Silent as Judgment Day hours tick

Harold family Radio, the Christian stations network headed by Harold Camping which had spread his message of an approaching doomsday, was on Saturday playing recorded church music and devotional messages unrelated to the apocalypse.

Camping previously made a failed prediction Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994.

In his latest pronouncement, he had said doomsday would begin in Asia, but with midnight local time come and gone in Tokyo and Beijing and those cities already in the early hours of May 22, there was no sign of the apocalypse.

The Oakland, California, headquarters of the network of 66 U.S. stations, which has international affiliates and had posted billboards around the country warning of a May 21 Judgment Day, were shuttered with a sign in the door that read "This Office is Closed. Sorry we missed you!"

The headquarters, which appears to be normally closed on Saturday, was also shuttered on Friday.

"If it will be"

It was a sunny day in downtown Ferndale when I was first introduced to Family Radio by a rather conspicuous mobile billboard with a rather casual message: "Save the date, May, 21, 2011, Judgment Day." It was the largest invite I had ever received and I did not plan on attending – I had to work.

And I know what you are thinking because I am thinking it, too — why Saturday? Why not Monday morning or Tuesday afternoon, or even Sunday morning when I will want the world to end anyway because of my massive hangover. But according to Bible scholar Harold Camping, Judgment Day waits for no one.

Camping, 89, is the president of the nonprofit Christian religious radio network Family Radio, based in Oakland, CA. He is responsible for discovering – and being very vocal, if I may add — about a theory extrapolated from the Bible that the rapture will take place May 21, 2011.

The rapture is a Christian belief that the faithful will be carried into the air to meet with Christ as the end of the world unfolds.

"That is a very, very serious admonition 'cause that is the nature of the believer," said Gunther Von Harringa, 59, about the thought-provoking advertisements. "God tells us to do it."

The need to spread the word to the masses through a media campaign of fliers, billboards and even motorcade is fueled by the belief that if you know of impending doom and you do not warn others, you are just as responsible for their ill fate.

Ohio-based Harringa is the international director of Bible Ministries and a big follower of Camping's theory. This is the second end of the world prediction for Camping – he also predicted the end of the world in 1994 – but maybe the second time's a charm.

"I would not say it is his belief," Harringa said. "It is more like what the Bible says and what it says he(God) will do.

Indian foods

Indian cuisine is the general name for foods of the Indian subcontinent, characterized by the extensive use of various spices, herbs, and other vegetables, and sometimes fruits grown in India and also for the widespread practice of vegetarianism in Indian society. Each family of Indian cuisine includes a wide assortment of dishes and cooking techniques. As a consequence, it varies from region to region, reflecting the varied demographics of the ethnically-diverse subcontinent.

Hindu beliefs and culture have played an influential role in the evolution of Indian cuisine.However, cuisine across India also evolved as a result of the subcontinent's large-scale cultural interactions with Mongols and Britain making it a unique blend of some various cuisines. The spice trade between India and Europe is often cited as the main catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery. The colonial period introduced European cooking styles to India, adding to the flexibility and diversity of Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine has influenced cuisines across the world, especially those from Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.

Sea food plays a major role in the cuisines of Andaman & Nicobar, Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The Andaman & Nicobar Islands were, and still are inhabited by indigenous tribes. Since they had very little contact with the outside world, raw fish and fruits were their staple diet for a long time. However, as many people from other regions of India came and settled here, different types of food and their methods to cook came with them, and this did cast an influence on the eating habits of the people of Andaman and Nicobar. Because the population is mainly derived from migrants from regions of India, many cuisines of India can be found in the islands.

Chattisgarh has many cuisines not found in the rest of India, while the staple diet, like much of the rest of India is rice. Many Chattisgarhi people consume liquor brewed from the Mahuwa flower. The tribal peoples of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh eat whatever is available, choosing food which would not be eaten by people of other states and regions. Red ant chutney is a favorite dish. Flying ants, mushrooms, squirrels, and rats are some of their choicest delicacies. As well as these unorthodox dishes, fish and pork constitute a large part of Chhatisgarhi cuisine. Pork forms a major item in their diet and almost every major ceremony starts with the sacrifice of a pig.

