Archive for the ‘the world’ Category

Making Sense of the Unknown with Words

Saturday, August 27th, 2011

Wallace Stevens had this to say about the unknown: ‘It is the unknown that excites the ardor of scholars, who, in the known alone, would shrivel up with boredom’. What would all of our worldly scholars do without something to wonder about? They would be just normal human beings with a brilliant mind going to waste. Much like me! But

What is Truly Frightening?

What scares you? The dark? Do you know why the dark scares people? The unknown. You don’t know what’s in the dark. Antoine De Saint-Exupery told us that: ‘Only the unknown frightens men. But once a man has faced the unknown, that terror becomes the known’. Pretty simple I guess. Sort of a face your fears type of philosophy. Elias Canetti discussed fear of the unknown in this manner: ‘There is nothing that man fears more than the touch of the unknown. He wants to see what is reaching towards him, and be able to recognize or at least classify it. Man always tends to avoid physical contact with anything strange’. I absolutely agree with the first two parts of that quote. But as far as man avoiding contact with anything strange, I beg to differ. If we as humans truly adhered to that philosophy, we would still be living in caves and afraid of a campfire.

On the Other Hand

According to Rene Magritte: ‘The mind loves the unknown’. Well which is it folks? Do we love it or are we afraid of it? She continues by saying ‘It loves images whose meaning is unknown, since the meaning of the mind itself is unknown’. A little like being afraid of a huge roller coaster, but being the first back in line to ride it again.

So we see that ‘the unknown’ by its very existence scares us; but that by doing so, it motivates us to make it known, so that we can be less afraid.

Many Famous Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes have bearing on many of today’s social issues.

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The Mysteries of Underwater Civilizations

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Scientists and storytellers have been captivated by the imaginative potential of underwater civilization for centuries. In the ancient world we have stories of Atlantis, Lyonesse, and Ys to pique our interest. The very archeologist who proved the existence of Troy by discovering its ruins searched throughout his life for evidence of Atlantis’s existence. With it, he believed he would discover the very cradle of civilization. Today, we know that while the ocean is the last frontier of discovery in our world it is highly unlikely that we will ever find a civilization—or even the remains of one—on the sea floor. Still, the fascination remains to tempt us and we hold on to every glimmer of hope we have gathered through the years.

 

Atlantis Debunked?

The history of the search for Atlantis is peppered with discoveries that first appear to be man made, but inevitably turn out to be natural formations of the sea. Expeditions that set out to find signs of undersea ruins tend to come back with tales of runes and strange temple ruin. The problem is that often these sightings are unrepeatable or worse, they do not hold up upon a second and more skeptical viewing. It cannot be denied that there are many unsolved mysteries on the ocean floor however.

 

Modern Mysteries

Within recent memory, for example, scientists have discovered that contrary to expectation, deep-sea vents can and do support life. The discovery of even so small an organism as a thermophile has shown us that we do not yet know everything we thought we did about the world under the water. Deep-sea explorers and salvation experts could and would tell you he same thing. The ocean floor is a world all its own and it is one that we can only just barely comprehend. Who is to say that one day we shall not discover evidence of a lost continent or a lost city one day?

 

 

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Is Obama an Alien?

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

The question of aliens seems to come up sooner or later whenever someone’s fame rises above a certain level. Supermarket gossip magazines are still proclaiming that Elvis is an alien–it’s not enough for him to simply be alive anymore. It’s no harder to find an article asking if Obama is from another planet. Some writers mean this question literally and some mean it humorously, but most mean to ask something much more serious. They’re not interested in whether the president is a green or a grey or even whether he has claws. Instead, they’re asking about his character, his background, and his politics. They’re asking where he comes from. (more…)

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10 Worst Doomsday Catastrophes That Never Happened

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Our world is filled with complications and potential catastrophes. We consider ourselves to be the most advanced species—and certainly the most successful—on the planet. The truth is, we’ve had any of a number of near misses and we will again. We are as lucky as we are successful and here is a list of ten massively near misses to prove it: (more…)

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Asteroid Heading to Earth 2039

