Lifeline for nature, etc.

I come across an interesting article this morning entitled "Lifeline for Nature" by Francis Dass in NSTonline of Malaysia, I believe. The article is really aimed at commenting on the pollutions in mainland China. But I was attracted by the abundance of proverbs, quotes, and citations in the article. It starts with:

"There’s so much pollution in the air now that if it weren’t for our lungs, there’d be no place to put it all!” — Robert Orben, American author and comedy writer.

Then he proceeded with the current events:

The country is already in the limelight, what with the upcoming Beijing Olympics and the recent Tibetan uprisings. But it’s no secret too that the country suffers massive pollution.

(Coincidentally, at the moment, China is at the centre of the world’s media attention for a few interesting reasons: the upcoming Beijing Olympics, the Tibetan uprising and, of course, the country’s seemingly perennial struggle with pollution.)

And it led to his main theme:

Traditional Chinese thinking has always respected Nature and the awesome power it wields. Take the Chinese adage, for example, that says: “Not only can water float a boat, it can sink it also.”

Yes, I know exactly that Chinese adage. Come to think of it, it is even appropriate to freaque waves. Somehow this is the first time I ever thought about the connection.

Decision-makers the world over may do well to pay heed — the damming of rivers and the clearing of forests, for instance, have caused untold damage to lives and property in almost every corner of the globe over the years.

Other Chinese sayings allude to Nature’s power: “A spark can start a fire that burns the entire prairie” and “Man’s schemes are inferior to those made by heaven.” “Heaven” here can be interpreted as Mother Nature.

Again I am familiar with the two Chinese sayings he cited. I may wish to argue that for Chinese people the word "Heaven" tends to mean God more than Mother Nature.

Clearing a hill indiscriminately of its forest for more development? Then, decision makers have to seriously think of the landslides and mud avalanche that have befallen men, women and children around the world during rainy spells, as a result of deforestation.

Do development planners ever give a thought to the consequences of deforestation: the landslides and the havoc they create in the lives of people?

Perhaps they should ponder on this lovely Chinese proverb: “Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps a singing bird will come.”

Here, finally, I am stunned. I must confess that I have no idea off hand what the proverb was in Chinese originally.

The 19th century American philosopher and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson takes that notion one step further when he said, “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”

New York’s famed Central Park is testament to the great beauty man can create, if he so chooses.

Made famous by American cinema and television, Central Park was created in 1853 and is a sprawling, 344-hectare park.

“One generation plants the trees, and another gets the shade” declares yet another Chinese proverb. And we might add that all future generations are usually very appreciative of forefathers who leave them a legacy of nature. Ask any young New Yorker about Central Park and you would know how true this saying is.

I definitely know this proverb, but off hand I am not certain about the exactly saying in Chinese originally. Now here again, I lived near New York City's Central Park for a while many years ago, I never thought of making the connection between the Central Park and a Chinese proverb. I do remember though, looked out from my 17th floor apartment window, those beautiful tree tops of the Central Park -- as compared to the ugly roof tops of the city buildings adjacent to the park.

Mr. Dass continues with his vast knowledge of famous sayings:

Saint Basil the Great who lived during the fourth century was reputed to have said that “a tree is known by its fruit, a man by his deeds”.

Local politicians, take note. Respect can be gained by simply following this advice by the 18th century Linnaeus: “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.”

Then you have Aristotle, one of history’s greatest philosophers, observing that “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit”. How much better the world will be if all of us heeded this pearl of wisdom!

But in reality, Greed is the god the world worships and this insight is what India’s most famous son, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a.k.a. Mahatma Gandhi, saw right from the start. His sobering dictum is: “There is sufficiency in the world for man’s need, not for man’s greed.”

Native Americans also celebrate Mother Nature by giving voice to its beauty and force in language.

“When a man moves away from nature, his heart becomes hard” is one penetrating observation.

So is this eye-opener: “The rain falls on the just and unjust.”

And we could go on and on with sayings of old.

He also pointed out what most American politicians and drive-by medias don't have the guts to even whisper:

Sadly, China is one of Earth’s worst polluters.

Mercifully, Chinese leaders are now trying to undo the damage they have done.

They are now taking serious measures to curb pollution in preparation for the Beijing Olympics in August. How good it would be to see a China the way it was!

Ah! How good it would be to see a China the way it was! But the two sentences leading to it were only wishful thinkings at best. I guess Mr. Dass may or may not know that the Commie thugs destroyed millions households in the famous Peiking alleys that preserved thousands of years of history and traditions in the old city for the sake of Olympics.

"To see a China the way it was!" Yes, sadly that can only be done now probably in your dreams. But this is not the world and era made for dreams. Open your eyes wide, you can only see spineless politicians kowtow to the rowdy, bully thugs all over the world.

A tiny, tiny minority?

Since I have stopped watching TV news for years, I don't usually pay attention to what's going on with them. By chance I just noticed a sort of advertisement news -- a pre-announcement of what's going to be on the program called "60 Minutes." The title that attracted my attention is "Gore's Message to Climate Change Skeptics" with subtitle "Tells 60 Minutes that doubting global warming is man-made is akin to believing earth is flat."

The drive-by CBS News obvious plays game with their title. There is no such thing as "Climate Change Skeptics." Climate changes constantly, no one skeptic about the fact climate is changing at any rate. Their subtitle about "doubting global warming is man-made" at least brings up the key point.

Global warming is man-made is simply junk talk. I don't think that it is even qualified to be called science of any kind because there is no creditable science in there whatsoever.

I don't have any patience to read the advertisement article about their show on Sunday. I only caught the part that Algore comments on the people not convinced that global warming is man-made:

I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view . . .

Now that is really junk talk I regret I wasted my time even to pay attention to it. Since I have come this far, I would like to challenge Algore to put a number or a definition to let us know just exactly what does he consider to be"a tiny, tiny minority"?

I am reminded of Galileo Galilei, he was all by himself against the whole world of ignorant hierarchies. Was a lonely Galileo a "tiny, tiny minority" Algore?

There's a list on Wikipedia entitled "List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming" with names of truly prominent scientists who were academically accomplished and well-known long before Algore dropped out of divinity school. On that list there are 3 of them believe global warming is not occurring or have ceased; 3 believe accuracy of IPCC climate projections is inadequate; 22 believe global warming is primarily caused by natural processes; 10 believe cause of global warming is unknown; and 3 believe global warming will benefit human society. Are these famous scientists all a tiny, tiny minority, Algore?

