Galaxies in the River

2010-07-17T04:29:00.000-07:00

Galaxies in the River
Credit & Copyright: Martin Pugh

Explanation: Large galaxies grow by eating small ones. Even our own galaxy practices galactic cannibalism, absorbing small galaxies that get too close and are captured by the Milky Way's gravity. In fact, the practice is common in the universe and illustrated by this striking pair of interacting galaxies from the banks of the southern constellation Eridanus (The River). Located over 50 million light years away, the large, distorted spiral NGC 1532 is seen locked in a gravitational struggle with dwarf galaxy NGC 1531, a struggle the smaller galaxy will eventually lose. Seen edge-on, spiral NGC 1532 spans about 100,000 light-years. Nicely detailed in this sharp image, the NGC 1532/1531 pair is thought to be similar to the well-studied system of face-on spiral and small companion known as M51.

Water as Human Right Threatens to Split World Body

2010-07-17T04:24:00.001-07:00

Water as Human Right Threatens to Split World Body

by Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS - A long outstanding proposal to recognize the right to water as a basic universal human right is threatening to split the world's rich and poor nations.

A long outstanding proposal to recognise the right to water as a basic universal human right is threatening to split the world's rich and poor nations. (photo by Flickr user Gary Edenfield)

Opposition to the proposal is coming mostly from Western nations, says Maude Barlow, a global water advocate and a founder of the Canada-based Blue Planet Project.

"Canada is the worst. But Australia, the United States and Great Britain are also holding up the process," she said.

"I am loath to see this as a North-South issue, but it is beginning to look like it," Barlow told IPS.

If the draft resolution is eventually adopted by the 192- member U.N. General Assembly, "it would be one of the most important things the United Nations has done since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights," she said.

The two-page draft, described as "historic", recognizes "the human right to water and sanitation," and is being initiated by Bolivia.

A final text of the draft, currently under discussions, is expected to be presented to the president of the General Assembly, Ali Abdussalam Treki, by the end of July - if it clears the political hurdles.

Speaking off-the-record, a diplomatic source told IPS: "This is something very dear to developing countries."

It is true that there is actually no legal basis for declaring the right to water and sanitation as a basic universal human right, and issues like definitions and scope have to be worked out. He said the argument being made is there is already an ongoing process in Geneva that is meant to work on this, and that the General Assembly "is jumping the gun".

"Overall, water and sanitation are such critical issues that we must work towards consensus on this resolution. Anything less than consensus would undermine the very importance we attach to them," he warned.

Barlow pointed out that nearly two billion people live in water-stressed areas of the world and three billion have no running water within a kilometer of their homes.

In a letter sent to all 192 U.N. ambassadors, she said that when the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights was written, no one could foresee a day when water would be a contested area.

"But in 2010, it is not an exaggeration to say that the lack of access to clean water is the greatest human rights violation in the world," said Barlow, who once served as Senior Adviser on Water to the 63rd President of the U.N. General Assembly in 2008-2009.

She said Canada has blocked even the most modest steps toward international recognition of the right to water and has worked behind the scenes to derail advancement toward a binding instrument.

Government officials have not explained their position except to say that such a convention might force Canada to share its water with the United States.

However, this is a complete "red herring" and the Stephen Harper government knows it, she added.

The truth is that a right to water convention at the U.N. would act as a counterweight to those who want to sell Canada's water for profit and is a more likely explanation of Canada's continued opposition, Barlow said.

Ann-Mari Karlsson of the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) told IPS her organization supports the human right to water and sanitation.

"But we concur with the views of the U.N. independent expert that the right to water and sanitation are components of the rights to an adequate standard of living and that these rights are protected under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights," Karlsson said.

She said it is important that a U.N. resolution on the right to water and sanitation should state this clearly, "which as far as we can see, the current draft does not".

What is more, the importance of sanitation in this context cannot be underestimated.

Karlsson said water and sanitation are closely linked, and the world is more off track to reach the Millennium Development Goals on access to sanitation than it is for access to water.

"There should be an adequate reflection of this in the resolution," she added.

Anil Naidoo, also of the Blue Planet Project, has already briefed China and the 130-member Group of 77 developing countries in promoting the draft resolution.

"International and local community groups fighting for water justice have long been calling for leadership from the U.N. in clearly recognizing that water and sanitation are human rights," said Naidoo.

"As this moves forward we are demanding that the language of the resolution remain strong and leave no doubt that water and sanitation are human rights," he added.

Andersson of SIWI told IPS: "We are not against privatization on principle. Our main concern is that the state should take its responsibility to regulate and monitor activities by private actors so that everyone has access to affordable drinking and household water and sanitation."

Whether the provision of water and sanitation is carried out by public or private actors is not relevant to the status of water and sanitation as a human right, she declared.

Meanwhile, a coalition of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Council of Canadians, Food and Water Europe, Corporate Europe Observatory and the Blue Planet Project, has appealed to members of the European Parliament seeking their political support.

"In light of the European Union's recognition of water as a human right, it will be crucial that the EU play a key role in promoting this key resolution at the United Nations," says the letter.

Water as Human Right Threatens to Split World Body

2010-07-17T04:24:00.000-07:00