By Thomas Shea
Electronic voice phenomenon is an increasingly popular form of paranormal evidence that is regularly collected by both amateur and professional ghost hunters. These often creepy audio recordings are usually detected later in an investigation while reviewing evidence and are not audible at the time that they were recorded. Many investigators regard E.V.P as indisputable evidence that ghosts exist.
It is said that even Thomas Edison was designing an EVP device before his death, although these claims have been heavily disputed, saying that Edison did not believe in an afterlife.
Electronic voice phenomenon is usually recorded using a common digital recorder that can be found at many department stores for one hundred dollars or less. The sound footage can then be analyzed and enhanced using audio software such as audacity, which can be found for free on the internet. This makes capturing EVP's possible for anyone with the desire and patience that is sometimes required to obtain real paranormal evidence. Sometimes hours of footage is analyzed before an EVP is discovered. Other times, these ghost voices are right on cue and easy to detect.
Some of the first true recordings were captured by a man named Fredrich Jurgenson while recording bird songs in Sweden. He had heard no voices until the playback and he claimed that some of the voices even instructed him on how to record more EVP's.
Many skeptics have pointed to radio interference as an explanation for these ghost EVP, but no real explanation has been provided that explains the recordings completely. Many of these recordings seem to have an intelligence and often respond (sometimes on command) to the person recording the EVP's. Appropriate answers are given to questions and sometimes angry or even threatening messages have been recorded by paranormal investigators. Various methods and devices have been used to capture these recordings, including the Ghost Box (Frank's Box) which has been increasing in popularity.
The Ghost Box was created in 2002 by Frank Sumption for live communication with ghosts and spirits. Sumption believes that he was given his design instructions from the spirits themselves.
So What is the explanation for this strange phenomenon? Nobody knows for sure, but many paranormal investigators have all the answers that they need. Many people who have heard the voices of loved ones that have passed away on an EVP recording need no further explanation either.
Will we ever truly create a device or invent technology that will allow us to talk to the dead? Only time will tell. In the meantime, keep the digital recorders rolling and maybe one day someone can prove without a doubt that the recordings are truly the voices of the dead. [http://www.mostlyghosts.com/]Ghosts [http://www.mostlyghosts.com/index.php/ghost-evp-recordings]Ghost EVP Recordings
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?EVP-Recordings---Talking-To-the-Dead?&id=6718563] EVP Recordings - Talking To the Dead?
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
How to Lucid Dream - Your Own Journey
By Charles Leeson
How to Lucid Dream? For most this question would seem to appeal to a beginners only. I found there are different types of beginners that start off within different stages in there Lucid Dreaming journey. Let me explain. I know people who recently discovered what lucid dreaming is only to realized they have been doing it for all their dreaming life. These people typically can give you a detailed five minute rendition or blow by blow version of last nights dream. This they can do every day. Well lets just say this was not the case with me and I had to start right at the beginning. You'll also find that if you talk to them about techniques for practicing dream awareness, while awake in order to achieve dream awareness while in a dream, they are successful without much effort at all.
If this last sentence did not make sense let me try and explain in another way. The first goal with lucid dreaming is to realize or to become conscious that you are dreaming and that you are not awake. So you are consciously aware of the fact that you are dreaming while you are asleep. Now to achieve this you have to practice checking or testing whether you are in a dream while you are awake. This can be done in different ways but one example is to have a set routine. For example every half an hour ask yourself "Am I dreaming", pinch yourself (and feel it) and look at the time on your watch twice a couple seconds apart.
The main idea involves conditioning yourself to test if you are dreaming, so that your subconscious mind keeps on requesting you to do this test. Eventually while you are in a dream the answers change FROM "no I am not in a dream"," ouch that hurt" and 10:10am & 10:10am TO "yes, I am in a dream", wow that did not hurt and 10:10am & 05:28pm.
Typically in lucid dreaming, otherwise known a conscious dreaming, if you look at your watch twice a few seconds apart, the time with each view is totally different and you do not feel being pinched and you just somehow know you are now dreaming.
Typically people need to practice this for days and weeks before they get it right. The naturally talented lucid dreamer mentioned above was able to tell me, the day after a conversation we had about double checking the time, that the previous evening they where "practiced" enough to remember to do this test in a dream. We had one conversation about it and they were able to try it in a dream and succeed within hours. Their starting point in the lucid dreaming journey was not the same as mine.
The point being that learning how to lucid dream is a journey and each individual will have a different starting point. Not to mention also a totally different paths. This is important to understand in order to know where you are on this journey to help you focus on the next techniques to practice for you. This journey's life cycle could involve the following phases.
� not being aware of any dreams
� conscious awareness practice while awake
� successful dream recall
� successful dream control
� create and experience amazing adventure and fantasies
� use lucid dreaming for self discovery and personal growth
� out of body experiences
� personal healing
� spiritual awareness and growth.
� and much more.
Not only is it important to understand where you are in your journey but also to know where you want to be. There are many end destinations and they keep on changing as you reach some successfully.
Note that the above list is only a rough guide and that each phase can involve lots of ground work and practice while awake. The trick is to first learn about conscious dreaming, understanding more about each phase and then deciding what you want gain from it. Then it is simple to know where you are and what you need to do to get to your destination. From there you can easily find out exactly what lucid dreaming techniques and exercises you need to do. As you start your journey and become more experienced you'll soon notice that there are many other benefits and usage of lucid dreaming that can to be discovered and help you to archive your goals, basically you can tailor make a journey for you.
To really make the most of conscious dreaming one needs to find ways to work on your creative imagination. After all everything you experience and create in your dream comes from yourself and you need to cultivate this gift with a creative imagination. But first things first, aim to understand the big picture as discussed above, then realize where you are in it and then figure out the detailed effort involved to get to the next step. So when learning rel=nofollow [http://lucid-dreaming-how-to-induce.com/how-to-lucid-dream]how to lucid dream make sure you know what your first goal is, you need to be very goal focused to be successful.
And lastly remember to enjoy the lucid dreaming experience from the beginning. In this case the clich� of the journey is more important or fun than reaching the destination is so true as with most things in live.
If you want to learn more about how to lucid dream then we have lots of information for you at our website on [http://lucid-dreaming-how-to-induce.com/lucid-dreaming]lucid dreaming.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Lucid-Dream---Your-Own-Journey&id=6615419] How to Lucid Dream - Your Own Journey
How to Lucid Dream? For most this question would seem to appeal to a beginners only. I found there are different types of beginners that start off within different stages in there Lucid Dreaming journey. Let me explain. I know people who recently discovered what lucid dreaming is only to realized they have been doing it for all their dreaming life. These people typically can give you a detailed five minute rendition or blow by blow version of last nights dream. This they can do every day. Well lets just say this was not the case with me and I had to start right at the beginning. You'll also find that if you talk to them about techniques for practicing dream awareness, while awake in order to achieve dream awareness while in a dream, they are successful without much effort at all.
If this last sentence did not make sense let me try and explain in another way. The first goal with lucid dreaming is to realize or to become conscious that you are dreaming and that you are not awake. So you are consciously aware of the fact that you are dreaming while you are asleep. Now to achieve this you have to practice checking or testing whether you are in a dream while you are awake. This can be done in different ways but one example is to have a set routine. For example every half an hour ask yourself "Am I dreaming", pinch yourself (and feel it) and look at the time on your watch twice a couple seconds apart.
The main idea involves conditioning yourself to test if you are dreaming, so that your subconscious mind keeps on requesting you to do this test. Eventually while you are in a dream the answers change FROM "no I am not in a dream"," ouch that hurt" and 10:10am & 10:10am TO "yes, I am in a dream", wow that did not hurt and 10:10am & 05:28pm.
Typically in lucid dreaming, otherwise known a conscious dreaming, if you look at your watch twice a few seconds apart, the time with each view is totally different and you do not feel being pinched and you just somehow know you are now dreaming.
Typically people need to practice this for days and weeks before they get it right. The naturally talented lucid dreamer mentioned above was able to tell me, the day after a conversation we had about double checking the time, that the previous evening they where "practiced" enough to remember to do this test in a dream. We had one conversation about it and they were able to try it in a dream and succeed within hours. Their starting point in the lucid dreaming journey was not the same as mine.
