Cynical Remark #143: How long before some afflicted member of our free-speaking society claims that Florida was spared the hurricane horrors of New Orleans because mostly white people live there? or because it isn't full of gambling whoring sinners? or because only wealthy retired snowbirds live there? or because the Bush Brothers are in cahoots?

Notice I didn't say 'free-thinking' society.

Elsewhere on the Darwin scale, there's footage of a speedo-clad nit-brain out dancing in the surf in the dark of night while Wilma barreled through.

Remind me again how long we have been evolving from pond scum?

The Incredible Eyelid Show. I have this thing. I wonder if anyone else has it. Maybe someone will stumble onto this note and say, "Me too!"

Sometimes I sit with my eyes closed, fully awake, but resting my eyes or my mind by closing off visible reality. When I do, I still see things. Most of the time it's that funky 'negative' image of whatever I had been seeing with my eyes open. You know how that is, right? White is black, blue is yellow, red is green. All the colorful three dimensional detail gets turned into blocks of glowing but washed out color or black shadow. Once my retinal memory gets cleared out, I'm left with a mostly black screen that's sort of grainy, with the occasional blip or spark popping here and there.

But sometimes... I see other things, interesting things, bizarre and fascinating things. The best images seem to appear when I'm just waking up. Kinda fun to groggily sit and watch the show while I'm, um, doing what one does first thing in the morning after a long sleep ;) The images playing in the vast dark expanse under my closed eyelids are like geometric fantasies in motion.

There's one recurring image which I find quite delightful. It's like a lacy mandala which covers almost the whole 'screen'. Imagine a rainbow doily in a very delicate weave. The image is... wait, maybe I can sort of draw this one.

Yeah, something like that. But it's more intricate with very crisp detail. Sometimes it slowly spins. Sometimes it seems to 'breathe', with the inner pattern coming out of the center and spreading out toward the edges while the outer portion seems to recede and emerge once again from within the center.

Strange, eh? But mesmerizing to watch... with my eyes closed :)

Okay, so like, which plague are we on? I lost track. Oh wait... Wolf Blitzer is interviewing Pat Robertson on CNN. I'm sure he will enlighten us on the progress of God's Wrath. *eyeroll* I dunno 'bout you, but I just couldn't respect a deity who throws such temper tantrums. Puleeeeze...

Obviously Pakistan 10/8 is a 'where and when.' I wouldn't have thought that area would be on our watch. Based on the alignment, it looks like our focus is on the US, but ya never know. Whomever might be working that area should not feel they've failed. For all we know, the 7.6 mag followed by more than a dozen 5.0+ could have been a series of 9.0 or higher quakes.

I don't think this is the whole shakeup, even if all the external stress factors suddenly disappeared. Pakistan's experience may cause ripples to other tectonic plates. And of course, the other stress factors have not disappeared. We still have all those asteroids on a driveby.

One silver lining is that the Pakistan quakes were/are shallow. That's terrible for those people because surface quakes do more damage in the immediate area. But, it's better for the rest of the world because shallower quakes don't send shockwaves out with as much power as deep quakes. So, the ripples shouldn't be as strong. That may be an effect of the 'work' there too, greater good and all that.

It is additionally possible that the epicenter was 'moved.' Imagine if this had occurred in the Arabian Sea, then there might have been tsunami effects too, impacting even more countries and more people. Or imagine if the epicenter had been a bit east, in the heart of India (pop. 1 billion vs Pakistan pop. about a million and a half).

Watching to see what else may unfold.
10/10, 10:10am PT looms, Columbus Day, Columbia River, Juan de Fuca release, tsunamis, Mount St Helens release, Cascades rumble

You know, come to think of it... moving a thing like that, dampening it, and bringing it closer to the surface... well, that would take an awful lot of energy. Would be a great way to spend some of the excess from the Pacific Northwest though, eh?

Earth is having a block party. Didn't you get an invitation? Asteroids often whizz by us, usually one at a time and usually with a day or more to space them out. (Oo, a pun!) Most of them are pretty small and far enough away that there's no real threat of impact. These visitors are called NEOs (Near Earth Objects) and NASA's JPL tracks them.

Reckon I know a little more about what Xan and Ghost and I may be working at now, since I checked out the NEO Close Approach list. It showed 17 asteroids traveling in our immediate neighborhood from Oct 2 - Oct 11. Very high traffic. The biggest will come closest on the 9th, the next three in size will be closest on the 10th. Actually, to me it looks a lot like what I'd call a mongolian clusterf__k.

