Science Special News

[Rasputin]

A guide to UFO sightings in Ireland

Though little has been documented of UFO phenomena in Ireland before now, a new book by two leading Irish UFOlogists claims the country is a hotbed of sightings and unexplained aerial phenomena. Conspiracy of Silence: UFOs in Ireland is a collaborative text by Dermot Butler and Carl Nally, founding members of UFO and Paranormal Research Ireland, based on eyewitness accounts collected by the group over two decades. The pair are keen to point out in the introduction that UFOs are merely unidentified flying objects, and recommend that readers make up their own minds as to whether these phenomena can be attributed to otherworldly visitations. Given their background in UFO research, the authors can hardly be in a position to offer an objective account of sightings and incidents in Ireland, nor do they pretend to, instead proffering dozens of accounts of sightings and invoking everyone from the Tuatha De Danann to the United Nations in their evidence. Some accounts in the book provide an interesting argument for the existence of UFOs, not least the descriptions of aerial encounters provided by pilots, and the work of an American doctor who removed unidentifiable objects from the bodies of people who claimed to have been abducted.

Most UFO sightings occur in an area which arcs from north of Dublin Airport westwards towards Sligo and Roscommon — reports of a UFO crash in Roscommon in 1996 are pivotal in their argument that the Government and/or others are covering up the UFO visitations to Ireland — with Newgrange experiencing more sightings than any other part of the country. Galway may be far removed from the country’s UFO epicentre but has not been completely ignored by intergalactic visitors; a glowing moon-shaped object was spotted at Abbeyknockmoy in 1991, and in one very strange incident a man reported watching aliens land on an island off the west coast and collected plant samples from the beach back in 1945.

[Rasputin]

Faith full of folly

Submitted by Atlantis Rises- Pamela Bone: My parents were atheists, but whenever a school form required an answer about our religious denomination, my mother would tick "Presbyterian", because "that's what you're supposed to be". This aura of respectability around religion - oddly - still exists; and that is why whatever last week's census shows about the extent of religious belief in Australia, it is almost certain to be an overestimate.Even so, the percentage claiming no religion is likely to be higher than it was in the 2001 census, when it was a little more than one-fourth, because the numbers of non-believers have been growing steadily since 1971. (I use the term non-believers for convenience; because people don't believe in God it doesn't mean they don't believe in anything.) Even better news is the finding of a new survey that only 48per cent of young Australians (those born between 1976 and 1990) believe in God, though the result is unlikely to be viewed as good news by the Catholic University and the Christian Research Association, which, together with Monash University, commissioned the survey. Despite the general view that religious belief is on the rise everywhere, the picture around the world is that in nearly all prosperous liberal democracies, atheism is strong.

In Britain, about 44 per cent claim no religion; in France it is 48 per cent; in Canada, 30 per cent; in Sweden, surveys have put the proportion of those who describe themselves as agnostic or atheist at between 46 per cent and 85 per cent. Even in the most religious of Western countries, the US, a 2004 Pew Forum survey found 16 per cent of Americans had no religious affiliation. It is likely that globally the proportion of people who believe in God is growing because of the simple demographic fact that countries with high rates of religious belief also have high fertility rates. In Lebanon, those claiming no religion made up less than 3per cent of the population. In Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq, they are less than 1 per cent. In Nigeria, according to a 2004 poll for the BBC, 100 per cent of the population believed in God or a higher being.

[Rasputin]

Why are we so scared of snakes?

Hollywood plays upon our deepest fears with the release of "Snakes on a Plane." The title alone may cause some to hyperventilate.In the creature feature, which is debuting at Macon's Regal Rivergate 14 and AmStar Cinemas 16 with 10 p.m. screenings Thursday, Samuel L. Jackson is an FBI agent who must foil the plot of a ruthless assassin. The killer tries to dispatch a witness in protective custody by unleashing hundreds of lethal snakes inside a commercial airliner over the Pacific Ocean. It goes without saying this is a must-"not"-see film for the squeamish, and particularly those doubly afflicted by the fear of snakes and a fear of flying.Live snakes don't belong on passenger jets, or in lots of other places.Being wedged into a center seat on a long flight is itself a nightmare. Imagine also being bitten by a snake, or worse, consumed by one. (Last month a 12-foot Burmese python in Idaho made national news when it swallowed an entire queen-size electric blanket, control box and all. Thankfully, it left the headboard, bed frame, box springs and mattress.)

