Random World

Historical Mysteries

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:46:00 +0000

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The Lost Island of Atlantis

One of the oldest mysteries in the world, the legend of Atlantis has mystified humanity since ancient times. According to the Greek philosopher Plato, Atlantis was a large island somewhere west of the Pillars of Hercules (the Rock of Gibraltar) and the home of an incredibly advanced civilization known as the Atlanteans. Plato described Atlantis as a place of immense beauty with a palace compound in the center of three ringed canals. He said that every king that inherited the palace would add to it, trying to surpass his predecessor and by doing so they made it a palace that surpassed any other in both beauty and wealth. The Atlanteans themselves were blessed with wealth but at the same they were incredibly ambitious, constantly seeking power. Atlantis is said to have met its end when it was hit by a giant earthquake and swallowed by the sea. But is any of this the truth or is the story of Atlantis just a myth?

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Top Fictional Dystopias

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:51:00 +0000

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The dictionary defines a dystopia as a state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror. These scenarios have been the inspiration for countless novels and movies. They reflect our darkest fears and sometimes, actual elements in the modern world.

Metropolis

Although this German made, silent film dates from 1927, the special effects still impress today’s audiences. Fritz Lang directed in the German Expressionist style, using a blend of Art Deco buildings and futuristic designs to show the city of Metropolis. The year is 2026 and society is divided into two groups. The thinkers live in comfort on the surface whilst the workers live in terrible conditions, underground. Metropolis had an enormous influence on future science fiction films and even features a robot. The heart of the story is a human one however, as workers and bosses are in conflict, reflecting the moral questions of capitalist societies.

Clockwork Orange

The Anthony Burgess novel from 1962 is one of the most controversial ever published. Set in a near future England, Alex and his friends, known as droogs, are a thuggish gang obsessed with rape and violence, and they communicate through a slang language, invented by Burgess. Alex however, is not a typical teenager, as he loves classical music, and Beethoven in particular. After being sent to prison for a brutal crime, Alex participates in a trial to test out the Ludovico Technique. This involves giving him a nausea-inducing drug whilst watching footage of violent acts. Alex is released and can no longer act out his violent urges, due to the aversion therapy. The story prompts the question, should mind control be a part of rehabilitation for offenders? Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation, starring Malcolm McDowell, was released ten years later, continuing the controversy.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? / Blade Runner

The Philip K. Dick penned novel from 1968 led to the famous movie adaptation, Blade Runner, released in 1982. It’s a post-apocalyptic society in which androids perform menial jobs. The main character is Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter whose task is to recapture androids that have taken on a human identity. Ridley Scott directed the visually inventive film, starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer. The story makes us question the place of technology in our lives and what it means to be a human being with emotions.

The Trial

To be arrested and put on trial and not to be told what crime you are accused of is a nightmare vision. This is the plot, which Prague born author, Franz Kafka, featured in his 1925 novel. It’s a touchstone in literature for every regime that uses internment without trial and imprisonment without charge. The protagonist, Josef K, is unable to stop his life spinning out of control. He is a respectable, senior bank clerk. What crime has he committed? A 1963 movie starring Anthony Perkins and Orson Welles was based on the book as well as a 1993 movie version stars Kyle MacLachlan.

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley set his novel, published in 1932, in London in the 25^th century. The World State produces test tube babies, which are socially engineered to fit into one of five castes in order to determine their status in life, from managers to manual laborers. Sleep conditioning is used to stimulate certain desires such as consumption of products. This is a world dedicated to pleasure and shopping and its citizens’ moods are controlled by Soma, a hallucinogenic drug. Henry Ford, the pioneer of the modern assembly line, is worshiped as a god. Huxley’s story is a warning against a hedonistic society with no moral basis. Test tube babies became a reality in the real world and the novel’s premise raises many questions about pre-determination.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell’s 1949 novel made such an impact, that it became a byword for dystopia. References from the book, particularly ‘Big Brother’, are part of our language and are shorthand for a society where surveillance keeps the population in check. In this imagined future, London is part of a super state known as Oceania. The news is controlled by the repressive regime and the central character of Winston Smith is a civil servant whose job involves falsifying official information. His illicit liaison with Julia leads to an encounter in the notorious Room 101. The story is more relevant than ever as we live with CCTV cameras on every corner and repressive governments around the world censor information from their citizens. Adaptations include a 1954 BBC television play, a 1956 film and a 1984 film, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton.

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Top Worst Pandemics

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:07:00 +0000

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The death toll from it has yet to reach 100, but an outbreak of swine flu has gotten huge amounts of attention in the media in recent weeks. Even though regular flu viruses have killed thousands in that time, swine flu is all over the news because of worry that it could escalate into a pandemic, which is an outbreak of infectious disease across a large geographical area. There are countless instances of mass pandemics in history, and some have even been powerful enough to topple governments and nearly wipe out whole civilizations. Chances are that swine flu will run its course and soon be forgotten, but here are 10 examples of diseases that have made a huge mark on history.

6. The 7 Cholera Pandemics

One of the most consistently dangerous diseases in history, cholera and its so-called “seven pandemics” killed millions between 1816 and the early 1960s. Generally transmitted through contaminated food or drinking water, the disease first sprang up in India, where it is said to have killed as many as 40 million between 1817 and 1860. It would soon spread to Western Europe and the United States, where it killed more than a hundred thousand people in the mid-1800s. Since then, there have been periodic outbreaks of cholera, but advances in medicine have made it a much less deadly disease. While it once had a mortality rate of 50 percent or more, when treated cholera is now life threatening only in the most rare of cases.

5. The Third Pandemic

The Third Pandemic was the third major outbreak of the bubonic plague, following the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death. It started in China in the 1850s, and would eventually spread to all six inhabited continents before tapering off sometime in the 1950s. Despite modern breakthroughs in medicine, the Third Pandemic still killed as many as 12 million people in China and India, and though it is now considered inactive, as recently as 1995 a number of isolated cases of the disease were discovered in the western United States.

4. Smallpox

Although it has since been successfully eradicated, smallpox devastated the Americas when European settlers first introduced it in the 15th century. Of all the diseases brought to the new world, smallpox was the most virulent, and it is credited with the deaths of millions of native peoples in the United States and Central America. Smallpox decimated the Aztec and Incan civilizations and is generally considered to be a major factor in their eventual conquering by the Spanish. The disease was equally dangerous back in Europe, where it is estimated to have killed 60 million people in just the 18th century alone.

3. The Plague of Justinian

Generally regarded as one of the first pandemics in the historical record, The Plague of Justinian was a particularly virulent disease that broke out in the Byzantine Empire around 541 AD. Although the exact numbers are uncertain, the plague is estimated to have caused the deaths of 100 million people worldwide–5,000 a day at its peak–and it is regarded to have killed at least one in four people in the eastern Mediterranean region. Beyond this staggering mortality rate, the political effects of the Plague of Justinian were far-reaching, as its devastation prevented the Byzantine Empire from being able to spread eastward into Italy and thus significantly changed the course of European history.

2. The Spanish Flu

Arriving on the heels of the devastation of World War I, the Spanish Flu of 1918 is widely considered to be one of the most vicious pandemics in history. A worldwide phenomenon, it is estimated to have infected one third of the world’s entire population, and eventually killed as many as 100 million people. The virus, which has since been identified as a strain of H1N1, would surface in waves, frequently disappearing in communities as quickly as it arrived. Fearing a massive uproar, governments did their best to downplay the severity of the flu, and because of wartime censorship, its far-reaching effects were not fully realized until years later. Only Spain, a neutral country during WWI, allowed comprehensive news reporting on the pandemic, which is why it eventually became known as the Spanish Flu.

1. The Bubonic Plague (The Black Death)

Perhaps the most well known pandemic in history, the Black Death was a massive outbreak of bubonic plague that ravaged Europe through most of the 1300s. Characterized by the appearance of oozing and bleeding sores on the body and a high fever, the plague is estimated to have killed anywhere from 75 to 200 million people in the 14th century alone, with recent research concluding that 45-50% of the entire population of Europe was wiped out. The Plague would be a constant threat for the next hundred years, periodically resurfacing and killing thousands, with the last major outbreak occurring in London in the 1600s.

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Top Mysteries of the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 08:53:00 +0000

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The Universe… The incredible difference in scale between the tiny world we live in every day and the vastness of all time and space begs the question of whether we will ever be able to grasp the fullness of the cosmos. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. In fact, contemplating the great unknowns must be one of the oldest hobbies in human experience. The pursuit has given rise first to religion, then to philosophy, then to people who make fun of religion and philosophy.

We may never understand the entire universe, but we can sure appreciate the fact that it’s so complex that it eludes us.

5. Time

You think you know what time is? Okay, try defining it without using any terms that rely on time. Time is… well, it’s time. It’s what keeps every event from happening simultaneously, and it’s what distinguishes something that happened in the past from something that will happen in the future. Is it a dimension, like space? Is it a quality of matter? Is it merely an illusion, possibly created to boost sales of digital watches? The smartest guys in the world get headaches from this one.

4. The Beginning of the Universe

How did the universe begin? Did the universe ever begin? If the universe includes everything that we know, including time, could there possibly even be a “before” before the beginning of the universe. Current theories generally talk about a “Big Bang,” which is a massive expansion of all matter and energy from a single point, which is still continuing through the present day. What started the bang? Where did all the energy and matter come from? Are these questions even meaningful? What about creationism, if that is for you? If God created the universe and all the physical laws in it, what is he doing now that it is running itself?

3. End of the Universe

Following the question of the end of the universe is the question of the end of the universe. Opinions vary on whether we can expect the universe to ever expire. There are several possibilities. One is that the universe will continue to expand, and eventually become so spread out that all matter and energy is just a homogeneous cloud of thin, lukewarm dust. Another is that gravity will eventually catch up with all the matter, and the universe will slow down and fall back into a single point, which may spark another big bang. Yet another theory notes that baryons and protons, the building blocks of matter, don’t seem to be being created naturally anymore, and if they decay (as some other particles do), the universe will simply fade out as all the particles just cease to be. In general, nothing untoward is expected to happen to the universe for many billion years, which will probably be a relief to those with long-range investments.

