Non-Judgement Day is May 20th

I had the high honor of being the MC at the Earth Day celebration in San Francisco this past Saturday. As mother of ceremonies it was my job to Shepherd the performers on and off the Gaia,stage while entertaining and enlightening the city folk about the benefits of living on the earth. I couldn't help notice that though we were surrounded by megatons of cement and plastic, right in front of my stage I could see grass poking up through the cracks, green and hopeful as ever. Trees still stood anchored in the ground birds flew gracefully and not one fell from the sky.

I was in the good company of feminist folk singers and activists that have serenaded and romanced mama earth for as long as I can remember and though the general audience was distracted by free samples from Cascadian farms and palm held devices, we had a job to do and we did it. One day we will grace and command the Main Stage at these events honoring our planet.
At first glance one would think we were there to entertain and inform the masses, but upon further scrutiny it became clear we were there for ritual in the name of mother earth. Afia Walking tree, born in Jamaica beat out the tribal rhythms for sacred barefoot dancing,The angelic Operatic aria of Carolluna saturated the city skies.
Joanne Rand belted out her prayer for the redwoods and the Kiowa and buffalo and off her newest CD Rise.
Here's a quote from one of the songs, Bones and All
"I am a woman, wit and will,
And wisdom are my backbone
Steady born, steady still,
All creation’s my home.
There’ll be no stopping hoof or horn,
And all that dies will be reborn, from what I see.
All you strangers hear me say,
There’ll be no stopping corn or grain,
And all that falls shall rise again, from what I see.

She sat in round robin with Kym Mamazon Trippsmith, Megan Mcelroy, and Marca Cassity. of the Raven fame. All of these voices sang out with indomitable spirit, truth, and sometimes fury in the name of Gaia, the Greek work for earth.

I also had the privilege of being on a Womens' Visionary panel. I sat next to Dr. Melanie Nutter Director of San Fransisco's department of the environment advocating controversial remedies such as mandatory composting and a proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to pay for safe disposal of chemical waste.

Delores Huerta was among us, co-founder of the national farmworkers assoc with Cesar Chavez and actually directed the Grape Boycott in 1965. At 80 years old, she has been arrested over 22 times and today she heads the Delores Huerta Foundation for Justice. She is a tireless and brilliant advocate for immigrants, workers, and their children.

Sitting next to Delores was Starhawk. So many of you know her as an author of such great canons of Pagan literature such as the spiral dance, a womanifesto on goddess worship, The Pagan book of Living and Dying and one of my personal favorites, The Fifth Sacred Thing, the story of a future ecotopia that exists in our very own bioregion on the verge of invasion by the "Stewards" who have exhausted all natural resources and are determined to pillage ours. This book is a must for every earth lover's shelf.
Patti Bellasalma represented Bay Area National organization of women, Amanda Cryer spoke in the name of 1 VOICE WORLD, a collective group of Entertainment professionals that have come together to shift the Entertainment and Media business, Cho cosh ho a oh, Chumash elder, reclaimed the definition of apocalypse to be a lifting of the veil, and rapture as ecstatic joy.
We discussed the importance of women taking on leadership roles as we are witnessing more and more of that in the world we encouraged each other and the audience to seek political offices as Ms. Nutter has and change the systems from within.
I then had the opportunity as Ma, the great Jewish Mother of us to bring much needed laughter to the serious nature of things and heard from the children in the audience they were growing gardens in their urban backyards.
Our stage was also graced by the presence of Riffat Sultana a courageous and talented artist from Pakistan defying her country's laws that prohibit women from singing in public. It was a local, international, spiritual, political,emotional ritual that filled us with optimism, passion and strength for what's to come. Because as we stood our ground in the center of this guzzling,buzzing, frantic metropolis the Armeggeddon truck circled the square and sent out it's minyans with signs forecasting the end of the world, complete with a 2012 in a red circle with a line through it and a date of May 21st as Judgment day, that's 26 days from now. That's when the shift hits the fan. Then god will destroy the world on October 21st. Check out the math for these calculations at family radio. com. It's mind boggling. I could not restrain myself from conversing with one of the protesters decked out in flyers and buttons.
I told her according to my calendar, non-judgment day is May 20th and she was welcome to join us. I said God loves us all no matter what, she said, God hates too. I had to laugh, talk about personification. I realize there is no arguing with someone's belief system or faith. So I asked her if prayer might help change things, she said, "I hope so" I said I do to. Ah common ground. Hope springs eternal. Earth Day Celebrations continue through May 21st in cooperation with "A Billion acts of Green" a world wide movement to make paradise, not just in heaven, but here on earth.

