Having trouble with my CenturyLink service. It isn't the first time and it has been acting up all weekend. Maybe tomorrow after they repair whatever the problem is.

The Afghan Election count shows there is most probably a runoff and I was really pleased to see Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will be one of the candidates in the runoff. 

And Russia wants to talk to the UN Security Council about Ukraine. I thought they already decided all that and found Russia had no standing.

The only problem is that Russia is in dire need of new politics.

Good night for now and don't forget the lunar eclipse on Tuesday.

The latest propaganda from Russia is that the Ukraine government is acting against it's own people, however, the people that killed a Ukraine Security Officer are completely innocent. Russia has an itchy trigger finger. The capacity to instigate the violence as the region calms down is something Russia simply can't tolerate. So, unprovoked attacks on Ukrainian Security Officers are being turned into the need to protect Russia Speaking People (RSPs).

Russia is interfering in the peace within the Ukraine.  

The Russians are NOT interested in a stable Ukraine. They are interested in impacting the country negatively regardless of the loss of life or loss of quality of life. Putin has Russia charged up on nationalism. The idea Ukraine leadership hates RSPs fits right into the strategy. The reality is that Russia does hate Ukrainians. That is the real truth.

One would think Russia would be proud of the post soviet nations and their success, but, that doesn't seem to be important. 

It is rather remarkable to realize what occurred with the Soviet Union and have leadership at the ready to lead their people. That is no mistake. There is no shame in having independent post soviet countries. Quite the contrary. 

It is matter of fact countries can be too large to protect. To some extent the Soviet Union was destined to loosen it's ties to it's states. To that end, it took it's huge land mass seriously and empowered it's states to be self-defining. If any of the post soviet countries is a shining example of self-containment, it is Ukraine. It would not exist in it's status today if the Soviet leadership hadn't realized it's vulnerabilities.

There was no chaos. There was no implosion of authority. The people were safe, so the idea Russia has to maintain control is completely bizarre and quite frankly alien to these countries. There is every indication from the inception of their autonomy they were prepared to that reality.

For Russia to change it's demeanor with these countries and the nations of people within them is a direct threat to a status they were enjoying before the Soviet Union dissolved.

Russia is creating it's own hell in thinking it is vulnerable to some kind of alien world called democracy. It's imposition on these countries are turning them away from Russia. Russia is literally driving those that they seek as allies away from that relationship no matter what form it would take. 

They want to have viable markets based in free trade on a larger scale than they have now and Russia is manipulating their ability to conduct those trade potentials through loans and power struggles. It is no secret Russia is pouring assets into these countries to create dependency. That isn't what they want and up to now that is all they had as a potential for their economy. Russia is unjust in creating this dependency. 

Ukraine on brink of civil war after blood was spilt in east – Yanukovich

He is a fucking liar!

Is Viktor in a bad mood? Did his little doggy run away, too? 

Some kind of civil war, Viktor. The people are waiting for summer and an uptick in tourism. He should be seeking a larger market with his pony by renting his services to local birthday parties.

Emir Gushinov (in green) says not many children are taking his pony rides in Donetsk nowadays. But he said that's not because of the unrest nearby. "The main reason is that it's not a holiday," he says.

In the eastern city of Donetsk, (click here) protesters hung a huge banner declaring a government office building to be the "People's Republic of Donetsk."
These pro-Moscow activists want to pull away from Europe and align Ukraine more with Russia. The protests in Donetsk and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine are the focus of the ongoing crisis in the country and it has international repercussions that reach well beyond the country's borders.
Yet life in the rest of Donetsk is going on completely as normal.
The occupied government building in the center of town is surrounded by razor wire and sandbags. It feels like the kind of place where nothing will happen unless, suddenly, something dramatic does....

Anyone know what this means? I just thought since everyone is so worried about the climate crisis most would know that this means.

So, few in the world understand what this means, right? Why do you suppose that is?

Why do you suppose when the majority of people look at that graph it looks like something recorded from Voyager traveling through the edge of the solar system? 

Do you know the difference between Voyager recording and this graph? Why not? 

I could explain all this and probably will, but, unless people understand the language of EXPERTS they are propagandized with nonsense about lies and deceptions. So why bother? Why should any expert seek 'common language' to attempt to explain the brevity of this graph? No one cares. Not sincerely. The experts are drowned out by Wall Street priorities in the media. No one is or has raised the alarm regarding Earth in a profound way so people pay attention.

How does anyone know this won't get better? How does anyone know this is irreversible so therefore throw down the gauntlet and PAAARRRRTY!

Earth is a fairly easy celestial body to understand. Earth is magnificent, but, human beings do not have reverence for that magnificence NOR respect for it's value and gifts. 

