It is impossible to understand Japan without seeing the city of Kyoto. It was the capital of the country for about a thousand years.
The last shogunate, the Tokugawas, began to reside in a coastal town called Edo, even though the capital was still Kyoto. The shogun was the feudal military leader, who held the real power in the country, even though the emperor still reigned. In what is known as the Meiji Restoration, for the Emperor Meiji, the emperor was restored to full power. The shogunate, as well as the Samurai as a privileged class and the feudal lords known as Daimyo, were abolished.
But the emperor after the Meiji Restoration moved to Edo, in Edo Castle where the Tokugawas had lived, and reigned there. Edo grew into a great city which was, at least for some time, the largest city in the world, and was renamed Tokyo. You may notice that the letters of Tokyo, written in English, are a rearrangement of the letters in Kyoto.
The very old city of Kyoto is actually modeled on an even older city, the distant inland Chinese city of Xian. There was originally a lot of Chinese influence on Kyoto, and it was set out according to Feng Shui principles. There are many shrines remaining in Kyoto, which bring visitors from all over the world, despite the countless battles, earthquakes and, fires that the city has seen in it's long history.
The original palace was the Heian Palace, with a strong Chinese influence. It was not rebuilt after a 1227 fire, but there is quite a bit of information on it and it influenced the Kyoto Imperial Palace.
This is a reconstruction of the original Heian Palace, and the surrounding area. Although Japan and China are often portrayed in the west as rivals, Japan is popular with Chinese shoppers, students and, vacationers, and you can see in many of these images of Japan that the photo was contributed by someone with a Chinese name.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0159747,135.782534,3a,75y,73.01h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-OyZGauvDLTE%2FV_jTizxCbUI%2FAAAAAAAAf2U%2FX9_yNUiaqXsNixoTJGJGjb7C0DSvX6-dACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-OyZGauvDLTE%2FV_jTizxCbUI%2FAAAAAAAAf2U%2FX9_yNUiaqXsNixoTJGJGjb7C0DSvX6-dACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya14.539884-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
The best-known sight in Kyoto is, of course, the Imperial Palace. We have already seen this, in the posting "Imperial Palaces". This is where the emperor reigned from during the long time that Kyoto was the capital of Japan.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0254135,135.7621246,3a,75y,63.55h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-h__S7sZcToc%2FWHoIZ3x3K2I%2FAAAAAAAAJJs%2FyX1LjFMmTh40cR-k5xuwpCcc4erE1AGIwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-h__S7sZcToc%2FWHoIZ3x3K2I%2FAAAAAAAAJJs%2FyX1LjFMmTh40cR-k5xuwpCcc4erE1AGIwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya166.72072-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i4096!8i2048
Let's revisit a place that we saw in "The Real Japan". Near the Imperial Palace, and the site of the Heian Palace, is Nijo Castle. This was built by the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, as the Kyoto residence of the shogun, near the emperor, even that we saw above that the Tokugawas began to live mainly in Edo, and that is what led to Tokyo becoming the capital. Notice how the outer walls, at the moat, resemble the corresponding features of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which started as Edo Castle that was built by the same Tokugawa Shogunate.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0139448,135.747611,3a,75y,66.11h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgfJmDXd_IK4pHSW_tdRm4Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DgfJmDXd_IK4pHSW_tdRm4Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.596794%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
As old as the city of Kyoto is, there is a shrine that far predates the city, being about two thousand years old. This is the Shimogamo Shrine.
https://www.google.com/maps/@35.0387917,135.772995,3a,75y,132.88h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-JKiX-O11DFU%2FWRXOTsKP-2I%2FAAAAAAAACNE%2F_JPeCBi22ewdyjlHoJeqACGRymRvLsK4QCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-JKiX-O11DFU%2FWRXOTsKP-2I%2FAAAAAAAACNE%2F_JPeCBi22ewdyjlHoJeqACGRymRvLsK4QCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-5.806788-ya296.19672-ro-0.71270984-fo100%2F!7i5376!8i2688
Here is a look at the modern city, starting from Kyoto Tower. But even there are more old temples and shrines.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9875605,135.7593461,3a,75y,78.04h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-CYheflTmOjE%2FWA3KLp-fJEI%2FAAAAAAAAPvc%2FCT1tR4K2a3I54VSK30ejT1Fy-2goiRRdQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-CYheflTmOjE%2FWA3KLp-fJEI%2FAAAAAAAAPvc%2FCT1tR4K2a3I54VSK30ejT1Fy-2goiRRdQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya75.50329-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10000!8i5000
Here is a residential area of Kyoto.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.9719948,135.7000846,3a,75y,298h,72t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sfyH_CAand1prBbfy9cX4Vg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DfyH_CAand1prBbfy9cX4Vg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D298.5%26pitch%3D-18.999996%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Reminder Of Environmental Perils
I realize that we already have enough to worry about but there is a long-term environmental peril that really should be getting attention.
We are utterly dependent on oxygen but we are consistently, and permanently, lowering the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. When we use hydrogen or hydrocarbons as fuel, we are increasing water at the expense of oxygen. When we extract iron from the earth, to make the vast amount of steel that is so essential to the modern world, it will eventually consume oxygen from the air when it turns to rust, which is iron oxide.
The original posting, "The Hydrogen And Iron Perils" is on the Progress Blog, June 2009.
http://www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/2009/06/hydrogen-peril.html?m=0
What I would like to do with science on this blog is to get everyone making discoveries. If we can go searching for Pokemon monsters then why can't we search for facts and connections that have never before been pointed out?
There is a tremendous amount of continuously-updated information on sites like Wikipedia. If you think you may have noticed a new fact or connection then you can easily check on Google if it has ever been pointed out before, if not then you have your discovery.
Remember that everyday, all around you, are things that have never before been pointed out.
Rotation And Cosmology
Planets and stars tend to rotate because that actually represents a lower information state. For the planet or star to not rotate it would be necessary to align it in a particular way in space, with the stars always in the same fixed position in the sky.
But that would make it necessary to choose one of the possible alignments, to the exclusion of all the others. That choice would be information and we see in the theory on this blog, "The Lowest Information Point", December 2017, that the universe always seeks The Lowest Information Point.
So what the universe does is have the planet or star cycle through all possible alignments. In other words, the planet or star rotates. This involves less information than having the planet or star fixed in one position, because the choice of that position would require information.
But to rotate, the star or planet must do so around a fixed axis, and that axis must be aligned in a particular direction in space, to the exclusion of all possible other directions along which the axis could possibly be aligned.
So there is a choice that has to be made, even though the planet or star is rotating so that the universe does not have to make a choice of how the planet or star is to be aligned in space. The choice is in which direction the axis of rotation will be aligned, to the exclusion of all other possible directions.
But this is not a choice that absolutely has to be made. The universe could reach a still lower state of information if it had to.
Complete rotation is possible. At any given time rotation must be around a defined axis. The definition of that axis is a choice that must be made. But, just like the planet or star to avoid a choice, the axis around which it rotates could itself rotate around the star along a line of longitude.
But then that line of longitude would have to be a choice out of all possible lines of longitude around which the axis of rotation could itself rotate.
However the universe could avoid making that choice by having that longitudinal path of the axis of rotation rotate itself around the planet.
This could be described as complete rotation of the star or planet. No choices would have to be made. The universe would achieve the lowest information state by not only having the planet or star rotates, but having the axis of rotation rotate, and then having the longitudinal plane through which the axis of rotation rotated itself rotate.
This could be described as "complete rotation" and would enable the planet or star to achieve the lowest information point by avoiding any choices.
Yet this is not what happens. Planets and stars rotate, around their rotational axis, but that axis remains in a fixed position, at least over very long periods of time. There is not as much rotation as there could possibly be, not complete rotation.
So if the universe does all it can to get to the Lowest Information Point, why doesn't it go all the way with "complete rotation"?
The only possible answer is that there must be some information already there. The universe avoids choosing a directional alignment by rotating but doesn't need to avoid choosing the one dimensional axis of rotation.
That means there must be the information of one dimension already there and so the universe does not have to make a choice.
Remember that in my cosmology theory, detailed in the compound posting on this blog, "The Theory Of Stationary Space", July 2017, the matter of the universe began with a two-dimensional sheet of space that was within, but not contiguous with, the multi-dimensional background space.
Everything in the universe, both space and matter, is composed of nearly infinitesimal negative and positive electric charges. The basic rules of the charges are that opposite charges attract while like charges repel, but these rules can be overcome by energy. Planck's Length is the nearly infinitesimal length that shows up in so many physics formulas, that is because it is the size of one of these electric charges. Matter consists of like charges held together against their mutual repulsion by energy. This is why matter consists of charged particles such as electrons. The energy that holds the like charges together in matter is the well-known Mass-Energy Equivalence, and is what gives matter it's mass. If the two electric charges are equal then the two rules of attraction and repulsion must also be equal. If matter involves overcoming the repulsive force between like charges then it must leave a net attractive force involving matter. There is indeed an attractive force between matter, it is known as gravity. Energy overcoming the attractive force between opposite charges in space is what results in electromagnetic waves.
Charge migration took place within the two-dimensional sheet of space, positive charges more to one side and negative charges to the other side, due to the attractive and repulsive forces of the electric charges in the background space so that the charge migration brought about a lower energy state.
But since this original two-dimensional sheet of space, from which matter originated, was not contiguous with the surrounding background space, that caused the more-negative side of the sheet to contact the more-positive side, after charge migration had taken place.
