Timothy Mwiti
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MAN MADE WONDERS
The earliest lists of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World were made more than 2,000 years ago by ancient Hellenic tourists. Except for the Great Pyramid of Giza those wonders no longer exist. They were destroyed by earthquakes, fires and in one case by an angry mob. Many other lists of amazing structures have been made since then. Here’s a look at our list of the greatest man-made wonders of the world: Number 30. Lalibela Churches. Built by King Lalibela to be the ‘New Jerusalem,’ the city of Lalibela in the Ethiopian highlands is home to eleven incredible monolithic churches. These were hewn from the top down into living rock between the 7th and 13th centuries, with an intricate series of tunnels and passages connecting them. Of these, the Church of St. George is undoubtedly the most impressive as it is so finely carved out of the mountainside. Set in the shape of a Greek cross, the church reaches a height of 40 feet, with amazing artworks found within its atmospheric interior. Number 29. Leaning Tower of Pisa. The world-famous leaning tower is known around the globe for its incredible four-degree tilt that makes it seem as if the tower is about to topple over. The amazing slanted belltower sits behind Pisa Cathedral and was built in the Romanesque style. Dating back to the 12th century, the tower took a whopping 199 years to complete, but began to slant during its construction due to soft ground on one side. Today, the tower – which stands at a wonky 55.86 meters tall – attracts tourists from far and wide. Number 28. Himeji Castle. The Himeji Castle is considered the best existing example of Japanese castle architecture. It was fortified to defend against enemies during the feudal period, but it has been rebuilt many times throughout the centuries and reflects the different design periods. It survived the bombings of World War II and is frequently seen in domestic and foreign films, including the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice”. The white exterior and design give the castle the appearance of a bird taking and many other attractions that can attract while visiting those places.
By Timothy Mwitiabout 5 hours ago in BookClub
Secret of Dinosaurs Full Episode
ALAN: When you go out looking at rocks that are millions of years old, you never know what you're going to find. As we came through a little clearing, I spotted a rough looking bone. Yep, this is the spot right here. Where it all began. KATJA: One bone after the next revealed itself. This was the Holy Grail. ALAN: Finding a dinosaur bone tells us only part of the story. There's so much more to these amazing creatures than just their skeletons, which leaves the movies with a lot of artistic license. KENNETH: The colors are made up, a lot of the behavior is made up. KATJA: But now, remarkable new fossil finds are opening a window on the prehistoric world as never before. AJA: Technology is allowing us to answer questions that were previously unanswerable. We get to make dinosaurs move again for the first time in millions of years. And we can figure out their color. And even how they lived. ALAN: Can recent discoveries force us to put aside the movie magic and finally see dinosaurs as they truly were when they ruled the Americas? MATTHEW: I think that we're closer to uncovering the truth of the age of dinosaurs than we've ever been. AJA: Fact is stranger than fiction. (thud) (whip) KENNETH: My first exposure to the dinosaurs was probably The Flintstones. (laughs). Which is not a very accurate portrayal of dinosaurs. You know, like all kids, I was sort of immersed in this dinosaur culture. I've always been fascinated by the biggest, the smallest, the highest flying, the lowest diving. That's where you really start to learn the limits of evolution. I wanted to find creatures that were among the largest to ever walk the face of the earth. Usually the largest dinosaurs are also among the worst preserved because it's so hard for a creature that size, the size of a house, to become a fossil. There is a group of plant eating dinosaurs called that we know relatively little about. So I was very attracted to finding one of those. 'How do you find a dinosaur?' It's the number one question I get asked.
By Timothy Mwitia day ago in Fiction
THE KINGS OF SKY
the eagle a heraldic bird the epitome of the majestic whether in Alaska or the dolomites eagles are simply the sovereigns of the air [Music] Alaska the most northerly of the united states is famous for its eagles and yet that bird became the symbol for the whole of the united states the bald eagle [Music] nowhere are there as many of these majestic creatures as on the river right in the south of Alaska the river is bounded by the mountains that also feed it regularly through their many glaciers in the summer this river acts like a magnet to attract to brown bears they look as if they're waiting for something the mother bear and her cubs are afraid of the males but he is after something completely different a different member of the group is more fortunate salmon are the reason why they have all come to the river whether they are large or small waiting for the fish to arrive one after another in the breeding grounds can be a tedious business [Music] the younger generation has found an alternative pastime but before they're able to catch their own salmon they'll be a year older [Music] even experienced bears salmon fishing skills are overshadowed by those of the bald eagles [Music] and even herbivores such as the moose benefit from the salmon in a roundabout way [Music] as many as four times in a year chum salmon migrate up the river [Music] after spawning the fish will die and are then even easier prey for the eagles and bears their remains fertilize the soil which helps the lush vegetation to flourish besides the bears and eagles the has other attractions to offer and they also act as landscape designers Canadian beavers they're larger than their European cousins and there is even discussion about whether or not they are a species in their own right thanks to their powerful flat tails and webbed feet they are perfectly adapted to a life in and around the water [Music] the entrances to their lodges are always underwater to provide protection to make sure the entrances remain under secure.
By Timothy Mwitia day ago in Chapters
CIRCLES. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
Of all the rabbit holes I get stuck in on the internet I don’t know any quite as powerful as Google Earth. Seeing beautiful patterns from above... Dropping down into street view... And seeing the planet in ways I would never get to see in person. So when I came across this post on Reddit, I was fascinated. It described “undocumented markings” in Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara near a location called “Tebalbalet tomb.” Visible on Google Earth. There were 22 of them, each with 12 “surrounding things”, 42 meters in diameter 420 meters apart, at longitude 4'20 East. It almost sounded like a joke. But then I copied the coordinates and I looked. There they were: identical circles in an almost perfect line. 160 kilometers from any signs of life in the world’s largest desert... in the middle of the biggest country in Africa. This is a story about the limits of what you can find out on the internet. About all the different ways of looking at the same thing. And about going all the way there. Over the course of the last 20 weeks, we filmed every step of the process as we tried to figure out one thing... What could these circles be? So this whole story starts back in September 2021 when I first saw the Reddit post. I wanted to figure out what these “markings” were and make a video out of the entire reporting process. No matter how long it took. Because the answer had to be out there. And, step one, I knew I was going to have to send some emails. For weeks, I reached out to everyone I could think of: Algerian experts, officials, tour groups... even the closest hotel, in a city called Aïn Salah. I read up on the town the circles were located closest to: Foggaret Ezzaouia. I asked the commenters on the Reddit post... and we even tracked down a Twitter account we thought was the same Will K who posted this question to several subreddits before deleting his Reddit account. I tried English and French... organizations, academics, locals... And then... I waited. But there was one easy thing to clear up first. Were these circles real? Or were they just some kind of satellite imaging glitch? So I asked a teammate who works with maps a lot: Sam, he produces our series Atlas. And he pointed me to the company that takes a lot of the satellite pictures for Google Earth: Maxar Technologies. I feel very confident that those are indeed on the ground because we see them in multiple images over multiple years. So, I know it wasn't an artifact of the processing that Google might have done with our imagery. And then a colleague of mine who has spent a decent amount of time studying this area said, “You know, this is a very rich area for oil and gas.” “This looks very similar to what we see when they're doing oil exploration.” Oil radically changed the course of Algeria’s history. "Oil