Thursday, December 14, 2017
I discovered after the fact that there was a sweat smear on my lenscausing flare. I tried to correct it with Gimp, and ended up with thisantique effect that I like. That's Angkor Wat in the background. Looksidyllic, but in fact it was grueling for an old guy like me unused toblistering sun and 100%humidity. Hence the sweat...
I discovered after the fact that there was a sweat smear on my lens causing flare. I tried to correct it with Gimp, and ended up with this antique effect that I like. That's Angkor Wat in the background. Looks idyllic, but in fact it was grueling for an old guy like me unused to blistering sun and 100%humidity. Hence the sweat...
Saturday, December 9, 2017
Container cranes. "Ship-to-shore" cranes. "Walkers". I spent an hour watching them in operation, and they are marvelously intricate machines.
Container cranes. "Ship-to-shore" cranes. "Walkers". I spent an hour watching them in operation, and they are marvelously intricate machines.
Friday, December 8, 2017
Condensation on the lens.
Condensation on the lens.
Friday, November 24, 2017
A bit of whimsy cut from a manga...
A bit of whimsy cut from a manga...
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
An amazing combination!
An amazing combination!
Originally shared by Robert Culbertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hdSFg7ebBU&feature=autoshare
Originally shared by Robert Culbertson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hdSFg7ebBU&feature=autoshare
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Varenna, Italy, at sunset.
Varenna, Italy, at sunset.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
An island in space. 20 some miles across, sun is to the bottom. The lamp shade collects solar energy...
An island in space. 20 some miles across, sun is to the bottom. The lamp shade collects solar energy...
Sunday, November 5, 2017
After going through more than a pound of coffee beans in a testing marathon, I concluded that my grinder was inadequate. I did not drink all of the espresso I produced, but I was like Hogarth in The Iron Giant for several hours...
After going through more than a pound of coffee beans in a testing marathon, I concluded that my grinder was inadequate. I did not drink all of the espresso I produced, but I was like Hogarth in The Iron Giant for several hours...
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Fountains in Las Vegas
Fountains in Las Vegas
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Looking through the windows of an O'Neill space colony at the living surface far "below" (about 15 simulated kilometers away) [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Neill_cylinder]
Looking through the windows of an O'Neill space colony at the living surface far "below" (about 15 simulated kilometers away) [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O%27Neill_cylinder]
Thursday, October 19, 2017
Wandering around the Louvre.
Wandering around the Louvre.
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
The back side of Notre Dame. For some reason it makes me think of a giant spider.
The back side of Notre Dame. For some reason it makes me think of a giant spider.
new espresso machine...
new espresso machine...
Monday, October 16, 2017
Les Catacombes de Paris. No flash allowed.
Les Catacombes de Paris. No flash allowed.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
A Monarch visiting our milkweed. The only one so far.
A Monarch visiting our milkweed. The only one so far.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Very interesting...
Very interesting...
Originally shared by Annie Yeung
Monday, September 25, 2017
Originally shared by Dan Mack
Originally shared by Dan Mack
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-invites-russian-national-basketball-team-to-white-house?mbid=nl_Borowitz+09252017&CNDID=36120881&spMailingID=11999495&spUserID=MTgyMTEzMjMzODE1S0&spJobID=1242166656&spReportId=MTI0MjE2NjY1NgS2
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-invites-russian-national-basketball-team-to-white-house?mbid=nl_Borowitz+09252017&CNDID=36120881&spMailingID=11999495&spUserID=MTgyMTEzMjMzODE1S0&spJobID=1242166656&spReportId=MTI0MjE2NjY1NgS2
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Get your solar while you can...
Get your solar while you can...
Originally shared by Electric Cars
International Trade Court rules Suniva and US Solar panel industry injured – what does it mean and who will be hurt https://buff.ly/2fhapFC
https://buff.ly/2fhapW8
Originally shared by Electric Cars
International Trade Court rules Suniva and US Solar panel industry injured – what does it mean and who will be hurt https://buff.ly/2fhapFC
https://buff.ly/2fhapW8
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Originally shared by Keith Wilson
Originally shared by Keith Wilson
The murder occurred three months after Coronilla-Guerrero and his family begged a federal judge not to catapult him back over the border for fear of the Mexican gangs they had illegally crossed the border to flee in the first place.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/09/21/he-said-deportation-would-kill-him-his-body-was-found-in-mexico-this-week/
The murder occurred three months after Coronilla-Guerrero and his family begged a federal judge not to catapult him back over the border for fear of the Mexican gangs they had illegally crossed the border to flee in the first place.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/09/21/he-said-deportation-would-kill-him-his-body-was-found-in-mexico-this-week/
I guess the movie isn't complete yet...
