UFO in Devon 5th March 2011

Ayia Thecla

Saint Thecla    (Hecla in Icelandic)

This equal-to-the–apostles saint, or Protomartyr was born in Iconion, Asia Minor on 16 A.D. to wealthy parents. When she was 18, St.Paul with St. Barnabas visited her community to preach the new Faith. Her mother and Thamyris, her fiancé, prohibited her to attend the crowds that gathered to hear St. Paul. However, Thecla managed to hear the preaching by sitting close to her bedroom window. She got very interested in what St. Paul was teaching about. Her mother became very suspicious and convinced the city Governor to arrest St. Paul and throw him into a prison. Thecla used her golden bracelet to bribe the guard and gain admittance to the prison cell where St.Paul was to be able to hear more of his teachings. Now her mother became enraged at this development and asked the Governor to threaten Thecla with severe punishment. The Governor complied with this wish and ruled that Thecla was to be burned at the stake unless she renounced her faith in Christ.

When Thecla refused she was taken to the arena for punishment. As she was tied to the stake she saw a vision of Jesus Christ which gave her strength to face the flames. When the flames were about to engulf her a thunderstorm appeared suddenly and extinguished the fire ! In grave embarrassment the Governor released Thecla and ordered her out of the city.

She joined St. Paul and both traveled to Antioch. Upon entering this city Alexander, a young nobleman started harassing Thecla, but she fought him off thus disgracing him in front of a crowd of his friends. Alexander complained to the local Governor that this wandering girl had disgraced a nobleman and demanded punishment. The Governor ruled that Thecla would face the wild beasts in the arena. First a lioness was released, but upon approaching Thecla she sat by her feet. Then a bear was released but the lioness fought the bear off and killed her. A male lion was then released and a big fight arose that killed both animals. Finally other wild animals were let loose, but in the meantime, Thecla noticed a large tank of water was near her and she managed to jump in it just in time.

Seeing that no harm can be done on her Alexander demanded that she be given to him for punishment. He tied her into two bulls in the hopes that they would pull her asunder, but miraculously the ropes loosened and she was spared. The authorities finally released Thecla and she stayed for 8 days with a lady called Tryphaena. Both Tryphaena and her entire household were converted to Christianity and presented Thecla with a gift of gold and precious stones.

Thecla then traveled to Myra where she rejoined Paul. He gave his blessing and Thecla spent the remainder of her life as an ascetic in the mountains. The remains of a monastery where she probably stayed survives to this day near the city of Selefkia, in southern Asia Minor. It is called Olbia. She died at the age of ninety. The church acknowledged her enormous contribution to Christianity by converting so many people and setting herself as an example of how to live in faith.

Geological History of Manitoba in posters

The geological history of Manitoba has been a real long one; it lasted almost 4 billion years! To get a glimpse of what Manitoba looked like in the long geological past I have compiled known information from various sources including my own observations into a series of six pictorial maps. Each map depicts what was happening in Manitoba during a particular period of time in the past. You will witness tremendous changes that have taken place in the geological past; from a deep ocean with occasional volcanic islands here and there into collisions of continents culminating into majestic chains of mountains that covered the whole province and far beyond. Later on, the mountains stopped growing and there followed a very long period of erosion that destroyed all but their deep roots that are now up to some 600 m above sea level. Part of the province was even under water during the age of the dinosaurs, then partly dried or withdrew as some of the water became ice on permanent glaciers elsewhere on earth. Finally, during the last 2 million years Manitoba was covered by glaciers until about 10,000 years ago.

A predicted rise of about 50 – 60 m in the sea level over the next few decades will change little the topography of Manitoba with the exception of the land aroundHudson Bay which will be submerged by the rising ocean waters.

Typhoons on British Columbia ? Sorry, but possible

Hurricane Season in British Columbia !?

A direct consequence of the changing climate is the first hurricane observed in the North Pacific Ocean in November 1^st, 2006 (see picture below taken from satellite MODIS). The September 2006 to January 2007 weather patterns over British Columbia and NW USA brought fierce wind storms (one of them destroyed hundreds of trees at Stanley Park, Vancouver) accompanied by records of precipitation:  In other words, it could be a precursor to an actual  HURRICANE SEASON.

