Vera Rubin, pioneering astronomer, dies at 88

BBC, 26 December 2016

Rubin discovered that the stars at the edges of galaxies moved faster
than expected

Astronomer Vera Rubin, whose pioneering work on galaxy rotation rates led to the theory of dark matter, has died at the age of 88, her son says.

Allan Rubin said she died on Sunday of natural causes, AP reported. She was living in Princeton, New Jersey.

Her studies earned her numerous honours, including being the second female astronomer to be elected to the US National Academy of Sciences.

But many questioned why she was never awarded a Nobel Prize.

In 1974, Rubin discovered that the stars at the edges of galaxies moved faster than expected.

Gravity calculations using only visible matter in galaxies showed that the outer stars should have been moving more slowly.

To reconcile her observations with the law of gravity, scientists proposed there was matter we cannot see and called it dark matter.

Dark matter is an unidentified type of matter comprising approximately 27% of the mass and energy in the observable universe.

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Amsterdam professor develops new theory of gravity

“A Plea to Scientists”, Lemurian Starseed Gathering,October 11, 2020 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll (With reference to Vera Rubin) - New

"Relationship between the Parts", Seattle, Wsahington (3), Dec 9-10, 2017 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (With reference to Vera Rubin)


"The Biggest Filter" - July 18-19, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“..  Physics - Sticking To The Known

Physicists are among the kinds of scientists who expect change through discovery, and who absolutely know that they are unaware of how everything works. It comes with the territory of being a physicist. Yet the mistakes they make in their bias are the same as the computer scientist. They take their truth from known absolute physics in 3D and then apply this truth to everything they don't know.

I point to the revelation and the discoveries of astronomer Vera Rubin. When she found out that stars that orbit the middle of your galaxy don't behave within the gravitational laws of Newton or the laws of planetary motion from Kepler, it was a major discovery. Your solar system moves around the sun in highly definable 3D laws of motion. The objects that are further away from the sun go slower. The ones closer to the sun go faster. However, her discovery showed that stars orbiting the galaxy had this reversed! The stars that are further away from the middle go faster. What she discovered was that all of the stars go the same speed in relationship to the middle, like they were pasted on a plate, all revolving together around the center. They do not follow the rules of the physics that you know.

So, what did the physicists and astronomers do with this major new information? Instead of seeing a brand new paradigm, they instead used Newton's laws and computed what would have to be "out there" to make this happen. Dark matter! It had to be mysterious, invisible matter that was creating this very strange and enormous new Newtonian attribute. Instead of looking at this and saying, "There is a new law of physics happening here that we don't yet know about," they kept it within the Newton box and renamed it, "Altered Newtonian Physics". That's funny! That's like a situation when you discovered the earth was round and called it the "Altered Flat-Earth Principle"!

Newton's name is still attached, but his 3D laws have nothing to do with anything Ruben discovered. Dark matter does not exist! It's a made-up energy to satisfy an old law that doesn't apply! Instead, there is a new law of physics that you haven't seen yet. It's a multidimensional law having to do with modified entanglement. Modified entangled objects are created because of what is in the middle of the galaxy. The immense push-pull twin energy at the middle of each galaxy is not simplistic like your sun is to your own solar system. It does not have Kepler rules, since it's not mass that's just orbiting naturally. Yet, you think it is, since it looks similar: The galaxy has stars circling it in space. Someday, you'll slap your heads in revelation of what you did with this, and you will change the rules.

Now to esoteric astronomy: Look what you've done with the idea that you came from the Pleiadians. There are some scientists laughing right now who smugly say that the mythology of the Pleiadians being your seed biology is simply not possible. It's not possible because of astronomical history, and what they now know about the constellation itself.

Pleiadian Connection - Mythology?

Let's talk about the Pleiadian system, the Seven Sisters. Let's talk about the truth of it, and then let's discuss what science says is the mythology of it. We will tell you what you don't see and don't comprehend, simply because of your existing knowledge.

