An aid and quick archive to help you track the news as it impacts your life;
a tool for historians & reporters



A History Network

Maravot News of the World
10:53 AM – San Francisco
Thu, Mar 3, 2005
(last post)


About Maravot News


Page best viewed in


or
Netscape 7.xx


Trends: news to
keep your eyes on
Special concerns




Faces of the Fallen – Iraq
(photos and names of the fallen)


Metric Conversion

kilometer: 0.6214 mile
meter: 39.37 inches
centimetre: 0.3937 inch
millimetre: 0.03937 inch
foot: 30.48 cm
Br. stone: 14 pounds
kilogram: 2.2046 pounds
litre: 1.0567 US quarts
hectare: 2.471 acres
– 1 djerib (Turkey)
– 1 jerib (Iran)
– 1 gong qing (China)
0° Celcius: = 32° F




Federal Debt vs GDP– Click image for larger view. (OMB)


Chart showing National Debt & Annual Deficits with Presidents. Democrat administrations are blue, Republican in Red. Green reflects projected Bush debt. Click chart for larger image.


Interest exceeds Group A outlays. Click chart for larger image.


Gross Domestic Products. Click chart for larger image.


Blogs, news & stuff
Worth frequent visits

Intrnational Agencies – News

IRIN News, Africa & Asia
Power & Interest News Report


Osama bin Laden fatwas.
This monster's own words will
lead to his destruction
Definition of fatwa (fatwah)
Maravot News Comment

12.17.04
10.29.04
2.23.98

August 1996


Maps of interest

Click on maps for larger image
Iraq and neighbors
Afghanistan & neighbors
Kazakhstan & neighbors

Historical map of Israel. Figure 2 shows the area allocated to
Israel by the UN in 1948. Compare to Israel' s interactive map below of its controversial security wall

Israel's Security Fence. Click on image for larger view.

(AP photo) Click photo for story


Middle East Watch

Middle East Times
TurkishPress.com

Al-jazeera
arabnews
kurdistanobserver

Kurdo's World (Blog)
Iraq the Model (Blog)
Azzaman.com (Iraq)
Iran Focus

Iranmania.com

mehrnews.ir (Iran)
Middle East Newsline
Jerusalem Post

Haaretz Daily

pmwatch.org
Palestine Chronicle
Daily Star (Lebanon)

Debka.com
topix.net (Qatar)
Yemen Daily
Khaleej Times (Yemen)
tajikistannews.net/

Khabar.kz


Russia Watch

RIAN
Pravda.ru
kommersant.com


East Asia Watch

Jang.com.pk
Dawn
Daily Times,com. pk
South Asia Tribune
India Express

Indo-Asian News Service

New Kerala (India)

Hindustan Times

xinhuanet (China)

Asia Times (Hong Kong)
asianewsnet.net
China Daily

Shenzhen Daily
CRI online (China)
Big News Network
Korea Herald

Kyodo News

Japan Times
Japan Today

Daily Yomiuri (Japan)

The Star (Malaysia

The Jakarta Post

Bangkok Post

The Nation (Bangkok)
Kashmir Times
Press Trust of India

Daily News (Sri Lanka)

LankaPage (Sri Lanka)
inq7.net (Phillipines)
news.com.au

theaustralian.news.com.au


Newspapers

The Romance of Anais, an Arthurian-style tale written 1996 describing how Bush got us in the mess in Iraq with a short commentary on the
Chang-an cheat

Duty & Profit, Nov. 1994
Against Leviathan, Jan. 1993
Immoral Coercion, Dec. 1994
Philistia Triumph thou
because of me
, Dec. 1993


I am not responsible for the
content of any links
from this site.


