The Frog and the Princess (A tale by the Grimm Brothers)
"In olden times when wishing still helped one, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful hat the sun itself, which has seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face. Close by the king's castle lay a great dark forest, and under an old lime-tree in the forest was a well, and when the day was very warm, the king's child went out into the forest and sat down by the side of the cool fountain, and when she was bored she took a golden ball, and threw it up on high and caught it, and this ball was her favorite plaything. Now it so happened that on one occasion the princess's golden ball did not fall into the little hand which she was holding up for it, but on to the ground beyond, and rolled straight into the water. The king's daughter followed it with her eyes, but it vanished, and the well was deep, so deep that the bottom could not be seen. At this she began to cry, and cried louder and louder, and could not be comforted. And as she thus lamented someone said to her, "What ails you, king's daughter? You weep so that even a stone would show pity."
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Australian Leader Testifies at Oil Hearing
Australian Leader Testifies at Oil Hearing
"Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday his senior advisers did not alert him to warnings that Australia's monopoly wheat exporter was allegedly paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein in the discredited U.N. oil-for-food program."
"Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday his senior advisers did not alert him to warnings that Australia's monopoly wheat exporter was allegedly paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein in the discredited U.N. oil-for-food program."
From Korean history
Preamble: Approaching the 19th Century - East Meets West
"1868 - Tokugawa shogunate in Japan ends with the restoration of the emperor (“Meiji Restoration”). Japan begins to implement internal political and economic reforms, partly designed to strengthen Japan against foreign incursions. Legal class distinctions abolished (1869). Universal male military conscription established (1873).
"Japan becomes increasingly militaristic towards Korea for numerous reasons, including (a) the “political necessity of finding an outlet for the energies” of the samurais affected by the Meiji Restoration, (b) to acquire a captive market for Japanese consumer goods, (c) to preempt Russian encroachment in Korea, and (d) chauvinistic impulse of the Restoration leaders to expand the Japanese Empire."
"1868 - Tokugawa shogunate in Japan ends with the restoration of the emperor (“Meiji Restoration”). Japan begins to implement internal political and economic reforms, partly designed to strengthen Japan against foreign incursions. Legal class distinctions abolished (1869). Universal male military conscription established (1873).
"Japan becomes increasingly militaristic towards Korea for numerous reasons, including (a) the “political necessity of finding an outlet for the energies” of the samurais affected by the Meiji Restoration, (b) to acquire a captive market for Japanese consumer goods, (c) to preempt Russian encroachment in Korea, and (d) chauvinistic impulse of the Restoration leaders to expand the Japanese Empire."
Sunday, April 09, 2006
NAVAJO WAR AGAINST WHITE SETTLERS
NAVAJO WAR AGAINST WHITE SETTLERS
"Adjutant General Kennedy was inclined to regard the situation with a good deal of concern, although expressing the belief that the trouble would not extend very far north. He did not know whether or not Governor Waite would order the national guard to the front, but thought that he would do so. He declined to give copies of the telegrams received by him and sent, or to allow any one to see them, stating that it was contrary to orders. In speaking of the affair he said that there are 250 bucks who are raising the disturbance. "They are all mounted and equipped," said he, "with the best repeating rifles and have ample supplied for a long war. They are a bad lot and revel in plunder and murder. There has been ill-feeling among them for a long time and it has at last come to a head. "
"Adjutant General Kennedy was inclined to regard the situation with a good deal of concern, although expressing the belief that the trouble would not extend very far north. He did not know whether or not Governor Waite would order the national guard to the front, but thought that he would do so. He declined to give copies of the telegrams received by him and sent, or to allow any one to see them, stating that it was contrary to orders. In speaking of the affair he said that there are 250 bucks who are raising the disturbance. "They are all mounted and equipped," said he, "with the best repeating rifles and have ample supplied for a long war. They are a bad lot and revel in plunder and murder. There has been ill-feeling among them for a long time and it has at last come to a head. "
Who Was Socrates?
Who Was Socrates?
"Socrates himself was born in Athens around 470 B.C. He was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor, and Phaenarete, a midwife. During the early part of his life, he seems to have followed in his father's footsteps, working as a sculptor. He was married to Xanthippe (who is often depicted as something of a shrew) and she bore him three sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. Socrates was hardly an ideal husband or father; he was so preoccupied with his search for wisdom that he often neglected his family and was not overly concerned with supporting them financially.