You call this constellation the Seven Sisters [M45]. The physical facts are that there are hundreds of stars in this Pleiades group. Circling these stars is a nebula (dust particles and gas). This creates a wonderful blue tinge that you can see in the heavens on a clear night. With distance and atmospheric attributes against you, the naked eye can only perceive what appears to be seven stars (or clusters), hence the name Seven Sisters. However, there are actually nine when you use a telescope. Each of the nine have been identified with names, but again, there are actually hundreds of stars.

The Seven Sisters are approximately 440 light years away. From the viewpoint of astronomy and distances, that's close - very close! Now, here's what science says is wrong with your mythology about the Pleiadians: The constellation is way too young! The whole system of the Pleiades is far too young to have developed life. It's only approximately 100 million years old - a baby! The galaxy is four billion years old [according to your science] and your planet is at least a billion of that. Yet, the Pleiadians are only a tiny fraction of that, only 100 million.

So here is what science says: The mythology has most of the ancients of this planet claiming the Pleiadians as their seeds. However, this is impossible due to the age of the stars. The suppositions and logic are applied this way: What you saw on earth happens everywhere in the galaxy. That's incorrect, and quite humorous! Your bias is that life develops only a certain way, based upon the way it developed here. Not only is that incorrect in general, but the possibility has never even been broached that perhaps, just perhaps, the Pleiadian life as you think it exists was actually implanted there! How about that? Perhaps it didn't evolve from there at all! So to dismiss a possibility completely due to only the knowledge of what you have here may result in a totally illogical conclusion. Then there is the question, "How did those Pleiadians get so advanced so quickly?" [Wink]

These are just little vignettes of possibility, which I throw to you this evening to give you things to think about. The Pleiadians who are here are smiling, and they know you so well. You may be the new kids on the block because life just developed on your planet, but the Pleiadians had an entirely different scenario from what you had. To become an ascended planet, they needed certain kinds of pushes from certain other kinds of planets. They had their own seed biology! Dear ones, it's important to start thinking out of the box of your knowledge and open up to possibilities that are not what you've seen here.  ….”

"FUTURE AND PHYSICS (#)" - May 16-17, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (#) New major Discoveries (This channel will become a historical channel in the future, prove that Kryon is a real communication from the Creative Source/God to Humanity - 'Óur Family') - (Text version Physics)

1 To see and measure multi-dimensional/quantum physics, instrument (super-cooling quantum plasma lens)

2 Two more laws of multi-dimensional physics revealed: explanation of dark matter & acknowledgement of free energy (controlling mass)

3 God in the atom. God has - provable - part in physics. Intelligent/benevolent design. (Will bring religion and science together.)

4 Human Consciousness is an attribute of physics. (Pleiadians - Humans ancestors / Humans free choice only planet in the Milky Way Galaxy. Other galaxies have their own spiritual systems and physics)

5.Coherent DNA. Multidimensional DNA coherent between dimensions will give Enhanced DNA

"Earth, the only planet with free choice in the Milky Way Galaxy"

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

"Recalibration of the Universe"– Jan 25, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text Version)

“… The entire galaxy revolves as one plate, in a very counter-intuitive way. The stars and the constellations do not orbit within the rules of Newtonian physics that you are used to seeing all around you in your own solar system. For the stars and clusters in your galaxy, distance from the center does not matter. All the stars rotate as one. This is because the galaxy is entangled with the middle of itself. In that state, there is no time or distance. The change of consciousness on this planet has changed the center of the galaxy. This is because what happens here, dear one, is "known" by the center.

It's interesting to us what your reaction to all this is scientifically. You saw that the "creative event" of your Universe is missing some energy in order for it to have formed as it did. In addition, the unusual way the galaxy rotates, as I just stated, was also noted. So you have calculated that for all this to be in place, there has to be missing 3D matter, and you have given it a name - dark matter. How funny! Did you ever think that there could be a multidimensional effect going on that you now can observe and calculate - that has immense power, but can't be seen? It's not "matter" at all and it's not 3D. It's quantum energy.

