Did you know what you can see in Paris !

Did you know what you can see in Paris !

John : 19-2-5.   "The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe"

This is the quote from the Christian Bible. So Jesus had a crown of thorns put on his head while on the cross. Well it can be seen to day in Notre Dam Cathedral in  Paris. It is one of the most important relics in the Christian world. On the first Friday of every month and every Friday in lent there is the VENERATION OF THE CROWN OF THORNS. The crown housed in the Paris cathedral is a circle of canes bundled together and held by gold threads. The thorns were attached to this braided circle, which measures 21 centimetres in diameter. The thorns were divided up over the centuries by the Byzantine emperors and the Kings of France. There are seventy, all of the same type, which have been confirmed as the original thorns.

In the 4 th century the relics were kept in the basilica on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Between the 7th and the 10th centuries, the relics were moved progressively to the Byzantine emperors’ chapel in Constantinople, mainly to keep them safe from pillaging. In 1238, Byzantium was governed by Latin Emperor Baldwin of Constantinople. As he was in great financial difficulty, he decided to pawn the relics in a Venetian bank to get credit.

Saint Louis, the king of France, took over and paid back the Venetians. On 10 August 1239, the king, followed by a brilliant procession, welcomed twenty-nine relics in Villeneuve-l’Archevêque. On 19 August 1239, the procession arrived in Paris; the king took off his royal garments. Wearing only a simple tunic and with bare feet, assisted by his brother, took the Crown of Thorns to Notre-Dame de Paris before placing the relics in the palace chapel. He built a reliquary worthy of housing these relics, Sainte Chapelle.( one of the greatest chapels ever built & still standing ).

During the French revolution, the relics were stored in the National Library. After the Concordat in 1801, they were given back to the archbishop of Paris who placed them in the Cathedral treasury on 10 August 1806. They are still housed there.

It might not be the exact crown of thrones but a lot of people still venerate it. It has been visited by millions over the years and can still be today. In our modern world it still has a place.

The Great European Famine 1315-17

                                   ✳️✳️✳️ Forgotten History ✳️✳️✳️

The Great Famine started with bad weather in spring 1315. Universal crop failures lasted through 1316 until the summer harvest in 1317, and Europe did not fully recover until 1322. The period was marked by extreme levels of crime, disease, mass death, and even cannibalism and infanticide. The famine caused millions of deaths over an extended number of years and marked a clear end to the period of growth and prosperity from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. The Great Famine was restricted to Northern Europe, including the British Isles, northern France, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Germany 🇩🇪 and western Poland 🇵🇱 It also affected some of the Baltic states, except for the far eastern Baltic that was only affected indirectly. The famine was bounded in the south by the Alps and the Pyrenees.

In the spring of 1315, unusually heavy rain began in much of Europe. It continued to rain throughout the spring and summer, and the temperature remained cool. These conditions caused widespread crop failures. The straw and hay for the animals could not be properly dried, so there was no fodder or bedding for the livestock.

In addition to starvation, disease ravaged the people. Pneumonia and tuberculosis exacted a heavy toll. Survivors weakened to such an extent that they struggled to work their fields. Additionally, people consumed so much seed that it made it difficult to restore agricultural yields back to their pre-famine levels once the crisis subsided. The famine killed up to 25% of the population. Real numbers are difficult to determine.

Ireland 🇮🇪 was affected : The Great Famine coincided with, and greatly influenced, the Bruce campaign in Ireland, the attempt of Edward de Bruce, a younger brother of Robert the Bruce of Scotland, to make himself High King of Ireland. At first the Irish-Scottish alliance seemed unstoppable, winning battle after battle and gaining control of most of Ireland in less than a year, seemingly on theverge of  driving the Anglo-Norman settlers out of Ireland altogether. The famine hit Ireland hard in 1317 and had stricken most of the country, making it difficult for Edward de Bruce to provide food to most of his men. He never regained momentum and was defeated and killed in the Battle of Faughart in 1318, ending the last organized effort in many centuries to end English rule in Ireland. Famine had a part in this outcome.

