Indonesia's 'hobbits' disappeared earlier than thought: study

Yahoo – AFP, Mariëtte Le Roux, March 30, 2016

The remains of Indonesia's hobbit-sized humans (L) and modern human (R) are
displayed at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on November 5,
2004 (AFP Photo)

Paris (AFP) - A group of extinct human relatives dubbed "hobbits", which left tantalising traces of their existence in an Indonesian cave, disappeared much longer ago than previously thought, archaeologists said on Wednesday.

Homo floresiensis, a primitive, diminutive hominin, inhabited the Liang Bua cave on Flores island from about 190,000 to 50,000 years ago, reported the team, which spent years accurately redating sections of the archaeological site.

The pint-sized creatures were previously said to have lived in the cave until as recently as 12,000 years ago.

This would have meant they survived until long after modern humans reached Southeast Asia some 50,000 years ago, and may even have lived side-by-side with our ancestors.

The redating of the dig site, which has yielded fossils of hobbits and their stone tools, did not make it any clearer whether H. floresiensis were likely to have crossed paths with Homo sapiens.

"Whether H. floresiensis survived after (50,000 years) ago -- potentially encountering modern humans on Flores... -- is an open question," the team wrote in the journal Nature.

The hobbits of Liang Bua have been the cause of much scientific controversy since their remains were first discovered in 2003.

Were they a human ancestor? A different species altogether? Or humans suffering from dwarfism or microcephaly, the brain-shrinking disease afflicting babies in Latin America and the Caribbean today?

Different studies have yielded different answers.

Big feet, small brain

An adult hobbit stood about a metre (three feet) tall and weighed about 25 kilogrammes (55 pounds).

Dubbed hobbits by scientists, after the short, hairy-footed creatures in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, they had small brains, about the size of a chimpanzee's, and relatively large feet for their stature.

H. floresiensis shared Flores island with pygmy elephants and giant rats, storks and lizards -- species which went extinct at about the same time as all traces of hobbits are now known to have disappeared from the cave... and coinciding with the arrival of modern humans.

There is no scientific evidence they ever met, but Flores locals tell stories of an ancient people called "ebu gogo" which lived in caves, were short, stocky and not all that bright, stole food and could not cook.

Some have suggested these legends may be fact rather than fiction -- retold memories of encounters with H. floresiensis passed down from generation to generation.

For the new study, an international team of researchers re-examined the fossil-containing layers at the dig site, and found that some areas had been incorrectly dated.

"We dated charcoal, sediments, flowstones, volcanic ash and even the H. floresiensis bones themselves using the most up-to-date scientific methods available," said study co-author Richard Roberts of the University of Wollongong in Australia.

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"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… Your Story

Several hundred thousand years ago, Humans began to form into the Human that you recognize today. That's just yesterday. Don't confuse this with Human development. You have had that going on for a very long time. But the DNA that is within your body is not the DNA that developed naturally on the planet. Yours is outside of the system of Earth-based evolutionary processes, and the scientists are starting to see this. The "missing link" that they speak of is not Human.

So again, we tell you that the ones who came to help seed you approximately 100,000 to 200,000 Earth years ago were the Pleiadians who had gone into graduate status and who had changed consciousness. They had become quantum with free choice, and you have parts of their DNA within you.

New information for you: The seeding process was not a one-time event. This is why we give you these large sections of time where the Pleiadians worked with you. It was done over time and in many places. It was not all simultaneous, and this was for reasons that will remain unknown to you for now, but will later explain why you will find other Human types that now are extinct. Now you only have one Human type, and that is counterintuitive to all mammal development on the planet. This was a design, and it took more than 100,000 years to create this for humanity as you know it.

It's your Human bias that has the creation story of the knowledge of light and dark being given to Humans in one day in a garden involving a talking snake and other mythology. Spiritual logic should tell you that these stories are simply metaphors of a real truth, that indeed there was a major shift of consciousness, but over a longer period of time and not instantly. The same mythology has the earth created in seven days. However, this only represents a numerological truth [7 is the number of divinity], meaning that there was a divine design in the creation of the planet. It's time to start using spiritual logic within the teachings you have about spiritual history, for the revelations will be wonderful and lead to fuller understanding.

Now, what really is in your DNA? It's the Pleiadians' code, and it's the ones before them, and even the ones before them. You can't remember it, for that is not the set-up. The system is that your Akashic record is only from Earth, but your "divine remembrance" will take you back to the beginning, where system after system after system created that which you see as the divinity within the galaxy and the Universe.