According to a Harris Poll, snakes top the list of our most common fears."It may be one of the genetic fears," says Clark Vinson, director of the Phobia Center of Dallas-Fort Worth. "Or maybe people get conditioned at an early age. But we react to snakes. There seems to be an automatic response."Snakes slither. They are silent. Their expression never changes. They have no differentiated body parts.

[Rasputin]

"Major crisis" predicted for natural world

The world faces a "major crisis" as growing numbers of animals and plants disappear, a blue-ribbon panel of scientific experts warned yesterday. "Virtually all aspects of biodiversity are in steep decline and a large number of populations and species are likely to become extinct in this century," states the report in the British journal Nature. The issue is crucial, says Robert Watson, the World Bank's chief scientist and one of 19 experts from 13 countries, including Canada, who endorsed the report. At risk are "a whole range of services that we may not be aware of" though they are essential for human survival. They include food, medicines, fibre for construction and clothing, as well as purification of air and water, climate regulation, and control of pests and diseases. Despite its importance, there is no agreement among nations on even the modest action proposed by the scientists: creation of an international group to assess and provide information about the problem, Watson said in an interview from Washington. Some crucial areas for plants and animals have been protected over the past few decades, but "they contain only a small fraction of the world's (land-based) species and ecosystems, and the situation in the oceans is even worse," the report states. "The forces that push towards biodiversity loss globally are much stronger than the conservation gains," it adds. Population growth and expansion of such industries as farming and logging destroy forests — three-quarters of Earth's original tree cover is gone — as well as wetlands, grasslands and other important habitat, it notes. Globalization and carelessness spread invasive species that wipe out local populations. Climate change is beginning to take a toll.

We're losing not only species, but also the genetic variety within them that helps them to adapt to environmental changes. As a result, the report states: "Some 12 per cent of all bird species, 23 per cent of mammals, 25 per cent of pine and other conifer trees, 32 per cent of amphibians and 52 per cent of cycads (ancient tropical plants) are currently threatened with extinction, and climate change alone might commit an additional 15 to 37 per cent ... to premature extinction within the next 50 years."

[Rasputin]

Contact: What happens if a signal is found

If you chanced to be among the handful of visitors wandering the lava-strewn landscape of northeastern California on July 18, 2006, you might have seen the preamble to what could be a very giant leap for mankind. In the dusty pastures edging the town of Hat Creek, in the northern shadow of moldering Mt. Lassen, ten antennas revved their motors, and panned the sky. They were making their debut as the first working elements of the Allen Telescope Array.This new instrument which—when completed—will brandish 350 antennas, can speed up the search for signals from other societies by hundreds of times and more. Compared to earlier efforts, it will turn SETI on its metal ear. We’re not talking about the difference between a Lexus and a Toyota; we’re talking about the difference between a Lexus and an oxcart.In the next two dozen years, the Allen Telescope Array will parse the nearest thousand light-years of space. If there are other occupants of this galactic neighborhood, we could turn up a signal.But then what? Would the discovery be put under wraps, either voluntarily or by government edict? If we found a signal, would you know?This is among the most commonly asked questions of SETI: what happens in case of a detection. Conditioned by television, movies, and a penchant for expecting conspiracy, a lot of people think that the truth would not be out there. They believe it entirely reasonable to expect that the military, worried that the aliens will threaten the planet, would surround the telescope with chain link, and redirect the data stream to the Pentagon. Another common assumption is that the government, figuring that the citizenry will lose its cool, stampede the streets, and provoke a seismic collapse of polite society, will keep the discovery under wraps.

Some even venture the thought that SETI scientists, for unspecified (and hard to imagine) reasons, would deprive themselves of future funding and the Nobel Prize by squirreling away their find.Not a chance. And the reason I say that is, first and foremost, because the handful of researchers doing SETI experiments are intensely keen to find treasure, not to bury it. But even if you don’t respect the integrity of the scientists, even if you think these dedicated folks have motives that are secret and suspect, then you should at least look at the process. Frankly, secrecy is ruled out by how the experiment is done.

