Sense and Antisense: Japan

This week's animal double die off in Arkansas seems to have caught the public imagination/pushed the national "freakout" button. Are these events related? What's the root cause for either event? And then, what about these new events?

Mysterious killing of fish in coastal Translated from the original Portuguese article from Brazil.. Excerpts:

A survey conducted by the Federation of Fishermen's Colony of Paraná, Paranaguá on the coast of the state, indicates that at least 100 tons of fish (sardine, croaker and catfish) have turned up dead since last Thursday off the coast of Parana.

Apart from Paranagua, Ferreira said the dead fish are starting to appear in other coastal towns. "The dead fish are going to Antonina, and Guaraqueçaba Pontal do Paraná. We need an urgent solution to this, "he warns.

Captain Edson Oliveira Avila, regional coordinator of Civil Defense in the Paraná region, believes there are three hypotheses for the death of fish. "We will wait to see what happened, but speculations suggest that fish may have died due to an environmental imbalance, dropping a fishing boat or leakage of chemicals," he says.

Or maybe there's a fourth hypothesis..

Japan on alert after finding dead birds

Recent discovery of several dead migratory birds in Japan has raised concerns about H5NI avian influenza, avian experts said.

Bird sanctuaries, poultry farms and zoos were put on high alert last month after the migratory birds in some region were found dead, The New York Times reported Monday. Times article here..

Hundreds of dead fish found at Goytre Wharf

A possible reason is a 30cm drop in the water level at the marina caused by work upstream, but the cold weather, ice and a lack of oxygen are more likely to have killed the fish.

Smaller fish were found alive in the marina and initial tests showed there was no pollution.
(This event is probably a "natural" die off that is more common, but is included because it occurred during the same time frame..)

Uh-Oh.. Mayrbe it is bird flu..

10,000s of Birds found dead in Manitoba

Local reports have circulated that an extremely virulent strain of bird flu has infected both wild and farm birds. At the same time an extremely aggressive winter flu has hit Canada sometime in December and mortality rates are expected to rise alarmingly in vulnerable populations.
(Note: All of this is more than unsubstantiated at the moment, so don't go freakin' out just yet..)

Hundreds of DEAD Black Birds Found In Louisiana

500 dead birds have been found near New Roads Louisiana just days after thousands of birds turned up dead in Arkansas and at least ten identical birds were reported dead in Kentucky!

Is God mad?

Or possibly this person is correct--Are these fish and bird die offs a false flag?

Something, my friends, is afoot. More follow ups shortly..

Saturday, December 11, 2010

I'll Take Geopolitical And Thermonuclear Trash Talk For $800 Please, Alex..

N.Korea 'will rely on nuclear might for defence'

Pyongyang will rely on nuclear might to defend itself against the United States and South Korea, North Korea's Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun told Russia's Interfax news agency Friday.

Anyone taking this threat seriously? Russia, I'm looking in your direction..

Moments after his comments, the Russian foreign ministry issued a statement stating that "all sides must avoid taking any actions that can escalate the situation."

Japan seems a little agitated by how this whole crisis has unfolded..

Japan's usual quiet approach to tensions with its neighbors is giving way to more military exercises, critical statements and discussions of what was once unthinkable: development of a nuclear arsenal.

In recent weeks, Japan has issued blunt positions against North Korea and China over the North's attacking of a South Korean island and China's refusal to rein in its Korean ally.

This month, Japan refused to renounce its claim to islands to its south whose waters are rich in minerals and that China says is its property. And Friday marked the eighth day of military drills with the U.S. aimed at countering a ballistic missile attack on Japan. (If I were Japanese, I'd be more worried about China directly, rather than indirectly via North Korea. But that's just splitting nuclear hairs..)

And, despite favorable talks between China and the U.S., no one seems ready to blink just yet..

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Japan’s Akatsuki to Reach Venus Today

From UniverseToday. Excerpts:

Japan’s Akatsuki spacecraft will arrive at Venus later today, and will enter orbit around the planet. The box-shaped orbiter will make observations from an elliptical orbit, from a distance of between 300 and 80,000 kilometers (186 to 49,600 miles), looking for — among other things — signs of lightning and active volcanoes.