Mass balance. What keeps a glacier from sliding to the bottom of gravitational pull? 

Oh, you thought this was just about the loss of ice. It is, but, there is more to it. 

The graph discusses the loss of ice 'content' of the polar regions. Oh, you didn't believe the scientists when they said it was 5 degrees centigrade warmer in the Arctic. Yep. They didn't lie. 

Located in the Terre Adélie-George V Land section of East Antarctica, Astrolabe Glacier streams out from the interior of Antarctica to dump ice into the sea. This outlet glacier is estimated to be 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide, and the drainage basin that feeds it stretches as much as 200 kilometers (120 miles) inland. Astrolabe is named for the flagship of Captain Jules Dumont d’Urville’s 19th century expedition to Antarctica.

How much does ice weigh? How much weight is in an AREA 6 miles wide and 12 miles long?

The calving front is roughly 7 kilometers (4 miles) wide, and scientists estimate that it loses half a cubic kilometer of ice per year.

The depth is important to determine the complete size of a glacier. The calving front is only a clue to the depth of the icefield.

Each year over the course of the 18-year study, the two ice sheets lost a combined average of 36.3 billion tons more than they did the year before. The Greenland ice sheet lost mass faster at an average of 21.9 billion tons more per year. In Antarctica, the year-over-year speedup in lost ice mass averaged 14.5 billion tons.

Americans have gotten used to the words billions and trillions and what that means to Wall Street, Too Big to Fail and the national debt and deficit. But, when it comes to understanding the rapid DETERIORATION of Earth, those words billions and trillions mean nothing. 

Are glaciers Too Big to Fail?

A billion tons looks like this in numbers 1,000,000,000 X 2000 = 2,000,000,000,000. That is two trillion POUNDS. What happens when 2 trillion pounds of water enters the oceans? How much space does that take up? Then realize it isn't 2 trillion pounds of water, it is 36.3 X 2,000,000,000,000 = 72.6 trillion pounds of water PER YEAR dissolving into the worlds oceans.

I sometimes think the First World understands that freezers continually make ice for their three Martini lunches without effort. How much effort does it take to stop the deterioration of Earth's icefields? 

Is ice important? Does ice in large icefields provide SERVICE to human beings? What service do they provide and why isn't it better to simply heat Earth to the point where 'real estate' value takes over the Antarctica continent? 

Does Earth have a thermostat that human beings can adjust at their pleasure? Warmer in winter and colder in summer. Simply adjust the thermostat, right? 

How would anyone go about adjusting the thermostat of Earth. A planet sized thermostat. How is that going to happen? 

Human beings cannot turn the weather off or on to their pleasure, why would anyone ever believe there is capacity to adjust CLIMATE?

A rapid shift to less-polluting energy will be needed to avoid catastrophic global warming because global emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases have accelerated to unprecedented levels, the United Nations reports today.

Guess who stated that?

The IPCC. Guess who else said that and everyone ignored her?

It doesn't take much to melt ice. It is easy to do. If there was reverence for Earth that would not even be a topic today. Everyone better wake up and start protecting carbon sinks and restoring Earth's balance. I could not mean it more.

Easter Sunday

Popemania is everywhere. The child should not disappoint his mother. A would be Francis. 

Pope Francis is stated to be very sober over the sexual abuse of children that has occurred within the church. His words ask for forgiveness, but, does not dismiss the brevity of the tragedies. That entire time really is a tragedy for the Roman Catholic Church.

Given his involvement of the common man I am fairly confident this episode weighs on his heart. I don't believe for one minute he is dismissive of the profound impact such acts against children carried. I believe his requests for forgiveness are sincere.

April 12, 2014 - Updated 1850 PKT 
..."I feel compelled... (click here) to personally ask for forgiveness for the damage they have done for having sexually abused children," the pope said at a meeting with members of a children's charity, Vatican Radio reported.

The apology was a first for Francis since he was elected last year and he was quoted as saying there were "quite a few" guilty priests, although "obviously not compared to the number of all the priests".

"The Church is aware of this damage," he said.

"It is personal, moral damage carried out by men of the Church and we will not take one step backward with regards to how we will deal with this problem and the sanctions that must be imposed.

"On the contrary, we must be even stronger," he added.

Francis was meeting with members of International Catholic Child Bureau (BICE), which works to protect the rights and dignity of children worldwide....

Looks like everyone went home to get some sleep in Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine (click here)

And, really, who wants to be out in the rain. Not good weather for Russian Speaking activists.

Went home to lick there wounds.

World 

Agence-France Presse

Updated: April 13, 2014 17:47 IST

...Interior Minister Arsen Avakov (click here) said both sides had suffered casualties in the offensive in Slavyansk that threatens to further escalate tensions with Russia, which has 40,000 troops massed on Ukraine's eastern border and has warned Kiev against the use of force....