Who are they? They're your "divine" parents. They're the seed divinity in you and they visit here. They're not all Pleiadians, did you know that? Instead, they're from all over the galaxy. You see, they also represent the seeds of the Pleiadians, and they keep you safe. You wouldn't have it any other way, would you? "Safe from what?" you might ask. ….”

"The Timing of Creation"– Aug  12, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“…. The First Look

About 200,000 years ago is when it literally began. The concept of the "divine seeding" of planet Earth happened at that point, and the fields metaphorically started to be ploughed. There is an issue and we're going to call it the way species work with Gaia. This is something that happened simultaneously with the grid creation of Gaia. For now we give you something that no one has thought about. When we speak of the grids of the planet, you make an assumption that these grids always existed on the planet. For the planet is old and you might say, "Well the grids have always been there." But I'm here to tell you that only one was always there, and that's the magnetic grid. But it was spiritually void. That is to say, it only had that which was created from the Earth's core movement. Today, when we talk about the grids of the planet, our conversation involves the consciousness of humanity, which is imbued upon the magnetic grid. We also tell you about the Crystalline Grid and about the Grid of Gaia consciousness. Both of these react to Human compassion.

Now, here is the puzzle: If you don't have divine Human consciousness, then what about the grids? Do they exist without the Human Being? The answer is that they needed to be created simultaneously with the seeding of divine DNA. So what the Pleiadians did was not only to start the seeds of humanity's change into divine DNA, but they created the conscious grids of Gaia as well. They had to, for the conscious grids of Gaia are a confluence of humanity's decisions brought to Gaia's energy. The consciousness that we are talking about is the spiritually sanctioned Human Being that exists with a piece of God inside him, and with DNA that has 23 chromosomes instead of the common 24 that all the others have through biological evolution.

Let us back up and say it again and make it simpler, my partner [admonition to Lee to speak more plainly]. The triad of grids on this planet that we have spoken of over and over are the consciousness grids of Gaia, and were created at the same time as the seeding of humanity with Pleiadian DNA. For all the teachings we've been giving, especially about the Crystalline Grid, these grids have been reacting to Human consciousness and compassion. Therefore, the very essence of the current Gaia energy is also related to the creation of humanity.

These are the attributes of the Pleiadians work 200,000 years ago, and it was done quantumly in ways that you have no conscious awareness of at the moment. For these things are beyond your ability to understand right now, since you are still in a single-digit dimensionality. But the result back then was "a conscious Gaia." So you might say Gaia itself was actually created quantumly from the Seven Sisters energy, just like you.

The Gaia that existed before then was still Gaia, but not as it is now. It was a Gaia that was creating the dirt on the earth and the energy of biological life of the earth. It was the mother of all life on the planet, but not a Gaia that responded to Human consciousness. That's very different. So Gaia greatly expanded when the Pleiadians came, and that was by design.

It took 110,000 years for this to settle itself, and for the ground to be ready for more than 16 species of Human Beings to leave so that only one was left. When that occurred at approximately 90,000 years ago is when you can start calibrating who Humans were and who they became.

The Others

Now, what about all of those other types of Humans, and how did they leave? I'm  going to give you an attribute of something that exists even today. This is difficult for my partner, for he has not heard this before. This information has not been brought in this fashion before. Go slowly, my partner.

The variety of species on this planet comes and goes accordingly as they are needed for the energy they create. So one of the tasks of Gaia is to create and eliminate species. When they are no longer needed for the purpose of Gaia's development, they cease to exist and they die out. If new life is necessary, if new concepts of life are needed, Gaia is cooperative and they are then created. The actual creation of species is something that environmentalists have not clearly seen. That is to say the mechanics of how it works is not fully recognized as something that is strongly coordinated with your weather. But you have already seen the mechanics of some of this in your long-term studies, for you have already noted the coming and going of many species through the ages. It's ongoing.

The Appropriateness of the Elimination of Species

Now, along come Humans and they see all this coming and going of living things, but they want to save them all - all the species that exist. For in their linear mind, all species should remain and exist, since they are here. The attribute of Gaia, however, is to eliminate them, cull them out, to bring in new ones. I just gave you the mechanics of the reasons species come and go. It's appropriate and is a natural building process for new species.

