Where WAS the Holy Land? Over the last few decades doubts have been steadily rising among archaeologists and theologians over whether Christianity really did originate in the Middle East. Doubts started to appear when experts queried why, if Christ was a Jew, the overwhelming racial mix of Christianity today is Caucasian and Latino and the fact that the two religions of Judaism and Christianity are practically immiscible. These doubts have led people to investigate other possible areas of the globe where Christianity might have had its origins. At the moment, interest is being focussed on the United Kingdom and more specifically, East Anglia, Suffolk and Newmarket. It is common knowledge that Newmarket has been a centre of equine activities for many centuries. But it wasn`t until a piece of hand finished timber was unearthed in the foundation of a stable of one of the older training establishments in the centre of town, that informed opinion began to coalesce around the fact that this area may have been the birthplace of Christianity. Given that Jesus was born in a stable gives credence to this theory and subsequent carbon dating of the wood fragment puts its age at about 2000 years. Additionally, spectrometry and chemical analysis indicate that this specimen had been in contact with horses, hay and oats and was of the type of wood used for fodder holders 2000 years ago. It should also be noted that at this time East Anglia was a sheep and wool area upon which its economy rested and thrived. This would account for the arrival of the "three shepherds" - not to pay homage, but, like Mary and Joseph, seeking accommodation as next day was Tuesday, market day, and all other accommodation had been taken. They were obviously there to sell their sheep the next day. (It would also seem more likely that there would be shepherds in the lush grasslands of East Anglia rather than in the arid deserts of the Middle East). Similarly, the "three wise men" were late arrival meat wholesalers, there to buy sheep and cattle for the butchery trade and offering to pay for their share of the stable for the evening. Experts from the British Museum and Harvard, in the U.S.A have confirmed that passing on the name of Christ’s birthplace, Newmarket, first by word of mouth, then by writing and translation into several different languages could, quite easily, transpose Newmarket into Nazareth. Considering Christ’s early years as a carpenter with his father, it is known that, until recently there was a caravan manufacturing company in the town called "Caravans International", formally "Sprite Caravans" and before that "Alpersons”. Again experts have shown that the word "alperson" can, quite easily, be transposed into"Aleppo", a town in Syria for the same reasons as the transposition of Newmarket. The historic origins of this company could easily have provided Joseph with employment and Jesus with an apprenticeship, and may have built the actual crib that he was born in! It has also been noted that the word "caravan" is a common word in both the west and the Middle East; a commonality that could have led to past confusion. Many child psychologists have explained Christ`s 40 days in the wilderness as a teenager trying to find his identity. He probably spent this time in the east Essex marshes where the mists and moaning winds could quite easily influence a young man near starvation. The seventh century chapel of Saint Peter`s on the wall bears witness to this. possibly commemorating the importance of His deliberations in the area. On his return from the "wilderness" with his beliefs crystallised, Jesus set about passing these on to the wider public and soon gained a large following of like minded people. From these He picked twelve as His assistants. These were mainly fishermen, so indicating that his early travels and ministrations were along the coasts of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. This is borne out by the sermon on the mount and the feeding of the five thousand. The sermon on the mount probably took place on the cliff tops at Happisburg, while the feeding of the five thousand probably involved a bloater from Great Yarmouth and a kipper from Lowestoft. As this area of Norfolk was well known for wheat and corn, there would have been no difficulty in providing bread. The miracle of Jesus walking on water is obviously Him crossing from the mainland to Mersea Island on the river Blackwater in Essex just as the tide covered the causeway. Similarly, Jesus saving His disciples from a storm while out fishing is probably a legend built on the exploits of Grace Darling (a lighthouse keeper’s daughter) in 1838 saving the crew of a wrecked ship in Norfolk. The fact that king John was nearly drowned while attempting to cross the Wash near Kings Lynn in Norfolk can only be a local depiction of the actual baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. The crucifixion of Christ can be traced to a village in north Norfolk rather than the middle eastern Calgary. Today, there is an annual pilgrimage to Walsingham Abbey in north Norfolk by believers carrying wooden crosses - this cannot be a coincidence. The discovery of a piece of cloth dated to the time of Christ at Grimes Graves in the chalk brecklands of central Norfolk indicates that this was the tomb of Jesus to which he was moved after his crucifixion. Finally, the fact cannot be ignored that Christ’s ascension into Heaven bears a remarkable resemblance to Ipswich Town F.C`s arising from the ashes to win the F.A cup in 1978 and the UEFA cup in 1980. Not to mention it`s rise from near relegation to the Second Division to it`s current position of second in the Championship It should also be noted that the Ipswich Town centre forward of the 1980`s was called Paul Mariner - two names closely resembling two of the disciples - Saint Paul and Saint Matthew! Although none of these facts are conclusive, they do lend strength to the growing theory that perhaps, just perhaps, Newmarket was the birthplace of Christianity.
