6.1 Mag. Strong EARTHQUAKE ~ Kepulauan Mentawai Region, Indonesia
6.7 Mag. Strong EARTHQUAKE ~ Sumbawa Region, Indonesia
Major Earth Tremor Felt in New Delhi, India
6.3 Mag. Strong EARTHQUAKE ~ Sumbawa Region, Indonesia
4.6 Mag. EARTHQUAKE ~ Haryana-Delhi-Uttar Pradesh Region, India
Closer to home P&G has been rattled and flooded recently with our aid flying in to help.
The Pacific Rim of Fire is on a shake, big time.
MORE QUAKES
BREAKING ~ 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rattles Japan
6.2 Mag. Strong EARTHQUAKE ~ Near The East Coast of Honshu, Japan
6.0 Mag. Strong EARTHQUAKE ~ Luzon, Philippines
Have you noticed all the quakes are 6 and above. The level of intensity is increasing and Krakatoa (not mentioned here)is spewing ash high into the atmosphere. the levels of intensity, frequency and number are all on the increase. Just keeping an eye on this.
Tuesday, 27 November 2007
Friday, 23 November 2007
BHP & China's iron
John Garnaut
November 23, 2007 - 8:43AM
BHP Chief Marius Kloppers has ignored expectations that he would placate the world's most powerful steel industry, promising instead to smash China's preferred iron ore price setting system whether or not he succeeds in swallowing Rio Tinto. The move demonstrates how a BHP-Rio merger will transform the global commodities trade - and reveals the quietly-spoken, strategic aggression of Mr Kloppers. He told steel makers and officials in Beijing yesterday that he would create a new iron ore market place, managed by a third party, which would trade real ore shipments as well as "derivatives" on a futures exchange. The market would be open to hedge funds and investment bankers, who are clamouring to buy into the commodities trade but lack liquid investment options. The system would also be a back-door way of introducing a huge "freight premium" for Australian ore over Brazilian ore, because contract prices would be set at a north-China port of delivery rather than the West Australian or Brazilian port of origin. Deliveries to Korea and Japan would be benchmarked to the China price. The pledge displays Mr Kloppers' confidence that his bid for Rio Tinto will fly despite deep opposition in China and elsewhere - because he believes there is nothing any of his key customers can do. It is only a month since the peak Chinese steel industry body told The Age that BHP would be acting "dishonourably" if it broke the long-standing system of annual contract negotiations, led this year by Brazil's iron ore giant CVRD and China's BaoSteel. Mr Kloppers also indicated in meetings this week that competition authorities outside Australia would be powerless to stop the merger. Regulators in China, Europe and elsewhere will only have power to stop imports - an action no region can afford to take against their dominant supplier.
Iron ore is only BHP's fourth or fifth most profitable commodity in North Asia. But Mr Kloppers is exclusively visiting iron ore consumers because Chinese politicians and policy makers tend to be obsessed with the steel makers who are driving the country's ongoing industrial revolution. Both parties are deeply resentful of their current negotiating terms, and yet entirely dependent on the other. BHP and Rio Tinto accounted for 38 per cent of the world's iron ore trade this year - an imbalance exceeded only by China's share of world demand. Within three years, China is on track to import more iron ore than the rest of the world put together. BHP and Rio supply an even higher proportion of Japanese demand, at about 60 per cent.Chinese policy makers and steel chiefs appear to unanimously oppose the merger proposal, but have so far revealed no way that they can stop it. To date, there has been no unified Chinese response and nor has there been a physical meeting between high level steel executives and government officials, according to China Iron & Steel Association deputy director Chen Xianwen.Speculation that China will spend some of its enormous capital reserves - and its limited geo-political capital - on buying Rio shares and obstructing BHP does not appear to have any basis at this stage. Mr Kloppers pitched his new deal to steel makers on Wednesday in Shanghai, including Bao Steel's chief Xu Lejiang.Yesterday he met a vice-president of China's commerce department and a more junior official at the National Development & Reform Commission. At those meetings he gave new logic to the improbable line that reducing the world's three dominant iron ore players to two would actually be good for steel makers. Mr Kloppers appears to have downplayed the infrastructure "synergies" that were emphasised in talks with shareholders last week. Instead, he based his claim to Rio's assets on a promise that he would manage them far more aggressively and productively than Rio's management team would do if left in place. In a profound U-turn for BHP, and one that has implications for Australia's lethargic export performance, Mr Kloppers conceded both of Australia's giant miners had been too slow and too conservative in responding to the fact of China's extraordinary awakening.He told Chinese representatives that BHP management had learnt from its mistakes, while Rio's lackluster investment record showed that it had not. Mr Kloppers can lay some claim to being an early and true believer in the Chinese-driven commodities super-cycle, as his 11 and 13-year-old children already speak fluent mandarin Chinese.
