The Wandering Mind

Discount School Uniforms

wandren — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:26:08 +0000

https://www.thechildrenswearoutlet.com/shop/index.php

http://school-closet.com/colors_and_plaids.html

http://www.schooldaysdiscountuniforms.com/plaids.htm

http://www.euniformstore.com/Store/tabid/54/List/1/CategoryID/26/Level/1/Default.aspx

http://www.allseasonsuniforms.com/dicat.htm?gclid=CPbczfmm5owCFQGPWAodr0t-6g

http://www.cookieskids.com/default.aspx

http://hallclosetuniforms.com/

http://frenchtoast.com/jump.jsp?itemID=0&itemType=HOME_PAGE

My New Addiction

wandren — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:03:59 +0000

Puzzle Map of the United States of America

http://jimspages.com/States.htm

Slaughtering the English Language

wandren — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 23:33:55 +0000

Excape/Ecscape is not a word. What people mean when they say “excape,” is “ESCAPE.” Any one who remembers his elementary school phonetics, or has taught children to read should know that ES is not pronounced EX.

Supposubly. I don’t know how people can read the correct spelling of the word, “SUPPOSEDLY,” and continue to mispronounce the word. I understand the problems associated with oral transmission of the language – sloppy annunciation and misinterpretation – but when faced with the correctly-spelled word, and possessing at least a third-grade reading ability, I don’t understand how people can continue mispronouncing the word.

Conversate. I’m not opposed to people saying “conversate” as long as they say it in jest, and their audience understands its use was intentional, but it seems to be used more and more by people who think its a real word – the root word of conversation. -tion is a suffix, added to the end of a word to alter the form of the root word; the “T” in conversation, belongs to the suffix, not the root, which therefore means that the root word lies in the letters occuring before the “T.” The root word of conversation is converse.

There is no such thing as “Premature Stamina.” Premature means that something grew, occured or arrived earlier than expected. Stamina refers to the physical or emotional ability to resist fatigue. You can die prematurely or be born prematurely or arrive at your destination prematurely, but it is not possible to prematurely resist fatigue. A synonym for “stamina” is “endurance.” Once cannot endure prematurely, but one can become fatigued sooner than desire.

Assuming there are no physical reasons preventing someone from running a marathon, such as a knee injury, the reason one is unable to successfully run the marathon is because he is not physically fit to do so. The “cure” for this problem is to improve one’s physical fitness through exercise.

Mainstream Archeology

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:02:25 +0000

Contemporary archeologists suggest that Plato’s account of Atlantis’s demise is an allegorical retelling of catastrophic natural disasters known in his time.

In 1967, off the island of Santorini, Greek archeologists found the lost city of Akrotiri, buried 4,500 years earlier in volcanic ash. In 2001, archeologists unearthed the ancient city of Helike, which had been destroyed by a massive tsunami spawned by an earthquake, just 20 years before Plato wrote his chronicle of Atlantis.

Could either of these sites be the original inspiration for Atlantis? That’s what serious archeologists are seeking to determine.

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Nazis

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:59:23 +0000

Under the guidance of Heinrich Himmler, Nazi party archeologists undertook ambitious expeditions to find the lost continent. According to Heather Pringle, author of The Master Plan, “Atlantis was the mythical homeland of the Aryan race.”

Equally bizarre is the Nazis’ hypothesis of Atlantis’s destruction, summarized in Welteislehre, or “World Ice Theory.” They asserted that six moons once surrounded Earth. Five crashed into the oceans, triggering ice ages, the last of which coincided with Plato’s date for the destruction of Atlantis.

Because of these and other implausible hypotheses, and their connection to the Nazis’ racial-purity experiments in concentration camps, the Nazis’ search for Atlantis cast a shadow over future archeological efforts for decades after World War II.

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Antarctica

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:53:50 +0000

Some seekers of Atlantis have set their sights on Antarctica, chief among them Argentine explorer Alex Chionetti. According to Chionetti, Antarctica was once located closer to the equator. Approximately 10,000 years ago, he insists, Earth’s axis tilted, sending the continent of Atlantis drifting toward its present location at the South Pole.

Chionetti presents such evidence as the 500-year-old Piri-Reis map, which depicts what Chionetti believes to be the coastline of Atlantis. He also points to a 1976 Norwegian expedition to Antarctica, which allegedly found “mysterious structures” that he thinks are remnants of the Atlantean empire.

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Cyprus

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:17:49 +0000

In 2004, American explorer Robert Sarmast used side-scan sonar to discover an underwater formation 50 miles off the coast of Cyprus. The site sits atop a small mountain nearly a mile below the surface. Sarmast believes this site matches point by point with Plato’s description of Atlantis.

