This grand cycle of evolution will culminate
winter solstice, December 21, 2012 AD.
This time we are now in has been called "The Time of Trial on Earth," "Judgement Day," "The Time of Great Purification," "The End of this Creation," "The Quickening," "The End of Time as We Know It," "The Shift of the Ages." It is foretold that the completion of the Precession brings regeneration of Earth, offering awakening to all open, willing hearts. Many peoples spoke of these last days of the Great Cycle, including the: Maya, Hopi, Egyptians, Kabbalists, Essenes, Qero elders of Peru, Navajo, Cherokee, Apache, Iroquois confederacy, Dogon Tribe, and Aborigines.
As avid stargazers, the ancient Maya were keen to an astrological cycle we call the Precession of the Equinoxes. This is close to a 26,000 year cycle in which Earth transits through each of the 12 signs of the zodiac for about 2152 years each. Each of these astrological ages represents one month of the grand, Cosmic Year. Sumerians, Tibetans, Egyptians, Cherokees, Hopi, and Mayans refer to this same 26,000 year cycle in their mystical belief systems and each have developed calendars based on this great cycle.
The Maya messengers, reknowned for their architectural, artistic, mathematical and scientific achievements, left a calling card as a series of super-human sized stone monuments and pyramids with precise calendrical computations. Planted with great intention, these dates were left to ensure that future generations would be alerted to the coming end point of this great 26,000 year cycle. A cycle which corresponds also to a 26,000 year relationship of our Sun orbiting Alcyone, the central star of the 7 Sisters Pleiades constellation. According to the Maya, the "future" which lies beyond this end date is literally "a new world age" - "a new creation."
The 26,000 year cycle of the Homo Sapien's evolution and development is mirrored by the 260-day cycle of human gestation. Collective humanity is right now maturing into the being we have long been encoded to be. As with any labor, it is not the mother, or the baby, who is in charge - it is the primal process of Birth itself unfolding its own destiny.
Thus the December 21, 2012 AD is not the day where all of the sudden a light switch will flip on and everything will change, rather, we are NOW in the process of this transition from one World Age to the next. The changes are underway and will continue steadily accelerating as we head towards the culminating date!
The ancient Maya understood this 26,000 year cycle to be specifically composed of 5 lesser cycles, each 5,125 years each. Each of these 5 cycles was considered its own World Age or Creation Cycle. As depicted on the familiar, circular MesoAmerican Sun Stone, (often called the Aztec Calendar) each Creation Cycle is said to have been ruled and destroyed by one of 5 elements. Specifically, 4 Jaguar, 4 Wind, 4 Rain, 4 Water.
Our present great cycle (3113 B.C. - 2012 A.D.) is called the Age of the Fifth Sun. This time period is ruled by 4 Earth. This fifth age is the synthesis of the previous four. 4 Earth (called Caban in the Maya language and Ollin in Aztec) has several meanings, including: movement, shift, evolution, earthquake, navigation, synchronicity, clue tracking, turtle. In the Maya language, the word "ol" of ollin means consciousness.
In Mayan calendrics, the initial date that Earth entered the Fifth World was August 13, 3113 BC, written in Mayan long count notation as 13.0.0.0.0. Every day from that point was reckoned by the number of days passed since the event of this cosmic beginning point.
As Dr. Jose Arguelles writes in "Time and The Technosphere" -
"August 13, 3113 BC is as precise and accurate as one can get for a beginning of history: the first Egyptian dynasty is dated to ca 3100 BC; the first 'city,' Uruk, in Mesopotamia, also ca 3100 BC; the Hindu Kali Yuga, 3102 BC; and most interestingly, the division of time into 24 hours of 60 minutes each and each minute into 60 seconds [and the division of the circle into 360 degrees], also around 3100 BC, in Sumeria. If the beginning of history was so accurately placed, then must not the end of history, December 21, 2012 also be as accurate?"
(Sidenote: Regarding the World Age cycle we are closing in 2012 and the new World Age cycle to dawn, there are varying cosmologies as to whether we are closing the Fifth World and entering the Sixth, or closing the Fourth World and entering the Fifth. For example, In the perspective of the living Maya Timekeepers of Guatemala, calendrically speaking, each element has a 5,125 year cycle. They teach that we have been through fire, earth, air and water already. The next cycle (beginning Dec 21, 2012) will be ether - the Fifth Age - the Age of Center. Likewise, the Hopi teach we are closing the Fourth World of Destruction, and preparing to begin the Fifth World of Peace. Regardless of the title given, what is clear is that we are on poised on the brink of a World Age Rebirth!)
Within the 5,125 year cycle lies 13 smaller cycles, known as the "13 Baktun Count," or the "long count." Each baktun cycle is 394 years long, or 144,000 days. Each baktun was its own historical epoch or Age within the Great Creation Cycle, carrying a specific destiny for the evolution of those who incarnated in each baktun. For example, almost all of the Mayan inscriptions were seeded precisely during Baktun 9 (435-830 AD). This era is known as the time of the Classic Maya. After this point, around 830 A.D., the great Mayan centers were abandoned and their thriving culture mysteriously disappeared. To this day, no one can verify or prove why they left or where they went.
The Classic Maya of Baktun 9 were of a specific destiny, distinct from Maya of other times. As Dr. Jose Arguelles writes, "In 830 A.D. the engineering team departed back to space, back to the other dimensions from which the Maya keep their watch on things. Slowly the terrestrial Maya melted back into the jungles. The time of darkness was setting in. Sure enough the conquerors came. By 830 A.D. Warrior tribes who took the ancient name of Toltec, which means Master Builder, entered the Yucatan. War and human sacrifice were introduced."
Earth and her inhabitants are currently travelling through the 13th baktun cycle - the final period of 1618-2012 AD. This cycle is known both as "the triumph of materialism" and "the transformation of matter." The Maya predicted this final baktun would be a time of great forgetting in which we drift very far from our sense of Oneness with Nature and experience a kind of collective amnesia. Like a memory virus in which we begin to believe the limited reality of appearances and grow dense to the spiritual essence which fuels this world, so humanity's sense of ego and domination has grown.
We entered this baktun cycle right after establishing the world wide coordination of Pope Gregory XIII's 12 month calendar system (1582) as well as the perfection of 12 hour 60-minute mechanical clock (1600), which had been evolving for centuries. These are no small matters. According to Valum Votan, these 2 instruments are what manifested humanity's "error in time" which is the following of artificial instruments of time that served to separate man apart from the rest of nature, operating by our own false timing frequency, to the detriment of the natural world.
The Gregorian calendar is not based on logic, science, or nature. It denies and covers up the true annual human biological cycle conserved in the body of woman. It is the current world standard because of the forceful issuance of this system upon conquered (indigenous) peoples who lost their land as well as their religious freedoms. The Gregorian calendar is a product of its predecessors - Julius Caesar's calendar and the earlier Roman Empire calendar.
The clock was the first existing machine - going on to become the heart of all machine technology to come.
The presence of the clock gave birth to the notion that time lies outside our bodies - that it can be tracked by a machine, and that we can sit and watch it "fly" by tick-tock as though it is something linear, containable, and separate from the organic, flowing process of life. The adherence to the clock for our sense of time and timing is noted as the greatest obstacle to allowing the full telepathic abilities of the human to flower.
Next came the Cartesian Coordinate Rectilinear Grid System (1637) which went on to establish the foundational platform of all modern math and science. Thanks to Rene Descartes (the man infamous for his quote "I think therefore I am,") the ceiling of perception validated only the reality of the 3 dimensions of physical space. The coordinates of X,Y, and Z rendered the fourth dimension obsolete from our worldview.
At that moment, time became reduced from its qualitative essence to that of a quantity. The mind who adopted the lens of the linear grid also adopted the limited perception of time as a 3rd dimensional linear progression of pure duration.
Our societal paradigms have continued to operate with these limitations in place. Thus if something can not be seen, touched, or proven with measurements, it does not, in effect, exist.
Through the Cartesian lens, Nature has become reduced to pure quantifiable resources - no longer a living qualitative aspect of ourselves, but now something outside of ourselves which we observe, analyze and ultimately come to replicate, manipulate, dominate, toxify, and even destroy or extinguish. As Rene Descartes stated plainly,"I perceived it to be possible to arrive at knowledge highly useful in life...and thus render ourselves the lords and possessors of nature."
It seems the modern world wants nothing more than to improve upon Nature, or at least extract her wisdoms and magical properties in order to make a buck by fulfilling increasing consumer demand.
And so, here we are - currently living the last 7 years of both a 5,125 year Creation Cycle, and the last 8 years of a 26,000 Grand Cycle, the Precession of the Equinoxes.
The coming end date of December 21, 2012 is also written as 13.0.0.0.0. in Mayan long count notation; just like the beginning date.
Scholar and author John Major Jenkins reports,"On 13.0.0.0.0, the December solstice sun will be found in the band of the Milky Way. We can call this an alignment between the galactic plane and the solstice meridian. This is an event that has slowly converged over a period of thousands of years, and is caused by the precession of the equinoxes. The place where the December solstice sun crosses the Milky Way is precisely the location of the "dark-rift in the Milky Way...'xibalba be' - the road to the underworld."
On the winter solstice of 2012, the noonday Sun exactly conjuncts the crossing point of the sun's ecliptic with the galactic plane, while also closely conjuncting the exact the center of the galaxy.
Jenkins further proposes that this grand cross in time is symbolized by the Mayan Tree of Life, found at the core of Mayan cosmology.
We are being invited to realize that we are Time. We are the Living Prophecy. The Synchronic Order of Natural Time governs the unfolding of our lives. Time's cycles are found within our bodies and within Nature's daily rhythms and cyclic seasons. We have forgotten this, thinking that time is money or that time is the clock, or the relentless progression of work weeks and weekends. Time is the ever-changing, unfolding Now as it synchronistically coordinates the Whole living Universe.
From his studies into ancient Mayan Time-Science, Dr. Jose Arguelles decoded the mathematical nature of the Synchronic Order,
The Law of Time:
There is only one timing frequency which unifies the whole galactic order from its largest constituent to its smallest. This timing frequency is the 13:20 ratio, found within the harmonic structure of the 13 moon calendar as well as our human bodies - our 13 main joints and 20 fingers and toes.
Knowing that we are the prophecy, what does it mean to be nearing this return, and what can we expect - personally as well as planetarily?
These times are so accelerated that no answer could encompass the vast implications of the phase we are in. A range of responses are available to us. Depending on who you talk to and what area you research, one can find all kinds of claims as to what can be expected. From cataclysm to enlightenment, world war to world peace, massive earth changes and physical destruction, to massive spiritual awakening to our inherent oneness, there are many views of the implications of the approaching year 2012, 2013, and beyond. One thing is clear - we are right in the thick of this critical, transformative period! As this date approaches, we are collectively in a transition phase of the old world dying and a new world being born.
This moment on Earth, with all of its heightened energies, has never existed before. The opportunities and challenges of today's world are the climax of all that has preceded us. Never before has the population of this planet increased by 216,000 people a day! Never before has the Earth's biosphere been in such a precarious state. That which seems like normal lifestyle decisions and behaviors are but precedents set by our modern standards - not necessarily reflecting the most balanced, healthy, or sane way to operate. It is for us to decipher how to live our lives with integrity; to determine what truths empower us to model our lives according to our greatest harmonious potential.
All that is manifesting on the inner and outer planes reflects the sacred intensity of these prophetic times. More than ever, the polarities and imbalances within us and around us are becoming clearer. Love, beauty, exuberance, and compassion permeate this world - multi-faceted victories of art, co-creation, community support, healing and evolution shine all around us, illumating the spirited grace of our true nature. Meanwhile, this world is steeped in fear, brutality, pain, and disease - endless anguish of anxiety, separation, disconnection, confusion, isolation - alongside the toxic realities of egoic, callous greed and corruption, materialism, addiction, and dangerous ignorance. This is now the time to embrace all that has been dishonored or denied, for it is emerging to be purified and sanctified. Accountability is required on all levels of our existence. The cosmic climate is changing at rapid rates, allowing us to now transduce and shed egoic programs of fear and limitation easier than in the past.
Science reveals that Earth's base resonant frequency is increasing (Earth's heart-beat), and that the magnetic fields of the planet are dropping - reflected in the shifting migration patterns of animals. These shiftings of the Earth's body allow us to release unwanted baggage - mental, physical and emotional patterns, conditioning, beliefs, attitudes, and programming. Simultaneously, that which we think or desire is becoming actualized more and more swiftly.
A peak point in this time on Earth is what's called the "transition of the biosphere into the no-osphere." According to Russian scientist V.I.Vernadsky,"This is the result of a climax of human self-reflective thought and industry upon the environment, resulting in an exponential change in consciousness in which all becomes revealed and known."
As many of us are well aware, much of the genetic potential we are born with is lying dormant within us, waiting to be turned on. This is definitely an important aspect of this time of Quickening. We can only imagine what the full activation of our DNA will allow us to accomplish and manifest for Planetary healing and restoration. It has been foretold that we will be able to transmute the problems of our 3rd dimensional physical reality by utilizing our own stored, internal technology. More and more this is happening.
Now in action is the worldwide grassroots movement which utilizes sound vibrations to clear pollution and (geopathic) earth stresses, producing amazing results. www.earthtransitions.com. Using the ancient sciences of focused prayer and intention, channeled through post-Tesla energy technology, toxic matter is being transformed.
The time has never been so ripe to realize eachother as "one planetary organism in contact with itself anywhere on the planet." The Emergence of our Empowered Potential, Our Divinity is presenting itself to be claimed. How to experience this reality consciously? Where-ever one looks, the universal answer points to one's own body, one's own mental attitude, the energy of one's own heart, one's own living breath as the beginning place of orientation to feel one's unique connection to and expression of the functioning of Totality.
As the frequencies continue to raise, our connection to the fourth dimension continues to rapidly increase. This allows for maximum transformation and mutation of who we are and how we live life, or how life lives us! Doors of opportunity ever-presenting themselves, any limit we might place upon what's possible in these next 7 years is not recommended. Let us instead Dream the Exaltation of Humanity and all of Life on Earth.
Returning to Natural Time
Valum Votan, "Closer of The Cycle" - final messenger of Pacal Votan's prophecy, prescribes the fulfillment of human destiny as a collective return to natural time via the synchronization of the 13-moon 28-day calendar. Using this harmonic, ancient, and accurate standard of measure, we make a whole-systems transition into conscious resonance with our living universe.
In these intense times of uncertainty, we need all the navigational assistance possible for our everyday consciousness to be in harmony with Earth. The 13 Moon calendar helps us re-harmonize our bodies and minds to the natural patterns and cycles of the Earth and Stars.
Learning a new calendar may seem hard or even intimidating, but this is the time to try something new. As Valum Votan states, "It's the untried solution; the harmonic solution." What we're being asked to do is let go of what has been common for so long - the irregularity of the 12-month calendar - and embrace the accuracy of the 13-moon calendar.
Overlayed upon the perfect framework of the 13 moon year, is another layer of natural time - the "sacred count of days," a cycle of 260-days which flows through the year, giving each day a unique "Galactic Gateway." This sacred cycle composed of 260 distinct energies is called the Galactic Spin cycle. As a modern version of the ancient Mayan Tzolkin, it puts us directly in touch with the creational energies which compose our inner and outer world.
The benefit of utilizing this harmonic module (Tzolkin) is that it serves as a clear map of the 260 energetic portals of self inquiry which assist our quickening. As we use these lenses to see deeper into ourselves, we come to know the purpose which every moment holds. We come to hear the guidance which calls to us in every interaction of our lives. We perceive the clues which are waiting to bestow information. The more we surrender into the natural flow of life's timing, the more directly we are informed by time as the universal frequency of synchronization.