I guess the movie isn't complete yet...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJPM9DDsL0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeJPM9DDsL0
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
We so need real heroes.
We so need real heroes.
Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger
I am sad to report that on May 19th, Stanislav Petrov, one of the great unsung heroes of our time, passed away at the age of 77.
In 1983, Petrov was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces. On September 26th, at a time of particularly heightened tensions, he was duty officer in command of Serpukhov-15, the central command center for Soviet early warning satellites. Shortly after midnight, those satellites detected five incoming American ICBM's.
Petrov later said that the pattern of the attack made no sense to him – why would the Americans attack with only five missiles, instead of going all-out? – and so he unilaterally decided it must be a false alarm, and did not report it.
If you consider how risky it would be for a field officer to make such a decision in a normal army, consider what that meant in the USSR under Andropov: if he was wrong, and somehow survived the resulting nuclear war, and perhaps even if he was right and it embarrassed the wrong people, he could have found himself shot in the basement of Lubyanka.
As it was, he was questioned, alternately praised and condemned, and the entire incident ultimately buried until the publication of Yury Votintsev's (the then-commander of the Soviet missile system) memoirs in the 1990's. His own wife didn't know about it until over ten years later.
The 1983 incident was one of the closest points we have ever come to global nuclear annihilation. As later investigation showed, it was caused by an unexpected reflection of sunlight off high-altitude clouds when the satellites were in a particular part of their orbit – a perfectly reasonable sort of bug which, had anyone else been duty officer that day, could have led to the Soviet Union launching a thermonuclear war.
Petrov never considered himself a hero for what he did that day: he was just doing his job. I would say that, if we could all "just do our jobs" that well, our world would be a safer place.
Politics ensured that Petrov would never be formally commended (or even officially praised) for his actions, but if there was ever a man who deserved to be called a Hero of the Soviet Union, it was him.
Thank you, Stanislav Yevgrafovich, and farewell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger
I am sad to report that on May 19th, Stanislav Petrov, one of the great unsung heroes of our time, passed away at the age of 77.
In 1983, Petrov was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces. On September 26th, at a time of particularly heightened tensions, he was duty officer in command of Serpukhov-15, the central command center for Soviet early warning satellites. Shortly after midnight, those satellites detected five incoming American ICBM's.
Petrov later said that the pattern of the attack made no sense to him – why would the Americans attack with only five missiles, instead of going all-out? – and so he unilaterally decided it must be a false alarm, and did not report it.
If you consider how risky it would be for a field officer to make such a decision in a normal army, consider what that meant in the USSR under Andropov: if he was wrong, and somehow survived the resulting nuclear war, and perhaps even if he was right and it embarrassed the wrong people, he could have found himself shot in the basement of Lubyanka.
As it was, he was questioned, alternately praised and condemned, and the entire incident ultimately buried until the publication of Yury Votintsev's (the then-commander of the Soviet missile system) memoirs in the 1990's. His own wife didn't know about it until over ten years later.
The 1983 incident was one of the closest points we have ever come to global nuclear annihilation. As later investigation showed, it was caused by an unexpected reflection of sunlight off high-altitude clouds when the satellites were in a particular part of their orbit – a perfectly reasonable sort of bug which, had anyone else been duty officer that day, could have led to the Soviet Union launching a thermonuclear war.
Petrov never considered himself a hero for what he did that day: he was just doing his job. I would say that, if we could all "just do our jobs" that well, our world would be a safer place.
Politics ensured that Petrov would never be formally commended (or even officially praised) for his actions, but if there was ever a man who deserved to be called a Hero of the Soviet Union, it was him.
Thank you, Stanislav Yevgrafovich, and farewell.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov
A suburban drain, or.. "Take me to your leader..."
A suburban drain, or.. "Take me to your leader..."
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Friday, September 15, 2017
Some more photos from Kohunlich. It was an Indiana Jones experience, except dead serious, not funny. A great deal is unexplored -- there might be 40 feet of dirt covering parts of it. There are certainly unknown empty spaces under your feet, with maybe real dead people still in them.
Some more photos from Kohunlich. It was an Indiana Jones experience, except dead serious, not funny. A great deal is unexplored -- there might be 40 feet of dirt covering parts of it. There are certainly unknown empty spaces under your feet, with maybe real dead people still in them.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e6cCvgqT3tjF1P6Y2
https://photos.app.goo.gl/e6cCvgqT3tjF1P6Y2
Like the man says...
Like the man says...
