Sun Moon Lake's diesel yachts to give way to electric boats

Want China Times, CNA 2013-05-31

The Guo Yi No. 2, powered by lithium-ion batteries, started operating
in February. (Photo/Shen Hui-sheng)

The more-than 100 diesel yachts on Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan's Nantou county will be replaced with electric boats over the next 14 years to help improve environmental and tourism quality, the administration office of the national scenic area said Wednesday.

The office said a subsidy program to encourage ferry operators and tourist yachts owners to convert from diesel to electric will run until 2027.

Under the program, participants can receive a subsidy up to a maximum of NT$7.1 million (US$235,000) or less than 50% of the cost of rebuilding a boat or installing relevant equipment.

For example, the owner of the first tourist boat covered by the program this year has receive a subsidy of NT$6.1 million, said Chen Yi-chuan, an office section chief.

The vessel, the Guo Yi No. 2, which started operating in February, is powered by lithium-ion batteries that only need to be recharged every eight hours. This allows around 12 round trips on the lake per charge, Chen said.

The office provided subsidies for two boats last year, and two more electric boats covered under the program will start operations later this year, he added.

Related Article:

Nordic ferries go gas-powered

Shipping industry faces rough economic waters

Deutsche Welle, 31 May 2013

The world's largest cargo ship, the "Alexander von Humboldt," was christened in Hamburg. But crisis continues to grip the shipping industry, and many German companies could go under before the situation improves.

The brand new "Alexander von Humboldt" has been a tourist attraction in Hamburg harbor for days: The almost 400-meter-long (1,312-foot-long) giant belongs to the French shipping company CMA CGM and can hold close to 16,000 containers. It was christened in the northern German city on Thursday (30.05. 2013).

Together with its sister ship "Marco Polo," the "Alexander von Humboldt" shares honors as the world's largest cargo ship. Looking at the skyscraper-sized ship up-close, it's hard to believe that the German sea freight industry is still facing a crisis.

But because the hard times began five years ago, after the banking- and economic crisis, Ralf Nagel of the Association of German Ship Owners (VDR) said the industry is, in fact, stuck in "an extraordinarily deep crisis." Back then, there were suddenly significantly fewer goods to be transported and way too many ships.

Caught by surprise

Nagel: "Shipping industry is in
extraordinary crisis"

No one expected the crisis, he added. "Everyone was doing better and better, then suddenly the current was cut off. Right now it's no fun running a shipping company," Nagel said.

The sector still hasn't recovered from the nose-dive that accompanied the crisis and while there are some areas that are profitable, the whole business is still facing rough seas, according to Nagel.

"Here and there you can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but it definitely won't be over tomorrow," said Alexander Tebbe of the Auerbach Schifffahrt shipping company in Hamburg.

The problem of long-term planning

There are several reasons the crisis won't be over quickly for shipping companies. Counter-measures do not take hold as quickly as in other industries and when companies order a new ship they have to look three or four years into the future, as that's when it will be delivered. But if orders fall, buyers can be stuck having to pay millions of euros for a ship they can no longer afford.

That's exactly what happened over the last years, Tebbe said.

"People had too much cheap money and ordered so many ships that, looking back today, it partly destroyed the market," he added.

While large commercial companies have hardly been hit by the shipping decline, many smaller charter companies have suffered more. In recent years, more than 100 German shipping companies have filed for bankruptcy and hundreds more could follow.

After the crisis, there was less
cargo to go around

The commercial shipping companies run along the big harbors of the world like bus stops, reliably and regularly. They have their own large cargo ships, but not as many as they need for their goods. That's why they fall back on the charter companies, which rent out their ships.

"If the large commercial companies aren't doing well, they of course pass the pressure on to the smaller companies they rent from," Nagel told DW, adding that it is not clear who will survive the competition.

Small charter companies are threatened by bankruptcy, and the two large German commercial companies, Hapag Lloyd and Hamburg Süd, have been openly considering consolidation for economical and competitive reasons for months.