The source of these calendar codes is the "Dreamspell" - the modern application of ancient Mayan time-science, brought to us by Dr. José and Lloydine Argüelles. As a tool of synchronization, unification, and telepathic development, by speaking a language of light, this template unites us in a harmony which transcends our language barriers. By following the 13-Moon Natural Time Calendar, every day we meet eachother in the consciousness of the energy and sacred symbol of the day.
Rather than labeling today's date as:
"Thursday, December 22, AD two-thousand-and-five,"
to a growing global population who tracks the Dreamspell count, today is:
"Red Rhythmic Skywalker, Gamma Rhythmic 10, Year of the Yellow Cosmic Seed."
It is beneficial to come together and dicuss what it means to live by these cycles, and how to enhance our connections and share resources!
The "Dreamspell" is subtitled "Timeship Earth 2013." If we understand that Time refers to the fourth dimension of Mind which governs third dimensional space, (Intention preceding manifestation), then what if we translate this as "Mindship Earth 2013?" As humans all over the planet unite through this synchronization tool, we are in fact linking minds over the next 7 years, and beyond. Perhaps the design and the quality of the Ship of 2013 will reflect the consciousnesses of those minds who have linked up! All aboard!
"The purpose of the 13-moon calendar is to assist in converting third-dimensional materialism into the fourth-dimensional rainbow nation."
-The Dreamspell
"Like the Maya who preceded us, we shall understand that the path to the stars is through the senses and that the proper utilization of our mind as the auto-regulatory control factor will help facilitate the passage to different levels or dimensions of being." -José Argüelles
This prophecy is unfolding, right now!
As Valum Votan said: "We are the Peacemakers we've been waiting for!"
All that has been unconscious is becoming conscious.
May Our Paths Be Illumined By The Highest Light Of The Creator That We May Live In Harmony With All Our Relations, In Service to the Whole.
Personal and Planetary awakening is here, now.
As Werner Erhardt says:
"Now is when it is. Here is where it is. You are what it is. Celebrate!"
IN LAK'ECH
YUCATEC MAYAN CODE OF HONOR
"I AM ANOTHER YOURSELF"
- Xa Ta Zac Xa Ta Amac -
"Only May There Be Peace In Your Presence"
Tikal, Guatemala
Wednesday 21 October 2009
The balloon boy and 2012
Balloon Boy Dad 'Wants An Apocalypse Bunker'
10:43am UK, Wednesday October 21, 2009
Huw Borland, Sky News Online
An amateur storm scientist staged a hoax involving his son drifting off in a balloon because he fears the world will end in 2012, a researcher has claimed.
Richard Heene and his son Falcon in Fort Collins, Colorado, after a balloon experiment sparked a frantic search
Heene and his son Falcon in Fort Collins, Colorado
Richard Heene is suspected of attempting a publicity stunt in Fort Collins, Colorado, in a bid to get his own reality TV show.
Robert Thomas, who recorded Heene's ideas, told investigators the "obsessed" father wanted fame to earn money for a bunker that would save him from an apocalypse.
"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," Mr Thomas' lawyer Linda Lee said.
"Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."
Runaway balloon in US
The helium balloon
Police believe Heene, and his wife Mayumi, should be charged with falsely reporting that their six-year-old son Falcon had floated away in the home-built helium balloon.
The boy, who was later found at the family home, told reporters he had been hiding in a garage.
Heene was apparently planning a show that focussed on a range of bizarre experiments, like trying to attract UFOs with a weather balloon.
Mr Thomas worked with Mr Heene on the idea for the programme from March until May.
Police interviewed the researcher after he revealed the amateur scientist was planning a media stunt to promote the show, Ms Lee said.
Mr Thomas' notes included Mr Heene discussing a hoax that involved a hot air balloon, the lawyer added.
10:43am UK, Wednesday October 21, 2009
Huw Borland, Sky News Online
An amateur storm scientist staged a hoax involving his son drifting off in a balloon because he fears the world will end in 2012, a researcher has claimed.
Richard Heene and his son Falcon in Fort Collins, Colorado, after a balloon experiment sparked a frantic search
Heene and his son Falcon in Fort Collins, Colorado
Richard Heene is suspected of attempting a publicity stunt in Fort Collins, Colorado, in a bid to get his own reality TV show.
Robert Thomas, who recorded Heene's ideas, told investigators the "obsessed" father wanted fame to earn money for a bunker that would save him from an apocalypse.
"Heene believes the world is going to end in 2012," Mr Thomas' lawyer Linda Lee said.
"Because of that, he wanted to make money quickly, become rich enough to build a bunker or something underground, where he can be safe from the sun exploding."
Runaway balloon in US
The helium balloon
Police believe Heene, and his wife Mayumi, should be charged with falsely reporting that their six-year-old son Falcon had floated away in the home-built helium balloon.
The boy, who was later found at the family home, told reporters he had been hiding in a garage.
Heene was apparently planning a show that focussed on a range of bizarre experiments, like trying to attract UFOs with a weather balloon.
Mr Thomas worked with Mr Heene on the idea for the programme from March until May.
Police interviewed the researcher after he revealed the amateur scientist was planning a media stunt to promote the show, Ms Lee said.
Mr Thomas' notes included Mr Heene discussing a hoax that involved a hot air balloon, the lawyer added.
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Star Seeds
Star Seeds are the foundation makers for the new civilization of the new Earth.
Have you taken a Reiki Course?
If so you are now a star seed. Re-Connected to the Mothership/Goddess energy.
Star seeds are Healers for the new generation of time and space.
Want to know more?
E.mail jason@alternative-world.org
Thursday 21 May 2009
Handfasting Ceremony Istan Lake, Marbella Spain
Jason & Luis Wedding Ceremony in Istan from Andreas Holm on Vimeo.
The Handfasting of Jason Ritchie and Luis Alves Istan Lake. May 1st 2009
Tuesday 31 March 2009
Crop Circles-The detailed view
CROP CIRCLES
Forward
9 Basic Categories
Plasma-Gravitational Theory
Whirlwind (or Plasma Vortex) Theory
Earth Ley-lines and Gaia Hypothesis
Microwave Transient Heating
Visit the Crop Circle picture page
FORWARD
The following outline is a summary of theories and working hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of crop circle formation. Bear in mind that there are literally thousands of scientists, mathematicians, researchers, and physicists out there who have heard of crop circle phenomena, and like yourself, harbor their own pet theories about how, why, and by whom these glyphs are produced. Keep an open mind as you scan through the ideas and conjectures. Remember that it is all too easy to grasp for certainty at the beginning of a mystery, and then all too easy to throw criticism at something which does not satisfy all the known facts. We encourage you to enter fully into this enigma, applying everything you know to what is unknown. Think of the whole phenomena as if it were an egg-shape of an ellipse. One focus of the ellipse is common knowledge, the other focus being the mystery. As you revolve around both foci, you will gradually bring a new understanding into awareness.
What is presented here is a synopsis of published findings and theories, and in no way does it pretend to be the final word. One of the interesting epiphenomena around this whole thing is the interactiveness of the formations with what various people are thinking and saying about it. Early on Terrence Meaden went public with his theory of the plasma vortex, and he treated it like a meteorology problem. Just as he had convinced the media and many leading researchers that his theory was correct....the circles began turning into pictograms, more complex, and unfortunately for Dr. Meaden, unexplainable by his vortex theory. Further stories of pattern premonitions and wish fulfillment have been common, but this will not be covered here, because we are more interested in building a bridge from conventional science to the crop circle phenomena. As the ideas and theories build up into a heady ferment of thought, most likely we'll see the crop circles step up to their new evolutionary level. This would be miraculous to see, as if it hasn't been miraculous already.
9 Basic Theories: An Overview (Colin Andrews)
1- Whirlwind Vortex
2- Plasma Vortex
3- Earth Energies
4- Extra-Terrestrial Origin
5- Underground Archaeological
6- Chemical Applications (no longer considered)
7- Hoaxes
8- God Force
9- Military Experimentation
PLASMA-GRAVITATIONAL THEORY
As members of the CCCS (Centre for Crop Circle Studies) will tell you, the varieties and types of theories abound. The CCCS began in 1990 as a collaborative effort between professional researchers, authors, gifted psychics and dowsers, to establish a base station for scientific studies of the circles. The group is presently 400 members strong around the world, based in the UK, and has branch convenors in different parts of the U.S. and Canada. The scope of the research is quite open-ended, and owing to its voluntary efforts, conducts research according to the personal predilections of its authors and volunteers. Since many members have a decidedly metaphysical bent, some of the experiments are concerned with subjective effects on people, anomalous light, sound, and otherworldly contacts. While the stated purposes of the CCCS are quite clear, the elusive nature of the phenomena itself has made it difficult if not impossible to reach a consensus of opinion over the direction of research and the validity of results.
As a member of this group for less than a year, I have heard a number of independent voices state clearly that a plasma physicist would be the most valued person to enter the fray at this point. The idea that we are witnessing a directed plasma, leaving aside the questions of origin and intent, seems to keep re-emerging. All of the eyewitness descriptions of light phenomena, the T. Meaden hypothesis of Plasma-Vortex, the microwave energy of W.C. Levengood and others tends to point to a plasma- based phenomena. Almost everyone has seen arc phenomena such as lightning, the V-shaped Tesla spark ladder of Frankenstein fame, or of more recent vintage, the clear bubble-glass discharge of rare gases which you see in night clubs. As an experimental physicist, I have used microwave cavities to locally heat a plasma, and deliver ionized gas, such as O2 and N2 mixtures to a target. For me, the assumption of plasma and microwave energies are not incompatible. It is well-known in physics that there is a characteristic "plasma frequency" which is a measure of its cut-off frequency. Frequencies below this will be attenuated and/or reflected, while the frequencies above will propagate through with a real-valued "index of refraction", ie, as if it were an optical material. The unusual feature of the crop circle plasma is that it has no obvious confining walls. In a lab-based plasma, the "sheath" is generally a magnetic field, or a standing-wave pattern of microwaves. In the case of arc-discharge, the ultra-fast current created by breakdown into ions and electrons sets up its own constrictive "sheath" by Ampere's circuit law. So where is the magnetic sheath in a crop circle? And how is it positioned so carefully?
One opinion which seems to keep rising to the surface is that there has to be a "ground component" to this whole phenomena. A number of facts support this idea. The stalks are bent at 90 degrees at a consistent distance with respect to the topsoil (1 inch is typical). The CC sites are located on ley-lines and points connecting other geographic features (ie, roads, sacred sites, farmer's plough marks, etc). One researcher has reported that there is a 90% correlation with water from the ground....and the beginning of the plant stem is arguably the locale for the highest density of flowing H2O throughout the plant. Anyone who wishes to pay respects to Gaia as the mother of this whole invention may also do so at this juncture....there is ample room for telluric forces and gravity effects. (The stalks do fall downward, after all is said and done!)
My personal opinion is that we are not even scratching the surface yet. If you look into current research in plasma physics, you will discover that resonant structures such as "flute-shaped", toroidal, or "balooning" structures can be formed inside of a plasma. If you classify the plasma as "far from equilibrium" then you are opening up a Pandora's box of unknown phenomena which may or may not be spontaneously generated. It is a generally accepted notion since Ilya Prigogine did his work on thermodynamics of dissipative structures, that in situations far from equilibrium, new order is established internally by self-organization. These new ordering "structures" tend to reflect the boundaries and "sheaths" of the host medium. Perhaps the plasma light that people have reported in crop circles is confined by sheaths of telluric fields which are geomagnetic. Then that would imply that earth fields are moveable and have fluid properties. Personally, I like what Barbara Hand Clow mentioned in her new work, The Pleadian Agenda (see reference). While speaking from her "Satya" channel, she mentioned that Pleadians consider the interaction of gravity and stellar light to be the most essential in-formation. (read: "inner formation"). I think that stellar light is the capstone of the creative pyramid, which guides and directs certain transformations of matter and energy. In this scheme, a plasma is only the fourth phase of matter out of seven, with gases, liquids, and solids toward the base of the pyramid. Gravity is the matrix which binds and gives continuity....in the sense of Einsteinian curved space around matter. Gravity is traction, while stellar light is inclination. Stellar light might be the plasma that appears during crop circle formations, but governed internally by a genius loci, not a laboratory emulation. (The dictionary defines "genius loci" to be the presiding deity or spirit of a place....it has the same root that appears in genesis and generation.) I think that to procede further along the lines of these admitedly "New Age" ideas, one would have to look closely at the evidence of the plants themselves, to see what specifically has been transformed. Is it the conversion of ammonia in the nitrogen cycle? Is it the cell turgidity changed by some water diffusion process that has been altered? Are the dissolved gases in the xylem tubes the same concentrations as in the control samples? Or are the changes affected entirely at the genetic level, and somehow rapidly dispatched into new cell copies? (This would accord with B.H. Clow's channeled message that DNA has a "stellar component".)
In the long view, it may not even matter what the current theories and public disclosures proclaim. The fact that you became interested, and opened up just enough to look at some new ideas......THAT might be the best occurence yet!
-B.H.
WHIRLWIND VORTEX (also known as PLASMA VORTEX)
The first theory proposed by Dr. Terrence Meaden in the 1980's attempted to explain all spirally generated circle patterns as a product of entirely natural atmospheric phenomena. Meaden likened the vortex to dustdevils, tornados, etc., but also including friction-generated plasma which could account for the anomalous light phenomena which many eyewitnesses had seen. Meaden claimed the forces involved were hitherto "unrecognized helical or toroidal forces" which had "subsidiary electromagnetic properties due to self-electrification." The vortex would presumably form high above the ground, then suddenly "breakdown" to the ground level in an axial strike. The theory was plausible for a number of years, with further corroboration obtained in Japan by Dr. Y.H. Ohtsuki and Prof. H. Ofuruton. Their lab reserach produced similar vortices by electrostatic discharge and microwave interference. Theoretical work on the plasma-vortex was carried out by Prof. H. Kikuchi, Japan, who modeled the vortex using energy potentials including an interaction term between an axial electric field and the earth's magnetic field.
Although Dr. Meaden was possibly the first to equate a meteorological event with a plasma-vortex, the term is not new to plasma physics. A 1970 Nobel Prize winning physicist, Hannes Alfven, developed several theories of wave propagation in plasmas. His broad vision embraces interstellar and laboratory phenomena, for he was interested in those properties of lab plasmas which could be used to form a cosmogony (a theory of evolution). The bulk of his work relates to magnetohydrodynamics, an area of plasma physics which investigates acoustic and magnetic interactions within an electrically conductive fluid or gas. It is an advanced subject, but Alfven wave concepts are at heart quite intuitive.
Basically, Alfven waves are ripples or propagating waves on top of plasma-vortex structures. The vortex structures themselves form spontaneously within a plasma from shear flows and instabilities. Once formed, however, they can propagate waves in various modes, as well as deliver momentum across large distances. How does this relate to crop circles? A plasma-vortex structure such as a toroid, or a moving spiral, can explain the gentle "groomed" appearance of the plant stalks after a formation has occured. The stalks show no mechanical chafing or damage, which would be the case if struck by a sudden whirlwind or tornado. I believe that Alfven waves create the final "push" which pulsates along the axes of vortex structures. How these are generated, and where they begin is still quite an intruiging mystery.