2. Multiple Universes

Current quantum physics raises the possibility that there are many universes besides our own, existing in the same space and time, but only interacting in certain limited ways. These universes may have their own separate histories and futures, and even their own laws of physics. This is all vague theory for the moment, but some day it may be possible to travel to the universe where your favorite singer won American Idol or visit with evil Spock.

1. Grand Unification Theory

For decades, physicists have been trying to make sense of the difference between Isaac Newton’s classical physics (you know, what you use to play pool) Einstein’s relativistic physics, that involve very large or massive things at enormous velocities, and Heisenberg’s (and others’) quantum physics, which concerns things so small that you can’t even measure them without changing the result. These three sets of physical laws seem to play by their own rules, largely ignoring each other, and yet they all relate to the same universe. And so physicists have hunted for the Grand Unification Theory, which would substitute for all of these incomplete sets of laws and make sense of it all. Perhaps it doesn’t exist. Or perhaps it’s just too complex for human minds to grasp. One way or the other, it’s going to keep scientists arguing for some time to come. Cartoon property of Berkeley Breathed.

Written by Glen Taylor

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Top Tortured Artists

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:47:00 +0000

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These writers, musicians, and painters created masterpieces in the realms of literature, music, and art. At different stages of their lives, every person on this list suffered from severe hardships, mental illness and feelings of loneliness and despair. All of them suffered for their art in order to create legacies of great imagination and epic beauty.

5. George Orwell, Author

I believe George Orwell is the most brilliant and prescient writer who has ever lived. No other author has ever taught me more about human nature and reality. 1984 was a true masterpiece, a flawless indictment of mob mentality, power, politics, and human frailty. Even the doomed romance depicted in the book was wrenching and impossible to forget.

This visionary writer was born Eric Arthur Blair, in British India, in late June of 1903. His family was relatively well-to-do, and in time they returned to England, where young Eric attended Eton College. He went on to become an Indian Imperial Policeman in Burma in 1922.

By 1927, Eric Blair was back in the UK and installed in rooms in London, where he began to study the lower classes and the seamy underbelly of society. In 1928, he moved to Paris and suffered illness and robberies that left him weak and destitute. He washed dishes and scrounged out an existence, building the base for another great Orwell work, the autobiographical Down And Out In Paris And London.

Eric Blair always saw himself as an outsider and an observer. His personal depression and misery are omnipresent in his work. In his essay, “Why I Write”, he points to a lifetime of unpopularity, insecurity, and longing for a father he never saw after the age of eight. From Eric Arthur Blair’s loneliness and despair bloomed the staggering depth, vision and truth of George Orwell.

4. Tennessee Williams, Playwright

This legendary American playwright was born Thomas Lanier Williams on March 26th, 1911. He changed his first name to Tennessee in honor of his father’s home state. A frail child, he spent most of his time battling diphtheria and being derided by his own father, who saw him as a weakling and sissy.

On his father’s side of the family, tempers ran hot and spirits were high. On his mother’s side, strict religious principles were held in high esteem. This conflict in morality and values appeared in all his published works, lending him a unique voice.

His sister Rose suffered from schizophrenia and underwent a prefrontal lobe lobotomy. Tennessee Williams also suffered from the ill effects of repressing his homosexuality. He remained in the closet until 1970. Addictions, depression and dark violence were omnipresent in his work and in his own life. By 1969, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and The Glass Menagerie suffered a complete mental and physical breakdown: he died 8 years later.

3. Ludwig Van Beethoven, Musician

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. His father taught him music from an early age. By the age of nine, his talent was already undisputed. His ambitious father lauded him as a child prodigy.

In 1787 Beethoven journeyed to Vienna, in the hopes of learning from Mozart himself. However, his mother grew terribly ill, and later died. Ludwig returned from Vienna to be with her before her death. In time, he caught the interest of a rich Count who became his patron. He composed and played in the orchestra at Court.

Beethoven combined performances, composing, and orchestra work to earn a living, and he did very well due to his signature sforzando style. But there was tragedy in the distance. Beethoven, with his many gifts and his virtuoso skills, was doomed to lose his hearing in the prime of his life.

The reasons for his encroaching deafness were uncertain. Terrible ringing in the ears and loss of hearing worsened over time. The master musician who lived to create musical beauty was robbed of his ability to understand his own creations.

And still he played…even when the cheers of the audience could be seen and not heard…even when he would cry as he turned from his piano and watched them applaud. The prison of silence Beethoven endured makes him a tortured artist through no fault of his own. It is believed that high levels of lead in Beethoven’s body may have contributed to his deafness.

2. Ernest Hemingway, Author

Born in 1899, Ernest Hemingway earned Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes for his understated writing, which included The Old Man And The Sea. His domineering mother has a great impact on him as a child, pushing music on him at an early age because she taught music and once dreamed of being an opera singer. Hemingway resisted her influence, instead choosing traditionally male activities such as fishing and outdoor pursuits.

Hemingway tried to enlist for battle in WWI, but his vision was poor and he was not able to pass the physical exam. Instead, he joined the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. He was close to combat on the Italian front, witnessing death and destruction. The experiences changed him and haunted him.

Upon his return to North America, Hemingway dealt with heartbreak from a failed relationship. He sought work as a journalist, wrote extensively, and experienced many adventures all over the world. It is believed that Hemingway suffered from manic depression, which caused him to spiral downward in his later years. His gruesome suicide in 1961 was the result of a self-inflicted, double-barreled gunshot wound to the forehead.

1. Vincent van Gogh, Artist

This Dutch master used color to express a prism of emotions. His work seems to vibrate with life and energy. The beauty and the mysterious, transcendent elements in his paintings make them hypnotic and unforgettable.

Vincent was born in 1853, in the Netherlands. He was shy, emotional child who battled low self-esteem. He was also tortured by epilepsy, which was believed to be the result of a brain lesion that was present since birth. Some of the drugs van Gogh was given to combat his epilepsy were thought to change his visual perception, and many historians feel that this altered vision of the world may have influenced his unique style.

The sense of torment and misery that appeared in many of van Gogh’s works were a harbinger of his eventual suicide. The paintings themselves seem to roil with dark emotions and turmoil. van Gogh had suffered from severe depression all of his life. When he was 37, he walked out into a field and fired a revolver at his own chest. Two days later, he succumbed to his injuries, at home in his bedroom

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Top Banned Books

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:44:00 +0000

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Throughout the history of the world, starting with the church, censors have been put on many different things. The church was able to create a list of banned works, and many of the books were burned. The first list of banned books came from Pope Paul IV who established The Index of Prohibited Books to protect Catholics from controversial ideas. However, authors found ways to get around these censors. Many just published in a nearby country.

Whether it is for political reasons, religious reasons, or some other reason, books, to this day, continue to be banned, extremely looked down upon, or challenged harshly. In any case, here are the top ten banned books.

5. Lolita

“A normal man given a group photograph of school girl or Girl Scouts and asked to point out the comeliest one will not necessarily choose the nymphet among them. You have to be an artist and a madman, a creature of infinite melancholy, with a bubble of hot poison in your loins and a super-voluptuous flame permanently aglow in your subtle spine…”

This 1955 novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, analyzes the mind of a highly intelligent, self-loathing man named Humber Humbert, who is a pedophile and has an extreme obsession for “nymphets,” which are young girls, generally around the age of 12. Lolita was first published by a French pornographic press after being rejected by four publishing firms, but soon after, it was banned in France for being obscene. It was also banned in South Africa, New Zealand, England, and Argentina. However, the book was never really banned in the U.S. because when it was published, sexuality and teenage sex weren’t out of the norm. In any case, most countries have challenged the book because of its portrayal of a sexual relationship between a child and an adult.

4. Catcher in the Rye

“Sex is something I really don’t understand too hot. You never know where the hell you are. I keep making up these sex rules for myself, and then I break them right away. Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it – the same night, as a matter of fact.”

Written by J.D. Salinger, Catcher in the Rye became a best-seller weeks within its release in 1951. The novel explains three days in the life of a 16 year old boy, who is seen as extremely troubled. It is a true expression of teenage angst and rebellion against adults, and many have challenged the book because they fear younger people will look up to Holden, the main character. The book first caused controversy in 1960 when a school principal fired a teacher for using the novel as part of an 11th grade class. Many states around the country have issues with the book, some saying it is “anti-white,” while others express that it puts too much emphasis on slang, sex, violence, and issues with morals.

3. Harry Potter Series

“As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all – the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.”

The most recent books on the list, the Harry Potter series tell the tale and adventures of a young boy named Harry Potter, who is a wizard, and his friends Ron and Hermione. The central theme of the book is a struggle against evil, Lord Voldemort, who killed Harry’s parents. Since the first book’s publishing in 1997, the series has been under much scrutiny. In 2001, parents from all over the U.S. and other parts of the world challenged the book because of its witchcraft, violence, the occult, and its overall scariness. Years later, the series is still banned and challenged for the same reasons, including lying, cheating, stealing, ghosts, and promoting Wicca ideology.

2. Candide

“’What! Have you no monks to teach, to dispute, to govern, to intrigue and to burn people who do not agree with them?”

A great book of great satire! Candide is a classic French novel that satirizes all things that many saw sacred in its day. Churches, philosophers, armies, and rulers were all poked fun at. Voltaire, through the use of satire and funny phrases, was doing nothing more than trying to express a man finding the best of all possible worlds while going through some of the worst things that could ever happen in life. The Great Council of Geneva banned the book after its release, but more than 30,000 copies sold in a year. In 1930, U.S. Customs seized Harvard-bound copies of Candide, and then in 1944 the U.S. Post Office wanted the book dropped from Concord Books.

1. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

“I knowed he was white inside, and I reckoned he’d say what he did say – so it was all right, now, and I told Tom I was agoing for a doctor.”

This book, written by Mark Twain, has been banned in many different places since it was published. Huckleberry Finn is a story of a young boy, Huck, and a runaway slave, Jim, who travel down the Mississippi in order to escape “sivilization.” Here in the U.S., the book was banned in 1885, a year after it was published. At first, the book was banned for its use of slang, which was seen as demeaning. Over time, the focus shifted towards the fact that the novel uses the “n” word so many times, in fact over 200 times. Many cannot get around the fact that such a derogatory word is used so much. Readers often substitute the word with “slave” or “servant.” Despite much controversy, many of the most famous writers, such as Ernest Hemingway, see the book as a great piece of literature, as do many readers.

