General Discussion, Thursday, April 28, 2016

Posted on April 28, 2016 by Stella

Santorini

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71 Responses to General Discussion, Thursday, April 28, 2016

  1. ZurichMike's avatar ZurichMike says:
    April 28, 2016 at 12:06 am

    I have a similar view of Matera (where parts of “The Passion of the Christ” was filmed), although the buildings are a bit more “weather worn” if you know what I mean!

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  2. Col.(R)Ken's avatar Col.(R)Ken says:
    April 28, 2016 at 12:24 am

    ZM haven’t been to this part of the world, when I had time off (very little) when station in WG (80s), went too all of the local surroundings, Britain, plus other countries. Made the trip to Athens, Rome. Mostly for history, local culture was always a surprise!!!!!!

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  3. ZurichMike's avatar ZurichMike says:
    April 28, 2016 at 12:57 am

    You need sturdy walking shoes in Matera: criss-crossing stone stairs of uneven height, depth, and width, with sometimes slightly slippery worn limestone, and everything is up or down — very little horizontal space! Matera is simply amazing: caves where people lived and entire monasteries were housed. And so many fabulous restaurants.

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    • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
      April 28, 2016 at 1:11 am

      Sounds a bit like the caves in the Egyptian desert where the Coptic monks go to live their monastic lives…without the restaurants. Was never as fond of Italy as I was the islands in the Aegean – not the foods, just the Aegean and the islands.

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      • ZurichMike's avatar ZurichMike says:
        April 28, 2016 at 1:37 am

        This area, once under extensive Greek control, has a lot of Byzantine influence, especially the church designs and artwork. Some ruins of Greek temples along the coastlines, too.

        Have you been to Ravenna? Stunning Byzantine mosaics and icons. Once of the most surprising vacations we took in Italy.

        We are enamored of Orthodox Christian design and iconography, starting from our vacation to Bucovina (northeast Romania) many years ago visiting those sensational monasteries in the region.

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          April 28, 2016 at 1:54 am

          Very little on Italy, mostly in the north (Barolo, remember?) and a side to Rome, regular tourista stuff. Only behind the Iron Curtain stuff I got to do was that student session in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Ukraine and Russia. Soon after I ended up in uniform and that ended that.
          I couldn’t get enough of Egypt, I could spend a lifetime there and still have not done all I wanted to, I could live in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities alone. Cairo’s a great place but I don’t care for the food – which is OK as it doesn’t stay with you all that long anyway.

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          • MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
            April 28, 2016 at 2:09 am

            One of my deepest regrets is that I never went to Egypt. And now it seems unlikely I ever will. What I wouldn’t give to see the tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and visit the temples–Karnak, Abu Simbel, Luxor, the Ramesseum…actually, I would want to see everything. Everything.

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            • michellc's avatar michellc says:
              April 28, 2016 at 8:31 am

              My daughter has always wanted to visit Egypt.

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            • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
              April 28, 2016 at 8:45 pm

              If thry gotsvta take ya on a stretcher, go. We got up early and had a cab take us to see the sun come up over the pyramids – also doesn’t smell as bad really early and if you’re lucky you can see the fog roll over the valley below you.
              I held back from the tour thatbyook us into the heart of the Great Pyramid, let ’em all filter out past me and letbthe darkness roll ver me. It’s so quiet in the burial chamber that you can hearbyour heart beat and the blood rushing through your ears. You are alone in an unlit room surrounded by thousands of tons of stone, it’s amazing. I recalled the stories of Napoleon spending a night alone sleeping, or trying to, in the sarcophagus in the burial room. I crawled in and spent an uncomfortable half hour lying there in the dark and dead silence, cross that off of the bucket list.
              Borrow, steal, whatever, you can get a nice flight and hotel, you can hunt aroubd and get a great deal. It’s well worth it and you can die with happy memories. Just do not eat anything, especially the salad bar, that is not cooked and still hot, regardless of the hotel, unless you want to spend a good part of your trip on the not-royal-throne. Drink,only bottled water that has an intact seal.
              It’s safe, street Egyptians are for the most part quite friendly. Worst thing that happened to mewqs on a trip to the Antiquities museum to see a Tut exhibit a Moslem fanstic shot and killed an Israeli diplomat in the museum square and we didn’t get in. But hey, what are the chances?