Let me tell you something about physics. Yet again, I'll make it simple. Everything your scientists have seen in physics happens in pairs. At the moment, there are four laws of physics in your three-dimensional paradigm. They represent two pairs of energy types. Eventually, there will be six. At the center of your galaxy is what you call a black hole, but it is not a single thing. It is a duality. There is no such thing as "singularity". You might say it's one energy with two parts - a weak and a strong quantum force. And the strangest thing is it knows who you are. It is the creator engine. It's different in other galaxies than this one. It's unique.

The very physics of your galaxy is postured by what you do here. The astronomers can look into the cosmos and they will discover different physics in different galaxies. Could it be that there's something going on in the other galaxies like this one? I'm not going to answer that. … “

"The Physics of Consciousness - The Future Revealed" - June 29, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

Road paved with solar panels powers French town

Yahoo – AFP, Chloé Coupeau,  December 22, 2016

Segolene Royal and other officials walk on a solar panel road at its
inauguration in Tourouvre, on December 22, 2016 (AFP Photo/Carly Triballeau)

Tourouvre (France) (AFP) - France on Thursday inaugurated the world's first "solar highway", a road paved with solar panels providing enough energy to power the street lights of the small Normandy town of Tourouvre.

The one-kilometre (half-mile) "Wattway" covered with 2,800 square metres (30,000 square feet) of resin-coated solar panels was hooked up to the local power grid as Environment Minister Segolene Royal looked on.

"This new use of solar energy takes advantage of large swathes of road infrastructure already in use... to produce electricity without taking up new real estate," Royal said in a statement.

The minister announced a four-year "plan for the national deployment of solar highways" with initial projects in western Brittany and southern Marseille.

An average of 2,000 cars use the road in Tourouvre each day, testing the resistance of the panels for the project carried out by French civil engineering firm Colas, a subsidiary of construction giant Bouygues.

The idea, which is also under exploration in Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, is that roadways are occupied by cars only around 20 percent of the time, providing vast expanses of surface to soak up the sun's rays.

Colas says that in theory France could become energy independent by paving only a quarter of its million kilometres of roads with solar panels.

The world's first solar road (AFP Photo/Simon MALFATTO, Sophie RAMIS)

Sceptics are waiting to see whether the panels can withstand the ravages of time and weather, as well as the beating they will take from big trucks.

Solar panels installed on a 70-metre stretch of a cycling lane north of Amsterdam experienced some damage last winter but the problem has been resolved, the project's company TNO said.

The Wattway project, which has received a state subsidy of five million euros (dollars), began with four pilot sites around France, in parking lots or in front of public buildings, on much smaller surfaces of between 50 and 100 square metres each.

One drawback of the system is that solar panels are more effective when angled towards the sun, typically on slanted rooftops, than when they are laid flat.

And the cost question is far from being resolved. Each kilowatt-peak -- the unit of measure for solar energy -- generated by Wattway currently costs 17 euros, compared with 1.30 euros for a major rooftop installation.

But Colas hopes to make the cost competitive by 2020, noting that the cost of producing solar energy decreased by 60 percent between 2009 and 2015 according to a French renewable energy association, SER.

Related Article:

World's first solar cycle lane opening in the Netherlands

SolaRoad in Krommenie, the Netherlands, will be the world’s first cycle path

with embedded solar panels. Photograph: SolaRoad

Antarctica more vulnerable to warming than thought: study

Yahoo – AFP, Marlowe Hood, December 12, 2016

The main vulnerability of ice shelves to climate change remains warming
ocean water that erodes their underbelly (AFP Photo/RYAN DOLAN)

Paris (AFP) - East Antarctica’s massive ice sheet may be more exposed to global warming than long assumed, according to a study Monday that shows how strong winds can erode ice shelves that help hold it in place.

There is enough frozen water sitting on top of the world's polar continent to raise sea level by dozens of metres and redraw the world map if it melts.

But understanding the dynamics of the region -- which includes the much smaller West Antarctica ice sheet -- has proven difficult.