Dead Prez! It's Bigger than Hip Hop

I've been exploring the outskirts of my comfort zone. I've been hanging with the youth lately,
Last week we accompanied 21 Mendocino high school students including our daughter to Yosemite for Alternative Education week. It was intense and exquisite. I thought we were going on vacation, but this was get up at 630AM followed by a Highly disciplined schedule of exercise and education. I'm still sore. The kids, however, seemed supernatural.
On top of all their physical activities they were determined to have a campfire and enjoy smores as a integral part of their experience in the woods. But with ten feet of snow on the ground, (the basketball hoop was the only an inch or two above the snow) the site manager at Crane Flats did not encourage them. He cautioned them to be realistic. He didn't know who he was dealing with. That would be mendo.
So after four days during which the kids hiked up to the top of Yosemite Falls, crawled through spider caves, snow shoed 3 miles to the giant sequoias and cross country skied 6 young men and four young women picked up their shovels and dug. The night before we left Crane Flat we had a fire pit that was ten feet deep and twenty feet in diameter complete with snow benches and we all enjoyed a nice fire, puffy white marshmallows toasted to perfection squeezed between some chocolate and two graham crackers. The students were proud, so proud and I had a new respect for them and also the desire to spend more time with the kids

So this weekend I attended a production of Hip Hop artists Dead Prez at Crown Hall.
Peace Love and Light Productions offered the concert as an all ages show. I would say we were 13 to 65 years old as I saw a very nice showing of my peers there to get jiggy wit it. The vibe was beautiful and safe. Saturday was a bit like an initiation. An invitation to our youth to step up energetically, politically, artfully. to Make a stand because we have to. There is too much injustice in the world and the authorities/politician tell us we don't have the power to have the lives we dream of while they run off with the gold. The politicians say we can't have smores.

I first heard dead Prez in 2006. their Album Let's Get Free was the kind of Hip Hop that made sense to me. The voices of the oppressed rising up with a raging beat. I sure had a good time dancing my kids and their crew Saturday night. DJ Noah and Facillitator one (Johanna Schulz) rocked the house and Crown hall was overflowing with hoodies and thongs, the fruity scents of Fructis shampoo and ganja. Noyo Roots Crew, Cafe Gratitude. It was a benefit for the MEC and the Noyo food Forest. So in essence Benefiting the whole community and the earth.
M1 and Stic man the rappers from Dead Prez from LA had a lot to say, and a lot of it I couldn't understand, but what I did understand was this. These young men are dazzling performers, one is clean and sober two years and he is totally into fitness and good health and prescribes meditation instead of medication.

They sang out for the workers rights saying "I worked had all my life and I got nothing to show for it". Or the declaration that "too many black men are in cages". Confirmed by Michelle Alexander author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, told an audience at the Pasadena Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, "More African-American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began." That's what turned me on to Dead Prez is the way they tell it.
their message is so relevant to us all, especially today

tax day when once again the people being shook down
for money to pay for the things we don't want
The corporations getting off scot free
and the bill comes down to you and to me
GE, Exxon, B of A
how many billions did you make today
While my peeps got to work and slave everyday
we won't work for your wage
how bout we do some trade
That's my rap
You could understand what I'm saying more easily than you might understand Dead Prez, but we can listen better, can we not. Listen to the voices that are kids are listening to. I know I get a huge kick when I Find Bob Dylan,The who, or Pink floyd on my daughter's playlist. I'm glad she has the appreciation of the classics and it is my job to tune into her.