from the wastelands of the desert..." "And it's believed that the Sahara is immensely rich in it." When oil and gas were discovered there in 1956, companies flocked to the region against the backdrop of a brutal decolonization war with France. Today, Algeria is one of the world’s top exporters of natural gas. What Steve is talking about here is seismic surveys where geophysicists analyze the Earth’s surface by sending shock waves into the ground. Depending on how those seismic waves bounce back researchers can tell what resources can be extracted from underground. Steve thought that, maybe, seismic pulses from a specialized vehicle could produce something like this. So, we had a hypothesis. But I wanted a second opinion. So I asked Bob Hardage at the University of Texas one of the world’s leading experts on seismic imaging. He responded by email: ”I can assure you with 100-percent confidence that the features in this imagery are not seismic arrays used in oil and gas exploration.” First, the shapes themselves weren’t right. “...there will be hundreds of thousands of receivers positioned as either a single straight line or as hundreds of parallel straight lines.” I looked up pictures from NASA of seismic surveying and you can see what he means. Second: the fact that we could even see them meant they probably weren’t a seismic survey. “... the objective is to leave the landscape like you found it." "If a seismic crew created something like these features a return visit would be made to restore the landscape.” “I have no idea what the circles in the satellite image are." "Whatever they are, the people who created them wanted those features to be permanent.” “Closeout: I don’t think we need to chat.” Thanks Bob. So I kept Googling. I found geotagged pictures from the nearest municipality, Foggaret Ezzaouia on a site called mapio.net. These old stone wells sorta looked like they could be arranged in a circle. But reverse image searches were a dead end. I didn’t know what to do next. So we looped in Vox video’s senior researcher, Melissa, to help me out. So, I was trying to find what this thing was. I don't know if you remember from his original post he calls it the Tebalbalet tomb. Do you remember that? So I found this article. This is from like 1985 — I mean, not 1985: 1885. The “Well of Tebalbalet” is at the latitude 27°20 and longitude 4°38. And that's approximately where what we're looking at is. And it says there are two circular tumuli. I had to Google that, I don't know that word. -Tumuli. What's a tumulus. Tumulus. It's an ancient burial mound. Which seems... that sounds about right. “... encompassed by two concentric mounds in the form of rings, all of great regularity." "The two rings are respectively 30 and 21 meters in diameter, from crest to crest.” So a document from 1885 said that, around this same area, there were 1) a bunch of wells, and 2) tombs with “rings of great regularity.” Now, the sketches weren’t an exact match. But they got us thinking: what if these things were actually really old? So I sent the pictures to a Tunisian archaeologist who had done research in this area. We spoke in French because of decades of French occupation in the 19th and 20th centuries French is still used in many contexts in Tunisia and Algeria. And she had a new clue. [in French] These monuments, they are without a doubt [in French] because I know Aïn Salah very well... [in French] These monuments are related to... [in French] Water. [in French] It's a desert environment, it's the Sahara. [in French] It is practically the hottest place in the Maghreb. [in French] It’s an area which is very well known for the difficulties of this heat there, and for the water harvest. [in French] So the people, they dig. [in French] It has a name: the Foggaras. Foggara. It’s the North African name for a 2,500-year-old style of irrigation system that goes by many names, but is often called a qanat. Builders dig a well at an elevated point on a slope deep enough to tap into groundwater. They then dig parallel shafts at regular intervals. These provide air flow for diggers as they create an underground channel all the way back to the main well. With a slope of 1 or 2 degrees, the channel carries water long distances powered by gravity alone. In a part of the world with barely any rain and no running rivers this technology can provide water for crops, livestock, and people year round... making human-made oases possible. [in French] It's curious, eh? This was the most promising lead yet. It explained the desert location, the circular shape, the regularity, and spacing. Even the closest municipality’s name, Foggaret Ezzaouia, is named after foggaras. And those mapio pictures of wells started to make sense. But I wanted to run it by more people who had studied qanats. Qanats are actually more than just water infrastructures. I think they are the very raison d'etre: the basis of habitation in such harsh climates. They start from outside of the city, but then they usually end up into the city or into agricultural lands. But when it came to our circles... I have no take on it, honestly. I'm looking at it now. Right. Okay, that's interesting. There's something like 20 of them in a row. Yeah. So that's definitely a foggara. So at the end of that, there should be a town. There should be an oasis or something. But if there isn't, that means that probably the water in the qanat or foggara has dried up since a long time. You should talk to Dale Lightfoot. He is the American geographer who knows everything about qanats. These are what we're looking at. I couldn't even say with confidence whether these are related to water collection. But I can tell you they're definitely not qanats. We also found these pictures. Do you think these could be what the circles are? What you're showing me pictures of here looks a lot like animal-drawn wells. I've seen these in a lot of places. To me, this is not the same thing. I think you're back to square one. Back to square one, indeed. Don't rule out space aliens. I've heard they do crazy things, too. So they might be wells, but probably not a qanat. And maybe not even related to water at all. Could we at least rule that out? That’s when Melissa found a database of oases in the Sahara. With lists of the people who help manage their water supply. Like Mohammed Brik, a farmer in Laghouat, Algeria. I don't think it was done to fetch water. Because the point of going out to look for water is to meet the needs of the population and agriculture. If there’s nothing for 160 kilometers then that’s not a valid hypothesis. Right. Because there is no village, no... There’s no village. There’s no garden. There's no oasis. There's nothing planted. There's no population. We were three months in and it seemed like our most promising hypothesis yet was probably out. Then I got an email. Back in early October, Steve Wood promised to send me high-res images from Maxar’s archive. Finally, we had them. It was the clearest look we'd had yet. And Steve believed it showed a new detail: tire tracks. If that was right, it would mean someone had been there within the last century. I kept asking people. Historians... Algerian officials... Archaeologists... And nearby residents... But after a while, I felt stuck. Like we had exhausted what we could find out on the internet. And there was nowhere else to go from here... except to the circles themselves. The longer this project went on, the more I realized that we had a choice to make. We could keep interviewing more and more people, get more and more theories and ultimately have no way to back them up. Or... we could figure out a way to get someone there... Try to film it... and then, maybe, we could know for sure. So I asked my teammate Christina — who works with journalists all over the world if she knew anyone in Algeria. And that led us to Samir Abchiche, a video journalist in Algiers. I’m about to be a dad. So no more adventures for me after this. We hired Samir to be our on-the-ground journalist... to use his expertise in the area to help us solve this mystery. The next part took months. We knew this wasn’t going to be an ordinary video shoot. We were asking him and his team to travel incredibly far to go do something potentially dangerous. But Samir took this story into his own hands. He was obsessing over every hypothesis, establishing local contacts figuring out all the details of how to get a team of people from Algiers 15 hours away by car to Aïn Salah and then deep into the desert where no roads go. Finally, Samir figured out how to make it happen. And at 7 pm on a cool February night, he and his second cameraman Abdelate... set off. And it begins. Shit. It does not begin. We can't find a hotel. They're all closed. And we're going to try Hotel El Djanoub. We have the Royal Suite. I just woke up. It's starting to get super hot. There's no service. It's yellow everywhere. But it’s beautiful. Yeah, but it’s beautiful. Which way to Ain Salah? 300 km to Ain Salah. 