The whirlwind vortex, or upward-axis vortex as it was promulgated by Dr. Meaden, was sufficient to explain all of the true "circles" appearing in the 1980's. However, the whirlwind theory became public "disinformation" as soon as the first large-scale pictograms began appearing in Britain as early as 1990. This new dimension to the shape of the phenomena began to inform people that much larger, more complex forces were at work. It could no longer be a simple combination of "hitherto unrecognized" natural forces. In addition to the anomalous light phenomena, several more reports of a 5KHz "trilling sound" were taken from witnesses in the vicinity of the formations, none of which could be explained by revolving wind and charge clouds. Straight lines began to appear in the pictograms, with stems of the plants lying parallel to the outer contours of the lines. Obviously, Meaden's theory was in need of modification.
-B.H.
EARTH LEY-LINES AND GAIA HYPOTHESIS
The unusual nature of the crop formations attracted many other researchers from outside of strict materialistic science. Ever since the early '80's when the basic circles became a frequent overnight appearance in southern England, archeologists, mystics, ecologists, and specialists in indigenous cultures began to recognize the symbolism in the shapes of the circles, as well as their proximity to known sacred sites. In particular, the complex of megalithic henges known as Avebury and Stonehenge, with the related earthmound of Silbury Hill and the original site of Salisbury at Old Sarum, were host to many of the circle formations in the late 80's and early 90's. The ancient arts of geomancy, sacred geometry, and dowsing were given new life, at least from a speculative point of view, in relation to the circle sites and the network of earth energies known as ley-lines. While the original meaning of "ley-lines" has been lost to us, it was considered by historians of sacred sites to be a "vital current" which flowed through the earth, often running huge distances.
We can only speculate today that it may have something to do with either geomagnetic activity of the earth's crust, or perhaps charge accumulations from groundwater running through porous chalk deposits, known to be ubiquitous in the U.K. Such charge accumulations can redistribute and spill over to other sites on the ground, giving a "moving target" for electrical discharges coming from the air. Here we are on thin ground because we are trying to apply modern science to ancient religious custom and belief. The ancient indigenous tribes may well have had a direct understanding of earth cycles and "ley lines" which they used to build their religious and archeo-astronomical sites. The only remaining connection between crop circles and the ancient peoples are to be found in symbol and legend, also in ancient prophecy. The Mayan and Hopi religion are two examples of cultures which maintained prophecies of signs appearing at the end of the millenium, although the details and references are beyond the scope of this outline. Certain similarities can also be drawn between the pictograms in the crops and cup-and-ring markings on the stones of pre- historic sites in Britain, Ireland, and Whales, but it is not known what kind of knowledge and communications these pre-historic people actually had.
The Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock has had considerable support since the appearance of crop-circle phenomena, and this is closely related to earth energies. The Gaia approach is a holistic, all-encompassing way of looking at earth phenomena in terms of a vital, living being which is self- protective and self-adaptive to its own environmental stresses, much the same way an organism or an animal would respond to external and internal stimuli. The controversial aspects of Lovelock's hypothesis are the cybernetic versus the organismic components. If a natural feedback cycle--- suppose we take the nitrogen cycle of plants for instance--displays parts which behave in a predictable, controlled feedback loop, then Gaia is demonstrating a cybernetic feature. However, if we see a unique and creative response to known stimuli, then Gaia evinces an organismic feature. Scientists generally find this dualism to be a logical contradiction. If there seems to be a larger, global purpose at work, then local phenomena cannot be reduced to a mechanism...which is generally maddening to most scientists. The crop circles tend to fall into this category of "organismic" responses, and most scientists, lacking solid answers to the "how" of crop circles, would like to bow out of the "why" of crop circles altogether.
There are exceptions, however. Researchers such as Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado, authors of the best-selling books Circular Evidence and Crop Circles: The Latest Evidence, have embraced the Gaia hypothesis as a meaningful explanation that the earth is now undergoing a realignment. It can no longer support the anti-life tendencies and continuous disregard the human populations have shown, and seeks to readjust all forms of consciousness to its new directive. The crop circles are a "spiritual nudge" which is designed to awaken us to our larger context and milieu, which is none other than our collective earth soul. This type of theory is teleological, in that it answers more of the "why"-type questions regarding purpose, instead of the "how"-type questions usually posed by modern academic science. It is legitimate, and avoids the myopic views of cybernetic and mechanistic reductionism.
Both the earth energy and Gaia approach to understanding the whole crop-circle phenomena will be needed if one is to arrive at a satisfying explanation. There are just too many factors surrounding the placement of CC's, their juxtaposition to known sacred sites, their inherent symbolism, and of course, their arrival at this time for anyone to ignore the earth connection. It is a shortcoming of modern science that it places too much emphasis on technology and economically-driven research. This leaves us largely unconscious of the larger forces of nature which environ us but are only recently beginning to be felt.
-B.H.
MICROWAVE TRANSIENT HEATING
Several years of incomplete theorizing, and still more circles appeared with similar characteristics. In January 1991, Dr. William C. Levengood approached Pat Delgado with an offer to apply some scientific methods to study the affected plants. Dr. Levengood has impressive credentials which include six patents and fifty papers for international scientific journals. He is a biophysicist who specializes in bioelectrochemical energies in plants and seeds. Working out of his Pinelandia Biophysical Lab in Michigan, he proceeded to examine many samples of affected stalks using microscopic techniques. One of the qualitative features which emerged directly from his comparison of affected plants versus control plants (obtained from the same fields) was the expansion of the "nodes", or elbow points along the stalks. In these particular regions, expansion of the cell walls had occurred, as well as enlarging of the "pits" or exchange pores in the cell walls. These holes are the exchange sites for ions and electrolytes in water to transport into and out of the cells. The curious feature about these holes was their sharp outline of trapezoidal-shaped edges, as opposed to a rather flat round appearance in the control samples.
Furthermore, Dr. Levengood performed an analysis of seed embryos from the glumes (husks) of the plant heads. In 40% of the glumes he found seed deformation of some kind as compared with the controls. "Most of these deformations can be explained by premature dehydration of the seeds," according to Dr. Levengood. However, a large fraction of these glumes showed "alterations" which he has assumed are genetic, but are rare conditions of "polyembryony" and arrested growth of the embryos without the next layer of endosperm. To study this condition further, he has proceeded to grow new generations of these affected seeds, and the results have been remarkable. I leave it up to the reader to find Dr. Levengood's paper and learn more. (See reference at end.)
In some of these affected nodes, there was a split or hole opening to the outside air, indicating that some internal pressure had released at that point. It is known that the node areas contain more water per volume than other areas of the plants, so it appeared possible to Dr. Levengood that some kind of steam heating was taking place. He was also able to bend nodes of unaffected plants quite readily after a brief exposure to microwaves in a standard microwave oven. This result, coupled with the alternation of the seeds has led Dr. Levengood to a working hypothesis of microwave-type energy at work, rapidly heating and depleting the stored water regions within the nodes. It is known from military research and development that microwave radiation in the low gigahertz range can be directed from far away, provided that atmospheric conditions are permitting. (There has never been a report of a crop circle being formed in a rainstorm, for example.) The genetic part of the seed alteration cannot be explained by microwave radiation alone. For this, Dr. Levengood is simply reporting observations, and not jumping to any conclusions about genetic changes.
Other researchers, such as Omar Fowler have also concluded that microwave radiation is involved based on his study of "crease and burn marks" in the plant stems. He saw single standing stems of 22 inch height consistently in otherwise flattened circle areas. He believes this to be consistent with microwaves in the low gigahertz range of frequency. Another current researcher in the public eye, Roy Dutton, has assumed a microwave radiation combined with gravitational waves is responsible. Although he does not develop a model for the radiation interaction, he has put together a computer model of the flattening process which mimics the layout of the plant stalks remarkably well.
Credits to this article go to Brian Hussey
References:
Bartholomew, Alick, Crop Circles - Harbingers of World Change, Bath, UK: Gateway Books, 1991.
Clow, Barbara Hand, The Pleiadian Agenda--A New Cosmology for the Age of Light, Santa Fe, NM:Bear & Co., 1995, pp. 65-66.
Hesemann, Michael, The Cosmic Connection: Worldwide Crop Formations and ET Contacts, Bath, UK:Gateway Books, 1995; in particular see chap. 7, "A Solution to the Mystery?"p.77.
Hollweg, Joseph V., "Alfven waves," McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Vol. 1, 1993, pp. 351-354.
Levengood, W.C., "Anatomical Anomalies In Crop Formation Plants," Physiologia Plantarum, 92:356-363 (1994).
Lundin, R. and Marklund, G. "Plasma-Vortex Structures and the Evolution of the Solar System -- The Legacy of Hannes Alfven," Physica Scripta, T60:198-205(1995).
Nicholson, S. and Rosen, B.(ed.), Gaia's Hidden Life: The Unseen Intelligence of Nature, Wheaton, IL:Quest Books, 1992. See Lovelock, James, "What Is Gaia?", p59.
Noyes, R. and Taylor, B., The Crop Circle Enigma, Bath, UK:Gateway Books, 1990. In particular, see Meaden, T. "Crop Circles and the Plasma Vortex," p.76, also Wingfield, G., "Beyond the Current Paradigms", p.99.
Forward
9 Basic Categories
Plasma-Gravitational Theory
Whirlwind (or Plasma Vortex) Theory
Earth Ley-lines and Gaia Hypothesis
Microwave Transient Heating
Visit the Crop Circle picture page
FORWARD
The following outline is a summary of theories and working hypotheses regarding the mechanisms of crop circle formation. Bear in mind that there are literally thousands of scientists, mathematicians, researchers, and physicists out there who have heard of crop circle phenomena, and like yourself, harbor their own pet theories about how, why, and by whom these glyphs are produced. Keep an open mind as you scan through the ideas and conjectures. Remember that it is all too easy to grasp for certainty at the beginning of a mystery, and then all too easy to throw criticism at something which does not satisfy all the known facts. We encourage you to enter fully into this enigma, applying everything you know to what is unknown. Think of the whole phenomena as if it were an egg-shape of an ellipse. One focus of the ellipse is common knowledge, the other focus being the mystery. As you revolve around both foci, you will gradually bring a new understanding into awareness.
What is presented here is a synopsis of published findings and theories, and in no way does it pretend to be the final word. One of the interesting epiphenomena around this whole thing is the interactiveness of the formations with what various people are thinking and saying about it. Early on Terrence Meaden went public with his theory of the plasma vortex, and he treated it like a meteorology problem. Just as he had convinced the media and many leading researchers that his theory was correct....the circles began turning into pictograms, more complex, and unfortunately for Dr. Meaden, unexplainable by his vortex theory. Further stories of pattern premonitions and wish fulfillment have been common, but this will not be covered here, because we are more interested in building a bridge from conventional science to the crop circle phenomena. As the ideas and theories build up into a heady ferment of thought, most likely we'll see the crop circles step up to their new evolutionary level. This would be miraculous to see, as if it hasn't been miraculous already.
9 Basic Theories: An Overview (Colin Andrews)
1- Whirlwind Vortex
2- Plasma Vortex
3- Earth Energies
4- Extra-Terrestrial Origin
5- Underground Archaeological
6- Chemical Applications (no longer considered)
7- Hoaxes
8- God Force
9- Military Experimentation
PLASMA-GRAVITATIONAL THEORY
As members of the CCCS (Centre for Crop Circle Studies) will tell you, the varieties and types of theories abound. The CCCS began in 1990 as a collaborative effort between professional researchers, authors, gifted psychics and dowsers, to establish a base station for scientific studies of the circles. The group is presently 400 members strong around the world, based in the UK, and has branch convenors in different parts of the U.S. and Canada. The scope of the research is quite open-ended, and owing to its voluntary efforts, conducts research according to the personal predilections of its authors and volunteers. Since many members have a decidedly metaphysical bent, some of the experiments are concerned with subjective effects on people, anomalous light, sound, and otherworldly contacts. While the stated purposes of the CCCS are quite clear, the elusive nature of the phenomena itself has made it difficult if not impossible to reach a consensus of opinion over the direction of research and the validity of results.
As a member of this group for less than a year, I have heard a number of independent voices state clearly that a plasma physicist would be the most valued person to enter the fray at this point. The idea that we are witnessing a directed plasma, leaving aside the questions of origin and intent, seems to keep re-emerging. All of the eyewitness descriptions of light phenomena, the T. Meaden hypothesis of Plasma-Vortex, the microwave energy of W.C. Levengood and others tends to point to a plasma- based phenomena. Almost everyone has seen arc phenomena such as lightning, the V-shaped Tesla spark ladder of Frankenstein fame, or of more recent vintage, the clear bubble-glass discharge of rare gases which you see in night clubs. As an experimental physicist, I have used microwave cavities to locally heat a plasma, and deliver ionized gas, such as O2 and N2 mixtures to a target. For me, the assumption of plasma and microwave energies are not incompatible. It is well-known in physics that there is a characteristic "plasma frequency" which is a measure of its cut-off frequency. Frequencies below this will be attenuated and/or reflected, while the frequencies above will propagate through with a real-valued "index of refraction", ie, as if it were an optical material. The unusual feature of the crop circle plasma is that it has no obvious confining walls. In a lab-based plasma, the "sheath" is generally a magnetic field, or a standing-wave pattern of microwaves. In the case of arc-discharge, the ultra-fast current created by breakdown into ions and electrons sets up its own constrictive "sheath" by Ampere's circuit law. So where is the magnetic sheath in a crop circle? And how is it positioned so carefully?
One opinion which seems to keep rising to the surface is that there has to be a "ground component" to this whole phenomena. A number of facts support this idea. The stalks are bent at 90 degrees at a consistent distance with respect to the topsoil (1 inch is typical). The CC sites are located on ley-lines and points connecting other geographic features (ie, roads, sacred sites, farmer's plough marks, etc). One researcher has reported that there is a 90% correlation with water from the ground....and the beginning of the plant stem is arguably the locale for the highest density of flowing H2O throughout the plant. Anyone who wishes to pay respects to Gaia as the mother of this whole invention may also do so at this juncture....there is ample room for telluric forces and gravity effects. (The stalks do fall downward, after all is said and done!)
My personal opinion is that we are not even scratching the surface yet. If you look into current research in plasma physics, you will discover that resonant structures such as "flute-shaped", toroidal, or "balooning" structures can be formed inside of a plasma. If you classify the plasma as "far from equilibrium" then you are opening up a Pandora's box of unknown phenomena which may or may not be spontaneously generated. It is a generally accepted notion since Ilya Prigogine did his work on thermodynamics of dissipative structures, that in situations far from equilibrium, new order is established internally by self-organization. These new ordering "structures" tend to reflect the boundaries and "sheaths" of the host medium. Perhaps the plasma light that people have reported in crop circles is confined by sheaths of telluric fields which are geomagnetic. Then that would imply that earth fields are moveable and have fluid properties. Personally, I like what Barbara Hand Clow mentioned in her new work, The Pleadian Agenda (see reference). While speaking from her "Satya" channel, she mentioned that Pleadians consider the interaction of gravity and stellar light to be the most essential in-formation. (read: "inner formation"). I think that stellar light is the capstone of the creative pyramid, which guides and directs certain transformations of matter and energy. In this scheme, a plasma is only the fourth phase of matter out of seven, with gases, liquids, and solids toward the base of the pyramid. Gravity is the matrix which binds and gives continuity....in the sense of Einsteinian curved space around matter. Gravity is traction, while stellar light is inclination. Stellar light might be the plasma that appears during crop circle formations, but governed internally by a genius loci, not a laboratory emulation. (The dictionary defines "genius loci" to be the presiding deity or spirit of a place....it has the same root that appears in genesis and generation.) I think that to procede further along the lines of these admitedly "New Age" ideas, one would have to look closely at the evidence of the plants themselves, to see what specifically has been transformed. Is it the conversion of ammonia in the nitrogen cycle? Is it the cell turgidity changed by some water diffusion process that has been altered? Are the dissolved gases in the xylem tubes the same concentrations as in the control samples? Or are the changes affected entirely at the genetic level, and somehow rapidly dispatched into new cell copies? (This would accord with B.H. Clow's channeled message that DNA has a "stellar component".)