Up to now, scientists have focused on the threat of West Antarctica.

Recent studies have suggested that climate change may already have condemned large chunks of its ice sheet to disintegration, whether on a time scale of centuries or millennia.

In contrast, ice covering East Antarctica was seen as far more stable, even gaining mass.

The floating, cliff-like ice shelves straddling land and ocean that prevent inland ice from slipping into the sea, it was thought, were solidly anchored.

That remains largely true. But a mysterious crater on the King Baudoin ice shelf, due south from the tip of Africa, prompted a team of researchers from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany to challenge that assumption.

"Our research has shown that East Antarctica is also vulnerable to climate change," said Jan Lenaerts, lead author of the study and a researcher at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Some reports had attributed the crater to a meteorite impact, but when Lenaerts and his team arrived in January they realised the water-filled cavity had other origins.

Combining climate models, satellite data and on-site measurements, they concluded that strong winds carrying warm air were blowing away reflective snow, allowing the Sun's rays to be absorbed into the darker ice rather than bounced back into space.

Dress rehearsal

The main vulnerability of ice shelves to climate change remains warming ocean water that erodes their underbelly.

Normally, that erosion is compensated by the accumulation of fresh snow and ice from above.

But oceans in recent decades have absorbed much of the excess heat generated by global warming, which has lifted average global air temperatures by one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

When combined with erosion from above, the impact on ice sheet stability may be larger than previously understood.

"These processes -- previously unseen in East Antarctica -- indicate that further warming may amplify the risk of ice shelf collapse," said Martin Siegert of Imperial College London, commenting on the study.

A dress rehearsal of what might happen more broadly occurred in 2002, when West Antarctica's Larsen B ice shelf underwent a "rapid and catastrophic mechanical failure," falling into the sea, he noted.

There, too, meltwater had collected on the surface in hundreds of lakes, and when they quickly drained the buoyancy caused the shelf to rupture.

"Larsen B tells us that surface melting can be critical to the structural integrity of ice shelves," Siegert wrote in a commentary, also in Nature Climate Change.

Related Articles:

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"Around the Horn" - (a message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

“… Now, in the process of all of this, there's going to be renewed interest in Antarctica, and you're going to find some interesting things about the land under the ice. The topography of the land under the ice does not match the topography of the ice above. Some astonishing shapes will be revealed when you map the actual land under the ice. Points of mountains are going to be revealed, giving an entire different idea of what Antarctica might have been and what its purpose really is. The continent that is uninhabitable by Human Beings may very well be the engine of life for Human Beings. And I will leave it at that. …”

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

British Columbia salmon return one of largest seen in region (Sep 2013)

Pink salmon, shown in a file photograph, 

have a lifespan of two years

"Effect of the New Energy on DNA" + "One Foot in Each Energy" (3) - Aug 1-2, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

"... The Role of the Sun

As you move into this new energy, or what some have even called "radiation", you should know how it works, for it's very related to your Sun. Physically, it affects the magnetic field of the Sun (the heliosphere), which then in turn is blasted to your own magnetic field via the solar wind. That's the physics of it, but dear one, let me give you the esoterics of it. This has been the plan all along, that if you made it as a Human race past the 2012 marker, you would pass into this area of space and the magnetics would shift, allowing Human consciousness to change. Dear ones, this was always here waiting for you to pass the marker! This is why I came 26 years ago and told you the magnetics would shift. This is an evolutionary energy that is going to affect your Sun - the heliosphere of your Sun - which then will pass to the magnetic field of the earth, a field that has now been repostured for this new consciousness.

Oh, there are those intellectuals who would say, "Well, what if we had destroyed ourselves as the prophecies said we would? What if there were no Humans to receive this?" It's simple. No Humans would have been here, but the planet would have still moved into this new area of space and the same energies would have been there, but you would not have been. Simple. But indeed, here you are!

