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Ancient Philosophy for Seniors
According to the Greek philospher Epicurus and the teachings of Zen Buddists, always striving after the next pursuit in the later stage of life, as we do in younger days, is as foolish and empty as chasing the wind. When we are young it is a time for seeking out and exploring new avenues, seizing the brass ring, but after a certain point in life it is better to find contentment in what you have created and the relationships you have fostered. Activities such as reflection and appreciation can be richly enhanced by a full and varied past. Constant striving precludes our ability to be, and enjoy being, a wise, reflective and grateful person of a life…
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Dissident Poet From Hanoi Dies
Vietnamese poet Nguyen Chi Thien died October 2, 2012 in Santa Ana, California. Unlike other poets, he was denied a simple pen and piece of paper, much less a typewriter, by which to record his poetry. The infamous prison, “Hanoi Hilton”, and the other prisons of Vietnam in which he spent 27 years of his life, didn’t allow for the normal tools of the poet’s trade. Instead Mr. Thien had to memorize each poem in his head in hopes of one day being able to share them with the world. Thankfully for us he gained that opportunity eventually escaping the horrors that the Communist Party of Vietnam meted out upon him. His crime for which he suffered miserably year after…
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Einstein’s God Letter
Below is an excerpt from the letter Einstein wrote in German in the year 1954. This letter, coined the “God Letter” by a Los Angeles-based auction agency, is up for auction on Ebay with a starting bid of $3 million. The World renown physicist wrote the letter to Jewish philosopher Eric Gutkind a year before his death. The letter sheds some light on the religious views he held towards the end of his 76 years of life. “For me the Jewish religion like all other religions is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions. And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a…
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George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950) An exceptionally talented Irish playwright, who authored more than 60 plays in his lifetime. Shaw and his wife, Charlotte Payne-Townshend, settled in Ayot St. Lawrence in a house now called Shaw’s Corner. He was preceeded in death by his wife and he lived on there, at Shaw’s corner, until his death at age 94. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature (1925) and an Oscar in (1938). One of his plays was about the life of Saint Joan of Arc. The play, which is in the public domain, can be accessed below in pdf format: Play by George Bernard Shaw…
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Saint Joan of Arc
ca. 1412 Domrémy, Duchy of Bar, Kingdom of France. Died 30 May 1431 (aged 19) Rouen, France (then controlled by England) Honored in Roman Catholic Church Anglican Communion Beatified 18 April 1909, Notre Dame de Paris by Pope Pius X Canonized 16 May 1920, St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome by Pope Benedict XV Feast 30 May Patronage Read More about Joan of Arc Biography
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Largest Earthquakes Recorded
Chile, 1960 – Magnitude 9.5 Approximately 1,655 people were killed during the largest earthquake ever recorded. Thousands more were injured, and millions were left homeless. Southern Chile suffered $550 million USD in damage. The quake triggered a tsunami that killed 61 people in Hawaii, 138 in Japan and 32 in the Philippines. The earthquake ruptured where the Nazca Plate dives underneath the South American Plate, on the Peru-Chile Trench. Prince William Sound, Alaska, 1964 – Magnitude 9.2 This great earthquake and ensuing tsunami took 128 lives and caused about $311 million USD in property loss. The earthquake damage was heavy in many towns, including Anchorage, which was about 75 miles…
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Hindenburg Disaster
On May 6, 1937, the golden age of airship travel comes to an end. During a landing in severe thunderstorms at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, the Hindenburg bursts into flames and crashes. The tragedy brought an end to the popularity of Zeppelin airship travel and the common use of hydrogen as fuel. Hydrogen is now making a comeback as a component for cell phone towers, forklifts and even aircraft tugs. Source Hindenburg Facts At 803.8 feet in length and 135.1 feet in diameter, the German passenger airship Hindenburg (LZ-129) was the largest aircraft ever to fly. The commercial flights of Hindenburg, along with Graf Zeppelin, pioneered…
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The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife
By Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN) – A newly revealed, centuries-old papyrus fragment suggests that some early Christians might have believed Jesus was married. The fragment, written in Coptic, a language used by Egyptian Christians, says in part, “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …” Harvard Divinity School Professor Karen King announced the findings of the 1 1/2- by 3-inch honey-colored fragment on Tuesday in Rome at the International Association for Coptic Studies. King has been quick to add this discovered text “does not, however, provide evidence that the historical Jesus was married,” she wrote in a draft of her analysis of the fragment set to appear…
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John F. Kennedy Marries Jacqueline Bouvier
On this day in 1953, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, the future 35th president of the United States, marries Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island. Seven years later, the couple would become the youngest president and first lady in American history. Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy was born into a prominent New York family in 1929 and grew into an avid horsewoman and reader. In 1951, after graduating from George Washington University, Jackie, as she was called, took a tour of Europe. That fall, she returned to the U.S. to begin her first job as the Washington Times-Herald’s “Inquiring Camera Girl.” Shortly afterward, she met a young, handsome senator from Massachusetts named…
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One Term Presidents Voted Out
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Jeffrey MacDonald Convicted of Murdering His Family
New York (CNN) — Before O.J. Simpson and Casey Anthony, before Scott Peterson, Amanda Knox and the cottage industry of cable news legal pundits, there was the shocking case of Jeffrey MacDonald. Ten years after his pregnant wife and two young daughters were butchered in their home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, MacDonald was convicted of the killings and sentenced to life in prison. While a jury was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt of MacDonald’s guilt, many people were still left with one lingering question: Did he really do it? The drama surrounding the heinous crimes and the subsequent trial fascinated the public for decades. It sparked controversial best-selling books,…
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