Abraham and The Kabrini - Similar or one and the same? PART 1

Prior to the passing of the late, great Dr. Wayne Dyer, I received an email from him with a link to a video in it.  That video (which is in this post, so be sure to scroll down and check it out!)  introduced me to Esther Hicks.  At the time, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.  I probably wouldn't have given it much credit had it not come from Dr. Dyer, whom I was and am a great admirer of.  I still have not read all of the Dr. Dyer books backed up on my Kindle, but have read many.  So I watched, and I thought, "Who is this woman?",  "Why is she speaking this 'weird' way?", "Why does she keep saying 'we' instead of 'I'?" and "Why does she keep referring to 'Esther' as if that were someone else?  Isn't she Esther?"   

Afterwards, however, certain things must have resonated because they kept coming back to me and I found I wanted to know more.  I remember thinking that if I could read more on this, rather than having to hear it (which just seemed too odd to me), there might actually be something good there.  So that's how I started.  I only read things, which felt better as it allowed me to avoid hearing it and in that way, I was able to sort of ease my way into it.

I soon realized that what attracted me to these teachings was the similarity between Esther's "Abraham" and the Kabrini!  Esther describes Abraham not as an individual, but  rather a collective consciousness of higher intelligence...Sound familiar?  With messages of well being for all of us humans...Sound familiar?

Keep an open mind.  Read on.  And you, too may become an Abraham-Hicks YouTube junkie.  Or not, and that's OK, too.  

Esther Hicks (born Esther Weaver) is an American inspirational speaker and author.  She has co-authored nine books with her late husband, Jerry Hicks, presented numerous workshops on the law of attraction and appeared in the original version of the 2006 film, The Secret.  The Hicks' works are, according to Esther Hicks, "translated from a group of non-physical entities called Abraham."  Hicks describes what she does as "tapping into infinite intelligence."  

The following is reprinted, with permission, from www.Hayhouse.com and that website's Author Bio page for Esther Hicks:

ESTHER HICKS

Excited about the clarity and practicality of the translated word from the Beings who call themselves Abraham, Esther and Jerry Hicks began disclosing their amazing Abraham experience to a handful of close business associates in 1986. Recognizing the practical results being received by themselves and by those people who were asking practical questions and then applying Abraham’s answers to their own situations, Esther and Jerry made a deliberate decision to allow the teachings of Abraham to become available to an ever-widening circle of seekers of how to live a happier life.

Using their San Antonio, Texas, conference center as their base, Jerry and Esther have traveled to approximately 50 cities a year since 1989, presenting interactive Law of Attraction workshops to those leaders who gather to participate in this expanding stream of progressive thought. And although worldwide attention has been given to this philosophy of Well-Being by Leading Edge thinkers and teachers who have, in turn, incorporated many of Abraham’s Law of Attraction concepts into their best-selling books, scripts, lectures, and so forth, the primary spread of this material has been from person to person—as individuals begin to discover the value of this form of spiritual practicality in their personal life experiences.

Basic Principles of Abraham-Hicks

According to Esther and Jerry Hicks, Abraham is a group of entities that are "interpreted" by Esther Hicks. Abraham have described themselves as "a group consciousness from the non-physical dimension." They have also said, "We are that which you are. You are the leading edge of that which we are. We are that which is at the heart of all religions." Abraham has said through Esther that whenever one feels moments of great love, exhilaration, or pure joy, that is the energy of Source, and that is who Abraham "is".

"Jerry and Esther never used the word channeling," Abraham clarifies. "It is used when applied to them, but they have never used it, because it means many things of which they are not, you see."

"You could leave the channeling out of it. Call it inspiration; that's all it is. You don't call the basketball player a channeler, but he is; he's an extension of Source Energy. You don't call the surgeon a channeler, but he is. You don't call the musician, the magnificent master musician, you don't call him a channeler, but he is. He's channeling the broader essence of who he is into the specifics of what he is about."

Esther herself calls Abraham "infinite intelligence," and to Jerry they are "the purest form of love I've ever experienced." Her teachings (referred to as Abraham–Hicks teachings) are based on this experience. The basic tenets of the teachings include that people create their own reality through their thoughts, that emotions are constantly guiding people toward where they want to go, that life is supposed to be fun and easy. The essence of Abraham–Hicks' teachings since 1986 has been presented as follows:

• Individuals are physical extensions of the non-physical.
• People are in their bodies because they chose to be.
• The basis of life is freedom; the purpose of life is joy.
• People are creators; they create with their thoughts.
• Whatever people can imagine totally & completely, by creating a perfect vibrational match, is theirs to be, or do, or have.    
• Individuals choose their creations as they choose their thoughts.