[For comparison: Highest number of close approach NEOs in a single month from 1981 through 2004 - 14 in November 2004. Yes, 14 for the whole month vs 17 within 10 days. (search criteria: H<=20, Nominal Distance <=0.2AU)]

Now none of the 17 are as big as Toutatis, nor will they pass as close. Individually, they wouldn't cause much disturbance at all, but like this, well... They're bound to have an effect on the Earth's EMF, crust, and possibly even ocean/air currents. Lots of extra pushing and pulling going on, erractically at that. Lots of little electromagnets playing around this big one where we live.

Gonna have to try to equalize the pools and spikes of energy, maybe open some gates and lay down pathways, ie make channels for it to overflow into so it doesn't build up in the already active dangerous places (Cascades, Pacific Northwest), or flow to other currently inactive, but potentially dangerous places (Yellowstone).

Yeah, I'd say it could get really interesting in the near future. Hard to guesstimate exactly what effects we'll get, and where, and when. We had a big hurricane season last year. Toutatis came closest on September 29 2004. The monster Indonesian quake happened on December 26 2004, and another on March 28 2005. So, the ripples could take a while. Remember, it's a rather big bowl of jello.

Duh, I just realized (remembered?) that all this increased geologic activity is probably related to asteroid Toutatis' passage at the end of September 2004.

As I noted here previously (Oct 1 2004), an asteroid doesn't actually have to hit us to have an impact, though science doesn't seem to realize that or isn't talking about it. My theory was that Toutatis would apply pressure on approach, disturb our EMF as we traveled together briefly on the same orbital plane, then as it pulled away we'd "see what happens when that applied pressure is relieved, ie, as the lid comes off the tapper kettle."

NASA JPL said at the time, "The September 29 approach is the closest in a century of any known asteroid at least as big as Toutatis." ... "Toutatis is, in fact, the biggest asteroid to come this close since astronomers have been watching them."

I believe the December 2004 quake in Indonesia and resulting tsunami were effects from Toutatis, as well as the echo in March 2005. I had not guesstimated how long the asteroid's effect would last. But, I see now that once you shake the jello bowl, it will wiggle for quite a while. In this case, the jello bowl is a big spinning spheroid filled with liquid iron, covered with a cracked crust, and enveloped in water and vapor currents.

Still not sure how long the wiggling will continue, but it's fairly obvious now that it will be measured in years.

I have to wonder... Would one more hurricane hitting southern Louisiana this season finally convince people that the Mississippi Delta is not a safe place to live? Or would they still move back and try to rebuild, so the next round can wash about a million people into the Gulf? What a waste of time, money, and a criminal waste of human life that would be.

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will...

Once again, I hope I'm wrong.

I've been a little cryptic, now I guess I'm launching into full disclosure. Interpret my comments as clairvoyance or insanity, whichever you wish.

syn·chro·nic·i·ty - the coincidental occurrence of events that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality

All those geologic factors I said I'm watching are amounting to a heap of synchronicities for me. They have formed a picture, gradually, like an old polaroid shot that starts out foggy with only traces of an image but eventually becomes clear.

For me, the picture describes something that will try to happen in October, yes, this month. The latest synchronistic hit occurred this evening, when the Discovery Channel re-aired two programs, back to back -- Megaquake and Supervolcano.

Megaquake describes the potential for a megathrust earthquake, like the one that hit Indonesia, occurring on the Cascadia subduction zone, where the Juan de Fuca plate is sliding under the Pacific Northwest of the US. A large earthquake there would not only cause unprecedented quake damage, but also tsunami which would follow the quake onto the coastlines of Washington, Oregon and northern California... and... ripple across the Pacific to hit Hawaii, Japan, etc.

Supervolcano is a dramatization and commentary on a potential eruption of Yellowstone. This ancient volcano is currently a pulsing lava dome under the northwest corner of Wyoming. If it erupted, the lava and ash would not only devastate much of this continent, but change global climate for a long time to come.

Interesting that these two shows, one after the other, perfectly describe the scenario I have seen for October. I doubt the Discovery channel intended to link the two, other than joining the nationwide disaster focus spurred by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But, I see them as linked, and in fact, the one will indeed follow the other. I see the buildup of energy occurring along the coastline of the Pacific Northwest... being released... causing a megaquake and tsunami... AND... rippling westward through the continental shelf to stir and awaken the sleeping giant under Yellowstone.

