View allAll Photos Tagged Grounding
I'm taking full advantage of the sopping wet fields at the park and getting in at least three miles of earthing each day. I love rainy days and going home with mementos of my time stuck to my supple soles! ❤☔👣
(999 on the Oldies station: Fortune Teller
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzw0aXfNfQs
Went to the fortune teller - To have my fortune read
After an unexpectedly happy day at school, Paradise is walking into the boardwalk district with Amber.)
Paradise: I hope Champagne's not too mad that I couldn't get a ride with her. My mom said I had to walk straight to the gallery after school, and I don't need another week of grounding.
Amber: It's good for Champagne to get a taste of actual family life now and then. Hey, let's cut across Green Dive.
Paradise: What if we run into a drunk?
Amber: We'd probably knock him down if we did.
Paradise: (giggles) You're stupid.
Amber: (grinning) Come on. If we make good time we might be able to grab ice cream on the way.
Paradise: Okay, but I'm getting a dish, not a cone. I don't want anything happening to this dress.
(The friends hurry up the stairs and onto the pier where the Green Dive perches.
999 on the Oldies station: And she looked into her crystal ball)
Amber: Hey, what's that?
(She points to their left, where the pier ends, overlooking the narrow arm of water that curves in from the bay . Sunlight sparkles brightly on the water, backlighting a tall rectangle of darkness standing just before the ropes that would, theoretically, prevent someone from tumbling into the water.)
Paradise: Looks like a big box. (as they approach it) Maybe a packing crate?
Amber: I wonder if it's a delivery for Green Dive? Hey, we could get our drink on.
Paradise: (makes a face) We're not stealing booze, and we're not drinking it either. I've seen too many vids of girls passing out and puking on themselves, peeing themselves, and getting groped by pervs. My mom says that losing control means giving control to the people around you. So, unless you trust them with your dignity and your life, don't lose control.
(999 on the Oldies station: Much to my big surprise)
Amber: Your mom just ruined a lot of things, for me. So did you, with that whole, peeing, puking thing. I mean, gross mental image.
Paradise: It's not a shipping crate. Oh, hey, it's a arcade game.
Amber: (standing beside Paradise, reads aloud the stylized logo) Holo Fortuna. (and below, in small letters, inscribed in the wood) Secrets Revealed.
Paradise: It's one of those coin fortune tellers. Listen to this; (reading from a bronze plate below the window) The first A.I., hologram fortune teller. Holo Fortuna sees all. Do you dare to have your secrets revealed? Insert a quarter and speak your question. One question per quarter, please.
Amber: (standing on tiptoe and peering into the curtained booth) There isn't even one of those mechanical dummies inside. Maybe it's not all put together yet.
Paradise: It's a hologram. There wouldn't be a mannequin. (she gets a quarter from her change purse)
Amber: You're not seriously going to try this thing? They're total rip-offs.
Paradise: I think I can afford to throw away a quarter. (she lays the quarter on the slide tray and pushes it into the slot)
(999 on the Oldies station: The fortune teller told me lies
There's a click, a whir of well-oiled machinery followed by a tinkling of wind chimes -- inside the booth, a mist seems to form, and out of the mist, the shape of a woman appears, Holo Fortuna. But she doesn't look like the stereotypical gypsy, she's clad in a leather or vinyl bodysuit, sporting a short, mod bob.)
Amber: Cool effects.
HF: (her mouth moves and her voice emerges from a speaker) I'm sorry, Holo Fortuna did not understand your question.
Paradise: (makes a shushing motion to Amber) Will I marry Tyler Griffin?
Amber: (rolls her eyes) You're seriously going to ask--
Paradise: Shh!
HF: Yes. (and she vanishes)
Paradise/Amber: What?
Amber: Where's the mumbo jumbo? The mystic prophecy that can be interpreted a hundred different ways?
Paradise: She said, yes!
Amber: You can't just say, yes.
Paradise: But she did!
(999 on the Oldies station: How she made a fool out of me)
Amber: Calm down, this thing is just a machine, and it's probably not working right.
Paradise: Why don't YOU ask it something?
Amber: I will. (shaking her head and inserting a quarter) Just blurting out, yes, like that. Stupid.
HF: (there's a click, a whir of well-oiled machinery followed by a tinkling of wind chimes -- inside the booth, a mist seems to form, and out of the mist, the woman appears again) Speak your question and Holo Fortuna will speak the answer.
Amber: Will I become a successful artist?
HF: (blinks) Monetarily, yes. Emotionally, no. (and she vanishes)
Amber: What the hell did that mean?
Paradise: I guess you're going to make a lot of money.
Amber: That should make me happy. So, why didn't it sound like I was going to be happy? (she knocked on the glass) Hey! What was that emotional crack about?
(999 on the Oldies station: At last something shook me)
Paradise: Amber, it's a machine, remember?
Amber: Yeah, but that's not cool to say. Tourists aren't going to like hearing bad things. And drunk tourists will like it even less.
Paradise: Well, we can't go inside the bar and ask. Why don't we ask my mom about it? Maybe she knows who set it up, and if it's malfunctioning.
Amber: Yeah, okay. (glares at the fortune telling booth) Money WILL make me happy.