The resulting matter-antimatter annihilation is what we see as the Big Bang which began the universe. One of the two dimensions of the sheet disintegrated and it's energy was released into the surrounding space. The remaining one dimension of the sheet remained as the very long one-dimensional strings of which matter, in my cosmology theory, is composed.
This is why matter is composed of charged particles, such as negatively-charged electrons. The particles are composed of bundles of one-dimensional strings with an electric charge.
The reason that we see matter as composed of particles, rather than strings, is that we can only see in three of the four dimensions of the background space over which the one-dimensional strings are scattered. The other dimension is what we perceive as time.
This explains why we can readily detect the radiation from the Big Bang but cannot determine the direction from which it is coming. If we lived in three dimensions then we should be able to pinpoint the direction from which the radiation is coming, instead it seems to be coming equally from all directions in space.
The only way to explain this is that there must be a dimension of space that we cannot see and the radiation must be coming from that direction. We perceive the Big Bang as being in our past, actually the beginning of time.
Our consciousness moves along the bundles of strings composing our bodies and brains at what we perceive as the speed of light. That is why everything in Special Relativity revolves around the speed of light but we can find no real reason why the speed of light is what it is, instead of some other speed.
Now we can see what time really is. There was no satisfactory explanation to be found anywhere as to what time actually is. So I figured it out for myself and that was the beginning of this theory.
So this brings us back to the rotation of stars and planets across the universe. The purpose of the rotation is so that no choice would have to be made as to directional alignment, because being able to avoid the choice gives the universe a lower information state.
But the one-dimensional axis of rotation is able to be defined, even though it doesn't necessarily have to be, and that can only be because the information of one dimension was already there, in the one-dimensional strings of which all matter, in my cosmology theory, is composed.
This cosmology theory, "The Theory Of Stationary Space", is again shown to be correct. The basis of the theory, described above, is simple but we can go on and on adding all of the things that it explains, beginning with what time actually is, that cannot otherwise be explained.
I believe that the reason cosmology hasn't progressed further than it has is actually religion. We have applied the patterns of religion by making Albert Einstein into a prophet-like figure. This hinders us in moving beyond his theories of Relativity.
Zoar Valley Of Western New York State
There was a recent tragedy in Zoar Valley, a scenic hiking area of far western New York State, but it got me thinking about how it fit into the compound posting on the geology blog, "All About The Appalachians".
Zoar Valley meets the beginning of what I have named the Humber Line, at a right angle. The southeastern beginning of the Humber Line is the valley in which the town of Boston, NY is located. How is it possible for two valleys to form at right angles to one another? It is explained by my scenario of the tectonic collision which formed the mountains and ridge systems of the Appalachians. The two valleys meet at the town of Springville.
The sliding tectonic collision between what was then Africa and what was then North America formed the Appalachians. The fact that the collision was gradual and sliding, rather than direct, is what explains the ridge systems of the Appalachians. The direction of the collision shifted from northwestward to northward as the collision front approached the Canadian Shield, which is the dense layer of rock that underlies the eastern half of Canada.
The ridges and mountains of the Appalachians undergo a gradual curve, the "focal point" of this curve is the city of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. As the collision thrust changed direction along the curve, from northwestward to northward, friction between the two land masses came into play. What was then Africa pulled some of the rock strata of what was then North America along with it.
But when the collision thrust was just northward, friction ceased to be a major factor and the force of the collision simply pushed the land of what was then North America northward.
This is why we see two valleys at right angles, some distance to the north of the mountains and ridges of the Appalachians. Zoar Valley, which runs parallel to the Appalachians, was formed by the frictional element of the tectonic collision as the change in the collision front pulled the land to the north to the east. Zoar Valley abruptly ends, and the Humber Line proceeds north at a right angle to the Zoar Valley at the westernmost limit of the land that was pushed to the north with the direct force of the tectonic collision.
Zoar Valley meets the beginning of what I have named the Humber Line, at a right angle. The southeastern beginning of the Humber Line is the valley in which the town of Boston, NY is located. How is it possible for two valleys to form at right angles to one another? It is explained by my scenario of the tectonic collision which formed the mountains and ridge systems of the Appalachians. The two valleys meet at the town of Springville.
The sliding tectonic collision between what was then Africa and what was then North America formed the Appalachians. The fact that the collision was gradual and sliding, rather than direct, is what explains the ridge systems of the Appalachians. The direction of the collision shifted from northwestward to northward as the collision front approached the Canadian Shield, which is the dense layer of rock that underlies the eastern half of Canada.
The ridges and mountains of the Appalachians undergo a gradual curve, the "focal point" of this curve is the city of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania. As the collision thrust changed direction along the curve, from northwestward to northward, friction between the two land masses came into play. What was then Africa pulled some of the rock strata of what was then North America along with it.
But when the collision thrust was just northward, friction ceased to be a major factor and the force of the collision simply pushed the land of what was then North America northward.
This is why we see two valleys at right angles, some distance to the north of the mountains and ridges of the Appalachians. Zoar Valley, which runs parallel to the Appalachians, was formed by the frictional element of the tectonic collision as the change in the collision front pulled the land to the north to the east. Zoar Valley abruptly ends, and the Humber Line proceeds north at a right angle to the Zoar Valley at the westernmost limit of the land that was pushed to the north with the direct force of the tectonic collision.
For more about natural history discoveries in this area, which involves the sliding tectonic collision that created the Appalachian Mountains, see the posting "Niagara Natural History Summary", June 2019.
Thursday, August 20, 2020
Xian And The Silk Road
We are reading a lot today about China's revival of the Silk Road, the "Belt and Road Initiative". This means that it might be a good time to visit the city that was at the eastern end of the Old Silk Road.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian_Stele#/media/File:Nestorian-Stele-Budge-plate-X.jpg
The end of the Mongol Empire brought the Silk Road into decline and, in the following centuries, Europeans found sea routes to the east, which largely replaced the Silk Road. While silk was always popular in Europe, spices became the primary product being sought from the east.
But now, the Chinese Government is putting a lot of effort into creating a modern version of the Silk Road. This time transportation of goods will focus on high-speed trains and ships, rather than pack animals.
In the center of Xian are two towers, both built around 1380, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. Bells in the Bell Tower were rung at sunrise, and drums in the drum tower were sounded at sunset.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_Tower_of_Xi%27an#/media/File:The_Drum_Tower_of_Xi%27an.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Tower_of_Xi%27an#/media/File:Bell_Tower_of_Xi%27an.jpg
The following scenes begin at the Drum Tower. Being so far westward in China means that Xian has a significant Moslem population, and a major mosque is located adjacent to the Drum Tower.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2609867,108.942245,3a,75y,86.37h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-7rhlW8EvNaM%2FUtN3nrksMgI%2FAAAAAAABWSs%2FDU4ul3rdxCYTmywCfo2kvfL0OPse3N68wCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-7rhlW8EvNaM%2FUtN3nrksMgI%2FAAAAAAABWSs%2FDU4ul3rdxCYTmywCfo2kvfL0OPse3N68wCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya63.1061-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i3584!8i1792
Two other landmarks of Xian are the Large and Small Wild Goose Pagodas. These are far older than the Drum and Bell Towers. The Large Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652, and the small one about fifty years later. These are both Buddhist temples, remembering that Buddhism came to Xian along the Silk Road.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Wild_Goose_Pagoda#/media/File:Giant_Wild_Goose_Pagoda.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Wild_Goose_Pagoda#/media/File:Xi%27anwildgoosepagoda2.JPG
Daming Palace, in Xian, was the home of the Tang Dynasty emperors. This was considered as a "Golden Age" in China, and Xian was believed to have been the most populous city in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daming_Palace#/media/File:Reconstructed_Danfeng_Men.jpg
Tang Paradise is a reconstruction of Tang Dynasty architecture in Xian. It is believed to be on the site of a Tang Dynasty garden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Paradise#/media/File:XiAn_qujiang.jpg
One of the greatest archeological discoveries of modern times was certainly the Terracotta Army of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. This is amazing life-size soldiers, and other figures, to guard and accompany the emperor after death. There are around ten thousand in all. The world has never seen anything like this. The Terracotta Army was completed before 200 B.C.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army#/media/File:Terracotta_Army,_View_of_Pit_1.jpg
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3841149,109.278492,3a,75y,355h,78t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-_XVAyN7kj6k%2FWPH4pJOb8kI%2FAAAAAAAAESQ%2F_5eAybvrauIgJyGn91YXKSkTbWvpDEnoQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-_XVAyN7kj6k%2FWPH4pJOb8kI%2FAAAAAAAAESQ%2F_5eAybvrauIgJyGn91YXKSkTbWvpDEnoQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-12.520833-ya355.15103-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i5660!8i2830
This is the Eastern Wall and moat of Xian.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.259329,108.972131,3a,75y,86h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-6NXPSItE53Y%2FV9evVrAdySI%2FAAAAAAAASAs%2FixB_7Iy0oJ0Bm-4D1oAKR5wuW5zP7MoZwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-6NXPSItE53Y%2FV9evVrAdySI%2FAAAAAAAASAs%2FixB_7Iy0oJ0Bm-4D1oAKR5wuW5zP7MoZwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya263.5-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
This is a modern district of Xian, to the west of the city center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2376383,108.8879625,3a,75y,107.34h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-OxkSG91f5n0%2FVRe8dPa564I%2FAAAAAAAAA1c%2FrryK6RCEOZ4mLHLOwradoE2fc4mw-Wa2gCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-OxkSG91f5n0%2FVRe8dPa564I%2FAAAAAAAAA1c%2FrryK6RCEOZ4mLHLOwradoE2fc4mw-Wa2gCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya91.69376-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
Here is more of modern Xian, further west of the city center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2348322,108.8595641,3a,75y,1h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-8wBKXvlkdqY%2FVp8CsHM6K9I%2FAAAAAAABVDA%2FNwIbHJDEMl0v67UsphQShJQOl6y9Nfe6QCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-8wBKXvlkdqY%2FVp8CsHM6K9I%2FAAAAAAABVDA%2FNwIbHJDEMl0v67UsphQShJQOl6y9Nfe6QCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya117.49999-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
This is the area around the Xian High-Tech Industries Development Zone.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1967526,108.8840926,3a,75y,169h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-8VRgC1-Fb50%2FVcr-SgfJNLI%2FAAAAAAAAeLc%2F71lbe_eFxdgmTJDceP1ddDYR4jNSB5WSgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-8VRgC1-Fb50%2FVcr-SgfJNLI%2FAAAAAAAAeLc%2F71lbe_eFxdgmTJDceP1ddDYR4jNSB5WSgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya279.5-ro0-fo100%2F!7i3584!8i1792
Xian, once known as Chang An, is a Chinese city that is far inland, near the center of the country. Xian was the capital of China for a long time, for of four of the dynasties during China's history. It became an important city in the 11th Century B.C., for a comparison with the Bible, this is about a century older than Jerusalem.