In the long view, it may not even matter what the current theories and public disclosures proclaim. The fact that you became interested, and opened up just enough to look at some new ideas......THAT might be the best occurence yet!
-B.H.
WHIRLWIND VORTEX (also known as PLASMA VORTEX)
The first theory proposed by Dr. Terrence Meaden in the 1980's attempted to explain all spirally generated circle patterns as a product of entirely natural atmospheric phenomena. Meaden likened the vortex to dustdevils, tornados, etc., but also including friction-generated plasma which could account for the anomalous light phenomena which many eyewitnesses had seen. Meaden claimed the forces involved were hitherto "unrecognized helical or toroidal forces" which had "subsidiary electromagnetic properties due to self-electrification." The vortex would presumably form high above the ground, then suddenly "breakdown" to the ground level in an axial strike. The theory was plausible for a number of years, with further corroboration obtained in Japan by Dr. Y.H. Ohtsuki and Prof. H. Ofuruton. Their lab reserach produced similar vortices by electrostatic discharge and microwave interference. Theoretical work on the plasma-vortex was carried out by Prof. H. Kikuchi, Japan, who modeled the vortex using energy potentials including an interaction term between an axial electric field and the earth's magnetic field.
Although Dr. Meaden was possibly the first to equate a meteorological event with a plasma-vortex, the term is not new to plasma physics. A 1970 Nobel Prize winning physicist, Hannes Alfven, developed several theories of wave propagation in plasmas. His broad vision embraces interstellar and laboratory phenomena, for he was interested in those properties of lab plasmas which could be used to form a cosmogony (a theory of evolution). The bulk of his work relates to magnetohydrodynamics, an area of plasma physics which investigates acoustic and magnetic interactions within an electrically conductive fluid or gas. It is an advanced subject, but Alfven wave concepts are at heart quite intuitive.
Basically, Alfven waves are ripples or propagating waves on top of plasma-vortex structures. The vortex structures themselves form spontaneously within a plasma from shear flows and instabilities. Once formed, however, they can propagate waves in various modes, as well as deliver momentum across large distances. How does this relate to crop circles? A plasma-vortex structure such as a toroid, or a moving spiral, can explain the gentle "groomed" appearance of the plant stalks after a formation has occured. The stalks show no mechanical chafing or damage, which would be the case if struck by a sudden whirlwind or tornado. I believe that Alfven waves create the final "push" which pulsates along the axes of vortex structures. How these are generated, and where they begin is still quite an intruiging mystery.
The whirlwind vortex, or upward-axis vortex as it was promulgated by Dr. Meaden, was sufficient to explain all of the true "circles" appearing in the 1980's. However, the whirlwind theory became public "disinformation" as soon as the first large-scale pictograms began appearing in Britain as early as 1990. This new dimension to the shape of the phenomena began to inform people that much larger, more complex forces were at work. It could no longer be a simple combination of "hitherto unrecognized" natural forces. In addition to the anomalous light phenomena, several more reports of a 5KHz "trilling sound" were taken from witnesses in the vicinity of the formations, none of which could be explained by revolving wind and charge clouds. Straight lines began to appear in the pictograms, with stems of the plants lying parallel to the outer contours of the lines. Obviously, Meaden's theory was in need of modification.
-B.H.
EARTH LEY-LINES AND GAIA HYPOTHESIS
The unusual nature of the crop formations attracted many other researchers from outside of strict materialistic science. Ever since the early '80's when the basic circles became a frequent overnight appearance in southern England, archeologists, mystics, ecologists, and specialists in indigenous cultures began to recognize the symbolism in the shapes of the circles, as well as their proximity to known sacred sites. In particular, the complex of megalithic henges known as Avebury and Stonehenge, with the related earthmound of Silbury Hill and the original site of Salisbury at Old Sarum, were host to many of the circle formations in the late 80's and early 90's. The ancient arts of geomancy, sacred geometry, and dowsing were given new life, at least from a speculative point of view, in relation to the circle sites and the network of earth energies known as ley-lines. While the original meaning of "ley-lines" has been lost to us, it was considered by historians of sacred sites to be a "vital current" which flowed through the earth, often running huge distances.
We can only speculate today that it may have something to do with either geomagnetic activity of the earth's crust, or perhaps charge accumulations from groundwater running through porous chalk deposits, known to be ubiquitous in the U.K. Such charge accumulations can redistribute and spill over to other sites on the ground, giving a "moving target" for electrical discharges coming from the air. Here we are on thin ground because we are trying to apply modern science to ancient religious custom and belief. The ancient indigenous tribes may well have had a direct understanding of earth cycles and "ley lines" which they used to build their religious and archeo-astronomical sites. The only remaining connection between crop circles and the ancient peoples are to be found in symbol and legend, also in ancient prophecy. The Mayan and Hopi religion are two examples of cultures which maintained prophecies of signs appearing at the end of the millenium, although the details and references are beyond the scope of this outline. Certain similarities can also be drawn between the pictograms in the crops and cup-and-ring markings on the stones of pre- historic sites in Britain, Ireland, and Whales, but it is not known what kind of knowledge and communications these pre-historic people actually had.
The Gaia hypothesis of James Lovelock has had considerable support since the appearance of crop-circle phenomena, and this is closely related to earth energies. The Gaia approach is a holistic, all-encompassing way of looking at earth phenomena in terms of a vital, living being which is self- protective and self-adaptive to its own environmental stresses, much the same way an organism or an animal would respond to external and internal stimuli. The controversial aspects of Lovelock's hypothesis are the cybernetic versus the organismic components. If a natural feedback cycle--- suppose we take the nitrogen cycle of plants for instance--displays parts which behave in a predictable, controlled feedback loop, then Gaia is demonstrating a cybernetic feature. However, if we see a unique and creative response to known stimuli, then Gaia evinces an organismic feature. Scientists generally find this dualism to be a logical contradiction. If there seems to be a larger, global purpose at work, then local phenomena cannot be reduced to a mechanism...which is generally maddening to most scientists. The crop circles tend to fall into this category of "organismic" responses, and most scientists, lacking solid answers to the "how" of crop circles, would like to bow out of the "why" of crop circles altogether.
There are exceptions, however. Researchers such as Colin Andrews and Pat Delgado, authors of the best-selling books Circular Evidence and Crop Circles: The Latest Evidence, have embraced the Gaia hypothesis as a meaningful explanation that the earth is now undergoing a realignment. It can no longer support the anti-life tendencies and continuous disregard the human populations have shown, and seeks to readjust all forms of consciousness to its new directive. The crop circles are a "spiritual nudge" which is designed to awaken us to our larger context and milieu, which is none other than our collective earth soul. This type of theory is teleological, in that it answers more of the "why"-type questions regarding purpose, instead of the "how"-type questions usually posed by modern academic science. It is legitimate, and avoids the myopic views of cybernetic and mechanistic reductionism.
Both the earth energy and Gaia approach to understanding the whole crop-circle phenomena will be needed if one is to arrive at a satisfying explanation. There are just too many factors surrounding the placement of CC's, their juxtaposition to known sacred sites, their inherent symbolism, and of course, their arrival at this time for anyone to ignore the earth connection. It is a shortcoming of modern science that it places too much emphasis on technology and economically-driven research. This leaves us largely unconscious of the larger forces of nature which environ us but are only recently beginning to be felt.
-B.H.
MICROWAVE TRANSIENT HEATING
Several years of incomplete theorizing, and still more circles appeared with similar characteristics. In January 1991, Dr. William C. Levengood approached Pat Delgado with an offer to apply some scientific methods to study the affected plants. Dr. Levengood has impressive credentials which include six patents and fifty papers for international scientific journals. He is a biophysicist who specializes in bioelectrochemical energies in plants and seeds. Working out of his Pinelandia Biophysical Lab in Michigan, he proceeded to examine many samples of affected stalks using microscopic techniques. One of the qualitative features which emerged directly from his comparison of affected plants versus control plants (obtained from the same fields) was the expansion of the "nodes", or elbow points along the stalks. In these particular regions, expansion of the cell walls had occurred, as well as enlarging of the "pits" or exchange pores in the cell walls. These holes are the exchange sites for ions and electrolytes in water to transport into and out of the cells. The curious feature about these holes was their sharp outline of trapezoidal-shaped edges, as opposed to a rather flat round appearance in the control samples.
Furthermore, Dr. Levengood performed an analysis of seed embryos from the glumes (husks) of the plant heads. In 40% of the glumes he found seed deformation of some kind as compared with the controls. "Most of these deformations can be explained by premature dehydration of the seeds," according to Dr. Levengood. However, a large fraction of these glumes showed "alterations" which he has assumed are genetic, but are rare conditions of "polyembryony" and arrested growth of the embryos without the next layer of endosperm. To study this condition further, he has proceeded to grow new generations of these affected seeds, and the results have been remarkable. I leave it up to the reader to find Dr. Levengood's paper and learn more. (See reference at end.)
In some of these affected nodes, there was a split or hole opening to the outside air, indicating that some internal pressure had released at that point. It is known that the node areas contain more water per volume than other areas of the plants, so it appeared possible to Dr. Levengood that some kind of steam heating was taking place. He was also able to bend nodes of unaffected plants quite readily after a brief exposure to microwaves in a standard microwave oven. This result, coupled with the alternation of the seeds has led Dr. Levengood to a working hypothesis of microwave-type energy at work, rapidly heating and depleting the stored water regions within the nodes. It is known from military research and development that microwave radiation in the low gigahertz range can be directed from far away, provided that atmospheric conditions are permitting. (There has never been a report of a crop circle being formed in a rainstorm, for example.) The genetic part of the seed alteration cannot be explained by microwave radiation alone. For this, Dr. Levengood is simply reporting observations, and not jumping to any conclusions about genetic changes.
Other researchers, such as Omar Fowler have also concluded that microwave radiation is involved based on his study of "crease and burn marks" in the plant stems. He saw single standing stems of 22 inch height consistently in otherwise flattened circle areas. He believes this to be consistent with microwaves in the low gigahertz range of frequency. Another current researcher in the public eye, Roy Dutton, has assumed a microwave radiation combined with gravitational waves is responsible. Although he does not develop a model for the radiation interaction, he has put together a computer model of the flattening process which mimics the layout of the plant stalks remarkably well.
Credits to this article go to Brian Hussey
References:
Bartholomew, Alick, Crop Circles - Harbingers of World Change, Bath, UK: Gateway Books, 1991.
Clow, Barbara Hand, The Pleiadian Agenda--A New Cosmology for the Age of Light, Santa Fe, NM:Bear & Co., 1995, pp. 65-66.
Hesemann, Michael, The Cosmic Connection: Worldwide Crop Formations and ET Contacts, Bath, UK:Gateway Books, 1995; in particular see chap. 7, "A Solution to the Mystery?"p.77.
Hollweg, Joseph V., "Alfven waves," McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, Vol. 1, 1993, pp. 351-354.
Levengood, W.C., "Anatomical Anomalies In Crop Formation Plants," Physiologia Plantarum, 92:356-363 (1994).
Lundin, R. and Marklund, G. "Plasma-Vortex Structures and the Evolution of the Solar System -- The Legacy of Hannes Alfven," Physica Scripta, T60:198-205(1995).
Nicholson, S. and Rosen, B.(ed.), Gaia's Hidden Life: The Unseen Intelligence of Nature, Wheaton, IL:Quest Books, 1992. See Lovelock, James, "What Is Gaia?", p59.
Noyes, R. and Taylor, B., The Crop Circle Enigma, Bath, UK:Gateway Books, 1990. In particular, see Meaden, T. "Crop Circles and the Plasma Vortex," p.76, also Wingfield, G., "Beyond the Current Paradigms", p.99.
Roswell- The Great Goverment Cover-up
Roswell - The Cover-up
Author unknown
One of the most contentious aspects of the many-faceted UFO enigma is the allegation that a number of flying saucers, together with their occupants, have crash-landed, and have been recovered by the military forces, acting in great secrecy. Such claims generally are dismissed for lack of proof, yet evidence in some cases is compelling. One series of incidents that seems indisputable - in the sense that several hundred witnesses have testified to it - is among the most thoroughly documented cases on record. Numerous TV documentaries and a film have now appeared as well as several books describing investigations into the so-called Roswell Incident (by William Moore and Charles Berlitz; Stanton Friedman and Don Berliner; Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt; and Karl Pflock). The following is a necessarily abbreviated account of a complex case which seems to have involved three separate crash sites in New Mexico. One was at Corona; the precise locations of the other two are still in dispute.
The Corona Debris:
During a violent thunderstorm in the first week of July 1947, an unusual aerial vehicle crashed on the J. B. Foster Ranch, south-east of Corona and about 75 miles north-west of Roswell, New Mexico. Early the next morning, ranch manager William `Mac' Brazel discovered a large amount of unusual debris scattered over a wide area. A few days later, Brazel drove into Roswell and alerted Sheriff George Wilcox, who in turn contacted Roswell Army Air Field, home of the elite 509th Bomb Group, the world's first atomic-bomb unit. Major Jesse Marcel, the bomb group's intelligence officer, together with Captain Sheridan Cavitt, a Counter Intelligence Corps officer, accompanied Mac Brazel to the site, where a quantity of wreckage was eventually recovered. Marcel testified that he found an area measuring about three-quarters of a mile long by 200 to 300 feet wide, strewn with a large amount of extremely lightweight, strong material.
"We found some . . . small bits of metal, but mostly we found some material that's hard to describe," Marcel told journalist Bob Pratt in 1979. "I'd never seen anything like that, and I still don't know what it was . . . I lit a cigarette lighter to some of this stuff, and it didn't burn. There were also small, solid members that you could not bend or break, but it didn't look like metal. It looked more like wood. They varied in size . . . perhaps three-eighths of an inch by one quarter of an inch thick . . . None of them were very long. The largest of these was about 3 feet long, but weightless. You couldn't even tell you had it in your hands - just like you handle balsa wood." Marcel also described having seen unusual two-colour `hieroglyphics' on some of the pieces, as well as parchment-like material which, again, did not burn.
In another interview in 1979, Marcel described how later he tried unsuccessfu1ly to bend or dent a piece of extremely light and thin metal which was about 2 feet long and a foot wide. "I tried to bend the stuff [but) it wouldn't bend," he said. "We even tried making a dent in it with a sixteen-pound sledge hammer. And there was still no dent in it . . . It was possible to Bend this stuff back and forth, even to wrinkle it, but you could not put a crease in it that would stay . . . I would almost have to describe it as a metal with plastic properties." Marcel was convinced that the material had nothing to do with a weather balloon or radar target.
The area near Corona was sealed off by the military, and a wide search was initiated to recover the remaining debris. An official press statement was released at the Roswell base, authorized by Colonel William Blanchard, Commander of the 509th Bomb Group. "I had a call from Colonel Blanchard, and he told me to report to his office," said Walter Haut, base press officer at the time, during an interview with me. "He gave me the basic facts that he wanted put into the news release . . . that we had in our possession a flying saucer: A rancher had brought parts of it in to the Sheriff's office, and the material was flown to General Ramey, who was Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force."