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Top Most Beautiful Eyes

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:48:00 +0000

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Finding the world’s most beautiful eyes was challenging to say the least. With a list that started at 50 pairs of gorgeous eyes and then had to be reduced to 10, you can imagine the hesitation to exclude some of the many beautiful women that were considered. Some that missed breaking the top ten were Megan Fox, Raquel Welch and, believe it or not, Marie Osmond who was in the initial 50.

One of the most difficult tasks of this hunt for the most beautiful eyes was finding a large head shot. Most photos pictured the entire female’s body. And when you look at the list of women below you’ll see why – most certainly had a beautiful body to match their incredible eyes. So we did the best we could tried to show photography that concentrated on the face and the eyes.

6. Sharbat Gula

Her sparkling green eyes are mesmerizing, but what else? She is known as the cover girl for National Geographic because Steve McCurry was fortunate enough to take her photograph while on assignment for National Geographic. Her photo is the most popular that the magazine has published.

5. Audrey Hepburn

Her eyes are beautiful, of course, but what else? Audrey won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role
in Roman Holiday.

4. Elizabeth Taylor

Her blue eyes make the sky look pale, but what else? She won two Oscars, one for each beautiful eye. She won for Best Actress in a Leading Role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? & Best Actress in a Leading Role in Butterfield 8.

3. Lynda Carter

Azure blue eyes that sparkle are nice, but what else? Lynda was the superhero Wonder Woman and won the 2004 TV Land Award for Superest Super Hero for “Wonder Woman” which aired in 1976.

2. Angelina Jolie

Okay her eyes are drop-dead gorgeous and her lips are incredible, but what else? She is the daughter of Jon Voight and won an Oscar Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Girl, Interrupted in 2000.

1. Aishwarya Rai

Her eyes are truly the most beautiful eyes in the world, and that is enough, but just for kicks, what else? Aishwarya was chosen by Time magazine in 2004 as one of the World’s “100 Most Influential People” and she is widely considered the most beautiful woman in the world and with eyes like that you can “see” why.

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Top Influential Firsts in History

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:10:00 +0000

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History always has something to say about someone who is number one. A certain individual can become famous for a variety of heroic, unfortunate, ground breaking, or even uncontrollable events. When a new trend appears in transportation, communication, or the technical word, an innovator is always there to be the first to develop or test the new technology. History has many examples of influential firsts that have had a great impact on society, culture, and the world as a whole.

5. The first men to climb the giant mountain K2: Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni

K2 is the second highest mountain on earth. With a peak elevation of 8,611 metres (28,251 ft), only 778 ft. shorter then Mt. Everest. K2 is part of the Karakoram segment of the Himalayan range. It is known as the Savage Mountain and has a reputation as the world’s most difficult and dangerous climb. It has the second highest fatality rate among those who attempt to scale it. For every four people that have reached the summit, one has died trying. The most dangerous mountain in the world to climb is another series of peaks in the Himalayas named Annapurna. Unlike Annapurna, K2 has never been summated in the winter. On July 31, 1954, an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio was the first to reach the peak of K2. Desio never reached the top, but group members Lino Lacedelli and Achille Compagnoni became the first men to summit K2 and return alive. The previous year in 1953 an American group attempted to climb K2, but encountered a storm while nearing the peak and had to retreat, suffering casualties. The Italian expedition was the sixth organized attempt to summit K2. The mountain was not successfully climbed again until 1977, 23 years later.

4. The first African American individual to play major league baseball: Jackie Robinson

On April 15, 1947 Jackie Robinson made his major league debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers, ultimately becoming the first African American Major League Baseball player in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line and ended a sixty-year ban and segregation in professional baseball. During the sixty-year ban, all African American players were relegated to the Negro Leagues. If you go back to the 1880’s, Moses Fleetwood Walker played for Toledo of the American Association and was essentially the first African American professional ball player. Jackie Robinson’s achievements and personality had a tremendous impact on the subsequent American Civil Rights Movement. Apart from his cultural impact, Robinson had ten extremely productive major league seasons. He played in six World Series, while contributing to the Dodgers 1955 title. Robinson was selected to six consecutive All-Star games, won Rookie of the Year in 1947, and National League MVP in 1949.

3. The first military offensive of World War II: Germany invades Poland

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties signed at the end of World War I in 1919. One of the most important and controversial provisions in the treaty required Germany to accept sole responsibility for causing the war. Germany would disarm, make substantial territorial concessions, and pay reparations to certain countries, netting 132 billion marks. Many argue that it was a grave mistake to not conciliate or permanently weaken Germany at this point in history. In the late 1930’s Adolf Hitler began to create one of the biggest military powers in the world. In 1939, Germany would demand for the return of Danzig and part of the Polish ‘corridor’ granted to Poland from German territory in the Versailles Treaty of 1919. Poland refused to agree to the German’s demands and on September 1, 1939, German forces launched a campaign against Poland and defeated the country in three weeks. World War II had begun and two days later Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. Numerous individual wars occurred over the next six years and by 1941 all of the world’s major powers were entered into the conflict. The civilian and military deaths of WWII exceeded $55 million people.

2. The first people to successfully take flight: Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes

The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. On November 21, 1783, the first manned hot air balloon flight was made in Paris, France, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes. Pilâtre was a young physician and d’Arlandes was an audacious army officer. The technology used was created by the Montgolfier brothers, who invented the montgolfière style hot air balloon. After numerous experimental tests, the pair took flight over Château de la Muette, in the western outskirts of Paris. They flew for about 3,000 feet (910 m) and a distance of nine kilometres. However, at one point during the flight burning embers from the fire were scorching the balloon fabric and had to be daubed out with sponges. The men became the first pioneers of aviation. Sadly, two years later Jean-François Pilâtre was killed when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during an attempt to fly across the English Channel. Another first, he and his companion, Pierre Romain, became the first known fatalities of an air crash.

1. The first person to die from the AIDS pandemic: Ken Horne

The origin of AIDS and HIV has puzzled scientists since the illness first came to light in the 1980’s. Many various isolated incidences of HIV have been reported in the 1960’s and 70’s, but these claims are not confirmed and no outbreak of the disease occurred until the 1980’s in America. On April 24, 1980, San Francisco resident Ken Horne is the first case of AIDS to be reported to the American Center for Disease Control. He would soon die of his illness, becoming the first reported death of the AIDS pandemic. Suddenly, a high proportion of gay men in San Francisco and New York began to gain the HIV virus. In 1981, 121 people were known to have died from the disease and AIDS was beginning to spread all over the world. By 1986, numbers suggested that one million Americans were infected with the HIV virus and India saw their first reported case. In 1992, AIDS became the leading cause of death in the United States for individuals between the ages of 24 and 44. In 1999, studies suggested that the population in west equatorial Africa developed a mutated form of the HIV virus. From 1981 to 2006, AIDS killed over 25 million people worldwide. The numbers are growing and estimates today suggest that around 90 million people in Africa will be infected with the HIV virus, with the majority coming from the poverty ridden sub-Saharan Africa.

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Top Classic Children’s Books

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:58:00 +0000

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We all have books from our childhood that we remember with a sweet fondness. If you are a parent you probably have a small library of books that you want to read and share with your children and many of those books most likely are found on this list. This top 10 list of books for children includes many classics you have heard of, but may not be our your bookshelves at home. Give them a look and perhaps your children can enjoy them next time you read a bedtime story or when you give them a book to read on their own.

6. The Hobbit

By J.R.R. Tolkien

Tolkien’s imagination, inspired by his knowledge of ancient languages and folk tales, has enthralled children and adults since The Hobbit’s publication in 1937. We are introduced to some of the characters that were to feature in the epic trilogy, Lord of the Rings. Home-loving hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, is persuaded to go on a treasure hunt with Gandalf the wizard and a group of dwarves. Their adventures lead to encounters with Smaug the dragon, giant spiders, trolls, and goblins. Bilbo also gets acquainted with a creature called Gollum and a certain ring.

5. The Winnie the Pooh Stories

By A.A.Milne

Winnie the Pooh and his friends have delighted each generation since the author was inspired to write characters based on his son, Christopher Robin, and his son’s toys. The first stories appeared in Winnie the Pooh (1926) and then in The House at Pooh Corner (1928). Earlier, Pooh Bear was the subject of a poem in Milne’s collection of verses, When We Were Very Young (1924) and in more poems in Now We Are Six (1927). Pooh, Christopher Robin, and their companions, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, and Owl etc. had various adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, illustrated by the celebrated artist, E.H.Shepard. Walt Disney brought the characters to the screen in a successful franchise.

4. Peter Pan

By J.M. Barrie

Peter Pan evolved as a novel, published in 1911, from Barrie’s stage play. The boy who wouldn’t grow up has become a symbol of childhood. His adventures as the leader of The Lost Boys gang in Neverland lead him to escapades with Indians and pirates, his most dangerous enemy being Captain Hook. The Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael are plunged into this amazing world. There have been several adaptations of the story, most notably the Walt Disney animation in 1953.

3. The Wind in the Willows

By Kenneth Grahame

Grahame paints a reassuring world of comradeship, rural life, and “messing about on boats”. First published in 1908, the story of Mole, Ratty, Mr. Toad, and Mr. Badger has been adapted many times, on stage, and in film and TV. The rural idyll and everyday routine is interrupted by Toad’s escapades. One of the great characters of children’s literature, Toad is a lovable rogue but his conceit and restless nature leads him into trouble, requiring his friends to rescue him.

2. Alice in Wonderland

By Lewis Carroll

This tale is one of the most surreal and bizarre to enter the children’s literature canon. It began as a story to entertain three young sisters. Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (who published under the name, Lewis Carroll) invented the characters for the daughters of one of his friends. The book was published in 1865 and a sequel, Through the Looking-Glass came out in 1871. John Tenniel was the original illustrator and Arthur Rackham illustrated later editions. The characters of the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Queen of Hearts have entered popular culture.

1. The Harry Potter Series

By J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in the USA), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

No one could have predicted the global sensation that these books would cause. The sales figures for the series in June, 2008 was over 400 million copies sold and the novels have been translated into 67 languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek. The first book appeared in 1997, introducing us to the inner world of wizards and the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The movie adaptations successfully interpreted the stories for the screen. Children and adults delight in the complex plot and well-drawn characters and can relate to Harry, who faces the usual problems of growing up in addition to facing an evil foe.

