A Silhouette in Iridescent Motion

A duck glides in iridescent motion under a bridge in Lazienki park in Warsaw, Poland; on 28 April 2009.

As to that which was, is finding new life in Poland; since the onslaught of that which ocurred from the Holocaust.-HRM Deborah

Paddling in the Mist of Snow

A Kashmiri Muslim paddles his boat through the morning mist on Dal Lake in Srinagar, on 19 January 2008. Jammu and Kashmir continue to shiver under intense cold as snow coupled with rains lashed most parts of the state and the higher reaches received a heavy snowfall for the fourth consecutive day.

As to not just the environmental issue which is hoped to become better, but this is a wonderful photograph.

Farmer Holds Two-headed Sheep

A farmer holds a two-headed sheep outside his family home near Hebron, on 9 November 2008.

Pooh sketch makes $50,000

An oval pencil drawing of Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet, by E. H. Shepard, is seen in this undated handout photograph, received in London, on 4 November 2008.

4 November 2008

LONDON– An original drawing of A.A. Milne's popular children's characters Winnie-the-Pooh, Tigger and Piglet fetched 31,200 pounds ($50,000) at auction on Tuesday.

The amount, which includes a 20 percent buyer's premium, comfortably beat pre-sale expectations of up to 20,000 pounds, not including the premium.

The oval pencil sketch by E.H. Shepard, one of children's literature's most famous illustrators, shows Pooh dipping his paw into a pot of honey while sitting at a table as Piglet and Tigger look on.

Auctioneer Bonhams said the successful telephone bidder was from Germany and bought the picture for his wife, a long-time Pooh fan.

On the same day, Sotheby's announced it was offering what it called the finest single collection of Shepard's original drawings for the Pooh books to be sold at auction.

The sale in London on December 17, which also includes a selection of rare Milne books, is expected to fetch 650-930,000 pounds.

The illustrations, from the collections of Stanley J. Seeger and Christopher Cone, are among the most recognizable, including "He went on tracking, and Piglet ... ran after him" depicting Pooh and Piglet turning to each other as they walk away.

It is expected to fetch 40-60,000 pounds.

Also on offer is "Bump, bump, bump - going up the stairs" featuring Christopher Robin dragging his bear by the leg up the stairs beside him. It is valued at 50-70,000 pounds.

Earlier in 2008, Sotheby's set a record for the work of an illustrator at auction when Beatrix Potter's watercolor illustration for the final scene of "The Rabbits' Christmas Party" sequence went under the hammer for 289,250 pounds.

The drawing on sale at Bonhams was a larger version of an illustration entitled "Tiggers don't like honey" which appeared in Milne's "The House at Pooh Corner," one of four books he wrote about the bear in the 1920s.

Other works by Shepard on sale at Bonhams included a first sketch for Kenneth Grahame's "Wind in the Willows," depicting Rat and Mole lounging with a picnic on the riverbank.

It appeared in the published book with the caption: "Now pitch in, old fellow! and the Mole was indeed very glad to obey" and fetched 7,440 pounds, including premium.

Commentary:
Even as old as I am, I am still an avid enjoyer of this silly old bear, known most famously as ‘Winnie the Pooh; because these stories always gave a sense of warm happiness and sometimes a little moral about life, dipped in honey here and there.

Nevertheless, items from this loveable bear being sold at auction for such a price, is actually not surprising. Stories like this about such a loveable old bear, still warms the heart; young or old.

I will even admit I have a copy of the original Pooh on my bedroom dresser, a little worn; but still wonderful. When Hurricane Katrina was coming, he was put in the car along with necessities. What he further reminded me of, is when I found him it was on a day I was going though a period of very great sadness; which every time I saw this Pooh bear I seemed to cheer-up, so one understands, this the time of my first husband's dying and becoming a Martyr.

Even to today, when I think or see that old Pooh bear on my bedroom dresser; I feel happiness, not sorrow. With a bit of an uplift, that gives a foreseeable smile of hope; that just happened to come at a very hard time for me and smiling thinking of honey, for my tea and bread.

