Perth, Adelaide And, Brisbane

On the far western side of Australia, a continent away from cities like Melbourne and Sydney, is the city of Perth. This city is really far away from everything. Like so many other cities, it grew as the result of a Nineteenth Century gold rush. Like Melbourne, it is built on a mostly-enclosed bay that forms a natural harbor. The city once turned on it's lights at night when U.S. astronaut John Glenn passed over as the first American in orbit.

When Australia was settled, it was not certain that one united country would form. Settlements in different parts of the vast continent originally saw little connection with one another, and no reason to form a single country. The state of Western Australia, where Perth is located, started out intending to be a separate country. 

These three images of downtown Perth are from Google Earth.

The following scenes of downtown Perth begin outside the Perth Arena.

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/@-31.949045,115.851796,3a,75y,176.07h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz0iOVkB0vHOELDkZW-8cfw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dz0iOVkB0vHOELDkZW-8cfw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D176.66339%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Outside of Perth, this is the area of Cardup. The first image is from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-32.2567728,115.9819606,3a,75y,358h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s8PSBu2QTzGxlWQZTLFm0Eg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D8PSBu2QTzGxlWQZTLFm0Eg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D358.60327%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Australia's two other largest cities are Adelaide and Brisbane. The following scenes begin in the center of Adelaide. There is a street in downtown Toronto with the same name. The first three images of Adelaide are from Google Earth and Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-34.9302395,138.5970811,3a,75y,211.63h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sbKWsYzGrCo6AD1q6uyvy1Q!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DbKWsYzGrCo6AD1q6uyvy1Q%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D206.79149%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is Brisbane, from it's downtown. Brisbane is the northernmost of the major cities in Australia that we have seen. Remember that Australia is in the southern hemisphere so that moving northward is getting closer to the equator. The first three images of central Brisbane are from Google Earth and Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-27.4680116,153.0270173,3a,75y,311h,69t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNUbRwmYM9QiEiqisOIESfCQzSJXYY3lHrS9XRO!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNUbRwmYM9QiEiqisOIESfCQzSJXYY3lHrS9XRO%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-21.052084-ya178.59375-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Global Computer Crisis

The global computer crisis this week is a glimpse of what we saw in the posting "The End Of The World As We Know It", June 2024. We have gotten to be utterly dependent on modern computer technology but that makes us lost if it shuts down. I am certain that a devastating shutdown will be part of the Tribulation Period. I believe that it could be brought about by a massive solar storm, as described in that posting. 

There hasn't been anything like a world war since the internet era began. It will be interesting what happens because we are very dependent on the internet and GPS but undersea cables can be cut and satellites shot down.

Melbourne

Australia is a vast country, about the size of the continental U.S. In fact, it is the only country that occupies an entire continent. But most of the population is concentrated along it's east coast, to the east of the Great Dividing Range. On the other side of that mountain range, the population of the Outback is very sparse.

One thing that Australians are known for is their sense of fairness, making sure that everyone has a "fair go". Another thing that Australians are known for is their friendly sense of humor. If Australians make a joke about you, unlike with many other people, it means that they like you.

Melbourne is the second-largest city in Australia, after Sydney. It is in the far south of Australia and was long the most important city in the country. It hosted the 1956 Olympics, and is today growing faster than Sydney. Melbourne is the real "cultural capital" of Australia, representative of what Australia is all about. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne was founded by free settlers and did not start as a penal colony.

Victoria State is centered on Melbourne, while Sydney is the major city of the state of New South Wales. Like Sydney, Melbourne grew as a result of a Nineteenth-Century gold rush. One disadvantage of being in Melbourne is that it is just so far away from everything, European migrants have a journey to visit back home that is about three times as long as if they were in eastern North America, but yet so many people want to live here.

A good place to begin our visit to Melbourne would be around the the Flinders Street Railway Station. The river is the Yarra River. Notice the bridge with one arch above it, it is of the same design as the one we saw on our visit to "Glasgow", the Clyde Arc Bridge.