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Top Obscure Forms of Government

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:06:00 +0000

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We’ve all heard of a democracy, a republic, and probably a monarch-type government. In the past, there have been monarchs ruling society, tyrants, enlightened despots, and so many other types of leaders. In the end, it’s safe to say that the world has seen several different types of governments over the centuries.

Even in today’s world, different governments rule different countries. Despite the idea of Westernization of the world and the thought of “spreading democracy,” there are plenty of countries and areas in the world that aren’t ruled by the widely-known democracy, or even a republic. In the end there are plenty of different governments that exist in the world today. Here’s a list of the top 10 forms of government you’ve probably never heard of.

Meritocracy

Meritocracy was the primary basis for selection of chiefs and generals in the Mongol Empire.

A meritocracy is a type of government that appointments people to work but they are given certain responsibilities based on their ability and talent, instead of focusing on family connections, wealth, or popularity. In a meritocracy, those who are able to show their talent are the ones rewarded. Though it seems extremely unreliable, meritocracies have existed in the world. During the time of Genghis Khan, a meritocracy was used in order to choose his generals and chiefs of the Mongol Empire. Napoleon was also said to be somewhat meritocratic. Today, Singapore claims to be meritocratic.

5. Ochlocracy

First used in Polybius’ Histories, an ochlocracy is a government that consists of a mass of people, or a mob. Today, this type of government is generally called a mobocracy. An ochlocracy has no clear authority at all. This means that only dispute or questions that arise are usually contended and then closed of shut off generally by brute force, commonly seen as “might makes right.” However, this can set off a chain reaction as another mob may feel differently and can easily sway the decision making. In very early Greek political thought, an ochlocracy was seen as one of the three bad types of government because the government acts in self interest, not out of the interest of the community.

4. Minarchism

Minarchism basically states that the government should have minimal function, especially when playing into the lives of individuals. The government theory states that the only legitimate function that the state has is to protect each individual from aggression. Those who believe in monarchism see government as a necessary evil, but agree that a state does need to exist in order to protect the life, liberty, and property of those they are ruling. Minarchists wholeheartedly believe in a Night Watchman State, which consists of only a small military, a small police force, and simple courts.

3. Technocracy

Definitely an odd government, a technocracy is a government in which scientists and technical experts rule. A technocracy does not depend on political capital; instead those in charge are selected based upon how much knowledge they know about certain technical aspects. The most knowledgeable are put into power of their own specialized section to provide for efficient and effective administrative functions. For example, a few medical experts would be in charge of the entire health care system, or public education experts would control the public education system. There has never really been a technocracy, but in the 1930s, there was a technocratic movement that wanted to make North America technocratic

2. Ethnocracy

Said to be non-democratic by nature, an ethnocracy is a government where the top officials of a certain ethnic group hold all of the power. This generally means one religious sect, race, or language is said to dominate every other option politically. This ethnic group is generally the minority in the location, meaning that minorities are generally discriminated against by the state itself and may be subject to human rights violations and repression. In today’s world, it can be said that locations such as Israel, South Africa, Uganda, and Pakistan are all dealing with some degree of ethnocracy. One could also say that Hitler’s most prized aim was an ethnocracy.

1. Timocracy

Timocracy is definitely a government that many haven’t heard of or seen. A timocracy is a government based on the ideas that only property owners may participate in government, but those who are elected to rule are generally those who have a strong love and need for honor. The idea was first brought up by Plato as a government that is governed on the principles of military glory and honor. Aristotle also used the term, considering it to be a government where civic honor and political power grow as the amount of property one owns also grows.

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Top Daredevils :O

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:00:00 +0000

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Some people call them crazy, while others consider them heroes, but there’s no denying that daredevils and stunt performers continue to command a huge amount of public fascination thanks to their death-defying acts of courage and outright lunacy. From skydivers and wirewalkers to magicians and flight-obsessed truck drivers, here are the top ten stunt men and daredevils.

5. Charles Blondin

Charles Blondin, AKA The Great Blondin, was a 19th century French acrobat and tightrope walker who gained fame in Europe and the United States for his daring high wire acts. Blondin started training to be an acrobat at age five, and by six he was already performing under the stage name “The Little Wonder.” In his twenties he was one of the most popular performers in Europe, but his crowning achievement came in 1859, when he traveled to the United States and became the first person to cross the 160-foot high gorge beneath Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Blondin easily walked the 1100 feet from one side of the gorge to the other on his first try. In a demonstration of his skill, he then did it several more times with a number of different variations, including being blindfolded, pushing a wheelbarrow, wearing stilts, and carrying a man on his back. In the most bizarre crossing of all, Blondin stopped halfway across the falls, sat down on the tightrope, and cooked and dined on an omelet.

4. Alain Robert

Frenchman Alain Robert is a well known daredevil who helped pioneer the sport of “urban climbing” with his highly dangerous–and highly illegal–climbs up some of the world’s tallest skyscrapers, a practice that has earned him the nickname “French Spiderman.” Robert claims to have gotten his start scaling buildings at age 12, when he forgot the keys to his house and was forced to climb the outside of the building to get inside. Since then, he has made a name for himself both as a rock climber and for scaling over 85 structures and skyscrapers around the world, including the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, the Sears Tower, and the Petronas Twin Towers. Robert makes every climb freehand, using only the natural architecture of the buildings to help him, and claims to have fallen seven times, twice from heights as high as fifty feet. Robert’s stunts are almost always unsanctioned by local authorities, and in nearly every case he is arrested upon reaching the top of the building he’s climbing.

3. Philippe Petit

A self-taught high wire artist, Philippe Petit is best known for walking a tight rope between the then newly constructed Twin Towers in 1974. Petit got his start as a street performer in Paris, but soon began to conceive of using his wire act as a kind of performance piece at famous world structures. He soon walked across a wire on the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia, and then between the towers of the Notre Dame de Paris. His crowning achievement came in 1974, when he engineered a wire act between the two World Trade Towers. Using falsified documents, assumed names, disguises, and months of planning, Petit and a small band of accomplices managed to bypass the building’s security to get to the top floor of one of the towers. They used a bow and arrow to fire the tight rope from one building to another, and after securing it, Petit proceeded to perform on the wire for 45 minutes before giving himself up to police. All charges against him were eventually dropped, and he was even asked to perform again in Central Park for the children of New York City.

2. Harry Houdini

Although he is best remembered as a magician, Harry Houdini was one of the original daredevils, and is responsible for pioneering many stunts that are still tried today. Houdini got his start as a small time magician and card trick performer, but he first came to prominence when he started experimenting with high profile escape acts on New York’s Coney Island. In his most famous stunts, Houdini would be placed in handcuffs and then locked in a crate or glass box, which was then lowered underwater. In some cases, these tricks would require him to hold his breath for more than 3 minutes. Other dangerous tricks included the so-called “Chinese Water Torture Cell,” and a now infamous trick where he was buried alive under six feet of earth and barely managed to escape with his life.

1. Evel Knievel

There is no daredevil more iconic or respected than motorcycle stunt jumper Evel Knievel, and for good reason. In a career that saw him suffer huge highs as well as many failures (and 37 broken bones), Knievel established himself an American folk hero, and his nationally televised motorcycle stunts remain among the most watched sporting events of all time. Knievel got his start as a motocross rider, but when in need of money he conceived the idea of performing stunts on his motorcycle. In his first jump, he hopped over a box full of rattlesnakes and two mountain lions, and he soon found sponsorship and became one of the first professional daredevils. Soon, Knievel was regularly jumping his Harley Davidson over rows of cars, trucks, and even the fountains at Caesar’s Palace. His most famous stunt came in 1974, when he attempted to jump the Snake River Canyon on a rocket-propelled motorcycle called the X-1. A malfunction caused the bike’s parachute to prematurely open and ruin the jump, but the media storm surrounding the event had already cemented Knievel’s reputation as the king of all daredevils, and he remained in the spotlight until his death in 2007.

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Top Unexplained Disappearances

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:21:00 +0000

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Every year thousands of people are reported missing. While most are found within hours, some disappear without a trace, never to be seen again. Here are some of the more famous and bizarre cases in history.

5. The Mary Celeste

The prototypical “ghost ship,” the Mary Celeste was a merchant vessel that was discovered in 1872 abandoned and adrift in the Atlantic Ocean. All of the ship’s 7 crewmembers, along with Captain Benjamin Briggs and his wife and daughter, were nowhere to be found. The ship’s life raft was gone, but the Mary Celeste appeared to be perfectly seaworthy, and even stranger, a number of necessary survival items had been left behind. The ship’s cargo and a number of valuables were also untouched, seemingly ruling out the possibility of piracy. So what could have happened? A number of theories have been proposed, ranging from mutiny to alien abduction, but the most likely scenario is that a freak storm or earthquake caused the ship to take on a small amount of water, leading to a panic and an unnecessary evacuation. Adrift in a single life raft, the survivors are suspected to have perished at sea.

4. Joseph Force Crater

Although he is relatively unknown today, Joseph Force Crater’s disappearance in 1930 became a national obsession, to the point that the phrase “pulling a Crater” became synonymous with vanishing. A well-known judge in New York City, Crater inexplicably disappeared on the night of August 6, 1930. A number of bizarre details surround the case, most notably Crater’s relationship with an Atlantic City showgirl named Sally Lou Ritz, who would herself disappear soon after the Judge. An investigation found that Crater’s safe deposit box had been emptied, along with thousands of dollars from his bank account, but no concrete proof that Crater engineered his own disappearance has ever been uncovered.

3. The Lost Colony

Perhaps the most mysterious case of mass disappearance is the so-called “lost colony” of Roanoke Island. In 1587 a group of 114 people settled the island in an attempt to establish a permanent colony in the New World, but a bitterly harsh growing season and fear of the local Indian tribes led the group to send their leader, John White, back to England for assistance. Upon returning in 1590, he found that the settlement had been dismantled and all 114 colonists, along with Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the colonies, had vanished. The only sign they left behind was the word “Croatan,” the name of a nearby island, carved into a tree. Some claim the colonists were murdered and their settlement razed by Indians, while others blame starvation or raids by Spanish marauders. But the most popular theory continues to be that the colonists were assimilated into a local Indian tribe. Reports from later settlers that some tribes they encountered knew some English have helped to substantiate these claims, and a project is now underway to try to prove the theory using DNA evidence.

