Cars Queue Needlessly for Fuel

In the spirit of the recent government diktat from dorky Francis Maude  for all motorists to get into their cars, then queue for hours to buy up all available petrol, I’ve decided to jump the gun on the water shortage!

I’ve now run round the house turning all the taps on and put the lawn sprinklers on full blast because I’m just outside the hosepipe ban area.

Hosepipe Ban

Five Baths!

My partner plans to have five baths today as well.

This will ensure that all the water is gone before the ban starts!

That's the way to do it!

That’s the way to do it!

Related articles

• Hosepipe ban is essential, officials say – The Guardian (guardian.co.uk)
• Hosepipe ban begins for 20m – but water companies admit ‘no inspectors’ – Metro (metro.co.uk)
• UK News: Water firms defend hosepipe bans (walesonline.co.uk)
• Hosepipe ban ‘will last all summer’ (itv.com)
• Hosepipe ban looms for drought hit Britain (itv.com)
• Diktats of the drought police: Not just a hosepipe ban, but ELEVEN tough restrictions on water use (dailymail.co.uk)
• UK News: Hosepipe bans in seven water areas (walesonline.co.uk)
• Hosepipe bans to hit 20 million people across south and east of England (itv.com)
• Hosepipe bans: How will it affect you? (itv.com)
• Hosepipe bans to hit 20 million (itv.com)

Google Tsunami Alert

Following this morning’s (using GMT) earthquake just off Japan (now set at 8.8 on the Richter Scale, but it keeps rising as more information is analysed), I noticed that the Google search page has a Tsunami warning for all to see.

I thought I’d capture it for posterity.

Enormity

This truly is an enormous event, the TV videos this morning of the wave’s advance making this perfectly clear.  How and when it finishes, we can only watch and wait as one of the great forces of nature plays out before us.

Tsunami Transit Time for Japanese Tsunami of 11/3/11

Fortunately, the Tsunami warning system seems to be doing its job, and hopefully, those countries around the Pacific and the small Pacific Islands within have had enough time to warn folks to get to high ground.  This image shows how much time they’ve got!

NOAA Tsunami Warning @ 10:30 GMT

This is the state of play a short time ago and the actual alert, showing wave heights and periods out at sea.  When they hit the coast, things are very, very different.

000

WEPA40 PHEB 111030

TSUPAC

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 006

PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS

ISSUED AT 1030Z 11 MAR 2011

THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC

OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS…EXCEPT ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…

WASHINGTON…OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.

… A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT …

A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR

JAPAN / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / WAKE IS. /

TAIWAN / YAP / PHILIPPINES / MARSHALL IS. / BELAU / MIDWAY IS. /

POHNPEI / CHUUK / KOSRAE / INDONESIA / PAPUA NEW GUINEA /

NAURU / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / KIRIBATI / HOWLAND-BAKER /

HAWAII / TUVALU / PALMYRA IS. / VANUATU / TOKELAU / JARVIS IS. /

WALLIS-FUTUNA / SAMOA / AMERICAN SAMOA / COOK ISLANDS / NIUE /

FIJI / NEW CALEDONIA / TONGA / MEXICO /

KERMADEC IS / FR. POLYNESIA / PITCAIRN /

GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / ANTARCTICA /

PANAMA / HONDURAS / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PERU

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY

NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE

DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND

ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 0546Z 11 MAR 2011

COORDINATES – 38.3 NORTH 142.4 EAST

DEPTH – 24 KM

LOCATION – NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN

MAGNITUDE – 8.9

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY

GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER

DART 21415 50.2N 171.8E 0845Z 0.27M / 0.9FT 52MIN

WAKE US 19.3N 166.6E 0928Z 0.39M / 1.3FT 14MIN

NAHA OKINAWA JP 26.2N 127.7E 0901Z 0.25M / 0.8FT 60MIN

SAIPAN US 15.2N 145.7E 0916Z 0.65M / 2.1FT 30MIN

TOSASHIMIZU SHIKOKU 32.8N 133.0E 0753Z 0.92M / 3.0FT 68MIN

OMAEZAKI HONSHU JP 34.6N 138.2E 0818Z 1.42M / 4.6FT 56MIN

DART 21419 44.5N 155.7E 0716Z 0.40M / 1.3FT 20MIN

DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN

HANASAKI HOKKAIDO J 43.3N 145.6E 0657Z 2.79M / 9.2FT 76MIN

DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN

DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.08M / 3.5FT 06MIN

LAT – LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)

LON – LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)

TIME – TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)

AMPL – TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.