Let us not underestimate the truth and our youth, let us take a journey with them and discover who they are. Let them show us through their strength, resistance, humor, hunger, awkwardness, willingness and grace what the future holds. And may the voices of the oppressed make it to the radio waves and crash against the shore of apathy. And may the youth who enjoy the privileges of life dedicate some time to the less fortunate among us. Pick up a shovel, a hammer and drive that nail. Like Dead Prez says, "let's get free"

The 411

The 4-11

Yes, that's the date today. Information day.
I went to college at San Diego State, majored in English with a minor in Journalism. I was taught that the most important obligation in joining the ranks of the esteemed 4th estate is, objectivity. The facts, and nothing but the facts.

In news today we have a plethora of opinionators who funnel facts through a selective sieve and squeeze out the the details that don't align with their agenda. While I chose not to be a journalist, I do enjoy this editorial position. I do not pretend that I report the news I simply comment on it. The news comes to us here at KZYX through the efforts of local reporters here in Mendocino and at our sister station KMUD in Humboldt. We all remember the timber wars brought to us via the silver tones of Annie Esposito, then came the cutting edge of Christine Anistad, (Both now editors of Mendocino Country, the newspaper left to us by our outrageous and beloved Richard Johnson, May he rest in peace), and our most recently retired news director Paul Hanson.

At the moment we are looking to fill that precious seat with one who knows us well, who respects and understands the woven history of this county and it's wild, active and restless inhabitants. Someone with a keen curiosity and sharp vocabulary. Are you out there?

It seems as though investigative reporters are an endangered species. The blogosphere has become the popular format of professional and amateur journalists of late and Many on the ground journalists are under fire and die trying to tell the story. Almost 150 journalist were killed since 2009 and many kidnapped. Reporters without Borders do their best to go where the danger is and document, witness and do their best to keep us informed. It's terribly courageous to tell the truth these days.

Just think about Bradley Manning who, as we speak, sits in solitary confinement subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, still only accused of leaking vital news information, or Julian Assange who brings us Wikileaks. Straight from the horses mouth, or should I say ass. Journalists in Mexico killed for reporting on the drug wars. Pakistani reporters are extremely vulnerable right now, 11 killed since April. And many may remember the killing of Spanish Journalists at the Palestine Hotel in Iraq when the war was first getting under way. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl beheaded by Al Queda. CNN's Anderson Cooper beaten in Egypt. Yes, it takes courage.

This radio station brings you Amy Goodman, Free Speech radio News, NPR, comity news, Alternative Radio, TUC. Jounalists from Maria Gallarding to Mitch Jesowitz, to Cyntyhia Elkins bring you as much information from those who are directly affected by current events. Amy Goodman's producer, Sharif Abdul Kaduz, present in Tahrir square, during the Egyptian revolution.

Then there's me, not a reporter, but doing my best to bring the 411 from the Elders, the seekers, the solution makers, the grandmothers, the dreamers. Good news and honest discussion that reminds you of your own responsibilities and roles to change the world and make it a better place.

Of late we have the phenomenon of TMI, shorthand for Too much information. like posting how your fart smelled when you first woke up this morning. Sometimes I get that feeling when I'm surfing the WWW. There's just to damn much information and people including myself can get tangled in the web and then have the blood sucked out of us by the spiders of doom, despair and disaster. Or we spun out on stupid silly strings, or get hooked on the fangs of Facebook, but here on the radio, it's like a companion, a friend, a very smart, focused friend, with a balance of information and entertainment. A friend that gives us the 411 and then sings us the sweetest songs to soothe the savage beast, stories that make us laugh, human voices, flaws and all. familiar voices that we have built a mutual trust with and when the shift hits the fan, will be there as long as the transmitters stay up. Hey, I'm not saying that this radio station is perfect, I'm saying it provides the 411 that I need, the most succinct, present, local, global, vital information that we can get. I hope the next news director understands and appreciates the timing here.