News Headlines & Trends


02.23.05 Iran, China to be connected by railroad

TEHRAN, Feb. 23 (MNA) – Chinese officials have proposed setting up of a consortium comprising of Iran, Afghanistan and China to study how to connect Sarakhs railroad to Chinese territory via Afghanistan in the future, said an official yesterday. Iran has expanded its railroad network in the recent years and tried to play a medium role in the region linking the Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and European Countries to one another. [More>>mehrnews.ir]


02.22.05 Pakistani army ordered to fire at 'intruding' US troops

ISLAMABAD (Indo-Asian News Service) Feb. 22 – In what is seen as the first signal of Pakistan's assertion against US policies in its area, Islamabad has ordered the army to shoot at US troops if they intrude into the country from Afghanistan without authorization "Pakistan has issued new rules of engagement permitting its army to fire at US forces that cross the border from Afghanistan without coordinating first," the Daily Times newspaper said Tuesday in a report from Washington.

The report is based on a "deep background" column in the magazine American Conservative by former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, who is now an international security consultant and writer on intelligence matters. "President Musharraf has been receiving angry reports from his military that US forces have been engaging in hot pursuit across the border in violation of bilateral agreements," the article said.
[More>>hindustantimes.com]


02.22.05 US aims to destablize West Asia: Iran Foreign Minister

NEW DELHI (India News) Feb. 22 – Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, who is on a visit to India, today said that the US wanted to destabilize West Asia with its unilateralism He warned against the use of American force in West Asia.

Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi, Kharrazi said: "Everyone has to stick to multilateralism. We have the United Nations. We have the Security Council. We have different mechanisms to take care of security all over the world. There is no need for a superpower to act unilaterally. We are now glad that multilateralism has been on the forefront and certainly that is the best way to have a secure world. Therefore, I believe that what has happened in Iraq will not be repeated and elsewhere and certainly America has come to this understanding that it would not be easy for it to exercise what they did in other countries."
[More>>newkerala.com]


02.22.05 US plans to sell Patriot to India worry Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Press Trust of India) Feb. 22 – Pakistan may take up with the US the issue of sale of patriot missile defence systems to India, media reports said on Tuesday. Pakistan is expected to take up with the US administration the "proposed sale" of patriot missile defence system, daily Dawn quoting Pakistani defence officials said in a report from Washington.

Pakistan's general head quarters believes that sale of patriots to India would deliver a "serious blow" to Pakistan's nuclear deterrence against India and tilt the balance of power in favour of New Delhi, Pakistan Observer daily said in a report. "If India gets the patriot anti-missile defence system, where do we go, because it would almost be impossible to penetrate with the Ghauri and Hataf missiles that we have," it quoted a Pakistan defence official as saying.
[More>>expressindia.com; see also dawn.com]


02.22.05 Russians neither like USA nor hate it

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) Feb. 22 – The US-Russia relations have not changed much recently, think Russians. The result was given to RIA Novosti by the National Public Opinion Research Center VTsIOM on the eve of the Russia-US summit meeting in Bratislava. A relative majority of the polled assess bilateral relations as "normal and calm" (36% and 38% in 2001 and 2005, respectively). The number of those who think the relations are "cool" or "strained" has dropped from 43% in 2001 to 30% in 2005. In other words, the assessments are far from either hatred or love of America. In general, 59% assess bilateral relations positively and 34%, negatively. [More>>rian.ru]


02.22.05 Hundreds killed in Iranian quake

Feb. 22 – A strong earthquake has hit dozens of villages in southern Iran, killing at least 500 people and hurting many more. The 6.4-magnitude quake struck just before 0600 (0230 GMT) and was centred near Zarand in Kerman province, 740km (460 miles) from the capital, Tehran. Some 30,000 people in about 40 villages spread over a wide, mountainous area have been affected. Casualties are expected to rise as rescue workers reach the province. Heavy rain is hampering rescue work. [More>bbc.co.uk; see also iranmania.com: According to the reports, 15 villages of the town of Ravar, located in the vicinity of Zarand, have been damaged by 25 to 45%. Two villages are said to have seen almost all of their buildings destroyed, Iranian television reports. The access road to one of the villages has been blocked by a landslide caused by the earthquake.

