For you moneylovers out there. About 100 miles beneath earth's crust lurks over a QUADRILLION tons of diamonds for the taking. Interested?

I've help my dad make stained glass windows when he's had some to repair....it's not so hard with the right tools ....
I made a Tiffan lamp in Crete once....its aging very easy once shown...I was quite handy because I hung around my dad as he made thing....my nose was always inches from what he was doing..

ive seen many types of stones ...some very rare ....they are ok as nature is pretty wonderful with what it can create....

I have a Tiffany-style lamp that was my mom's. She had two of them and my sister gave one to me. It is very beautiful even though I know it's a fake. I have never seen a real Tiffany lamp in person. That you know how to make them I think is incredible. How many do you have D? Do you still dabble in stained glass? Thank you for your reply! :)

Many thanks to thee Sbf. I have heard of Wellington's but not as being referred to as Wellies nor have I ever seen a photo of them. Not the most beautiful of footwear but they do the job they're supposed to do I'm sure! Do you have a pair perchance? :)

You are an umpire Sbf? For kids or adults? What sport(s)? Did you play it? Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday! :)

I played rugby as a young man, I umpire Australian football - a game played in southern Australia and nowhere else. Adults (amateur league). I also umpire cricket, but that's a summer sport and cleats are not necessary. Teenagers and adults. I played that until a back injury crippled me - could no longer bend over a bat, or squat to keep wicket.

Wow Sbf! I didn't know you were so active athletically! Good for you. Sorry about your back injury though.What a bummer! But at least you can still keep your hand in the game so to speak. Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday!  :)

What did they find at 7.55 miles sg? How long did it take to drill that hold and was tha featt ever replicated? 1970 is a long time ago. Nothing since? SIGH. We wonder what's deep in the ocean and high in the sky. How much does fooling around on land cause earthquakes? I read that it is fracking that has caused so many earthquakes in places like Oklahoma. One thing causes another causes another causes another thing. Chain reaction At the end what did we gain?  A little bit of knowledge? Was it worth it? Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply and Happy Sunday to thee! :)

The only thing they found worth mentioning is that it's awfully hot down there. After all, you can't tell much through a nine inch hole from seven and a half miles away. But you can ignore the baloney about anguished screams.

"Anguished screams"?  The earth protesting? I know the core is much hotter than the surface. I don't know where you live sg but I live in Hemet, California. Here's our today. High of 107. Tuesday 109. Wednesday 109. The hottest it's gotten here was 115. That's plenty hot enough. Hope your neck of the woods is cooler. Thank you for your reply and Happy Monday! :)

Yeah, some people publish baloney about finding hell here and there and they add it to the story, because, you know, a story about a hole to nowhere just isn't good enough. 

 Funny m'dear. I just tried to visualize a hole to nowhere and I couldn't because it ended somewhere! Thanks for the humor. That's like a bridge to nowhere or a road to nowhere. I read long ago that there was a woman who was told by a psychic that she would die if she stopped adding rooms to her house. I think that was the deal. So for decades construction was going  on 24/7 and there were stairs leading to nowhere. I don't know how long she lived or where it was located or even if it was true but that must have been some house if in fact it exists! Thank you for your reply. I'm guessing you're not into conspiracy theories. Just thought of a question I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your reply sg! :)

https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/

 

Here is the Kola Borehole. It's the steel cap with bolts around it. The big hole is an unrelated diamond mine.
https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=kola+borehole

This post was edited by Not Sure at July 23, 2018 5:26 AM MDT

Thanks sg. I Googled it and Winchester came up and I asked a detailed question about it this morning! It's in California of all places just like me! Thank you for the Kola Borehole link! I appreciate it! :) I just came back from clicking on that link! WOW! It's awesome and grand and beyond imagining! Overwhelming! Thanks again. I had never heard of it before and now I even know what it looks like! Don'tcha just love the internet and social sites? You learn so much from folks like you! :) This post was edited by RosieG at July 23, 2018 5:30 AM MDT

I read awhile ago that Oklahoma was experiencing earthquakes Durdle. Lots of them. I think it was attributed to fracking but I may be conflating that with something else. Once  chain reaction starts can it be stopped? Thank you for your reply and Happy Sunday. D'ya think there's more to be found deep in the sea, high in  the sky or way deep down in the earth..."more" vis a vis helpful information that advances knowledge purposefully? Since everything depends on something and affects something when does testing and checking and investigating and searching and researching work against us? Questions cause chain reactions too. AARRGGHH! :)

I don't know the geology and mineral industry of Oklahoma, but the opponents of fracturing (I refuse to use that slang word, invented by drilling-rig operators) will no doubt conflate that with the earthquakes.

The problem is that it is a matter of co-incidence, or correlation, and it is very easy to turn correlation into cause. The two might be linked, but may be pure co-incidence, but it would be something only the US Geological Survey could answer.