150 km. All we've seen is the horizon. They'd already spent 24 hours driving to get here. Now, they had to go another 160 km from Aïn Salah into the desert. But they had to pick someone else up first. Farid Ighilahriz, an archaeologist who used to lead Algeria’s national archaeological research center and managed one of Algeria’s largest national parks. He’s here to help the team identify whatever they come across. How are we going to do this without cell service? No no, I made a map. From there, they prepared. They got groceries... Bought fuel... Interviewed local officials... Planned the GPS route... And they assembled a team. A driver, an archeologist an assistant, and a desert guide. It’s right about here that I lost communication with Samir. And I wouldn’t be able to hear from him until he was back in town... With, hopefully, a definitive answer. No sandstorms, so that's good. That was making us nervous yesterday. It's still a bit risky, because nobody passes through this way. Almost nobody. And we're just two SUVs. This one is reliable, the other one, we don't really know. What’s weird is that as the crew got closer and closer... They started finding signs pointing to every one of our theories. First, tire marks from seismic survey trucks… Then, a well system... Water is always just three meters below. And finally, ancient tombs. We just saw something from far away. Yep, it's a tomb. There’s another one. So this is a tumulus. It's one of the oldest kinds of funeral monuments. And on the morning of day two, they checked the map, and… We're going roughly in the right direction. So we're 11 km from the first ones. I think we found them... False alarm... Did you see? We are approximately 500 meters from that place. Let's go! We got really excited, but they weren't there. Apparently they're just 500 meters away. We're not far. Right there, you can't see anything. You can't see anything. Right there, yeah? 10 ... 11 ... 12 .... There we go, we have all 12. After 160 kilometers of driving off-road in the desert... they were there. The 22 circles, all in configuration. They were surprisingly faint. You might not notice them if you happened to be passing by. As Samir and the team explored the area, they found the next set. And the next ones. This one's a bit clearer. The hole comes out of the ground. And a lot of them had something in common... metal wires. They’re connected. And there ... Come see up close... ...they run underground. Can I dig a little? No, no no. Not here? No. Sorry. So maybe they dug just a little bit... It's dynamite. Okay. Under these little mounds was dynamite. But here we have something else, too. We call these "attachments." It's what you'd put around a wooden crate. That's how they must have brought in the dynamite. That inscription reads SOTEMU — that’s a French acronym for the “Tunisian company of explosives and ammunition.” But one of the wires looked different than the others. It still had a yellow plastic coating. This is where it got a little scary. Is it possible... Was this one not detonated yet? Well get out of there, don't stand there. Be careful. We gotta tell everyone to be careful. Eventually they decided that the dynamite — if there was any left was probably harmless, because it would have needed a detonator to go off. So they started to dig. It must go down at least a meter. But it was buried quite deep. So, at some point, to be safe, they stopped. And then they found a clue no one could have expected. Farid? Ah, yes. Bricato... Français... "Made in France." Old cans of sardines and tuna. Here we found a little tin can. That was used for food... ...by those who worked here... ...who carried out this exploration. Oh, there’s color. Whoa... This could be the solution. So we knew what it was: dynamite, buried underground. And when Samir and the crew finally got home... I called him to hear all the details. My English, is it work for this? Yeah, it's perfect! We think that we have--we know the solution. So it's a method of searching for petroleum. But it was an old technique. At the very beginning of this journey, that’s one of the first things that anyone ever suggested. Is that it had to do with searching for petroleum. Which is crazy that it’s finally confirmed. It's the same thing that they do today just with dynamite instead of more finely tuned technology. This is crazy, this is so much more wild than I expected. Ironically, it put us right back right where we started. Seismic surveying. The circles are the remnants of surveyors looking for resources underground. This whole time, that first guess was right. But only sort of. Because Bob Hardage at the University of Texas was right when he said in that email that this doesn’t remotely resemble seismic surveying… Because this isn’t how seismic surveying works today. It’s an older technique, from the early days of surveying that uses dynamite explosions instead of vibration machines. The explosions would provide the seismic waves that would reflect and refract off of the ground underneath and that would tell surveyors that something — potentially something valuable, like oil was underground and worth digging for. The circles looked like this because of the force of those dynamite explosions happening underground. From this moment, a new question came. Who did this and when? Knowing it was a seismic survey wasn't enough. But we had one other clue from the desert to turn to... the sardine cans. I reached out to Saupiquet which seems to be the only one of these companies that still exists but they said they couldn’t identify their age by photos. So I found someone who’s been collecting sardine cans for over 40 years: Philippe Anginot. He even made a museum out of it. And I showed him the pictures. What we have here is what's called a three-body can. So these are typical cans from the 1960s. After 1960 the “Arsène Saupiquet Cannery” became the “Saupiquet Company.” When it's still labeled "Arsène," it's from before 1960. So because this can was labeled Arsène Saupiquet, we know that it was manufactured before they changed their name in 1960. Because of its 60s-style “three-body” design, we know it’s probably from the very late 1950s. Granted, this is canned food, so it’s possible that it was purchased years before it was actually eaten. But I think we can safely guess that these cans were left behind by an oil exploration crew sometime in the late 1950s. All that was left was to figure out who those people were. Before going into the desert, Samir recorded interviews with the experts that they met along the way. And there was one interview with someone who actually would have been there in the late 1950s. The father of the desert guides, who used to work as a guide himself. Peace be upon you. Here are the photos, Belhadj. I see the small holes placed like the hands of a watch. When did the drilling of [that area] take place? In 1953, the vehicles came to Djebel Beida to go to the probe. So this place existed and a company was working there. Yes, it is true. What were they doing. I know that they were digging, that's all. What was their name? I no longer remember. But I believe CREPS. I know that, at that time, CREPS was working. CREPS — a French acronym for the Sahara Petroleum Research and Exploitation Company was a joint venture between the French government and Shell. CREPS had a permit to explore and extract oil in this entire expanse of the Sahara from 1953 to 1958. Lining up that map with Google Maps shows that the circles are inside that CREPS sector. And according to these French Senate records they started geological surveys right away. Within that time, CREPS became the first company to strike oil in the Sahara, in 1956. This spurred a rush of oil companies into the region. And the struggle over control of Saharan oil became a centerpiece of France’s brutal war against Algerian Independence. "It was the end of nearly 8 years of bloodshed." "And the African nation won its freedom after 132 years." Even when Algeria won its independence in 1962 France maintained rights to Saharan oil for years to come. These circles are the scars of colonialism. They're evidence of one country’s attempts to take the resources of another. And they’re only as isolated as they are because oil wasn’t found there. Everywhere that it was, was transformed forever. So, we figured it out. These circles in the Sahara were made by French CREPS employees looking for oil. They were made by underground dynamite explosions arranged in circles along a straight line through the desert. And based on the dates of the CREPS permit, and the types of cans they left behind we can safely say they were there around 1957 or 1958. When we figured it all out, I emailed Bob. And he said this: "You have certainly done a persistent and thorough investigation." "I am comfortable with the conclusion that your features are remnants of decades-old, first generation analog recording of seismic data." "An unbelievable preservation." "Comparing 1950s seismic equipment and today's seismic equipment is similar to comparing propeller airplanes and deep space rockets." "Essentially, there is no comparison but two different worlds." "Well done." Thanks, Bob. We only know this thanks to the help of dozens of people someone’s sixty-five-year-old trash, a lot of time on the internet and a long, brave journey into the desert. Of course, a story like this could always keep going, more and more specific. But at some point to finish a story, we have to ask ourselves if the answer we have is satisfactory. And I think this one is.