There was also a strong quake in the Philippines. No damage was reported: LEGAZPI CITY -- An intensity 5.2 tectonic earthquake occurred near the vicinity of Masbate province around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) here said the epicenter of the earthquake was located at 60 kilometers north and 48 degrees west of the main island of Masbate. Resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta said the movement of the Sibuyan Sea fault could be the possible source of the shallow earthquake. [More>>inq7.net]


02.22.05 NATO leaders pledge to help Iraq

BRUSSELS (World News) Feb. 22 – All 26 Nato member countries are now helping the Iraqi government, officials announced at a Brussels summit attended by US President George W. Bush. According to the BBC, French President Jacques Chirac - a staunch opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq - said France would join the NATO mission to train Iraqi forces. "Europe and the United States are true partners," he told the summit, urging more dialogue. Bush said NATO was the "cornerstone" of the transatlantic relationship. [More>>newkerala.com]


02.22.05 Police want NIS 61 million to counter Temple Mount threats

JERUSALEM, Feb. 22 – The police are demanding an additional NIS 61 million to counter increasingly grave threats of an attack on the Temple Mount. Speaking Tuesday at a Knesset Finance Committee meeting on police and Public Security Ministry budgets, Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi added that an additional 187 job slots will need to be created to contend with the alerts. Prisons Service Commissioner Yaakov Ganot revealed that he had been allocated NIS 19 million to prepare 900 prison slots ahead of the implementation of the disengagement plan. These prison places could be filled with Jewish protesters should they try to disrupt the disengagement. [More>>haaretzdaily.com]


02.22.05 Police want NIS 61 million to counter Temple Mount threats

BEIRUT, Feb. 22 – At exactly 12.55pm a crowd of tens of thousands of people went completely silent, whereas a second before they were screaming out their hunger for "freedom, sovereignty and independence." Seven days after the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, tens of thousands of Lebanese carrying anti-Syrian banners swarmed the sea front area where Hariri was killed last Monday, roaring thundering chants of "Yalla, Syria out."

"We have had enough of Syrian secret intelligence ruling our country and killing those they don't like," shouted Joseph Njeim, as he distributed black and white flags printed by university students with the slogan: "We will fight till we get our freedom." [More>>dailystar.com.lb]


02.22.05 Philippines arrests bomb suspects

Feb. 22 – Philippine security forces say they have arrested two men suspected of involvement in last week's Valentine's Day bombing in Manila. They said the men were suspected of being members of the Abu Sayyaf group, which said it carried out the Manila bombing and two other attacks in the south of the country on the same day, killing a total of 13 people and wounding more than 100. [More>>Al-Jazeera]


02.22.05 Aceh rebels say ready to abandon independence goal

HELSINKI (Reuters) Feb. 22 – Aceh rebels are willing to drop their 30-year demand for independence in peace talks with Indonesia in Helsinki, a spokesman said on Tuesday. ³The conflict cannot be solved like that and we have to come to terms with that,² Free Aceh Movement (GAM) spokesman Bakhtiar Abdullah said when asked if the goal of full independence had been abandoned in the interest of achieving greater autonomy. ³That is the main thing on the table,² he told Reuters, referring to self government. ³Of course in the negotiations we go with the tangible things that are on the table.² [More>>khaleejtimes.com]


02.22.05 Kazakhstan looking for new routes for gas pipelines

Feb. 22 – Kazakhstan is looking for new routes of gas transportation. China is considered to be the potential partner, said Vladimir Shkolnik, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of RK at the governmental hour in the Parliament. It has not been ruled out that soon gas will be exported to China. While construction of the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline has yet to be completed, officials are already talking about a new project, – Vladimir Shkolnik, minister of energy and mineral resources, said in Astana. Legislators are proposing to immediately supply gas to remote villages. Several years ago a gas pipeline was being constructed towards Northern Kazakhstan. We were able to work using the method of substitution, and it was possible to transport our Western gas to the North. However this work was halted without an explanation, said Mikhail Troshikhin, MP of RK. [More>>khabar.kz]


