Ukraine

Since the world's attention is on Ukraine today let's repost our visit there.

Ukraine is a geographically large country in eastern Europe. It became independent after the October Revolution, in 1917, before becoming a republic of the Soviet Union. It became an independent country after the end of the Soviet Union.

The western part of Ukraine has been ruled in the past by Poland, and the eastern part by Russia.

Kyiv is the capital city of Ukraine. It's historical importance is that it was the center of the kingdom known as Kievan Rus, which was the predecessor of Ukraine, Russia and, Belarus. it is believed by many that St. Andrew, one of the apostles in the Bible and the brother of St. Peter, either predicted the future location of, or actually visited the site of, Kyiv.

The story of Kyiv revolves around a ruler of Kievan Rus, known as Vladimir the Great. Vladimir not only united the kingdom but made one of the most momentous decisions in history. He made a choice of religion for his kingdom, and investigated every practical choice. His emissaries were so impressed by the Hagia Sophia, during a visit to Constantinople (now Istanbul), that they could not be sure whether they were still on earth or had actually entered Heaven. Vladimir thought that Byzantine Christianity, from which the Eastern Orthodox Church of today is descended, was certainly the best choice.

Other important figures here are the two Byzantine missionary brothers, Cyril and Methodius. The language of the region was Old East Slavic. Cyril was very good with languages, and created an efficient alphabet so that the Bible could be copied into the language. That is why the alphabet that is used by Russia, and other nearby countries today, is called the Cyrillic Alphabet.

Kyiv has been controlled, down through the centuries, by a wide variety of peoples. It was destroyed by the Mongols in 1240, and only fully recovered it's position in the Nineteenth Century. When the Eastern Church finally split altogether from the Catholics in 1054, it brought about a division in the region, with Catholics using the Latin script on one side, and Eastern Orthodox using the Cyrillic script on the other side. The Cold War was but a secular manifestation of this split of nearly a thousand years ago.

The best-known landmark in Kyiv is the green-and-white St. Sophia's Cathedral.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Sophia%27s_Cathedral,_Kiev#/media/File:Kij%C3%B3w_-_Sob%C3%B3r_M%C4%85dro%C5%9Bci_Bo%C5%BCej_02.jpg

The cathedral appears very Orthodox, but has passed between Orthodox and Catholic control during it's history. The following scenes begin inside St. Sophia's Cathedral, which was begun in the 11th Century. The cathedral is named for the Hagia Sophia that we saw in the posting on this blog, "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began".

In Sophia Square, in front of the cathedral, is the statue of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. He led an uprising against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who ruled Kyiv, to bring about an independent Ukraine. He was allied with the tsar of Russia, and the involvement of Russia was the beginning of it being a great power.

As with most other conflict in this region, it was rooted in the 1054 split between Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Kiev was Orthodox, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was Catholic.

The blue buildings, with gold domes, are the cathedral and monastery of St. Michael, it was destroyed in the Soviet era but reconstructed. The structure that is stone on one side, and wood on the other, is the Golden Gate which is a restored 11th Century fortress.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow before you can move onto 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/@50.4530379,30.5142695,3a,75y,83.81h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-o9DUn-1b4zs%2FV3EHa9b3LVI%2FAAAAAAABhYo%2FmyXQKLSSDDIE88r6NhbhcB5adIf-64QuACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-o9DUn-1b4zs%2FV3EHa9b3LVI%2FAAAAAAABhYo%2FmyXQKLSSDDIE88r6NhbhcB5adIf-64QuACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya80.33625-ro0-fo100%2F!7i10612!8i5306

The following scenes begin in Independence Square, around which Ukraine's government buildings are located. The glass structures on the square are skylights for an underground shopping center. The statue on a tall column is the Independence Monument.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4505959,30.5230439,3a,75y,80.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-c6daWoj1TV4%2FV4qZMh4n1_I%2FAAAAAAAABgs%2Fj2mHjwcCP-46FdMoLAAmVIP_xolSL1uygCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-c6daWoj1TV4%2FV4qZMh4n1_I%2FAAAAAAAABgs%2Fj2mHjwcCP-46FdMoLAAmVIP_xolSL1uygCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-3.4865515-ya63.484314-ro-0.49233237-fo100%2F!7i7776!8i3888

The Mariyinsky Palace is the palace of Ukraine, and looks a typical Romanov-era palace. The building with the glass dome next to it is the Ukrainian Parliament building.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4480986,30.5380449,3a,75y,67.18h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-jZz6oKzyzio%2FWPOzFcgGceI%2FAAAAAAAAhsg%2FR-qjXKLbm849g9Dmz-qtFWBN-xTUq2cqQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-jZz6oKzyzio%2FWPOzFcgGceI%2FAAAAAAAAhsg%2FR-qjXKLbm849g9Dmz-qtFWBN-xTUq2cqQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya95.54558-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

This is Podil, a central area of Kyiv with a lot of old Orthodox churches.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4682434,30.5183874,3a,75y,94.36h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-HzO_VmyngxMiQWPpK3rZw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-HzO_VmyngxMiQWPpK3rZw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D96.834435%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This Kyiv's Golden Gate, a restored 11th Century Fortress, and the surrounding area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4488445,30.5133666,3a,75y,67.4h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-DjP7AkjXKzw%2FWCDtePpIg5I%2FAAAAAAAAHlc%2F7b9Jp08201kUwkiUDRu1Z9YAAO2J0TJNgCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-DjP7AkjXKzw%2FWCDtePpIg5I%2FAAAAAAAAHlc%2F7b9Jp08201kUwkiUDRu1Z9YAAO2J0TJNgCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya71.82067-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Here is an area with several of Kyiv's best-known old churches. The scenes begin inside St. Andrew's Church, from the 18th Century, which is the one with the green domes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew%27s_Church,_Kiev#/media/File:Kyiv,_St_Andrew_church_(2).jpg

Remember that the blue cathedral and monastery, with the gold domes, is St. Michael's.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.4589704,30.5179373,3a,75y,121.87h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sZkz5xkTYlLMAAAQ1t0QC3w!2e0!3e11!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DZkz5xkTYlLMAAAQ1t0QC3w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D134.31996%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i8840!8i4420

This is the Kyiv Fortress, from the days when the Romanov Dynasty ruled Russia, and the nearby area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.433895,30.528044,3a,75y,66h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-kxFVL19hE-0%2FU9OPBnk8vWI%2FAAAAAAAANaM%2FwON8SjR2z-Y1Y8m0GXle-b01ie4BUPBIwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-kxFVL19hE-0%2FU9OPBnk8vWI%2FAAAAAAAANaM%2FwON8SjR2z-Y1Y8m0GXle-b01ie4BUPBIwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya92.04408-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i9728!8i4864 

Kharkiv is the major city of the eastern part of Ukraine. It was founded in the 17th Century and so does not have the long history of Kyiv. Today Kharkiv is a very industrial city.

Freedom Square is the focal point of Kharkiv.

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.0062957,36.2279304,3a,75y,144.57h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-RXk4TXG2yaTYShMyypgLw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-RXk4TXG2yaTYShMyypgLw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D155.42842%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 

Holy Annunciation is a well-known church in Kharkiv.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.990573,36.2240397,3a,75y,57.35h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipO3Jad91JSwN0g4E_zGCcZnu8-BqH5SWbdO6VVP!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipO3Jad91JSwN0g4E_zGCcZnu8-BqH5SWbdO6VVP%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya45.09267-ro0-fo100!7i6000!8i3000 

The city of Lviv, founded in the 13th Century, is in the far western part of Ukraine. It was once under Polish control. There is an opera house in Lviv that is reminiscent of the Palais Garnier in Paris.

This is St. George's Cathedral in Lviv.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.8380608,24.0128655,3a,75y,270h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sKa4V3v24_8M7gmeNxf9cLA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DKa4V3v24_8M7gmeNxf9cLA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D323.99362%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656 

Here is a residential neighborhood in Lviv.

https://www.google.com/maps/@49.8560714,24.0564995,3a,75y,188.44h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s4WH74stymP2UiIsZrM4L1A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D4WH74stymP2UiIsZrM4L1A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D188.44263%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Militarization Of Russia

This was formerly posted as "Made In Russia".

This is my view of how the west manipulates Russia, and how this is the most important factor in Russian relations with the west. We do not want war with Russia, but yet we don't want peace either. The reason is that the policy of the west toward Russia is based on economics.