By Timothy Mwiti2 days ago in History
INDIA&PAKISTAN. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
This is the Golden Temple. People come here from all over the world to bathe in its waters, to look at the Holy Book that is inside of this middle Golden Temple and to just experience the holiness of this place. This place is the epicenter of Sikhism. It sits right here in northern India in a city called Amritsar. Close by there's another important Sikh site called It was established by the founder of Sikhism more than 500 years ago. It's the place where he spent the last years of his life and it is the second holiest place in Sikhism. For centuries, Sikhs have been able to make pilgrimage between these two sites to move freely throughout their heartland. But in 1947 a British lawyer drew a border here turning what had been British India into two new countries, India and Pakistan. I could only call it one of the most bizarre lines, which were ever drawn across a map It went right here with the Golden Temple on one side and Katarpur on the other. Thanks to this border Sikhs in India are now cut off from their holy site. So many come here to a platform that the Border Patrol set up. The platform looks across the border where with the help of telescopes, Sikhs can look at their holy place just three or four kilometers away. In addition to cutting off communities from their sacred sites, this border separated families, cut across rivers, forests, farms, railroad tracks. Today this border is heavily fortified with nearly all 3,000, plus kilometers fenced. It's lit so well that you can see it from space and barely anything or anyone crosses over it When we talk about the drawing of the line, what was the most painful was the division of families which took place and that is a very big reality. This is the story of a violent separation. One of the most traumatic events of the 20th century It's the story of how a hastily drawn line on a map separated one people into two. This is a horror story. What we saw was a town soaked with the stench of death. In the train of murder and arson, come the refugees. Their suffering is the new tragedy of India. Many will never reach their new land. These are the things that are setting the heart burning on either side of the line. The sun is setting and I'm walking along one of the oldest roads in Asia One that used to connect this region but today a border runs through it and instead of connection and trade what you see here is this: There's barbed wire, there's fences, there are officers everywhere and yet, there's also ice-cream and popcorn and paraphernalia. This feels like a sporting event. You can buy keychains of machine guns. Thousands of spectators file in, filling this stadium that looks down on the border. On the other side Pakistanis are doing the same. Then, both sides start their different show. Two hours of chanting and dancing Then the finale, a face-off between the two sides. They strut back and forth in this coordinated choreography and it all ends with the lowering of each flag and the closing of this gate. This bizarre border show plays out every evening. But this ceremony, this fence, this intense nationalism If you rewind just a little in time, none of this existed. The British controlled parts of India for nearly 200 years but by 1947, a strong movement of independence was swelling across the subcontinent while back in Britain, the country was in massive debt after fighting World War II and didn't have the resources to hold on to their colony so they started making plans to leave India. British officials thought that a proper transfer of power would probably take around five years but when the British leader in charge arrived in early 1947, he hastily decided to shrink their exit timeline and so what needed five years would now need to be done in just four months. British India was to be split into two independent nations, a mostly Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu majority, but officially secular India. To do the actual drawing of the border, the British brought in a lawyer from London. He arrived the month before the British were supposed to leave India. He hadn't been to British India before and didn't know much about the region. He had no idea about India, no idea about Indian geography, no idea about Indian politics. And yet, he was the one drawing the lines on the map that would affect millions of lives. During his visit, this British lawyer looked at maps and census data, focusing on the maps that showed religious identity of people in India. India has a wide variety of religions and based on these census maps, you can see that people of all religions lived amongst each other all over the region. So to draw the line the British lawyer looked at individual districts putting any district that had a Muslim majority population into the new country of Pakistan, while Hindu and Sikh majority districts would be kept within India. Based on this method the lawyer began to see what a border might look like. He only had five weeks to do this. He later wrote that it would have taken years to settle on a proper boundary and that's because this method of drawing the line conceals that within these districts there were sizable communities of all religions that had been living side-by-side for centuries all throughout India. August 15 1947, Independence Day for India and Pakistan The British lawyer left that day. He would never return to India again. Two days after independence the borders were made public, prompting more than 14 million people to leave their homes, their lives for what was now their side of the border. We were told that you have to cross the border to India. Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan moved into India and many Muslims in India moved into the new Pakistan. These were people who were indeed forced to lose their entire homes, their memories, their childhood and the things they saw. It was one of the largest forced migrations of people ever and it was chaos, a chaos that led to widespread unspeakable violence cities on fire, sexual violence against women, trains, full of dead bodies. The survivors I talked to were just children when all of this happened. The division of the sub-continent became known as the partition of India. A phrase synonymous with trauma fueled by the reckless mismanagement of an imperial power. I'm in a small village right near the border on the Indian side that used to be a Muslim community before partition. And in the middle of town is this shrine where residents would conduct ornate Muslim burial practices on these graves. Look at the original maps at the British drew up when they were trying to draw this line. This town was actually in Pakistan in most of the maps. But in the end the British lawyer decided to draw the line here. The people here discovered that they were now a part of the new country of India and so many of them fled just across the border to the new state of Pakistan and they left this place empty. But just as Muslims were leaving this village for the new Pakistan, Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan were coming across into India and some ended up here. The Hindus and Sikhs that now live in this community have taken it upon themselves to continue the Muslim traditions that this community was based off of. They continue to maintain these graves and these symbols even though they don't necessarily pertain to their own religion. This is a sign of respect, of common identity in spite of the border. But this is just one side of the story. The sub-continent echoes and shudders to the sounds of a full-scale undeclared war. Within just a few months of drawing this border, India and Pakistan were fighting an all-out war. One that centered on this region in the north, which both sides claimed as their own. The new countries would fight several more wars over the years, a border fence would eventually fortify the majority of this boundary, and both countries would acquire nuclear weapons turning up the tensions and deepening the division. But if you take away the geopolitical bluster, the nukes, the barrier, the trauma of partition, you can still see how much these two countries have in common. I'm at a school in Delhi. Students are skyping with a school in Pakistan. These kids are speaking a similar language and it takes them just minutes to dive into the common roots of their culture. This shared identity with these kids are feeling isn't uncommon in India and Pakistan. Same language, same taste, same food Hindus and Muslims and Sikhs used to live together, attend each other's social functions, marriages, everything. We have this divide now. If you stand in the wall city in Amritsar and you stand in the walled city in Lahore believe me, the smells, which is a kind of giveaway are the same. I'm visiting a group of Sikhs coming off the train. They were able to get a visa to go visit this religious site that most have to see through a telescope. So with all these cultural similarities, all these happy faces, shared interests? How do you explain this? You see, it is a politician, who poisons people's minds. The divide is created, nurtured, fostered because it suits a certain politics. Over the years, politicians on both sides have exploited tension with the other side to stoke feelings of nationalism. Back here at this viewing platform, there are construction vehicles everywhere. For years, the Sikhs have lobbied for easier access to their holy site and after years the two governments finally agreed to build a little notch into this border, a corridor that will allow Sikhs to freely access their site without a visa. These four kilometers will restore a small part of what was once the Sikh heartland. But for millions of Indians and Pakistanis who continue to live with the repercussions of the traumatic events of 1947, this fortified and volatile border remains unchanged. If anything, it's getting thicker. Seventy years later, the shadow of partition continues to divide families, halt trade, cut connection, stop cooperation, instill fear, promote hatred and the people who live in its shadow on both sides, old and young, continue to live with this division that's superimposed upon their history of deep connection.