Pirates, fuel and banks

Other factors have also contributed to the shipping companies' woes: high prices for fuel, certain routes that require extra payments for protection from pirate, as well as banks that have become wary of handing out credit as freely as before the economic crisis.

Germany's Commerzbank even announced that it would leave the shipping business. Nagel said this posed two problems to shipping companies, "Our companies are under enormous pressure from the market, and at the same time have difficulties keeping their financial partners on-board."

He said he expects the crisis to last until 2015. Until then, companies are playing for time. In Germany alone, hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on it, according to Nagel.

First signs of hope

Politicians realized this as well, at least to a certain extent. Taxing the charter shipping companies for additional millions of euros looked like a done deal. But the companies were able to win a delay in the added tax, convincing lawmakers to suspend the levy for now. It will probably only come into effect in 2016. But other measures of help have been rejected by politicians, according to Nagel.

 The shipping industry will prevail, Alexander Tebbe confidently stated

He said, however, that there was another indicator of improvement: the number of ships that are scrapped is currently rising: "And the age of these ships is going down as well. The average age of a scrapped ship is now 22 years, whereas two years ago, it was roughly 30." Nagel said selling the steel that the ships were made of is often more profitable than keeping them, and that fewer ships at sea means more work for the remaining fleets.

Remaining optimistic

Alexander Tebbe from Auerbach Schifffahrt in Hamburg also said he remains hopeful. He founded his company in 2010, right in the middle of the crisis, and specializes in transporting goods that are too large for the containers on cargo ships, like tree trunks, large steel plates or windmill parts. In Germany, the country with the most freighters, this can be hard to find.

Together with his business partner, Tebbe owns three used ships and takes care of the freight himself. Despite the crisis, he said he wants to continue buying ships, and approaches the situation with a healthy dose of optimism.

"Our motto is: shipping will prevail," he said. "There will be people and there will be trade. And unless the oceans dry up, this will still be the case the day after tomorrow."

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems  (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it),  Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse),  Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version) 

“… The Illuminati

One more. "Kryon, what about the Illuminati?" OK, I'll tell you, for these things are already known by many.

Everything you thought about the Illuminati of the past is correct. This was not conspiracy, but fact. However, in the light of what I just said above, it could not sustain itself in an energy where everyone talks to everyone, and has since gone dormant.

The Illuminati was based in Greece, and it started by controlling the most potent economic attribute that could manipulate the strings of commerce on the earth - shipping. Once they had control of shipping, what followed was financial markets. This, then, worked its way to insurance, world stock markets and banking. This was prevalent for decades, right up to the mid '80s.

I have a question for the elders in the room. Look back in your lifetime, dear ones. What was the stock market like when you were younger? If you remember, you will say it had incremental changes up and down, except for occasional major shifts - which, by the way, were also controlled. It was steady, up or down. It didn't vacillate wildly, with hundreds of point-shifts from month to month. It never did. That's what a controlled market looks like. Now take a look at your current stock market. Does it look controlled? It is not! It is free-wheeling and it can go wherever it is driven by normal financial activity.

This should tell you something, dear ones. The Illuminati is no longer in control. It lost in banking, in tobacco, and it's about to lose in big pharma and insurance because awareness lets people know what is controlled and what is not. Awareness of truth will trump any other energy, and integrity will win some major battles.

So, did the Illuminate die? No. They simply lost their method of control. ...”

Endangered whale used for Japan dog treats: NGOs

Google – AFP, 28 May 2013

Dogs are pictured after attending a purification ceremony by Shinto priests at

a shrine in Tokyo on January 13, 2013 (AFP/File, Yoshikazu Tsuno)

TOKYO — Meat from endangered whales caught by Icelandic hunters is being sold in Japan as luxury dog treats, environmental campaigners said Tuesday.

Michinoku Farm, a Tokyo-based company, is offering chews made from North Atlantic fin whales on its company website, with the meat described as a "low calorie, low fat, high protein" snack.