If people wonder why I did not learn of Winnie the Pooh until I got older, was because I did not get to read the stories when I was younger like most children and had always wished too; which sometimes in my life, I have had to make-up for the wonderful thing’s people normally got to do, that I couldn’t.

Who came first the Chicken or the Elephant?

At a zoo in the German city of Duisburg, meanwhile, this Orpington hen looks mildly alarmed at the prospect of sharing her dinner with an African elephant, on 24 October 2008.

While by the shear size of the elephant, I could understand the chicken’s dilemma over their dinner companion; nevertheless, this photograph does strike a bit of humor, for its uniqueness.

A Night with Claude Debussy

The music under the picture is Arabesques Number 1, composed by Claude Debussy.

While I enjoy sharing that which is considered beautiful in this life, because it is not just a way to appreciate people; but to bring that which is beautiful into the human heart, even if it is for just a little time.

For the world is actually beautiful, just people tend to forget sometimes going through there daily life.-HRM Deborah

The Angel that Watched Over the Children

By HRM Deborah

This particular piece of art and another that I could not find to show, use to hang on my grandmother’s wall; when I was a little girl.

The two picture’s while they where in simple frame‘s, use to hang on a wall originally in our home in Palestine, before ending up on a wall in America.

When I went to my grandmother’s as a child probably at first the age of the above children, I would look and these pictures’ sometime’s for what seemed like long period’s of time, because Angels really do look over, love and protect good people from harm; especially children. These are known as the guardian Angels.

As to what happened to the pictures after my grandmother was assassinated in 1973, I do not know and many times have wondered about them in fond memory.

As to anything more about them, I have wondered very much, other then I loved them and they always gave me a very good feeling.

This is one of those times; I wished to share a nice memory with everyone.

'Gladiator' tomb discovered in Italy

17 October 2008

The tomb of a general thought to have been an inspiration for the main character in the Oscar-winning film Gladiator has been unearthed in Rome.

Rome-The tomb of Marcus Nonius Macrinus is one of a number of recent archaeological discoveries in the city.

Marcus Nonius Macrinus was a favourite of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, helping him achieve major victories in Europe.

He is believed to have in part inspired the character Maximus Decimus Meridius, played by Russell Crowe in Gladiator.

But although the film character is also a favourite of Marcus Aurelius and goes into battles with him in the late 2nd century AD, that is where the similarities end. The real Roman general is not believed to have been sold into slavery only to return to Rome as a vengeful gladiator.

'Huge' tomb

The tomb was discovered along the northbound Via Flaminia where construction work has been taking place. Many marble columns, inscriptions and decorations have been beautifully preserved thanks to the mud caused by a centuries-old flood of the River Tiber.

Archaeologists are continuing work on the site

It is "the most important ancient Roman monument to come to light for 20 or 30 years", said senior archaeologist Daniela Rossi.

More than 10 inscriptions on the tomb detail the life of Marcus Nonius Macrinus. They show he came from Brescia in northern Italy, was a police commissioner, magistrate, pro-consul of Asia and close confidante of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who wanted him to fight in the wars against Germanic tribes in northern Europe.

"The movie character played by Russell Crowe leaves for and participates in these wars and is an intimate friend of Marcus Aurelius, chronologically we are in the same period and the war is the same, but the movie character has a very sad story and comes to a terrible end while ours becomes a rich and famous man," said Professor Rossi.

Much of the tomb remains buried in mud, and Professor Rossi said archaeologists were working around the clock to unearth the rest of it.

"Perhaps we will also find the sarcophagus. It's also too early to say how big it is, but it appears there was a row of columns at least 15m long, so it was quite huge," he said.

The tomb is one of a number of recent archaeological discoveries in Rome.

Workers renovating a rugby stadium have uncovered a vast complex of tombs that mimic the houses, blocks and streets of a real city, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Meanwhile, archaeologists restoring imperial residences in the heart of ancient Rome are also reported to have found what they believe to be the underground passageway where the Emperor Caligula was murdered by his guards, the AP also reports.