The primary objective of the west toward Russia is not to have war with it, but to keep it out of the consumer goods market so that we can keep that market for ourselves, and Russia has gone along with it.

Russia has some great accomplishments. But those accomplishments do not get translated into global consumer goods, and that is the way the west wants it. The real goal of the west in dealing with Russia is to keep it so that Russia does not produce consumer goods that will compete with those from the west, and it has succeeded at that goal.

Russia produced the world's assault rifle, the legendary AK-47 which is in use all over the world. It detonated the largest bomb ever, the Tsar Bomba. It was the first to put an object in orbit, Sputnik, and the first to put a man in space, Yuri Gagarin. Russia was the first nation to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, the first to land a spacecraft on the moon (unmanned), and the first to send spacecraft to other planets.

Russia is capable of great things and is clearly not a nation to take lightly, and the west is well-aware of this.

What if Russia put it's technical capabilities into producing consumer goods? Those consumer goods might have given formidable competition to the consumer goods of the west, and the west did not want that to happen. The west wanted to keep the world consumer goods market for itself, because that was what really counted in bringing about prosperity.

So what the west did was find a way to manipulate Russia into not putting it's capabilities into consumer goods. The way that the west did this was not to have war but to make Russia, with it's long history of being invaded, feel threatened enough so that it put the best of it's productive capacity into military hardware, instead of consumer goods.

When considering the policy of the west toward Russia, remember the following sentence. This single sentence describes where the west would like Russia to direct the best of it's productive capacity.

The sentence to remember is: "Awesome tanks that will never be used for anything".

By making it feel threatened, but stopping short of actual war, that is where the west would like Russia to direct the best of it's productive capacity. Instead of producing consumer goods that will compete with ours, the west wants Russia to produce awesome tanks that, other then a parade through Red Square, will likely never be used for anything.

That is one reason why the Cold War is back. The west cannot let relations with Russia get too friendly, because then it might turn it's productive capacity to making consumer goods that compete with those of the west. What the west wants is not to have actual war, but to keep Russia focused on producing those "awesome tanks that will never be used for anything".

The way to win the world is not by producing tanks and missiles. It is to get the world driving our cars, riding our bikes, wearing our clothes, flying in our planes, and talking on our phones.

The T-34 was the Russian "wonder tank" of the Second World War. Russia, then as the Soviet Union, was victorious in Kursk, the greatest tank battle of all time. Before that, an earlier Soviet tank had been decisive in the victory against Japan at Khalkin Gol.

But yet after the war it was German and Japanese cars that swept the world. How did Russia's tanks not get translated into consumer cars? Where was the Russian version of Volkswagen and Toyota?

I live near a main road and the warm weather is filled with the buzz of Japanese bikes, Yamaha, Suzuki and, Kawasaki. But if Russia can make the world's assault rifle, the AK-47, then why can't it make the world's bike?

Russia's Alexander Popov probably contributed as much as anyone to the development of radio. But where is Russia's counterpart to companies like Phillips, Sony, Siemens and, Panasonic? Where is the Russian version of the iPhone? That would give the world even more choice in consumer electronics.

A Russian, Igor Sikorsky, is regarded as the inventor of the helicopter. So couldn't Russia market planes to the world to compete with Boeing and Airbus, instead of specializing in warplanes?

A Russian, then Soviet, spacecraft was the first to photograph the far side of the moon. This had never been seen before because the same side of the moon always faces earth, and was a great achievement. So where are the Russian cameras on the market and the Russian competitors to Fuji and Xerox?

The business interests of the west, of course, do not want Russia to make any of these things and export them to the world. That would be competing against western goods. What is wanted is for Russia to keep on putting the best of it's productive capacity into those "awesome tanks that, hopefully, will never be used for anything".

That was also part of America's strategy during the Cold War. For America to be known to the world as specializing in producing consumer goods that enhance life, while the Soviet Union specialized in producing weapons systems that kill people. Which nation do you think would be more popular?

If Russia would really like to advance on the west the way to do it is with the new Russian sports car that all the world is talking about.

Fiftieth Anniversary Of Richard Nixon's Visit To China

I can remember from childhood watching the newscast of U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China. Until then the U.S. and China didn't have diplomatic relations. No one could have imagined how this visit would change the world. Now we see "Made in China" everywhere.

One thing that often gets forgotten about this historic meeting is that it was originally arranged by the President of Pakistan. Richard Nixon visited Yahya Khan, who was scheduled to visit China, and it was Khan who suggested the idea of a visit to the Chinese leadership. Nixon's National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, made a low-profile visit to China first.

Recent Solar Storm And Other News

We know about the recent solar storm that destroyed forty Space X satellites. That was a minor storm. There was a much greater storm, on February 15. Fortunately it was on the opposite side of the sun.

We saw in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The World As We Know It", my speculation that a severe solar storm, which had the potential to destroy most electronics on earth, might be part of the "End Times" scenario foretold in the Bible.

As for the current tension involving Ukraine and Russia, the most likely long-term result of it will be to further consolidate Europe. We saw in "The End Of The World As We Know It" how the future Antichrist must be from what is now the European Union. This crisis has got Europe standing all together like they rarely stand all together on anything.

In other news one topic lately is the attempt to return home of some North Korean defectors in South Korea. This fits with the parable that we saw near the beginning of the compound posting, "The Meaning Of Freedom" July 2021. 

The parable is "The Zoo And The Jungle", Communism is the zoo and Capitalism is the jungle. The animals in the zoo see the animals of the jungle running free outside, and they long for their freedom too. One day the zoo disintegrates and it's inhabitants are set free.

At first the former inhabitants of the zoo are elated to have their newfound freedom. But after a while they begin to see that, while the jungle is free, it is also harsh and competitive. Unlike in the zoo there are no guarantees of the necessities of life. Also the former inhabitants of the zoo realize that the animals in the jungle that they could see are doing fairly well, now they see that there are many other animals in the jungle that are not doing as well.

They decide that maybe the zoo wasn't so bad after all.

Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine this morning. Let's not forget the posting, "The Cardinal Rule Of Military Strategy". When a nation wins a great military victory it cannot help trying to repeat that victory in later combat.

The eastern part of Ukraine, which is the focal point of the combat, is not far from the Russian city that used to be known as Stalingrad. It was here that the greatest battle in human history was fought, and is considered as the turning point of the Second World War. I believe that the Battle of Stalingrad was given to the world as a glimpse of apocalypse.

It is interesting that Vladimir Putin called for the "denazification" of Ukraine because the main thrust of the Soviet offensive after the victory at Stalingrad was across Ukraine.

Here is a link to "The Cardinal Rule Of Military Strategy":

www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/2009/07/us-economic-collapse.html?m=0

Hawaii

Hawaii is believed to have been first settled by Polynesians, arriving by sea, about a thousand years ago. It is a chain of volcanic islands in the approximate center of the Pacific Plate, by far the largest of the earth's tectonic plates. A volcanic "hot spot" seems to have formed there because magma from below had to break through this vast plate somewhere.

European contact with Hawaii began with Captain James Cook. That is why the British flag has always been a part of the flag of Hawaii, from when it was an independent kingdom, then a republic, then a U.S. state. The national anthem of Hawaii when it was an independent kingdom was the same as Britain's. The islands used to be known as the Sandwich Islands.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hawaii#/media/File:Flag_of_Hawaii.svg

Hawaii became a united kingdom, encompassing all of the islands, in 1795. The last two islands joined voluntarily in 1810. Before this, each island had been independent. The islands were united by King Kamehameha. His family dynasty ruled until followed by the election of another king, when the first dynasty became childless. This second dynasty was that of King Kalakaua.

The largest island is the one that is called Hawaii. The largest city, Honolulu, is located on the island of Oahu. The other islands are: Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai and, Nihau.

The last queen of that dynasty was overthrown, in 1893, and Hawaii became a republic, ruled by President Sanford Dole. He ruled until Hawaii was annexed as a territory by the U.S. A relative of his started the Dole food company. Hawaii became a U.S. state in 1959. According to some reports, U.S. President Grover Cleveland wanted to keep the Hawaiian queen in power and the republic was just to wait out his second term in office. Americans became familiar with Hawaii by way of the television show, "Hawaii Five-O", Hawaii being the 50th U.S. state.

Honolulu was not always the capital city of Hawaii, but today is the capital and by far it's largest city. The former royal palace, from when Hawaii was an independent kingdom, is now the Supreme Court. The following scenes begin there. The statue in front is of King Kamehameha, who united Hawaii.

