Earlier this month, Australia’s Lucapa Mining Company unearthered a spectacular 404.2 carat diamond in the southern African nation of Angola. Analyzed as a rare Type IIa diamond, this virtually flawless D-color stone measuring 2.75 inches in length, is the 27th largest diamond found in the world, a fraction of the world's largest 3100 carat "Cullinan Diamond discovered in South … [Read more...] about Unweaving Africa: Angola’s Diamonds
Archives for February 2016
Benjamin Franklin: The UPCP (Unpolitically Correct Publisher)
“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed.” - Benjamin Franklin In the PC culture of the 21st century, practically any sentence one might form contains an error ranging from offensive to uneducated. American society lives in terror of the “wrong.” … [Read more...] about Benjamin Franklin: The UPCP (Unpolitically Correct Publisher)
19th Century Classical Virtuosos: The Rock Stars of Their Day
In contemporary society we have electrifying and animated rock stars such as Ozzy Osbourne. Celebrated rock stars appeal to audiences with highly exciting and vigorous styles that showcase them as powerful individuals. In the19th century, a variety of virtuosi captured audiences throughout the Western world in the same manner. The significance of the large presence of virtuosos … [Read more...] about 19th Century Classical Virtuosos: The Rock Stars of Their Day
Bugs and Drugs: The Discovery of Artemisinin
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The birth of artemisinin, a drug responsible for saving millions of lives across the globe, began oddly enough in the midst of the Vietnam War. Among the battlefields of Vietnam, malaria epidemics ravaged the ranks of North Vietnamese troops, often … [Read more...] about Bugs and Drugs: The Discovery of Artemisinin
Stateless: Exploring the Political Dynamics of Cultural, Ethnic, and Religious Minorities Around the World, This Week’s Focus–The Kurds
The Kurds are an ethnic group native to the area of eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, western Iran, and northern Syria, an area which they call Kurdistan. The northern part of Iraq is called Iraqi Kurdistan and is an autonomous region. Kurds are related to Persian peoples and speak various dialects of Kurdish, which is most similar to Persian. In Iraq, Kurdish is an official … [Read more...] about Stateless: Exploring the Political Dynamics of Cultural, Ethnic, and Religious Minorities Around the World, This Week’s Focus–The Kurds