 The Great Famine may have been precipitated by  volcanic events, perhaps that of the volcano of Mount Tarawera, New Zealand, which lasted about five years. There were others in the 13 th century.Ecuador’s Quilotoa volcano, which did erupt in the 12th to 14th centuries. The largest of the all was the Indonesia’s Samalas volcano The eruption occurred in 1257, and it could also be one of the volcanoes that started a 600-year cold period called the Little Ice Age. So it could an impact of many including ; Okataina in New Zealand, El Chichón in Mexico🇲🇽, Quilotoa in Ecuador and Samalas in Indonesia (next to Mount Rinjani).

American Taxpayers being robbed !

American Foreign Policy Costing !

USA,Iraq,War,Food stamps,poor

Iraqi security forces lost 2,300 Humvee armoured vehicles when the Islamic State jihadist group overran the northern city of Mosul, plus an arsenal of weapons and munitions.

Last year, the U.S. State Department approved a possible sale to Iraq of 1,000 Humvees with increased armour, machineguns, grenade launchers, other gear and support that was estimated to cost $579 million. List price for Humvee in 2011 was $200,000.

The American taxpayers was robbed ! And they have more to com. So will the Americans use missiles to take them out.a Hellfire missile cost $60K-$80K and $1K-$2K an hour to run.

So let's say 2000 humvees multiplied by $100,000 multiplied by 2000 missiles @ $70k is equal to $540 million. This was for one instance going on in Iraq. 

All this going on abroad while millions of Americans are living & dependant on food stamps.

Inspector Montalbao

Detective Montalbano solves crimes in Sicily. 

Where are the locations in the start sequence?

Inspector Montalbano lives and works in the fictional town of "Vigàta", in the equally fictional district of "Montelusa". Camilleri based Vigata on his home town of Porto Empedocle, on Sicily's south-west coast, while Montelusa, the district headquarters, is based on Agrigento. However the dramatizations of the Montalbano stories were mainly filmed at Ragusa, while the seaside and harbour locations were at Punta Secca and Licata.

Lillian Tintori - tragedy in the making !

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   Lilian Adriana Tintori Parra (Caracas, 5 May 1978), is a Venezuelan human rights activist and the wife of politician Leopoldo López Mendoza, National Coordinator of the party Popular Will (Voluntad Popular), arrested by the government.

   She was a record breaking wind surfer and TV & Radio presenter before marrying Leopoldo. She is now an Activest. She could be the next tragic First Lady of South America. She could end up like Myanmar’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Her husband could be murdrered and she could be put under house arrest. Eventually after a civil war she could becoming President. It could be so different. 

   
   

   In 1958 Venezuela became a democracy. However in 1998 Hugo Chávez was elected president. Chavez introduced a left wing regime in Venezuela and introduced his "The Bolivian Revolution". Chavez was re-elected in 2006 after spending nearly all the states reserves on social programs at home and subsidising other anti American countries with cheap oil. He allied Venezuela with Cuba. However Chavez died in 2013. He was replaced by Nicolás Maduro. Nicolás Maduro Moros is the President of Venezuelae since 2013. Previously he served under President Hugo Chávez as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2013 and as Vice President of Venezuela from 2012 to 2013. He took over from Chaves.

   The social programs that came into being during the term of Hugo Chávez sought to reduce social disparities and were funded in large part by oil revenues. The sustainability and design of the welfare programs have been both praised and criticized. The oil price has dropped & production has been reduced with no new investment. The economy is crippled with ques for everything including toilet paper. Corruption is rife.

   In a democracy, Mr Maduro would have little hope of surviving as president past next year. The government’s ruinous economic policies have caused shortages of basic consumer goods and medicines and a sharp rise in inflation and poverty. Its approval ratings are below 20%.

    

   The fear is that the government is prepared, if all else fails, to declare a state of emergency and suspend the constitution. Evidence is growing that it will do whatever it takes to hold on to power. 