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/@21.3057852,-157.8595578,3a,75y,226.41h,92.81t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMe5isa-crE8x7NbB9e0q_H2xpRN3vGXnimCfF1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMe5isa-crE8x7NbB9e0q_H2xpRN3vGXnimCfF1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya222.4084-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

I am not sure which beach is the most famous in the world. On our visit to "Rio De Janeiro", we saw Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches. But the best-known just might be Waikiki, in Honolulu.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.2765668,-157.8289656,3a,75y,81.23h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM0wGErWouwOEo_9mOv6Q8fs_l4mb9Zcf_5gH_d!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM0wGErWouwOEo_9mOv6Q8fs_l4mb9Zcf_5gH_d%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya240.60387-ro-0-fo100!7i6000!8i3000

Here is more of downtown Honolulu, in the Chinatown area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.3122993,-157.8628555,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sc58H_B11UJ__GG2PwunoCg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The volcanic crater in Honolulu is called Diamond Head. The following scenes begin in the park that is within it.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.2634914,-157.805747,3a,75y,204.67h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNG5AFtNH_4eNs-5U3L5P-w1rKE2tjAK4B_aZuj!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNG5AFtNH_4eNs-5U3L5P-w1rKE2tjAK4B_aZuj%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi1.4406652-ya41.689728-ro7.378322-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

This is a residential area of Honolulu, some distance from downtown.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.3330444,-157.858971,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8kWqINXuDmbw-DRFMy7mLg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Immediately west of Honolulu is Pearl Harbor, a good natural harbor. It was the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941, that brought the U.S. into the Second World War. It seems to me that Alaska and Hawaii became U.S. states because the two were sites of conflict in the Second World War. Japanese forces invaded some of the Aleutian Islands. If the Pearl Harbor attack had taken place in San Juan instead Puerto Rico, which is much closer to the U.S. mainland, would have become a state instead?

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.3623714,-157.9535565,3a,75y,14.17h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMi-B8xBAeHcqBoZohJt2wxB5S3Y3iT_eT2kfBl!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMi-B8xBAeHcqBoZohJt2wxB5S3Y3iT_eT2kfBl%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi3.000069-ya282.7071-ro16.04378-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Another city on the island of Oahu is Kaneohe.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.4063093,-157.8013396,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7sL5uyGqFVX6oD9mVFWJxw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

At the opposite end of the island from Honolulu, along the Oahu Plain, is Waialua.

https://www.google.com/maps/@21.5823337,-158.1398682,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2K3hbklu3phqaU9DcSFTPg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Maui is also a significantly populated Hawaiian island. This is the town of Kahului, about 150 km or 100 miles from Honolulu.

https://www.google.com/maps/@20.8825086,-156.4709814,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s8m-OPi5v3hZsAfe9_uCNgg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The largest of the Hawaiian Islands, although sparsely populated, is the one that is actually called Hawaii. If it's underwater portion is included, Mauna Kea is actually the highest mountain in the world. Since it's summit is above so much of the atmosphere, it is an ideal place for astronomical observatories.

In 1962 there was a high-altitude nuclear test called Starfish Prime. The site was about a thousand miles or 1500 km from Honolulu. The test generated much more electromagnetic pulse than expected, which had a destructive effect on the electrical systems and electronic communications of Honolulu. The explosive yield was about 1.4 megatons, which is not much by today's standards.

We saw how the destructive effects on electrical and electronic communications systems could be a part of the Bible prophecies in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The World As We Know It". Remember that 1962 was long before the very intricate and sensitive electronics, in the phones and computers that we are so dependent upon, which could be easily destroyed by such an input of radiation. Most of all, a massive solar storm such as the one in 1859, would send a very destructive surge of radiation across the whole world.

This test was followed, a few seconds later, by a brilliant aurora on the diametrically opposite side of the world. What happened is that atoms were broken apart by the blast. In the earth's magnetic field, the positively-charged protons went in one direction, and the negatively-charged electrons in the other, until they rejoined on the opposite side of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime#/media/File:Starfish5.JPG

As far as Hawaii and the geological theory, "The Story Of Planet Earth", on the geology blog www.markmeekearth.blogspot.com , notice that Diamond Head, in Honolulu, is on a straight line along with Manchu Picchu, in Peru, and the Sugarloaf-shaped mountains in Rio De Janeiro, on the opposite coast of South America. My theory describes how magma emergence along a former longitudinal line of emergence, from a previous polar era before the landing of the last Continental Asteroid, is what created these features, along with the Hawaiian Islands, which forms a nearly straight line.

Longitudinal lines of magma emergence were perpendicular to the former equators, which changed with the landing of each of the three Continental Asteroids. Notice that this line along the Hawaiian Islands to Rio, which passes through the area of Manchu Picchu, is exactly perpendicular to this undersea ridge off the coast of South America.

This is a former equator, and Manchu Picchu, in Peru, is located right at where this former equator would have met the longitudinal line of emergence.

The present equator, as well as three former equators going back to the one before the first of the three Continental Asteroids, as described in my theory, landed on earth.

Have you ever wondered how a tropical island that is thousands of km away from everything else be densely covered with plant growth? How did the plants get there? Following is a link to "Pterosaurs And Tropical Islands":

www.markmeeklife.blogspot.com/2009/07/pterosaurs-and-tropical-islands.html?m=0

The Danger Of Fusion Ignition

Progress toward developing nuclear fusion into a practical source of energy was in the news again recently. Present nuclear power comes from fission, splitting the atoms of a certain isotope of uranium. But nuclear power, as we have it now, had a downside. It creates wastes that will remain dangerously radioactive for centuries, and it is vulnerable to meltdowns and other accidents. It also requires the scarce and expensive 235 isotope of uranium or man-made plutonium for fuel.

The highest-profile nuclear disasters have been Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania, Chernobyl, in Ukraine, and Fukushima, in Japan. The Fukushima disaster was caused by a tsunami. "The China Syndrome" was a 1979 movie about the meltdown of a nuclear reactor. The movie was so-called because the super-hot reactor core might burn it's way right through the earth and emerge in China.

Getting nuclear power from fusion, rather than this messy fission process, will supposedly do away with all that. Fusion means combining atoms together, rather than splitting them apart, and is the process that takes place in stars including the sun. Both processes release energy, fusion far more, and any material can theoretically be used in the fusion process. The fusion process produces no dangerous radioactive wastes.

Part of the problem with nuclear energy is that it's early proponents made too many promises. Energy would be so inexpensive that we wouldn't even bother metering it. When that never became reality it made nuclear power look like somewhat of a failure, even though it really isn't.

But here we go again with the development of fusion. Pretty soon we will live in a fusion wonderland. All of the energy that we could possibly need will be produced cleanly and efficiently. Along with electric vehicles this will save the environment, and we will all live happily ever after.

The trouble is that we will be dealing with temperatures and energies that we have never dealt with before. That is the great challenge of fusion, how to contain the process. We are replicating the process that goes on in the center of the sun and no material on earth can withstand it. Before combining into larger atoms the original atoms first come apart into a state of matter called plasma. The approach is to suspend the process in a magnetic field. The most common device for accomplishing this is called a Tokamak.

When the first nuclear bomb was detonated, in New Mexico in 1945, no one knew exactly what was going to happen simply because there had never been a known nuclear explosion on earth before. Some people were worried that it might cause the atmosphere to ignite. But the test went as planned and nothing of the kind happened.

But today we keep reading reports that we are getting closer to making nuclear fusion, as opposed to fission, into a practical source of energy, and I think we should take another look at this concern.

Nuclear fusion is what forms all elements, other than the hydrogen and helium and traces of lithium that formed in the Big Bang. Atoms are usually kept separate from one another because the negative electric charges of their outermost electrons mutually repel. But when enough matter is brought together by it's common gravity the pressure at the center of the mass is enough to overcome this mutual repulsion and crunch smaller atoms together into larger ones. 

All mass contains a certain amount of internal energy, known as the Mass-Energy Equivalence. But when atoms are crunched together like this the new larger atom contains less internal energy than the smaller atoms that formed it. This excess energy is released as radiation. The volume of mass that has enough force, by it's mutual gravity, to crunch smaller atoms into larger ones is known as a star, and the release of the excess energy is why stars shine. The energy released adds to the heat inside the star and it is this tremendous heat and pressure that continues the fusion process. Our sun is presently at the stage of fusing four hydrogen atoms into one helium atom, but it contains heavier elements because it is a second-generation star.

