Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:30 Acadia National Park 03:28 Bar Harbor 04:46 DJI Air 3 06:21 More Bar Harbor 06:47 Camden, Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit 07:34 Lighthouses 08:30 My Thoughts on Maine 09:36 omg 09:46 The End
Monthly Archives: August 2023
Previews: History Today Magazine-September 2023
HISTORY TODAY MAGAZINE (SEPTEMBER 2023) – This issue features Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore story, conquistador Hernán Cortés’ on trial, the fascist plot to kill the king, the fascinating fusion of Old English names, and sharpshooter Marjorie Foster’s battle with the War Office. Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
‘Homer and His Iliad’ by Robin Lane Fox review
Homer and His Iliad by Robin Lane Fox is a masterly survey of the Iliad, its majesty, its pathos and its unparalleled progression from wrath to pity.
Faced with a jumble of bewildering ruins, modern visitors to Hisarlik in northwest Turkey, the site of ancient Troy, may find themselves perplexed and sometimes disappointed. The wide bay where the Greeks so famously beached 1,000 ships is gone, buried in silt from a local river, while beyond the fine sloping walls, a palimpsest of settlements spanning 4,000 years lies scarred and disfigured by the deep trench gouged by Heinrich Schliemann, its first archaeologist, during two decades of digging in the 19th century. Schliemann had been drawn to Hisarlik, and also to mainland Greece, by his passion for the Homeric poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and his conviction that they described or reflected real societies and events, not least the decade-long Trojan War.
Nationalism in Nepal: On the Right Side of History
Adipurush, a controversial Bollywood film, has sparked anger in Nepal. For small states with big neighbours, details matter.
Balen Shah, the 33-year-old rapper and mayor of Kathmandu, is a man on various missions. Since his unlikely victory in 2022, he has waged war on government ministries, landlords, Nepal’s civil aviation authority, roadside hawkers and landless slum dwellers. Now he is taking on Bollywood because of a supposed historical slight.
Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore Story
One man more than any other is associated with Singapore’s remarkable success. On his centenary: who was Lee Kuan Yew and how did he do it?
Previews: The Economist Magazine – August 26, 2023
Why China’s economy won’t be fixed
An increasingly autocratic government is making bad decisions
Whatever has gone wrong? After China rejoined the world economy in 1978, it became the most spectacular growth story in history. Farm reform, industrialisation and rising incomes lifted nearly 800m people out of extreme poverty. Having produced just a tenth as much as America in 1980, China’s economy is now about three-quarters the size. Yet instead of roaring back after the government abandoned its “zero-covid” policy at the end of 2022, it is lurching from one ditch to the next.
Prigozhin’s death shows that Russia is a mafia state
A healthy country uses justice to restore order. Mr Putin uses violence instead
As we published this editorial, it was not certain that Yevgeny Prigozhin’s private jet was shot down by Russian air-defences, or that the mutineer and mercenary boss was on board. But everyone believes that it was and that his death was a punishment of spectacular ruthlessness ordered by Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. And that is the way Mr Putin likes it.
French Views: Wondrous Waters Of The River Seine
More recently, officials have given the Seine a facelift, making the banks more accessible and improving the quality of the water. Join Florence Villeminot and Genie Godula for this aquatic episode of French Connections Plus where they dive into the wondrous waters of the river Seine.
Travel: Walking Tour Of Cuenca In Central Spain
Perched on a limestone spur high above the Júcar and Huécar rivers, it’s most famous for its well-preserved “casas colgadas,” or hanging houses. Cantilevered over the Huécar gorge, they seemingly cling to the cliffs’ edges.
News: Republican Debate, BRICS Summit Putin Speech, Zimbabwe Election Delays
The Globalist Podcast, Thursday, August 24: Republican presidential candidates have their first debate in Milwaukee without Donald Trump, the latest from the BRICS summit in South Africa, after Putin addresses the bloc leaders virtually.
Plus: the Zimbabwe elections, a literary celebration of Ukrainian Independence Day and a Scandinavian shortage in Brussels.
The New York Times — Thursday, August 24, 2023
Wagner Leader Believed to Be Aboard Plane That Crashed in Russia
All 10 people on a jet linked to Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the founder of the mercenary group, were killed on Wednesday, Russian officials said.
Greece Battles Its Most Widespread Wildfires on Record
Extreme heat has turned much of the country into a tinderbox. More than 350 fires have broken out in the past five days, the government said.
‘India Is on the Moon’: Lander’s Success Moves Nation to Next Space Chapter
The Chandrayaan-3 mission makes India the first country to reach the lunar south polar region in one piece and adds to the achievements of the country’s homegrown space program.
A Stroke Stole Her Ability to Speak at 30. A.I. Is Helping to Restore It Years Later.
The brain activity of a paralyzed woman is being translated into words spoken by an avatar. This milestone could help others who have lost speech.
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – August 24, 2023
Want a sustainable future? Then look to the world’s cities
In a rapidly urbanizing world, what happens in cities matters — and sustainability success stories show what can be achieved when researchers and policymakers work together.
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and that proportion is set to grow. By 2050, another two billion people will be urban dwellers, the United Nations estimates. Cities lie at the nexus of all aspects of human development, from building thriving economies to coping with climate change.
Earth’s hottest month: these charts show what happened in July and what comes next
The planet has warmed 1.2 ºC on average, but that’s enough to produce big extremes.
From wilting saguaros in Arizona and hot-tub-like temperatures off the coast of Florida to increased heat-related hospitalizations in Europe and agricultural losses in China, last month felt unusually hot. It was: several teams have now confirmed that July 2023 was the hottest month in recorded history. And there’s more to come.
July is typically the hottest month of the year, and this July shattered records going back as far as 1850 by around 0.25 °C. Overall, the average global temperature was 1.54 °C above the preindustrial average for July, according to Berkeley Earth, a non-profit group in California that is one of several organizations tracking global warming. It’s a seemingly small increase, but what many people across the world actually experienced was a bout of long and often brutal heat waves.
Research: New Scientist Magazine – August 26, 2023
Environment – How we broke the water cycle and can no longer rely on rain to fall
Health – Unravelling the secrets of the vagus nerve will revolutionize medicine
Technology – Nowhere to hide: Data harvesters came for your privacy – and found it
Space – Aliens on low-oxygen worlds may never discover fireRead the latest issue
Analysis: The Importance Of India’s Moon Landing
Video timeline: 0:00 India lands on the south pole of the moon 0:53 Why the south pole? 2:37 Why Russia and India want to be first 4:32 New space race
Both countries launched rockets in recent weeks, hoping to be the first to successfully complete the mission. Why were they racing to reach the lunar south pole? WSJ explains the significance of both missions for Moscow and New Delhi.
Boomers Daily 