November 23, 2007 - 8:43AM
BHP Chief Marius Kloppers has ignored expectations that he would placate the world's most powerful steel industry, promising instead to smash China's preferred iron ore price setting system whether or not he succeeds in swallowing Rio Tinto. The move demonstrates how a BHP-Rio merger will transform the global commodities trade - and reveals the quietly-spoken, strategic aggression of Mr Kloppers. He told steel makers and officials in Beijing yesterday that he would create a new iron ore market place, managed by a third party, which would trade real ore shipments as well as "derivatives" on a futures exchange. The market would be open to hedge funds and investment bankers, who are clamouring to buy into the commodities trade but lack liquid investment options. The system would also be a back-door way of introducing a huge "freight premium" for Australian ore over Brazilian ore, because contract prices would be set at a north-China port of delivery rather than the West Australian or Brazilian port of origin. Deliveries to Korea and Japan would be benchmarked to the China price. The pledge displays Mr Kloppers' confidence that his bid for Rio Tinto will fly despite deep opposition in China and elsewhere - because he believes there is nothing any of his key customers can do. It is only a month since the peak Chinese steel industry body told The Age that BHP would be acting "dishonourably" if it broke the long-standing system of annual contract negotiations, led this year by Brazil's iron ore giant CVRD and China's BaoSteel. Mr Kloppers also indicated in meetings this week that competition authorities outside Australia would be powerless to stop the merger. Regulators in China, Europe and elsewhere will only have power to stop imports - an action no region can afford to take against their dominant supplier.
Iron ore is only BHP's fourth or fifth most profitable commodity in North Asia. But Mr Kloppers is exclusively visiting iron ore consumers because Chinese politicians and policy makers tend to be obsessed with the steel makers who are driving the country's ongoing industrial revolution. Both parties are deeply resentful of their current negotiating terms, and yet entirely dependent on the other. BHP and Rio Tinto accounted for 38 per cent of the world's iron ore trade this year - an imbalance exceeded only by China's share of world demand. Within three years, China is on track to import more iron ore than the rest of the world put together. BHP and Rio supply an even higher proportion of Japanese demand, at about 60 per cent.Chinese policy makers and steel chiefs appear to unanimously oppose the merger proposal, but have so far revealed no way that they can stop it. To date, there has been no unified Chinese response and nor has there been a physical meeting between high level steel executives and government officials, according to China Iron & Steel Association deputy director Chen Xianwen.Speculation that China will spend some of its enormous capital reserves - and its limited geo-political capital - on buying Rio shares and obstructing BHP does not appear to have any basis at this stage. Mr Kloppers pitched his new deal to steel makers on Wednesday in Shanghai, including Bao Steel's chief Xu Lejiang.Yesterday he met a vice-president of China's commerce department and a more junior official at the National Development & Reform Commission. At those meetings he gave new logic to the improbable line that reducing the world's three dominant iron ore players to two would actually be good for steel makers. Mr Kloppers appears to have downplayed the infrastructure "synergies" that were emphasised in talks with shareholders last week. Instead, he based his claim to Rio's assets on a promise that he would manage them far more aggressively and productively than Rio's management team would do if left in place. In a profound U-turn for BHP, and one that has implications for Australia's lethargic export performance, Mr Kloppers conceded both of Australia's giant miners had been too slow and too conservative in responding to the fact of China's extraordinary awakening.He told Chinese representatives that BHP management had learnt from its mistakes, while Rio's lackluster investment record showed that it had not. Mr Kloppers can lay some claim to being an early and true believer in the Chinese-driven commodities super-cycle, as his 11 and 13-year-old children already speak fluent mandarin Chinese.