[Rasputin]

My night with the devil worshippers

Ken Korczak: I want to tell you about a bizarre night many years ago when I accidentally found myself at a gathering of Satan worshippers. It was one of the freakiest nights of my life -- and I swear this story is 100 percent true. It happened about 27 years ago. I was a young man of 19 or 20, and I was out partying with some friends. We were at a keg party at someone’s cabin in a remote corner of northern Minnesota. For the record, in those days, I was a total nondrinker, but I didn’t mind hanging out with my pals who were swilling down beer like the Apocalypse was scheduled for the next morning. One of my buddies, whom I’ll call Sparky, suggested we go to another party he heard about about 20 miles away -- in an even more remote location of the northern woods near the Canadian border. So I jumped into the car with him and another friend, whom I’ll call Bucky. I wasn’t driving, despite being the only one sober. Ah, youth.

It was a dark night. The stars and moon were obscured by moldy low, clouds. As we drove through the woods, the pine trees which hugged closely to either side of the rode looked like a jagged wall of shadowy sentinels guarding the exit ramp to Hell. We eventually turned up a long, narrow graveled driveway that opened into a wide yard of a place that had once been a small country church. The church was an ancient structure made of locally quarried granite stone. But it was no longer a church. Someone had clearly converted it into a home. There was a large campfire burning, almost a bonfire, out in the front yard. I immediately knew something weird was going on because around the fire were sitting about 15 people dressed in Druid-style hooded robes. I could see other shadowy figures milling about in the yard, moving in and out of the flickering firelight.

We got out of the car. Sparky and Bucky were totally baked. They had been slamming whisky shots on the ride over. We walked toward the hooded people around the campfire, and a I felt a swarm of cold spiders run up and down my spine because the hooded figures were chanting in some strange language while rocking back and fourth. My first thought was: “Let’s get out of here.” But my two drunk friends were already approaching the circle of chanters -- and to my consternation -- Bucky went up to them and started slapping them on the backs of their heads!

I expected immediate trouble, but to my amazement, not a single one of the robed figures reacted an iota to being slapped, and quite hard, on the back of the head. They just looked into the fire as if they were oblivious to all else. I rushed over to Bucky and pulled on his arm to get him away from the group. “Bucky!” I said. “What the hell are you doing? You’re going to get us killed out here! Let’s get out of here!” His response to me was something along the lines of “go (bleep) yourself!” In the meantime, Sparky seemed to have suddenly disappeared into the night. I asked Bucky: “Where’s Sparky? He has the car keys!” Bucky’s response was: “I don’t give a damn! Let’s go check out the house.”

As we walked closer to the house, the dancing firelight revealed a large white cross hung upside down above the front door. I thought to myself: “Oh come on! Is this really happening? An inverted cross? Hooded zombies chanting around a fire? It’s all so cliché!” Of course, everyone has heard about all these aspects of devil worship, but to me, it always seemed like something out of a crummy B-horror movie. But here I was on a black night in the middle of nowhere about to enter a converted church adorned with the symbol of Satan. Once again, I want to remind my readers, I am not making even the smallest detail of this.

Listen: The last thing I wanted to do was enter that house! But Bucky had already staggered in ahead of me. I decided to follow, mostly because I hoped that Sparky had gone in there. I wanted to find him, get his car keys and get the hell out of there! Walking though those front doors was not easy. It was unnervingly dark inside. All I could see were vague outlines of what I assumed were various pieces of furniture and whatnot. But there was a dim rectangular outline of light coming from a closed door kitty-corner to my right. My idiot friend Bucky headed straight for it. I saw him open the door and plunge down the stairs which led to a basement. Against my better judgment, I followed.

Down the in the basement was a large empty room illuminated by hundreds of candles. A set of chairs were circled in the middle of the room, and sitting on each chair was an incredibly obese woman. Some of the women were just basically fat, but about half of them were enormous. Bucky had already pulled up a chair and joined this “round of mounds.” He was looking around and laughing. He was hurling insults at the women, making extremely crude references to their weight. Some of the women were wearing robes, but others were wearing normal clothing. None of whom seemed to mind Bucky's long string of fat jokes and extremely course insults, which I can't repeat here. In fact, they seemed delighted at the arrival of Bucky, who was too drunk to be really coherent about anything. They all smiled broadly and stared at Bucky the way a cobra might eye a helpless frog. The women sitting next to him put their hammy, fleshy hands on Bucky’s arms and shoulders and started rubbing his chest. This only made Bucky laugh. Then he got up and said something like, "I can see why you guys might be hungry for a man!" Of course, I am giving only a mild version of what Bucky was really saying, but let's just say his comments would not normally be heard inside a church -- well, maybe in a church with an inverted cross hung over it, but you know what I mean.

