Vesta’s Equatorial Grooves

Equatorial grooves on Vesta. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

NASA’s DAWN mission has provided us with a vast amount of fascinating images and useful data from the asteroid Vesta.  Not all of it easily explained.  Here is an excerpt from the article “Goddess of the Hearth” by Stephen Smith, posted in Thunderbolt’s ‘Picture of the Day‘:

The shallow craters, the overlapping rims and the lack of impact debris are important considerations in the theory of electrical effects. By thinking only in terms of meteor impacts, landslides and other familiar geological forces, NASA is ignoring the one possibility that makes all the disparate features they see cohesive: an electrically dynamic Solar System in its formative phases, when cosmic thunderbolts carved the surfaces of planets and moons.

In a standard Newtonian impact scenario, craters should form as dish-shaped holes with a blanket of blast debris surrounding the rims, sorted from largest to smallest particles depending on distance from the explosion. On Vesta, there is a decidedly different landscape. The craters are clean and most are found in collections, as if a shotgun blast struck the area.

The most obvious evidence for a plasma discharge is the steeply carved cliffs on Vesta. These features are not expected in an impact scenario. The visual evidence also reveals long canyons and furrows, some of which are ten kilometers wide, cut into the equator. A closer examination shows that those trenches (no matter what size) are chains of craters.

As well, check out this excellent article at IrishWeatherOnline for more interesting images and discussion.

Shackleton.

Superhuman effort isn’t worth a damn unless it achieves results. 
Ernest Shackleton

H/T.

Truthy truthiness. I’d say this artist hit the nail on the head.

Source:  Cox & Forkum Editorial Cartoons

H/T:

 

 

Bradford Hansen-Smith: What is a Circle? How would you define a Circle?

This is an introduction to the fascinating work of Bradford Hansen-Smith – an author, consultant, geometer and sculptor – who notes the following on his blog,  Wholemovement ?:

I am intrigued that we have used the circle as a static symbol for both everything and nothing. Today we agree on mostly nothing, zero, yet desiring everything. We really don’t understand either. Together they suggest total integration in evolutionary understanding and in revelation through movement. A circle is a complete, inclusive, and self-referenced concentricity indicating there is no inner or outer boundary, only the perception of an infinite change in scale. The origin for the circle is the sphere, the only dimensional form that can be called Whole, demonstrating unity, and that looks the same whether moving or not. Going to origin reveals more about the nature of something and purpose, than only looking at the function or the thing itself. Only in origin will we find the necessity and understanding for change.

Compressing the sphere changes its form in a single direction of symmetry perpendicular to the expanding circle plane; similar to how galaxies are formed. Three circles are revealed in transforming spherical unity to a triunity. There is no separation only differentiation of surface and redistribution of volume. Nothing is added or taken away, the circle/sphere is Whole. Between the two circle planes is a circle ring, the dynamic agent of differentiation. Triunity of the circle is structural pattern revealed through precessional movement and is principle for all subsequent realization of potential formation; thus is the prologue for another creation story:

Wholeness through movement causes division becoming duality intriangulation with each part consistent to the movement and totallyinner-dependent to the Whole. The individual nature of part to Whole regulates the interactions between all formed and unformed parts on all scale, in all time, with purpose.

Excellent work.  Here is a video introduction to his DVD,

 

The June 7, 2011 MASSIVE CME.

This is astounding:

From the article ..

Sun Unleashes ‘Spectacular’ & Powerful Eruption

by Tariq Malik, SPACE.com Managing Editor

Date: 07 June 2011 Time: 02:21 PM ET

The solar storm hit its peak at about 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT), but the actual flare extended over a three-hour period, said C. Alex Young, a solar astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who runs a website called The Sun Today, in a video describing the event.

“The sun produced a quite spectacular prominence eruption that had a solar flare and high-energy particles associated with it, but I’ve just never seen material released like this before,” Young said. “It looks like somebody just kicked a giant clod of dirt into the air and then it fell back down.”

For some fascinating discussion on this beautiful and awe-inspiring event go here.

Who is Dr. Walter Veith…

… and how exactly did he arrive at this brilliant flow-chart?

Update:  For those who are wondering, this is SARCASM.

Screen cap. of video "Walter Veith (12) Hidden Agendas / Total Onslaught 1/7" on YouTube.

