*** Aluminum (TMA), Barium, Strontium, Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), and Lithium have been dumped in space to study and modify space weather for over sixty years (60) and nobody knew. - Big Wobble Blog
*** Then there's Z. July 18, 2022 - I was awakened this morning with a clear message that there are three years left until the simulation ends. - ELLIE
*** Ego & Time are our biggest anchors to ignorance- Walter Russell
MID-LATITUDE AURORAS:
Last night's geomagnetic storm caused by a 'Cannibal CME' was not as
strong as expected. Nevertheless, auroras descended into the United
States as far south as Colorado and Nebraska. Some were bright enough to
photograph using cell phones. Another CME may be on the way following
today's almost-X flare.
Full story @ Spaceweather.com. Early warnings can give sky watchers the time they need to catch auroras.
Above: Red auroras over Sundance, Wyoming, on March 30, 2022. Photo credit: Marybeth Kiczenski
X-CLASS SOLAR FLARE: Earth-orbiting satellites have
just detected a powerful explosion on the sun. The X1.3-class flare on
March 30th (1737 UT) caused a shortwave radio blackout over the Americas
and has almost certainly hurled a CME toward Earth!!!!!!!
Above: The extreme ultraviolet flash from today's X-flare. Credit: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory
A 'CANNIBAL CME' IS APPROACHING EARTH: A strong
G3-class geomagnetic storm is possible later this week when a 'Cannibal
CME' hits Earth's magnetic field. It's a 'cannibal' because it ate one
of its own kind en route to our planet. The mash-up
of two CMEs could spark naked-eye auroras visible from northern-tier US
states. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.
Above: This frame from a
NASA animation shows one CME overtaking another. The resulting merger is called a 'Cannibal CME.'
SOLAR FLARE, TSUNAMI, AND RADIATION STORM:
A strong flare on the sun this morning kicked off a remarkable sequence
of events: a solar tsunami, a solar radio burst, a solar proton storm, a
terrestrial radio blackout and a polar cap absorption event. The
explosion also (almost certainly) hurled a CME toward Earth. Developing
story @ Spaceweather.com.
Above: An M4-class solar flare and shortwave radio blackout (inset) on March 28, 2022.
Aviators, mariners, and ham radio operators in the area
may have noticed fading and other unusual propagation effects at
frequencies below 30 MHz.
Energetic protons accelerated
by the flare+tsunami are now peppering Earth's magnetosphere, causing a
minor S1-class radiation storm.
Our planet's magnetic field is funneling
some of these particles toward the poles where a second type of radio
blackout is underway--a Polar Cap Absorption Event.
Airplanes flying over these regions may find that their shortwave radios won't work during the transit: polar cap absorption map.
Finally, this explosion almost certainly hurled a CME toward Earth. Confirmation awaits the arrival of fresh data from SOHO coronagraphs. Stay tuned!
SpaceX shares both propagated ephemerides and
covariance (statistical uncertainty of the predictions) data on Space-Track.org
and encourages all other operators to do so, as this enables more
meaningful and accurate computation of collision risks. SpaceX is also
working to make it even easier for anyone to access our ephemerides by
eliminating any requirement to login to Space-Track.org to see our data.
In addition to providing our satellite
ephemerides, SpaceX volunteered to provide routine system health reports
to the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), something no other
operator has ever offered or currently does. These reports indicate the
status of our constellation, including a summary of the operational
status of our satellite fleet, and the number of maneuvers performed to
reduce the collision probability with other objects. Fig. 3 is a sample
of the number of maneuvers Starlink has done over the 6-month period
from June 2021 through November 2021.
Fig. 3: Number of SpaceX maneuvers from July-Dec 2021 (total was 3300)
GEOMAGNETIC STORM AND RECENTLY DEPLOYED STARLINK SATELLITES
On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.
SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.
Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday.
These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches.
The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.
Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.
The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.
Thawing permafrost driven by climate change could free trapped microbes and radioactive material.
As climate change warms the Arctic, melting ice could release
hazardous chemicals and radioactive material dating to the Cold War.
Vanishing permafrost could also free viruses and bacteria that have
slumbered beneath Arctic ice for tens of thousands of years, a new study
shows.
By poring over historical records and past studies on
contamination, the researchers found that in addition to fallout from
nuclear explosions and pollutants such as mercury, arsenic and DDT,
so-called Methuselah microorganisms — microbes that have been locked in
permafrost for millennia — may awaken if climate change melts Arctic ice and the microbes defrost. That could release bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, or introduce viruses that humans have never encountered before.