Major Marcel was ordered to load the debris on a B-29 (one of several aircraft said to have been involved in transporting the materials from Roswell Army Air Field) and fly it to Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) at Dayton, Ohio, for examination. On arrival at an intermediate stop at Fort Worth Army Air Field (later Carswell Air Force Base), Texas (headquarters of the Eighth Air Force), General Roger Ramey took charge. He ordered Marcel and others on the plane not to talk to reporters. A second press statement then was issued which stated that the wreckage wvas nothing more than the remains of a weather balloon and its attached tinfoil radar target, which were prominently displayed at the press conference. Meanwhile, the real wreckage arrived at Wright Field under armed guard; Marcel returned to Roswell, and Brazel was held incommunicado by the military for nearly a week while the crash site was stripped of every scrap of debris.
A news leak via press wire from Albuquerque describing this fantastic story was interrupted and the radio station in question, and another, were warned not to continue the broadcast: `ATTENTION ALBUQUERQUE: CEASE TRANSMISSION. REPEAT. CEASE TRANSMISSION. NATIONAL SECURITY ITEM. DO NOT TRANSMIT. STAND BY . . .'
Project Mogul:
It has been suggested that at least some of the wreckage found near Corona could have come from a Top Secret project to develop a means of detecting and monitoring Soviet nuclear weapons - code-named Project Mogul - which conducted its operations from Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, in June and July 1947, using high-altitude balloon arrays and attached instrument packages. Flight 7, for instance, which lifted off on 2 July - when the unidentified aircraft is reported as having crashed near Corona - incorporated twenty meteorological balloons (to support the various devices attached). The array measured about 450 feet from top to bottom. All that was recovered at the landing-site - 31 miles east of Alamogordo in the Sacramento Mountains - was `one balloon neck'. On 3 July, another array of balloons (Flight 8) - made of then new polyethylene material - touched down about 20 miles west-north-west of the Alamogordo base and last was seen dragging north across the desert. Nothing ever was recovered. Although there is no proof that these balloons (and others in the Mogul series) came down in the Corona area, it is certainly possible that one of them - or at least some of the materials - did.
In his book Roswell in Perspective, Karl Pflock, a former CIA officer whose background in government induded a position as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Deputy Director) for Operational Test and Evaluation, states his belief that one or more of these balloon arrays was responsible for the debris found near Corona (a conclusion shared by the Air Force in its 1994 report, to be discussed later). More recent research suggests that Mogul Flight 4, launched on 4 June 1947, was the one most likely to have come down in the vicinity of Corona. (Pflock remains open- minded, however, to the probability that alien or unusual bodies were recovered elsewhere.) He correlates descriptions of the unknown debris with the known materials used in the Mogul arrays, induding the testimony of Dr Jesse Marcel Jr (Major Marcel's son) who handled some of the Corona wreckage collected by his father. In an affidavit, Jesse Jr reported that the debris included:
. . . a brittle, brownish-black plastic-like material, like Bakelite; and there were fragments of what appeared to be I-beams. On the inner surface of the I-beam, there appeared to be a type of writing [of] a purple-violet hue, and it had an embossed appearance. The figures were composed of curved, geometric shapes. It had noresemblance to Russian, Japanese or any other foreign language. It resembled hieroglyphics, but it had no animal-like characters
As Pflock points out, materials used in the construction of Project Mogul's instrument packages included aluminium foil laminated on to a tough white or brown paper or tough aluminium-coated paper, struts of hardened balsawood, Bakelite, and clear or whitish sticky tape, about 2 inches wide, with `pink and purple flower-like figures on it'. Mac Brazel's daughter, Bessie, who helped her father collect some of the debris on their ranch, recalls that:
The debris looked like pieces of a large balloon which had burst . . . Most of it was a kind of double-sided material, foil-like on one side and rubbery-like on the other . . . the foil more silvery than the rubber. Sticks, like kite sticks, were attached to some of the pieces with a whitish tape . . . about two or three inches wide and had flower-like designs on it . . .
It is evident from the foregoing that at least some of the wreckage recovered on Mac Brazel's ranch may have been of man-made origin, though it is impossible to reconcile this explanation with all the facts. Major Marcel, it should be noted, was familiar with balloon debris and was convinced that the material he handled was unfamiliar, in that it was impossible to dent or burn, and that, no matter what was done to it, the foil-like metal always returned to its original shape. Such materials hardly relate to Mogul.
Currently the State Surgeon of Montana and a colonel with the Montana Air National Guard (flying helicopters), Jesse Jr disputes the contention that the debris he handled was from a Mogul balloon or instrument package. `The Mogul device apparently was a lot of metal foil with white paper backing to strengthen it,' he said in 1995. `The material I saw was metal foil, but did not have the white paper backing.' Lieutenant McAndrew - the Air Force's principal researcher for the 1994 report, who interviewed Dr Marcel after the Air Force had prepared its report, also said that the debris included tape with flowery figures written across it. `Well, I didn't see any tape,' said Dr Marcel. `And there was supposed to be some balsa wood struts with the Mogul device, but I didn't see any balsa wood. I saw metal struts, not balsa wood struts, and the writing I saw was on the metal strut itself, not on tape.'
Author unknown
One of the most contentious aspects of the many-faceted UFO enigma is the allegation that a number of flying saucers, together with their occupants, have crash-landed, and have been recovered by the military forces, acting in great secrecy. Such claims generally are dismissed for lack of proof, yet evidence in some cases is compelling. One series of incidents that seems indisputable - in the sense that several hundred witnesses have testified to it - is among the most thoroughly documented cases on record. Numerous TV documentaries and a film have now appeared as well as several books describing investigations into the so-called Roswell Incident (by William Moore and Charles Berlitz; Stanton Friedman and Don Berliner; Kevin Randle and Donald Schmitt; and Karl Pflock). The following is a necessarily abbreviated account of a complex case which seems to have involved three separate crash sites in New Mexico. One was at Corona; the precise locations of the other two are still in dispute.
The Corona Debris:
During a violent thunderstorm in the first week of July 1947, an unusual aerial vehicle crashed on the J. B. Foster Ranch, south-east of Corona and about 75 miles north-west of Roswell, New Mexico. Early the next morning, ranch manager William `Mac' Brazel discovered a large amount of unusual debris scattered over a wide area. A few days later, Brazel drove into Roswell and alerted Sheriff George Wilcox, who in turn contacted Roswell Army Air Field, home of the elite 509th Bomb Group, the world's first atomic-bomb unit. Major Jesse Marcel, the bomb group's intelligence officer, together with Captain Sheridan Cavitt, a Counter Intelligence Corps officer, accompanied Mac Brazel to the site, where a quantity of wreckage was eventually recovered. Marcel testified that he found an area measuring about three-quarters of a mile long by 200 to 300 feet wide, strewn with a large amount of extremely lightweight, strong material.
"We found some . . . small bits of metal, but mostly we found some material that's hard to describe," Marcel told journalist Bob Pratt in 1979. "I'd never seen anything like that, and I still don't know what it was . . . I lit a cigarette lighter to some of this stuff, and it didn't burn. There were also small, solid members that you could not bend or break, but it didn't look like metal. It looked more like wood. They varied in size . . . perhaps three-eighths of an inch by one quarter of an inch thick . . . None of them were very long. The largest of these was about 3 feet long, but weightless. You couldn't even tell you had it in your hands - just like you handle balsa wood." Marcel also described having seen unusual two-colour `hieroglyphics' on some of the pieces, as well as parchment-like material which, again, did not burn.
In another interview in 1979, Marcel described how later he tried unsuccessfu1ly to bend or dent a piece of extremely light and thin metal which was about 2 feet long and a foot wide. "I tried to bend the stuff [but) it wouldn't bend," he said. "We even tried making a dent in it with a sixteen-pound sledge hammer. And there was still no dent in it . . . It was possible to Bend this stuff back and forth, even to wrinkle it, but you could not put a crease in it that would stay . . . I would almost have to describe it as a metal with plastic properties." Marcel was convinced that the material had nothing to do with a weather balloon or radar target.
The area near Corona was sealed off by the military, and a wide search was initiated to recover the remaining debris. An official press statement was released at the Roswell base, authorized by Colonel William Blanchard, Commander of the 509th Bomb Group. "I had a call from Colonel Blanchard, and he told me to report to his office," said Walter Haut, base press officer at the time, during an interview with me. "He gave me the basic facts that he wanted put into the news release . . . that we had in our possession a flying saucer: A rancher had brought parts of it in to the Sheriff's office, and the material was flown to General Ramey, who was Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force."
Major Marcel was ordered to load the debris on a B-29 (one of several aircraft said to have been involved in transporting the materials from Roswell Army Air Field) and fly it to Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson Air Force Base) at Dayton, Ohio, for examination. On arrival at an intermediate stop at Fort Worth Army Air Field (later Carswell Air Force Base), Texas (headquarters of the Eighth Air Force), General Roger Ramey took charge. He ordered Marcel and others on the plane not to talk to reporters. A second press statement then was issued which stated that the wreckage wvas nothing more than the remains of a weather balloon and its attached tinfoil radar target, which were prominently displayed at the press conference. Meanwhile, the real wreckage arrived at Wright Field under armed guard; Marcel returned to Roswell, and Brazel was held incommunicado by the military for nearly a week while the crash site was stripped of every scrap of debris.
A news leak via press wire from Albuquerque describing this fantastic story was interrupted and the radio station in question, and another, were warned not to continue the broadcast: `ATTENTION ALBUQUERQUE: CEASE TRANSMISSION. REPEAT. CEASE TRANSMISSION. NATIONAL SECURITY ITEM. DO NOT TRANSMIT. STAND BY . . .'
Project Mogul:
It has been suggested that at least some of the wreckage found near Corona could have come from a Top Secret project to develop a means of detecting and monitoring Soviet nuclear weapons - code-named Project Mogul - which conducted its operations from Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, in June and July 1947, using high-altitude balloon arrays and attached instrument packages. Flight 7, for instance, which lifted off on 2 July - when the unidentified aircraft is reported as having crashed near Corona - incorporated twenty meteorological balloons (to support the various devices attached). The array measured about 450 feet from top to bottom. All that was recovered at the landing-site - 31 miles east of Alamogordo in the Sacramento Mountains - was `one balloon neck'. On 3 July, another array of balloons (Flight 8) - made of then new polyethylene material - touched down about 20 miles west-north-west of the Alamogordo base and last was seen dragging north across the desert. Nothing ever was recovered. Although there is no proof that these balloons (and others in the Mogul series) came down in the Corona area, it is certainly possible that one of them - or at least some of the materials - did.
In his book Roswell in Perspective, Karl Pflock, a former CIA officer whose background in government induded a position as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Deputy Director) for Operational Test and Evaluation, states his belief that one or more of these balloon arrays was responsible for the debris found near Corona (a conclusion shared by the Air Force in its 1994 report, to be discussed later). More recent research suggests that Mogul Flight 4, launched on 4 June 1947, was the one most likely to have come down in the vicinity of Corona. (Pflock remains open- minded, however, to the probability that alien or unusual bodies were recovered elsewhere.) He correlates descriptions of the unknown debris with the known materials used in the Mogul arrays, induding the testimony of Dr Jesse Marcel Jr (Major Marcel's son) who handled some of the Corona wreckage collected by his father. In an affidavit, Jesse Jr reported that the debris included:
. . . a brittle, brownish-black plastic-like material, like Bakelite; and there were fragments of what appeared to be I-beams. On the inner surface of the I-beam, there appeared to be a type of writing [of] a purple-violet hue, and it had an embossed appearance. The figures were composed of curved, geometric shapes. It had noresemblance to Russian, Japanese or any other foreign language. It resembled hieroglyphics, but it had no animal-like characters
As Pflock points out, materials used in the construction of Project Mogul's instrument packages included aluminium foil laminated on to a tough white or brown paper or tough aluminium-coated paper, struts of hardened balsawood, Bakelite, and clear or whitish sticky tape, about 2 inches wide, with `pink and purple flower-like figures on it'. Mac Brazel's daughter, Bessie, who helped her father collect some of the debris on their ranch, recalls that:
The debris looked like pieces of a large balloon which had burst . . . Most of it was a kind of double-sided material, foil-like on one side and rubbery-like on the other . . . the foil more silvery than the rubber. Sticks, like kite sticks, were attached to some of the pieces with a whitish tape . . . about two or three inches wide and had flower-like designs on it . . .
It is evident from the foregoing that at least some of the wreckage recovered on Mac Brazel's ranch may have been of man-made origin, though it is impossible to reconcile this explanation with all the facts. Major Marcel, it should be noted, was familiar with balloon debris and was convinced that the material he handled was unfamiliar, in that it was impossible to dent or burn, and that, no matter what was done to it, the foil-like metal always returned to its original shape. Such materials hardly relate to Mogul.
Currently the State Surgeon of Montana and a colonel with the Montana Air National Guard (flying helicopters), Jesse Jr disputes the contention that the debris he handled was from a Mogul balloon or instrument package. `The Mogul device apparently was a lot of metal foil with white paper backing to strengthen it,' he said in 1995. `The material I saw was metal foil, but did not have the white paper backing.' Lieutenant McAndrew - the Air Force's principal researcher for the 1994 report, who interviewed Dr Marcel after the Air Force had prepared its report, also said that the debris included tape with flowery figures written across it. `Well, I didn't see any tape,' said Dr Marcel. `And there was supposed to be some balsa wood struts with the Mogul device, but I didn't see any balsa wood. I saw metal struts, not balsa wood struts, and the writing I saw was on the metal strut itself, not on tape.'
Alien Types the Greys in sub divisions
GREY TYPE A:
This is the type most commonly referred to as the greys. Also known as Zeta Reticuli from the Zeta Reticulan star system (the Bernard star) neighboring the Orion area. They function in a mode that is apparently military in nature with a rigidly defined social structure that holds science and "conquering worlds" to be the prime movers. They are normally about 4.5 ft tall with large heads and black "wrap around" eyes. They have limited facial features, slit mouth and no nose to speak of. They have evolved beyond the need for reproductive systems or digestive systems and reproduce by cloning. Their genetics are partly based on insectoidal genetics.
Their science deals largely with the study of other life forms and genetic engineering. They have supposedly had a part to play in the alteration of human genetics over thousands of years. It seems that they may be trying to cross breed with humans in order to create a "mixture race" that would be better than either. (I've read that they are a dying species, that have cloned so much that now, with each successive cloning, the species grows weaker. They are trying to infuse new life into their species by creating the mixed breed.)
There seem to be two main social classes. One is the more hawkish and is more abrupt, crude and blunt. The more dove-like ones are more refined and capable of a more business-like behavior towards humans, and prefer to use more "diplomatic" behavior to gain control over human's. This type of Grey is what I believe is being referred to as the "Orange" class of Greys.
They seem to be emotionless (by human standards) and therefore are seen as cruel in their treatment of human beings. They are able to take human lives without any regard for that individual. They apparently can use certain substances of the human body for their sustenance and therefore appear to be carnivorous in regards to humans. (I also read that they extract fluid from some part of the human brain during intense emotional response [fear] and are able to use it like a recreational drug.) It is my understanding that these greys are actually servants to a master race of reptilian-type aliens and are trying to prepare the earth for their arrival by gaining control over the earth through many means. They tend to enjoy the feeling of freedom they have on earth, away from their masters and would desire the help of humans in confrontations with the reptilians...which appears to be a consideration for the near future.
These greys have their best known bases in New Mexico and Nevada but are also known to have bases in many countries of the world.
GREY TYPE B:
Tall Greys from Orion. Usually about 7 to 8 ft. tall (reports often exaggerate their height as being 9 to 12 ft.) with facial feature somewhat similar to grey type A with the exception of the large nose found on type B greys. These greys also have technologies that allow them to perform certain actions that appear "miraculous." These greys are less viscous towards humans than type A greys (but are still considered "hostile".) They tend to influence more through political controls and negotiated agreements with those in power. Their main bases seem to be in the Aleutian Islands. These are the type seen not long ago in Eastern Russia.
