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7th June 2008 - Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secrets of life itself - or, awakening the inner consciousness....

There are some things in life that however you try, you can't explain it properly.  The beauty of nature is one of them - you either "feel" it, or you don't (Isiah 6, 1-13).  Many pretend to see it, but end up using it, either for profit, or ego, or both.   Time is precious now, so I want to keep this item short.  Those who hear this, will; those who don't; are normal.  For those who do see the true colour of this item, know that you're not alone.

2012 is the start of the wake up.........don't be fooled by the agendas of others who want to claim it for themselves.....

The beauty of the world may about to be seen by all, and I can't wait.......

Powerful stuff...

Hope you don't mock it.

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7th May 2008 - Police State turning on photographers now!

No surprise at all that the ever-increasing surveillance and control grid orchestrated by the New World Order has finally got around to turning on photographers.

The Metropolitan Police are urging the public to report photographers taking photos on the street in order to cut down on terrorism.  What they are really doing is stopping the public reporting (by photography) on police brutality and wrongful arrests of the innocent.  Thankfully, some MPs as well as the NUJ, BPPA and others are taking seriously this infringement of liberty and freedom of the press and calling for an early day motion.

The police have started an ad campaign against photographers.  Photographers have now started a campaign against the police using their poster as a template:

(Thanks to Wnjr for poster - very funny and clever)

There is a petition to stop Police fascism here.

2nd May 2008 - Making Waves for Power

Having become a bit of a pessimist in recent years, I have been proved wrong twice this month that the environment can never be of greater global importance than capitalism and money.  The first bit of news is that the Maltese government have been ordered by the European Court of Justice to stop killing birds in the Spring.  The Maltese are infamous for their ruthless hunting of anything that moves.  Widespread cultural trapping and storing of the smallest finches in cages, pilled to the ceilings in storehouses for weeks, are used to lure other birds into range of a shotgun.  Birds killed are often pickled and eaten as delicacies!  A lot of these birds are migrants on passage between Africa and Europe, and some commentators have blamed this wanton destruction on the huge fall off in numbers of our more common garden birds.

The second snippet of good news is that the large scale wind farm proposal for the Lewis (Outer Hebrides) peat bogs and wilderness area has been turned down by the Scottish Government.  Of course, there are two sides to this result, the worrying side being a stronger push for nuclear energy.  I worry that the applicant will keep resubmitting amended proposals of the wind farm, as happens in most house building applications, until the right number of backhanders have been agreed.

Although not news as such, but I was delighted to find yet another organisation who not only state the Al Gore and the Climate Doom prophets are purposefully misleading the media and the public for some hidden agenda, but claim that it is LOSS OF TREES that is causing the carbon dioxide levels to rise.  This organisation, "10 BILLION ACRES FOR HUMANITY" seem to have a much more plausible and balanced argument for climate change than anything you will have read in the mainstream puppet media.  As someone who has been around the world to see the scale and impact of rainforests on the life of this planet, the destruction that is going on in these places, I totally agree and applaud this organisation for their stance.

Now for the down.   A rich entrepeneur is making waves, or actually not, by submitting an application to build a barrage across the Wash Estuary!  The Wash Estuary is perhaps the premier wildlife site in the UK.  It is also protected by many designations, including one under the European Ramsar Convention.

This is obviously a spin off to the similar environment wrecking proposal across the Severn Estuary.  Everyone wants to spin their damage as saving the environment in terms of Global Warming.  Here's where the doubters of this myth may start to understand the truth and the transparency of the lies behind the Great Global Warming Conspiracy.  This entrepeneur, Peter Dawe, merely claiming himself to be "a businessman" is hoping to get corporations and organisations to partly fund this private scheme.  

This is going to be a test of how much protection the designations such as "Ramsar Site" and "SSSI" really have.  Are these labels just pleasing box-ticking afterthoughts because nobody wanted to destroy them at the time of designation?  The Severn Estuary is also a "RAmsar Site" and internationally important area for wildlife.  It even includes places such as Peter Scott's famous Slimbridge Wildfowl & Wetland Reserve.  But this looks as if it will be damaged by a barrage that is well down the path to planning consent.   

I only hope that any corporation contributing to either barrage scheme will receive the huge backlash and adverse publicity they deserve.