The point being that learning how to lucid dream is a journey and each individual will have a different starting point. Not to mention also a totally different paths. This is important to understand in order to know where you are on this journey to help you focus on the next techniques to practice for you. This journey's life cycle could involve the following phases.
� not being aware of any dreams
� conscious awareness practice while awake
� successful dream recall
� successful dream control
� create and experience amazing adventure and fantasies
� use lucid dreaming for self discovery and personal growth
� out of body experiences
� personal healing
� spiritual awareness and growth.
� and much more.
Not only is it important to understand where you are in your journey but also to know where you want to be. There are many end destinations and they keep on changing as you reach some successfully.
Note that the above list is only a rough guide and that each phase can involve lots of ground work and practice while awake. The trick is to first learn about conscious dreaming, understanding more about each phase and then deciding what you want gain from it. Then it is simple to know where you are and what you need to do to get to your destination. From there you can easily find out exactly what lucid dreaming techniques and exercises you need to do. As you start your journey and become more experienced you'll soon notice that there are many other benefits and usage of lucid dreaming that can to be discovered and help you to archive your goals, basically you can tailor make a journey for you.
To really make the most of conscious dreaming one needs to find ways to work on your creative imagination. After all everything you experience and create in your dream comes from yourself and you need to cultivate this gift with a creative imagination. But first things first, aim to understand the big picture as discussed above, then realize where you are in it and then figure out the detailed effort involved to get to the next step. So when learning rel=nofollow [http://lucid-dreaming-how-to-induce.com/how-to-lucid-dream]how to lucid dream make sure you know what your first goal is, you need to be very goal focused to be successful.
And lastly remember to enjoy the lucid dreaming experience from the beginning. In this case the clich� of the journey is more important or fun than reaching the destination is so true as with most things in live.
If you want to learn more about how to lucid dream then we have lots of information for you at our website on [http://lucid-dreaming-how-to-induce.com/lucid-dreaming]lucid dreaming.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Lucid-Dream---Your-Own-Journey&id=6615419] How to Lucid Dream - Your Own Journey
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Living in a Multidimensional Universe - Or What Planet Are You on?
By Avril Meyler
Photo: Morgue Files
It's often said in jest "What planet are you on?" when realities clash. Living in a multidimensional universe is much like meeting people who really are from another planet.
There is a smorgasbord of realities available to us and whether we know it or not we really do choose which planet or universe we inhabit. This universe or planet is the mini version of the macro and it surrounds us like a bubble or an orb. Imagine lots of individual orbs all floating around each with their own individual world hard wired into them. This bubble is twofold. It is the protection of our bio-energy field but it also contains all memories of the soul's evolution past, present and future. From a cosmic perspective no such time lines exist as all is happening at once in multi parallel experiences.
As more humans awaken to encompass multidimensional phenomena then so it will begin to appear that time as such no longer exists. We will experiences time shifts that seem accelerated at one moment and slowed down at another. Technology really is changing the way our brains work, which on one level is positive but has its downside as I discovered during my recent travels in South East Asia.
Often I needed to use internet cafes and in all countries I travelled through from Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and lastly China, without exception I discovered young men playing with violent video games. In one such cafe I walked around and observed each monitor and out of thirty only three were not switched into violence.
So it requires some adjusting to accept that whilst we hear much positive news about the expanding multidimensional phenomena available to us, we often forget that there is an equally unpalatable phenomena that is also vying for attention. Whilst at an ultimate level of reality we may all one with all that is, in the current reality there is a force to be reckoned with that is opposing human evolution into a new paradigm.
More than ever before we need those who know to stop hiding behind their fear of exposure and invite them to come out and add their knowledge and foresight to the collective in whatever way that serves the whole.
The above discovery caused a conversation between me and a German school teacher. When mentioning my concerns he appeared to be unconcerned and said
"They know the difference between make believe violence and real violence."
This may indeed be true but it's missing the point. Being frequently subject to violent videos must surely act to de-sensitise one to acts of violence.
Practicing discernment on what we ingest on all levels will prepare us better for living in a multidimensional universe. If we spend our leisure time on sensationalistic pursuits by way of entertainment then we cannot wonder when a lull appears in our schedule that we feel discomfort and edginess.
It has been said in the UK that depression and obesity will take over as the predominant illnesses during this next decade. What does this say about the way we live our lives?
It demonstrates that the majority of people inhabiting a human body have not awoken to their multidimensional or cosmic selves. Therefore they are operating from an informational deficit. In other words their perceptions have been programmed by all they have ingested to date.
If this adds up to "Life's a bitch and then you die" paradigm then it is not surprising that depression and obesity prevails. The former comes from despair and the latter from eating our emotions instead of using them.
In this changing paradigm we cannot afford to sit on our laurels and pretend that everything is OK when the reality facing us demonstrates clearly that we are far from OK. We need to take personal responsibility now more than ever before for our personal and planetary evolution.
Taking personal responsibility means we no longer out project our dark side. It means we recognise when we are becoming a victim, rescuer or perpetrator by our behaviour. We need to be less arrogant with what we think we know and more open to the mystery that surrounds us. We need to learn to dance on a shifting carpet when the rug is pulled from under us challenging all our fears and insecurities. If ever there was a time to grow out of imaginary fears and insecurities it is now. If we do not do this voluntary the cosmic blueprints will kick in and kick us up the butt to ensure we do fulfill our soul's contracts.
Would we rather be pushed and shoved or walk willing into the loving arms of a multidimensional universe?
"There is an objective reality out there, but we view it through the spectacle of our beliefs, attitudes, and values." David G Myers, Social Psychology
This and other articles plus free E-Book available on http://www.multidimensionalreality.com
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Living-in-a-Multidimensional-Universe---Or-What-Planet-Are-You-on?&id=6368906] Living in a Multidimensional Universe - Or What Planet
Saturday, July 02, 2011
UFO Sightings in New York
By Gar Benjamin
Photo: morgue files
UFO sightings in New York have captured the attention of the news networks and crowds of people.
I reviewed 27 of these reports and found two dates that I would like to share with you.
The first incident occurred in Manhattan on October 13, 2010. This was a daytime UFO sighting witnessed by hundreds, if not thousands, of people.
In a somewhat surprising departure from the normal routine this sighting was actually covered by local news networks.
In the early evening, a reporter at the scene from Fox News said she noticed a bright light in the sky. At first she thought the light was a star. However, after her cameraman zoomed in on the object, a tail and blue flashing lights were visible. There was no way for her to determine if this was one of the objects people had reported earlier in the day.
Eye witnesses during the daytime event reported seeing up to 50 objects in the sky. As time passed, the objects disappeared until finally they were all gone in the late afternoon.
It is believed the daytime objects were balloons released as part of a celebration in Times Square. However, the real interest here is the bright light in the evening sky reported (and captured on video) by the news station. Surely, if this was a simple balloon one would think it would not have blue flashing lights on it. And why would only one of 50 balloons remain visible for hours after all of the rest had blown away?
In my opinion this report is inconclusive. Something was indeed in the sky over Manhattan that evening. Was it a balloon or was it something else?
The second UFO sighting in New York occurred in Orchard Park (southeast of Buffalo) on the afternoon of November 11, 2010.
An eyewitness reported watching an object that appeared to alter its shape. The sighting lasted for six minutes. The eyewitness took five photographs of the object as it appeared to transform from a solid state to that of light or energy.
The incident was reported to the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) where it was logged in their database. You can confirm this sighting at their website.
At least two people witnessed the object firsthand according to the report. The witness stated that it was actually their boss who first noticed the object in the sky.
As of December 14, 2010 I have not been able to confirm the existence of the photographs being submitted to MUFON or published online. Eyewitness statements are definitely worth noting but I greatly prefer more tangible evidence in the form of video or photographs.
In 2010, New York had 21 UFO sighting reports in the month of October and 11 in November.
You can find more information on [http://ufo-news-club.ning.com/profiles/blogs/ufo-sightings-in-new-york]UFO sightings in New York at the [http://ufo-news-club.ning.com]UFO News Club.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?UFO-Sightings-in-New-York&id=5556607] UFO Sightings in New York
Friday, June 10, 2011
UFOs Are Making A Comeback in 2011!