When the Pleiadians started to create the grids of the planet, Gaia cooperated in what was to come, knew the purpose, and what was needed for survival of this new spiritual Human. Gaia knew this since the energy of Gaia had seen it before [reason given below]. So the old attribute, which needed many kinds of Human Beings, slowly died out. It was natural. There was not a war. There were no horrible plagues. There were no volcanoes or tsunamis that consumed them. Through attrition, appropriateness, and 110,000 years, they disappeared.

So approximately 110,000 years ago, there was only one kind left, and this is science, for everything that you study will bear this out, and anthropologists have already seen it and have asked, "What happened back then at this time that would have eliminated these other kinds of Human variety?" It's a puzzle in science that I have just answered, for science looks only for physical events as triggers. But instead, it's the marriage of Gaia consciousness that you call "Mother Nature," which facilitated this. It's the same today when you see a variety of species diminish as Humans take over a greater portion of the earth. I'll call this "the appropriate elimination of unique life forms, which allow for the growth of global awareness and quantum evolution." Some species only exist to allow others to climb the ladder of nature, then they disappear. Gaia knows what the ladder looks like. You don't. ... ”

"The Physics of Consciousness - The Future Revealed" - June 29, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“ …You're a young civilization, dear one, so young that it's difficult to even give you a perspective of how young you are. Your solar system, with your civilization as part of it, hasn't even orbited the galaxy one time yet! It has only moved a fraction of the distance of one revolution [rev]. It takes almost 200 million Earth years to travel around the center of the galaxy one time [one rev]. How does it make you feel to know that there are societies and civilizations on other worlds far from you who have been around three revs? The Pleiadians (your seed biology) – half a rev. This is just to show you how old some life is in this galaxy. Some of them visit you, but none of them, none of them are able to influence you to the degree that you can influence yourselves. The galaxy teams with life and you're well hidden, by the way. Until now.

We've seen planetary maturity happen before, so I want to give you a bigger picture. Your age as a Human on this planet starts to explain why the earth has been through such a horrendous time. Historic Earth civilization history looks ugly to you, doesn't it? Your past and your history are filled with survival energy: killing, ugly weaponry, mass destruction and no elegance or respect for life at all. Torture was common, and public execution was a sport. Dear one, all those planets went through that! They all did, because civilization does this; it builds itself through time and growth. Part of growth doesn't always go the way of maturity. It has the ability to destroy itself, or the seeds of its knowledge, along the way. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it does not. As you know, your Earth just passed a point where that was a possible scenario. …”

Total solar eclipse sweeps across Indonesia

Yahoo – AFP, Gianrigo Marletta, 9 March 2016

A total solar eclipse is pictured from the city of Ternate, in Indonesia's Maluku

Islands, on March 9, 2016 (AFP Photo/Bay Ismoyo)

Ternate (Indonesia) (AFP) - A total solar eclipse swept across the vast Indonesian archipelago on Wednesday, marked by ecstatic sky gazers cheering the spectacle, devout Muslims kneeling in prayer and tribespeople performing rituals.

The moon began to move between the Earth and sun at 6:19 am (2319 GMT Tuesday), and about an hour later a total eclipse became visible in western parts of the country.

The sun then went entirely dark in a broad arc right across the world's biggest archipelago nation, which straddles three time zones, before the eclipse swept out across the Pacific Ocean.

Graphic on the March 9 total solar eclipse,

 fully visible in Indonesia and partially visible

in parts of Australia and Asia (AFP Photo)

Partial eclipses were also visible over other parts of Asia and Australia, and astronomy enthusiasts across the region gathered on rooftops, beaches and in observatories to witness the phenomenon.

Tens of thousands of foreign and Indonesian tourists flocked to the best viewing spots, and special events were organised, from a festival to fun runs and dragon boat races.

"It was spectacular," said Daniel Orange, a 52-year-old American tourist from California, who was watching the total eclipse on the small western island of Belitung.

"It was very beautiful, there are a lot of people here and when the totality hit, everybody cheered. I got goose bumps."

Tribal ritual

In Ternate, in the eastern Maluku Islands, thousands of people yelled "Glory to God" as the total eclipse became visible, while on the small Mentawai archipelago in the west of the country, hundreds cheered, prayed and hugged one another during the spectacle.

The whole eclipse lasted around three hours in Indonesia, but the total eclipse was visible for between just one-and-a-half and three minutes, depending on location.

The weather stayed clear in many popular viewing spots, although clouds obscured views in some places.

For some of Indonesia's tribes, the eclipse is viewed with apprehension. In Palangkaraya, on Borneo island, Dayak tribesmen performed a special ritual to ensure that the sun, which they view as the source of life, did not disappear entirely.

