The culture was already in a state of decline. I find this text by Jared Diamond on the topic very interesting.

I suspect, though, that the disaster happened not with a bang but with a whimper. After all, there are those hundreds of abandoned statues to consider. The forest the islanders depended on for rollers and rope didn’t simply disappear one day-it vanished slowly, over decades. Perhaps war interrupted the moving teams; perhaps by the time the carvers had finished their work, the last rope snapped. In the meantime, any islander who tried to warn about the dangers of progressive deforestation would have been overridden by vested interests of carvers, bureaucrats, and chiefs, whose jobs depended on continued deforestation.

Here’s the full text: Jared Diamond, Easter Island’s End

Expedition across The South Pacific from Chile to Tahiti To Study The Effects of Plastic Micro-Pollutants on Plankton

Vote for The Most Evil Corporation in 2010

2005 and 2010 Tie for Hottest Summer on Record

artefact of extinct culture and people: Easter Island Long Ear Statue

In this video Jared Diamond is talking about the collapsing of societies. He shortly mentions new facts to account for the happenings to the Easter Island people and more recently the Salomon Islanders. I find this stuff highly interesting, what about you?

https://www.ted.com/talks/jared_diamond_on_why_societies_collapse

More on easter island by Jared Dianmond.

A very quick and simple test to see what the practise of BP did to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Update:

According to this journalist the spraying of corexit ist still continuing at this point (video uploaded September 17th 2010). He also reports on the consequences for the area residents.

In case you are not aware, what goes into the foodchain stays in the foodchain. There is no other place to go.

Update:
Also from the TED Talks comes the next video, chronologically, that explains how parts of the oceans could be restored by reserves.

video link

quote form the campaign site:

Fair Play for Creators is an online forum set up by PRS for Music so that creators everywhere can publicly demonstrate their concern over the way their work is treated by online businesses.

Fair Play for Creators was established after Internet-giant, Google, made the decision to remove some music content from YouTube.

Google’s decision was made because it didn’t want to pay the going rate for music, to the creators of that music, when it’s used on YouTube.

Music creators rely on receiving royalties whenever and wherever their work is used. Royalties are vital in nurturing creative music talent. They make sure music creators are rewarded for their creativity in the same way any other person would be in their work.

Fair Play for Creators believes that fans should have access to the music they love, and that the work of music creators should be paid for by the online businesses who benefit from its use.

If you’re not happy for us to use your comments on this site, please uncheck the first box underneath the comments box.

Let’s help the creators keep on creating.

Other than the turbine, Anaconda has no moving parts and unlike other wave power devices it needs only one tether to the ocean floor. That lowers construction costs and reduces the need for maintenance – an expensive undertaking in offshore settings where corrosion and accessibility are problems, explains Rainey.

via BoingBoing

“Sea ‘snake’ generates electricity with every wave”

Only $10 could win you a balsawood Malibu shape or shortboard. Well spent money, helping with the Australian bushfires. Quote from Riley Surfboards Facebook page:

Riley Balsawood Surfboards teams up with the ASP and United Links to raise funds for Victoria fire victims
Sydney, Australia – February 13, 2009

The victims of the deadly bushfires in Australia need assistance and support as soon as possible. Therefore Riley Balsawood Surfboards has teamed up with the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) and United Links to lend their support and raise funds for the victims of the Victoria bushfires.
Funds will be raised by holding a raffle where the first prize is an Australian made Riley balsawood surfboard signed by the 2009 top 44 WCT surfers and past surfing world champions (this is an inestimable prize). Further prizes include Australian made, 100% organic cotton t-shirts and shaping DVD’s. All proceeds of the raffle will go directly to the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Fund which was launched by the Red Cross in partnership with premier John Brumby and the federal government of Victoria. The fund assists the individuals and communities affected by the horrendous fires.
Raffle tickets can be purchased on www.balsasurfboardsriley.com for $10 each. Additionally, for every Riley organic t-shirt sold until March 26th $10 are donated to the fund and the customer automatically enters the raffle. The raffle drawing will be held on 26.03.09 at 12 pm and the winner will be contacted via email and phone and will be announced on the website. The prizes will be sent anywhere around the world courtesy of United Links.

Now that I have a nice reliable internet/computer again I will wish my readers a healthy and happy new year 2009.
I know it’s going to be super. Trust me.