Kevin Baum
Photo Submitted By B Garcia
In early February, my wife and I were in Vail Colorado for our annual ski trip. As luck would have it, we timed our trip to coincide perfectly with the epic cold blast which knocked half of the United States to its knees, causing record snowfalls and electric brownouts and blackouts in a multi-state area. Double-digit negative temperatures actually closed schools and businesses in Colorado, not due to snow, but to the severe wind chill attendant to negative 30 degrees (actual temperature). Even if they wanted to, school buses in the Denver area couldn't have shuttled youngsters to class because the extreme cold changed the viscosity of the fuel in the tanks, causing the vehicles to perform erratically. People were informed to stay at home and stay warm, (let's hope they had their survival kits in place!).
Most skiers simply stared at their unused equipment. I counted six skiers on the entire mountain that day. I wasn't one of them.
In an effort to salvage the day, we decided to take a drive up the pass and visit family for lunch. After an enjoyable afternoon, as we were making our lazy way back to the mountain, I happened to notice a vividly brilliant star looming just above a ridge line to the south of I-70. It was around five in the afternoon and the sun was just dropping below the mountains. I pointed to the star and mentioned to my wife that the stars were out early this evening. She looked up, stared for a while, and then replied, "I think that's a plane reflecting the sunlight."
We both looked for a while and then suddenly a second bright object appeared above and somewhat behind the first; a few seconds later a third appeared to the lower right of the first, creating what looked like an Obtuse triangle.
"Well," I said, "it appears as if we now have three airplanes, and they came out of nowhere. What say you now?" I challenged my wife. "You drive, I'll watch," was her terse reply. In violation of my orders, I watched along with her, and was stunned to observe the triangle of orbs suddenly rotate in a clockwise motion, reorienting the initial orb (my star) to the top, and then slowly descend below the ridge line, in what appeared to be perfect formation. A truly bizarre sight.
"Um...did you see that?" Was my wife's hushed inquiry. "See what?" I demurred...
"Stop it! Did you see that??!"
Of course I did, and I had no logical explanation for it. We sat there in awed silence both wanting to say what we were too embarrassed to admit -- did we just see a UFO?
UFOs have had a bad rap over the past 50 years or so. Initially, when UFOs first hit the mainstream shortly after the Second World War, culminating in the infamous Roswell incident, they were not considered taboo at all -- more mystery than madness. But over the years, either by design or default, claims of UFO sightings have been met with increasing levels of disdain and distrust. Perhaps this is because so many claims of UFO sightings are either easily explained or quickly recognized as fraud. It could also be because a lot of the claimants are, well, less than credible.
But what is sad, and begs thoughtful consideration, is that there remains a compelling minority of UFO observations that defy all explanation...and these claims are on the rise. Indeed, 2011 rang in with a host of bizarre and unexplainable UFO sightings which occurred all over the world, culminating in the most recent video (from multiple angles) of a supposed UFO hovering over Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Late 2010 closed with hundreds of observations of UFOs over Manhattan, and South America & China appear to be hot spots for unexplained aerial phenomena. What's particularly interesting, and why I decided to write a short article about UFOs (my recent Colorado experience notwithstanding), is that during the February 6 Super bowl between the Packers and Steelers, there were no less than 5 (yes, FIVE) movie trailers for upcoming Human vs. Alien blockbusters. All in 2011. You have to scratch your head over that one...
ET appears to be making a strong comeback, both in reality and in entertainment, and the question begs - why? (I love ET movies as much as the next guy, but five in one year...advertised during the Super bowl? What happened to the three little frogs!?)
Leslie Kean, investigative journalist-cum UFO apologist, recently published a compelling and comprehensive examination into the true mystery of the UFO phenomenon, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, And Government Officials Go On The Record. Her book will rock even the most cynical, and demands an honest appreciation for what has become vilified as the mindless musings of the mad proletariat. By bringing forward credible witnesses to the UFO question, she forces the conversation on what is really happening up there, who knows about it, and why isn't the public informed on it. Kean successfully demystifies a subject that has been systematically ridiculed and discredited over the years, and brings to light the true mystery (and exciting possibilities) behind Unidentified Flying Objects.
Supported by the likes of Kean, Jim Marrs, a phalanx of scientists from the Exopolitics Institute, objective websites such as latest-UFO-sightings.net, and the fascinating immediacy and interconnectedness of the Internet, it appears as if the UFO phenomenon is rapidly approaching a tipping point. Indeed, the world renown Global Competitiveness Forum, a convention of the world's top business, academic and political leaders, recently met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and discussed, among other topics, the 'business implications of extraterrestrial life and technologies.'
For real.
And before you write all this off as fanciful musings, you should research what some of the world's top minds have had to say about the UFO dilemma, including former President Reagan, who during a United Nations address was quoted as saying,
"I think about how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And I ask you, does not this threat already exist?"
Now there is something to think about, and apparently Hollywood wants you to do just that...
Don't ever forget that a prepared mind is an open mind.
Kevin Baum is co-founder of SurvivalOutpost.com, an Austin-based on-line business specializing in Emergency Preparedness Supplies, [http://www.survivaloutpost.com/servlet/StoreFront]Survival Kits and [http://www.survivaloutpost.com/servlet/StoreFront]Freeze Dried Food for individuals, families and businesses. The SurvivalOutpost philosophy is to balance reason with readiness and to encourage knowledge, independence and self-sufficiency as tools to survive in an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?UFOs-Are-Making-A-Comeback-in-2011!&id=5890126] UFOs Are Making A
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Incorporating Self-Sufficient Living Into Emergency Preparedness
By Irene Test
Self-sufficient living and emergency preparedness tie into each other. In times of emergencies, disasters or otherwise, you need to be self-sufficient. Help may not arrive soon, and until that time comes, you need to provide food and water for yourself. As a result, self-sufficient living is part of any emergency preparedness plan.
Water, an emergency kit, and food storage are the three basic parts your emergency preparedness plan needs to incorporate. Out of these three, water is the most important. When water does not come up from a pump or out of a faucet, backup supply must be available and can be kept in a water storage tank. Made out of food-grade high-density polyethylene, a water storage tank holds 14 to 56 gallons and should be portable.
No matter how the water is collected, microorganisms, chemicals, or pollutants are likely present. Before any water is used, it must be purified and filtered. Purification removes most, if not all, microorganisms, and filtration catches the remaining chemicals and pollutants.
Boiling, chemical treating, or ultraviolet light are three approaches to purifying your water, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Boiling requires you to have heating equipment on hand, and the water must cool before it can be used. Adding iodine, chlorine, or bleach is another option, but too much of a chemical can make your water poisonous. Ultraviolet light requires a separate filtration device, one which sterilizes all microorganisms with a mercury vapor lamp.
Purification may take out the viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms, but other particulates are still present in your water. Filtration through ceramic, glass fiber, or hard-block carbon removes most of the remaining floating substances.
Water is necessary for preparing food and survival, but it is not the only aspect of rel=nofollow [http://www.earthwaveliving.com/]self-sufficient living that you need to consider. Disasters arrive quickly, and in the event you need to leave the area, bringing an emergency kit is a must. An emergency kit needs to last 72 hours and must be portable. All basic needs must be added: water, food, sanitation, and first aid.
Many disasters or emergencies leave you stranded at home without access to food, water, or electricity. As you have seen from many large-scale natural disasters, help does not always come to the scene quickly and address everyone's needs. During this time, you will need to be self-sufficient without regular access to water or electricity, and in addition to your water storage tank, food storage must be part of a disaster preparedness plan.
Like water storage, food storage cannot be done at once and must be part of your lifestyle. Long before a disaster hits, begin building up your food storage by starting with staple items: grains, beans, dehydrated milk, sugar, salt, oil, and seeds. Eventually, each item should last a year.
A diet of grains and beans is repetitive, and other dehydrated or freeze-dried foods may give it variety. Emergency food kits by Mountain House, Alpine Aire, and Provident Pantry contain #10 cans or pouches of individual foods or meals add variety to your diet and complete your daily caloric needs. Most items in these emergency food kits simply need water and may be combined with your staples.
Food and water storage must be done in a cool, dry place in your home. A temperature-controlled basement or crawl space, free of chemicals, is ideal. Water storage tanks, additionally, must be kept out of the sunlight.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Incorporating-Self-Sufficient-Living-Into-Emergency-Preparedness&id=6211213] Incorporating Self-Sufficient Living Into Emergency Preparedness
Self-sufficient living and emergency preparedness tie into each other. In times of emergencies, disasters or otherwise, you need to be self-sufficient. Help may not arrive soon, and until that time comes, you need to provide food and water for yourself. As a result, self-sufficient living is part of any emergency preparedness plan.