The city had a great influence and distant Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan for a thousand years, was actually modeled on Xian. Qin Shi Huang, considered as the first emperor of a united China, conquered all of the other states during the time known as the Warring States Period, and began the Qin Dynasty, which ruled China from Xian beginning in 221 B.C.
The Silk Road, although that was not what it was called at the time, operated as a great trade route between east and west, from ancient until medieval times. It was a network of trade routes, rather than one single route. We have already seen, in our visit to "Aleppo", a great trading city at the western end of the Silk Road. Xian was at the opposite end, the eastern end.
It was much more than goods which moved along the Silk Road. Alexander's empire stretched so far to the east, bringing Greek influence to China and India, because it grew along the Silk Road. It was by the Silk Road that kingdoms to the east sent envoys to the Roman Empire. But silk clothing from the east became so popular in Rome that efforts were made to ban it, because so much money was being spent on it.
We usually do not think of Buddhism as being an Indian religion, but that is where it actually began. The wheel on the Indian flag of today is actually a Buddhist symbol. How did Buddhism spread across east Asia, where it predominates today? Along the Silk Road.
We saw in "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began" that the Nestorian Christians sent representatives to China. Alopen met with Emperor Taizong, and some Nestorian Christian communities were established in western China. This is recorded on a famous monument, known as the Nestorian Stele, from the year 781, that is in a museum in Xian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian_Stele#/media/File:Nestorian_Stele.JPG
The city had a great influence and distant Kyoto, which was the capital of Japan for a thousand years, was actually modeled on Xian. Qin Shi Huang, considered as the first emperor of a united China, conquered all of the other states during the time known as the Warring States Period, and began the Qin Dynasty, which ruled China from Xian beginning in 221 B.C.
The Silk Road, although that was not what it was called at the time, operated as a great trade route between east and west, from ancient until medieval times. It was a network of trade routes, rather than one single route. We have already seen, in our visit to "Aleppo", a great trading city at the western end of the Silk Road. Xian was at the opposite end, the eastern end.
It was much more than goods which moved along the Silk Road. Alexander's empire stretched so far to the east, bringing Greek influence to China and India, because it grew along the Silk Road. It was by the Silk Road that kingdoms to the east sent envoys to the Roman Empire. But silk clothing from the east became so popular in Rome that efforts were made to ban it, because so much money was being spent on it.
We usually do not think of Buddhism as being an Indian religion, but that is where it actually began. The wheel on the Indian flag of today is actually a Buddhist symbol. How did Buddhism spread across east Asia, where it predominates today? Along the Silk Road.
We saw in "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began" that the Nestorian Christians sent representatives to China. Alopen met with Emperor Taizong, and some Nestorian Christian communities were established in western China. This is recorded on a famous monument, known as the Nestorian Stele, from the year 781, that is in a museum in Xian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian_Stele#/media/File:Nestorian_Stele.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestorian_Stele#/media/File:Nestorian-Stele-Budge-plate-X.jpg
The end of the Mongol Empire brought the Silk Road into decline and, in the following centuries, Europeans found sea routes to the east, which largely replaced the Silk Road. While silk was always popular in Europe, spices became the primary product being sought from the east.
But now, the Chinese Government is putting a lot of effort into creating a modern version of the Silk Road. This time transportation of goods will focus on high-speed trains and ships, rather than pack animals.
In the center of Xian are two towers, both built around 1380, the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower. Bells in the Bell Tower were rung at sunrise, and drums in the drum tower were sounded at sunset.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drum_Tower_of_Xi%27an#/media/File:The_Drum_Tower_of_Xi%27an.JPG
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Tower_of_Xi%27an#/media/File:Bell_Tower_of_Xi%27an.jpg
The following scenes begin at the Drum Tower. Being so far westward in China means that Xian has a significant Moslem population, and a major mosque is located adjacent to the Drum Tower.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2609867,108.942245,3a,75y,86.37h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-7rhlW8EvNaM%2FUtN3nrksMgI%2FAAAAAAABWSs%2FDU4ul3rdxCYTmywCfo2kvfL0OPse3N68wCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-7rhlW8EvNaM%2FUtN3nrksMgI%2FAAAAAAABWSs%2FDU4ul3rdxCYTmywCfo2kvfL0OPse3N68wCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya63.1061-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i3584!8i1792
Two other landmarks of Xian are the Large and Small Wild Goose Pagodas. These are far older than the Drum and Bell Towers. The Large Wild Goose Pagoda was built in 652, and the small one about fifty years later. These are both Buddhist temples, remembering that Buddhism came to Xian along the Silk Road.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Wild_Goose_Pagoda#/media/File:Giant_Wild_Goose_Pagoda.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Wild_Goose_Pagoda#/media/File:Xi%27anwildgoosepagoda2.JPG
Daming Palace, in Xian, was the home of the Tang Dynasty emperors. This was considered as a "Golden Age" in China, and Xian was believed to have been the most populous city in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daming_Palace#/media/File:Reconstructed_Danfeng_Men.jpg
Tang Paradise is a reconstruction of Tang Dynasty architecture in Xian. It is believed to be on the site of a Tang Dynasty garden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_Paradise#/media/File:XiAn_qujiang.jpg
One of the greatest archeological discoveries of modern times was certainly the Terracotta Army of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. This is amazing life-size soldiers, and other figures, to guard and accompany the emperor after death. There are around ten thousand in all. The world has never seen anything like this. The Terracotta Army was completed before 200 B.C.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army#/media/File:Terracotta_Army,_View_of_Pit_1.jpg
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.3841149,109.278492,3a,75y,355h,78t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-_XVAyN7kj6k%2FWPH4pJOb8kI%2FAAAAAAAAESQ%2F_5eAybvrauIgJyGn91YXKSkTbWvpDEnoQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-_XVAyN7kj6k%2FWPH4pJOb8kI%2FAAAAAAAAESQ%2F_5eAybvrauIgJyGn91YXKSkTbWvpDEnoQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-12.520833-ya355.15103-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i5660!8i2830
This is the Eastern Wall and moat of Xian.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.259329,108.972131,3a,75y,86h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-6NXPSItE53Y%2FV9evVrAdySI%2FAAAAAAAASAs%2FixB_7Iy0oJ0Bm-4D1oAKR5wuW5zP7MoZwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-6NXPSItE53Y%2FV9evVrAdySI%2FAAAAAAAASAs%2FixB_7Iy0oJ0Bm-4D1oAKR5wuW5zP7MoZwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya263.5-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
This is a modern district of Xian, to the west of the city center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2376383,108.8879625,3a,75y,107.34h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-OxkSG91f5n0%2FVRe8dPa564I%2FAAAAAAAAA1c%2FrryK6RCEOZ4mLHLOwradoE2fc4mw-Wa2gCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-OxkSG91f5n0%2FVRe8dPa564I%2FAAAAAAAAA1c%2FrryK6RCEOZ4mLHLOwradoE2fc4mw-Wa2gCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya91.69376-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
Here is more of modern Xian, further west of the city center.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.2348322,108.8595641,3a,75y,1h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-8wBKXvlkdqY%2FVp8CsHM6K9I%2FAAAAAAABVDA%2FNwIbHJDEMl0v67UsphQShJQOl6y9Nfe6QCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-8wBKXvlkdqY%2FVp8CsHM6K9I%2FAAAAAAABVDA%2FNwIbHJDEMl0v67UsphQShJQOl6y9Nfe6QCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya117.49999-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352
This is the area around the Xian High-Tech Industries Development Zone.
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1967526,108.8840926,3a,75y,169h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-8VRgC1-Fb50%2FVcr-SgfJNLI%2FAAAAAAAAeLc%2F71lbe_eFxdgmTJDceP1ddDYR4jNSB5WSgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-8VRgC1-Fb50%2FVcr-SgfJNLI%2FAAAAAAAAeLc%2F71lbe_eFxdgmTJDceP1ddDYR4jNSB5WSgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya279.5-ro0-fo100%2F!7i3584!8i1792
We have seen the patterns in the long history of China in the posting on this blog, "The Story Of China", April 2019.