The Akatsuki probe (Japanese for “Dawn”)((Which is really interesting to this guy)) has been traveling for six months, and launched along with the IKAROS solar sail mission. The timing for the orbit insertion burn is Dec. 6 at about 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT), which is early Tuesday morning Japan Standard Time.

Lately, enthusiasts of The Unusual have been on quite a roll. Webbots, Wikileaks, Solar filaments, UFOs, Major Space Discoveries.. So far, it's been an amazing year, our species adding new elements to our understanding of "reality," and how our universe works. While Mars is certainly worthy of our continued research and exploration, so is Venus. And, judging by these last eleven months, Japan might provide some amazing insights into our closest neighbor. Thanks, Japan, and here's hoping for something Wonderful..

Friday, December 3, 2010

Korean Update-Or-At Least Someone's Making Money..

Dollar Rises Against Euro on Prospect U.S. Payrolls Expanded

North Korea may attack the province that surrounds Seoul, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper said, citing an unidentified person who quoted an official in the communist nation. South Korea will hold artillery drills on Yeonpyeong, the island shelled by the North last week, on Dec. 6, television broadcaster MBN reported today, citing government officials it didn’t identify.

Japan and the U.S. will conduct a joint military exercise from tomorrow until Dec. 10.

“Geopolitical risk appears to be returning a bit on worries that North Korea may attack the South,” said Satoshi Okagawa, head of the foreign-exchange and money trading group in Singapore at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., a unit of Japan’s third-largest banking group. “There’s some safe-haven buying of the yen and the dollar.”

And:

The won strengthened for a third day as funds based abroad bought $373 million more Korean shares than they sold yesterday, the biggest net purchases in almost three weeks, exchange data show. The Kospi index of shares posted its highest close since Nov. 10 on optimism that tensions between North and South Korea are easing.

“We haven’t seen North Korean retaliation, which they pledged to do after the attack, and the lack of negative events let risk aversion subside,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong. “Positive sentiment globally boosted appetite for risk assets like the Korean won.”

US, Japan begin war games; China denounces drills

In an ongoing show of force following a deadly North Korean attack on a front-line island, the U.S. and Japan began one of their biggest-ever military exercises Friday, mobilizing more than 44,000 troops, hundreds of aircraft and a U.S. supercarrier.

The drills come just after the U.S. and South Korea concluded maneuvers in the Yellow Sea. The exercises brought immediate criticism from China, which is wary of having foreign navies off its shores and has been increasingly assertive over large swaths of waters in the south and east China seas, where some of the drills would take place.
..
The Nov. 23 North Korean attack killed two South Korean marines and two civilians on Yeonpyeong Island, a tiny enclave of civilians and military bases located near a disputed maritime border.

The attack has heightened tensions in the region and renewed fears of a bigger clash breaking out that could draw in neighboring countries, including Japan, where about 50,000 U.S. troops are based under a security pact.

South Korea’s New Defense Chief Threatens Air Strikes on North

South Korea’s new defense minister vowed retaliation that would include airstrikes if North Korea makes another attack following last month’s deadly artillery bombardment.

“I will mobilize all combat capabilities available to severely punish the enemy,” Kim Kwan Jin, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said today at a confirmation hearing. “I will surely use planes. This is a matter of self-defense.”

This may be a sign that the crisis is cooling a bit..

“The latest tough talk seemed to be mostly aimed at deterring North Korea from further provocations,” said Kim Yong Hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul. “There is only so much South Korea can do in terms of tough actions when there’s little assurance of how far North Korea will go.”

Or maybe cooling not so much..

A news report says North Korea now has more multiple-launch rockets capable of hitting Seoul.

Yonhap news agency says North Korea has increased its arsenal of rockets by 100 pieces to about 5,200. Yonhap cited an unidentified South Korean military source.

The agency says the rockets have a range of 37 miles (60 kilometers), putting Seoul within striking distance.