Water, an emergency kit, and food storage are the three basic parts your emergency preparedness plan needs to incorporate. Out of these three, water is the most important. When water does not come up from a pump or out of a faucet, backup supply must be available and can be kept in a water storage tank. Made out of food-grade high-density polyethylene, a water storage tank holds 14 to 56 gallons and should be portable.
No matter how the water is collected, microorganisms, chemicals, or pollutants are likely present. Before any water is used, it must be purified and filtered. Purification removes most, if not all, microorganisms, and filtration catches the remaining chemicals and pollutants.
Boiling, chemical treating, or ultraviolet light are three approaches to purifying your water, and each has advantages and disadvantages. Boiling requires you to have heating equipment on hand, and the water must cool before it can be used. Adding iodine, chlorine, or bleach is another option, but too much of a chemical can make your water poisonous. Ultraviolet light requires a separate filtration device, one which sterilizes all microorganisms with a mercury vapor lamp.
Purification may take out the viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms, but other particulates are still present in your water. Filtration through ceramic, glass fiber, or hard-block carbon removes most of the remaining floating substances.
Water is necessary for preparing food and survival, but it is not the only aspect of rel=nofollow [http://www.earthwaveliving.com/]self-sufficient living that you need to consider. Disasters arrive quickly, and in the event you need to leave the area, bringing an emergency kit is a must. An emergency kit needs to last 72 hours and must be portable. All basic needs must be added: water, food, sanitation, and first aid.
Many disasters or emergencies leave you stranded at home without access to food, water, or electricity. As you have seen from many large-scale natural disasters, help does not always come to the scene quickly and address everyone's needs. During this time, you will need to be self-sufficient without regular access to water or electricity, and in addition to your water storage tank, food storage must be part of a disaster preparedness plan.
Like water storage, food storage cannot be done at once and must be part of your lifestyle. Long before a disaster hits, begin building up your food storage by starting with staple items: grains, beans, dehydrated milk, sugar, salt, oil, and seeds. Eventually, each item should last a year.
A diet of grains and beans is repetitive, and other dehydrated or freeze-dried foods may give it variety. Emergency food kits by Mountain House, Alpine Aire, and Provident Pantry contain #10 cans or pouches of individual foods or meals add variety to your diet and complete your daily caloric needs. Most items in these emergency food kits simply need water and may be combined with your staples.
Food and water storage must be done in a cool, dry place in your home. A temperature-controlled basement or crawl space, free of chemicals, is ideal. Water storage tanks, additionally, must be kept out of the sunlight.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Incorporating-Self-Sufficient-Living-Into-Emergency-Preparedness&id=6211213] Incorporating Self-Sufficient Living Into Emergency Preparedness
Monday, May 02, 2011
Why Won't the Ghosts Go Away
By Blake Walkup
Why won't ghost go away? That's an excellent question. But the only way to answer that question is to ask the ghost or to become a ghost and find out first hand. If you ask 100 different paranormal investigators or ghost hunters, you will get at least 100 different answers as to why ghost won't go away.
First we need to understand the theories behind ghost and why they remain and why some of them are never seen or heard from again.
The theories cover a wide range of topics and any paranormal investigator can make their theory fit the reasonable explanation they have come up with.
For those of us that believe in ghosts and spirits, we understand that most theories revolve around the fact that the ghost may not realize they have passed and may have un-finished business on earth.
I know it sounds crazy, a ghost having unfinished business but in a lot of theories about ghosts this is one of the main reasons ghosts will hang around.
For example, at some locations that have had a lot of violent crimes (murder) ghost are more likely to remain in that location.
Most of the theories revolved around the person were killed before it was time to pass on to the afterlife. In some cases the ghost may or may not even realize they are now a ghost. Then of course if the ghost doesn't realize they are deceased then it is likely they will remain on earth.
Some people have posted theories of ghost tend to hang out in an area where there are a lot of different emotions and energies. For example, when I first started ghost hunting I never realized how many public schools have reported paranormal activity. As I kept researching the activities at the schools on theory I kept running across was that there are so many students in a school every school day and with those students comes an over whelming amount of energy. With the energy will also come every possible emotion you could think of all combined into one location. Since the theories states ghosts need energy, what better place to get all the energy a ghost needed.
Another location that seemed to have a lot of activity has been hotel/motels. Once again this theory all points back to the number of people there in a days' time and all of energy and different emotional that all the people bring with them when they check in.
Now also with the hotel/motel hauntings, I have also read a lot of the hotels have been built on haunted grounds. The ghost may have nothing to do with the hotel at all but because this was the location of their death before the hotel was built, the ghost has decided to hang out and watch you check in. Hopefully you can check out.
Of course then we have a lot of other locations that report paranormal activity and this include battle fields. Not a lot of explanation should be needed for a battle field but just in case a lot of people all died before their time and now hang out at the place of their death.
One of the most common places for ghost to hang out has been reported to be...
Are you ready for this answer?
In their own home
Home hauntings are one of the most common places people report "paranormal activity". Now of course a lot of cases of paranormal activity can be explained away by an over active imagination. For example hear scratching in the night, one case this turned out to be rats in the walls but still to this day the owners believe their house is haunted.
Why would ghost hang out at home? Well first I think we need to think about ghost and who they were in life. Where is the one place most people are most comfortable at? You got it, at home. So with this theory it would be a common ghost hang out.
Some theories also revolve around the ghost having unfinished business like I said before. For example if a person was murdered they may want to stay until the business is completed. Let's they were in the process of having a baby, the ghost my hang out until the baby is born. Once that unfinished business is complete, they may feel free to leave.
Some theories revolve around ghost will remain as they were when they were human. Let's say the husband was the protector of the family, he might hang out to make sure nothing happens to his family.
We have all heard reports of "I started to remodel and all of this activity started". It is believed that ghost when they decide to stay home; they want to make sure nothing happens to their home. Just like when they were human.
One location that I investigated we had reported of remodeling taking place and one of the people working heard her name called and when she answered no one was there. She looked around everywhere and no one. Finally she started talking back to the ghost and the next thing she heard as he was getting ready to leave was looking good. The ghosts were happy with the cleanup and remodeling.
So to answer your question as to why ghost won't go away, the answer is one we will likely never know for sure until we ourselves become a ghost.
There are many theories and most all revert back to the unfinished business or the ghost does not even realize they have died.
One thing for sure, regardless of why they remain on earth may never be known for a fact, but it sure makes for some interesting paranormal investigations.
Ghost Hunter Adventures is always planning paranormal investigations and ghost hunting trips. They have also started their own equipment web site so they can help supply you with all of your paranormal equipment needs while you seek the answers from beyond.
My Ghost Gear http://www.myghostgear.com
Visit our sites today
Thank You
Blake Walkup
Founder
Please consider visiting my personal site at http://www.blakeneedshelp.com and make a donation today, I need a kidney transplant and all donations will be used for my medical expenses.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Wont-the-Ghosts-Go-Away&id=6205620] Why Won't the Ghosts Go Away
Why won't ghost go away? That's an excellent question. But the only way to answer that question is to ask the ghost or to become a ghost and find out first hand. If you ask 100 different paranormal investigators or ghost hunters, you will get at least 100 different answers as to why ghost won't go away.
First we need to understand the theories behind ghost and why they remain and why some of them are never seen or heard from again.
The theories cover a wide range of topics and any paranormal investigator can make their theory fit the reasonable explanation they have come up with.
For those of us that believe in ghosts and spirits, we understand that most theories revolve around the fact that the ghost may not realize they have passed and may have un-finished business on earth.
I know it sounds crazy, a ghost having unfinished business but in a lot of theories about ghosts this is one of the main reasons ghosts will hang around.
For example, at some locations that have had a lot of violent crimes (murder) ghost are more likely to remain in that location.
Most of the theories revolved around the person were killed before it was time to pass on to the afterlife. In some cases the ghost may or may not even realize they are now a ghost. Then of course if the ghost doesn't realize they are deceased then it is likely they will remain on earth.
Some people have posted theories of ghost tend to hang out in an area where there are a lot of different emotions and energies. For example, when I first started ghost hunting I never realized how many public schools have reported paranormal activity. As I kept researching the activities at the schools on theory I kept running across was that there are so many students in a school every school day and with those students comes an over whelming amount of energy. With the energy will also come every possible emotion you could think of all combined into one location. Since the theories states ghosts need energy, what better place to get all the energy a ghost needed.