• Emotions indicate what people are creating, either consciously or unconsciously.
• The Universe adores people; it knows their broadest intentions.
• Individuals are invited to happily relax into their natural well-being, and know that all is well.
• Life is not meant to be a struggle, but a process of allowing.

• People are creators of "thought-ways" on their unique "paths of joy".
• Actions and money are by-products of focusing on joy.
• Individuals may depart their body without illness or pain.
• People cannot die; their lives are everlasting.
• The nature of the universe is infinite and expanding.
• Any desire born in one can be fulfilled.
• Individuals are not only a part of the universe but are the very source of it.

A large part of Hicks' work centers around the Law of Attraction, a concept written about in the early 1900's by William Walker Atkinson (1862-1932) in his book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World (1906).

OK, the video has been taken down off of YouTube, but I found the audio and a still from the meeting between Esther Hicks and Dr. Wayne Dyer and here it is!  This is  what started it all for me.  This was my introduction to Esther Hicks and the teachings of Abraham, known as "Abraham-Hicks":                                                                                                                                          

Next week, in Part 2, the Hayhouse Radio podcast, "Ask and it is Given" gets much more detailed with specifics.  This is enough for Week One...baby steps!

Excerpt From The Kabrini Message.  At this point, Jeffrey Driscoll (our main character) is at The United Nations in Vienna where U.S. Army General Hodge is showing him the first messages transmitted by The Kabrini:

But it seems they were disgusted by the fact that we are still a conglomeration of individual nation-states…”

“Yep, down here on Earth, we’re still slugging it out with each other to be King of the Hill,” Driscoll interrupted. Hodge shot him a dirty look for what he perceived to be a cheap shot at his chosen profession. “So, in other words,” Driscoll continued, ignoring the general’s sneer, “Unlike us humans, the Kabrini have transcended the petty, bickering stage of evolution.”

“Yes, something like that,” Hodge answered, still looking annoyed. “Apparently, they’re at the ‘one big happy family’ stage.” Hodge didn’t even attempt to hide his disgust as he rolled his steely blue eyes. He reached up, tapped the current screen to close it and grabbed a new window of Kabrini messages entitled, Social and Economic Discussions, May. Driscoll immediately devoured the series of messages as he half-listened to General Hodge’s explanation of them.

“Anyway, as you can see here, when we explained that there were poor, desert countries, unable to grow enough food to support their ever-expanding population, they sent us information on converting the abundant sunlight in these desert areas to electrical energy to run pumps for irrigation.”

“But we already know how to do that,” Driscoll responded as he continued reading the screen.

“Right…and that’s exactly what we told them. So, they sent us information on small nuclear power plants to furnish energy to those remote areas…”

“But we already know how to do that, too,” Driscoll interjected. He looked away from the holographic screen and stared at Hodge.

“Correct, and we told them that. So, they sent us information on low cost housing and synthetic food production…”

“And you told them we could do that, too,” Driscoll interrupted again. He was now sitting on Hodge’s desk with his arms crossed and a worried look on his face.

“Right. So, now…well now, they just want to know what our problem is.”

Driscoll turned back to the screen and scanned to the middle of the page:

UN: Yes, we already know how to produce synthetic food.

Kabrini: Then why are you not doing these things? Is there a problem? Or are you a stubborn, uncivilized race?

UN: We are not stubborn. This is just how things are set up on our planet. Each country on Earth is responsible for its own people. Of course, some countries help out other countries from time to time, but in the end, each nation is responsible for its own political, social and economic systems.

Kabrini: How could you possibly have developed the technology for space travel and the ability to communicate with an advanced alien civilization and still be so socially primitive? How can you not care for your own people? Do you not realize that you are all connected?

Beads of sweat had materialized on Driscoll’s brow, and he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve. “So, they basically perceive us as a race of high-tech barbarians.”

