Comforting Myths

"By the standards of the European industrial world, we are poor peasants, but when I embrace my grandfather I experience a sense of richness as though I am a note in the heartbeats of the very universe."

Read full article here...

 https://harpers.org/archive/2018/06/comforting-myths/

Chinese experts 'in discussions' over building high-speed Beijing-US railway

Hey...they built the Great Wall.......nevertheless, this would be a major engineering feat...not to mention---life-changing...

'China-Russia-Canada-America line' would run for 13,000km across Siberia and pass under Bering Strait through 200km tunnel

Read more here...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/chinese-experts-discussions-high-speed-beijing-american-railway

Also...

China poised to overtake US as world's largest economy, research shows

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/apr/30/china-overtake-us-worlds-largest-economy

Hitler lived until 1962? That's my story, claims Argentinian writer

Did Hitler live and die in this Argentinian Hotel?

Excerpt:

"Arguing that American intelligence officials turned a blind eye to Hitler's escape in return for access to Nazi war technology, Gerrard Williams and Simon Dunstan set out the case for a scenario almost too horrible to contemplate: that the Führer and Eva Braun made a home in the foothills of the Andes and had two daughters.
Hitler, they claim, escaped punishment and lived out his life in tranquillity in Patagonia until his death in 1962 at the age of 73.

READ MORE HERE...
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/27/hitler-lived-1962-argentina-plagiarism 

ALSO Check out this fascinating documentary...

Hitler's Escape 

More interesting info...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478100/Theory-Adolf-Hitler-fled-Argentina-lived-age-73.html 

The World is Safer Now. But Who Cares?

The world is safer now, but no one in Washington can talk about it...

Excerpt:

Obama says terrorist networks remain the greatest threat to the United States. “We have to remain vigilant,” he warned recently. But global terrorism has barely touched most Americans in the decade since Sept. 11, 2001, with 238 U.S. citizens killed in terrorist attacks, mostly in war zones, according to the National Counterterrorism Center’s annual reports. By comparison, the Consumer Product Safety Commission found that 293Americans were crushed during the same stretch by falling furniture or televisions.

Beyond the United States, global statistics point undeniably toward progress in achieving greater peace and stability.
READ MORE HERE... 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-world-is-safer-but-no-one-in-washington-can-talk-about-it/2012/11/02/2e59cfea-2442-11e2-ac85-e669876c6a24_story.html

Silent World

Amidst the hustle and bustle of city life, dodging tourists, and a constant flow of anonymous faces, ever wonder what New York would be like if it were completely abandoned?

Difficult to envision, but artists Lucie & Simon present a beautifully striking perspective of such an apocalyptic scenario. The result is a photo series capturing some of the the world's most frequented locations, wiped out of the usual chaos. Watch their video (to the tune of Philip Glass and Daft Punk) below:  (Full screen recommended)

Silent world from Lucie & Simon on Vimeo.

See more images here...
http://www.lucieandsimon.com/

and

http://ajarnmike.blogspot.ca/2011/08/scenes-of-life.html

Cornel West and an Examined Life

Watch Cornel West leave Stephen Colbert speechless and flustered on The Colbert Report.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/252737/october-26-2009/cornel-west

The Hedgehogs Dilemma

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedgehog%27s_dilemma

Watch the documentary "An Examined Life" here:
http://www.documentarywire.com/examined-life/

Similar traits don't always lead to a happy marriage

On the first day of class every semester, Portia Dyrenforth asks the students taking her psychology course whether they think couples with similar personalities are more likely to be happy together.

Inevitably, she says, they nod.

Then she asks whether they know any couples who are very different from each other but still seem quite content in their relationships.

They nod at this one, too.

Dyrenforth, working with three other psychologists, examined the data with a few questions in mind: Do personality traits influence a person's own happiness in general and in the context of a relationship? Can a spouse's personality affect the happiness of his or her partner? And does having similar personalities affect the couple's relationship satisfaction?

Read more here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/19/AR2010111900047.html

Spiral of Silence

The Spiral of Silence is a political science and mass communications theory propounded by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. The theory asserts that a person is less likely to voice an opinion on a topic if one feels that one is in the minority for fear of reprisal or isolation from the majority.

Read More:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiral_of_silence#cite_note-8