So, this year WATCH OUT ! It may be worse !                   April, 2007

Old shore of glacial Lake Agassiz

The old shore line of Lake Agassiz is now occupied by Manitoba Highway # 10 between Dauphin and Cowan (most of the way).
In the pictures notice that the ground slopes down from the road. When the lake was here the lower ground was occupied by the lake.

Cranberry Portage's fossils, Manitoba

BUNTEP students discover a new fossil site in Ordovician Limestone at Cranberry Portage

Friends of the Kalash

“Friends of Kalash” N.G.O. (new name: “Greek Volunteers” N.G.O.) Greek Teacher Volunteers working to improve living conditions of the Kalash peoples in remote villages of the Hindu Kush (Indian Caucasus) since 1996.
The Kalash are about 3,000 strong and live in isolation since the fall of the Greek Kingdom in 30 B.C. They still keep the ancient traditions (writing petroglyphs), religion (Zeus, Apollo, Hestia, etc), food preparation, dancing and language. They also erect statues of their elders after death (like the Moais on Easter island).
Pictures of the people and buildings constructed by the volunteers follow.

Meandros, meandering river from Priene

Meandros, Meander, Meandering River

Meandros was the “god” of a river. There must have been something spectacular about this river to make the surrounding people worship it as a deity. That something is no doubt the view of its winding river channel. This phenomenon is common for rivers flowing through relatively flat terrain. However, it is very difficult for people to observe their winding river channel unless they are looking at the river from a higher altitude. Such a situation is rare and is only found in very few locations worldwide.

The city of Priene on the west coast of Asia Minor (today called Turkey) is in such a unique location having been built on the side of a mountain very close to the river valley.

The inhabitants of the ancient city of Priene had an amazing view of the valley of the Meander river. Their city was built at the foot of Mount Mykale and was surrounded by walls. Originally their city was built on the seashore, but alluvial deposits soon silted up the shore and the ocean moved progressively away. By the 1^st century B.C. we know that the ocean harbour had silted up. Today the remains of the city are some 15 km away from the shoreline !

Priene was built during the 10^th century B.C. by Ionian colonists coming from mainland Greece. City planning followed the famous Hippodamean system of streets running at right angles (just like most American cities are built today).

A prominent temple of Athene, a theatre for 5,000 people, a stadium, gymnasium and many other public buildings are preserved remarkably well as are numerous statues and other works of art.

front-wheel-issigonis

Sir Alec Issigonis  and His Family Background

 “every front-wheel car is an Issigonis car”

The most famous car designer in Britain , who spearheaded the development of the Mini car and the front-wheel drive, was born in Smyrne in 1906. At that time Smyrne was at its zenith as the biggest port city in the eastern Mediterranean . A major producer of raisins and figs the city flourished as a cosmopolitan centre with abundant cultural life in the form of numerous outstanding schools, cultural societies, a theatre, and a university which was due to start in the same year the city was burned. The dominant Greek element was supplemented with some Armenians, and an assortment of Europeans. The minor Turkish element played only a subordinate role in the commercial life of the city.

Family History :

Venice to Paros

                       The original family name was Cigonias, which means stork in Italian. According to the family tradition a member of the Cigonia family was on a Venetian ship when it ran aground near Paros during the Crusades. The Venetian Doge Pashalis Cigonias (Doge between 1585 and 1595) was considered a member of the family and many were familiar with his portrait (oil painting) at the Doge Palace in Venicewhere they visited often. Similarities of members of the family to his appearance on the statue was quoted frequently in conversations by many members of the family. Since families with similar name are found today in Venice and area, it would appear that only some Cigonias migrated to the Greek islands for reasons of trade.

In the early 1800’s the Greeks of Smyrne obtained some concessions from the Sultan, and as a result trade and commerce increased. As opportunities arose, so did immigration from the Greek islands and the hinterland of Asia Minor . It was the place to travel and get a job, unheard of in previous times when the whip of the Turk was a handicap to any commercial activity.

