Kurashi - News From Japan

...watch for that bright planet next to the Moon, that's Jupiter. With binoculars, your can see at least four of Jupiter's moons. Ancient Babylonian astronomers used calculus to find Jupiter 1,400 years before Europeans ABC Science By Stuart Gary Updated 29 Jan 2016 Ancient Babylonians Tracked Jupiter With Calculus Jan 29, 2016 The earliest known examples of mathematical and geometric astronomy have been identified in a series of ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablets. An analysis of the tablets, reported in the journal Science, reveals ancient Babylonians were able to calculate the position of Jupiter using geometric techniques previously believed to have been first used some 1,400 years later in 14th century Europe. “These texts are the earliest evidence we have from antiquity of mathematical astronomy,” said the study’s author Dr Mathieu Os...

I get my clay from Shiga Prefecture and this article explains the unique features concerning the water in Harie, near Lake Biwa. Mainichi: Shiga: Land of Water The Harie district in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, reminds one of good old Japan, with traditional tiled-roof houses lining the streets. Located roughly 1.5 kilometers from Lake Biwa in the northwest part of the prefecture, it is a place full of natural beauty, with fish swimming in numerous canals and streams that transect the district. For some 300 years, residents have fostered a unique water culture that centers around "kabata" -- a water supply system that utilizes the region's abundant underground water. The water originates in the Hira Mountains in western Shiga Prefecture. At each household in Harie, pipes are sunk about 10 to 20 meters into the ground to obtain the underground water. This spring water -- which the people of Harie refer to as "shozu," or living water --...

Gustav Mahler Symphony No 2 C minor Resurrection Symphony Auferstehungssinfonie Seiji Ozawa conducts New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra in Nagasaki Peace concert グスタフ·マーラー交響曲2番ハ短調復活小澤征爾は、長崎平和コンサートの新ジャパン ­·フィルハーモニー管弦楽団を行っています 1.Allegro maestoso. Mit durchaus ernstem und feierlichem Ausdruck (With complete gravity and solemnity of expression)  0:00 2.Andante moderato. Sehr gemächlich. Nie eilen. (Very leisurely. Never rush.)  23:43 3.In ruhig fließender Bewegung (With quietly flowing movement) 36:00 4.Urlicht (Primeval Light). Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht (Very solemn, but simple)  47:03 5.Im Tempo des Scherzos (In the tempo of the scherzo)  52:25 6.Langsam, Misterioso  1:09:49

And how does pottery help reveal these things? Watch until around 19 min.  Since the 1970s, the magnetic north pole has moved more than 1500 km at a rate of 10 kilometres a year. In the 1980s, this increased to 30 km a year. Today, the Pole travels 50, even 60 km - close to 150 metres a day. Scientists don't quite know why its speed has increased these past 20 years. The magnetic pole is moving northwest of the geographic pole and may soon be across the Arctic Ocean in Siberia. To find their bearings, sailors the world over must know the exact angle of difference between the two geographic and the magnetic north poles: the 'magnetic declination.' The magnetic pole moves from the North to the South and vice versa every 250,000 years on average and does it very suddenly. Over 180 reversals have been recorded already.

http://reports.yesmagazine.org/unsurrendered/ Do read, and cry. We call it gråta in Swedish, to cry. I like how languages try to create the emotion using the (probably ancient sanskrit) cr or gr sound, but in Japanese it is just "naku" which isn't very strong. I bet there is another word for really heartfelt tears, though. To just totally wonder what on earth some humans are on earth for, if just to inflict pain and suffering, for profit, while others try to recover that inherent beauty of old forests and pure streams and a living that does not harm other humans. You could argue that hunting and fishing also will cause karmic relationships that are not so good for those who kill, but these are northern lands. Difficult to survive there without it. Impressive that these people never gave Canada the right to take their lands away. Now, oil companies want to export the bitumen to China... How long will that last? These people have been there for ages. Maybe they even...

This is a topic I happen to care a lot about, especially after the US lost a case with the WTO, ruling that its COOL legislation went against its NAFTA obligations with Canada and Mexico.  The EU has the same rules, so how WTO could ignore the global attempts to provide consumers with this kind of information is mind-boggling. These WTO rules are called "Technical Barriers to Trade" (TBT) meaning they are not sanitary rules, which involve all kinds of barriers countries may wish to put up to stay unhealthy food out. And, yup, note that processing companies (meaning they import a lot or all of their ingredients, or even entire packaged foods) are not happy with this. From JA Agri-News : Consumer Affairs Agency and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries jointly set up a panel to consider how to expand a list of processed food items to be covered by the mandatory labelling system of origin of ingredient. At the first meeting of the panel held on Jan. 29, peopl...

This is huge news today, state-owned ChemChina pays some 43 Billion $$$ for Swiss agrochemical biotech giant Syngenta. Syngenta was approched by US Monsanto last year who offered even more, but for antitrust reasons, that might not have been a good match, so Syngenta turned them down. Last year, Dow and DuPont also agreed to merge, creating another giant. What it reveals is that the main players in the US/European chemical/GMO sector are having major difficulties. Incidentally, last year I did a study of Syngenta for Consumers Union of Japan and the No! GMO Campaign. I may have to revisit that and publish it in English as well. ETC Group is the NGO that has followed these companies closely for a long time. They are very critical of the concentration of power that is emerging. The Big Six agrochemical corporations (BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, Syngenta) that dominate commercial seed and pesticide markets worldwide now insist they must get bigger, faster if the world ...