Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Tasman Sea under threat from mining activities near Gloucester NSW.

A silent war is going on and people drink at a hotel named after a local river which is under serious crisis. The council is not seeing this. The infrastructure should never have started here. 

The local people were smothered with double talk.  In this case the end does not justify the means.  Yes the town needs employment but it doesn't need mining jobs.  These companies use their own people mostly and there are usually only a few contract positions for a short time.

IMG 9781 The Avon Hotel
Avon Hotel.   Named after the Avon River.
Avon River is lovely and it is  a perennial stream of the Manning River catchment, is located in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.

The Avon River rises in the northern foothills of the Barrington Tops, south of Carsonville, and flows generally north-east, joined by five minor tributaries, before reaching its confluence with the Gloucester River, near Gloucester, south of the confluence of the Gloucester River with the Barrington River.

The river descends 412 metres (1,352 ft) over its 42 kilometres (26 mi) course. The catchment area of the river benefits from melting snow in spring. Gloucester district, although incredibly hot in the main summer months, nevertheless has an annual rainfall averaging 1,300 millimetres (51 in).  As a result, combined with the merging streams and rivers, periodic serious flooding occurs in theAvon Valley at Gloucester, sometimes cutting all transport links.
 
The Gloucester River eventually flows into the Manning River, a major waterway which flows into the Tasman Sea through a minor delta east of Taree.

IMG 9840 Gloucester area
Driving down the road we cross the Avon River just out of Gloucester
 In 2004, assessments of water sampling done in 1997 by the NSW Environment Protection Authority, revealed poor water quality, with high levels of nutrients leading to excess algae.

Along the river, downstream from Stratford, bank erosion and the invasion by exotic plant species have degraded the river.

AGL say the river isn't great now and wonders what our problem is regarding this.  This sort of unharnessed power with no conscious is quite a worry.  Mike Moraza who heads up Upstream Gas for AGL Gloucester Project cannot see the connection.  At Gloucester there is too much pressure to move on this project and the educated understanding of the geology has been laughed at and Professor Pell's has illustrated this to AGL.

Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr

Monday, April 29, 2013

Rigs are popping up like Hot Bread Kitchens in the Gloucester and surrounding areas of NSW.

12 Wells already fracked.  Plans for 110 Csg Wells right in front of these houses and that is with a matching open cut coal mine right in their faces as well.  Australia has to stand up and stand together on this issue.  This cannot go ahead.   If it does then you can say we have sold out for money as there is nothing in this agreement that looks after the future for future generations.

IMG 9789 Gloucester under Siege
Forbesdale ....  all of the land in the foreground is earmarked for a large open cut mine called the Rocky Creek Mine.  110 Coal Seam Gas Wells are also planned for this same area you can see here.
 There are too many groups trying to administer the change at Gloucester as well.  It is a well known tactic to divide and conquer.  Set up six groups and let the people do this dividing for themselves is what mining companies want.  They cannot then be held accountable if the people do this. 

The people need to start thinking on their feet.  This is not the way to go. You cannot trust these companies or the State Governments regarding Mining.  There is enough proof already in that they operate in ways that are clearly corrupt and it is collusion and it involves Sydney Gas as well.  It is a dirty business.  I would be ashamed to be involved if I was any of them.  

Our Federal Government can only get involved where there is a pollution issue but somehow the federal government are not seeing the blatant evidence put forward by independent bodies.  Instead Julia is preferring to use the data produced in collusion with mining companies.  That is real smart NOT!

The people are stirring to attention and the government has angered such a wide spectrum of the communities and the reason its worse is because there is no politicians out there worth voting for on any of the parties and that is clearly evident.  The people are massing together because there is no one to vote for.  They created such a monster none of us want to even be apart of this.
Images @ Melonpopzdropz Flickr
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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Non Violent Direct Action Workshops.