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/@-37.8182629,144.9677545,3a,75y,0.21h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN-VCunvyj6RnRTk1m8LgLcrrRLkfthPJ70SQdA!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN-VCunvyj6RnRTk1m8LgLcrrRLkfthPJ70SQdA%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya277.25894-ro-0-fo100!7i5472!8i2736

Here are some more scenes of the central area of Melbourne, beginning on Collins Street. The first three scenes of central Melbourne are from Google Earth. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8185457,144.9557948,3a,75y,90h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sG9vzdvTBo7yCN3HGbi4FBA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DG9vzdvTBo7yCN3HGbi4FBA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D157.2724%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes of Melbourne begin with the Princess Theater on one side and Parliament House on the other side. Parliament House was once the parliament of all of Australia when it served as the temporary capital of the country before the new capital city, Canberra, was built. The first two scenes of Parliament House are from Google Earth and Street View. 

This image of the Princess Theater is from Google Street View. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8106391,144.9726716,3a,75y,66.68h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTB4ip3Q_SLJYGjNac12P0A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DTB4ip3Q_SLJYGjNac12P0A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D61.377758%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The following scenes begin inside the old Royal Exhibition Building, where many shows and exhibitions have been held over the years. The first three images of the Royal Exhibition Building are from Google Earth and Street View. I have a feeling that this building was influenced by the former Crystal Palace. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8047774,144.9717115,2a,75y,174.23h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sZReAOif26m5gUdMXM9ulkA!2e0!3e2!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DZReAOif26m5gUdMXM9ulkA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D175.43576%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The usual image of an Australian is of being laid-back and carefree, whose main concern is with getting a tan and surfing. There is no surfing at Melbourne because it's waterfront is on Port Phillip Bay, which is mostly shielded from the ocean and it's surfable waves. But Melbourne is shown in these scenes making up for the lack of surfing with motorbike jumping and auto racing, and being promoted by the Melbourne cheerleaders.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.8514245,144.9690007,3a,75y,97.49h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN5qd5kynmD9nxzMLBsqcBmAjEXoBUqFMztP7sW!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN5qd5kynmD9nxzMLBsqcBmAjEXoBUqFMztP7sW%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya91.54-ro-0-fo100!7i4500!8i2250

Here is the residential area of Cheltenham. We saw the English city of the same name in the visit, "Gloucestershire And Herefordshire".

https://www.google.com/maps/@-37.9661877,145.0664446,3a,75y,98h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s0dY2AFaGqJvoUyMeizZIGg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D0dY2AFaGqJvoUyMeizZIGg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D98.67331%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Niagara's Dangerous River

I would like to express sympathy that there has been another drowning in the Welland River, on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. In the following image from Google Earth the direction of flow of the Welland River has been reversed, so that it brings in water from the Niagara River. The water goes to generate electricity and it has the same strong current as the Niagara River.

The arrow-shaped piece of land is King's Bridge Park. It was formed from artificial fill from the power project to "catch" water from the Niagara River and divert it to generate electricity. The bridge at right is the Weightman Bridge, which kids used to jump off. The park used to be popular in summer but the current is dangerous, and there were often waves from motorboats going by. One day they pulled a victim from the river. It looked like they were trying to surround the body so the children wouldn't see a dead body. 

King's Bridge Park was very important to our family. We started going there when we lived on the Canadian side and continued going after moving to the U.S. side. I did a lot of swimming and jumping off the bridge. I had a diver's mask and explored all around underwater. We still used to go there after the body was pulled out, which happened when I was 14, but a lot of people stopped swimming there after that. 

Don't swim against a current. Go either with the current or across it. If you get into trouble in water just inflate your lungs and relax. You can't drown because your body will be lighter than water. If you do swim where there is a current the best thing is to wear fins, or flippers. They will multiply your swimming power.

The following pic is of me, at right, as a young boy at King's Bridge Park with the Welland River in the background. There was a bay, separated from the rest of the river by a sandbar, where children could swim because there was no current. 

Buffalo Bar Shootings

There might be a reason behind the periodic shootings in Buffalo bars. Maybe the name of the city is a factor. Remember that history and symbolism are powerful forces.

The animal that Buffalo is named for is not native to the area, at least since many centuries ago. But all around Buffalo are statues of it's namesake. The following image is from Google Street View.