02.22.05 Dollar falls on reserve shift worries

NEW YORK (Reuters) Feb. 22 – The dollar fell on Tuesday, as market worries that central banks were diversifying reserves out of U.S. assets pushed the currency below key technical support levels. The dollar seesawed in choppy trade, recovering some losses against the euro, after the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for February came in at 104.0, above economists' forecasts for a reading of 102.9. The consumer expectations component fell to 95.7..Midmorning in New York, the euro was trading around $1.3208 according to Reuters data, down from $1.3218 shortly before the consumer confidence report, but up about 1.1 percent from late on Monday in New York. South Korea's central bank said on Monday it planned to diversify its reserves, which are the world's fourth largest, into a greater variety of currencies. [More>>reuters.com]


02.22.05 Dubai-based gold exchange aims to rank among world's top five

Feb. 22 – The Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange (DGCX), a Dubai-India venture due to be operational later this year, could rank among the world's top exchanges within five years, an official said Monday. "Within three to five years, the DGCX can become among the first five exchanges in the world," Jignesh Shah, managing director of Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX), told AFP. "MCX was launched 15 months back and has become the third largest exchange in the world in bullion," said Shah, speaking on the sidelines of the Third Dubai City of Gold Conference. The DGCX, to be up and running in the second half of 2005, is a joint venture between the Dubai Metals and Commodities Center (DMCC), MCX and Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. (FTIL), of which Shah is chairman. [More>>dailystar.com.lb]


02.22.05 India, Britain suspend military aid to Nepal

NEW DELHI, Feb. 22 – Turning on the heat, India and Britain have cut off military aid to Nepal following the seizure of power by King Gyanendra and declaration of emergency in the country on February 1. "In view of current disturbed conditions in Nepal, no military supplies have been delivered since February one," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters here today while responding to a question. [More>>Press Trust of India]


02.22.05 Chirac backs German call for revamp of NATO

BRUSSELS (Reuters) Feb. 22 – French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday endorsed a controversial call by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder for a revamp of NATO, which the United States has rebuffed..."We must also, as the German chancellor has underlined, continue to take account of the changes that have occurred on the European continent," Chirac said, referring to the end of the Cold War and the rise of an enlarged and increasingly integrated European Union. [More>>reuters.com]


02.22.05 North Korea renews hope for six-party talks

PYONGYANG, Feb. 22 – Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said yesterday the country is willing to return to six-party talks when conditions are ripe. Kim Jong-il, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, told a visiting senior Chinese official that he wishes all sides will take enough action with sincerity. [More>>chinadaily.com.cn


02.22.05 Income gap grows wider in Beijing

Feb. 22 – The income gap among urban residents in Beijing is widening, according to figures released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. The average income of the richest 20 per cent of its residents is four times that of the poorest 20 per cent, according to figures for last year. Customers look at a car at sales in a Beijing market on February 21, 2005. [newsphoto]
That ratio was 3.4:1 for 2003, sources said.

Different educational levels were the most influential factors contributing to the widening income gap, according to sources with the statistics bureau. Average per capita income for the richest group was 29,600 yuan (US$3,600) last year. But the figure for the poorest 20 per cent was only 7,400 (US$890) yuan.
[More>>chinadaily.com.cn]


02.22.05 At least 136 dead, 47 missing in garbage slide in Indonesia

Feb. 22 – (Xinhua) At least 136 have been confirmed dead and 47 others missing in a garbage slide in Bandung district in Indonesia's West Java province, an official with the provincial social department said Tuesday. [More>>xinhuanet.com]


02.22.05 Update, 02.21.05 Record rains California; record snows in Kashmir

Feb.22 – Kashmir avalanche toll increases. At least 170 people have been killed and hundreds more are missing in Indian-administered Kashmir following the worst snowfalls in two decades. Avalanches and mud slides triggered by heavy rain have buried entire villages and crushed houses across the area. The Indian army has been rescuing people from remote villages, many of whom have been trapped for two days. Many areas in Indian and Pakistani administered Kashmir are still cut-off as fears grow of food shortages. [More>>bbc.co.uk]

Though in two different parts of the world, heavy rains hitting California this past week – believed to be worse than those received in the last "El Niño" – and heavy snows in Kashmir may be related: the southern oceans are warming up.