2. Amelia Earhart

Perhaps the most famous missing person on this list, Amelia Earhart was a groundbreaking pilot who set numerous records in aviation in the 1920s. In 1937, along with navigator Fred Noonan, she set out for what was to be her crowning achievement: a flight around the world. Near the end of her 29,000-mile journey, Earhart encountered unfavorable weather conditions in the south Pacific, and was unable to find the small island where she was to refuel. Sometime around July 2, all contact with her plane was lost, and Earhart and Noonan would not be seen again. The search that followed was the largest in naval history to that point, covering over 250,000 miles of ocean, but no wreckage from Earhart’s Lockheed Electra was ever found. The most logical explanation is that the plane ran out of gas and ditched in the ocean, but another popular theory states that Earhart and Noonan crashed on an uninhabited island where they eventually died. Still another theory says that the duo crashed on a Japanese-controlled island, where they were captured and eventually executed.

1. Jimmy Hoffa

Despite years of speculation and countless investigations, Jimmy Hoffa’s vanishing remains the mother of all missing person stories. A powerful labor organizer, Hoffa was President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for many years, and was known for his mob connections. He was due to meet two of his mafia contacts on July 30, 1975 at a restaurant in Michigan, but disappeared before the meeting could ever take place. Because of Hoffa’s business dealings and his proven associations with crime families, investigators have little doubt that he was murdered, but the big mystery concerns what became of his body. A number of grisly possibilities were considered, among them that Hoffa’s body was mixed into concrete that was used to build the New York Giants football stadium, that he was buried beneath a swimming pool in Michigan, and that he was crushed in a car compactor, but all of these theories have proven to be unsubstantiated. Hoffa was declared dead in 1982, but his case continues to be open, and every few years a new lead emerges about the possible location of his remains.

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Top Strangest Natural Phenomena

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000

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The universe is indeed a curious place. Even stranger are the processes and phenomena that occur in the universe, some are without explanation, some are quite dangerous, and some are just really cool.

5. Ball Lightning

Ball lightning does not look like regular lightning. Instead it takes the form of a glowing sphere drifting horizontally through the air. It can vary in size from a minuscule pea to a large bus. No real theories have been formed and yet at least five percent of the total population has seen ball lightning in some point of time.

4. Aurora Borealis

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful events to occur in our world, the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, has both astounded and amazed people since it was first discovered. It is much easier to stare at the phenomenon and enjoy its beauty than to understand why exactly it occurs. Here’s the “concise” explanation from http://finland.fi/finfo/English/aurora_borealis.html:“‘The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometers above the earth’s surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern.’”

3. Sprites

Sprites are large scale high-energy electrical discharges that occur above thunderstorm clouds. They are caused by the discharges of positive lightning between a thunderstorm and the ground and give rise to a large variety of bright and unusual visual shapes. Sprites have been reported since 1886 but only last for a few milliseconds and are very rare, so there are few photographs and videos of them.

2. Green Flashes

Sometimes, when the sun sets or rises, the top edge of that sun will appear to be a bright green, but one usually has to see it through a distant horizon. Atmospheric conditions have to be nearly perfect with no clouds all the way down to the horizon. It may last for around a second this phenomenon is called a green flash, and it is caused by a certain refraction of light in the atmosphere. You can learn more about what causes green flashes here: http://www.exo.net/~pauld/physics/atmospheric_optics/green_flash.html

1. The Taos Hum

The Taos Hum is a low-frequency humming noise that occurs frequently in Taos, New Mexico. Similar hums like the Taos Hum have been reported all over the world and have been attributed to sounds caused by machines or other industrial-related things. The thing that makes the Taos Hum so special that it deserves a spot on this list is that no one has ever found the source of the hum, and what’s even more interesting is that the sound is often intensified and much louder in buildings but is only heard by around 2 percent of the population.

You can download and listen to the hum here: http://www.eskimo.com/~bilb/freenrg/taos.wav

Written by Johnny Dunn

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Historic Live Musical Performances

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:57:00 +0000

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There are certain moments in musical history when we wish we could say I was there (although not in some cases). Here is a list, in time order, of some of those events, the controversial, the groundbreaking, the political, the tragic, and the wonderful.

Jimi Hendrix

June 16, 1967 – Monterey Pop Festival, California

Hendrix was already popular in Europe but had yet to break through in his home country. His dynamic set at Monterey put that to rights. The festival was a huge success and presented an eclectic mix of music, which included The Who, Ravi Shankar, Grateful Dead, and Otis Redding. Hendrix performed his magic on ‘Hey Joe’, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, and ‘Purple Haze’. It was his final song, ‘Wild Thing’ however, that literally set the place on fire. He had burned guitars on stage before but this occasion was captured on film and in photographs and it became his most iconic image. He kneeled over the Stratocaster, poured lighter fluid over it, set it alight, and then smashed it, throwing pieces into the crowd. Don’t try this at home.

Phil Ochs

August 27, 1968 – Democratic National Convention in Chicago

The 4-day convention attracted thousands of protestors to the city’s streets to demonstrate against the Vietnam War. Violence erupted between the demonstrators and the police and National Guard, involving baton charges and the use of tear gas. Phil Ochs gave the protestors a focal point when he performed his signature anti-war song, ‘I Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore’. His performance inspired hundreds of people in the crowd to hold up their draft cards and burn them. This act of defiance was caught on film. When the organizers of the protests, known as the Chicago Seven, were later put on trial for inciting to riot and conspiracy, Ochs was called as a witness. The defense wanted him to sing his anthem in court but the judge would not allow it. Instead, Ochs read out the lyrics.

The Doors

March 1, 1969 – Dinner Key Auditorium, Miami

By the time Jim Morrison got to the concert hall in Miami, he was drunk. The resulting gig was shambolic with Morrison ranting at the audience and abandoning songs. It was alleged by some eyewitnesses that he exposed himself briefly. There is no photographic evidence to support this. The warrant for his arrest was issued a few days later and he was charged with indecent exposure and profanity. Shows were cancelled and radio airplay lessened but the band started touring again in June. The trial took place in August 1970 and the plea was not guilty. Morrison was found guilty and returned to court in October for sentencing. He was given 6 months hard labor for the indecent exposure charge and 60 days hard labor for the profanity charge. His defense filed an appeal. Before the matter could be resolved, Morrison died in Paris in July 1971. Whether the exposure incident actually took place or not, it was clear that Morrison was frustrated at his sex symbol status and wanted to be taken seriously as a songwriter and poet. Miami was a low point in a brief but unforgettable career.

The Rolling Stones

December 6, 1969 – Altamont Speedway Free Festival, California

This concert came to symbolize the death of the optimistic spirit of the 1960s. The Stones headlined the show, which also featured Santana, Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. They hired local members of the Hells Angels as security to guard the low stage. The bikers were paid in beer and many of them were drunk by the time the Stones started to perform. The peaceful gathering had deteriorated with fights breaking out between the Hells Angels and individuals in the crowd who were high. During ‘Sympathy for the Devil’, Mick Jagger stopped to appeal for calm. The tragedy took place when they performed ‘Under My Thumb’. 18-year-old Meredith Hunter got into a scuffle with some Angels when he attempted to go on stage. He pulled a gun and one of the Angels stabbed him and others kicked him where he lay. During the investigation into his death, it transpired that Hunter had been high. The Angel responsible for the stabbing pleaded self-defense and was acquitted. The Rolling Stones had finished their set, completely unaware of the death until afterwards. The incident was caught on camera and shown in the 1970 documentary, ‘Gimme Shelter’.

The Sex Pistols

June 4, 1976 – Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England

This gig is often cited as the catalyst for the local punk music scene that spread out into the rest of the UK and the world. There were only approximately 40 people watching in the small venue but some of those that were there that night were inspired to form their own bands. The Buzzcocks were there because two of their members organized the gig. Other fans said to be present include Morrissey (The Smiths), Mark E. Smith (the Fall), and future members of Joy Division. The Sex Pistols had formed in 1975 and they led the British punk revolution, shocking the general public with their clothes, swearing, and raw music. This was their first appearance in Manchester and they were asked back for a second gig at the hall the following month. The performance was re-staged in the 2002 film, ‘24 Hour Party People’. The gig is now part of punk mythology. A lot of spit has flown under the bridge since then.

Honorable Mentions

The Beatles – January 30, 1969, Apple Studios Rooftop, London
Brian May (of Queen) – June 3, 2002, Buckingham Palace Rooftop, London – Playing ‘God Save the Queen’ at Party in the Palace to celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee.

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Top Conspiracy Theories

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:55:00 +0000

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We all love a good conspiracy theory. And here you will find 10 of the best conspiracy theories from the last few decades. From the death of an American icon (Marilyn Monroe) to the fall of another American icon (Twin Towers), you may read this list and have your own doubts about these event. Prepare to have your beliefs challenged by these top conspiracy theories.

5. Second-Hand Beatle

This slightly lesser-known theory has a well deserved place in this list due to its ludicrous nature. In 1966, major media – who were probably high at the time – declared that Paul McCartney had, in fact, died and was replaced by a look-alike who still claims his fame to this day. Eager to jump on the bandwagon of this fancy-free fable, Lennon and the other Fab Four had a laugh by “encoding” clues in lyrics and album art for their fans to draw further assumptions from.

4. The Murdered Princess

When England’s Rose died in a tragic car crash back in 1997, the world couldn’t quite believe it. The shock immediately provoked people to come up with causes and reasons to justify the death – namely that it wasn’t a tragic accident, but a plot by the Royal Family. Mohamed Al Fayed, father of the princess’ fiancé, added further weight to this by campaigning for years to investigate whether the M16 – recruited by the Royals – had engineered the accident to stop Diana marrying a Muslim. One other theory is that the princess, sick of constant media attention, faked her own demise.

3. Roswell Gets Rumbled

This hugely popular theory has been the catalyst for numerous research programs, debates, movie spin-offs, books and TV programs. The incident, dubbed “Area 51”, took place in July 1947 and prompted head scratching about little green men for years, although the Government still dismiss it as a crash-landing of a top-secret research balloon. The conspiracy theorists would have us believe that an alien spaceship crash-landed and the wreckage, plus the extra-terrestrial pilots, are being held and studied in a secret bunker somewhere.