come dance with me
This is just sooo good! Check out this link. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2007/11/03/
are-you-a-right-brainer-or-a-left-brainer-take-this-quick-test-to-
find-out.aspx
Scientists still don’t know exactly how your brain works, how information is coded in neural activity, or how memories are stored and retrieved, for example. Many still believe we only use a mere 10 percent of our brain, but that is probably nothing more than a myth, and should never be used as an excuse for not reaching goals and seizing opportunities that come your way.
Is it possible to unlock dormant areas of your brain? Perhaps it would be better to ask how you can find ways to improve upon, and flex your existing brain capabilities. Challenging your mind with new ideas, such as learning a foreign language, doing crossword puzzles, or brainteasers such as this one, can help keep your brain strong. With some practice, you can figure out how to “make” this twirling figure switch directions, indicating you’ve switched from using one brain lobe to the other.
If I knew how to put the twirling girl on this blog I would. It's just great!
I can see her twirl one way then another. but mostly I'm a "right brainer". I guess that's better than being a "no brainer"
are-you-a-right-brainer-or-a-left-brainer-take-this-quick-test-to-
find-out.aspx
Scientists still don’t know exactly how your brain works, how information is coded in neural activity, or how memories are stored and retrieved, for example. Many still believe we only use a mere 10 percent of our brain, but that is probably nothing more than a myth, and should never be used as an excuse for not reaching goals and seizing opportunities that come your way.
Is it possible to unlock dormant areas of your brain? Perhaps it would be better to ask how you can find ways to improve upon, and flex your existing brain capabilities. Challenging your mind with new ideas, such as learning a foreign language, doing crossword puzzles, or brainteasers such as this one, can help keep your brain strong. With some practice, you can figure out how to “make” this twirling figure switch directions, indicating you’ve switched from using one brain lobe to the other.
If I knew how to put the twirling girl on this blog I would. It's just great!
I can see her twirl one way then another. but mostly I'm a "right brainer". I guess that's better than being a "no brainer"
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Just for a laugh
THIS ONE IS FOR US NOT SO IMPRESSED WITH ALL THAT THE NEW TECH STUFF!!!!!!
THREE WOMEN,TWO YOUNGER,AND ONE SENIOR CITIZEN,WERE SITTING NAKED IN A SAUNA.
SUDDENLY THERE WAS A BEEPING SOUND.
THE YOUNG WOMAN PRESSED HER FOREARM AND THE BEEP STOPPED. THE OTHERS LOOKED AT HER QUESTIONINGLY.
"THAT WAS MY PAGER ,SHE SAID. I HAVE A MICROCHIP UNDER THE SKIN OF MY ARM."
A FEW MINUTES LATER, A PHONE RANG. THE SECOND YOUNG WOMAN LIFTED HER PALM TO HER EAR. WHEN SHE FINISHED,SHE EXPLAINED, "THAT WAS MY MOBILE PHONE , I HAVE A MICROCHIP IN MY HAND."
THE OLDER WOMAN FELT VERY LOW-TECH.
NOT TO BE OUT DONE, SHE DECIDED SHE HAD TO DO SOMETHING JUST AS IMPRESSIVE.
SHE STEPPED OUT OF THE SAUNA AND WENT TO THE BATHROOM.
SHE RETURNED WITH A PIECE OF TOILET PAPER HANGING FROM HER REAR END.