Los Angeles' latimes.com reports: "....Since the storm began Thursday, about 6.5 inches of rain had fallen in downtown Los Angeles -- the fifth wettest season on record, according to the weather service. A total of 31.36 inches of rain has fallen since the season began on July 1 and forecasters expect the region to break other century-old records by the time the season ends June 30. The wettest season on record was 1883-84, when 38.01 inches fell..."

Malaysia's thestar.com.my (AP) reports: "SRINAGAR, India (AP) – Thousands of travelers were trapped Saturday along a stretch of mountainous highway in Kashmir, as more than three meters (10 feet) of snow fell in 24 hours, blocking roads, breaking power lines and halting phone services across much of the Himalayan region, authorities said.

Ten highway workers trying to clear the road were swept away when an avalanche of snow poured over them, said Rauf ul-Hafan, the highway superintendent for the traffic police, but six were rescued. Authorities were searching for the others.

He said about 4,000 people were believed to be trapped between the villages of Banihal, about 100 kms (60 miles) south of Srinagar, and Ramban, about 50 kilometers further south..."


02.19.05 'Dog-Deer' clan seen as common Chinese ancestor

An article in chinadaily.com.cn reports on an ongoing study by 76-year-old Mang Muren, a Mongolian researcher from the Institute for Origins of Asian Nations at Inner Mongolia Normal University. Mang Muren has found linguistic associations in the names of Chinese and Mongolian tribes and place names that contain the words for dog and deer.

The Sorcerer from the cave of "Les TroisFreres," French Pyrenees; sketch by Breuil. Paintings in the cave date from the late Paleolithic c. 40,000–c. 10,000 BC). A site on this cave and others is at Don's Maps, http://donsmaps.com/cavepaintings3.html.
The relationship goes back to a time about 15,000 years ago when the scholar says the Mongolian race was forming, and in this period there were two clans: the clan named after the word for "dog" and the other named after the word for "deer." Initially there was intermarriage, according to the theory, and then the clans merged into the "Dog-Deer" clan. According to the article:

Mang Muen believes that not only the Mongolian, but also the Han and most of the other ethnic groups in China are descendants of the dog and deer. In his opinion, the mutual ancestors of most of today's Chinese ethnic groups are a "Dog-Deer" clan (Quan-Lu Shi), who lived about 15,000 years ago in the Zdalai Nuur area of Inner Mongolia and Qiqihar area of Heilongjiang Province. When Mang Muren refers to the "Dog-Deer" clan, he is talking about the Zdalai Nuur Man. From 1933 to 1982, 16 skulls and pottery fragments and microlith were unearthed in Zdalai Nuur. Archaeologists acknowledged the Zdalai Nuur Man to be a developing Mongoloid, and their group to be a clan from the Mesolithic Period or Middle Stone Age.

According to Mang Muren, the Zdalai Nuur Man were divided into two consanguineous groups: the "dog raisers" who lived in the hilly land and prairie of the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River and upper reaches of the Songhuajiang River, represented by the Yanjiagang site of Harbin and Angangxi site of Qiqihar. The "deer raisers," meanwhile, lived in the mountain and forest areas, represented by the Mogushan site of Manzhouli and Gaxiandong site of Hulunbuir.

He said that the "dog raisers" were the first to domesticate dogs, while the "deer raisers" were the first to domesticate deer. Later the two groups gradually abolished inner marriages, and became an integrated clan through intermarriage and adopted "Dog-Deer" as their name.