(999 on the Oldies station: And now the fortune teller - And I fell in love)
Thank you to the cast!
Paradise: Kes R
Amber: Kes M
Holo Fortuna: Fate
(Originally uploaded on May 18, 2018. Chatgpt re-imagined from original SL photo on 05/21/26.)
ZA102, now known as JA804A, one of the test aircraft for Boeing, was also the aircraft that made its emergency landing in Japan that would eventually lead to the grounding of most 787's across the world!
To read all about the 787 issues look here- www.airlinereporter.com/2013/01/a-recap-the-boeing-787-dr...
KALU RINPOCHE was born in 1905 in eastern Tibet. During his early years, he was tutored by his father at home and received a thorough grounding in the meditative and ritual traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
When Kalu Rinpoche was fifteen years old, he was sent to begin his higher studies at the great monastery of Palpung, the foremost center of the Karma Kagyu school. He remained there for more than a decade, during which time he mastered the vast body of teaching that forms the philosophical basis of Buddhist practice and completed two three-year retreats. Rinpoche's gurus included the foremost disciples of the supreme master of the Eclectic Movement, Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye. Among them were the Fifteenth Gyalwa Karmapa, Khakhyap Dorje; Eleventh Tai Situ Pema Wangchuk Gyalpo, the abbot and foremost teacher of Palpung monastery; Zhechen Gyaltsab Byurme Namgyla, the great Nyingma master who was regarded as Mipham Rinpoche's unequaled disciple; and the meditation master Drupon Norbu Donrdrup, whose teaching had a profound impact on Rinpoche's life. At the same time, his Dharma brethren included the foremost masters of his generation: Kongtrul Khyentse Ozer, Zhechen Kongrtrul Rinpoche, Jamyang Khyentse Choki Lodro, Dingo Khyentse Rinpoche, and many others.
At age twenty-six, Rinpoche left Palpung to pursue the life of a solitary yogi in the woods of the Khampa countryside. For nearly fifteen years, he strove to perfect his realization of all aspects to the teachings and he became renowned in the villages and among the nomads as a true representative of the Bodhisattva's path. Rinpoche's simple and direct style of teaching is in many ways the product of the need to bring the living experience of the Buddha's teaching to those who had not benefited from the sophisticated educational system of the monastic system.
It was thus with an established mastery of meditative practice that Kalu Rinpoche returned to Palpung to receive final teachings from Drupon Norbu Dondrup, who entrusted him with the rare transmission of the teaching of the Shangpa Kagyu.
During the 1940's, Rinpoche visited central Tibet with the party of Situ Rinpoche, and there he taught extensively. His disciples included the Reting Rinpoche, regent of all Tibet during the infancy of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.
Returning to Kham, Rinpoche became the abbot of the meditation center associated with Palpung and the meditation teacher of His Holiness the Sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. He remained in that position until the situation in Tibet forced him into exile in India.
Kalu Rinpoche has taught extensively in America and Europe, and during his three visits to the West he had founded teaching centers in over a dozen countries. In France, he has established the first retreat center ever to teach the traditional three-year retreats of the Shangpa and Karma Kagyu lineages to Western students.
Since the grounding of the Boeing MAXs earlier in 2019, 5 of what would of been operated by TUI have been parked up near the end of the runway at Manchester
The 5 parked are G-TUMA, G-TUMB, G-TUMC, G-TUMD, , G-TUMG with another G-TUMF in Tenerife
Feb. 2015 -- ODOT contractor performs grounding testing at the Buck Mountain radio site in Lane County.
I got the wiring done (except for 2 cut wires I can't identify) and cleaned a lot of stuff. I also got the manifold pipe attached with a new extension.
Die Ansicht von hinten wirkt wie eine Startaufstellung eines Wettbewerbes. Man weiss ja nicht, ob es plötzlich los geht. © Copyright by Erwin Ramseier · · Beitrag für den Fotowettbewerb «Leben und fotografieren in Zeiten von Corona» durchgeführt von der Photo Münsingen im April/Mai 2020 · Nr. 183
My new setup for guitar.
Previously I was using a Fender Frontman 15G, which is a lousy practice amp that comes with cheap starter guitar/amp sets. It had grounding issues and was very noisy, with lots of static and hum. It's tone was also pretty bad. I did get it for free though, so I can't complain much.
The Vibro Champ XD is 5 Watt (Class A) Tube Amp with modeling. I got it used on ebay for $116.
it's pretty sweet. Because it's only 5 watts, you can crank it up and get some nice warm tube distortion at acceptable apartment volumes. The preamp is hybrid tube/solid state with the digital signal processing. It has a 12AX7 in the preamp and a 6V6 power amp tube. The tubes warm up the DSP preamp nicely.
It has 3 Bassman voicings (clean to overdriven), 3 Blackface voicings (again clean to overdriven), a couple of "British" models, which are assume are attempts at a VOX AC30 and a Marshall Plexi. There are also a couple of metal voiced high gain channels as well. Rounding out the dial is a "jazz" voice that is very dark and warm and a model of the Fender Acoustasonic, an amp design for acoustic-electric guitars.
I'm running it into a Kutom 1X12 Cabinet, another ebay deal. Brand New, $89 shipped. The stock speaker sounds good, though it definitely needs to be broken in. It has more volume and low end than the XD's 8" speaker.