Now some (most?) folks would say I'm a paranoid lunatic, watching too much TV and making too much of coincidences. That could be. In truth, I'd rather that were the case, but I cannot ignore what I am seeing.

Nor am I ready to really sound an alarm about all of this because I believe plans are in the works to mitigate the potential disaster. (And who would listen to an alarm I'd try to raise anyway? ;)

Those of you who know me, also know that Da Shroom will be taking a cruise this month to the Mexican Riviera. She will be in San Diego on October 7th, then sailing from there on October 8th down along Baja California and Mexico.

You may or may not know another friend of mine, whom I call Ghost, recently joined the Army Reserves and has been sent to Fort Dix NJ for training through the month of October.

If I draw a line between San Diego and Fort Dix NJ, that line passes right through my location here in the midwest. In fact, I am at the halfway point on that line.

Even if I believed in coincidence, which I don't, that alignment is too much for coincidence. I believe it is a purposeful alignment. I believe we will be lined up to help mitigate the potential disaster as described above.

The three of us have a rather special connection, which I won't detail right now because I'm writing a big enough volume already. But I will say that we have worked with Mother Earth before and it's looking like that exercise was merely practice for this.

I believe we will try to siphon off a significant amount of energy from the buildup at the Pacific Northwest and draw it southward through California, in a straight line to San Diego. There, Da Shroom will bend it and aim east toward Ghost at Fort Dix NJ. They've done this pitch-and-catch thing before. In the middle here, I will help keep the feed focused and properly directed. I may even do some conversion on the energy. It's something I'm geared to do. I'm also the 'lucky' one who gets to see these operations so we can be aware of them.

The main point of this operation is to reduce the disasterous effects in the Pacific Northwest, AND to keep that energy release from going east to wake up Yellowstone. I have no doubt there is some good use for the energy along the pathway and at the end of the trail on the east coast also, but I haven't seen that part of the picture clearly yet.

Honestly, if we do well, nothing will happen and I'll look like one of those chickynoodlehead alarmists I just berated. I'm okay with that because it means no one gets hurt or killed. But what I expect is that there will be some events, they'll just hopefully not add up to the worst case scenario.

Coconuts in Wyoming? (and misled EcoNazis in DC) - FoxNews.com, June 2004

I knew there was clear and concise data about this global warming crapola. I just had to hunt for it. Funny how the articles of truth get so deeply buried under more sensational news, like people whining from ignorance or trying to put the fear of God and combustion engines into folks' hearts.

I love Fox's characterization: "Though temperatures obviously rise due to natural causes during the summer, global-warming activists like to take advantage of this time to dramatize their cause."

Man, these alarmists (oh, activists, yeah) really like to skew the facts. No, 'skew' is not a strong enough word. They blow it all so far out of proportion that it's a wonder their hot air isn't affecting global climate. I'm not sure what the motivation is for EcoNazis. Might just be a combination of Chicken Little Syndrome and phenomenal arrogance? How ironic that such misguided chickens think humanity is powerful enough to make a dent in the natural processes of this planet.

Yes, we are experiencing global warming, but we are not causing it.

FACTS, chickynoodleheads, look at the FACTS:

About 95% of the greenhouse effect is due to water vapor, 99.999% of which is of natural origin. (Incidentally, we need the greenhouse effect, else we'd be popsicles. It's the supposed 'runaway' effect that is a problem. Too much of a good thing.)

The other 5% of the greenhouse effect is due to carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and other miscellaneous gases.

Carbon dioxide, is responsible for roughly 3.6% of the greenhouse effect. About 97% of atmospheric carbon dioxide is natural; only about 3% is from human activity.

That means that only about 0.11% of the greenhouse effect (that is, 3% of 3.6%) is due to human releases of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Put another way, about 99.89% of the greenhouse effect has nothing to do with carbon-dioxide emissions from human activity.

Factoring in the other greenhouse gases, the total human contribution to the greenhouse effect is about 0.3%. In other words, about 99.7% of the greenhouse effect is due entirely to nature.

So, like, I really suck at math, but even I can see that it's not what we do, it's just how the planet is.