At the beginning of this month, there was a conference on global warming in New York City aimed at examining the question "Global Warming: Crisis or Scam?" I blogged about it here. It was attended by over 400 participants and 98 speakers on the theme "there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming." Would 98 speakers and 400 participants a tiny, tiny minority?

Algore, I know you have gained a lot of weight, does that really make you an overwhelming majority in your own mind?

Update:

Well, I wasn't the only one among the "tiny, tiny minority" that noticed and being offended by Algore's junk talk. The editorial of Investor's Bussiness daily (IBD) today has this to say:

In addition to being gratingly sanctimonious, Gore is wrong. A study conducted by Texas A&M professors found that the more Americans know about global warming, the more likely they are to dismiss it.

In other words, the "tiny, tiny minority" is ever growing by the seconds. Pretty soon it will easily burst Algore's ego into tiny, tiny pieces.

The article cited by IBD editorial can be found here and here and full text here.

By the way, the super video "The Great Global Warming Swindle" is back online. Check it out!

I particularly appreciate IBD's comments on "this weekend's asinine Earth Hour" as

. . . when we were all expected to turn off our lights, and realize it was a metaphor for the darkness that global warming alarmists have been operating under.

Algore, eat your tiny, tiny heart out!

Not safe even just walking!

Here's a simple news, from Charleston, Oregon, that may have often repeated at different places around the globe and at different times, but the story is more or less the same:

(CHARLESTON, Ore.) - Coast Guard officials reported today that one of their helicopter crews airlifted a man near Charleston, Oregon. It is reported that 39-year old Frank Schneidle sustained injuries while walking along the beach close to the Cape Arago Lighthouse.

Perhaps the next paragraph can be used as a universalized message in general:

The Oregon coast is known as a treacherous location for beachcombing and even just walking during storms. Officials frequently talk about "sneaker" or rogue waves that take people by surprise and often drag them out to sea.

Just be ready to replace the location of "Oregon coast" by any other coastal area, the above will be a very good warning advice. The message that should never be ignored is that coastal area is never a safe place for beachcombing by any means even just walking!

It happened in Assissi, Italy

There are still quiet along the ocean freaque waves front. I thought I'll take my blogger's prerogative to present a rather pleasant freaque news that's not wave, science, or climate related. May be they are all implicitly related. Especially as today is the Good Friday of 2008.

I am talking about this picture:

Yes, that was the historically famous face in the middle accompanied by two Franciscan friars. I got this picture from the email from Dr. Robert Moynihan of the Inside the Vatican magazine with this captions:

The former president of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, walks in Assisi, Italy, with Franciscan friars. Gorbachev visited Assisi recently to pray at the tomb of St. Francis, who lived 800 years ago, from 1181-1226

and this news:

Mikhail Gorbachev, has acknowledged his Christian faith for the first time, paying a visit to pray at the tomb of St Francis of Assisi. The visit, which reportedly took place on Saturday, March 15, was evidently a surprise. It is not clear whether there was any preparation whatsoever, even informally. The Italian news agency AGI launched the story on March 15 with these words: "A pleasant surprise today for the friars of the Sacro Convento (of Assisi): Mikhail Gorbachev, accompanied by his daughter, paid an unexpected visit to the Basilica of St. Francis."

Accompanied by his daughter Irina, Mr Gorbachev spent half an hour on his knees in silent prayer at the tomb.

His arrival in Assisi was described as "spiritual perestroika" by La Stampa, the Italian newspaper.

"St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus [the Latin for "another Christ"], the other Christ," said Mr Gorbachev. "His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life," he added.

Mr Gorbachev's surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light.

Mr Gorbachev, 77, was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church and his parents were Christians.

In addition, the parents of his wife Raisa were deeply religious and were killed during the Second World War for having religious icons in their home.

Ronald Reagan, the former United States president, allegedly told his close aides on a number of occasions that he felt his opponent during the Cold War was a "closet believer."

Mr Reagan held deep religious convictions himself. However, until now Mr Gorbachev has allowed himself to express only pantheistic views, saying in one interview "nature is my god."

Here's a picture of the tomb of St. Francis of Assissi, beneath the Basilica of San Francesco in Assissi, Italy:
Since I don't watch or read drive-by media in general, I don't know if they have reported this case. The news will certainly not be appreciated by the politically correctness gang. The U.K. Telegraph and Times Online among others have reported the news.

My rather biased notion that "a commie is always a commie" may need to be revised. Gorbachev's historical position is still to be developed in history. Especially hearing these of his words:

"I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity."

Dr. Moynihan pointed out common misconception which I share:

That press report got one significant detail wrong. Francis was never a priest. A deacon, yes. A priest, no.

I guess when you become a saint, earthly title is really not that important anyway!

Missing heat in "Global warming" ??

There's global warming but heat is missing? How about that, a heat-less global warming or talking on both side of the mouth by the mainstream scientists.

This NPR article yesterday entitled "The mystery of global warming's missing heat" by Richard Harris reports that:

· Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them.

This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming.

No, it's not George Bush's fault, blame it on El Nino:

In recent years, heat has actually been flowing out of the ocean and into the air. This is a feature of the weather phenomenon known as El Nino. So it is indeed possible the air has warmed but the ocean has not. But it's also possible that something more mysterious is going on.

That leaves the scientists to agree that:

. . . a few mild years have no effect on the long-term trend of global warming. But they say there are still things to learn about how our planet copes with the heat.

Hey Algore, are you listening? There are "still things to learn about how our planet copes with the heat."

Rescue and a happy ending

What would be the best outcome for a search and rescue operation? Rescue and a happy ending, of course! Here's such a news from the Sydney Morning Herald by Jordan Baker that makes a nice reading for a Sunday morning:

TWO fishermen have survived 34 hours at sea after a freak wave capsized their boat off the South Coast.

Relatives raised the alarm yesterday morning after the men failed to return home.

Helicopters searched an 1430 square mile area from Kiama south to Bawley Point.

The men, aged 40 and 45, were found in the early afternoon clinging to their overturned boat off Burrill Lake. A trawler rescued the men and towed the boat to Ulladulla. The pair were flown to Wollongong Hospital for medical treatment.