2. Mickey Mouse Moon Landing

Although all of us want to believe that man has walked on the moon, naysayers have put across convincing contentions to say otherwise. In a time of depression for America, spirits were lifted when Neil Armstrong uttered the infamous words “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. However, it’s all been slated as an attempt to cheer America up and stick two fingers up to Russia at the same time. Arguments against the moon landing include the US flag flapping in the ‘wind’ despite zero gravity, important missing documents, misplaced shadows – and – the fact that no one has been back since!

1. 9/11 – Even More Sinister?

The tragedies that rocked New York on the morning of September 11th also rocked the world. It wasn’t long before tongues began to wag about the seemingly neat and controlled collapse of the solid steel Twin Towers –reminiscent of dynamite at the base instead of a jet smashing into the side. Other arguments for the theory cite the “tidy” wreckage of the Pentagon attack, not to mention the fact that in normal circumstances any other foreign aircraft would have been intercepted much quicker than the 40 minutes it took the plane to make impact. Proponents of this theory believe Bush was trying to rouse public support for military action and expansion of the police state.

Written by KATHERINE WATT

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Top Google Maps Satellite Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:56:00 +0000

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If you haven’t used Google Maps before I suggest you take about 15 minutes and start playing. Enter your home address, work address, a place you would like to visit. You will be amazed at the technology and probably a little paranoid too. The detail that can be achieved is truly astounding and from the screen shots below you can see how creative the citizens of planet earth can be when they know Google is watching.

All of the images below are real and nothing has been altered or “photoshopped” to create the satellite photos you see. For the non-believers a link to the Google Maps page showing the image has been included so you can zoom in and zoom out to see the surrounding mapped area. If you know of any other satellite photos that should have been added please make a comment.

5. Follow the White Pink Rabbit

That is one helluva big Easter Bunny! You can find this bunny in Artesina, Italy. Supposedly this rabbit was knitted, not that you can see the yarn at this distance. Is he dead or sleeping, you be the judge. You can also see the rabbit at the artist’s site.

4. Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man

Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man is just as impressive when created in a field. Not sure how long this one will last so see it fast at Google Maps, it will grow on you.

3. Coca Cola in Chile

This Coca-Cola logo was supposedly created out of coke bottles just outside of Arica in Chile. I wonder if that is considered littering? See the bottles at Google Maps.

2. The Belly Flop that Shook the World

That was one titan-sized belly flop that created that lake. See the real belly whopper in Google Maps.

1. The Real World Browser – Firefox in Portland

Crop circle art made in the shape of the Firefox Logo near Portland, Oregon. Firefox is my personal browser of choice and it appears the choice of our alien crop circle artists. See the truth at Google Maps

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Top Toxic Foods We Love To Eat

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:21:00 +0000

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When eating, we generally find food that we think tastes great. Others like to focus on how healthy a certain food is before eating it. In any case, food is essential to all of our being. It is speculated that the body can only last two weeks without eating before it starts to break down due to lack of nutrients. Of course this number changes, depending on body mass, weight, etc.

However, have you ever stopped to think, while shoving a nice red ripe apple into your mouth, that you may be eating something poisonous? Many don’t know it, but a lot of the common day foods that we eat are toxic! Here is a list of ten toxic foods us humans just can’t say no to.

5. Potatoes

We’ve all heard something or another about potatoes. Whether it is the potato famine, some Irish story, or some other historical event centered on potatoes, one thing you may not have heard of is that potatoes are toxic. The stem and leaves of the plant are toxic, and even the potato itself is toxic. If you’ve ever looked at a potato, you may have realized that some turn a greenish color. This is due to levels of glycoalkaloid poison. In the past, there have been deaths due to potato poisoning. It is rare, but most happen due to someone drinking potato leaf tea, or eating green potatoes. Death doesn’t come suddenly. It usually results in weakness and then a coma. Don’t worry about having the occasional green potato chip, but do discard any potatoes that have green eyes, sprouts, or greenish skins, rather than prepare and serve them, especially to children.

Interesting fact: Potatoes make great food for astronaut! In fact in 1995 potato plants were taken into orbit on the Columbia and actually grown.

4. Almonds

Almonds, most always said to be nuts, are actually seeds and are extremely popular in kitchens around the world. Much like cashews, almonds are extremely poisonous if not introduced to some sort of heat source. It is generally the bitter almonds that need to be treated to get rid of the poison. The seeds are full of cyanide, and in many countries are illegal to sell without having been processed in order to get rid of the poison within the seed.

Interesting fact: Almonds are said to be one of the earliest cultivated foods, being mentioned in the Bible’s Old Testament.

3. Cherries

Cherries are definitely one of the most versatile fruits. You can eat them raw, cook them, bake them, and get them tart or sweet. Cherries can even be used in certain types of liquor. Despite their overall red goodness, cherries are toxic. If you’ve ever eaten a cherry and without thought chewed on the pip or left it in your mouth, you more than likely introduced hydrogen cyanide into your body. If a cherry pip is chewed, crushed, or somehow damaged, it automatically produces hydrogen cyanide. Symptoms of mild poisoning include headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, and vomiting. Larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and kidney failure. Reactions can include coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest.

Interesting fact: Cherries contain extremely high amounts of Melatonin which is good for helping and keeping the body regulated.

2. Apples

Apples are definitely a popular fruit no matter where you go. Like others on the list, and many other types of fruits, apples contain cyanide, but not in high levels. The fruit itself does not contain the chemical, but you will find cyanide in the apple’s seeds. Eating all of the seeds in one apple won’t kill you, but it’s definitely not recommended. Of course, if enough apple seeds are eaten, this means chewed and swallowed, it can result in complications.

Interesting fact: Apples float because at least 25% of their mass is nothing but air.

1. Tomato

Despite the extreme popularity of tomatoes and many countries, it is true that they are poisonous. Though the fruit itself doesn’t contain poison, the stem as well as the leaves contain a chemical known as glycoalkaloid. Higher levels are said to be found in wild tomatoes, but those grown domestically still contain glycoalkaloid. This chemical is known to cause upset stomachs and nervousness. The leaves and stem can be used in cooking for flavor, but must be removed before eating. This chemical is so powerful that it is actually used as a way to control pests.

Interesting fact: In 1893, in the U.S. Supreme Court case Nix v. Hedden, it was argued whether or not a tomato was a vegetable or a fruit, which dealt with taxes being paid on vegetbles and not fruits. In the end, the court ruled that a tomato is a vegetable when referring to the Tariff Act, but is botanically a fruit.

Honorable mentions: Rhubarb, Nutmeg, Raw kidney beans and Castor oil

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Top Most Incredible Prison Escapes

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:23:00 +0000

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Every year, thousands of inmates escape from prisons around the world. Of these, most just walk away from minimum-security corrections facilities, but other inmates implement complex, ingenious, and often violent schemes in order to make their getaway. Whether the work of notorious outlaws, WWII G.I.s, or 18th century writers, the following are the top 10 most incredible prison escapes.

Casanova’s Escape from the Leads

Venetian writer and adventurer Giacomo Casanova is best remembered for being a ladies’ man, but he is also responsible for one of the all time great prison breaks. In 1753, after gaining a reputation for debauchery and adultery, Casanova was arrested and confined to the Leads prison, so named because it was outfitted with a lead roof that was designed to encourage stifling heat and make escape impossible. After smuggling a metal spike into his cell, Casanova and a renegade priest confined nearby managed to tunnel through the ceiling of their cells. Once through, they pried open the lead plates on the roof and broke into another room through a dormer window. Using a combination of ladders and ropes, the duo managed to make it to the ground floor, and after breaking a lock and sneaking through the prison corridors, they escaped by gondola into the city’s network of rivers. Casanova would later write about the escape in a popular memoir, and though many have speculated that the story may be embellished, evidence from scene of the jailbreak seems to back up his account.

5. Dieter Dengler’s Prison Camp Escape

Dieter Dengler was a German-American Navy pilot who made a famous escape from a jungle prison camp during the Vietnam War. In early 1966, Dengler’s plane was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Laos, and he was captured and shipped to a prison camp run by the Pathet Lao, a group of North Vietnamese sympathizers. Dengler had earned a reputation for his uncanny ability to escape from mock-POW camps during his military training, and he immediately contributed to a plan the prisoners had to make a getaway. On June 29, 1966, he and six other prisoners managed to escape from their hand and foot restraints and get a hold of the guard’s weapons. After gunning down three guards, Dengler escaped into the dense forest. He would eventually spend 23 days in the jungle enduring extreme heat, insects, leeches, parasites, and starvation before being rescued by an American helicopter. Only one of the other prisoners, a Thai contractor, survived the escape. The others were all either killed or disappeared in the jungle. Dengler would go on to become a successful test pilot in his later years, and to this day he is credited as the only American soldier to successfully escape from a prison camp during the Vietnam War.

4. Escape From Alcatraz

In 1962, Frank Morris and Clarence and John Anglin used months of meticulous planning to make what has become the prototypical prison escape. The trio were being held in the infamous prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco, which was reserved for the most hardened criminals and considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons ever built. The men used a series of tools including a drill assembled from a vacuum cleaner motor to chip away at the aging concrete in their cells and make it to a nearby ventilation shaft. They then made their way down a chimney to the beach, where they quickly assembled a handmade raft and escaped into the San Francisco Bay. Their escape was not realized until the next morning, as the men had fashioned some dummy heads from soap, human hair, and toilet paper to make it look like they were asleep in their beds. The men were never heard from again, and most evidence suggests they drowned in the bay, but no bodies were ever found.

3. The Maze Prison Escape

One of the most violent prison escapes of all time, the Maze Prison break took place in 1983, when 35 inmates escaped after taking control of the prison by force. The Maze was reserved for Irish Republican Army paramilitary combatants and terrorists, and was considered to be one of the most inescapable prisons in all of Europe. But after several months of planning, a group of prisoners led by IRA members Gerry Kelly and Bobby Storey seized control of an entire cellblock by using handguns that had been smuggled into the jail. After wounding several of the guards and stealing their uniforms, the prisoners hijacked a car and took over a nearby guard post, but when they couldn’t get past the main gate, the men hopped the fence and made a run for it on foot. All told, 35 men escaped from the prison– sixteen of whom were recaptured soon after–and twenty guards were injured.