All in all, I think it's a sweet sounding budget rig.
** See My Poem Under Comments Below ** It's not for nothing that psychologists call mental tranquility, "grounding" which is why I rarely use gloves to work the soil...call it fantasy, but I actually believe my touching the seeds, and locating the place where they grow as part of what will help them sprout. My mom would groan, which is part of why I do it this way..ha ha, naughty until the end.
NAI was established in the year 2012 with a vision of providing trained media professionals to the Journalism, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations and Animation industry. It is an educational initiative of the NAI News & Mass Communication Group.
NAI offers university accredited degree courses. It also offers practical training based diploma courses. The Institute has state of the art laboratories (computer, FCP, gaming), a fully-equipped studio, AC classrooms and one of the best libraries in NCR. Here, thinking minds build on their basics and blossom into dynamic professionals.
The NAI faculty members are highly educated, experienced and competitive in their approach. The academic calendar has ample space for theoretical grounding and practical training of the students alongside co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Guest lectures, workshops and seminars are a regular feature at NAI.
This update of the popular Tremulant P-12P BiChambered Autonomic Thrust Bearing Sequencer retains the yield curves of the original while optimizing hydraulic load balancing and minimizing laminar friction. The P-12DX is also the beneficiary of negotiations with Dynex, leading to lifetime warrantees on not only the flux capacitors, but also on their silver hydride grounding pins!
NAI was established in the year 2012 with a vision of providing trained media professionals to the Journalism, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations and Animation industry. It is an educational initiative of the NAI News & Mass Communication Group.
NAI offers university accredited degree courses. It also offers practical training based diploma courses. The Institute has state of the art laboratories (computer, FCP, gaming), a fully-equipped studio, AC classrooms and one of the best libraries in NCR. Here, thinking minds build on their basics and blossom into dynamic professionals.
The NAI faculty members are highly educated, experienced and competitive in their approach. The academic calendar has ample space for theoretical grounding and practical training of the students alongside co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Guest lectures, workshops and seminars are a regular feature at NAI.
The water has started to drain away now but more is forecast over the next few days with severe gales, Note the old washing machine glass door put to good use!
73, de Dave 2W0DAA / GW4JKR
MTS4N Carving 4 Nature Conservation Series
- MTS4N # 662 Get Grounded Stay Grounded
Carving inspired by @clintober @earthing @earthingmovie. Thank you 🙏 for sharing your wisdom.
Interested in supporting Hermit crab conservation
www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature
These shells will be placed in the coastal forest for hermit crabs in need. Giving Hermit crabs a better tomorrow.#taketrashnothomes
What to do if you find a #MTS4N or Miller Shell okinawanaturephotography.com/i-found-a-mts4n-seashell-wha...
Do you have any seashells collecting dust at home? if so, consider donating them to the #MTS4N
Project
#okinawa #hermitcrabs #crustacean #nature #earthing #conservation #seashells #pumice #barefootlifestyle #sharemydremel #grounding @dremel_ea @okinawanaturephotography
NAI was established in the year 2012 with a vision of providing trained media professionals to the Journalism, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations and Animation industry. It is an educational initiative of the NAI News & Mass Communication Group.
NAI offers university accredited degree courses. It also offers practical training based diploma courses. The Institute has state of the art laboratories (computer, FCP, gaming), a fully-equipped studio, AC classrooms and one of the best libraries in NCR. Here, thinking minds build on their basics and blossom into dynamic professionals.
The NAI faculty members are highly educated, experienced and competitive in their approach. The academic calendar has ample space for theoretical grounding and practical training of the students alongside co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Guest lectures, workshops and seminars are a regular feature at NAI.
Blasting Bullhorns and Water Cannons, Chinese Ships Wall Off the Sea
By Hannah BeechPhotographs and Video by Jes Aznar
Sept. 23, 2023
The Chinese military base on Mischief Reef, off the Philippine island of Palawan, loomed in front of our boat, obvious even in the predawn dark.
Radar domes, used for military surveillance, floated like nimbus clouds. Lights pointed to a runway made for fighter jets, backed by warehouses perfect for surface-to-air missiles. More than 900 miles from the Chinese mainland, in an area of the South China Sea that an international tribunal has unequivocally determined does not belong to China, cellphones pinged with a message: “Welcome to China.”
The world’s most brazen maritime militarization is gaining muscle in waters through which one-third of global ocean trade passes. Here, on underwater reefs that are known as the Dangerous Ground, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, or P.L.A., has fortified an archipelago of forward operating bases that have branded these waters as China’s despite having no international legal grounding. China’s coast guard, navy and a fleet of fishing trawlers harnessed into a militia are confronting other vessels, civilian and military alike.
Chinese Facilities on Mischief Reef
8,900-foot runway
accommodates large
military aircraft
N
Large aircraft
hangars
Underground fuel
and water storage
Antenna array
Militia vessels
many parked together
side-by-side
Surface-to-air
missile garage
Radar array
Meteorology
station
Surface-to-surface
missile garage
Radar arrays
.5 mile
Source: Satellite image Aug. 4, 2023, by Planet Labs, analysis by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics LabBy Agnes Chang
The mounting Chinese military presence in waters that were long dominated by the U.S. fleet is sharpening the possibility of a showdown between superpowers at a moment when relations between them have greatly worsened. And as Beijing challenges a Western-driven security order that stood for nearly eight decades, regional countries are increasingly questioning the strength of the American commitment to the Pacific.