What a wonderful relieve for their family and relatives. Deo gratias!

Scenic dread from latest Britain news

What's the latest?
May be this news from thisislondon.co.uk providess the answer:

Storms battered parts of Britain again yesterday - and closed one of the country's most popular race meetings.

The Cheltenham Gold Cup festival was abandoned as gales up to 85mph lashed western areas.

The news article was mainly reporting the cancellation of the racing but it also included the following rip-roaring pictures:

This scene at the Blackpool sea front:
And this crashing waves on to a lighthouse in Newhaven, East Sussex
And this one at Porthleven, Devon:

All the hats tip to the photographers. As much as I would like to see roaring waves, I certainly will not wish to be out there when all those wave things are indeed roaring.

The Pi Day

In the blogger's world, a date is usually just something to identify the beginning of a new blog. The fact that 3/14 is known as the International Pi Day just came to my attention. As someone who fancies himself always interested in math things, I have to add this post to honor this day though there's not much direct connection between pi and freaque waves. Of course, being in the late afternoon now I missed the Pi minutes which is 1:59 am on 3/14 (1:59 pm will do, but that's 13:59 for many). Anyway, today is the 20th anniversary of the celebration of Annual International Pi day.

Additionally scientists generally remember that this day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein. Not much of a phyicist myself, this is of less significance to me but still worth to mention while I am at it.

What's the big deal of of pi? Well, multiply pi to the diameter of a circle gives the circumference and multiply pi to the square of the radius gives the area of the circle which are the things we memorize since elementary school days. This interesting site here reminded me that Pi was discovered by Archimedes in the 2nd century BC and this old joke: "Pi r-squared? No, pie are round. Cake are squared."

Have a happy Pi day! (In a few hours, it will be "Beware the Ides of March!")


Update:

It is of interest to take a look into the history. It may not be entirely true to say that Archimedes "discovered" Pi. According to the NOVA site:

In Archimedes' day, close approximations of pi had been known for over 1,000 years. An Egyptian document dated to 1650 B.C., for example, gives a value of 4 (8/9)², or 3.1605. Archimedes' value, however, was not only more accurate, it was the first theoretical, rather than measured, calculation of pi.

So Archimedes was the first one to provide more accurate value for Pi. The efforts to obtain more and more accurate Pi value have been continued ever since as this site show:

Ptolemy	(c. 150 AD)	3.1416
Zu Chongzhi	(430-501 AD)	355/113
al-Khwarizmi	(c. 800 )	3.1416
al-Kashi	(c. 1430)	14 places
Viète	(1540-1603)	9 places
Roomen	(1561-1615)	17 places
Van Ceulen	(c. 1600)	35 places

I was particularly interested in the not so very well-known, but a great Chinese mathematician nevertheless, by the name

my prefered translation is Tsu Chung-Tze, which they say "about whom next to nothing is known." But he was well accomplished in mathematics, astronomy, and mechanical devices among other things during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period in Chinese history. I found from this site here, that there was some indication on how it was done in getting the value equivalent to Pi by Tsu in the 5th century A.D. China:

It happened in La Coruña, Spain

In this concise report of www.tv3.co.nz that entitled "Freak wave washes over beach wall in Spain":

A huge wave washed over a sea front in the north-western Spanish port city of La Coruna, surprising cars and pedestrians . . .

One can probably get a general idea of what had happened. This www.metro.co.uk news reports the following with some more detail (but they misspelled the City's name):

Unsuspecting motorists got a shock when a freak wave washed over a beach wall in Spain.

The wave washed away cars as it crashed over the wall La Caruna, Spain.

It also hit a few unsuspected passers-by.

The dramatic moment was captured on amateur video.

It happened earlier this week during storms in the region - the same weather pattern that battered Britain and France.

The waves of up to 7m injured several people and damaged cars and boats, Spanish media said.

Yes, it only happened in seconds and it was captured on video, otherwise no one would ever readily believe what really had happened. Beyond the truly freaque nature of the totally unexpected happening, the incredibly amazing part of the whole thing has to be that how can someone be at the right place, at that very moment and had the video camera ready!?

While both Metro and NZ's tv3 articles used the word "freak wave" in their titles, they are certainly not the kind of deep sea freaque waves the word usually implies. I usually call those cases on the beach or in the nearshore area nearshore freaquewaves or onshore freaque waves. This case in La Coruña is certainly much inland than those nearshore or onshore cases. This may or may not be a semantic problem, we are simply running out of descriptive expressions for the continued surprising cases the nature hurling at us.

By the way, La Coruña is a Spanish city located in the north-western corner of the country surrounded by ocean. It is in a region of vast green landscapes. According to Tourspain, the region has a Celtic and Roman heritage which keeps, still today, a "mystic and magic" allure. Here's an areal view of the city I found from here:

Winter storm's final fling

We the people in North America are poised to welcome back spring in due time, the world outside of us are not as lucky. Here's a news today in www.redorbit.com by Miles Davis with the hopeful headline "Great winter storm to have its final fling today!" in the Plymouth (U.K.) Western Morning News:

The Westcountry is today expected to be pounded by yet more strong winds as the storm which has raged for three nights - leaving a trail of destruction - finally begins to fade out.

Gusts of up to 60mph are forecast for this morning and were expected to sweep over the region last night - but forecasters say the force of the wind will be nowhere near the strength of the storm which has so far caused widespread damage across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset.

The forecast for a calmer day ahead today will be welcome news to the thousands of people across the Westcountry whose lives have been turned upside down by the worst storm for as long as many can remember.

Among victims of the storm yesterday were residents in Bude where the giant waves, driven by hurricane-force winds, wrenched off the town's sea-lock canal gates.

The walls of the canal are understood to have been badly damaged and there are fears that thousands of pounds worth of fish - a key attraction for course fishermen - could have been washed into the sea.

Mike East, technical services director of North Cornwall District Council, which owns the canal at Bude, said: "One of the gates was wrenched off its hinges and it has caused fundamental damage to the canal walls."

And here's how it was a couple of days ago:

The drama began on Monday night when the combination of spring tides, low pressure and gale-force winds brought in massive waves.

The district council said it was impossible to say how much the damage to the lock would cost but the gates were installed in 2000 at a cost of pounds600,000. The canal and wharf area is currently being regenerated as part of a pounds5 million scheme.

