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Welcome

2012-12-21T12:30:00.029Z

Funny Pictures

2011-11-17T10:00:00.006Z

Food For Thought

2010-04-13T11:34:00.035+01:00

A selection of quotes that I like. Feel free to add your own in the "Comments" below:

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.
~ Master Yoda

It is the mark of an educated man to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.
~ Aristotle

The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.
~ Ezekiel 25:17

If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence that you tried.
~ David Brent

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Be who you are and say what you feel; Because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter won't mind.
~ Bernard Baruch

gutta cavat lapidem, non vi, sed saepe cadendo: The drop hollows out the stone by frequent dropping, not by force; constant persistence gains the end.
~ Ovid

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter
~ Dr Martin Luther King Jr

A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure
~ Lee Segall

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow
~ Aesop

Why Did Dinosaurs Exist & How?

2008-12-30T23:00:00.003Z

Deus ex machina

Meganeura is the largest know flying insect, ever to have lived on Earth. It bares close resemblance to the modern day dragonfly, but with a massive wingspan of 2 ½ feet.

Though it lived in the carboniferous era between 350 to 280 million years ago, experts in the field today are still in a quandary as to how this creature could have even existed, let alone fly with wings and dynamics that size. French scientists Harlé and Harlé stated in 1911 that it would be physically impossible for such a creature to exist given what we know of today’s gravity and atmosphere.

Fossils of gigantic prehistoric dinosaurs have fascinated mankind for many years, and the debate over how these titans of the land and sea became extinct still exists today. But few if any, question ‘why’ or ‘how’ these creatures ever existed in the first place.

Admittedly, this is largely due to that fact, that fossils prove they existed, and that little further questioning is required. However, why then is it that no colossal beasts, like those from millions of years ago, exist today? And not just animals, but plants, trees and vegetation, which in prehistoric times were as gargantuan as the creatures inhabiting the Earth now seem diminutive in comparison with those of modern day.

So why has everything become so small, and how did such huge creatures and plant life ever exist all that time ago?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let's examine some of the more popular theories as to ‘why’ dinosaurs became extinct.

Meteorite, Or Something Else?

2008-12-29T22:59:00.003Z

Probably the most popular theory is that a massive meteorite, estimated to be about 6 miles wide, crashed into the Earth with disastrous effect. The impact crater from a meteorite of this magnitude would be about 110 miles in diameter, and the debris from such an immense explosion would have blown up into the atmosphere, dramatically changing the climate and ecology of planet Earth. This in turn forced the mass extinction of over 75% of all living things including plant life, and a total extinction of those huge creatures we call Dinosaurs.

The theory of an asteroid disaster is best supported by a discovery made in the late 1970’s by Dr Luis Alvarez’s, who’s team of scientists discovered a thin white powdery layer in rock samples that date back 65 million years. This thin layer is believed by many to have been formed by the fallout of debris from the meteor explosion. Since its initial discovery, similar samples have been found all around the world to support this theory.

This thin layer of sediment is commonly referred to as the ‘KT boundary’ because it separates the Cretaceous Period from the Tertiary Period, however we will examine this defining statement in more detail later.

Interestingly enough, this rock layer also contains high elements of iridium, a compound more commonly found in asteroids than the Earths crust. This again lends weight to the theory of a meteorite disaster.

The most fascinating point of interest about the KT boundary is that below the thin sedimentary layer of rock there are plenty of fossilised dinosaurs, yet above the layer there are virtually none. This single fact alone categorically indicates that this is in fact the point at which Dinosaurs became globally extinct.

This theory whilst widely supported does not conclusively prove how the Dinosaurs became extinct, only when they became extinct.

Other common theories for dinosaur extinction run along a very similar vein, but substitute the meteorite strike for global scale volcanic eruptions. The fallout of which, causes both the extinction of the Dinosaurs and the sedimentary layer of the KT boundary. However what these theories fail to explain, is why these global climactic changes only affected large reptiles like the Dinosaurs, and not smaller ones such as lizard's crocodiles and turtles, and even less effected were the vast and diverse variation of small mammals which dominate the living planet on Earth today.

Coming back to our definition of the KT boundary. The mainstream experts note this change between the cretaceous period and tertiary period, as being a change from cold blooded creatures to warm blooded creatures, however this viewpoint is a little ambiguous and leading, as will now be explained in more detail.

The Cold Blooded Truth?

2008-12-28T22:58:00.001Z

The difference between cold blooded creatures like reptiles, and warm blooded mammals, is not the temperature of their blood. In fact both cold and warm blooded creatures operate at a very similar blood temperature most of the time. It is the means by which these creatures regulate their body temperature that the terms ‘cold’ or ‘warm blooded’ refer to.

Cold blooded creatures maintain a constant blood temperature, by hiding in the shade when they get too hot, or basking in the Sun when they become too cool. This method of sunning and cooling keeps their blood at an even and steady temperature for the creature to survive.

Warm blooded creatures or mammals differ, in that they use some form of gland, similar to the human thyroid gland, situated near their throat. This gland keeps a constant check on the air temperature breathed in, and compares it directly with the temperature of the blood being pumped from the heart to the brain. It then releases a thyroxin (a hormone), into the body which affects the rate at which cell oxidation occurs, and through perspiration or raised energy levels, a constant and steady metabolism and blood temperature is achieved.

Whether a creature is cold blooded or warm blooded, the blood flowing to the creatures brain needs to remain a steady 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A drop in temperature by just a few degrees will induce coma, shortly followed by death.

This is precisely why mammals, such as polar bears, can survive in extreme climates, whilst reptiles are forced to inhabit areas of the planet that maintain a constant high temperature all year round.

Whilst a climatic change from a meteor explosion would certainly lower the temperature enough to kill off reptiles, it doesn’t explain why smaller reptiles survived, or why these same reptilian giants were able to survive globally around the world, before the meteor hit, in areas that exhibited extreme seasonal changes today.

Surely if these gigantic creatures were so affected by cold weather, they would not be able to survive a harsh winter either.

As well as this distinct and sudden change from cold blooded to warm blooded creatures, there was an equally dramatic change to the planets flora.

Before the KT event, the primary form of plant life and vegetation on Earth was gymnosperms such as ferns, pine trees, and other non flowering plant life. The term ‘evergreen’, derives from the apparent lack of change these plants or trees have all year round. Though they do not flower, these plants do produce spores or seeds. In fact the term ‘gymnosperm’ means ‘naked seed’, and as such they have no protective coating, and fail to thrive in harsh environments with dramatic seasonal change.

After the KT event, the change shifted dramatically to ‘angiosperms’, meaning ‘covered seed’. These forms of vegetation flower each year, then die, and grow anew from their protected seeds the following season. Similarly trees of this type will blossom, grow new leaves, which in turn die during winter, and completely re-grow the following year.

Angiosperms are a very good example of plant life that thrive in environments which exhibits seasonal change, and in fact rely on these seasons to prompt their life cycle. The hardened coverings of the seeds they produce enable them to withstand these climatic changes that occur all year round.

With this in mind, the conclusion from the KT event, should not therefore be the change from one species to another, but rather a global environmental change, from a temperate non-seasonal tropical climate, to one that cycles through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The environment, atmosphere, and ecology of planet Earth changed from a steady unchanging climate, to one with diverse seasonal changes.

So how could this possibly be? Why was it that before the KT event we had no distinct seasons, the climate remained the same all rear round, and after the event we shifted through hot and cold periods throughout the year.

To answer this question, we first need to look at how the seasons work in the first place.

Leaning Towards The Obvious

2008-12-27T17:37:00.003Z

The reason we have seasons on Earth, is due to the fact that the Earth sits on a 23.5 degree polar tilt as it orbits the Sun.

In order for the Suns energy to reach the surface of our planet and generate warmth, it needs to travel through the Earths atmosphere. The part of the Earth directly facing the Sun receives the most energy, because the Suns rays have less atmosphere to penetrate.

As light travels to the furthest perimeters of the Earth, the angle of the planets surface in relation to the Sun requires these rays to pass through far more of the Earths atmosphere, and thus much of the Energy if deflected away.

The light reaching the Earth is also far more concentrated at the point directly facing the Sun, and at the angled perimeter this energy is diluted over a larger area, as the illustration below demonstrates.

The 23.5 degree tilt, means that over the course of a year, as the Earth travels around the Sun, different parts of the Earth receive more direct exposure to the Suns rays than others, according with its orbital position and time of the year.

Click here for an animated example of how this works.

If it were not for this 23.5 degree tilt of the earth, the climate would remain the same all year round. Therefore, is it not possible, that before the KT Boundary event, the Earth remained steady on its axis, with an unchanging climate. Then something dramatic happened, forcing the Earth to tilt on its axis, and in turn give birth to the four seasons. These seasonal changes then lead to the extinction of the large cold blooded Dinosaurs.

You could of course argue at this point that the Earths tilt was caused by a huge asteroid smashing into the Earth, knocking it out of line, or that a huge volcanic explosion forced the Earth over on its side. But there is still the annoying point of why only large Dinosaurs were affected not smaller ones. So is there another explanation that explains things more clearly?

The Missing SIAL?

2008-12-26T17:40:00.001Z

You are probably aware that the Earth itself is made up of layers, rather like an onion. These layers formed naturally as part of the creation process of our planet.

As the Earth span and cooled, the heavier material was drawn to the centre to form the Earths core, and the lighter material was forced out to the surface, thus forming various layers of dense material.

The closer you get to the Earths core, the denser and hotter those layers of material get. In fact the gravitational pressure at the Earths core is so great, that if you were to suddenly find yourself their, the pressure of gravity would crush your body to the size of garden pea.

Above the earths core we have the mantle and asthenosphere which is where flowing lava comes from. This is comprised mostly of silicon-magnesium (named SIMA), and on top of this layer floats the crust, which is the outer layer of our planet that we live and build our houses on.

The crust, for obvious reasons, is the most widely studied and understood layer of our planet. It is made up almost entirely of silicon and aluminium atoms which are bonded with oxygen hence the name SIAL.

Above the SIAL we have the ocean or Hydrosphere, which takes up two thirds of the planets surface, and above that we have the various gasses that make up the air we breath or Atmosphere.

This diagram shows a cross section of the earth, to illustrate the various layers of our planet.

Our planet is not unique in its layered formation, and according to NASA, virtually all large planets and moons form layers this exact same way. But there is one thing that does make the Earth unique…

Almost three fourths of the Earths outer layer (the rocky SIAL or crust) is missing, it quite simply doesn’t exist! How could such a thing happen, and where did it disappear to?

In 1912 Alfred Wegener, the geophysicist who produced the continental drift theory, published a book detailing that three fourths of the Earths continental layer, the SIAL, is missing.

These facts came to light in the 1980’s, when a number of ships carried out extensive studies of the ocean bed in an attempt to locate new oil reserves and resources. The samples they retrieved from these expeditions revealed something extremely odd. They brought back SIMA from the ocean bed, not SIAL. Further studies on these samples revealed that these cooled lava samples were no more than 65 million years old.

In conclusion these findings would indicate that prior to 65 million years ago there was an even layer of SIAL covering our entire planet, just like all the other planets in our solar system. Then something happened which tore away three fourths of the Earth crust, revealing the hot SIMA and lava from the asthenosphere beneath. This material then cooled over time to form the new ocean bed as we know it today.

Another piece of important evidence that lends weight to what happened is the break up of the Pangaea, or continental shift, as published by Alfred Wegener himself.

When three fourths of the Earths crust was torn away, the remaining land mass was all in one chunk on one side of the planet (the Pangaea). Then over millions of years, our spinning planet forced this land mass to break apart and separate around the earth into a more balanced position, forming the continents we know today.

The above picture shows a text book impression of what the Pangaea looked like 225 million years ago. However as we will examine shortly, the top right section labelled the Laurasia, would fit more appropriately, if it were rotated clockwise 45 degrees. This would then fill the gap where the Tethys Sea is depicted.

You may also have noted that the above depiction dates the Pangaea back to 225 million years ago, not 65 million. However if you were to rotate the Pangaea 45 degrees as we have just suggested, then the Paleo-magnetic measurements that date the Pangaea back to 225 million years ago, would actually date Laurasia and Gondwanaland as being still together right up to 65 million years ago.

If the Earths crust had covered the entire planet up until 65 million years ago, and was then suddenly ripped away, this would certainly account for the samples taken from the oceans bed. What’s more, it would also coincide precisely with the sudden tilt of the Earth to 23.5 degrees, which forced the beginning of the seasons which we looked at, and the mass extinction of prehistoric life.

To lend even further weight to this theory, there is even more geological evidence that we can look at in order to piece together the various parts of the jigsaw puzzle, and find the answers we are looking for.

A New Revolution

2008-12-25T17:43:00.002Z

It is commonly accepted that life began in the ocean, but few ever note the reasons why. One of the big mysteries of palaeontology is why it took so long for life to emerge on land. Evidence suggests that life in our oceans dates back approximately 1,000 million years ago, when the first single celled phytoplankton formed the very first signs of life on planet Earth. Over the following 600 million years, life continued to evolve into ever larger and more complex life forms, until the oceans where literally teeming with a vast and diverse selection of plants and intelligent animals. It wasn’t until 400 million years ago, that life actually began to form on land itself, and this is somewhat of a puzzle.