Daman and Diu is a union territory of India which, like Goa was a former colonial possession of Portugal. Consequently, both the native Gujarati food and traditional Portugese food is available. Because the neighbouring state Gujarat has prohibited alcohol, dining and wining is the most popular pleasure in the territory, with almost all popular brands of foreign liquor being available due to the visits of people from the state to consume the alcohol.

Dishing out a delicious variety of seafood with ample mix-up of coconut is the specialty of Lakshadweep Cuisines. From spicy non-vegetarian stuffs to healthy vegetarian delicacies, the island is ready with every possible kind of mouth-watering dish. The culinary influence of Kerala is quite evident in the cuisines of Lakshadweep. Since the island has a close proximity with Kerala, hence the cuisines reflect the taste of the inhabitants of that place. The local food of Lakshadweep primarily comprises coconut and sea fish. The people of the island have a great inclination towards the coconut water as it is the most abundant aerated drink of the place. 

As a tourist destination, Lakshadweep is one of the most-visited spots of India. People from all over the world come to this island to explore the unexplored coral reefs, the virgin forests and the surrounding serenity. In order to cater to the needs of the tourists the governing authority of Lakshadweep, along with several private bodies have established quite a number of restaurants and eatery joints. Apart from specializing in local food, these restaurants also serve a series of inter-continental dishes. 

From Chinese and Thai to Indian and Korean, the eatery corners of Lakshadweep provide a lip-smacking array of delectables to those who wish to have a taste of global cuisine. Apart from multi-cuisine eatery zones, one can also get the original taste of Lakshadweep during major festivals when the people of the island prepare special dishes in their own home. Almost all the dishes have a touch of coconut since it is an integral ingredient of Lakshadweep cuisines.

Punjabi cuisine can be non-vegetarian or completely vegetarian. One of the main features of Punjabi cuisine is its diverse range of dishes. Home cooked and restaurant Punjabi cuisine can vary significantly, with restaurant style using large amounts of clarified butter, known locally as ghee, with liberal amounts of butter and cream with home cooked concentrating on mainly upon preparations with Whole Wheat, Rice and other ingredients flavored with masalas (spices). 

Roh Di Kheer, is cooked using rice. Rice is cooked for a long time in sugar cane juice.Within the area itself, there are different preferences. People in the area of Amritsar prefer stuffed parathas and milk products. In fact, the area is well known for quality of its milk products.There are certain dishes which are exclusive to Punjab, such as Mah Di Dal and Saron Da Saag (Sarson Ka Saag).The food is tailor-made for the Punjabi lifestyle in which most of the rural folk burn up a lot of calories while working in the fields. The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic and ginger. Tandoori food is a Punjabi speciality especially for non-veg dishes. Many of the most popular elements of Anglo-Indian cuisine – such as Tandoor, Naan, Pakoras and vegetable dishes with paneer – derive from the Punjab.

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Christian movement preparing for End of Days

Joseph, Faith and Grace Haddad appear like any other American teenagers - except for the fact their parents Robert and Abby believe the world is about to end.

Two years ago their father Robert and mother Abby gave up their regular jobs to preach for the Family Radio church at the centre of the May 21 Judgment Day campaign.

In a last ditch effort to spread the word before the Armageddon that they believe will happen today at 6pm local time wherever you live, Robert and Abby took their children to a New York street fair.

Jerry Jenkins, co-author with Tim LaHaye of the 'Left Behind' series of apocalyptic novels that have sold millions of copies worldwide, is among those who has a problem with the prediction.

'As a believer, I'm already a kook compared to most people, so for someone to choose a date and get everyone excited about a certain time, my problem is it makes us look worse,' said Jenkins, 61.

But the very industry in which Jenkins' books are aimed and sold are part of the problem according to Barbara Rossing, professor of the New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

She describes a huge apocalyptic 'prophecy industry' that includes video games, board games and books, and says: 'It is very appealing to people.'

Indeed, according to its tax returns Family Radio, a non-profit organisation, has raised more than $100m over the last seven years. It owns 66 radio stations worldwide and a recent spike in activity has seen it lavish millions on its international billboard advertising campaign.

When asked what the church was going to do with the money when the world ended, Camping told Contra Costa Times; 'When Judgment Day comes, if someone is a billionaire, how will they take their money with them?