Another location that seemed to have a lot of activity has been hotel/motels. Once again this theory all points back to the number of people there in a days' time and all of energy and different emotional that all the people bring with them when they check in.
Now also with the hotel/motel hauntings, I have also read a lot of the hotels have been built on haunted grounds. The ghost may have nothing to do with the hotel at all but because this was the location of their death before the hotel was built, the ghost has decided to hang out and watch you check in. Hopefully you can check out.
Of course then we have a lot of other locations that report paranormal activity and this include battle fields. Not a lot of explanation should be needed for a battle field but just in case a lot of people all died before their time and now hang out at the place of their death.
One of the most common places for ghost to hang out has been reported to be...
Are you ready for this answer?
In their own home
Home hauntings are one of the most common places people report "paranormal activity". Now of course a lot of cases of paranormal activity can be explained away by an over active imagination. For example hear scratching in the night, one case this turned out to be rats in the walls but still to this day the owners believe their house is haunted.
Why would ghost hang out at home? Well first I think we need to think about ghost and who they were in life. Where is the one place most people are most comfortable at? You got it, at home. So with this theory it would be a common ghost hang out.
Some theories also revolve around the ghost having unfinished business like I said before. For example if a person was murdered they may want to stay until the business is completed. Let's they were in the process of having a baby, the ghost my hang out until the baby is born. Once that unfinished business is complete, they may feel free to leave.
Some theories revolve around ghost will remain as they were when they were human. Let's say the husband was the protector of the family, he might hang out to make sure nothing happens to his family.
We have all heard reports of "I started to remodel and all of this activity started". It is believed that ghost when they decide to stay home; they want to make sure nothing happens to their home. Just like when they were human.
One location that I investigated we had reported of remodeling taking place and one of the people working heard her name called and when she answered no one was there. She looked around everywhere and no one. Finally she started talking back to the ghost and the next thing she heard as he was getting ready to leave was looking good. The ghosts were happy with the cleanup and remodeling.
So to answer your question as to why ghost won't go away, the answer is one we will likely never know for sure until we ourselves become a ghost.
There are many theories and most all revert back to the unfinished business or the ghost does not even realize they have died.
One thing for sure, regardless of why they remain on earth may never be known for a fact, but it sure makes for some interesting paranormal investigations.
Ghost Hunter Adventures is always planning paranormal investigations and ghost hunting trips. They have also started their own equipment web site so they can help supply you with all of your paranormal equipment needs while you seek the answers from beyond.
My Ghost Gear http://www.myghostgear.com
Visit our sites today
Thank You
Blake Walkup
Founder
Please consider visiting my personal site at http://www.blakeneedshelp.com and make a donation today, I need a kidney transplant and all donations will be used for my medical expenses.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-Wont-the-Ghosts-Go-Away&id=6205620] Why Won't the Ghosts Go Away
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Human Evolution: By Natural Or Artificial Selection?
By John Prytz
We come in breeds. The proof of that pudding stares you in the face everyday as you observe the racial variety of people around you. I don't recall anything in Genesis that explains this, so maybe God had nothing to do with this - assuming the existence of a bona-fide supernatural creator God of course in the first place - though I stand to be corrected on the lack of a Biblical explanation by appropriate authorities.
But if the Bible doesn't explain the origin of the various breeds of humans neither does Darwin's natural selection, in the same way that natural selection didn't create, and doesn't explain our dog breeds. Survival of the fittest didn't produce the French Poodle - we did that! But who (or what) created our diversity of breeds or races?
To quell the immediate curiosity of the reader, my answer comes down solidly in favour of our evolution by 'artificial selection', which detracts not one jot from the Darwinian principles of evolution via natural selection. The difference between the two is that artificial selection is selection deliberately guided by intelligence; natural selection is, well natural, and not by design.
Humanity, mankind, human beings, however you label us, are collectively made up of breeds just like our own domesticated and bioengineered (artificial bred) animals (companion, farm or other) and plants (crops or garden varieties). The key words are 'domesticated' and 'bioengineered'. We've been domesticated and bioengineered too, but we didn't domesticate and bioengineer our own human breeds like we domesticated and bioengineered our domesticated plants and animals. Somebody or something else will take that credit.
Now I'm not really talking here about the so-called scientific phrase now substituted for creationism - 'intelligent design'. Intelligent design has the philosophical baggage of having a supernatural creator, a God, behind the design. Alas, in the case of the human being, if God designed us from scratch; from the ground up, well He really failed Bioengineering 101. The various aches and pains and ailments we suffer because of bad biological design testify to that!
No, I'm referring here to the sort of artificial selection we humans employ when we breed dogs or cats or cattle or drought-resistant crops or whatever for our particular real (or imagined needs). I'm just turning the tables here a bit in what's good for the goose is good for the gander. As we do, so has it been done to us! The question again is, done unto us by whom?
To further quell the immediate curiosity of the reader, the 'who' collectively are the mythological gods, who aren't really mythical, nor are they supernatural, but flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials who happen to have a special interest in, and abilities toward, genetics.
The basic premise, as expounded upon by universal cultural mythologies, is that the gods created humans, creating humans to relieve the gods of, and do the hard work instead, and to also serve the gods - and I don't just mean by kneeling and prayer and building edifices to them. Translated, in more modern terminology, the flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials, which came upon Planet Earth many hundreds-of-thousands, perhaps millions of years ago, set up shopkeeping. Eventually known, if not loved, as the gods, these 'gods' genetically engineered humans from primate stock with again the ultimate goal of making the 'gods' life easier and more rewarding. Because of genetic similarities to our modern selves, that initial primate stock more likely as not were the chimpanzees.
One of those 'more rewarding' bits; one of the 'gods' tricks in their genetic engineering experiment, a design element designed to appeal to the 'gods' was to ensure humans were sexually compatible with them, and by Jove, did they ever make use of that engineered compatibility - at least if you take at face value and believe what transpired according to the mythological tales. Not suitable reading for the kiddies!
Now, the initial question is, if the overall intention of the extraterrestrial 'gods' is to create slaves to do the housework for the 'gods', and to serve the 'gods' (sexually or otherwise), and all you have to work with is terrestrial life (minus humanity), what sort of traits do you need to select for in order to get a life form that can build the pyramids and monumental structures that are constructed in order to serve the purpose of worshiping you? Clearly only humans can build a pyramid, so what skills or attributes do we have now that all other terrestrial life forms didn't have then?
Two particulars stand out. One is that in order to build a pyramid, etc. one needs a free pair (or more) of appendages in order to manipulate stuff. How do you get a free pair of appendages? Well, you have got to go from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal stance, thus freeing up two appendages (i.e. - arms). From a Darwinian point-of-view, that's a problem. There's a cost. Now we're clearly bipedal. But will a bipedal posture be selected for naturally? Not usually, for again, there's a price to be paid.
The second particular is that you need some degree of smarts! Translated, to build a pyramid you need a relatively large and complex brain. Many animals might be strong enough to build a pyramid, but they just don't have a high enough IQ to pull it off. However, again from a Darwinian perspective, a high IQ comes at a high cost. Will high intelligence be selected for naturally?
Though there are some limited advantages to standing upright (apart from freeing up two arms to do things with like grab forbidden fruit slightly higher up in the trees) - you can see farther; wade slightly deeper waters, in general a bipedal stance comes at a considerable cost. Two limbs now have to take up all the body weight instead of four legs (or six - if you're a bug; or eight - if you're a spider). If one of those two limbs fails, you're in deep poo. However, survival is more probable if you have four (or six or eight) legs and one fails.
Further, if you're bipedal, your centre of gravity shifts, making you way more prone to losing your balance and falling over. Also, bipedal animals tend to run slower than a quadrupedal one. Most dogs whose backbones are at my knee height or more, and cats, can easily outrun me. The upshot of all of that is that in the animal kingdom, only birds (and their ancestors, the theropod bipedal saurischian dinosaurs) are (or were) bipedal - for fairly obvious reasons. Two of their four 'legs' have evolved for flying. Humans have no such fallback since we can't flap our arms and fly.