THE OTHERS RAISED THEIR EYEBROWS AND STARED AT HER.
THE OLDER WOMAN FINALLY SAID......... " WELL, WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT...
I'M GETTING A FAX " !!
THREE WOMEN,TWO YOUNGER,AND ONE SENIOR CITIZEN,WERE SITTING NAKED IN A SAUNA.
SUDDENLY THERE WAS A BEEPING SOUND.
THE YOUNG WOMAN PRESSED HER FOREARM AND THE BEEP STOPPED. THE OTHERS LOOKED AT HER QUESTIONINGLY.
"THAT WAS MY PAGER ,SHE SAID. I HAVE A MICROCHIP UNDER THE SKIN OF MY ARM."
A FEW MINUTES LATER, A PHONE RANG. THE SECOND YOUNG WOMAN LIFTED HER PALM TO HER EAR. WHEN SHE FINISHED,SHE EXPLAINED, "THAT WAS MY MOBILE PHONE , I HAVE A MICROCHIP IN MY HAND."
THE OLDER WOMAN FELT VERY LOW-TECH.
NOT TO BE OUT DONE, SHE DECIDED SHE HAD TO DO SOMETHING JUST AS IMPRESSIVE.
SHE STEPPED OUT OF THE SAUNA AND WENT TO THE BATHROOM.
SHE RETURNED WITH A PIECE OF TOILET PAPER HANGING FROM HER REAR END.
THE OTHERS RAISED THEIR EYEBROWS AND STARED AT HER.
THE OLDER WOMAN FINALLY SAID......... " WELL, WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT...
I'M GETTING A FAX " !!
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
FAST MELT
Thirty key international glaciers are melting about 6 times faster
than in the 1980s. Most of the world's glaciers are receding. Climate change is melting the European Alps, the snows of Kilimanjaro in Africa and the massive snouts of snow and ice between Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Of the 850 glaciers on the eastern slopes of the Rockies that Canadian glaciologists have been monitoring, 325 have disappeared entirely since the early 1970s. But new data show the melting of glaciers worldwide is accelerating faster than anyone previously thought. According to the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, 30 key international glaciers lost on average 66 centimeters of thickness in 2005. Those glaciers are melting about 1.6 times faster this decade than they were in the 1990s, and about six times faster than in the 1980s. In the last 27 years, they have, on average, thinned by a total of about 10.5 meters. The retreat of Arctic ice raises some troubling issues. When the Exxon Valdez ran into a reef in Prince William Sound 18 years ago, for example, it wasn't simply a case of pilot error. The oil tanker was on an altered course to avoid a dangerous mess of icebergs that had calved off the Columbia Glacier. It resulted in the worst man-made environmental disaster in North American history when nearly 2,000 kilometers of Alaskan shoreline was contaminated. The melting of glaciers also has huge implications for future hydro-electric generation in the north, for commercial navigation on the Mackenzie River, for rare life forms that rely on glaciers, for more southerly weather patterns and for low-lying coastal communities everywhere. Over in Greenland, the glaciers are also shrinking. Coastal glaciers there are melting into the Atlantic Ocean twice as fast as previously believed. But snow and ice have also been building up in the interior. This has led climate change skeptics to claim that the ice sheet is not thawing. Thanks to radio echo data and 10 years of radar information, scientists have recently confirmed that the Greenland Ice Sheet is, in fact, slimming dramatically. The data show that the annual loss of mass has risen from 90 cubic kilometres in 1996 to 150
cubic kilometers in 2005.
What are the Greenlanders saying about the melt? Well they are happy. They are growing all types of vegies and welcoming tourists because "it's gets lonely here".
