The Big Wobble Headlines: Quick Read...
“A really efficient totalitarian state would be one in which the all-powerful executive of political bosses and their army of managers control a population of slaves who do not have to be coerced because they love their servitude.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.
Unlivable Series
At least 101 people have died after flash floods and landslides hit Indonesia and East Timor on Sunday. Torrential rain sparked widespread destruction in the South East Asian neighbours, with water from overflowing dams submerging thousands of homes. The affected area stretches from Flores island in eastern Indonesia to East Timor. In Indonesia alone, 80 people have died with dozens still missing. Officials warn the toll could still rise.
"The mud and the extreme weather have become a serious challenge and the debris piling up has hampered the search and rescue team," Indonesian Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesperson Raditya Djati told BBC reporters.
I, for the most part, followed the rules last year. I stayed home mostly, only leaving the house if it was absolutely necessary. Up to November 2020, I did walk my dog three times a day but sadly he became yet another statistic of 2020 and was cruelly taken away from us. We have a wonderful if small back garden here at the back of my house, the summer was wonderful, 2020 was long, warm and sunny so I didn't need to go far and didn't need anything.
I first reported about Covid-19 on Friday the 17th January 2020 after a second person had died in China from a "mystery virus," it didn't have a name yet, Full story. Since then I have watched the pandemic grow and has now infected more than 100 million people and killed more than one million.
Bugaloo 2021
It's just over a year ago since the so-called "Doomsday Clock" was pushed forward to 100 seconds to midnight – the closest symbolic point from an “apocalypse” since 1953. However, in recent days military activity around the world may just leave the "experts" wishing they had moved it a little closer.
You would think during a world pandemic and climatic catastrophes our world leaders would forget their differences and get together to work out our only planet's problems and do a "decent human thing."
To expect our leaders to act as "decent human beings" though is, after all, a very naive idea on my part.
Thousands of farmers in Meru county are counting huge losses as desert locusts are ravaging their farms daily. The locusts come at a time when most of the produce grown in eastern Kenya is ready to be harvested. These farmers are among hundreds of thousands from 14 other Kenyan counties who are affected by a second wave of the locust plague that is two times deadlier than the one that hit Kenya in 2020. The government said it deployed spray and surveillance aircraft to help deal with the pest and noted it has enough resources and is better prepared than in 2020 to fight.
Agriculture Minister Peter Munya told reporters that more than 75 swarms have been reported in Kenya.
Credit USGS
While an explosion shot an ash column more than 33,000 feet (seven kilometres) into the sky, with lightning crackling through the towering cloud of smoke on the Caribbean island of St Vincent we have had seismic activity too.
Two major quakes, mag 6 or higher have rattled Indonesia and the Philippines this morning. A magnitude 6.1 - 168 km SSW of Sarangani, Philippines followed a magnitude 6.0 - 44 km SSW of Gongdanglegi Kulon, Indonesia by just 1 1/2 hours, according to USGS.
Extreme Weather
I read somewhere that to really understand something is to be liberated from it. Yet, how can we liberate ourselves from our vain attempt at global progress which is, in all intents and purposes, destroying the very place in which we live? Our world is collapsing, an implosion on a scale unimaginable just a few years ago. Without a doubt, if we continue on our current path we will lose our home and everything in it. Mankind’s environment is collapsing just as fast as its society. Planet Earth’s resources are dwindling at an alarming rate. Animals, plants, fossil fuels, minerals, water, air and soil are all diminishing at an unsustainable speed while the world’s population is increasing.
Hurricanes and cyclones
17 Dec 2020
Fijians living in the path of an approaching super cyclone were told to hunker down at home or flee to emergency shelters immediately on Wednesday, as authorities warned the storm has the potential to uproot buildings and cause mass destruction. The Fiji Meteorological Service said Cyclone Yasa had intensified to a top-of-the-scale Category Five storm, with devastating gusts of up to 280 kilometres per hour (174 miles per hour). It was on track to hit Fiji late Thursday and the National Disaster Management Office said around two-thirds of the island nation's population of 900,000 are in its path.
Spaceweather
According to Spaceweather.com, a stream of solar wind hit Earth on Jan. 25th. The impact sparked an unexpected G1-class geomagnetic storm. The solar wind was expected.
Manmade disasters
Dr Steven Greer went live TODAY at 6PM EST to discuss how you can be part of the 20th Anniversary of the Disclosure Project National Press Club Event.
WEBINAR: DISCLOSURE 2.0 ! APRIL 25, 2021 1p-6p Pacific Time (Phoenix) Join Dr Steven Greer with special guests -Carol Rosin (spokesperson for Wernher von Braun who invented the rocket), - -Constitutional Attorney Daniel Sheehan, -Paola Harris with an expose on a NEW ET crash retrieval case bigger than Roswell in significance,Climate Change
Disease
According to a report by ABC, the second wave of African swine fever (ASF) is estimated to have killed almost 10 million pigs in China since the start of the year, detailing the country's plans to rebuild its national herd. New variants of the pig-killing disease African swine fever have emerged in Asia. Hundreds of millions of pigs were killed by the disease in the last couple of years, in China, Asia and Europe reducing the world's stock by more than 40%. The first reported outbreak of the disease was in August 2018 and within a year it had spread to multiple countries.
Animal Die-Offs
Environment
Nov 25 2020
After last year's record-busting heatwaves and wildfire season, Australia was hoping for a rather wet summer season this year with the onset of La Niña. La Niña typically increases the likelihood of above-average rainfall across much of Australia during spring and early summer. However, with Summer still a while away, Sydney temperatures are set to soar over the weekend as NSW is headed for an early heatwave with temperatures inching toward the 50 deg C, (122 deg F) mark bringing with it the threat of another early start to another wildfire season.
Meanwhile, a bushfire, coined as "the biggest one in living memory" has scorched a third of the World Heritage Area of Queensland's idyllic Fraser Island, six weeks after being sparked by an illegal campfire. Nov 25 2020
Religion
Photo of the day
A letter from Holland: Unusual skies this week in the Amsterdam region as the world enters lockdown: Libertine, tolerant and free Amsterdam is at this moment just like the rest of the world, empty as the Covid-19 threat takes hold
As I walk my dog every day I come across only occasional other dog walkers or runners who are only too ready to distance themselves from me, eying me with caution. Empty busses pass me by as do the occasional automobile, however, Holland wouldn't be Holland without bicycles and scooters and, this is the mode of transport at the moment, especially for the kids.