“I think they believe we already know too much for our own good,” Hodge answered as he absentmindedly tinkered with the Newton’s Cradle on his desk. He lifted a shiny metal sphere on the far end and let it drop, and the ball made a clink as it knocked it into the sphere next to it. This set all five spheres in motion, and they continued to swing back and forth in a hypnotic, rhythmic dance as Hodge continued. “When we told them that we are still fighting wars, they were dumbfounded. They say they’re surprised we humans didn’t annihilate each other ages ago. Frankly, I’ve thought the same thing many times before…”

“Okay…so where do we stand now?” Driscoll asked, looking back towards the floating screen. “Where is the most recent series of messages?”

“That’s it,” Hodge replied grimly. “Their last message to us is on the bottom of that screen.”

Driscoll’s eyes quickly skimmed to the end of the transcript, finally resting on the very last message, which was received more than two weeks earlier:

Kabrini: Until you can prove that you are a responsible race, we will cease all communications with Earth.

UN: We assure you that we are a responsible race. How can we prove this to you?

Kabrini: You must make widespread social changes to improve your people’s general situation. Remember what we have discussed. The answers are right before you. We will reestablish communications if and when you make these changes.

UN: If we cannot communicate with you, how will you know when we have implemented these changes?

Kabrini: We will know. We always know. Until then, farewell and good luck.

When he finished reading, Driscoll stumbled to the other side of Hodge’s desk and collapsed in the chair. His mess of brown hair was now drenched with sweat, and he cradled his head in his trembling hands. “So, basically, we’re not worth the risk to them.”

“I guess not,” Hodge answered matter-of-factly. “Or at least not until we make some serious global changes. And as you can imagine, the UN Council is not about to roll over that easily.”

Driscoll breathed a shuddering sigh and looked up at the ceiling, his face completely drained of color. He could feel his lifelong dream slipping away, all because of something completely out of his control—the inferiority of mankind.

Quotes From The Kabrini Message vs. Abraham:

- Abraham

On the long road to greatness, the first step begins with the truth.  At long last, your journey has begun.
                - The Kabrini Message

- Abraham

We are all connected. Deep down you have always known, Jeffrey. We have reached out to you many times throughout your lifetime, and you have never failed us. If it were not for you, mankind may never have discovered our message. We want to thank you for listening…for hearing us…even when others did not or could not believe. 
                                                        - The Kabrini Message

- Abraham

… you missed the messages right in front of you. Yet this is to be expected. You are only human…you have much to learn. Be alert and aware. Pay attention to the signs around you. Open your eyes, and you will find the way.  
                                                   - The Kabrini Message

 "A Step by Step Guide to Staying on Your High Flying Disc":

High Flying Disc Philosophy:  

Stay on your "High Flying Disc" and DO NOT allow any low fliers on board!  

It's OK to want to help, but DO NOT climb down.  They need to rise up! They may not ever do it.  They may not ever get it.  You may need to leave them there.  That's OK.    You just stay on your own high flying disc and again, DO NOT, under any circumstances, dip down to interact with a "low flier"!  The best help you can offer is to lead by example.

Part 2 of our 4 part series continues next Monday, April 18th, with:

• The Hayhouse Radio podcast, "Ask and it is Given" - the specifics of the teachings of Abraham
• Excerpt #2 from The Kabrini Message
• The Placemat Process explained

In the meantime, check out the  many videos available on the Abraham-Hicks YouTube Channel, as well as elsewhere on YouTube.

                

Buy & Contact Links:

Abraham-Hicks:

Amazon                                                                                

Barnes & Noble

Hayhouse

Abraham-Hicks YouTube Channel

Abraham-Hicks.com

Abraham-Hicks Upcoming Events & Workshops

Abraham-Hicks Publications may be contacted through their extensive interactive website: www.abraham-hicks.com; or by mail at Abraham-Hicks Publications, P.O. Box 690070, San Antonio, TX 78269 or through their publisher, www.Hayhouse.com

The Kabrini Message:

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Barnes and Noble

Facebook

Blog

YouTube Video Trailer

Pinterest

Twitter

We will end Part 1 with the quote Abraham ends most sessions and Rampages with:

A tribute to Katharine Hepburn & Spencer Tracy And to "Unconditional Lovers" everywhere... Yesterday, today and tomorrow...

The following are excerpts from her autobiography, Me-Stories of My Life, by Katharine Hepburn, with regard to her long standing, 27 year love affair with Spencer Tracy:

"It seems to me I discovered what "I love you" really means.  It means I put you and your interests and your comfort ahead of my own interests and my own comfort because I love you.

What does this mean?

I love you.  What does this mean?