The environment agency and local companies worked together to create a dam further up the canal to drain the water and assess the damage done.

Further down the coast a couple who should have been celebrating the purchase of their new restaurant watched as flooding overtook the building.

In this U.K. Daily Mail article there are some frightening pictures of the storm with this headline: "Britain braced for new storm front as forecasters warn 'the worst is yet to come.'" For instance:
and
Furthermore this news on cruise ship Artemis being damaged by freaque wave written by Corey Stephenson is also part of the storm:

A ROGUE wave has damaged the Southampton-based cruise ship Artemis as she battled against gale force winds in the English Channel.

The towering wave crashed over the ship's bow in the early hours of this morning hitting the anchor storage area and forcing the ship to change course and head for the shelter of the Cornish port of Falmouth.

The good news is:

A P&O spokeswoman said the ship was due to leave Falmouth later tonight after repairs were complete.

"The damage was only minor and was restricted to the anchor storage," she said.

"The damage does not affect the safety of the ship in any way, but will require some work before continuing into the Atlantic."

All these happenings in the world, but American people heard almost nothing about it. Fortunately we have no need to read or hear the drive-by media ever again, and we are more well informed than ever. All the power to the internet. Dan Rather ate his heart out, but still couldn't understand why fake is no longer true as he was brought up.

Anyway, the nature is changing and the climate is restless, but beautiful spring still comes back every year. Let's just be primed to enjoy it !

Lake Michigan iceberg

I blog only when something or some news struck my fancy, so I don't do it every day. My friend Rob Stormer is a very disciplined daily blogger and always have something interesting as well as exciting to say. Today he posted something extra I find it's too irresistible not to copy it here:

An iceberg in Lake Michigan:

with this explanation from Senior Forecaster/Meteorologist Marc Kavinsky:

The warmer temperatures, sunshine and brisk west winds have caused the ice to break away from shore and float several miles away from shore. The above freezing temperatures expected the next several days should cause these floating ice "bergs" to shrink and disappear.

At least there will not be a Titanic in Lake Michigan for us to worry about!

Riverdance rescue lingers on

The ferry Riverdance has been in the news since the beginning of February which I have blogged here. Rescue efforts have been mounted ever since. But discouraging news came this morning from BBC with a discouraging headline "Bad storms defeat ferry salvagers"

Storms and high tides have delayed hopes of refloating the stricken Riverdance ferry on Blackpool beach.

Salvage experts, who were hoping to have moved the vessel by this week, have been defeated by the weather.

The ferry had been heading from Warrenpoint, County Down, to Heysham, Lancashire, when she was hit by a freak wave on 31 January.

along with this rather depressing picture:

and these further details:

She is now almost on her side with a list of 87 degrees and has sunk into the sand on the Lancashire beach.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is still optimistic the vessel can be refloated over the next couple of weeks.

Twenty-three people were lifted to safety from the ferry when it ran aground six weeks ago, including 19 crew and four passengers.

We wish the best of luck to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Hope the final defeat is the BBC's headline writers. Storms are bad, but Riverdance will be refloated! At any rate, the fact that all four passengers and 19 crew members are safely rescued is something to cheer. There is just no simple solutions against nature's agilities. But human ingenuity will ultimately prevail!

I might add this observation: The Riverdance case has command worldwide attention of objective journalists except those drive-by media. That's why people in U.S. have heard very little about those severe storms in Europe in recent days. If it can't be blamed on ExxonMobil or all you SUV drivers, why should the New York National Enquirer, umm, the N. Y. Times care?

Consensus, what consensus?

Last Friday, Dr. Thomas Sowell posted this great article "Cold Water on 'Global Warming'" on National review with this synopsis on the state of present day "global warming":

They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all “scientists” and then claim that “all” the experts agree on a global-warming crisis.

Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.

A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity, and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching.

and this announcement:

A new and very different conference on global warming will be held in New York City, under the sponsorship of the Heartland Institute, on March 2nd to March 4th — weather permitting.

It is called an “International Conference on Climate Change” that will examine the question “Global Warming: Crisis or Scam?” Among those present will be professors of climatology, along with scientists in other fields and people from other professions.

They come from universities in England, Hungary, and Australia, as well as from the United States and Canada, and include among other dignitaries the president of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus.

All told, there will be 98 speakers and 400 participants.

The theme of the conference is that “there is no scientific consensus on the causes or likely consequences of global warming.”

This is one conference I wish I could be there. It is going on right at this moment I am typing, but not a single word about the conference has been uttered by the drive-by media, local or national in any of their news reports. Thank God for the internet we can still find out all about this and follow it online. For instance, starting here to check out some of the videos and blogs, and this website here, don't miss this youtube presentation called "Al Gore Snowjob" or "Al Gore Debate Global Warming." While you are at it, make sure to download and read the NIPCC (Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change) report edited by S. Fred Singer called "Nature, Not HumanActivity, Rules the Climate." Here's a part of the abstract:

While the report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) makes it clear that the scientific debate is tilting away from global warming alarmism, we are pleased to see the political debate also is not over. Global warming ‘skeptics’ in the policy arena include Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic; Helmut Schmidt, former German chancellor; and Lord Nigel Lawson, former United Kingdom chancellor of the exchequer. On the other side are global warming fearmongers, including UK science advisor Sir David King and his predecessor Robert May (now Lord May), and of course Al Gore, former vice president of the U.S. In spite of increasing pressures to join Kyoto and adopt emission limits on carbon dioxide, President George W. Bush in the United States has resisted – so far.

We regret that many advocates in the debate have chosen to give up debating the science and now focus almost exclusively on questioning the motives of ‘skeptics,’ name-calling, and ad hominem attacks. We view this as a sign of desperation on their part, and a sign that the debate has shifted toward climate realism.

Finally for today, this article by Christopher C. Horner, just the title "Cirque de Solar Power: New York Conference Puts Lie to 'Consensus'" will make you smile. Here's the opening of the article:

A strange thing happened last year Down Under. A shark ate a kangaroo.

That wasn’t the odd part. Inexplicably, the media found themselves unable to blame the event on global warming.

According to this NC Media Watch report, the conference ". . . is sold out, except for press registration." A-huh, the drive-by media are shunning this conference. I wonder why? What are they afraid of? Doesn't matter, we have the internet, who cares about the press media anyway!