Cops: 'Pink Panther gang' jewel thieves nabbed

Balkans-based group is suspected of stealing $134 million in series of heists

18 October 2008

PARIS - Two suspected members of the "Pink Panther gang" of jewel thieves were arrested in Monaco after a car crash, police said on Friday.

The gang is believed to have stolen $134 million in various countries.

Interpol said the suspects were Dusko Poznan, 30, from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and an unnamed 27-year-old Serbian, and belonged to the Balkans-based "Pink Panther gang."

In 2004, the group hid a several-hundred-thousand-dollar diamond ring in a jar of face cream — the same place used in the first Pink Panther film, starring Peter Sellers as the bungling Inspector Clousseau.

One of the men was arrested in the hospital Wednesday by a police officer who took his statement following the crash. The second was arrested afterward.

Commentary:
While I guess these thieves needed a gimmick, but from the Pink Panther movies of all things.

While it apparently took a little time to catch them and it is good that these criminals are no longer at large.

Furthermore, some very qualified law-in-forcemeat where after them and not Inspector Jacques Clouseau; while this was a terrible crime, one can not still see a bit of humor and have chuckle or two.

Just proves crime doesn’t pay, even for the Pink Panther.

Computer Cat Savvy

Jay Jay, an American Shorthair, plays with a computer and mouse at a preview for the CFA-Iams Cat Championship in New York, on 15 October 2008.

The cat show runs through the weekend at Madison Square Garden and includes show cats, trained cats and rescued cats looking for a home.

The cat show from their web site, runs from 18-19 October 2008.

ADMISSION
General Admission: $15.00 each day
Seniors (62 & Over): $13.00 each day
Children 12 & Under accompanied by an adult: $13.00 each day

With Discount Coupon a dollar off and can be found here.

O.J. Simpson guilty of armed robbery, kidnapping

O.J. Simpson appears during his trial.

4 October 2008
By LINDA DEUTSCH

LAS VEGAS - Thirteen years to the day after being acquitted of killing his wife and her friend in Los Angeles, O.J. Simpson was found guilty of robbing two sports-memorabilia dealers at gunpoint in a Las Vegas hotel room.

The 61-year-old former football star was convicted of all 12 counts late Friday after jurors deliberated for more than 13 hours. He released a heavy sigh as the charges were read and was immediately taken into custody.

Simpson, who went from American sports idol to celebrity-in-exile after his murder acquittal, could spend the rest of his life in prison.

His attorney said he would appeal.

Many people considered the four-week trial justice delayed. Simpson was cleared in 1995 of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, in one of the most sensational trials of the 20th century, but was later found liable for the deaths in a civil case.

"I don't like to use the word payback," defense attorney Yale Galanter said. "I can tell you from the beginning my biggest concern ... was whether or not the jury would be able to separate their very strong feelings about Mr. Simpson and judge him fairly and honestly."

The Hall of Fame football star was convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and 10 other charges for gathering up five men a year ago and storming into a room at a hotel-casino, where the group seized several game balls, plaques and photos. Prosecutors said two of the men with him were armed; one of them said Simpson asked him to bring a gun.

Simpson's co-defendant, Clarence "C.J." Stewart, 54, also was found guilty on all charges and taken into custody.

O.J. Simpson is handcuffed after a verdict of guilty on all counts was read following his trial at the Clark County Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Friday, 3 October 2008.

Simpson showed little emotion as officers handcuffed him and walked him out of the courtroom. His sister, Carmelita Durio, sobbed behind him in the arms of Simpson's friend, Tom Scotto, who said "I love you" as Simpson passed by. As spectators left the courtroom, Durio collapsed.

Jurors made no eye contact with the defendants as they entered the courtroom. They declined to answer questions after the verdict was read.

Galanter said his client had expected the outcome, and in a courthouse conversation with an Associated Press reporter on Thursday, Simpson had implied as much.

Simpson said he was "afraid that I won't get to go to my kids' college graduations after I managed to get them through college."

Galanter said it was not a happy day for anybody. "His only hope is the appellate process," he said.

Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said prosecutors would not comment until the case was "completely resolved."

Judge Jackie Glass made no comment other than to thank the jury for its service and to deny motions for the defendants to be released on bail.

She refused to give the lawyers extended time to file a motion for new trial, which under Nevada law must be filed within seven days. The attorneys said they needed time to submit a voluminous record.

"I've sat through the trial," Glass said. "If you want a motion for new trial, send me something."

Stewart's attorney, Brent Bryson, also promised to appeal.

"If there was ever a case that should have been severed in the history of jurisprudence, it's this case," he said of unsuccessful attempts to separate Stewart's case from Simpson's because of the "spillover" effect.

From the beginning, Simpson and his lawyers argued the incident was not a robbery, but an attempt to reclaim mementos that had been stolen from him. He said he did not ask anyone to bring a weapon and did not see any guns.

The defense portrayed Simpson as a victim of shady characters who wanted to make a buck off his famous name, and police officers who saw his arrest as an opportunity to "get" him and avenge his acquittal.

Prosecutors said Simpson's ownership of the memorabilia was irrelevant; it was still a crime to try to take things by force.

"When they went into that room and forced the victims to the far side of the room, pulling out guns and yelling, `Don't let anybody out of here!' — six very large people detaining these two victims in the room with the intent to take property through force or violence from them — that's kidnapping," prosecutor David Roger said.

Kidnapping is punishable by five years to life in prison. Armed robbery carries a mandatory sentence of at least two years behind bars, and could bring as much as 30. Sentencing was set for Dec. 5.

Simpson, who now lives in Miami, did not testify but was heard on a recording of the confrontation screaming that the dealers had stolen his property. "Don't let nobody out of this room," he declared and told the other men to scoop up his items, which included a photo of Simpson with former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Four other men charged in the case struck plea bargains that saved them from potential prison sentences in return for their testimony. Some of them had criminal records or were otherwise compromised in some way. One, for example, was an alleged pimp who testified he had a revelation from God telling him to take a plea bargain.

Memorabilia dealer Thomas Riccio, who arranged and secretly recorded the hotel-room confrontation, said he netted $210,000 from the media for the tapes.

Similarly, minutes after the Sept. 13, 2007, incident, one of the alleged victims, sports-memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, was calling news outlets, and the other, Bruce Fromong, spoke of getting "big money" from the case.

Simpson's past haunted the case. Las Vegas police officers were heard in the recordings chuckling over Simpson's misfortune and crowing that if Los Angeles couldn't "get" him, they would.

During jury selection, Simpson's lawyers expressed fears that people who believed he got away with murder might see this case as a chance to right a wrong.

As a result, an usually large pool of 500 potential jurors was called, and they were given a 26-page questionnaire. Half were almost instantly eliminated after expressing strong feelings that Simpson should have been convicted of murder.

The judge instructed the jurors to put aside Simpson's earlier case.

In closing arguments, Galanter acknowledged that what Simpson did to recover his memorabilia was not right. "But being stupid, and being frustrated is not being a criminal," he said.

He added: "This case has taken on a life of its own because of Mr. Simpson's involvement. You know that. I know that. Every cooperator, every person who had a gun, every person who had an ulterior motive, every person who signed a book deal, every person who got paid money, the police, the district attorney's office, is only interested in one thing: Mr. Simpson."



Commentary:

In 1995, while I did not glue myself to the television or news media on this case, I did equate myself with what evidence there was on the murders of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman and I will admit by the evidence, he did appear guilty; as to the many people I had the opportunity to speak too at the time, mostly at the hospital when my mother was in the process of dying from assassination by poison, they also agreed to Simpson‘s guilt for murder and the people I spoke with where diversified one of the good points of being in a hospital.

Nevertheless, while the previous case was brought in with this latest case, which I am not sure was ethical; it did make it interesting that Simpson was found guilty of this latest crime, apparently with little question this time to the fact.