Was the state subject to earthquakes before the hydraulic fracturing, even if not for quite some years? (Human history times are insignificant in overall geological processes.) If it was then the correlation is more likely just co-incidence.

Were the earthquakes' foci (not necessarily their epicentres) a long way from the wells or within the drilled rock formations and close to the holes? If so, more likely purely natural.


Turning to  discovering more... Oh yes, very likely. One facet of the natural sciences, and one which makes them all the more fascinating and challenging, is that the more we find, the more questions it raises.

For example, when the oceanographers decided to study deep-ocean hydrothermal vents they found them to be not only physically and chemically complex and interesting hot springs that are also beautiful formations to admire; they also to their complete surprise and delight discovered the vents are home to very special little ecosystems and had to call in their marine-biology friends to investigate these too!

I can't think of when research works against us except when it discovers or creates something everyone then realises was better left un-discovered, such as the means to make nastier and more powerful weapons. Otherwise, all this new knowledge is positive even if apparently purpose-less in a day-to-day, matter-of-fact way. The beautiful physics and chemistry of the stars, analysed by astronomers, do not themselves have an obvious "purpose" beyond pure knowledge - although without those processes we could not have existed - but understanding them adds not only to scientific knowledge but also to human culture as a whole. Unless you are a professional astronomer, knowing the life-cycle of a star does not help us in the mundanities of our daily lives, yet neither do the Olympics or a Mahler symphony  - but we would all be the poorer without such endeavours, even if vicariously. 

Thank you for another thoughtful, helpful and informative reply. So "fracking" is not a real word then? We humans leave tracks on earth that are destructive. We take a shortcut to Riverside from Hemet through a road called "Gilman Springs Road". It's the back way to get there. Less traffic. But it is also very sad for me because lots of tat land is used for motorcycle enthusiasts and you can see the trails scarring the land for miles and miles and miles. It's a forever thing I guess. What we do to the land to "have fun" borders on criminal. We destroy it to have "fun" and think nothing of it. No disrespect to those who ride motorcycles but what's wrong with riding them on pavement? That leaves no scars. SIGH. With the environmental protections reversed and the National Forests now open to whatever folks would like to do for "fun and profit" it will just get worse. The contempt and utter disregard some show for the environment is staggering. Air, water, earth pollutants are welcome because of course there is more money to be made if you just dump poison in the water, air, land and that trumps everything else. Pun intended. Is there a point of no return? Are we there yet? It takes a long time to "clean things up" and "make things better". It takes a very short time to crap them up and cripple/scar/disfigure them. I wish it were the reverse. I wonder what other "wonders" await us? Will the gains outnumber the losses? Somehow I don't think so. Happy Monday Durdle!  :)

"Fracking" is the slang contraction invented by the drilling-rig crews, of the proper term, "[Hydraulic] Fracturing".

A thought about Oklahoma's earthquakes... Are these very noticeable? Are there any long-abandoned coal or other mines anywhere in the State? I ask because earthquakes are surprisingly common in England, but usually very faint. Although many are entirely natural, some are the vibrations of old mines collapsing.

That surprises me, that off-road motorcycling is now allowed in America's National Forests and Parks. I'd had the impression you were only just permitted to look at them! They are very different from British national parks and 'Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty', because yours are mainly wildernesses whereas most of ours, in the UK, are settled agricultural areas. They contain many villages, farms and even light industry where that can be accommodated harmlessly in the villages or old farm buildings; and have roads and railways across them. 

 We have the same problem though, with motorbikes and off-road vehicles on tracks that are public rights-of-way but really intended for farming; and even venturing off the tracks and damaging the ground. As well as introducing a lot of unnecessary noise. No-one minds the sight and sound of tractors and combine-harvesters in use, we need the food, and much of the British countryside's character is due to it being farmed; but noisy bikes and quad-cycles there merely for the thoughtless riders' fun, is another matter .

Britain does have very strict planning and environmental laws that work on the whole. They are not perfect, nothing human-made can be, and some are costly burdens on businesses of all types, including farming; but they do generally protect sensitive areas while allowing life to go on in them.  And no Prime or Cabinet Minister has the power to overturn such laws, because although Departments can modify regulations, changes to the overall Laws need the consent of Parliament; a fairly complex process involving a chain of debates and reviews.

(Many of our environmental laws now were imposed by the EU, which works in a very different way, and national governments have no choice but to modify them only in detail to fit their own governmental and legal processes. The USA is in multi-national arrangements like the UN, and NATO is effectively a US Governmental department; but it would never agree to join a supra-national authority like the EU!)