America And Royalty
I was an immigrant to America when I was a child, having lived in Britain and Canada before. Let me tell you about the greatest surprise about living in America.
I knew that America was a republic, there was no royalty or nobility. We recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in school, which emphasized that America was a republic.
America was led by a president, whose wife was the First Lady, and there was a vice-president. There was to be no royalty here.
But if we wanted to go out for food, there was Burger King and Dairy Queen. The nearest department store was named King's. A popular local brand of frozen food was Freezer Queen.
Someone was always being billed as the "King of this" or the "Queen of that". Elvis Presley was the "King of Rock And Roll" and Aretha Franklin was the "Queen of Soul".
Portions were often described as "King-sized" or "Queen-sized". Innumerable products and businesses had "Palace", "Royal" or, "Crown" in their names, or a crown in their logo.
A popular soft drink was Royal Crown Cola and a top-shelf whiskey that was advertised was Crown Royal Whiskey.
Many products for girls had "Princess" in their titles. The local high schools were sometimes in the news with their Class Princesses, Prom Queens and Homecoming Queens.
Decks of cards that were used for games in America still had a king and queen.
The nickname of nearby Buffalo was the "Queen City", because it was the largest city in New York State after New York City. But one of the boroughs of New York City was named Queens and the nickname of New York State was "The Empire State", as if it was ruled by an emperor.
Americans followed Britain's royal family at least as closely as Brits or Canadians and, really incredibly, the presidency of John F. Kennedy, one of America's most popular presidents, was nicknamed "Camelot", which was the court of the legendary King Arthur.
Shouldn't Elvis Presley have been the President of Rock and Roll and Aretha Franklin the First Lady of Soul? Wouldn't it sound more like a republic if Buffalo's nickname was the Vice-President City? Doesn't "Burger President" sound more patriotic for Americans than Burger King?
But this is a very good illustration of how historical momentum works. Royalty has been removed from America's official sphere but is thriving in it's unofficial sphere.
The world has been ruled by royalty since the beginning of civilization, and the drafting of a constitution isn't going to change that. In America, royalty has just been shifted from the official sphere to the unofficial sphere.
The same principle sometimes applies to economics. Markets have been where buying and selling has been done for thousands of years, typically with haggling or negotiating over prices. If a government tries to go against this history by fixing prices, the usual result will be an unofficial "black market", where buyers can get what they want but at "real" prices.
Historical momentum can also be seen in something like the Caste System of India. The Indian Constitution of today does not recognize the Caste System, but the historical momentum of centuries is not going to just go away.
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Explosion In Beirut
"WOW" is all that I can say about the port explosion in Beirut and how it ties several of our prophecies in the compound posting on this blog, "The Aztec Prophecy", April 2018, together.
But I would also like to express sympathy for this catastrophe. We saw how important Beirut has been to the world in our visit there, in May 2018. It was the Phoenicians who developed the first alphabet.
In the section of "The Aztec Prophecy" April 2018, 17) THE SACRED NUMEROLOGY OF BUFFALO, the city of Buffalo, NY is closely linked to Beirut, on the other side of the world, by the explosion of a warehouse in Buffalo.
Beirut is located at the geographical center of the famous prophecy of four successive empires that will dominate the world, represented by a metal statue, in the Book of Daniel, Chapter 2.
Now there has been the tragic explosion in Beirut that was strikingly similar to the one in Buffalo, although much more deadly. The explosion in Beirut ties the prophecies involving the Buffalo area together and to 21) THE RED PROPHECY.
21) THE RED PROPHECY begins with Cairo being founded as Mars was rising in the sky. Mars, the Red Planet the color of blood, represented war. The name of Cairo means "victory".
The Red Prophecy links Egypt to a far distant country, Vietnam, through the color red and Vietnam's great victory over Mongol ships in the Red River at the same time Cairo was being founded.
The great red cloud of smoke that rose from the explosion in Beirut was exactly the same color as the planet Mars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars#/media/File:OSIRIS_Mars_true_color.jpg
It is so significant that Mars should now be linked with Beirut because Beirut is at the geographical center of the land that was common to all four successive empires that were to dominate the world in the future in the prophecy in the Book of Daniel, because Mars is the fourth planet from the sun.
In "The Aztec Prophecy", section 15) THE FIRST NIAGARA PROPHECY, involves the grain silos in downtown Niagara Falls. This is one of the things that links Niagara Falls to Egypt, as the ancient Egyptians invented grain silos.
The crown of Egyptian pharaohs was red and white, symbolizing the union between Upper and Lower Egypt. The silos in downtown Niagara Falls were originally painted red and white. Look at how this cloud of smoke appears exactly like the red and white crown of Egypt that we saw in 15) THE FIRST NIAGARA PROPHECY.
Here is the red and white ancient Egyptian crown, known as the Pschent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pschent#/media/File:Double_crown.svg
The founders of Cairo, in the days long before telescopes, could not have known it but Mars has white seasonal polar caps so it is the same colors as that of the crowns of the pharaohs long before. Also we now know that, except for the atmosphere and the Nile River, the landscape of Mars is strikingly similar to that of Egypt.
The flag of Lebanon, where the explosion took place, is the same red and white colors as the crown. It is interesting that there is the tree on the flag of Lebanon, one of the cedars that represent the country, because another famous prophecy in the Book of Daniel, in Chapter 4, is Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a tree.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Lebanon#/media/File:Flag_of_Lebanon.svg
Actually there was a grain silo right by the warehouse that exploded in Beirut. It was very similar to the silo in 15) THE FIRST NIAGARA PROPHECY. The "Crown" of red and white smoke was above this silo just as the silo in The Niagara Prophecy was originally painted red and white. Notice how the silo is destroyed by the explosion but is still standing.
The way that the silo by the site of the explosion in Beirut is destroyed, but still standing, further links it to the silo in The First Niagara Prophecy. Timothy McVeigh was from near Niagara Falls. The truck bomb that he set off used ammonium nitrate, the same chemical that exploded in Beirut, and left the Murrah Federal Building destroyed but still standing in exactly the same way as the silo in Beirut.
In the following photo, on the left, the cloud of white smoke forms the image of a man behind the red smoke. Scroll down a little bit to see it.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33513769/beirut-explosion-cause-video-mushroom-cloud/
In fact, it looks just like the Michelin Man, the mascot of the French tire company.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Man#/media/File:2008TaipeiCycle_Day3_Michelin.jpg
This reflects the link between Egypt and distant Vietnam that we saw in "The Red Prophecy", and adds Beirut to the link. The president of France made a high-profile visit to Beirut following the explosion.
Vietnam, like Lebanon, had been a French colony. Michelin had a vast rubber plantation west of Saigon. Some believe that protecting this plantation was a primary reason behind first France, and then America, going to war in Vietnam.
So the red smoke, the color of Mars, represents Cairo and Egypt and the white smoke, in the form of the "Michelin Man" links it to Vietnam.
The explosion in Beirut happened on August 4. That is the anniversary of the 1972 event when dozens of naval mines, air dropped by the U.S. in Haiphong Harbor during the Vietnam War, detonated because of a solar storm.
It must have been the explosion of the ages. although I don't know if it injured anyone. The mines were designed to detonate upon the change in magnetic field caused by a passing ship. But a solar storm caused them to detonate. This event was part of "The Red Prophecy".
The date of August 4, 8/4 or 4/8, is interesting because there were four successive empires in the prophecy in the Book of Daniel, as described above, and the building destroyed by Timothy McVeigh was eight stories while the warehouse in Buffalo and the barracks that were destroyed in Beirut by 1983 explosions were both four stories. Again, the ammonium nitrate that exploded in Beirut was the same chemical used by Timothy McVeigh.
This pattern in the smoke from the explosion of an image of a man in white smoke emerging from the red smoke, which is the color of Mars, is just so interesting because the Book of Revelation describes Satan as "a red dragon". Chapter 6, about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, portrays the Antichrist, who is defined in the Book as getting his power from the Dragon, as the rider on the white horse. The red horse represents war.
So this involves the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the four present and future empires that will dominate the world in the Book of Daniel. Beirut is in the geographical center of the area that was common to all four of those empires. Beirut has now been linked to Mars, which stands for war and is the fourth planet.
We saw in "The Sacred Numerology Of Buffalo" the significance that both the warehouse in Buffalo that exploded and the barracks in Beirut that was bombed were both four-story buildings.
The sections of "The Aztec Prophecy" that are linked by the explosion in Beirut, in order of significance, are:
17) THE SACRED NUMEROLOGY OF BUFFALO
21) THE RED PROPHECY and,
15) THE FIRST NIAGARA PROPHECY
Does it look like I am making this up? If I wrote that I saw a miracle and asked you to just believe me, that would be one thing. But you can check everything that I write here for yourself. I could not have written anything in those prophecies after the fact because countless readers have already read them, and may have copied and pasted them.
I am still greatly surprised that it had never been pointed out that the supernova that created the Crab Nebula, which made for a great light show in the sky, was going on while the momentous split in the church, that shapes the world to this day, was taking place in the year 1054.
Thursday, August 6, 2020
South Wales
Cardiff is the major city of south Wales. It is built around a Norman castle, but has only been a major city since the Nineteenth Century. The modern city of Cardiff was made by the shipping of coal from the mines of Wales. Much of the population of Cardiff today is descended from English and Irish migrants, who came to work on the docks. This was once the busiest port in the world.