Well if we just assume for a moment, that three fourths of the Earths crust was ripped away as suggested, then it's logical to conclude that the hydrosphere or ocean sitting on top of this crust would also have been taken with it.

The current depth of our ocean is approximately 2 miles in depth, however if we add the missing three fourths that disappeared with the Earths crust, the actual depth of our ocean would be closer to 8 miles deep.

“Why didn’t life develop on land?”… Quite simply put, there was no land for it to develop on!

To understand how life suddenly appeared on land 400 million years ago, we don’t need to analyse palaeontology, or even botany and biology. We simply need to have a basic understanding of planetary physics.

One of the principles of physics is the Conservation of Angular Momentum (CAM). The example most commonly used when explaining CAM, is that of an ice skater. Everyone is familiar with the image of a figure skater on ice spinning on the spot, getting faster and faster until they just become a spinning blur. If you watch them closely, you may also notice that they achieve this increased acceleration in speed by drawing their arms in closer and closer to the centre of their body. The CAM principle states, “As a rotating body reduces its distance from the axis of rotation, it must rotate ever faster to conserve angular momentum”.

In our example, the spinning ice skater draws in their arms, reducing the distance around their axis, forcing them to spin faster and faster. At the end of the movement the skater flings out their arms bringing them to a sudden stop, or slowing them down.

This exact same principle holds true of planetary mass. When our planet was in its infancy some four and a half billion years ago, it was comprised mostly of molten rock and metal spinning around the sun in space. As this material began to cool, it also began to shrink in size, just as any cooling material does.

This cooling and shrinking effectively reduced the distance around the equator of our planet, and just like in our example of the ice skater drawing in their arms, the Conservation of Angular Momentum forced our planet to revolve and spin increasingly faster.

Over million and millions of years, this ever increasing speed at which the Earth was spinning, built up greater and greater centrifugal force, placing massive pressure around the equator of the Earth, rather like when you spin on a roundabout at the playground. The further to the edge of the roundabout you get, the greater the pressure is forcing you outwards.

This colossal pressure forced the Earth to become slightly oblate in shape and bloated around the middle. Other planets like Jupiter and Saturn and even the Sun itself are also oblate for the same reason, they spin extremely fast.

Baring in mind that the inner layers of the Earth are far denser than those towards the surface, the lighter layers on the outer surface of the Earth began to slide out towards the equator. As this happens, the crust begins to squash and crunch up as the pressure forces it outwards, forming a ridge of mountains right around the Earths fattest point. These types of mountain formations are known as geosynclines.

Example: Imagine if you will a large metal ball. If you were to cover the surface of the ball in an even layer of soft modelling clay, and then spin the ball on the spot at a very fast speed, the clay would begin slide out to the equator and form a ridge. Substitute the metal ball for the denser core of the Earth, and the soft clay for the Earths crust and the principle is the same.

As the Earths crust was forced further and further out the Geosyncline Mountains it created grew ever higher until the peeks, almost 8 miles high, began to emerge above the surface of the very deep ocean.

It was very soon after that land appeared above the waves, that an explosion of life began to emerge on land, ending the Devonian period and beginning the Carboniferous age. Giant redwoods, ferns and pines burst forth in wondrous variety, creating dense rain forests that literally covered this band of mountains around the equator.

As this vegetation grew and died, thick layers of peat formed on the ground, which over time became thicker and more compressed until eventually if turned into coal. In fact so much coal has formed since then that these rich coal deposits are today several miles thick.

This helps us piece things together very nicely, as today, wherever you find narrow strips of geosyncline mountains and large coal deposits, it marks the locations around the world were the original tropical rain forests first existed, i.e. along the true, original equator in the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic periods.

Using this information it is then easy to see that modern day theories of the original position of Pangaea could quite easily be inaccurate. They don't tie in with the position of the geosynclines mountains and coal deposits as being along the equator at all. If however the maps of Pangaea are rotated clockwise 45 degrees as we have previously suggested, then not only do you patch the matching hole created by the Tethys Sea, but the geosyncline mountains and coal deposits begin to line up with what would have been the Earths true equator, and everything begins to make a lot more sense.

Another thing that happens as the Earth spins faster and faster, is that gravity at the Earths surface changes quite dramatically. Imagine a lady in a fancy ball gown spinning on the spot. As she spins the trim of her skirt floats upwards and outwards, almost as if it is lighter than air. Like with our roundabout example earlier, the further you get from the centre, the grater the force is pushing you away.

What this meant for life on Earth was that animals on the surface of our planet experienced less gravitational weight. Like superman they would have been able to leap buildings in a single bound, and lift huge boulders with relative ease, and because there was far less pressure forcing them back down to Earth it allowed them and the plant life around them, to grow to gigantic sizes.

Now coming back to our example of the steal ball covered in soft clay, if you spin the ball faster and faster eventually the clay will slide out to the equator so much that eventually a huge chunk will fly off, and like the skater flinging out their arms, the metal ball will suddenly reduce the speed at which it is spinning.

Remember the missing continental SIAL? Well if we refer back to our metal ball example we can see exactly where it went. As the Earth cooled down and shrank, it started to spin faster and faster. The Geosyncline Mountains forced out to the equator and rose up above the deep oceans. Life on land then began evolving over millions of years, until eventually the Earth span so fast that three fourths of its outer surface, the SIAL, flew off into space.

The Earths crust flew off into space with so much spinning energy, that the angular momentum would have soon shaped this mass into a spinning sphere of its own, spiralling outwards into space.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves at this point, it’s probably best that we substantiate some of these extreme theories with a little evidence.

'The Answer'

2008-12-24T17:46:00.001Z

The Earth currently spins on its axis once every 24 hours, or every 23.934 hours to be more precise. The gravity at the Earths equator is also roughly the same as it is at the Earths north and south poles. If however the Earth revolved in half the time, say 12 hours, then the gravity at the equator would be approximately half of what it would be at the poles. As gravity reaches near zero at the equator, the Earth would need to revolve about once about 7 hours.

This is not uncommon at all for a planetary mass, and many of the planets in our solar system spin at this rate. It is purely an indication of how long they have been shrinking and spinning in space, obeying the principles of CAM.

We can also calculate the size and mass of the missing SIAL that flew off into space. If you measure the average depth from the Earths surface down to the molten asthenosphere, it measures approximately 37 miles down. If you multiply this by the three fourths of the missing surface area you end up with a total mass that is approximately 1/50th the size of our planet.

So are there any floating bodies in space that match this dimension of 1/50th the size of Earth?

There is just one…

By staggering coincidence, or “not”, the volume of the moon is exactly 1/50th that of Earth. Yes that’s right, the missing SIAL from Earth flew off into space and formed our very own moon.

If this single fact isn’t enough, there is yet more evidence…

The principle of the Conservation of Angular Momentum states that even if a portion of the body separates and flies off, all of the angular momentum will “always” be conserved.

If you calculate the total angular momentum of Earth today, and that of the moon, and then add them together, you will find that the sum is exactly equal to that of a spinning mass the size of Earth rotating at a speed of 7 hours per revolution.

This crucial piece of evidence proves that Earth could not have been knocked off its axis by a large asteroid, or forced over on its side by volcanic explosions. If there had been an impact with a roaming asteroid, then the angular momentum from the asteroid would have also been transferred to the Earth or moon.

Since the total angular momentum of the present day earth and moon is exactly equal to the angular momentum of an oblate earth spinning rapidly at close to zero gravity, like our Earth 65 million years ago, then no other body could have possibly been involved in the process.

For those people still thinking this is wildly contrived, this is precisely how almost all of the moons in our solar system are formed around the planets they orbit. It is the natural process of planetary aging.

As a planet cools it spins faster and faster until it becomes unstable and ejects a moon which stabilises itself. This process can happen several times over in larger planets. They eject a moon, stabilise slightly, then continue to shrink and rotate faster until they release another moon, and so on.

Further mathematical evidence involves the observation of the Inverse Bode's Law. The Inverse Law shows that the spacing of each of the planets from the most outward one to the inward one is about 62 percent of the distance of the next outer planet. The Inverse Bode's Law also holds true for the major moons of the solar system, including the formation of asteroid systems.

Other smaller irregular moons give away the fact that they are randomly captured masses from space by the very fact that they don't follow these laws; they are typically very tiny and usually rotate out of the plane of the ecliptic, even rotating backwards sometimes.

Still want more evidence?

On July 20th 1969 man landed on the moon for the first time. The Apollo 11 mission brought back to earth 21.7 kilograms of rocks samples from the moons surface. Over the years extensive studies on these rocks, and rocks from the subsequent missions, have provided us with insight as to what material the moon is comprised of.

The answer…

Well surprise, surprise, its made out of exactly the same material as earth: Silicon, oxygen, aluminium, the same as the Earth's mantle. The composition of the rocks on the moon are that they are volcanic in origin. The rocks are basalts, the same kind of volcanic rock found on Earth. The lunar basalts are rich in iron and magnesium, and they also contain glassy structures that are indicative of rapid cooling. You could say, almost as if they had been suddenly plunged into the cold of space (wink, wink).

In fact the only difference between samples from Earth and samples from the moon is the distinct lack of water in any of the moon samples. When three fourths of the earth flew off into space, three fourths of the water, trees and animals went with it. However with no atmosphere the water quickly evaporated into space, and life immediately died leaving behind only the rock itself orbiting our planet in space, but evidence of rivers, deltas and oceans are still evident on the moons surface today and even the landing site of Apollo 11 itself is named “The Sea Of Tranquillity”.

So what happened to the rest of Earth after three fourths of its surface flew off into space? Well for those animals and plants living around the equator, they would have gone from a near zero gravity environment, to one much closer to that of present day.

In the zero gravity environment, the huge 60 ton dinosaurs could strut around comfortably, and the giant 5 foot dragonflies like the Meganeura depicted earlier, could fly through the air as easily as a butterfly.

In the new heavier gravity environment, these creatures were simply crushed by their own body weight. Only the smaller and lighter mammals and reptiles survived to re-populate the earth. That’s why no such large creatures exist today; our present day gravity and environment would simply not support such a creature's existence.

This also explains why only the large creatures where effected at the KT event. The largest of today’s land creatures are elephants weighing in at 6 tons, and our dragonfly friend, well even the very largest dragon flies today measure a poultry 5 inches.

When archaeologists and scientists first started piecing together the bones of dinosaurs, they assumed that the enormous tails of Sauropods like the Diplodocus and Brontosaurus were dragged along the ground behind them, or supported in large bodies of water. However modern opinion and evidence suggest that these “land” based creatures held their tails aloft, using them as a counterbalance to the rest of their huge frame; Even being able to crack them like an enormous whip. Fossilised footprints of these large creatures very rarely show tail tracks also supporting the modern day counterbalance theory.

So there you have it. The real reason why Dinosaurs became extinct, how they managed to become so huge, and what happened to our planet 65 million years ago that brought about so many global and environmental changes. At the very least “It's Always An Alternative Answer”.

Space Travel

2007-12-29T18:44:00.001Z

There are many views in the world of the origins of man, or indeed the origins of any intelligent life form. Given the huge scale of the universe and the billions upon trillions of galaxies, star systems and planets, its also reasonable to assume that we are not the only highly evolved life form in the universe. Indeed its reasonable to assume that there are a great many evolved life forms inhabiting the various domains of the cosmos.

Accepting the almost infinite timescales involved, and mankind’s relatively short lived existence. Its logical to assume that many of these extra terrestrial beings have evolved over a longer period of time than mankind, and that they possibly posses technology vastly superior to our own.

Is it therefore logical to assume that these life forms have visited earth? Or in fact that their technology is not governed by the laws of physics and science as we know it?

Well lets take a quick look at the distances involved in travelling from one planet to another or indeed another solar system. Distances that are far to frequently banded around in flippant conversation with regards to the size of space and travel within it. Terms like light year, galaxy and solar system.

The closest know solar system that is similar to our own is Vega. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky and harbours a complete set of planets similar to our own and an outer belt of colliding comets. It is young, just 350 million years old compared to our Sun, which is 4.6 billion years old, and is easily visible at night without the use of a telescope.

So how far is this ‘closest’ solar system?

Well its approximately 27 light years away… 27? That doesn’t sound like much does it? So how can we comprehend just how far that distance really is in Lamenistic terms.

A light year is how long it takes light to travel from one point to another. In our case, it takes 27 years for light to travel from Vega to earth. Light travels roughly at 186,000 miles per second, and is the fastest scientifically calculable speed possible for anything (For more information on light click here).

So does banding around these extraordinarily large numbers help us comprehend the distance involved? Not really, they are figures still to large to comprehend, so lets use another example.

Lets imagine that the distance between Earth and Vega is the same scalable distance as from New York to Loss Angeles (about 27000 miles). Now we have our scale how far do you suppose the moon would be, still baring in mind its 27000 miles to Los Angeles? Well its about 7 millimetres! Meaning if you set off from New York to Los Angeles you would have comfortable passed the moon after just 1 centimetre, a distance that no car on Earth could take you during its life time.

Even if you invented an automobile that did 1000 miles to the gallon, never broke down, and the fuel for it only cost a penny per gallon, then 1 million pounds worth of fuel would only take you 10 Billion miles. Vega would still be 1584 times further away, and that’s our closest possible neighbour.