The moral of the story is, there is always a silver lining to every situation.
than in the 1980s. Most of the world's glaciers are receding. Climate change is melting the European Alps, the snows of Kilimanjaro in Africa and the massive snouts of snow and ice between Banff and Jasper in the Canadian Rockies. Of the 850 glaciers on the eastern slopes of the Rockies that Canadian glaciologists have been monitoring, 325 have disappeared entirely since the early 1970s. But new data show the melting of glaciers worldwide is accelerating faster than anyone previously thought. According to the Swiss-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, 30 key international glaciers lost on average 66 centimeters of thickness in 2005. Those glaciers are melting about 1.6 times faster this decade than they were in the 1990s, and about six times faster than in the 1980s. In the last 27 years, they have, on average, thinned by a total of about 10.5 meters. The retreat of Arctic ice raises some troubling issues. When the Exxon Valdez ran into a reef in Prince William Sound 18 years ago, for example, it wasn't simply a case of pilot error. The oil tanker was on an altered course to avoid a dangerous mess of icebergs that had calved off the Columbia Glacier. It resulted in the worst man-made environmental disaster in North American history when nearly 2,000 kilometers of Alaskan shoreline was contaminated. The melting of glaciers also has huge implications for future hydro-electric generation in the north, for commercial navigation on the Mackenzie River, for rare life forms that rely on glaciers, for more southerly weather patterns and for low-lying coastal communities everywhere. Over in Greenland, the glaciers are also shrinking. Coastal glaciers there are melting into the Atlantic Ocean twice as fast as previously believed. But snow and ice have also been building up in the interior. This has led climate change skeptics to claim that the ice sheet is not thawing. Thanks to radio echo data and 10 years of radar information, scientists have recently confirmed that the Greenland Ice Sheet is, in fact, slimming dramatically. The data show that the annual loss of mass has risen from 90 cubic kilometres in 1996 to 150
cubic kilometers in 2005.
What are the Greenlanders saying about the melt? Well they are happy. They are growing all types of vegies and welcoming tourists because "it's gets lonely here".
The moral of the story is, there is always a silver lining to every situation.
Saturday, 17 November 2007
More shocks
CHILE - Strong aftershocks from a powerful earthquake hit northern Chile on Thursday as the government erected a working military hospital and promised hundreds of other portable dwellings for 15,000 left homeless by the quake. Government and army workers scrambled to distribute tons of food, water and medicine after the 7.7 magnitude quake struck near the desert village of Quillagua in the foothills of the Andes on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring more than 150.
Major aftershocks shook the region Today, including one of magnitude 6.2 and another of magnitude 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of further damage or injuries. The earthquake destroyed or damaged 4,000 houses and the local hospital, blocking roads, crushing cars and knocking out power across northern Chile, officials said. This port city of 27,000 and the nearby mining town of Maria Elena were the hardest hit, and presidential spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said both would be declared disaster areas to expedite aid delivery.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
Chile was where the tsunami was generated that hit Hawaii, the April Fools Tsunami. Chile is having one earthquake after another the ones In the ocean are the ones to watch.
Region: OFFSHORE ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
Geographic coordinates: 22.830S, 70.369W
Magnitude: 6.3 Mw Depth: 35 km
Universal Time (UTC): 20 Nov 2007 17:55:55
Major aftershocks shook the region Today, including one of magnitude 6.2 and another of magnitude 6.8, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of further damage or injuries. The earthquake destroyed or damaged 4,000 houses and the local hospital, blocking roads, crushing cars and knocking out power across northern Chile, officials said. This port city of 27,000 and the nearby mining town of Maria Elena were the hardest hit, and presidential spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber said both would be declared disaster areas to expedite aid delivery.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE
Chile was where the tsunami was generated that hit Hawaii, the April Fools Tsunami. Chile is having one earthquake after another the ones In the ocean are the ones to watch.