Oh, and as an aside to all this, who is also amazed that nobody in power is getting angry and wanting to protest about rising fuel prices.  Believe me, this is also a scam and a test of the British mentality who now seem to accept regular abuse and deterioration of their standard of living because of an underlying myth or two, i.e.  Oil supply is finite and climate catastrophe is your fault for using this oil.  Mmmmm, if oil is running out, then no need to worry about future global warming - it will sort itself out of course!  It makes sense.  "THEY" need to start building barrages and wind farms quickly before the scam of Peak Oil and Global Warming are simultaneously blown open by you and me, your MP, and brave journalists who seek the truth....SOS

More on Global Warming below

1st April 2008 - Nobody's Fool

The heat is warming up on something and it's certainly not the climate:  No this one isn't a joke or a myth, it's about the Wild Boar here in the Forest of Dean and the UK as a whole.

The guns are coming out folks.  One of our truly native wild animals (unlike fallow deer, rabbits, hares, pheasants, mandarins, grey squirrels, etc)  is getting the chop again, thanks to the hunting lobby, the blood lust and ignorance of the Forestry Commission, the puppet media and the gullibility of a public who have lost all connection with the natural world.

The BBC are pioneering the death of the Wild Boar.  Two BBC programs have recently been aired, one of which I was interviewed for (BBC Breakfast News).  Both of which Dr Martin Goulding also gave his side of the story.   No surprise to either of us that our opinions on the good and gentle side to these animals were edited out of the programs.  Indeed, a huge slice of air time was given to a farmer who is claiming the wild boar are killing her cows!  I've never heard such rubbish.  Other folk are claiming they are prisoners in their homes because of these savage beasts roaming on their doorstep.  

Bah!  Wake up people.  Where is the journalism here.  Why is this tripe being kept in the documentaries when anything to the contrary is chopped?  What happened to evidence and seeking the truth?  Now I don't expect many of my readers to believe me about manipulation and conspiracy regarding the serious stuff I write below (all's it takes is a little net-research though!), but surely we can see the lies and spin of this affair.  Wild Boar are trivial subjects on the world stage and yet even here, there's manipulation and brainwash for you to become subservient to.  Surely then, we are being lied to about important issues like terrorism, global warming, WMD, viruses, and so on and so on.

If the wild boar are to serve the public in some way before their guts are blasted about every tree by the sniggering gung-ho men in camo gear from the Forestry Commission I at least hope it is to show everyone once and for all how we are all being lied to by the media and our so called leaders!  

This is not an April Fool, it's an Everyday Fool, and the joke is on you, the boar, the innocent iraqis, the tax payer - unless you stand up and fight it.

10th March 2008 - Global Fool

Today we are told, in the UK, that the winter's worst storm has caused disruption and fear across the country.  WELL.  Did you feel anything?  Were the waves larger than in a normal winter?  Did the gusts make you think something abnormal was going down?  I hope you can see objectively and say NO!  Of course, the underlying theme of this propaganda (and propaganda has an hidden agenda) is to make you think that this is global warming and it is YOUR fault.  The media now believe this tenet is unquestionable and therefore does not need spelling out.  They want YOU to claim that the solution to this problem is to accept global warming is your fault and to give up more MONEY to a swelling gravy train.

But objective thinkers see otherwise.  They see the spin.  So, has global warming becoming tepid?

“Reason obeys itself;  Ignorance submits to what is dictated to it”    Thomas Paine

Thanks to the power of the internet, the only "real" freedom of speech and information tool still available, the world’s greatest global warming profiteer, Al Gore, seems to be exposing the myth for what it is.  MONEY!

For sure, Gore has led the "cut-your-energy consumption" climate-change issue since his infamous and now thoroughly discredited film An Inconvenient Truth, for which he received a Nobel peace prize.  Gore has led government debate on how YOU are causing climate change since the 70s, and has written profusely on the subject in many of the "mainstream" journals of the day.  

If this were you, in the spotlight and making a new rich living leading a cause you believed in, would you...

• Drive 5 cars 500 yards from your hotel to the screening of your own film An Inconvenient Truth at the Cannes Film Festival?
• Increase your electricity consumption by 13.5% over your previous year, to now equal more electricity than 20 average American households combined?  This is the same year your book and “documentary” calls on everyone to reduce electricity use.
• Claim to offset your huge carbon footprint by buying carbon credits from a company (Generation Investment Management) of which you yourself are the Chairman and Founding Partner?

Well you may, since Gore has gone from being an almost $Millionaire during his election campaign against his cousin, George W Bush, to an awesome $100M as a doom and gloom merchant.  All thanks to Your and Your Government's (or unelected, unaccountable Federal Union's) "belief" and support that Global Warming is Your fault.