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Philosophical Thoughts If I say this sentence is not true, am I telling the truth?
If my car is only a car because we have all agreed to call it a car and really it is just an intellectual construct, will it still cause a lot of damage if it crashes? If a tree falls in the forest when no one is there, does it make a sound? If the brakes fail on this car of mine as I`m driving towards a group of children crossing the road, am I justified in swinging the car up onto the pavement and knocking just one pedestrian down? Seen chalked on a wall in an anonymous university quad:- There was a young man who said, "God Must find it exceedingly odd To think that the tree Should continue to be When there`s no one about in the quad". Underneath, in another hand was written "Dear Sir, your astonishment`s odd, I am always about in the quad. And that`s why the tree Will continue to be Since observed," Yours Faithfully, God Global Warming - Let Nature Take It`s Course Let me introduce a personal hypothesis If we assume the Industrial Age began in 1750 (this date keeps figures round), the world population then was jut under 1 billion. Today, 2023, it is just about 8 billion and increasing at a rate of about 80 million a year. If we can reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050, the population will have increased by 2.2 billion to 10.2 billion (assuming arithmetic growth as geometric is too difficult to calculate and anyway this website doesn`t host superscripts!) Although carbon emissions should (in theory) steadily decrease to zero by 2050 the existing carbon dioxide loading in the atmosphere will still produce a temperature rise up to and beyond this date. The rate of temperature rise will steadily decrease with time as carbon in the atmosphere reduces either naturally or by mans efforts, or both. I don`t think it unreasonable to assume that the rate of cooling will take as long as the rate of heating ie. 300 years or 2350 Now, here`s the rub, if the population carries on increasing at 80 million a year or 1 billion every 12 years! That`s another 25 billion on top of the 11 billion in 2050. (3 times the current population!) An increase on this scale will involve massive pressure on urban land and a consequential pressure on land for food production. The ultimate dilemma - more mouths to feed and less food to put in them. Added to this, global warming is expected to have a deliterious effect on current areas of food production. To add fuel to the fire (so to speak), this rise in population will make it difficult to keep carbon emissions to zero, even with new, as yet unknown, technologies. It is suggested that these temperature rises will also cause sea level rises of 5 metres or more. This will result in many coastal areas being inundated including large cities such as London, Tokyo, New York, so driving more people inland to occupy available agricultural land. As global warming increases and then decreases over the next 350 years, pressures will build up on populations merely to exist, leading to mass famines, mass population movements and possibly mass conflicts as those that "have" try to protect what they have from those that "have not". The downside of this is a possible drastic decline in the human population until a balance is reached where production balances demand. The upside, of course, is a decrease in any carbon dioxide production and an acceleration of global cooling. This is how nature works. Today, for example, migratory birds are arriving here earlier only to find that the insects they feed on have not yet hatched. This results in more birds dying, fewer chicks and therefore less migrants next year....and so it goes on!
New Year Resolutions We would like to hear some of your New Year resolutions and your reason for them. serious. humorous or just downright weird!