As the total eclipse hit, the tribal chief -- dressed in a traditional costume -- began to chant loudly and was answered by even louder chants from other members of the tribe.

For many in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, it was a spiritual experience, and large numbers flocked to mosques to say special prayers.

People watch the total solar eclipse in Banda Aceh on March 9, 2016 

(AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Foreign scientists also descended on Indonesia. A four-strong team from NASA was in Maba, a small town in the Malukus, to observe the eclipse.

Other parts of Southeast Asia witnessed substantial partial eclipses.

A crowd of about 400 people, including students and families, gathered at a university sports field in Singapore to watch the eclipse, while groups of enthusiasts also converged on beaches and outside their highrise apartments to gaze upwards.

In the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur, 1,000 school students witnessed the eclipse at the national planetarium.

Meanwhile, in the Philippine capital Manila, dozens of people carrying telescopes jostled for space on the roof deck of the country's only space observatory.

"People were howling with excitement. For many of them, it's their first time to see a solar eclipse," said Philippine state astronomer Allan Alcaraz.

A partial eclipse was also visible in northern Australia, with a handful of astronomy enthusiasts watching the event in Darwin.

The solar eclipse was a spiritual experience for many Indonesians who flocked 

to mosques to say special prayers, such as these worshippers in Banda Aceh, 

on March 9, 2016 (AFP Photo/Chaideer Mahyuddin)

The total eclipse swept across 12 out of 34 provinces in Indonesia, which stretches about 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) from east to west, before heading across the Pacific.

It passed over the major islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Sulawesi, before sweeping over the Malukus and out into the ocean.

The last total solar eclipse occurred on March 20, 2015, and was only visible from the Faroe Islands and Norway's Arctic Svalbard archipelago.

Total eclipses occur when the moon moves between the Earth and the Sun, and the three bodies align precisely.

As seen from Earth, the moon is just broad enough to cover the solar face, creating a breath-taking silver halo in an indigo sky.

A total solar #eclipse above Ternate in Indonesia's Maluku Islands pic.twitter.com/bVvjtwe2Vz

— AFP news agency (@AFP) March 9, 2016

Child Prodigy Takes a Mighty Swing at Golf

Jakarta Globe, Ami Afriatni, Apr 24, 2015

Tommy Morrissey plays an exhibition game at Royale Jakarta Golf Club
on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Image Dynamics

Jakarta. Thomas Morrissey crouched down onto his knees and focused on the golf ball in front of him.

With dozens of eyes watching his every move, the four-year-old confidently swung his club with his left hand and hit the ball.

As the ball flew yards away, the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, including nine young golfers from Indonesia, clapped their hands and cheered him on.

“Do you want more? Do you want more?” Tommy asked the children.

Their rousing response spurred Tommy to take another swing — to slightly disappointing results this time.

“Sorry. One more,” he apologized as he placed another ball onto the tee.

Tommy is a well-known golf prodigy. Not only could he hit golf balls over 100 yards as a toddler, he could do so with only the use of his left arm. The young athlete was born without a right hand, his arm extending only to the elbow.

When asked why the 4-year-old had chosen golf, his father Joe conceded to lacking a definitive answer to the common question.

“We wish we knew that answer. We watched golf every Sunday and he literally got the ball off the couch at about

18 months or so and started swinging just like the guys on TV,” Joe told reporters during an exhibition game on Wednesday, ahead of Enjoy Jakarta’s CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters at Royale Jakarta Golf Club in East Jakarta.

“The next thing, we got him some plastic club and he showed all the fundamentals of golf. Tommy probably plays golf five times a week. He also hits balls pretty much every day. He chose golf.”

Tommy’s mother, Marcia-Lee, said she realized Tommy was special the day he was born.

“Thomas was born with one arm. After he was born, the doctors met with us and said [...] that he would [still] have exceptional eye-hand coordination,” she said, adding that in other sports, such as baseball, Tommy preferred to use the right-handed stance.

Joe added: “He kicks the soccer ball right-footed. His ability to adapt is pretty spectacular.”

The American couple conceded that they had a lot of help from the Internet in developing their son’s athletic skills.

“He watches a lot of YouTube. He does it all on his own. When he was two years old, he grabbed Marcia’s iPad. He was in his crib. When I walked into his room,

[I asked him], ‘Tommy what’s going on here?’ He said: ‘Hey daddy, I’m taking a golf lessons from Tiger Woods,’ ” Joe recalled. “So he’s been fascinated with the golf swings for a long time.