Japanese campaign group IKAN said selling products made from endangered species as treats for pampered pooches was the worst kind of conspicuous consumption.

"The most likely reason for shops to sell the whale meat dog treat is to target affluent Japanese who want to show off their wealth with something different," said Nanami Kurasawa, executive director of the pressure group.

Michinoku's website, which also sells pet goodies it says are made from Mongolian horses and kangaroos, has three different sized packets of whale chews, with a 60 gram (2 oz) bag selling for 609 yen ($5.97) and a 500 gram bag for 3,780 yen.

IKAN was one of four campaign groups that issued a joint statement on the treat.

"The product description identifies the meat as being fin whale of Icelandic origin," the statement said, adding: "Its use in pet food suggests that new markets are being explored."

"As Iceland prepares to hunt over 180 fin whales in 2013 for this export market, NGOs question the environmental and economic logic of using meat from an endangered species for the manufacture of dog treats."

Japan hunts whales under a loophole in an international ban, insisting it is carrying out research. Iceland openly defies the ban.

While whale meat is declining in popularity in Japan, many Japanese see the campaign against whaling as a symbol of cultural imperialism from the West and argue that it is a long-standing tradition.

Related Articles:

"The Akashic System of Remembrance" - Sep 2010 (Kryon Channelling) - Reference to Whales/Dolphins/Animals > 28:00 min

First migrant workers union formed in Taiwan

Want China Times, CNA 2013-05-26

The Labor Party protesting at the capital Metro Manila Makati city calling
for Taiwan authorities to protect Filipinos workers in Taiwan. (Photo/CNS)

A migrant workers union composed of 89 Filipino fishermen was founded Saturday in Taiwan's northeastern county of Yilan, becoming the first such union formed in the country, which employs nearly 88,000 workers from the Philippines.

The Yilan county Fishermen's Trade Union was formed with the aim of helping Philippine fishermen make their voices heard.

The union is the first association formed by foreign workers in Taiwan and has registered with the county government's labor affairs department, according to Lee Lee-huan, a Taiwanese human rights worker who helped the fishermen set up the organization.

At a ceremony held at the Suao Catholic Church to mark the launch of the fishermen's union, its leaders and members observed three minutes of silence for 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng, who was shot dead on May 9 by Philippine coast guard officers while fishing in waters where the two countries' exclusive economic zones overlap.

Lee, who spent 18 months helping the migrants set up the labor union, said that after Taiwan's Labor Union Act was amended on May 1, 2011, it allowed foreign labor unions to elect a board of directors and supervisers.

Previously, they were not allowed to organize their own labor unions, and were only permitted to join existing labor organizations.

There are approximately 6,600 foreign workers who work on Taiwan's fishing boats. Most of the migrant fishermen are Indonesians and Filipino. They represent 2 percent of the migrant workers in Taiwan.

Lee said that the union has elected its directors and leaders and that it plans to solicit fishermen from other countries to join the organization in the future.

Alfredo Cataluna, president of the union, who has worked for Taiwanese employers for eight years, said that he originally thought Taiwan would send Filipino workers back home after the shooting incident, but that was not the case.

Several members of the union said that they once worried the timing was too sensitive to set up the union, but fortunately, their Taiwanese employers have still treated them in a friendly way. They added that they hope the two countries will soon settle the dispute over the death of the Taiwanese fisherman.

They also said they hope their rights could be protected and a communication platform can be set up through the union to help solve problems plaguing them, including excessive work hours.

Taiwan's government has suspended the hiring of more migrant workers from the Philippines following the death of the fisherman. The government has demanded that the Philippine government investigate the shooting, punish the officers involved and compensate Hung's family, as well as hold talks on fishing rights, to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Related Article:

Philippine probe finds coast guard negligent in shooting: report

Dolphins gain unprecedented protection in India

Deutsche Welle, 24 May 2013

India has officially recognized dolphins as non-human persons, whose rights to life and liberty must be respected. Dolphin parks that were being built across the country will instead be shut down.