"As for his education, it is said that he was a student of Anaxagoras, one of the famous early philosophers of Greece. At first he spent his time studying cosmology (or the study of the nature of reality) but later abandoned this field in order to devote himself almost exclusively to ethics. He came to believe that it was his mission to act as a kind of "gadfly" to the Athenian people, provoking them into recognizing their moral ignorance. Needless to say, his constant interrogation did not endear him to all of the citizens of Athens. While Socrates developed a following among many of the more idealistic young men of Athens--Plato, for example, was a devoted disciple of his--he soon incurred the wrath of some of the most powerful men in the city."
"Socrates himself was born in Athens around 470 B.C. He was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor, and Phaenarete, a midwife. During the early part of his life, he seems to have followed in his father's footsteps, working as a sculptor. He was married to Xanthippe (who is often depicted as something of a shrew) and she bore him three sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. Socrates was hardly an ideal husband or father; he was so preoccupied with his search for wisdom that he often neglected his family and was not overly concerned with supporting them financially.
"As for his education, it is said that he was a student of Anaxagoras, one of the famous early philosophers of Greece. At first he spent his time studying cosmology (or the study of the nature of reality) but later abandoned this field in order to devote himself almost exclusively to ethics. He came to believe that it was his mission to act as a kind of "gadfly" to the Athenian people, provoking them into recognizing their moral ignorance. Needless to say, his constant interrogation did not endear him to all of the citizens of Athens. While Socrates developed a following among many of the more idealistic young men of Athens--Plato, for example, was a devoted disciple of his--he soon incurred the wrath of some of the most powerful men in the city."
Greek Philosophy Plato
Greek Philosophy Plato
"Plato (speaking through Socrates) divides human beings up based on their innate intelligence, strength, and courage. Those who are not overly bright, or strong, or brave, are suited to various productive professions: farming, smithing, building, etc. Those who are somewhat bright, strong, and especially courageous are suited to defensive and policing professions. Those who are extraordinarily intelligent, virtuous, and brave, are suited to run the state itself; that is, Plato's ideal state is an aristocracy, a Greek word which means "rule by the best." The lower end of human society, which, as far as Plato is concerned, consists of an overwhelming majority of people in a state, he calls the "producers," since they are most suited for productive work. The middle section of society, a smaller but still large number of people, make up the army and the police and are called "Auxiliaries." The best and the brightest, a very small and rarefied group, are those who are in complete control of the state permanently; Plato calls these people "Guardians." In the ideal state, "courage" characterizes the Auxiliaries; "wisdom" displays itself in the lives and government of the Guardians. A state may be said to have "temperance" if the Auxiliaries obey the Guardians in all things and the Producers obey the Auxiliaries and Guardians in all things. A state may be said to be intemperate if any of the lower groups do not obey one of the higher groups. A state may be said to be just if the Auxiliaries do not simply obey the Guardians, but enjoy doing so, that is, they don't grumble about the authority being exercised over them; a just state would require that the Producers not only obey the Auxiliaries and Guardians, but that they do so willingly."
"Plato (speaking through Socrates) divides human beings up based on their innate intelligence, strength, and courage. Those who are not overly bright, or strong, or brave, are suited to various productive professions: farming, smithing, building, etc. Those who are somewhat bright, strong, and especially courageous are suited to defensive and policing professions. Those who are extraordinarily intelligent, virtuous, and brave, are suited to run the state itself; that is, Plato's ideal state is an aristocracy, a Greek word which means "rule by the best." The lower end of human society, which, as far as Plato is concerned, consists of an overwhelming majority of people in a state, he calls the "producers," since they are most suited for productive work. The middle section of society, a smaller but still large number of people, make up the army and the police and are called "Auxiliaries." The best and the brightest, a very small and rarefied group, are those who are in complete control of the state permanently; Plato calls these people "Guardians." In the ideal state, "courage" characterizes the Auxiliaries; "wisdom" displays itself in the lives and government of the Guardians. A state may be said to have "temperance" if the Auxiliaries obey the Guardians in all things and the Producers obey the Auxiliaries and Guardians in all things. A state may be said to be intemperate if any of the lower groups do not obey one of the higher groups. A state may be said to be just if the Auxiliaries do not simply obey the Guardians, but enjoy doing so, that is, they don't grumble about the authority being exercised over them; a just state would require that the Producers not only obey the Auxiliaries and Guardians, but that they do so willingly."
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