I had heard enough. I had seen enough. I walked up briskly, grabbed Bucky very roughly by his shirt collar and dragged him rudely away from the group and back up the stairs. Thankfully, none of the women followed. They just watched and laughed as I dragged Bucky out. I hustled Bucky up the stairs and out the door. I was extremely thankful to be back outside. I gave Bucky a rough shove sending him sprawling to the ground. I resisted an urge to kick him in the ribs as he lay there, laughing like an idiot. Instead, I stood over him and shouted: “Dammit -- let’s find Sparky and get the (expletive) hell out of here!”

It was clear Bucky was no help to me, so I started looking around for Sparky. As I looked back toward the group of chanters around the fire -- and was totally amazed at what I saw next!

NEXT COLUMN: KEN’S NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL WORSHIPERS GETS MUCH WEIRDER!

[Rasputin]

Ghosts created by low frequency sounds

Our story begins at a medical manufacturing facility in the midlands of Great Britain. Vic Tandy, an engineer from Coventry University, was doing research in a laboratory at the company. Tandy is an expert in computer-assisted learning. Workers at the lab told Tandy that the building was haunted, but being a reasoning man of science, he didn't believe them. At least, not at first. Late one night, when Tandy was burning the midnight oil all alone at the laboratory, he had a face-to-face encounter with the unexplained. As he sat at his desk working in the silent, desolate building, a gnawing unease began to overtake him. Although he couldn't put his finger on anything out of the ordinary, something was not right."I was sweating but cold and the feeling of depression was noticeable -- but there was also something else. It was as though something was in the room with me," Tandy said. "Then I became aware that I was being watched, and a figure slowly emerged to my left. It was indistinct and on the periphery of my vision, but it moved just as I would expect a person to. It was gray, and made no sound. The hair was standing up on the back of my neck -- I was terrified."Tandy steeled himself and turned to face the ghostly shape dead-on, but he said it immediately faded and completely disappeared. Concerned that his mind must be playing tricks on him, Tandy packed up and went home.

But in the great tradition of haunted house encounters, he didn't flee from the ghost-ridden building and swear never to return -- no sir, he came right back for more. And he got it.The morning after his weird sighting, Tandy took a break at the lab to spend some time on a hobby of his, namely the sport of fencing. He clamped a fencing foil in a vise so that he could make some adjustments on it, perhaps subconsciously thinking he might need the sword to fight off any unruly ghosts. Tandy briefly left the room, and then returned to see a phenomenal sight. The tip of the foil was vibrating intensely and continuously, for no apparent reason.The average person might have freaked out and concluded that the poltergeists were trying to go on a foil-whacking spree upside somebody's head. But not Vic Tandy, professional engineer. His first thought was that there might be low frequency sound waves coming from somewhere in the laboratory -- subsonic sounds that can be seen (in the form of surrounding vibrations) but not heard.

[Rasputin]

Bringing back the mammoth

Bodies of extinct Ice Age mammals, such as woolly mammoths, that have been frozen in permafrost for thousands of years may contain viable sperm that could be used to bring them back from the dead, scientists said yesterday. Research has indicated that mammalian sperm can survive being frozen for much longer than was previously thought, suggesting that it could potentially be recovered from species that have died out. Several well-preserved mammoth carcasses have been found in the permafrost of Siberia, and scientists estimate that there could be millions more. Last year a Canadian team demonstrated that it was possible to extract DNA from the specimens, and announced the sequencing of about 1 per cent of the genome of a mammoth that died about 27,000 years ago. With access to the mammoth’s genetic code, and with frozen sperm recovered from testes, it may be possible to resurrect an animal that is very similar to a mammoth. The mammoth is a close genetic cousin of the modern Asian elephant, and scientists think that the two may be capable of interbreeding. The frozen mammoth sperm could be injected into elephant eggs, producing offspring that would be 50 per cent mammoth.

The suggestion that it may be possible to recreate an animal that is at least part-mammoth has emerged from a study of mice by Japanese, British and American scientists. While many types of mammalian sperm, including that of humans, can be preserved by freezing, mouse sperm is vulnerable to damage that can limit its ability to fertilise eggs when it is thawed. A team led by Narumi Ogonuki of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research Bioresource Centre in Tsukuba, central Japan, has demonstrated that sperm better survives freezing if testes, or whole mouse bodies, are frozen. Even sperm taken from mouse bodies that had been frozen 15 years ago was capable of fertilising mouse eggs and producing pups, the researchers found. The work has technical implications for the breeding of laboratory mice for medical research, but it also shows in principle that mammalian sperm can survive in a body that has been frozen for several years.

