Secret history of the world,how much do we know......

[letric]

To all, have a great and blessed New Year!

When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is
hard' I am always tempted to ask,
'Compared with what?'

[letric]

In matters of intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you without regard to any other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect, do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. Nicholas of Cusa, a 15th-century cardinal sometimes called the

father of Renaissance humanism

held that it is the essence of divinity to be unknown to humanity. His best known work is notably De Docta Ignorantia or 'In Learned Ignorance (1440) He argues that the wisest individuals in history have effectively been agnostics on the biggest questions since they realised that the most interesting things in the world are also the most difficult to explain.

The more a man knows that he is unknowing, the more learned he will be.

[letric]

Cases of alleged kidnapping of human subjects by he extraterrestrial occupants of UFOs have been
claimed since 1950s. Alleged abductees often report that they recall being taken inside UFO, and
being subjected to medical tests by the occupants. By 2006 approximately 6000 abduction cases
had been documented, although only about one-fifth of these were in any significant detail, or
involved any medical follow-up. However, some do accept that the experiences have as yet not
fully explained vivid subjective reality for the people involved. Several elements of the alleged
incidents indicate that the subjects were not fully conscious during their experiences, which suggested comparison with cases of false awakenings, where a witness experiences vivid dream as a waking reality,
or out-of-body experience.

[letric]

Black Englishmen and women who win Olympic medals are
described as English while those who riot and throw petrol
bombs are invaribly West Indians.
EH

Interesting ....

[letric]

The most dangerous creation of any soceity is the man
who has nothing to lose.

[letric]

Interesting ....

Civilisation is a method of living, an attitude of equal
respect for all men.

[letric]

Are the limits of your language the limits of the world? Philosophy began and
uncovers the thinkers and movements that have used it in both brilliant and
frightening ways. It includes short biographies of all the great Philosophers
from early Greeks to the modern greats, all the main -isms and -ologies from
atomism to utilitarismism, via epistemology and ontology. The wise words
of Thomas Hobbes ( 1588-1679) 'The Life of a man [is] solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish and short. Plato 9427-347BC) Philosophy begins in wonder.

[letric]

The first known writings originated in the 6th and 7th
centuries, the Tang Dynasty, This is known as Zen's
Classical Period, a particularly fruitful period in Zen.
Using these writings as a foundation, they reach their
peak in the 10th to 13th centuries in China, during the
Song Dynasty. Lessons in Zen were not based upon
written material, but were taught within schools where
teachers would come to these communities and guide
disciples through The Way of Zen. In the 12th century
these lessons were gathered together in various writings,
part of which has been lost over time.

[letric]

When the Galileans in the Life of Brian are asked "what have the Romans done for us?"
and they mention the aqueducts, roads, drains, medicine and so on they tell us what
we are in the third world millennium are well aware - that our debt to the achievements
of the Classical civilisations is enormous. However, we have always tended to regard
their institutions, behaviour, religion, entertainment, priorities etc as nothing like those
of present day, they being barbaric, crude or in some other way inferior. Not true,
argues Ferdinand Mount, he points out that much of what is emerging in 21st century
Western society bears an astonishing resemblance to the most promising features of
what we call the Classical such as obsession with fame, free sex and the body beautiful.
Whether we are eating and drinking, exercising, lovemaking, pondering; admiring or
enquiring, our habits of thought and action, our diversions and concentrations recreate
those of the ancient Greeks and Romans very accurately.

[letric]

Most United Sates Vice presidents seem to disappear once they are elected,
becoming people without a real job to do. Not so Bobby Black. It had been
something of a surprise when he and Theo Carr were elected as they had been
ten points behind the polls just a short while before the election, but a suicide
bomber on a plane to Manila changed all that. Once in power it was Black who
dominated; bullying and pulling strings to get what he wanted and people even
joked that it was the President was a heartbeat away from the Presidency should
anything happen to Black. And something di happen to Black. The British Ambassador
tom Washington organised a trip to Scotland and arranged that he would go grouse
shooting, dine with the Queen and walk in the hills with the Prime Minister. The
grouse shoot was going well when fog descended . In moments Black disappeared
and despite best efforts of hundreds of people could not be found.

[letric]

The history of world trade from Mesopotamia in 3000BC to globalisation of today, we follow the extraordinary progress of global commerce. Five millennia ago early traders floated barley, copper and ivory up and down the Tigris and Euphrates. We see the Portuguese monopoly of the spice trade and the rise and fall in the 16th century, the the rush for sugar and slaves in the Caribbean and West Africa. The 20th century was dominated by the great trade battles of the US, and in the 21st century we get TVs from Taiwan, lettuce from Mexico and a great many things from China. Distils thousands of years of social, political, cultural, military and economic history showing how trade has brought out the best and worst in human nature and made us both prosperous and vulnerable.

[letric]

The Forbidden City in the centre of Beijing was the hub of Imperial China from the 15th to the 20th century. A
city within a city, its inhospitable red walls enclosed the seat of government, the Imperial Palace, the huge
lakes dottedf with islands and pleasure boats, workshops promoting luxury items for the court, and a zoo. For
hundreads of years, thousands of eunuchs served their imperial masters, taking control of the flow of adminis-
trative documents and the daily needs of the emperor and the women of the palace. Imagine the strong in-
tellectual and political character of the Ming dynasty to the robust warrior spirit of the Qing? ... A place in
history.

[letric]

At the heart of ancient Egypt's civilisation lay its highly
complex religion which evolved expanded and diversified
over three millennia. Perhaps the most important aspects
of their life were reflected in their attitudes towards
creation, life, death, the afterlife, and the associated
gods.