Think.

We use this expression very carelessly.

LOVE has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.

What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give.  You give because you love and you cannot help giving.  If you are very lucky, you may be loved back.  That is delicious but it does not necessarily happen.

It really implies total devotion.   And total is all-encompassing - the good of you, the bad of you.  I am aware that I must include the bad.

I loved Spencer Tracy.  He and his interests and his demands came first.

This was not easy for me because I was definitely a me, me, me person."

"At lunchtime they'd just meet and sit on a bench on the lot. 
They'd hold hands and talk
- and everybody left them alone in their little private world."
 - Gene Kelly

"It was a unique feeling that I had for S.T.  I would have done anything for him.  My feelings - how can you describe them?  The door between us was always open.  There were no reservations of any kind.

He didn't like this or that.  I changed this and that. 

Food - we ate what he liked.

We did what he liked.

We lived a life which he liked.

This gave me great pleasure.  The thought that this was pleasing him.

Certainly I had not felt this way with my other beaus. I was looking for them to please me.  It is a very different relationship.  It's like a wonderful cocktail party.  But it ain't love."

"There is an enormous difference between love and like.  Usually we use the word 'love' when we really mean 'like'.  I think that very few people ever mean 'love'.  I think that 'like' is a much easier relationship.  It is based on sense.  A blind spot - 'love'."

"People have asked me what was it about Spence that made me stay with him for nearly thirty years.  And this is somehow impossible for me to answer.  I honestly don't know.  I can only say that I could never have left him. He was there - I was his.  I wanted him to be happy - safe - comfortable.  I liked to wait on him - listen to him - feed him - talk to him - work for him.  I tried not to disturb him - irritate him - bother him - worry him, nag him.  I struggled to change all the qualities which I felt he didn't like.  Some of them which I thought were my best, I thought he found irksome.  I removed them, squelched them as far as I was able."

"When he was sort of toward the end of his life - his last six or seven years - I virtually quit work just to be there so that he would't worry or be lonely.  I was happy to do this. I painted - I wrote - I was peaceful and hoping that he would live forever. "

"Someone asked me when I fell for Spencer.  I can't remember.  It was right away.  We started our first picture together and I knew right away that I found him irresistible.  Just exactly that, irresistible."

A Contemporary Love Song 

With The Same Message of Unconditional Love -

 Stand By You (my new favorite song...it may become yours, too!)

Stand By You - Lyrics

Hands, put your empty hands in mine

And scars, show me all the scars you hide

And hey, if your wings are broken

Please take mine 'til yours can open, too

'Cause I'm gonna stand by you

Oh, tears make kaleidoscopes in your eyes

And hurt, I know you're hurting, but so am I

And, love, if your wings are broken

Borrow mine 'til yours can open, too

'Cause I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

Yeah, you're all I never knew I needed

And the heart—sometimes it's unclear why it's beating

And, love, if your wings are broken

We can brave through those emotions, too

'Cause I'm gonna stand by you

Oh, truth—I guess truth is what you believe in

And faith—I think faith is having a reason

And I know now, love, if your wings are broken

Borrow mine 'til yours can open, too

'Cause I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

I'll be your eyes 'til yours can shine

And I'll be your arms, I'll be your steady satellite

And when you can't rise, well, I'll crawl with you on hands and knees

'Cause I... I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we're breaking down, we can find a way to break through (come on)

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'm gonna stand by you

Even if we can't find heaven, I'll walk through Hell with you

Love, you're not alone, 'cause I'm gonna stand by you

Love, you're not alone

Oh, I'm gonna stand by you

(even if we can't find heaven, heaven, heaven)

Yeah, I'm gonna stand by you

"You don't pick who you fall in love with. There are so few people to love. It's hard for one adult to even like another. Almost impossible."         - Katharine Hepburn

"Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get -- only what you are expecting to give -- which is everything. What you will receive in return varies. But it really has no connection with what you give. You give because you love and cannot help giving."                                                              - Katharine Hepburn

                             

"It is a great love story such as this that does not need to be spoken of, does not need words and can never truly, no matter how many times one tries, be denied.  Most certainly not conventional or traditional, this great love affair is a testament to the power of true love and the notion that, once one has crossed paths with one's soul mate, the force of that encounter may make it impossible not to be swept completely and utterly away..."                                                                               - This Glamorous Life Blog, By Joey Bailey

Kate is quoted as saying:  "Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give, which is everything."  And give everything she did.  Spencer was married to Louise Treadwell, the mother of his two children, and as a devout Roman Catholic, he would not divorce her.