Paros to Smyrne

The oldest member of the Cigonias family on personal records is Michael Cigonias who was born around 1750 at Tsipido, as it was called then. He had three sons, two of them -Antonios and Ioannis-  immigrated to Smyrne around 1830 and both changed their names to Issigonis to be more Greek-like. The double ‘’ss’ was necessary so that it won’t be pronounced ‘’z’ by the dominant French element there. However, a third son stayed behind (Georgios) and his last name was unchanged.

Today, many members of the Cigonia family still live at Marpissa (new name for Tsipido), although over the years some have moved to theAthens area, largely to the suburb of Helioupolis.

Brief History of Smyrne

The city was established around 1130 B.C. either by Tantalos or Thyseas in memory of his wife Smyrna , one of the Amazons. Alexander the Great moved the city from its original site along the mouth of the Melis river to its present position at the end of the Bay of Smyrne . Recognizing the importance of the location of Smyrne and nearby Ephesus , he called these cities “the eyes of Asia ” and tried to connect them by building a canal between them.

Smyrne’s most famous citizen is Homer. Strabo calls Smyrne “the best city of all”.

One of the seven churches of the Revelation was in Smyrne during the early Christian Eras.

The Turks first conquered the city in 1084. In 1402 Tamerlane razed the city to the ground , beheaded 1000 citizens and built a monument with their skulls and stones. The city suffered severe damage from earthquakes in 1048, 1688 and 1778, ironically all of them taking place during the month of June.

The population in 1717 was 15,000 Ottomans, 10,000 Greeks and about 1000 others. In 1817, the total climbed to 150,000, of which 60,000 were Greeks. According to the census of 1921 (the last census done in Asia Minor or Turkey to this day), the Turks made up only 18% of Asia Minor .

Since 1921, however, an estimated 2 million Greeks were killed, tortured, or expelled.

 Demosthenes : a mechanical genius

Georgio’s son Demosthenes (1828-1898), –Sir Alec’s grandfather, - moved to Smyrne at the invitation of his uncle Antonios who owned a school there. However, young Demosthenes was not interested much in the schools and began his activities in marine engineering by creating his own shipbuilding enterprise in 1854. It grew immensely and became the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean . In 1865 it moved to its final site at Punta (from the French “point” or the peninsula, the end of the Smyrne harbor). They would build anything from sowing needles to steam engines for the British company that operated one of the rail lines in Asia Minor . He obtained the monopoly on rail repairs of this company, so for this reason he was given the British citizenship, something that would prove vital for the survival of members of his family in times of war.

Demosthenes must have been a master mechanic to say the least. His factory was famous throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and he opened a branch at Beirut . Engines made by the factory have survived on the adjacent Greek islands and some have been put on display in museums today. Some of these are olive and sesame presses. Other factory products were equipment for processing glucose, cotton, and making soap. The original emphasis of the operation was towards building and repairing marine vessels.

The factory stopped operating some time after 1922 and remains closed in today’s Izmir .

(Smyrne was established by the Ancient Greeks, however, people speaking Turkish are not able to pronounce the Greek words, so they have modified the Greek names. This phenomenon is true all around Asia Minor on town names as well as mountains, rivers, etc.  For reference to this phenomenon the reader can look at the index of the “Map of Asia Minor with Greek Names, 1994” published by the author)

When Demosthenes died in 1898 the factory reverted to his sons Nikolaos, Constantine, and Miltiades while Nicolaos’s son Alexandros worked in a retail outlet in downtown Smyrne.

The ownership of the factory was lost during the World War I when Britain fought against Turkey and reverted to the owners after the war. An attempt in 1936 to recover the factory by Nikolaos, a cousin of Sir Alec, failed.

The 1922 Genocide and Escape

The Greek part of Smyrne was burned by the Turkish army in 1922 and proceeded to a systematic genocide of the Greek and Armenian populations, the dominant elements in Smyrne at the time. British–passport holders and other foreigners were notified in time and were evacuated, while the Greek-Armenian population was purposely kept in the dark and was surprised by the advancing Turkish army with its dreaded paramilitary tsete forces which committed most of the atrocities.