Oh yes, a disclaimer, I am a freaque wave aficionado, why should I be so fervent about this NIPCC conference? Simple, it's only because I am a scientist, I care about science, facts, and truth. I don't want some idiot trying to blame freaque wave occurrences on my SUV driving. It hasn't happen yet, but it will. I like to learn about the true facts but simply can't stand the snow jobs this wishy-washy mushy world has been tolerate for too long!

Hurricane Emma 2008

The headline says: "Hurricane Emma cuts swath across Europe," which is a report from Vienna in the Australia newspaper Australian.

No! There is no mistake here. It is a report from Vienna in the Australian (That's right, Australian, not Austrian) reporting about Hurricane Emma on March 3, 2008. Yes, that's the news tomorrow:

VIENNA: A winter storm with winds of more than 150km/h cut a swath of destruction across Europe from Britain to the Czech Republic, killing at least nine people.

For us who live in the heartland U.S.A. and only think that hurricane season as between June and November, it is a little strange to hear about a hurricane in early March. Clearly Europeans are not immune from hurricanes. May not be the same kind of hurricane as we know it. According to Wikipedia, there is such European windstorm as a severe cyclonic storm that tracks across the North Atlantic towards northwestern Europe in the winter months. So Emma is a real menace for the Europeans in winter. According to this Euronews:

One of Germany's high speed trains was taken out of action and several rail lines were closed as winds reached 190 kilometres an hour. Three people died in Germany.

In some areas, heavy rainfall caused flooding as well.

In Austria the death toll reached four, including two German tourists, with at least two of the people killed by trees blown down by high winds.

Some 10,000 households in the north of the country have been left without electricity.

Skiers in the Alps were warned to take extra care after a metre of snow fell and a Bundesliga football match was cancelled.

Across the countries hit by Emma, the damage is estimated to be worth tens of millions of euros. Weather experts say winds are likely to pick up again on Sunday morning.

Further from this AFP news:

High winds also struck the Netherlands, where the government said it was monitoring the country's vital sea barriers amid high waves on the North Sea, while buildings were reported damaged in neighbouring Belgium.

In Austria, where winds reached up to 166 kilometres per hour (103 miles per hour), two German tourists were killed in separate incidents in the western province of Tyrol.

In the central Salzburg province, a taxi passenger was killed by rockfall apparently released by the storm and a woman was crushed to death in Lower Austria by a fallen tree in her car.

Some 10,000 homes in Upper Austria were without power, roads and sections of motorway had to be shut down and rail services around the country were severely disrupted.

In Germany, one driver in western Rhineland-Palatinate was crushed when a tree fell onto his car, while a 72-year-old man in Bavaria was killed when a strong gust of wind pushed him into the path of an oncoming lorry.

Six people were wounded, including one seriously, after their bus fell into a ditch near Erding in Bavaria, while in North Rhine-Westphalia, a 41-year-old woman was severely injured by a falling tree.

In Bruehl, near Bonn, a high-speed ICE train collided with a fallen tree on the tracks, causing several light injuries.

Heavy rain prompted flooding in several regions and waves measuring several metres were observed in the North Sea but authorities reported no shipping incidents.

American people are real lucky, they don't have any of these worries and they have heard nothing about all these.

* * * Private view on:
For the American drive-by, Gore-little, media, who knows only Hurricane Katrina and dreams only for the Katrina repeats, the happenings of the rest of the world should be of no interest to American people -- unless they can connect those nature disasters in Central Europe to the sins of Exxon Mobile and SUV drivers. So we only heard the cult followings of a candidate, who has done nothing and accomplished even less, to talk about change. Change, change, change. Change, change, change. Change of what? How dare you ask. It's fake, but true! We need change. Isn't that enough? No? Read the New National Enquirer, uh, the New X Times, you'll learn all about it!
* * * Private view off.

A rescue at Rest Bay, Porthcawl.

It is always heart warming to read a successful rescue story. Here's one today in icwales.icnetwork.co.uk with a rather detailed headline: "Surfer thanks rescuers who plucked him from Rest Bay" written by Matthew Aplin of South Wales Echo.

The story is straight-forwardly simple:

A SURFER swept towards cliffs by monster waves said today he would have drowned if it hadn’t been for the lifeboat crew who saved him.

The surfer, 28 year old Jon Hibbert of Roath, Cardiff, according to Aplin's article, and a friend were drove down to Rest Bay for a leisurely surf, on Sunday afternoon. In Jon's own words:

“We thought there would be waves of about 3ft but they were two or three times the size of that,

“I didn’t have my leash with me so I used a roof rack strap off my car. That was a big mistake but I just didn’t think of it at the time. It was quite irresponsible because I couldn’t control the board so it was like a torpedo.”

Lesson #1: Be well prepared, have all the equipment accordingly. No substitute is accepted. In Jon's case, as Aplin described, he fought with the currents and was dragged further away from the bay and toward the cliffs. He didn't want to admit defeat but the thought of drowning did came across his mind:

He frantically looked for help.

He said: “I saw two people on the cliffs so I screamed at them. I saw one of them run off and then a crowd started to gather there.

“I didn’t know if they were going to take me seriously. My heart was in my mouth every time a wave came. Luckily, they had called Porthcawl Coastguard.

“They shot a flare out and I saw them waving. I looked over and saw the lifeboat and they came and rescued me. It only took them about 20 minutes. They were so quick.

“When we arrived all the lifeboatmen’s families and babies were there waiting for them. I think I disturbed their Sunday dinners!

“If I had got swept off my board I know that I would’ve drowned. I’m so grateful to the rescuers. It was getting dark and it could’ve taken them hours to find me in a black swim suit.

“I have no doubt in my mind that if it wasn’t for the speed and bravery of the guys in the lifeboat and those on the cliff who saw me, I would have died.

The especially heart warming part is that the rescuer interrupted his family dinner to take upon the rescue. We share Jon's gratefulness for the rescuers and we are really happy that he is alive and well and can continue to tell his story eloquently.