By Timothy Mwiti2 days ago in History
your life. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
don't compare yourself with anyone in life if you do so you will be the saddest person in the world there was a story of an unhappy crow that I want to share with you I hope this story is gonna change your life so there was a crow the problem with him was that he was black he was really sad and unhappy in life because of his color so he was crying suddenly a monk has seen that the crow was crying so the monk asked the crow why are you crying the crow said what to do if not cry is really a life that I'm living it's really a color the black no one likes black no one likes me no one likes to have a crow as a paid did you see anyone to have a crow as a paint no one gives me food I spend most of my time in the garbage see the God made me a crow so I hate my life the monk said what do you want to become if you get another chance I will make you thing I will fulfill your waist the crow said if I get another chance so I would like to be a swan a white swan what a beautiful color white the symbol of peace okay I will make you the swan the monk's head but before that I want you to meet the Swan Once so the crow goes and meet this one and say to the swan wow brother what a color the God gave you you look amazing you must be happy in life look how amazing you are how happy you are the swan said who said you that I am happy the crow said are you not not at all the swan side what's bothering you is really a color the white disgusting no one likes white white basically loose on the coffin so you are not happy the crochet not at all the swan said now two of them came back to the Monk and the swan said give me one chance the monk said what do you want to become someone said make me a parrot what a leaf what a color combination green and red the parrot has people like to have parrots as a paint parrots can also talk so made me a parrot the monk said I will but before that go to the parrot and meet him once now the crow and Swan were into the jungle and searching for a parrot but they could not find a parrot after a lot of searching they found a parrot and say to the parrot wow how amazing you are what a color what a leaf just amazing people pay to you they give you a name how happy you are in life how amazing your life is parrot said who said to you that I am happy Swan said are you not not at all the parrots say it but bothering you my problem is my color the green is it really a beautiful color it is as same as the Jungle the leap the tree see you were searching me for a long time but he could not find me because of my color so now three of them came back to the Monk and said dear monk give me a chance the monk said what do you want to become the parrot said the peacock what an amazing bar what a feeder what a color when he dances people take pictures of him the monk said I will make you all three of you but before that can you please go to the peacock and meet him once now all of them run and meet the peacock and said wow peacock what an amazing life that God gave you when you open your feeders people are staring at you they take pictures of you people wait for you to open up your feeders because they like you they want to see you dancing how happy you are how amazing your life is and finally peacock said who you are who told you that I'm happy do you have troubles too the crow said peacock said it's a lot of troubles there what trouble do you have a parrot and Crow said peacock said listen carefully there is a sound can you hear that parrot said yes what's that sound listen it carefully can you hear that yes yes I can the crow and parrot said but what's that peacock said it's Hunter and kill the peacock every feeder will be extracted one by one from his body and will be sold to all over the world and to the market and people will buy it and they will use it to decorate their house is it really a life why do you want to become peacock Crow said so you are not happy peacock said not at all the crow said then what should we become according to you who is the happiest animal in the world the peacock said to the crow you you are the happiest animal in the world the crow said how am I how can I be happy in the world the peacock said to The Crow and be hard about the chicken burger yes the Crusade have you heard about the chicken sandwich yes the crow said but have you heard about the crow burger or Crow sandwich no the crow said did you see anyone to sell a crow's feeder or meat no the crow side do you have any danger no do anyone hunts you no do you have trouble with anyone no does anyone have trouble with you no and who is living a great life me or Ryu who is the happiest boy in the world it's you brother it's you because we have no idea are we gonna wake up in the next morning or not so no matter who you are where you are how do you look what you have you are great never ever compare yourself with anyone in life there is no one better than you God has not created another person like you you are unique believe it what you are doing here you are impacting in this world thank you so much guys for watching this video if you really think that this story is inspired you what makes you happy or then make sure to subscribe this Channel and share this video with your family and friends [Music]
By Timothy Mwiti3 days ago in Lifehack
LOVE. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
hello and welcome to Soothing pod sleep stories my name is ARIF and tonight i will be your guide as we travel to the autumn woods of new England and follow the story of two strangers falling in love against the backdrop of falling leaves crackling fires and cozy nights under fluffy blankets before we begin however let us take a moment to relax and find comfort in the space that we are in here and now as you close your eyes allow your body to sink into the mattress underneath you right now i invite you to simply be don't have to do anything in this moment except listen to the sound of my voice as i guide you to a place of further relaxation try and imagine yourself by the perfect bonfire what does it look like are you deep within the woods wrapped in a fluffy cashmere blanket are you sitting in a penthouse suite watching the fire crackle against the backdrop of the sparkling city lights are you sitting surrounded by autumn leaves with all your friends and family by your side listening to the chirp chirp chirp chirp of crickets nearby wherever you are i want you to try and turn your attention to the warm flames of your bonfire picture their color are they red like a juicy ripe apple in an autumn orchard or are they orange like a jack-o-lantern glowing bright in the dead of night on the steps of a farmhouse watch as they crackle crackle crackle crackle and as you breathe in imagine the flames growing growing growing growing as you exhale imagine them shrinking shrinking shrinking shrinking watch as your breath empowers and relaxes the flame just as it does the same thing in your own body you breathe in bringing warmth welcoming comfort and you exhale providing relaxation and ease now that we have taken the time to relax and find comfort in the space that we are in let us begin our story in the hills of Vermont autumn would not arrive quietly or subtly it would start with a single tree in a sea of green the locals would all drive by it and smile knowing that their favorite season was days away from sweeping across the mountainside from brightening their towns and urging the harvest of their fields what was a single tree one morning would be two trees the next and three four five six in the following days the vibrant reds browns and oranges would bloom across the landscape like a spreading fire igniting everyone with passion about the season and for sage this year was no different when she awakened on the first real autumn day there was a change in the air that was blowing in through her open window causing her orange curtains to billow the air of summer had disappeared the scent of lilacs freshly mowed lawns flourishing forests and ripe sweet strawberries had faded seemingly overnight and in its place the smells of autumn were in full swing the air had a bite to it it was invigorating even at this early morning hour sage swore she could smell the ripe apples growing on the gnarled apple trees on the far hillside she could smell the earthy aroma of leaves hitting the mossy ground she could smell the spiced cider the dry warmth of harvested wheat and hay the sweet spice of pumpkin the world smelled alive in a way it didn't during summer it was as if the atmosphere was inviting you to do as you please if you wanted to curl up with a book and drink a steaming cider you were welcome to if you wanted to venture out into the woods and explore the splendor of the falling leaves you were welcome to if you wanted to meander through corn mazes and pick apples under the sunset over the horizon that was ablaze you were welcome to and on that first fall morning sage decided that she wanted to do all three she rose from her sheets and wrapped herself in the warmest sweater she could find she slid on her boots a necessity for traversing the soft autumn ground and she began her trek outside she took an even deeper breath of that fresh air she felt as though she was in some fall storybook from her childhood there was a magic in the air that couldn't quite be found in other seasons a magic that she welcomed wholeheartedly wanting to enjoy the weather she opted to hop on her old cruiser bike and start the journey down down down down the dirt road past farm after farm all the farmers were busy in the fields harvesting their crops the air was rich with aromas of ripe fruits and vegetables and of the delicious dishes slowly being prepared with them sage waved to each farmer she passed they all smiled happy to see her sage had grown up in the small town of cranberry cove a beautiful little town nestled against the mountains and a large lake flanked by farmland on the outskirts it was a town where everyone knew everyone where there were