In the days of the Old West, Dodge City was right in the middle of the habitat range of the buffalo. Although some of the history has certainly been hollywoodized, disputes in Dodge City were very often resolved with guns. This gives bars in Buffalo a connection to the old Long Branch Saloon. Here is a link to the posting about the Old West: 

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-would-have-been-nation-of-westland.html?m=0

Sydney

Australia's largest city, and the place where the country really began, is Sydney. This city, which is considered as an outstanding place to live with nearly half of it's population having been born abroad, actually began as a British penal colony. In the days when one could be convicted for being unable to pay debts, and when the U.S. gained independence, Australia became the main penal colony. Many low-level criminals and troublemakers were not imprisoned, but were transported to distant lands.

What is now Sydney was developed from there, as were so many other cities in newly-settled lands, by a gold rush. Many people consider the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games as "The best Olympics ever held", and the city is one of the world's most prominent destinations for both visitors and immigrants, despite the inherent Australian disadvantage of being "so far away from everything". The population of Sydney is known to be very well-educated.

The signature image of Sydney is of it's famed Opera House, built in the 1970s near Sydney Harbor Bridge. These five images of the Opera House are from Google Earth and Street View.

Here is a look at downtown Sydney, starting inside the Opera House. Does this remind Canadian readers of Vancouver? There is even a waterfront building in Vancouver, as we saw on our visit there, with "sails" that resembles the Opera House. If you see Government House, resembling one of Henry VIII's palaces, it is Government House from where the state of New South Wales was governed, adjacent to the Opera House. The first three images of Government House are from Google Street View.

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/@-33.8566998,151.2150716,3a,75y,81.91h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOxlutsUMk7BaaJWQQmU1_LqWoIyUpTYHui0EjC!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOxlutsUMk7BaaJWQQmU1_LqWoIyUpTYHui0EjC%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya253.143-ro-0-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

Here are some more scenes of central Sydney, starting in Railway Square. When trains were the most common method of travel, this was the focal point of the city. So much in Sydney is named for places in Britain, it is like looking at a map of Britain, except that the landscape of Australia as a whole couldn't be more different. Sydney is in the Australian state of New South Wales, commonly abbreviated as NSW. Remember that we visited the original "South Wales". The first three images of central Sydney are from Google Earth. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.8851082,151.2029497,3a,75y,91.52h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sApOIby4mGCBZ0oupLabsFw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DApOIby4mGCBZ0oupLabsFw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D91.83575%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

A logical place to see Sydney would be from the top of it's tower. The cathedral is St. Mary's. The first image of the tower is from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.870451,151.20876,3a,75y,80.42h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMJAtyhE7fyjQvBMTaxzsVCp2GAmAb3JeDHaoYK!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMJAtyhE7fyjQvBMTaxzsVCp2GAmAb3JeDHaoYK%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya78.51497-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

Here is more of central Sydney, starting in the shopping center known as World Square. The first two images of the shopping center are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.8772372,151.2067974,2a,75y,118.28h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1slI3TKDJlTtbJxaVEXRm73A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DlI3TKDJlTtbJxaVEXRm73A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D122.94243%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is the area known as King's Cross.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.874058,151.2215993,3a,75y,89.53h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sK_MOs8gvWh2_qEtsyaZPYA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DK_MOs8gvWh2_qEtsyaZPYA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D89.427986%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The people of Sydney are some of the best-educated people in the world. The University of Sydney bears a resemblance to Oxford, that we saw in the visit on this blog, "Oxford, Cambridge And, Imperial Colleges". The first three images of the University of Sydney are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.8879628,151.18713,3a,75y,151.16h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOOUF5w1W63ktoqOY4PS69EVp-HDKLr7jxCtyXl!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOOUF5w1W63ktoqOY4PS69EVp-HDKLr7jxCtyXl%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya169.4324-ro0-fo100!7i3840!8i1919

Burwood Heights is a residential area away from the city center.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.8897372,151.1077137,3a,75y,89.23h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seXCtCDOGIriXLqDlOMKu3A!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DeXCtCDOGIriXLqDlOMKu3A%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D89.07681%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Here is a look at Roselands, which is another residential area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-33.9310491,151.0781084,3a,75y,226h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sQj7hxNRTvm3OLobHPsJFlQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DQj7hxNRTvm3OLobHPsJFlQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D226.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Inverse Topological Rule

There were tornadoes in my local area that is reminiscent of something really interesting about the universe that I cannot see has been pointed out. It is something fairly simple.