So now you can see that the prophecy from the indigenous is also being fulfilled, for they told you about the changes coming after the precession of the equinoxes (December 2012). How could they have had this prophecy about your movement into a new place around your galaxy? Think about it! These things are not new, and even the ancients told you it was coming! They may not have known the specifics of science, but their prophecy is the same one I have: New consciousness is coming.

Dear ones, I want you to continue to put together these pieces physically in what you can see. As we told you, these changes affect your Sun. The heliosphere of your Sun changes you magnetic grid. Now, for this all to work, the Sun had to be quiet for this. I want you to ask an astronomer about the Sun and the cycles of the Sun. Ask about what period of radiance the Sun is in at the moment. The astronomer will tell you that it appears to be one of the quietest cycles that the Sun has ever seen. Solar flares and sunspots are disturbances in the multidimensional field that surrounds the Sun, so these had to be gone while the new energies were starting to be implemented. For this all to work, the Sun had to be as quiet as possible, and it is. The Sun's quiet time is also affecting your weather, and we told you that, too. Due to its quietness, you're in a cycle of weather that we also predicted [a cold time coming] that also has a lot to do with the energy that's coming. That's physical. Ask an astronomer, “Are they worried about all this?” Some of them are and others are not. But it is affecting you and the planet right now. Now you know why the magnetic grid was changed when it was changed and why. That's physical. .."

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

New Mini Ice Age

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

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

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

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

New Dutch offshore wind farm project requires much lower subsidies: minister

DutchNews, December 13, 2016

An offshore wind farm. Photo:

Depositphotos.com

 A second large offshore wind farm off the coast of Zeeland province will come in at a far lower cost to the government than originally thought, ANP news agency reported on Tuesday. 

Only €300m in subsidies will be required for the project, down from the €5bn originally projected, economic affairs minister Henk Kamp said on Monday evening. 

A consortium of mainly Dutch companies headed by energy giant Shell and including offshore contractor Van Oord, energy provider Eneco and DGE, a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi industrial group, have won the contract to build the wind farm. 

The government’s plans call for a total of five new offshore wind farms in Dutch coastal waters. Each will generate 700 megawatts of electricity: the five windfarms combined will be capable of supplying power to five million households when completed in 2023. 

Fossil fuels

Announcing the agreement, Kamp said it is only a question of time before wind energy will be able to compete with fossil fuels in price.  ‘If developments go as planned no subsidy at all will be required to produce offshore wind energy within 7.5 years,’ he explained. 

Environmental group Natuur en Milieu said the costs of generating energy offshore could only fall, and termed the project an ‘enormous boost for the Netherlands as front runner in wind energy. ‘For the first time, wind energy will be cheaper than power generated by coal.’ 

The Zeeland offshore windfarm project is part of the government’s goal to generate 4,500 MW of wind energy at sea by 2023. The government aims to have 16% of its energy needs produced by sustainable means by that date.

Dutch MPs want a stop to billion euro biomass power station subsidies

DutchNews, December 8, 2016

Photo: Depositphotos.com

 A majority of MPs have called on the government to immediately stop paying billions of euros to energy companies to encourage them to use more environmentally-friendly biomass. 

They want economic affairs minister Henk Kamp to stop accepting any more requests for subsidies under rules to stimulate greener energy production. 

Earlier this week, the Financieele Dagblad said coal-fired electricity plants in the Netherlands are set to receive an estimated €2bn to €2.5bn in state subsidies to stimulate the use of biomass. 

MPs say it is unclear what the money is being spent on and point to the rising cost of biomass, compared with the drop in the cost of solar and wind energy. The origin of biomass, mainly from woods in Europe and North America, is also controversial. 

‘Trees are being chopped down in Canada, shipped by boat to the Netherlands, turned into wood chips and burned in power stations. This subsidy must stop,’ said Labour MP Jan Vos. 

The motion to end subsidies was not supported by the ruling VVD or the Christian Democrats. The CDA says it is concerned that targets for reducing CO2 emissions will not be met without the use of biomass to replace coal, a point which minister Kamp reiterated later to news agency ANP.