Now various animals can, and do, for brief periods, stand upright, say prairie dogs, chipmunks, bears, etc. Some animals can be taught to briefly stand up like circus elephants. Kangaroos, wallabies and related are usually bipedal, but they hop, not walk or run. Not even our primate relations routinely walk around on two legs although many can and do so for brief periods.
I think the advantages of a bipedal way of posture and locomotion are overstated, otherwise way more animals would have evolved that posture; you'd expect our cats and dogs to not so much as sit-up and beg but stand-up and beg for special treats. Out of millions and millions of vertebrate species that have existed over the past 300 or so million years of geologic history, only a relative tiny handful have adopted the bipedal mode of lifestyle. It's not proved to be exactly an evolutionary success story unlike the more universal backbones and rib cages and skulls all vertebrates have.
Overall, in the biological scheme of things, we're not just a little bit more advanced in a bipedal way, we're WAY MORE advanced. The question is, why? Again, why are humans so obviously bipedal? And if we're not so inclined to be bipedal by natural selection, perhaps then we've been so evolutionary inclined by artificial selection - by the 'gods' to free up our upper limbs, a useful trait if the 'gods' put us to work.
Now humans are smart. We're top of the 'food chain' when it comes to IQ. We have very large brains relative to our body size. We have very complex brains. But all that size and complexity has a cost. An infant's head has to be pretty soft and squishy and malleable and hence very vulnerable in order to fit through the birth canal, and even then it's a struggle and a pretty dicey part of an infant's and mother's life.
Now intelligence, the ability to figure things out, must have a degree of natural survival value. Cats and dogs and pigs and many wild birds and dolphins and the humble octopus and our primate cousins aren't dumb. Again, unlike the universal vertebrate backbone, rib cages, and skulls millions of vertebrate species have (or had) only one has excelled - top-of-the-pops - in IQ. BUT, we're not just a little bit more advanced in the IQ department. We're massively more advanced.
One might expect, based on natural selection, that if our average IQ was 100, perhaps our primate relations might have an average IQ of say, 90. That's not the case. Most of the mammalian kingdom is clustered around a relatively narrow range of IQ way lower than ours. A dog isn't a 100 times smarter than a cat or vice versa. But, humans are a 100 times smarter than our mammalian (and all other vertebrate) relations. Why? What natural evolutionary pressure did we face than thousands of other vertebrates, especially mammals, and especially, especially the primates, didn't? Some human-only evolutionary pressure drove up our IQ levels to such extraordinary heights, but what evolutionary pressure?
You'd be hard pressed to think of any other terrestrial bipedal, high IQ species that could build the pyramids - in fact the answer is no other terrestrial species could. Again, why were humans so blessed? And if we're not so blessed with a high IQ by natural selection, then perhaps it must be by artificial selection; selection by, or genetic bioengineering by, the 'gods'?
Moving on down the line, as each step in the 'gods' enforced artificial evolution of humans was achieved, slightly more upright posture; slightly higher average IQ, the previous lot - the less advanced hominoid species - were left to their own fate - extinction. There's a lot of extinct hominoid species (for example, Homo habilis, Gigantopithecus or the Neanderthals) that are evolutionary links separating us from our primate ancestors, most probably chimpanzees, now our closest modern kissing cousins.
When the 'gods' had at last achieved a reasonable facsimile of their objective, they gave us the gifts of knowledge (the basics anyway) and helped kick-started us on our road to civilized society. At some point or other we probably - ungrateful twerps that we tend to be - pissed them off and they packed their bags and left, perhaps leaving behind a token presence (UFOs) to monitor us to ensure we don't ever become a threat to them and reverse the roles of slave and master.
Are there any other bits and pieces that set humans apart that might be suggestive of us getting some sort of special evolutionary treatment, translated artificial evolutionary treatment?
Since all humans are one species because we can all breed with one another, and since we presumably originated from small beginnings (population wise) in Africa, all humanity must have been akin to one not-quite-so-big melting pot. We were a uniform cup of coffee - one species; one race. Then we started spreading out throughout the world (minus Antarctica) and for some unexplained reason diverged into different breeds or ethnic classifications or races. The Big Question is - as Big Questions always tend to be - WHY?
And here I want to focus on facial features. What's so different or unique about the Asian environment(s) so as to evolve in humans' typical Asian facial features, say vis-Ã -vis the Australian environment and her indigenous aboriginals who also have distinguishable but different facial features versus Europe, the European environment and Caucasian facial features vis-Ã -vis Polynesia and Polynesian facial features, etc. Something is screwy somewhere! I can't see how this aspect of human biology can be accounted for by Darwinian natural selection.
But what if human breeds - one species, now different races - were created or manufactured in the same way we artificially select and create different cat breeds, or cattle breeds or different plant varieties like the many varieties of roses or orchards?
Just like cats and cattle; roses and orchards - one general species; many created breeds or varieties - so too for humans - one interbreeding species now existing as many (artificially selected?) breeds all capable of interbreeding. Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest natural selection can not explain this. There's no explaining the breed differences in racial facial features other than to resort, IMHO, to artificial selection, and the only beings capable of doing that were the 'gods' - the extraterrestrials who have this thing for advanced bioengineering genetics!
Now if you have a species, and that population gets separated by some geographic barrier, then over time the two split halves will slowly evolve into I guess first two separate breeds (that in theory can still interbreed), then eventually two separate species that can no longer breed and produce viable offspring. But, if you postulate that the one-species, one-breed humans scampered out of Africa and migrated around the globe without undo hindrance, then presumably there were no insurmountable geographic barriers big enough to then keep the various migrating clans or tribes or human herds forever and ever apart and thus prevent any interbreeding. Yet the one-breed one-species became multi-breeds, one-species as if there were now in place geographic barriers and isolation between the clans, tribes, herds; whatever. At least this alleged isolation of the tribes only lasted until the 'modern' age of travel and exploration and then all manner of human tribes discovered all manner of other human tribes. That's of course if you accept the traditional view of things. But the question remains - why no barriers in getting from A to B, but once at B, not being able to get back to A again. I repeat that there's something's screwy somewhere.
Perhaps a more far-out but ultimately better or more plausible explanation is that the extraterrestrial 'gods' genetically engineered or designed the various human breeds in the African 'laboratory' and then transported the various types of human races to various locations throughout the world. The Asian-looking human population were transported, not surprisingly, to what we call today Asia! And thus the various human breeds, located in their separate abodes having been transported over natural geographic barriers by ET, where they had to pretty much stay put, came up with their own unique cultural and ultimately mythological variations or versions of their 'creator' god's creations having been pretty befuddled by all the super technology that really 'created' them. And so in mythology we have universal tales of the gods (or IMHO 'gods') creating humanity, with individual cultural variations on that theme.
In a similar way, other things associated with the 'gods', say their pets or other entities, there being more than one type of ET present, translated into some of the near uniform and near universal mythologies surrounding say dragon-lore and dragons (pets) or fairy-folk (another variety of ET).
Anyway, why would the 'gods' create and transport different human breeds to different geographical locations - why do it this way? Two possible reasons suggest themselves. ET is the 'farmer' and they have, say, ten fields. They can plant one corner of one field (say a part of Africa where their 'lab' is) and wait for Nature to spread the seeds around to the rest of that field and hence to the other nine fields, or, they could plant parts of all of their ten fields at one go. That's the same crop in all ten fields. But perhaps it's better to have diversity. The second scenario is that you plant one crop (human breed) in one field (say Africa), another (human breed) in another (say Asia), a third human breed in the field called Europe, and so on though all ten. Why do this?
If Nature doesn't take her normal course - if humans don't spread out, if all the fields don't naturally produce crops, then all isn't lost by taking the above action. By deliberately planting a diversity of 'crop' breeds in all ten fields you've maximized your return on your investment by not putting all your eggs in the one-species, one-breed in Africa basket.
It's doesn't strike me as being a natural state of affairs to naturally have way back when just Black Africans in Africa; Caucasians in Europe; Asians in Asia; Aborigines in Australia, etc. That's because it's not as if Asians can't survive and thrive in Europe; Caucasians can and do live okay in Australia; Black Africans have made the USA home as Afro-Americans. Every human breed can find a successful biological niche in every geographic area, so why the initial geographic separation when human traffic could presumably go both ways, and segregation and evolution into breeds or races, if one assumes a natural state of affairs, puzzles me. Something is indeed screwy somewhere!