Nevertheless, Katharine and Spencer began a relationship that spanned 27 years. Outside of work, they were careful never to be seen in public and they were never photographed together. Despite this, they became one of Hollywood's most recognizable couples. 

They took great pains to keep their private life out of the spotlight.  Although Spencer had already left the family home, he never legally separated from his estranged wife.  Tracy soon settled into a cottage near Hepburn's Beverly Hills house.  Louise never did ask for a divorce, which was the only way that Tracy would end his marriage.

Louise Tracy was often quoted as having said, "I will be Mrs. Spencer Tracy until the day I die."  And indeed, she was.

Louise wanted the title.  Kate wanted the man.  They each got what they wanted.  Or closer to it than the alternative.  Close enough to make life better - not only "bearable", but actually pleasurable, each in it's own way.

“I didn’t need the title.  She could be ‘Mrs. Spencer Tracy’, that was important to her.  She had the children and she needed that.  I didn’t.  I was happy just to be with him.  Any little part of him, on any terms, his terms."
                 - Katherine Hepburn  

Hepburn's friends were stunned by the change in the woman they knew to be fiercely independent.  To them, Kate suddenly appeared to be morphing from a "dyed in the wool" feminist into what they perceived to be a submissive role, ceaselessly doting on and seemingly sacrificing everything (marriage, children and even some career choices) for Tracy.

Hepburn always vehemently protested such accusations, stalwart in her perception that it was not sacrificing when you truly love someone, as their happiness becomes the most important thing in the world to you.  Spence's happiness became Kate's happiness and it gave her great joy to bring whatever comfort she could to him, to soothe any heartache and bring as many smiles and as much fun as she could into his otherwise tortured life.  An unconventional viewpoint for the feminist, to say the least, but one she believed with all of her heart until her death at age 96 in 2003.

The random thoughts that possibly went through Kate’s mind at the beginning of their relationship:

You can tell me anything.

And yet, I understand, even without words.

But still…trust.  Communication. 

Is this fair?  No.  
Do we want it anyway?  Yes. 

A deep, far reaching (from long ago) desire and need to comfort, nurture, make things easier.

It’s not a burden.  
It’s an honor and a privilege.  
It’s called “unconditional love”.

A familiarity – like coming home.  
Oh, there you are!  I’ve been waiting for you – I just didn’t know it.

Grounded in the present, yet looking ever forward.    
This time need not be quite so horrific.  
Quite the contrary.  
We can bask with gratitude in every day, one day at a time, right now.

So what’s right and what’s wrong?

One thing need not have anything to do with the other. 

How could it hurt?  How could it help?
Don’t overthink it.

Click here for more info.: "Tormented by guilt and a family tragedy, why Spencer Tracy never left his wife for Katharine Hepburn"

The "unconditional love letter" Kate did write to Spence, 15 years after his death:

The "unconditional love letter" perhaps Spence should have written to Kate (and Kate - as well as any woman - would love to have received):

Dear Kath (his name for her),

Thank you doesn’t seem adequate, but since there are no words that can accurately express all that is in my heart, I will say thank you so much for bringing joy back into my life.  I say “back”, but it is joy as I’ve never felt before.  Laughter, love, passion and life as I’ve never known them.  Thank you for being my best friend.  Thank you for sharing my life as two halves that have become whole.  You are the one thing that has been missing from my life, for all of my life – until now – thank you for being here!   Thank you for making this the very best time of my life and for bringing me to life; not again, but for the very first time.

Thank you for making everything fun.

Thank you for making every day an adventure.

Thank you for loving me, incredibly, as much as I love you.

Thank you for sharing your life with me.

I love you talents, your heart, your intelligence, your perfectionism, your persistence, your sweetness, your tenderness, your warmth and your beauty – inside and out.  I love that you love me.

I love and appreciate your loyalty and your faith in me.  You’ve taught me the true meaning of “unconditional love”.  I know I can never find the words to tell you just how much that means to me.   

I love you.  More than I’ve ever loved and more than I thought it was possible to love.

What a blessing you are for me and how very much God must love me to have sent such a person to me!

I am truly blessed.  What a journey we are about to embark on.   I know you are grateful – as am I – as we should be!