IT IS …NOT… CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.

VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).

PER – PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT.

NOTE – DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY

ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL

MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.

EVALUATION

SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED

WHICH COULD CAUSE WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE

APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAT. THIS CENTER WILL

CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND

SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE

LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND CAN VARY

SIGNIFICANTLY ALONG A COAST DUE TO LOCAL EFFECTS. THE TIME FROM

ONE TSUNAMI WAVE TO THE NEXT CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO AN HOUR, AND

THE THREAT CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AS MULTIPLE WAVES ARRIVE.

FOR ALL AREAS – WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS

AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT

OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME

THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN

CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL

CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE

ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.

THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES

FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH

CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION… THE

MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS

FOR ALASKA…BRITISH COLUMBIA…WASHINGTON…OREGON…CALIFORNIA.

 

Wake Island

I wonder how Wake Island is getting on?  The highest point on the island is only 20 feet and the wave should be there about now….

Two items on today’s news demonstrated the vast contrasts in our humanity. Stardust probe finds ‘subdued’ comet crater & Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters.

Our Absolute Ingenuity and Progress

Four views of comet Tempel 1 as the Stardust spacecraft swept past.

The absolute ingenuity of us humans and how far we have come since our cave-dwelling days is supremely demonstrated by the return of pictures by the spacecraft, Stardust.

In this case, 12 years ago, Stardust was launched to look at an asteroid then collect samples from the dust of a comet, Wild 2.  It did all of this wonderfully.

Then, in the meantime, another spacecraft, Deep Impact, had been launched which crashed a small craft into another comet, Tempel, back in 2005, creating a crater.

The fantastic demonstration of our technical expertise is that almost on a whim, it was decided to get the first craft, Stardust, to have a look at this crater and beam the picture back to us – and it did all of this automatically, 336 million km from Earth, which a radio signal takes 18 minutes to travel!

Evidence of the crater: Left shows a Deep Impact photo from 2005; Right shows Stardust's image with a small extra crater.

Our Reluctance to Depart from our Hunter-gatherer Past

Dead Minke On the Nisshin Maru "research factory ship"

Some people still hunt for sport.  Some nations dress hunting up with weasel words and hide their blood-lust behind the veil of science.  Such a nation is Japan which kills whales for “scientific research” (900-odd this year) yet openly reveals this research as a fraud with with the real goals of short-term monetary gain and blood lust .

Whale for Sale: Sales of whalemeat have fallen, despite promotion

Here we see an advert for the “research” results.

mmm yummy.

It’s a desperate thing to see this because the Japanese claim that there lots of whales to eat – which was exactly what was said about the blue whale, right whale etc, all of which are now rarities of the ocean when once, they were plentiful.

It’s now being revealed by real research, that the more diverse an ecosystem is (and we live in one, you know), the more chance we will have of surviving all manner of disasters – disease, drought, climate change etc.

Thank Goodness For Bravery

Whalers clash with Conservationists

So we should all thank the people from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society who have peacefully risked their lives “for the bigger picture”.

It’s another aspect of humanity revealed to me today, in the news.

Bravery & Courage.

Ady Gil and Shonan Maru 2 confrontation

The whalers say constant harassment has forced them to suspend operations – well dah!

That’s the definition of bravery, as seen in these dramatic shots.

House For Sale - TA6 7DN

On three floors, brick construction.  Located on the west side of Bridgwater, with easy fast access to the town centre.

