Everything at the Membrane Domain
JAVA — “Based on verified data, over 76,000 people have been evacuated from five cities around the volcano … and about 200,000 people were affected,” National Disaster Mitigation Agency spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said.
The ash has interrupted air travel in the entire region. Fist-size rocks spewed down on rooftops. The largest problem is supplying masks so residents can breathe.
EBON ATOLL — A Mexican man was found washed ashore in his small fiberglass boat on a remote Pacific Ocean island. Since he only speaks Spanish, he has been communicating by drawing pictures. It appears he left Mexico in September of 2012 with a companion on a trip to El Salvador. His companion died several months ago.
His name is Jose Ivan. He survived by eating fish, birds and turtles. When there was not enough rain for drinking water, he would drink turtle blood. All Jose was wearing was a tattered pair of underwear. He had long hair and beard. At first, he could not walk on his own, but the locals fed and cared for him. Now, he is drinking coffee, walking around, and even making jokes.
Since we began studying global warming, there has been one thing all scientists could agree on — man-made warming of the Earth will cause an increase in extreme weather events.
We are not saying that the Earth’s temperature is just going to rise. In general, as energy is added to a system, the fluctuations in the system increase. So, we expect more storms, more droughts, more wildfires, more floods, more fluctuations of all kinds. What we are saying is that weather conditions will become more volatile due to the impact of humans. — Sidd Mukherjee & Daniel Brouse (2004)
Sorry to say, the ocean temperature is rising more rapidly than scientist had predicted. Because of the way the Earth is warming, island nations are feeling the heat. In fact, 2013 was the warmest year on record in Australia.
AUSTRALIA — Data collected and analyzed by the Bureau of Meteorology show that 2013 was Australia’s warmest year on record while rainfall was slightly below average nationally.
2013 was Australia’s warmest year since records began in 1910. Mean temperatures across Australia have generally been well above average since September 2012. Long periods of warmer-than-average days have been common, with a distinct lack of cold weather. Nights have also been warmer than average, but less so than days.
The Australian area-averaged mean temperature for 2013 was +1.20 °C above the 1961–1990 average. Maximum temperatures were +1.45 °C above average, and minimum temperatures +0.94 °C above average. Temperatures were above average across nearly all of Australia for maximum, mean and minimum temperatures, with large areas of inland and southern Australia experiencing the highest on record for each.
Australia has experienced just one cooler-than-average year (2011) in the last decade. The 10-year mean temperature for 2004–2013 was 0.50 °C above average, the equal-highest on record. Averages for each of the ten-year periods from 1995–2004 to 2004–2013 have been amongst the top ten records.
The Australian mean rainfall total for 2013 was 428 mm (37 mm below the long-term average of 465 mm). In comparison with rainfall in all years since 1900, 2013 sits close to the median or mid-point of historical observations.
Annual rainfall was below average across a large region of the inland east centered on western Queensland and extending into northern South Australia and the Northern Territory. Rainfall was above average over parts of the Pilbara and the south coast of Western Australia, as well as along the east coast and northern Tasmania.
SOUTH SUDAN, AFRICA — A group of armed militants is marching to fight in the growing crisis in South Sudan. The White Army is named from the white ash used to cover their bodies. They are a group of disgruntled young and under-employed men.
The Washington Post reports, “Twenty-five thousand young men who make up a tribal militia known as the “White Army” are marching toward a contested state capital in South Sudan, an official said Saturday, dimming hopes for a cease-fire.”
However, the BBC reports that the group is not made up of a tribe or ethnic group.
Wikipedia defines the White Army as follows: The Nuer White Army, sometimes decapitalised as the “white army”, is a semi-official name for a militant organisation formed by the Nuer people of central and eastern Greater Upper Nile in modern-day South Sudan as early as 1991. According to the Small Arms Survey, it arose from the 1991 schism within the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) for the dual purpose of defending Nuer cattle herds from neighbouring groups and fighting in the Second Sudanese Civil War between the SPLM/A and the Sudanese government.
The White Army was so named due to the Nuer practice of smearing one’s skin with a light-coloured ash as a protection against biting insects, according to a Small Arms Survey report published in June 2007, though other sources contend the name was merely intended to draw a distinction between the Nuer militia and the Sudan Armed Forces.
The BBC reports they don’t know exactly why the White Army is on the move at this time. They report, “Thousands of youths loyal to South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar are marching on the strategic town of Bor, according to government sources.
Government troops are currently in control of Bor, the capital of Jonglei state they had taken from the rebels.
The government has offered to cease hostilities, but an army spokesman told the BBC that its forces were still battling over oilfields in the north.
At least 1,000 people have died since fighting broke out earlier this month.
More than 121,600 are believed to have fled their homes.
What began as a power struggle between Mr Machar and President Salva Kiir has taken on overtones of a tribal conflict. The Dinka, to which Mr Kiir belongs, are pitted against the Nuer, from which Mr Machar hails.
The White Army is a name that inspires fear in South Sudan.
This loose grouping of armed youth from the Nuer ethnic group was at least partly responsible for the 1991 Bor massacre, in which at least 2,000 people were killed. Then, the White Army fought alongside Riek Machar, who had split away from the main southern Sudanese rebel group fighting Khartoum.