The
term "permafrost" describes ground that has been continuously frozen
for two years or longer and can include soil alone or dirt mixed with
ice and covered by snow, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center
(NSIDC). Permafrost covers about 9 million square miles (23 million
square kilometers) of the Northern Hemisphere, and it ranges in
thickness from less than 3 feet (1 meter) to more than 3,000 feet (1,000
m), according to NSIDC.
Most Arctic permafrost cover has
persisted for 800,000 to 1 million years, but climate change is eating
away at even some of the most ancient ice reserves.
Giant "sinkholes" - one of which could devour an entire city block
holding six-story buildings - are appearing along the Arctic seafloor,
as submerged permafrost thaws and disturbs the area, scientists have
discovered. But even though human-caused climate change is increasing
the average temperatures in the Arctic, the thawing permafrost that's
creating these sinkholes seems to have a different culprit - heated,
slowly moving groundwater systems.
The Arctic permafrost at the bottom of the Canadian Beaufort Sea has
been submerged for about 12,000 years, since the end of the last ice
age, when meltwater from glaciers blanketed the region. Until now, the
frozen seafloor had been hidden from scientists' peering eyes. This
remote part of the Arctic has only recently become accessible to
researchers on ships as climate change causes the sea ice to retreat,
the researchers said.
A CME that hit Earth's magnetic field on March 13th did more than spark
bright auroras. It also wiped out a lot of cosmic rays. The storm cloud
literally pushed space radiation away from our planet. The effect,
called a "Forbush decrease," is still underway 4 days later.
Above: A Forbush decrease detected by neutron monitors at the University of Oulu's Cosmic Ray Station in Finland.
This is called a "Forbush decrease," named after
American physicist Scott Forbush who studied cosmic rays in the
early 20th century. It happens when a coronal mass ejection (CME)
sweeps past Earth and pushes galactic cosmic rays away from our planet. Radiation from deep space that would normally pepper Earth's upper atmosphere is briefly wiped out.
There's something odd about
this Forbush decrease. It's a double dip decrease. Cosmic rays dropped
precipitously on March 13th--then they surged midday on March 14th--then
they dropped precipitously again. The up-and-down may be a sign of
structure inside the CME.
BUT
GLANCING BLOW POSSIBLE TODAY:
Later today, March 17th, a CME will pass by Earth and might deliver a
glancing blow to our planet's magnetic field. The weak impact will
cause, at most, a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm. That might be enough to spark bright auroras around the Arctic Circle...
AN ASTEROID JUST HIT EARTH:
Discovered. Photographed. Destroyed. All three things happened to
asteroid 2022 EB5 in quick succession on March 11th. Hungarian
astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky discovered the asteroid at 19:24 UT. Italian astronomer Enrico Pettarin photographed the asteroid at 20:28 UT:
The asteroid destroyed
itself at ~21:22 UT when it hit Earth's atmosphere off the coast of
Iceland, disintegrating harmlessly as a bright fireball. The entire
sequence of events took less than 2 hours.
The explosion was detected by Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization infrasound stations
in Greenland and Norway. Combining data from the two locations,
University of Western Ontario astronomer Peter Brown estimates that "the
asteroid exploded with an energy close to 2 kilotons of TNT. Assuming a
speed of 15 km/s, it must have been about 3 m in diameter," he says.
A
3D view of the blob in Earth’s mantle beneath Africa, shown by the
red-yellow-orange colors. The cyan color represents the core-mantle
boundary, blue signifies the surface, and the transparent gray signifies
continents. Image credit: Mingming Li/ASU
Earth's
interior is not a uniform stack of layers. Deep in its thick middle
layer lie two colossal blobs of thermo-chemical material.
Earth
is layered like an onion, with a thin outer crust, a thick viscous
mantle, a fluid outer core and a solid inner core. Within the mantle,
there are two massive blob-like structures, roughly on opposite sides of
the planet. The blobs, more formally referred to as Large
Low-Shear-Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs), are each the size of a continent
and 100 times taller than Mt. Everest. One is under the African
continent, while the other is under the Pacific Ocean.
Using
instruments that measure seismic waves, scientists know that these two
blobs have complicated shapes and structures, but despite their
prominent features, little is known about why the blobs exist or what
led to their odd shapes.