The Greek population of Smyrne numbered 180,000 according to the 1921 census.  Some were saved by foreign ships, but the military armada of the American, British , French, etc refused to pick up any of the thousands fleeing from the burning Smyrne and Greeks fleeing from the western part of Asia Minor . The Greeks were the majority of the population and plans were on hand to declare the independentRepublic of Western Asia Minor , when the area was overrun by the Turks.

The survivors have spread all around the world. They are mostly Greeks, some Armenians and some Assyrians.

This is one of humanity’s worst cases of planned genocide. It was preceded by the systematic genocide of the Armenians in 1915 in the eastern parts of Asia Minor, and the genocide against the Pontian Greeks of northern Asia Minor between 1890 and 1922. It was carried out by the Turks with the “Allies “ supplying military equipment and ammunition in return for trade rights in Turkey .

In this way, the British-passport holders, including members of the Issigonis family

survived the war of 1922. Whereas Sir Alec’s family headed for Malta and then England , other members that escaped the slaughter of the Turks travelled to Greece to obtain the Greek citizenship instead. Due to the war conditions, contact between family members was lost, whereas in Smyrne there was much communication between them.

One of Sir Alec’s eleven known first cousins –Demosthenes-was killed by the Turks in 1922. The remaining ten settled in the Athens area.

An engineer in Greece

There are many members of the Cigonias / Issigonis family tree that have excelled in their own fields. Sir Alec’s grandfather Demosthenes was an outstanding example of engineering and business acumen. In Smyrne he found the appropriate environment to use his capabilities to the fullest in the mid to late 1800’s. The same is true of Sir Alec in mid 1900’s in England . Had he been in Greece at that time, he would not have had the same chance to excel in his field.

John Issigonis (cousin to Sir Alec) was an outstanding civil engineer and had many inventions and innovations to his credit, but his achievements are virtually unknown. Credit has recently been given to him when the National Bank of Greece , his employer, established a Heritage Centre in the 1990’s.

                                                        

 In particular, he designed anti-seismic structures and used them for the first time in branches of the National Bank of Greece whose construction he supervised in several cities around the country. During the Zakynthos earthquake of 1947, the three-story bank building survived intact, while the maximum allowable limit in this earthquake area was then a two-story building. In that devastating earthquake only two buildings survived (the other was the Saint Dionisios Metropolital church). The Bank Governor refused to believe that their building survived and flew to the island to see it with his own eyes ! The anti-seismic design pioneered by Issigonis had worked.

All of the numerous Bank branches that he built were designed with classical Ancient Greece in mind.

Another favourite part of his activities was the study of hydroelectric dams and the Parnitha Peripheral Ditch for collection of water to replenish Lake of Marathon and at the same time serve as anti-flood control for the city of Athens . All his studies and proposals are kept at the Archives of the Bank, but none were adopted by the Government. For each proposal that he submitted the minister in charge had demanded generous compensation before he could give his approval!

The city of Athens has suffered many catastrophic floods since. Still his studies were ignored and no other flood controls have been adopted since.

Other highlights of his work :

-         Supervised all the construction of the suburb of Philothey, Athens

-         Had the sole responsibility for the construction of the coastal suburb of Saronida

-         Completed the construction of the Panathinaikos football Stadium

He regretted not to have emigrated to Canada when he had an offer to establish a subsidiary of a major Finnish company. He used to say that he wasted his life waiting in Greece for his proposals to be accepted by the authorities.

How different was the environment in England at the same time!

An engineer in England

Sir Alec’s achievements in the design of the Morris Minor and the Mini are well known worldwide. His success is due to the free enterprise system in England that allowed anyone with a pioneering mind to achieve his goals.

There was no distinction because of race or name, no interference from political parties or government, it was a place of freedom.