“Right before we went to the Ellen de Generes show, Tommy said, ‘Daddy, daddy from my knees!’ I said ‘Tommy what are you talking about?’ I’m on my knees and thinking he was telling me to get on my knees. He said: ‘No daddy, me.’

“He got on his knees and he smacked the ball for the first time. Literally my hand was shaking, trying to put the ball back on the tee and thought, ‘My God, I can’t do that.’ So it’s a wonderful story.

“One day we were playing golf with some friends. Marcia had the game of eye-hand coordination as well. She did her own version of Happy Gilmore. The next thing you know Tommy took some running stuff too,” Joe said, adding that golf has dominated Tommy’s life ever since.

Marcia added: “We don’t have cartoons in the morning; it’s golf channel. Not because we don’t want him to watch cartoons, he just gets upset and watches golf.

“He likes putting every night before bed. He always sleeps with his golf club. He loves them. Golf balls or tees.”

Tommy’s physical limitations have not put a damper on the young golfer’s confidence in the least — nor have they discouraged his parents. The family even gave his right arm a special name: Nemo.

“The story of Nemo goes back to the Disney cartoon where [a young fish named] Nemo has a short fin. Nemo’s father raises him with fear. We actually looked at that and said that’s not how we will raise our child,” Joe explained.

Marcia continued: “Because Nemo in the movie said, ‘Dad, I can swim, I can do all the things that all other fish can do.’ We called his arm ‘Nemo’ once and it’s stuck. So we have a golf cart with Nemo all over it. We drive that around.”

Tommy’s inspiring story reached the ears of Masters champion Bubba Watson, who was incidentally also the young prodigy’s favorite golfer. Watson reached out to the family and met with them.

“Bubba is one of the kindest men we’ve ever met in our lives. He was a fantastic man. He welcomed us in his home. He brought us to his home golf course. Truly a great guy. He was genuinely moved by Tommy’s capabilities,” Joe said.

“When Bubba saw Tommy hit the ball for the first time, he made the support that shook me up. In a tournament, I was holding Tommy by the ropes and Bubba was on his way to the tee box. He turned and looked at Tommy and came down, he grabbed my arms with tears in his eyes and said, ‘Take care of my little man.’ He genuinely has strong feelings towards Tommy and so does Tommy.

“We’ve been really, really fortunate to meet some of the greatest players that have ever played the game. We have Tommy as a blessing in our lives. We’ve never restricted him. We’ve never looked at him as fundamentally unable to do [what] any other child does.

“He doesn’t understand limitations. That’s why he’s really good at almost every sport he does. He’s quite a soccer, baseball player. He has a skill set that every other child has. He’s just a bit different.

“Once Tommy played  his first tournament, sponsors said they had never seen a child play down the fairway with so much confident. All the kids were following him. It’s like he grabbed that moment of time and said, ‘This is it boys, let’s go, you follow me.’ As parents, showing leadership skills and inner strength, we just couldn’t be more proud of that.”

Asked if he expects his son to turn pro one day, Joe replied: “I expect Tommy is going to go to kindergarten next year. After that, who knows.

“He’s 4 years old. He’s driving his shift. We’re not pointing him in any direction.

Amsterdam to get its own cat cafe, thanks to crowdfunding

DutchNews.nl, April 7, 2015

Amsterdam is to get its own cat cafe, where people can go for coffee and to stroke a cat, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.

The cafe, named Kopjes, will open in the Baarsjes district west of the city centre on April 22, news website Nu.nl reports.

The cat cafe concept originated in Taiwan in 1998 and since then cat petting cafes have opened in New York, London, Paris and other cities.

The café will have eight resident cats, chosen from the city’s two animal shelters. Customers will pay a €3 entrance fee, entitling them to two hours of cat entertainment. 

In total, 975 people contributed a total of €33,000 to make the cafe a reality, Nu.nl reports.

The cats are the often indifferent stars of the show that is the newly opened

Cutie Cats Cafe in Kemang, South Jakarta. (JG Photos/Lisa Johanna)

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Rino Kakinuma, 7, plays with toy poodles, beagles and a golden retriever

at the Dog Heart cafe in Tokyo, February 22, 2015 (AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

As world honours the dead, Indonesia begins tsunami memorials

Yahoo – AFP, Nurdin Hasan, 26 Dec 2014

Women attend a prayer service at Baiturrahman Mosque in Banda Aceh, in

 the northern Sumatra island, on December 25, 2014, prior to the 10th anniversary

 of the tsunami that hit the west coast of Aceh province (AFP Photo/

Chaideer Mahyuddin)

Thousands of people held a memorial Thursday in Indonesia's Aceh province, the epicentre of the Indian Ocean tsunami, as the world prepared to mark a decade since a disaster that took 220,00 lives and laid waste to coastal areas in 14 countries.