Kirk Sorensen’s Presentation on the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor (Protospace, Calgary, March 31/2011)

I had the good fortune of attending this talk on March 31 at Protospace in Calgary. Kirk Sorensen did an excellent job at providing us with the historical background of the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor and the promise that this technology holds for us and for our children. I am even more optimistic for the future after witnessing this and was a welcome respite from the negativity broadcasted at us daily. Good show, Kirk! Keep up the good work

Prof. Dr. Vincent Courtillot’s Presentation at the International Energy and Climate Change Conference (IEKK)

 

 

h/t  JoNova

Prof. Dr. Vincent Courtillot Präsentation, posted with vodpod

Could Egypt be the grave of Statism?

It’s not like Socialism has a monopoly on horrifying unintended consequences. In fact, human history teaches something far bleaker:  every formalized system of government we’ve created has been perfectly capable of facilitating mass murder, class warfare and repressive regimes.   – Justin Boland, “The Revelation of the Method” (Skilluminati Research; Nov. 27, 2010)

Here is an excellent video by Stefan Molyneux, the host of Freedomain Radio:

Powerful ideas for all lovers of personal and political freedom – Freedomain Radio is the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web, and was a Top 10 Finalist in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Podcast Awards. Topics range from politics to philosophy to science to economics to relationships to atheism – and how to achieve real freedom in your life today. Passionate, articulate, funny and irreverent, Freedomain Radio shines a bold light on old topics, and invents a few new ones to boot!

I like what I’ve seen so far.  Have a look and enjoy!

Wake up and smell the Kefaya.

 

 

Hmm..   Check out this article over at Breitbart:

World food prices hit record high: UN agency

(Feb 3 08:14 AM US/Eastern)

World food prices reached their highest level ever recorded in January and are set to keep rising for months, the UN food agency said on Thursday, warning that the hardest-hit countries could face turmoil.Rising food prices have been cited among the driving forces behind recent popular revolts in north Africa, including the uprising in Egypt and the toppling of Tunisia’s long-time president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

And in its latest survey, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said its index which monitors monthly price changes for a variety of staples averaged 231 points in January — the highest level since records began in 1990.

 

Dylan Ratigan and Bill Fleckenstein put 2 and 2 together and show that high food prices are correlated with social unrest in the Arab world .. just so Bernanke and Co. can paper over  the GIGANTIC fraud perpetrated by the very large banks:

Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge had this to add:

For over a year now, Zero Hedge has been predicting that in its foolhardy attempt of “inflation or bust”, the Fed’s actions would sooner or later lead to mass rioting and possible revolutions as a result of surging and out of control food prices (which are just the peak of the alternative investment pyramid – yes, stunningly free money can go into other things besides stocks).

…

The problem is that these same people do not realize that to Bernanke (whom we have referred Genocide Ben for precisely this reason) there is no other alternative, and inflation must be achieved no matter how terrible the social cost, or the damage to the monetary system. Regardless, the actions in North Africa are just the start. Commodities will run up far higher, and discontent will sooner or later reach to Asia, and possibly to countries which have nuclear arsenals at their disposal. What happens then is anyone guess.

Oh and there is this fact, which Karl Denninger is good enough to remind us of:

The Egyptian Pound (EGP) has been pegged to the dollar on an effective basis since 2005.

Their compound inflation rate over the last three years is 45%.

That is, the cost of living has risen 45%.

Their per-capita GDP is 1/17th of ours, and hasn’t materially expanded during that time.

Our per-capita GDP is $47,000, which is quite close to median household income (right near $50k.)

Their per-capita GDP is $2,700 (both from the CIA World Factbook.)

Would you like to run the numbers on what a 45% increase in the CPI would do to someone living here with a $2,700 per-capita domestic output (which likely closely approximates household income there too)?

That person would starve…. and maybe riot, eh?

 

 

Howard Bloom’s take on the Egyptian Revolt.

No, I wouldn’t classify him as a ‘Modern Day Bourbon’.  Refreshingly HONEST.

Will Egypt’s Revolution be Sacrificed by Modern Day Bourbons?: Salim Mansur’s Moving Letter.

…

I am more convinced now, as I wasn’t when Paul Kennedy wrote about the rise and fall of great powers, that the West has gone over the tipping point in its terminal decline. That intelligent people, or people who claim to be intelligent, (I have in mind the talking heads in the U.S. media such as Chris Matthews or Fareed Zakaria) cannot make the difference between the sham of the Muslim Brotherhood talking about freedom and democracy and the generic thirst in man to be free. These are the people who have like the Bourbons learned nothing and forgotten nothing. They are glibly about to put the Lenins of our time into trains heading for Moscows of our time, they find nothing odd that they are pushing for the Muslim Brotherhood to be taken into governing when everything needs to be done to keep the Muslim Brotherhood out even as one carefully negotiate the long historic transition of Arab societies from tribal autorcracy and military dictatorships to representative rule and constitutionally limited government.