We know that there are processes that balance themselves by inducing opposites. One of Newton's Laws is that "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". When an electric current in a wire or coil induces a current in another wire or coil the induced current will flow in the opposite direction from the original current. When a magnet is used to magnetize another piece of metal it will induce poles opposite to those in the original magnet.

But what about the basic nature of the universe? Topology is about the shapes or forms of objects. Some entities that make up the universe are functions of others, meaning that one must come first before the other can follow. How might this affect their topologies?

The space in the universe must come before any objects. But space has it's topology. The dimensions of space form right angles. We can easily see this by stacking boxes or looking at property lots. The only shape that fits together with no space left over have right angles, most basically squares in two dimensions or cubes in three dimensions. This proves that three dimensional space is cubic, the dimensions form right angles.

If anyone was asked what shape was the opposite of a cube, with no more information added, the logical answer would be a sphere. So if a sphere is the opposite of a cube, and if space was going to induce it's opposite topological form then we should expect to see spheres somewhere in space.

That is exactly what happens when matter collects together by gravity. A sphere is the default geometric form of matter that collects by gravity. All we have to do to see this is look at the sun or moon or a globe of the earth. A gravitational mass is said to form a sphere because it is the three-dimensional form with the lowest energy state, or the lowest surface area per volume. But the topological reason is that matter is a function of space and a gravitational mass takes the opposite topological form from that space.

So if the earth is spherical because it is made of matter, and matter is a function of space, and space is cubic and, according to my Inverse Topological Rule, a gravitational mass of matter had to take the opposite topological form from space, then what about the earth? Does it induce it's opposite topological form into anything?

We are used to opposites coming in pairs, such as left and right, up and down, or negative and positive. Topology doesn't necessarily work in the same way. The topological opposite of a cube is a sphere, but the opposite of a sphere isn't a cube. This is because a sphere contains less information than a cube. A cube has to have it's directional alignment specified but a sphere doesn't. A topological form cannot induce another form with more information so the induced opposite of a sphere must be something else.

The topological opposite of a sphere is actually a pseudosphere. A pseudosphere has a continuous negative curvature, just as a sphere has a continuous positive curvature. This is a pseudosphere, from the Wikipedia article "Pseudosphere".

What do you notice about this pseudosphere? A tornado is caused by the spin of the earth. What form does it take? The form of half a pseudosphere.

Have you ever drained a sink full of water so that the water swirls around into a whirlpool? What form does it take? The form of half a pseudosphere.

What about Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity? There are two theories of Relativity. The first, and the one that I refer to the most here is the Special Theory of Relativity. But there is also the General Theory, about how gravity bends light. A mass theoretically curves space so that an object in orbit is moving in a straight line, but through curved space. That is what gravity is, a mass curving the space around it.

But what form does the curvature take? It takes the form of half a pseudosphere. If we charted the acceleration of a falling object due to gravity it would take the form of a pseudosphere.

A question arises as to why a sphere, the default gravitational form of matter, is the topological opposite of a cube, the dimensions of space, but contains less information than a cube. Remember my cosmology theory. Matter originated from the two-dimensional sheet of space which was scattered by the Big Bang over four dimensions of the background space, one of which we perceive as time. So it's two dimensions against four.

Remember that all around you, every day, are things that no one has ever pointed out.

Remembering The Marx Cloud

This week has really been the Week of the Left. The general election in Britain and the legislative election in France both went heavily leftward. I have always thought that Karl Marx deserves some credit. He wasn't totally right, the elections this week weren't the necessarily violent revolution that he saw as necessary to overthrow capitalism in favor of pure Communism. But yet he wasn't totally wrong and might have been pleased with this week's rout of the left. 