As we turn to face 2012 and that they deliver the news and information with a clear intelligent mind and integrity bringing us basic facts and current events. And leave the editorializing to me.

Sick and Tired

The winds of change are mighty. Yes, Change is coming to the USA. The people are sick and tired. The workers are sick and tired. The families are sick and tired and
April is here. Ah spring, spring and Taxes. We are all getting ready to do our Civic duty and sift through all our crumpled receipts, fill in all forms and pay our taxes.
Woe is we.
It's stressful to think out of what little we have we have to pay more into a system that basically chews us up and spits us out. They waste our precious money on War after war and never have any left over for our basic needs, like education, health, and sustainable living. Many who are traditionally employed already have these taxes taken out of their weekly paycheck.

If you make a living wage, say $20 an hour and you work a 40 hour week That's $800 before taxes. that's 3,200 a month before taxes. Say, you take %30 in taxes that leaves about 2,400 for the month. It's super tight for one person, stressful for two and I'd say impossible for a family. And how many really make a living wage?

Now, let's look at the Corporation like Exxon who in 2009 made a profit of 19 billion dollars, paid no taxes and got a 156 million dollar refund. So not only do they make a ginormous profit, but they are rewarded a tax rebate because the IRS thinks 19 billion dollars, plus government subsides in the millions, is not enough. Exxon is also responsible for environmental disasters, for spending millions of dollars for junk science on climate change and they refuse to pay the remaining 4.5 billion dollars for the Exxon Valdez Spill oh so many years ago. Exxon tops the list of worst corporate tax evaders.

Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Saunders was kind enough to put together of the 10 most offensive Corporations evading their taxes. You know who they are by now, Exxon, GE, Bank Of American, Goldman Sachs. The ones that rape and pillage the world and it's inhabitants and were bailed out by us the "taxpayers" to the tune of 800 billion dollars. Because without that bold move, the they gave dire warning that entire US economy would have crashed. We haven't been the same since.

And the reason, the far right tells us, the depression lingers on is because of the collective bargaining rights and benefits for the teachers, the firefighters, police officers, the nurses, plumbers,service employees, garbage collectors, dockworkers, electricians, truck drivers. The workers have to anti up.

Wall Street stole our money,hedged their bets, lost it somewhere, we still don't know where all our savings, investments pension funds went to, but no one feels the need to explain it. No one except Michael Moore in his film, Capitalism, a love story. It's pornography really.

The new Republican assemblies and governors are adding insult to injury by stripping the working class of their civil rights of collective bargaining. Governors are telling these folks to take pay cuts, contribute more for health care and shut the hell up while the Federal government continues to subsidize ,reimburse and continue tax cuts for the rich and infamous who feel none of the pain of this economically treacherous era we are shackled to.

The uprisings in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan in the face of such hubris and arrogance is exciting. I say Bravo! What a thrill it would be to see President Obama show up to one of these states and speak to the history, value, bravery, courage and necessity of American workers and the unions that protect them.

This was the middle class and now they are hanging like a chad. They are The ones he's always going on about, yeah the middle class, His pet. I know he's never talked about the poor, and while paying lip service to the middle class, other wise known as the working class they are tumbling into poverty where we won't have to mention them at all.

Imagine if Mr. Obama took the bully pulpit and made an executive order that until American Corporations and it's Multi Billionaires pay their fair share of taxes, we the American people are excused. None of us will be required to file anything. That's 138 million taxpayers that would not participate in support our own indentured existence. Imagine if we Forget about those credit cards, forget your student loan, Interest on you car payments. forget the debt, until the richest remember theirs.

