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Pictures of the week: From Ramadan prayers to bull runners in Spain

Here's our pick of the pictures from around the world this week...

A child joins in as members of the Muslim community attend midday prayers at Strasbourg Grand Mosque, France, on the first day of Ramadan (Reuters)

Far out: This planet - 63 light years away - bears an incredible resemblance to Earth - but exoplanet HD 189733b is far from hospitable. Temperatures are 1,000C, winds howl at more than 4,000mph, and it rains silicate glass (PA)

Orphaned kitten Tigger has been adopted by Harley the British bulldog. The adorable pair are inseparable; Tigger often sleeps with his surrogate mum and Harley even washes him (SWNS)

Make a wish: A rare double rainbow is seen above towering skyscrapers in Guangzhou, China (HAP/Quirky China News / Rex Features)

A giant statue of Jane Austen's romantic hero Darcy from the book 'Pride and Prejudice' surprises a swimmer in the Serpentine, London. The enormous structure is inspired by the infamous scene from the TV adaptation where Darcy, played by Colin Firth, emerges from a lake with a wet shirt - capturing millions of British hearts (PA)

Donkey sandwich: Jack Johnston, 15 months, is caught in a cuddle with two micro miniature donkeys called 'Snuggle Pot' and 'Livingstone' in Yea, Australia (David Caird/Newspix / Rex Features)

This dramatic picture shows revelers crouching at the entrance to a bull ring after the fourth running of the bulls at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain (Reuters)

REAL Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco Peru 2012 - Cusco Peru

http://youtu.be/JpNwXFkNWJM

Published on 6 May 2012
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REAL Ancient Technology Found in Cuzco - Cusco Peru 2012!

Pictures of the week: From car in a sinkhole to auto in the snow
Here's our pick of the pictures around the world this week...

Going down: A Chinese family got the shock of their lives when a giant sinkhole appeared in the road and their car tumbled into it. Luckily the family escaped unharmed (Rex)

Force of nature: A dramatic lightning bolt lights up the Grand Canyon's walls (TRAVIS ROE/U.S. DEPT OF THE INTERIOR/CATERS)

The world's longest Lego railway track - in Denmark of course - is more than 2.5 miles long (Rex Features)

A man stands in his damaged apartment after a car bombing in Reyhanli, in Hatay province near the Turkish-Syrian border (Reuters)

A bird flies underneath an atmospheric phenomenon known as a "sun dog" in the sky over Seaside Heights, New Jersey (Reuters)

Bangladeshis struggle against waves as they crashes onto the shore of the Bay of Bengal as cyclone Mahasen approaches. Despite fears of catastrophe the storm passed through with minimal casualties. A total of 18 people have been killed in Burma, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as a result of the cyclone (Reuters)

A dead tree stands in front of shallow water and a dried-up area of Lake George, 31 miles north of Canberra, Australia as a terrible drought affects the country (Reuters)

A man attaches prayer petitions with names written on cards to lotus lanterns at Jogye temple in preparation for the birthday of Buddha which falls on May 17 in South Korea (Reuters)

Summer weather: Snow fell in Shropshire (pictured), Devon and Dartmoor this week as an unusual blast of cold weather swept the nation (SWNS)

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Pictures of the week: From colourful devotees in India

to a flying car

Here's the pick of the pictures around the world this week.

Devotees wearing traditional blue clothing walk on a pathway made of cement bags to offer prayers at a shrine along the Arabian Sea in Mumbai, India (Reuters)

Prince Harry pays tribute to those who died during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The young royal will spend a week in America on an official tour (Reuters)

Dinner is served! This is the moment a lucky bird had an easy meal when an unsuspecting fish jumped out of the water. The cormorant had been paddling in wait of a meal at the El Dorado Regional Park in California. Seconds after this photo was taken he gobbled up the poor rainbow trout whole. (Dr. Andrew Lee/Solent News / Rex Features)

Not the Netherlands, but China. Villagers trim stunning tulip blossoms in Qushui County Tulip Farm (ZUMA / Rex Features)

Queen Elizabeth arrives for the State Opening of Parliament, at the Palace of Westminster where she unveiled the coalition goverment's legislative programme (Reuters)

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Supersquirrel! This creature was caught flying between trees in Novosibirsk, Russia, just like the comic book hero Superman (Caters)

Tourists on traditional boats paddle through the water tunnels guarded by the military on the island of Nangan, near northern Taiwan (Reuters)

Rescue workers were astonished when they pulled a woman alive from the rubble of the Rana Plaza building 17 DAYS after it collapsed. The woman, identified as Reshma Begum, survived by scavenging biscuits from the bags of her dead colleagues. More than 1,000 people perished in the disaster in Dhaka, Bangladesh (Reuters)

Emergency services wear protective clothing during an exercise simulating a chemical attack on an underground station in South Korea. The United States, Japan and South Korea remain on alert despite reports that North Korea has moved a set of missiles from a launch site (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A supporter of former cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan takes part during a rally in Islamabad, Pakistan. Khan suffered severe injuries after he fell from a stage during a political rally. Pakistanis go to the polls on May 11 (PA)

The commute home? The Terrafugia TF-X is a partially electric-powered FLYING car, which has the ability to take off vertically, meaning passengers should be able to take off from their homes and soar above traffic

Trapped in Her Autistic Body, Girl Finds a Voice!