Originally shared by Glenn Jerome Everette
But the double standard is, well, standard when it comes to Hillary. Bernie has been bashing Hillary and the Democratic Party for the past two years and that is acceptable. Hillary takes a mild, and verifiably true, swipe at Bernie and, somehow, she's the most divisive figure in modern political history.
https://thedailybanter.com/2017/09/hillary-should-sit-down-and-shut-up-when-bernie-does-draft-share-preview-publish/
Originally shared by Glenn Jerome Everette
But the double standard is, well, standard when it comes to Hillary. Bernie has been bashing Hillary and the Democratic Party for the past two years and that is acceptable. Hillary takes a mild, and verifiably true, swipe at Bernie and, somehow, she's the most divisive figure in modern political history.
https://thedailybanter.com/2017/09/hillary-should-sit-down-and-shut-up-when-bernie-does-draft-share-preview-publish/
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Temple of the Masks, Kohunlich, Mexico. It was quite warm, but pouring rain.
Temple of the Masks, Kohunlich, Mexico. It was quite warm, but pouring rain.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
"Of course, in real life that guy would be clawing his eyes out."
"Of course, in real life that guy would be clawing his eyes out."
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/aaaah
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Union Station Hotel, St Louis, MO
Union Station Hotel, St Louis, MO
This guy was supremely annoying...
This guy was supremely annoying...
Looking forward to reading it :-)
Looking forward to reading it :-)
Originally shared by Rabid Feminist
Defiant Hillary Clinton Still Releasing Book Tuesday, Even Though At Least 10 Men Think She Shouldn’t
https://buff.ly/2wW2OWI
Originally shared by Rabid Feminist
Defiant Hillary Clinton Still Releasing Book Tuesday, Even Though At Least 10 Men Think She Shouldn’t
https://buff.ly/2wW2OWI
Monday, September 11, 2017
The retired space shuttle Atlantis is on display at the Kennedy Space Center.
The retired space shuttle Atlantis is on display at the Kennedy Space Center.
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Pickup truck gives scale...
Pickup truck gives scale...
Not afraid to tell it like it is...
Not afraid to tell it like it is...
Originally shared by Valdis Klētnieks
I admit I lost it at "Unless Trump has moved to someplace that already has a wall..."
http://mindy-fischer-writer.com/2017/09/vicente-fox-expertly-trolls-trump-hilarious-new-2020-campaign-ad-video/
Originally shared by Valdis Klētnieks
I admit I lost it at "Unless Trump has moved to someplace that already has a wall..."
http://mindy-fischer-writer.com/2017/09/vicente-fox-expertly-trolls-trump-hilarious-new-2020-campaign-ad-video/
Made my day :-)
Made my day :-)
Originally shared by Kee Hinckley
Excerpts from the All-Girl Remake of “Lord of the Flies”
H/t my daughter
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/excerpts-from-the-all-girl-remake-of-lord-of-the-flies?mbid=social_facebook
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/excerpts-from-the-all-girl-remake-of-lord-of-the-flies?mbid=social_facebook
Originally shared by Kee Hinckley
Excerpts from the All-Girl Remake of “Lord of the Flies”
H/t my daughter
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/excerpts-from-the-all-girl-remake-of-lord-of-the-flies?mbid=social_facebook
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/excerpts-from-the-all-girl-remake-of-lord-of-the-flies?mbid=social_facebook
Friday, September 8, 2017
Doing some routine maintenance, and found this:
Doing some routine maintenance, and found this:
Originally shared by Pyotr Malatesta
I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”
“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”
“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”
The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”
“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”
“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”
He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”
I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.
“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.
“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
It didn’t seem like they did.
“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.
I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.
“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.
Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.
“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.
I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”
He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.
“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”
I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.
“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”
He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.
Originally shared by Pyotr Malatesta
I was shooting heroin and reading “The Fountainhead” in the front seat of my privately owned police cruiser when a call came in. I put a quarter in the radio to activate it. It was the chief.
“Bad news, detective. We got a situation.”
“What? Is the mayor trying to ban trans fats again?”
“Worse. Somebody just stole four hundred and forty-seven million dollars’ worth of bitcoins.”
The heroin needle practically fell out of my arm. “What kind of monster would do something like that? Bitcoins are the ultimate currency: virtual, anonymous, stateless. They represent true economic freedom, not subject to arbitrary manipulation by any government. Do we have any leads?”
“Not yet. But mark my words: we’re going to figure out who did this and we’re going to take them down … provided someone pays us a fair market rate to do so.”
“Easy, chief,” I said. “Any rate the market offers is, by definition, fair.”
He laughed. “That’s why you’re the best I got, Lisowski. Now you get out there and find those bitcoins.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m on it.”