By the way, for us in the other parts of the world who have no idea where Rest Bay, Porthcawl is, the following map from Wikimedia may be of some help:

Stormy California Coast

I remember a long long time ago a high school teacher once told me that a good writer is someone who has the ability to write what's on everyone's mind but no one can put it in writing. I suddenly remembered this because I just come across a new post from a blog that's just something I have in mind but never able to do it so eloquently:

The California coastline is always a dynamic environment especially as storms generate large surf. Like clockwork nearly every big storm there are news stories of people knocked from the rocks by rogue waves and killed. When taking photos in precarious places along the coast one always has to have one eye out to sea. Even 15 feet above the water during this shoot I still had to retreat a couple of times as large sets moved their way in. Being respectful of Mother Nature often includes being cautious and factoring in the unpredictability of your surroundings.

This is from the today's blog of JMG-Galleries entitled "Stormy California Coast." Along with this fabulous picture of Montery, California:


The gallery is by Photographer Mr. Jim M. Goldstein. He explained the great caution he took when taking this picture. But his sharp observation that frequent "news stories of people knocked from the rocks by rogue waves and killed" is really something I dread the most since the start of keeping this freaque wave blog. The dreadful stories are not only come from California coast, but it happens from coasts all around the world.

My heartfelt appreciation for Mr. Goldstein's blog today. I am sure he is probably not interested in freaque waves per se. But his advice that one should always "being cautious and factoring in the unpredictability of your surroundings" is more than any freaque wave aficionado can expect to offer.

One more sad beach story

It's freaque waves again. What else? This news just in from from South Africa with the headline "Freak waves hit Durban beach" as

One man drowned and 18 others had to be rescued after being swept into the sea after a freak wave hit the main beach on Sunday.

The article described it as "Unexpected waves" since

It appears that, with the rising tide, a set of waves unexpectedly swamped the beach, sweeping 19 bathers wading in ankle-deep water off their feet.

All are rescued except

lifeguards and police doing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on a man of about 40, but without success.

So even in the ankle-deep water, the unexpected onshore freaque waves still sadly took away one life unnecessarily on this otherwise nice Sunday afternoon on the beach.

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world!

A collateral interest for a freaque wave data analyst is always on alert for freakish large numbers. Yesterday I came across some totally incredible numbers that are more than just mind-boggling. I am referring to this AP article by Angus Shaw published in the Washington Times which tells the inflation rate in Zimbabwe: 100,580 % in January 2008, up from 66,212% in December 2007. It was 24,470 % in November 2007.

As the article reports:

The National Incomes and Prices Commission, the government's price control body, this month allowed sharp increases in the prices of the corn meal staple, sugar, bread and other basics in a bid to restore viable operations by producers and return the goods to empty shelves.

and

Executives at a milling company that produces corn meal said the price increase allowed by the government was already overtaken by soaring production costs and gas prices. The National Bakers Association said bread shortages are set to worsen unless the price of a loaf is nearly doubled to more than 5 million Zimbabwe dollars (55 U.S. cents at the dominant black market exchange rate) for a regular loaf.

The article was accompanied by this AP photo:

that says "A child with wads of Zimbabwean dollar notes begged Tuesday on the streets of Harare."

Yes, the freaque waves front has been relatively quiet, so I can't resist to blog this non freaque wave, non scientific topic today. There are plenty of miserable things happening in this world of ours that never get to be reported by our drive by media. This is one of them. My hat-tip to Mark Krikorian of National Review Online for calling this article to our attention. The numbers are just too absurd to be true. How could it happen? How can the Zimbabwe people cope?!

Krikorian entitled his post the "Misery Index." Yes, indeed, I remember the "good" old days under the founder, architect, and patriarch of misery index, Jimmy Carter, when the inflation rate in U.S. s in the 13-14 percent range. That same Jimmy Carter, as President of U.S., authorized to have the U.S. underwrite the communist takeover and redistribution of property in Zimbabwe in 1980 by his favorite dictator, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. In Carter's description Mugabe is:

"A notable world leader, exemplifying the finest aspects of humanity in achieving liberty and justice based on freedom and decency, and a result which thrills the whole world . . ."

The end effect is "Zimbabwe, once the breadbasket of Africa until socialist brutal dictator Robert Mugabe got a hold of it, has seen staggering inflation and severe food shortages." ( See here.) That was also the time, thanks to Carter, according to this BBC report, "The path to the seizure of white farms was opened and thus began the long slide to today's economic chaos."

Everyone in their right mind can reasonably expect "economic chaos." But I doubt any one in their wildest guess can come up with a 6 figure magnitude!

For the record, while Mugabe was completing his genocide against Ndebele in 1986, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst bestowed an "honorary" doctorate of laws to him And of course, amidst all the miseries where ever he goes, Jimmy Carter received 2002 Nobel "Peace" Prize.

Here's some relevant background and comments by Barbara Simpson:

When the West wanted to rid South Africa of white apartheid, the world united ? against the whites.

In Zimbabwe it's worse ? racism against whites, brutality against blacks and the intentional destruction of a country.

But this time, under a black, Marxist leader, the world is silent.

It's racist, immoral and ? dangerous.

So what was the title of that Spencer Tracy movie in the early 1960's again?

Oh, yes, "It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world!"

Peril of onshore big waves

The news front has been quiet for a little while, suddenly a couple of tragic news from the California coast were reported to have been resulted possibly from onshore freaque waves -- what locally called the sleeper waves.

This one according to this SanLuisObispo.com article:

A 27-year-old San Luis Obispo man swept off the Limekiln State Park beach by a powerful wave and presumed dead . . .

Here's what happen: the young man, Chris Patridge, with his cousin, Eric Kleiner, and several friends were

. . . watching the waves at the Big Sur campground, about 80 miles north of San Luis Obispo, when Partridge ventured closer to the water.

A wave came in as he went down to the shoreline, and as it receded, Kleiner saw Partridge had been taken out with the surf.

Unexpectedly and unlikely as it may seem, a young man's life, gone, just like that!

Another one, a little up north of the coast, reported by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat

The body of a missing 42-year-old Berkeley woman who was swept off Gualala Beach by a wave on Saturday was discovered early Monday morning.

Molly Keane was dragged into the ocean by a large wave as she attempted to rescue her dog from the frigid surf.

A life lost untimely and unnecessarily, trying to rescue a dog. But that's not all, the article also mentioned a few weeks ago,

On Jan. 12, 19-year-old Ann Madden of Petaluma and her fiance had walked down from the overlook at Portuguese Beach north of Bodega Bay with their two dogs in tow.