GREY TYPE C:
These are the shortest of the greys and tend to be about 3.5 ft. tall. Their facial features are very similar to the Zeta Reticuli greys and are of the same "root race.". They are just as hostile to humans as the Zetas. They are from a star system near the shoulder of Orion called Bellatrax.
GREY TYPE D:
The Greys appear to represent the only non-human contingent. The following data should be considered tentative at best. Height is approximately five and a half feet. The head is large; eyes large, black and very slanted. Skin color is dark grey and non-porous. All data so far indicates that they may be a cetacean-based life form. On Earth, this comprises the species of whales and dolphins. Descriptions of Greys' skin color and texture closely match that of dolphins. The stare and stun effects approximate that performed by dolphins on potential enemies, such as sharks and barracuda. Human and dolphin fetuses are nearly identical, up to a certain development stage. Some say they share a common genetic ancestor. If so, then this makes the hybridization of humans and dolphins theoretically feasible.
GREY TYPE E: Human/Grey Hybrids
One of the main ET projects, now in the completion stage, is the hybrid program. The goal of this project is to produce a being combining the best physical and mental qualities of both races. The following description is of a hybrid female, approximately fifteen years old. Height is five feet, three inches; skin color is pale white/grey. The head is slightly larger and rounder than normal. Hair is dark, high above the forehead, and worn in a very long ponytail. The face is very fine-featured, and attractive. Like all the beings discussed in this paper, her main method of communication is telepathic. This has allowed a deeper understanding of her intellectual and emotional make-up. They consider themselves human, not Grey, in almost all respects. They care about the Greys, as any child would a parent, but find them agonizingly boring. The desire for human contact is greater than all others. Their capacity for emotion is as great, if not greater than, humans. Any physical attribute more human than Grey is a great source of pride. Their intellectual capacity is well above human standards. It is very likely they will exceed the capabilities of both races.
ALIEN TYPE 2: THE REPTILIANS:
A genetics akin to reptiles, these are highly advanced entities but viewed as being of a negative, hostile or dangerous disposition since they regard humans as a totally inferior race. They would perceive us much the way we would perceive a herd of cattle. They are carnivorous in regard to humans. They consider earth to be their own ancient outpost and would expect to have complete control of the entire planet upon their return. These are the aliens who are served by the type A greys.
ALIEN TYPE 3: HUMAN TYPE ALIENS HUMAN TYPE A:
These are of a genetic base similar to humans of earth. They appear of "normal" height (5-6ft?) and tend to be fair-skinned with blonde hair. These entities have been abducted by the greys or are the offspring of abductees and have been trained by the greys as servants. These entities are totally subservient to the greys.
HUMAN TYPE B:
These are aliens of similar genetics to earth humans and also, it seems, of the humans that serve the greys. These are from the Pleiades and are also of the blonde, fair-skinned appearance. This type is of a genuine highly evolved, spiritual, benevolent variety and have a kinship toward humans and are the only aliens to be truly trusted by earth humans at this time. They had at one time offered to be of assistance to earth leaders in dealing with the alien situation here but were rebuffed and so have taken a kind of "hands off" approach for the time being. These aliens are supposedly the forefather race of humankind. These are apparently not on earth much at this time due to serious problems in the area of their home.
HUMAN TYPE C:
Very little is known about these. They are supposedly another of the highly evolved, spiritual type of great benevolence to earth humans. I understand that their appearance is similar to other human-type aliens. They are from Sirius and don't appear to be much involved with earth happenings at this time other than being concerned about the Grey scenario. They could desire to be of help to humans. There are other known human type aliens of this "more highly spiritually evolved" nature that are apparently aware of the situation on earth and considering some possible course of action. These are from Arcturus and Vega.
GROUP A:
Non Earth-Born Humans This GROUP consists of three peoples from three distinct colony zones, namely Sirius, Pleiades and Orion. Genetically, they are nearly identical to Earth-born humans with the following exceptions. Abductees refer to these beings as the talls. Males average up to approximately seven feet in height; females, six and a half feet. They are extremely fine featured, pale in complexion. Eyes are almond shaped, slightly slanted with a natural black liner, much like the renderings of ancient Egyptian royalty. There are three hair colors apparently related to colony origin: blonde (Pleiades), red (Orion), and black (Sirius). The insignia of these combined human races is a triangular arrangement of three spheres. This symbol has deep significance, and is found throughout Earth history. History records these beings as goddesses, gods, devas, etc. A subgroup of GROUP A females is in command of most Terran projects.
GROUP B:
Earth-Born Humans These are Homo Sapiens whose origin is the planet Earth. They can be divided into two separate classes.
Class A: (Ancient)
These humans were the companions and house servants of a GROUP A military mining and occupation force. When this force left the Earth sometime between 1,000 BC and 3,500 BC, it was decided to remove all humans that had been in close proximity with them. It was felt that leaving them would only further disrupt normal human development. Class A humans are on an equal level with GROUP A and cooperate fully in all Earth projects.
Class M: (Modern)
These humans are working on the same cooperative level as Class A. They were taken from the Earth in modern times. During some abduction projects, twins (either identical or fraternal) are induced in a female subject. During the first trimester, one of the fetuses is removed. It is then grown to maturity by GROUP A. Abductees will meet their twins during some abductions. Very limited contact has been made by these humans.
GROUP C:
Genetically Modified Earth-Born Humans
These humans are comprised of two classes and should not be confused with GROUP D Greys.
Class W: (Workers)
- This class is the smallest in physical stature. They are described as approximately three and a half feet in height, large head and eyes, pale white in complexion. These workers were created by GROUP A through genetic modification of Earth human fetuses. Their function is to perform menial tasks requiring limited reasoning abilities. In mental capacity, they are equivalent to a five year-old child. They are incapable of violence and, in some cases, are kept as companions by GROUP A individuals.
Class T: (Technicians)
- These humans are basically the same as Class W. they are slightly larger, at approximately four and a half feet in height. Their complexion is tan or yellowish. Their reasoning and deductive abilities are higher. This allows them to perform more complex operations. They are often seen operating ship controls and in transport activities. Both Classes W and T are telepathically camouflaged to appear as Greys to abductees. This is done to conceal the true nature of GROUP C. It is felt that perception of GROUP A maintaining a human slave population would hinder future contact efforts. This point will undoubtedly be a source of much heated debate in the near future.
This is the type most commonly referred to as the greys. Also known as Zeta Reticuli from the Zeta Reticulan star system (the Bernard star) neighboring the Orion area. They function in a mode that is apparently military in nature with a rigidly defined social structure that holds science and "conquering worlds" to be the prime movers. They are normally about 4.5 ft tall with large heads and black "wrap around" eyes. They have limited facial features, slit mouth and no nose to speak of. They have evolved beyond the need for reproductive systems or digestive systems and reproduce by cloning. Their genetics are partly based on insectoidal genetics.
Their science deals largely with the study of other life forms and genetic engineering. They have supposedly had a part to play in the alteration of human genetics over thousands of years. It seems that they may be trying to cross breed with humans in order to create a "mixture race" that would be better than either. (I've read that they are a dying species, that have cloned so much that now, with each successive cloning, the species grows weaker. They are trying to infuse new life into their species by creating the mixed breed.)
There seem to be two main social classes. One is the more hawkish and is more abrupt, crude and blunt. The more dove-like ones are more refined and capable of a more business-like behavior towards humans, and prefer to use more "diplomatic" behavior to gain control over human's. This type of Grey is what I believe is being referred to as the "Orange" class of Greys.
They seem to be emotionless (by human standards) and therefore are seen as cruel in their treatment of human beings. They are able to take human lives without any regard for that individual. They apparently can use certain substances of the human body for their sustenance and therefore appear to be carnivorous in regards to humans. (I also read that they extract fluid from some part of the human brain during intense emotional response [fear] and are able to use it like a recreational drug.) It is my understanding that these greys are actually servants to a master race of reptilian-type aliens and are trying to prepare the earth for their arrival by gaining control over the earth through many means. They tend to enjoy the feeling of freedom they have on earth, away from their masters and would desire the help of humans in confrontations with the reptilians...which appears to be a consideration for the near future.
These greys have their best known bases in New Mexico and Nevada but are also known to have bases in many countries of the world.
GREY TYPE B:
Tall Greys from Orion. Usually about 7 to 8 ft. tall (reports often exaggerate their height as being 9 to 12 ft.) with facial feature somewhat similar to grey type A with the exception of the large nose found on type B greys. These greys also have technologies that allow them to perform certain actions that appear "miraculous." These greys are less viscous towards humans than type A greys (but are still considered "hostile".) They tend to influence more through political controls and negotiated agreements with those in power. Their main bases seem to be in the Aleutian Islands. These are the type seen not long ago in Eastern Russia.
GREY TYPE C:
These are the shortest of the greys and tend to be about 3.5 ft. tall. Their facial features are very similar to the Zeta Reticuli greys and are of the same "root race.". They are just as hostile to humans as the Zetas. They are from a star system near the shoulder of Orion called Bellatrax.
GREY TYPE D:
The Greys appear to represent the only non-human contingent. The following data should be considered tentative at best. Height is approximately five and a half feet. The head is large; eyes large, black and very slanted. Skin color is dark grey and non-porous. All data so far indicates that they may be a cetacean-based life form. On Earth, this comprises the species of whales and dolphins. Descriptions of Greys' skin color and texture closely match that of dolphins. The stare and stun effects approximate that performed by dolphins on potential enemies, such as sharks and barracuda. Human and dolphin fetuses are nearly identical, up to a certain development stage. Some say they share a common genetic ancestor. If so, then this makes the hybridization of humans and dolphins theoretically feasible.
GREY TYPE E: Human/Grey Hybrids
One of the main ET projects, now in the completion stage, is the hybrid program. The goal of this project is to produce a being combining the best physical and mental qualities of both races. The following description is of a hybrid female, approximately fifteen years old. Height is five feet, three inches; skin color is pale white/grey. The head is slightly larger and rounder than normal. Hair is dark, high above the forehead, and worn in a very long ponytail. The face is very fine-featured, and attractive. Like all the beings discussed in this paper, her main method of communication is telepathic. This has allowed a deeper understanding of her intellectual and emotional make-up. They consider themselves human, not Grey, in almost all respects. They care about the Greys, as any child would a parent, but find them agonizingly boring. The desire for human contact is greater than all others. Their capacity for emotion is as great, if not greater than, humans. Any physical attribute more human than Grey is a great source of pride. Their intellectual capacity is well above human standards. It is very likely they will exceed the capabilities of both races.
ALIEN TYPE 2: THE REPTILIANS:
A genetics akin to reptiles, these are highly advanced entities but viewed as being of a negative, hostile or dangerous disposition since they regard humans as a totally inferior race. They would perceive us much the way we would perceive a herd of cattle. They are carnivorous in regard to humans. They consider earth to be their own ancient outpost and would expect to have complete control of the entire planet upon their return. These are the aliens who are served by the type A greys.
ALIEN TYPE 3: HUMAN TYPE ALIENS HUMAN TYPE A:
These are of a genetic base similar to humans of earth. They appear of "normal" height (5-6ft?) and tend to be fair-skinned with blonde hair. These entities have been abducted by the greys or are the offspring of abductees and have been trained by the greys as servants. These entities are totally subservient to the greys.
HUMAN TYPE B:
These are aliens of similar genetics to earth humans and also, it seems, of the humans that serve the greys. These are from the Pleiades and are also of the blonde, fair-skinned appearance. This type is of a genuine highly evolved, spiritual, benevolent variety and have a kinship toward humans and are the only aliens to be truly trusted by earth humans at this time. They had at one time offered to be of assistance to earth leaders in dealing with the alien situation here but were rebuffed and so have taken a kind of "hands off" approach for the time being. These aliens are supposedly the forefather race of humankind. These are apparently not on earth much at this time due to serious problems in the area of their home.
HUMAN TYPE C:
Very little is known about these. They are supposedly another of the highly evolved, spiritual type of great benevolence to earth humans. I understand that their appearance is similar to other human-type aliens. They are from Sirius and don't appear to be much involved with earth happenings at this time other than being concerned about the Grey scenario. They could desire to be of help to humans. There are other known human type aliens of this "more highly spiritually evolved" nature that are apparently aware of the situation on earth and considering some possible course of action. These are from Arcturus and Vega.
GROUP A:
Non Earth-Born Humans This GROUP consists of three peoples from three distinct colony zones, namely Sirius, Pleiades and Orion. Genetically, they are nearly identical to Earth-born humans with the following exceptions. Abductees refer to these beings as the talls. Males average up to approximately seven feet in height; females, six and a half feet. They are extremely fine featured, pale in complexion. Eyes are almond shaped, slightly slanted with a natural black liner, much like the renderings of ancient Egyptian royalty. There are three hair colors apparently related to colony origin: blonde (Pleiades), red (Orion), and black (Sirius). The insignia of these combined human races is a triangular arrangement of three spheres. This symbol has deep significance, and is found throughout Earth history. History records these beings as goddesses, gods, devas, etc. A subgroup of GROUP A females is in command of most Terran projects.
GROUP B:
Earth-Born Humans These are Homo Sapiens whose origin is the planet Earth. They can be divided into two separate classes.
Class A: (Ancient)
These humans were the companions and house servants of a GROUP A military mining and occupation force. When this force left the Earth sometime between 1,000 BC and 3,500 BC, it was decided to remove all humans that had been in close proximity with them. It was felt that leaving them would only further disrupt normal human development. Class A humans are on an equal level with GROUP A and cooperate fully in all Earth projects.
Class M: (Modern)
These humans are working on the same cooperative level as Class A. They were taken from the Earth in modern times. During some abduction projects, twins (either identical or fraternal) are induced in a female subject. During the first trimester, one of the fetuses is removed. It is then grown to maturity by GROUP A. Abductees will meet their twins during some abductions. Very limited contact has been made by these humans.
GROUP C:
Genetically Modified Earth-Born Humans
These humans are comprised of two classes and should not be confused with GROUP D Greys.
Class W: (Workers)
- This class is the smallest in physical stature. They are described as approximately three and a half feet in height, large head and eyes, pale white in complexion. These workers were created by GROUP A through genetic modification of Earth human fetuses. Their function is to perform menial tasks requiring limited reasoning abilities. In mental capacity, they are equivalent to a five year-old child. They are incapable of violence and, in some cases, are kept as companions by GROUP A individuals.
Class T: (Technicians)
- These humans are basically the same as Class W. they are slightly larger, at approximately four and a half feet in height. Their complexion is tan or yellowish. Their reasoning and deductive abilities are higher. This allows them to perform more complex operations. They are often seen operating ship controls and in transport activities. Both Classes W and T are telepathically camouflaged to appear as Greys to abductees. This is done to conceal the true nature of GROUP C. It is felt that perception of GROUP A maintaining a human slave population would hinder future contact efforts. This point will undoubtedly be a source of much heated debate in the near future.
what is the G20 summit?
What is the G-20
The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 1516, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.
Mandate
The G-20 is an informal forum that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.
Origins
The G-20 was created as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance. Prior to the G-20 creation, similar groupings to promote dialogue and analysis had been established at the initiative of the G-7. The G-22 met at Washington D.C. in April and October 1998. Its aim was to involve non-G-7 countries in the resolution of global aspects of the financial crisis then affecting emerging-market countries. Two subsequent meetings comprising a larger group of participants (G-33) held in March and April 1999 discussed reforms of the global economy and the international financial system. The proposals made by the G-22 and the G-33 to reduce the world economy's susceptibility to crises showed the potential benefits of a regular international consultative forum embracing the emerging-market countries. Such a regular dialogue with a constant set of partners was institutionalized by the creation of the G-20 in 1999.