Non-Violent Direct Action Workshops are being held to prepare members of the community for the possibility of taking direct action to protect our valley's from the development and expansion of coal seam gas and coal mining. 
The topics that are covered are campaign planning and Non violent direct action.  Other discussions centered around avoiding burnout, and "The Csg Free Community" strategy from the Lock the Gate Alliance Inc..
The older woman were interested in the Knitting Nanna's.  It seemed to strike a chord in them.  It was evident the older woman were keen to lock on and were lining up for a turn at all of the apparatus's

This was a great workshop to gain practical tools for winning community campaigns to protect our health, water, farms and communities.  There was a private strategy meeting at another location.

IMG 0426 NVDA Workshop
Lock on Device
Held at the Soldiers Club Denison Street Gloucester  NSW 

This workshop was led by Steve Phillips of Lock the Gate Alliance.  Gordon Fraser-Quick also gave a talk and added his wisdom to the pot. Topics Covered:

What is Peaceful Direct Action?

Strategy & Conception

Legal Planning & Strategy

Direct Action Techniques & Tactics

Roles

Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr
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Friday, April 26, 2013

The Astral Light

An all-permeating subtle fluid that interpenetrates all things and is the magical agent of the Formative World. The concept of the astral light was developed primarily by ELIPHAS LEVI.

IMG 0662  Breakfast Fruits
Light that is just beautiful at Dawn in Urunga NSW
Levi described the astral light as:
. . . an agent which is natural and divine, material and
spiritual, a universal plastic mediator, a common receptacle
of the vibrations of motion and the images of form,
a fl uid and a force, which may be called in some way the
Imagination of Nature. . . . The existence of this force is
the great Arcanum of practical Magic.


Israel Regardie said of the astral light:
Vibrating at another rate of motion than does the gross
substance of the physical world, and thus existing on a
higher plane, the Astral Light contains the builder’s plan
or model, so to speak, projected downwards by the Idealization
or Imagination of the Father; the plan on which the
external world is constructed, and within whose essence
lies latent the potentiality of all growth and development.


 The astral light has electric, magnetic, and radioactive properties. It is represented in various symbol s, such as the girdle of Isis, the bull-headed serpent , the goat- or dogheaded serpent, the ouroboros, the emblem of Prudence, the symbol of Saturn, the winged dr agon of Medea, the double serpent of the caduceus, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the brazen serpent of Moses entwined around the tau cross or the generative lingam, the Hyle of Gnosis, the double tail that forms the legs of the Gnostic deity Abraxas, the goat of the witches’ sabbats, and baphomet .
We find the following in G. de Purucker's Occult Glossary.
The astral light is with regard to the material realms of the solar system the copy or reflection of what the akasa is in the spiritual realms. The astral light is the mother of the physical, just as the spirit is the mother of the akasa or, inversely, the physical is merely the concretion of the astral, just as the akasha is the veil or concretion of the highest spiritual.

Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr

Coal Seam Gas in Australia

Coal seam gas extraction is fairly new in Australia  It has been mined in the United States for a number of years evidenced in Josh Foxes film Gaslands.

IMG 6874 Glenugie Action against Csg

 Csg mining involves releasing gas from coal seams deep under the ground.  If the gas does not come up easily for extraction it is injected with high pressurized water and chemicals  straight into the coal seams to shake the gas free.
CSG mining processes extract masses of water and this water is known as used water and it is radioactive and salty.
CSG mining is unconventional gas extraction.   Shale gas offers another avenue of gas supply.
Here is Australia Csg Mining has exploded for want of a better description. 
Australia has experienced growth never before seen since gold rush days in the area of CSG mining.  There are exploration and production licences covering much of the continent.
Figures show that in the five years leading up to 2008, Csg production in Australia increased by 32 per cent a year

IMG 6873 Glenugie Metgasco PEL 426  Thornbill EO4

 One of the major  and most serious risks of Csg mining is the contamination of the surface water and and  the deep groundwaters in the various artesian basins located under Australia. Csg mining has been linked to issues that  have  been associated with the Great Artesian Basin, one of the largest underground water reservoirs in the world, covering about 22 per cent of Australia’s land mass.
 Another serious risk is Earthquake frequencies and there is some evidence from monitoring radon as it could reveal whether coal seam gas extraction is messing with the soil’s structure.
 Jeremy Buckingham
Two recent peer reviewed studies on opposite sides of the globe have shed light on how monitoring of earthquakes and determining greenhouse gas emissions from the coal seam gas (CSG) industry may be connected.
Predicting earthquakes has been a major scientific challenge, and so far considered impossible. In a recent case, Italian scientists were jailed for underplaying the likelihood of a major earthquake with the case sending shockwaves through the scientific community.