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      • ZurichMike's avatar ZurichMike says:
        April 28, 2016 at 3:17 am

        While on business in Cairo a few years ago, my Coptic Christian Egyptian host took me to one of the desert monasteries. Dazzling sunlight outside contrasted with dark but transcendent interiors. Very moving. And so quiet compared with the 24/7 noise of Cairo.

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          April 28, 2016 at 10:22 am

          Yeah, a year or two ago I posted on the other site how, on a deploymentbthere, our Chaplain smuggled a full xase of sacramental wine into the country and took it to one of the monasteries. That whole trip was a Max Sennett skit.
          We were there mid-80s and what grabbed us was the group of Copt refugees clustered around the walls of the monastery. They lived in unbelievable conditions with bare minimal supplies, but to them it was preferable to living in the major cities as non-Moslems. Temps were around 115 on our thermometers and the cover they had was dirty sheets on wooden poles, lean-tos that provoded minimal shade and whole families lived like this.
          We were at St Marys and got to meet Pope Shenouda who was there st the time. Got to sit down and have tea with the Pope, right out of nowhere, poof, just like that. The blessing of hanging with a sort of ‘free spirit’ Irish priest.

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  4. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    April 28, 2016 at 1:05 am

    Looks a little son et lumiere -ish . Not that that’s a bad thing!

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  5. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    April 28, 2016 at 1:25 am

    Does this help explain the “capitulation” of Europe’s leaders?

    Belgian Justice Minister: Reality is that Muslims will ‘very soon’ outnumber Christians in Europe

    https://themuslimissue.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/belgian-justice-minister-reality-is-that-muslims-will-very-soon-outnumber-christians-in-europe/

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    • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
      April 28, 2016 at 10:26 am

      How many more Christian churches captured and converted into Moslem mosques? The Hagia Sophia on a wholesale scale.

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      • MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
        April 28, 2016 at 8:43 pm

        How many more Christian churches captured and converted into Moslem mosques?

        All of them, eventually, unless something is done to roll back the invasion..

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          April 28, 2016 at 8:47 pm

          Yep, that’s my point. Can’t wait until thry start doing it here -maybe Bill will even float them a loan for the renovation fees…

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  6. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    April 28, 2016 at 2:03 am

    Proverbs 22:6, the Dark Side:

    Islamic State Brainwashing Yazidi Boys to Turn On/Kill Their Families

    https://counterjihadreport.com/2016/04/27/islamic-state-brainwashing-yazidi-boys-to-turn-on-and-kill-their-families/

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  7. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    April 28, 2016 at 2:14 am

    h/t mazziflol, next door:

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  8. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    April 28, 2016 at 2:31 am

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  9. Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
    April 28, 2016 at 7:12 am

    Coffee to start your Thursday. Good morning!

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  10. nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
    April 28, 2016 at 7:55 am