Consider the following and bear in mind the example above in each:

~ It is approximately 93 million miles to the Sun from Earth.

~ It is approximately 3660 million miles from Pluto to the Sun. The furthest planet in our solar system.

~ The distance from one end of our Milky Way to the other is about 100,000 light years, and it is about 20,000 light years deep. It contains about 100,000 million stars. Our Sun is about two thirds of the way out from the centre on one of the spiral arms, called the Orion arm.

The next closest real galaxy to our own is the Andromida Galaxy which is about 2.2 million light years away, a veritable stone throw given the size of the universe.

Using our car analogy above, and assuming we never needed to refuel or stop. If we travelled at 200 miles an hour it would take us 7.6 TRILLION years to reach Andromida.

Still think space travel is easy?

If Not Space Then Where?

2007-12-28T18:47:00.002Z

Given the enormous distances involved in space travel, and the scientific boundaries regarding faster than light speed. Its hard to logically accept a theory of extra terrestrial visitation on earth. Whilst I am open to the possibility that contrary to logic and science, there may be some unexplainable way for long distance space travel to occur, the odds are so infinitely against it, that it merits little thought. Many people may dream of one day winning the lottery, but who dreams of winning it consecutively every week for the rest of their life?

Yet with this in mind, there is a surprising and almost insurmountable amount of evidence to suggest that ‘non human’ intelligent life forms, with technology superior to our own, have (or do) existed, and exerted an influence on our planet. So where did they come from, and how did they get here?

Is it not more feasible to believe, that if such a being existed on this planet, it must have been here all along, or that it must have evolved on this planet to begin with. Likewise any evidence relating to such beings must therefore also be native in origin.

This would certainly overcome our issue of great distances. It would also negate any probability of the discovery of our planet in the first place.

Instead of providing an impossible answer to a question, why not assume these creatures developed and evolved here on this earth all along. After all why not? Isn’t that how we got here? Why then is it not probable to believe that another intelligent being evolved alongside ourselves, or possibly even way before we did.

If there are intelligent beings native to this planet, that have evolved along a similar line to our own, wouldn't that make ‘them’ ‘us’ i.e. human? Well according to most eye witness accounts of an alien type creature, they are not human at all. They may appear humanoid in shape, but definitely not in appearance. The descriptions do vary but a common one that prominently stands out from the rest is a being with a large head, long thin limbs, oval eyes, and grey skin etc.

So what are they then? Well evidence would suggest they have advanced technology, possibly even more advance than our own, thus they must be intelligent, and as their technology is so developed its plausible to assume they have been around longer than we have. In other words, these creatures evolved before we did.

Now before we speculate any further as to where these beings came from, how they evolved, and where they have gone to, lets first take a look at the conditions needed for intelligence to evolve in the first place...

Intelligent Evolution

2007-12-27T18:54:00.002Z

In examination of the dominant intelligent species of this planet, it seems that certain abilities and attributes are always associated with them:

Bipedal Movement - The ability to walk on two legs is essentially necessary to free the forelimbs, allowing further development into hands rather than paws.

Manipulative Hands - The ability to grasp and manipulate objects, and ultimately their environment is an obvious requirement for any intelligent species to evolve.

Objects require hands and the use of an opposing digit or thumb. To be of maximum use, the thumbs tip should be able to touch the tip of the other digits on the hand. This ability leads to greater co-ordination and an increased ability to interact with the environment.

Sensitive nerve endings or touch pads at the finger tips also lead to greater dexterity and further awareness. They allow the brain to process and obtain a greater understanding of the object and the environment being manipulated.

Binocular Vision - This refers to the ability to direct both eyes simultaneously at an object. The importance of this ability for the growth of the brain, is that it allows a better judgement of distance, invaluable for hand eye coordination, leaping and throwing. It also stimulates the three-dimensional thought and nerve centres of the brain.

When you couple binocular vision with dextrous manipulating hands, and three dimensional thought, you not only have the tools considered necessary for the basic development of intelligence, but you also gain a massive evolutionary advantage, and the ability to manipulate the world around you.

Sociability - Intelligent beings must, by way of definition, also be sociable. Intelligence forms and evolves from the ability to communicate with other intelligent beings, providing an environment for collective learning. The more sociable animals are, and the more able they are to interfere with and transform their environment, the more intelligent they become.

Sociable animals also parent their offspring, providing a massive advantage with regards to survival of the species. By both protecting the offspring in the most vulnerable stages of its development, and imparting knowledge by way of communication and learned behavioural patterns, a parented animal has a far greater chance of survival, and a head start on the intellectual ladder of evolution.

Diet - Diet also plays a large part in intelligence. Meat, being concentrated protein, is an important factor in the development of intelligence. Meat eaters need less bulky food and thus require far less time eating it. This allows more ‘thinking time’, enabling the creature to become more cultural and inventive. Grassers and herbivores spend virtually all their time eating, leaving little time to evolve elsewhere.

Warm Blooded - As intelligence increases so to does brain size, Marsh's Law dictates that brains grow from generation to generation in warm blooded animals. A crocodile of today has the same brain volume as a comparable sized ancestor from 200 million years ago, whereas a modern cat with the same body size as a sabre-toothed tiger of only 30 million years ago has twice the brain volume.

Aggressive Dominance - (to be completed)

In summation it seems then that intelligent earthly beings are bipedal, have an erect stance; are equipped with grasping hands having sensitive fingers and opposable thumbs; are equipped with binocular vision; own a large brain; are sociable and therefore have some form of parental guidance in childhood; are able to communicate; have aggressive tendencies.

It obvious from the above descriptions that humans satisfies all of these criteria, and that other animals perceived to have a degree of intelligence also share many of these qualities. So with regards to evolution, lets go back in time millions of years to see if there were any other creatures that fulfilled these criteria for an intelligent being…

Dinosaurs That Can

2007-12-26T18:56:00.003Z

In order to find a creature possible of evolving more than we have, it would make sense to look further back in time than mankind’s obvious origins, and look for a creature that was already reasonable evolved hundreds of millions of years ago. We do of course have one outstanding candidate ‘The Dinosaur’.

“The dinosaur!, didn't they become extinct?”

Well before we start a separate debate, lets see if there is any evidence of dinosaurs that fit our model for a highly intelligent creature, and come back to their extinction later.

Well we know that many dinosaurs were bipedal so that's a start. According to biologists, one of the main reasons for the Dinosaurs supremacy was their upright bipedal movement.

So how about manipulative hands?

Well a particular dinosaur that seemed to have evolved a high degree of co-ordination in hands and arms was Deinonychus. Deinonychus had long, grasping hands with wrist joints that rotated so that the hands could turn towards each other enabling the animal to grasp its prey in both hands. Only humans, primates, and certain other mammals can do this.

It is theorised that whilst grasping its prey with its hands, it could stand on one leg and attack its prey with the claws on its other foot. This is a highly complicated dextrous ability, requiring coordination of multiple limbs. An attribute indicative of intelligent animals.

Though Deinonychus possessed opposable thumbs and swivelling wrists, they were primarily used for climbing trees and grasping prey. Its not hard to imagine this creature eventually evolving into something like a monkey or primate which is considered to be among the most intelligent of animals today.

You could however, argue that it fails to meet our definition of freeing up the hands for other tasks as they are used in vertical movement, a similar function to legs on ground.

What about Binocular Vision?

Well as this is a fundamental feature of most predators there is little doubt this can be found in the world of dinosaurs. Interestingly if you look at one of the decedents of Deinonychus you will come a across a dinosaur called the Stenonychosaurus. This animal had a set of complex and advanced features, including both manipulative fingers and binocular vision.

OK, what about brain size?

Well first of all we have to overcome the problem that cold blooded animals have relatively little to no increase in their brain size at all. However it is becoming an increasingly popular theory among Palaeontologists and Biologists alike, who believe that some dinosaurs were in fact Warm Blooded. Here is one quote of many available on this same subject -

"Once it was thought that all dinosaurs were cold-blooded - now many suggest that at least some were warm-blooded, which would help to explain why they became so plentiful and dominant for so long. If we examine today's fauna we find no large land predators that are cold-blooded, except for crocodiles that occupy only one very specific ecological niche and are basically water dwellers. The same is true of the entire Cenozoic era - virtually all large predators were warm-blooded."

(More information on warm blooded Dinosaurs)

So this addresses the issue of increasing brain size. Although the body to brain ratio of the Stenonychosaurus was 1000, compared with a Humans which is about 50, we must take into account the large amount of time the Dinosaurs had to evolve and improve on this since then.

Interestingly enough, one of the fundamental differences between Deinonychus and Stenonychosaurus was that Stenonychosaurus was primarily a ground based creature not a tree dweller. It used bipedal movement to walk along the ground which thus freed up its hands. It is also among the rarest of dinosaurian fossils which is a little puzzling?. If these creatures where intelligent, and highly evolved for their time, they should be highly adaptable to change. You would expect evolution to favour the survival of such a creature, and hence provide lots more fossils or proof of their existence.

There are of course many explanations for this. Maybe its because ancestrally, like Deinonychus , they had an affinity for trees and lived in forests. Anything dying in a forest is quickly consumed by the forest fauna and not preserved or fossilised. It could simply be due to the fact it was a small creature, about 3 meters in length, and incredibly light for its size at only 45kg, with most of that being the tail. Because it was so fragile, this would also contribute to the poor preservation of its remains. There is another possible reason which we will pose later on.

One thing pointing strongly in the evidence camp for Stenonychosaurus being warm blooded, is its unusually large brain size. I say unusual because dinosaurs typically had a very small brain size compared to their large bodies. Interestingly enough, Stenonychosaurus also had the capacity for its brain size to increase during the course of its life. This is a very uncommon facet with less intelligent species, and far more befitting in our intelligent camp.

Now, as can be observe from the depiction of Stenonychosaurus above. The eyes were enormous, surpassing in size those of almost all modern land animals. This single fact alone supports our argument best. Creatures with large eyes are virtually always nocturnal or subterranean.

Now nocturnal animals are pretty much always, by way of nature, warm blooded. This enables them to control their own body temperature and be active at night when its cold. Cold blooded creatures rely heavily on heat from the sun to circulate their blood, and kick start their system so they can hunt for food etc. Cold blooded animals are virtually catatonic when it gets cold, and go into system shutdown mode at night.

Stenonychosaurus as the diagram above illustrates, also had very powerful, very long legs which would allow it to move quickly, but also if you look at the talons on its feet would allow it to dig and burrow. Almost all warm blooded nocturnal mammals have some form of underground dwelling or cave to escape the harshness of the sun during the day, so it doesn’t take much to imagine a creature like this burrowing little underground networks beneath the earth (our third reason why they are hard to find).

Virtually no exploration of what's beneath the surface of our planet has been done at all. It is estimated that most undiscovered animal species on our planet are nocturnal and live underground.

The rest of our intelligent traits, like the ability to communicate, sociability, and aggressiveness are also not difficult to imagine as characteristics of dinosaurs. It is firmly theorised that the modern birds of today are the evolutionary descendants of Dinosaurs. Birds exhibit many strong communication calls and sounds, as well as raising their young, as our criteria dictates.

Its extremely easy to see first hand the direct comparisons to birds and dinosaurs. The pictures below show the scaly foot and head of a modern day Emu.

This brings us back to the question “Didn't dinosaurs become extinct?”, and as thus could not evolve any further than they did millions of years ago. Well that's another question or point of serious contention. One of the main reasons most dinosaurs became extinct was because of their size. Something about the earths ecology changed dramatically preventing the continued support of such large organisms. A slight shift of orbit around the Sun, possibly caused by a large meteorite or other gravitational pull would explain this.

The current gravity of our planet today would never allowed such large creatures to develop in the first place. However not all dinosaurs were large, and as small mammals survived there is no reason to think that some of the more Intelligent Anthroposaurs didn't either.

Fascinatingly enough many experts are proposing that it was the advanced intelligence of Anthroposaurs that caused the mass extinction themselves, rather than any impact by a comet. Considering how short a time it has taken for man to go from stone tools to nuclear weapons, is it not possible to believe this is a pattern repeating itself.

Maybe a few highly intelligent Anthroposaurs survived the mass extinction, maybe they left the planet while it was uninhabitable, or maybe they are still here?

A Missing Link Perhaps?

2007-12-25T19:01:00.001Z

Imagine if you will, a warm blooded creature similar to Stenonychosaurus. Intelligent, and possessing the capacity for brain growth, with the physiology to adapt and learn from its environment. If such a creature like Stenonychosaurus had such an evolutionary advantage all those hundreds of millions of years ago, isn’t it remotely possible that such a creature did actually survive; and if it did survive, what would it look like today?

Dale Russell, discoverer of Stenonychosaurus, has postulated that late Cretaceous dinosaurs were well on the way to becoming highly intellectual animals, and would have succeeded if the dinosaurs had not suffered mass extinction. Russell deduced what the appearance of a Stenonychosaurus might look like, had it evolved unhampered by disasters until the 20th century (a model of the creature, a Dinosauroid, is on display at the Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada).