Sarmast believes that the capital of Atlantis once sat atop a mountain, surrounded by shallow lakes in what was once a dry Mediterranean basin. Long ago, the Mediterranean sea level was lower because it was separated from the Atlantic ocean by a seawall in the Strait of Gibraltar. Powerful earthquakes breached the seawall, Sarmast claims, sending a tsunami-like wave streaming across the basin, flattening everything in its path — including Atlantis.

Having successfully mapped the site, Sarmast is mounting an expedition to launch a deep-sea submersible to take live pictures of it and remove a piece of what he believes is Atlantis.

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Bimini

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:15:01 +0000

The idea that Atlantis would be found somewhere in the mid-Atlantic emerged during the late 19th century. American author and politician Ignatius Donnelly postulated that the lost civilization had been near the Azores. He based his theory on Plato’s description of the continent as lying outside the Pillars of Hercules, which are commonly thought to be the Straits of Gibraltar.

In 1968, pilots flying over North Bimini Island spotted an astonishing geological formation of beach rock that was laid out in straight lines. This area, which came to be known as The Bimini Road, was thought by many Atlantis-seekers to be evidence of the lost continent.

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Alternative Historians

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:11:09 +0000

Some “alternative historians” believe that the Atlanteans were descendants of aliens who came to inhabit Earth after their native planet was destroyed.

Proponents of this hypothesis include Michael Tsarion and Zecharia Sitchin, who believe that a worldwide nuclear war wiped out most traces of this ancient civilization, sending its capital city of Atlantis far beneath the sea approximately 11,000 years ago.

“They interfered with the indigenous population of this planet,” Tsarion says. “And, when I say ‘interfere,’ I mean genetically, biologically.”

From scifi.com: “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Theories.”

Earth’s Great Holes

wandren — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 03:47:47 +0000

Diamond Mine in Kimberley, Africa

Kimberley, Africa: From mid-July 1871 to 1914, 50,000 miners dug the hole with picks and shovels, yielding 2,722 kg of diamonds. The Big Hole has a surface of 17 hectares (42 acres) and is 463 metres wide. It was excavated to a depth of 240m, but then partially infilled with debris reducing its depth to about 215 m; since then it has accumulated water to a depth of 40 m leaving 175 m visible. The underground Kimberly Mine was mined to a depth of 1097 metres. A popular local myth claims that it is the largest hand-dug hole on the world, however Jagersfontein Mine appears to hold that record.^[3] There is currently an effort in progress to register the Big Hole as a World Heritage Site.

Monticello Dam Spillway, California

“The Glory Hole,” Monticello Dam, California: Monticello Dam is located on Putah Creek where the stream crosses the eastern boundary of Napa County. It regulates flows along the lower reaches of Putah Creek and stores surplus water.

The dam is a concrete, medium-thick arch structure with a height of 304 feet above the foundation and a crest length of 1,023 feet. The dam is notable for its classic, uncontrolled spillway with a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second (1370 m³/s) and a diameter at the lip of 87 feet (22 m).

Kennecott Copper Mine, Utah

The world famous Bingham Canyon Mine has produced more copper than any other mine in history. It is one of two man made objects seen from space. To give you some idea about the size of this mine, it’s three-quarters of a mile deep and more than 23/4 miles across at the top.

Ambergris Caye, Belize

The Great Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole off the coast of Belize. It lies near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the mainland and Belize City. The hole is circular in shape, over 300 metres (984 ft) across and 125 metres (410 ft) deep.^[1] It was formed as a limestone cave system during the last glacial period when sea levels were much lower. As the ocean began to rise again, the caves flooded, and the roof collapsed.^[2] Believed to be the world’s largest feature of its kind, the Great Blue Hole is part of the larger Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, a World Heritage site of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).^[1]

Mir Mine, Siberia

Mirny, Eastern Siberia: Winter temperatures in Mirny, a town just below the Arctic Circle, average –40 Celsius.The town was founded in 1955 when geologists came to exploit the area’s substantial mineral wealth. Consequently, Mirny’s defining feature is a 1 1/2 km wide, 500 m deep hole, which is the now-abandoned diamond mine.The town is strictly off limits to outsiders without a special permit and the authorities regard any foreigners with considerable suspicion.

Photo Courtesy of The Diavik Diamond Mine

The Diavik Diamond Mine has become an important part of the regional economy, employing 700, grossing C$100 million in sales, and producing 8 million carats (1600 kg) of diamonds annually. The area was surveyed in 1992 and construction began in 2001, with production commencing in January 2003. It is connected by an ice road and Diavik Airport with a 5,235-foot (1,596 m) gravel runway regularly accommodating Boeing 737 jet aircraft.

February 24, 2007

Giant Sinkhole in Guatamala, 2007: 330-foot-deep sinkhole swallowed a dozen homes, killed 3 people, and forced the evacuation of nearly 1,000 people in a crowded Guatemala City neighborhood.