The one question I have always pondered, is why Simpson actually would wish to murder his ex-wife and her friend, but I am also one of those people that will never understand anyone’s motive for murder, let alone robbery or kidnapping.

I have always been one of those people that believe in the sanctity of human life and to commit theft, is just not acceptable.

Finally, while I never knew Simpson during his sports career, I will never forget his portrayals in the inept Naked Gun movies; which looks like he is still hanging unto the bottom of the bus, riding off down the hill into the sunset and the only reason I ever even saw any of the Naked Gun movies, is my mother for some reason had liked them. Otherwise, these movies would probably have fallen to the wayside, like so many I have not cared to watch.

Oregon hospital tells grandpa he’s pregnant

Computer error caused staff to give 71-year-old man the happy news

26 September 2008

PORTLAND- A patient treated for agonizing abdominal pain received this surprising news in the hospital’s paperwork: “Based on your visit today, we know you are pregnant.”

Surprising indeed for 71-year-old John Grady Pippen.

The staff at Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach gave the retired mechanic and logger the ridiculously happy news this month, along with some pain pills.

Hospital administrator William McMillan says an errant keystroke caused the hospital’s computer to spit out the wrong discharge instructions for the grandfather.

The Secret of How the Titanic Sank

New evidence has experts rethinking how the luxury passenger liner sank

The Titanic left Queenstown harbor and sank while en route to the United States.

25 September 2008
By Justin Ewers

For decades after the disaster, there was little doubt about what sank the Titanic. When the "unsinkable" ship, the largest, most luxurious ocean liner of its time, crashed into an iceberg on its maiden voyage in 1912, it took more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers to the bottom. As the ship slipped into the North Atlantic, so, too, did the secret of how and why it sank.

Two government investigations conducted immediately after the disaster agreed it was the iceberg, not any weakness in the ship itself, that caused the Titanic to sink. Both inquiries concluded the vessel had gone to the bottom intact. Blame for the incident fell on the ship's deceased captain, E. J. Smith, who was condemned for racing at 22 knots through a known ice field in the dark waters off the coast of Newfoundland. The case of the Titanic was considered closed.

But lingering questions about what might have sunk the seemingly indestructible ship never completely disappeared. In 1985, when oceanographer Robert Ballard, after years of searching, finally located the ship's remains 2.5 miles down on the ocean bottom, he discovered that it had, in fact, broken in two on the surface before sinking. His findings made the Titanic rise again in the public imagination. Why had it cracked, experts wondered? If the official inquiries were wrong, was the invincible Titanic weak? A few years after Ballard discovered the wreck, the first pieces of the ship were brought to the surface, raising even more eyebrows when they seemed to offer physical evidence that low-quality steel might have caused the disaster. In 1997, James Cameron's film Titanic, largely mirroring the scientific consensus at the time, seared Titanic's terrifying last moments, with its stern soaring high into the air before it cracked in two and disappeared, into popular memory.
Still, the search for answers about the Titanic didn't end there. In two new books, a group of historians, naval architects, and materials scientists argue that fresh evidence has further unraveled the familiar story of the Titanic, raising more questions about what caused the disaster. In What Really Sank the Titanic: New Forensic Discoveries, Jennifer Hooper McCarty, a materials scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, and Tim Foecke, a scientist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, make the case that it wasn't the ship's steel that was weak; it was the rivets, the all-important metal pins that held the steel hull plates together. Titanic's Last Secrets, to be published next month, describes the work of Richie Kohler and John Chatterton, wreck-diving historians who believe two recently discovered pieces of the Titanic's bottom prove the ship's stern never rose high in the air the way many Titanic experts, including Cameron, originally believed. The two divers, whose discovery of a lost German U-boat was chronicled in the book Shadow Divers, say the ship broke up and sank while still relatively flat on the surface—a potential sign of weakness, they believe, that was covered up after the disaster.