On December 26, 2004 a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia's western coast sparked a series of towering waves that wrought destruction across countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

Among the victims were thousands of foreign holidaymakers enjoying Christmas on the region's sun-kissed beaches, striking tragedy into homes around the world.

A tourist rides a bicycle past a poster

 ahead of the tenth anniversary of the 2004

 tsunami at Patong beach in Phuket

 province on December 25, 2014 (AFP\

 Photo/Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Muslim clerics, tsunami survivors and rescue workers led around 7,000 mourners gathered at Banda Aceh's black-domed Baiturrahman Grand Mosque for memorial prayers late Thursday.

Malaysian cleric Syeikh Ismail Kassim said he and several hundred compatriots attended to show support for Aceh.

"We hope Aceh people will not waver as a result of the calamity that has befallen them," he told AFP.

Aceh governor Zaini Abdullah thanked Indonesians and the international community in his address at the mosque, one of the few buildings which withstood the wrath of the massive earthquake and ensuing waves which left 170,000 people in the country dead or missing.

"The tsunami had caused deep sorrow to Aceh residents from having lost their loved ones," he said.

"Sympathy from Indonesians and the international community has helped (Aceh) to recover," he added.

He also called on residents not to "dwell in our grief, so that we could rise from adversity and achieve a better Aceh".

Kamaruddin, a fisherman who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said he attended the prayers to remember his wife and three children who died in the tsunami.

"I hope there will be no more disasters in Aceh," the 50-year-old said.

In Meulaboh, a fishing town considered to be the ground zero of the tsunami -- where 35 metre-high waves flattened almost everything -- Indonesian flags were flown at half-mast as small groups of residents held night prayers at mosques.

The main memorials were planned for Friday morning, starting in Aceh which was hit first by the waves, then moving to Thailand where candlelit ceremonies are expected in the resort hubs of Phuket and Khao Lak.

There will also be events in Sri Lanka, including at the site where a train carrying 1,500 people was washed away, as well as in several European capitals to remember foreign nationals who perished.

'Like being in a washing machine'

Many of the tsunami's victims died in dark, churning waters laden with uprooted trees, boats, cars and eviscerated beach bungalows, as the waves surged miles inland and then retreated, sucking many more into the sea.

Thailand saw 5,395 people killed by the disaster -- half of them foreign holidaymakers.

British survivor Andy Chaggar was in a bungalow on Thailand's Khao Lak when the tsunami waves struck, taking his girlfriend's life and sweeping him inland.

This picture taken on December 4, 2014 shows people visiting the Ban Nam

Khem tsunami memorial park wall in Khao Lak (AFP Photo/Nicolas Asfouri)

"I came to in the water... there was glass, metal, there were pieces of wood, bricks, it was like being in a washing machine full of nails," he told AFP on Thursday, on the same beach where he lost his girlfriend.

As the scale of the tragedy emerged, disaster-stricken nations struggled to mobilise a relief effort, leaving bloated bodies to pile up under the tropical sun or in makeshift morgues.

The world poured money and expertise into the relief and reconstruction, with more than $13.5 billion collected in the months after the disaster.

Almost $7 billion in aid went into rebuilding more than 140,000 houses across Aceh, thousands of kilometres of roads, and new schools and hospitals.

The vast majority of Indonesia's 170,000 victims perished in the province, among them tens of thousands of children.

But the disaster also ended a decades-long separatist conflict, with a peace deal between rebels and Jakarta struck less than a year later.

It also prompted the establishment of a pan-ocean tsunami warning system, made up of sea gauges and buoys, while individual countries have invested heavily in disaster preparedness.

But experts have cautioned against the perils of "disaster amnesia" creeping into communities vulnerable to natural disasters.

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Tsunami devastation remembered in Asia, 10 years on (+Video)

"Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

“… Mass Human Death

The final one, dear Human, is the hardest one for my partner and the one we wish to leave you with in this channeling tonight. This is the one that my partner doesn't want to even have me talk about. It's the appropriateness of mass death. For you, built in to your very essence is the honor for life, and the sorrow when it passes. It's correct and appropriate that this is there, and never let it be tempered. But the wisdom of understanding is also needed to help you get past some challenges of the Human heart.