So take a moment to think about polluter Gore and his profiteering as your behaviour is being manipulated to stop using airplanes (cutting tourist revenue to underdeveloped nations) and to accept and pay through the nose for more and more green taxes, forcing your standard of living ever lower.

And what if the world doesn't warm and the polar bears don't die?  Congratulations everyone - your MONEY has helped save the planet from catastrophe.  But we must keep it up.  Keep the MONEY coming this way please.....

25th January 2008 - Barn Owls

A cold and cloudy Norfolk photographing Barn Owls ended the long spell of wet weather.  Chris Grady, Brian Davis and myself shared a cottage for a few days and enjoyed such delights as marsh harriers, snow and lapland buntings, bearded tit and several barn owls.   The snow and lapland buntings turned out to be far too easy, being habituated to seed on the beach at Salthouse (see images), so it was the challenge of the barn owls that we were most delighted with. 

 This was the first time any of us had attempted photographing these birds, and despite finding the light levels very low (higher than normal ISO and difficulties locking the tracking focus on the birds) we all thoroughly enjoyed the chase.   We were thrown out of one field by the landowner after we strayed onto it in our excitement of following an owl in the car then a quick dash out to follow it onto the field in question.   But another landowner was so pleased that someone was enjoying "his" owls so much, he invited us back to his house where several were nesting each night.  We also found many owls near Holt, and one in particular seemed to have it's routine of flying up and down the same field time and again.  Learning where the owls would be and their pattern of hunting made life easier, and it took just a day before we were getting good pictures.  We also thought we were getting good at creeping up on owls, especially the time we carefully stalked one to within 10 metres via bramble undergrowth, careful to keep the trees between us and it, only to find it was a large white mark on the top of a stick!   

Other highlights were the 12 marsh harriers at Cley Marsh (image here), two fighting stoats also at Cley, and the delighted whoops from Brian after winning his first ever Trivial Pursuits! (he might be clever, but he did forgot to bring along his camera kit on a photography holiday!!!!!).  We have all vowed to return to get stuck in to a proper session of owling, so look out for better pictures in the near future.

November 2007 - UK Wildlife Photographers lag behind

I've recently been upgrading my image bank.  To me, that's the number of images I have in my head of other photographers' work.  I recently attended the WildScreen symposium at the Royal Photographic Society in London which confirmed to me that the British style of wildlife photography is too clinical and formulaic (aka boring?).  The images that went into the memory bank where all from European or American photographers. Franz Lanting's presentation (and book) on Life was stunning (link here) and truly inspirational.

Maybe the difference is because British wildlife is much harder to find and is very timid.  Grab shots or setting up feeder stations (artificial outdoor studios using food as bait) seems to be the norm in Britain whereas elsewhere, carefully planned and executed WILD photos are more the norm.  Maybe the British weather is also to blame because: A. it's not nice to spend fruitless hours in a hide in the cold, dull light or rain, and B, the British are a soft race that like their comforts :-)  Of course, I couldn't say with certainty that images from elsewhere didn't start life as a baited experiment, but the end results are often totally different in style and atmosphere.  If I could generalize at all, I think that lighting and realism are crucial and the unconscious essence of a brilliant photo.  The formula approach tends to erase any mood by the misuse of white balance, levels, etc in photoshop - and that's before the insidious overuse of cloning things out.  Don't follow the crowd.  Don't listen to the self appointed teachers of what a good photo is.  My advice is to remember this,

The perfect shot is like the holy grail - a dream and not a material possession - it's in the heart.  

Include as much natural history into the shot as possible. Use a wide angle lens and make the most of what you can get close to.  Don't fall into the trap of just being a birdwatcher with a camera and a big lens.  Slater's law now states,

"The more uncomfortable you are, the more likely the photograph will be better".  

Get lying down in the mud, sit for hours until your bum is sore, stay out in the rain, get up ridiculously early in the cold of the morning, stay out late and catch the last rays of dusk.  All these situations produce new angles, light, and moments that are unusual, and therefore more interesting.

One last thing concerns baited wildlife.  Here in the UK baited hides have not taken off too well.  Rich photographers regularly go off with British companies to Scandaniavia, Eastern Europe or America where this practice is common.  Some individual's on the continent are also promoting their baited setups so they can earn from wildlife photographers.  Once again, this approach leads to photographs that everyone has.  They may be stunning (eg. go to Mate Bence's site) but soon enough we will start to yawn in full knowledge of how the photo was achieved.  Baiting wildlife for profit can also lead to bad consequences.  The Sea Eagles on Skye have been baited using fish for some years now so that wealthy photographers can take the short cut to stunning images.  But now the seals eat the fish, and the Eagles go hungry, maybe even die (chicks especially) now their regular food source has dried up.  The ONLY people to blame for this are the wildlife photographers, not the fisherman attempting to exploit this trendy market.