Large waves engulfed the two animals and when Madden went in to rescue them, she was caught in the surf and drowned.

Another life lost trying to rescue dogs. All perils of onshore big waves. Can ever learn to watch out for the freaque onshore waves?

In another Santa Rosa Press Democrat recent article, there's this picture by Mark Aronoff showing the excitement of beach going:


with the warning "A Sonoma Coast State Park aide said people should stay away from the waterline, especially those with small children and pets." How easily it can forget, in the midst of fun and excitements, danger and even possible tragedy could be just prowling nearby. Other than warnings from the coast guard or park rangers, everyone is on their own. Many lives lost, all around the world all the time, but there is no outcry for academic researches on the onshore freaque waves. There are tons of fundings for research on average temperatures that might raise by 0.8 degree in 10 or 20 years while we can't even be certain about the temperatures next week. But that's the mighty global warming research industry and mighty academicians are certainly happy with the plentiful of fundings. Who cares about the meaningfulness of their research? And who cares about a few life lost near the beaches anyway? Que Sera Sera!

No, it's not global warming -- it's Asian winter cyclone!

According to this "Northeast Monsoon Tutorial" there is such thing as "Cold surge effects of the Asian winter anticyclone":

With the onset of the Northern Hemisphere winter, an intense surface high- pressure system develops over the East Asia continental region, centered south of Lake Baikal. The dominating characteristics of this anticyclone can be seen by noting the huge geographical area over which it lies. The anticyclone is sustained and intensified by strong radiational cooling over the frozen land mass and by consistent cold air advection from Arctic latitudes.

Could this be the reason for the worst snowy winter over Mainland China? No wonder Algore and his band of his consensus "me-too" media and scientists have been so deafeningly quiet not to blame it on global warming. Of course who could ever criticize the Peiking Commie comrades for driving luxury gas-guzzlers -- global warming or no global warming! For the rest of us poor "skeptics" souls, we are guilty for the natural climate change anyway!

Well, there's also this NEMS (Northeast Monsoon Surge) thing:

The occurrences of winter season cold air outbreaks cause high pressure to extend eastward over coastal waters off the China mainland. Strong winds turning anticyclonically around this eastern extension of high pressure and the associated weather is referred to as a Northeast Monsoonal Surge (NEMS). These surges produce strong, steady, northerly to northeasterly monsoon winds along the East Asian coast near Sakhalin Island, across the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the Philippine Sea and into the South China Sea.

A cold surge or NEMS is generally progressive, starting first in the far north and then moving southward with time. A major surge takes about 6-7 days before its influence is apparent at near-equatorial locations.

So this is what is happening in the Philippine Sea area, as two news headlines from there: "5 missing as cargo ship sink off Sorsogon" and "26 rescued after outrigger boat sinks off Bohol island." In the first case, the cargo ship LCT Don Wilfredo was "capsized and then sank after being battered by giant waves and strong winds." And in the second the outrigger M/B Clemer was battered by "huge waves." Both cases happened on February 15, 2008 within a few hours apart. We pray for the rescue of the 5 missing ones. Giant or huge waves are to be expected during storms at any rate, at least no one utter the word "freaque" in these cases.

Winter in mainland China

As we are all guilty stricken for driving our SUV daily that supposedly causing the hell-raising global warming "disaster" the whole world is supposed suffering right now, the land of my origin, where I have not set foot on ever since the Commie thugs seized it from the ROC, is going through the worst cold, snowy winter in over 100 years. It's been reported world wide while the thugs government only worrying about their image toward the oncoming summer Olympic later this year. Here I wish to show a few pictures I found from the Yahoo News:
This AP Photo above by Kin Cheung has the description "A woman prays at a village in Pingshi in southern China's Guangdong province." What in the world is this "pray at a village" thing? I think that little building in the middle of the snow ice covered field is the shrine of Earth God the woman is praying to. After nearly 60 years' firm control by the God-less Commie thugs, people still believe in their own fundamental Earth God! May be the photographer just do not have the liberty to say it as it is, so make it up this ridiculous "pray at a village" nonsense.
This picture by the same AP Photographer Cheung showing the heavily snow and ice covered electrical tower in Pingshi. The state media admit that there were already 11 electricians lost their lives trying to do the repairs. Most of the power outages remain unrepaired.
This tree covered with ice is seen in Chenzhou, Hunan province by AP Vincent Yu.
Now this is a farmer walks under frozen grape racks in Chenzhou by AP Zhao Zhongzhi.
This sunset over snow covered field is near Suzhou, Chiangsu province by AP Eugene Hoshiko.
This snow covered field is also in Suzhou by AP Hoshiko.
Here are two farmers walk along a snow covered field in Wuhu, Anhui province.
Ah_ha, an army tank to crush the ice covered road. Last time we saw the Commie government use army tank was June 4, 1989 in Peiking Tienanmen Square to crush defenseless students asking for freedom!

Most of these pictures are showing the kind of sceneries of what winter season has to offer. I guess I picked them more for their scenic rather scientific nature. What could not be shown were the human misery, hardship, and sufferings behind the pictures under the Commie thugs regime. After sixty years solid oppression and tyranny, people can only resort to pray to the Earth God hide in the field for help. Rest assure, under commie regime, pray is illegal -- to earth God or whomever else. May be that's why they cooked up the expression: pray at a village. One thing one can surmise: the people are most likely praying for the end of the excessive snow ice -- in the midst of Algore/UNIPCC's screaming of global warming!

Chicken-gore-little's polar bear picture

This above picture accompanies the article by Christopher Booker today in Telegraph.co.uk with the title "So it appears that Arctic ice isn't vanishing after all." I enjoyed reading the article and intrigued by the picture. I did not see any specific indication regarding copyright information about this picture. So I copy it here to spread the story. This interesting picture is now internationally famous. If anyone think I should not put this picture here in this blog, please let me know ASAP, I'll remove it immediately.

It turns out that there is an interesting news story behind the picture also. Another article published a week earlier in NewsWithViews.com by a Canadian journalist, Carole "CJ" Williams as cited in Booker's article tells the whole fascinatingly detailed background of the story behind the picture without using this picture. The title of Williams' 01-26-2008 article is "How the environmental extremists manipulate the masses." It is a highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the ins and outs of global warming matters. Here are some segments:

Al Gore, who was awarded a 2007 Nobel Prize for drawing the world’s attention to the dangers of global warming, as well as a coveted Hollywood Oscar in ‘07 for his documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”, stands to make millions of dollars selling carbon offsets through his London based corporation, Generation Investment Management.