Russell believes their brain size would have been close to the human range. To accommodate it, its skull would have expanded and its face would have flattened. The long dinosaur neck would have shortened to bear more comfortably the weight of its brain. Consequently its tail would have been lost since it would not have been needed to counterpoise the neck and head.

Communication may have sounded similar to birdsong. Besides these conjectured features he supposes they would bear characteristics typical of dinosaurs such as scaly skin, large oval eyes with vertically slit pupils, absence of external sex organs and a three fingered hand, one digit of which would be opposable.

The illustration below and to the left was derived from the original depiction of Stenonychosaurus above. It has been modified inline with Russell’s proposition. Though the example here is crude to illustrate the point, you can see that the body posture has changed to become more upright, just as mans evolution has done much the same. Also the tail has become increasingly obsolete and removed.

Even with this very simple manipulation of the original illustration, I think you can begin to see a striking resemblance starting to emerge. Even the comparative limb length and hand shape are similarly proportionate.

Add to this picture the plausible theory that such a creature is highly intelligent, nocturnal, and possibly lives underground and you have a very real argument as to why this creature, or being, has not been found.

A number of animals and reptiles possess phenomenal camouflage techniques, such as the chameleon. Even if you happened to stumble across one of these beings in the dark, you would probably mistake it for a shadow or something else. The chances are that with its superior night vision and highly adapted nocturnal senses, it would see you long before you would ever see it. Even more so if it inhabited the more remote regions of the earth.

Ancient texts and religions are virtually teeming with stories about dragons and cunning serpents. Hebrew texts refer to the serpent of the garden of Eden as ‘Nachash’, which many Hebrew scholars contend was a bipedal or hominid reptile of great intelligence.

‘Nagas’ from ancient Indian mythology, are described as humanoid lizards or serpents.

The American Indians have a creation legend that says they came out of caves underground while the 'reptile people' were banished to underground.

‘Quetezecoatl’ was the feathered serpent of South American fame. He was a culture bearer and law giver. He is sometimes depicted flying on a rocket! He is described as a feathered serpent.

Ancient Flying Machines?

2007-12-24T18:31:00.000Z

Egyptian Flying Model

In a tomb at Saqquara, Egypt In 1898, a peculiar wooden object six inches long was found that dated back to about 200 BC. The object had a body resembling a fuselage, and a seven inch wing span that curved downward slightly. It also had a fixed rudder, and a tail.

For all intents and purposes the object looked very much like a modern airplane or glider. However the artefact was labelled a model bird at the Cairo Museum in 1898 because aeroplanes had not been invented yet by modern day man.

Years later Dr. Khalil Messiha, an authority on ancient models, studied the object. Khalil claims it has characteristics of very advanced aerodynamics, similar to modern gliders that require very little power to stay airborne. The curved wings are commonly termed today as reverse dihedral wings, which can attain great amounts of lift. A similar design was employed on the supersonic Concorde aircraft.

Though many people still hold to the opinion that this artefact is a model bird, Khalil noted several significant differences between this artefact and common Egyptian bird models, least of which the rear tail stabiliser. No birds with vertical tails were ever seen in Egypt or the middle East.

Central and South American Model

This gold trinket, and others like it, dating between 500 and 800 AD, where discovered in Central America and along the coastal areas of South America. It closely resembles a model of the Space Shuttle or a delta wing fighter aircraft.

Labelled a Zoomorph, or animal-shaped object by it discoverers. It resembles no known flying animal to date. But there is no mistaking its distinctly mechanical appearance. Not only does it appear to have delta-shaped wings, stabilizer fins, and rudder, it also has what looks like a pilot's seat.

(Zoomorph on the left, Space Shuttle on the right)

Experts in aerodynamics, contend that the wings are too far back for the object's centre of gravity and that the nose is not aerodynamically sound. However you could easily argued that the front portion of the model is some form of frontal docking platform similar to the top docking method used by the space shuttle.

The image below shows the actual docking method used by the space shuttle to dock with the Mir space station.

Imagine how it might look if it docked via the nose. The image on the left is the space shuttle, and the one on the right is an example of the Zoomorph docked and undocked.

(Space Shuttle on the left, Zoomorph on the right)

Furthermore the theory of aerodynamics was questioned by three Germans, Algund Eenboom, Peter Belting and Conrad Lübbers, who decided to try and create a scale model of the “airplane”, to prove if it was indeed capable of flight.

After comparing different models from that region and era, they soon realised that the people of South America were very capable of creating insect models that where anatomically accurate, and that this particular artefact was quite different.

Insects have their wings on top of the body, as was commonly modelled by the South American People. But this strange artefact had its wings positioned beneath the body. In fact most propeller driven planes also have their wings attached to the top of the body, and only modern jet planes have their wings positioned beneath the fuselage.

In 1996 They successfully managed to create a scale model of the artefact with a propeller added to the nose. The model, named “Goldflyer I”, could fly without difficulty, but as the artefact quite clearly did not have a propeller, they needed to prove their theory of jet propulsion also. After all if the artefact had had a propeller attached, it couldn’t possibly be compared to an insect.

They went on to develop Goldflyer II. The model (depicted below) had the same dimensions as the artefact, and had a landing gear and jet engine attached at the rear of the fuselage. Most jet planes have the engines attached to the wings, and only the space shuttle has its engine positioned at the rear. However, the space shuttle is launched with rocket technology, that then detach from the craft. So they had to make a design that could take off without such a device.

The “Goldflyer II” flew perfectly and could take off, fly, perform looping manoeuvres in flight, and land without difficulty, proving not only the sound aerodynamics of the artefact, but that the use of an engine at the back of a plane could be perfectly achieved in modern aviation as well, if they wanted to.

The Abydos Temple Glyphs

The images below are taken from The Adydos Temple south of Cairo in Egypt. These same images where filmed and confirmed by Fox Television in 1998 and broadcast in a show titled "Opening the Lost Tombs: Live From Egypt."

The 3000 years old glyphs depicted on the ceiling support have shocked and stunned many through their amazing likeness to modern day aircraft.

It is pertinent to note that there are touched up and doctored versions of these glyphs circling the internet, however the ones depicted here are genuine and unchanged. They where photographed in November 1992 by Bruce Rawless.

(close up)

The images below bare a striking resemblance to a helicopter;

A tank;

A Submarine or Airship;

and a hovercraft;

People have dismissed these astonishing images, saying that the plaster has fallen away and the glyphs have become damaged to appear like something they are not, yet the rest of the surrounding temple is in exceptional condition.

Surely if this was just the random crumbling of rock and plaster, the coincidence of them crumbling so perfectly to resemble these modern day machines, is a coincidence not easy to stomach.

Other scholars claim its a ‘palimpsest’, a manuscript that has been written on more than once. They claim that the original glyphs where not fully erased, and that the new glyphs placed over the original ones happen to form the images depicted above.

The image below shows the new and old glyphs in red and blue overlapping each other.

A translation of the glyphs reveals the following:

"It was decided in antiquity to replace the five-fold royal titulary of Seti I with that of his son and successor, Ramesses II. Who repulses the Nine Bows” or “Who protects Egypt and overthrows the foreign countries"

The term ‘Nine Bows’ refers to the ‘nine traditional enemies of Egypt’ so an alternate translation would read "Who repulses the Nine Enemies of Egypt".

Is this all just one amazing coincidence? Is this nothing more than crumbling plaster and ancient typing errors? Or is it evidence that the ancient Pharaohs had great machines of war to repel the nine enemies of Egypt?

Petrodollar Madness

2006-12-30T08:18:00.000Z

Petrodollars, for those that don’t know, is money paid to countries that produce oil (particularly countries in the Middle East), money which is then deposited back in US banks.

This dollar based global oil trade now gives the United States ‘carte blanche’ to print dollars without sparking inflation.

Here is how it basically works: In order to purchase oil, you must purchase it through the New York or London oil exchange. These two oil parties provide the market for virtually all oil exchange world wide.

The single currency used by these exchanges is US dollars, meaning that if you want to buy oil, you need to first obtain some US currency.

When constantly trading for oil, you therefore need to stockpile dollars in order to satisfy the future demand for oil. Countries that export the oil similarly have huge reserves of dollars from the oil they have sold. These US dollars are then stored in US banks and effectively invested back into the US economy.

Imagine this analogy of a farmer wanting to purchase some pigs for his farm… He must first go to the market in order to purchase them.

The market dealers will only agree to sell him pigs for US dollars, but because the farmers local currency is not US dollars, he needs to acquire them from the US first.

However the US, are not interested in his local currency either, as its of little use to them, but they are interested in the corn the farmer produces. The farmer is then faced with the decision to trade his corn with the US, or borrow from the US and pay additional interest on the loan.

After acquiring the correct currency, the farmer then hurries off to the market to buy his pigs, and stock piles more US dollars for future purchases. The market in-turn then takes the farmers dollars and deposits them back into US banks.

Almost two-thirds of the world's currency reserves are kept in US dollars, since oil importers pay in dollars, and oil exporters keep their reserves in the currency they are paid. This allows the US to print as much money as it wants, knowing that it will all eventually end up safely back in its own banks, supporting its own economy.

Due to this vested interest in the security of the US economy, countries are effectively blackmailed into paying for US economic stress. After all, if the US economy plummets, then your stockpile of US dollars is going to be worth far less.

This zero currency risk investment, allows the US to carry on printing and lending money, whilst at the same time pouring billions into military spending, funding tax cuts, and allowing consumer spending on imports, without fear of inflation, or that these loans will ever be called in.

---

Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is the total value of goods and services produced within a country over a single year. It can be used to gauge a countries standard of living.

Central bankers around the world do not expect either the US dollar or the US stock markets to sustain the levels they are currently at.

William Greider in ‘The Nation’ 23/09/02 pointed out:

"US economy's net foreign indebtedness--the accumulation of two decades of running larger and larger trade deficits--will reach nearly 25 percent of US GDP this year, or roughly $2.5 trillion. Fifteen years ago, it was zero. Before America's net balance of foreign assets turned negative, in 1988, the United States was a creditor nation itself, investing and lending vast capital to others, always more than it borrowed. Now the trend line looks most alarming. If the deficits persist around the current level of $400 billion a year or grow larger, the total US indebtedness should reach $3.5 trillion in three years or so. Within a decade, it would total 50 percent of GDP."

These growing trade deficits set to rapidly unhinge the US financial position. By trying to run the world, they have heavily mortgaged themselves, and like anyone who borrows more than they can afford, and with no means to stop. The US economy is effectively a ticking time bomb, heaping further dependency on its creditors.

Currently the majority of these creditors (Private investors and Asian and European governments) are not inclined to tip the scales, and disrupt the balance with the worlds most powerful country. It is in their best interests to give their exports access to the colossal market of the US, and gain greater strength in the market share.

But with sufficient encouragement, these creditors will eventually tip the scales on the US. This is likely to happen either because the American debt burden has become so great that additional lending would be too risky or because the creditors want to stir trouble for the US.

This threatened to happened in September 2000 when Saddam Hussein announced that Iraq was going to reject dollars as the main currency exchange for oil, and use euros instead.

Fortunately for the US, under the disguised attack to seize "weapons of mass destruction" (weapons which were never found), Saddam’s plan was thwarted.

The Financial Times published an article in June 2003, confirming that Iraqi oil was once again safely returning to the international market, using US dollars not euros.

At the time this happened the euro was valued 13% higher than the US dollar, but despite the Bush administrations claims to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq as quickly as possible, the swift move back to US dollars was enforced, regardless of the profit that would have been made by Iraq had it dealt in euros.

Iran are also now proposing to do what Saddam did, and go one step further, by creating their own Oil Exchange Market, which trades in euros instead of US dollars. This proposition will create a solid standing in the international trade for oil, which could have devastating repercussions on the US economy, especially if other countries follow suit.

Recent news reports indicate the Iranian oil bourse will start trading on the 20th of March 2006, to coincide with the Iranian New Year.

It will be interesting to see if Iran are accused of heinous acts, and if this euro based oil exchange is allowed to continue. Even more interestingly, if the US is forced to wage war with Iran in order to avoid an economic collapse, what disguise will they use to hide the truth this time?

Produced By:
Alex Chapman
Lance Challenor

Murder In The Medicine Cabinet: Part II

2006-12-29T08:21:00.000Z

The below article was not written by myself. It was written by Marshall Smith and published on the The Brother Jonathan Gazette website.

It is an excellent article, and one which I wish to share. Please read and enjoy…

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

THE BROTHER JONATHAN GAZETTE
DAILY DIGEST
Monday November 14, 2005

MURDER IN THE MEDICINE CABINET: Part 2
How Did so many Doctors and Health Professionals get fooled?

At the very beginning of the 2005-2006 Flu season in October 2005, a story started going around the news circuits, that the dangerous Bird Flu is only five mutations away from becoming transmissible to humans. When that occurs, a vast global Pandemic will sweep around the world killing billions of people. That story is, in fact, complete myth, misdirection and cover story. It could never happen. By the time you finish reading this article you will know why that story is false. You will also know how and why the people spreading that false story are planning on making hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars in profit just in the next October 2005 to May 2006 flu season alone.