"Dear Kryon, was the tsunami really necessary?" Yes it was. Almost 200,000 Human Beings passed over. It's an event that for you is filled with horror, sorrow, emotion, and challenge. Back in 1989, we told you of those that might have to leave the earth en masse, and here it is. Yet even my partner [Lee] asks the questions, "Why the children? Why the poorest parts of the earth? Why the seeming inappropriateness of all this death?"

And I say to you the same thing I said with respect to Terri: Do you understand yet that death is often as precious as life on this planet of many energies and lessons? They are not gone! They're all here [speaking from Kryon's perspective]. They're having a great time! They're joyful! It seems like a moment ago they leaned into the wind of birth with us beside them. We said, "How would you like to participate in an event that will change the compassion factor of the planet so that energies can move forward and provide faster acceleration of vibratory shift? How would you like to help create peace on earth through a consciousness shift within Gaia itself? And they said, "Show us the way!"

Do you understand why we are in love with humanity... that you would love the earth and the Universe so much that you would go through these things? So much of what you see is horrible tragedy, yet you're looking at the heroes of humanity as they deliver a gift that will change the very fabric of Gaia through the compassion created as a wave of humanity responds to their plight.

They knew the potentials and they went through with it. Even the children knew, for they're old souls within their divinity. There was so much compassion created at that time, in that one week, the earth has never seen anything like it in your lifetime. Billions of Humans were involved with a compassion that instantly went to the core of the planet. It went into the earth and it's still there. It changed the actual energy of where you walk and it planted a seeds that will grow that will indeed emerge later in Israel, and those surrounding Israel.

And that's what it's about. Yet some of you didn't want to hear that, did you? But they're here, with me now... and with you as well. How could you fit them all in this room, you might ask? They can fit on the head of a pin! That's interdimensional talk. They can go home in your purse or your pocket! That's interdimensional talk, too. And they've got a message for you that we've given before, but you can't hear it enough: "We did our part - now you do yours, Lighthouse! For the ones who remain are the only ones who can manipulate the tools we have helped create."

When you go home tonight, you're not going to be in a survival situation - in a tent in a tribe with no lights or clean water, with no food. You're not going to be in sorrow or despair. Instead, you go home to a warm place with plenty of food and friendship and the love of family. That's why you're the Lighthouses, because you have time for it. You've got the intellect for it. You're not in survival mode, as is so much of humanity on the earth. You have the education for it and the intuition for it. Now, do you understand why there are so many Lighthworkers in the western world? It's because your culture has created a situation where there's abundance of these things, and it allows you to lead the way in changing the energy of earth, instead of having all your time spent just trying to survive. Does this help you understand the responsibility of what you have before you?

Strike the light and send it to the Sudanese. Strike light and send it to those dark places with governments where there's corruption. Strike the light and send it to the scientists and researchers who already have the cures for the more virulent diseases on the planet, but can't begin their work due to the barriers of certain leadership and their old ways. Strike the light and send it to Israel and Palestine and get on with this solution! This is why you're here, and this is the agreement you made when you arrived and selected the culture you live in.

Achievable in your lifetime, it is. Peace and compassion will prevail. You shall see. You shall see.

And so it is.

Kryon

Asian cave paintings challenge Europe as cradle of art

Yahoo – AFP, Mariette Le Roux, 8 Oct 2014

This handout picture released by the journal Nature, on October 8, 2014, shows a 

hand stencil found on a cave wall in Maros karsts on the Indonesian island of 

Sulawesi (AFP Photo/Kinez Riza)

The silhouette of a hand on a cave wall in Indonesia is 40,000 years old, showing that Europe was not the birthplace of art as long believed, researchers said on Wednesday.

Created by spraying reddish paint around an open hand pressed against rock, the stencil was made about the same time -- and possibly before -- early humans were leaving artwork on cave walls around Europe that was long thought to be the first in the world.

In the same cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a painting of a pig was dated to about 35,000 years ago, the Indonesian and Australian team reported in the journal Nature.

The discovery, they said, throws up two theories, both of which challenge the conventional wisdom around the history of human artistic expression.

Art either arose independently but simultaneously in different parts of the world -- or was brought by Homo sapiens when he left Africa for a worldwide odyssey.