Mang Muren released his "Dog-Deer Doctrine" in 2004, but he began to accumulate material for it long before then....Mang Muren pointed out that dogs and deer were firstly named "kan" and "kaq" according to their cries, and these terms are preserved in most languages of the Sino-Tibetan and Altaic language family.

For example, "quan," the Chinese character for dogs, comes from "kan," and in Mongolian language, the cries of dogs are described as "gang," which also originated in "kan."

To back his doctrine, Mang Muren also turned to religions. In ancient China, people in the north, west and central areas believed in shamanism. In Mongolian, shamanism is called "bo morgul," which means "religion of the deer."

The Han people call shamanism "wu," which comes from "kaq," though they do seem different now after many variations in a long history.

Further evidence of the "Dog-Deer" doctrine is totem. Mang Muren believed that when small groups began to be united as clans about 6,000 years ago, totems were formed on the basis of the animals that each group worshiped. As a result, the dragon came into being, mainly combining the characteristics of the dog and deer, and later adding parts of the tiger, snake, fish and bear.

"Now we often say that the Chinese are descendants of the dragon, but actually we are descendants of the dog and deer," he said.
[More>>chinadaily.com.cn]

Editorial Note:

Mang Muren's study addresses linguistic and anthropological connections, referring to the Han people's term for shamanism, which is related to the word for deer, "kaq." The period of time in which the Mongolian "Dog-Deer clan was forming is the period of the last Ice Age, 14,000 B.C.-11,000 B.C. Without getting into a long discussion on shamanism and totemism (which is what Mang Muren's study addresses) it is interesting that the Han shamanistic symbol of a "dog-deer" resembles the image of aboriginal shamans and also The Sorcerer in the cave of Les Trois-Freres. The Sorcerer is an image of the "lion-deer."

Mythologically speaking, there appears to be a distant connection between the "Dog-Deer" of the Han and the "lion-deer" in The Sorcerer. And that link may be through the Celts (just a theory of this writer).

One of the great heroes of the Celts is the mythical figure of Cúchulainn, "the hound (cú) of Chulainn. The story of this hero who transformed into various fierce shapes and defended an Irish herd of cattle – the focus of a great war – is called The Tain. In Greco-Roman mythology we have the hero Hercules whose image is that of a man carrying a club, dressed in the skin of a lion (he killed the lion in one of his 12 labors). Among the Celts was also a god named Curnunnos who may have been like Pluto, god of the Underworld, representing booth death and wealth. His image carried a sac of coins and his head was crowned with deer antlers. Also associated with him is the Divine Bull which can be seen on the bottom of the Gundestrop cauldron. Seen on the Gundestrop cauldron is the Divine Bull kicking dogs. He is by appearance being hunted by a Celtic god / hero Wodin (Norse, Odin) who by tradition appears in the sky, crossing in front of the moon, in a great hunt with his dogs on Halloween eve, called Samhain. Odin is known as the god of the hanged.

The Divine Bull and lion are symbols of another hero –of Sumer and Akkad – named Gilgamesh. One of his labors was to subdue the Divine Bull. The heads of kings of Sumer and Akkad were crowned with horns of a bull, and their epithets carried the fierce power of the bull in them. The story of Gilgamesh contains two themes: the search for eternal life and the story of the flood. The character in the story – who is like the Biblical Noah – lives at the edge of the sea, either in India or towards India. The reason why he lives on the coast and in India is owing to the fact that he lives where the sun rises, and the sun rose from the Mesopotamian (and others) point of view from the eastern sea and sank in the western sea. This relates to the Aryans of India as well, since the main feature of the Rig Veda, the Hindu holy book, included worship three times a day, with the dawn ceremony probably being the most auspicious. The ceremony involved the sacrifice of cattle, including horses (a feature of Celtic and Scythian sacrifices).

The Indus Valley was invaded about 2,000-1,200 B.C. by Indo-European people called Aryans. A civilization, including such sites as Harappa, came to an end, possibly as a result of the invasion. It is interesting, however, that a spitting image* of Curnunnos appears on seals found in the ruins of the Indus Valley civilization, leaving us the question, were the Harappans Aryans?