We`ll publish the best, anonymously, of course. Go to Contact Us to submit your resolutions Where WAS the Holy Land Over the last few decades doubts have been steadily rising among archaeologists and theologians over whether Christianity really did originate in the Middle East. Doubts started to appear when experts queried why, if Christ was a Jew, the overwhelming racial mix of Christianity today is Caucasian and Latino and the fact that the two religions of Judaism and Christianity are practically immiscible. These doubts have led people to investigate other possible areas of the globe where Christianity might have had its origins. At the moment, interest is being focussed on the United Kingdom and more specifically, East Anglia, Suffolk and Newmarket. It is common knowledge that Newmarket has been a centre of equine activities for many centuries. But it wasn`t until a piece of hand finished timber was unearthed in the foundation of a stable of one of the older training establishments in the centre of town, that informed opinion began to coalesce around the fact that this area may have been the birthplace of Christianity. Given that Jesus was born in a stable gives credence to this theory and subsequent carbon dating of the wood fragment puts its age at about 2000 years. Additionally, spectrometry and chemical analysis indicate that this specimen had been in contact with horses, hay and oats and was of the type of wood used for fodder holders 2000 years ago. It should also be noted that at this time East Anglia was a sheep and wool area upon which its economy rested and thrived. This would account for the arrival of the "three shepherds" - not to pay homage, but, like Mary and Joseph, seeking accommodation as next day was Tuesday, market day, and all other accommodation had been taken. They were obviously there to sell their sheep the next day. (It would also seem more likely that there would be shepherds in the lush grasslands of East Anglia rather than in the arid deserts of the Middle East) Similarly, the "three wise men" were late arrival meat wholesalers, there to buy sheep and cattle for the butchery trade and offering to pay for their share of the stable for the evening. Experts from the British Museum and Harvard, in the U.S.A have confirmed that passing on the name of Christs birthplace, Newmarket, first by word of mouth, then by writing and translation into several different languages could, quite easily, transpose Newmarket into Nazareth. Considering Christs early years as a carpenter with his father, it is known that, until recently there was a caravan manufacturing company in the town called "Caravans Internationl", formally "Sprite Caravans" and before that "Alpersons. Again experts have shown that the word "alperson" can, quite easily, be transposed into"Aleppo", a town in Syria for the same reasons as the transposition of Newmarket. The historic origins of this company could easily have provided Joseph with employment and Jesus with an apprenticeship, and may have built the actual crib that he was born in! It has also been noted that the word "caravan" is a common word in both the west and the Middle East; a commonality that could have led to past confusion. Many child psychologists have explained Christ`s 40 days in the wilderness as a teenager trying to find his identity. He probably spent this time in the east Essex marshes where the mists and moaning winds could quite easily influence a young man near starvation. The seventh century chapel of Saint Peter`s on the wall bears witness to this. possibly commemorating the importance of His deliberations in the area. On his return from the "wilderness" with his beliefs crystallised, Jesus set about passing these on to the wider public and soon gained a large following of like minded people. From these He picked twelve as His assistants. These were mainly fishermen, so indicating that his early travels and ministrations were along the coasts of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk This is born out by the sermon on the mount and the feeding of the five thousand. The sermon on the mount probably took place on the cliff tops at Happisburg, while the feeding of the five thousand probably involved a bloater from Great Yarmouth and a kipper from Lowestoft. As this area of Norfolk was well known for wheat and corn, there would have been no difficulty in providing bread The miracle of Jesus walking on water is obviously Him crossing from the mainland to Mersea Island on the river Blackwater in Essex just as the tide covered the causeway. Similarly, Jesus saving His disciples from a storm while out fishing is probably a legend built on the exploits of Grace Darling (a lighthouse keepers daughter) in 1838 saving the crew of a wrecked ship in Norfolk. The fact that king John was nearly drowned while attempting to cross the Wash near Kings Lynn in Norfolk can only