July 2007 - Conservation Assignment

I hope to bring back many inspiring photos from the trip, and will update this section on my return in early September.

Nicobar Pigeon - a threatened Indonesian rainforest species.

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July 23rd 2007 - Flooding

The government is expected today to give its blessing to build hundreds of thousands more new houses in floodplains.  I sit in my house today in Gloucestershire with several friends who are homeless, quarter million people are out of drinking water, thousands without power, due to flooding!

The fact that the government cares little about houses in floodplains is PROOF that those in the know are confident that climate change is nothing to worry about.

Just as dangerous, but undebated by journalists and politicians, is building in the immediate catchment areas of floodplains.  This is also continuing at a dangerous level.

It has long been realized that houses in floodplains destroy marshes, wetlands and other soakaways that prevent rivers bursting their banks.  The same is true of the soils across the catchment areas.  Every tree cut down is a step towards a flood.  Today's protection measures, encompassed within planning guidelines, are a joke as developer after developer has removed natural soakaway and replaced it with concrete and pitiful drainage systems or barriers that are often unscientific and spun to give confidence to committee members who vote these developments through (often with a cheap house as a backhander to boot).  One common trick by developers is to raise the land above the 1 in 100 year flood line before covering it in bricks, concrete and tarmac.  Are developers writing planning policy??   Are we, the Sheeple (people acting like sheep and following the herd without question), buying these houses thinking all is ok??

As a doctor of hydrogeology, I was cited in several newspapers over 10 years ago that this would happen, as I studied and fought several housing developments in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and also in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.  I met with environment agency officials, town planners and even the council ecologists, but to no avail.  These people are simply morons or puppets in a centrally-controlled machine they have no sway over.  Solution - DO NOT BUY A HOUSE IN A FLOODPLAIN even if you are given assurances it is protected.  That assurance is a lie, and that house is directly responsible for flooding someone else further downstream.

High rainfall events in summer months are not new nor have they suddenly increased in their ferocity.   But as soakaway has been drastically removed in the last decade through blind planning and inadequate hydrological assessments, the dangers have rocketed astronomically.  Those in power have been simply crossing their fingers, sitting back in their million pound houses as the profits from the house building industry have rolled in.  In recent times those fingers have uncrossed slightly thanks to the convenient myth that we are all to blame for extreme weather events (note that climate change theory predicts hotter summers and wetter winters LOL).

We don't need the houses, this is another myth spread by these dangerous fanatics of corporate greed, and climate change is not to blame for the floods.  It is greed and ignorance that is to blame.  What we need is more environmental awareness among the voting public and appreciation of our fantastic landscape and ecology.

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7 -7 - 7 - A Prophecy Incarnate?

A long awaited day - did you realise it?  Here's hoping this planet, it's unique environment, and peace on Earth will begin from today.....(link)

November 2006 - KILLING FOR SPORT: How Gamekeepers are Devastating Britain's Wildlife

Here's a subject I am learning more about and feel I should highlight what so called "Gamekeepers" are usually up to in their quest to rear non-native species so rich clients can blow that animal's brains out.  This aspect of gamekeeping is NOT conservation in any sense.  Our wildlife are under enough pressures these days with habitat loss and encroachment of humans.  Wildlife Photographers in Britain often wonder why their wildlife are so nervous and elusive - this is why....

More than 12,300 animals are killed by gamekeepers in this country EVERY DAY!!!! According to the Game Conservancy Trust, as many as 4.5 million mammals and birds of prey are killed annually in a largely unreported and frequently illegal programme of predator control. Gamekeepers snare, trap and poison these animals to protect the millions of game birds shot every year by wealthy businessmen and tourists who are keen to experience a day or weekend of country shooting.

Animals, including protected badgers, foxes, hares, stags, owls, kestrels, domestic livestock and even pets, die often excruciating deaths.   To give just one example, a 'vermin return form' sent to Sir Jocelyn Stevens by a gamekeepers on his Millden estate in Scotland records that in the single month of April (2001), gamekeepers killed 698 rabbits, 37 hares, 19 stoats, 23 crows, three magpies, three jackdaws, one rook, three foxes, two "feral" cats, six gulls and one stag.