Science librarian; retired.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Human-Evolution:-By-Natural-Or-Artificial-Selection?&id=6108834] Human Evolution: By Natural Or Artificial Selection?
We come in breeds. The proof of that pudding stares you in the face everyday as you observe the racial variety of people around you. I don't recall anything in Genesis that explains this, so maybe God had nothing to do with this - assuming the existence of a bona-fide supernatural creator God of course in the first place - though I stand to be corrected on the lack of a Biblical explanation by appropriate authorities.
But if the Bible doesn't explain the origin of the various breeds of humans neither does Darwin's natural selection, in the same way that natural selection didn't create, and doesn't explain our dog breeds. Survival of the fittest didn't produce the French Poodle - we did that! But who (or what) created our diversity of breeds or races?
To quell the immediate curiosity of the reader, my answer comes down solidly in favour of our evolution by 'artificial selection', which detracts not one jot from the Darwinian principles of evolution via natural selection. The difference between the two is that artificial selection is selection deliberately guided by intelligence; natural selection is, well natural, and not by design.
Humanity, mankind, human beings, however you label us, are collectively made up of breeds just like our own domesticated and bioengineered (artificial bred) animals (companion, farm or other) and plants (crops or garden varieties). The key words are 'domesticated' and 'bioengineered'. We've been domesticated and bioengineered too, but we didn't domesticate and bioengineer our own human breeds like we domesticated and bioengineered our domesticated plants and animals. Somebody or something else will take that credit.
Now I'm not really talking here about the so-called scientific phrase now substituted for creationism - 'intelligent design'. Intelligent design has the philosophical baggage of having a supernatural creator, a God, behind the design. Alas, in the case of the human being, if God designed us from scratch; from the ground up, well He really failed Bioengineering 101. The various aches and pains and ailments we suffer because of bad biological design testify to that!
No, I'm referring here to the sort of artificial selection we humans employ when we breed dogs or cats or cattle or drought-resistant crops or whatever for our particular real (or imagined needs). I'm just turning the tables here a bit in what's good for the goose is good for the gander. As we do, so has it been done to us! The question again is, done unto us by whom?
To further quell the immediate curiosity of the reader, the 'who' collectively are the mythological gods, who aren't really mythical, nor are they supernatural, but flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials who happen to have a special interest in, and abilities toward, genetics.
The basic premise, as expounded upon by universal cultural mythologies, is that the gods created humans, creating humans to relieve the gods of, and do the hard work instead, and to also serve the gods - and I don't just mean by kneeling and prayer and building edifices to them. Translated, in more modern terminology, the flesh-and-blood extraterrestrials, which came upon Planet Earth many hundreds-of-thousands, perhaps millions of years ago, set up shopkeeping. Eventually known, if not loved, as the gods, these 'gods' genetically engineered humans from primate stock with again the ultimate goal of making the 'gods' life easier and more rewarding. Because of genetic similarities to our modern selves, that initial primate stock more likely as not were the chimpanzees.
One of those 'more rewarding' bits; one of the 'gods' tricks in their genetic engineering experiment, a design element designed to appeal to the 'gods' was to ensure humans were sexually compatible with them, and by Jove, did they ever make use of that engineered compatibility - at least if you take at face value and believe what transpired according to the mythological tales. Not suitable reading for the kiddies!
Now, the initial question is, if the overall intention of the extraterrestrial 'gods' is to create slaves to do the housework for the 'gods', and to serve the 'gods' (sexually or otherwise), and all you have to work with is terrestrial life (minus humanity), what sort of traits do you need to select for in order to get a life form that can build the pyramids and monumental structures that are constructed in order to serve the purpose of worshiping you? Clearly only humans can build a pyramid, so what skills or attributes do we have now that all other terrestrial life forms didn't have then?
Two particulars stand out. One is that in order to build a pyramid, etc. one needs a free pair (or more) of appendages in order to manipulate stuff. How do you get a free pair of appendages? Well, you have got to go from a quadrupedal stance to a bipedal stance, thus freeing up two appendages (i.e. - arms). From a Darwinian point-of-view, that's a problem. There's a cost. Now we're clearly bipedal. But will a bipedal posture be selected for naturally? Not usually, for again, there's a price to be paid.
The second particular is that you need some degree of smarts! Translated, to build a pyramid you need a relatively large and complex brain. Many animals might be strong enough to build a pyramid, but they just don't have a high enough IQ to pull it off. However, again from a Darwinian perspective, a high IQ comes at a high cost. Will high intelligence be selected for naturally?
Though there are some limited advantages to standing upright (apart from freeing up two arms to do things with like grab forbidden fruit slightly higher up in the trees) - you can see farther; wade slightly deeper waters, in general a bipedal stance comes at a considerable cost. Two limbs now have to take up all the body weight instead of four legs (or six - if you're a bug; or eight - if you're a spider). If one of those two limbs fails, you're in deep poo. However, survival is more probable if you have four (or six or eight) legs and one fails.
Further, if you're bipedal, your centre of gravity shifts, making you way more prone to losing your balance and falling over. Also, bipedal animals tend to run slower than a quadrupedal one. Most dogs whose backbones are at my knee height or more, and cats, can easily outrun me. The upshot of all of that is that in the animal kingdom, only birds (and their ancestors, the theropod bipedal saurischian dinosaurs) are (or were) bipedal - for fairly obvious reasons. Two of their four 'legs' have evolved for flying. Humans have no such fallback since we can't flap our arms and fly.
Now various animals can, and do, for brief periods, stand upright, say prairie dogs, chipmunks, bears, etc. Some animals can be taught to briefly stand up like circus elephants. Kangaroos, wallabies and related are usually bipedal, but they hop, not walk or run. Not even our primate relations routinely walk around on two legs although many can and do so for brief periods.
I think the advantages of a bipedal way of posture and locomotion are overstated, otherwise way more animals would have evolved that posture; you'd expect our cats and dogs to not so much as sit-up and beg but stand-up and beg for special treats. Out of millions and millions of vertebrate species that have existed over the past 300 or so million years of geologic history, only a relative tiny handful have adopted the bipedal mode of lifestyle. It's not proved to be exactly an evolutionary success story unlike the more universal backbones and rib cages and skulls all vertebrates have.
Overall, in the biological scheme of things, we're not just a little bit more advanced in a bipedal way, we're WAY MORE advanced. The question is, why? Again, why are humans so obviously bipedal? And if we're not so inclined to be bipedal by natural selection, perhaps then we've been so evolutionary inclined by artificial selection - by the 'gods' to free up our upper limbs, a useful trait if the 'gods' put us to work.
Now humans are smart. We're top of the 'food chain' when it comes to IQ. We have very large brains relative to our body size. We have very complex brains. But all that size and complexity has a cost. An infant's head has to be pretty soft and squishy and malleable and hence very vulnerable in order to fit through the birth canal, and even then it's a struggle and a pretty dicey part of an infant's and mother's life.
Now intelligence, the ability to figure things out, must have a degree of natural survival value. Cats and dogs and pigs and many wild birds and dolphins and the humble octopus and our primate cousins aren't dumb. Again, unlike the universal vertebrate backbone, rib cages, and skulls millions of vertebrate species have (or had) only one has excelled - top-of-the-pops - in IQ. BUT, we're not just a little bit more advanced in the IQ department. We're massively more advanced.
One might expect, based on natural selection, that if our average IQ was 100, perhaps our primate relations might have an average IQ of say, 90. That's not the case. Most of the mammalian kingdom is clustered around a relatively narrow range of IQ way lower than ours. A dog isn't a 100 times smarter than a cat or vice versa. But, humans are a 100 times smarter than our mammalian (and all other vertebrate) relations. Why? What natural evolutionary pressure did we face than thousands of other vertebrates, especially mammals, and especially, especially the primates, didn't? Some human-only evolutionary pressure drove up our IQ levels to such extraordinary heights, but what evolutionary pressure?
You'd be hard pressed to think of any other terrestrial bipedal, high IQ species that could build the pyramids - in fact the answer is no other terrestrial species could. Again, why were humans so blessed? And if we're not so blessed with a high IQ by natural selection, then perhaps it must be by artificial selection; selection by, or genetic bioengineering by, the 'gods'?