…

http://ricochet.com/main-feed/A-Moving-Letter-from-Salim-Mansur

h/t: Instapundit

For a dose of GET REAL, have a listen to this lady:

 

Mahmoud Salem aka. “@Sandmonkey” on CNN: “It Was Like A Zombie Movie”

My discovery of “Sandmonkey” has dramatically refined and focused my position on the Egyptian Uprising and I urge everyone to take the time to learn more about him and read his posts, especially conservatives who see Mubarek as an ally first and thug autocrat second.  After reading his blog and now being able to listen to him I am now, more than ever, in the camp that sees Mubarek as a thug-socialist/autocrat that needs to be deposed.  Tonight, we had the treat of being able to learn his true identity, Mahmoud Salem, during an interview with Elliott Spitzer on CNN:

 

Update:  Here is an account of Mahmoud Salem’s encounter with Mubarek’s thugs by someone who was riding in the car with him:

Having a policeman say he wanted to kill me wasn’t my most frightening moment yesterday in Cairo. That came when police and civilians smashed our car windows — with the five of us inside it — jumped up and down on the roof, spat on us, pulled my hair, beat my friends and dragged us into a police van.

The five of us were lucky: We emerged from our confrontation with President Hosni Mubarak’s police and operatives alive and relatively healthy. Violence over the past 11 days, much of it in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, has killed as many as 300 people in Egypt, according to the United Nations.

But it was a day I never dreamed could occur in my native city. It happened not because I was a reporter, a Sudan-based contract journalist for Bloomberg News returning to Cairo for vacation. The friends giving me a ride downtown were just trying to take food and first-aid supplies to those injured the previous night in clashes with pro-Mubarak protesters.

…

(http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/-you-will-be-lynched-egyptian-policeman-tells-reporters-first-person.html)

 

A good blog from Egypt to read: Sandmonkey.

I found a great blog from Egypt that people may want to check out:

He writes:

Now, just in case this isn’t clear: This protest is not one made or sustained by the Muslim Brotherhood, it’s one that had people from all social classes and religious background in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood only showed up on Tuesday, and even then they were not the majority of people there by a long shot. We tolerated them there since we won’t say no to fellow Egyptians who wanted to stand with us, but neither the Muslims Brotherhood not any of the Opposition leaders have the ability to turn out one tenth of the numbers of Protesters that were in Tahrir on Tuesday. This is a revolution without leaders. Three Million individuals choosing hope instead of fear and braving death on hourly basis to keep their dream of freedom alive. Imagine that.

h/t: Gateway Pundit

 

Update:

Here is an excellent interview conducted in 2007 with (the arrested, beaten and recently released) Sandmonkey by Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs:

SANDMONKEY: “Any kind of democratic reform in the country [Egypt] for the past 3 years has been rolled back specifically because there is no more pressure coming from Washington anymore.”

ATLAS: Why? What happened to the pressure in Washington?

SANDMONKEY: You know what happened to the pressure in Washington. The Democrats won the Congress. There is no more pressure coming from Bush because he is not able to push people anymore to do those things. He is not able to push the Egyptian government anymore because the American public is suddenly not interested in reforming the Middle  East because of what’s going on in the Iraq. So suddenly the Egyptian government is not afraid of the American pressure. They are doing whatever they want to do. They are beating up demonstrators, they are cracking down on activists, they are changing the constitution, and eroding civil liberties once and for all and they are using proxies to take down bloggers.

On personal security:

SANDMONKEY: Security people began to ask more and more questions about me. I ignored it. But I don’t think about stuff like that. You can die any day. Is that going to stop you from living? No.  So they can crack down and and they can get me any day. There is no point in worrying about that. But when are on my doorstep, and coming down on me and you see people in Egypt getting arrested left and right  for no reason and being charged with the most ridiculous charges….. the majority of the Egyptian blogosphere is becoming silent. People that were vocal before are censoring themselves big time.

ATLAS: Who are they arresting and for what?

SANDMONKEY: They’re arresting activists. People they don’t like. They are threatening to arrest any  journalists with the new terrorism law who might voice any opinion that contradicts with the government. They are calling anybody the defends that is deemed a terrorist as a terrorist collaborator and should be thrown in jail. And the thing is there is no definition of “terrorist.” Anybody can be a terrorist. They actually stated that trying to pressure the government is a form of terrorism. Anybody that talks bad about the government ………..lawsuits left and right for “defaming Egypt’s reputations.”

On the Democrats embracing Muslim Brotherhood:

Atlas: Where you shocked when Hoyer met with the Muslim Brotherhood?