The Khmer Empire

The Khmer empire was a powerful state in South East Asia, formed by people of the same name, lasting from 802 CE to 1431 CE. At its peak, the empire covered much of what today is Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam. 

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Using the city of Angkor as capital, for  centuries the Khmer empire expanded its territorial base, mostly to the north (entering the Khorat plateau) and the west, to the Chao Phraya basin and beyond. To the east outcomes were different: several times the Khmer fought wars against two neighboring peoples with powerful kingdoms, the Cham (in today’s central Vietnam) and the Vietnamese

The Khmer were great builders, filling the landscape with monumental temples, huge reservoirs (called baray) and canals, and laying an extensive road network with all sorts of bridges -the main highways are 800 km long. The most stunning temple, Angkor Wat, is a microcosm of the Hindu universe and defies imagination as the world’s largest religious complex - covering 200 hectares; nowadays it is crowded with tourists amazed with ruins that until recently were covered by the jungle. Its construction took some 30 years and was started by one of the greatest kings, Suryavarman II, around 1122 CE.

Angkor’s original name was Yashodharapura (“Glory-bearing city”), and at its apogee it was the biggest city in the world, covering an area of a thousand square kilometres, close to that of modern Los Angeles in the USA. Its population is much harder to estimate, but a figure of aproximately one million. London England had a population of approx 18,000 at the same time.

The ancient Khmers were a traditional agricultural community, relying heavily on rice farming. The farmers, who formed the majority of kingdom's population, planted rice near the banks of the lake or river, in the irrigated plains surrounding their villages, or in the hills when lowlands were flooded. The rice paddies were irrigated by a massive and complex hydraulics system, including networks of canals and Barays, or giant water reservoirs. This system enabled the formation of large-scale rice farming communities surrounding Khmer cities. Sugar palm trees, fruit trees, and vegetables were grown in the orchards by the villages, providing other sources of agricultural produce such as palm sugar, palm wine, coconut, various tropical fruits, and vegetables.

Located by the massive Tonlé Sap lake, and also near numerous rivers and ponds, many Khmer people relied on fresh water fisheries for their living. Fishing gave the population their main source of protein, which was turned into Prahok — dried or roasted or steamed fish paste wrapped in banana leaves. Rice was the main staple along with fish. Other source of protein included pigs, cattle, and poultry, which were kept under the farmers' houses that were on stilts to protect them from flooding.

USA foreign Policy

 Barack Obama   is the fourth straight US president to bomb Iraq - the last president to not commit to such an action was Ronald Reagan.

the Islamic State are armed with state-of-the-art US-made weaponry captured from fleeing Iraqi troops. In short, the US is bombing its own weapons.

In 2008 the U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said about Gaza.

“Do we have to continue like this: build, destroy, and build, and destroy? We will build again -- but this must be the last time to rebuild. This must stop now,” 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA provides direct humanitarian aid, human development, and protection for more than 5 million Palestine refugees registered with the Agency. UNRWA USA is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit that supports the work of UNRWA through fundraising, education, and advocacy. 

( 2008-2009 President George W. Bush said "We care about the people of Gaza, and, therefore, have provided millions of dollars of fresh aid to the United Nations to help". President Barack Obama authorised the use of $20.3 million in emergency funding for immediate humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in the Gaza Strip. )

USAID has funded multiple projects in the West Bank and Gaza to improve infrastructure, providing funds to companies willing to do the job. One of them was International Relief and Development, a U.S.-based organization.

In August 2008, IRD was awarded a five-year, $300 million contract for construction activities in the West Bank and Gaza, as part of a USAID program designed to contribute to “the building of new infrastructure required for a viable Palestinian state.”

( July 2014 The U.S. is sending $47 million in humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip )

In 2012 the United States foreign aid given by the United States to gaza/ West Bank was $457million.

The United States is the largest single supplier of military equipment to Israel. 

Between 1998-2005 the U.S. Gave Isreal $9.1 billion military Aid.