Diomede Islands – Bering Strait

On December 15, 2020December 15, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

BEYOND INTERESTING IS CULTURE!

The islands where the USA and Russia meet, and the East becomes West!

Two continents, two countries

Two cultures, two regimes

There is a place in the world where the territories of the United States and Russia are less than 4 km away, but any route between them will be 24 hours apart…

Location of the Diomede Islands, lost between 2 continents.

We are talking about the unknown and isolated Diomede Islands, in the Bering Strait, the inhospitable sea portion that separates Alaska from the far east of Asia, where probably the first inhabitants of America crossed into these lands.

In Little Diomede, its inhabitants squeeze themselves on the steep slope

North American territory!

The two islands, known as Big Diomede and Little Diomede, are separated by a strip of water of only 4 km, which is frozen during a good part of the year, allowing the passage on foot between them. The curious thing is that Big Diomede is the most easterly point in Russia, and Little Diomede is the most western point in the United States.

During the Cold War period, the natives who inhabited the islands before Russian or American colonization were not allowed to move between the islands, nor to exchange any type of information, in the area that became known as “Ice Curtain”.

The village of Little Diomede, with only 170 inhabitants

After the end of World War II, all the natives of the Russian island of Big Diomede were transferred to the mainland, and the archipelago maintained a small settlement only on the North American island of Little Diomede, which today has about 170 inhabitants, in one of the locations most isolated on the planet.

Detail of Little Diomede. It doesn’t look pleasant

What makes the place even more curious is that exactly between the two islands the “International Date Line” passes, creating a time zone of no less than 24 hours in a distance that is so small that it is so visual.

The International Date Line runs right between the islands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Date_Line

In 1987, an emblematic event brought small islands to the headlines around the world. American swimmer Lynne Cox crossed the little more than 3,700 meters that separate the sister islands, in a gesture of approximation between the superpowers that were striving to strengthen ties that had been so long apart.

Lynne Cox, a warm gesture in waters at 4ºC

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Cox

Today, in times of peace, there are several projects to create monuments that would symbolize peace between the two countries. In a recent contest, a project called “Bridge of Memory”, linking the two islands, was among the champions, in what would be the first link between America and Asia after tens of thousands of years.

Bridge project between the islands, known as “Bridge the Memory”

Project Detail. A fantastic engineering work for few to know.

Umberto Eco, in his novel “L’isola del giorno prima” explores the idiosyncrasies of living in Diomede very well…

images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41aRpO... — Umberto Eco wrote about the weather

[…] Midnight on Friday, here on the ship, it is midnight on Thursday on the island. […] If you travel from America to Asia, you lose a day; if, in the opposite direction, you travel, you win one day: that is why Daphne [the ship] traveled the way of Asia, and you, stupid, the way of America. You are now a day older than me! It’s not funny? […]

Scary and very “up to date” still

On December 10, 2020 By estrangedztIn history, WorldLeave a comment

“Dialogue between Jean-Baptiste Colbert and Jules Mazarin during the reign of Louis XIV:

Colbert: To find money, there is a time when cheating [the taxpayer] is no longer possible. I would like, Mr. Superintendent, to explain to me how it is possible to continue spending when you are already in debt up to your neck …

Mazarin: If you are a simple mortal, of course, when you are covered with debts, you end up in prison. But the State … the State is different! You cannot send the state to prison. So, he continues to go into debt… All States do it!

Colbert: Oh yes? Do you think so? However, we need money. And how do we get it if we have already created all the taxes imaginable?

Mazarin: Others are created …

Colbert: But we can no longer impose more taxes on the poor.

Mazarin: Yes, it is impossible …

Colbert: What about the rich?

Mazarin: Neither are the rich. They would not spend more. A rich person who spends makes hundreds of poor people live.

Colbert: So how do we do it?

Mazarin: Colbert! You think like a cheese, like a sick man’s potty! There are a huge number of people between the rich and the poor: those who work dreaming of becoming rich and fearing they will become poor. It is to these that we must impose more taxes, more and more, always more! Those, the more we take from them the more they will work to make up for what we took from them… It is an inexhaustible reservoir…. ”

Public domain – basic research

On December 7, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/PesquisaObraForm.jsp

Go visit it! Free library!!!

Another World … on Earth

On November 18, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

You don’t have to leave your planet to feel like you’re in some other remote world.
See a list of 10 places, here on Earth, where the feeling of being on another planet is guaranteed.