Arizona State University scientists Qian
Yuan and Mingming Li of the School of Earth and Space Exploration set
out to learn more about these two blobs using geodynamic modeling and
analyses of published seismic studies. Through their research, they were
able to determine the maximum heights that the blobs reach and how the
volume and density of the blobs, as well as the surrounding viscosity in
the mantle, might control their height. Their research was recently
published in Nature Geoscience.
The results of their seismic
analysis led to a surprising discovery that the blob under the African
continent is about 621 miles (1,000 km) higher than the blob under the
Pacific Ocean
.According to Yuan and Li, the best explanation for the
vast height difference between the two is that the blob under the
African continent is less dense (and therefore less stable) than the one
under the Pacific Ocean.
To conduct their research, Yuan and Li
designed and ran hundreds of mantle convection models simulations. They
exhaustively tested the effects of key factors that may affect the
height of the blobs, including the volume of the blobs and the contrasts
of density and viscosity of the blobs compared with their surroundings.
They found that to explain the large differences of height between the
two blobs, the one under the African continent must be of a lower
density than that of the blob under the Pacific Ocean, indicating that
the two may have different composition and evolution.
“Our
calculations found that the initial volume of the blobs does not affect
their height,” lead author Yuan said. “The height of the blobs is mostly
controlled by how dense they are and the viscosity of the surrounding
mantle.”
“The Africa LLVP may have been rising in recent
geological time,” co-author Li added. “This may explain the elevating
surface topography and intense volcanism in eastern Africa.”
These
findings may fundamentally change the way scientists think about the
deep mantle processes and how they can affect the surface of the Earth.
The unstable nature of the blob under the African continent, for
example, may be related to continental changes in topography, gravity,
surface volcanism and plate motion.
“Our combination of the
analysis of seismic results and the geodynamic modeling provides new
insights on the nature of the Earth’s largest structures in the deep
interior and their interaction with the surrounding mantle,” Yuan said.
“This work has far-reaching implications for scientists trying to
understand the present-day status and the evolution of the deep mantle
structure, and the nature of mantle convection.” SOURCE The above story is based on materials provided by Arizona State University.
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2-CLASS): March 11, the sun launched a full halo CME into space. The storm
cloud is expected to hit Venus on March 13th followed by Earth later the
same day. NOAA forecasters say that G2-class geomagnetic storms are
possible when the CME arrives. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.
Above: A full halo CME is heading for Earth. Image credit: the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).
A spine-tingling theatre and a symbol of Māori culture, the haka has been made world famous by the All Blacks. But it is widely used outside the rugby field by men and women in New Zealand.
Here are some little known facts about this fascinating Māori tradition.
1. The haka was not always such an integral part of the All Blacks aura
Prior to New Zealand legend, Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford, talking the helm in the mid-1980s and making his team actually practice the haka, it was more of a novelty for supporters and only performed at away matches, often rather shambolically. It’s all changed now. The wana (passion or intensity with which a haka is performed) runs high in the team and the blood curdling roar of the haka has become one of the most loved sporting traditions in the world.
2. There are many different haka
Each tells a story. Known as a ‘war challenge’ or ‘war cry’ in Māori culture, the haka was traditionally performed by men before going to war. The aggressive facial expressions were meant to scare the opponents, while the cry itself was to lift their own morale and call on God for help to win. Modern examples of occasions for haka include birthdays, weddings, funerals and other celebratory events. It is also sometimes used as a symbol of tribal identity. The modern haka is even performed by women.
‘Ka Mate’ haka (Te Rauparaha haka), performed by the All Blacks, is the most well-known of all haka. It is a ceremonial haka, celebrating life triumphing over death.
Did you know that before the arrival of Europeans in New Zealand, the haka was performed when two groups came together?
3. The origin of haka performers’ trembling hands lies in a Māori legend
The sun god Tama-nui-te-ra and one of his wives, Hine-raumati, who embodies the essence of summer, had a son named Tane-rore. The Māori consider the quivering appearance of the air on hot summer days to be a sign of Tane-rore dancing for his mother, and this light, rapid movement is the foundation of all haka. The hand movements represent Tane-rore’s dance.
Performers in a haka use many other body motions and expressions which may include bulging eyes (pukana), sticking out of the tongue (whetero), stomping feet (Waewae takahia), and slapping the body with their hands.
4. Kapa Haka, or performance art haka, brings to life current issues
It is popular with Māori youth, who compete in local and national competitions. The lyrics often address social and political issues within the Māori community. The songs are designed to rally Māoris to address issues and call out injustices.