Inspiring! This report is a little dated, but still so moving and interesting. Carly Fleischmann was born with autism. Her parents would not give up on her — pouring into her life unconditional love and thousands of hours of therapy. It seemed hopeless, until a breakthrough at 11 when she found her “voice.” (Carly has since graduated from high school, written a book with her father, and is headed for college!) http://carlysvoice.com/home/

Provided by www.GodFruits.com
http://www.godfruits.com/trapped-in-her-autistic-body-girl-finds-a-voice-23444.php

How to find free Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK

Finding free Wi-Fi hotspots can save you money on your monthly phone bills - as well as providing a useful way to get online on a laptop if you need to work on the go.

Recombu – 4 hours ago

Finding free Wi-Fi hotspots can save you money on your monthly phone bills - as well as providing a useful way to get online on a laptop if you need to work on the go.

There are lots of ways to get your hands on free Wi-Fi - ranging from using an Apple Store's free network, to sitting at a bus stop and hooking up to a BT Wi-Fi hotspot.

There are over 4.5 million public Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK and Ireland, all waiting for you to get connected. Here’s how to do it.

Use an app

The quickest way to find yourself a hotspot is to use an app. For iOS, a safe bet is Wifi@, which we particularly like due to the fact it has an offline database, so you don’t need to be connected to the web to find Wi-Fi.

Android users should fire up Wi-Fi Finder , a clever app that can use a phone call, rather than data, to show you nearby Wi-Fi hotspot locations. Both are iOS and Android versions are free.

Alternatively you can search for hotspots via your phone’s browser at myhotspots.co.uk. This website lists hotspots via town and city, making searching even easier.

Find free Wi-Fi on the High Street

Pretty much any major high street franchise has free Wi-Fi on offer. Right now, McDonalds, Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Costs and plenty of others, all will give you free internet while you eat.

If you don’t fancy eating, then hotel chains like Premier Inn offer 30 mins of free Wi-Fi to guests. Or if you are really in the mood for saving cash, you can always use any Apple store’s Wi-Fi connection.

Use your phone contract’s Wi-Fi allowance

O2 includes unlimited BT Wi-Fi access with most of monthly contracts. This means you can take advantage of its 4 million plus network of Wi-Fi hotspots across the UK for free. Vodafone also uses BT’s network and includes 2GB of usage with most pay monthly contracts.

BT Wi-Fi is particularly good for those living outside major cities, as a lot of its hotspots are based at bus stops, where you might not have any 3G reception on your phone.

Virgin is offering free internet access on London underground to Virgin Mobile, Virgin Media, EE and Vodafone customers, but will also let non subscribers join for a small fee. The Cloud is another favourite, which will give you 30 minutes of free connectivity in most restaurants and public places. O2 customers get unlimited Cloud usage.

Sign up for a Wi-Fi subscription service

Even subscription services such as Boingo offer freebies - if you sign up to a Boingo hotspot in airports such as Gatwick, Heathrow, Edinburgh and Glasgow, you get 15 minutes free.

Failing that, you can, of course, cough up - it's far cheaper going with a large worldwide service such as Boingo, than paying a lot of smaller companies. Boingo offers up Wi-Fi worldwide from over 600,000 hotspots. Pricing starts at around £1.50 for Pay as You Go internet minutes and go up to around £40 monthly for unlimited global access. It even includes a Wi-Fi finder app to help you locate Boingo hotspots.

BT Wi-Fi also allows non O2 and Vodafone customers to use its hotspots. Handy if you are in the UK as its network is extensive. 90 minutes is £5.99 or you can pay 18p per minute.

How humans will survive in a million years
By Rob Walker, Yahoo News | Yahoo! News – Tue, Jul 16, 2013

An interview with the author of a new book about mass human extinction, space elevators and more

A Geminid meteor streaks across the sky over Steamboat Springs, Colo., on Dec. 12, …

If you’ve ever worried, or even wondered, about the ultimate fate of humanity itself, then here is the book for you: In Scatter, Adapt, and Remember, Analee Newitz takes on the enormous topic of “how humans will survive a mass extinction.”