be a local depiction of the actual baptism of Christ by John the Baptist The crucifiction of Christ can be traced to a village in north Norfolk rather than the middle eastern Calgary. Today, there is an annual pilgrimage to Walsingham Abbey in north Norfolk by believers carrying wooden crosses - this cannot be a coincidence The discovery of a piece of cloth dated to the time of Christ at Grimes Graves in the chalk brecklands of central Norfolk indicates that this was the tomb of Jesus to which he was moved after his crucifiction. Finally, the fact cannot be ignored that Christs ascension into Heaven bears a remarkable resemblance to Ipswich Town F.C`s arising from the ashes to win the F.A cup in 1978 and the UEFA cup in 1980. It should also be noted that the Ipswich Town centre forward of the 1980`s was called Paul Mariner - two names closely resembling two of the disciples - Saint Paul and Saint Matthew! Although none of these facts are conclusive, they do lend strength to the growing theory that perhaps, just perhaps, Newmarket was the birthplace of Christianity Temperature Conversions This may be a bit late now, but here`s how to convert degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit and conversely convert degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius Convert Celsius to Fahrenheit For any temperature TC, multiply it by 9/5 and add 32 Therefore degrees Fahrenheit = (TC x 9/5) + 32 e.g 45C = (45 x 9/5) + 32 = 113F Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius For any temperature TF subtract 32 and multiply it by 5/9 Therefore degrees Celsius = (TF - 32) x 5/9 e.g 113F = (113 - 32) x 5/9 = 45C The logics behind this are as follows
On the Fahrenheit scale, freezing point is 32F and boiling point is 212F - a difference of 180 degrees On the Celsius scale, freezing point is 0C and boiling point is 100C - a difference of 100 degrees Therefore, for every degree Fahrenheit there are 100/180 or 5/9 degrees Celsius. Similarly, for every degree Celsius there are 180/100 degrees Fahrenheit or 9/5 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, because freezing point on the Fahrenheit scale is 32 degrees while on the Celsius scale it is 0 you have to add 32 degrees to the result of converting the Celsius temperature by 9/5 to degrees Fahrenheit For a similar reason, you must subtract 32 from the Fahrenheit value before converting the degree Fahrenheit by multiplying it by 5/9 The Chronology of Channel Crossings 1550BC The first Channel ferry, a Dover boat, its oak planks lashed with yew sprigs, rediscovered 1992, capable of carrying freight and at least a dozen passengers
55BC Julius Caesar launches first Roman invasion of Britain, landing his fleet at Walmer in Kent AD 1066 As documented in Bayeux, William the Conqueror and friends successfully make the short hop 1785 Two years after the Montgolfier brothers demonstrate hot-air balloons in Paris, Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries fly Dover to Calais 1815 Pigeons convey news of Wellington's victory, from Waterloo to London 1820 Launch of the first steam-powered cross-Channel mail boat, Rob Roy – later bought by the French and renamed Henri IV 1850 Anglo-French Telegraph Company lays the first telegraph cable – copper wire coated with rubber – across the Channel 1862 First crossing on a bale of straw: William Hoskins 1867 First crossing by canoe: John MacGregor 1875 Captain Matthew Webb is first to swim the Channel, in 21 hours 45 minutes 1876 First crossing by 'levitation': Ralph Stott (in a hoax machine using a mystery power supply, in an attempt to con investors). 1878 First crossing on water-skis: F.Fowler, USA. 1883 First crossing by bicycle: Terah Terry (tricycle mounted on canoe body). 1894 First crossing by Welsh Coracle: Dr. Douglas. 1903 First crossing by kite: S. F. Cody (Texas), in a boat dragged across the channel by a kite. 1909 Louis Blériot flies the first heavier-than-air craft, from Calais to Dover 1910 First aircraft flight with passengers – American pilot John Bevins Moisant's mechanic and cat 1912 American Harriet Quimby is first woman to fly the Channel, Dover to Calais, 59 minutes 1926 American Olympic medallist Gertrude Ederle is first woman to swim Channel, Cap Gris Nez to Kingsdown, 14 hours 39 minutes – beating the male record 1928 First car ferry service. 1935 First crossing by car: Jakob Baulig & Dr. W. Pickel (Germany), an amphibious car. Summer 1940 Germans gather to make mass crossings by barge, but cancel in favour of an invasion of the east June 1944 Anglo-American effort proves rather more successful 1949 First crossing by performing seal: An American radio stunt (the seal took 5 hours) 1959 Engineer and inventor Christopher Cockerell makes first crossing in hovercraft SRN1, 2 hours 3 minutes 1961 First crossing by bed: Bob Platten, on an iron bedstead slung on fuel tank floats, (6 hrs. 45 mins.) 1962 First crossing by tandem: Ronald Brooks & James Wood; tandem mounted on floats (7 hrs. 50 mins.) 1963 First crossing by tractor: David Tapp; 3 ton amphibious tractor (7 hrs. 50 mins). 