The current "Bird Flu Pandemic" terrorist-scare-tactic being reported in the news is based on confusing viruses with bacteria as sources of disease. Bacteria are living single-celled animals which reproduce and thrive. Viruses are only tiny strings of DNA or RNA molecules which are NOT alive. They cannot grow nor reproduce. Since they are not alive, you can't kill them. You can't kill atoms or molecules. You can only dissolve them or break them apart with acids or enzymes. Your T-cells and white blood cell macrophages do exactly that when they fight a viral infection in your body.

Bacteria cells are large enough to be seen with a microscope. Some invading bacteria are dangerous since their waste products may include toxins which can kill body cells, and maybe even you. They can make you sick. Other bacteria are actually used by your body as helpers or defenders. Numerous forms of benign bacteria naturally live in your mouth and in your intestines to kill any dangerous bacteria which you may eat. They also help with digestion. breaking down the food you eat. Invasions of bad bacteria are now treated with antibiotics which enter the bacteria and kill them. Common bacterial infections include polio, TB, salmonella, E. coli and Hepatitis A.

All viruses are so much smaller than bacteria that they cannot be seen with a normal light microscope. They are dangerous, since they can enter certain target cells in your body and replicate so fast that they cause the cells to burst open, and thus destroy the cell. The newly replicated viruses can then attack neighboring cells. The replication process can be so fast that a single virus can turn into millions of copies of itself in just several hours.

Antibiotics have no effect on viruses. Most viral diseases are pretreated with anti-viral shots, such as flu shots, but these are only about 50% effective at best. The body reacts to viral infections by raising the body temperature. Viruses cannot replicate, or can only make copies very slowly with a body temperature above 102 degrees F. Common viral infections include colds, flu, chicken pox, AIDS and Hepatitis B.

Viruses make copies or replicate themselves similarly to the way crystals grow. They can only replicate when immersed in a fluid containing an abundant supply of the raw amino acids which make up the virus. This only occurs inside an animal or human host cell in which the cytoplasm fluid is rich in amino acids. The virus is not a parasite, any more than a salt crystal is a parasite when you drop it into a salty tank of brine, and the salt crystal starts to grow by gathering salt molecules from the brine. That's all a virus does when it replicates.

THE LITTLE KNOWN "SECRET" OF VIRAL INFECTIONS

A virus from a bird can never enter into any human cells. That is despite what you may have been told or read, and is now much ballyhooed in the press and news media. This unique behavior of viruses is caused by the species-specific protein coating that surrounds the viral DNA strand. That protein coat is unique to each animal species. This is also the exact same reason why the protein-coated sperm from one species cannot enter and impregnate the ova of another species.

Both viruses and sperm are DNA strands or genetic material surrounded by a species-specific protein coat. Only an ovum from the same species with the same protein coat can be entered by sperm from that species. That is the rule for sexual reproduction on planet earth. This exact same rule applies to viruses. The biochemistry of sexual reproduction and viral infection are almost exactly the same. That is the little known "secret" which has fooled most doctors and epidemiologists who, it seems, never really learned the actual biochemistry and cytology of sexual reproduction in medical school.

For so-called "Bird virus experts" to proclaim loudly to the public that they believe a bird lung virus could infect a human lung and cause Bird Flu in humans, would also have to believe that a horse could impregnate a woman, or a man can impregnate a cow. From ancient texts, it seem humans have been attempting such cross-species DNA implantation antics for millennium. But so far, it's never worked - and it never will. It can't be done. It is a property of the unique chemical and electrical properties of the surface material of each virus and sperm which prevents transfers across species. Despite how many times the core or genetic DNA material may be mutated, it still only has the unique viral surface material unique to that species. No matter how may times sperm from a bull is mutated chemically or with radiation, it may product multitudes of hideous mutant cows, but it will never make a funky cow-chicken.

The fact that millions of birds may be dying of H5N1 Bird Flu, should mean nothing to humans. It can never directly infect humans. You can't get it by eating chickens, nor doing anything else with a chicken. The so-called 65 cases of bird flu which supposedly have killed people in Asia, are NOT bird flu. The H5N1 designation only refers to the type of molecules in the protein coating and not to the actual viral DNA genetic strand inside the virus.

The 65 people who died, had H5N1 Human Flu and not H5N1 Bird Flu. They are not the same. The currently used primitive clinical viral tests only determine which molecules are present in the surface coating (H5N1) and not the actual viral DNA molecule inside. That's how millions of people around the world, including doctors, have been fooled into thinking that H5N1 Bird Flu could mutate and spread to kill humans. It'll never happen.

HOW ALL FLU TRANSFERS FROM BIRDS TO PIGS TO HUMANS

For the Bird Flu Virus to infect humans, it must first enter into a pig cell. But why pigs? This can happen when pigs root through dirt which also contains abundant dried bird droppings from infected chickens or ducks. The pigs, while rooting in the dirt, inhale the dried virus-infected bird droppings constantly. This mostly and commonly only occurs in Asia where pigs and fowl are raised together. The chickens eat the pig droppings and the pigs eat the chicken droppings. It doesn't sound very appetizing, but it works, and is called "recycling of waste products." It is a very inexpensive and useful farming technique and is used throughout much of Asia - except it also creates and spreads a unique disease which affects millions of people each year. It's called Flu or influenza.

If a pig breaths in a large amount of bird flu virus, nothing happens, unless the pig also happens to be sick with pig flu. Then the bird virus can actually enter into a partially opened or ruptured lung cell, damaged by pig flu virus. Then the bird virus will replicate and use the damaged pig cell coating as the new coating for the bird virus. The bird flu core virus now has a pig surface protein coat. It is now a pig virus. This is cross-species infection. The new "pig virus" with the bird core, can now attack and enter millions of lung cells in the same pig, killing the pig, and spreading to other pigs and to humans.

This is very rare, but is the method by which all influenzas transfer originally from birds to humans through cross-species mixing inside pig lungs. And though rarely occurring, with only about a one in several thousand chance to occur, it can and does occur. But with hundreds of millions of pigs and ducks being raised together each year in Asia, this farming practice results in hundreds of new and unique variants of bird influenza which can then infect humans each year. It is the primary and almost only source of all new human influenza infections.

DO THE FLU SHOTS IMMUNIZE AND PROTECT?

For over 40 years, the U.S. CDC-approved annual Flu Shot only tries to protect against the five most prevalent variants of bird-pig influenza which can infect humans. There are still hundreds of other variations each year which are not targeted by the flu shot. The result is that the annual flu shot only works about 20% of the time. Would you buy a new car each year which only worked 20% of the time? But you were told that the flu shots always work. Wrong!

A virus does not make its own surface coating but "steals" it from the infected host cell. The tissue-cell-type of pig lung cells is sufficiently similar enough to human cells, that a pig influenza virus (from a bird) can infect a human. The odd or accidental very close similarity between pig and human tissue-types is why pig heart valves, body parts and insulin can be used and implanted in humans without severe tissue rejection or adverse reactions.

Thus, Bird Flu can never infect a human lung without first infecting a pig lung. The only exception to that rule is: modern "criminal" scientists who may take deadly bird viral DNA and manually insert it directly into a human protein coating. This is the same new hi-tech process used in making clones. The theory of DNA cloning has been around since the late 1960's, but actually making it work in sheep, dogs and some other animals, has only been around for the last couple of years.

Along with advancing the interesting science of cloning, comes the technical ability to clone a form of bird flu with human surface proteins which could kill nearly half the population of planet earth. Could this explain the mysterious deaths or murders of 78 bioresearchers in recent years? Did they know too much about who it is that is doing "DNA and RNA viral engineering?".

HOW TO PREVENT AND CURE ALL VIRAL INFECTIONS
-- The Temperature Connection

Viral DNA can only replicate or grow like a crystal, if the temperature of the host cell liquid cytoplasm is below 100 degrees F, and it "prefers" a temperature of 96F or below. For "cold-blooded" birds and reptiles this can occur all year long, but mostly in winter. For humans and most mammals this lower body temperature condition actually occurs during sleep and when under stress. This lower body temperature may also occur when exposed to cold winter weather. This is why winter is flu season.

A human "fever" above 102F completely stops all viral replication, giving the immune system T-cells and macrophages enough time to track down and destroy the invading virus. Lowering the fever temperature with modern over-the-counter cold medications can kill you. The only thing an annual flu shot does is speed the process of T-cells finding certain viruses. The flu shot does not actually give immunity or prevent infection, especially if the person also takes cold medications or prophylactics such as Tamiflu which lower the body temperature and thwart the normal immune system fever response. It could actually be deadly.

The similarity of viruses and sperm also includes their sensitivity to temperature. In almost all male mammals, the sperm replicating sites, the testes are always external to the body, so they will be maintained at lower than normal body temperature. In modern times, many men may wear tight-fitting briefs or have jobs sitting all day at desks or driving trucks. Those individuals very commonly have low sperm counts with very low motility. The sperm just don't replicate very well at the higher body temperature. This is one of the most common reasons for modern-day male infertility. The simple cure is to lower the testicle temperature. How that is accomplished, I leave to the imagination of the reader.

The extreme similarity between viral infection and sexual reproduction is why most people have no clue as to how a virus spreads. For most people, frank and open discussion of sex and sexual reproduction is difficult and often taboo, even among medical circles. This explains why many doctors will treat a patient with a cold or flu, by giving antibiotics. Or giving the patient with influenza, a course of anti-virals which treat the symptoms and lower the patients fever - and usually kills the patient.

The simple way to prevent and cure viral infection in the human body is to raise the body temperature above normal. This is the normal and natural immune system response to a viral infection. It's called a fever. It is normal and natural with nothing you need to buy from the local drug store to make it work. Your body does it all by itself - you don't even need to think about it. It is part of being human.

Thus the infecting virus can only replicate in humans with a stress-lowered or artificially medicine-lowered body temperature. This explains why cold and flu viruses spread more often during the winter. It also explains why some people may get six or more colds per year. And then some other people seem never to catch a cold. It's their body temperature.

Unlike the current medical practice for the last 100 years, the nurse should not be too concerned when taking your temperature and then it reads 101 degrees. That's your body reacting to a viral infection. That is a normal immune system response - and that is good.

Instead, the nurse or doctor should be very concerned when your daytime body temperature reads only 97 degrees or less. It does happen. That means your immune system is under stress. You are wide open to viral infections and your immune system has no means to respond to the infection. You are at severe risk for a lethal disease.

WHY THE CURE WILL NEVER BE "DISCOVERED

"But for the medical professional to recognize this simple fact, would turn modern medicine right up-side down. It would also mean that doctors would no longer treat colds and flu with medications to "treat the symptom" by lowering the fever. And that would put Big Pharma right out of business. Which is why it will never happen.

Big Pharma will continue to sell over-the-counter cold and flu meds at tremendous multi-billion dollar profits each year. And millions of people will die in lonely hospital beds around the world, not from flu, but from drowning in their own lung fluids resulting from severe viral pneumonia - caused by lowering the immune-system-response fever. With all those cold 'n flu pills and bottles which you've bought - it can only be called Murder in the Medicine Cabinet. Is that what the 78 mysteriously murdered international bio-researchers were trying to tell us? The Bird Flu story in the news is a complete hoax, being spread by the same people who who also have the ability to spread the human-cloned version of Bird Flu and then also convince you to make sure to get your flu shot and stock up on Tamiflu.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Your mission, should you accept it, is to discuss what you've just read with your doctor. Discuss it with your family and friends. Discuss it at work, and even on Internet chat channels and boards, and call-in radio programs. If you choose to do nothing, then those who are making the outrageous claims of world pandemics which would kill millions, and who actually now also control the newly cloned and manufactured stockpiles of Human Bird Flu or the replicated 1918 Spanish Flu, could actually be making self-fulfilling prophesy. It's up to you. Don't panic, as they expect you to do, and rush to wait in line to get their very expensive flu shot or antivirals. Know that your own fever is your own first line quick-acting (usually 4 to 6 hour) defense against any viral infection. Peace.

Marshall Smith
Editor, Brother Jonathan Gazette
newseditor@brojon.com

For more information See: "Fever and the Mystery Disease SARS" and "Murder in the Medicine Cabinet: Part 1" in the BroJon archives.

Do You Mind?

2006-12-28T08:23:00.000Z

The human brain acts like an enormous sponge, constantly absorbing the information it receives throughout the day, from millions of sensors and senses. For the most part it works almost entirely on autopilot (for want of a better term), without our awareness.

My view of the human mind therefore, is separated into two distinct and completely separate entities, the Conscious and the Subconscious.

If we, as human beings, were consciously aware of the millions of processes our brain was going through, we would barely be able to concentrate on breathing, let alone hold a conversation over lunch.

To that end, we have developed a filtering method, that allows our brain to carry on working behind the scenes uninterrupted, whilst our conscious mind basks in the light of more leisurely pursuits, namely creative thought.

From an evolutionary perspective, this gives us a major advantage, in that our conscious mind is allowed the freedom to evolve ideas and invent new concepts.

Whilst behind the scenes our brain is frantically processing all the information its receiving, our conscious mind is only capable of performing a very small number of simultaneous tasks, and in reality, to do them thoroughly, it can only do them one at a time.

Whilst this may not seem a powerful tool, it allows us the ability to focus our attention diligently in one area, without being overwhelmed by everything else. Effectively the conscious mind has managed to filtered out all automotive functions of the body, and many of its senses, in order to concentrate without distraction, on a topic of choice.