As that phrase (the book’s subtitle) indicates, Newitz proves to be an optimist about the science and potential technologies of long-term survival — but she didn’t start out that way. And while she makes her case in conversational tones, her argument reflects sweeping research: Methodically but entertainingly walking the reader through evolutionary history starting with mass-extinction events from billions of years ago, she works her way into the laboratories of contemporary researchers devising hard-to-believe innovations to save humanity from every future calamity you can imagine. Along the way the reader meets techno-thinkers and scientists grappling with pandemics and other threats, devising wild-sounding bio-energy alternatives, "converting urban spaces into biological organisms," preparing for the possibility of a planet-threatening asteroid, storing the sum of human knowledge in a discreet set of computer files and figuring out various methods of traveling to other planets — including a “space elevator.”

By the end of the journey, you can see why Newitz is optimistic that tech innovations could help our species persist for another million years. But should you believe it? We had some questions. Happily, Newitz had answers.

You write that you "set out to write a book about how we are all doomed," but you ended up writing about ensuring humanity's next million years of not being doomed. Was that a gradual shift in your thinking, or were there particular turning-point moments in your reporting and research?

The first turning point came when I was learning about the survivors of the Great Dying, a mass extinction 250 million years ago which took out 95% of all species on the planet. It was the worst mass extinction in Earth's history, caused by disastrous climate changes in the wake of a super volcano. And yet a humble little creature called Lystrosaurus (whom I've written about here), who looked something like a cross between a pig and a lizard, managed to survive this horrific period. Pretty much every other animal on land went extinct. And Lystrosaurus survived just by sleeping in protected underground burrows, and walking into new environments where it adapted to the new world that was emerging in death's wake. I figured that if this little pig-lizard could do it, so could we. I think at that point I realized that humans are no worse and no better than other animals — we are so good at adapting to new circumstances that it's likely we'll follow in Lystrosaurus' path.

I think my second turning point was when I began questioning why so many books focus on extinction and apocalypse and never tackle the arguably more important topic of survival. If we don't explore ways to survive, then we'll never do it. So looking at survival is useful. But I think survival stories are also far more rich and interesting than extinction stories. Survival is complicated and heroic and surprising. Death is always the same.

As someone who often laments my fellow humans' apparent focus on the short term — a complaint that's often linked to the way we use technology — I was amazed at the long-term-focused science and technology infrastructure you explore in the book. Was there any area of long-term tech research that surprised you the most?

What surprised me over and over again was how a lot of these seemingly far-fetched technologies are already in our grasp. For example, if an asteroid were headed for Earth right now, we'd almost certainly see it coming several years out. We have space-based telescopes that are monitoring over 90 percent of the nearby rocks that could hit us, and astronomers are constantly looking for more. All it would take are a few space probes of the kind we already have to go out into space, meet one of those asteroids, and just push it out of an intercept course with Earth. No need for nukes or fancy-pants antigrav technology. We also have the technology to build carbon-neutral cities and even carbon-neutral factories. It was surprising to me to realize how much of our planet's future really is in the hands of humanity. We don't need to wait for a miracle, or for a new scientific discovery. We just need to implement the knowledge and tools we already have. We can do it!

You write that "science fiction … may be among the most important survival tools we have," essentially because science fiction writers can help us envision what researchers might not be able to imagine. Ray Bradbury's conviction that humans would be on the moon in his lifetime supposedly resulted in him being treated like a crank. Today writers like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling are viewed almost like seers in some quarters. Have we become more accepting of the view that science fiction can be highly relevant to everyday life?

Science has become part of everyday life, and therefore it's no surprise that science fiction is one of our most popular forms of storytelling. We crave stories about science because it helps us make sense of our civilizations. Science fiction can take something incredibly complex — like, say, genetics — and show us how it fits into our personal lives, or how it shapes society. Notice that I'm not talking about science fiction as a genre that predicts the future. There are many kinds of stories that try to tell us about the future, or alternate realities, and science fiction is merely one of them.

I don't think that SF's popularity today comes from people seeking answers about the future — they're searching for meaning in the present. That said, I think SF helps us think about what possible consequences might follow from a scientific or technological discovery. Equally as important, SF stories can help us think about society itself as a vast experiment, where each political regime or cultural power bloc is another attempt to solve our problems as a species.

A principle goal of Scatter, Adapt, Remember, you write at one point, is "to get us off this crowded planet and into space." This leads to some of the most insane-sounding stuff in the book — the "space elevator," for instance. You're talking about a million-year time frame, so it's perfectly understandable that you'd venture into territory that is essentially beyond our imaginations. But still: Did you encounter any schemes that were just too crazy to include?

The most implausible ideas I encountered were all about what humans would do in the long term instead of going into outer space. Humanity has a long history of exploring, starting a million years ago when our ancestors first left Africa.