1963 First crossing by barrel: Bob Platten (fitted with outboard motor) 1963 Ed Yost, inventor of the modern hot-air balloon, and Don Piccard, cited by Jonathan Trappe as his inspiration, cross in 3 hours 13 minutes – their balloon, Channel Champ, is now in the National Balloon Museum, Iowa, US 1965 First crossing by gin bottle: Bob Platten, (sponsored by Gilbey's Gin) 1969 First crossing by shoe: Bob Platten (sponsored by British Leather) 1976 First crossing by sofa: a three-piece suite on a wooden raft, powered by an outboard motor, set out as a living room complete with a standard lamp. 1979 First crossing by pedal-powered aircraft, Gossamer Albatross, flown by American Bryan Allen 1980 First crossing by windsurfer: Paul Marklew (4 hrs, 57 mins.) 1980 First crossing by wet-bike (Jet-Bike): George Blythe 1990 Diggers of the Channel Tunnel – first proposed in 1802 – break through 1995 Record 22-minute crossing by hovercraft Princess Anne 2002 Former army major Paul Tucker crosses Folkestone to Calais by pedalo – and back again 2004 Richard Branson sets 100 minutes 6 seconds record for amphibious car crossing 2006 Comedian David Walliams swims in 10 hours 34 minutes for Sport Relief charity 2008 "Jetman" Yves Rossy crosses using jetpack and carbon fibre wings, in 9 minutes 7 seconds 2010 Christine Bleakley does the first water-ski crossing, of 100 minutes, despite falling eight times Suffer Little Children.... A typical birthday card from my son - it could have been any year over the past 25 years!
Belote This is perhaps one card game which is the antithesis of life solutions. After our introduction, the rules definitely reduced our will to live some evenings. Belote is the most popular card game in France and is played in clubs and societies just as bridge and whist are in England. To us it was a bizarre game, as can be seen from the scoring However it was a good icebreaker. Not long after we arrived we were invited to a "Belote Evening" by a neighbour to be taught the intricacies of the game. Although, originally it was a "get to know you evening", it evolved into a regular occurrence with, as usual, much wine and canapes making later scoring a bit hit and miss. The Rules
If you want a classic card game to play with 3 of your friends, Belote is a really fun option you should try out. In Belote, you and your teammate earn points from winning hands and card melds, and the first team to reach the target score wins. While it may seem a little complicated at first, the rules are pretty easy to learn and teach. Keep reading for everything you need to know to set up and play Belot so you’re ready to try it at your next game night! Things You Should Know (the Basics) Play Belote with 4 players split into teams of 2 and a 32-card deck consisting of 4 suits with 8 ranks,{♦ ♥ ♠ ♣} × {A K Q J 10 9 8 7} Priority of suits - Diamond, Hearts, Spades, Clubs Carreaux, Cœurs, Piques, Trèfles Take turns playing cards from your hand. Play the same suit as the first card if you can. The player with the highest card wins all of the played cards. Score points for each card you won from tricks plus any combo declarations you made at the start of the round. The first team to reach the target score of 501 or 1,000 wins the game. Form a 32-card deck by removing the 2–6 of each suit. Belote only uses the aces, kings, queens, jacks, 10s, 9s, 8s, and 7s of each suit for a total of 32 cards. Take a standard 52-card deck and set aside all the 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s since you won’t use them for the game. Split into 2 teams of 2 players Belote is primarily a 4-player game, so play with 3 other friends. Choose 1 player to be your teammate. Sit so the members of the other team are to your left and right and your teammate is across from you. You could also deal out cards to determine teams. Shuffle the deck and give each player 1 card. The players with the highest-value cards form one team and the players with the lowest values form the second team. Determine the first dealer by drawing the lowest card. Shuffle the 32 cards together and have each player draw 1 card from the top. Check who has the card with the lowest value and give them the deck so they start the game as the dealer. If you dealt cards to determine teams, you can use the same cards to determine who starts the game as the dealer. Dealing Shuffle all the cards and have the player to the right of the dealer cut the deck. Starting with the player to the dealer’s left and going clockwise around the table, deal 3 cards at a time to each player. Then, give each player 2 additional cards so they have a total of 5 cards. You can look at the cards in your hand, but don’t show them to your