The Subconscious mind, is therefore the rest of the brain that’s working on autopilot. From the millions of things its processing, it makes calculations and snap judgements incredibly quickly, and is capable of processing a multitude tasks simultaneously.

Whilst the conscious mind is separated from the subconscious mind, by way of these filters, the subconscious mind is capable of communicating to the conscious mind by way of emotional feelings, or general impressions. These chemical reactions in the body, are powerful enough to interrupt the conscious mind enough to concentrate on something else, namely what our subconscious mind is trying to bring to our attention.

These feelings or communications from the subconscious mind, in my opinion, are often misinterpreted as intuition, gut instinct, or even divine and mystical messages from another entity or plane of existence.

An example of how this conscious, subconscious split works, can be seen in say, a restaurant.

Whilst seated with a friend, you engage in a highly intellectual and absorbing conversation (ok just pretend its intellectual and engaging to humour me please). Whilst your conscious mind is fully engaged in the conversation, your subconscious mind is processing everything else... How to open you mouth and produce words, how to breath, how to regulate your bodies temperature, what the couple next to you are talking about.

Your conscious mind has filtered out those other voices, but your ears are still hearing what they say, and your subconscious mind is still processing it.

It is also aware of each individual noise emanating from the kitchen, the aroma of cooked food, and a pheromone emanating from a potentially suitable partner seated behind you.

For some strange reason, you get the urge to look around, and as your eyes fall upon the potential mate, your subconscious mind releases a good dose of hormones. All of a sudden your conscious mind looses all interest in the current conversation, and instead focuses its attention on the attractive person seated behind you.

The subconscious mind has done its job well. Whilst keeping you alive, safe, and breathing, it has also made an attempt to secure the future of the species, by focusing your conscious minds attention on the potential mate seated behind you.

It did this by first imparting the impression to look round, and secondly by way of releasing a chemical into your system, forcing you to be attracted to them.

The Conscious and Subconscious mind exist side by side, and communicate subtly with each other, helping us ascertain when people are feeling down or upset, what responses are appropriate to a given situation, how to move and breath, and basically how to conduct ourselves in everyday living.

When you suddenly receive a sense of dread or fear, its probably your subconscious digesting information you are otherwise unaware of, and sending a powerful warning signal to your conscious mind.

Because of the nature of our subconscious mind, processing information indiscriminately, it can sometimes send these emotions falsely. This is why when engrossed in a horror movie, we feel afraid. Or when we are alone in the dark we get anxious.

Regardless of weather there is any real physical threat, our subconscious mind, is processing the signals and feeding the results back to our conscious mind, forcing us to concentrate on a potential threat. When those threats are found to be genuine, we often attribute those feelings to be inspired, when in actual fact it is simply the natural process of the subconscious mind, alerting you to signals that you were otherwise unconscious of.

Whilst these analogies are simple example, I feel they holds merit for a great number of strange phenomena, such as intuition and instinct, even ESP.

So what happens when we sleep? Well the vast majority of all human behaviour is done without any conscious thought at all, muscular movement, balance, placing one leg in front of the other to walk, raising the corners of your mouth into a smile, blinking to keep your eyes moist etc. All these actions and events whilst seemingly having no impact on our conscious mind, take their toll on the subconscious actions of our brain that is tirelessly working very hard, every second of the day.

As with all exercise, there follows a required period of rest, and the only way for our brain to rest, is to processing all those movements, actions and senses, and enter the comatose state known as sleep.

To do this it sends feelings of drowsiness to the conscious mind, until the conscious mind can no longer concentrate on ‘any’ specific tasks. At this point it gives up being the boss of conscious motor control and thought, and shuts down. In other words, you fall asleep. Only then in this comatose state can the mind fully rest and recharge its batteries, for the following day.

During sleep, we go through five main stages. The first stage is a very light sleep from which it is very easy to wake up. The second stage moves into a slightly deeper sleep, and stages three and four represent our deepest sleep. Our brain activity throughout these stages is gradually slowing down so that by the time we reach deep sleep, we experience nothing but delta brain waves (the slowest brain waves).

After the fourth stage of sleep, we begin the stage commonly known as REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement), which is the fifth stage of sleep, and is the stage where almost all dreams occur.

During REM sleep, several physiological changes also take place. The heart rate and breathing quickens, our blood pressure rises, we can't regulate our body temperature as well, and our brain activity increases to the same alpha level as when we are awake, or sometimes even higher. The rest of the body, however, is essentially paralyzed until we leave REM sleep. This paralysis is caused by the release of glycine, an amino acid, from the brain stem onto the motoneurons (neurons that conduct impulses outward from the brain or spinal cord). It is widely theorised that this paralysis is to stop us from acting out our dreams whilst sleeping and otherwise causing injury to ourselves.

The body then continues to cycle through these 5 stages of sleep, however the fifth stage becomes more and more prominent as the night goes on, whilst the deeper stages of sleep become les and less.

By morning we are virtually cycling through stages one two and five, with no deep sleep required at all. This is because our mind requires no further rest, and needs some means of reviving itself from the comatose state it has fallen into. It does this by providing more and more means of stimulation in the form of dreams.

So what about the dreams themselves? Well, the pictorial stories within our dreams could easily be created from the images and experiences we have stored away in our memory. The stories associated with those dreams, are our imaginations embellishments of the images based on our most prominent thoughts, our hopes and even our worst fears and insecurities (nightmares). I believe it is a significant point in time where our Subconscious and Conscious communicate more openly, and where our imagination is at its most active stage because it has no other form of external influence.

It is however mankind’s nature to always provide a reason to that which is unexplained, it is why we are the most advanced species on the planet and constantly pushing the boundaries of science and invention. However more often than not, when we encounter an event which is otherwise unexplainable, our brains force a contrived explanation to fill the uneasy and unpleasant void of the unknown.

These contrived explanations, are usually spiritual, mystical, or otherwise divine in nature. We perceive the unexplainable event to be miracles, when in reality there is a logical explanation, we simply aren’t aware of it. This reasoning, whist wildly contrived, puts our minds at ease providing an acceptable explanation, even if that explanation itself is illogical.

This may explain why people are inclined to believe in God even though there is no evidence of his existence. It may also explain why people are inclined to believe that our dreams are spiritual and prophetic even though we have thousands of dreams each year which have no meaning whatsoever. It could explain why some of our most coincidental actions are perceived as inspired and intuitive, and why so many people can be impressed and dazzled by the magicians illusions and tricks.

Having said that, the power of human imagination provides us with a means of invention and problem solving that would otherwise never be explored. Many inventors and scientists throughout time have attributed their inventions or solutions to various problems, from things they had dreamed about.

Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine in 1884, dreamed he was surrounded by jungle tribesmen holding spears which had a hole in the head. It was this dream that inspired the way needles work in sowing machines.

Mary Shelly, got the idea for "Frankenstein," from a dream (shudder).

Jack Nicklaus claimed the success to his new golf club grip was discovered in a dream he had, significantly improving his golf game.

So it would seem that there is much to be gained through the process of dreaming, but be careful not to trust in them foolishly.

Movie Reviews

2005-12-30T07:50:00.000Z

Lord Of The Rings (Trilogy)

The Matrix

I, Robot

The Bourne Supremacy

The Village

DodgeBall

The Chronicles Of Riddick

The Terminal

Collateral

Anchorman

Man On Fire

Movie Rating System

2005-12-29T19:17:00.000Z

The Problem
Have you ever tried to rank your top ten movies of all time? You probably named 5 or 6 relatively quickly but then struggled with the last few slots right? There are so many movies you like, you simply can't fit them all in and want to be sure that the films you have chosen are indeed your favourite top ten films.

The rating system below will help you grade your favourite films more accurately, so that films you struggle to choose between can be rated against each other fairly.

The Rating System
Where as many rating systems may work along the lines of a simple 1 to 10 basis. The All Star Rating system (ASR) is graded out of 100 and requires you to do a little more work.

Why? Because the difference between one film and the next is almost impossible to pigeon hole into such a small range, leaving you far to many films with the same rank.

The ASR system will provide the more discerning movie buff with a greater range to rate their movies by, and maybe help them think more closely about how they are ranked in comparison to other films they have seen and liked.

Basically the ASR breaks a film down into 10 levels or criteria, and asks the viewer to grade each criteria on a further 1 to 10 basis. The result is a value out of 100, which when placed next to other films you have assessed, should place them in a more widely distributed spectrum, allowing you to more easily asses which your favourite movies are among the many contenders that potentially exist.

What To Do
Below are two lists of categories along with the scores within each category by which to grade your chosen movie. The descriptions against each score are simply a basic guide to help you decide what grade out of 10 to apply.

There are 3 compulsory categories in list 1 which you must grade your movie by, these are the ‘Acting’ category, 'Watch-ability' and the 'Overall' category. You may then select a further 6 categories from List 1 of your own choosing, that you feel most closely resemble the best aspects of the film. Finally choose 1 categories from List 2 which you feel is the most appropriate genre for your movie.

Once you have chosen your 10 most applicable categories to rate your movie by, simply rate your film in each category (minimum score of 1, maximum score of 10) and keep a track of the score. Your total for that movie will become your ASR TOTAL.

Once you have rated a number of films in this fashion, you will easily be able to analyse how your favourite movies rate and compare to one another, along with your overall impression of the film.

List 1
You must grade the 3 compulsory categories and then choose and additional 6 categories most befitting the movie. A description and advice on grading each individual category is detailed after 'List 2'.

Acting (Compulsory)
Action
Authenticity
Direction
Drama
Effects
Entertainment
Humour
Musical Score
Originality
Scary
Storyline
Thought
Watchability (Compulsory)
Overall (Compulsory)

List 2
Pick the most compatible movie genre for your film and grade it out of 10. Your grade should represent roughly how this movie compares, to other movies you have seen of the same genre.

Action/Adventure
Animation
Comedy
Drama
Epic/Historical
Family
Fantasy
Film Noir
Gangster
Horror
Martial Arts
Musical
Romance
Science Fiction
Teen Film
Thriller
War
Western

Descriptions And Advice For 'List 1' Categories

Acting
The art of acting is to perform a part or roll in a story. The art of good acting is to entertain the audience to the point where they believe what they are seeing is real, or it evokes a strong emotional response.

You should grade a movies acting according to individual performances. This can be done according to how much they moved you, or how much they made you laugh. Overacting, whilst unrealistic, is still a skilful art and should be awarded just as well as a strong dramatic roll, or realistic portrayal.

Try to think if the Actors performances improve the entertainment factor of the movie, or weather their performances simply left you feeling hollow.

Examples:
1 - Extremely poor acting. The performers showed little or no passion, they did not relate to the characters they were portraying.
5 - Average
10 - Superb acting. They captivated your attention, pulled your heart strings, made you laugh uncontrollably, or brought a tear to your eye.

Action
Action Films have tremendous impact, continuous high energy, lots of physical stunts and activity, extended chase scenes, races, rescues, battles, fights, destruction, disaster, explosions, fires… you get the general idea.

When grading on action you should consider the non-stop motion or spectacular rhythm and pacing that makes up the flow of the movie. You should grade frequency of action, quality of action regarding the effects, choreography and stunt work, as well as the rhythm of action sequences. The flow of action from one scene to the next, and how well balanced it is with relation to the story telling is key to a successful action movie, and often overlaps with other categories such as effects, direction, drama and originality.

Examples:
1 – Action sequences were infrequent and poor. The action drove the story, not the other way round, and there was nothing original any of the action scenes.
5 – Average
10 – Non stop action throughout, integrated smoothly into the storyline. The effects and stunt sequences were original, well choreographed and visually spectacular.

Authenticity
Authenticity is the quality of being real or true. It is often very difficult to grade a films authenticity if you know little about the subject matter within it, however you can award points to a fictional or non fictional story, if you think it was done so well as to seem real, or believable to you the viewer, or if you believed what you saw was real.

If it is a factual movie about real life, the environment, historical events, or real life stories, you should avoid scoring in this category unless you know what you are talking about.

Examples:
1 - A completely false and misleading representation of science or evidence, so far fetched and contrived it was ridiculous.
5 - Average
10 - True to the facts or real events. Believable to the point where you felt you where watching live television.

Direction
Direction is the smooth and seamless art of story telling, it encompasses such elements as camera angles and lighting, scene and character integration, cinematography and set location. In short a Director is responsible for bringing the whole story together, they are the ultimate story tellers with a thousand tricks up their sleeves.

Often it is very difficult to grade the Directorial talent in a movie, as the subtle art of story telling simply washes over the viewer without them knowing. When watching a film more than once, it becomes easier to pick up on the clever little nuances of the movie.

Watching the special features and extras that are bundled with movies these days will enlighten you further as to the hard work that has gone into making a film.

Examples:
1 - Very poor direction. The story jumped from one scene to the next erratically detracting your attention. No originality, and bad choice of characters and props.
5 - Average
10 - Superb direction. Clever and interesting camera angles, well worked scene integration, unique style and feel, a complete and masterful piece of story telling.

Drama
Drama is the serious presentations of part or all of a movie story. It usually encompasses situations in film that portray realistic characters in conflict with themselves, others, or forces of nature. It is the tension that grips you to your seat, which has you hanging on the edge of every second, every word and every event in the film. A dramatic film often shows us human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between.