Fusion is the crunching of small atoms into larger ones, usually by the tremendous heat and pressure in the centers of stars. The opposite process is fission, the splitting of large atoms usually by high-speed neutrons. Both processes release energy, but fusion releases far more energy per mass. 

All of the nuclear energy that we use at the present time is from fission, the splitting of either the 235 isotope of uranium or plutonium. Efforts have been going on for a long time to get energy from fusion. We can fuse smaller atoms together into larger ones, one way is by using lasers, but, as of this writing, no one has yet made fusion into a net source of energy, meaning that we get more energy out of the process than we put into it. However the latest news is that we are making definite progress in that direction.

Fusion is what makes so-called "thermonuclear" weapons so much more powerful than an ordinary atomic bomb. A thermonuclear weapon is also known as a hydrogen bomb. In such a bomb an ordinary atomic bomb acts as a mere detonator, bringing about the heat and pressure needed to start the fusion process.

The easiest atoms to fuse, those requiring the least energy, is the hydrogen isotope know as deuterium. Ordinary hydrogen is the simplest and lightest atom. An ordinary hydrogen atom is just one electron in orbit around one proton. But there is an isotope of hydrogen, deuterium, which has a neutron, as well as the proton, in the nucleus. 

When atoms are fused together heavier atoms typically have a higher neutron-to-proton ratio in the nucleus. A neutron is formed by crunching an electron into a proton, the process known as K-capture. Deuterium is the easiest to fuse because, unlike ordinary hydrogen, it has a neutron already there. 

A molecule of water is two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, the familiar H2O. If the hydrogen atoms are deuterium, with the neutron in the nucleus, it is about 10% heavier than ordinary water, and known as "heavy water". Heavy water is useful in nuclear processes because, as a moderator it won't absorb neutrons because it's hydrogen atoms already have neutrons, and, as fusion material because it's hydrogen atoms have neutrons already there.

Within a thermonuclear weapon, or hydrogen bomb, an ordinary atomic bomb, based on the fission (splitting) by high-speed neutrons of either plutonium or the 235 isotope of uranium, acts as the mere detonator to provide the heat and pressure to get the fusion process going, which may use heavy water as a fusion material. In a typical design the extremely high-energy X-rays from the initial explosion will be enclosed by a radiation case so that they will bring about the fusion in the split second before the entire bomb is blasted apart. The radiation case can itself be made of fissile material, uranium, to add to the explosive yield.

With that background let's go back to the concern, in 1945, that the first nuclear test might cause the atmosphere to ignite.

Most of the air around us consists of nitrogen and oxygen. The atoms of nitrogen and oxygen are diatomic, meaning usually two atoms of nitrogen together as well as two atoms of oxygen. If such a diatomic molecule of oxygen has a carbon atom attached it forms carbon dioxide. There is also water vapor in the air. Air is thus a mixture, rather than a chemical compound, there is no such thing as a molecule of air.

(Note-My theory is that it is these diatomic molecules of nitrogen and oxygen in the air that result in circular storms, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, cyclones and. typhoons. If the molecules spin, and the spin of the long axis gets coordinated with other molecules, the result will be a circular storm. Of the air just consisted of single atoms there would be no circular storms. The same principle applies to water molecules linking by hydrogen bonding. If not for this there would be no eddies or whirlpools in water).

Here is the danger of atmospheric ignition. Now that we are reportedly getting closer to making nuclear fusion a practical source of energy, which involves tremendously high temperatures and energies, what if we reached a point where there was so much energy in such a confined space that it caused the diatomic molecules of oxygen and nitrogen in the air to start fusing into a single atom?

If we fused two atoms of nitrogen together we would get an atom of silicon. If we fused two atoms of oxygen together we would get an atom of sulfur. But remember the reason stars shine. After fusion the new larger atom contains less internal energy than the atoms that were crunched together to form it. That energy must be released. What if that energy caused two more oxygen or nitrogen atoms to fuse, and that excess energy was released, and the process continued?

The atmosphere would literally ignite.

If an atomic bomb is detonated on sand, the tremendous heat and pressure may fuse the sand into glass. But that is just chemical fusion, combining atoms into molecules without affecting the nucleus of the atom. Nuclear fusion, as takes place in stars, is actually combining atoms to make completely different atoms.

Ordinary ignition, such as burning fuel, is just chemical ignition. Molecular bonds between atoms contain energy, and breaking the bonds releases that energy. If the molecular bonds in a material release more energy than it takes to break the bonds, that material will burn. What I am referring to here is a similar concept, but the far greater energy being both released and required by nuclear fusion.

It is not so much the actual amount of energy being released, a vast amount of energy is released already by nuclear tests and reactors and even by lightning, it is rather energy density, confining the energy to a very limited area as does the radiation case in a thermonuclear weapon.

I consider this as the fusion version of a reactor meltdown but, unless it could be stopped, would destroy life on earth. I am not saying that this is going to happen, just that we should give it some thought. It doesn't just apply to the air, but also to the earth and the water of the sea. It wouldn't go any further than iron, because the ordinary fusion process only goes as far as iron, but fusion ignition could theoretically turn everything on earth into iron.

Forgotten Blog

Here is some general observations from 2007 that I recently rediscovered. I can't remember why I put it on a separate blog. It was early in the history of this writing and I was still figuring out how best to manage it.

www.markmeekobs.blogspot.com

Nanjing

There are three great cities in the general area where the Yangtze River meets the sea. We have already visited Shanghai and Hangzhou, today let's visit Nanjing.

Nanjing was capital of China during the Ming Dynasty, and was once the largest city in the world. The Ming Dynasty, from 1368 to 1644, was a great period in Chinese and world history. During this time Beijing, the current capital of China, was made a secondary northern capital, but Nanjing was the main capital. Most of the six hundred year old walls of Nanjing are still there. The Forbidden City of Beijing was supposedly based on on the now-gone Ming Palace of Nanjing.

The city itself goes far back into ancient times. it is built on the site of an "Ancient Stone City", from the Warring States Period of the Fifth Century B.C., which is now part of Nanjing's wall. The famed admiral, Zheng He, who made sea voyages all over Asia and to Africa during the Ming Dynasty, was based in Nanjing.

The center of Nanjing today is the area around the Confucian Temple. A temple was first constructed here in the year 384. The Qinhuai River meets the Yangtze River at Nanjing.

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/@32.0236043,118.7870183,3a,75y,98.94h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-aaMzxrnM7bo%2FV1Puw7MmhRI%2FAAAAAAAAi6o%2Ffc0iB6ISapg9KLoOmmVBX5vKzrPU1hLIQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-aaMzxrnM7bo%2FV1Puw7MmhRI%2FAAAAAAAAi6o%2Ffc0iB6ISapg9KLoOmmVBX5vKzrPU1hLIQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya329.51166-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

The Qixia Temple, not far from Nanjing, dates from the year 489. Also in the images may be seen the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, but this was built in the Twentieth Century. Sun Yat Sen is the founder of the modern Republic of China, and was it's first president.

He founded the Nationalist Party, which later lost to the Communists and withdrew to Taiwan, but it still honored in the mainland as the founder of the modern country. Sun Yat Sen died in 1925, before the Long March and the Civil War which resulted in victory for the Communists. Nanjing was the capital of China, until the victorious Communists moved the capital to Beijing. The name was changed from "Republic of China" to "People's Republic of China".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum#/media/File:Hall_of_Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum#/media/File:Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum_at_1st_May_2011.jpg

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1519747,118.9594302,3a,75y,93.89h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-IDamLnlrrJg%2FV6bqFJO2CQI%2FAAAAAAAAEYY%2FzbYiY0L1ZV8TGkN-qgAswGnq1786MThygCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-IDamLnlrrJg%2FV6bqFJO2CQI%2FAAAAAAAAEYY%2FzbYiY0L1ZV8TGkN-qgAswGnq1786MThygCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya58.591843-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10752!8i4506

This was the Presidential Palace, and the surrounding area, from when the capital of the Republic of China was in Nanjing, until the civil war in 1949.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0448145,118.7968535,3a,75y,39.68h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-2p9sr9DNh1k%2FV8TMAYpWvVI%2FAAAAAAAAAH8%2F6x_NKesoHL0VhSn6Szbrtlaf7Izsla4egCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-2p9sr9DNh1k%2FV8TMAYpWvVI%2FAAAAAAAAAH8%2F6x_NKesoHL0VhSn6Szbrtlaf7Izsla4egCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya134.11806-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