'If we have any money left, and we will because we have to pay bills up to the very end... it will all be destroyed because the world will be in a day of judgment.

'The money is not important at all. It's a vehicle to spread the judgment and a vehicle of the Lord.'

But as the true believers prepare for what they hope will be their last day on earth, many atheists are having fun with the anticlimax they anticipate.

In Tacoma, Washington, atheists have organized a party for Saturday night under the banner 'countdown to backpedaling', on the assumption that Camping and Family Radio will change their story if Judgment Day does not come.

At least 100 people are expected at the party, said Sam Mulvey, 33, an organizer of the event and the producer of a weekly atheist radio show in Tacoma.

'If the world still exists the next day, Family Radio is going to have to say something and most of the time they backpedal, and that's what we're counting down to,' he said.

Other atheists have taken a more practical approach to the 'rapture' by turning the 'prophecy industry' on itself to make money.

In New Hampshire, Bart Centre started his company Eternal Earth-bound Pets in 2009.

He offers rapture believers an insurance plan for those pets that won't join them in heaven: 10-year pet care contracts, with Centre and his network of fellow non-believers taking responsibility for the animals after the Rapture.

The fee - payable in advance, of course - was originally $110, but has risen to $135 since Camping's prediction. He has 258 clients.

But for some people the rapture is no laughing matter. In Harrison, New Jersey, reformed raver John Ramsey, 25, has given up his job to spread the word with his wife, Marcia Paladines.

Marcia, featured in the video below, is pregnant. Her due date is May 27.

'God is in control. I have prayed for mercy on my baby,' a crying Paladines told The Huffington Post.

'But I don't know what's going to happen. If I'm here May 21, then I will suffer the consequences of the wrath of God. I know like anybody else I'll deserve it because none of us are perfect.'

An independent California preacher who predicts Judgment Day will arrive Saturday has amassed a global following. He believes it will likely start as it become 6 p.m. in the world's various time zones.

Eighty-nine-year-old Harold Camping has built a nonprofit ministry based around his apocalyptic prophesy.

The retired engineer will be awaiting Jesus Christ's return for the second time. Camping says his earlier apocalyptic prediction in 1994 didn't come true because of a mathematical error.

Skeptics are throwing Rapture-themed parties to celebrate what hosts expect will be the failure of Camping's prophesy.

New method to 'confirms dark energy

Distribution of galaxies and the time it takes for galactic clusters to form are behind a University of Queensland claim confirming the existence of dark energy.

Dark energy has been predicted as a defender of Einsteinian models of the universe, ever since the 1990s when astrophysicists identified the accelerating expansion of the universe.

Since the “inflationary universe” didn’t fit with Einstein’s predictions, either Einstein was wrong, or a new form of energy was required.

The great physicist had once recast his equations to include a similar idea, but wasn’t comfortable with the solution and later called it his “greatest blunder.

cientists used two separate kinds of observation to provide an independent check on previous dark energy results.

Two papers by an international team of researchers have been accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal.

One type of observation used by the astronomers involves measuring a pattern in how galaxies are distributed in space. This pattern is known by the term "baryon acoustic oscillations".

The second type of observation involves measuring how quickly clusters of galaxies have formed over time. Both of these techniques confirmed the existence of dark energy and the acceleration in the expansion of the Universe.

The concept of dark energy was first invoked in the late 1990s by studying the brightness of distant supernovas - exploding stars.

Einstein was right

To explain why the expansion of the Universe was speeding up, astronomers had to either rewrite Albert Einstein's theory of gravity or accept that the cosmos was filled with a novel type of energy.

"The action of dark energy is as if you threw a ball up in the air, and it kept speeding upward into the sky faster and faster," said co-author Dr Chris Blake of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

"The results tell us that dark energy is a cosmological constant, as Einstein proposed. If gravity were the culprit, then we wouldn't be seeing these constant effects of dark energy throughout time.

The survey mapped the distribution of galaxies in an unprecedented volume of the Universe, looking eight billion years back in time - more than half the age of the Universe.

Cosmologist Bob Nicholl, who was not involved with the research, told BBC News: "This is a major step forward. These guys are serious, major scientists and we've been waiting for this result for some time.