While the United States makes no territorial claims to the South China Sea, it maintains defense pacts with Asian partners, including the Philippines, that could compel American soldiers to these waters. Just as anxiety over nearby Taiwan has focused attention on the deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing, the South China Sea provides yet another stage for a contest in which neither side wants to betray weakness. Complicating matters, Chinese diplomats and military officers are engaging less at a time when open communication could help defuse tensions.
China’s arming of the South China Sea has also forced Southeast Asian fishermen — from nations like the Philippines that Chinese diplomats have referred to as “small countries” — to abandon the fishing grounds they have depended on for generations. It is putting tremendous pressure on those governments.
Image
A ship shining a spotlight on the water at night.
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army ship intercepting a boat carrying Times journalists in May off Mischief Reef.
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“I told the Chinese, ‘Your leadership talks about shared prosperity, but what you are doing cannot make it more plain that you think we are just stupid people who can be fooled and bullied,’” said Clarita Carlos, who until January served as the national security adviser of the Philippines. “The interconnected oceans should be our common heritage, and we should be working with marine scientists from every nation to fight the real enemy: climate change.”
“Instead,” she added, “the Chinese are building military bases on artificial islands and bringing guns to the sea.”
More on China
A Mystery at the Top: China’s defense minister has been placed under investigation, according to U.S. officials, fueling speculation about further upheaval in the military after the abrupt removal of two top commanders in charge of the country’s nuclear force.
One-Man Rule: For decades, China built guardrails to prevent another Mao. Here’s how Xi Jinping has dismantled them and created his own machinery of power.
A Ban on Clothing?: A proposal by the Chinese government that would target people for wearing clothes that hurt people’s feelings is evoking memories of another time when fashion choices could land one in trouble.
Car Exports: At a time when many of China’s exports are faltering and its consumers are spending less at home, the country is flooding the world with inexpensive cars.
During a four-day sail through a collection of rocks, reefs and islets called the Spratlys that are within the Dangerous Ground, New York Times journalists saw the extent to which China’s projection of power has transformed this contested part of the Pacific Ocean. Not since the United States embarked on its own campaign of far-flung militarization more than a century ago, leading its armed forces toward a position of Pacific primacy, has the security landscape shifted so significantly.
It is hard to imagine how China’s armed presence in the South China Sea will be diminished absent a war. With its bases built and its military vessels deployed, Beijing is forcefully defending its assertions of “indisputable sovereignty.”
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That posture was on display in May as The Times’s small, chartered boat passed within two nautical miles of Mischief Reef.
CHINA
TAIWAN
China’s territorial claim
Exclusive
economic zones
of other countries
PHILIPPINES
South China Sea
VIETNAM
Area of
detail
BRUNEI
INDONESIA
MALAYSIA
250 miles
Jackson Atoll
New York Times journalists
encountered a Chinese
navy vessel here.
SPRATLY ISLANDS
Sabina Shoal
Mischief Reef
occupied by China
Second Thomas Shoal
occupied by Philippines
Philippines Exclusive
Economic Zone
PHILIPPINES
Palawan
25 miles
Source: ESRI, Flanders Marine InstituteBy Agnes Chang
A P.L.A. Navy tugboat lingering in the vicinity had failed to stop us, perhaps because of the early-morning hour. But as we approached the Chinese military base, the tugboat, about 2.5 times the size of our vessel, churned water to reach us, turning on its floodlights and blasting its horn repeatedly. Over the radio, we were told that we had intruded into Chinese territorial waters.
Our boat was Philippine-flagged, and an international tribunal convened by the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that Mischief Reef was part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines. China has ignored that ruling. In a radio exchange, we said we were allowed to sail through these waters.
The P.L.A. tugboat responded with more barrages of its horn, a sonic assault so piercing that we felt it in our bodies. Then, with its floodlights nearly blinding us, the P.L.A. tugboat rushed at our vessel, swiping within 20 meters of our much smaller boat. This was a clear breach of international maritime protocol, maritime experts said.
Video
Chinese Navy Confronts Philippine Ship in Disputed Waters
1:28
Chinese vessels have been challenging other vessels over a contested part of the West Philippine Sea.Credit...Jes Aznar for The New York Times
As dawn broke, we could see both the fortifications on Mischief Reef and an array of Chinese vessels closing in from different directions: half a dozen maritime militia boats and a recently commissioned navy corvette designed to carry anti-ship missiles. The navy tugboat stayed near, too.
On other occasions, Chinese coast guard and militia vessels have rammed, doused with water cannons and sunk civilian boats in the South China Sea. In 2019, for instance, 22 Filipino fishermen were left to float amid the wreckage of their boat for six hours after a Chinese militia vessel struck them.
Image
A look from the sea at structures on land in the distance.
Chinese-built structures in May on Mischief Reef, off the Philippine island of Palawan.