England and Wales united in 1536, Scotland joined in 1707. The union of England and Wales took place during the reign of Henry VIII (the eighth), who was from the Welsh Tudor Dynasty. The British royal title "Prince of Wales" is a recognition of the medieval Welsh kingdoms becoming part of Britain, but the holder of the title does not have to be Welsh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Castle#/media/File:Cardiff_Castle_South_Gate.jpg
The scenes begin inside a printing shop.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5888876,-2.9971458,3a,75y,254.25h,85.8t,1.39r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1saDaa5NKGQL-IOOYpaSusnQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DaDaa5NKGQL-IOOYpaSusnQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.19553%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
To the west of Cardiff is another city on the coast of south Wales, Swansea. Unlike Cardiff and Newport, Swansea specialized in metals, rather than coal. Workers in Swansea were so skilled in separating metals from their ores that ore was often brought from other countries to be refined in Swansea. The city's nickname used to be "Copperopolis".
What Swansea does have in common with Cardiff and Newport is that it also grew up around a Norman castle. Isn't it ironic that the three major cities of south Wales are built around castles that were originally put there to defend against the native Welsh people? Welsh cities center around castles, just as English cities center around cathedrals.
Here are some scenes around the center of Swansea.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6211677,-3.9407826,3a,75y,40.95h,87.78t,-0.63r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sra4WgisLGY9TbDgrcYoaXg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dra4WgisLGY9TbDgrcYoaXg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D142.5%26pitch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is a look around a residential area of Swansea, with the very Welsh name of Brynhyfryd. You can be sure that you have crossed the border and left England when you see a name like that.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6427027,-3.9480799,3a,75y,281.29h,93.96t,357.71r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssGn1qbMgzo65xGngCRjEfA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsGn1qbMgzo65xGngCRjEfA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D6.954975%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
England and Wales united in 1536, Scotland joined in 1707. The union of England and Wales took place during the reign of Henry VIII (the eighth), who was from the Welsh Tudor Dynasty. The British royal title "Prince of Wales" is a recognition of the medieval Welsh kingdoms becoming part of Britain, but the holder of the title does not have to be Welsh.
"South Wales" is just a geographical designation, and not an official name. But it's name is reflected in the Australian state of New South Wales.
I am English by birth, but I was born within walking distance of Wales and have some Welsh ancestry.
Here is Cardiff Castle. There are actually several castles around Cardiff. In fact, it is said to have more castles than any city in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Castle#/media/File:The_West_Gate,_Cardiff,_by_Paul_Sandby.jpg
I am English by birth, but I was born within walking distance of Wales and have some Welsh ancestry.
Here is Cardiff Castle. There are actually several castles around Cardiff. In fact, it is said to have more castles than any city in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Castle#/media/File:The_West_Gate,_Cardiff,_by_Paul_Sandby.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Castle#/media/File:Cardiff_Castle_South_Gate.jpg
The scenes begin inside a printing shop.
There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow. After clicking the up arrow you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you so wish.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4799042,-3.175713,3a,75y,330h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-fr04T8ZqkCc%2FVG4OhMDrfFI%2FAAAAAAAAA9o%2F99dvfe2OFO0mX-wIwq9NAJAiK_DtpICQQCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-fr04T8ZqkCc%2FVG4OhMDrfFI%2FAAAAAAAAA9o%2F99dvfe2OFO0mX-wIwq9NAJAiK_DtpICQQCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya84.61333-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i5632!8i2816
Another thing that Cardiff is known for is the Cardiff Bay Barrage. There is a very wide tidal range at Cardiff, that is the difference between high tide and low tide. This meant that extensive "mud flats" were exposed for most of the day, which were unsightly.
The idea arose of building a dam across Cardiff Bay, with sluices to control the flow of water so that there would be, in effect, a permanent high tide. This opened the possibility of waterfront development, because the edge of the water would always be in the same place.
The project was highly controversial. Opinions of the proposed Cardiff Bay Barrage ranged from brilliant to too expensive to ridiculous to both ridiculous and too expensive. Then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made clear her opposition to the project. But south Wales is left field when it comes to politics, and the opposition of the staunchly conservative prime minister seemed to be all the more reason to move forward with the project.
It turned into a massive civil engineering project that is today considered as a brilliant success, and was a great bonus for the city.
This is a set of sluices and control building for the Cardiff Bay Barrage. The gates allow the water that flows into Cardiff Bay to continue on to the sea, but keeps the level of water in the bay always at the former high tide level. This makes it different from the dikes in the Netherlands, in that it holds water in rather than keeping it out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Bay_Barrage#/media/File:Sluices_at_the_Cardiff_Bay_Barrage.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Bay_Barrage#/media/File:Cardiff_Bay_Barrage_Control_Centre.jpg
Here are some scenes around the Cardiff Barrage, the dam that separates Cardiff Bay from the sea, so that the bay is no longer tidal.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4500767,-3.1650533,3a,75y,107h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-7BTRnr3m0XQ%2FVh_pZ6s3L7I%2FAAAAAAAAB_0%2FmE7yZ4Bp71EQyREb4L1jkCKWDdQWPLo6ACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-7BTRnr3m0XQ%2FVh_pZ6s3L7I%2FAAAAAAAAB_0%2FmE7yZ4Bp71EQyREb4L1jkCKWDdQWPLo6ACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya312.9225-ro0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
Welsh voters rejected the idea of having a national assembly that was separate from England. But there is a strong emphasis on the Welsh language. Welsh was the majority language in Cardiff until Victorian times.
In the past, the British Government made an effort to get everyone to speak English. There used to be a Celtic language called Cornish, in Cornwall, that is now extinct. But the effort to suppress Welsh was less successful. Today the BBC actively supports broadcasting in the Welsh language.
According to the census, about 15% of people in Wales can speak, read and, write in Welsh. Those are concentrated in the western part of Wales, furthest from England. It is not like French in Quebec. Welsh is on signs everywhere, and is on radio and television. But there are no daily newspapers in Welsh, and hearing people speak it in daily conversation is elusive.
One way to know if you are in an area where a significant number of people speak Welsh is that it will appear first on bilingual traffic signs. Around Cardiff, that is not the case so English appears first.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language#/media/File:Wales.cardiff.slow.jpg
Welsh is a Celtic language. W and Y are used as vowels. The city of Cwmbran is pronounced as "Coom-bran". There is doubling of some letters to represent different sounds, dd, ff and, ll, which are not the same as the singular letters together.
Look at the name of Cardiff Castle here, spelled as Caerdiffe. This shows how the name of the city was originally Welsh, but has been anglicized into Cardiff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff#/media/File:Cardiff-Castle.jpg
All along the border between England and Wales is the familiar sign of:
"Croeso i Gymru", meaning "Welcome to Wales".
The reason that the Welsh language is so different from English is that the Welsh people are considered to be the descendants of the original people of Britain, while English people and their language are the descendants of settlers from northern Europe, such as Angles, Saxons, Danes and, Vikings. This is why Welsh is a Celtic language but English is related to the other northern European languages.
This is the area around Llandaff Cathedral, starting inside the cathedral from the 12th Century. This is not in central Cardiff because remember that Cardiff was the town that grew around the castle, but was not a major city until the Nineteenth Century. There is thus no very old, centrally-located, Cardiff Cathedral. There is the cathedral in central Cardiff that was built in the Twentieth Century.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4957754,-3.21813,3a,75y,105.48h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-aNcimTa66Ww%2FU8_aoDnm-qI%2FAAAAAAAABvU%2F77i0mdFlw7skvXwwo19EmOVjtABwDvy0gCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-aNcimTa66Ww%2FU8_aoDnm-qI%2FAAAAAAAABvU%2F77i0mdFlw7skvXwwo19EmOVjtABwDvy0gCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya310.5653-ro0-fo100%2F!7i9216!8i4608
Here is an older residential area of Cardiff, to the west of the central part of the city. There are Welsh names around Philadelphia, such as Bryn Mawr and Bala Cynwyd, and any Philadelphian would feel right at home in Cardiff's row houses.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4702071,-3.1845084,3a,75y,84.09h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scsEgvIDm33AYZb_hx4XJFQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DcsEgvIDm33AYZb_hx4XJFQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D80.55752%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Another major city in south Wales is Newport, to the east of Cardiff. This is a medieval city that, like Cardiff, grew up around a Norman castle. This was a more important port than Cardiff until the mid-Nineteenth Century.
Here are some scenes around Newport, including the ruins of the castle. Notice that we are starting in front of the BBC Cymru office. This is the BBC channel which broadcasts in Welsh. "Cymru" means "Welsh" in the Welsh language.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4799042,-3.175713,3a,75y,330h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-fr04T8ZqkCc%2FVG4OhMDrfFI%2FAAAAAAAAA9o%2F99dvfe2OFO0mX-wIwq9NAJAiK_DtpICQQCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-fr04T8ZqkCc%2FVG4OhMDrfFI%2FAAAAAAAAA9o%2F99dvfe2OFO0mX-wIwq9NAJAiK_DtpICQQCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya84.61333-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i5632!8i2816
Another thing that Cardiff is known for is the Cardiff Bay Barrage. There is a very wide tidal range at Cardiff, that is the difference between high tide and low tide. This meant that extensive "mud flats" were exposed for most of the day, which were unsightly.
The idea arose of building a dam across Cardiff Bay, with sluices to control the flow of water so that there would be, in effect, a permanent high tide. This opened the possibility of waterfront development, because the edge of the water would always be in the same place.