"Europeans can't exclusively claim to be the first to develop an abstract mind anymore," Anthony Dosseto of Australia's University of Wollongong said in a statement.

"They need to share this, at least, with the early inhabitants of Indonesia."

Anthropologists consider rock art to be an indicator of the onset of abstract thinking -- the ability to reflect on ideas and events.

Recasting human evolution

Dosseto and a team dated 12 hand stencils and two animal likenesses found at seven cave sites on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The ancient images were discovered more than 50 years ago, but had never been accurately dated.

This handout picture released by the journal Nature, on October 8, 2014, shows

 hand stencils marking a cave wall in Maros karsts on the Indonesian island of

 Sulawesi (AFP Photo/Kinez Riza)

It had been widely assumed that anything older than 10,000 years would have eroded away in the tropical climate.

The team measured the radioactive decay of trace amounts of uranium found in small stalactite-like calcite growths called "cave popcorn" that had formed a layer less than 10 millimetres (0.38 inches) thick over the art.

The method produced minimum estimates for the works' ages, and the pieces could in fact be much older, said the team.

The stencil is now officially the oldest known specimen of the hand silhouette art form, they reported.

And the depiction of a fat-bellied babirusa "pig deer", its four legs, head, tail and lines of hair still clearly visible, is one of the earliest known depictions of an animal, "if not the earliest".

"It can now be demonstrated that humans were producing rock art about 40,000 years ago at opposite ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world," the team wrote.

The previous oldest cave art was from El Castillo cave in northern Spain, including a hand stencil dated 37,300 years ago, according to Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University, who wrote a comment on the study.

The oldest known animal painting was of a charcoal rhino in the Chauvet Cave in France, dated to 35,300-38,827 years ago. Traces of red paint about 36,000-41,000 years old were found in Fumane, Italy.

Chris Stringer, a palaeontologist at Britain's Natural History Museum, said the new data suggested that early humans were already artists when they spread out of Africa tens of thousands of years ago.

"I think some of the art in Australia will also eventually be dated to this very early time," he said in a video distributed by Nature.

The findings "stress the great relevance of Asia, and especially southeast Asia, for the study of human evolution," added Roebroeks.

"Compared with Europe, Asia has seen little fieldwork, and new finds will keep on challenging what we think we know about human evolution."

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"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" - (Message from Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“..  Your Story

Several hundred thousand years ago, Humans began to form into the Human that you recognize today. That's just yesterday. Don't confuse this with Human development. You have had that going on for a very long time. But the DNA that is within your body is not the DNA that developed naturally on the planet. Yours is outside of the system of Earth-based evolutionary processes, and the scientists are starting to see this. The "missing link" that they speak of is not Human.

So again, we tell you that the ones who came to help seed you approximately 100,000 to 200,000 Earth years ago were the Pleiadians who had gone into graduate status and who had changed consciousness. They had become quantum with free choice, and you have parts of their DNA within you.

New information for you: The seeding process was not a one-time event. This is why we give you these large sections of time where the Pleiadians worked with you. It was done over time and in many places. It was not all simultaneous, and this was for reasons that will remain unknown to you for now, but will later explain why you will find other Human types that now are extinct. Now you only have one Human type, and that is counterintuitive to all mammal development on the planet. This was a design, and it took more than 100,000 years to create this for humanity as you know it.

It's your Human bias that has the creation story of the knowledge of light and dark being given to Humans in one day in a garden involving a talking snake and other mythology. Spiritual logic should tell you that these stories are simply metaphors of a real truth, that indeed there was a major shift of consciousness, but over a longer period of time and not instantly. The same mythology has the earth created in seven days. However, this only represents a numerological truth [7 is the number of divinity], meaning that there was a divine design in the creation of the planet. It's time to start using spiritual logic within the teachings you have about spiritual history, for the revelations will be wonderful and lead to fuller understanding.

Now, what really is in your DNA? It's the Pleiadians' code, and it's the ones before them, and even the ones before them. You can't remember it, for that is not the set-up. The system is that your Akashic record is only from Earth, but your "divine remembrance" will take you back to the beginning, where system after system after system created that which you see as the divinity within the galaxy and the Universe.

Who are they? They're your "divine" parents. They're the seed divinity in you and they visit here. They're not all Pleiadians, did you know that? Instead, they're from all over the galaxy. You see, they also represent the seeds of the Pleiadians, and they keep you safe. You wouldn't have it any other way, would you? "Safe from what?" you might ask. ….”

"The Timing of Creation"– Aug  12, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)