By the time Homo sapiens evolved, our ancestors had already invented tools and fire. So we literally never knew a world without technological modifications (however crude). We are a species of tool-makers and explorers, and we're damn good at it. So I find it extremely unlikely that we would give up on exploring space. I think it's even more unlikely that we would choose to upload our brains to computers and live in virtual worlds instead of what we know as the physical world. I'm sure some people will do that, maybe temporarily while traveling through space. But just staying here on Earth when there are so many other awesome places to go? Like Saturn and Alpha Centauri and maybe even other dimensions? Whenever I encountered that idea, I found myself unable to accept it. But that probably reveals my own pro-space prejudices!

Now let's see if I can get you back into a pessimistic mood: Let's say you are right that we humans can persist for another million years. Why do we deserve to persist? What's so great about humans, anyway?

Whether or not we deserve to persist isn't really relevant to whether we will do it. "Deserving" is an ethical concern, not a survival issue. Even if humans are bastards, we are going to survive. We have all the traits of a survival species, just like Lystrosaurus. Saying that we deserve to go extinct doesn't solve our problems — it leads to both moral and practical paralysis. Humans are life forms, and life forms always fight to survive, no matter what. It's in our most fundamental, biological natures. So we'd better accept that, and work on making the future as comfortable as possible.

As human animals, we have evolved the ability to plan a better future for ourselves. We can even stop a mass extinction. It's not too late. We don't have to be angels to preserve our ecosystems. We just have to be practical, and not waste our time wondering whether we are good enough to deserve it. Let's not debate the magnitude of our sins. Let's get to work saving the world!

Annalee Newitz is on Twitter at @annaleen; her book is Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction.

Sea of green: Sunseekers relax in green algae which has engulfed Chinese beach

Huge swathes of blue-green algae have covered the beach in Qingdao, China. The bizarre sight is caused by algae called 'enteromorpha prolifera', which is non-toxic and keeps returning even though 20,000 tonnes have been removed in recent weeks.

People walk through algae-covered seaside in Qingdao, Shandong province. (Reuters)

Ships in the desert

Something interesting.

Have you ever wanted to walk across the bottom of the River,
Lake, or Ocean to see all the boats and ships that have sunk?

The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth-largest saline body of water.

It has been steadily shrinking since the 1960's, after the rivers that fed it
were diverted by Soviet Union irrigation projects.

And now it's almost gone leaving a desert full of old shipwrecks.

And it had already been starved of nearly 30 yrs. of water by 1989.

Really quite unreal isn't it, the pictures you just saw are the BOTTOM of what was once the fourth largest salt water sea in the world.

Week in Pictures: From gauchos being knocked off their saddles to dancers leaping for victory

Here's our pick of the pictures around the world this week...

A gaucho is unseated by an unbroken horse during the annual celebration of Criolla Week in Montevideo, March 25, 2013. Throughout Easter Week "gauchos", the Latin American equivalent of the North American "cowboy", from all over Uruguay and neighboring Argentina and Brazil visit Montevideo to participate in Criolla Week to win the award of best rider. The competition is held March 24 - March 30. (Reuters)

Actor Mario Valencia, portraying Jesus Christ, performs during a baptism ceremony as part of Catholic Holy Week celebrations at the Rimac river in Lima (Reuters)

A man celebrates the Holi festival (the festival of colors) in Mathura city of northern Indian state Uttar Pradesh, March 27, 2013. Holi is one of the major festivals for Hindus and the most vibrant of all. People paint each other with water color on the auspicious day of Holi which is celebrated mainly by north Indians and east Indians. (Caters)

These lambs are real-life WOOLY JUMPERS after farmers decided to give warm sweaters to protect them from Britain's arctic blast. Owners at Beckett's Farm, in Birmingham, have taken the unusual step to protect the newborn lambs aptly dubbed Flake, Frosty and Snowy. The fourth has been given the moniker Michael Fish in honour of the celebrated BBC weather man. The lambs are less than a week old and although we've taken an extreme precaution to keep them warm, this extreme weather is no laughing matter. (Caters)

Sand Martins reflected on the waters surface whilst feeding on Chard Reservoir in Somerset - usually an indicator that Spring really is finally on its way. (SWNS)

Supporters of gay marriage rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington (Reuters)

A model prepares backstage before the MGPIN collection show by Maogeping Image Design Art School at China Fashion Week in Beijing, March 27, 2013. Fashion week runs till March 30 (Reuters)

One of a set of adorable images of sleeping newborn babies snuggled up in cosy hats - enough to warm anyone up even on the coldest of days. The super sweet tots - captured by photographer Amy Marques - wear a variety of headgear from rabbit ears while sat in a magician's hat to a pointy wizards hat all made from soft wool. Then after they nod off Amy, 49, gets to work by carefully photographing the toddlers in a number of positions from relaxing in a hammock to sitting in a plant pot. Each of the little'uns - who are no older than 10 days - spend up to three hours with Amy but only a small amount of time is spent shooting because she has to wait until they are in deep slumber. (Caters)