SANDMONKEY: Let me tell you something. I was in Turkey a couple of weeks ago and I met a couple of Syrian activists. They one thing they told me that was really funny about the Pelosi visit. After Pelosi came to Syria two things happened. People on Syrian TV were saying, “We forced the Americans to knock on the Damascus gate!” Sort of like an admission that we messed things up in Iraq so much that America had to come and beg for their help.

But the day after Pelosi’s visits there were immediate arrests of Syrian activists. That was the fruit she yielded. “Oh the Americans came over and they said they have a different foreign policy  and they’re more interested in placating Bashar’s ego.” And he went out and got [arrested] everyone he wanted because he knew he had an ally in Washington that wouldn’t pressure him as much.

ATLAS: Isn’t that disgusting?

SANDMONKEY: Yeah, but what are you going to do?

ATLAS: We have to educate the American people. You think the American people know this?

SANDMONKEY: No, but do they even care at this point? I don’t think they are interested in the discussion any more. There are people that have made up their mind, they think we need to placate the dictators because America is wrong and everyone else is always right. That’s how they operate.

SANDMONKEY: What they are doing is completely irresponsible.

ATLAS: THe world is watching………

SANDMONKEY: Of course the world is watching and the world is gloating.
Everyone wanted Bush to lose the 2004 elections. If he had lost  2004 we would not have had our push for democracy in 2005. The moment Bush won again that’s when Mubarak said maybe we should have democracy because Bush didn’t go away. And had Bush gone awaythere wouldn’t be democracy right now …… like there wouldn’t be two years of freedom and fresh air that we were able to breathe and that’ we’ve had.
After 2006 [elections] the change went in the opposite agenda.

ATLAS: As an Egyptian who understands democracy, life,  liberty the pursuit of happiness….and who  admires America. Looking at America, I want to know what you see.

SANDMONKEY: I’m seeing a country in great danger. Simply speaking, I don’t think the people get what’s at stake anymore. I don’t think they see where they are heading.

 

An Astonishing Image From Egypt: Christians Protecting Muslims While They Pray

Hope and Change in Egypt: Mubarek’s NDP and Authoritarian Socialism

When studying the imagination of crowds we saw that it is particularly open to the impressions produced by images.  These images do not always lie ready to hand, but it is possible to evoke them by the judicious employment of words and formulas.  Handled with art, they possess in sober truth the mysterious power formerly attributed to them by the adepts of magic.  They cause tempests, which in turn they are capable of stilling.  A pyramid far loftier than that of old Cheops could be raised merely with the bones of men who have been victims of the power of words and formulas.   –  Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd

Yesterday, in my post “Upheaval in Egypt:  Apparent causes .. and real causes.“, I wondered out loud “ if the mustering of a ‘pro-Mubarek’ group to counter the protestors is an indication of something deeper and more profound.  Could it also be composed of people (some but certainly not all), who are fighting back to save their very history, their support for Mubarek merely incidental?“.  It is a reasonable conjecture, given Islam’s long history of vandalizing important pieces of world heritage.  But, when it comes to Egypt .. right now ..  is it true?  Which side is more interested in a revitalized Egypt which values its’ heritage and enjoys true freedom?  It can’t be as simple as saying the the pro-democracy forces are led by Islamists and the protectors of Egypt’s heritage are the ruling, autocratic regime.  Enough has been said elsewhere about the Muslim Brotherhood.  What we need to understand is who Mubarek’s loyalists are and what the ruling party, the NDP (National Democratic Party), stands for.  The answer might surprise you.

Hope and Change

Let me know if any of this sounds familiar …

What are the key features of the NDP’s platform for the 2010 parliamentary elections? What is the party’s agenda for the next legislative term?

The NDP aims, in a brief summary of its platform, to pursue the process of comprehensive community change in all its economic, political, social and cultural dimensions. Change has started but is not over yet. In addition to promoting the living standards and the quality of life of the majority of Egyptians, the party seeks to improve the quality of public services, such as education, health, housing, and facilities.

A key characteristic of the NDP’s platform is that it shies away from generalities in favor of binding pledges, such as curbing poverty or attracting more investments into Egypt. Other commitments are related to health care and education. In addition, the platform allocates specific financial resources to ensure that each pledge is honored. Therefore, the platform is ambitious and takes on political, economic and social dimensions. It also sets specific goals and unveils its funding sources.