Although it wasn't completely what he had envisioned Marx would likely be pleased with the unemployment assistance, welfare, minimum wage and workplace safety laws, and mandatory public education, that were unimaginable in the Nineteenth Century when Marx wrote his theories.

THE MARX CLOUD

I have a new way of looking at the theories of Karl Marx. I conclude that the fulfillment of Marxist theory can be seen in, of all things, computer technology. Since the end of the Cold War, Marx has been viewed as one of the great losers of history. He was nowhere near completely right in his predictions, yet was on to something and cannot be ignored. When I was in London, I thought of visiting his grave in Highgate Cemetery but never got around to it.

The workers of the world did not unite and take over the means of production, as Marx had envisioned. But he was somewhat vindicated by the crash of Capitalism in 1929, as well as the somewhat lesser crashes of 1987 and 2008. He might have been pleased with the implementation of minimum wage and workplace safety laws, labor unions, unemployment benefits and social security, and especially mandatory public education. All of which, with the exception of labor unions, was virtually unheard of in the Nineteenth Century when Marx wrote his theories. 

Samuel Gompers could be seen as America's reflection of Marx. Religion, the "opiate of the masses" certainly has not faded away as expected by Marx. But it is true that the western countries, at least, are more secular than they were in the days of Marx.

We look at the theories of Marx in socio-economic terms. But what if there was another side to the theory, that of technology, even if Marx himself did not see this? Some of the fulfillment of Marxist theory certainly was in the socio-economic sphere, as the above mentioned reforms. But the other side, the technical side and it's global social effects, had to wait for the advent of computers and the internet.

Computer and phone technology has empowered the masses like nothing else, even though it is produced by companies owned by wealthy capitalists. Wikipedia, for one, seems to be straight from the pages of Marxist theory. It is the collective encyclopedia of the masses, operated by donations and open to anyone who wishes to contribute. All free apps on the internet, open to all and not driven by profit motive, also fall into this category.

The nation-state has not faded away, at least not in the way that Marx supposedly envisioned. In the more than century and a half since the days of Marx, nationalism has been stronger than ever before. My theory is that people are designed to believe in something and if they drift away from religion, substitutes like nationalism will take it's place.

But yet national borders also mean less today than ever before. Trade and travel goes around the world. It is possible to wake up in any country one morning, and go to bed in any other country that night. You can log onto a web site, or make a call, or send an email virtually anywhere on earth, with the national borders in between being absolutely meaningless.

But the latest manifestation of Marxist theory is this phenomenon of collective global internet, known as "the cloud". The basic meaning of the cloud is that the data that you store, and increasingly the applications that you use, are not stored on your computer but are "out there somewhere" in the cloud. This blog is an ideal example of the cloud. It is not stored on my computer. I presume that the content of this blog is kept at Google's HQ in Mountain View, California, but could be on any server farm anywhere.

Marx sensed what would come. The Nineteenth Century in Europe was a time of revolution, and he presumed that the inevitable changes that he saw would be brought about in the same way. We could say that half of the fulfillment of his theory was by way of the social reforms listed above. But the communication technology of the time was limited to telegraphs relaying Morse Code. Marx could not possibly have imagined the computer revolution which would one day manifest the other half of this fulfillment.

He also did not see that while the technical side of his theory would be fulfilled, and it would greatly empower the masses that Marx saw as exploited and ill-treated, it would be brought about by very wealthy capitalists. The difference, with which Marx would be at least partially pleased, is these capitalists would not be from an entrenched upper class, but would be college kids who got an idea, quit school to work on it, and found themselves as the billionaires which would, ironically, bring about the remaining fulfillment of Marxist theory.

This shows what Karl Marx actually envisioned. He was right but he only saw half of the picture and it would require advancement in technology, which would take time, to bring his half of the picture about.

My observation is that the best economic model is not one that is right or left, but the one which best weaves right and left together.

Remembering Kim Il Sung

This week was the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea. But why should we remember Kim Il Sung? Wasn't he the one that started the Korean War? 

That's just the point. The Korean War, of 1950-53, was the first war in which jet aircraft were widely used. The following decade would see the manned space program with astronauts landing on the moon twice before the end of the decade. It turned out that being a military jet pilot is an ideal background for an astronaut, and most of the early astronauts had been pilots in the Korean War.