The following scenes show the "Stone City" that was built during the ancient Fifth Century B.C. "Warring States" period, and is now incorporated into Nanjing's Fourteenth-Century walls.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.051362,118.751906,3a,75y,304h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-L4VnX0pvu9Q%2FWPN4FjHDRAI%2FAAAAAAAADiI%2FyfrbDsscFys4tHuunDJpAvSwSwPTWwlJwCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-L4VnX0pvu9Q%2FWPN4FjHDRAI%2FAAAAAAAADiI%2FyfrbDsscFys4tHuunDJpAvSwSwPTWwlJwCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya304.5-ro0-fo100%2F!7i8000!8i4000

The following scenes center around the six-hundred-year-old walls and gates of Nanjing.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0153989,118.7766879,3a,75y,259h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-CJ2j6OKqyeI%2FVOH6l6qWhQI%2FAAAAAAAArNM%2FYL14CcVkEjMANZh9KDV3KaA26VZk_18XwCJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-CJ2j6OKqyeI%2FVOH6l6qWhQI%2FAAAAAAAArNM%2FYL14CcVkEjMANZh9KDV3KaA26VZk_18XwCJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya24.499996-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i10240!8i5120

Here are some scenes of modern central Nanjing.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0423735,118.7828362,3a,75y,46h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Kk2S9sor2tc%2FVCNVtx18uLI%2FAAAAAAAABKk%2FhdgrRm_8yBwmxwbr9ObAZW1IHpLLY4vBACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-Kk2S9sor2tc%2FVCNVtx18uLI%2FAAAAAAAABKk%2FhdgrRm_8yBwmxwbr9ObAZW1IHpLLY4vBACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya47.500015-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Here are some more views of modern Nanjing.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.9944588,118.7039999,3a,75y,34h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Sn563NZfaSA%2FWPgE7bbmqFI%2FAAAAAAAByYA%2FR5ibbjc-NywfBguhOTfF4R6U9IdluUI1ACLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-Sn563NZfaSA%2FWPgE7bbmqFI%2FAAAAAAAByYA%2FR5ibbjc-NywfBguhOTfF4R6U9IdluUI1ACLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya145.5-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

This is the Nanjing Yangtze Bridge. The bridge was open in 1968, received world-wide architectural recognition, and was considered as an icon of the city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.1184628,118.7278728,3a,75y,259h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-ZIyGtGENELU%2FV330kPXG0II%2FAAAAAAAAjJ8%2F0iQiLepi8jkW5TBIL1KAwncnFv5GJnbjQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-ZIyGtGENELU%2FV330kPXG0II%2FAAAAAAAAjJ8%2F0iQiLepi8jkW5TBIL1KAwncnFv5GJnbjQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya322.50003-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Here is a suburb, to the west of the Yangtze River.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.3004169,118.316278,3a,75y,46h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-GX0keLKT3Lg%2FVrNr-ZNuwpI%2FAAAAAAAAFWw%2F8rtZ_COwCDIQvypXBwt8Urj6sXfiWLeGACJkC!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2F-GX0keLKT3Lg%2FVrNr-ZNuwpI%2FAAAAAAAAFWw%2F8rtZ_COwCDIQvypXBwt8Urj6sXfiWLeGACJkC%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya4.500003-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Historical Sidelines

This is being reposted because more has been added to it.

I find that history books tend to give the main sweep of events but often neglect the numerous "side stories" that do not fit into the main sweep. Today, let's have a look at some of these historical sidelines that should not be forgotten. 

The modern sciences of cosmology and cosmogony, the underlying structure and origin of the universe, revolve around the so-called "Big Bang". This is the cataclysmic explosion of matter and energy that virtually all scientists in these fields accept as marking the beginning of the universe. It is easy to forget that the Big Bang Theory did not originate in scientific circles at all but is a Christian idea. A Belgian priest named Georges Lemaitre suggested that the universe must have begun with such a cataclysm based on what is stated in the Bible about God's creation of the universe and it proved to be correct. 

In celebrating the recent 40th anniversary of the first landing of men on the moon, there is one really impressive feat that seems to get left out. It happened not on the first moon landing, Apollo 11, but on the next one, Apollo 12, in November 1969. In 1967, an unmanned spacecraft, Surveyor, landed on the moon at provide photo images of the surface. In an outstanding feat of navigation, Apollo 12 landed near Surveyor so that the astronauts could remove it's camera and bring it back to earth. The total surface area of the moon is about four times the size of countries like the U.S. or Canada or, China so let's not forget this. 

Cotton is not native to North America and coffee is not native to South America. All of the cotton ever grown in North America originated in some seeds brought from London and all of the coffee grown in South America is from a plant taken there from the Netherlands. 

An incredible but overlooked fact is that the vast majority of the stars in the sky that can be seen with the naked eye have Arabic names. This does not include the brightest stars such as Antares, Arcturus, Vega, Sirius, etc. because these stars were named in ancient times. It also does not include the stars that can only be seen with a telescope. The reason is that after the end of the Roman Empire but before the renaissance, it was the Middle East that made most of the advances in science. "Algebra" is also derived from an Arabic word. 

We tend to forget how our alphabet was derived from earlier hieroglyphics. Have you ever noticed how an "A" resembles the head and horns of a bull upside-down? An "H" resembles a door or a two-story house. "J" looks like a fishing hook. "M" or "W" seems to be derived from the waves on water. "R" looks like a person's profile. "S" might be from a bow and "V" an inverted symbol for a hill or mountain. "T" resembes a pillar or column holding up a roof. 

The west African nation of Liberia was founded by a group of former slaves in the U.S. that had been given their freedom and sailed back to Africa many generations after their ancestors had been taken as slaves. They named their new capital city "Monrovia" after the U.S. president that gave them freedom. I am surprised that this amazing story does not get more attention. 

Sweden was once an imperial power and a long-forgotten fact is that the U.S. state of Delaware had it's beginnings as a Swedish colony. 

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was a short-lived union between Egypt and Syria. The two became one nation known as the United Arab Republic, or the U.A.R. Egypt is still sometimes referred to by that name. There were high hopes that the new united nation would be the focal point of a vast Pan-Arab nation. But the Iraqi King Qassim favored an alliance with the U.S.S.R. Also, many Syrians were concerned that theirs, the smaller of the two nations would be dominated by Egypt and there were wealthy Syrians that felt threatened by Egyptian leader, Gamel Nasser's socialist ideas. A faction of the Syrian Army rose up and declared indpendence from the U.A.R. 

An unforgettable episode is the radio broadcast of "The War of the Worlds" in 1938. It was a story about an invasion of earth by Martians. The trouble is that millions of people in eastern New York State and New Jersey took it seriously and thought it was an actual live news broadcast of such an invasion in progress. In 1968 the scenario was repeated in Buffalo, with a science fiction radio broadcast about Martians landing on Grand Island. Some people believed that it was for real, reportedly including the Canadian military, which came to the border to try and stop any Martians from entering Canada.

In the Niagara Falls area, Grand Island was once, before the reestablishment of Israel, planned as the Jewish homeland of "Ararat" and nearby Navy Island was proposed as the site of the United Nations Headquarters. Neither was to be. 

A Lebanese tradition is immigration to Latin America. Mexico's Carlos Slim Helu is of Lebanese descent and is, at the time of this writing, the richest man in the world. This is an immigration trend of which little is written. 

In the Eighteenth Century, Russia sought immigrants from Europe to establish farms on it's vast landscape. Most European countries had colonies to which people could move if they wished. But from the small German-speaking duchies and principalities across central Europe, which were not yet a united nation, hundreds of thousands answered the call. The result was the settlement of so-called "Volga Germans" deep inside Russia around the Volga River. The settlers ultimately numbered nearly two million. They operated very prosperous farms and life revolved around Christianity. Of course, trouble was on the horizon with the advent of atheistic Communism and the world wars. Today, little remains of the Volga Germans in that area. 

It was the Italian airship "Italia" that was the first aircraft to fly over the north pole. In 1928, it succeeded in reaching the pole. Difficult weather conditions prevented landing but flags and a cross presented by the pope were dropped there. The airship never made it back to base due to extreme weather conditions and crashed on an ice floe. The crash caused part of the cabin to break free and ten men were thrown onto the ice, one of which was killed. These were rescued but the airship, suddenly free of a significant amount of weight, thrust back up into the sky with six of the crew still aboard. The airship disappeared into the clouds and has never been found or heard from again. 