teammate or the other players. Bidding Flip the top card of the deck. Take the top face-down card on the deck and put it face-up in the middle of the table. This card determines the potential trump suit, which means the suit of the card would be stronger than any other suit for the current round. For example, if the flipped card was a 7 of spades, then spades would be the trump suit and win against hearts, diamonds, and clubs during the round. Take turns deciding if you want to take the face-up card. Starting with the person to left of the dealer, players check their hands to see if they want to accept the flipped card as the trump suit. If a player wants to accept the trump, they take the card and add it to their hand. Otherwise, they say "pass" and the next player to their left gets to accept or pass. If you’re holding the jack or 9 of the trump suit, accept the trump since those cards are the strongest cards in the suit. Accepting the trump card means you think your team will earn more points than the other team at the end of the round. You may pass again if you don't have the jack or 9 in any suit. Keep a piece of paper nearby so you can write down the trump suit for the round. If all the players pass a second time, collect all the cards to shuffle and deal them out again into new hands. Let a player choose a trump suit if no one takes the trump card. If none of the players want to accept the face-up card as the trump suit, then the player to the left of the dealer can choose any suit they want as trump or pass again. Whatever player chooses a new trump suit takes the face-up card into their hand. Deal the rest of the deck so players each have 8 cards. Deal the cards, three at a time, clockwise around the table. Give the player who took the face-up card 2 cards and every other player 3 cards so everyone has a hand of 8 cards. Make declarations for combos or melds of cards you have in your hand. A declaration is a specific combination of cards that can earn you extra points at the end of the round. Before anyone takes a turn, look at your hand and declare any combinations you have. Only the team that has the highest-scoring combo earns points from their declarations at the end of the round. The declarations from highest to lowest are Four jacks - 200 points Four 9s - 150 points Four aces, kings, queens, or 10s - 100 points Quinte (5 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 100 points Quarte (4 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 50 points Tierce (3 cards of the same suit in sequential order) - 20 points Belote/Rebelote (king and queen in trump suit) - 20 points You can play Belote without making declarations if you want a more strategic game. Note the point values of the cards in the trump suit and other suits. Unlike many other card games, the point values of the cards are not the same as their face value. Cards in the trump suit also have different point values than all the cards in the other non trump suits. The order of the suits and their point values are Plain suit rank A 10 K Q J 9 8 7 Value 20 14 11 10 4 3 2 0 0 0 Trump suit rank J 9 A 10 K Q 8 7 Let the starting player play 1 card to start the trick. The player to the dealer's left leads the first trick, which is 1 turn during a round. To start a trick, the starting player chooses a card from their hand and plays it to the middle of the table face-up. Play a card with the same suit on your turn if you can. Take turns going clockwise around the table. Every player has to follow and play a card in the lead suit if they’re able to. If the lead card was in the trump suit, then you must play a trump card with a higher value if you have one. Otherwise, you can play a lower value. If the lead suit was a non-trump suit and you don’t have any in the same suit, you must play a trump card. If you can’t follow the lead suit but your teammate already played the highest-value card, you can choose any card from your hand. If you don’t have any card matching the lead suit or the trump, you can play any card from your hand. Win the trick if you played the card with the highest value. If anyone played a trump card during the round, then the player who had the highest-value trump wins the trick. If there aren’t any cards in the trump suit, then the card with the highest point value in the lead suit wins. Take all of the cards played during the trick and put them in a face-down pile in front of the trick winner you. Example 1 Trump is hearts. The lead card was a queen of spades. Players followed with a king of spades, ace of spades, and 9 of spades. Whoever played the ace of spades wins the trick since it’s the highest value in the lead suit. Example 2 Trump is spades. The lead card was a king of diamonds. Other players played a jack of diamonds, seven of spades, and ace of diamonds. The seven of spades wins the trick since it’s in the trump suit. Play tricks until