I put a quarter in the siren. Ten minutes later, I was on the scene. It was a normal office building, strangled on all sides by public sidewalks. I hopped over them and went inside.
“Home Depot™ Presents the Police!®” I said, flashing my badge and my gun and a small picture of Ron Paul. “Nobody move unless you want to!” They didn’t.
“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
It didn’t seem like they did.
“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care that a fortune in computer money invented to buy drugs was missing.
I figured I could wait them out. I lit several cigarettes indoors. A pregnant lady coughed, and I told her that secondhand smoke is a myth. Just then, a man in glasses made a break for it.
“Subway™ Eat Fresh and Freeze, Scumbag!®” I yelled.
Too late. He was already out the front door. I went after him.
“Stop right there!” I yelled as I ran. He was faster than me because I always try to avoid stepping on public sidewalks. Our country needs a private-sidewalk voucher system, but, thanks to the incestuous interplay between our corrupt federal government and the public-sidewalk lobby, it will never happen.
I was losing him. “Listen, I’ll pay you to stop!” I yelled. “What would you consider an appropriate price point for stopping? I’ll offer you a thirteenth of an ounce of gold and a gently worn ‘Bob Barr ‘08’ extra-large long-sleeved men’s T-shirt!”
He turned. In his hand was a revolver that the Constitution said he had every right to own. He fired at me and missed. I pulled my own gun, put a quarter in it, and fired back. The bullet lodged in a U.S.P.S. mailbox less than a foot from his head. I shot the mailbox again, on purpose.
“All right, all right!” the man yelled, throwing down his weapon. “I give up, cop! I confess: I took the bitcoins.”
“Why’d you do it?” I asked, as I slapped a pair of Oikos™ Greek Yogurt Presents Handcuffs® on the guy.
“Because I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
“Afraid of an economic future free from the pernicious meddling of central bankers,” he said. “I’m a central banker.”
I wanted to coldcock the guy. Years ago, a central banker killed my partner. Instead, I shook my head.
“Let this be a message to all your central-banker friends out on the street,” I said. “No matter how many bitcoins you steal, you’ll never take away the dream of an open society based on the principles of personal and economic freedom.”
He nodded, because he knew I was right. Then he swiped his credit card to pay me for arresting him.
Glacial lake, Iceland
Glacial lake, Iceland
Glacial lake, Iceland
Glacial lake, Iceland
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Exploring a glacier in Iceland.
Exploring a glacier in Iceland.
I wonder how old that fence is...
I wonder how old that fence is...
Tuesday, September 5, 2017
California Coast Range...
California Coast Range...
Sunday, September 3, 2017
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Originally shared by Sandra lFrank
Originally shared by Sandra lFrank
The window to enroll shrank quite a bit, mark your calendars.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Monday, August 28, 2017
Lyrics, in case you are interested: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jeffersonairplane/dcba25.html
Lyrics, in case you are interested: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jeffersonairplane/dcba25.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe1oPP6n7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe1oPP6n7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe1oPP6n7A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTe1oPP6n7A
Saturday, August 26, 2017
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Originally shared by Karl Auerbach
Originally shared by Karl Auerbach
This is seriously good news reporting, this is going to get an Emmy, Pulitzer, or a Peabody....
https://youtu.be/P54sP0Nlngg
This is seriously good news reporting, this is going to get an Emmy, Pulitzer, or a Peabody....
https://youtu.be/P54sP0Nlngg
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Carl Sagan, on the meaning of the word "cosmopolitan", the Library of Alexandria, and the death of Hypatia:
Carl Sagan, on the meaning of the word "cosmopolitan", the Library of Alexandria, and the death of Hypatia:
"Alexandria was the greatest city the Western world had ever seen. People of all nations came there to live, to trade, to learn. On any given day, its harbors were thronged with merchants, scholars, and tourists. This was a city where Greeks, Egyptians, Arabs, Syrians, Hebrews, Persians, Nubians, Phoenicians, Italians, Gauls, and Iberians exchanged merchandise and ideas.
It is arguably here that the word "cosmopolitan" realized its true meaning -- citizen, not just of a nation, but of the Cosmos. To be a citizen of the Cosmos...
"Here clearly were the seeds of the modern world. What prevented them from taking root and flourishing? Why instead did the West slumber through a thousand years of darkness until Columbus and Copernicus and their
contemporaries rediscovered the work done in Alexandria? I cannot give you a simple answer. But I do know this: there is no record, in the entire history of the Library, that any of its illustrious scientists and scholars
ever seriously challenged the political, economic, and religious assumptions of their society. The permanence of the stars was questioned, the justice of slavery was not. Science and learning in general were the preserve of a privileged few. The vast population of the city had not the vaguest notions of the great discoveries taking place within the Library. New findings were not explained or popularized. The research benefited them little. Discoveries in mechanics and steam technology were applied mainly to the perfection of weapons, the encouragement of superstition, the amusement of kings. The scientists never grasped the potential of machines to free people. The great intellectual achievements of antiquity had few immediate practical applications.
