Cretanvista Site News & Reviews - February 2013 Issue 122 | ||||||||||
No links to sites with adult content accepted.
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FEBRUARY WEATHER..... Increasingly good, c'mon down... Current Chania Webcam Current Cretan Weather Link
_____________________________ The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
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The Road to Babylon...
Try it. Get out your Michelin Map, or your Rough Guide to Everywhere. My own Michelin map turned out to cover only Europe - the closest I could get from Europe to Babylon was in a straight line east of Cyprus - around 1000.84 km. 640 nautical miles. Well, that's quite close! A quick ferry ride and maybe 550 miles driving to go, easy. But a little more preparation seemed probably a good idea as an examination of 'Rough Guide to Babylon' didn't seem to produce very much at all. A bit more difficult than planning the 'Long Way Down' perhaps - I wondered if they went to Babylon?
OK - off to the 'virtualtourist'
website... Four hotels! But then, hopes dashed again - three are
in America, the wrong direction altogether. I was beginning to think
that was a possible name for the venture - 'The Wrong Direction
Altogether'. A little more catchy than 'The Long Way Down'... And there
was my manna from heaven - the fourth hotel was in Babylon, Iraq. Now
that's what I meant at first. And it was near Al-Hilla, almost on top of
Ancient Babylon. What luck!!
After the great flood - Everyone on earth spoke
the same language. As people migrated from the east, they settled in the
land of Shinar. People there sought to make bricks and build a city and
a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for themselves, so that
they not be scattered over the world. God came down to look at the city
and tower, and remarked that as one people with one language, nothing
that they sought would be out of their reach. God went down and
confounded their speech, so that they could not understand each other,
and scattered them over the face of the earth, and they stopped building
the city. (And
tower). Thus the city was called
Babel. |
In the News
Reviews... Given the current dire straits in which
Greece currently finds itself financially it seems likely that the Council
of State may well agree to a project which will bring in large funding and
employment, whilst addressing environmental issue at the same time.... Four Kalasnikov assault
rifles; two pistols: 1500 round of ammuntion; and twenty barrels of hashish!... But, to be fair, David Cameron did qualify his
position by saying 'The right answer is for the British Museum and other
cultural institutions to do exactly what they do, which is to link up with
other institutions around the world to make sure that the things which we
have and look after so well are properly shared with people around the
world.'...
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COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT Babylon's Future
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Moving to Crete? Get Sound
Practical Advice for free.. An e-mail copy is available as a Microsoft word file - a very fast email of very useful information. | ||||||||||
Early as it seems - the wild flowers are out in absolute profusion... |
Oxalis pes-caprae |
Dimorphotheca |
Euphorbia helioscopa |
Punica granatum |
Earthquake activity:
Economically (with the possible exception
of Germany) it seems that most of the world is in a state of famine, with
vast numbers of people unable to find work and unable to pay their bills.
The bills themselves continue to soar exponentially, as those who have turn
the screws ever tighter on both those who already have not and those who
will soon be in that position. Meanwhile vast sums are handed out as bonuses
to the bankers controlling the money-flow, even where they are
deemed to have failed and needed bail-outs by taxpayers. The health systems
of many countries are being squeezed dry by cutbacks being implemented by
the managers appointed (usually at seriously inflated salaries) in the first
place to ensure their well being. Their well publicized failures attract
vast public censure from the mass media, but only a continuation of their
activities in the real world. Meanwhile, we are asked to adopt a turtle; a polar bear; a tiger (!); whilst
in the next breath (or TV advert) we are asked to support our favourite
animal charity whilst being asked (in real terms) to balance that against
the need to help children dying of otherwise incurable diseases. Only
£3.00
a month to adopt a crocodile perhaps (with information packs and
photographs) - against the possibility of saving the life of a child. And
who is funding the messages and at what cost? And what of Greece, of Cyprus, of Italy,
Portugal, Spain, Ireland? The whole Eurozone seems to stagger from one
economic crisis to the next, which threatens, we are told, to bring down not
only the euro but the whole of Europe. Well, not being an expert in keeping
whole continents afloat I can only say what I believe. I don't believe that
the euro or Europe will collapse, far from it. But I do believe that we do need to safeguard democracy, and work together with our elected
parliamentary representatives, who themselves need to ensure that they
are not usurped by those who have managed to maneuver themselves into
positions where they can act without the direct consent of parliaments
anywhere in the EU. 'Knock, Knock - is anybody
there - can you hear me?!'.... |
Site Content:- Last Change - additions to Wildflower galleries.
Photo Galleries...
Wildlife Gallery - the first two pages - 48 unique photographs,
including some rare specimens of the Cretan fauna. Some is quite beautiful,
some a bit scary/creepy, but all now add to our wildlife page and the
ornithology gallery pages. Remember that it is always worth checking where
you walk or sit before you do!
Start here. |
The Cretan
Vista Calendar Photos - Birds
The webmaster is at: Contact Form. |
Can this be you..... or yours... or mine?.. This
Month - Wilf B.
Until next month, best wishes from here on Crete. WB. |