When the Titanic's keel was laid down in 1909, Harland & Wolff, the Belfast shipbuilder that constructed the ship, certainly didn't believe its design would still be controversial a hundred years later. Built in response to a rival company's construction of a new generation of fast liners, Titanic and her sister ships, Olympic and Britannic, were the biggest ships ever made—from bow to stern, they were almost 900 feet long, dwarfing even the world's biggest skyscrapers. Specially outfitted to handle the challenges of the North Atlantic, including big waves and major collisions, they were also supposed to be among the safest. The Titanic could stay afloat with four of its 16 watertight compartments flooded, more than anyone could imagine on a ship of its size.

On the night of April 14, 1912, though, only a few days into the Titanic's maiden voyage, its Achilles' heel was exposed. The ship wasn't nimble enough to avoid an iceberg that lookouts spotted (the only way to detect icebergs at the time) at the last minute in the darkness. As the ice bumped along its starboard side, it punched holes in the ship's steel plates, flooding six compartments. In a little over two hours, the Titanic filled with water and sank.

Low quality. More than 70 years passed before scientists were able to study the first physical evidence of the wreck. As luck would have it, the first piece of steel pulled up from the bottom seemed to put an end to the mystery. When the steel was placed in ice water and hit with a hammer, it shattered. For much of the 1990s, scientists thought this "brittle" steel was responsible for the massive flooding. Only recently has testing on other, bigger pieces of the ship disproved this theory. The original piece, scientists discovered, had been unusually weak, while the rest of Titanic's steel passed the tests. "We know now there was nothing wrong with the steel," says William Garzke, chairman of a forensics panel formed by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers to investigate the wreck.

Experts looking for explanations landed on another potentially weak link: The more than 3 million rivets holding the ship together. McCarty and Foecke began examining 48 rivets brought up from the wreck and found they contained high concentrations of "slag," a residue of smelting that can make metal fracture prone. Researching in the Harland & Wolff archives, they discovered that the shipbuilder's ambitious plans to build three large ships at the same time had put a huge strain on its shipyard. "Not because of cost, but because of time pressures, they started using lower-quality material to fill the gaps," says Foecke. This substandard iron was pounded by hand into the ship's bow and stern, where the large machines required to pound in steel rivets didn't fit. Steel rivets, meanwhile, which are much stronger than iron, were put in the more-accessible middle of the ship.

When the Titanic hit the iceberg, McCarty and Foecke say, the weaker iron rivets in the bow popped, opening seams in the hull—and hurrying the ship's demise. It's no accident, Foecke says, that the flooding stopped at the point in the hull where the steel rivets began.
Harland & Wolff, now an engineering and design firm, flatly rejects the notion that its rivets were weak. Tom McCluskie, the company's retired archivist, points out that Olympic, Titanic's sister ship, was riveted with the same iron and served without incident for 25 years, surviving several major collisions, including being rammed by a British cruiser. "Olympic deliberately rammed a German submarine during the First World War and cut it in half," says McCluskie. "She was plenty strong." The Britannic sank after hitting a mine during World War I. Both ships were strengthened after the Titanic disaster with double hulls and taller bulkheads, but their rivets were never changed.

Stronger rivets might have slowed the sinking process, but once water began flooding six of the Titanic's compartments, it was only a matter of time before the ship went down. Questions remain, though, about exactly how and why the ship ultimately broke apart and sank. In 2005, an expedition organized by Kohler and Chatterton found a new clue. Wandering away from the main wreckage site, they stumbled upon two large pieces of the ship's bottom on the ocean floor. Closer examination revealed the two hull sections had split exactly where the ship broke in two, making them a possible key to the mystery of the ship's final moments. Simon Mills, an Olympic-class-ship historian who advised the divers, calls the find "very likely the most interesting piece of Titanic research to be carried out in the last 20 years."

When Roger Long, a naval architect hired to accompany the expedition, began analyzing the edges of the hull pieces, he came to a surprising conclusion. It was impossible, he believed, for the ship to have broken up the way experts for two decades believed it did, with the stern rising up to a 45-degree angle before the ship's hull split. "There are a lot of very contradictory things you can see in the pieces," he says. "But the only scenario I could come up with to explain all of the contradictions was that the ship broke at a very shallow angle." Close examination of the pieces showed that they had been interrupted in the middle of tearing apart—a sign, Long says, that the ship was still at a low-enough angle (he estimates only 11 degrees) that its stern could regain buoyancy as it began to crack. If the back of the ship had been raised out of the water at a 45-degree angle, as depicted in Cameron's movie, once the stern tore off, nothing would have stopped it, and the hull pieces would have torn in two.