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No coal will be burnt at Eemshaven power station

Climate change is a catalyst for war: Dutch armed forces chief

DutchNews, December 6, 2016

Photo: Defensie.nl 

Climate change is an important catalyst for war, terrorism and major migration patterns, Dutch armed forces chief Tom Middendorp has told a conference in The Hague. 

‘Climate change is not something which can be ignored,’ Middendorp is quoted as saying by the AD. 

The army chief said he became interested in the impact of climate change after serving in Afghanistan and realised that water distribution was a key issue in the region. Once that had been settled, peace returned because the Taliban could no longer exploit divisions between the various villages, he said.

‘If you realise that water plays a major role in the dynamics between villages, you can focus attention on it,’ he said. ‘The conflicts we have been involved in forced us to look for other causes.’ 

Failed harvests, caused by extreme drought, are also an important source of popular discontent and helped propel Syria into civil war, Middendorp says.

‘Many farmers moved to the cities with their families and ended up in poor outlying districts. That is where the conflict began,’ he said. ‘I know there is no easy cause to pinpoint, but many studies show climate change did make a contribution.’

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Alfredo Zolezzi: how a plasma water purifying system is saving lives

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet. 

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

US authorities to re-route controversial North Dakota pipeline

Yahoo – AFP, Jim Watson, December 5, 2016

US military veterans joined protests against a controversial planned oil pipeline that
have led the Army Corps of Engineers to rethink the route (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Cannon Ball (United States) (AFP) - The US Army Corps of Engineers nixed plans for a controversial oil pipeline crossing in North Dakota, a major victory for Native Americans and environmentalists who had staged months of protests.

The pipeline had been set to cross under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe, which are drinking water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

"It's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement.

"The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."

The Standing Rock Sioux objected to building the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline underneath the river and lake because of fears of possible leaks. The tribe also said the route would cross through areas with sacred historic artifacts.

The conflict between the tribe and pipeline operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped in the thousands near the construction site for months in an effort to block it.

'Do the right thing'

Some 2,000 US military veterans joined the protest this week in a symbolically important move before a deadline for demonstrators to vacate the area on Monday.

"We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing," Standing Rock Sioux chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement.

"We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples."

Map charting the route of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline

(AFP Photo/AFP)

Pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, a group representing the pipeline operators, the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, condemned the decision, blaming it on President Barack Obama.

"This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left."

Violent standoff

The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country.

It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit saying it was railroaded by the pipeline's developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving construction under the river, but a federal judge denied its request to halt construction in September.

However, the government suspended the pipeline construction project last month, saying more analysis and debate were needed.

Energy Transfer Partners and its co-operator Sunoco Logistics Partners struck back, asking a court to stop regulators from further delaying the project.

The standoff turned violent at times, including last month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon, soaking the crowd in subfreezing temperatures.

Protest organizers said 167 people were hurt, including three Native American tribal elders, and that seven people were hospitalized for severe head injuries.

Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock

 Sioux Reservation outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota, after hearing that the Army

 Corps of Engineers has denied the current route for the Dakota Access pipeline

(AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Nationwide protests

The standoff has prompted sympathetic protests nationwide, with celebrities, politicians and environmental activists joining the cause.

News of the Army's decision prompted celebration and relief among those who opposed the pipeline route.

"Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard," Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted. "The Standing Rock Sioux & indigenous communities remind us of power of individuals to stand up to demand environmental justice."

Among the project's supporters, North Dakota's Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had ordered the protesters to evacuate on Monday, called the decision a "serious mistake."

He was joined by the state's sole member in the House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer, who said in a statement, "I’m encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a president who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law."

But Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders praised Sunday's decision, saying, "I appreciate very much President Obama listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built."

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was

disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

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ING, ABN Amro urged to pull out of controversial US pipeline project

US seeks halt to work on pipeline opposed by Native Americans

US judge won't halt pipeline opposed by Native Americans

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Canada approves tripling capacity of Trans Mountain pipeline to Pacific pic.twitter.com/MF6eOdTBV1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 30, 2016