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Much Ado About Old Bones

Joel Kontinen ^(2,397) Finland

Joel Kontinen

http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/

Turning Fears into Dollars: Hollywood’s Apocalyptic Movies Such as On the Beach and 2012

Posted Sunday, November 15, 2009 (6 days 3 hours ago.) Viewed 49 times.

Political turmoil is a golden opportunity for fiction writers. During the memorable days of the cold war period British popular author Nevil Shute (1899-1960) wrote the best-selling novel On the Beach (1957) that was soon made into a movie starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner.

The previous year had been momentous. The Soviet army had brought down the Hungarian uprising and Great Britain and France had for once sided with the Israelis to protect their strategic interests in the Near East.

Egyptian strongman Gamal Abdel Nasser had bought arms from the Soviets and nationalised the Suez Canal. A major confrontation was in the making.

When the Cuban Missile Crisis made headlines in the early 1960s, On the Beach was still fresh in mind. Suddenly it seemed that Nevil Shute had to some extent foreseen what was about to happen.

On the Beach described the aftermath of a nuclear exchange. In the story, World War III had come and gone. Europe and America had been destroyed. Only the Australians and the crew of a US navy submarine were left and winds were about to bring the deadly contamination their way.

There was no way of avoiding the unavoidable.

But as we know from history, WW III was averted.

Hollywood has not been reluctant to turn fears into dollars. Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow were more recent films in this category. The latest instalment, i.e. the movie 2012, was inspired by the assumed ending of the Mayan Calendar.

Coming at a time when Iran and North Korea are flexing their nuclear muscles, with NATO bogged down in a seemingly endless conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, fears of global warming and the H1N1 virus taking its toll on both young and old, the timing for a new apocalyptic movie seems to be almost perfect.

However, whereas Nevil Shute's story was nearly plausible, the hype related to the Mayan Calendar and 2012 has a plethora of mythological ingredients, such as Earth's predicted collision with a planet (Niburu) that does not exist and the UFO-connection, have their home in science fiction but not necessarily in reality. (You can read more about the Mayan Calendar here: http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/2009/11/will-world-end-on-december-21-2012.html .)

While it might suit Hollywood to connect the Mayan Calendar with impending calamities, we would do well to ask ourselves whether such a correlation really exists outside the world of new age ideology that relies on very questionable interpretations of rather old age data.

The feared ending of the Mayan Calendar has recently brought much panic into the blogosphere. However, in times like these it is good to keep in mind that God is watching over His world and He will not let an assumed Mayan prophesy derail His good purpose for mankind.

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Bogus People on Social Networking Sites

Posted Sunday, November 08, 2009 (13 days 3 hours ago.) Viewed 86 times.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are good inventions. In a world that has become increasingly globalised, they are good ways of keeping in touch with people we know or once knew.

There are dangers lurking in the shadows, however. By this I mean people who pretend to be interested in you but their real interest is in your money.

Recently, the press reported the story of a youngish European woman who became a Facebook friend with a man from Africa. The man had posted his photo together with his profile on his page, so she had no reason to doubt that he was both handsome and well-educated. She probably thought that she had found a soul-mate who was genuinely interested in her.

As time went by, the man began to send more and more private messages to the woman. He said that he was deeply in love with her and wanted to marry her. So could she please send him money for the airfare to Europe so that they could meet each other face to face and plan their forthcoming marriage?

Still trusting her Facebook friend, she send him money. But it seems that the man kept on asking for more, providing excuse after excuse as to why he could not come just then. At some stage she became suspicious. Did the man really want to see her and marry her?

Then, to her dismay, she found out that the police were also interested in him. The man had become friends with several other ladies on Facebook. He had asked them to send him money so they could get married.

The police discovered that the photo on the man's profile page was someone else's.

This, and other similar stories should cause us to think twice. While the benefits of Facebook and other social networking sites certainly outnumber the disadvantages, we should not throw all caution to the winds. At times, healthy skepticism is needed.

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Omega 3 - Fatty Acids For Keeping the Doctor Away

Posted Sunday, November 01, 2009 (20 days 2 hours ago.) Viewed 78 times.