    Mornin’ stella! (Smiter of those that ought to be smote) 😎 🍸 (Long Island Iced Tea)
    Mornin’ WeeWeed! (Master Mixologist Extrodinare) 😎 🍸 (Old Fashioned)
    Mornin’ Menagerie! 😎 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ Ad rem! (Queen Felis catus) 🐱 🍸 (Flaming Lamborghini)
    Mornin’ Sharon! 😎 🍸 (earthquake)
    Mornin’ ytz4mee! 😎 🍸 (cosmopolitan)
    Mornin’ partyzantski! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ texan59! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ ZurichMike! 🙂 🍸 (fuzzy navel)
    Mornin’ Col.(R) Ken! (hand salute) 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ czarowniczy! 🙂 |_| ( and Czarina 🙂 🍸 )
    Mornin’ letjusticeprevail2014! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ ctdar! 🙂 🍸 (grasshopper)
    Mornin’ tessa50! 🙂 🍸 (flaming volcano)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (sidecar)
    Mornin’ varsityward! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ MaryfromMarin! 😀 |_| (Mortlach)
    Mornin’ Wooly Phlox! (aka “taqiyyologist”) 🙂 |_| (Roy Rogers)
    Mornin’ Howie! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ TwoLaine! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Sha! 🙂 🍸 (Lemon Drop)
    Mornin’ BigMamaTEA! 🙂 🍸 (Harvey Wallbanger)
    Mornin’ cetera5! (aka “Cetera”) 🙂 |_| (Classic Daiquiri)
    Mornin’ The Tundra PA! 🙂 🍸 (bailey irish cream on the rocks)
    Mornin’ lovely! 🙂 🍸 (Tom and Jerry)
    Mornin’ michellc! 🙂 🍸 (Salty dog)
    Mornin’ auscitizenmom! 🙂 🍸 (Kiss on the Lips)
    Mornin’ Margaret-Ann! 🙂 🍸 (White Russian)
    Mornin’ Auntie Lib! 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ holly100! 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ ImpeachEmAll 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Monroe! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Les! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ shiloh1973! 🙂 |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ TexasRanger! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Ziiggii! 🙂 |_| (B52)
    Mornin’ oldiadguy! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ smiley! (“stuck in spambucket”) 🙂 🍸 (Spanish coffee)
    Mornin’ derk! (“Stellars”) 🙂 🍸 (Mudslide)
    Mornin’ Jacqueline Taylor Robson 🙂 🍸 (Shirley Temple)
    Mornin’ facebkwallflower! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Ms. Cindy! (aka “Ms Cynlynn” aka “ms cynlynn”) 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ sandandsea2015! 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ whiners and complainers! ⭐ 😛 (No drink for you!)
    Mornin’ to people posting that I missed. 😳
    Mornin’ to all you lurkers! 😕

    Also just in case someday; mornin’ to Elvis Chupacabra and F.D.R. in Hell! :mrgreen:

    Breakfast!

    NEW and IMPROVED breakfast with extra bacon for ZurichMike!

    Pastries for coffee!

    ⭐ = Unprintable phallic symbol

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  11. WeeWeed's avatar WeeWeed says:
    April 28, 2016 at 8:12 am

    Mornin’ y’all!

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  12. doodahdaze's avatar Howie says:
    April 28, 2016 at 8:13 am

    Liberal Utopia Venezuela runs out of food and electric. The Chamber of food reports only a 14 day supply.

    https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2016/04/27/looting-venezuela-food-electricity/

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  13. WeeWeed's avatar WeeWeed says:
    April 28, 2016 at 8:24 am

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  14. Stella's avatar stella says:
    April 28, 2016 at 9:18 am

    Good morning! I’ve always wanted to visit the hot countries of the Mediterranean, particularly Greece, and the islands of Corfu, Santorini, Crete and Mykonos. Today’s photo of Santorini is different from those we usually see, although there is no bad photo of that island, I don’t believe. Of course, it seems that most places that were created by volcanoes are lovely. Here is a more traditional view of Santorini:

    I was first intrigued by reading the novels of Mary Stewart, most written in the 1960’s; My Brother Michael (set in Delphi, the home of the Oracle and the ancient temples on Mount Parnassus), This Rough Magic (on Corfu), a novel with references to The Tempest, and The Moon-Spinners (on Crete). If you like mysteries with a little innocent romance thrown in, and written beautifully, with place descriptions so vivid that you can’t wait to visit, then Mary Stewart is an old-fashioned author who doesn’t disappoint. Her Merlin series also is spell binding – based on the Arthurian legends and particularly about the life of Merlin. She died in 2014, at the age of 97!

    Back to the present, Trump has two events today. The first is in Evansville IN, at noon Central time, and the second in Costa Mesa CA, which will be live streamed at 10:00 pm EDT (7:00 PDT).

    I’m thinking of doing another post on poetry. If you have any suggestions for content, let me know!

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    • JL's avatar teresasdaughter says:
      April 28, 2016 at 12:53 pm

      I once saw a film of a lady who lived on a small isle of Greece. She had a rosemary bush as tall as a man by her front door and an olive tree in her yard. Every morning she would walk through a meadow where wild horses roamed to a small cove where she would swim with her dog. Meals were coarse bread, local cheese, fruit and wine. I have long thought that is as close to a perfect lifestyle as one could hope for. Beautiful place.