Danger extends overhead. In May, a Chinese fighter jet sliced past the nose of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane flying through international air space over the South China Sea, echoing an incident last December when a Chinese fighter came within 20 feet of an American plane.
Zhou Bo, a retired P.L.A. colonel who is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said that claimant nations and the United States — which conducts regular air and sea patrols in the South China Sea — should accept Beijing’s contention that this is Chinese turf.
“The U.S. should stop or decrease its operations there,” he said. “But since it is impossible, so the danger will grow. A stronger P.L.A. can only be more resolute in defending China’s sovereignty and national interests.”
Mr. Zhou added that he thought the risk of a conflict between the United States and China was higher in the South China Sea than in the Taiwan Strait, another theater of geopolitical friction.
Frictions in the South China Sea are greatest in places where Southeast Asian countries have defied the Chinese mandate that the waterway, scooped out on Chinese maps with a dashed line, belongs to Beijing. In waters close to Vietnam and Malaysia, Chinese vessels have disrupted attempts to explore and develop oil and natural gas fields. The Chinese coast guard has forcibly prevented its Indonesian counterpart from arresting Chinese fishermen operating well within Indonesian waters.
Image
Two people looking from their boat across the water to a Chinese ship.
A Chinese warship patrolled the waters near the military outpost on Mischief Reef, within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, in May.
Chinese forces frequently harass Philippine coast guard boats trying to access a tiny contingent of Philippine marines stationed on Second Thomas Shoal, which, like nearby Mischief Reef, also lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. (Control over such a zone gives a country the rights to all resources within it, although foreign flagged boats are allowed free passage through most of the waters.)
In February, a Chinese coast guard ship directed a military-grade laser at a Philippine coast guard boat trying to resupply the marines at Second Thomas, temporarily blinding some sailors, according to the Philippine side. The Chinese coast guard has also unleashed high-intensity water cannons at the resupply boats, as recently as last month. In both cases, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Philippine vessels were violating Chinese territorial sovereignty, forcing the Chinese to intervene.
As we left Mischief Reef, with Chinese vessels still shadowing us, we saw just how lopsided the contest is at Second Thomas. In 1997, the Philippines, outmanned and underfunded, beached a World War II era navy ship on the shoal, creating a makeshift base from which its soldiers could defend Philippine waters.
Clockwise from top left: Blasting a water cannon at a Philippines coast guard vessel near Second Thomas Shoal last month; a Chinese vessel employing a laser against a Filipino ship; the wreckage of a Filipino fishing boat after it was rammed by a Chinese ship in 2019; and a Chinese fighter jet flying perilously close to a U.S. Air Force refueling plane last December. Credit...Philippine Coast Guard, via Associated Press; Philippine Coast Guard, via AFP — Getty Images; U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, via Reuters; Arlinda Dela Torre/Department of Agriculture, via Associated Press
With the marooned navy ship in the distance, we watched as the same Philippine coast guard vessel that had been targeted by the military laser was flanked by a pair of Chinese coast guard ships more than double its length. The radio crackled with verbal jousting.
“Since you have disregarded our warning,” a Chinese coast guardsman said, “we will take further necessary measures in accordance with the law, and any consequences entailed will be borne by you.”
“We will deliver food and other essentials to our people,” the Philippine side answered.
The Philippine boat barely made it through to resupply the marine base. Every week brings such a David and Goliath showdown, and the chance for a dangerous miscalculation.
“The Chinese are flouting the maritime rules of engagement and intentionally violating the good rules of conduct,” said Gregory B. Poling, the director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They’re making foreign vessels veer, sometimes at the last moment. One day, a foreign vessel is not going to veer off. And then what?”
Image
Two large Chinese ships sandwiching a smaller ship.
Chinese coast guard ships flanking a Philippine coast guard resupply ship in May near Second Thomas Shoal.
Despite its lack of territorial claims in the South China Sea, the American Seventh Fleet regularly cruises these waters to ensure freedom of navigation for all nations, according to the U.S. Navy. (Beijing contends that the presence of American military ships, particularly patrols near Chinese-controlled bases, inflames tensions.) And security pacts bind the American military to several Asian countries. The Philippines, which was once an American colony, is tied to the United States in a mutual defense treaty that Vice President Kamala Harris said last year would extend to “an armed attack on the Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea.”
This month, U.S. and Philippine warships sailed together in the South China Sea, and the two navies plan a joint patrol later this year.
American support has not always been so full-throated. In 2012, Chinese vessels occupied Scarborough Shoal, off the coast of the Philippines’ most populous island, even after the United States thought it had brokered a deal for both the Philippines and China to withdraw from the reef to cool tensions. Despite the Chinese incursion, American forces did not defend the shoal. Chinese boats have essentially controlled Scarborough ever since.
Around the same time, China began constructing what it said were “typhoon shelters” for fishermen on several South China Sea reefs it controlled. Then Chinese dredgers began piling sand on the atolls. Airstrips and barracks appeared. In 2015, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, stood in the White House Rose Garden and said that “China does not intend to pursue militarization” of the Spratlys, despite satellite evidence that China was doing just that.
Image
A close-up of a Chinese ship, a flag flying near the top.
A Chinese P.L.A. tugboat near Mischief Reef.