Not much is known about the chemicals these drilling companies use and just how much of the chemical mixtures that are used during the mining process. These are secretive and known as proprietary chemicals (don't have to be divulged - ie Colonel Sanders KFC)
While they keep all this secret it is hard to  measure the  impacts on  health and the ecocide to the environment.
It is known that a number of the chemicals typically used in CSG extraction have been associated with hormonal disruption, fertility and reproductive effects, and the development of some cancers.

While some evidence exists from US operations of environmental contamination, there is relatively limited evidence so far regarding the actual health effects of CSG in Australia according to certain health practitioners.  This is because there were no baseline studied down on health and the environment.  The studies that were done were all funded by mining companies and it is clear that this is corruption on all levels.  This is highly unethical because they are siding with large mining companies

In 2012, an inquiry completed by the  NSW parliamentary committee who looked into the environmental, economic and social impacts of CSG activities.
With reguards to  health the health impacts, the inquiry concluded:
  1. The federal government can only step in where there is serious risk of environmental damage.  Other than that this is a State Government issue.  
  2.  Coal Seam Gas companies are suspected that they may not be meeting all of their obligations.
  3. More data is needed on the impact of Coal Seam Gas on contamination or depletion of water resources.
A joint statement made by the coalition made note of the risks to health from "Energy and Resources policies" were not well thought through and this is reflected in current policy decisions. The statement called for a precautionary approach.  To look at long term studies that could effect generations to come.  The science is just not there for this process.  There is a need for caution.Opponents to this industry come from all walks of life,  Mothers, Farmers, Indigenous and typical greenies all with a common goal of protecting the water. 

Environmental groups, such as Lock the Gate Alliance Inc, are fiercely opposed to CSG reduction. Their opposition is based on possible harm to the environment, even though their assessment may lack scientific backup. They believe that even the possibility of environmental damage is sufficient grounds to restrict CSG production.
I don't share that ideology as I want to see it completely banned in all countries.  It is banned in a few countries but I am holding on for this decision in Australia.
IMG 6863.1 Glenugie Action against Csg
Communities, farming areas, and tourist sites near CSG production sites are concerned  about the  damage to their land and their farming income and the value of their properties.  Properties in the vicinity of a mine are worthless now.  The people are concerned in the country because they moved there for a sea change and are now confronted with this nightmare that runs 24/7 under flood lights with no respite from the noise.

More information re the pros and cons to this industry can be found here.
http://harounkola.com/coal-seam-gas-controversy-in-australia-explained/
Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr
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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Massive, uncontained leak at Fukushima is pouring over 710 billion becquerels of radioactive materials into atmosphere

http://api.ning.com/files/pRsSSjdJis9MpgzhdWP1SUFV8uqCwxHsiUJmtEHliBINV*RCLAvtfWRMug2FuUIa9VBWKVNo6sqVOWj-sVF4cpqYKz8T1xWB/japanesenucleardisastertipiceberg_44.jpg 
Massive, uncontained leak at Fukushima is pouring over 710 billion becquerels of radioactive materials into atmosphere ~
The tsunami-caused nuclear accident at the Fukushima power station in Japan is the disaster that never ends, as new reports indicate that a wealth of new radioactive materials have been spewed into the atmosphere.

According to Singapore-based news outlet AsiaOne, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the multi-nuclear reactor power station at Fukushima, announced April 6 that some 120 tons of water that had been contaminated with radioactive substances had leaked from an underground storage facility at the No. 1 atomic power plant site.

Running out of storage room?
TEPCO officials announced the leak late in the day April 5, a Friday, "but said measures to address the problem had not been taken for two days because the cause had not been identified," AsiaOne reported. The company "assumed the water was still leaking."