5. Non-Māoris can learn the haka
We’re a very welcoming and inclusive culture. We love sharing our heritage and encourage visitors to participate in our culture, like learning the haka. However, you must always respect it. Try to learn the words and understand what they mean, why this haka is important.
As part of our Evening Experience, guests are taught the haka – often a real highlight of their time with us!
The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350.Wikipedia
Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi said the move was ‘an opportunity to reimagine a more meaningful and fulfilling partnership’
Queen Elizabeth II and then New Zealand prime minister Robert Muldoon in Wellington in 1977. The Māori party has called for New Zealand to ‘divorce’ the crown. Photograph: Tim Graham/Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images
New Zealand Māori party calls for a ‘divorce’ from Britain’s royal family https://t.co/bzsoKxrPWH
Part 4 mainly concerns the formation of the New Zealand Armed Constabulary (colonial troops assisted by Irish and Australian volunteers) after the British began withdrawing their forces in 1865; the formation of the Pai Mārire* movement in Taranaki in 1863; and the increasing involvement of kūpapa (Māori warriors) in the Armed Constabulary as British regiments departed.
This segment depicts the growing divide between Māori determined to fight British land confiscation and those who benefited from lucrative trade with the settlers. The motivation of the kūpapa was complex. First they tended not to see other Māori iwi as their own people. Secondly they demanded (and received) vastly better pay than European soldiers. Thirdly they were promised four seats in the New Zealand parliament in return for their military service.**
While the kūpapa were extremely valuable in several campaigns, they believed they were fighting the Pai Marire movement on their own behalf and balked at taking orders from European officers.
The fourth episode mainly covers battles in Taranaki and Whanganui triggered by a new government policy of “creeping confiscation.” Beginning in 1865, the New Zealand government arbitrarily declared vast tracks of Taranaki land “confiscated.” In one of the largest battles, Tītokowaru and 80 warriors defeated 400 New Zealand troops led by Prussian mercenary Gustavus von Tempsky to win back all the confiscated Taranaki land.
Following von Tempsky’s death in the battle of Te Ngutu o te Manu, Colonel George Whitmore rebuilt the colonial forces to march through south Taranaki burning all Māori land and reclaiming it for the government.
Tarananki resistance to government occupation collapsed at this point when Tītokowaru’s warriors abandoned him. Why they did so is a matter of conjecture – the prevailing theory blames an illicit affair he was having with another chieftain’s daughter.
*The Pai Mārire movement was a syncretic Māori religion or cult founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumēne. Opposing British land confiscation, it flourished in the North Island from about 1863 to 1874,
**This was during a period when Māori still vastly outnumbered the settler population.
We
met at the Kona Tiki lounge in New York City. I was a hostess. When I
was turning 24, Dan took me to dinner. I loved him. He took me to
bookstores all over Manhattan. He was a gorgeous actor-model and had
been in one of the Godfather movies. And he could sing. (And he was a
reflexologist!) Born in Canada, he had even played pro-baseball. I
wonder where he is. He did use Dan Drake as his actor name. He had
friends in Florida and California. I want to find him. His birthday is
January 20. (Born in 1937/8? maybe)
New Zealand Wars: The Failed British Effort to Destroy the Maori King Movement
Posted on
The New Zealand Wars Part 3: The Invasion of Waikato
Directed by Tainui Stephens (2017)
Film Review
Part 3 begins by describing an 1863 audience between 16 Mäori entertainers and Queen Victoria – in which she promises to let them keep their land. This meeting occurs, ironically, just 12 days after British soldiers invade Waikato.
By now Governor Grey’s main objective is to kill the Mäori king and destroy the King movement. Although iwi continue to be divided whether to fight or trade with the British, there is now sufficient unity under the King movement to assemble a force of 4,000 warriors.
By lying to British authorities about a fictitious Mäori plot to invade Auckland, Grey requests and receives several armored battleships with canon and thousands of additional troops.
Again vastly outnumbered (by 18,000 British troops), Mäori lose the Waikato War due to a strategic blunder – failing to allow for an escape route from Ōrākau pā. Although they successfully repulse all British attacks, they eventually run out of water and ammunition and leave the pā, facing overwhelming British fire power.
Following their victory at Ōrākau, British troops proceed to occupy one million acres of Mäori land in the Waikato. Over several decades, settlers convert it to dairy farms.