10. The Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves, Austria

Ice caves are very different from normal caves. When we are inside it, it seems that we are not on Earth, but in the bowels of some remote planet. There are many ice caves around the world and the Eisriesenwelt are the best known. They extend for 40km. Only a portion of this labyrinth is open to tourists, but it is enough to feel the climate and the mystery that surrounds the place.

9. Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Seals who wander, lost, into the Dry Valleys of the Transantarctic Mountains, die from lack of food and water. Their carcasses can exist for centuries due to the dry climate.

8. Socotra Island, Indian Ocean

This island simply dispenses with any notion of what is considered “normal” for a terrestrial landscape. If you woke up there, you would probably think you are on another planet, or at least some remote era. Socotra is part of an archipelago that was geographically isolated from Africa 6 or 7 million years ago. As in the Galapagos Islands, it has about 700 rare and very different species. The climate is arid, and yet there are incredible specimens of plants – some species have not changed in the last 20 million years.

7. Rio Tinto, Spain

Rio Tinto’s giant open pit mines create a surreal environment, transforming the landscape into something similar to what we would see on the Moon, for example. The growth of the river not only consumed mountains and valleys, but village lands. The river had its name taken from the color of its waters, practically red and extremely acid (with pH ranging between 1.7 and 2.5), rich in metals.

6. Kliluk, Lake Stained, Canada

In the hot summer sun, the water of Lake Manchado evaporates and the minerals contained in it are crystallized. This causes the formation of several circles with white edges: shallow pools, which reflect the mineral content of water in shades of green and blue. This water contains one of the highest concentrations of minerals in the world: sulfate
magnesium, calcium and sodium sulfate, plus traces of other minerals, such as titanium and silver. Canadian Indians bathed in these waters and in the mud of the lake to heal wounds.

5. Uyuni Salt Lake, Bolivia

The Uyuni Salt Lake is perhaps one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. A magnificent area with an impressive salt desert (the largest in the world), active volcanoes and geysers – like an alien mirage, completely out of reality.

4. Vale da Lua, Brazil

The Brazilian representative of “alien” landscapes is Vale da Lua, in Brazil. It is a rock formation, sculpted by water erosion, full of natural pools. It is located 38 km from Alto Paraíso, in Goiás. Its rock formations are one of the oldest on the planet, made of quartz and other crystals.

3. Hot Blood Stream, Japan

Chinoike Jigoku or Blood pond hell in Beppu, Oita, Japan. Chinoike Jigoku features a pond of hot, red water and a large souvenir shop. It is one of the more photogenic of the eight hells.

2. The Stone Forest, China

Shilin (in Mandarin, Stone Forest) is formed of smooth stones, surrounded by water that covers the floor. Water erodes everything but the pillars. The Stone Forest has been known since the Ming Dynasty as the First Wonder of the World.

The Richat Structure, Mauritania

This spectacular formation in Mauritania is located in the southwestern part of the Sahara desert. It is so large that it is visible from space, with a diameter of 30 miles. Previously, it was thought that the formation was caused by the impact of a meteorite that had fallen on the region, but now it has been concluded that it is the result of erosion. The exact cause of its circular shape is still a mystery.

To reflect:
“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing”.
(Edmund Burke)

Images taken from images.google.com

Swedish Parliament sets an example of transparency

On November 16, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

Watch this YouTube video: Swedish Parliament!

Photos of the World

On October 6, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

Now you can travel to anywhere you want, without leaving the comfort of your home!

http://www.alovelyworld.com/index2.html

Have a nice trip!

Fake eggs?!

On September 30, 2020 By estrangedztIn WorldLeave a comment

You do not even need chickens, nor do you!
Chinese police dismantled a factory that makes artificial eggs from plastic materials and inedible human waste. And it exports its product to the Arab world and to Morocco, especially through Arab merchants !!!
The factory produces about 50,000 cartons per day (each with 360 eggs …)
This egg is the cause of the spread of gastrointestinal cancer diseases!
At present, the director of the Chinese factory is in jail. What is strange is that this Chinese industrial egg does not differentiate it from the original egg, either in shape or texture, and inside it is egg white and egg yolk, like the original chicken eggs, and is now widespread in our markets .

Unbelievable… Do not know if this is true…