• 5 bedrooms
• 3 reception rooms
• Full central heating
• Roof remade to modern standards of lining and insulation
• Double glazed
• Triple glazed conservatory area.

Price:

I’m looking at £164k but in the current market, who’s to say? Make an offer.

Cons:

1. Needs some renovation to the most modern standards
2. Small garden front and rear
3. On main road
4. On street parking (although most people don’t use their garages for parking hereabouts anyway)

Pros:

• Almost totally complete and original Edwardian (1903) town house with nearly all fittings and fixtures, tiles, original fireplaces (some marble) in every room, inbuilt wardrobes and cupboards, servant’s bell (yes really!). c.f. point 1 above!
• Minimal garden maintenance. c.f. point 2 above!
• Sash windows ditched in favour of modern double glazing (visually not so good but a lot less draughty and quieter too)
• 28kW gas-fired Central Heating (except hall for aesthetics)
• Huge bedrooms mainly, can easily be converted en-suite with room to spare.
• Two w.c., one with bath & shower
• Conservatory-like covered and insulated courtyard.
• Close to town centre shops & entertainments etc
• NOT on the flood plain!! (on an old sandstone mound in Bridgwater on the Somerset Levels)
• New clean & efficient bathroom
• 2.5 miles from M5 motorway
• 1 mile from mainline railway station with direct links to London & Edinburgh
• 5 miles from Quantock Hills (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty)
• 5 miles from Bridgwater Bay (see above)
• 15 miles from Brendon Hills & Exmoor, see above
• Glastonbury (new age mob) is 25 mins away, Exeter 35 & Bristol is 35-60 mins away, (dependant on time of day and place!)

Viewing:

For viewing, contact me via the Contact page here for extra details and photos.

Location:

View Larger Map

This week will see some news that will be twisted and churned by the climate change sceptics…

Apparently, the coral islands are responding well to sea-level rises, which are real, make no mistake.

The New Scientist article is here and the BBC News item is here.

The Reality

In my previous post, The Maldives and Tuvalu will be Alright Without People, I pointed out just such a fact.  My reasoning was based on the not-so-recent research and conclusion of Charles Darwin into the creation and maintenance of coral islands, reefs, atolls and submerged sea mounts.

Now, recent measurements as described in the New Scientist prove this is so.

But there’s still no room for optimism because the reason that islands like Tuvala and The Maldives are suffering is because of human interference…  How so?

A. Because people keep using the coral for building materials, and smooth out it’s natural deposits into runways and hotels for tourists and the like!

This far beyond what the coral can naturally replenish by accretion from storms and it’s natural growth.

Ancient History

One other aspect comes into the “coral equation”.

Coral almost disappeared following a major extinction event!

Dinosaurs and Coral

The KT event which wiped out the dinosaurs and left room for our own eventual evolution, also wiped out 90% of coral species.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/…Tertia…event#Marine

Quoting from this source,

Further analysis of the coral extinctions shows that approximately 98% of colonial species, ones that inhabit warm, shallow tropical waters, became extinct.

Prior to this, in the greatest known extinction event at the end of the Permian Era, far worse damage was done to corals.  See link.  Quoting from the article:

The event had a profound effect on the terrestrial ecosystem, which is still being felt today, a quarter of a billion years later….

Nothing resembling a coral reef shows up until 10 million years after the Permian extinction, and full recovery of marine life took about 100 million years…

Now this is serious shit!  Because we are right now part of a mass extinction event, started by our own human activity, that will one day show up as such in the geological record.

Currently the coral can keep pace with increasing water temperatures and rising sea levels as it did at the end of the recent glacial period ~12k years ago.

But for how long?

Dawn Brancheau and the whale, Tilikum

She’d wanted to work with whales ever since she was a little girl, and got her wish fulfilled.

Now, since Dawn Brancheau’s death, there has been gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands, pointing of fingers and loading of guns, because this particular whale has now been responsible for three deaths since it’s captivity.  It’s the “dangerous dog” mentality.

