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.
World Pandemic: Coronavirus
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 for 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
Our Environment Is Collapsing Just As Severely As Our Society.
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 has, in all intents and purposes, destroyed the very place in which we live? Our world is collapsing, an implosion on a scale unimaginable just a few years ago.
As a species, we have accomplished incredible achievements in medicine, science, physics, technology and art. Men have walked on the moon and our scientists have sent spaceships to every planet in our Solar System. We seem to be capable of doing anything we want but two problems have dogged us for thousands of years: accomplishing peace and eradicating poverty.
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.
Mount Sinabung volcano on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted on Thursday, spewing ash clouds as high as 1,500 meters into the sky. The Mount Sinabung observation post's head Armen Putra said that the eruption lasted about three minutes. There were no reports of any casualties or damages. The current alert status of the volcano with an altitude of 2,460 meters above the sea surface is at level 3 of the country's four-tiered alert system. Mount Sinabung has been rumbling since 2010, and in 2016 it underwent a deadly eruption with nine locals killed in the disaster.
As of yesterday 43 volcanoes around were erupting or showing signs of activity as 2021's uptick in seismic and volcanic activity continues.
Major Quakes
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
Radioactive caesium five times above permitted levels in Japan has been detected in black rockfish caught in northeastern Fukushima Prefecture, according to a Feb. 22 announcement by a local fishing association.
Some 500 becquerels per kilogram of caesium was found in black rockfish caught at a depth of 24 meters about 8.8 kilometres off the town of Shinchi, exceeding the national standard level of 100 becquerels per kilogram. The Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations has since halted the distribution of the fish until it can confirm their safety.
Climate Change
Many Texans also faced food shortages as grocery stores tried to stay stocked, huge crowds descended on food pantries, and the pandemic continued to threaten a state where, according to the latest NBC News data, nearly 43,000 people have died of Covid-19 and 2.6 million people have been infected. Some 24,000 people were without any running water Tuesday after the public water systems they rely on were rendered "nonoperational" by the unseasonably cold winter blast, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reported.
Disease
HELSINKI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The first-ever cases of the easily transmittable bird flu type H5N8 have been detected in Finland, the Finnish Food Authority confirmed on Friday to national broadcaster Yle.
Animal Die-Offs
Dazzlingly diverse, freshwater fishes are vital for communities, economies, and ecosystems but are routinely undervalued and overlooked. They’re also under ever-increasing threats. 51% of all fish species are found in freshwater—that’s more than 18,000 different species. And they make up ¼ of all the world’s vertebrate species.
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.