And while we are at it, how about a general Strike? Yeah, If the state governments feel that all these working people are such a burden and so insignificant their portrait should be removed from the halls of Maine's Labor department to the economy, then let's give them a taste of something strong and bitter.

At least call in sick and tired for a week. No fanfare, no protestors out to get bashed by private security companies, just call in sick, The Wisconsinites have shown us amazing courage and solidarity. Oh, America find your will call in Sick and Tired and let them
empty the bedpans, mop the floors, drive all night,unplug the toilets,make the beds,pick the tomatoes,put out the fires.

Word of the Day

I wandered into the kitchen the other night and saw an apple on the counter. It had been sliced into 8 perfect pieces by a stainless steel apple corer. None of it had been eaten and the core stood upright in the middle, browning from neglect. My daughter walked out of her bedroom with her laptop in hand ready to do some research for her homework. I said, "Is that your Apple Cored?" She said, "I've told you a hundred time this is my apple cord." dangling her AC adapter for her computer. "Yours is longer," she said. I pointed toward the fruit on the counter. I think we laughed for ten minutes. Yes, the apple cored.

The techno digitalization language is ganging up on us and stealing our language and our spelling (who has time to type our the word "are" as in "how are you?") It is my job as founding mother of the Definition Protection League to speak up once again in defense of words and meaning. I use a dictionary as my shield.

As we progress into this unpredictable era of political insanity, climate instability I want to be intimate and respectful with words that have mattered to me very deeply. When I call their names they resonate clearly in mind, like a macintosh which is a kind of a tart crisp apple that grows on a tree and is harvested in the fall or a raincoat made of rubberized cloth.

Let's examine the phrase "I touch". At present this is a gadget with fancy screen that can download a bunch of aps and so on. But when I say "I touch" I mean; With my hand I reach out and feel you, pet my dog, embrace my wife, Hold my daughter's hand.

My cell is not the portable wireless phone that I carry.

My cell is the very smallest unit of living matter. All living things including plants and animals are made up of cells. The cell membrane contains cytoplasm and the nucleus. All humans start life with one cell and through mitosis cells divide and create the living organism. That makes the question, "Where's my cell?" much more interesting.

A web is something that is woven, usually by a spider. Or a liar " Oh what a tangled web we weave." A duck may have webbed feet as well. Some Indigenous natives believe the universe was woven by spiderwoman and we are connected through her web.

A net is a tool used to catch fish, butterflies or crazy people. Some people use one to keep their hair in place especially in the food service industry.

Windows are transparent and made of glass. One uses them to look outside. Whether in a house of a car windows allow you to see what's going on in the immediate world around you. Right now I'm looking out my window at the ocean, the Albion River and a whole lot of eucalyptus tress, red wood and conifers.

Safari is a trip that you go on, usually related to hunting for big game. Some just enjoy seeing the Lions, Elephants, giraffe's and so on and choose to shoot only photographs.

Yahoo! is a term that one uses when one is especially excited especially if you ride horses.

Googol spelled googol is a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros or 10 to the hundredth power.

Twitter and tweet are what birds do to talk lightly and rapidly, especially of trivial matters.

Blog, Skype, and Reddit are nonsense words

So at this time I want to encourage everyone to remain calm, not .com. Stay in touch with each other, reach out not just on face book, but call on a telephone, have lunch in a restaurant face to face. Then go to your library or local booksellers and get a good book to read. not a kindle(which means start a fire), not something that will no longer exist if if the satellite fails, or the government doesn't like you or mother nature unleashes her forces, that you will still be able to hold it in your hand and sit in the sunshine or by fire light and read.

Oh Yes, and the word of the day today, according to my calendar is "Aflattus" a noun A divine imparting of knowledge and inspiration. If you have a word that needs protection and to be put on the endangered definition list leave a comment here.