The project was highly controversial. Opinions of the proposed Cardiff Bay Barrage ranged from brilliant to too expensive to ridiculous to both ridiculous and too expensive. Then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made clear her opposition to the project. But south Wales is left field when it comes to politics, and the opposition of the staunchly conservative prime minister seemed to be all the more reason to move forward with the project.
It turned into a massive civil engineering project that is today considered as a brilliant success, and was a great bonus for the city.
This is a set of sluices and control building for the Cardiff Bay Barrage. The gates allow the water that flows into Cardiff Bay to continue on to the sea, but keeps the level of water in the bay always at the former high tide level. This makes it different from the dikes in the Netherlands, in that it holds water in rather than keeping it out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Bay_Barrage#/media/File:Sluices_at_the_Cardiff_Bay_Barrage.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Bay_Barrage#/media/File:Cardiff_Bay_Barrage_Control_Centre.jpg
Here are some scenes around the Cardiff Barrage, the dam that separates Cardiff Bay from the sea, so that the bay is no longer tidal.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4500767,-3.1650533,3a,75y,107h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-7BTRnr3m0XQ%2FVh_pZ6s3L7I%2FAAAAAAAAB_0%2FmE7yZ4Bp71EQyREb4L1jkCKWDdQWPLo6ACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-7BTRnr3m0XQ%2FVh_pZ6s3L7I%2FAAAAAAAAB_0%2FmE7yZ4Bp71EQyREb4L1jkCKWDdQWPLo6ACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya312.9225-ro0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120
Welsh voters rejected the idea of having a national assembly that was separate from England. But there is a strong emphasis on the Welsh language. Welsh was the majority language in Cardiff until Victorian times.
In the past, the British Government made an effort to get everyone to speak English. There used to be a Celtic language called Cornish, in Cornwall, that is now extinct. But the effort to suppress Welsh was less successful. Today the BBC actively supports broadcasting in the Welsh language.
According to the census, about 15% of people in Wales can speak, read and, write in Welsh. Those are concentrated in the western part of Wales, furthest from England. It is not like French in Quebec. Welsh is on signs everywhere, and is on radio and television. But there are no daily newspapers in Welsh, and hearing people speak it in daily conversation is elusive.
One way to know if you are in an area where a significant number of people speak Welsh is that it will appear first on bilingual traffic signs. Around Cardiff, that is not the case so English appears first.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_language#/media/File:Wales.cardiff.slow.jpg
Welsh is a Celtic language. W and Y are used as vowels. The city of Cwmbran is pronounced as "Coom-bran". There is doubling of some letters to represent different sounds, dd, ff and, ll, which are not the same as the singular letters together.
Look at the name of Cardiff Castle here, spelled as Caerdiffe. This shows how the name of the city was originally Welsh, but has been anglicized into Cardiff.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff#/media/File:Cardiff-Castle.jpg
All along the border between England and Wales is the familiar sign of:
"Croeso i Gymru", meaning "Welcome to Wales".
The reason that the Welsh language is so different from English is that the Welsh people are considered to be the descendants of the original people of Britain, while English people and their language are the descendants of settlers from northern Europe, such as Angles, Saxons, Danes and, Vikings. This is why Welsh is a Celtic language but English is related to the other northern European languages.
This is the area around Llandaff Cathedral, starting inside the cathedral from the 12th Century. This is not in central Cardiff because remember that Cardiff was the town that grew around the castle, but was not a major city until the Nineteenth Century. There is thus no very old, centrally-located, Cardiff Cathedral. There is the cathedral in central Cardiff that was built in the Twentieth Century.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4957754,-3.21813,3a,75y,105.48h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-aNcimTa66Ww%2FU8_aoDnm-qI%2FAAAAAAAABvU%2F77i0mdFlw7skvXwwo19EmOVjtABwDvy0gCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-aNcimTa66Ww%2FU8_aoDnm-qI%2FAAAAAAAABvU%2F77i0mdFlw7skvXwwo19EmOVjtABwDvy0gCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya310.5653-ro0-fo100%2F!7i9216!8i4608
Here is an older residential area of Cardiff, to the west of the central part of the city. There are Welsh names around Philadelphia, such as Bryn Mawr and Bala Cynwyd, and any Philadelphian would feel right at home in Cardiff's row houses.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.4702071,-3.1845084,3a,75y,84.09h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1scsEgvIDm33AYZb_hx4XJFQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DcsEgvIDm33AYZb_hx4XJFQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D80.55752%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Another major city in south Wales is Newport, to the east of Cardiff. This is a medieval city that, like Cardiff, grew up around a Norman castle. This was a more important port than Cardiff until the mid-Nineteenth Century.
Here are some scenes around Newport, including the ruins of the castle. Notice that we are starting in front of the BBC Cymru office. This is the BBC channel which broadcasts in Welsh. "Cymru" means "Welsh" in the Welsh language.
The central business street of a city in Britain if often named "High Street", the equivalent of "Main Street" in North America.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5888876,-2.9971458,3a,75y,254.25h,85.8t,1.39r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1saDaa5NKGQL-IOOYpaSusnQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DaDaa5NKGQL-IOOYpaSusnQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.19553%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
To the west of Cardiff is another city on the coast of south Wales, Swansea. Unlike Cardiff and Newport, Swansea specialized in metals, rather than coal. Workers in Swansea were so skilled in separating metals from their ores that ore was often brought from other countries to be refined in Swansea. The city's nickname used to be "Copperopolis".
What Swansea does have in common with Cardiff and Newport is that it also grew up around a Norman castle. Isn't it ironic that the three major cities of south Wales are built around castles that were originally put there to defend against the native Welsh people? Welsh cities center around castles, just as English cities center around cathedrals.
Here are some scenes around the center of Swansea.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6211677,-3.9407826,3a,75y,40.95h,87.78t,-0.63r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sra4WgisLGY9TbDgrcYoaXg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dra4WgisLGY9TbDgrcYoaXg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D142.5%26pitch%3D-7%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Here is a look around a residential area of Swansea, with the very Welsh name of Brynhyfryd. You can be sure that you have crossed the border and left England when you see a name like that.
https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6427027,-3.9480799,3a,75y,281.29h,93.96t,357.71r/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1ssGn1qbMgzo65xGngCRjEfA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DsGn1qbMgzo65xGngCRjEfA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D6.954975%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
Carmarthen is a town in southwest Wales that is not on the coast. It has a very long history and was important in medieval times, before the Industrial Revolution made the coal that was handled by the port cities so important.
Tenby is a seaside resort town that goes back to the days before mass transportation brought inexpensive vacations in sunny places. The first of the following scenes are at Tenby's medieval walls, much of which is still standing.
There is a tidal island, meaning it is only an island at high tide. If you wonder how on earth this geological arrangement came to be, and you are familiar with Wales, there is the posting "The Carmarthen Raceway", on the brief blog about glaciers www.markmeekworld.blogspot.com
The arrangement is not geological but is caused by massive slides of ice, at the end of each ice age, from the mountains of Wales toward the coast, along what I call "The Carmarthen Raceway".
If you see the palm trees, you are not imagining it. Tenby, like Cornwall in England, are the places in Britain that are most exposed to the Gulf Stream, which brings warming water. So yes, palm trees can grow in Britain.
Monmouth is within walking distance of where I was born. It is built around a castle, but the castle came later. Monnow Street, where the following scenes begin and the main street of Monmouth, has been used since ancient times. The famous stone arch, on the bridge over Monnow River, is from the Thirteenth Century.
I can remember, from early childhood, when I was first brought to look in the shops on Monnow Street. We usually went to Gloucester for shopping but one day we came here.
There is a statue of Charles Rolls, one of the founders of Rolls Royce, in Monmouth. It has always been the world's ultimate car and ultimate status symbol. But Charles Rolls was actually more interested in aircraft. His statue is holding a model plane. He ended up being the first Brit to die in an air crash. Rolls Royce today is known more for high-quality aircraft engines than for cars, and makes more aircraft engines than any company except General Electric.
Charles Rolls grew up in a mansion near Monmouth, known as The Hendre. It was a private home but looks like one of Henry the Eighth's brick palaces.
One thing that should be more widely-known is that, in medieval times, the idea of making a simple warm hat out of sheep's wool arose in Monmouth. This resulted in what was known as the "Monmouth Cap". What this led to was the ubiquitous knit caps, sometimes called a beanie, that are seen in cold climates across the world today.
Also near Monmouth is Tintern Abbey, which we saw in the posting on this blog, "The Reformation At 500", February 2017.
The Natural History Of The Flu
The ordinary flu is at a kind of idealized equilibrium with humans. It produces symptoms in those it infects, coughing and sneezing, that are necessary to spread the flu to other people. But the symptoms are usually not severe enough to keep home everyone, or even a majority of people, who have the symptoms. The symptoms are mild enough that even those who do stay at home because of them rarely stay at home until the body has completely overcome the flu.
Humans develop immunity to the flu. But the flu mutates into different strains and it is necessary to become immune to each one. Many strains of the flu have a similarity to ones that came before. This is why many people get the flu less as they get older. There is typically one strain in late autumn and another later on in the winter.
But what this says is that humans and the flu have a long history together, and have been continuously adapting to each other by natural selection.
Imagine yourself in the flu's position. You naturally want to spread as much as possible. A virus is not actually alive, it is just bits of genetic code that instructs it's host what to do.
The first thing that the virus instructs the host, in our case humans, to do is to produce many copies of the virus. This is how the virus spreads.