“The U.S. response was pretty much limited to statements that they opposed it, but not much more,” said M. Taylor Fravel, the director of the security studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an author of books on China’s defense strategy and territorial disputes, noting that the development of the P.L.A.’s South China Sea military bases was done in three phases from 2014-2016. “It’s reasonable to speculate that a much harder response to the first wave would have prevented the next two waves.”
The 2016 tribunal ruling that dismissed China’s “historical claims” over most of the South China Sea came just as the Philippines was ushering in a new president, Rodrigo Duterte, who made close ties with China a signature of his six years in power. Mr. Duterte ignored the tribunal ruling, even though it favored his country. Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office last year, his administration has spoken out against the Chinese presence in the South China Sea. Mr. Marcos has also granted the United States access to a handful of military bases on Philippine soil and is allowing for the building of others.
After we left Second Thomas Shoal, we sailed toward the Philippine island of Palawan, home to nearly a million people. Green hills rose on the horizon as we neared Sabina Shoal, a rich fishing ground for centuries. In recent years, the Chinese have placed buoys here. The Philippine coast guard has removed them.
Right on Sabina Shoal, where delicate coral once thrived, we saw boats arranged in a defensive formation. Ropes tied some of the vessels together. Chinese flags flew. Men bantered over the radio in a southern Chinese dialect. No fishing nets were in evidence.
Image
An aerial view looking down at a dark blue sea and some Chinese boats.
Chinese-flagged boats anchored in May at Sabina Shoal, near the Philippine island of Palawan.
China has said that such trawlers are commercial fishing vessels, and a Chinese appetite for seafood has created the world’s largest fishing fleet. But these South China Sea boats, experts say, rarely fish. Instead, they act as a maritime militia, swarming contested waters and unoccupied reefs for days or even months. They have steel hulls and advanced satellites, and some have rammed smaller Southeast Asian fishing boats. If a storm descends, they shelter at Chinese naval bases, like those built on Mischief, Fiery Cross and Subi reefs, satellite imagery shows.
We could see empty Chinese instant noodle packets floating in the water. We heard the Philippine coast guard over the radio, urging the Chinese boats to leave Sabina. There was no response. The Philippine entreaties faded.
Dunnedin beaches and markets
ISLAM - Lam is the sound of the "root chakra", grounding us into Mother Earth, originating from Father Sun.
As an infant, Mohammed was discovered by the leader of the Ban Hashim Clan, Abu Talib.
Abu might have poisoned Mohammed's father at birth, the mother at six years of age, and the grandfather when he turned ten,
so he could eventually raise the boy.
At the time, the Islamic people were in desperate need of a "savior".
Words can be changed to make things sound better. In Hawaii, everyone is an "uncle".
Abu was missing a leg, which can be a life changing experience which will allow you to have great compassion and kind-heartedness towards others.
He raised Mohammed well and gave him these unique characteristics and repeatedly told him he was the son of God.
Eventually Abu Talib passed away and in sadness and happy exceptional knowledge, Mohammmed began writing the Koran to help
awaken the people in his uncle's honor.
As he grew. older, Mohammed would sometimes abuse his power by having sex
with young women.
He was just like every other man , except he had a very compassionate
and strong-willed heart because of his uncle Abu Talib's influence.
A similar trait found in each of the old prophets was their ability to stay away from wine and meat.
The weakness of the people way-back-when in a desolate oblique time period. 05/01/12
A mass grounding of BY's 321 fleet saw 313's borrowed to form an emergency service. 313111 and 113 are rare sight in the bay at MK on a MK-Euston service on September 12th 2003
I think the little patterns on the bottom are from lightning arcing out from those points on its way through the metal!
written by karen bishop
January 8 ,2008
READY, SET, GO!...BUT NOT QUITE YET
The dust is beginning to clear and the creations we have been longing for are on their way to us now, but only with a slow stutter, as things will not really take off until the end of January. Our new creations and passions are trying to peek through the din, just waiting to arrive in full force, but not quite yet. With so much energetic debris flying around the past few months, due to the deep excavations and cleansings, there was seemingly no room for anything to take hold or find a clear passage…but now there is more room, there is more space, and things will begin to take hold and manifest.
January is the month that we will finally land somewhere, be able to take a breath, and gain a bit of catching up from all the months prior. It is a settling in point and a grounding point. We are also experiencing a disconnect from the old, from the cleansing experience, and readying to connect to the new. For me, this has manifested as having anything electronic in my home not work or connect to anything! We are also detoxing and letting go from the experience of the past few months, and this can create body aches and pains, intestinal distress, headaches, and fatigue. The experience of the past few months is now being removed from our systems.
But not for long, as this year our creations will begin to be noticed…WE will be noticed, desired, asked for, and needed. 2008 will most assuredly be the year of abundance for us. And even if the old world or much of the mainstream will be shifting, changing, seemingly suffering and grasping for a foothold, we will remain untouched and unscathed.
It will be our time. We will be safe and removed from the old, from the suffering, from the lack, and from the fear. We will be residing in another world, a new and different reality, and living the life of our dreams.