Then we have the Tocharian connection. The Tocharians were red-headed people who spoke an Indo-European language and buried their dead much after the manner of the Scythians and Indo-Europeans. Scythian tombs are still being discovered in Kyrgyzstan and south, across the Tian Shan mountains is the Tarim Basin, where the Tocharians were located.The Tocharians wore clothing carrying patterns very similar to Celtic and Germanic designs. To read more about them go to: http://www.oxuscom.com/eyawtkat.htm.

Then we have the mythology of the ancestors of the Mongols, two brothers who formed two clans that separated near lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan, not far from the area of the Kyrgistan burials.

Then we find in the "Dog-Deer" clan a connection in the terms for dog in Chinese, "kan," and Indo-European terms: French, chien; Albanian, Qen, Greek, Kyin, Tocharian, cu, Gaelic, cu, Sanscrit, kukura, Serbo-Croatian, kuka, Latin, canis, Italian, canis. And in English we have "cur" [<ME curre] as well as "dog" and "hound." The word for deer varies, since in English we have the words, deer, stag, hart and doe (f. deer). The Han "caq" is close to English "stag" [< OE stagge]. Also there may be an argument for a relationship to Latin, cervus, Italian, cervo, Polish, sarva, Sudovian sirvis and French cerf.

Just as
Mang Muren has discovered totemistic relationships in Chinese and Mongolian names, it may be that a similar structure can be found in the Indo-European concept of the Lion King, from Agamemnon who graced the gates of his city, Mycenae, with two llions, to modern kings and nobles – such as the British crown – who carry the lion and the hart on their shields.
Chinese archaelogy is placing the origin of the Chinese and Mongolian peoples in northwestern China. Maybe the Indo-Europeans – at least some of them – came from that area as well.

My work on the Etruscan language and culture – which is Indo-European – and its relationships focuses on these connections. It inquires into the source of the Indo-European languages, which most linguists place in the steppes above the Black Sea. It may be that we will have to move the source closer to Kyrgyzstan and the Lake Balkhash region and the Tarim Basin of China.

The Etruscan language and its relationship to other Indo-European languages is at: http://www.maravot.com/Etruscan_Phrases_a.html. Mythological connections, such as the Rig Veda, are explored in a work, "Banquet of the gods," http://www.maravot.com/Banquet.html.

In short, I found the article on Mang Muren's work quite informative, and maybe there is a closer relationship between the Mongoloid peoples and the Indo-European peoples than thought possible.
Mel Copeland


*"Spitting Image" – It is odd that I used this English expression. The images made in Les Tres-Freres and other caves, as well as 20th century aboriginal paintings in Australia, etc., were made by spitting pigments onto the wall of the cave, or object. Hand prints come out quite nice that way.


02.19.05 No bribe, no soup

Editorial note: Saturday's turkishpress.com had an article about a soup commercial being pulled off Turkish television channels because of Bulgaria's sensitivity to a bribe-taking policeman being featured in the ad. Apparently Turkish travelers through Bulgaria complain they are robbed and forced to pay bribes to police. In the exchange of the bribe, a person asks a policeman for directions and the policeman responds, "money for soup," a local phrase for a bribe. While the commercial did not identify in its presentation that the policeman was Bulgarian, apparently the essence of the "money for soup" practice is Bulgarian.

Bulgaria should not be that upset. There are other peoples that are far worse. The "money for soup" practice is a small-scale version of common American political life. In the United States people are not that sensitive about bribery, as demonstrated in the Bush administration's rise to power. But here we call "bribery" "influence peddling" and generally the amount of US bribes runs in the millions, and the halls of Congress are, of course, more packed with influence peddlers than the halls of Louis XVI. In Congress and the halls of nations companies, like Enron, Halliburton, etc., pander for higher stakes than a can of soup and many have Bush's army to help them on the way.