Yours Forever, Love,
Spence

In total  Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made nine films together:

Woman of the Year (1942), Keeper of the Flame (1943), Without Love(1945), The Sea of Grass (1947), State of the Union (1948), Adam's Rib (1949), Pat and Mike (1952), Desk Set (1957) – pictured - and Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967) 

 "It's a force of life, sex, you can't deny the thrill of riding high, wide and handsome with someone you love," Kate later said of their affair. "The only thing is that age doesn't bring any sexual wisdom. You're just as confused 40 years later as you were when you first heard about it."- Katherine Hepburn

Extra­-Terrestrial Life? Part 2 - By Contributing Astronomy Editor, Dan Matlaga

To continue Mark Twain's suggestion of a debate between a telescope and microscope (which has the greater view?), I want to continue with the microscope side - without billion dollar instruments.

A common question from grade school students who visited the planetarium at Arizona State University was: "If you could live on any planet, which planet would you choose?"

My answer always was "Earth."

A low audible rumble of disappointment was heard.

I continued...

"In the tens of thousands of photographs I've seen of the surfaces of Mercury, Mars and Venus, nothing - I mean absolutely nothing - comes even remotely close to the spectacular view one has while standing on the beach of Point Pleasant, New Jersey (or any ocean front beach). Before you is the magnificent spectacle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Trying to take all of this in is both a mental and physical challenge. No Martians, Venusians or Mercurians can present anything as spectacular.

Dead silence.

Cue the crickets!

When you eat something, the chemistry set in your body tries to break down the food into sugar.  The primary sugar is glucose. The glucose donates electrons to the oxygen you breath. This exchange of electrons from a higher glucose to a lower oxygen state is what provides you with energy to, for example, read this submission, empty the trash and check the mail.

The year was 1982. A problem existed at Lake Oneida upper New York State.  The lake,  fed by slopes that contained magnesium, was expected to have magnesium oxide deposited in the ooze at the bottom of the lake. When the ooze was analyzed there was very little magnesium oxide - less than one thousand times the anticipated amount.

Kenneth Nealson had the answer.  He thought there must be some kind of bacteria capable of making the magnesium oxide disappear. He discovered the agent responsible was a bacterium known as Shewanella. Shewanella was the first, but far from the last bacterium of this type. We are now aware of  an estimated thousand strains of bacteria popularly called "electric bacteria" they don't give a rap about sugar, oxygen or sunlight to produce their energy.  Instead they eat and breath electricity.

Shewanella

You probably are already aware of metal eating bacteria if you have been following the story of the Titanic. 

The rusticles decorating the sunken wreck are the result of 20 or so different bacteria eating away at the ship's steel.  They are part of the same strain of electric eating, metal eating bacteria.

You want to determine the bacteria in the soil of your backyard - possibly for your son or daughter's 6th grade science fair project. 

It is simple. Get a teaspoon of soil, place it in a Petri dish, add a nutrient such as sugar water and cover the dish.  Return to the dish in a few days and there you have it, the dish teeming with microbe life. A drop of the water from the dish examined under a microscope reveals plenty of life forms for your science project.

As they are metal seeking, electron seeking microbes won't be caught up in the experiment because they do not seek oxygen, sugar, or sunlight for energy production, unless you caught a few by accident.

There are aquarium tanks in some biology labs that have only water, a charged electrode and electric bacteria in the tank.  The tank is kept in darkness.  The only energy source for these electric bacteria are in consuming the electrons from the electrode.  The bacteria are swimming around in the tank without incident.

I can imagine the headlines, however, had these bacteria been found on Mars... "Extra Terrestrial Life Found on Mars." And "...this life unlike anything found on earth.  They eat electricity and discharge electrons!"

         "No way"                        "Way!"

It is not that these bacteria are extraterrestrials, rather it is additional evidence of how little we know of life on earth...life in your own backyard.

  

   

Extra­-Terrestrial Life? Part 1 - By Contributing Astronomy Editor, Dan Matlaga

Mark Twain read everything he could get his hands on.  Often he would remain in bed until 3:00 p.m. surrounded by newspapers, magazines and books. A daughter remarked she could not understand how her father could have personal opinions on every historical figure, every government and every disease known to man.

When Mark Twain died April 1910, his private book collection of 3,000 volumes was donated to the local Redding, Connecticut Public Library. This was appropriate as Mr. Twain aided in the founding of the library. Unfortunately the books were placed in the public stacks, so today considerably fewer books remain. 