A good way to gage the emotional drama of a movie, is not only how you felt while watching the film, but how long those emotions stayed with you after the final credits. Appropriate use of drama is also important in the overall enjoyment of a film. The mood should not be so oppressive as spoil the entertainment quality of a film.

Examples:
1 – The drama was neither moving or tense. It did not play on my emotions at all. Wooden performances and poor unrealistic story line lead to a dramatically weak movie.
5 – Average
10 – My emotions were in tatters at the end of this movie, I had a lump in my throat, tears in my eyes, was on the edge of my seat throughout, and bit my nails down to the bone.

Effects
Effects are the extra dynamic used to make the movie convincing. They may be computer generated graphics, models and props, pyrotechnics and explosives, stunt work, make up, and camera trickery.

There are numerous effects that can be used in a movie, and some movies require more than others. Good effects are the ones that come with wow factor, or that integrate so invisibly that you simply don't even know they are there.

Extra points should be awarded for originality and innovation. Bear this in mind when grading old films that now seem to contain dated effects, they may well have formed the foundation for film making today.

Examples:
1 - Extremely poor effects that distracted you attention away from the story, and made you realise instantly that what you just saw wasn't real.
5 - Average
10 - Spectacular effects unlike anything you have ever seen before. You were blown away in awe. The effects were very subtle and clever, but superbly done.

Entertainment
Entertainment value is a personal level by which to grade a movie. What is entertaining to one, may be nauseous to another. Also a film that scores highly on the technical side for realism and direction, may not always be Entertaining, and likewise a film with poorer technical merit could well be very Entertaining.

You need to decide how much this movie captivated your attention. Was it agreeable and gratifying to watch. If the film was very enjoyable to watch, to you should grade it highly.

Examples:
1 – I did not enjoy this film at all, I would probably not watch it again. It did not entertain or lift my spirits at all.
5 - Average
10 – Highly entertaining throughout. I was captivated from the start, a real joy to watch.

Humour
This category is primarily used on Comedy movies, however it may also be used on other genre to gage the appropriate levels of humour throughout the movie.

Many dramatic films, or films with a heavy demeanour will often include a few scenes of a more spirited or jovial nature. When done well this technique can greatly enhance the entertainment factor of a movie, by lifting the viewers spirits from an otherwise dour movie atmosphere.

Apart from the obvious grading for how much the movie made you laugh, you should also try to award points for the appropriate use of humour, creative and original humour, and the humorous effect (how the humour content effects the atmosphere of the movie).

Examples:
1 - There was nothing I found humorous in this movie at all. It was to serious, to heavy and otherwise moody for my taste.
5 – Average
10 – The use of humour was superb, it lifted my spirits at the right moments, titillated my emotions, and had me laughing heartily with appreciation. It was so funny throughout, I couldn’t stop laughing.

Musical Score
Particularly with films that evoke a strong emotional response, the musical score is often the unsung hero of the film. It sets the mood, creates the atmosphere and builds up the climatic finale of a scene to fever pitch proportions. It is in my opinion, one of the most important aspects of any movie, though most of the time you will scarcely be aware of it. When done to perfection it can elevate an average film to a good film and a good film to exceptional. It can provide a dynamic signature that once heard can instantly be associated with that movie.

Musical Score is not a reference to songs used in a movie, unless the songs have been written specifically for the titled film. Using other peoples pre recorded, pre written music in a film is not to be graded in this category. Instead award further points to Direction if you feel the appropriate use of songs was used.

Examples:
1 – Inappropriate and inadequate music score, lead to film with the wrong atmosphere. I was unable to relate to the performance due to the poor musical score.
5 – Average
10 – Superb musical score that touched me emotionally and brought life and soul to every scene of the film. I will never forget the movies anthem which will remain a signature to the films excellence.

Originality
Movies that immediately spring to mind when talking about originality, are Star Wars, Willow, Terminator II, The Matrix, and Lord of the Rings.

A film can be original on a number of different levels. It may contain special effects that have never before been done, the storyline may contain new and refreshing ideas and concepts, or the style in which the movie is made may be quite different from the norm. Even how scenes are shot can comprise a number of techniques out of the norm.

Try to award points for the appropriate use of originality. If something was original but completely misplaced with the rest of the film, don’t be tempted to grade it highly unless you have good reason to.

Examples:
1 - There was nothing original in this movie whatsoever, it was predictable, and everything I saw has been done a thousand times before in other movies and better.
5 – Average
10 – It was refreshing to see so many new ideas and concepts, I have never seen anything quite like that before. The camera angles and filming techniques were very unique. The style of the movie was very original and interesting to explore.

Scary
Scary moments in film are unsettling and designed to frighten, panic, cause dread and alarm, or invoke our worst and hidden fears.

Whilst being terrifying, the scare factor should captivating and entertaining us at the same time. It often requires empathy for the characters in the story, good acting and even better direction. It should invoke our most primal instincts for self preservation, and our vulnerability to events out of our control.

Examples:
1 – Though the film was designed to be scary, I felt no emotion to either the characters or plot. The unrealistic or poor portrayal of events, coupled with over exaggerated effects left a shallow feeling that was neither scary or entertaining.
5 – Average
10 – Spine chilling moments that dragged me out of my comfort zone and had me fearing for the characters lives. That fearful emotion will play on my subconscious fears for some time to come.

Storyline
What comprises a good story? You could argue that it is largely personal preference, however there are a couple of things that should be taken into consideration, such as originality of script, character and story development, and level of complexity to name but a few.

A good story should have characters you can relate to, that you care about, or feel some emotional attachment towards. The story line should try to contain interesting material, preferably in an original manner. It should culminate to a climatic finally and not leave you feeling hollow or emotionless at the end of it. It should not be so simplistic as to patronise the viewer, nor be to complex to comfortably follow.

Examples:
1 – Pathetic story line with no originality whatsoever. A mindless excuse to show effect after effect with no direction or consideration to the viewer.
5 – Average
10 – Fantastic story, that teased and piqued my interest throughout. Its non predictability and original script thoroughly entertained me, I fell in love with the characters right away and could immediately related to them.

Thought
Complexity to a particular story, and how much effort was involved in understanding it. Films of this ilk require the audience to be both attentive and interested in order to follow what is unfolding before their eyes. The level of complexity should be adequate to the point where most attentive viewers could follow, and not so complex that few people can understand it without significant knowledge of the subject matter.

You should attempt to award points for how much the story line made you think, did it have multiple meaning at different levels, how much compassion and empathy did you feel towards the characters. Where you left pondering over the events of the movie long after the final credits.

Examples:
1 – No thought required at all to watch this simple and mindless charade. A zombie falling asleep could still follow this plot.
5 – Average
10 – Wow the intrigue and plot where so rich with thought provoking material that I could watch this film a dozen times and still find something new to think about. An amazingly clever piece of script writing and story telling.

Watchability
Watchability refers mainly to how likely you are to watch this film again, or add it to your DVD collection. It signifies your intentions towards the film, and encompasses you viewing preference.

It is entirely subjective and does not come with any technical reference other than to say it is your viewing preference, and your likelihood of viewing over and over again. If you it’s a film you would like to watch again, or would be likely to own, then grade highly.

Examples:
1 - This film may have been good or bad, but its not my sort of film at all. I would never watch this film again by choice.
5 – Average
10 – I could watch this film over and over again. I cant wait till it comes out on DVD, I will be the first person in the cue.

Overall
Its “make your mind up” time. You have graded the various different categories and analysed the technical aspects of the film along with its entertainment value. Now its time to give your overall opinion of the film.

This is your basic out of 10 grade for the film overall. It can act as a biased for particular films that you love, but which didn’t necessarily score high technical marks. It is purely down to your own viewing preference how you grade in this category.

Examples:
1 – Rubbish, I hate this film, I must be mad to even grade something I hate so much, what a waste of my life.
5 – Average
10 – Outstanding. Of the thousands of film out there, this one is definitely in the top flight. Without a doubt one of my all time favourite movies.

Top Ten Movies

2005-12-28T07:34:00.002Z

1) Lord Of The Rings (Triology)
2) The Matrix
3) Star Wars (IV,V,VI)
4) Braveheart
5) Indiana Jones (Triology)
6) Back to the Future (Triology)
7) Aliens
8) Terminator II
9) Blood Diamond
10) Inception

Note: This list is subject to change. Films were chosen on the bias of what made the biggest impression in my life, the emotional response they evoked, and how many times I have re-watched them.

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

2005-12-27T07:31:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (10)
Direction (10)
Effects (10)
Entertainment (10)
Musical Score (10)
Originality (10)
Story Line (10)
Watch-ability (10)
Overall (10)
Fantasy (10)
ASR TOTAL 100

Review
This has to be my favourite film of all time. It has everything I could ever want from a film and more.

Adapted from the most popular novel of all time, and second in sales only to the Bible, this majestic fantasy tale takes you on an adventure beyond compare. The life’s work of J.R.Tolkien is brought to life in a vision made only possible by the scrutiny and detail of a dedicated cast and crew, directed with mastery by Peter Jackson who’s energy and excitement for the story is unequalled.

Analysis of every aspect of this film, leaves the viewer in awe of its flawless creation, from props, costumes and set design to stunning and unparallel special effects. Breathtaking cinematography, passionate acting from a perfectly cast crew and an inspiring story line that drags you through every emotion possible. Lord Of The Rings is truly an epic movie worthy of the unprecedented 17 total Oscars.

The Matrix

2005-12-26T07:43:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (9)
Direction (9)
Effects (10)
Entertainment (10)
Originality (10)
Story Line (10)
Thought (10)
Watch-ability (10)
Overall (10)
Science Fiction (10)
ASR TOTAL 98

Review
”Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is, they have to see it for themselves”

The Matrix is essentially a science fiction action film who’s plot is so intense and intricate, and exists on so many levels that you could spend forever just thinking about it. Splice in some of the best action, fight choreography, and never before seen, ground breaking special effects, and The Matrix is a film to make you eyes bubble out of the sockets in supersonic amazement and you brain go into synaptic overload from intrigue.

First time directors the Wachowski brothers pull of a miracle by shaking the foundation of George Lucas’s Lucas Art Productions and steal the limelight from the long awaited sequel to Star Wars, the Phantom Menace. They catapult into stardom actors like Lawrence Fishburn, Carry-Anne Moss, and Hugo Weaving, and revive the career of Keanu Reeves elevating him to household name.

If you haven't seen the Matrix yet, then stop reading this review and go and watch it now. It might just change how you view the word.

I, Robot

2005-12-25T07:54:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (7)
Action (8)
Direction (7)
Effects (9)
Entertainment (7)
Originality (7)
Storyline (7)
Watchability (7)
Overall (8)
Science Fiction (8)
ASR TOTAL 75

Review
I, Robot is basically a murder mystery set in the future where humans only just outnumber robots by a factor of 5 to 1. Detective Spooner (Will Smith) has a real problem with this, and doesn’t share the same view as the rest of society, that Robots are the best way forward, in fact he hates them.

The story line holds enough twists and fascination to keep your attention, and the special effects are very well done indeed. From the robots through to the computer generated backdrops and animation sequences, your eyes are lead to believe that what you see is real and not just some elaborate cartoon.

A number a moral questions are asked of the audience, and your left with a few poignant thoughts for your journey home.

What makes I, Robot work for me is director Alex Proyas’ surprisingly effective balance of action, intrigue and emotion. Sure, Spooner’s hang-ups aren’t nearly as interesting as what’s happening with the robots, but they at least give you something more to think about than the last explosion or fight scene. It may not be high drama but its entertaining.

If you like fast paced action, special effects, Will Smiths charm and witty ‘one-liners’, mixed in with a smidgeon of intrigue and story telling, then you will probably love this film so go and see it.

The Bourne Supremacy

2005-12-24T07:55:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (8)
Action (7)
Authenticity (8)
Direction (8)
Effects (6)
Entertainment (8)
Storyline (8)
Watchability (8)
Overall (8)
Espionage (8)
ASR TOTAL 77

Review
Essentially a Spy-vs-Spy movie, packed with thrills an spills of action and suspense. The Bourne Supremacy kicks off where the first movie finished, and soon throws you back into the mindset of the paranoid but deadly Jason Bourne.

As with the first movie (The Bourne Identity) the action sequences and plot are strung together in an intelligent way, making you believe that the special-opps spies are smarter than smart, highly trained individuals, rather than the mindless gun slinging action hero’s of old.

The film is fast paced, keeps you on the edge of your seat with suspense, and has a enough twists and turns throughout to keep you well entertained. Matt Damon proves once again that he is a versatile top class actor, and Director Paul Greengrass proves that sequels can be as good as the original.

If I had one complaint to make, it would be the shaky camera work that seems to be coming far to common place in action movies of late. A little shake now and again can compliment the aesthetic feel to an action sequence, but to much can leave you with that sick to the stomach ‘Blair Witch’ feeling. Please everyone, lets not get lazy and just shake the camera violently for effect.

Fans of The Bourne Identity should definitely enjoy The Bourne Supremacy equally as much, just don’t expect anything more than that.