In 2011 and 2012 a new incarnation of the White Army went on the rampage, killing hundreds of civilians from the Murle ethnic group. At the time, Mr Machar was vice president – and although he travelled to meet them, he was unable to stop their advance.
Now the South Sudanese government says thousands of White Army members are marching on Bor – under Mr Machar’s command. This is an explosive claim – particularly as Mr Machar is under international pressure to stop fighting and begin negotiations by the end of the year.
Tens of thousands of civilians have sought refuge in UN camps and reinforcements have been arriving to give them extra protection.
Joe Contreras, a spokesman for the UN Mission in South Sudan, told the BBC World Service Newshour programme that the reported advance of the armed youths was a dangerous development.”
EARTH — The space race continues. Iran claims to have successfully sent its second monkey into space. “In total, this is the 2nd monkey sent into space and returned in perfect health to Iran. I congratulate the Leader, scientists and the nation,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
At the same time, China became the third country to land a rocket on the moon. “It’s still a significant technological challenge to land on another world,” said Peter Bond, consultant. “Especially somewhere like the moon, which doesn’t have an atmosphere so you can’t use parachutes or anything like that. You have to use rocket motors for the descent and you have to make sure you go down at the right angle and the right rate of descent and you don’t end up in a crater on top of a large rock.”
The United Nations’ aviation agency (International Civil Aviation Organization) approved the initial steps in implementing a worldwide tax on greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes. If the proposal gets accepted, it would take effect in 2022.
The European Union had been seeking a more robust agreement:
“While we would have liked more countries to accept our regional scheme, progress was made overall,” the EU’s Climate Change Commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, said in a statement. “We will now factor this in when, together with the member states and the European Parliament, we decide on the way forward with the EU ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme).”
At least the United Nations initiative would invoke the first global effort to reduce greenhouse gases and hopefully pave the way for reductions in other industries.
Does the impending war with Syria leave you with a feeling of deja vu? Perhaps it is because we are about to repeat our mistake.
In the 1980’s, Russia was fighting Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. The CIA aided Al-Qaeda:
“During the anti-Soviet jihad Bin Laden and his fighters received American and Saudi funding. Some analysts believe Bin Laden himself had security training from the CIA.” — Wikipedia
Now, the U.S. wants to assist Al-Qaeda rebels in Syria despite opposition from Russia.
RELATED ARTICLE:
Is Saudi Arabia linked to al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden?
There are protests going on around the world in Brazil, Turkey and Egypt. Many thousands of people are rising up against their governments.
In Brazil, it started as a protest against a 10% rise in the bus fare. Then, it turned into hundreds of thousands of people protesting the World Cup, Olympics and political corruption.
On the anniversary of the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt, protestors are protesting the new government and are calling for new elections. The current politicians are thought to be too extreme in their religious views.
Similarly in Turkey, the population is upset over the religious extremism of the government.
Now Brazil has hit turbulence. Since the middle of June, its biggest cities have been convulsed by rolling street protests. The initial spark was a 9¢ rise in bus fares, but the protests have since become wider, more clamorous expressions of anti-establishment anger. The day after the government backed down on the bus fare hike, 1 million demonstrators turned out in more than 100 cities to voice frustration with corruption, the inefficiency of the health-care and public transport systems, and runaway costs of hosting the World Cup. Some protests have turned violent, with mobs vandalizing banks and attempting to break into the Ministry of Foreign Relations. Police responded with pepper spray and rubber bullets. The uprising is Brazil’s biggest since 1992, when a student revolt against then-President Fernando Collor de Mello led to his resignation. — Business Week
Tens of thousands of opponents of Egypt’s Islamist president massed in Cairo’s Tahrir Square and in cities around the country Sunday, launching an all-out push to force Mohammed Morsi from office on the one-year anniversary of his inauguration. Fears of violence were high, with Morsi’s Islamist supporters vowing to defend him. — CBS News
Protests started in Turkey on 28 May 2013. The protests were sparked by outrage at a brutal eviction of a sit-in at Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park protesting the park’s demolition. Subsequently, supporting protests and strikes took place across Turkey protesting a wide range of concerns, at the core of which were issues of freedom of the press, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the government’s encroachment on Turkey’s secularism. — Wikipedia
Flamenco is a genre of music (song and dance) from Andalusia, Spain. The style includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and palmas (handclaps).
Song and Video Inspired by Flash Mob Flamenco
Lately, protestors have incorporated Flamenco into flash mob demonstrations. Following are some headlines:
“Spanish Bank Protested By Flash Mob Of Flamenco Dancers – Rumba Rave “banquero” en el Banco de Santander”
“In the last couple of years, flamenco has found its footing in flash mobs. In September, the closing ceremony of the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla was preluded by a flash mob set to a four-minute piece choreographed by Rafaela Carrasco and performed to Fernando Terromoto’s “Nadie lo sepá.” Dancers outside Seville also learned the steps from Carrasco’s online video and staged simultaneous flash mobs in Rome, Budapest, London, and Milan.”
“A flamenco flash mob dance in front of the Alamo. The 20 flamenco dancers were from San Antonio and Austin, Texas. They danced for 15 minutes and disappeared.”
“Angry demonstrations are one thing but the irate in Spain are stomping their Flamenco heels and robbing supermarkets to give to the poor.”