An incredible macro shot of an insect moments after a downpour. Ondrej Pakan, from Myjava, Slovakia, captured a stunning series of bug-eye views around the world. This bug can be seen staring down the lens of Ondrej's camera - covered in dots of water. (Caters)

Competitors warm up in the hallway at the World Irish Dancing Championships in Boston, Massachusetts March 24, 2013. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi (Reuters)

200,000 Year Old Annunaki Cities Discovered in Africa

http://youtu.be/OGNocRWrR2s

Published on 15 Oct 2012

Publisher and producer Michael Tellinger discussed his study of ancient ruins at the southern tip of Africa, which he believes were associated with a vanished civilization that ET visitors, the Annunaki, brought together over 200,000 years ago, when they came here to mine gold. The ruins, which he's investigated along with Johan Heine, consist of thousands of stone structures over a large area. The structures show evidence of their extreme antiquity through erosion and patina growth, he detailed. One of the most important ruins he referred to as "Adam's Calendar," a monolithic stone calendar that could mark time out by the day.

The Annunaki tinkered with human genetics to make their mine workers, Tellinger said, referencing the work of Zecharia Sitchin. Among the ruins are hexagonal shapes clustered together like honeycombs, which he speculated could have been used as cloning tanks. Further, he suggested that many of the structures, made out of stones that contain quartz, were used as energy devices to power the large settlements.

By studying the area using aerial maps, Tellinger determined there were three great cities, some 60 x 60 miles each, one of which included Great Zimbabwe. Among the ruins, the first pyramids can be found, and details carved into some of the rocks include the Ankh symbol-- thousands of years before the Egyptian civilization used it, he reported.

Biography:

Michael Tellinger is a scientist in the true sense of the word, never shying away from controversial issues and scrutinizing every clue meticulously. After a 30-year long obsession with the origins of humankind and the genetic anomalies of our species, he wrote Slave Species of God. When Johan Heine exposed the mystery of the stone ruins of South Africa to Michael in 2007, they began an irreversible process of research that led Michael to some startling scientific conclusions and the completion of two more books, Adam's Calendar and Temples of the African Gods.

The Anunnaki (also transcribed as: Anunna, Anunnaku, Ananaki and other variations) are a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures (i.e., Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian). The name is variously written "da-nuna", "da-nuna-ke4-ne", or "da-nun-na", meaning something to the effect of "those of royal blood" or 'princely offspring'. Their relation to the group of gods known as the Igigi is unclear — at times the names are used synonymously but in the Atra-Hasis flood myth the Igigi are the sixth generation of the Gods who have to work for the Anunnaki, rebelling after 40 days and replaced by the creation of humans.

According to later Assyrian and Babylonian myth, the Anunnaki were the children of Anu and Ki, brother and sister gods, themselves the children of Anshar and Kishar (Skypivot and Earthpivot, the Celestial poles), who in turn were the children of Lahamu and Lahmu ("the muddy ones"), names given to the gatekeepers of the Abzu temple at Eridu, the site at which the creation was thought to have occurred. Finally, Lahamu and Lahmu were the children of Tiamat (Goddess of the Ocean) and Abzu (God of Fresh Water).

Time Travel Evidence? Watch Found in 400 Year Old Tomb

http://youtu.be/DOeU7cBN8TQ

Published on 23 Mar 2009
(Click on Source)
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetec...

Correction: What I mean to say is that Switzerland did not exist as a country...

The Strange and the Curious with John Mizal Presents:

A Swiss Watch found in a Four Hundred Year Old Tomb

For more info click on link

http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/03/...

Pictures of the week: From a hungry gorilla to North Korean border guards in high heels

'Motaba' the gorilla is bananas for, ahem, bananas, but 6-year-old Ella O'Brien and her 4-year-old sister Bridget are safe from the ape thanks to a glass partition (Newspix / Rex Features)

Lost in a sea of brilliantly colourful flowers at the appropriately named Flower Fields in Carlsbad, California (Reuters)

This otherwordly image of a waterfall in California was created by colourful glow sticks placed under water as well as long exposure photography (Sean Lenz/Kristoffer Abildgaard/Rex Features)

Unlikely friends: Cindy, an 8-week-old kitten, has found an unusual friend in Harvey, an 8-year-old golden retriever. Dogs and cats are normally enemies - think Tom & Jerry - but old hound Harvey has become protective of the young tabby at the Lost Dogs Home in Melbourne (David Caird/Newspix / Rex Features)