   

His ancestors in Turkey did well, but only for a limited time as the Turkish threat was always around. Greece developed poorly because of years of internal strife and external wars, resulting in limited opportunities and a climate of protectionism. There was an overbearing influence of the political parties. Not everyone was free and pioneers were not recognized.

Sir Alec’s character

         He had advanced thinking and strong determination. He was arrogant in his engineering and had scant regard for styling and market research. He was a born engineer, in other words, capable of making something that is needed. All he wanted to deliver was what was needed. Luxuries, such as radios, and fancy seats, etc were not really needed at first. They became essential later once the main purpose had been accomplished.

In order to do that he had an extraordinary vision and considerable stubbornness. So he refused to compromise his ideas. Because his mandate was to design an economy car, he became obsessed with space. His design philosophy: “Less is more”

He argued that others build cars to last for a few years, but his car would last for ever! He was right, too!

Some of his sayings

            When he studied engineering he failed Math repeatedly. In the end he was given a diploma, not a degree. He must have suffered much trying to do his math, so he declared “Pure math is the enemy of every truly creative man”.

He appeared in many shows due to his eccentric manner and entertaining personality and had many famous people as his friends, especially among the royalty. Examples are Lord Snowdon and Sir Peter Ustinov.

Other sayings: “One thing I learned the hard way-well, not the hard way, the easy way- when you are designing a new car for production, never, never copy the opposition”

“ A camel is a horse designed by a committee”

After the Mini car was established as a new fashion in cars, it was time for the clothing fashion to copy it. This was accomplished by Mary Quant in the 1960’s with the mini-skirt which was “not any longer than absolutely necessary”.

In 1996, the House of Commons praised him as the author of a great British innovation, the start of a new design trend towards smaller cars. After all he is the only British car designer to enjoy an international reputation.

His technical achievements

         His first success was the mosquito project, Morris Minor, the first British car to sell more than a million. The Mini was even a bigger success. The car did not boast new technology – even the transverse engine had been done before. The genius was in how the components were arranged within the tiny body. This is because he was asked to design a new economy car when world oil supplies were getting low.

The masterstroke was placing the gearbox under the engine so that the two used the same oil supply. This ingenuity solved the space problem.

By placing the power unit transversely in the Mini, the engine supported front wheel drive. Virtually all car manufacturers copied this last innovation.

In some places like North America and northern Europe , front wheel is absolutely necessary for driving on snow or ice covered road surfaces that last for a few months of the year.

The other innovation started with the Mini was to use a suspension system with rubber springs instead of the more typical steel springs. This resulted in a compact, all-independent suspension unheard of in a small car. Rubber apparently is one of the substances that stiffen as the load increases.

Finally, the car had tiny 10 inch wheels and a boot lid that folded down to form a platform for carrying Sir Alec’s lawn mower !

In the Mini story, the most significant event as far as the production staff were concerned was Sir Alec’s monumental 11^th hour decision to widen the car by 4 inches !

The Mini has been voted as “The Car of the Century” by some automobile magazines.

References :

-         Oikonomou,K., Aftoshedia diatrivi peri Smyrnis, 1831

-         Rene Puaux, The last days of Smyrne, translated in 1993

-         Margarita Issigoni:, Demosthenes Georgiou Issigonis, Mikrasiatiki Iho, Aug. 2002

-         Kontoyanni,P.,Geography of Asia Minor , 1921,reprinted 1995

Origin of Chile's name

How Chile Got Its Name, the country that is..

The word is pronounced Hele (He, as in heel, then le, as in the name Lee, accent in the second syllable). It means a peninsula or the end of a strip of land that juts into the sea. This meaning is in the Greek language, or to be more exact, in the ancient Greek language. So what the ancient Greeks have to do with Chile? A good question, but a lot has been written on the subject, but unfortunately not from expert language specialists. The obvious similarities between native Mapuche (Chilean) language and ancient Greek cannot be easily dismissed, so many scholars have pointed them out especially in the book by the Chilean chief, Lonko (or chief) Kilapan in 1973 which has been translated into modern Greek and has become quite popular.