India's Ministry of Environment and Forests has advised state governments to ban dolphinariums and other commercial entertainment that involves the capture and confinement of cetacean species such as orcas and bottlenose dolphins. In a statement, the government said research had clearly established cetaceans are highly intelligent and sensitive, and that dolphins "should be seen as 'non-human persons' and as such should have their own specific rights."

The move comes after weeks of protest against a dolphin park in the state of Kerala and several other marine mammal entertainment facilities which were to be built this year. Animal welfare advocates welcomed the decision.

"This opens up a whole new discourse of ethics in the animal protection movement in India," said Puja Mitra from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO). Mitra is a leading voice in the Indian movement to end dolphin captivity.

 Indian officials say it is morally unacceptable to exploit cetaceans in
commercial entertainment

"The scientific evidence we provided during the campaign talked about cetacean intelligence and introduced the concept of non-human persons," she said in an interview with DW.

Indiais the fourth country in the world to ban the capture and import of cetaceans for the purpose of commercial entertainment - along with Costa Rica, Hungary, and Chile.

Dolphins are persons, not performers

The movement to recognize whale and dolphins as individuals with self-awareness and a set of rights gained momentum three years ago in Helsinki, Finland when scientists and ethicists drafted a Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans. "We affirm that all cetaceans as persons have the right to life, liberty and well-being," they wrote.

Dolphins are naturally playful and curious,
which has made them popular with
aqurium visitors

The signatories included leading marine scientist Lori Marino who produced evidence that cetaceans have large, complex brains especially in areas involved in communication and cognition. Her work has shown that dolphins have a level of self-awareness similar to that of human beings. Dolphins can recognize their own reflection, use tools and understand abstract concepts. They develop unique signature whistles allowing friends and family members to recognize them, similar to the way human beings use names.

"They share intimate, close bonds with their family groups. They have their own culture, their own hunting practices - even variations in the way they communicate," said FIAPO's Puja Mitra.

But it is precisely this ability to learn tricks and charm audiences that have made whales and dolphins a favorite in aquatic entertainment programs around the world.

Seaworld slaughter

Disposable personal income has increased in India and there is a growing market for entertainment. Dolphin park proposals were being considered in Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai.

India's growing middle class is hungry
for entertainment

"There's nothing like having a few animals on display, particularly ones that are so sensitive and intelligent as these dolphins," said Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India in an interview with DW. "It's a good money making proposition."

But audiences are usually oblivious to the documented suffering of these marine performers.

"The majority of dolphins and whales in captivity have been sourced through wild captures in Japan, in Taiji, in the Caribbean, in the Solomon Islands and parts of Russia. These captures are very violent," Mitra explained.

"They drive groups of dolphins into shallow bay areas where young females whose bodies are unmarked and are thought to be suitable for display are removed. The rest are often slaughtered."

Mitra argued that the experience of captivity is tantamount to torture. She explained that orcas and other dolphins navigate by using sonar signals, but in tanks, the reverberations bounce off the walls, causing them "immense distress". She described dolphins banging their heads on the walls and orcas wearing away their teeth as they pull at bars and bite walls.

Tanks terminated

In response to the new ban, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (CGDA) told DW that it has withdrawn licenses for a dolphin park in the city of Kochi, where there have been massive animal rights demonstrations in recent months.

Will the ban on captive dolphin exploitation lead to more protection for
other highly intelligent non-humans?

"It is illegal now," said N. Venugopal, who heads the CGDA. "It is over. We will not allow it anymore."

He said the government hadn't lost money on the development but declined to comment on how much the dolphin park was worth.

Boost for Ganges River dolphin

It's possible that India's new ban on cetacean captivity will lead to renewed interest in protecting the country's own Ganges River dolphin.

"I hope this will put some energy into India's Action Plan for the Gangetic Dolphin, which is supposed to run until 2020," said Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India. "But there's been very little action.