There are currently 2000 estates and farms involved in this industry, which claims to be one of the country's fastest growing 'sports'. These establishments include some of the oldest and most prestigious estates in the UK. Amongst those willing to pay £400 to £2000 per day for a day of shooting include Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Vinnie Jones, Bryan Ferry and Marco Pierre White. It is unlikely that any of these people have any notion quite how bloody their new hobby is or how much of Britain's wildlife is dying to support it.

The rich and famous who shoot on Viscount Cowdray's Sussex estates are probably unaware that one of his gamekeepers narrowly escaped prosecution for the widespread use of illegally set SNARES in woodland managed for pheasant shooting. This particular estate has been rife with other offences.  Click here to see an image of a snared badger.

Only a small percentage of wildlife crimes are ever detected.  But those that are reveal a flagrant disregard for wildlife protection laws. The large number of prosecutions involving offences committed in the immediate vicinity of game bird pens is a clear indication that this calculated slaughter is all about protecting an industry and nothing to do with the conservation gamekeepers claim to have as their primary goal.

A small sample of prosecutions in the past seven years include: a Hampshire gamekeeper fined for using live mallards and jackdaws as decoys in traps, a Norfolk gamekeeper killing three kestrels, an Essex gamekeeper asphyxiating three fox cubs, a trainee Norfolk gamekeeper setting pole traps, which have been illegal since 1904, and a Buckinghamshire gamekeeper charged with 16 offences, including snaring, trapping and killing badgers, owls, foxes, a sparrow hawk and a buzzard.

The information contained in this report will shock many. Let us hope it also leads to improved legal protection for wildlife, including a ban on snares, and proper enforcement of laws.

The above is an Excerpt from a report by Douglas Batchelor, Chief Executive, League Against Cruel Sports. October 2003.

September 11th 2006.    Thinking of all those killed by the American government since 911, including those within the 3 imploded towers that fell that day and the Pentagon.  The million innocent children are also remembered who were killed by sanctions imposed upon the Iraqi and Afghan people by the American government and the American-controlled UN.  Let's also not forget "our" soldiers dying through "our" own government's treasonous acts.  This includes 450,000 US and UK guinea pigs (soldiers) still dying through exposure to our own WMD, an atomic weapon called depleted uranium, that was scattered around the Gulf in 1991 in full knowledge of its effects (read more).  This dangerous contamination cannot be cleaned nor will it ever die away.

I also remember the freedom that I and many millions of Americans once had and will continue to lose in the next 6 years.  

click for more info on America's plans for conquest

Recommended videos on 911 (BELOW) include Loose Change, 911 Press for Truth and David Shayler.

Also take a look at the evidence on the similarity with The London Bombings: Ludicrous diversion and The 911 to 7/7 Connection.

Terror Storm by Alex Jones gives an insightful prediction into where all this is heading!

The above video library requires Macromedia Flash Player installed on your computer

Also read a previous article of mine below

August 25th 2006.    The Evils of Digital are here...

For some time now I've been attempting to put forward my vision of where digital wildlife photography is heading.  I've been on one well respected forum (NaturePhotographers.Net) without any success of converting one of the many digi-manipulators on there.  In short this vision is a future where wildlife images will no longer represent the real world.  They will even be total inventions where the photographer will no longer need a camera - just lots of cash and a big computer.  

Don't believe me - then please go to this site and have a look at the dinosaur photographs of Kim Taylor! 

  www.warrenphotographic.co.uk/prevhtm/index2.htm

Images are being over-manipulated, due largely to perceived demands from the "market" for "perfect" images (this is just a poor justification used by those who are guilty).  Firstly this demand does not exist.  The "market" only takes what is offered by photographers.  This "market" is largely picture editors who are not photographers and ask no questions about the ways in which a photo was derived.  Professionalism in wildlife photography is tenuous with little to distinguish this class from the amateur other than consistency of quality and volume of images taken.  Amateurs take their lead from professionals, and since that is increasingly one of holidays in baited hides, tame wildlife, and computer manipulation, everyone will soon be partaking in the ILLUSION.  It as already begun, although I actually suspect the manipulation part is being driven more by the amateurs than the professionals.  Professionals don't have the time or the need to manipulate their images all that much!

Wildlife photography urgently needs a code of ethics.  One that picture researchers are aware of.  Thankfully, the major photography competitions still resists manipulation of the image (but for how long?). After all, they want the image to represent a skill with a camera rather than a computer.

Of course I'm also guilty.  Below is one example of a manipulated image (nightjar and moon).  I have often taken these sandwich shots on slide film by using the double exposure setting, but with digital it is even easier.  This is just the thin end of the wedge, followed by cloning out small distractions, that is rapidly leading to in-computer dinosaur as well as ordinary wildlife photos.  99.9% of my images, however, contain NO manipulation (including cloning out) whatsoever.  I have only ever photographed tame wildlife on 4 occasions, and have never paid to use a baited hide. Where is your line in the sand?