always people ready to help you whether you requested their help or not sage felt as though she was flying through the autumn air by the time she arrived at the farm at the very end of the road she was full of a joyful energy that was contagious to everyone she passed by the farm she arrived at was a staple in the autumn months a farm with a large corn maze with acres and acres of apple trees to pick apples from and with a dense forest with a nice trail for a vibrantly colorful nature walk it was the perfect place to experience all that the season had to offer and sage decided that she'd like to start with the corn maze she grabbed a map and descended into the maze all around her corn stalks rose so high they seemingly touched the sky it felt cozy and exciting all at once a safe adventure where you could simply explore sage loved to meander through the maze without too much of a purpose for her it was about being somewhere away from it all being somewhere where she could stand still with nature and to listen to the sounds and breathe the smells of the season around her however sage wasn't quite expecting what she found around a corner in the center of the maze for quite some time she had been wandering through the rows of corn by herself only hearing the sounds of children and close friends giggling behind the stalks but as she rounded the corner she walked directly into someone standing in the middle of the aisle trying to decide which path to take she was so surprised she let go of her map and watched as it drifted down down down until it flopped into a puddle she apologized profusely to the man and when she finally looked up and caught his eye her heart leapt out of her chest the man before her smiled apologetically his eyes were a dark warm amber so deep and intricate that she felt as though she could get trapped in them his smile was equally warm and not forced in a way that so many people's smiles often are he extended his hand to her to help her get more steady on her feet the man Casper was equally enthralled by the woman before him she had an energy about her that promised that adventure and joy were always just around the corner even in the moment of surprise there was still a spark in her light green eyes which shimmered and shined like the forest floor after a gentle rainfall it's all right it's my fault after all Casper chimed I'm the one who doesn't know where I'm going only then did sage look a little more inquisitively at Casper he wasn't dressed like a local he wore a warm vibrant blue wool sweater and perfectly tailored pants his hair fell in curls around wire-rimmed glasses and slung around his neck was a camera sage invited him to join her with a smile laced on her face after all she couldn't just leave the tourists to be lost in the maze Casper chuckled at her little dig and gestured toward the maze inviting her to lead the way as they walked sage learned more about Casper he grew up in the city and had worked for several companies as a photographer however the commercial life just wasn't meant for him he sold everything he owned and hit the road to photograph the country over the course of a two-year trip a two-year trip that he was almost certain would be extended he wasn't exactly sure what he wanted for his long-term future mainly because he simply liked too many places sage found herself mesmerized by this strange wonderful man's story he had given it all up in search of something and clearly it was in search of something he wasn't even sure he would find for now he was just chasing sunsets across the country stopping wherever his heart desired in trying to sink into each and every community he passed along the way he asked sage about her life how had she ended up in this town sage's story was much different from Casper's although in some ways they were almost exactly the same sage grew up in this town she was born and raised here she played in the creeks and streams on warm summer days as a child she sledded down the icy hills and skated on the sleek ponds as a teenager she studied in the old stone library that was nestled at the foot of the mountain and she learned to drive on the ancient oak and maple lined streets that laced through neighborhoods full of Victorian houses rather than going to college she too had set out into the world without a plan she decided to travel around the country stopping wherever her heart desired embarking on whatever adventures came to her that day and when she was done she wanted to come home she missed the smell of the woods here she missed the bubbling melody of the river as it coursed through their little valley she missed the tang in the air as winter descended sweeping across the landscape and inviting everyone to enjoy cozy nights inside curled up with a blanket and a book in fact she had returned here to write a book of her own every morning she'd bike down down down down to the little library and do her writing and reading just as she had as a young child all those years ago while most people in the town would smile politely at sage's story Casper was fully engaged eyes lit up as he asked sage all about her travels and about her book where did the idea for it come from what was her inspiration the two talked for what seemed like an endless amount of time as they weaved through the rows of corn it felt as though they were in a world of their own their journey's soundtrack was the swish swish swish swish of the corn swaying in the sweet autumn breeze and the crunch crunch crunch crunch of the earth underneath their feet before long they had found their way out of the maze when they emerged from their small world into the rolling hills of the farm it looked more beautiful than ever they hovered there for a moment their conversation still flowing their bodies inching closer together as if the maze had closed in on them sage asked him what else had he planned on seeing that day he admitted that he had never experienced autumn before being from a southern city this was his first time seeing the leaves change his first time in a corn maze his first time smelling the sweet earthy aroma of ripe pumpkins growing in the lung without hesitating sage invited him to join her of course if he wanted a real local autumn experience who better to show him around than a local Casper was delighted by her offer it was more than he ever could have hoped for sage kindly took him by the hand and led him to their very first fall activity a staple that all the local kids grew up doing they were going to pick apples she led him into the far orchard which was a spectacle in itself the orchard sat on a particularly hilly part of the farm the tree stretched far to the horizon in perfectly straight lines over the natural dips and dives and curves of the landscape Casper took a deep breath of the air as he meandered through the soft dark green grass there was a freshness in the air he had never experienced before a bite to it as if the world was begging you to pay attention to the splendor it was providing all around it smelled like an apple candle warm and cozy and sweet and yet there was a natural freshness to it he could not only smell the ripe juicy apples but he could also smell the earthiness of the leaves as they wavered in the blowing breeze he could smell the spiciness of the bark the children had been lovingly climbing for generations to reach the best apple at the very top of the tree he could smell the comforting aroma of the old wood and iron boxes provided for people to pile up their harvest in he stood in the breeze for a moment simply breathing in the air that was unlike anything he had ever smelled when he opened his eyes sage was already up in the tree she sat on a branch casually one leg dangling down as she reached to gently pluck a ripe apple from a tall branch she looked as though she belonged up there she was practically glowing in the soft autumn sun her hair billowing around her in that fragrant breeze Casper watched her for a moment simply observing her do something that was such an innate part of her sage began to gently toss apples down to Casper he caught each and every one and tucked them away into the white bags they had been provided with once a bag was full sage patted the branch next to her Casper was hesitant sure he had climbed fire escapes but he'd never scaled a tree before with a shrug and a smile he hauled himself up on the branches and clumsily sat beside sage his heart pounding in the best way possible she smiled at him with a bit of pride and admiration with a chuckle he told her that was my first time climbing a tree sage smirked as she softly told him it shows the two found themselves laughing up in the branches though they weren't particularly high up it gave them a new wonderful perspective they were no longer observers of this nature and this landscape it felt as though they were part of it and you know the best part of this sage asked smiling at Casper she reached across and grabbed an apple she handed it to Casper inviting him to bite into it he'd never eaten an apple straight off the tree and certainly not while he was sitting in a tree but with a shrug he went along with it as soon as he bit in he knew that this wasn't an ordinary apple it was the sweetest apple he had ever had packed with flavor and bite and crunch it was entirely different from the apples he had had from the grocery store they sat up in that tree for quite some time their legs dangling as they finished their apples laughing and telling stories all the while every once in a while Casper would catch himself gazing at sage for a second too long it was easy to become transfixed on her the way those green eyes shone the way she spoke with her hands the way she kicked her head back when she laughed and whenever she caught him staring her cheeks would flare just a tinge more than once Casper tried to convince himself it was just the red of the apple reflecting on her cheeks finally when their apples were finished the two climbed down from the tree Casper put his hand out helping her down though it was probably him who