The professor of astrophysics at Portsmouth University, UK, added: "It's re-confirmation of dark energy, it gives us another data point to fit our theories around and it shows us the way to the future. More astronomers are going to be doing this in years to come."

While dark energy makes up about 74% of the Universe, dark matter - which does not reflect or emit detectable light - accounts for 22%. Ordinary matter - gas, stars, planets and galaxies - makes up just 4% of the cosmos.

However, despite scientists being able to infer the existence of dark energy and dark matter, these phenomena still elude a full explanation.

Shell's big boat justifies the announcement

Prelude platform will be the world's largest floating facility – longer than four football fields and weighing six times as much as the biggest aircraft carrier.

It will be constructed in a shipyard in South Korea with the equipment to convert gas into a liquid in the middle of the ocean, ready for shipment to the Asian consumer.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has transformed the world's energy markets, as it was previously only transportable by pipeline. The new mobility and availability of gas has seen Asian countries take more of an interest in the fuel.

Shell, Europe's biggest energy company, is making a big push to increase its gas production relative to oil production over the next few years.

According to commonwealth data, there is 160 trillion cubic feet of so-called stranded gas, that is, gas that cannot be economically recovered by conventional technologies. Prelude accounts for about 3tcf of that potential. The controversial Sunrise gas project in the Timor Sea is of a similar, though slightly smaller, size.

Shell is, of course, a partner in Sunrise, which is operated by Woodside. And that JV wants to use the Shell FLNG technology to translate that resource to wealth.

Shell's Brinded is so confident in his technology that he reckons on delivering FID on several new FLNG projects between now and when Prelude enters production around 2016. If Timor's objections to the current plan can be overcome, Sunrise would be an early contender for the next nod.

Just on Sunrise, the commentary offered in support of Woodside by Resources Minister Martin Ferguson was typically encouraging.

Ferguson noted the treaty arrangements with Timor were generous and were premised on the operator being free to pursue the "optimum commercial outcome" for development.

Woodside says the FLNG is a $US5bn better outcome than landing the gas in Timor. Nonetheless, Timor says it wants Sunrise gas processed on home soil and that it will not approve any other option.

Ferguson left little doubt that the Commonwealth would support Woodside's position.

Meanwhile, Prelude's numbers rolled off even Martin Ferguson's sometimes tied tongue. The project will add $45bn to Australia's GDP over its planned 25 year productive life, will sustain 1000 local jobs, contribute $12bn in tax revenue with another $12bn to be spent on local goods and services and will boost our balance of trade by $18bn. Ferguson was also bubbling about the training, education and research opportunities that would flow to Australians. Again, this excitement is based on the real rather than the hoped for.

Shell's local chair and local upstream boss, Ann Pickard, said Perth would be Shell's "global centre for FLNG learning and research" before announcing new education partnerships with Curtin University and Challenger Institute along with the funding for a new chair in marine environmental studies at WA University.

The most immediately important reason for government contentment over this decision, though, is that it comes in the middle of the debate over carbon tax and its potential impact. Shell has decided to invest in ignorance of what the government has planned, though Ferguson stressed the government maintained a robust and constant dialogue with the LNG industry and reiterated his belief that an acceptable outcome could be forged as it was in 2008 when the discussion was all about an emissions trading scheme.

Shell's Pickard said the financial modelling for Prelude included a price for carbon dioxide emissions that, over the longer term, was expected to hit $40 a tonne, and assumed that a trading scheme would be in place.

For all that, Pickard was diplomatic but plain about Australia's first-mover risk on carbon. "We don't want to see, in the short term, Australian projects disadvantaged.

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Key scientists cast doubt on Murray water return

The group says the Wentworth Group of Scientists has told it that it will withdraw from the Murray Darling Basin Authority's science forum because there will be no independent review.

The authority's chief Rob Freeman resigned earlier this month, after its first chair Mike Taylor left his post in January and was replaced by former senior NSW cabinet minister Craig Knowles.

A guide which the authority released last year angered farming communities in the basin, who objected to what they called its bias towards environmental needs.

The Wentworth Group is urging the government not to spend billions of dollars without adequate scrutiny.

"The federal government is spending over $8.9 billion on water reform. The Australian taxpayer must know what they are getting for their money and that they are going to get a healthy working river system for $8.9 billion," Tim Stubbs, an engineer with the Wentworth Group, said in a statement.