July 23rd 2006.     Nightjars.

A blended shot of the nightjar and the moon.

I've made a small effort this year to locate and photograph the elusive Nightjars in the Forest of Dean.  What an enjoyable challenge!  The long spell of warm weather has made the essential night time visits a joyful experience with cool temperatures and the lovely aroma of pine and heathland all around.  Just before true darkness descends the eerie whirring chirrups, screeches and wing claps of the nightjar signal their approach.  As the mosquitoes tuck into bare arms and legs I've witnessed several close passes of the birds, some chasing others, but most simply inquisitive at my presence as they glide over my head.  The spectacle never lasts long, a half hour if your lucky before darkness halts progress, and the long march back to the car begins with the chance of a grabbed glow worm photo on the way.

The darkness was almost complete when I made out that this bird had landed in a tree about 40 metres away.  It took a 30 second exposure at +2 stops exposure and a good guess at the focusing to produce a very pleasing image with superb detail being captured - to my eyes it was just a black blob against a dark evening sky.

June 6th 2006.     6-6-6 - Beastly Climate Change - the hidden facts.

Added 2nd May 2008:  Clouds not CO2 are main driver of global warming.  

Added 29 April 2008:  Loss of Trees are responsible for changes in CO2.  

Added April 29th 2008:  Global Cooling cannot be ruled out!!

Added March 20th 2008:  NASA scientist and global warming alarmist is abuser of data.  Global Cooling is more likely.

Added 8th January 2008:  Read this letter to the UN signed by many climate scientists.   

Added 29 May 2007:  Article here  on how the IPCC editorial board masquerade as scientists and spin the lies about anthropogenic climate change.  

Also read here the many scientists who submit articles to newspapers and journals stating how the current myth of global warming being our fault is nonsense as well as dangerous with regards to forcing more people and third world countries into poverty via taxes and emission cuts.  

And yet more articles here in case you're still not convinced).

One of the foremost environmental scare stories of the modern day is climate change.  Deforestation, ozone holes, meteor strikes, etc are no longer talked about by the media or politicians: they must have been solved now I guess? (Yeh right!).

Climate change is a natural phenomenon.  Our climate is driven on a geological scale by variations in the plate tectonic setting, erosion of the land by releasing CO2, sedimentation on land and under water by absorbing CO2, algal and plant abundance, solar activity, and the angle the earth makes to the sun, and ocean currents.  Ocean current are always changing due to variations in water temperature and the geomorphology of the ocean (that constantly changes with ocean floor spreading and volcanic activity).

Man has been on the planet for an infinitesimally small time.  He has grown to influence an infinitesimally small component of the geological process in the last 200 years, namely ecological imbalance and release of CO2, H2O, acid vapours, particulates and so on from geological deposits called "fossil fuels", and especially during times of war (we are still feeling the effects of WW2 in terms of atmospheric and land pollution).

Carbon dioxide and methane are proven "Greenhouse gases" that reduce the escape of heat from the land into space.  This heat comes principally from the sun, the rocks themselves (the earth is heated internally by radioactive and thermodynamic processes), and from organic activity.  Water vapour, particulates, and acid vapour are proven heat sinks.  They remove heat from the atmosphere by thermodynamic and kinetic reactions, and by reflecting the sun's heat back into space (the albedo affect).  Such heat sinks are produced by volcanoes (90% of eruptions is water, and this water is believed to be the origin of the oceans) and man-made industry - his most successful industry being WAR.

Carbon has 6 protons 6 neutrons 6 electrons and is the essence of life on earth.

Models that predict global "warming" are at the mercy of the data that is input into them.  This is done by humans with biases.  Such models are few and far between, with the most eminent being sponsored by world government institutions.  I mean, ask why it is that US-controlled institutions like the UN advance controls on world industry via climate protocols, yet the US refuse to sign up to them?  Control!!!  Empire building!!  Dictatorship!!  The US military-industrial complex understand the science is weak and manipulated, but they will enforce it on others nevertheless for there own advancement via US-created "front organizations".  (The entire environmental movement is, at it's core, controlled in the same way, via bodies such as the Club of Rome, WWF, and I now suspect the RSPB as well with its policy of pro-climate control yet being against wind farms). (See also Schwarzenigger promoting a Global Warming Tax.)