The British were unsuccessful in their goal of destroying the Māori King movement, which persists to the present day.
Part 2 of this series concerns the Wairau Valley War (1843), the Wellington War (1846), and the first Taranaki land war (1860-61).
The Wairau Valley War started when British settlers in the Marlborough Sounds (top of South Island) tried to farm land that still belong to Māori. After local iwi (tribes) drove out the land surveyors and set fire to their huts, 50 armed settlers marched to the Wairau Valley to “teach Māori” a lesson. Te Rauparaha, aka the Emperor of the South,* organized iwi warriors on both sides of Cook Strait to repel them.
Responding to growing fears Te Rauparaha would also attack unauthorized settlers, the newly appointed governor general George Grey marched British troops into in the Hutt Valley northwest of Wellington. Local Māori responded by killing the settlers who had illegally taken their land. During this fighting, Te Rauparaha was captured and imprisoned without trial, and settlers seized his former Māori.
The last segment of Part 2 is the most interesting to me as it concerns the first Taranaki War (I live in Taranaki). By 1858, there was a split in the North Island’s indigenous population.Two-thirds of Taranaki iwi supported the growing Māori king movement, formed with the explicit intention of solidifying Māori control over their own lands. One-third wished to sell land to the British for the purpose of facilitating trade.
The Taranaki land wars started when Te Teira sold the British communally-owned land in Waitara, and Wiremu Kingi and his followers turned settlers back when they tried to claim possession.
The major battle of the first Taranaki War took place at Puketekauere pā near Waitara in 1861. Although local Te Atiawa warriors were reinforced by other iwi belonging to the Māori king movement, they were still vastly outnumbered by British troops.
This first battle ended in a stalemate. In the truce that followed, Māori reclaimed more than £200,000 worth of property from New Plymouth settlers. However Wiremu Kingi lost control of coastal Waitara, which the British wanted for a seaport.
*Te Rauparaha held sway over iwi extending from Kaipiti Island near Wellington to modern day Nelson in the South Island. This would be the first attempt of iwi to consolidate their military efforts to retain control of their land.
There’s lots of danger ahead, Fiona Hill warned. Putin is increasingly operating emotionally and likely to use all the weapons at his disposal, including nuclear ones. It’s important not to have any illusions — but equally important not to lose hope. “Every time you think, ’No, he wouldn’t, would he?’ Well, yes, he would,” Hill said. “And he wants us to know that, of course. It’s not that we should be intimidated and scared.... We have to prepare for those contingencies and figure out what is it that we’re going to do to head them off.”
Putin’s current goal is reconstituting the Soviet Union, the Russian Empire, or something different?
Hill:It’s reestablishing Russian dominance of what Russia sees as the Russian “Imperium.” I’m saying this very specifically because the lands of the Soviet Union didn’t cover all of the territories that were once part ofthe Russian Empire. So that should give us pause. Putin has articulated an idea of there being a “Russky Mir” or a “Russian World.” The recent essay he published about Ukraine and Russia states the Ukrainian and Russian people are “one people,” a “yedinyinarod.” He’s saying Ukrainians and Russians are one and the same.
This is an amazingly beautiful documentary series about the early 60,000 year old culture of indigenous Australians. According to archeologists, indigenous Australians were the first people to leave Africa 70,000 years ago. They traveled along the coast of Asia and presumably reached Australia around 60,000 years ago. The remains of Mungo Man, discovered in New South Wales in 1969, was determined by carbon dating to be 42,000 years old. This makes it the oldest human skeleton discovered outside of Africa.
Surprisingly, it’s only in the last decade that archeologists have been studying the culture in which Mungo Man lived. They have only recently discovered cave paintings of flightless birds that became extinct 40,000 years ago, as well as enormous stone shelters carved out by his contemporaries and ground edge knives and axes.*
They have also discovered a network of cave maps extending more than 1000 meters (through the Australian desert) depicting the location of hidden underground water holes. It appears these networks were used for trade, arranged marriages and settling disputes between neighboring tribal groups.
This archeological evidence suggests that by 30,000 BC indigenous Australians had expanded right across the Australian continent with a a well developed kinship system and cosmology of religious beliefs.
*This technology only appeared in Europe 10,000 years ago.