It is worth remembering why the city of Trelew on the coast of Argentina has a Welsh name. In the Nineteenth Century, it was founded as a remote outpost for Welsh settlers far away from civilization. The settlement became quite prosperous and attracted more settlers from Wales and everything was done in the Welsh language. Times changed when refrigeration was invented. Argentine beef could be shipped to Europe on refrigerated ships, where it brought premium prices. Soon, much of Argentina became one vast ranch of cattle. Immigrants poured in, mostly from southern Europe, to become ranchers and gueros, the Argentine version of cowboys, and the once-remote Welsh outpost of Trelew suddenly found itself in the middle of civilization. 

China once had it's own version of Christopher Columbus. In the Fifteenth Century, over a hundred years before the voyage of Columbus, Zheng He is believed to have made seven voyages with fleets of large ships all around the Indian Ocean. There is a controversial opinion that he reached North America but certainly brought all manner of African animals back to China.

I wonder if Jesus was foretold by name, in the Old Testament about five hundred years before His time. The Book of Zechariah tells of a "Joshua" who will "take away the sin of the world in one day". This was written before the Hellenistic Age. What I find interesting is that the name of Jesus is the Greek form of Joshua.

Soldiers returning from war tend to start families. The Baby Boom, following the Second World War, is defined as those born between 1945 and 1964, and is seen demographically as a bulge in the population. But have you ever wondered why we do not seem to ever hear of a similar baby boom after the First World War? It is because so many people were killed by the Spanish Flu, maybe 50-100 million, and it tended to kill people in their prime.

Peter the Great, the best-known tsar of Russia's Romanov Dynasty, had his namesake city of St. Petersburg specially built as the country's capital city, moving the capital from Moscow. The Communists would later move the capital back to Moscow. To get new ideas Peter actually moved to the Netherlands and got a job as a laborer in a shipyard. He also visited England and became friends with William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. This voyage is known as the "Grand Embassy" and is remembered today because the Russian flag is actually based on the Dutch flag.

This is the Dutch flag:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Netherlands#/media/File%3AFlag_of_the_Netherlands.svg 

If we take the red bar at the top and put it at the bottom it gives us the Russian flag:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Russia#/media/File%3AFlag_of_Russia.svg 

Something that I noticed but couldn't see pointed out anywhere is that the brilliant supernova in the year 1054, which created what we now refer to as the Crab Nebula, took place just as a momentous world event was going on. This was the ill-fated meeting in Constantinople between representatives of the pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople. The meeting would result in the Eastern Orthodox Church splitting away from the Catholic Church. All of the rivalry between east and west ever since, including Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the eastern fronts of both world wars and, the Cold War, have been secular manifestations of this split. The supernova, an exploding star, lasted a long time and was so brilliant that it was visible during the day. Could it have been a warning from God? It was documented in Arab, Chinese and, Japanese records but apparently not by Europeaans.

Something amazing that I couldn't see had ever been pointed out is the parallels between the destructions of the Jewish Temple in ancient times and the splits in the Christian Church in more recent times. The original Israelite religious center was Shiloh, in the central highlands or what would today be called the West Bank. It was destroyed by the Philistines in 1050 B.C. Shiloh was never rebuilt because it was replaced by Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. The siege by the Babylonians which destroyed that Temple began in 587 B.C. There is the famous prophecy in the Book of Daniel about the 69 "weeks of years", which amounts to 483 years. This was the time between the reconsideration of the Temple, after the return from exile in Babylon, until the Crucifixion of Jesus. The prophecy is actually of Seventy Weeks of Years but the final seven years is reserved for the time of the Antichrist. The two major splits in the church was the Eastern Orthodox, splitting away in 1054, and the Protestants, splitting away beginning in 1517. Notice that from 1050 to 587 B.C. is 463 years. From 1054 to 1517 is also 463 years. From 1517 to the beginning of the Millennium is 483 years. 

Chewing gum was actually brought about by the villain of the Alamo, and the Texas battle for independence, Mexican general and president Santa Anna. In his later years he was in exile in New York. He had a money-making idea of a plant-based substitute for rubber. The idea wasn't successful in that, but did lead to the modern version of chewing gum.

Indians, people from India, should emphasize zero more. It is impossible to do complex calculations with understanding the concept of zero, which was first developed in India. I consider this as the single most important invention ever and the modern world would be absolutely impossible without it. Also Christopher Columbus was seeking a way to India when he sailed and that is why natives of the western hemisphere are called "Indians", he mistakenly believed that he had landed in India.

Canada's Song Of The Year

When I was in my early teens there was a song that was popular for a while, "Convoy" by C.W. McCall. It was about an ever-growing convoy of outlaw truck drivers that proceed eastward across the United States.

Citizen's Band (CB) radio was popular at the time, with the general public and not only with truck drivers, and the backdrop of the song is the truckers talking to each other on CB. Each trucker had a CB "handle" or username. The song is through the perspective of "Rubber Duck". 

CB radio had it's own 10 codes, 10-4 means "OK". Truck drivers had their own CB slang, "bears" were state police who wear hats similar to that of Smokey Bear.

I thought it was just a fanciful song. I had never heard of any such thing as a hostile convoy of trucks.

But the truck protests in Canada are like this song come to life. It is just about like the scenario in the song. The trucks started in the west and moved eastward, focusing on Ottawa.

Toward the end of the song the convoy approaches a toll bridge. Sure enough the focus of the protests in Canada recently moved to the Ambassador Bridge.

I see online that the song reached number one in Canada. I am certain that this song, which was later made into a movie, planted the psychological seed for the present protests. The singer was American but Canada is also dependent on long-distance trucking. 

I don't think that the "Convoy" song was totally original. There was an earlier song about motorcyclists, "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf. "Convoy" is very much like a remaking of that song for truckers.

Satellites Destroyed By Solar Storm

Dozens of Space X satellites have been destroyed by a solar storm. Now you can see what I mean in the section about solar storms in the posting on this blog, "The End Of The World As We Know It", last updated December 2021.

Does anyone remember that, during America's war in Vietnam, Haiphong harbor was mined by dropping mines into it from the air? The mines were set to be detonated by the change in magnetic field caused by a passing ship. But a solar storm came along and caused the mines to detonate, on August 4, 1972.

These were minor solar storms. Every once in a while a really major one comes along, like the one in 1859 that I described in "The End Of The World As We Know It", that could potentially shut down all electronics on earth.

The -gate Suffix For Scandals

We are currently in the midst of Britain's "Partygate" scandal. This is about the government imposing strict rules in an effort to control the Coronavirus and then, led by the prime minister, completely ignoring the rules themselves to hold lavish parties.

The use of the suffix, "-gate" to denote a scandal, goes back nearly fifty years, to the Watergate burglary of 1972. I think the city of Buffalo, NY deserves some credit for the -gate suffix that has spread across the world. Here is a link to the posting where I described how the idea for the Watergate burglary came from a near-identical burglary in Buffalo.

  www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/09/the-buffalo-ny-connection-to-watergate.html?m=0 

Remembering The Upper Niagara River

Almost all of the attention that gets paid to the Niagara River goes to the falls and the spectacular gorge of the lower river. But I think it is the upper part of the river, the water from Lake Erie before it goes over Niagara Falls, that is really unique. 

I have added Google Earth images to the following postings. The first is "The Unique Islands Of The Upper Niagara River":

www.markmeekniagara.blogspot.com/2009/07/unique-islands-in-upper-niagara-river.html?m=0

The following posting explains why the American Falls exists. The larger falls is lower so water flowing over the American Falls seemingly defies gravity.

www.markmeekniagara.blogspot.com/2009/07/burnt-ship-creek-and-american-falls.html?m=0

Hangzhou And The Yangtze Delta

The Yangtze Delta, where the Yangtze River meets the East China Sea, was one of the great early centers of civilization. We have already visited Shanghai in this area. What I would like to do today is to visit some more cities of China's Yangtze Delta, beginning with Hangzhou.

In the Middle East and Near East, there were three river valleys that were centers of early civilizations. These were the valleys of the Nile, the Tigris-Euphrates and the Indus Rivers. In the Far East, there were also three river valleys that became centers of early civilization. These are the Hwang Ho (Yellow) River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River.

The difference between the two regions is that the civilizations of the three river valleys in the Far East all became part of the same country. That country is China and it has been with us from ancient times until today.

The difference between China and the ancient river valleys further west is that, in China, the cities are much more likely to be the same cities today as they were in ancient times. There are exceptions in the Middle East, such as Jerusalem and Damascus, but most of the major cities, such as Cairo and Baghdad, were not there in ancient times but were built by Moslems in medieval times.