Membership
The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and also the European Union who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank. To ensure global economic fora and institutions work together, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings on an ex-officio basis. The G-20 thus brings together important industrial and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world. Together, member countries represent around 90 per cent of global gross national product, 80 per cent of world trade (including EU intra-trade) as well as two-thirds of the world's population. The G-20's economic weight and broad membership gives it a high degree of legitimacy and influence over the management of the global economy and financial system.
Achievements
The G-20 has progressed a range of issues since 1999, including agreement about policies for growth, reducing abuse of the financial system, dealing with financial crises and combating terrorist financing. The G-20 also aims to foster the adoption of internationally recognized standards through the example set by its members in areas such as the transparency of fiscal policy and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In 2004, G-20 countries committed to new higher standards of transparency and exchange of information on tax matters. This aims to combat abuses of the financial system and illicit activities including tax evasion. The G-20 also plays a signficant role in matters concerned with the reform of the international financial architecture.
The G-20 has also aimed to develop a common view among members on issues related to further development of the global economic and financial system and held an extraordinary meeting in the margins of the 2008 IMF and World Bank annual meetings in recognition of the current economic situation. At this meeting, in accordance with the G-20s core mission to promote open and constructive exchanges between advanced and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability and growth, the Ministers and Governors discussed the present financial market crisis and its implications for the world economy. They stressed their resolve to work together to overcome the financial turmoil and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the worlds financial markets.
Chair
Unlike international institutions such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), IMF or World Bank, the G-20 (like the G-7) has no permanent staff of its own. The G-20 chair rotates between members, and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries each year. In 2009 the G-20 chair is the United Kingdom, and in 2010 it will be South Korea. The chair is part of a revolving three-member management Troika of past, present and future chairs. The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes its meetings. The role of the Troika is to ensure continuity in the G-20's work and management across host years.
Former G-20 Chairs
* 1999-2001 Canada
* 2002 India
* 2003 Mexico
* 2004 Germany
* 2005 China
* 2006 Australia
* 2007 South Africa
* 2008 Brazil
Meetings and activities
It is normal practice for the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors to meet once a year. The last meeting of ministers and governors was held in São Paulo, Brazil on 8-9 November 2008. The ministers' and governors' meeting is usually preceded by two deputies' meetings and extensive technical work. This technical work takes the form of workshops, reports and case studies on specific subjects, that aim to provide ministers and governors with contemporary analysis and insights, to better inform their consideration of policy challenges and options.
Towards the end of 2008 Leaders of the G-20 Countries meet in Washington. See the Declaration and action plan from the Washington Summit (PDF 72KB) . This meeting remitted follow up work to Finance Ministers. In addition to their November meeting in order to take forward this work in advance of the Leaders summit in London on 2nd April Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will also meet in March 2009. A deputies meeting will be held in February 2009 to prepare for the Ministers meeting.
G-20 Events
Deputies Meeting 1st February 2009
Officials Workshop Financing for Climate Change 13th & 14th February 2009
Deputies Meeting 13th March 2009
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting 14th March 2009
Officials Workshop on Global Economy 25th 26th May 2009
Officials Workshop on Sustainable Financing for Development June 2009
Deputies Meeting September 2009
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting 7th & 8th November 2009
Interaction with other international organizations
The G-20 cooperates closely with various other major international organizations and fora, as the potential to develop common positions on complex issues among G-20 members can add political momentum to decision-making in other bodies. The participation of the President of the World Bank, the Managing Director of the IMF and the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee in the G-20 meetings ensures that the G-20 process is well integrated with the activities of the Bretton Woods Institutions. The G-20 also works with, and encourages, other international groups and organizations, such as the Financial Stability Forum, in progressing international and domestic economic policy reforms. In addition, experts from private-sector institutions and non-government organisations are invited to G-20 meetings on an ad hoc basis in order to exploit synergies in analyzing selected topics and avoid overlap.
External communication
The country currently chairing the G-20 posts details of the group's meetings and work program on a dedicated website. Although participation in the meetings is reserved for members, the public is informed about what was discussed and agreed immediately after the meeting of ministers and governors has ended. After each meeting of ministers and governors, the G-20 publishes a communiqué which records the agreements reached and measures outlined. Material on the forward work program is also made public.
The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The inaugural meeting of the G-20 took place in Berlin, on December 1516, 1999, hosted by German and Canadian finance ministers.
Mandate
The G-20 is an informal forum that promotes open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. By contributing to the strengthening of the international financial architecture and providing opportunities for dialogue on national policies, international co-operation, and international financial institutions, the G-20 helps to support growth and development across the globe.
Origins
The G-20 was created as a response both to the financial crises of the late 1990s and to a growing recognition that key emerging-market countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance. Prior to the G-20 creation, similar groupings to promote dialogue and analysis had been established at the initiative of the G-7. The G-22 met at Washington D.C. in April and October 1998. Its aim was to involve non-G-7 countries in the resolution of global aspects of the financial crisis then affecting emerging-market countries. Two subsequent meetings comprising a larger group of participants (G-33) held in March and April 1999 discussed reforms of the global economy and the international financial system. The proposals made by the G-22 and the G-33 to reduce the world economy's susceptibility to crises showed the potential benefits of a regular international consultative forum embracing the emerging-market countries. Such a regular dialogue with a constant set of partners was institutionalized by the creation of the G-20 in 1999.
Membership
The G-20 is made up of the finance ministers and central bank governors of 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and also the European Union who is represented by the rotating Council presidency and the European Central Bank. To ensure global economic fora and institutions work together, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of the World Bank, plus the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and Development Committee of the IMF and World Bank, also participate in G-20 meetings on an ex-officio basis. The G-20 thus brings together important industrial and emerging-market countries from all regions of the world. Together, member countries represent around 90 per cent of global gross national product, 80 per cent of world trade (including EU intra-trade) as well as two-thirds of the world's population. The G-20's economic weight and broad membership gives it a high degree of legitimacy and influence over the management of the global economy and financial system.
Achievements
The G-20 has progressed a range of issues since 1999, including agreement about policies for growth, reducing abuse of the financial system, dealing with financial crises and combating terrorist financing. The G-20 also aims to foster the adoption of internationally recognized standards through the example set by its members in areas such as the transparency of fiscal policy and combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In 2004, G-20 countries committed to new higher standards of transparency and exchange of information on tax matters. This aims to combat abuses of the financial system and illicit activities including tax evasion. The G-20 also plays a signficant role in matters concerned with the reform of the international financial architecture.
The G-20 has also aimed to develop a common view among members on issues related to further development of the global economic and financial system and held an extraordinary meeting in the margins of the 2008 IMF and World Bank annual meetings in recognition of the current economic situation. At this meeting, in accordance with the G-20s core mission to promote open and constructive exchanges between advanced and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability and growth, the Ministers and Governors discussed the present financial market crisis and its implications for the world economy. They stressed their resolve to work together to overcome the financial turmoil and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the worlds financial markets.
Chair
Unlike international institutions such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), IMF or World Bank, the G-20 (like the G-7) has no permanent staff of its own. The G-20 chair rotates between members, and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries each year. In 2009 the G-20 chair is the United Kingdom, and in 2010 it will be South Korea. The chair is part of a revolving three-member management Troika of past, present and future chairs. The incumbent chair establishes a temporary secretariat for the duration of its term, which coordinates the group's work and organizes its meetings. The role of the Troika is to ensure continuity in the G-20's work and management across host years.
Former G-20 Chairs
* 1999-2001 Canada
* 2002 India
* 2003 Mexico
* 2004 Germany
* 2005 China
* 2006 Australia
* 2007 South Africa
* 2008 Brazil
Meetings and activities
It is normal practice for the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors to meet once a year. The last meeting of ministers and governors was held in São Paulo, Brazil on 8-9 November 2008. The ministers' and governors' meeting is usually preceded by two deputies' meetings and extensive technical work. This technical work takes the form of workshops, reports and case studies on specific subjects, that aim to provide ministers and governors with contemporary analysis and insights, to better inform their consideration of policy challenges and options.
Towards the end of 2008 Leaders of the G-20 Countries meet in Washington. See the Declaration and action plan from the Washington Summit (PDF 72KB) . This meeting remitted follow up work to Finance Ministers. In addition to their November meeting in order to take forward this work in advance of the Leaders summit in London on 2nd April Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors will also meet in March 2009. A deputies meeting will be held in February 2009 to prepare for the Ministers meeting.
G-20 Events
Deputies Meeting 1st February 2009
Officials Workshop Financing for Climate Change 13th & 14th February 2009
Deputies Meeting 13th March 2009
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting 14th March 2009
Officials Workshop on Global Economy 25th 26th May 2009
Officials Workshop on Sustainable Financing for Development June 2009
Deputies Meeting September 2009
Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting 7th & 8th November 2009
Interaction with other international organizations
The G-20 cooperates closely with various other major international organizations and fora, as the potential to develop common positions on complex issues among G-20 members can add political momentum to decision-making in other bodies. The participation of the President of the World Bank, the Managing Director of the IMF and the chairs of the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee in the G-20 meetings ensures that the G-20 process is well integrated with the activities of the Bretton Woods Institutions. The G-20 also works with, and encourages, other international groups and organizations, such as the Financial Stability Forum, in progressing international and domestic economic policy reforms. In addition, experts from private-sector institutions and non-government organisations are invited to G-20 meetings on an ad hoc basis in order to exploit synergies in analyzing selected topics and avoid overlap.
External communication
The country currently chairing the G-20 posts details of the group's meetings and work program on a dedicated website. Although participation in the meetings is reserved for members, the public is informed about what was discussed and agreed immediately after the meeting of ministers and governors has ended. After each meeting of ministers and governors, the G-20 publishes a communiqué which records the agreements reached and measures outlined. Material on the forward work program is also made public.
Sunday 29 March 2009
G20 Ecconomic meltdown
The world is in economic meltdown, and leaders are meeting at the crucial G20 London Summit next week to decide what to do. It's time to tell them they can't continue with business as usual -- they have to fix the system and build a more sustainable future.
Demand the G20 put people first -- sign the emergency petition below and our worldwide call will be carried to the streets by tens of thousands of people marching through central London, wearing green hard hats and carrying banners and flags to symbolise green jobs and a sustainable recovery. Then, next week, we'll deliver the petition directly to summit officials and leaders.
Demand the G20 put people first -- sign the emergency petition below and our worldwide call will be carried to the streets by tens of thousands of people marching through central London, wearing green hard hats and carrying banners and flags to symbolise green jobs and a sustainable recovery. Then, next week, we'll deliver the petition directly to summit officials and leaders.
Climate Change- Will politicians and the Government listen
The warnings that have emerged from the Copenhagen climate conference could hardly be more stark and highlight the need for urgent action.
Climate change
Every country is being asked to sign up to a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol
Scientists say a temperature rise of two degrees by the end of the century is inevitable, with all the impact that will have.
As is a sea level rise of one metre, and perhaps more.
On top of all that, some think that three-quarters of the Amazon rainforest could be lost.
Professor Katherine Richardson, of Copenhagen University, organised the emergency conference. She told Sky News Online: "In terms of the natural science - what's happening on this planet at the moment - there isn't very much, if any, good news from this meeting.
"On the other hand, there is some good news coming from social science here. There are lots of things we have in our tool box we can use, right now, to actively combat climate change."
At the start of December Copenhagen will play host to thousands of the world's politicians and policy-makers when the crucial United Nations climate conference takes place.
The task is to get every country in the world to sign up to an emissions reduction deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
The question being asked by the scientists here: will their urgent warnings inspire an ambitious deal?
Professor Kevin Anderson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, told Sky News Online he thinks success in December is far from certain.
"I think it's extremely unlikely that the politicians will start to produce policies that will reflect the scale of the science discussed here, so I think the policy agenda will fall far short of what's being called for by the scientists.
"And I think we'll rue the day, that we'll regret in many years to come, that this was a wonderful occasion and we let the side down."
If the politicians do fail to take advantage of the opportunity December's conference presents, many scientists are convinced that their predictions of future climate upheaval will begin to impact on us all.
Climate change
Every country is being asked to sign up to a deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol
Scientists say a temperature rise of two degrees by the end of the century is inevitable, with all the impact that will have.
As is a sea level rise of one metre, and perhaps more.
On top of all that, some think that three-quarters of the Amazon rainforest could be lost.
Professor Katherine Richardson, of Copenhagen University, organised the emergency conference. She told Sky News Online: "In terms of the natural science - what's happening on this planet at the moment - there isn't very much, if any, good news from this meeting.
"On the other hand, there is some good news coming from social science here. There are lots of things we have in our tool box we can use, right now, to actively combat climate change."
At the start of December Copenhagen will play host to thousands of the world's politicians and policy-makers when the crucial United Nations climate conference takes place.
The task is to get every country in the world to sign up to an emissions reduction deal to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
The question being asked by the scientists here: will their urgent warnings inspire an ambitious deal?
Professor Kevin Anderson, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change, told Sky News Online he thinks success in December is far from certain.
"I think it's extremely unlikely that the politicians will start to produce policies that will reflect the scale of the science discussed here, so I think the policy agenda will fall far short of what's being called for by the scientists.
"And I think we'll rue the day, that we'll regret in many years to come, that this was a wonderful occasion and we let the side down."
If the politicians do fail to take advantage of the opportunity December's conference presents, many scientists are convinced that their predictions of future climate upheaval will begin to impact on us all.
Lights off- For planet Earth
Landmarks around the world have been plunged into darkness in a global push to act on climate change.
Sydney skyline
Sydney's skyline after the light switch-off for Earth Hour 2009
Lights were turned off at 8.30pm local time to mark Earth Hour, organised by the WWF.
To start the annual event, diesel generators were switched off on the Chatham Islands, a small archipelago off the east coast of New Zealand.
Lights then went out at Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Asia followed with lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines dimming as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts.
Other iconic landmarks falling into darkness this year include the Eiffel Tower, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, CN Tower in Toronto and the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.
Manila
Chiller in Manila
Among the landmarks taking part in Britain are Nelson's Column, the Forth Bridge, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and the London Eye.
The public is also being urged to get involved in their own homes.
"We are sitting here near the harbour. There are about 60 or 70 people here having a picnic," an Earth Hour spokesman said in Sydney.
The organisers suggested people in Britain took part with picnics, acoustic gigs and pub quizzes in the dark.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when more than two million homes and businesses switched off their lights for an hour.
A year later, 50 million people switched off their lights, with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum and the huge billboard in Times Square, New York, all standing in darkness.
Sydney skyline
Sydney's skyline after the light switch-off for Earth Hour 2009
Lights were turned off at 8.30pm local time to mark Earth Hour, organised by the WWF.
To start the annual event, diesel generators were switched off on the Chatham Islands, a small archipelago off the east coast of New Zealand.
Lights then went out at Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
Asia followed with lights at landmarks in China, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines dimming as people celebrated with candle-lit picnics and concerts.
Other iconic landmarks falling into darkness this year include the Eiffel Tower, Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, CN Tower in Toronto and the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.
Manila
Chiller in Manila
Among the landmarks taking part in Britain are Nelson's Column, the Forth Bridge, the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and the London Eye.
The public is also being urged to get involved in their own homes.
"We are sitting here near the harbour. There are about 60 or 70 people here having a picnic," an Earth Hour spokesman said in Sydney.
The organisers suggested people in Britain took part with picnics, acoustic gigs and pub quizzes in the dark.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when more than two million homes and businesses switched off their lights for an hour.