2. Billy Hayes’ Escape From Turkish Prison

Arriving in New York on October 24, 1975, after his five-year ordeal in the Turkish prison system, Billy Hayes displays the new passport that the American embassy in Athens, Greece issued him.

Billy Hayes was an American student who was arrested in 1970 when he tried to smuggle two pounds of hash onto a plane in Turkey. After being caught, he was sentenced to thirty years in the harsh Turkish prison system. Hayes toiled in Sagmilicar Prison for five years, but he was eventually transferred to an island prison in the Sea of Marmara, and it was here that he began to seriously plan his escape. The island had no boats, but a nearby harbor would frequently fill up with small fishing vessels any time there was a strong storm. Hayes spent days hiding in a concrete bin, and when the time was right, he swam to the harbor and stole a small dinghy. From here, he was able to make his way to Greece, and eventually traveled halfway around the world before arriving safely back in the United States. Hayes later wrote a book about his ordeal called Midnight Express, which was adapted into a fictionalized film of the same name.

1. The Great Escape

For sheer planning, risk, and scale, prison escapes don’t get much more complex than the 1944 escape of 76 Allied soldiers from Stalag Luft III, a German prison that operated during WWII. The escape was the culmination of over a year of work by some 600 prisoners. The men dug three tunnels (nicknamed “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry”) 30 feet beneath the surface of the prison with the plan of tunneling past the main fence and surfacing in the nearby forest. This required a sophisticated construction process that included the use of wood blocks for support, a series of lamps, and even a pump to make sure the soldiers digging had enough air to breathe. After gathering a collection of civilian clothes and passports, on March 24, 1944 the soldiers began to make their escape. Unfortunately, the tunnel had come up short of the forest, and as the men surfaced they were in clear sight of the guards. 76 men still managed to escape, but the 77th was spotted and the tunnel was shut down. The Nazis took a special interest in the escaped prisoners, and all but three were eventually caught. Still, thanks to the popularity of the famous movie based on it, as well as its sheer scale and audacity, “the Great Escape” remains one of the most well-known prison escapes of all time.

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Top Unfinished Works of Literature

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:35:00 +0000

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Ever since writing has been known to man, literature as become an extremely important part of everyday life, even for those who aren’t writers. Literature allows people to express their thoughts and feelings, and then have others read them, take it in, and draw their own conclusions and thoughts.

As a writer myself, it’s definitely hard to walk away from something that I am writing that isn’t quite finished. However, from centuries ago on up to today’s society, there are some authors who weren’t able to finish a piece of their literature, whether it be due to death or some other circumstance. Here’s a list of top 10 pieces of literature that were never completed.

5. Sanditon – Jane Austen

Not only is she a well-known female British author, Jane Austen is also known for being one of the first women to express feminist ideas. Austen set out to write a book titled The Brothers, which was then changed to Sanditon after her death in 1817. The story tells of people in England attempting to create a seaside town named Sanditon, while attempting to grab the interest of others through letters and word of mouth. Authors and critics praise the unfinished novel, expressing that Austen was given only six months to live and was gravely ill, but was still able to create an idea for a novel that was new, innovative, and fresh.

4. The Mysterious Stranger – Mark Twain

A great American author, Mark Twain definitely made his footprint in history with the many novels other pieces of literature he wrote. Mark Twain set out to write The Mysterious Stranger, but decided to create three different versions of the story, none of which were even completed. Each story revolved around Satan as the man character. The version of the book that was the most substantial told of Satan’s youth and adventurous ways in an Austrian village. It also speaks of a sinless nephew of Satan, but the book ends quickly with Satan entertaining an Indian prince. The book ends in the middle of a scene, suggesting that Twain possibly wanted to abandon the novel.

3. The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens is definitely well known for his literature, most notably Hard Times, A Christmas Carol, and Oliver Twist. However, before his death, Dickens started on another novel called The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which was to depict a tale of mystery and murder that revolved around a man named John Jasper who falls in love with a student of his named Rosa Bud. However, Bud is set to be married to Drood, and on goes the story. However, the novel was never finished, but portions of the text were shown to Queen Victoria, but the ending was never revealed.

2. Kubla Khan – Samuel Coleridge

Kubla Khan by Samuel Coleridge differs from the others on the list. The poem, named after a well-known Chinese and Mongol emperor, was said to be the vision of an opium-induced dream, hence also being called A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment. The poem tells of the mighty emperor and creates a very suspenseful atmosphere, which is amplified by the fact that the poem has no ending. Many believe that the poem is the result of hallucinations due to taking opium. In any case, the poem was never finished, as Coleridge said that the idea came to him in a vision but he was not able to finish the poem before his vision vanished.

1. Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales are most definitely a classic piece of British literature. Written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales tells of numerous stories and accounts from different pilgrims who set out on a pilgrimage from Southwark in order to arrive at Canterbury Cathedral to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket. Told in Middle English, the tales point out likes and flaws of each pilgrim, conclusively showing the problems of society during this time. However, Chaucer was only able to finish 24 out of the 124 tales he planned to write due to his death in 1400.

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What is a Child? by George Bernard Shaw

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:57:00 +0000

An experiment. A fresh attempt to produce the just man made perfect:
that is, to make humanity divine. And you will vitiate the experiment
if you make the slightest attempt to abort it into some fancy figure
of your own: for example, your notion of a good man or a womanly
woman. If you treat it as a little wild beast to be tamed, or as a
pet to be played with, or even as a means to save you trouble and to
make money for you (and these are our commonest ways), it may fight
its way through in spite of you and save its soul alive; for all its
instincts will resist you, and possibly be strengthened in the
resistance; but if you begin with its own holiest aspirations, and
suborn them for your own purposes, then there is hardly any limit to
the mischief you may do. Swear at a child, throw your boots at it,
send it flying from the room with a cuff or a kick; and the experience
will be as instructive to the child as a difficulty with a
short-tempered dog or a bull. Francis Place tells us that his father
always struck his children when he found one within his reach. The
effect on the young Places seems to have been simply to make them keep
out of their father's way, which was no doubt what he desired, as far
as he desired anything at all. Francis records the habit without
bitterness, having reason to thank his stars that his father respected
the inside of his head whilst cuffing the outside of it; and this made
it easy for Francis to do yeoman's service to his country as that rare
and admirable thing, a Freethinker: the only sort of thinker, I may
remark, whose thoughts, and consequently whose religious convictions,
command any respect.

Now Mr Place, senior, would be described by many as a bad father; and
I do not contend that he was a conspicuously good one. But as
compared with the conventional good father who deliberately imposes
himself on his son as a god; who takes advantage of childish credulity
and parent worship to persuade his son that what he approves of is
right and what he disapproves of is wrong; who imposes a corresponding
conduct on the child by a system of prohibitions and penalties,
rewards and eulogies, for which he claims divine sanction: compared
to this sort of abortionist and monster maker, I say, Place appears
almost as a Providence. Not that it is possible to live with children
any more than with grown-up people without imposing rules of conduct
on them. There is a point at which every person with human nerves has
to say to a child "Stop that noise." But suppose the child asks why!
There are various answers in use. The simplest: "Because it
irritates me," may fail; for it may strike the child as being rather
amusing to irritate you; also the child, having comparatively no
nerves, may be unable to conceive your meaning vividly enough. In any
case it may want to make a noise more than to spare your feelings.
You may therefore have to explain that the effect of the irritation
will be that you will do something unpleasant if the noise continues.
The something unpleasant may be only a look of suffering to rouse the
child's affectionate sympathy (if it has any), or it may run to
forcible expulsion from the room with plenty of unnecessary violence;
but the principle is the same: there are no false pretences involved:
the child learns in a straightforward way that it does not pay to be
inconsiderate. Also, perhaps, that Mamma, who made the child learn
the Sermon on the Mount, is not really a Christian.

The Child is Father to the Man by George Bernard Shaw

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Is he? Then in the name of common sense why do we always treat
children on the assumption that the man is father to the child? Oh,
these fathers! And we are not content with fathers: we must have
godfathers, forgetting that the child is godfather to the man. Has it
ever struck you as curious that in a country where the first article
of belief is that every child is born with a godfather whom we all
call "our father which art in heaven," two very limited individual
mortals should be allowed to appear at its baptism and explain that
they are its godparents, and that they will look after its salvation
until it is no longer a child. I had a godmother who made herself
responsible in this way for me. She presented me with a Bible with a
gilt clasp and edges, larger than the Bibles similarly presented to my
sisters, because my sex entitled me to a heavier article. I must have
seen that lady at least four times in the twenty years following. She
never alluded to my salvation in any way. People occasionally ask me
to act as godfather to their children with a levity which convinces me
that they have not the faintest notion that it involves anything more
than calling the helpless child George Bernard without regard to the
possibility that it may grow up in the liveliest abhorrence of my
notions.

A person with a turn for logic might argue that if God is the Father
of all men, and if the child is father to the man, it follows that the
true representative of God at the christening is the child itself.
But such posers are unpopular, because they imply that our little
customs, or, as we often call them, our religion, mean something, or
must originally have meant something, and that we understand and
believe that something.

However, my business is not to make confusion worse confounded, but to
clear it up. Only, it is as well to begin by a sample of current
thought and practice which shews that on the subject of children we
are very deeply confused. On the whole, whatever our theory or no
theory may be, our practice is to treat the child as the property of
its immediate physical parents, and to allow them to do what they like
with it as far as it will let them. It has no rights and no
liberties: in short, its condition is that which adults recognize as
the most miserable and dangerous politically possible for themselves:
namely, the condition of slavery. For its alleviation we trust to the
natural affection of the parties, and to public opinion. A father
cannot for his own credit let his son go in rags. Also, in a very
large section of the population, parents finally become dependent on
their children. Thus there are checks on child slavery which do not
exist, or are less powerful, in the case of manual and industrial
slavery. Sensationally bad cases fall into two classes, which are
really the same class: namely, the children whose parents are
excessively addicted to the sensual luxury of petting children, and
the children whose parents are excessively addicted to the sensual
luxury of physically torturing them. There is a Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children which has effectually made an end of
our belief that mothers are any more to be trusted than stepmothers,
or fathers than slave-drivers. And there is a growing body of law
designed to prevent parents from using their children ruthlessly to
make money for the household. Such legislation has always been
furiously resisted by the parents, even when the horrors of factory
slavery were at their worst; and the extension of such legislation at
present would be impossible if it were not that the parents affected
by it cannot control a majority of votes in Parliament. In domestic
life a great deal of service is done by children, the girls acting as
nursemaids and general servants, and the lads as errand boys. In the
country both boys and girls do a substantial share of farm labor.
This is why it is necessary to coerce poor parents to send their
children to school, though in the relatively small class which keeps
plenty of servants it is impossible to induce parents to keep their
children at home instead of paying schoolmasters to take them off
their hands.