This means that in China we are much less likely to see ruins of ancient cities some distance away from the modern cities as we are in the Middle East. In Iran, there is the modern city of Tehran and the ruins of ancient cities such as Persepolis. In China it is much more likely that the cities of ancient times are the same cities that we see today, even if the focal point of the city may have shifted.

This fits with what we saw in the posting on this blog, "Understanding The World In Terms Of The South And West And The North And East". China is in the "North And East", where cities and country tend to last from ancient times until today. The Middle East, in contrast, is the "South And West", where cities and countries tend to change with ideas.

Hangzhou is a major Chinese city, in the general area of Shanghai. In some older atlases, the name may be given as "Hanchow". It is a very old and important city, and was once the capital of the country. It was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty until Kublai Khan started the Yuan Dynasty and made Beijing the capital, as we saw in the posting on this blog, "Why We Should Understand The Mongols".

Hangzhou grew up where the Grand Canal meets the Yangtze River. The Grand Canal was a massive project, in what the west would consider as the early Middle Ages, to provide a navigable link between the Yellow (Hwang Ho) River in the north and the Yangtze River in the south. The main purpose of the canal was to being grain northward. It is by far the longest canal in the world. Beijing is located at the northern terminus of the Grand Canal, while Hangzhou is at the southern end.

The famed traveler Ibn Batuta visited Hangzhou, and it is likely that Marco Polo did as well. It was once known as the Islamic center of China.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangzhou#/media/File:Hangzhou_1412.jpg

Projects like this canal as well as, of course the Great Wall, gave China the tradition of building infrastructure for which it is renown today. Notice how the new train, the Beijing-Shanghai High Speed Railway, between Shanghai, which is located in the general area of Hangzhou, and Beijing is in the same tradition as the Grand Canal.

Abroad, Chinese developers have completed a high-speed rail link to carry cargo to Addis Ababa from the port of Djibouti. When Eritrea became independent, it left the rest of Ethiopia landlocked. There is a massive port complex being constructed in Pakistan as part of China's "New Silk Road". Construction is underway for the Chinese development of an entirely new downtown for Cairo. There is even discussion of a rival to the Panama Canal, across Nicaragua, although this seems to be running into a lot of local opposition. It all goes back to the infrastructure tradition that began with the Grand Canal, with Hangzhou at it's southern terminus.

Let's start with the traditional Chinese architecture around West Lake near Hangzhou.

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/@30.255064,120.1364288,3a,75y,194h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-K_Jzul7jy2I%2FV6kRxdzTV-I%2FAAAAAAAAR7w%2FZgQew6wd-84sPDuLYMtznWiRByvjJYB_gCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh6.googleusercontent.com%2F-K_Jzul7jy2I%2FV6kRxdzTV-I%2FAAAAAAAAR7w%2FZgQew6wd-84sPDuLYMtznWiRByvjJYB_gCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352

Moving into the city of Hangzhou the following scenes begin near Citizen Square.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2455426,120.2107897,3a,75y,126h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOxSw4hLH73B8ujh0S5PRgPetD9vxf6XpgS1rXB!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOxSw4hLH73B8ujh0S5PRgPetD9vxf6XpgS1rXB%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya242.06326-ro0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Here are some scenes around the central business district of Hangzhou.

https://www.google.com/maps/@30.2651512,120.1602706,3a,75y,73h,83t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-Byy0dZk1bto%2FV3aSHVrMkII%2FAAAAAAACC5g%2FDIhA7fX062cRLBrGz_qbpcXl_dEgBA0gQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh4.googleusercontent.com%2F-Byy0dZk1bto%2FV3aSHVrMkII%2FAAAAAAACC5g%2FDIhA7fX062cRLBrGz_qbpcXl_dEgBA0gQCLIB%2Fw203-h101-n-k-no%2F!7i8704!8i4352

This is the city of Suzhou, beginning at one of it's pagodas. In this ancient city  of the Yangtze Delta there is a lot of traditional Chinese architecture.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.3122887,120.5649942,3a,75y,348.55h,120t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM9YfiCaVoCApzdor8UrHjwgvl9UYXOX80AsN8t!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM9YfiCaVoCApzdor8UrHjwgvl9UYXOX80AsN8t%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-30.000002-ya350.5521-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Here is more of the traditional Chinese architecture in Suzhou. The city is known for it's gardens and lakes, and used to be a walled city. It is also known for it's prosperity, and one of the best known paintings in the world is the Eighteenth-Century, "Prosperous Suzhou". It is painted as a scroll that can be unrolled to see the entire city.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.313001,120.609267,3a,75y,343.5h,96.94t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipM75ojDSIjQCJUqaVo2bEaklGIUCwHXjcK9FJfQ!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipM75ojDSIjQCJUqaVo2bEaklGIUCwHXjcK9FJfQ%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7.5975447-ya6.561167-ro4.1293435-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

These views begin on Guanqian Street in Suzhou, with pedestrian shopping and entertainment.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.3115361,120.6256025,3a,75y,316.5h,117t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPonlbPdR52nhUEcWz5EwWpZmQO-8OnqBW1Nvu4!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPonlbPdR52nhUEcWz5EwWpZmQO-8OnqBW1Nvu4%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-29.353472-ya204.32242-ro0.70038-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

This is the center of Suzhou to the east of Jinji Lake.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.3227695,120.705857,3a,75y,304.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNWmIrw6MrzOcGnFvw3bj7K3QUI7Nltkqb35Re7!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNWmIrw6MrzOcGnFvw3bj7K3QUI7Nltkqb35Re7%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya304.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Wuxi is another very ancient city in the Yangtze Delta region, not far from Suzhou, that is now known for modern industry and science. The following views are of Wuxi, beginning in Taihu Square.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.5542675,120.3063259,3a,75y,79.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNdNmpiSvfTSFJ4NE1hBb2yVbNmmZbiUhSOEUq3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNdNmpiSvfTSFJ4NE1hBb2yVbNmmZbiUhSOEUq3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya187.5-ro-0-fo100!7i9728!8i4864

Nantong is a nearby city that is north of the Yangtze River. Notice that there is also a Bell and Drum Tower here like the ones that we saw in our visit to Xian.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0179889,120.8650059,3a,75y,136.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNjpBq7P3qVFKeo_hM2BX11fuLA88RXDWogLQI7!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNjpBq7P3qVFKeo_hM2BX11fuLA88RXDWogLQI7%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-14.933861-ya136.5-ro-0-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

Changzhou is another city in the area of the Yangtze delta. The following scenes begin at Changzhou Senior High School. The pagoda is called Tianning Pagoda.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.7784119,119.9627304,3a,75y,349.5h,104.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPONE6uEv5lsdAoQsV161DTL0_tQcmhmk_Salox!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPONE6uEv5lsdAoQsV161DTL0_tQcmhmk_Salox%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-21.826574-ya348.075-ro-4.011399-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

This area is central Changzhou.

https://www.google.com/maps/@31.8186111,119.9629593,3a,75y,52.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNzyusYR2_i6zY5tCmiHcZnMk06mQ3WcW9X1ESh!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNzyusYR2_i6zY5tCmiHcZnMk06mQ3WcW9X1ESh%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-1.8554599-ya142.45-ro-2.1814358-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

The Next Great Demotion

This contains the former posting, "Ants And Civilization".

Humans have been through several of what are sometimes called "Great Demotions", with regard to our relationship to the universe. These are steps in finding out that our earth is not as special as it seems to us.

I find it interesting that early in the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, there are six days of creation. There are the same number of Great Demotions. As we learn more and more about God's Creation, we become increasingly aware of how great it is relative to what we had previously thought.

It was once thought that the earth was the center of everything. The sun, moon, and all the stars revolved around the earth. The first clue that this wasn't correct was the moon going through phases, indicating that it's position changes relative to the sun. The second clue was that a few stars gradually move, relative to the other stars. These were actually planets. The word "planet" means "wanderer".

Copernicus introduced the idea that the earth actually revolves around the sun, and Galileo confirmed it by observations with a telescope. This really shook up human thinking. So the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe. The planets that we could see all revolved around the sun, and the earth was a planet. This is the First Great Demotion.

That wasn't all. Far from being supreme among the planets, the earth was found to be actually one of the smaller of the planets. It was the largest of the four inner planets, slightly larger than Venus, and larger than the moon, but was much smaller than the four outer planets. This was the Second Great Demotion.