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  15. czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
    April 28, 2016 at 11:59 am

    Watching the local Fox ‘news’ station this AM, they probably didn’t get a chance to mention things of import going on around the world as the infomercial they did wherein a local ‘expert’ on the Fox program ‘Empire’ explained to us in agonizingly boring detail the personal crises effecting and affecting the tortured souls on the program.
    Kurds now control a swath of Syria from the Iraqi border to the Euphrates and that appendix of Syria northwest of Alleppo. There are spotty pockets of government presence in the Kurd-controlled areas but the Syrian government has other areas of interest.
    The government has a pocket of rebels surrounded in the Aleppo area and rumors are it, with Russian help, will launch a major operation to quash the rebels. That would give Assad control of just about all of eastern Syria except for some small scattered pockets that can be mopped up.
    Russia’s removed about half of its fixed wing aircraft from Syria but it’s still conducting air operations and is bringing in its front line attack helicopters, and I’m betting they’ll be supporting Russian and Syrian ground attacks.
    Kurds cobtrol a nice chunk of Syria along much of Syria’s border with Turkey and have greatly increased their territories in Iraq, now controlling the Iraqi/Turkish border deep into Iraq. With the US and Russia supporting the Kurds, each for their own purposes, and the possibility that Russia will turn on the Kurds once thry are done with them….well, sorta makes the charecter and plot of Empire not quite as important in comparison.

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    • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
      April 28, 2016 at 1:21 pm

      Didn’t know about ths when I posted but Wash Post is reporting that an airstrike by an unknown/unmentioned military power has hit yet another Doctors Without Borders hospital and killed about 14 patients and staff. The hospitalnwas lxated in the Aleppo area where over 60 people have been killed by recent air strikes.
      Hmmmmm…wonder who could be dropping those bombs? Don’t think the US or Turkey would fly that far outside of their comfort zones, especially with there still being Russian fighter aircraft at Latakia and AAA in the field. Hmmmmmmm…could it be part of a renewed Russian/Syrian ofensive to clean up that Aleppo pocket? Russians and Syrians consider anyone or anything inside of their AOR to be fair game, a red cross is just a convenient aiming point.
      Things should chugging right along, heating up at some point, but whetherbthe press will cover this heavily Obama-based disaster is debatable. This mess is a world-changing event as it’s created, as is still creating, not only a change in power throughout the Mideast but a tidal wave of immigrants who’ll alterbthe face of Europe if not the entire West. Let’s hope it doesn’t all blow up during the spring TV sweeps.

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  17. Stella's avatar stella says:
    April 28, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    Trump Thumps the Ruling Class

    He fits the temper of the times.

    http://spectator.org/articles/66137/trump-thumps-ruling-class

    “What have you been smoking?” said a partner in a New York law firm to me in early January after I asserted in front of a room full of Upper East Side liberals that “Trump would win the nomination.” Others hooted me for holding that “closeted Trump supporters” exist in the disaffected corners of American life and that Trump would enjoy a reverse Bradley effect.

    Last Christmas I ran into Newt Gingrich after Mass in Washington, D.C., and for the heck of it said to him, “So what job do you want in the Trump administration?” He looked at me with utter disbelief. Now I see him on TV bemoaning the slowness with which pundits grasped the Trump phenomenon. He was one of them.

    Up in New York City I noticed that none of the anti-Trump outrage of the ruling class had trickled down to the peasants. They either didn’t care about Trump’s politically incorrect brashness or kind of liked it. While lavishly paid, “brilliantly perceptive” reporters and editors like David Remnick and James Fallows were saying that Trump had “zero chance” of winning the nomination, anybody who bothered to speak to ordinary folks walking the streets below the suites of The New Yorker could see that Trump had a huge opening. The George Wills, who spend more time tinkering with their cuff links than talking to people, also pronounced Trump an unelectable clown who would soon disappear back into the buffoonery from which he came.

    Such inept punditry and incompetent reporting is the journalistic equivalent of a surgeon killing a patient on the operating table. Yet all these reporters and pundits keep working, often failing upwards to six-figure jobs, provided that they attend all the right parties and know all the right people….

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  18. texan59's avatar texan59 says:
    April 28, 2016 at 10:34 pm

    How’z come I miss all the changes? Went to git some chikin last night and this was the new spork. 😯

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