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Researchers Andrea Milani, Steven R. Chesley, and Giovanni B. Valsecchi have predicted the potentially catastrophic arrival of an asteroid, now designated 1999 AN10, on Earth. It is something that we have feared since we first realized the potential for collision in space. An asteroid of sufficient magnitude to collide with the Earth and leave its mark on the surface would have a terrifying effect on the planet. This is the most popular scientific scenario we have to explain the extinction of dinosaurs and in 2039, it could mean our own extinction. (more…)

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Ancient Flying Machines

Monday, March 7th, 2011

When the subject of ancient flying machines comes up, you probably find your thoughts turning to the first successful flights of the Wright brothers. They’re not exactly ancient by our standards, but they do form a historical marker from which we date all of our modern air history. Perhaps you go further back, however, to the ancient flying machines of Leonardo Da Vinci’s design or to the first hot air balloons. Would it surprise you to learn that you still hadn’t reached the earliest human references to flight? (more…)

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Worst Natural Disasters of the Last Decade

Friday, March 4th, 2011

10 years is a longtime, 10 years is an even longer time when ravaged by disaster upon disaster; be they natural or manmade, the last 10 years have seen some gruesome and harrowing sites.

 

Don’t Fool With Mother Nature

But, clearly, she can fool with us.  Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, showed the world just exactly what Mother Nature can do.  This category five hurricane took the Mardi Gras capital of the world and turned it into a muddy, ugly, floating bed of death and destruction.  1,386 died. So many people were displaced that the 49 other states had to open their doors and let in New Orleans’ devastated survivors.  Even though this area had been warned of such an occurrence, no one was ready.  But one year before that, on “Boxing Day”, 2004, around 230,000 people were killed in the Indian Ocean tsunami.  It was the most devastating undersea earthquake in almost half a century. The quake, which struck off the coast of Sumatra, measured a sensational 9.2 on the Richter scale.

 

Cyclones and Earthquakes Galore

Respectively, 146,000; 87,400; and 79,000 people were killed on May 12, 2008-a category four cyclone named Narjis, with a 3.5 meter wall of water and its 135 mph winds all but swept away the town of Myanmar (once again, warnings were ignored); also in 2008 -a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sichuan sent tremors to at least 10 other surrounding countries.  Sadly this earthquake hit during school hours, causing many of them to collapse; October 8, 2005-Kashmir suffered a devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake just before its winter months.  Survivors and victims had to be located quickly, yet two months later a 40 year old woman was rescued from her collapsed home.

 

*as a side note: The Disaster to End All Disasters (but by no means natural)

It’s hard to even say it out loud, September 11 2001.  It was the end of the world as many knew it.  More innocent lives were lost on that day than any single day I can recall in America.  My father, a World War ll Air Force vet, was devastated.  I had lived in New York for two years and to watch the city fall in such a manner was, to me, incomprehensible.  I still have trouble believing it to this day.  But believe it we must.  2751 souls lost.

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The Most Expensive Places to Live

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Define expensive.  To me, anything over $1000 a month for the rental of the three bedroom apartment is expensive.  I do find however, that many do not share in my values.

 

Most Expensive Places to Live in the United States of America

First we’ll take a look inside our own U.S. of A.

  • Coming in at a predictable number one, the most expensive city in which to live (inside the United States) is our ever lovable, The Big Apple, none other than New York City.  $1000 may buy you rent for a month here, but it is in a room which has been divided three or four times into smaller rooms.  And don’t even think about walking outside.  Without a 40 to 50,000 dollar a year salary, the little closet they misguidedly call a studio apartment is barely affordable.

  • Boston Massachusetts, home of the Kennedys, and the Kennedys income is about which you need to make a home in this quaint, rich, city.  Boston beats out most other cities in the United States by being approximately 48% more expensive in general.  It’s laid back, a great college town, and trendy……………………..  And pricey.

  • Possibly the 1880 is gold stampede affected our number three expensive city of Juneau Alaska.  Seriously, I am not really sure what the big attraction is.

 

Most Expensive Places to Live in the World

  • Tokyo, Japan’s $4436 a month for a two bedroom luxury home is not the highest, but certainly out of the reasonable ballpark by a mile.  Did you won a cup of coffee while you think about that?  No problem, that’s only $6.65

And now–The most expensive, outrageous, phenomenally costly place to live, in the whole entire world is: (drum roll, please) Luanda, Angola where a luxury two bedroom home will cost you a mere $7000 a month, and a cup of coffee $3.80 of your hard earned coins.

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