Yes, we should look for ways to reduce our use of fossil fuels, because 1) we're entirely too dependent on some hot heads in the Middle East as well as greedy oil barons in our own country and 2) while our CO2 production isn't hurting the planet, it's making us sick physically and financially, so it would be nice to find cleaner and cheaper ways to motor around.

Yes, cyclical changes are underway which are wreaking havoc with our weather and making it more hazardous to live on coastlines and in view of gorgeous [volcanic] mountains and on other desireable but seismically active terrains. But, shouting 'The sky is falling!" isn't going to change that. We have chosen where to live. If we want to continue living, we need to re-evaluate our choices.

BTW, to understand the 'Coconuts in Wyoming' reference, you'll have to read the FoxNews.com article. It's not really critical to the discussion, but it was an interesting headline. :)

Thankfully, Rita didn't get a chance to stall over Texarkana as originally forecast. A front from the west scattered it into a north-south line to be pushed off the east coast. So, it appears we dodged the Mississippi and Ohio valley flooding for now.

I'm still watching the climate and geologic factors. I wouldn't be surprised to see another major hurricane develop before the season ends officially in November.

Some potentiality is still brewing for around October 8th. I'm still not sure what, but part of me feels like I am 'bracing' for it (though not for me personally). The rest of me is simply sure that there will be (Earth) work to do at that time, and frankly, it's exciting to help with it.

Three independent sources have brought a new report to my attention concerning statistics on melting polar ice. In reference to the amount of ice: "In 2005, it's the lowest on record. We've watched it retreat year after year." "New satellite photos show that the ice pack has shrunk by 30% since 1978 ((when we started satellite monitoring)) and the melting is speeding up causing the warmest summer in 400 years." "With studies showing increasing hurricane intensity over the past 30 years linked to rising sea temperatures, and recent record heat waves in North America, a growing number of scientists say it's all interconnected." phht Yes, of course it's all connected.

"[The melting] has the potential for raising sea level very significantly. We're not talking about sea level rise just in the Arctic. We're talking about sea level rise around the globe, so everybody is going to experience it, particularly regions that have low lying areas."

Their predictions on when we might see significant rise vary from 25 to 100 yrs, but I'm thinking it will become consistently problematic much sooner. I hate to jump on the 2012 bandwagon, but the marker is somewhere between here and there, imo. I would expect big changes in the shape of North America to occur -by- 2012. The Earth is rebalancing and that means a lot of moving and shaking to get there.

It's a sign. Katrina and Rita are saying, "Don't live in the delta of the Mississippi." It has always been a hazard waiting to happen... well... it is now happening. So, move, permanently. The hurricane season lasts through November. Katrina and Rita may not be the end of the message. Listen. Hear. Act.

Rita's legacy does not end with landfall. The storm is expected to sit for a while over Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Besides the tornado activity that area will see, the rivers in that region feed the Mississippi River. Gulf waters and lakes have been instrumental in the flooding so far, but when all that rain falls over those states and flows into the Mississippi, there will be river flooding too. And, when the southern section of the Mississippi floods, it backs up to the north, flooding that area, even up into the Ohio River.

Water. We are going to see more water and it isn't going to just drain away anymore. The shape of the Mississippi River Valley is changing. It will broaden from the delta northward almost to St Louis. The Mississippi Embayment will eventually be a northern extension of the Gulf of Mexico. People who stubbornly choose to stay in that area, or move back there, will ultimately be lost. The messages are clear already but they will get louder and stronger until there is no longer a choice. This is what I see.

I'm not the only one who sees the water rising. Although the EPA and IPCC want to blame it all on global warming, and I don't, they are at least looking at the impact. Regardless of why it happens, it is going to happen, it IS happening.



"Melting of polar ice and land-based glaciers is expected to contribute to a 1/2 ft to 3ft sea level rise within this century. Shrinking ice caps also cause changes in ocean circulation and storm tracks. To be sure, not all of the melting currently occurring is due to global warming." (Correct, it's just adding to a natural cycle.)

Incidentally, I think that map and the guesstimates on sea level rise are very conservative.

People who choose to live in those red zones are choosing to be flooded out, year after year, until they move or drown. That's just how it is. I guess we should reserve some posthumous Darwin awards for them.