Like others this week Louis Maier was affected by the news of Margaret Thatcher's death. But the tattoo-enthusiast paid an unusual permanent tribute to the former Prime Minister - by tattooing her face onto his leg. His tribute to the Tory leader refers to claims she helped invent the Mr Whippy ice cream when she worked as research chemist exploring the effect of emulsifiers (SWNS)

Gun check, hat check, high heels, check - these North Korean soldiers are ready to report for duty at the border with China along the banks of Yalu River. The hermit kingdom is said to be preparing for a further missile launch further heightening tensions in the region. (Reuters)

A woman and child pass graffiti daubed on a wall on the Falls Road in west Belfast. In life as in death Margaret Thatcher polarised opinion and in parts of the country 'street parties' celebrating the former Prime Minister's death were held. Those held in Bristol and Brixton, London, ended in violence (Reuters)

An orphaned polar bear pulls a quizzical look at the camera with a teddy bear by its side. This young polar bear cub was left an orphan after its mother was shot dead by hunters. But the adorable animal has become a global sensation after it was rescued by an Alaskan zoo and built a relationship with some of its current occupants - teddy bears (SWNS)

Russian President Vladimir Putin lies on the snow while playing with his two dogs in Russia. This image is the latest in his photoshoots which put the leader in decidedly macho poses, such as riding bare-chested on a horse or swimming in a lake (Reuters)

Let there be light: This dramatic image of lightening was taken of the night sky over Patterson, Arkansas (Reuters)

Two years ago a destructive earthquake devastated the New Zealand city of Christchurch, claiming 185 lives. Now the city has found innovative ways to rebuild such as using giant shipping containers for small business start-ups (Caters)

'Marooned' by Steve Brockett shows villas surrounded by a sea of greenhouses in Spain. The picture was an entry to the Environmental Photographer of the Year Awards (Steve Brockett)

Festive Cheese Spread in a Winter Squash Shell

• Annie B. Bond
• March 9, 2001

This creamy sweet cheese spread makes such a gorgeous presentation in its winter squash shell.

The mouth-watering meld of cream cheese, winter squash, dates, and cranberry chutney makes a perfect complement to any cheese board. It looks beautifully fancy, but it’s really easy to make.

Here’s how:

INGREDIENTS

1 medium-sized acorn squash, 1 large sweet dumpling squash, or 1 small turban squash
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
2 tablespoons drained and chopped cranberry chutney

1. If necessary, cut a 1-inch slice from the bottom of the squash so that it sits upright. Remove the stem end. Scoop out and discard seeds and fibers.

2. Fill a saucepan with about an inch of water. Bring to a boil. Set the squash upside down in the saucepan.

3. Reduce the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer until the squash flesh is tender when pressed with a fork but the shell is still firm, about 20 minutes. Transfer the squash to a colander to drain and cool.

4. In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until thoroughly blended. Mix in the dates and chutney.

5, Scoop the flesh from the cooled squash shell, leaving about 1/4 inch of shell. Add the squash flesh to the cream cheese mixture and blend well. Spoon the mixture into the shell. Cover and chill.

Serve chilled with crackers.

Serves 8-12.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/cheese-spread-in-winter-squash.html#ixzz2O2AYAqH1

Pictures of the week

Hundreds of beautiful cranes obscure the sky by a lake in northern Israel. The stunning image was taken by Liron Hamelnick, 29, at Hula Lake Park in the Middle Eastern country. The majestic birds use the lake twice a year as a brief stopover from Europe to Africa (Caters)

A line of Masai people wait to cast their vote. Millions of Kenyans voted in an election amid fears of a repeat of violence and bloodshed that shocked the African nation five years ago. Allegations of doctored votes were raised by current Prime Minister Raila Odinga but his rival Uhuru Kenyatta has retained a lead as counting draws to a close. In 2007 more than 1,200 people were killed after the result was disputed (Reuters)

This photo of a bright blue glacier was taken by Marketa Kalvachova, 32, who is dubbed the 'Ice Queen'. The photographer travels thousands of miles every year to find the unusual landscapes in the coldest corners of the globe (Caters)

Frozen in time: Photographer's stunning images show trees covered in ice by sub-zero Lake Ontario

Winter weather normally generates depression and frustration - but these stunning images may make you feel differently.

Photographer Tim Corbin's spectacular winter-themed snaps show the effect of sub-zero temperatures on a stretch of Lake Ontario between Whitby and Oshawa.

His pictures show trees encased in ice after violent storms on the Canadian lake threw water against the shore.

Tim, originally from sunnier Trinidad, only got into photography two years ago, but now snaps his surroundings in eastern Ontario. You can see Tim's pictures on his 'In Plain Sight' website here.

Lake Ontario, the site of Tim's pictures, is 7,300 square miles in size, making it roughly as big as New Jersey (Tim Corbin)

Lake Ontario, where Tim took his eye-catching pictures, is the smallest of the five Great Lakes (Tim Corbin).