[Rasputin]

What exactly are UFOs ?

T . Stokes: Although I was interested from early on about the paranormal, I came late to the subject of U.F.O.’s because I just could not believe it. This closed mindedness robbed me of some great sightings over the years seen by colleagues.Some years ago a senior member of the American embassy tipped off a friend and I, where and when to look in the sky, and from that moment what I saw had me entranced.I have developed over many years my own technique for sky-watching. Pick a clear night.

(1) Borrow a friends garden with a clear view of the sky, not too many buildings trees or light pollution.
(2) Put out a groundsheet and lay on your back facing up and in a warm sleeping bag, face the sky centre.
(3) The best times are during the yearly meteorite showers the Persids and the Leonids, that is around August and November, because they will help keep your attention going.

A friend to talk to helps as well, you will soon learn the difference between a satellite, an aeroplane, shooting star or whatever.You may have to wait every night for a week, then see 3 in one night, It is just patience.I and many other people have seen these strange craft, and are curious as to what they are, official explanations consist of nonsensical statements such as reflected light, Venus in the night sky, to Japanese fishing boats etc, a senior U.S.A.F official told me this ridicule is to deter people,but this only means they are not reported.Experts fall basically into 3 categories, some claim they are extra-terrestrial visitors, some say they are from our future, and some say they are from the earths centre, and some-all of the above ! Winston Churchill during one of his madness phases in W.W.IIDiscussed whether the Germans could have a base at the earths centre.!I have seen 2 craft up close, one in broad daylight but never any alien beings,and it is only by “self experiencing” we can really believe.One of the most interesting accounts I heard was from an American Vietnam veteran, who said that one night in Vietnam, the U.S. soldiers camps alarm system went mad, lights and sirens going all over, men were running from all directions assuming an attack, when overhead a huge craft drifted across in silence, very low with lights ablaze.

When suddenly a lot of Vietcong fighters sneaking up on the base, on seeing the massive U.F.O ran in panic right through the camps protective minefield, to their deaths.It appeared to my informant that the U.S servicemen were afraid it was some sort of a Vietcong attack, and the commies thought it was some sort of an American deterrent.Next morning the large numbers of personnel on the base, and many were witnesses, were told the strange happening had to be kept secret.Any film was confiscated except one roll that was held back by a camp worker.Now this man was not bothered whether I believed the story or not, But on balance I think I do, because the story is typical of others that have passed the various tests.But get out there and sky-look for yourself.

[Rasputin]

David Copperfield claims fountain of youth

The man who made the Statue of Liberty appear to vanish may soon claim to do the same for unsightly bags and wrinkles. Master illusionist David Copperfield says he has found the "Fountain of Youth" in the southern Bahamas, amid a cluster of four tiny islands he recently bought for $50 million (26.4 million pounds).One of his islands in the Exuma chain, Musha Cay, is a private resort that rents for up to $300,000 a week and the other islands serve as buffers to keep prying eyes away from celebrity guests on the white sand beaches.Copperfield is coy about his reasons for the Fountain of Youth claim, but the man best known for entertaining with grand deception insists his archipelago also contains the legendary waters that bestow perpetual youth. Seriously."I've discovered a true phenomenon," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"You can take dead leaves, they come in contact with the water, they become full of life again. ... Bugs or insects that are near death, come in contact with the water, they'll fly away. It's an amazing thing, very, very exciting."Copperfield, who turns 50 next month, said he had hired biologists and geologists to examine its potential effect on humans but he's not inviting visitors to swim in or drink from it just yet.

[Rasputin]

Ancient pyramids found in Ukraine

Gigantic pyramids, very similar to Egyptian ones, have recently been discovered in Luganshchina. Scientists conclude that five thousand years ago, a highly developed civilization lived on the territory of modern Ukraine. This unusually important find was noticed just two years ago by school-children from an archeology camp. So far, only the top sections of the huge constructions have been uncovered and scientists say that it will take a whole decade to fully clean the soil off the pyramids. In connection with this, under the authority of the Department of Tourism and Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Luganskaya regional administration, a hotel will be built next to the pyramids and the excavation site will become an open air museum. There is no gold or any kind of treasure in the pyramids; therefore the archeologists are not afraid of vandals.

