Echoes in the Mist

By Robert A. Vella

A new two-hour NOVA documentary on existential climate change was aired last night on PBS titled Decoding the Weather Machine.  The target audience appears to be people who are climate change skeptics and those who are either insufficiently aware of the science or unappreciative of its implications.  The film centers around a conservative meteorologist perplexed by our obviously changing weather who, in his determination to find the cause, discovers the frightening reality of what we humans are doing to this planet.  His revelation also provides an informative explanation of the difference between weather and climate.

Because of its focus, the documentary doesn’t get too technical and instead does a good job of conveying the science in an easy to understand manner.  It also does an excellent job of putting the subject of climate change into the proper perspective as well as detailing necessary solutions quite…

This 20214 BBC TV video from Britain says about itself:

Beavers Help Prevent Flooding

Beaver & rewilding have the answer to the UK’s flooding prover who.

As rivers across the UK are bursting their banks, another media storm has broken over who is responsible. Many farmers have come out attacking the lack of drainage and flood defences along rivers. But river scientists and ecological experts are pointing out that there is a deeper problem in our river catchments, which means putting in flood defence and dredging rivers could end up in catastrophic flooding further downstream, and a tragedy could unfold that could threaten human life.

Changes in farming and land use now means there is little flood plain left along our rivers, so there is nowhere for the water to go, this combined with a massive increase of drainage of farmland in river catchments means water now gushes off…

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/08/27/plant-based-meat-pro
ducts-miss-the-point.html

<https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors.html> CONTRIBUTORS

OPINION

By Karina G. MeyselContributor

Tues., Aug. 27, 2019timer2 min. read

Renewed fascination with vegetarianism and veganism has spawned the latest
trend toward meat-free eating, and with that, the latest generation of
commercially available “plant-based meat” products. There is, however,
something disingenuous about the current vegetarian and vegan craze, when
those “plant-based meat” products look, taste and feel just like the very
products they are meant to replace.

Embracing a vegetarian or vegan diet means embracing a dietary culture that
precisely sets itself apart from one that includes meat. Thus, it is the
consumer’s fundamental conceptualization of meat (real or fake) as the
pre-eminent protein source that requires examination and reshaping if the
current trend toward vegetarianism and veganism is to last.

Heightened social consciousness with respect to animal welfare, personal
health and the large carbon footprint produced by the livestock farming
industry are…

Close to the village of Belukurichi, famous for its ancient temple and weekly market, is Kalkurichi, a picturesque village near the Kolli hills.

The Karpoora natheswarar temple is the small ancient Siva temple located in this peaceful village. There are neat farmlands all around. The village road passes by the temple and it faces the beautiful Kolli Malai hills.

The importance of the temple lies mainly in the fact that this was one of the temples patronized by legendary King Valvil Ori of the Kolli hills, who ruled from Kolli malai around the 2^nd century A.D. The temple we see today was built much later.

Related post: The Kingdom of Ori

The history of the temple is based on oral tradition. In the absence of Sthala purana or other historical records, oral tradition and local beliefs are valuable and reliable sources of information because they have been handed down…

This 12 April 2019 video from Kenya about elephants says about itself:

Look at who our team spotted recently while out collecting data in Samburu National Reserve – Monsoon and her adorable calf! This little guy was seen suckling while in the company of his aunties – Hurricane and Tempest – and his cousin who is seen here pushing his way around. Monsoon, the matriarch of the Storms 2 herd, amazed researchers last year when she gave birth again for the first time in nine years to this feisty youngster. Footage: Tanya Onserio.

Who are we?

Hindus themselves are confused. They don’t know what their dharma teaches. If only they knew what the glory of sanatana dharma is, nobody would EVER look at others. The depth, the scientific thoroughness, the perfection, –nowhere.

There are FOUR states or avasthas according to Sanatana dharma.

1. The PHYSICAL: This gross state we all know. It is made of Consciousness + five elements [earth, fire, air, water, space]. Here, there is variety, name and form, etc. This is your first covering. This is not YOU. One religion thinks only this is true. Demons [Rakshasas] concentrated only on this. Only physical enjoyment. Even after death.

2. THE SUBTLE: This subtle state is where your mind,memory, intellect, sense organs, organs of action, everything is located. What you call ghost, etc, are this subtle body. This also not YOU. This is made of Consciousness + five subtle elements like sound…

This 18 August 2019 video says about itself:

Fracking Is A Bigger Problem Than We Thought

We are going full speed ahead towards irreversible climate change. Cenk Uygur, Maz Jobrani, and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

“As greenhouse gases go, methane gets less attention than carbon dioxide, but it is a key contributor to climate change.

Methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long as CO2 and is reabsorbed into terrestrial cycles via chemical reactions within 12 years or so. But while it’s up there, it’s much more potent, trapping heat at roughly 84 times the rate of CO2. Scientists estimate that around 25 percent of current global warming traces to methane.

When it comes to reducing CO2 emissions, the chain between cause and effect is frustratingly long and diffuse. Reduced emissions today won’t show up as reduced climate impacts for decades.

But…

This picture is a 1690 engraving by Johann Ulrich Krauß. It shows a story much older than 1690. It is an illustration to the long poem Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid.

In book V of Metamorphoses, Ovid writes about a minor god in Greek polytheism, Ascalaphus. He was the custodian of the orchard of Hades, the god of the underworld. Hades had abducted Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture. The supreme god Zeus decided that Persephone had the right to return to her mother, if she had not eaten anything in the underworld. Persephone had just eaten a few pomegranate anils. The only one who has seen that was Ascalaphus. He told the other gods. That meant that Persephone had to stay in the underworld, at least for six months of the year.

Persephone was so angry that she changed Ascalaphus into an…

This video is about a toco toucan in Brazil.