It is interesting how history turns out. The V2 rockets, used by the Nazis, could be considered as the first man-made objects to enter space and would provide the foundation for the space program. The war later begun by Kim Il Sung would provide the foundation for the astronauts that would ultimately land on the moon.

Zimbabwe

Until 1980 the country that was once known as Rhodesia was ruled by it's white minority. When the black majority of the country overthrew this minority government, they renamed the country as Zimbabwe. This must have had a great effect on nearby South Africa because the movement for majority rule gained momentum throughout the 1980s, until Apartheid was finally ended in 1994.

One of the leaders of the war to overthrow white minority rule in Zimbabwe was named Robert Mugabe, and he became the first leader of the new country. Zimbabwe was in the global news when Robert Mugabe was forcibly removed in 2017.

Zimbabwe is named for the city known as Great Zimbabwe, which was a very important African city for about five hundred years, during the late Middle Ages, and the capital city of a kingdom named Zimbabwe. 

Great Zimbabwe has long been the center of many legends from around the world, everything from being the actual home of the Queen of Sheba to being the place where the missing Ark of the Covenant, made by the Israelites during their journey to the Promised Land as a kind of portable shrine, ended up after being taken away for safekeeping when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem.

The following scenes are of Great Zimbabwe. There is the walled compound, known as the Great Enclosure, and other structures outside of this enclosure. The first six images are from Google Street View.

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/@-20.2729408,30.9344728,3a,75y,118.73h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNfbNEs9zWSzvj9It6Ub2iVri1d0Tr91akC6YNE!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNfbNEs9zWSzvj9It6Ub2iVri1d0Tr91akC6YNE%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya155.30112-ro0-fo100!7i4352!8i1682

Zimbabwe is also known for Victoria Falls. Like Niagara Falls, these falls are on an international border. Zimbabwe is on one side and Zambia on the other. Victoria Falls is about twice the height of Niagara Falls. The first three images are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.9244444,25.8566667,3a,75y,355h,98t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPMki7MoF7r8oFN94z1uDjBqQPtFrN1mQjisp-n!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPMki7MoF7r8oFN94z1uDjBqQPtFrN1mQjisp-n%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi8.041666-ya85.26041-ro-0-fo100!7i6000!8i3000

This is Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe, in the area of the presidential compound. The first image, of the Office of the President, is from Google Street View. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.8143749,31.0560188,3a,75y,181h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNjJ0jPaWVOr18i8P1jw7iuw-1Y6fPRqnK0yoRi!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNjJ0jPaWVOr18i8P1jw7iuw-1Y6fPRqnK0yoRi%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-7.870707-ya181.65073-ro1.1384969-fo100!7i5376!8i2688

Here is the downtown area of Harare. You may notice the lavender jacaranda trees. These are decorative trees that are popular in many parts of the world, which were originally imported from the western hemisphere. The first five images of downtown Harare are from Google Street View.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.8286649,31.0510034,3a,75y,121.38h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNDh82XpqXjC1pajz8qqJz4EErOihm1mNJc7TH6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNDh82XpqXjC1pajz8qqJz4EErOihm1mNJc7TH6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10.033266-ya236.8306-ro170.1794-fo100!7i7776!8i3888

This is part of Harare, to the north of the city center. If something seems out-of-place about the traffic, remember that Zimbabweans drive on the left side of the road.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-17.8186394,31.0546099,3a,75y,271h,88t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPPWI3G3pLuwT9k9MQX0fMH1vMUbZ741QKd9xQn!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPPWI3G3pLuwT9k9MQX0fMH1vMUbZ741QKd9xQn%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-4.240678-ya271.11246-ro-7.35529-fo100!7i7200!8i3600

The following scenes are of Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo. The first three scenes are from Google Street View. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@-20.1618575,28.5867775,3a,75y,130h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNKtltLnKwBxw9rj6bFcLohNEhN3W0BhKJeyYLy!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNKtltLnKwBxw9rj6bFcLohNEhN3W0BhKJeyYLy%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya130.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830