However, the pyramids themselves are extremely valuable, as scientists believe that a detailed investigation into these constructions may radically change our historical understanding of ancient Europe.

[Rasputin]

Maine mystery creature is 'just a dog'

An expert who examined the remains of a mystery creature believes it was a wild dog. But that hasn't stopped runaway speculation about the beast and whether it was responsible for mauling dogs and frightening residents. Loren Coleman, a Portland author and cryptozoologist, said he didn't know for sure what the animal was based on his examination of its remains Wednesday."I think this dead animal is a chow or chow-mix, a relatively small dog, that was feral, which is unusual for that area," he told the Sun Journal newspaper. He noted, however, that his was only an educated guess based on the findings so far.State wildlife biologists and local animal control officers declined to go to Turner to examine the remains of the animal, which was found Saturday along Route 4. It was apparently hit by a car while chasing a cat.Without any official findings, the creature obtained near-mythical status as word spread in the media and on the Internet.Some say it's simply a dog. Others say it's a goat-sheep hybrid.

Still others weighed in that the creature may have been a Tasmanian devil, a dingo, a wolf or coyote. Some of the more outlandish theories involve mutations and extraterrestrials.People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods."It's crazy. Everybody's talking about it. We sold out of newspapers by 9 this morning," said Debi Bodwell, who was at work at Schrep's Corner Store in Turner. "Everybody is mad because the game wardens haven't come out to take a look at it."By the time Coleman arrived on Wednesday there wasn't much left. The internal organs and skull were gone. All that was left were some bones and skin.

[Rasputin]

Grandmother’s healing magic & AIDS

Kathleen Meadows: I’ve been following CBC’s coverage of the International Conference on AIDS in Toronto this past week. It’s rather like taking a tablespoon of cod liver oil every day…something my own grandmother believed was good for whatever ailed you. She used to say, “The things in life that are the best for you taste the worst”. I don’t know many women who could follow the events of this conference without weeping. I couldn’t. I feel the sharpness of tears behind my eyes while writing this article. Maybe I will always weep about AIDS, women, children, poverty, and indifference. I confess and ask Grandmother for forgiveness, when at one especially horrifying segment I ran out of the room. It was when a young researcher spoke of their findings as to why Africa suffers a pervasive, chronic and rampant rape of babies, and young female children.

The researchers discovered that one of the most significant contributing factors was a belief that having sex with a virgin will cure a man of AIDS. Literally thousands of innocent baby girls are raped and given the virus based on this belief. This is not a new myth. Throughout Victorian times with the advent of syphilis, this was also widely practiced. Centuries of horror fill my soul whenever I think of it. I can only let tiny slivers of this knowledge to penetrate my psyche. Slowly, very slowly.I’ve been an unabashed, simpering fan of Stephen Lewis and his wife, Michelle Lansbury, for almost thirty years. This is a couple who can teach us how to love so deeply, so expansively, that it just keeps extending its reach to more and more people around the world! Indeed their love is a community healing medicine that will be told for generations to come. Of course, here is heart-full Stephen Lewis spearheading this conference where of all things, Grandmothers solidly constellate the focus, theme and tribute of the whole affair. This AIDS conference brings our attention again and again to the Grandmothers in Africa who are shouldering the whole responsibility for all the children who have lost their parents to AIDS. Thousands of Grandmothers who have lost most of their own children to AIDS; who nurture and nurse their grandchildren 50% of whom have AIDS in deplorable poverty. Aging women who are often suffer the ravages of this disease themselves. On top of everything they feel, and do, these Grandmothers worry daily who will take over their task when this disease ultimately takes them too. “Who will feed, educate and nurse my grandbabies when I’m gone?”, cry the Grandmothers. Can we ignore their pleas-e? Can we afford to?In the Hindu faith, it is believed that we are living in the time of “Kali”. Kali, Crone and Goddess of Darkness, is the primal female force of the universe. It is said that when Kali emerged, she filled the cosmos with a roar. She destroys in order to create anew. She is the Shaman and Healer. The great Goddess of death, and re-birth. The Great Grandmother of us all.The time is upon us humans to integrate the power of the Dark Goddess into the world of the living, restoring wholeness to the original Trinity.