She said the ban was a good first stop, but warned against excessive optimism. "I'm very proud that India has done this," she said. "I'm not trying to be cynical but I have been a conservationist in India for four decades. One gets thrilled with the wording, but I don't think it's going to turn to the tables."

"But dolphins for now are safe from dolphinariums, and that's a good thing," she added.

Related Articles:

Hong Kong risks losing its pink dolphins: groups

Video captured of dolphin rescue off Kona

"The Akashic System of Remembrance" - Sep 2010 (Kryon Channelling) - Reference to Whales/Dolphins/Animals > 28:00 min

3-Meter Croc Catches Rays With Shocked Beachgoers

Jakarta Globe, Tunggadewa Mattangkilang, May 22, 2013

An Estuarine Crocodile opens its jaws wide at the National Zoological Gardens
at Dehiwala outside the city limits of Colombo, Sri Lanka. (EPA Photo)

Balikpapan. Authorities in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, are investigating whether a large crocodile that spooked visitors at the popular Manggar Beach over the weekend was a wild animal or had escaped from a nearby breeding center.

Arif, the head of the municipal management body for the beach, confirmed on Monday that the three-meter-long saltwater crocodile was spotted in the area on Saturday morning, sending hundreds of beachgoers scattering.

“The crocodile even went up and sunbathed next to the lifeguard post. Most of the visitors were scared, but some of them hung around to look,” he said.

The animal disappeared into a nearby estuary soon after, and efforts by Ari’s office and local wildlife conservation officials to track it down were fruitless.

Arif added that officials from the local search and rescue agency, working with local fishermen, were still scouring the coast for any signs of the animal so that they could determine where it came from before capturing and releasing it away from areas of human activity.

He added that it is highly likely that the crocodile came from the nearby Teritip crocodile breeding center. However, Bayu, an official at the breeding center, denied the possibility.

“None of our crocodiles have gone loose. They’re all securely in their cages,” he said, adding that there were around 1,500 crocodiles at the facility.

He suggested that the one that appeared at the beach was a wild crocodile that had strayed far downstream because of damage to its habitat in the upstream forest area.

Crocodile sighting are increasingly becoming common in East Kalimantan, with conservation officials attributing this to the loss of the animals’ natural habitat.

In April, a 16-year-old girl was killed by a crocodile in the Perdau Dalam River in West Kutai district. This was the fifth incident in the area in the past two years.

Erli Sukrismanto, the head of the Kutai National Park, said at the time that forest clearing within the park was compelling animals to travel further downstream.

“Crocodiles are considered quite adaptable to high levels of water pollution, so if they’re forced to seek cleaner waters, that paints a very worrying picture,” he said.

North Koreans 'free Chinese fishing crew'

BBC News, 21 May 2013

Korea crisis

• No talks
• What is China's role?
• Key figures
• Missile defences

A Chinese fishing crew seized by North Koreans two weeks ago has been freed along with their boat, reports say.

The 16-man crew was taken captive by unidentified North Koreans in the Yellow Sea on 5 May.

China said on Monday it had been negotiating with Pyongyang for their release since 10 May.

All were "safe on their way back", China's Xinhua news agency reported. Boat owner Yu Xuejun told Reuters news agency no ransom had been paid.

He had earlier said that the North Koreans were demanding a 600,000 yuan ($100,000; £66,000) ransom, and that he had received eight calls demanding payment.

"There were no conditions and they didn't take any money," he told Reuters. "They just released them all. I received the call from the ship captain this morning at 03:50 telling me that they had already been released."

Last year, in a similar incident, 29 Chinese fishermen and three vessels were seized by unidentified North Koreans.

They were freed after two weeks and it was not clear whether a ransom had been paid, nor whether the captors had been the North Korean authorities or autonomous kidnappers.

China is North Korea's biggest trading partner and closest ally. But ties between the two have chilled in recent months, in the wake of North Korea's third nuclear test on 12 February.

Beijing backed expanded sanctions against Pyongyang in response to the underground test, and some of its banks have suspended trading with North Korea's key foreign exchange bank.