I'm pretty sure you're aware that one of the goals of TGITWH (the guy in the white house) was to erase any trace of Obama. To rescind everything and anything he accomplished during his eight years as president. So environmental protections of all kinds are gone. So are protections against polluting the air, water, land. It's cheaper that way. Manufacturing plants can now dump their waste without any rules governing them yielding a bigger bottom line. SIGH. Consumer Protection is either awaiting the guillotine or its head is already severed. And so it goes. I guess builders can now go into our previously protected national forests and cut down trees and build parking lots and strip malls and car washes and fast-food joints and golf courses and condominiums and single-family dwellings and high rises. Lotsa money to be made. As far as I know there are no more sanctuaries or wetlands to protect other species. Sanctuary is a very dirty word to TGITWH..to all Republicans I think though honestly I have not spoken to every Republican so I can't be sure. California is ignoring D.C. and continues to provide sanctuary to many species including humans. It is also ignoring D.C. with respect to environmental concerns and sticking with its program to lessen pollutants including auto emissions. As a very strong and proud Blue State we forge ahead and ignore what is detrimental illogical and stupid dumb as far as we are able to do. Other Blue States (Hawaii for example) are doing that too. As far as we are concerned we don't hear the babble gibberish coming from D.C. nor do we react to it. So far anyway. You say the US is in multi-national arrangements like the UN and NATO. For how long? It is the mission of TGITWH to sever us from all such commitments attachments responsibilities obligations. America First is his mantra slogan pitch. His supporters adore him for it. The rest of us? Not so much. Thank you for your thoughtful reply Durdle! I guess as is true of everything "it's complicated"! :( This post was edited by RosieG at July 23, 2018 3:56 AM MDT

Thank you Rosie for explaining the situation. It's not really my [place to comment on another nation's internal matters but actions like those are very short-sighted and could be self-defeating.

I know Trump's "America First" slogan and it did attract a lot of support especially in former industrial areas, but isolationism won't help them, and when for example I heard of Harley-Davidson moving manufacture to other countries, it didn't surprise me but I thought about their home employees - Britain has lost a lot of manufacturing overseas, so we know what it's like.

Outside of the USA. Mr. Trump comes over as tactless and incompetent in dealing with other countries, which may be an unfortunate result of a system that can find Presidents with no previous political or diplomatic experience. We knew him only as  builder of golf-courses on other countries' sensitive landscape sites. However I wonder sometimes if behind his apparent ineptitude he is actually being very manipulative and divisive. If so, his motive and plans seem anyone's guess.

Here's the view of those (excluding his adoring worshippers/supporters.)  From all indications TGITWH is a Russian dupe and proselytizes for Russia and Putin as ardently as he attacks America and the Intelligence Agencies. We see him as a traitor committing treason on behalf of a hostile foreign power.  That same hostile foreign power that meddled in our elections and ensured his "win" in the presidential election. So TGITWH is beholden to Putin. Not only that we believe Putin has much leverage vis a vis knowing where all the bodies are buried and what closets hold what skeletons. It could involve anything from a naked guy frolicking about with naked Russian prostitutes to irrefutable evidence of money laundering or both. The possibilities are endless since this particular person has been up to his eyeballs for decades in many unsavory situations with many unsavory people. Once the dam bursts it will be hard to keep afloat as we view all the high crimes and misdemeanors of which he is guilty. Meanwhile we suffer for his obsessive hatreds. You're welcome Durdle. And I would like to take exception to one thing you said. You have every right to comment on anything anywhere at any time. Quoting John Donne "No man is an island" That is found in his Meditation 17 and among other lines there is "never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee". AND "Every man's death diminishes me". Perhaps you are familiar with it? What TGITWH is doing affects the world. He has turned his back on our allies because he thinks they are weak and embraced the tough strong murderous despot dictators very warmly. That alone is an act of treason in my opinion. Currently he is "considering" removing the security clearances of 6 former intelligence officers because they dared to disagree with him.  So you see every day in every way our lives are getting worse and worse. Where/when/if it will stop who can say? Woe is us. Thank you for your thoughtful reply Durdle and Happy Tuesday!  :) This post was edited by RosieG at July 24, 2018 5:34 AM MDT

Thank you Rosie.,

Oh yes, I realise many Americans now consider Trump a traitor and I can understand why, in fact I had already begun to wonder about his loyalty to his own country, let alone to her allies.

However I can only really comment fairly on his international activities (though I understand the source of much of his domestic support). When it will stop is very much down to you Americans in your own ballots, but when is the next Presidential Election? Three years? Four years? Plenty of time for Trump either to see what harm he is doing around the world, or to commit even more harm.   

It is very difficult to know just what he wants. It is easy to say, "neither does he", but I have a sneaking suspicion he does, though I can't see what, only that it won't be good for either the USA or anyone else.

I know the two quotes you give, at least in part, although I did not know their origins.


Well, it's now 00:03 here, so Happy Wednesday, Rosie!