Region: OFFSHORE ANTOFAGASTA, CHILE
Geographic coordinates: 22.830S, 70.369W
Magnitude: 6.3 Mw Depth: 35 km
Universal Time (UTC): 20 Nov 2007 17:55:55
Thursday, 15 November 2007
Quake in Chile and tsunami
A large 7.7 mag. quake hit Chile one hour ago. No reports of damage or injuries at this time. Region: Antofagasta, Chile. Geographic coordinates: 22.189S, 69.843W. Magnitude: 7.7 Mw. Depth: 60 km. Universal Time (UTC): 14 Nov 2007 15:40:53. Time near the Epicenter: 14 Nov 2007 12:40:53. Local standard time in your area: 14 Nov 2007 15:40:00. Location with respect to nearby cities: 101 km (63 miles) WNW (290 degrees) of Calama, Chile.
A Tsunami watch is in effect for Hawaii. There is a possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than one hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter. Due to the only limited sea level data from the region, it may not be possible for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA to rapidly confirm nor evaluate the strength of a tsunami if one has been generated.
A Tsunami watch is in effect for Hawaii. There is a possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts located usually no more than one hundred kilometers from the earthquake epicenter. Due to the only limited sea level data from the region, it may not be possible for the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center/NOAA to rapidly confirm nor evaluate the strength of a tsunami if one has been generated.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
antarctic quake
USGS and EMSC reports a 'RARE' moderate 5.8 Mag. EARTHQUAKE
hit November 5, 2007, 105 km SSE of Casey Station in the
Australian Antarctic Territory there. The earthquake was
located on the tectonic plate, away from the plate boundary.
Earthquakes in the Antarctic are rare!
hit November 5, 2007, 105 km SSE of Casey Station in the
Australian Antarctic Territory there. The earthquake was
located on the tectonic plate, away from the plate boundary.
Earthquakes in the Antarctic are rare!
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Stockmarket crash is coming
THE man responsible for investing $41 billion of the State's money has warned mum-and-dad investors to prepare for a massive sharemarket crash.He says a dramatic downturn is inevitable as the rapid rate of investment is unsustainable, and the repercussions of the $300 billion subprime lending crisis in the US are yet to be felt fully. State Treasury has revealed that Victoria looks set to lose just $1.9 million directly from the subprime fiasco. But the chief investment officer of the Victorian Funds Management Corporation, Leo de Bever, is taking no chances, telling The Sunday Age that he is managing the risk of further losses "as best as humanly possible" by shifting investments to safer options. Mr Baillieu warned that millions of dollars of taxpayers' money was at risk and accused the Premier of failing to come clean about potential losses.
The boom of the past five years could not be sustained and mum-and-dad investors stood to lose if they did not act now. "Nobody wants to leave the party when markets are doing what they are doing, people want to enjoy it to the fullest … (but) it's time to buckle down." While market experts suggest moving investments into safer options — such as buying government bonds, gold or shares in consumer staples — could prove prudent, they are not predicting the downturn will be so drastic.Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of strategic investments at AMP Capital Investors, agreed that after the strong run, the Australian sharemarket was due for a correction, but said, despite the more volatile market and further expected problems in the US financial system, he believed "the conditions are just not there for a crash".But some key US banks are already in trouble, with reports that regulators are investigating Merrill Lynch for trying to hide the extent of its losses. And The Guardian newspaper has reported that another British bank, thought to be Barclays, has received an emergency loan from the Bank of England.
The boom of the past five years could not be sustained and mum-and-dad investors stood to lose if they did not act now. "Nobody wants to leave the party when markets are doing what they are doing, people want to enjoy it to the fullest … (but) it's time to buckle down." While market experts suggest moving investments into safer options — such as buying government bonds, gold or shares in consumer staples — could prove prudent, they are not predicting the downturn will be so drastic.Shane Oliver, chief economist and head of strategic investments at AMP Capital Investors, agreed that after the strong run, the Australian sharemarket was due for a correction, but said, despite the more volatile market and further expected problems in the US financial system, he believed "the conditions are just not there for a crash".But some key US banks are already in trouble, with reports that regulators are investigating Merrill Lynch for trying to hide the extent of its losses. And The Guardian newspaper has reported that another British bank, thought to be Barclays, has received an emergency loan from the Bank of England.
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Life & fire
is this the Dawning One?