A year later, 50 million people switched off their lights, with the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Colosseum and the huge billboard in Times Square, New York, all standing in darkness.
North Dakota Floods
t was thought that up to 30,000 people could be left homeless when the river around Fargo, North Dakota, reached a record 112-year high.
But thanks to icy conditions, a series of levees and sandbag dikes constructed to keep the waters at bay were not breached, as waters feeding the river froze.
Now weary residents have turned their attention to ensuring their hastily built levees hold up against an onslaught of ice-laden water.
Red River floodwaters surround a home in Fargo, North Dakota
The flooding in Fargo
President Obama has pledged support for those affected, issuing a federal disaster declaration for 34 counties and two Native American reservations.
Mr Obama also declared a state of emergency for parts of Minnesota, the state which shares a Red River border with North Dakota.
A meteorologist for the US National Weather Service, Mike Hudson, said the Red River began receding on Saturday morning.
Residents were originally braced for a crest on Sunday and several thousand had evacuated the area.
But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot - and may remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will have to wait several days before they are completely safe.
But thanks to icy conditions, a series of levees and sandbag dikes constructed to keep the waters at bay were not breached, as waters feeding the river froze.
Now weary residents have turned their attention to ensuring their hastily built levees hold up against an onslaught of ice-laden water.
Red River floodwaters surround a home in Fargo, North Dakota
The flooding in Fargo
President Obama has pledged support for those affected, issuing a federal disaster declaration for 34 counties and two Native American reservations.
Mr Obama also declared a state of emergency for parts of Minnesota, the state which shares a Red River border with North Dakota.
A meteorologist for the US National Weather Service, Mike Hudson, said the Red River began receding on Saturday morning.
Residents were originally braced for a crest on Sunday and several thousand had evacuated the area.
But the river can still fluctuate up to a foot - and may remain at dangerous levels for a week, meaning people will have to wait several days before they are completely safe.
Pastor Gunned Down During Church Service
A pastor has been shot dead while delivering a Sunday sermon at a church in Illinois. Members of the congregation overpowered the gunman when his weapon jammed.
An 11-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of his father’s pregnant girlfriend.
Jordan Brown is charged with killing his father's girlfriend
Kenzie Marie Houk was found dead in the bedroom of her farmhouse in western Pennsylvania by her four-year-old daughter on Friday morning.
Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said that Jordan Brown had been charged as an adult in the shooting of 26-year-old Ms Houk and her unborn baby.
A four-year-old boy has shot his babysitter because he was angry with him for stepping on his foot.
A boy holds a replica shotgun
The child knew how to load and fire the weapon
Teenage carer Nathan Beavers probably thought the youngster was joking when he said he was going to get a weapon.
But the child from Ohio, USA, came back into the room with a shotgun and fired into the babysitter's arm and side.
The 18-year-old had been looking after the boy in a mobile home in Jackson county.
He was rushed to hospital along with another teenager who was also hit by the gunfire.
Neither died from their injuries, reportedly because the ammunition was bird pellets rather than bullets.
The boy's father is said to be shocked that his son knew how to load the weapon.
A pastor has been shot dead while delivering a Sunday sermon at a church in Illinois. Members of the congregation overpowered the gunman when his weapon jammed.
An 11-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of his father’s pregnant girlfriend.
Jordan Brown is charged with killing his father's girlfriend
Kenzie Marie Houk was found dead in the bedroom of her farmhouse in western Pennsylvania by her four-year-old daughter on Friday morning.
Lawrence County District Attorney John Bongivengo said that Jordan Brown had been charged as an adult in the shooting of 26-year-old Ms Houk and her unborn baby.
A four-year-old boy has shot his babysitter because he was angry with him for stepping on his foot.
A boy holds a replica shotgun
The child knew how to load and fire the weapon
Teenage carer Nathan Beavers probably thought the youngster was joking when he said he was going to get a weapon.
But the child from Ohio, USA, came back into the room with a shotgun and fired into the babysitter's arm and side.
The 18-year-old had been looking after the boy in a mobile home in Jackson county.
He was rushed to hospital along with another teenager who was also hit by the gunfire.
Neither died from their injuries, reportedly because the ammunition was bird pellets rather than bullets.
The boy's father is said to be shocked that his son knew how to load the weapon.
The age of Aquarius-How the shift affects the human race
A gunman has shot dead six people and injured three others, including a police officer, in a shooting spree at a nursing home in North Carolina, police have said.
Carthage, North Carolina
The shooting happened at a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina
Authorities say the gunman, who is in custody, was among those injured.
Police Chief Chris McKenzie told local television station WRAL the shooter entered Pinelake Health and Rehab in the town of Carthage around 10.00am and opened fire.
The 90-bed facility is a care centre for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Police have not said what motivated the deadly attack.
A spokeswoman for the county hospital confirmed six patients were brought into the emergency department this morning.
Emily Sloane said one was in surgery and one had been released.
She would not confirm that the gunman was among those being treated.
"We activated our emergency plan when we got the notification," said Ms Sloane.
"We did put the hospital on lockdown, just given the nature of the incident."
Carthage, North Carolina
The shooting happened at a nursing home in Carthage, North Carolina
Authorities say the gunman, who is in custody, was among those injured.
Police Chief Chris McKenzie told local television station WRAL the shooter entered Pinelake Health and Rehab in the town of Carthage around 10.00am and opened fire.
The 90-bed facility is a care centre for patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Police have not said what motivated the deadly attack.
A spokeswoman for the county hospital confirmed six patients were brought into the emergency department this morning.
Emily Sloane said one was in surgery and one had been released.
She would not confirm that the gunman was among those being treated.
"We activated our emergency plan when we got the notification," said Ms Sloane.
"We did put the hospital on lockdown, just given the nature of the incident."
Sunday 1 February 2009
Volcanic Eruption
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Geologists monitoring Mount Redoubt for signs of a possible eruption noticed that a hole in the glacier clinging to the north side of the volcano had doubled in size overnight — and now spans the length of two football fields.
Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory on Friday flew close to Drift Glacier and spotted vigorous steam emitted from a hole on the mountain. By Saturday, they had confirmed the area was a fumarole, an opening in the earth that emits gases and steam, that was increasing in size at an alarming rate.
They also saw water streaming down the glacier, indicating heat from magma is reaching higher elevations of the mountain.
"The glacier is sort of falling apart in the upper part," research geologist Kristi Wallace said.
The signs of heat add to concerns that an eruption is near, which could send an ash cloud about 100 miles northeast toward Anchorage, the state's largest city, or onto communities on the Kenai Peninsula, which is even closer to the mountain on the west side of Cook Inlet. It would be the first eruption since 1990.
Particulate released during an eruption has jagged edges and can injure skin, eyes and breathing passages, especially in young children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.
It can also foul engines. An eruption in December 1989 sent out an ash cloud 150 miles that flamed out the jet engines of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers on its way to Anchorage. The jet dropped more than two miles before pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely.
A week ago, the observatory detected a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano and upgraded its alert level to orange, the stage just before full eruption. The warning that an eruption was imminent caused a rush on dust masks and car air filters in Anchorage.
Alaska's volcanoes typically start with an explosion that can shoot ash 50,000 feet high and into the jet stream, but there are warning signs because magma causes small earthquakes as it moves.
Geologist Jennifer Adleman said the observatory has been recording quakes up to magnitude 2.1 but not at the frequency that preceded the last two eruptions in 1989 and 1990.
Scientists with the Alaska Volcano Observatory on Friday flew close to Drift Glacier and spotted vigorous steam emitted from a hole on the mountain. By Saturday, they had confirmed the area was a fumarole, an opening in the earth that emits gases and steam, that was increasing in size at an alarming rate.
They also saw water streaming down the glacier, indicating heat from magma is reaching higher elevations of the mountain.
"The glacier is sort of falling apart in the upper part," research geologist Kristi Wallace said.
The signs of heat add to concerns that an eruption is near, which could send an ash cloud about 100 miles northeast toward Anchorage, the state's largest city, or onto communities on the Kenai Peninsula, which is even closer to the mountain on the west side of Cook Inlet. It would be the first eruption since 1990.
Particulate released during an eruption has jagged edges and can injure skin, eyes and breathing passages, especially in young children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems.
It can also foul engines. An eruption in December 1989 sent out an ash cloud 150 miles that flamed out the jet engines of a KLM flight carrying 231 passengers on its way to Anchorage. The jet dropped more than two miles before pilots were able to restart the engines and land safely.
A week ago, the observatory detected a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano and upgraded its alert level to orange, the stage just before full eruption. The warning that an eruption was imminent caused a rush on dust masks and car air filters in Anchorage.
Alaska's volcanoes typically start with an explosion that can shoot ash 50,000 feet high and into the jet stream, but there are warning signs because magma causes small earthquakes as it moves.
Geologist Jennifer Adleman said the observatory has been recording quakes up to magnitude 2.1 but not at the frequency that preceded the last two eruptions in 1989 and 1990.
Changing the face of the World
Iceland’s political parties have reached an agreement that will give the country its first female prime minister and the world its first openly gay leader.
Johanna Sigudardottir, 66, will lead the government when it is sworn in at 6 p.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) on Sunday, her political advisor Hrannar Arnarsson told CNN via e-mail.
Iceland has been in political turmoil since October, when its currency, stock market and leading banks collapsed amid the global financial crisis.
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Tehran on Sunday to meet with Iranian leaders, his first visit to the country since Israel’s recent military offensive on Gaza, according to an Iranian media report.
Meshaal — who lives in exile in Damascus, Syria — is scheduled to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Meshaal is the head of Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Nearly 4,000 women are running for office in Iraq’s provincial elections Saturday, and many of them will be guaranteed a seat under an electoral quota system.
Regardless of the votes their candidates receive, parties are required to give every third seat to a female candidate on their list, according to a report this week from the International Crisis Group.
The ultimate share of seats held by women will depend on the distribution of votes among parties, the report said.
(CNN) — Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheekh Ahmed was sworn in as Somalia’s new president Saturday after he was voted in by the country’s parliament, a Somali journalist told CNN.
Journalist Omar Faruk Osman told CNN that Sheikh Sharif was sworn in at about 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) in Djibouti, which lies northwest of Somalia.
The vote and swearing-in took place in Djibouti because the international community wanted to be present to observe the voting process and could not do so in Somalia for safety reasons.
The Djibouti location had been chosen before radical Islamic fighters took over the Somali parliament building and the presidential palace earlier this week.
Johanna Sigudardottir, 66, will lead the government when it is sworn in at 6 p.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) on Sunday, her political advisor Hrannar Arnarsson told CNN via e-mail.
Iceland has been in political turmoil since October, when its currency, stock market and leading banks collapsed amid the global financial crisis.
TEHRAN, Iran (CNN) — Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal arrived in Tehran on Sunday to meet with Iranian leaders, his first visit to the country since Israel’s recent military offensive on Gaza, according to an Iranian media report.
Meshaal — who lives in exile in Damascus, Syria — is scheduled to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.
Meshaal is the head of Hamas, which rules the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Nearly 4,000 women are running for office in Iraq’s provincial elections Saturday, and many of them will be guaranteed a seat under an electoral quota system.
Regardless of the votes their candidates receive, parties are required to give every third seat to a female candidate on their list, according to a report this week from the International Crisis Group.
The ultimate share of seats held by women will depend on the distribution of votes among parties, the report said.
(CNN) — Moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheekh Ahmed was sworn in as Somalia’s new president Saturday after he was voted in by the country’s parliament, a Somali journalist told CNN.
Journalist Omar Faruk Osman told CNN that Sheikh Sharif was sworn in at about 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) in Djibouti, which lies northwest of Somalia.
The vote and swearing-in took place in Djibouti because the international community wanted to be present to observe the voting process and could not do so in Somalia for safety reasons.
The Djibouti location had been chosen before radical Islamic fighters took over the Somali parliament building and the presidential palace earlier this week.
Friday 30 January 2009
The Promice
CIVIL RIGHTS
"The teenagers and college students who left their homes to march in the streets of Birmingham and Montgomery; the mothers who walked instead of taking the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry and cleaning somebody else's kitchen -- they didn't brave fire hoses and Billy clubs so that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would still wonder at the beginning of the 21st century whether their vote would be counted; whether their civil rights would be protected by their government; whether justice would be equal and opportunity would be theirs.... We have more work to do."
-- Barack Obama, Speech at Howard University, September 28, 2007
President Barack Obama has spent much of his career fighting to strengthen civil rights as a civil rights attorney, community organizer, Illinois State Senator, U.S. Senator, and now as President. Whether promoting economic opportunity, working to improve our nation's education and health system, or protecting the right to vote, President Obama has been a powerful advocate for our civil rights.
* Combat Employment Discrimination: President Obama and Vice President Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: President Obama and Vice President Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
* End Deceptive Voting Practices: President Obama will sign into law his legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who have engaged in voter fraud and provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and full information so they can vote.
* End Racial Profiling: President Obama and Vice President Biden will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice.
* Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Support: President Obama and Vice President Biden will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society. Obama and Biden will also create a prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates.
* Eliminate Sentencing Disparities: President Obama and Vice President Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.
* Expand Use of Drug Courts: President Obama and Vice President Biden will give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.
Support for the LGBT Community
"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
* Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
* Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
* Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
* Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
* Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
* Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
* Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.
"The teenagers and college students who left their homes to march in the streets of Birmingham and Montgomery; the mothers who walked instead of taking the bus after a long day of doing somebody else's laundry and cleaning somebody else's kitchen -- they didn't brave fire hoses and Billy clubs so that their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren would still wonder at the beginning of the 21st century whether their vote would be counted; whether their civil rights would be protected by their government; whether justice would be equal and opportunity would be theirs.... We have more work to do."
-- Barack Obama, Speech at Howard University, September 28, 2007
President Barack Obama has spent much of his career fighting to strengthen civil rights as a civil rights attorney, community organizer, Illinois State Senator, U.S. Senator, and now as President. Whether promoting economic opportunity, working to improve our nation's education and health system, or protecting the right to vote, President Obama has been a powerful advocate for our civil rights.
* Combat Employment Discrimination: President Obama and Vice President Biden will work to overturn the Supreme Court's recent ruling that curtails racial minorities' and women's ability to challenge pay discrimination. They will also pass the Fair Pay Act, to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work, and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: President Obama and Vice President Biden will strengthen federal hate crimes legislation, expand hate crimes protection by passing the Matthew Shepard Act, and reinvigorate enforcement at the Department of Justice's Criminal Section.
* End Deceptive Voting Practices: President Obama will sign into law his legislation that establishes harsh penalties for those who have engaged in voter fraud and provides voters who have been misinformed with accurate and full information so they can vote.
* End Racial Profiling: President Obama and Vice President Biden will ban racial profiling by federal law enforcement agencies and provide federal incentives to state and local police departments to prohibit the practice.
* Reduce Crime Recidivism by Providing Ex-Offender Support: President Obama and Vice President Biden will provide job training, substance abuse and mental health counseling to ex-offenders, so that they are successfully re-integrated into society. Obama and Biden will also create a prison-to-work incentive program to improve ex-offender employment and job retention rates.
* Eliminate Sentencing Disparities: President Obama and Vice President Biden believe the disparity between sentencing crack and powder-based cocaine is wrong and should be completely eliminated.
* Expand Use of Drug Courts: President Obama and Vice President Biden will give first-time, non-violent offenders a chance to serve their sentence, where appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior.
Support for the LGBT Community
"While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."
-- Barack Obama, June 1, 2007
* Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.
* Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees' domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
* Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.
* Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.
* Repeal Don't Ask-Don't Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.
* Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.
* Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma -- too often tied to homophobia -- that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.
* Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.
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