you’ve used all the cards in your hand. Whoever won the previous trick gets to play the lead card for the next trick. Continue playing tricks until you’ve played all 8 cards in your hand. You earn points based on the cards you win in tricks, so keep track of what cards have already been played. That way, you can deduce if other players have cards that are of a higher value. Belote and Rebelote If you have the kink and queen of trumps, when you play the king and call belote you score an additional 10 points and when you play the queen and call rebelot you gain a further 10 points. You must have both cards, but the order of use is flexible Scoring Count the total value of declarations and cards your team won from tricks. Look through all of the cards that your team won from tricks and add up their point values. If your team made the highest-valued declaration at the start of the round, count the total points of any declarations your team made. Example: Trump is hearts. Your team won 1 trick with the jack of hearts, king of hearts, queen of spades, and ace of spades. The trick is worth 38 points total (20 + 4 + 3 +11). If a team wins all 8 tricks, add 90 points to the total. When a team wins the last trick of the round, add 10 points to the total. If your team didn't make the declaration with the highest value, then the only declaration you're able to score is Belote/Rebelote. Gain the points if the team that took trump earned more than the other team. Compare the total points from cards and declarations between the teams. If the team that accepted the trump at the start of the round earned more points, then both teams earn the amount that they scored for the round. If the team that accepted trump scored less than the other team, the other team gains 162 points, which is the total value of all the cards plus the 10 bonus points for the last trick. The team also earns points for any declarations both teams made. If the team that picked trump didn’t win any tricks, known as a Capot, then the opposing team earns 252 points plus both teams’ declarations instead. Save points until the next round if there’s a tie. If both teams have the same score at the end of the round, write the number of points down. No teams earn points this round and the score will be added to the score at the end of the next round instead. Finishing the Game Pass the dealer role clockwise to the next player. Collect all the cards into a deck again and pass them to the player to the dealer's left. Rather than shuffling, the person on the right of the new dealer cuts the cards so they’re ready to use for the next round. Deal out a new hand of cards to start bidding for the next round. Start the next round by dealing out 5 cards to each player in 3`s and 2`s and revealing the top card of the deck to determine the next trump suit. Go around the table to accept the trump or choose a new suit so you can play through the next round. Play rounds until a team reaches the target score of 501 or 1,000. While most people play Belote until a team earns 1,000 points, you can opt to play a shorter game up to 501 points. Check the total points at the end of each round, and whichever team hits or exceeds the target score is the winner! If both teams cross the target score on the same round, whoever has the most points wins. If teams have the same score, then the game ends in a tie. We`ve Been Here Before To some of us more senior members what is being promised for the coming Winter is nothing new - we`ve been here before! - we`ve seen it! - we`ve done it! - we`ve got the T Shirt - and we`ve survived it! This is a Giles cartoon from the Daily Express dated 10 February 1972 A similar cartoon by Giles from the 13 February. I remember during this period we only lived in the kitchen and scrounged a Calor Gas space heater for warmth. Problem with this was; the house ran with condensation and we all had raging headaches Another cartoon from Giles dated the 15 February I was lucky, as a civil engineer, I could be out on site a lot during the "no electricity days" or move to offices not on power cuts. It was something we all lived with - households and businesses were issued with rotas for the cuts and we planned our shopping, work, schooling and lives round these rotas. Similarly, my wife worked for the NHS and consequently was not affected by cuts. I think this cartoon of 27 February, again by Giles, summed up the whole cynical attitude of all parties at the time. The Tides Ever since my first holiday to the seaside in the fifties I have, off and on, been fascinated by the tides. As the Earth rotates on its axis, the changing gravitational pull from the Moon powers two giant waves flowing around the coast of Britain. The distances between the peaks and troughs of the waves are roughly 580 kilometres (360 miles); when a peak of a wave passes a beach. it is high tide; and when a trough passes, it