The New Zealand Wars were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand government and indigenous Māori. Up until the 1960s Europeans referred to them as the Māori wars, and historian James Belich was one of the first to refer to them as the "New Zealand wars" in his 1987 book The New Zealand wars and the Victorian interpretation of racial conflict. Though the wars were initially localised conflicts triggered by tensions over disputed land purchases, they escalated dramatically from 1860 as the government became convinced it was facing a united Māori resistance to further land sales and a refusal to acknowledge Crown sovereignty. The colonial government summoned thousands of British troops to mount major campaigns to overpower the Māori King Movement and also acquire farming and residential land for British settlers. Later campaigns were aimed at quashing the so-called Hauhau movement, an extremist part of the Pai Marire religion, which was strongly opposed to the alienation of Māori land and eager to strengthen Māori identity.
At the peak of hostilities in the 1860s, 18,000 British troops, supported by artillery, cavalry and local militia, battled about 4000 Māori warriors in what became a gross imbalance of manpower and weaponry. Although outnumbered, the Māori were able to withstand their enemy with techniques that included anti-artillery bunkers and the use of carefully placed pā, or fortified villages, that allowed them to block their enemy advance and often inflict heavy losses, yet quickly abandon their positions without significant loss. Guerilla-style tactics were used by both sides in later campaigns, often fought in dense bush. Over the course of the Taranaki and Waikato campaigns the lives of about 1800 Māori and 800 Europeans were lost and total Māori losses over the course of all the wars may have exceeded 2100.
Violence over land ownership broke out first in the Wairau Valley in the South Island in June 1843, but rising tensions in Taranaki eventually led to the involvement of British military forces at Waitara in March 1860. The war between the government and Kīngitanga (King Movement) Māori spread to other areas of the North Island, with the biggest single campaign being the invasion of Waikato in 1863–64, before hostilities concluded with the pursuits of warlord Riwha Titokowaru in Taranaki (1868–69) and guerrilla fighter Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki on the east coast (1868–72). Although Māori were initially fought by British forces, the New Zealand government developed its own military force, including local militia, rifle volunteer groups, the specialist Forest Rangers and pro-government Māori. The government also responded with legislation to imprison Māori opponents and confiscate expansive areas of the North Island for sale to settlers, with the funds used to cover war expenses—punitive measures that on the east and west coasts provoked an intensification of Māori resistance and aggression.
THE TERMINATION EVENT--AN UPDATE:
Something big just happened on the sun. Researchers call it "the
Termination Event," and it could herald a stronger-than-expected Solar
Cycle 25. Full story @ Spaceweather.com.
Above: The red curve is a new prediction for Solar Cycle 25 based on the recent Termination Event.
This three part documentary series describes a successful land occupation that successfully blocked (in 2020) the conversion of illegally confiscated Māori land into a private housing development. All three episodes were at the Māori TV website.
Part 1 describes the history of Ihumātao from its first settlement by Māori 1,000 years ago. Owing to its volcanic soil, it became rich agricultural land, providing food for iwi throughout the North Island .
Organizers of the recent occupation describe the brutal 1863 eviction of their great grandparents from 11,000 acres by British troops to be sold to European settlers. Of the 11,000 acres, only 38 hectares remains undeveloped. Prior to 2015, it was publicly owned (by Auckland Council).
In 2015, local iwi began passively occupying the land when they learned that Auckland Council had declared it a Special Housing Area (SHA) status without public notification. The 2013 SHA law (later repealed) allowed regional authorities to release rural land for development without going through the formal consent process.
Auckland Council subsequently sold the land to Fletcher Building after approving their proposal to build 520 houses.
For the first four years, occupiers pursued all legal avenues to stop the housing development and get their land returned. This included filing a claim under urgency with the Waitangi Tribunal;* filing petitions with Auckland Council, Mayor Phil Goff and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern; and requesting the Māori Select Affairs Committee to intercede with the prime minister.
Part 2 begins when the police present the occupiers with an eviction notice in early 2019. Together with a large contingent of European supporters, they begin planning and training for a nonviolent occupation of the land.
On July 23, 2019, 100 cops show up to execute the eviction order, and hundreds of supporters from all over New Zealand arrive to support local iwi. While the adults focus on preventing police from closing the public road, children race through the adjacent paddocks adjacent to plant Tino Rangatiratanga flags atop the volcanic plateau central to the disputed land. Adult protestors respond by spilling out into the paddocks and pitching tents.
Part 3 describes how thousands of supporters continue to arrive from around the country, as well as sending blankets, warm clothes, firewood, food and money for the continuing occupation.