The peninsula we are talking about is not very easy to see on a modern map of Chile. The southern end of the country (where the road stops and the land is not inhabited, because it is full of glaciers and big mountains) ends into an island called Chiloe, which is pronounced Hele, or the name of the country, Chile. What happened to the peninsula then? Well, to find the answer to that question, one has to remember that about 10,000 years ago (8,000 years B.C.) the Ice Age had ended and the water that used to be ice had run into the ocean and thus the ocean level rose by about 60 to 100 m. As it did, it flooded previously low-lying areas, possibly with human settlements. This phenomenon has been described as the Big Flood in the legends of many early peoples. There is one exception: ancient Greece. In the extensive legends of the ancient Greeks there is not one Big Flood, but two separate Floods. That, however, is another big story.

Now, in the tradition of the ancient Mapuche there was one event that caused the sea level to rise and the end of the peninsula became an island. That island preserved the name the people originally referred to as “ the peninsula”. When their land became a country, that name became the name of the country.

How could the ancient Greeks get to Chile is a matter of great debate. Well, the Greeks (ancient as well as moderns) have always been sea-fearing peoples that the ancient Egyptians referred to as the “Sea Peoples”. From the earliest age they had traveled far and wide. Travelling across the Mediterranean was considered a routine, small journey. They were familiar with the shape of Africa, for example, well before the 3^rd century B.C. That suggests extensive journeys for many years. Besides travelling they wrote their observations too, even if some of them have not survived themselves we know of these writing, because other writers mentioned them.

Many ideas have been put forward and several books have been published on the subject of ancient Greeks in Chile. Some claim a route along the Amazon and through Peru, another claim arrival from the west by way of the Pacific islands. Trails of Greek names have been found both throughout South America and across the Pacific islands, so it will be a Herculean task to solve that problem.

Cerro Colorado Giant Copper in Panama

http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=8.510063,-81.79759&ll=8.51087,-81.797032&spn=0.019736,0.026093&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=16.71875,56.536561&num=1&t=h&vpsrc=0&z=15&iwloc=ACerro Colorado, Panama: A giant porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit

The discovery of this metal deposit was made by Canadian Javelin, an exploration company run by a Newfoundland businessman of a very acute mind. Reconnaissance work and drilling was carried out in the early 1970’s.  The deposit has not been exploited.

A huge mountain rising to 1200 m above sea level is entirely mineralized with copper. However, no mineralization was noticeable on the surface. The mountain nevertheless is different from the surroundings due to lack of trees, a phenomenon later attributed to the acidity of the soil due to the abundant pyrite in the rock making up the mountain. Pyrite is associated with chalcopyrite, the main copper-bearing mineral. Due to the tropical climate of the area, abundant precipitation has leached the rocks down to several tens of meters below surface at the same time removing the copper from near the surface and depositing it at the bottom of this leached zone. (Due to the extensive weathering the identification of the lithology and alteration is not an easy task) The resultant supergene zone is rich in copper and sometimes molybdenum as well. Below the supergene zone, the rocks are not altered from surface weathering and the mineralization continues to at least sea level (that is as deep as the early drilling reached).

The deposit also contains gold and silver and is cut by later zinc-lead veins.

Mineralization is contemporaneous with two major intrusions: a granodiorite pluton and an earlier Quartz Feldspar Porphyry. Alteration zones normally associated with porphyry copper deposits have been outlined with both these intrusions. Anhydrite is ubiquitous with the metallic minerals. The giant size of the deposit is probably due to the fact that it is made up of two separate intrusive phases in the same general area, not just one. The granodiorite has an age of 6 million years.

Some smaller satellite deposits are also found in the surrounding areas and one is very rich in molybdenum. Exploration efforts were confined to 2-3 mountain ridges (cannibal populations were reported to live beyond). A sparse aboriginal population is scattered in the area. A huge house complex has been built near the continental divide, but there were no roads to the area! Access to the area during the 1970’s was entirely by plane.

The pictures that follow show a ground photo early in the exploration and a current Google Map shot with numerous roads and trails into the area.

The dressed up girls are attending a wedding in a neighbouring community.