needed more help when they were down they both had a newfound energy excitement about what the rest of the day had in store for them once more sage took him by the hand and led him through the farm they meandered through the fields that were flourishing with ripe vegetables around them large pumpkins clung to their vines their orange skin nearly as bright as the leaves that sage and Casper were walking toward Casper was in awe as they entered the walking trail in the woods at the edge of the farm all around them the forest was ablaze with the colors of fall every once in a while a cool fresh breeze would blow and autumn leaves would come drifting down down down like the most beautiful rainfall on the planet here they walked mostly in silence it seemed that the forest around was speaking for them and the creatures within it with the cold of winter on the horizon all the creatures of the forest were busy getting ready to settle down in their cozy dens for a few months time squirrels regularly scampered across the forest path in front of them chittering the entire way until they adeptly leaped up into the trees high overhead the birds were even more talkative than usual their songs rang through the forest echoing off trees as they called to one another it seemed every few hundred feet a cardinal would swoop through the trees ahead of them his bright red coat matching the vibrant leaves silhouetting him it was strange to Casper how the forest was so utterly alive and yet it felt stuck in time at the very same moment it was as if nothing outside this forest mattered the bills the obligations the struggles they all faded away and all you were left with was the beauty of nature in the world time moved slower here time moved as it was meant to move and as they rounded a corner near the bubbling river time seemed to stop because standing before them wading through the cool water was a beautiful dough its fluffy fur was flecked with white patches its plush ears and tail seemed to sway and move with the breeze they watched in awe as the dough leaned down taking a nice long drink of the moving water there was such a grace in her movements something sacred about them the energy around her was one of kindness nurturing and belonging she was the gentle mother of the forest and all things within it Casper could have stared at her for hours when she turned her gaze to them there was no fear in her eyes no surprise it was as if she had known for quite some time that they would be joining her here at some point her eyes were a mahogany brown nearly the color of the bark coating the trees around her without much fanfare and without a hurry she continued to wade through that coursing river until she reached the other side casting one final look over her shoulder perhaps a look of gratitude or a look of understanding she disappeared into the fiery-colored forest Casper and sage stood there for a long moment soaking in the experience that they had just shared after some time to breathe Casper took sage by the hand and they continued over the rickety bridge on the river thank you for showing me this sage he muttered the tone in his voice showed sage how wonderful and meaningful the experience truly had been for him so far and she couldn't help but smile because she knew what they were going to find at the end of the path to overlook as they emerged to the top of the hill Casper looked stunned the path they had been climbing wasn't particularly steep yet over time it wound up the side of the hill until you were overlooking the entire town and what they saw was a town straight out of a fairy tale it seemed every tree in the valley was a light with the colors of fall as if a paintbrush had been swept across the landscape coloring the trees vibrant reds into oranges and yellows and browns it was so warming and comforting to look out over and see Casper and sage stood there for what seemed like hours he took pictures he hadn't taken a picture of the doe earlier but he hadn't felt he needed to that moment was something sacred to be shared between him and sage not one that needed to be shared with the world in his pictures of the town he captured moss-coated cobblestone streets Victorian houses coated in a blanket of orange leaves candles and lanterns glowing in the windows of houses on tree-lined streets finally they began their journey back down down down down into the very town they had been gazing at only moments before they had experienced all the farm had to offer but sage promised there were more fall things to experience she led him down to the town center where there was a pavilion nestled against the river the pavilion was surrounded by trees with long swaths of garden and seating for people to sit back and enjoy the views of the town they sat on a wooden bench on the far side of the town center where a fire pit sat before them as the sun began to set and the colors of the sky began to match the colors of the trees around them sage and Casper got to work gathering wood for the fire it didn't take long for the wood to ignite and fire to grow and grow and grow and grow Casper watched in amazement as that single ember became the crackling bonfire in front of them the fragrant natural minty smell of the wood was both invigorating and relaxing at the same time Casper would close his eyes on occasion listening to the fire crackle crackle crackle crackle accented by the sounds of the remaining crickets chirping into the afternoon air Casper felt all his tension melt away any doubts he had about this trip any doubts he had about his future they no longer existed all that mattered right now was sitting by this bonfire surrounded by autumn leaves his fingers intertwined with sages it's true they had only met a few hours ago and yet they felt closer to each other than they had felt to anyone in quite some time as they wandered through the beautiful landscape they talked about their dreams their hopes their shortcomings they had embraced the changing landscape as they had embraced their rapidly changing relationship as the night air cooled even more sage curled up against Casper he wrapped an arm around her drawing her close to keep her warm she lay on his shoulder feeling utterly safe and content in his arms they smiled at each other on occasion but mostly they sat in a comfortable silence watching the flames dance before them soon the sky overhead was alive too millions of stars shone brightly in that pitch-black sky and even more incredible out here so far from the city they could make out the haze of the milky way Casper had never seen something so beautiful when it was time to say good night Casper rode with sage back to her home to walk her to the door they hovered in that doorway for quite some time a million unsaid things floating between them unable to say them all in the few minutes they had sage leaned forward pressing her lips against Casper it was a kiss of passion of connection in that moment they both felt whole I think I'm going to stay in this town for a little bit Casper whispered against her lips adding i at least need to see the rest of autumn don't I sage smiled as she whispered and then winter comes surely you'll want to get some photos of the snow won't you Casper replied I think I might with that Casper climbed back on sage's bike which she allowed him to borrow and he began the ride back to his hotel he felt utterly free riding that bike through the countryside gliding up and down over hills feeling as though he was suspended by the stars feeling as though he was sailing through apple orchards and forests ablaze with color it was unlike anything else on earth as he lay down in bed in the cozy inn he found himself smiling it was his first autumn and he knew it was going to be one of the best experiences of his life I hope you have enjoyed this story and it has brought you a night of peaceful relaxing sleep please join me again tomorrow for another sleep story until then sweet dreams you
By Timothy Mwiti4 days ago in History
SYMBOLS YOU DO NOT KNOW THE MEANING AND ITS ORIGIN
- [Narrator] Symbols! We see them everywhere. On traffic signs, on logos, on our phones, even hand gestures are a kind of symbol. But have you ever wondered where all these universal squiggles and swoops come from? Well, allow me to act as your humble cryptographer, as we decode everything from ancient @ signs to confusing controller buttons. These are the secret origins of everyday symbols. (gentle music) Three Points. Be honest, how many times have you tried to plug in a USB, only to flip it over and over, struggling to figure out which way it plugs in? Oh man is it humbling. But what's even more humbling is seeing that weird little trident symbol on the port and having no idea what it's meant to be! The circle, square, and triangle, it's like they're mocking me. What do they mean? Well, the three-pronged USB symbol was modeled after . For those who missed that history lesson, that's the name of the trident wielded by Poseidon, the ancient Greek God of the Sea. The three shapes at the trident's points are there to signify the variation in peripherals that can all be connected via a Universal Serial Bus, or USB. As such, the trident was designed to symbolize the technological power USB's have; being able to connect a wide range of other devices. Finally, I know what it means! Still won't be able to plug it in on the first try, though. (screen whooshing) Arch enemies. If you hold up your index and middle fingers, it can mean a number of different things. It can be a sign of peace, a symbol of victory, or a very rude gesture in the UK, depending on which way round the fingers are held. But the inception of this two-fingered salute is believed to be older and more gruesome than most Brits realize. At least one meaning of the gesture traces its origins back to the Hundred Years War, which was fought over 116 years, pretty aptly named there, between France and England. The legend states that during this conflict, the French would remove the middle and index fingers of English longbowmen they captured before.