Ukraine's government is finally getting their legs under them, huh? Sorry to hear about the causalities. That reality sort of speaks for itself, doesn't it? These aren't just protesters. They have intent. I'd pay attention to the Crimea and the chance the forces there gets the idea they can get bold.

Ukraine is a very interesting country geographically. It rivals Turkey in size and lies across the Black Sea from a strong ally to the USA, which justifies the USA presence in the area. 

Russia is just freaking out over the fact these people are autonomous. I am grateful as Russia should be these folks want peace in a profound way. They are tenacious. The fact they are not interested in militarization and are now only rearming their central military and police speaks to their understanding of their power. Ukraine is a very powerful nation for many reasons.  

Peace is a profoundly wonderful place for Ukraine. It actually will stabilize the region. I love these people. I think they are awesome. They deserve to be loyal to a nation so focused on their purpose and future. It would be terrible to divide these people into countries that would chronically be in conflict.

I think I was reading Russia's mischief (and don't deny it, the propaganda is telling, very telling) is taking a toll on the Ukraine's economy. Look, they needed to shift the power vacuum in their favor. It wasn't going to happen overnight. These people disarmed for the real reason they did not want war. There were treaties. This is not the fault of the people of the Ukraine. This is Russia being stupid. 

Wiki has been following the disturbances. This a map of the intensity of the protests. The Ukraine government knows exactly what it is doing. These are seasoned folks that want their country intact and free. There is every reason to invest in the western and northern regions until the country settles down a bit. 

These guys have the capacity to fabricate vertical wind turbines. I would love it if they took on that challenge and made it a national priority. It would remove dependency. Their reputation as carbon polluters is known, so the country needs to think that through a bit.

By Associated Press 
Updated: Sunday, April 13, 9:22 AM
...Vladimir Kolodchenko, (click here) a lawmaker from the area who witnessed the attack, said a car with four gunmen pulled up on the road in a wooden area outside Slovyansk and open fire on Ukrainian soldiers who were standing beside their vehicles. Both attackers and the Ukrainian servicemen left soon after the shooting....

The attacks on the Ukraine Security Officers are unprovoked. What was the purpose of killing that man?

I think it is really strange all these dogs disappeared. I suppose they are small enough to fit in one pillow case, but, like, what happened here?

They aren't all the same color. Four total have been stolen. (click here)

One is worth nearly $34,000 US. Really? Does any dog breeder expect to have them zoom out the door for Easter at that price?

"Mommy, I want a doggy." "Sorry, honey, a horse is cheaper." 

Xena is valued at $34,000 and all the others are valued at $5000. Okay, but, that is a hint about losing them to thieves.

As a thief, how is that animal going to help you. I tell you what. The first place I'd look is another high end Chihuahua breeder. Another breeder could substitute Xena for their own champions, grow the pups and get Best Puppy in Show. Seriously. That is the only way it makes sense.

I think the theft is about competition. Who would know these dogs were even that expensive and living in Britain.

AND.

Why take them all unless another breeder wanted to eliminate the lineage. It's their genetic stamina that is threatening other breeders. Contract hit.

This is not some little kids wanting puppies for their own. This isn't about 'having a dog.' This is about professional level competition. 

Okay, prevention of theft. Genetic fingerprints on these babies. AKC (American Kennel Club) needs to pay attention. Genetic identity. It may be as unique as the breed, but, that is the only way to absolutely track down such thefts and prevent them.

Scientists do it to some extent with marine mammals. They walk into market places where whale meat is being sold and take a sample, then run the genetic content. Once the fingerprint comes back as an endangered animal the seller is in trouble.

I am not sure if the science is sophisticated enough to identify 'the individual' or their tracings in breeding, but, I am sure there are scientists that can answer that question and quite possibly pursue that possibility.

See, these animals reproduce in eight weeks. So, the animals can be missing for a short period of time and transfer their genetic material throughout a range of individuals in a short period of time. This isn't like stealing a thoroughbred race horse that needs a year to gestate. This transfer of genes can happen quickly.

If a thief is that intent on having the genes in their bloodlines or eliminate it completely, these babies in trouble and could be lost forever.

Photo By Family handout/ap

This undated family handout photo shows Valenchino Chihuahua Xena, who was named Best Puppy in Breed at Crufts 2014, and was snatched with four other dogs, including her mother Io and grandmother Angel, from a house in East Yorkshire on Thursday. British police are appealing for help finding five stolen dogs, including a Chihuahua puppy that recently won a major prize at the prestigious Crufts competition. The thieves apparently broke into a house in the village of Lissett in central England and made off with the valuable dogs. Humberside police said Sunday they are asking the public to provide any leads.