H2 uh O

After last weeks' snow blizzards, sky cracking thunder, wildly rowdy lightening and super full moon we have at last, crossed the threshold of Spring in Mendocino County. The equinox is upon us. Brrrr. Yes the day is lengthening, now in equality with the night. the sun is shining, but the forecast is wet, very wet and cold. The weather seems extreme, out of balance and the birds the last few days have been shouting at me on my daily walks.
"I hear you" I say. The earth is changing quickly. yes, We know it. Brilliant, shocking, terrible, dramatic unquestionably. This is it. Am I prepared for whatever is ahead and the answer is no. My family and I do not have an emergency plan. How to get back together should we have an earthquake or a monster Tsunami and the bridges go down? How many days supplies do we have? Don't know. Do you? If you do great, if not. It's time

I take these triple tragic events in Japan as a major wake up call and I am answering. I know you are too. So much fades in the shadow of these kinds of threats, but at the same time it is essential for me to keep a bright eye on the future. For my sake, my children and my grandchildren and my great grand children if you will.

I'm not trying to scare you. Fear can be very useful when there is something to truly be scared about, but we spend a good deal of time being afraid of what might happen. That can itself bring disaster and self fulfilling prophecy. It's alright to be scared. But don't make stuff up.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Check your immediate circumstances. How are you? How's your family. Do you have basic needs and services. Is there an imminent threat in your vicinity?
Yes, there is a real concern about a cloud of radiation descending over the west coast. How will we know? I mean it's invisible right?

Americans are hoarding Iodine and taking it as a precaution to radiation exposure. But wait, taking iodine randomly out of fear will make you sick, kind of like radiation poisoning. symptoms of iodine overdose from supplements or medications that exceed one gram can cause a burning sensation in the mouth, stomach and throat, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, weak pulse, diarrhea and coma. There is a simple test one can take to find our if your levels are normal. This is from Home test for iodine deficiency includes taking some iodine and a swab of cotton. You can find tincture iodine in a drugstore. Dip the cotton swab in the tincture iodine and paint a circle in the inner part of your upper arm or the thighs. Once you have done with that, wait for an hour. After an hour if you find that the circle has disappeared, it means that your body is deficient in iodine. However, on the other hand, if the circle remains as it is for at least four hours, it means that the iodine levels are fine. This is one of the easiest self test for iodine deficiency which you can use, but if you are still not sure, you can get a iodine deficiency test done in a laboratory.
Iodine levels are important nuclear fallout or not. Here's the good news:
One of our great local resources, seaweed is the natural food source for iodine. Local Harvesters are in the process of defending their rights to sustainably harvest now with the introduction of the MLPA (Marine Layer Protection Act) (listen to the Universal Perspective Archives for more info on that). These folks have spiritual,long term, respectful relations with our mama ocean and they have been standing up for all of us. There are three seaweed companies on the coast, rising Tide, Mendocino Seaweed Vegetable Co and Ocean Harvest. Each one has been inundated with orders for Wakame, Kombu, as a protection from and detox for radiation. Many of us have been eating sea veggies for years. Don't stop and make sure your kids munch on Sea Crunchies and Nori as often as you can. Little thyroids are most vulnerable to exposure.
We as a community have a real sensitivity to our environment. We know that our water, our air, and soil have been compromised sometimes to the point of toxicity. What can we do when the threats are invisible to the naked eye.
Prayer is strong, millions, even billions are praying right now and the Japanese are receiving and appreciating that.
Is that real action? I mean we can't see prayers, they are invisible. Well, radiation is invisible but it's real. Think of prayers the same way or even stronger. Direct them toward water. As Japanese Scientist Dr. Masaru Emoto has shown us in his studies and his book "Hidden messages in water" prayers for the water changes it's biochemistry, it's physical form . In experiment after experiment, He shows us water molecules respond beautifully to love, appreciation For my equinox ritual I walked in my backwoods and kneeled by the creek, did water prayers. rushing by so clearly and beautifully, thank you water, blessed water, holy water, knowing that this water is the water in the louisiana gulf, the Niger Delta, the Mekong river, the Tigris and Euphrates. And if our positive thoughts effect water that way, why not the air, the earth around us? Let us imagine it is true for all our elements and daily prayers of gratitude, peace, love, understanding, blessings will change molecules.
And you know how much we love this place and the people in it. I know everyone out there cares. Everyone within the sound of my voice cares. That really matters, literally.