Unlike illnesses caused by bacteria, the virus is not actually alive. A virus cannot move by itself. It relies on something else to move it so that it can spread.
That is where the symptoms come in, in our case coughing and sneezing. The virus needs these symptoms in order to spread to other people. Our bodies try to expel the virus, after creating multiple copies of it, but this is what the virus needs to spread.
Can you see how the virus has reached an idealized equilibrium with it's human hosts?
It has to irritate it's hosts enough to get them to develop the symptoms that spread it, after replicating it, coughing and sneezing. But yet it has to be mild enough so that people who have the flu will not stay home and away from other people, at least not most of the time.
A flu cannot be so mild that it's hosts do not develop the symptoms associated with expelling it from the body, because that is what it requires to spread. But yet the symptoms cannot be too severe, certainly not deadly, because that would keep the host away from other people and the virus would not spread.
The way that the virus must have adapted itself to this idealized equilibrium with humans is through natural selection, over a long period of time. By random chance, due to background radiation and other factors, some virus strains will develop that are more or less contagious than others. Some strains will emerge that are more in harmony with the host, so that they produce less severe symptoms, or less in harmony with the host so that they produce more severe symptoms and can be more deadly.
Eventually the idealized equilibrium that the flu has with us today came to be. The flu has to irritate our bodies enough so that we try to expel it, by coughing and sneezing, because that is what spreads it to other people. But yet those symptoms have to be mild enough so that people do not mostly stay home and so not spread the virus.
Humans developed immunity to the flu but the virus found a way around that, through natural selection, by mutating into different strains. But we can see how people tend to get the flu less as they get older.
This is because the flu has not yet had time to adapt to the fact that human life expectancy has significantly increased in modern times. The virus has not yet developed enough strains so that people past a certain age will get a virus that is different enough from any that they have already developed immunity to for them to catch it.
The great danger with other viruses, such as the Spanish Flu and Ebola, is that they do not have this long history together with humans. They may have jumped from animals to humans.
The conclusion is that the flu was once deadlier than it is today, but not usually deadly enough to "put itself out of business". The flu gradually got milder, through natural selection which favored milder strains because they were more successful in spreading the virus because people were less likely to stay home, and away from other people, if they had a milder strain of the virus.
It may have been that, if a strain of the virus was easier to replicate, that meant it would be more in harmony with it's host and symptoms would thus be milder. The strain would thus be doubly-favored, by being more contagious and also more mild. But a strain that was too mild would die out because the symptoms, coughing and sneezing, are necessary to spread the virus.
Humans develop immunity to the flu. But the flu mutates into different strains and it is necessary to become immune to each one. Many strains of the flu have a similarity to ones that came before. This is why many people get the flu less as they get older. There is typically one strain in late autumn and another later on in the winter.
But what this says is that humans and the flu have a long history together, and have been continuously adapting to each other by natural selection.
Imagine yourself in the flu's position. You naturally want to spread as much as possible. A virus is not actually alive, it is just bits of genetic code that instructs it's host what to do.
The first thing that the virus instructs the host, in our case humans, to do is to produce many copies of the virus. This is how the virus spreads.
Unlike illnesses caused by bacteria, the virus is not actually alive. A virus cannot move by itself. It relies on something else to move it so that it can spread.
That is where the symptoms come in, in our case coughing and sneezing. The virus needs these symptoms in order to spread to other people. Our bodies try to expel the virus, after creating multiple copies of it, but this is what the virus needs to spread.
Can you see how the virus has reached an idealized equilibrium with it's human hosts?
It has to irritate it's hosts enough to get them to develop the symptoms that spread it, after replicating it, coughing and sneezing. But yet it has to be mild enough so that people who have the flu will not stay home and away from other people, at least not most of the time.
A flu cannot be so mild that it's hosts do not develop the symptoms associated with expelling it from the body, because that is what it requires to spread. But yet the symptoms cannot be too severe, certainly not deadly, because that would keep the host away from other people and the virus would not spread.
The way that the virus must have adapted itself to this idealized equilibrium with humans is through natural selection, over a long period of time. By random chance, due to background radiation and other factors, some virus strains will develop that are more or less contagious than others. Some strains will emerge that are more in harmony with the host, so that they produce less severe symptoms, or less in harmony with the host so that they produce more severe symptoms and can be more deadly.
Eventually the idealized equilibrium that the flu has with us today came to be. The flu has to irritate our bodies enough so that we try to expel it, by coughing and sneezing, because that is what spreads it to other people. But yet those symptoms have to be mild enough so that people do not mostly stay home and so not spread the virus.
Humans developed immunity to the flu but the virus found a way around that, through natural selection, by mutating into different strains. But we can see how people tend to get the flu less as they get older.
This is because the flu has not yet had time to adapt to the fact that human life expectancy has significantly increased in modern times. The virus has not yet developed enough strains so that people past a certain age will get a virus that is different enough from any that they have already developed immunity to for them to catch it.
The great danger with other viruses, such as the Spanish Flu and Ebola, is that they do not have this long history together with humans. They may have jumped from animals to humans.
The conclusion is that the flu was once deadlier than it is today, but not usually deadly enough to "put itself out of business". The flu gradually got milder, through natural selection which favored milder strains because they were more successful in spreading the virus because people were less likely to stay home, and away from other people, if they had a milder strain of the virus.
It may have been that, if a strain of the virus was easier to replicate, that meant it would be more in harmony with it's host and symptoms would thus be milder. The strain would thus be doubly-favored, by being more contagious and also more mild. But a strain that was too mild would die out because the symptoms, coughing and sneezing, are necessary to spread the virus.
Archeology, Plastic And, Space Exploration
In the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries, momentous discoveries were made in archeology. There were excavations of Assyria and Babylon.
Perhaps the most famous single discovery of the time was that of King Tut's Tomb. King Tut had not been an exceptional pharaoh, actually dying in his teens. What is so significant about his tomb is that, unlike nearly all of the other royal tombs, it still contained all of it's riches because it had been missed by ancient grave robbers. The unearthing of the entire city of Ur, in Mesopotamia, captivated the world.
At around the same time it was the Gilded Age with people building fabulous wealth through business. The modern era of "big business", with widely-known corporate brands, was taking shape.
I have long thought that there is a strong connection between the two. Archeological discoveries, much of which was of a relatively mundane nature such as bookkeeping on clay tablets, has had a great effect on the development of the logos and packaging of consumer goods.
In the backs of our minds, archeology reminds us that someday our times will be ancient times. But the archeological future of our times is complicated by our use of paper, and then digital, to store information. Unlike the clay tablets and carvings in stone of ancient times, our digital data will be utterly lost and paper, unless it is carefully preserved, does not last for centuries.
We have seen this already, in the posting "Archeological Representation", November 2012 on the World And Economics Blog, http://markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/2012/11/archeological-representation.html
On the other hand our use of plastic has a great effect on the archeological future of our times. Most plastics are very resistant to environmental degradation and can last for a very long time.
There is also no erosion in space, other than the impacts of micrometeorites. The remnants of lunar missions, the footprints of the astronauts, and the tire tracks of the lunar rovers, may easily last for many thousands of years.
Likewise, since the moon has no atmosphere which can cause orbits to decay, spent rocket stages and abandoned command modules may be in orbit around the moon and the sun, waiting to be examined by future archeologists, for thousands of years.
Mars has an atmosphere, but it is thin and mostly composed of inert carbon dioxide. Mars seems to have had water at one time, but not to have water or weather now. This will preserve all of the spacecraft that have landed on Mars.
Then there are the spacecraft that have gone on through interplanetary space, and on into interstellar space, meaning beyond our Solar System.
What about on earth, corporate logos and names particularly on plastic packaging that can last a very long time? I have long believed that part of the underlying psychology behind advertising and packaging is a thought of how we will be remembered beyond our time, prompted by news of spectacular archeological discoveries.
At around the same time it was the Gilded Age with people building fabulous wealth through business. The modern era of "big business", with widely-known corporate brands, was taking shape.
I have long thought that there is a strong connection between the two. Archeological discoveries, much of which was of a relatively mundane nature such as bookkeeping on clay tablets, has had a great effect on the development of the logos and packaging of consumer goods.
In the backs of our minds, archeology reminds us that someday our times will be ancient times. But the archeological future of our times is complicated by our use of paper, and then digital, to store information. Unlike the clay tablets and carvings in stone of ancient times, our digital data will be utterly lost and paper, unless it is carefully preserved, does not last for centuries.
We have seen this already, in the posting "Archeological Representation", November 2012 on the World And Economics Blog, http://markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/2012/11/archeological-representation.html
On the other hand our use of plastic has a great effect on the archeological future of our times. Most plastics are very resistant to environmental degradation and can last for a very long time.
There is also no erosion in space, other than the impacts of micrometeorites. The remnants of lunar missions, the footprints of the astronauts, and the tire tracks of the lunar rovers, may easily last for many thousands of years.
Likewise, since the moon has no atmosphere which can cause orbits to decay, spent rocket stages and abandoned command modules may be in orbit around the moon and the sun, waiting to be examined by future archeologists, for thousands of years.
Mars has an atmosphere, but it is thin and mostly composed of inert carbon dioxide. Mars seems to have had water at one time, but not to have water or weather now. This will preserve all of the spacecraft that have landed on Mars.
Then there are the spacecraft that have gone on through interplanetary space, and on into interstellar space, meaning beyond our Solar System.