Why does it matter exactly how the ship broke in two? For Titanic's passengers, it may have been the difference between life and death. "In the movie, the stern rises up and [then] sinks," says Chatterton. "It's this protracted, dramatic experience." But in Long's scenario, the ship may have tilted over only slightly as the bow filled with water, giving those on board a false sense of security. "If you're standing on the deck with 10 degrees of incline, and they're saying 'Quick, everyone into the lifeboats,' you're thinking, 'You know, things aren't looking so bad here, maybe I can just stay in the bar,' " says Chatterton. "The passengers and many of the crew didn't understand the seriousness of the situation they were in." Of course, since the Titanic had enough lifeboats for only half its passengers, many people were never going to make it off the ship alive. When the bow filled with enough water, Long says, the ship split in two and sank in a matter of minutes.

Interestingly, much of the survivor testimony seems to confirm this sequence of events. Charlie Joughin, Titanic's chief baker, said that he had been standing near the stern when the ship went under, but he reported none of the signs of a high-angle break. No suction, no big splash, and no roller-coaster ride to the surface. He said he swam away from the ship without even getting his hair wet. Unlike in the Cameron film, there was no huge wave reported from any of the lifeboats when the stern went under. One survivor reported slipping into the water, turning around, and discovering the ship had disappeared. "He was in the water 50 feet from the ship, he heard a 'shloop,' and it was gone," says Long. "That's not what a person would remember if 25,000 tons of steel fell nearby."

Eyewitnesses. While some survivors in the lifeboats did remember seeing the ship's stern rising high in the air, Long says that might have been an optical illusion. At an 11-degree angle, the ship's propellers would have been raised out of the water, making the ship, already nearly 20 stories tall, appear even taller and making its angle in the water appear even steeper. Technical advisers to the movie Titanic say Cameron, who did not respond to a request for comment, may have been aware of this but exaggerated the angle at which the ship sank for effect.

Though experts still quibble about the exact nature of how the ship broke up, a consensus does seem to be forming around how Titanic sank. "We all agree that the ship did sink at a shallow angle," says Garzke, head of the naval architects' forensics panel. Historians believe Harland & Wolff was probably aware of this at the time, but when the official inquiries absolved the shipbuilder of any liability in the matter, the company didn't protest.

Some conspiracy theorists believe that the company's silence was a sign of a coverup, and that the post-disaster retrofitting of Titanic's sister ships proves Harland & Wolff knew its ship was flawed. But most historians come to a different conclusion. "The fact that the ship broke up on the surface does not mean she was weak," says Long. When 38,000 tons of water filled its bow, pushing the stern up even 11 degrees out of the water, the ship was loaded beyond its capacity and cracked in two.

Could the Titanic have been stronger? Certainly. Higher-quality rivets or a thicker hull might have kept the ship afloat longer. But ultimately, the Titanic was designed to be a passenger liner, not a battleship. "[The ship] was built to the best of their knowledge at the time and to the proper standards. Nothing could have survived what happened to it," says McCluskie. Extensive forensic analysis of the wreckage has, in a way, brought the story of the Titanic to a familiar place. "The ship," says Foecke, "was just not designed to run into icebergs." When it did, nothing could stop its journey to the bottom.

Preview of a Canada's passengers’ bill of rights

A passengers' bill of rights recently passed in Canada gives travelers entitlement to a meal after a four-hour delay, a voucher for a hotel after an eight-hour delay and the right to get off a plane after waiting more than 90 minutes.

The legislation is novel, columnist Rob Lovitt writes, but will it fly?