The surroundings of Lake Ontario were all encased in ice when fierce winter storms whipped sub-zero waves onto the shore (Tim Corbin).

And More

7 photos that reveal what families eat in one week

In a new series of photos, families worldwide pose with one week’s food supply.

How much food does your household go through in a week? What are your go-to family meals? And how much do you spend on food? You can get a glimpse of how others answered these questions in Oxfam’s new photo series, which depicts people from around the globe with one week’s food supply for their families.

Building on an idea that originated with 2005′s Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, the new images feel especially timely now, when reports about half of the world’s food going to waste vie for space with news about rising global food prices. According to a recent article accompanying some of the photos in the UK Independent, “There is deep injustice in the way food is grown and distributed … the world’s poorest people spend 50-90 percent of their income on food, compared with just 10-15 percent in developed countries.”

As you can probably guess, the families’ diets differ depending on where they live. But if if there’s one common thread that links these images, it’s that we all have to eat. We all face challenges and successes when it comes to feeding our families. And we can all help to make the food system fairer for everyone.

So check out seven highlights below. Then tell us in the comments: What does your week’s food supply look like? How does your family measure up?

Shahveller, Azerbaijan

Photo: David Levene/Oxfam
Mirza Bakhishov, 47, his wife, Zarkhara, 37, and two sons, Khasay, 18 and Elchin, 15, own a small plot of land where they grow cotton and wheat as well as animal feed. “Our small cattle and poultry [are] everything for us. All our income and livelihood is dependent on them,” said Bakhishov.

Vavuniya, Sri Lanka

Photo: Abir Abdullah/Oxfam
Selvern, 70, far right, and her daughters have been members of Oxfam’s local dairy cooperative for four years. Her youngest daughter Sukitha, second from right, works at the cooperative and is also trained as a vet. Selvern gets up at 5:30 every morning to help her daughters milk their cows; she sends most of the milk to the co-op with Sukitha and uses the remainder to make cream and ghee for the family.

Mecha, Ethiopia

Photo: Tom Pietrasik/Oxfam
A week’s food supply for Wubalem Shiferaw, her husband Tsega, and 4-year-old daughter Rekebki includes flour, vegetable oil, and a paste of spices called berbere. Tsega works as a tailor, while Wubalem follows a long local tradition and supplements her income with honey production. An Oxfam-supported cooperative helped Wubalem make the transition to modern beekeeping methods, which produce greater yields.

Yegeghus, Armenia

Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos
The Josephyan family from with their weekly food supply, which includes wheat flour, dried split peas, sugar, and cooking oil. The family supplements their diet with eggs laid by their chickens and wild greens from the fields.

London, UK

Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Oxfam
Ian Kerr, 30, with his family and a week’s food supplied by a charity food bank. Ian left his job to become a full-time carer to his disabled son Jay-J, 12. Also pictured are his daughter Lillian, 5, and mother-in-law Linda, 61. Kerr says the family’s favorite food is spaghetti Bolognese, but Lillian says her favorite is Jaffa Cakes.

Kaftarkhana, Tajikistan

Photo: Andy Hall/Oxfam
BiBi-Faiz Miralieba and her family, from left to right: son Siyoushi, 11, niece Gulnoya Shdova, 14, and children Jomakhon, 6, Shodmon, 9, and Jamila,13. Like many women in rural areas of Tajikistan, Miralieba is now the head of her household as her husband has migrated to Russia to find work.

Gutu, Zimbabwe

Photo: Annie Bungeroth/Oxfam
Ipaishe Masvingise and her family with their food for the week, which includes grains and groundnuts as well as fruits like pawpaw and oranges. Masvingise, a farmer, said she sells extra grain from her harvests to pay for school fees and medical costs, and to support members of her extended family who don’t own their own land.

Beautiful Pictures

towering red dust storm gathers over the ocean, ahead of a cyclone approaching Onslow, West Australia, on January 9. The remarkable photo was captured by tug boat worker Brett Martin, 25 nautical miles from the town of Onslow. (AFP)

Killer whales surface through a breathing hole on January 9. The creatures were trapped under sea ice in Canada's Hudson Bay. Up to a dozen whales were feared to be stuck, however winds later pushed the ice away from the coast. (Reuters)

Snowfall at the ruins of the Roman Temple of Bacchus in the historic town of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on January 10. An unusual chill swept across the Middle East recently, bringing heavy snow and freezing conditions in Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Syria and Palestine. The weather has claimed at least 17 lives across the region (Reuters)

Tammy Holmes and her grandchildren clutch each other as they seek refuge under a jetty on January 4 after wildfires consumed their home in Dunalley, Tasmania. The photo was taken by their grandfather, Tim Holmes. The family survived but their house, which Mr Holmes built himself, was destroyed. (Sky)