The original draft plan found that 3856 gigalitres would be a minimum volume of water that would need to be acquired from the 11,500 gigalitres of irrigators' entitlements to maintain the river.

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Tim Stubbs, environmental engineer with the Wentworth Group, said the nearly 4000 gigalitres identified in the authority's guide had been widely accepted as an appropriate lower limit.

''The authority has appeared to have done some work in the last four months that suddenly seems to go against work they produced in the guide which took them two years. We are concerned at that level of change in such a short space of time,'' Mr Stubbs told The Saturday Age.

The group did not attend a two-day science forum on the project on the basis that it did not believe the science being discussed was independent. It was there that the executives revealed the authority was going to draft a plan that recommended returning just 2800 gigalitres.

''Based on this information the government will spend $10 billion of taxpayers' money on very few people. We need to be sure this will deliver a healthy working river,'' Mr Stubbs said.

He said Wentworth did not know if it was a politically motivated decision, but it was a reason it wanted the science checked. ''If the science is fine, then that is fine,'' he said.

A spokeswoman for the authority said the chairman would ''not respond to questions based on unsourced rumours or possible leaked information as these questions prevent the chair from providing an informed, in-context response''.

''The Authority's conversation with communities and … stakeholders is continuing and the proposed plan remains a work in progress,'' she said.

The project has been mired in controversy, with chief executive Rob Freeman and chairman Mike Taylor resigning, a backlash from farmers who said a decrease in water entitlements would kill farms, and allegations of political interference.

Friends of the Earth said a drop to 2800 gigalitres was disastrous. ''According to the authority's own figures, 2800 gigalitres would lock in the death of at least a quarter of our red gum forests, and leave the Murray Mouth closed three times more frequently than natural," spokesman Jonathan La Nauze said.

Water Minister Tony Burke said the Murray-Darling Basin Authority was preparing its draft plan independently. ''I want to see this entire process deliver a healthy working basin,

GREEN groups say the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has ''cooked the books'' by downgrading almost 1400 identical submissions calling for higher environmental targets under a new basin plan, because they were driven by campaigns.

In an analysis posted online, the authority says almost half of the 3100 responses received on its proposals to reform the Murray-Darling are identical, mainly from environment groups.

The submissions are responding to the authority's ''guide'' to a new basin plan which sparked angry protests in farming communities last year. The guide recommends cuts of between 27 and 37 per cent to farmers' water rights, returning 3000 to 4000 billion litres of water every year.

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Defence review firm backed despite insults

THE firm chosen to "clean up" social media policy in the Defence Force is now caught up in its own scandal.

Senior staff at the advertising agency promote degrading images of women and post bizarre messages on their social networking accounts.

In the wake of the Skype sex scandal, agency George Patterson Y&R won the lucrative taxpayer-funded "social media review" contract without going to tender.

The company is run by high-profile adman Russel Howcroft.

On their personal sites, which can be accessed from the firm's home page, staff refer to Prime Minister Julia Gillard as a lesbian and Kevin Rudd as a "loser".

Defence Minister Stephen Smith said the review would "harness opportunities to improve Defence's work and reputation".

Mr Smith said George Patterson was a company that had worked very happily in the past with the defence force.

"I think it's a salutary lesson for the employees of George Patterson as it's a salutary lesson for all Australians," he said.

Mr Smith said the Secretary of the Department of Defence commissioned George Patterson to conduct a review of the way defence force personnel understood and used social media.

"We've seen in the recent past a number of regrettable incidents, whether it's Facebook, whether it's the internet, whether it's Skype, where members of the defence force have effectively got themselves into trouble."

Mr Smith said people needed to understand that when using modern digital technology, a remark intended to remain private, may well become public.

He said people in uniform, whether onshore or offshore, represented the defence force and the nation, and they had to conduct themselves appropriately or it could bring about adverse consequences for them, and the reputation of the defence force and the nation.

George Patterson's appointment to conduct the review followed a former defence force member being charged over the setting up of a gay-hate Facebook page.

The review is one of a series launched in response to allegations of misbehaviour at the Australian Defence Force Academy in which one cadet filmed himself having sex with a female cadet and streamed the images via Skype to fellow cadets in another room.