Science never captured the imagination of the multitude. There was no counterbalance to stagnation, to pessimism, to the most abject surrenders to mysticism. When, at long last, the mob came to burn the Library down, there was nobody to stop them.
"The last scientist who worked in the Library was a mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and head of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy -- an extraordinary range of accomplishments for any individual in any age. Her name was Hypatia. She was born in Alexandria in 370. At a time when women had few options and were teated as property, Hypatia moved freely and unselfconsciously through traditional male domains. By all accounts she was a great beauty. She had many suitors but rejected all offers of marriage. The Alexandria of Hypatia's time -- by then long under Roman rule -- was a city under grave strain. Slavery had sapped classical civilization of its vitality. The growing Christian Church was consolidating its power and attempting to eradicate pagan influence and culture. Hypatia stood at the epicenter of these mighty social forces. Cyril, the Archbishop of Aleandria, despised her because of her close friendship with the Roman governor, and because she was a symbol of learning and science, which were
largely identified by the early Church with paganism. In great personal danger, she continued to teach and publish, until, in the year 415, on her way to work, she was set upon by a fanatical mob of Cyril's parishioners.
They dragged her from her chariot, tore off her clothes, and, armed with abalone shells, flayed her flesh from her bones. Her remains were burned, her works obliterated, her name forgotten. Cyril was made a saint."
"Alexandria was the greatest city the Western world had ever seen. People of all nations came there to live, to trade, to learn. On any given day, its harbors were thronged with merchants, scholars, and tourists. This was a city where Greeks, Egyptians, Arabs, Syrians, Hebrews, Persians, Nubians, Phoenicians, Italians, Gauls, and Iberians exchanged merchandise and ideas.
It is arguably here that the word "cosmopolitan" realized its true meaning -- citizen, not just of a nation, but of the Cosmos. To be a citizen of the Cosmos...
"Here clearly were the seeds of the modern world. What prevented them from taking root and flourishing? Why instead did the West slumber through a thousand years of darkness until Columbus and Copernicus and their
contemporaries rediscovered the work done in Alexandria? I cannot give you a simple answer. But I do know this: there is no record, in the entire history of the Library, that any of its illustrious scientists and scholars
ever seriously challenged the political, economic, and religious assumptions of their society. The permanence of the stars was questioned, the justice of slavery was not. Science and learning in general were the preserve of a privileged few. The vast population of the city had not the vaguest notions of the great discoveries taking place within the Library. New findings were not explained or popularized. The research benefited them little. Discoveries in mechanics and steam technology were applied mainly to the perfection of weapons, the encouragement of superstition, the amusement of kings. The scientists never grasped the potential of machines to free people. The great intellectual achievements of antiquity had few immediate practical applications.
Science never captured the imagination of the multitude. There was no counterbalance to stagnation, to pessimism, to the most abject surrenders to mysticism. When, at long last, the mob came to burn the Library down, there was nobody to stop them.
"The last scientist who worked in the Library was a mathematician, astronomer, physicist, and head of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy -- an extraordinary range of accomplishments for any individual in any age. Her name was Hypatia. She was born in Alexandria in 370. At a time when women had few options and were teated as property, Hypatia moved freely and unselfconsciously through traditional male domains. By all accounts she was a great beauty. She had many suitors but rejected all offers of marriage. The Alexandria of Hypatia's time -- by then long under Roman rule -- was a city under grave strain. Slavery had sapped classical civilization of its vitality. The growing Christian Church was consolidating its power and attempting to eradicate pagan influence and culture. Hypatia stood at the epicenter of these mighty social forces. Cyril, the Archbishop of Aleandria, despised her because of her close friendship with the Roman governor, and because she was a symbol of learning and science, which were
largely identified by the early Church with paganism. In great personal danger, she continued to teach and publish, until, in the year 415, on her way to work, she was set upon by a fanatical mob of Cyril's parishioners.
They dragged her from her chariot, tore off her clothes, and, armed with abalone shells, flayed her flesh from her bones. Her remains were burned, her works obliterated, her name forgotten. Cyril was made a saint."
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Years ago I made a "water feature" in my back yard. It's slowly become better.
Years ago I made a "water feature" in my back yard. It's slowly become better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)