What about on earth, corporate logos and names particularly on plastic packaging that can last a very long time? I have long believed that part of the underlying psychology behind advertising and packaging is a thought of how we will be remembered beyond our time, prompted by news of spectacular archeological discoveries.
In exploring ancient Egypt, it was found that pharaohs were represented by a logo that enclosed the pharaoh's name and very much resembled a modern corporate logo. It was known as a cartouche. Could it be that a cartouche is actually the ancestor of corporate logos?
The landfills of today could be the archeological digs of the future. Archeologists two thousand years from now might uncover a landfill that was active in the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Centuries. By comparison with what was recovered from other landfills of that era, it will enter studies of ancient history that McDonald's and Burger King had many widespread locations but that Dave's Sub Shop was unique to the town that the landfill once served.
It is human nature to occasionally give some thought to how we, and our times, will be perceived by future generations. Archeology is nothing new, there were archeologists in ancient times. But the fantastic archeological discoveries of relatively recent times has given it a whole new dimension. Time capsules have become popular as a way of communicating, at least one-way, with the future.
Although I do not suppose that it is documented anywhere, is this maybe part of the underlying reason that we do not incinerate or recycle trash more? It is not that we want to litter but we subconsciously want to leave behind landfills full of plastic artifacts, to be sure that the future will not forget us since all of our digital data will almost certainly be inaccessible.
Remember that the Space Age was also the Nuclear Age, and the Nuclear Age came first. Could it be that part of the underlying reason for space exploration was that, knowing there was a chance that our days might be numbered unless we could send colonies of people into space, it would at least leave behind artifacts for future generations, safe from destruction, just as past generations had done for our generation?
The landfills of today could be the archeological digs of the future. Archeologists two thousand years from now might uncover a landfill that was active in the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First Centuries. By comparison with what was recovered from other landfills of that era, it will enter studies of ancient history that McDonald's and Burger King had many widespread locations but that Dave's Sub Shop was unique to the town that the landfill once served.
It is human nature to occasionally give some thought to how we, and our times, will be perceived by future generations. Archeology is nothing new, there were archeologists in ancient times. But the fantastic archeological discoveries of relatively recent times has given it a whole new dimension. Time capsules have become popular as a way of communicating, at least one-way, with the future.
Although I do not suppose that it is documented anywhere, is this maybe part of the underlying reason that we do not incinerate or recycle trash more? It is not that we want to litter but we subconsciously want to leave behind landfills full of plastic artifacts, to be sure that the future will not forget us since all of our digital data will almost certainly be inaccessible.
Remember that the Space Age was also the Nuclear Age, and the Nuclear Age came first. Could it be that part of the underlying reason for space exploration was that, knowing there was a chance that our days might be numbered unless we could send colonies of people into space, it would at least leave behind artifacts for future generations, safe from destruction, just as past generations had done for our generation?
Remember that the two spacecraft's Voyager I and Voyager 2, launched in 1977, contained extensive time capsules, and messages to anyone who might find them. This included representations of what humans look like and recordings of music.
I consider this as representing an important part of what the Space Age, as well as packaging and corporate logos, are all about.
The Nineteen Prophecy
Has anyone ever thought of this?
We know that the number 7 is important in the Bible. One of the first things in the Bible is that God created a seven-day week by creating the world and universe in six days and then resting on the seventh day. One of the first things in the Book of Revelation is a description of the Seven Spirits of God. The Book of Daniel has the "Weeks of Years" prophecy.
Another important number in the Bible is twelve. There was the Twelve Tribes of Israel and then the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.
Since these two numbers are so important in the Bible, what would we get if we added them together so that 7+12=19?
We can see that, in the story of the Bible, the importance of seven came before that of twelve. The number nineteen does not show any unusual significance in the story of the Bible but, since it is an addition of the two, maybe it's significance may not show up until later.
The next major chronological story in the Bible is that of the Apocalypse. Could it be that, in the time leading up to the fulfillment of the prophecies, that there will be interesting things happening that involves the number nineteen?
We saw how the world is approaching the fulfillment of the Bible prophecies of the "Last Days", in our time, in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The World As We Know It", June 2020.
The one-lifetime countdown to the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth, following the reign of the Antichrist and the Apocalypse, is the original city of Jerusalem coming back under Jewish control after a long time under Gentile control.
This occurred in 1967. But there had been a nineteen-year delay between the ancient nation of Israel being reestablished, in 1948, and the addition of the original city of Jerusalem in 1967.
We saw what could be the reason for this nineteen-year delay, to give the new generation coming of age in the 1960s a chance to build the Millennial Kingdom themselves without going through the Apocalypse, in the compound posting on this blog, New Insight Into Bible Prophecy" October 2016, in the section 17) CROSSING THE RED SEA.
There is no nineteenth month on our calendar. But the modern cycle of conflict, in the new millennium began on 9/11, which includes a 1 and a 9, when nineteen hijackers flew planes into buildings.
The modern era of terrorism, at least in the U.S., involving simple mass killing without the hostage-taking that had typified terrorism in the past, could be said to have begun with the truck bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh.
But did that bombing presage 9/11? The bombing occurred on April 19, which is 4/19. Later, four planes would be flown to their targets by nineteen hijackers. Timothy McVeigh would be executed on June 11, exactly three months before 9/11, and only three of the four planes on 9/11 would reach their targets.
Nineteen years after the attack by the nineteen hijackers would be the unforgettable year of Covid-19. It was so-named because it was discovered in 2019. In fact, it was identified on December 19.
In the world as a whole the modern era of terrorism, again meaning simply to kill as many people as possible to make some point with meaning beyond the perpetrators which differentiates it from mass shootings, could be said to have begun with Iran's Cinema Rex fire of August 19, 1978. Previous terrorism almost always involved taking hostages.
The number of the Antichrist is 666. 7 is the number of God and 6 represents falling short of God, just as the three sixes added together to get 18 represents falling short of 19.
The creation in seven days represents a direct action by God. The twelve tribes and then the twelve apostles, humans who are to bring the Word of God to the world, represent not a direct action by God but actions by humans on behalf of God. The establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth, following the Apocalypse, will go back to being a direct action by Jesus and beyond human power.
Notice that the numbers representing direct divine power, 7 and 19, are prime numbers. But the number representing human activity on behalf of God, 12, is a very divisible number, the direct opposite of a prime number.
We know that the number 7 is important in the Bible. One of the first things in the Bible is that God created a seven-day week by creating the world and universe in six days and then resting on the seventh day. One of the first things in the Book of Revelation is a description of the Seven Spirits of God. The Book of Daniel has the "Weeks of Years" prophecy.
Another important number in the Bible is twelve. There was the Twelve Tribes of Israel and then the Twelve Apostles of Jesus.
Since these two numbers are so important in the Bible, what would we get if we added them together so that 7+12=19?
We can see that, in the story of the Bible, the importance of seven came before that of twelve. The number nineteen does not show any unusual significance in the story of the Bible but, since it is an addition of the two, maybe it's significance may not show up until later.
The next major chronological story in the Bible is that of the Apocalypse. Could it be that, in the time leading up to the fulfillment of the prophecies, that there will be interesting things happening that involves the number nineteen?
We saw how the world is approaching the fulfillment of the Bible prophecies of the "Last Days", in our time, in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The World As We Know It", June 2020.
The one-lifetime countdown to the establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth, following the reign of the Antichrist and the Apocalypse, is the original city of Jerusalem coming back under Jewish control after a long time under Gentile control.
This occurred in 1967. But there had been a nineteen-year delay between the ancient nation of Israel being reestablished, in 1948, and the addition of the original city of Jerusalem in 1967.
We saw what could be the reason for this nineteen-year delay, to give the new generation coming of age in the 1960s a chance to build the Millennial Kingdom themselves without going through the Apocalypse, in the compound posting on this blog, New Insight Into Bible Prophecy" October 2016, in the section 17) CROSSING THE RED SEA.
There is no nineteenth month on our calendar. But the modern cycle of conflict, in the new millennium began on 9/11, which includes a 1 and a 9, when nineteen hijackers flew planes into buildings.
The modern era of terrorism, at least in the U.S., involving simple mass killing without the hostage-taking that had typified terrorism in the past, could be said to have begun with the truck bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh.
But did that bombing presage 9/11? The bombing occurred on April 19, which is 4/19. Later, four planes would be flown to their targets by nineteen hijackers. Timothy McVeigh would be executed on June 11, exactly three months before 9/11, and only three of the four planes on 9/11 would reach their targets.
Nineteen years after the attack by the nineteen hijackers would be the unforgettable year of Covid-19. It was so-named because it was discovered in 2019. In fact, it was identified on December 19.
In the world as a whole the modern era of terrorism, again meaning simply to kill as many people as possible to make some point with meaning beyond the perpetrators which differentiates it from mass shootings, could be said to have begun with Iran's Cinema Rex fire of August 19, 1978. Previous terrorism almost always involved taking hostages.
The number of the Antichrist is 666. 7 is the number of God and 6 represents falling short of God, just as the three sixes added together to get 18 represents falling short of 19.
The creation in seven days represents a direct action by God. The twelve tribes and then the twelve apostles, humans who are to bring the Word of God to the world, represent not a direct action by God but actions by humans on behalf of God. The establishment of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth, following the Apocalypse, will go back to being a direct action by Jesus and beyond human power.
Notice that the numbers representing direct divine power, 7 and 19, are prime numbers. But the number representing human activity on behalf of God, 12, is a very divisible number, the direct opposite of a prime number.
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