See you on the Other Side

Watching and witnessing the devastation in Japan, after New Zealand a few weeks ago and Haiti, which still suffers unimaginable diseases and devastation, I cannot imagine how one goes about recovering and rebuilding. I have a hard enough time cleaning my house. Image after image over the Television and internet shows us that where there were once thriving towns and cities there is now rubble ,back to the beginning. Looking at similar images of Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq I am also left with the sentiment this is the epitome of a world war. War on the people, the trees, the ocean, the skies, the soil, the animals. This has nothing to do with borders and everything to do with life here on this earth. Mama has been very patient with us and even at this very moment. I can go out into my garden and pick some Kale and chard. The plum tree is in bloom and there crocuses and daffodils everywhere I look.

We have been long calling the violent conflicts on the earth, World Wars. There was I and then there was II. But, you know me and my passion for definitions. For in recorded time, I'm talking biblical, there has been one war after another, and a bunch of simultaneous ones as well. In reality what we had were many, many wars between people. A lot of people, but the world herself, stood idly by. She withstood the blasts of dynamite, the gun powder, the smart bombs, the stupid bombs the nuclear bombs, mining, oil drilling and spilling and the recent blowing up of her mountaintops with impunity. Now the time has come that the earth has begun to defend herself and the best way to do that is to undo us.

I have heard the earthquake Tsunami combination while practically destroying the north eastern coast Japan had the impact of several nuclear bombs NASA scientist Richard Gross reported that the earth’s rotation was also affected. Initial estimates show the rotation of the planet has shortened by approximately 1.8 microseconds (a microsecond is one millionth of a second), and also shifted Earth’s figure axis by about 6.5 inches. These are not time scales that would be noticeable by people but can be read by satellites, Gross told CBS News
The quake occurred as the Earth's crust ruptured along an area about 250 miles (400 kilometers) long by 100 miles (160 kilometers) wide, as tectonic plates slipped more than 18 meters, said Shengzao Chen, a USGS geophysicist.
What does this mean for us, for our seasons, our magnetic fields or gravitational pull? The intelligence and delicate perfection of this planet gave birth to life. Microscopic and magnificent elements conjoined to create a living system that with our own creative abilities have manifested both the beauty and the beast. But the violent and subtle changes, shifts in the weather, the chemistry, the temperature will undoubtedly lead to chaos and ultimately regeneration after we've blown our circuitry. As John Stewart said at the Rally to Restore Sanity. Time to Turn it down a notch.

There are many who are rejoicing that these are signs of the apocalypse. And there are many more who mourn and grieve the senseless behavior of those in power who for these many years have been ignoring and abusing the power and privilege of living on a planet such as ours. Forever she has provided us with the organic ingredients to create heaven on earth. To ease our existence to energize to accessorize, to gorge ourselves on the precious renewable resources that come with seeds, with cycles, but alas greed, the mortal sin we see has seized the day and practically rendered us powerless. But wait, with her cunning creativity and natural immune system Mama earth has a plan. A plan which preempts any fatal blows, because with a wave or a shake, eruption or flame she can disable any advanced, billion trillion dollar economy, weapons system or government. And if some of us survive we will be reduced to the simple form. The systems of bargaining trade and cooperation. Then rapture returns to it's true definition of beauty that we will be hold in the dark night, the quiet air when all the systems are washed away to sea and are nothing but a memory. So strap in, hang on to each other, it's going to be a wild ride. I hope I see you on the other side.