Impure Cell at Soundclick

Impure Cell mp3s available at Soundclick.

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Highest in 650,000 Years

World's seas rising twice as fast: study

AGENCIES , WASHINGTON AND PARIS
Saturday, Nov 26, 2005,Page 1

Sea levels around the world are rising twice as fast as they were 150 years ago because of human-induced global warming, US scientists say in a study released on Thursday.

Sea levels are now rising almost 2mm per year, compared to 1mm annually for the last several thousand years, a team of scientists at Rutgers University and other institutions said.

"The main thing that's changed since the 19th century and the beginning of modern observation has been the widespread increase in fossil-fuel use and more greenhouse gases," said Rutgers professor Kenneth Miller, who led the study. "Our record therefore provides a new and reliable baseline to use in addressing global warming."

The findings, based on drilling studies in New Jersey along the Atlantic Coast of the US, are published in the Nov. 25 issue of the weekly US journal Science.

The study claims that ocean levels 100 million years ago and earlier were 150m to 200m lower than previously thought. It also questions whether any of the Earth's warmer areas were ever fully ice-free.

In a separate study published in the same issue, European researchers found that today's atmospheric carbon dioxide is at the highest level in 650,000 years.

Levels of carbon dioxide, the principal gas that drives global warming, are now 27 percent higher than at any point in the last 650,000 years, according to research into Antarctic ice cores published on Thursday.

The evidence comes from the world's deepest ice core, drilled at a site called Dome Concordia (Dome C) in East Antarctica by European scientists who battled blizzards and an average year-round temperature of minus 54oC and made a 1,000km trek to bring up supplies.

The core, extracted using a 10cm-wide drill bit in 3m sections, brought up ice that was deposited by snows up to 650,000 years ago, as determined by estimated layers of annual snowfall.

Analysis of carbon dioxide trapped in tiny bubbles in the ancient ice showed that at no point during this time frame did levels get anywhere close to today's CO2 concentrations of around 380 parts per million.

Today's rising CO2 concentrations are 27 percent higher than at the highest level seen over the 650,000-year time scale, according to the study, which also appears in Science.

The Dome C core, extracted by the 10-country European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), outstrips by 210,000 years the previous record-holder, drilled at an Antarctic site called Vostok.

In the past five years, the average global temperature has risen by 0.2oC and this year is on course for being the hottest year on record.

From the Taipei Times

Uh...we're going to be a little late for work.

NDM EP-005 – Raygun - "Velosophy" EP

"The leading edge . . . To say the changes we face will be revolutionary, however, is not enough. Before we can control or channel them we need a fresh way to identify and analyze them. Without this we are hopelessly lost. One powerful new approach might be called social “wavefront” analysis. It looks at history as a succession of rolling waves of change and asks where the leading edge of each wave is carrying us. It focuses our attention not so much on the continuities of history (important as they are) as on the discontinuities – the innovations and breakpoints. It identifies key change patterns as they emerge, so that we can influence them."

-Alvin Toffler (from The Third Wave)

With this Night Drive Music – EP Jason Howell alias Raygun presents unbelievably deep and minimal tech house. Calmly and tenderly he caresses our soul with soft chords, enchanting melodies and flattering beats, to feel the emotions of these tracks with closed eyes. Absolutely great and unique warm tech house. While dancing please close your eyes. The effect is long-lasting.

A1 – Raygun - Whynumnabah 07:09 min

A2 – Raygun - Velosophy 06:14 min

B1 – Raygun - Sore Eyes 07:36 min

B1 – Raygun - PWR 06:10 min

All Tracks written and produced by Jason Howell / San Francisco / US / 2004-2005.

Lengtht: 0:27:09h
Tracks: 4
Available: 192kbpsmp3 / 320kbpsmp3 / wav / mp4 / fla
from Night Drive Music

www.djraygun.com

New music from Mexico and San Francisco. Scroll down, click on a link and download!

Downloads from the Pranayuga Network

Help keep music alive. Support the musicians!

The following was taken from http://www.calabashmusic.com/ ~

Panoptica is a member of the Nortec Collective (short for Norteno Techno).

Roberto Mendoza a.k.a. Panoptica, a founding member of Nortec Collective, steps forward with a new solo effort

Panoptica creates and performs a style of music called Nortec, a fusion of Norteno and Techno, describing the collision between the style and the culture of Electronic music and traditional Mexican music. Panoptica also delves into minimalist techno and dub influences on the new album.

The movie “Traffic” was shot in Roberto Mendoza’s hometown of Tijuana, Mexico. Even so, the violence of the international drug smuggling trade isn’t immediately apparent in the soothing melodic electronica he puts out under the guise of Panoptica. Instead, the antithesis of its dictionary definition, as Panoptica, Roberto takes things from outside and incorporates them back into his music. The result is a hybrid of European-influenced electronica and techno fused with Mexican "urban blues," the sounds he’s heard since childhood. The two cities of Tijuana and San Diego merge into one. Each day, hordes of American marines and underage kids cross into Mexico to party on tequila. Even the radio antennas for San Diego transmit from here. In his childhood, Mendoza was raised as much on a diet of New Wave as the local sound of Nortena and Banda.