Overall tensions on the peninsula remain high following the nuclear test, with operations at the joint inter-Korean Kaesong industrial complex suspended.

In recent days North Korea has fired six short range missiles off its east coast, as part of what it says are military exercises.

Nordic ferries go gas-powered

BBC News, Malcolm Brabant, Stockholm, 11 May 2013

The Viking Grace is the first in a series of new green passenger ferries

Related Stories

• EU tightens sulphur law for ships

The Finnish flag is fiercely clacking at the stern as the Viking Grace carves through spring ice, past scores of small islands on the route between Stockholm in Sweden and Turku in Finland.

A maritime revolution is taking place in this narrow waterway and its archipelago of hundreds of small islands. The Viking Grace, a brand new cruise ferry, is fuelled entirely by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is the first of a new generation of green passenger ships.

"It's very important for us at Viking Lines to be a pioneer and save our environment," says Captain Magnus Thornroos on the ship's wide bridge.

Down in the bowels of the ship, the engines are running on 100% gas, although they are capable of using old-fashioned diesel as a back-up propellant if necessary.

"LNG is the cleanest of the fossil fuels we have on Earth," says First Engineer Victor Gingsjoe.

"Compared to running on diesel oils, the particle matter that we release into the atmosphere is virtually nothing. The sulphur oxide emissions are practically nothing. And also we can reduce the CO2 [carbon dioxide] by up to 30%."

Dirty sea

The Bergensfjord will also be
fuelled by LNG

But Dr Kaare Press-Kristensen, an air pollution expert from Denmark's Ecocouncil, adds a caveat.

"We know that LNG can significantly reduce harmful substances," she says. "However, if LNG escapes the engines without being burned, it will contribute significantly to global warming as well."

Viking Lines say its ship is fitted with the latest technology for monitoring the ship's systems.

By using LNG, the vessel is complying with new emission controls that come into effect in the Baltic Sea in 2015. Similar rules will begin simultaneously in the North Sea and along the east and west coasts of North America.

It is hoped the changes will make a significant difference to the ecology of the Baltic Sea, which is heavily polluted, in part from Russian ships coming from the east.

The bottom of the sea is said to be dying and the reason it is so dirty is that it is almost entirely enclosed by land and does not have a flow of fresh water to flush out the grime.

On deck, it is easy to see how still are the waters of the Baltic. As far as the eye can see in the Swedish part of the archipelago, the sea is covered in ice.

'Huge cost'

The project's supporters say the new regulations will not just benefit nature, but also public health.

"In Europe, we know that about 50,000 premature deaths are caused from air pollution from shipping," says Dr Presse-Kristensen.

"And the cost to society is about 55bn euros [£45bn; $72bn] every year, so it's a huge cost."

Inside the Viking Grace, a Bruce Springsteen video is entertaining passengers in the music bar.

On deck it is cold, and taking the air is Mohammed Hassan, from London.

"I have a carbon footprint," he says. "And I think it's being reduced because technically it's being driven by gas and it's very environmentally friendly as well. So I would say it's fantastic. I am being responsible by using less carbon."

Two new ferries, the Stavangerfjord and the Bergensfjord, both entirely powered by liquid gas, are currently being completed at Rissa, Norway, and they are due to start sailing between Denmark and Norway this summer for Fjord Line.

As is often the case when it comes to green technology, the Nordic countries are showing the way.

Related Articles:

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Asia's largest cruise liner to set sail from Keelung

Swedish salmon sales 'breached EU ban' over dioxins

BBC News, 8 May 2013

Related Stories 

• Horse DNA in 5% of EU-tested beef

The salmon issue again highlights the
complexity of Europe's food chain

Firms in Sweden have sold about 200 tonnes of Baltic salmon in Europe despite an EU ban targeting toxic chemicals in fish, officials say.

The ban does not apply to Baltic salmon sold to domestic consumers in Sweden, Finland and Latvia. But the sellers are required to give advice about safe limits for consumption, set by the EU.