According to company officials TEPCO estimates that the leaked water contains about 710 billion becquerels of radioactive substances, making it the largest leak of radioactive materials ever at the plant. Discovery of the leak led the company to transfer about 13,000 tons of polluted, radioactive water in the questionable storage area to a neighboring underground storage unit.

That storage unit, TEPCO said, is 60 meters long, 53 meters wide and six meters deep. It is pool-like in structure and has a three-layer waterproof sheet with a concrete cover.

According to the company, water that has leaked from damaged nuclear reactors is run through filters and additional devices in order to remove radioactive elements. The water is then stored in facilities for low-level contaminated water.

TEPCO began using the storage facility Feb. 1. As of April 5, 13,000 tons of radioactive water was being stored there - very close to the 14,000-ton limit.

More leaking contamination

AsiaOne reported that water samples taken by TEPCO from soil surrounding the damaged facility a few days later showed 35 becquerels per cubic centimeter of radioactive substances, which is abnormal. "Safe" levels of becquerels is 300 per kilogram of water, according to New Scientist.

 However, TEPCO officials did not publicly announce their findings right away after not finding any other unusual changes in water quality data, such as chloride concentration.

On April 5, the report said, two days after the problem was first noticed, water with 6,000 becquerels per cubic centimeter of radioactive substances was located between the first and second layers of the waterproof sheet, which alerted TEPCO engineers and plant officials that a leak had occurred.

Per AsiaOne:

As the sheet's layers were joined when the facility was constructed, TEPCO assumed that the sheet may have been damaged, or that a mistake had been made during construction. An average of about 400 tons a day of groundwater seeped into buildings housing nuclear reactors and turbines, increasing the quantity of polluted water.

The latest problem will create a storage shortage; TEPCO officials said storage of polluted water at the facility will be reduced from 53,000 tons to 40,000 - a significant reduction. That will make it necessary for the power company to go over procedures for handling polluted water, which will include increasing the number of storage units.

The disaster that keeps on giving
TEPCO said earlier this month it expected the water transfer would take about five days to complete.

"As the height of the water storage facility is relatively low, we think it's unlikely that the polluted water mixed into underground water and reached the sea 800 meters away," said Masayuki Ono, the acting chief of TEPCO's nuclear facilities department, at a press conference April 6.

The plant was damaged by a huge earthquake-caused tsunami March 11, 2011. At the time of the incident, three of the plant's atomic reactors were shut down: No. 4 had been de-fueled and Nos. 5 and 6 were in cold shut-down for maintenance.

The remaining three automatically shut down at the time of the accident and emergency generators came on to keep coolant systems operating
.
by J. D. Heyes
@ http://www.naturalnews.com/040058_Fukushima_radioactive_nuclear_leak.html#ixzz2RRlYogTX
PHOTO / Humanity Healing Network

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Chrysanthemum.

Etymology...  I love etymology: The name "chrysanthemum" is derived from the Greek words, chrysos (gold) and anthemon (flower)
I have many in my garden and they are so wonderful.  I got a tiny cutting from a friend awhile back and now I have so many gorgeous plants.  I wanted to know more about them and so I set out to do so by the way they seem so hardy as well. An Autumn flower.  I searched the old Wiki

IMG 0345 Moon Energy
  
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are perennial flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae which are native to Asia and northeastern Europe. About 30 species have been described. Florists sometimes abbreviate the spelling to "xants".

In Australia,the chrysanthemum is traditionally given to mothers for Mother's Day, whilst men will wear it in their lapels to honour mothers, as the flower is naturally in season during autumn.

Chrysanthemum plants have been shown to reduce indoor air pollution by the NASA Clean Air Study.

INSECTICIDE USES INTERSTED ME GREATLY
 Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum [or Tanacetum] cinerariaefolium) is economically important as a natural source of insecticide. The flowers are pulverized, and the active components called pyrethrins, contained in the seed cases, are extracted and sold in the form of an oleoresin. This is applied as a suspension in water or oil, or as a powder.