These past few months may have left many of us feeling traumatized, exhausted, irritable, frazzled, and needing a long rest, or perhaps even just a period of time for self nurturing and an escape from any moving energy. And this is what January will give us. There is an emptiness now, an almost bottoming out, but this is just the in-between point right before all the magnificence arrives. We may feel as if we have “dropped” somewhere, but this is only because all the excavating is finally over.
Yes, the bulldozer of deep cleansing has gone to another place for the time being, even though we are still detoxing, adjusting, and re-aligning. Are we now soon to arrive in the Promised Land forever more? Will we arrive in Heaven for a permanent residency? Well……
The longer the cleansing and experience of darkness is, the bigger, longer, and more magnificent the experience of a higher realms reality is when it eventually arrives. So then, this will be a monumental one indeed. This new space we can now find ourselves in is a new rung on the ascension ladder, a very new plateau, and is indeed a bit different from all the rest.
But we will not be able to stay here forever, and we would not want to. As we progress with our spiritual evolutionary process, we find ourselves in realities that are more and more pleasant than any before. But eventually we outgrow them (as we evolve into beings embodying a higher consciousness, and therefore our desires change), and then….poof! We must graduate to a new level where we are now vibrating. So then, the process seems never ending, but the realities get better and better.
Each new reality exists with creations we have desired. As more and more of our ego selves or mis-perceptions begin to dissipate, we then begin to desire and create something different. The ultimate end for this particular level of reality we have chosen to exist in on the earth plane, involves a reality of service and of purified creation for the entire whole.
The ultimate goal we had decided upon derived from a blueprint from eons ago…a blueprint that always worked, and was used in a universal way. This blueprint was the base for most of the creations of new planets, for new civilizations, and for new birth of form. It consisted of a purified self that was connected very fully to Source, as well as a distinct and unique gift, talent, and focus for each individual.
In this way, each individual soul would comprise a piece of the pie, or a hub of the wheel, and each wheel would have a similar purpose at its core. And throughout it all, would weave a commonality of Source energy, which is the glue that holds everything together and serves as the ultimate connector.
What will represent a core, or a hub of commonality? Geographical locations each contain their own specific energy or theme and purpose. Thus, those residing there will naturally resonate with that purpose. This is why some areas do not resonate for us at all, and others feel like a taste of home. Many communities are now fully embodying a theme and purpose, whether they are sustainability, a strong sense of community, high levels of creativity, a deep connection to nature, connections to the stars, or perhaps even connections to deep within the earth.
The current themes above are also universal to each and every hub, so it may seem a bit confusing. But these hubs (or areas on the planet) which already exist, contain a stronger and more substantial theme in one of these areas. This is because these themes and predominant energies were needed to comprise a piece of the whole, and thus contained one stronger or more exaggerated theme or purpose.
Ultimately, things will balance and even out, each theme mentioned above will be embodied by each and every hub in equal amounts, and a new and more distinct purpose will then unfold for each area. This has been the same for individuals. We were carrying or embodying an exaggerated theme, so that each theme or purpose within us would contribute to making up a complete whole.
If you have ever found yourself being resistant to or angry with another individual who seems to be raining on your parade or purpose, or simply following a different road or passion and cannot seem to agree with yours, this is only because they are embodying their own specific theme or purpose, and thus, see much around them through this particular filter or lens. We needed to embody our own special themes and purposes in grandiose amounts so that they would not be deterred or watered down by the lower vibrating energies. When we see through a specific filter, it is as if nothing else exists, but our own purpose or desire! And all others may feel like enemies or individuals trying to sabotage us.
But this time is over. We have reached a new and different plateau now, and things will be different than they have ever been before for eons of time on this planet.
Much is being condensed. What does this mean and how will we be affected? As so much of the lower vibrating energies have been usurped and are now residing elsewhere, we are then left with fewer and fewer energies and creations within and without. This manifests then, as a condensation of a more pure state, within and without. The lower vibrating creations, whether they are in thought forms, emotions, perceptions, physical manifestations, and the like, can no longer exist in this higher vibrating space.
So then, as certain geographical areas needed to comprise one specific theme over all others, and individuals the same, which were disbursed over a larger area of mass on the planet (or lower vibrating mass of the old world), in order to comprise a whole which resonated to where we were residing at that time on our ascension ladder, this will no longer be the case.
I hope I am explaining this in a sensical way…it can be difficult to describe in human language! What this means is that there will be less…less flying around with no place to reside (as there will be no anchors to hold these energies), less of the lower vibrating manifestations in form, as so forth.
Because of this, the law of attraction will bring together new higher vibrating manifestations and creations. Each individual vibration which was embodying a higher purpose or theme for the whole in times past (whether it be in individual form or in geographical locations, for instance), will now come together and join with other higher vibrating creations or individuals.
So then, much of everything will now become more refined. This means that the way and reason that we interact with other energies, including individuals, will be for a more specific purpose. And in this way, we will then begin attracting better things and more amazing, loving, and supportive people into our lives, who match us in our higher states.
Geographical locations or communities, and individuals will now no longer have to embody high amounts of specific purpose, as we will now be interacting as a smaller and refined whole. There will be much more equal representation.
As far as the original blueprint? Even though the original blueprint has existed and functioned well for eons of time, as it fully supports and represents the blueprint of creation, we are always free to create a new world exactly as we please. This is the beauty of the new world.