(Interview with Ali Eddin Hilal, Media Secretary of the NDP, http://egyptelections.carnegieendowment.org/2011/01/10/interview-with-ali-eddin-hilal-media-secretary-of-the-ndp)

Change.  Community.  Curbing poverty.  Commitment to health care and education.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, the National Democratic Party that controls Egypt, the party of the state police and the party of Mubarek and his thugs is .. you guessed it .. an authoritarian SOCIALIST party.  Take a close look at this document:

Mubarek’s NDP was, until very recently, a member in good standing of Socialist International.  Didn’t hear that on CNN did you?  The thugs that beat up Anderson Cooper were socialist henchmen.   As Richard J. Little writes in American Thinker (Egypt’s Real Problem:  Decades of Authoritarian Socialist Rule; February 3, 2011):

Nasser’s immediate successor, Anwar Sadat, further built upon this state-controlled socialist political and economic system by forming the National Democratic Party, which is the current Egyptian ruling party.  The National Democratic Party has been a member in good standing in the Socialist International right up until this present week (January 31, in fact, when, to save political face, it became politically necessary to expel them).

The Socialist International may want to hide this fact, but the plain truth is that Mubarak and his political predecessors had the unlimited power and pursued for many decades exactly the same type of top-down, expert-devised, and centralized government-run collectivist development and investment programs of the type that are now proposed by progressives in this country and by socialists around world.  And the results, or lack thereof, of fifty-plus years of authoritarian socialist policy in Egypt were the same as in every other nation (like the old Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China) that has experimented with similar economic and political systems: poverty, political repression, institutionalized government corruption, and ultimately, social chaos.

 

 

 

 

Kepler tells us that there are far more extra-solar planets than we thought.

 

Upheaval in Egypt: Apparent causes .. and real causes.

A screen capture of Google Images for the search "egypt uprising" taken on Feb. 3, 2011.

Watching live coverage of the confrontation between the anti-Mubarek and pro-Mubarek forces yesterday, I noticed that the focal point of the clash was outside the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities.  The museum has sustained some considerable looting and vandalism including, according to reports, the beheading of two mummies.  One wonders if the mustering of a ‘pro-Mubarek’ group to counter the protestors is an indication of something deeper and more profound.  Could it also be composed of people (some but certainly not all), who are fighting back to save their very history, their support for Mubarek merely incidental?  We have the misfortune of observing a pro-democracy movement being led by the Muslim Brotherhood and the vast repository of history and Egyptian heritage being defended by a heavy-handed dictator.  I hold out the hope that this uprising will bring more freedom to the Egyptian people –  freedom from the tyranny of a police state and freedom from islamo-fascism.

The great upheavals which precede changes of civilizations such as the fall of the Roman Empire and the foundation of the Arabian Empire, seem at first sight determined more especially by political transformations, foreign invasion, or the overthrow of dynasties. But a more attentive study of these events shows that behind their apparent causes the real cause is generally seen to be a profound modification in the ideas of the peoples. The true historical upheavals are not those which astonish us by their grandeur and violence. The only important changes whence the renewal of civilizations results, affect ideas, conceptions, and beliefs. The memorable events of history are the visible effects of the invisible changes of human thought. The reason these great events are so rare is that there is nothing so stable in a race as the inherited groundwork of its thoughts.

–Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd

Antennae – the colliding galaxies.

This is an absolutely stunning image that you can find here.  For some interesting commentary on the Antennae Galaxies from an Electric Universe perspective, check out Thunderbolts Picture Of the Day.  Enjoy

Here’s your REAL Sputnik moment, President Obama: 钍基熔盐堆

昨天，作为中国科学院首批启动的战略性先导科技专项之一，“未来先进核裂变能——钍基熔盐堆核能系统”项目正式启动。其科学目标是用20年左右时间，研发出新一代核能系统，所有技术均达到中试水平并拥有全部知识产权。

That translates to:

Yesterday, as the Chinese Academy of Sciences started the first one of the strategic leader in science and technology projects, “the future of advanced nuclear fission energy – nuclear energy, thorium-based molten salt reactor system” project was officially launched. The scientific goal is to use 20 years or so, developed a new generation of nuclear energy systems, all the technical level reached in the trial and have all intellectual property rights.

…

(http://whb.news365.com.cn/yw/201101/t20110126_2944856.htm)

You can read all about it over at Kirk Sorensen’s EnergyFromThorium site:

China Initiates Thorium MSR Project

The People’s Republic of China has initiated a research and development project in thorium molten-salt reactor technology, it was announced in the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) annual conferenceon Tuesday, January 25. An article in the Wenhui News followed on Wednesday (Google English translation). Chinese researchers also announced this development on the Energy from Thorium Discussion Forum.

…

(read the rest)