Now The Crone returns as the comforting Mother in the endless round of birth, death, and rebirth. We are living in the time of Grandmother. Her self sacrifice is bald and wise, her message is without artifice or frill, and her strength is like the earth.The Crone, the third stage in the woman’s sacred trinity is ascending, and we should rejoice. She has been denigrated for thousands of years as an unproductive hag, a dried up old husk of womanhood, a burden and most denigrated creature. She represents has-been womanhood – she holds her menstrual blood within, and according to patriarchy this is what drives her to madness. Kathleen Meadows: In a matriarchal culture, the Crone’s withheld menstrual blood makes her powerful, wise, and magical. It is the bearer of her secrets to healing magic and reconstitutes her light and energy ten fold.So although I weep and listen to the Grandmothers tell their stories to the audience and camera, I rejoice too. For to me, the Grandmother’s stories are the Song of Her Return. Who has the strength and magic to heal this crazy, war-mongering, money grubbing world? Surprise! Grandma, that’s Who.

© Kathleen Meadows, M.A. Certified Psychic and Tarot Grandmaster

https://www.TarotbyKathleen.com

[Rasputin]

Exhibit eyes record for 2-headed animals

Officials of the World Aquarium at the City Museum subscribe wholeheartedly to the maxim that two heads are better than one. If they're on the same animal, that is.Aquarium officials hope an exhibit that opens next week and runs through Sept. 5 will prompt the creation of a Guinness World Record for the most two-headed animals on display.So far, the aquarium has lined up 10 two-headed snakes and turtles, including "We," the aquarium's rare albino two-headed rat snake. The other nine animals are owned by Fred Lally of West Fork, Ark.And if a local reptile dealer with a two-headed snake adds his to the exhibit, the head count would rise to 22. "It should be a huge two-headed party," aquarium president Leonard Sonnenschein said Tuesday.Sonnenschein hopes two of the guests will hit it off. He would like to mate one of Lally's snakes, a two-headed albino rat snake named "Golden Girls," with We. "There are no guarantees," he said, "but it's very likely these two could mate and have babies."The aquarium has been trying to breed We since failing to sell the snake online in January. Officials had hoped it would bring $150,000, but there were no bidders and two subsequent offers were under $50,000.There's a big hitch, though: Officials aren't sure whether We is male, female or a bit of both.

Sonnenschein believes the snake could be hermaphroditic, with two snakes sharing one body. However, a surgical procedure earlier this year found that We could be female.Sonnenschein said Golden Girls is thicker, leading to speculation that it could be male.Even if the exhibit fails to produce another two-headed snake, Sonnenschein said Guinness is interested in the proposal and has created a category dubbed "Largest Exhibit of Two-headed Animals."Lally wouldn't mind being part of a record-breaking exhibit, either. That would boost the prestige of his own collection, which besides Golden Girls also includes a two-headed western diamondback rattlesnake named "Double Trouble" and seven two-headed red ear slider turtles: Wild Ones, Ms. Hazel, Zip & Pip, Lyndon, Crooked Shell, Short Neck and Baby Gill.

[Rasputin]

Steorn’s free energy technology challenge

Steorn, an Irish technology development company, has issued a challenge to the global scientific community to test Steorn’s free energy technology and publish the findings. Steorn’s technology is based on the interaction of magnetic fields and allows the production of clean, free and constant energy. The technology can be applied to virtually all devices requiring energy, from cellular phones to cars.Steorn has placed an advertisement in The Economist this week to attract the attention of the world’s leading scientists working in the field of experimental physics. From all the scientists who accept Steorn’s challenge, twelve will be invited to take part in a rigorous testing exercise to prove that Steorn’s technology creates free energy. The results will be published worldwide.Sean McCarthy, CEO of Steorn, commented: “During the years of its development, our technology has been validated by various independent scientists and engineers. We are now seeking twelve of the most qualified and most cynical from the world’s scientific community to form an independent jury, test the technology in independent laboratories and publish their findings.

“We are under no illusions that there will be a lot of cynicism out there about our proposition, as it currently challenges one of the basic principles of physics. However, the implications of our technology go far beyond scientific curiosity: addressing many urgent global needs including security of energy supply and zero emission energy production. In order for these benefits to be achieved, we need the public validation and endorsement of the scientific community”.“We’re playing our part in making that happen by throwing down the gauntlet with today’s announcement – now it’s over to the scientists to ensure that the real potential and benefits of our technology can be realised.”