It appears then that the bond of affection between parents and
children does not save children from the slavery that denial of rights
involves in adult political relations. It sometimes intensifies it,
sometimes mitigates it; but on the whole children and parents confront
one another as two classes in which all the political power is on one
side; and the results are not at all unlike what they would be if
there were no immediate consanguinity between them, and one were white
and the other black, or one enfranchised and the other
disenfranchised, or one ranked as gentle and the other simple. Not
that Nature counts for nothing in the case and political rights for
everything. But a denial of political rights, and the resultant
delivery of one class into the mastery of another, affects their
relations so extensively and profoundly that it is impossible to
ascertain what the real natural relations of the two classes are until
this political relation is abolished.

Trailing Clouds of Glory by George Bernard Shaw

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:54:00 +0000

Childhood is a stage in the process of that continual remanufacture of
the Life Stuff by which the human race is perpetuated. The Life Force
either will not or cannot achieve immortality except in very low
organisms: indeed it is by no means ascertained that even the amoeba
is immortal. Human beings visibly wear out, though they last longer
than their friends the dogs. Turtles, parrots, and elephants are
believed to be capable of outliving the memory of the oldest human
inhabitant. But the fact that new ones are born conclusively proves
that they are not immortal. Do away with death and you do away with
the need for birth: in fact if you went on breeding, you would
finally have to kill old people to make room for young ones.

Now death is not necessarily a failure of energy on the part of the
Life Force. People with no imagination try to make things which will
last for ever, and even want to live for ever themselves. But the
intelligently imaginative man knows very well that it is waste of
labor to make a machine that will last ten years, because it will
probably be superseded in half that time by an improved machine
answering the same purpose. He also knows that if some devil were to
convince us that our dream of personal immortality is no dream but a
hard fact, such a shriek of despair would go up from the human race as
no other conceivable horror could provoke. With all our perverse
nonsense as to John Smith living for a thousand million eons and for
ever after, we die voluntarily, knowing that it is time for us to be
scrapped, to be remanufactured, to come back, as Wordsworth divined,
trailing ever brightening clouds of glory. We must all be born again,
and yet again and again. We should like to live a little longer just
as we should like 50 pounds: that is, we should take it if we could
get it for nothing; but that sort of idle liking is not will. It is
amazing--considering the way we talk--how little a man will do to get
50 pounds: all the 50-pound notes I have ever known of have been more
easily earned than a laborious sixpence; but the difficulty of
inducing a man to make any serious effort to obtain 50 pounds is
nothing to the difficulty of inducing him to make a serious effort to
keep alive. The moment he sees death approach, he gets into bed and
sends for a doctor. He knows very well at the back of his conscience
that he is rather a poor job and had better be remanufactured. He
knows that his death will make room for a birth; and he hopes that it
will be a birth of something that he aspired to be and fell short of.
He knows that it is through death and rebirth that this corruptible
shall become incorruptible, and this mortal put on immortality.
Practise as you will on his ignorance, his fears, and his imagination,
with bribes of paradises and threats of hells, there is only one
belief that can rob death of its sting and the grave of its victory;
and that is the belief that we can lay down the burden of our wretched
little makeshift individualities for ever at each lift towards the
goal of evolution, which can only be a being that cannot be improved
upon. After all, what man is capable of the insane self-conceit of
believing that an eternity of himself would be tolerable even to
himself? Those who try to believe it postulate that they shall be
made perfect first. But if you make me perfect I shall no longer be
myself, nor will it be possible for me to conceive my present
imperfections (and what I cannot conceive I cannot remember); so that
you may just as well give me a new name and face the fact that I am a
new person and that the old Bernard Shaw is as dead as mutton. Thus,
oddly enough, the conventional belief in the matter comes to this:
that if you wish to live for ever you must be wicked enough to be
irretrievably damned, since the saved are no longer what they were,
and in hell alone do people retain their sinful nature: that is to
say, their individuality. And this sort of hell, however convenient
as a means of intimidating persons who have practically no honor and
no conscience, is not a fact. Death is for many of us the gate of
hell; but we are inside on the way out, not outside on the way in.
Therefore let us give up telling one another idle stories, and rejoice
in death as we rejoice in birth; for without death we cannot be born
again; and the man who does not wish to be born again and born better
is fit only to represent the City of London in Parliament, or perhaps
the university of Oxford.

Top 5 Odd Allergies

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:29:00 +0000

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We’ve all had to deal with the coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes, a rash or some other skin irritation, and maybe even hives. And for what? Usually do to some substance that our body is allergic to, causing annoying and sometimes painful symptoms.

It’s safe to say that most people are allergic to something. Whether it be pet dander, dust, chocolate, or that lovely yellow powdery substance we like to call pollen, most people have to deal with being allergic to one thing or another. Being allergic to dust or pollen or certain types of foods seems common these days, but can you imagine being allergic to something else? Say…the sun? Here’s a list of the top ten oddest allergies.

5. Computers – Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

Allergies to computers seems almost impossible these days, and even more impossible to imagine. However, computer users have complained or nasal congestion, sneezing, itching, and even headaches after using the computer. Studies have found that computer monitors and other parts contain a chemical called triphenyl phosphate, which is used as a flame retardant. Fortunately, levels of the chemical usually decrease after the computer is used for a longer amount of time.

4. Exercise – Anaphylaxis

You’ve probably heard someone joke and say that they are allergic to exercise out of the mere cost of being funny and probably lazy. However, there is in fact a real allergy that makes some allergic to exercising. Only 1,000 people are said to have the allergy. Called exercise-induced anaphylaxis, this allergy is only noticed after someone eats a certain type of food, say peanuts, and goes to exercise. That person can easily eat peanuts without having a reaction, but when exercise is added, the person may experience fainting, vomiting and difficulty breathing.

3. Cold – Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome

Not many people love being in the cold, but imagine being allergic to it. Known as familial cold autoinflammatory syndrome (FCAS) or simply cold urticaria, this allergy is caused by cold temperatures. The cold weather will trigger the body to release histamine in the skin which causes rashes, hives, redness, and swelling. This condition can be deadly, especially if undiagnosed, as most people may at times swim in a cold pool or take a cool shower. Both of these can cause the body to go into shock.

2. Sun – Erythropoietic Protoporphyria

It is very rare that people are allergic to the sun, but the allergy does exist. It is said that only 300 people in the world are allergic to the sun. It’s medically known as solar urticaria. There is also a more serious condition known as erythropoietic protoporphyria. When exposed to direct sunlight, the immune system activates inflammatory cells that are within the skin. Most people allergic to the sun are told to limit their exposure and to wear sun block. Others need to wear special clothing or avoid the sun at all costs.

1. Water – Aquagenic Urticaria

Known as aquagenic urticaria, this condition is said to only affect one out of every 23 million people in the world. Being allergic to water is extremely rare, and most that are allergic to it are confined to their homes. Being allergic to water means being allergic to sweat as well as tears, and even allergic to foods that contain water, such as juices, tea, and coffee. This means that bathing and showering are extremely difficult. The person is hypersensitive to the ions found in non-distilled water, so most have to be very careful when drinking water, or they drink non-distilled water. Here is an article from an actual case of aquagenic urticaria

for complete list visit the link below
source : http://www.toptenz.net

we are screaming...

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:20:00 +0000

©2008-2009 *photodream

we are screaming all the time
you hold your chest tightly to try to hide something
if some rules are annoying you destroy them
if you thinking of resting your injured legs...
stand up and move a step forward from here instead
even if we push through the distorted winds
and got ahead of the cold sky we are still lost...

we are screaming all the time
just believing isn't the answer
we have to expose our weaknesses and wounds
and continue to struggle or nothing will begin
break through and move across the door
move across the door...

we are still screaming
you grip your right hand tightly to confirm its there
if some rules are annoying you destroy them
if you thinking of resting your injured legs...
stand up and move a step forward from here instead
even if we push through the distorted winds
and got ahead of the cold sky we are still lost...

we are screaming all the time
just believing isn't the answer
we have to expose our weaknesses and wounds
and continue to struggle or nothing will begin
break through and move across the door
move across the door...

source : Fullmetal Alchemist 2003 (ending soundtrack subs)

As 1000 Nights Pass

noreply@blogger.com (Muzafar Hasan) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:17:00 +0000

I want you to Love me but I don't think you will
I wander around as I repeat this to myself its the only answer I have ever
If I am scared of getting hurt I'll say " I LOVE YOU" to the one I Love

Do you Love me or not
I don't care what the answer is
I just need to know no matter how badly I desire to be with You
There are many unchangeable things in this world
and my Love for you can't be stopped by anyone

As 1000 nights pass
I long to tell You
I have to let You know
I want You to Love me but I don't think You will
I wander around as I repeat this to myself its the only answer I have ever
If I am scared of getting hurt I'll say " I LOVE YOU" to the one I Love

To the happiness we chance upon in our lives
Can't be expressed in words that's why we can only smile
Why we sing "DO RE MI" among the vivid autumn colors
with winter at our backs
and the spring sunbeams peeking through the leaves
as to protect someone who's been reborn
As I looked the road I'd traveled and the path ahead my eyes were filled with cowardice
I wanted to look into Your eyes but was afraid
I wouldn't be honest
I didn't want to know that You didn't Love me
and live the rest of my days all alone that day
I kept on Loving You without getting hurt

As 1000 nights pass
I long to tell You
I have to let You know I want You to Love me but I don't think You will
I wander around as
I repeat this to myself its the only answer I have ever
If I am scared of getting hurt I'll say " I LOVE YOU" to the one I Love
even if my feelings aren't returned I can say "I LOVE YOU " to the one I love
and that's the most beautiful thing in the world...

source : Bleach: Memories of Nobody 2006 (ending soundtrack subs)