Not so long ago we were told that all fats were bad for our health. However, the Inuit people living in the cold north traditionally mostly ate animal fats and few of them ever suffered from heart and respiratory diseases. It was found out that they consumed a lot of fish that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, for instance Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

The eating habits of the Inuit suggested that not all edible fats are equal. Some of them are good and others are bad for our health.

The pioneer who introduced us to omega 3 fatty acids was Johanna Budwig (1908-2003), a German chemist who believed that what we eat has a profound effect on our health. She conducted intensive research in cancer therapy, for instance, and found out that the omega 3 fatty acids in flaxseed oil could significantly decrease the likelihood of cancer and heart diseases .

Dr. Budwig even claimed that her diet of flaxseed oil and cottage cheese could prevent and heal cancer, which naturally prompted the commercial drug industry to try to discredit her. The pharmaceutical industry had invested heavily in developing cancer medicines and it sued her for spreading false hopes but s he stood by her claims and won the court case.

While some of her views are not still not supported by mainstream medical science (and they may well be exaggerated), doctors have increasingly begun to acknowledge that omega 3 fatty acids are indeed beneficial for our heart and brain.

It was later discovered that some deep-sea fish, such as salmon, herring, and sardines, are an even better source of omega 3 fatty acids than flaxseed oil.

Omega 3 fatty acids have become a fad, but not a very bad one. In many cases they might do a better job of keeping the doctor away than eating an apple a day.

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Hugo Chavez: No Singing in the Shower!

Posted Sunday, October 25, 2009 (27 days 1 hour ago.) Viewed 110 times.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is not actually known for his love of personal freedoms. Recently, in a bid to cut down on electricity and water consumption, he banned singing in the shower.

Perhaps there is some kind of logic behind this ban. It may be that those who are fond of singing O Sole Mio (or whatever the Spanish version might be called) in the shower take longer to shower than those who do not sing.

Like most other countries, Venezuela has felt the ravages of the current recession. Even the South American version of socialism has not made Chavezland immune to the economic downturn that has caused us to tighten our belts.

Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister, was no friend of socialism. " Socialism is a good idea, until you run out of other people's money", she quipped, borrowing a saying some sources have originally attributed to Mark Twain.

We should perhaps have to take issue with this definition of socialism. As a term, socialism means different things to different people and it has produced a variety of experiments, from the more radical ones advocated by Friedrich Engels and Henri di Saint Simon, who dreamed of a socialist utopia, to a more realistic Scandinavian welfare society that is basically a mixture of capitalism and socialism.

Now it seems that president Chavez has just introduced a novel aspect of socialism. At least the Venezuelan variety of socialism might not be a good idea for would-be opera singers. The new ban could make it a lot harder for them to practice.

In other words, we should probably not expect to hear of world-famous Venezuelan tenors in the near future.

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When Man Tests God And What Then Happens

Posted Sunday, October 18, 2009 (34 days 1 hour ago.) Viewed 77 times.

Luke chapter ten includes a touching parable that many if not most Christians know almost by heart. The context is anything but dull: " B ehold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life ?" (Luke 10:25).

The Greek verb translated as 'tested' is ekpeiradzo, which can also mean 'to tempt'. In other words, the lawyer did not approach Jesus with the best of motives. The same verb is also used in Matthew 4:7 of the devil in the context of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of His earthly ministry.

The lawyer probably thought he was a very clever man as he had the courage to cause inconvenience for the popular travelling preacher from Nazareth.

However, he could hardly have anticipated the consequences of his approach. Jesus, instead of being taken aback, replied by asking him a question, " What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?" (Luke 10:26).

The lawyer was not satisfied with merely reciting Scripture. While he answered Jesus' question, " wanting to justify himself, [he] said to Jesus, " And who is my neighbor?" (verse 29).

The ensuing answer was probably a surprise for the lawyer and for everybody else as well. What followed was not a recitation of Old Testament passages defining the meaning of "neighbor" but a moving story: " A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead"

Apart from describing who our neighbor is, The Parable of The Good Samaritan also speaks volumes of Jesus' attitude towards individuals who wanted to ask Him about both " earthly things" and " heavenly things" (John 3:12). He was and still is willing to listen to their questions and answer them, even if their motives were not always laudable.

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