Tangut and Thibet (Tibet)

"The vast country described as Tangut and Thibet is known to the Chinese by the name of Tsang. The Tartars call it Tangout, Barantola, and Boutan. It is said to be six hundred and forty leagues from east to west, and six hundred and fifty from north to south. (Thibet is sixteen hundred miles east and west; its breadth very unequal. -- Rendell, p. 227). It is bounded by the countries of Kokonor, Sechuan, Yunnan, Ava, Hindoostan, Bucharia, and the desert of Kobi. The Tartar emperor, Kublai, divided it into several provinces. He conferred on the Bonze, Passepa, the title of sovereign prince, and honoured him with a golden seal: and also with the titles of tutor to the emperor, doctor of the empire, head of the law, and even that of ouang, which signifies king, or prince. Next to the Thibetans, the Tartars are the most zealous worshippers of the grand Lama. The lamas had great power in China, while the Mongols possessed that throne; they are distinguished by the red and yellow cap." (Historical researches on the conquest of Peru, Mexico, Bogota, Natchez and Talomeco and the thirteenth century, by the Mongols, accompanied with elephants; and the local agreement of history and tradition, with the remains of elephants and mastodontes found in the New World, London 1827)

Latin and Greek languages, plus an acient Persian

"If an ancient Persian were to rise from the dead, there is one feature above all others in the system of modern life, which would strike him with surprise and perplexity; and, probably the majority of ourselves would be equally astonished at the fact, if we were not habituated to the sight of it. What is the meaning, he would ask, of devoting so much labour and time in the process of education, exclusively to the study of Latin and Greek? If the object of education is to fit men for discharging with propriety the duties of their subsequent life, why compel them to consume the first twenty years of their age, in an endeavour, and in nine instances out of ten, a painful and futile endeavour, to acquire a knowledge which gives them no practical information, which they throw aside the moment it is acquired, which, if pursued, would lead them far away from the business and interests of life; and which sends them into the world ignorant of its commonest facts, and with all the main principles of conduct still wanting, and still to be supplied?" (William Sewell)

Can a dolphin eat a shark?

Following up on the general fascination with dolphins brutalizing sharks, I would like to take a minute and answer a question addressed to me by one of my readers.

Can a dolphin eat a shark?

The answer is yes and no. First of all, dolphins are carnivorous mammals so they eat meat. They persist solely on eating fish. They will eat shark if sharks are fed to them in small quantities. In fact, they will probably eat any other meat if it is "served" right.

At the same time, dolphins do not attack sharks with the aim to eat those. They eat relatively small fish which they can take in at once. They do not have the capacity to tear off chunks of meat from a large animal. So in reality, a dolphin cannot eat a shark, unless the shark is a very small baby shark. Even so, dolphin would probably prefer to eat the kind of fish they usually eat. It is very rare in the animal kingdom that you can introduce a new type of food to an animal which it will like a lot better than what it is used to.

Down in the hole

Will all your money
Buy you forgiveness
Keep you from sickness
Or keep you from cold?

Will all your money
Keep you from madness
Keep you from sadness
When you're down in the hole?

'Cause you'll be down in the gutter
You'll be bummin' for cigarettes
Bummin' for nylons
In the American Zone

You'll be down in the hole
Yeah, down in the hole
No escape from trouble
Nowhere to go

Down in the gutter
Beggin' for cigarettes
Beggin' forgiveness
All that you know

Down in the hole
After diggin' the trenches
Looking for cover and findin' out there ain't nowhere nowhere to go
Nowhere nowhere nowhere to go

None of your money
Will buy you forgiveness
None of your jewelry
None of your gold

Your black market cigarettes
Your American nightclubs
Ah, they've got nowhere left

Something for nothing
All of your friends gone
Something for nothing
That's all that you know

There's something down in the hole
Down down down in the hole
There's something down down down down in the hole