In 1989 when he formed Artefakto with a couple of school friends, they were one of the first techno industrial bands in Mexico. Artefakto caused a big buzz in Mexico. In 1991, their first album reached number three in the charts, they came in first in many radio station polls, and in 1994 the German label Zoth Ommog put out their album ‘Des-construccion’. Ten years later, Artefakto had changed their musical direction and name to Fussible. Mendoza decided it was time to go it alone: "The other guys didn’t like German minimal techno as much as me," he said. So he left to become more experimental and bring a local Mexican flavor to his music.

Panoptica doesn’t stand alone. He’s one of the main movers and shakers of the Nortec Collective, which comprises five musicians (including his longtime collaborators Fussible and Bostich), several graphic artists, and one fashion designer. Together they’ve created a scene which is popular in the Tijuana underground clubs.

"People will say, ok, I’ve heard this sort of music before, but if they listen deep into it, there’s something unique going on which isn’t in European music,” said Mendoza. “It’s what makes the Mexican music scene different."

Tracks available for download at http://panoptica.calabashmusic.com/ and eMusic.

Found art. Check it out...scroll down and get tuned in!

Artist Unknown. Where are you? We'll give you credit!

pranayuga@gmail.com

Artist Unknown

This post is dedicated to DJ Faith. Thanks for bringing the light in!

New Release from DJ Raygun

Sen-Sei & Dub Theory - Q on the Turn Remixes
Jah Love Recordings
Release Date: 24 October 2005
Details: "Q on The Turn (Dub it Up Rework) - Dub Theory's Ivan-I teamed up with DJj Raygun (Jason Howell) for this track to represent San Francisco's underground dub house at it's best"
Purchase at: Juno Records , Zions Gate Records, Primal Records

www.djraygun.com

Up, Bustle and Out - Mexican Sessions

Download the new Up, Bustle and Out album!

Click to Enlarge
From pbs.org

What is Global Warming?

Simply put, human activities that create pollution are raising the Earth's temperature. Since 1980, we have experienced 19 of the 20 warmest years on record; all three of the hottest years ever recorded have taken place since 1998.

Ten Real Facts About Global Warming:

1. The Earth today is warming at a rate faster than in any time in the last 1,000 years.

2. Global warming has been particularly strong over the past 20 years.

3.. In the United States, electricity generation accounts for 33 percent of total global warming emissions, transportation activities for 27 percent, and industrial activities for 19 percent.

4. Temperatures are predicted to rise another 2.5 to 10.4 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century.

5. The sea level across the globe has climbed between four and 10 inches in the past century.

6. North Pole arctic sea ice has shrunk almost 40 percent in recent decades, attributable in part to global warming.

7.. If the West Antarctic ice sheet were to melt, sea levels could rise by another 16 to 30 feet, flooding coastal regions in places like Florida and Louisiana.

8. Droughts could become more frequent, putting central and western agricultural areas in the United States at risk.

9. El Nino events, which can lead to significant damage, could become more frequent and severe.

10. Tropical diseases could expand their range into areas further north, including the southern United States.

Effects of Global Warming

The impacts of gradual climate change are predicted to be serious and widespread more violent weather, shifting patterns of rainfall and drought, the spread of tropical diseases like malaria, and rapid increasing extinctions of plant and animal species.

The impacts of abrupt climate change would be even more frightening. Sharp temperature increases like we have seen in the last decade may cause the worlds climate systems to shift into a different state altogether. The melting of the Greenland ice sheet, for example, would cause a rise in sea levels measured in feet, not inches. Click here to learn more about abrupt climate change and its relationship to global warming. Browse through the links to More Resources below to learn more about the possible effects of global warming.


Causes of Global Warming

Naturally occurring carbon dioxide (CO2) surrounds the planet like a blanket, keeping in the sun’s heat and making life on earth possible. But by burning fossil fuels (oil, gas, and coal) we are pumping unnatural amounts of CO2 into the air, trapping heat in the atmosphere and altering its natural balance. Like an extra blanket on a summer night, this is causing the planet to overheat. In the past century, we’ve raised levels of heat-trapping pollution in our atmosphere by 30 percent.

The primary sources of this carbon dioxide pollution are power plants -- especially coal-fired ones -- and other industrial sources that burn gasoline, coal and other fossil fuels. In the U.S., power plants account for 36 percent of all CO2 emissions. Cars, sport-utility vehicles and other light trucks account for another 20 percent. Every year, one-fifth of humankind's annual emissions of carbon dioxide can be traced to the destructive logging of forests.