Movie: Journey to the Center of the Earth

A science professor's untraditional hypotheses have made him the laughing stock of the academic community. But on an expedition in Iceland, he and his nephew stumble upon a major discovery that launches them on a thrilling journey deep beneath the Earth's surface, where they travel through never-before-seen worlds and encounter a variety of unusual creatures.

Some critics say while it is a good movie in 3D, do not expect to much of Jules Verne, who was the author of the story; to not quite so much follow the original storyline.

What I have seen just with the movie trailers, it does appear to be a very entertaining adventure and the special effects a delight.

Starring: Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem
Directed by: Eric Brevig

Same Planet, Different World

Which candidate was ranked 894 out of 899 students in college?

U.S. Senator Barack Obama or U.S. Senator John McCain

Answer: U.S. Senator John McCain

McCain entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. McCain had conflicts with his higher-ups, and he was disinclined to obey every rule, which contributed to a low class rank (894 of 899) that he did not aim to improve. McCain did well in academic subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he disliked, such as math. McCain graduated in 1958.

There is also information that McCain lost five planes as a fighter pilot over Vietnam which some people regarded as carelessness.

"Will McCain, who finished 894th out of 899 at the Naval Academy and who lost five jets return competence to the White House?"

Probably not, many people feel U.S. Senator John McCain is just another U.S. President George W. Bush.

Furthermore, U.S. President George W. Bush was also a poor student when he attended Yale University and by many, a long time associate, of U.S. Senator John McCain.

The title of this piece came to my attention and I was interested to also know the answer, so I furthered my inquiry and the above article was the result.

The Frog Who Taught a Man to Swim

by HRM Deborah

The once was a man that could not swim and actually was a bit afraid, even though he wanted to learn how too.

So one day, he found a frog and he very carefully put the frog into his pants pocket.

He then walked closer to the edge of the pond and jumped in, thinking the frog would keep him afloat. Like a stone he sank to the bottom and wished very hard what he should do.

In this time, the frog wiggled his way out of the man’s pocket and started paddling as hard as the frog could to the surface.

The man seeing the frog paddle, so he thought he would try to do the same, so he worked very hard to move his arms and legs and before he knew he popped to the top of the water and paddled to shore, meeting the frog on the bank.

Satisfied that the frog did indeed teach him how to swim, he was grateful to the frog and thanked him. The frog in turn said, "It would have been easier, if you had not hampered me in your pants pocket.”

A Rainy Day in the French Quarter

A rainy day in Pirate's Alley, the white building to the left is St. Louis Cathedral which was originally built in 1729, but after two fires; the building one see’s today, was rebuilt in 1794 within the French Quarter.

While I do not condone piracy even with most people‘s idea of the romanticism, the famous French pirate Jean Lafitte, called New Orleans home for a time with warehouses and a blacksmith shop; to go so far as to defend Louisiana in 1812.

The last time I was in Pirate’s Alley because it is an interesting little though fare, the cobblestones where in much needed repair after Hurricane Katrina; one had to be careful to keep from falling, which after that time, I have never returned.
St. Louis Cathedral unto Jackson Square (July 2001), between the Cathedral and the other building is the opposite end of the Pirates Alley, from the above picture.

Lord of the Flies

When a portion of humanity resort’s to barbarism, instead of the goodness of life; this is usually synonymous with those who walk with Satan.

Mali’s Kolenze Masjid

This is the Kolenze mud mosque in Mali, West Africa.

The mud walls are thick and tapered, to both protect the inside from the heat and support the often two story structures and the roof. During the day, the walls absorb the heat of the day that is released throughout the night, helping the interior of the mosque remain cool all day long.

Some structures, for example, Djenné’s Great Mosque (Masjid), also have roof vents with ceramic caps. These caps, made by the town's women, can be removed at night to ventilate the interior spaces.

Masons have integrated palm wood scaffolding into the building's construction, not as beams, but as permanent scaffolding for the workers who apply plaster annually during the spring festival to restore the mosque. The palm beams also minimize the stress that comes from the extreme temperature and humidity changes typical of the climate.

Men praying in Kolenze mosque (Masjid), in Mali.