The Māori king visits the occupation in mid-2020 and agrees to mediate between iwi on different sides of the issue. After winning his support for their demands, they request that the government buy the land back from Fletcher’s and invite the prime minister to visit.
Although she declines the invitation, she agrees to stop the housing development from proceeding without formal negotiations to resolve the issue.
In December 2020, two months after the parliamentary election, the government agrees to buy Ihumātao from Fletchers and to establsh a Ropu Whakahaere to decide the future of Ihumātao. The Ropu will consist of a majority of Māori members from affected iwi, as well as Auckland Council and government representatives.
Although the occupiers have carried out extensive habitat restoration during the five-year occupation, the Ropu is given a mandate to “consider” housing.
*The Waitangi Tribunal is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the 1975 Treaty of Waitangi Act. It’s charged with investigating and making recommendations on claims brought by Māori regarding confiscated land.
I recently came across a very similar set of factors that were discovered by researcher Cleve Backster,
who spent 36 years studying biocommunication in plant, animal and human
cells. He referred to these factors as real intent, attunement, and
spontaneity.[1]
This moment occurred one February morning in 1966 when he decided to
monitor the Dracaena plant in his lab utilizing polygraph equipment.
He attached the electrodes to a leaf and began to think about ways that he might induce a surge in electrical activity in the plant. In humans this surge in electrical activity is associated with intense emotions.
He suddenly imagined burning the electroded leaf. The same instant
this idea entered his mind, the polygraph pen shot to the top of the
chart showing an extreme reaction on the part of the plant.
Amazed, he walked to his secretary’s desk to retrieve a set of
matches while pondering the possibility that this plant was somehow
detecting the force of human intention.
When he returned with the matches, the plant was still showing the
same high level reaction which would interfere with tracking additional
changes on the chart. Backster decided to “remove the threat” by
returning the matches to the desk.
At this point, the chart displayed a downward trend as the plant apparently began to calm down.[3] When Backster
attempted to repeat the same results by pretending that he was going to
burn the plant, there was no reaction. The plant seemed to sense the
difference between real and artificial intent.
He eventually discovered that plants become attuned to their primary
care takers, responding to both their positive and negative emotions and
to their return after being away for a time.[4] Chart findings also
showed that plants prioritize the emotions of their primary care takers
over the emotions of others nearby.
Backster later expanded his research to include testing human cells for signs of consciousness.
He collected white blood cells from human donors, electroded them in a
test tube and then recorded the cells’ reactions as the donors
experienced different emotional states. He found that spontaneous
emotions were necessary in order to elicit an electrical reaction in the
cells.
For instance, if a donor forced herself to feel an emotion, the cells
would not respond. However, when she received a distressing phone call from her daughter, the cells reacted significantly.[5]
He noted that distance seemed to be irrelevant in these experiments.
For example, a donor left his electroded cells behind in the lab, then
kept a detailed log of any stressful emotions experienced on his trip
home to another state, such as missing a turn on the freeway, standing
in a long line at the airport, and the take-off of his plane.
Later, his logged incidents compared with the chart recording showed
strong correlations between the timing of the stressful events and the
electrical reactions in his cells. The chart became quiet again when he
arrived home and went to sleep.[6]
These experiments were conducted while using equipment that screened
out electromagnetic radiation — the usual energies used for information
transmission. The cells behaved as if the screens weren’t there,
suggesting that this communication is carried by a field still
unidentified by conventional science.[7]
Some scientists believe that the further development of quantum
physics may help guide us to understand this field that communicates
emotional intent between living things.[8] Quantum Entanglement
is a process where two particles of matter which have interacted with
each other, still behave as if they are connected after being separated
by many miles.
When an energetic change is made to the properties (position,
momentum and rotational spin) of one of the particles, the properties of
the other distant particle will change at the same instant.
This scientific phenomenon and the research of Cleve Backster, point
to the Eastern concept of oneness — the view that all of nature is
interdependent. Ancient cultures understood this interconnection as a
living universal energy field that sustains life while guiding the
evolution of consciousness throughout the universe.
The meditation techniques
involved in my practice bring the mind into attunement with this field.
Energy from this field is then focused into a physical healing event
through clear intention — delivered by means of a conversation that
evokes spontaneous emotions — and attunes the physical body to the
conscious mind.
This method which I call Antara (Sanskrit for within), enables one to
experience the raw creative healing ability generated by an alliance of
the mind and body with this living universal energy field.