Dioxins found in Baltic herring and salmon prompted the EU ban in 2002.

A French firm imported 103 tonnes of Swedish salmon, but no longer does so.

Pecheries Nordiques told the AFP news agency that its tests had found no problems with the fish, imported in 2011 and 2012. "Nobody told us it was illegal," chief executive Francois Agussol said.

Jan Sjoegren of Sweden's National Food Agency told the BBC that Baltic salmon had also been exported illegally to Denmark and the Netherlands from Sweden.

The agency has alerted the European Commission, which deals with national food safety authorities.

A firm in Karlskrona has been reported to the Swedish customs authorities over the salmon exports, and a firm in Hammaroe is also being investigated, Mr Sjoegren said.

Dioxin hazard

The latest alert about Baltic salmon exports follows a horsemeat contamination scandal in the EU which affected many countries.

"We don't think more salmon is being exported now, but because of the horsemeat scandal we are stepping up action on food fraud," Mr Sjoegren said.

Sweden's National Food Agency says the average intake of dioxins among adult Swedes is well below the "tolerable weekly intake" set by the EU.

Children and young women, it adds, should especially limit their consumption of wild Baltic fish because dioxins pose the most risk to babies and young children.

Dioxins spread by incineration and chemical pollution can accumulate in the body over years and can trigger cancer or reproductive abnormalities.

The European Food Safety Authority says that, on average, Baltic herring and wild Baltic salmon are respectively 3.5 and five times more contaminated with dioxins than non-Baltic herring and farmed salmon.

PHOTO: The Six-Story Rubber Ducky That's Gracing Hong Kong

NPR.org, Mark Memmott, May 06, 2013

That's one big duck floating in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor this month.(Li Peng /Xinhua /Landov) .

At least one YouTube prankster has posted video of the big yellow guy blowing up. (Rest easy, that hasn't really happened.)

But "tens of thousands" of other people came to Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor over the weekend to be charmed by a six-story tall rubber duck floating along a dock, says the South China Morning Post.

According to The Associated Press, "Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created the bright-yellow duck, and it was built of PVC material in New Zealand by a company specializing in large sails. ... The duck has been transported around the world since 2007, bringing a message of peace and harmony. It has previously been to Osaka, Japan, Sydney, Sao Paulo, Auckland, New Zealand, and Amsterdam. It will be anchored at a Hong Kong terminal for display until June."

Of course, this reminds some of us of an old song — one that might help make your day a bit brighter.

SesameStreet/YouTube

(H/T to NPR's Maureen Pao.)

Related Article:

Hong Kong Cries Fowl as Giant Rubber Duck Deflates

Dutch conceptual artist Florentijn Hofman’s ‘Rubber Duck’ floats, deflated

 and flattened on Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, China, 15 May 2013. It is

 not immediately known why the duck, scheduled to float outside Ocean Terminal

in Tsim Sha Tsui until June 9 deflated. (EPA Photo)

Scientists warn of Arctic Ocean's rapid acidification

Google – AFP, 6 May 2013

A picture taken on September 3, 2010 from NASA's Aqua satellite

shows the Arctic sea ice (NASA/AFP)

OSLO — Scientists expressed alarm on Monday over the rapid acidification of the Arctic Ocean caused by carbon dioxide emissions, which could have dire consequences on the region's fragile ecosystem.

Acidity levels in the planet's oceans have risen by 30 percent since the start of the industrial era, and are now at their highest levels in at least 55 million years, delegates said at a conference in Bergen, Norway dedicated to the subject.

The Arctic Ocean is more vulnerable than other oceans because its cold waters absorb more carbon dioxide. It is also fed by fresh water from rivers and melting ice, which makes it less able chemically to neutralise the acidification effects of the carbon dioxide.

Furthermore, the increase in melting ice exposes greater expanses of water, which leads to greater absorption.

In the Iceland and Barents seas, pH levels have decreased by around 0.02 per decade since the end of the 1960s.