A people tend to resemble their leaders, according to Hobbes' Leviathan and before it Cicero's, The Offices. Thus there is corruption where the leaders are corrupt. I don't apologize for corruption – nor do I enjoy it any more than the French enjoyed the furnishings of Louix XVI in his times. I just recognize that people have a hard time challenging the corrupt when they themselves embrace corruption. I know if a voice in the wilderness is heard complaining eventually there will be an answer.

And the answer can be calamitous, keeping in mind:

T'ai Chia, When Heaven sends
down calamities,
There is hope of weathering them;
When man brings them upon
himself
There is no hope of escape.

In today's world there are so many people complaining I lament in the press the trouble of responding. Alas, the song of the weary has no ear.
Mel Copeland


STILL IN THE NEWS

02.17.05 China sees CIA warning 'on China's military efforts'

Feb. 17 – The director of the US Central Intelligence Agency changed the tone of his predecessors in the annual assessment about China on Wednesday, warning China's military modernisation is tilting the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait and increasing the threat to US forces in the region.

CIA Director Porter Goss, left, with FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, during a hearing to examine the global threats against the United States on the Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 in Washington. [AP] CIA Director Porter Goss, left, with FBI Director Robert Mueller testifies before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, during a hearing to examine the global threats against the United States on the Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2005 in Washington. [AP] Delivering the agency's annual assessment of worldwide threats on Wednesday, Porter Goss, a former Republican congressman who was named in September to head the CIA, dropped any mention of the co-operative elements of the US-China relationship that characterised recent CIA statements. Instead, he said China was making determined military and diplomatic efforts to ³counter what it sees as US efforts to contain or encircle China².

"China is increasingly confident and active on the international stage," said Goss, "trying to ensure that it has a voice on international issues and secure access to natural resources and to counter what it sees as United States' efforts to contain or encircle it."

Goss said: "If Beijing decides that Taiwan is taking steps toward permanent separation, we assess China is prepared to respond with varying levels of force." Nevertheless, Washington has remained the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing 25 years ago.
[More>>chinadaily.com.cn]

02.16.05 CIA, FBI warn panel of top threats to US

WASHINGTON (AP) Feb. 16 – Al-Qaida and associated groups top the list of threats to the United States, leading government intelligence officials told Congress on Wednesday in a grim assessment that also highlighted Iran's emergence as a major threat to American interests in the Middle East. Despite gains made against al-Qaida and other affiliates, CIA Director Porter Goss, in an unusually blunt statement before the mostly secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, said the terror group is intent on finding ways to circumvent U.S. security enhancements to attack the homeland. "It may be only a matter of time before al-Qaida or other groups attempt to use chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear weapons. We must focus on that," Goss said. [More>>Associated Press]


02.16.05 Syria and Iran to form "common front"

TEHRAN. Feb. 16 – Iran and Syria, both locked in rows with the United States, said on Wednesday they would form a common front to face challenges and threats. ³We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats,² Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Aref said in Tehran after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Naji Al-Otari. Otari told reporters: ³This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front." [More>>khaleejtimes.com; see also iranfocus.com and aljazeera.net]


EDITORIALS

02.15.05 Bush & Rice affects upon Iran's liaisons: it's all about oil and gas
12.23.04 US is losing war of ideas
12.21.04 United States attacking itself from behind


NOTES

(2) The name, Allah, in Arabic is an expression of surprise. It is not unusual for the God of the Bible to be known by many names . Jewish Midrash quotes passages in the Old Testament (Torah) that cite as many as seventy names of God (and more). But they can all be reduced down to one name.

Maravot's Homepage


Launched: 10.25.04 / 11.02.04
Updated: 2.21.05; 2.22.05; 2.23.05

Visitors since 10.25.04

Copyright © 1981-2005 Maravot. All rights reserved
Copyright © 1981-2005 Mel Copeland. All rights reserved
Painting of Apple by Mel Copeland, early 70's
Background: tile from Cicero's villa (Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)