Things I am watching:
~ solar activity, ie, flares and CMEs
~ the 'slow slip' of the Juan de Fuca plate in a reverse direction from its usual creep
~ other seismic activity worldwide, esp So Cal and the NMSZ, plus events in unusual places
~ a curious 100 sq mi bulge beneath Oregon near South Sister mountain in the Cascades
~ Mount St Helens activity
~ in fact, the whole Cascade range
~ the magma bubble beneath Yellowstone Lake
~ the unfolding of the rest of the hurricane season

Thank you. All my questions aren't answered yet, but I did get a lot more puzzle pieces and I appreciate that.
With Gratitude, Griffen
PS - Keep it comin' ;) You know I am mortally curious.

Dear Universe,
Clues are very interesting. Now how about some reasons, some explanations, some clearly detailed messages? I know I'm generally allergic to reading the directions, but honestly, I'd make an effort on this stuff. :) So like, so like, so like... just exactly what's supposed to be on my agenda for October, hm?
Thank You
Your pal, Griffen

Rant Mode ON
Rumors are very often lies. I saw an interview today with an NOPD officer who was in the Superdome for the duration. He said they had officers and troops roaming the place continually, even sleeping with one eye open, when they slept at all, and they kept the criminal activity pretty well in check. He is ordinarily in charge of rape crisis reports in New Orleans and he said the rumors about murders, rapes and whatever going on in the Superdome were wrong. He was aware of two attempted rapes and the offenders were soon arrested and detained away from the rest of the population. Yeah, he could have been lying to cover his ass, but I think I read people pretty well and the man seemed sincere, truthful, and justifiably a little annoyed that wild stories were circulating when he and his comrades had worked damned hard to make sure none of that shit happened. Not only that, but he was rather proud of the 25,000 or so citizens who were in horrible circumstances but managed to behave.

There are apparently true horror stories being relayed about the Convention Center in New Orleans, but as far as I know that was not a designated shelter like the Superdome. So, assumptions were made, erroneous assumptions. People went there on their own and had to wait for help that was very slow in coming, leaving them without police support and so on. Maybe FEMA etc should have realized people would go there, but I don't think that oversight is justification for condemning the agencies. It's something they need to look at in future, ie, not only where they tell people to go, but likely locations where people may take refuge. Seems to me that most of the people who ended up at the Convention Center are the ones who slip through the cracks even under ordinary circumstances. This event just took that to a new level. Even so, if 20,000 or 15,000 or even 10,000 people ended up at the Convention Center and they can only find a few really gruesome stories, that's a pretty impressive percentage, especially without official support.

It's rather aggravating to me that people seem to be ignoring the fact that about 350,000, more than 75% of folks in New Orleans, followed the evacuation order. There's an estimated 100,000 who couldn't or wouldn't. The good does outweigh the bad, 3 to 1. Also, the media doesn't seem to have time to report the progress being made in Mississippi and Alabama. But hey, it's not as dramatic. Bad news makes news.

I saw a program on Arkansas Educational Television, Arkansans KARE (Katrina Assistance and Relief Effort). They interviewed some of the evacuees and two men in particular, a couple of middle aged black men, expressed their thanks for Arkansans' support and relocation opportunities. They were asked if they wanted to go back to New Orleans. They said no, that honestly they had not lived well there, and knew that this day would eventually come, but in the 40 or so years of their lives, they just never could afford to get out. They plan to be citizens of Arkansas now, pulling their own weight, not wanting to burden anyone. They plan to build a small business, apparently lawncare, because they said a fellow had already helped them by offering the loan of a truck, trailer, and needed equipment until they could afford their own.

These fellows are not the only ones who plan to leave the disaster zone for good.
The Australian "Evacuees vow not to return to broken city"

Truly, the majority of those who have been hit the hardest are, yes, black, and yes, poor. This disaster isn't how anyone would've wanted to help them out, but it WILL help them... out of a hazard zone, out of generations of poverty, and hopefully out of some remaining racial stigmas. Yes, dammit, I believe they will be better off.

Oh, and I caught Paula Zahn on CNN trying to get reporters and other interviewees to say things were and are dramatically nasty, how authories failed, how citizens were being criminal, how cops plan to go in and run people out of New Orleans at gun point.... She was surely unsatisfied. She had to keep re-spinning her spiel (Yeah, but isn't it so that... Not really... But aren't there reports of... Not so many....). The reporters just kept telling her, No, it's just not that way. The police, troops, and other helpers are trying to do their jobs. The citizens are trying to make the best of a bad situation. Sorry, Paula, hate to disappoint you and all the other media ghouls who seem unable to recognize that humans, especially Americans, are basically good, and even better in a crisis.