 Placing Twain's library books in circulation was unfortunate because lost are his marginal notes about the book author's observation. In one book that survived, there in a paragraph or two about the soon to be dedicated 60-inch telescope atop Mount Wilson, we find Twain's marginal note.  "Someday write about a debate between a telescope and a microscope - which has the grander view?"

HUBBEL TELESCOPE

Certainly first thoughts would place the Hubble Space Telescope  vs. the Hadron Collider in contention. These headline instruments are a wonder of our modern age.  

HADRON COLLIDER

Let's take a different tack to note two microscopic discoveries that do not involve billion dollar instruments.
Jean-Michel Claverie and Chantal Abergel went into the world to find giant viruses.  These viruses are so large they can be seen with an optical microscope.  A good optical microscope can magnify 1,000 to 2,000 times. The electron microscope was invented in 

Chantel Abergel and Jean-Michele Claverie

the early 1930's in Germany.  It could magnify 400 times, but demonstrated the use of electrons to illuminate a specimen, instead of light, was workable.  By 1940, electron microscopes were able to magnify 140,000 times.  Today the number is 2 million times.

These pandoraviruses are so unlike any other viruses, some have suggested they may make up a fourth domain of life on earth.  It has been suggested that a study of genes may turn up a strand of DNA unlike any on earth.  The strand may represent part of a life form from space that was incorporated into an earth life form.

PANDORAVIRUS

What Jean-Michele Claverie and Chantel Abergel discovered from the mouth of Tungquen River and from a freshwater pond in Australia was the largest pandoravirus found to date.  A typical virus may have as many as ten genes while the pandoravirus has about 2,500 genes. The discoverers of these super sized viruses analyzed their viral DNA.  Approximately 7% of the DNA is common to other viruses, while 93% is unlike any other DNA ever observed.  That is, it has no lineage back to earlier forms.

Does this 93% represent alien life? Or is this simply another demonstration of how little we know of earth's life possibilities?

Next Monday...Part 2!

MERMAID UPDATE! - Upon Request: Transformation DETAILS!!!

UPDATE to the last blog post:  

Absolutely EVERYTHING (or at least the most interesting things) you've ever wanted to know about mermaids

If you have not yet seen it, please click on the above link - we had over 900 hits!

This update is in response to a special request from our own Contributing Editor, Dan Matlaga, who...BTW...is a retired Astronomy Professor, so his request was purely in the interest of science, I'm sure.

Dan enjoyed the post but felt it lacked imagination as it did not show any specific drawings or pictures of the actual transformation detailing precisely how a mermaid pulls off (literally) the whole "tail to legs and back again" thing.

Although I disagree that it "lacked imagination" and feel just the opposite; it left the details up to one's imagination, it is true that we didn't give any specific proof or visuals to assist in forming one's own hypothesis.  Therefore, in the interest of science , here goes.

So...without further ado, I have come up with this drawing:

AND this picture: 

Heavily Photoshop'd Selfie - had to paint out the selfie stick...among other things.
The things I do for this blog!

Both of the above focus on the actual transformation process taking place.  I hope that will satisfy all of those scientific minds (that sounds so much better than "dirty old men") out there!

COMING SOON!

Now that we've settled that...please be sure to check back on Monday for Professor Dan's latest post:  Extra­ Terrestrial Life ? Part 1  

And who does't love Extra Terrestrials???  Certainly we, Kabrini fans, do!!!  

So join us right here on Monday and again the following Monday for Extra Terrestrial Life ? Part 2

After that, some additional topics are in the works:

One on the  phenomenon of truly unconditional love - showcasing the classic retro romance between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, but incorporating a few contemporary, modern day elements that will highlight the timelessness of the subject,which is...loving someone so much that their happiness comes before all else.  (OK, so I should have done this one over Valentine's Day - but being on time has never been an attribute of mine!)

I'm also working on putting something together regarding Esther Hicks and the channeling of Abraham.  If you are unfamiliar with all of this, Google it and check it out!  The similarities between Abraham and Joe's Kabrini are undeniable and in fact, I believe they are one and the same.

Hmmm...Certainly quite a diverse range of topics!

But for now, the mermaids are signing off, fusing back into tail mode and slipping quietly into the sea until next time.  They will be back eventually - we have a fascination with mermaids here...can't imagine why.   ;)