None of the climate models include the effect of cloud formation (water vapour) on the heat budget of the earth.  None suggest the effect of particulates on the heat budget, not only from human activity but also from volcanic eruptions.  None explain why satellite data monitoring the entire earth surface (rather than pin-point land based analysers) show a net cooling across the earth's atmosphere.  And none explain the fact that ice is actually accumulating across Antarctica, where 90% of the Earth's ice resides!  And this is where the ozone hole is!  55% of the world's mountain glaciers are actually advancing, but this is never mentioned in the mainstream propaganda.  

Why is it then, that the Arctic is focused upon in the media-dominated Northern hemisphere?  Because it's closer to home, but also because the Artic is actually undergoing some warming, or is it?.... Maybe this can be explained as a reaction to the cooling at the Antarctic (the accumulating ice here is causing a shift in heat balance between polar regions?) or because ocean currents are changing - also explained by lop-sided cooling at the poles as well as through tectonic processes. 

More likely, the explanation is the fact that the present cold period of the CURRENT Ice Age is finally at its end and natural warming is now starting (the sea-level is at its lowest since the start of the last great ice Age and a new warm inter-glacial about to begin).  Maybe because the Arctic IS closer to us that we are affecting it through low-atmosphere pollution (particulates melt ice, giving the appearance of warming).    I don't know, but warm interglacial periods have always been good for trade and civilization.  

IF the Artcic were to to melt wholesale, and some model-orientated and biased scientists stake this, then NO sea-level change would occur due to the displacement affect of ice in water.  Sea-level rise is another naturally occurring event controlled by tectonic activity, but is being used to scare us into conforming with the disinformation - the tenet that global warming is YOUR fault!  Rubbish.

Cooling of the earth has been going on since it's creation.  We are moving further away from the sun, and the earth's core is cooling.  If it were not for "Greenhouse Gases" we would all be dead.  These keep the planet warm enough for life to thrive.  It is countered by the water vapour (clouds) and particulates in the atmosphere. If the Earth warms, more evaporation of the sea occurs forming more clouds, and hence cooling - it's in check.  No model includes cloud affects on the global warming model due to lack of understanding, their complexity and difficulties in numerically evaluating this effect for a model.

This Earth we share with all other forms of life regulates itself all the time, YET allows moderate changes for life to have evolved into the wonderful array we see around us.  Moderate change is driven by plate tectonics and extraterrestrial events, not humans.  Carbon dioxide is plant and algal food.  Lower the CO2 concentration and plants die back, and visa versa through the creation and destruction of tropical, ocean and other habitats dominated by plants.   Unless we wake up to the lies, man will destroy himself through war and politics long before his natural time is up.

!Our Earth is AMAZING!

Here's a must read for more detail on this...

February 13th 2006 -

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January 13th 2006 - Canon EOS 5D versus 1D.

For almost a month now I've been using the EOS 5D as my main camera body and here are a few comments for anyone else with the same thoughts as I did - the 5D or the 1D?

I now know of quite a few photographers who are using the 1D and on the whole they are very happy with their toys.  Supreme focus tracking and an astonishing frames per second (about 10 I think), not to mention a magnification of around 1.5 over full frame or conventional film bodies makes this camera a serious consideration for wildlife photography.  The only real downsides are the price (at £2,700) and the relatively low resolution of the images (8 megapixels).

I opted for the 5D for several reasons.  This camera is based upon the 20D, a much inferior camera to the 1D.  However, its high resolution (13 megapixels) and increased focus tracking performance compared to the 20D make it a serious contender to the 1D for those photographers (i.e. myself) who are not addicted to machine gunning their subjects in the "hope" of a good action shot, but rather choose to pick their moments with just a few select and often exposure bracketed frames.

The 5D is certainly a huge improvement compared to the 10D - my former digital workhorse.  The loss of magnification over the 10D, is more than compensated by the increased resolution of the 5D's CCD.  Cropping a 5D image in half still results in the same size of image as the 10D, but with the superior image processing (especially noise reduction) of the 5D it still makes for better images than the 10D.  But this is not to say the 10D is no good.  Far from it, as the 10D body still produces a size and quality of image that most publishers and magazine editors are more than happy with.  My changeover from the 10D to the 5D was one of producing much higher resolution images and slightly better focus tracking capabilities than the 10D, yet at the same time as keeping costs as low as possible.  After all, I believe that my photography has to pay for itself (plus make a profit) or I wouldn't class myself as a professional.  The 10D isn't wasted though, as it now acts for me as a very valuable backup to the 5D, and I can always revert to it if I need the increased magnification it offers.