Incidentally, NOPD officials insisted today, compassionately, that they would use absolute minimal force necessary to remove the remaining citizens from New Orleans. Why must they leave, you say? I finally heard why. We already know the water is toxic, but the toxins are getting more concentrated and more deadly as the water is being pumped out or evaporating. Plus, the chemicals they will have to use for cleaning up the toxins are, in many cases, also poisonous until they've done their job, ie, the initial combination may be even more toxic. The water and the air may be deadly to anyone not properly outfitted. In addition, all repairs to infrastructure will be unnecessarily slowed if the crews have to be concerned with the welfare of stragglers. (Not to mention the waste of manpower if they had to make sure the stubborn continued to get clean water and food delivered.) There's a massive amount of debris that has to be removed and workers must pick through it now for survivors and bodies. The bulldozers sure won't be able to do it. While gas and electricity are being repaired or demolished, all those firefighters from NYC and other places as well as locals are going to be plenty busy. They should not have to risk their lives to save stupid people.

Assumptions are just as bad as rumors. People assume we should have been able to handle this because we have handled other hurricanes, other floods, other natural and unnatural disasters. That is bullshit. We have never had to deal with anything on this scale. We're talking about 450,000 people in New Orleans alone. We're talking about 90,000 square miles of damage from Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf coast. 90,000 square freakin miles. That's an area about the size of New England. It's not going to be repaired in weeks, or even months, if ever. The population is not going to be able to move back in and carry on, not for months, if ever. And why would they want to? So they can continue to duck and cover every year when this could happen again?

Rant Mode... I think I'll just leave it idling for a bit.

Hurricane Katrina: Best and worst. Fortunately, most people show their best side when such events occur. Unfortunately, some show their worst (looters and snipers?!? sheesh) and the media loves to focus on the ugly dramas. Still, I will give the media credit for helping with infomation when few other communication options were available. There have been many cases in which only the news people seemed to know about stranded folks, and while they were not equipped to rescue them, they've alerted the rescue crews.

There has been a lot of criticism about the way this thing has been handled, but I think the nature and scope of it is just something we haven't faced before. The affected area is not one or two counties in Florida, it's a huge chunk of the Gulf coast. While the usual recovery might have worked for affected areas, individually, there's just too much area to be dealt with all at once. Also, when monster hurricanes have hit in the past, the water usually receded immediately and made it possible to get help in there right away. Of course this is just not true in New Orleans especially.

Thumbs Up: Major kudos to the folks who accurately predicted the hurricane's path, got the warning out in time, and seriously enough, to save hundreds of thousands of people. It's wonderful that neighboring regions (especially Houston TX) have stepped up to offer unprecedented assistance with relocation, etc. It's terrific to see other countries actually offering aid to the US (seeing as how we seem to bail out everyone else when they need it). I also applaud the decision to cut off water and food drops to people who are still refusing to be evacuated from the cesspool that still exists in New Orleans. Cheers to those people who have wisely realized they should relocate permanently.

Thumbs Down: I have no pity for people who could have evacuated but chose not to. I have no pity for people who still won't leave when rescuers have gone through so much trouble to find them. I have absolutely no pity or tolerance for the criminals who have jeopardized the relief effort by taking pot shots at rescue workers. IMO, the authorities should be allowed to kill them on sight because they jeopardize many innocent lives with their idiocy.

We will learn a lot from this event and, as I've stated, I think we will need that knowledge. I'm sure there will be endless debates about what could have or should have been done. However, the powers seem to have had their priorities fairly well in order: save lives, then deal with the rest. That's the best thing we can do.

I want to be wrong. I sincerely want to be wrong. However, events keep occurring which suggest I may be right. I don't want to be a doomsayer, but I cannot paint a rosey future for humanity with what I am 'seeing' on the horizon in regards to Earth changes.

A series of hurricanes a year ago; the quakes and tsunamis in the Indian Ocean; increases in other earthquake activity, especially in unusual places; awakening volcanic activity; and now Katrina trying to reshape the Gulf of Mexico coastline... These things feel like we are gearing up for more troubled times ahead.

I have 'seen' drastic Earth changes, but without details. I believe the ultimate impact is as yet unwritten. However, I also believe that like a bruise it will get worse before it gets better.