We have come as representatives of every star and far away place, in order to bring together as much of a higher vibrating contribution and higher knowledge as possible, in order to create this very new world on the planet earth. There is then, a perfect representation from each varied place. And some far away places in the universe were so very hesitant to send a representative, as they were so advanced that they knew there would be great and grand challenges for their sensitive children in this harsh world they had never inhabited before! Thus, much protection was put into place, even though at times we may doubt that this is so. It has been an awesome orchestration indeed. So in this regard, then, the earth is our palette.
The beauty in this is that within every new twist and turn, there is an opportunity for change. We can change the plan at any given moment. And because of this and because we never really know how things will react, we never really know what will happen next and when it will happen. This is why prophecies and timelines of past are moot and inconsequential. If we were to believe, for instance, in the prophesy of 2012, we would probably then create just that. But we are more powerful and far beyond these old prophesies of past. These prophesies were from another world and another time. Anything can be changed at any given moment now. This is the beauty of creation. Anything can be changed. We are free to create whatever we choose.
Even if you may not be consciously aware of it, we meet at regular intervals and evaluate what is occurring, how we are being affected, and what we choose to happen next for all of the whole. We are all in this together at our soul levels, communicating regularly, while we continue to embody human form and experience it all at the same time. Everything is continually monitored then, with loving care. And know as well that the ascension guides we all have with us, are really only aspects of ourselves. We are always the ones who navigate the course, for ourselves and for the progression of this ascension process.
What will be some of the new realities of 2008?
Food and what we choose to put into our bodies will now change dramatically. We have reached a vibrational level where we need not be so strict about what we eat if we want to stay healthy and purified. Simply blessing our food before we eat it or having an intent that only the higher vibrating aspects of the food will enter our systems and sustain us, will be quite enough. And now that we are vibrating so much higher, we need not even have an intent or provide a blessing, as the law of attraction will simply connect us automatically with the higher aspects of what we are consuming. We are at many different levels of vibration individually, so either of the scenarios above may be effective and appropriate.
Here again is the same theme. The higher vibrating aspects of things will be all that we are affected by and connect with. So in this regard, we will also be attracting wonderful partners and individuals into our lives. We will in essence be attracting wonderful everything, with amazing and perfect connections that will fit us to a tee…all that we have ever wanted.
Even though there may seem to exist lower vibrating aspects to things, if we consciously choose to only accept the higher vibrating ones, and focus solely on those, then anything and everything else will simply cease to exist. Or again, some of us may not need to consciously do anything at all, and simply let things unfold as they may.
I must say, that consciously focusing on higher avenues and manifestations is the way to navigate in the higher realms, only now we will be much more supported in these ways as the energies we are now residing in are much higher with much less interference. Navigating entails focusing on what we want and choose to see. Focusing on anything else simply gives it fuel and keeps its creation alive and in our space. Expecting something new and different to occur will most assuredly ensure its arrival. This involves a willingness to let go of old expectations and experiences. 2008 will be something very new indeed.
So then, there will be many opportunities in the year to come, all depending upon where we choose to focus, or reside. We can choose to exist in a revolving door of repeated patterns and darkness or mis-perceptions, or we can choose to see a higher way, let much of the old interpretations drop away, expect only the best and highest, and know that this will be our new reality.
When we are in a state of purification and cleansing, as we have been the past few months, we usually attract situation which match what we are cleansing, and thus, it can feel as if we are in hell or some horrible and unpleasant reality of our worst case scenarios. Like energies always attract like energies, so when the darker and denser ones are up, or sometimes our deepest fears, we will attract just those.
Now that this awesome year of 2008 is upon us, with much cleansing and re-evaluation having taken place in 2007, we will now begin to attract through the Law of Attraction, all the manifestations of our dreams, as a new purified energy will be much more prevalent than ever before!
So then, we need only sit tight for a few more weeks, allow this unusual down time we are currently experiencing to be utilized for some much needed rest, or perhaps a bit of preparation, and know that things will be significantly different in times to come.
A new and magnificent reality is beginning to peak through the clouds. It will be different than anything we have experienced thus far. Are you ready? Do you believe we will have a time of heaven on earth? Are you willing to allow it to arrive at your door, seemingly all by itself? Are you ready for incredible abundance and a day to day experience of living in the world of your dreams? Are you ready to feel the absence of darkness, and to live a life of joy and bliss? Get ready, because it is on its way!
A Chinook helicopter over the Shell floating drill rig Kulluk in Kodiak Island's Kiliuda Bay Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013, as salvage teams towed it to Kiliuda Bay for repairs and a survey. The Kulluk ran aground a week ago on Sitkalidak Island near Kodiak. Photo by United States Coast Guard Operations Specialist 3 Dale Arnould
Coast Guard and State of Alaska personnel continue to monitor response efforts to remove pollution threats and fish cargo from the 65-foot fishing tender Fate Hunter, grounded near Shoup Bay, four miles west of Valdez, Alaska, Aug. 16, 2013. As of Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013, approximately 320 gallons of diesel, 40 gallons of hydraulic oil, and 342 gallons of fuel and water mixture have been recovered from the vessel by Alaska Chadux and Global Diving & Salvage. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by MSU Valdez)