A twilight view of London from the top of the Shard, the tallest building in western Europe. The skyscraper, which is 1,013ft tall, opens to the public on February 1. Visitors will be able to reach the 72nd floor of the 78 floor building. (Reuters)

A 'lion' caused panic in Virginia, America when it was spotted loose on the streets. When police investigated it turned out to be 'Charles the Monarch' - a labradoodle whose fur had been shaved to look like a lion (SWNS)

Unexplained readings from the Cassini probe, which orbits Saturn, hint that blocks of ice might bob on the surface of the lakes of liquid methane on Titan. NASA believes that life could lurk in the ice - but it would be very different from life on Earth as the lakes are composed entirely of liquid ethane and methane. (NASA)

Andrejus Rascinski, aged nine, from Birmingham, waits to perform in the under-14s competition at the European Elvis Championships on January 6. Over 70 Elvis impersonators, decked in sequins and well-groomed sideburns, flocked to Birmingham to take part in the competition. (PA)

Photographer Reinhard Dirscherl took this extraordinary snap of a whale shark, which looks like it is about to eat a diver in Indonesia. The 47,000lb shark is not dangerous to humans, instead preferring to snack on plankton (Caters)

If We Are in the Matrix Who Controls Us? The Truth May Be Surprising

http://youtu.be/4JVZR9DH0oQ
Uploaded on 9 Feb 2011

( http://19justinbrown88.yolasite.com/j... ) Morpheus told Neo that he was a slave. A slave to whom? The matrix. Now, what exactly is this matrix and who runs it? Did the movie The Matrix give us clues about our own world and how it works? Or, was it just entertainment and fiction?

WHAT MAKES AN INDIAN CHIEF?

Indian in the machine

“Ask any AFN chief what he or she would do without a pay cheque from Ottawa.” – Kevin Annett
When I read these words from Kevin, I do wonder… so many natives bitch about their chiefs but how do actually support their leaders either mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically… or with a ham sandwich? And how many actually deserve support or are simply puppet managers of the system that regularly churns out crimes against humanity for breakfast? And so all too often, we are left with chiefs who become puppets of the system… the problem with indian country is that the indian act is just that…. an act… too many people are living off the cheques of their oppressors and thus have little credibility or creativity and don’t really lead at all… but it’s not the money or where it comes from that’s the problem, it’s that there’s often little vision of an alternative reality that is #1…. inspired by our Creator God, and then #2…supported and shared with heart and action by those who are

being led. No money is ever ‘dirty money’ if your intentions and willingness to do good,

honour the rest of us.

Idle no more, while I love that people are coming together, it is merely a baby step… you cannot change anything by simply protesting against it, you must offer the alternative… and so I say these words to support any native person or otherwise, who can offer the alternative, and who is able to support true leadership or be a true leader, not just the professional leaders and intellectuals… who are approved by corporations and government. I had raised the issue of ET visitation at a few FSIN meetings, but they didn’t want to talk about anything more than money and problems.. and thus, no alternative is ever sought (while our ET family fly above us waiting for a COLLECTIVE heartfelt invitation to land)… we are left with managers of the crime scene. While Kevin’s words are more biting than my comfort level (http://kevinannett.com/), I appreciate his courage and ability to lead and speak truth, even if he’s hurting as much, or more than those natives or church he is critical of.

He has my support, love and gratitude… True power is compassion…can we recognize our own hurt and even ‘the truth’, in another’s biting words? If so, that’s the compassion within us… compassion for others is an essential component of self-love. Do those who want to be led, honour themselves, and contribute their own unique gifts to their chosen leaders? Is there a “Ghandi” out there in indian country? Is there a unique soul with heart ignited, with a mission to lead indian country out of the abyss? If so, step forward, introduce yourself to me, and I will gladly with heart, support you, and introduce you to my friends all over the globe (and off-world hehe). Natives and non-natives with money and equity… are you out there building equity, or do you financially support your leaders?

Look at the jews for an example of a people who financially and mentally support each other (even if it’s not for the greater good). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… true tradition is not imitating our ancestors or anyone else, or repeating the past…. true tradition is living in spirit right now… in action… as original infinite beings… Aho!… There’s no need for the cattle mentality that has become the new standard…our greatest collective strength is that the originality of each soul is celebrated, honoured and supported. Each soul is not aboriginal…. is soul is original… keep shining your beautiful inspired Light, no matter what your skin colour or ancestry… your greatest gift to the world and self, is to remember who you are…. a being of infinite potential and love, part of a large multiuniversal family . – Indian in the machine http://indianinthemachine.wordpress.com/

http://indianinthemachine.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/what-makes-an-indian-chief/