4 February 2018. Comrade Xi on Great China

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27 May 2016. A Point to Ponder from John Muir… All Things ARE Interconnected… This is the ONLY Earth That We Have

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I prefer the old-fashioned word “conservation” to “environmentalism”. God appointed us conservators of His Creation… the natural environment is only part of that. We’re not only conservators of the natural world and protectors of our “little brothers”, we’re also conservators of human culture and the artefacts that our civilisation created over the millennia. Conservation is a FAR broader word than environmentalism. That’s why I prefer it. However, to be a “conservationist”, one has to reject neoliberal “conservatism” in its entirety… one has to become one with nature, one with humanity, and one with our past and our various legacies and traditions… and live according to their timeless laws, not following our unfettered licence and “freedom”. The “conservative” is a spoilt brat, intent on only serving themselves (I’m thinking of arrogant toddlers such as Sean Hannity and Rod Dreher). The “conservationist” is a decent and mature person, who realises the interconnectedness of all and respects the limits that the Creation places on them. Think on that…

BMD 

23 December 2013. A Photo Essay. Our Great Russian Motherland… At the Top of the World… Vrangel Island

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Vrangel Island is in the Far North, in the Chukchi Sea, near the Bering Strait, administratively part of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug… that is, it’s near Alaska (but Sarah Palin can’t see it from her house… silly wabbit). It’s a large island, being some 7,600 square kilometres (2,930 square miles) in extent. To give you some perspective on its size, Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens) is 1,401 square miles (3,630 square kilometres), roughly half its area. However, Long Island has 7.7 million inhabitants (5400/sq mi, 2,100/sq km), whilst Vrangel is almost uninhabited, having only two small settlements due to the severe polar climate. The Vrangel Island Federal Strict Nature Reserve takes up the entire territory of the island, in addition to nearby Gerald Island, and includes 40 kilometres (25 miles) of the waters immediately offshore the islands. The island is the northernmost UNESCO World Heritage Site.

BMD

Eurasia’s Highest Volcano Spews Ash Up to 10 Kilometres into the Atmosphere in Kamchatka

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On Friday morning, the MChS reported that Eurasia‘s highest stratovolcano, Klyuchevskaya Sopka, on Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East, churned out ash to a height of 10 kilometres (6.2 miles), noting, “The cloud of ash travelled a distance of 200 kilometres (125 miles) to the southwest of the volcano”, adding that ash downfalls were reported in two local villages. The statement warned all tourist agencies in the region against conducting tours in the areas located near the volcano and advised all air carriers operating in the region to select alternative routes. Klyuchevskaya Sopka, which lies 220 miles north of regional capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, is one of the largest active volcanoes in the world, with a height of 4,750 metres (15,584 feet). It erupts every two to three years. The volcano’s most powerful eruption was between January and May of 2005. Following that eruption, the volcano “sank” by 50 metres (165 feet), from 4,800 metres (15,749 feet) to the current 4,750 metres. There are more than 150 volcanoes on Kamchatka and up to 30 of them are active.

18 October 2013

RIA-Novosti

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131018/184216675/Eurasias-Highest-Volcano-Spews-Ash-Up-to-62-Miles.html