Gore, who apparently can’t tell a polar bear with nowhere to go from one that’s playing on an over-sized and wave-beaten ice cube . . .

and

Just as Gore’s endangered polar bear picture was a hoax, so is the assertion repeated by politicians and global warming/climate change criers that “2,500 scientists of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agree that humans are causing a climate crisis”.

but

. . . very few credible IPCC scientists out of the 2,500 who supposedly agree that global warming is manmade.

Virtually hundreds, if not thousands, of qualified and well respected scientists who have studied global warming and its causes and effects disagree with the IPCC scientists who were hand-picked by the notoriously corrupt United Nations organization to come to a consensual agreement regarding global warming. However, for the most part, those who disagree are being ignored by mass media, appointed bureaucrats, and our elected government officials.

And finally this conclusion:

The truth of the matter is that the man-made global warming fear factor is based on little but computer modeling, conjecture, hype, contrived hysteria, and the desire of bureaucrats, politicians and radical greenies to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and gain control of people’s lives.

It's nothing complicate, just some common sense. Why should anyone fall for chicken-gore-little's mumble jumble?

Battle with giant waves

Freaque waves are uncertain, but in the winter ocean giant waves are to be expected. Here's a heroic story of battle with giant waves in observer.guardian.co.uk today by Caroline Davies.

An RAF winchman who risked his life in 'horrendous' gale force conditions in a bid to rescue an injured ship's captain off the Isles of Scilly yesterday described the mission as 'the most challenging' he had ever experienced.

For more than an hour on Friday night, Sergeant Gordon Watt, 27, was buffeted by force 10 winds at the end of a 130ft winch as he tried to gain a foothold on the 12,887-tonne vessel Horncliff, which was listing and rolling in 40ft waves.

Hampered by the pitch dark and with the ship rolling badly, he was unsuccessful and the RAF Sea King team, from 22 Squadron at the Royal Marines base at Chivenor, Devon, was forced to abandon the rescue.

The vessel's Lithuanian captain suffered severe spinal injuries and internal bleeding when a giant wave smashed into the deck cargo of bananas and melons from Costa Rica. He was eventually airlifted to hospital after a second, successful attempt by a Royal Navy helicopter at first light yesterday.

Thank God for this second successful rescue.

A Royal Navy helicopter from RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall managed to winch a paramedic aboard yesterday, then airlifted the captain and six others to safety. Among the 31 passengers and crew were two honeymooners from Germany. Suzanne Carstensen, 50, from Hamburg, said that she and her husband Dahne, 64, thought they were going to die after the huge waves hit them off the south of Ireland on Friday. Six passengers were on the bridge with the captain at the time.

According to Mrs. Carstensen:

'We had changed course to try to get away from the storm when the ship was hit by three big waves. First it went right over to the left and then the right and we were all crying. I thought it was our last moment of life.

'The captain and my husband crashed over the floor and the captain was in big pain, crying out. The ship went right over and then the containers came off the ship and it came back up. Then we knew we had survived. It was really horrible, and you cannot imagine unless you are there.'

Yes, indeed, while we can imagine to some extend, we really cannot imagine what they went through since we are not there. As one who was there, Mrs. Carstensen is a super eye witness in describing that the ship was hit by three big waves and the waves went right over to the left and then the right. It was frightening for certain!

This BBC News gave the location of the happening and a picture of the condition of the vessel:
As shown in the picture the cargo were shifted when the giant waves hit that caused injury to the ship captain and two others. There were 31 passengers and crew on board the ship, the Horncliff, which had been travelling to Dover carrying a cargo of fruit from Costa Rica. The ship is now sailing towards Falmouth and is expected to arrive later on Saturday.

The ferry Riverdance

This is the picture of ferry Riverdance that was stranded at a sandbank off the Lancashire coast of U.K. It's been world wide news by now, typical headlines like:

Ferry runs into trouble when struck by freak wave (Melbourne Herald Sun of Australia.)
Battle to save stricken UK ferry hit by freak wave (Euro News.)
High waves strand ferry in Irish Sea (Independent Online of South Africa.)
Ferry carrying 23 people stranded at sea off England (The Canadian Press.)
Stricken ferry runs aground in northwest England (AFP)
Emergency in Irish Sea as ferry faces capsize (The Times of India.)
Ferry carrying 23 stranded off UK (USA Today.)
Ferry runs aground off Blabkpool (BBC News)


Just reading these headlines we can pretty much have a general idea of the what, where, how, and why it happened. Here's some details from the BBC News:

A roll-on roll-off ferry which ran into trouble in high winds in the Irish Sea has run aground off Blackpool.

A total of 19 crew members and four passengers were flown to safety from the Riverdance, after it was hit by a freak wave in bad weather.

The ferry, Riverdance, owned by Seatruck Ferries Limited,

. . . was carrying trucks and trailers from Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland to the port of Heysham in Lancashire, when it was struck by the freak wave.

The wave caused the ship's cargo to shift resulting in the vessel developing a significant list. Speaking during the rescue operation, John Matthews from Fleetwood RNLI described the sea conditions as "horrendous" with 7m waves and winds of up to 60mph (96km/h).

I guess the most irritating part of the news reports to me is that they all alluded to the fact that the ferry was struck by a freaque wave, but no one give any details regarding the freaque wave. It was horrendous sea conditions with winds up to 60 mph and big waves all around, if it was may be just caused by one of the large storm waves -- which is entirely possible, then what was there to make it a freaque one?

For a long time, the "academic" types refuse to believe the seafarers when they say that they have encountered a freaque wave. But I think seafarers know an unusual freaque wave when they encounter one. It's the modern "journalists" who brought up amongst a world of nothing but code words and sensationalism. Truth and accuracy are superfluous in their profession. So journalists, especially the MSM types, are the least trustworthy. We should always reconsider and query the details as to what do they really mean by freaque wave? (Hopefully it's not a word just for sensational effects.)

Update February 5, 2005:
The stricken ferry is still out there waiting to be salvaged. All the passenger and crew were winched off. Salvage efforts have been working to reduce the severe listing of the ferry. Efforts were being hampered by weather conditions.