A clue that it wasn't quite correct that the sun was the center of the universe was all of the stars in the sky. This explained how the planets shined, by reflecting the light of the sun, but not all of the stars. The ancients had believed that the stars had been holes in some kind of canopy, with light beyond it, but that explanation didn't fit as well if the earth was moving around the sun.

When large telescopes were developed it was found that, not only were there countless more stars than we could see with the eye alone, but that the sun was just a typical star. The dense band of light across the sky on a dark night is actually the countless stars of the structure of stars that we live in. We call this structure a "galaxy" and we realized that our sun, which we had thought to be the center of everything, was just one among several hundred billion stars in our galaxy. This is the Third Great Demotion.

The vastness of our galaxy was impossible for humans to comprehend. There were more stars than we could ever count. How could the universe be this big? But the Great Demotions weren't over yet.

It was found that some of the patches of light that can be seen in the sky were actually other galaxies, far away from our own. It had previously been presumed that these patches of light were nebula, clouds of dust and gas from exploded stars, within our own galaxy. Our galaxy is only one of dozens of galaxies in what we now refer to as the "Local Group". 

Our galaxy is not even the largest one in the group, the Andromeda Galaxy is larger than ours. The two "Magellanic Clouds", that can be seen from earth's southern hemisphere, are actually galaxies, although not as large as ours. Just as we found our sun to be just an ordinary star so our galaxy, which we commonly refer to as the "Milky Way", is just an ordinary galaxy. This is the Fourth Great Demotion.

This scale was just incomprehensible to the human mind but the Great Demotions weren't over yet. As vast beyond imagination as our Local Group is, there was nothing at all special about it. Our Local Group contains a few dozen galaxies. We cannot grasp the number of stars in our own galaxy, several hundred billion, but finally it was found that there are more galaxies in the universe, among which our galaxy is quite ordinary, than there are stars in the universe. This is the Fifth Great Demotion.

These are known as the Great Demotions. As humans learn more we are increasing our capabilities. But at the same time we are, step by step, realizing that we, and our earth, are nowhere near as important as we think we are. I think it was Carl Sagan who coined the term.

I would like to add another Great Demotion. Humans are not even the dominant form of life on earth, or that our basic idea of civilization is original. I do not believe in space aliens but if there were hypothetical space aliens, and they visited earth, they would decide that ants are the dominant form of life on earth. Ants are the only creature that the Bible specifically instructs humans to emulate, in the Book of Proverbs.

What couldn't possibly have been known in the Middle East at the time the Book of Proverbs was written, about 1,000 B.C., is just how dominant ants really are.

There is a simple way to gauge which species is the most successful. There is only a certain amount of biomass, atoms and molecules suitable to be part of living things, available on earth. The most successful species will be the one that manages to collect the most biomass.

The vast majority of biomass belongs to plants. This is necessary as all creatures are dependent on plants for survival, first for food and second to release the oxygen in the carbon dioxide exhaled by creatures by using the energy of sunlight to split a carbon dioxide molecule, then using the carbon to build it's structure and releasing the oxygen back into the atmosphere.

According to the Wikipedia article on Ants, they add up to 15-25 percent of all non-plant biomass on land.

That is absolutely phenomenal. It means that all of the ants in the world by far outweigh all of the humans in the world. Beetles have more different species than ants but nothing can top ants when it comes to accumulated biomass.

The only way that ants could accomplish this is to be the most successful species, in terms of fitness for it's environment. Ants have been around, virtually unchanged from what they are today, for at least 150 million years.

Human civilization began after the end of the last ice age, having lived as nomadic hunter-gatherers before that. Civilization is generally defined as humans abandoning the nomadic life for fixed settlements, growing their own crops rather than searching for food.

Civilization, which began independently in a number of places, is believed to have started when someone noticed that, in a place where plant seeds have been left, plants had grown. This discovery meant that people could plant their own crops, rather than roaming to look for them, and could live in fixed settlements while tending the crops.

Another major factor in the beginning of civilization was the control of fire. This brought warmth, enabled the cooking of food, and kept wild animals away. People were able to make simple stone tools but control of fire made possible the smelting of metals, which brought civilization from the Stone Age to the Bronze and Iron Ages. Metals are almost always found combined in ores, and require smelting to separate.

A defining factor in the development of civilization is the recording of information, in other words writing. Indeed "prehistoric" means before written history. 

But I have my own theory about how civilization began. 

Early human settlements, ruled over by some kind of king or queen or chieftain, have an amazing resemblance to an ant colony. People have always been fascinated by ants.

Ants have a "court" that tends to the queen. An ant colony has a highly-specialized division of labor. Ants have organized armies when it is necessary to go to war. Ants have farms in that they "milk" aphids in the same way that we milk cows.

The streets of a human town seem to be modeled on the tunnels of an ant nest. A queen, with her attendants, leaves the nest, to found another nest, in the same way that humans leave one town to found another.

Towns and cities vary in size in the same way as ant colonies, some have a few dozen members and some have millions. But ants have always amazed humans in how the entire colony seems to operate effectively as a single organism.

I believe that God created humans with a special purpose but I have never believed that humans are really the dominant land species on earth. That honor belongs to ants.

They can live virtually anywhere. They can modify their environment in a way that seems to be a model for humans. Their biological structure is simple enough that they would be relatively little affected by cataclysms such as that which ended the dinosaurs or a nuclear holocaust that could do the same to humans. They have been on earth for hundreds of times as long as humans. If we could weight all ants, they would weight far more than all humans.

It's time to give ants credit not only for being the predominant land species on earth, best-suited to it's environment so that it accumulates the most biomass, but also the likely model for human civilization.

This is the Sixth Great Demotion, that we are not even the dominant form of life on earth. We have a spirit, given to us by God, but that doesn't mean we are physically the dominant form of life over the long-term. 

We are more intelligent than ants and other creatures, but what is intelligence? It is open to definition. Intelligence should enhance our chances of survival. We are so intelligent that we can destroy the planet, and can destroy ourselves by pressing a few buttons. But ants are so simple in structure and adaptable that such cataclysms that would destroy us would only temporarily affect them.

The Voyage Of Oumuamua

It's a Hawaiian name, don't worry about how to pronounce it. Oumuamua was an object that was detected while passing through our Solar System. It was the first object ever detected that is virtually certain to have come from beyond our Solar System, from interstellar space between the stars.

Oumuamua is now departed and appeared as an elongated rock-like object, although it's composition is uncertain. It was announced, with apparent certainty, that it was not any kind of extra-terrestrial spacecraft.

I do not believe in extra-terrestrial beings from outer space myself, although I do sometimes find them useful as a literary or perspective tool. What surprises me here is the lack of reaction by the science fiction community or those who do believe in extra-terrestrials, since a considerable amount of money and effort is being spent on trying to receive any signals that might be sent by them.

If soldiers wear camouflage uniforms, and military vehicles are painted with camouflage paint, then how can we be sure that an advanced extra-terrestrial civilization didn't send a spacecraft to clandestinely investigate us, disguised as a rocky asteroid?

Even if it was actually a rock, how do we know that there wasn't an advanced civilization that could extract photographs and images from a rock, having it act as a camera?

We saw in the posting on the progress blog, "Next-Generation Technology" how any material or object might someday act as a camera, from which we could extract images of it's past. 

A camera, whether digital or using chemical film, operates by the energy in the electromagnetic waves of light knocking electrons out of the outermost orbitals in atoms. The small electric current that results enables a record to be made of the pattern of light. We call this record a photograph.

But all atoms, in any material, have outermost electrons that must somehow be affected by light, even if not knocked out of their orbitals. Every physical object then must somehow keep a visual record of it's past, if we could trace how it's electrons have moved, even if it is completely beyond our present capabilities.

You may be thinking that extracting a photographic image from far in the past of an inanimate object is utterly impossible. But if you could take a camera back in time three thousand years, and told people that you could take a photograph of them, they would surely think it was utterly impossible. Imagine the reaction of ancient people if you told them that someday there would be satellites in the sky with cameras that could recognize anyone on earth by the way they walk. 

Here is a link to "Next-Generation Technology":

www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/2009/06/next-generation-technology.html?m=0 

Although I don't actually believe in extra-terrestrials they are sometimes useful as a literary or perspective vehicle. Here is the story that I wrote about visitors from space making deductions about human beings, based on patterns. It is called "Reverse Archeology":

www.markmeekpatterns.blogspot.com/2009/07/reverse-archeology.html?m=0