Pyrethrins attack the nervous systems of all insects, and inhibit female mosquitoes from biting. When not present in amounts fatal to insects, they still appear to have an insect repellent effect. They are harmful to fish, but are far less toxic to mammals and birds than many synthetic insecticides. They are not persistent, being biodegradable and also decompose easily on exposure to light.

They are considered to be amongst the safest insecticides for use around food. Pyrethroids such as permethrin are synthetic insecticides based on natural pyrethrum.

Further to this post it is dedicated to my late great mate Texsy who sadly lost her life on the road at Bellingen.  She would have loved  this post. She loved gardening.
Images @ Melonpopzdropz Flickr
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Corruption is rife where Large Mining Companies are Involved.


IMG 0257 Tragic Mining in Central Australia

CCC warns of miners' pressure

Daniel Emerson, The West Australian
THE WEST.com

The State's corruption watchdog has warned that the hundreds of millions of dollars mining giants shower on Pilbara councils has created pressure to deliver "outcomes", including development approvals.
When the Corruption and Crime Commission scrutinised four Pilbara councils' misconduct protocols three years ago, it found they did not have any - sparking a major review.
The resulting report, tabled in Parliament last week, found the money big miners gave councils for community infrastructure came with negative consequences.
"Staff at some Pilbara local governments indicated they felt significant pressure in responding to and delivering outcomes associated with large mining companies, their development proposals and their expectations," the report found.
The CCC found evidence that informal business practices common in country WA appeared to be favoured by mining companies, including one which "preferred discussing business over dinner rather than at the shire offices".
"The CCC was told that, as a result, staff often felt pressured and compromised," the report found.
The Town of Port Hedland and Shire of Roebourne were described as being at the forefront of development pressure in the region.
Town of Port Hedland acting chief executive Ian Hill told the CCC that contributions from mining companies involved "large investments of negotiation time and ongoing attention to the companies' requirements for recognition".
He said misconduct management strategies were now being put in place.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Reg Howard-Smith welcomed the CCC's recommended improvements.
"It is worth noting that report did not make any allegations or report any misconduct by any local government, company or individual," he said.
WA Local Government Association chief executive Ricky Burges said it was appropriate that big companies assisted Pilbara councils financially in recognition of the impact they had on towns.
Images @ Melonpopzdropz  Flickr
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Monday, April 22, 2013

Chrissy Amphlett has past away, a legendary woman of rock who is my age.

 Chrissy Joy Amphlett 29 October 1959 - 21st April 2013 ..
Divinyls (album)
Divinyls (album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Science Fiction (song)
Science Fiction (song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
In My Life (Divinyls song)
In My Life (Divinyls song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Temperamental (Divinyls album)
Temperamental (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Desperate (Divinyls album)
Desperate (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chrissy Joy Amphlett 29 October 1959 - 21st April 2013
She grew up in Geelong as a singer and dancer. musically active 1982–2013

Today is a sad day as we all will mourn the passing of one our most beloved female front woman of rock from the gutsy band known all over as The Divinyls.

Good Die Young (Divinyls song)
Good Die Young (Divinyls song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
She and the band brought a style of raunchiness and in your face cheek to rock and the music scene .  The band had an ever evolving line up around her and Mark McEntee, her former lover.

The Collection (Divinyls album)
The Collection (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I saw her on a few occasions live at various hotels across Australia before I had children, once we even hung out with the band after a show at a hotel near where we lived at Browns Plains in Brisbane.

Greatest Hits (Divinyls album)
Greatest Hits (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Essential (Divinyls album)
Essential (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chrissy was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and number of years ago,  she kept that under wraps until her performance at Homebake several years ago.   She was living a private life in New York with her drummer husband. She thought it better to tell the audience than to have them assume she was drunk.  The symptoms are often mistaken for drunkedness.  This mistake can cause a great deal of pain for people who are already suffering.

Underworld (Divinyls album)
Underworld (Divinyls album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Chrissy was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and she has sadly passed away today on the 21st of April at the age of 53.  This is the age I am and this make me examine my own situation and it highlights  how precious our lives are when we reach this age.  Because of her multiple Sclerosis she was unable to have chemotherapy.  There were claims three years ago that she was cancer free.