Land of Wonders

Another Great Caves in the HeartLand of Borneo

2010-09-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

This is the land of great mystery and many tourists love to venture into this part of the hidden world. I been there once and it's really amazingly grand. Hope somedays I could go back there again.

Niah Caves, in the land of Borneo

2010-09-15T01:45:00.000-07:00

The Niah National Park, Sarawak is the site of the Niah Caves, one of the largest limestone caves in the world. The Park covers 3,102 hectares (7,756 acres) of forest and limestone. The peak of Gunung Subis, which is 394 meters high (1,294 ft), dominates the landscape. One may explore the vastness of the Great Cave, where archaeologists have discovered evidence of man's existence in Borneo dating as far back as 40,000 years ago. On display are the skull of a young Homo Sapien, some tools made out of stone, bone and iron, and cave drawings. Anthropologists established that the Niahian lived in the Caves from 40000 BC right up to 1400 AD.

As more than half the park is covered with limestone, limestone vegetation is the most common variety of plant life. The families of Balsaminaceae and Begoniaceae are commonly seen at the entrance of the Traders' and West Mouth Caves. Peat swamp and mixed dipterocarp can also be found in the Niah. Animals are not easy to spot, but if you are lucky you may catch a glimpse of the park's inhabitants: long-tailed macaques, bulbuls, trogons, squirrels, flying lizards, Rajah Brooke butterflies, hornills, mouse-deer, and water monitors.

Lantern Festival-2009

2009-10-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

Purifying Glare!

2009-10-02T22:35:00.001-07:00

Outrageously Pretty

2009-10-02T22:30:00.001-07:00

Trees/Palm

2009-09-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

Seen This in a Botanical Garden!

Have You Seen This - Butterfly!

2009-09-28T01:55:00.000-07:00

Taken this while heading for deep sea fishing. Now, share with you ALL!

Asbestos History

2009-09-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

History of Asbestos

Asbestos has been used for more than 2,000 years. It was named by the Ancient Greeks, its name meaning "inextinguishable". The Greeks also noted its harmful biological effects. Even though the Greek geographer Strabo and the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder both observed the "sickness of the lungs" in the slaves that wove asbestos into cloth, they were in such awe of asbestos' seemingly magical properties that they ignored the symptoms.

The Greeks used asbestos for the wicks of the eternal flames of the vestal virgins, as the funeral dress for the cremation of kings, and as napkins. It is rumored that Romans would clean asbestos napkins by throwing them in the fire. The asbestos cloth would come out of the fire whiter than it went in, so the Romans named asbestos "amiantus", meaning "unpolluted".

Use of asbestos declined during the Middle Ages, yet some say that Charlemagne had asbestos tablecloths. Marco Polo was also shown items made from asbestos cloth on his travels.

Asbestos use was brought back in the 1700s, but did not become popular until the Industrial Revolution during the late 1800s. It then began to be used as insulation for steam pipes, turbines, boilers, kilns, ovens, and other high-temperature products. Ancient observations of the health risks of asbestos were either forgotten or ignored.

At the turn of the twentieth century, researchers began to notice a large number of deaths and lung problems in asbestos mining towns. In 1917 and 1918, it was observed by several studies in the United States that asbestos workers were dying unnaturally young.

The first diagnosis of asbestosis was made in 1924. A woman had been working with asbestos since she was thirteen. She died when she was thirty-three years old, and an English doctor determined that the cause of death was what he called "asbestosis". Because of this, a study was done on asbestos workers in England. Twenty-five percent of them showed evidence of asbestos-related lung disease. Laws were passed in 1931 to increase ventilation and to make asbestosis an excusable work-related disease. It would take the United States ten more years to make these steps.

In the 1930s major medical journals began to publish articles that linked asbestos to cancer. The re-discovery of asbestos-related diseases were put on the back burner for several years due to the emergence of silicosis (a lung disease caused by silica dust inhalation). The affected workers brought $300 million in lawsuits against their employers. This served as a warning to the asbestos companies, and afterwards they tried to cover up the health effects of asbestos. Asbestos companies continued to use asbestos in manufacturing and construction. Despite that many materials, such as fiberglass insulation, were created to replace asbestos, companies that used asbestos ignored the safer alternatives. They ignored the danger for the sake of profits, much like the tobacco industry. The conduct of the asbestos companies is especially egregious, however, because the victims were largely exploited workers who were unaware of the serious health risks they were exposed to on a daily basis

Need a Car or Waiting for attorney.

2008-10-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

Waiting for ferry to board.

Feed Stuff or Get a LA Refinancing Package!

2008-10-08T23:33:00.000-07:00

Different kind of rice,

Ever taste one of these? They are commonly found in Asian countries. These are their dairy food.