Even if carbon dioxide emissions were to be brought to a halt today, it would take tens of thousands of years for the oceans to return to the acidity levels they had before the industrial era began two centuries ago, according to Norwegian researcher Richard Bellerby, the main author of a scientific study on the subject.

A little-known phenomenon that is spread unevenly in bodies of water, including in the Arctic, acidification poses a threat to corals, mollusks and other shell organisms such as pteropods, also known as sea angels and sea butterflies, whose ability to calcify has been altered.

Some species, such as the brittle star which is similar to a starfish, face a direct risk of extinction, and fish stocks may also be affected.

As a result, industrial fishing, tourism and the lifestyles of indigenous peoples are at stake.

However, other species could benefit from the rising acidification, scientists said.

"Uncertainty is not an excuse for inaction," said Sam Dupont of Sweden's Gothenburg University.

Scientists called for politicians to once again put climate change at the top of the political agenda, regretting that the issue had been overshadowed by the economic crisis.

"We have to think beyond this bank crisis," said Carol Turley of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory in Britain.

Related Articles:

New Discovery: NASA Study Proves Carbon Dioxide Cools Atmosphere

UN sounds alarm over record Arctic ice melt

Antarctic summer ice melting 10 times faster: study

Is global warming causing harsher winters?

“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."

THE RELATIONSHIP TO GAIA - April 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

New Mini Ice Age

"The weather you have today, and all the alarming attributes of it, is a scenario of what was scheduled to happen on Earth anyway. I review again that the weather changes you are seeing prophesied by myself, 21 years ago, are not a surprise. The changes are not caused by the pollutants you put in the air. You call it global warming and that's a nice phrase, and perhaps that will get you to put less pollutants in the air – a very good thing. But what you are seeing in the weather shift today was not caused by Humans putting things into the air. It would have happened anyway in about 300 years."

"We've called this process the water cycle, since it's all about water, not about air. The water is the predominant attribute of Gaia and of the weather cycle you're seeing. More predominant is the temperature of it. The cycle is ice to water and water to ice, and has been repeated on this planet over and over and over. It is not new. It is not exceptional. It is not frightening. But it's a cycle that modern humanity has not seen before, and it's a long cycle that is beyond the life span of a Human Being. Therefore, it tends to be overlooked or not seen at all !"

"In the days of the Lemurians, the water level of the Pacific Ocean was almost 400 feet lower, and that's only 50,000 years ago. [Kryon invites science to check this out – the water level at that time.] That was a water cycle working, and the reason it was lower was due to so much of the water being stored as ice. Today you're going through another water cycle that will eventually lead to cooling. The last one was in the 1400s."

"Science sees that at about 1650. As mentioned, they are so slow there is no remembrance that a Human has of them except in past writings and in the rings of the trees. The time span of the changes is so great that environmental record keeping does not exist in the form that it does today. But you can still look at the rings of the trees and at the striations of the rocks and can generally figure out that a few hundred years ago, you had a mini-ice age. Now you're going to have another one." 

"Recalibration of Knowledge" – Jan 14, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Channelling, God-Creator, Benevolent Design, New Energy, Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Reincarnation, Gaia, Old Energies (Africa,Terrorists, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela ... ), Weather, Rejuvenation, Akash, Nicolas Tesla / Einstein, Cold Fusion, Magnetics, Lemuria, Atomic Structure (Electrons, Particles, Polarity, Self Balancing, Magnetism, Higgs Boson), Entanglement, "Life is necessary for a Universe to exist and not the other way around", DNA, Humans (Baby getting ready, First Breath, Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells, Rejuvenation), Global Unity, ... etc.) - (Text Version) 

"...The Weather... Again

My partner has been "against the grain" in the past years, giving you what I have channelled about the weather. Is it global warming? No. Is it going to get better? No. This is a two-generation cycle. There will continue to be earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and storms. This is a recalibration of life in the ocean, and humanity must go through this in any way they can. This is a cycle, a known and expected one, but since you haven't gone through it in modern times, it's not well understood yet. ..."