It is clear to me now that photo agencies and serious picture buyers are looking at images capable of reproducing to A3 or more at 300dpi, and the 5D (with the help of just a little image interpolation) is very capable of providing such files.  Quite a few 1D users have now upgraded to the full frame higher resolution (16 megapixel) and much more expensive 1Ds to make their submissions to agencies easier and of a higher quality, but at the expense of poorer frames per second and loss of that all important magnification factor we Canon users have become used to.

So it seemed to me that the 5D was the compromise between the 1D and the 1Ds, with the added bonus of a much cheaper price tag (just under £2000).  I would certainly recommend this body if your style of photography is one were quality outweighs quantity, and your purse is not so heavy (like the camera - the 5D weighs a fraction of the 1D).

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October 30th 2005 - Zambia

It's Sod's Law as we say, but Zambia was to be many things that weren't supposed to be!  Never before had Jenka and I planned a safari so finely with a list of subjects to photograph for clients and agents, and never before had I set off with the image of a country being so poor and surely so cheap to survive in?  I was WRONG!

Our trip soon revealed itself to be an old style safari packed full of breakdowns, road blocks, changes of plan, with the distinct paradox of being very expensive.  To boot, the animals I had hoped for were being elusive (lion, leopard, elephant) which led to heighten our growing frustration with the country.

The cost of living here, even for locals, is outrageous, comparable with America in terms of fuel, most foods and luxury goods.  More expensive were the park fees and if you wanted to live in moderate comfort (i.e.scruffy lodges or tented camps) you're looking at $200-400 PER NIGHT!!!!  Bring the bank manager with you! 

What was a nice surprise was the friendliness of everyone we met.  Zambia is a harsh country that brings people closer together.  Shared tales were common - of corruption at Police road blocks (expect to be ripped off by corrupt police), hardcore off-road driving experiences (most people have palm sweating tales) and not to mention the insatiable appetite of the Tsetse Fly.  For once, we were able to meet and enjoy the company of fellow travelers, and life long friendships have been hopefully forged.

Such was the adventure of the driving, the corruption and to be truthful, the shoddiness of the entire tourist industry here, the wildlife photography was in perpetual danger of taking second place.  What we were getting was a "normal holiday" of meeting people, lazing by swimming pools, drinking beer.....but without the luxuries.

But don't let all this put you off Zambia as a wildlife photography destination.  To be fair it is good.  There's no Etosha or Chobe or Masaii Mara here, just South Luangwa and Kafue to be honest.  All other parks have either been ruined by hunting or poaching or are specialist (Kasanka and Benguela Swamps fall into this category - birdwatching with telescopes only!).  Of course, our impression may be wrong, especially as I was here in the dry season.  After the rains the country becomes green and lush and birdlife abounds to such an extent that maybe you can get close to it - I don't know.  

We came at the height of the dry season to hopefully make finding predators more easy - concentrated herds of prey at the few remaining waterholes was our impression, but as Sod's Law kept reminding us, nature is full of surprises.  

So with the predators proving elusive by day we tried night safaris.  This added some unwelcome costs to our trip but we did SEE leopard and lion - but PHOTOGRAPH them we did not.  Safari guiding here is still well behind the rest of Southern Africa in terms of quality.  Many, if not all guides, seem dull and unexcited by the animals.  "That is a blue duiker, that is a puku, there is a Pel's Fishing Owl", the list goes on but the enthusiasm doesn't.  Nothing is added to the otherwise mundane name of the animal in question.  Successfully explain to them about lighting for photography and the importance of keeping the vehicle motionless to prevent camera shake and your a better person than I.  Expect to have many photos lost to your imagination or the bin.  The choice is to get your own vehicle at huge expense ($100 per day minimum) or chance it with the guides at $25-35 per half day (normally 3 hours).  I prefer the former because included in this price is an unforgettable driving experience in untamed Africa.  I shall tell you no more to keep it a surprise!

One exception to the harshness of the Zambian experience is Livingstone.  Stay a while in the sheer luxurious surroundings of a well run tourist industry.  Some things here are actually value for money such as a whole day white water rafting, including 3 meals, for US$95.  Victoria Falls can be visited for US$10 (or US$0.5 if you say you're a resident - nobody questions it!).  Be warned, however, crossing into Zimbabwe is no longer cheap - US$50 for UK, £US$30 for USA residents.

All in all, despite the hardships (that's Africa as they say) I'm glad I went and the memory of South Luangwa and the Zambian people is a fond one.  Please feel free to e-mail me for advice of where to stay / car hire / itinerary etc.

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