The Village

2005-12-23T07:56:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (8)
Direction (9)
Drama (8)
Entertainment (8)
Originality (10)
Scary (7)
Thought (8)
Watchability (8)
Overall (8)
Thriller (9)
ASR TOTAL 83

Review
M. Night Shyamalan's 4th big movie comes in the form this suspenseful and claustrophobic thriller ‘The Village’.

The small village of Covington is surrounded by woods inhabited by mysterious creature. Though this is the setting for the entire film you would be mistaken into thinking this is a stereotypical monster movie.

Unlike some of the reviews I have read, and contrary to what seems the popular opinion, I actually found ‘The Village’ to be an excellent movie. The acting, story line and direction are all original and superbly executed.

Shyamalan sticks to his traditional way of filming by not indulging in special effects and sophisticated props. He allows his directorial talent to lead you through the story, and points the camera at a more than capable cast and crew. He leaves everything open to the imagination of the viewer, giving nothing away until the climax of the movie.

Though Joaquin Phoenix provides another excellent character portrayal, I was equally impressed with the first big screen daybiew for young female actor Bryce Dallas Howard (daughter of accomplished film director Ron Howard), who masterfully captivates the audience with a performance that seemed both experienced and mature.

For lazy viewers intent on witnessing a flurry of special effects, monsters, blood and carnage, then dig out your old copy of Starship Troopers and watch that instead. For those more discerning viewers, who love to have their imagination piqued with original and gripping cinematography and story telling, then The Village is a film you should enjoy.

Dodgeball

2005-12-22T07:58:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (7)
Direction (7)
Entertainment (9)
Humour (9)
Musical Score (6)
Originality (7)
Storyline (6)
Watch-ability (7)
Overall (8)
Comedy (8)
ASR TOTAL 74

Review
Dodgeball is silly slapstick comedy about a group of athletic misfits, led by gym owner Peter La Fleur (Vince Vaughn). They fall foul of a large rival fitness chain owned by White Goodman (Ben Stiller), who threatens to take over their gym and shut them down. There only chance to save the gym is by winning the prize money from a Lass Vegas Dodgeball tournament.

Light hearted, well paced comedy is the name of the game and who better to run the show than Ben Stiller who’s ever exaggerated characters and hairstyles are enough to reduce even the moodiest viewer to tears of laughter. His exuberant expression, comic timing, and superfluous over acting is always top entertainment and coupled with some decent lines as well its impossible to keep a straight face.

Vaughn plays up the straight, more sensible guy very well and levels the stupidity out to a more even keel. The supporting actors are also brought into the movie more as the story moves along, but the laughs are evenly enough distributed throughout the film in order to keep you constantly amused.

Very funny, very stupid, very entertaining.

The Chronicles Of Riddick

2005-12-21T07:59:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (6)
Action (7)
Drama (7)
Effects (9)
Entertainment (7)
Originality (6)
Storyline (6)
Watch-ability (6)
Overall (7)
Science Fiction (7)
ASR TOTAL68

Review
A follow up of the cult film ‘Pitch Black’, The Chronicles Of Riddick is a film in its own right, with little reference made to the first film. It’s inflated budget is spent entirely on dazzling effects, and flash action sequences.

Vin Diesel plays his stereotypical roll as Riddick, the emotionless, rugged, one man slaughter house. His cool demeanour and impressive physique almost carry the film on their own. Tandy Newton plays the cunning temptress, and Karl Urban makes his second big movie appearance since Lord of the Rings (Eomer) and Bourne Supremacy, as the villainous opponent Uaako.

Though David Twohy continues to show he is a writer and director with incredible imagination, adding his own feel and style to the movie, there is something not quiet there to make the movie click into place. The storyline and history seems to cramped and rushed, without due explanation for the events that are unfolding before the viewers eyes, and the enemy Necro’s are just a little to similar to Star Trecks Borg for my liking.

That being said The Chronicles Of Riddick is not a bad film. The special effects are excellent, the action sequences are well done with enough originality to pique your interest, but there is just that little special something that seems missing.

The Terminal

2005-12-20T08:01:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (9)
Direction (8)
Drama (8)
Entertainment (7)
Humour (7)
Originality (8)
Storyline (7)
Watch-ability (7)
Overall (7)
Comedy (7)
ASR TOTAL 75

Review
Loosely based on a true life story about Merhan Karimi Nasseri, a man without country, trapped by his lack of papers in Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, since 26 August 1988.

The name has changed from Merhan Nasseri to Viktor Navorski (played by Tom Hanks), and instead of Charles De Gaulle Airport its based at JFK International in New York. The rest of the movie is probably entirely fictional.

Though dubbed as a romantic comedy, The Terminal is neither especially funny, or overly romantic. That being said it is highly entertaining. It’s a ‘nice’ movie, it wont go down in your cinema all time greats, but it will make you smile and give the odd romantic sigh.

Surprisingly Hanks strong accent wasn’t annoying to me personally, and after a few minutes of listening I even bought into it. His strong screen presence and commanding acting skills do come to the forefront on occasion as his character struggles through this state of limbo, exile, and constant torment from the airport official Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci).

The Angelic Catherine Zeta Jones does a reasonable job of supporting Hanks as the flighty air hostess Amelia, and other than being pleasing to the eye, does portray her character to an acceptable standard, if not unrealistically being attracted to Viktor Navorski.

The lack of eventful material to base a two hour movie in an airport does call for some original direction from Steven Spielberg, but nothing the worlds most famous director cant handle with ease.

All in all The Terminal is a decent film, a popcorn flick that will keep you entertained at least for the duration of the movie.

Collateral

2005-12-19T08:02:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (9)
Action (7)
Direction (8)
Drama (8)
Entertainment (8)
Originality (8)
Storyline (7)
Watch-ability (7)
Overall (8)
Action/Adventure (8)
ASR TOTAL 78

Review
Collateral is an action thriller which gives you a glance into the mindset of hit man killer Vincent (Tom Cruise), while recoiling at the emotions of kidnapped cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx).

Excellently acted by both Tom and Jamie, with a refreshing role reversal for each of them. The dialogue and character interaction is both poignant and entertaining with an occasional sprinkling of black humour to alleviate the tension.

Michael Mann (Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider) continues to evolve his stylish sense of direction, and almost provides a signature for the movie by creating a unique mood and feel.

Fans of Cruise should definitely go and see this movie, but be prepared for a darker roll than he usually plays.

Anchorman

2005-12-18T08:03:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (7)
Direction (7)
Entertainment (8)
Humour (8)
Musical Score (6)
Originality (7)
Storyline (7)
Watch-ability (7)
Overall (7)
Comedy (8)
ASR TOTAL 72

Review
Coming Soon.

Man On Fire

2005-12-17T08:05:00.000Z

All Star Rating
Acting (10)
Action (7)
Direction (9)
Drama (8)
Musical Score (7)
Storyline (7)
Thought (7)
Watch-ability (7)
Overall (9)
Crime/Gangster (9)
ASR TOTAL 80

Review
Man on Fire paints a very sinister tale of revenge in which Creasy (Denzel Washington), a former special forces operative now turned body guard, wields the grim reapers scythe against an organised kidnapping racket in Mexico, fighting terror with even greater terror.

Though rated 18, the certificate is geared more towards the adult nature of the film rather than the explicit content of gore. In fact director Tony Scott (Enemy Of The State, True Romance, Top Gun) chooses to more tastefully cut the camera focus away from the blood and guts, and instead bring greater emphasis on the actors expressions and emotional skills to pull off the various scenes of violence and butchery.

Denzel provides another commanding performance, proving again he is one of the best actors in the world. Indeed the only criticism, if any, is that he is type cast once again in a stereotypical role.

Christopher Walken has a relatively small role in the movie, as does Mickey Rourke and the famous Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini. Rachel Ticotin is probably underused also, giving you the impression that all these minor roles could have easily been played by any competent actor.

That being said the performances from Dakota Fanning, the young girl who gets kidnapped, and Radha Mitchell who plays her desperate mother, are both excellent. You cant help but warm Dakota’s sweet persona, and shudder at the horror and fear projected through Radha Mitchell when she learns the terrible truth.

But without doubt the film is definitely carried by the cold and almost sadistic performance by Washington, who’s demeanour and mood ground you firmly in your seat, filling you with dread and emotion throughout the entire movie. You get a real sense for the character and how dangerous and on the edge he really is.

Paul Cameron provides lots of kinetic photography and editing techniques to give the film a gritty visual style, and frequent symbolic references throughout, that are rarely shot in action movies, give the film a nice overall touch.

This film dares to go places that films of a similar ilk failed to do.

YETI Guild Tabard Ideas

2004-12-30T08:14:00.000Z

Code Of Ethical Conduct

2004-12-29T08:13:00.000Z

World Of Warcraft Code Of Ethical Conduct

When grouping with friends, fellow guild partners, or even total strangers, there is always the issue of who gets what items, when they get them, and why. The argument for what is fair and what is not fair seems never ending. To settle the debate I have developed 3 basic rules of thumb which I feel should yield an ethical and fair solution.

For the purposes of my example below I shall base it on a simple group consisting of 2 people.

Rule 1 - Need versus Greed:
The party wishing to gain for Greed should refrain from rolling, if their group partner is rolling for Need.

Rule 2 - Greed versus Greed:
When both parties stand to gain from Greed, both parties should roll on the first drop and alternate on subsequent Greed versus Greed deadlocks.

Rule 3 - Need versus Need:
When both parties stand to gain from Need, both parties should roll on the first drop and alternate on subsequent Need versus Need deadlocks.

So What constitute Need and Greed:
Need is any Item which is class specific (Paladin, Rogue, Shaman etc.). For example a Paladins needs would include Mail Armour, Melee Weapons etc. A Hunters needs would include Leather Armour and Ranged Weapons, and a Mage’s needs would include Cloth Armour, Staves, Wands etc…

Any item that is not specifically designed for your class character is a Greed item.

The exception to this rule, is item drops which are not Class specific i.e. recipes and regents etc. In which case Need is defined by the additional Trade skills of the character rather than their specific class.

Arguments:
Now an enchanters (or similar) may argue that all coloured drops are ‘Need’ items, and thus its fair for them to roll on everything… Here is my response:

Based on the ethics of fair play, each character in a group, should on average, acquire an equal number of items from group quests. If any player, for example an enchanter, rolls on every single drop. They will obtain far more items, according to the laws of average, than a player who rolls selectively.

Even the most backward of logic should agree that this is both true, and clearly unfair. This is why they should refrain from rolling simply to disenchant, and do what all other Gatherer skills do, and solo their gathering items.

Implementation:
Implementing the 3 rules is trickier than one might think, and obviously requires a little co-operation from both parties.

The 3 rules should come into play on any items that can be acquired by more than one party. Chests, Rollable Drops, Gatherer Materials (Ore, Herbs, Skins), etc. Where possible you should always try and alternate on deadlock situation (both parties with the same requirement), and only roll on the first encounter of that particular deadlock.

For example, the first chest encounter should be rolled for by both parties, the winner receives the loot, and the looser then automatically obtains the second chest in alternate sequence. The first Rollable Drop that has a deadlock is also rolled for, but subsequent instances are resolved by mutually taking turns.

Conclusion:
Using the 3 rules, I believe each party member stands to gain, on average, an equal number of items, providing a fair system that everyone can accept.

Good luck everyone, and above all, have fun…

Something For M0rpheus

2003-12-27T08:25:00.000Z

A series of news articles created for a friend:

Tuesday 20th July 2004
Philippines' Iraq hostage freed
Philippine truck driver Angelo de la Cruz has been freed from captivity in Iraq.

Talks seek to defuse Gaza crisis
The Palestinian leadership is holding emergency talks to try to defuse a crisis over who should run the security and intelligence services.

Blair to be grilled on Iraq flaws
Tony Blair is facing further questions about intelligence failings in his case for the Iraq war as he leads an MPs debate on the Butler inquiry.

Spying: An art not a science
As Tony Blair mulls over the findings of the Butler report, Gordon Corera considers the limits of international espionage.

Tuesday 27th July 2004
Guantanamo inmates back in France
Four French nationals captured by US troops in Afghanistan have been transferred home from the US military base in Guantanamo Bay.

US 'protects' Iran rebels in Iraq
The US has granted "protected status" under the Geneva Conventions to 3,800 members of an Iranian opposition group interned in Iraq.

Pakistan appeals to Iraqi captors
Pakistan has issued a fresh appeal for the release of two of its citizens being held hostage in Iraq.

Global warming
Will we freeze?

Wednesday 28th July 2004
Scores killed in Iraq bomb attack
At least 51 people have been killed in a car bomb explosion outside a police station in Iraq, exactly one month after the transfer of sovereignty.

Monday 2nd August 2004
US banks under new terror threat
Employees of some of the most famous financial institutions in the US have been urged to report for work despite "credible" threats from al-Qaeda.

Davies backs riksson
The Football Association's acting boss David Davies has hinted Sven-Goran Eriksson's job may be safe despite the crisis engulfing the FA.

Sudan army's anger over UN 'war'
Marauding militias are accused of rape and mass murder in Sudan Sudan's army says the UN resolution on the conflict in Darfur is "a declaration of war" and threatens to fight any foreign intervention.

Acknowledgments

2003-12-26T01:01:00.001Z

Special thanks to Matthew Cooper for his assistance with layout and design of this site.