By Timothy Mwiti6 days ago in BookClub
COFFEEEZILLA
ladies and gentlemen welcome to the studio this is actually my second time filming this I am your host your internet detective but I'm sad to say um I just found out that three of my video files that were planned were corrupted because I muted my mic somehow uh so get some coffee guys because uh I'm gonna pull a late night here try to get some more content out for you guys because there's no way in hell I m going bald this month let me tell you right now guys today I want to talk to you this throwback Thursday if you don't know what day it is just so you know that's why we do this throwback Thursday hello you're almost at the end of your week hang in there on Thursdays as you guys know we go back in time to learn the lessons of scammers so we can learn not only about them but also ourselves a little bit of psychology of who we are and together we can be a more educated population fall for scammers less and in general learn to empathize with each other more I don't know if this show actually does any of that but uh it's aspirational guys today we're talking about the dark truth about conmen something that Love kind of had to come to grips with because you know on the show we kind of make fun of these people we put paint them in the worst possible light but there's a truth that I Love been avoiding about the true con men listen there are kind of your bottom feeding conmen but then there's the top tier and at the highest tier what I haven't been addressing and what is so uncomfortable to admit is how likable con men are and i know you're saying Steven no these guys are they're they're scammers no no it's okay to admit the truth which is that if you watch look I was watching the napoleon hill interview right because I did that last throwback Thursday and one thing I came away with is look if you can just strip away that the lying the the fake success the fact that he was totally phony with it all this man is actually extraordinarily likable I hate to say it and remember before you begin writing that your online Limit.
By Timothy Mwiti6 days ago in Chapters
TOPTENZ. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
so hello and welcome to another episode of top 10s I'm your host car Smallwood and today we're talking about tenant TI's nature was almost like nah to humanity and as with all of our videos here on top 10 this one is based on original article submitted To Us by a member of our handsome writing team this one being Benjamin Falbo follow them on social media if links have been provided to us otherwise just scream the name out of your window and they'll hear it maybe I don't know anyway nature is a funny thing in that it can provide for us just as easily as it can lead to our total Annihilation from Extinction events to tsunamis to volcanic eruptions Mother Nature has proven to be far deadlier than Roland Emirate could ever possibly imagine but given the rampant amounts of these events that have happened here on Earth it's honestly amazing that we're even still here today with that in mind these are 10 times that Humanity was nearly wiped out by events far beyond our own control number 10 the 1811 1812 New Madrid earthquakes when it comes to natural disaster earthquakes are definitely high ranking for the most dangerous and unpredictable you know they're under the ground they're hard to see case in point the New Madrid earthquakes that occurred in Missouri in the Years 1811 and 1812 per the United States Geological Survey there were a total of three earthquakes that devastated the region over the course of 3 months these rapid fire earthquakes rapid fire here being a relative term given that earthquakes don't normally happen three times in the space of 3 months are still regarded as some of the most significant ever recorded in North America even having a lasting effect on the area's geography as a whole when the first Quake kicked off in December 1811 the shocks only grew in magnitude with the most powerful arriving on January 23rd 1812 given the destructive power of the seismic activity it was felt from the Great Lakes to the very Gulf of Mexico causing widespread destruction not only that but they were so powerful.
By Timothy Mwiti6 days ago in Chapters
SECOND THOUGHT. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
[Music] this episode and others like it are made possible by the generous support of my patrons if you'd like to help support this channel and get early access to every video consider becoming a patron at patreon.com second thought big news on Rihanna the superstar singer and entrepreneur gaining a new title billionaire chief business correspondent Rebecca Jarvis joins us with more on the talented media moguls incredible journey good morning Rebecca good morning robin yeah this is a great story a fun one women entrepreneurs and founders business leaders they are moguls they are creating businesses they are disrupting industries and Rihanna is among them she can now add billionaire to the top of her titles list here in the united states we'll often hear stories like these it's no secret that Americans love to hear about billionaires you'll find them everywhere they're on the news have their own tv shows movies and even make their way into elected office specifically we consistently give massive audiences to self-made billionaires the people who unlike the aristocrats and monarchs of yore didn't simply inherit their wealth in this episode we're talking about the obsession with so-called self-made billionaires how misleading that term can be and everything wrong with the myth of the self-made person at the heart of every favorable depiction of a billionaire is this idea that they have earned their success and their wealth the most compelling stories are those of billionaires who through sheer hard work and grit so we're told have conquered the American dream and made a better life for themselves those around them and our society as a whole but there are a number of reasons this is simply incorrect we'll get to exactly how this idea is wrong in a second but first we should talk about why the myth of self-made billionaires is such a problem for starters vanishingly few people ever become billionaires in the United States it's around 600 people or 0.0002 percent of the population perversely .
By Timothy Mwiti6 days ago in Chapters
Be amazed
- [Narrator] Remember when you used to draw animals as a kid using whatever crayons you had to hand? You probably created ridiculous things like purple polar bears, bright-yellow parrots, white lions and pink grasshoppers, but what if I told you all those things aren't as made-up as you might think? The animal kingdom is far more than you know, and coming up are some of the world's rarest creatures that definitely won the genetic lottery. (bright upbeat music) Melanistic Fox. When you think of the world's most beautiful wild animals, foxes probably don't spring to mind, but have you ever seen one like this before? This is the incredibly rare and majestic cross fox, which was once abundant in America until they were largely killed off in the late 19th century thanks to high demand for their unique fur. Cross foxes are almost identical to red foxes, but they have a larger, bushier tail with more wool under their feet. The cross fox was given its name thanks to the long, dark stripe running down its back, intersecting another stripe to form a cross over the shoulders. Their incredibly unique coat is the result of a partially-melanistic variant. Melanistic is basically the opposite of albinism, meaning that an abundance of dark- pigment is produced under the skin. Although melanistic foxes make up about 30% of the Canadian fox population, they're still a very rare sight to see, but there's an even more elusive kind; the silver fox. These mysterious foxes are a fully melanistic version of the cross fox created through years of breeding. As you can see, they have a glossy black undercoat with a topcoat that looks like they've been dusted with silver, as well as some white on the tip of their tails! One thing's for sure: you'd be incredibly lucky to see one of these foxes raiding your bins! King Cheetah. Notice anything out of the ordinary about this cheetah? Take a closer look at that magnificent coat when compared with its run-of-the-mill counterpart, and you'll see what makes them to behave as they does.
By Timothy Mwiti7 days ago in Chapters