However, as anyone who has a dog or cat will know, small bites and scratches are not uncommon with these domesticated animals, even the nice ones…

And the six tonne whale,an apex predator,  capable of swimming at 30 knots, armed with 3 inch teeth, even it was being ‘playful’ in it’s own terms, was only living up to it’s name…

It’s a Killer Whale

ABC link: http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/national_world&id=7295643

Panasonic Lumix TZ7

Following a cold, frosty night, when the early morning fog had lifted, I noticed that the air overhead was exceptionally clear, transparent, and un-disturbed.  This is readily apparent with the cropped aeroplane flying at over five miles up, where the engines and red markings on the tail are quite clear.

The pictures are taken using my Panasonic Lumix TZ7, all using automatic settings.  All overhead shots are using 12x zoom.  It’s quite remarkable what one can do with a hand-held camera these days!

Related articles

• 1 a.m., Snowy February Morning (strangelyperfect.tv)
• Panasonic Lumix ZS20 announced (ubergizmo.com)
• Panasonic Lumix smartphone launching at MWC (techradar.com)
• Panasonic’s Lumix TZ10 with Built in GPS (prweb.com)

I’ve just uploaded this video using different software and process so I don’t know how it’ll appear yet.  However, see if you can spot the kingfisher?

It’s a remarkable bird that I’ve been trying to catch on camera for ages.

• When they’re stationary in trees they’re almost impossible to see.
• When they fly, they are like a flash of blood and electricity across the gloaming.
• When  they fly, they are impossible to track with a hand-held camera!
• When they are in the trees they are impossible to see in the viewfinder!

Despite all this, my new Panasonic Lumix TZ7 has videoed the thing quite well!  For a few seconds, you actually can see the thing quite clearly – a first for me!  Woo-Hoo!  (You’ll have to double-click to get it full screen (or at least larger) to then see this on YouTube directly.

At 0:30 you’ll see it centre-frame and at ~1:00, just as I’ve got a true beamer on it – it shoots off down and right and then flew up the canal!  It’s what they do – like a woman, they just entice you in and then foom!  They’re gone!  Ha Ha.

(The TZ7 replaces the TZ5 which I carelessly dropped onto the tiled floor  at home)

Big Mirrors in the Desert

A sustainable energy initiative that will start with a huge solar project in the Sahara desert has been announced by a consortium of 12 European businesses.

This is a $400billion plan (yes, 400 billion!), that will plaster the top left corner of Africa with mirrors to harness solar energy.

These will boil water, make steam, turn conventional turbines to make electricity which will be sent across the Straits of Gibraltar, to Europe.

No doubt, the various peoples in the areas will benefit from all this in numerous ways.  That’s for politics.

The thing is, major European govenrments and industries are all signed up now, which in the scheme of things, takes some doing.

The first step is always the hardest.

Green Oil

Algal Ponds biodiesel

In a similar way in the USA, large tracts of semi-desert are being used as test beds for algal production and it’s distillation into a usable biodiesel.

The BBC had a piece yesterday that explored the forces and conflicts at work, between the big oil businesses, the environment, people worried about jobs, etc.  Read it here: America’s energy policy dilemma

The Venus Project

Quoting the website here:

The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth’s ecosystems.

Don’t let the pictures put you off!  To my mind they remind me of Gerry Anderson’s world of Stingray & Thunderbirds, but maybe that’s what’ll happen?

The important thing is the degree of coherent thought being made, for the benefit of everyone, not just a few individuals or states.  This ties in closely with what I said here; http://strangelyperfect.tv/3821/top-banker-states-the-bleeding-obvious/

This is good, because at present, if these big technologies come to fruition, all the hot sunny places in the world, most of which are extremely poor in money and natural resources, will suddenly become everyone’s best friend, and it’s in the planning for this part of the equation that I think The Venus Project will show it’s greatest value.

Browse the website, there’s pots to see and think about!