I have actually thought the changes might be from one or two monster global events, but it's also possible that it is happening by way of a series of regional events like unusually large and damaging hurricanes and tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc. Not sure if that's better or worse. While it would get increasingly difficult to recover from a series of events, we may at least have a little breathing room in between, versus one or two totally devastating blows. These early events may also be prompting people to move out of dangerous areas that will eventually be permanently destroyed.

Though I have not seen a lot of specifics, I feel that ultimately the entire world will be involved. Water levels will rise and/or land will sink. For instance, the ocean may overrun low edges of the California coastline and fill in the caldera, creating a huge bay or inland sea. Melting of polar ice, volcanic ash in the air (Yellowstone looms in my mind), and such, will make significant climate changes. I can see the frost line moving southward in the US.

Here are other results I'm 'seeing'...
The west coast of the US will be cut back significantly; the Gulf of Mexico will reach up the Mississippi River to St Louis, Missouri, effectively splitting the US; most of Florida may disappear as well as a good portion of the eastern US coastline. There may be very little left of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean, only the highest points, and those will be much colder, perhaps too cold for habitation. Not sure about the rest of the world, although it is strangely possible that the South Pacific will actually rise and be more solid land instead of strips of islands. During the process though, most of those people may be lost.

I think this is all being brought about by changes in the Earth's alignment with the Sun and the galactic equator. What I see is electromagnetic forces being adjusted significantly, changing the operation of the Earth's dynamo core, ie, the way in which the Earth receives and uses solar energy through the protective electomagnetic field (our EMF shield). Magnetic north may actually flip, perhaps suddenly, across the geographic north pole (90°lat, 0°lon) to a location over in Siberia, instead of where it is now (north of Canada). These changes will set up (are setting up) greater and different tension in the Earth's crust. Tectonic plates and other weak points (volcanoes, fault lines) will have to make adjustments. The energy shifts and magnetic shifts will affect atmospheric and ocean currents to create big climate changes. Magnetic changes may also cause the Earth to attract more meteor near-misses or even impacts, though I do not see this as being more significant than the other effects, just adding to the mix.

Unlike "The Day After Tomorrow" and other green peace preaching, I do not think human activity is the culprit, although that may exacerbate the climate changes and flooding, since greenhouse gases do seem to be involved in the melting of the polar ice caps. Still, we are not the only cause or even the main cause. I think we're just entering an Earth cycle which we may not have experienced for at least 10,000 to 12,000 years. The fact that our recorded history does not go back to the previous cycle may be an indication of the vast changes we're about to face. But, I suspect we will survive these changes better than we did in the past and so we won't get thrown back to the stone age like before.

I hope I'm wrong, but I see a lot of devastation in humanity's future. Even so, I am not afraid. There are uncountable people working on mitigating the changes through metaphysical means and I don't think we've signed up for total destruction. It's just not going to be pretty. What we can learn from the overzealous doomsayers and green peace missionaries is just that it's prudent to make some preparations and realize that we'll need to know how to survive without all the conveniences we enjoy today.

You know, I'm real damned tired of perimenopause. I want to be PAUSED already. sheesh

I looked charp, felt goot, had phun! *snicker* Fewer people attended the 30th reunion than the 20th, but that's to be expected, I think, as people move further away from high school in the throes of life. However, most of those who did return were very happy to share an evening of nostalgia. I was surprised at how much difference even 10 years makes. It's like someone turned on the weight, turned off the hair and/or applied the bleach... just natural aging effects. The unexpected development was the realization that I had known some of these people long before high school, all the way back to elementary school. Pretty interesting, and even profound, to have a casual and yet such a long term relationship with several folks. Yeah, the dynamics of being human, of social interactions, of tendencies and potentials... it's just all fascinating. I sometimes wish I could remember now what I might have wanted for myself way back when, but then, I surely am where I was meant to be, or I wouldn't be here.

Going home this weekend for high school reunion. I hated high school, but so far the reunions have been lotsa fun. Something nifty about being at a party with loads of people who are the same age and sorta kinda knew each other way back when but really don't know each other at all. It's like a theme party that manages to bring together a broad variety of people. Once went to a Hat Party. The only thing most of us had in common was that each of us had been required to wear a hat, of our choosing. Made for instant topic of conversation. Of course, my classmates and I also share some cultural elements, musical era, etc. So, looking forward to the experience, again.