Moving on down the line, as each step in the 'gods' enforced artificial evolution of humans was achieved, slightly more upright posture; slightly higher average IQ, the previous lot - the less advanced hominoid species - were left to their own fate - extinction. There's a lot of extinct hominoid species (for example, Homo habilis, Gigantopithecus or the Neanderthals) that are evolutionary links separating us from our primate ancestors, most probably chimpanzees, now our closest modern kissing cousins.
When the 'gods' had at last achieved a reasonable facsimile of their objective, they gave us the gifts of knowledge (the basics anyway) and helped kick-started us on our road to civilized society. At some point or other we probably - ungrateful twerps that we tend to be - pissed them off and they packed their bags and left, perhaps leaving behind a token presence (UFOs) to monitor us to ensure we don't ever become a threat to them and reverse the roles of slave and master.
Are there any other bits and pieces that set humans apart that might be suggestive of us getting some sort of special evolutionary treatment, translated artificial evolutionary treatment?
Since all humans are one species because we can all breed with one another, and since we presumably originated from small beginnings (population wise) in Africa, all humanity must have been akin to one not-quite-so-big melting pot. We were a uniform cup of coffee - one species; one race. Then we started spreading out throughout the world (minus Antarctica) and for some unexplained reason diverged into different breeds or ethnic classifications or races. The Big Question is - as Big Questions always tend to be - WHY?
And here I want to focus on facial features. What's so different or unique about the Asian environment(s) so as to evolve in humans' typical Asian facial features, say vis-Ã -vis the Australian environment and her indigenous aboriginals who also have distinguishable but different facial features versus Europe, the European environment and Caucasian facial features vis-Ã -vis Polynesia and Polynesian facial features, etc. Something is screwy somewhere! I can't see how this aspect of human biology can be accounted for by Darwinian natural selection.
But what if human breeds - one species, now different races - were created or manufactured in the same way we artificially select and create different cat breeds, or cattle breeds or different plant varieties like the many varieties of roses or orchards?
Just like cats and cattle; roses and orchards - one general species; many created breeds or varieties - so too for humans - one interbreeding species now existing as many (artificially selected?) breeds all capable of interbreeding. Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest natural selection can not explain this. There's no explaining the breed differences in racial facial features other than to resort, IMHO, to artificial selection, and the only beings capable of doing that were the 'gods' - the extraterrestrials who have this thing for advanced bioengineering genetics!
Now if you have a species, and that population gets separated by some geographic barrier, then over time the two split halves will slowly evolve into I guess first two separate breeds (that in theory can still interbreed), then eventually two separate species that can no longer breed and produce viable offspring. But, if you postulate that the one-species, one-breed humans scampered out of Africa and migrated around the globe without undo hindrance, then presumably there were no insurmountable geographic barriers big enough to then keep the various migrating clans or tribes or human herds forever and ever apart and thus prevent any interbreeding. Yet the one-breed one-species became multi-breeds, one-species as if there were now in place geographic barriers and isolation between the clans, tribes, herds; whatever. At least this alleged isolation of the tribes only lasted until the 'modern' age of travel and exploration and then all manner of human tribes discovered all manner of other human tribes. That's of course if you accept the traditional view of things. But the question remains - why no barriers in getting from A to B, but once at B, not being able to get back to A again. I repeat that there's something's screwy somewhere.
Perhaps a more far-out but ultimately better or more plausible explanation is that the extraterrestrial 'gods' genetically engineered or designed the various human breeds in the African 'laboratory' and then transported the various types of human races to various locations throughout the world. The Asian-looking human population were transported, not surprisingly, to what we call today Asia! And thus the various human breeds, located in their separate abodes having been transported over natural geographic barriers by ET, where they had to pretty much stay put, came up with their own unique cultural and ultimately mythological variations or versions of their 'creator' god's creations having been pretty befuddled by all the super technology that really 'created' them. And so in mythology we have universal tales of the gods (or IMHO 'gods') creating humanity, with individual cultural variations on that theme.
In a similar way, other things associated with the 'gods', say their pets or other entities, there being more than one type of ET present, translated into some of the near uniform and near universal mythologies surrounding say dragon-lore and dragons (pets) or fairy-folk (another variety of ET).
Anyway, why would the 'gods' create and transport different human breeds to different geographical locations - why do it this way? Two possible reasons suggest themselves. ET is the 'farmer' and they have, say, ten fields. They can plant one corner of one field (say a part of Africa where their 'lab' is) and wait for Nature to spread the seeds around to the rest of that field and hence to the other nine fields, or, they could plant parts of all of their ten fields at one go. That's the same crop in all ten fields. But perhaps it's better to have diversity. The second scenario is that you plant one crop (human breed) in one field (say Africa), another (human breed) in another (say Asia), a third human breed in the field called Europe, and so on though all ten. Why do this?
If Nature doesn't take her normal course - if humans don't spread out, if all the fields don't naturally produce crops, then all isn't lost by taking the above action. By deliberately planting a diversity of 'crop' breeds in all ten fields you've maximized your return on your investment by not putting all your eggs in the one-species, one-breed in Africa basket.
It's doesn't strike me as being a natural state of affairs to naturally have way back when just Black Africans in Africa; Caucasians in Europe; Asians in Asia; Aborigines in Australia, etc. That's because it's not as if Asians can't survive and thrive in Europe; Caucasians can and do live okay in Australia; Black Africans have made the USA home as Afro-Americans. Every human breed can find a successful biological niche in every geographic area, so why the initial geographic separation when human traffic could presumably go both ways, and segregation and evolution into breeds or races, if one assumes a natural state of affairs, puzzles me. Something is indeed screwy somewhere!
Science librarian; retired.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Human-Evolution:-By-Natural-Or-Artificial-Selection?&id=6108834] Human Evolution: By Natural Or Artificial Selection?
Thursday, March 03, 2011
UFO - The Truth
By Will Thurman
Photo Submitted By Barbara Garcia
Location; Sedona, AZ, USA
The range of cases and 'sightings' of UFO's throughout the history of our world is staggering and yet people continue to belief that nothing exists in our skies, that is not a part of our own world. It's true that while there is a vast amount of cases, studies and research to the phenomenon, not one piece of refutable evidence exists that can prove we are being visited by extra terrestrial beings. Sceptics themselves would say then that is a conclusion to the debate itself, but what exactly has caused such worldwide belief to form in the minds of people and not just the disillusioned or attention seekers among us, but honest and very much sane and even high ranking military individuals.
There have been such widely and publicly made cases throughout the years, but none more so than the Roswell incident. The case itself sparked mass hysteria, with stories of alien bodies being recovered from different crash sites in the area and a theory of a huge scale government cover up being circulated. The 'incident' itself was reported that personnel from the Roswell army air field (RAAF) had recovered what was described as a "flying disc" in Roswell, New Mexico. This obviously sparked the media's interest, but a day later a commander from the RAAF told a press conference, that what had been recovered was actually a radar tracking balloon. It was only later on that it was made known that debris from a secret and highly sensitive project called Mogul was the crashed 'aircraft'. The whole story melted away and was forgotten for over 30 years.
What sparked the renewed interest and the pop culture around the whole incident was the fascinating account from Major Jesse Marcel of the debris he described and the cover up that he himself said the military had orchestrated. This was the spark that ignited the whole Roswell incident and was the platform for the accounts of other key people in the whole story. Jesse Marcel was the beginning of the renewed interest and the start of the pop culture that surrounds Roswell.
The problems that surfaced after the accounts of Jesse Marcel have caused the validity of his claims to be ridiculed. His claims of his military career and some of the reports he made about the incident at Roswell where later reported to be not true, such as the piloting career he said he had since 1928 and the FAA had no records of Jesse Marcel ever flying at the time he said. As time passed, other loopholes in his claims, to do with his military career, appeared.
It's unfair and extremely bias to use one person's story and dispute it out of claims of other misinformation that he provided, but it happened. It was used as a focus to bring down some of the hysteria that surrounds the incident. While even UFO researchers now feel that what was recovered from Roswell was a crashed balloon, there is still a wide belief that a government cover up existed.
We may never really know what was recovered from the crash site, but the Roswell incident will forever be the spark that ignited the theories and gave way to the phenomenon that continues to grow throughout the world. It will forever go down in the folklore of UFO history, not because it gave us real evidence or because it is the most controversial, but because it is the birth place of the UFO phenomenon. The start of what is now a religion, you will either believe or you won't. That is the truth.
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Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?UFO---The-Truth&id=5974556] UFO - The Truth
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