Although carbon dioxide produced by burning oil and coal is the primary culprit, a number of other chemicals produced by humans contribute to global warming, as well. They include: methane (agriculture and burning natural gas), ozone (car exhaust and power plants), water vapor (naturally occurring), nitrous oxide (fertilizer use) and chlorofluorocarbons (refrigerants and aerosol). Browse through the links to more resources below to learn more about the causes of global warming.

From earthtimes.org

Is This What Kirby Was Talking About?

circa 5000-3000 BCE : The earliest evidence of Amanita muscaria use as an intoxicant is based on linguistic analysis of languages from northern Asia. Around 4000 BCE, the Uralic language split into two branches, both of which contain similar root words for inebriation. In some of these languages the root "pang" signifies both 'intoxicated' and the A. muscaria mushroom. These linguistic similarities suggest (but do not prove) that A. muscaria was known to be intoxicating before the languages split around 4000 BCE.

Disclaimer: Pranayuga does not wish to promote the use of illegal intoxicants (especially the use of Amanita muscaria...we hear the trip is way too intense!) However, we believe that individuals have the right to altered states of consciousness and as long as no harm is brought to others, that responsible persons should be free to use substances that bring about these altered states of consciousness. Either way, we only brought the Amanita muscaria mushroom to your attention as a preface to the story below. So relax!

Wal-Mart Defends 'Happy Holidays' Approach

By MARCUS KABEL, AP Business Writer

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Thursday said it no longer employs a worker who wrote to a shopper that Christmas is a mix of world religions, but that the company does support the generic greeting, "Happy Holidays," as being more inclusive amid year-end celebrations by numerous faiths.

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights criticized the world's largest retailer and called for a boycott over Wal-Mart's approach to Christmas.

"We want a) an apology for insulting Christians by effectively banning Christmas and b) a withdrawal of its insane statement regarding the origins of Christmas and c) a revision on its website," Catholic League President Bill Donohue said on the group's Web site.

In an interview, Donohue dismissed Wal-Mart's statement that it was respecting multiple beliefs as "corporate arrogance."

"If Wal-Mart, which is the family-friendly institution, gets away with this, then all the other department stores will just fall into line," he told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The dispute erupted after a Wal-Mart worker responded to a woman who complained that the company was replacing "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays." The response described Christmas as a combination of world traditions from Siberian shamanism to Visigoth calendars.

The e-mail, which Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said was genuine, said Wal-Mart had to act as a global organization in a world with many different practices.

"The colors associated with Christmas red and white are actually a representation of the amanita muscaria mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses (sic), mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world," said the e-mail, from a customer service worker identified only as Kirby.

Fogleman said Thursday that Kirby no longer worked for the company.

"We at Wal-Mart believe this e-mail between a temporary associate and one of our valued customers was entirely inappropriate. Its contents in no way represent the policies, practices or views of our company. This associate, who was hired less than three weeks ago, is no longer employed by our company," Fogleman said in an e-mail to the AP.

"Wal-Mart is proud to welcome customers of all faiths, and celebrants of all holidays. We sincerely apologize to any person or organization that was offended by the inappropriate and inflammatory comments made by this former associate."

Fogleman said the e-mail had been taken out of context and that the stores, while encouraging employees to say "Happy Holidays," did so to include celebrations from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Eve as well as Christmas.

Go Kirby!

Artwork by Owen Martucci

Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park

Photo: Copyright 2005 K. Ponsford

We'd love to see you down here in Baja!
Click on the image to enlarge.

I'm not exactly sure what this photo has to do with Pranayuga, but I've posted it nonetheless. That's Jimmy Jungle (a.k.a. Mac Daddy) in the background. Get down to Baja and you might just get a glimpse of this wild individual.

Make sure to scroll down and check out Faith's latest posts. He's got the right idea. Pranayuga is many things, but it all comes back to the music. Email me with a list of what you're currently listening to these days and I'll post the results as soon as I get them. We're always on the prowl for new music, so send us your list!

pranayuga@gmail.com

La Cascada

This is Squirrel at a waterfall in Baja, Mexico. You can check it out when you visit us (hint, hint).

Pranayga Record Bag Update

This is a new slightly jazzy, head bouncing, mid tempo, scratchety scratch killer from Rex Riddem. I found it last night at this excellent record store down the street from University of Hawaii. The "Riddem Mix" is the one that stands out. Click on the title of this post to listen to a sample. If you can't bounce to this, you need a hug....enjoy!

More from the Pranayuga Record Bag

New Thievery Corporation feat. Perry Farrell from Janes Addiction. Beautiful mid-tempo groove in the usual Thievery Corporation formula. Can't go wrong with the album version...more excellent beats from these two geniuses. Click on the title of this post for a sample at Juno Records UK. Believe, you now own this record...hope you like it.