is low tide. It takes roughly six hours, 12½ minutes for a trough to reach a beach after a peak has passed, and this is the time between high and low tides. The two waves begin their British adventure at Land’s End. One travels north up the west coast, around the tip of Scotland, then down the east coast. The other flows up the English Channel and the two converge off the Thames estuary. When a peak is at Land’s End, it is also high tide around the west coast of Scotland and Yorkshire. At the same time, there are troughs in north Wales, north-east Scotland and the Thames estuary. Here’s the science The key theoretical timings in a semi-diurnal tidal cycle – the most common around Britain – are six hours 12½ minutes from high to low, 12 hours 25 minutes from high to high and 24 hours 50 minutes for a full cycle. The hours represent quarter, half and full rotations of Earth, while the minutes are linked to the simultaneous orbit of the Moon. In order to explore what this is all about, we must take a step back and look at Britain on a global level. Take a look at the diagram opposite First, what makes the tide change? If you draw a line through the centres of the Earth and Moon, the positions A and C experience the strongest gravitational pull, forming high tides where the sea bulges out from the seabed. At the same time, the pull is weakest at B and D, resulting in low tide. If you imagine that the bulges remain in position while the Earth spins on its axis, the effect is a giant wave with two peaks and two troughs flowing around the world. If Britain is at position A at midday, it would rotate around to B in six hours and move from high to low tides. At midnight, it would arrive at C and high tide again. At 6am, it would pass another low tide and midday the next day would be high tide once more. This would be the case if the Moon did not move, but in the time it has taken for Britain to arrive back at the Moon has moved around to position L. It takes another 50 minutes to realign with the Moon at A and this is why a tidal cycle is 24 hours, 50 minutes long. Following this theory, it takes 25 minutes to realign after a half rotation which is why there are 12 hours, 25 minutes between high tides. Although the timings are consistent in a semi-diurnal cycle (but not precise due to many other factors), there is one main problem with the concept: land. If the world was pure ocean with a consistently smooth seabed, the tidal wave would flow just like this. However, irregular coastlines and seabeds break up the journeys of the tide waves and each continent or island has its own unique waves. As explained earlier, Britain has two main waves that split when they reach Land’s End and meet again north of the Thames estuary. Each wave has its own unique quirks, created by the coastline and seabed it encounters on its journey around this varied island. While the Moon has the strongest effect on daily tides, the gravitational pull from the Sun plays an important role in monthly tides. However, this is dependent upon where the Moon is in its 29.7-day orbit of Earth. When the Moon is aligned with the Sun and Earth, the combined gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun is stronger – causing a higher tidal range with more pronounced highs and lows. These are known as “spring” tides and happen twice a month, just after full and new moons. Spring tides mean “to spring forth” with speed. A week after spring, and a week before, we have neap tides meaning “without power”. These happen when the Moon is perpendicular to the Sun and Earth so the combined pull is weaker. Neaps have a lower tidal range and less pronounced highs and lows. My favourite aspect of tides is their ability essentially to “reset” themselves. Because a daily tidal cycle is 24 hours, 50 minutes, high tide is 50 minutes later each day. Over a week, this adds six hours. It’s easy to remember in my hometown of Deal because spring high tide is around 12am/pm and neap high water is around 6am/pm (give or take 50 minutes). Try this with your local beach – the timings will be different but the concept is the same. With this knowledge, you can even work out the time of high tide by knowing the phase of the Moon. Hose Pipe Ban Now that we are entering a period of water shortages I thought these quotations may take our minds off brown lawns and dusty cars Save water, drink wine Burgundy makes you think of silly things Bordeaux makes you talk of silly things and Champagne makes you do silly things When a recipe says "add wine" - never ask "To what?" Consuming wine in moderation daily will help people to die young as late as possible I never drink water, that`s the stuff that rusts pipes! When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading! Too much Chablis cam make you whablis My grandmother is over eighty and doesn`t need glasses, she drinks straight out of the bottle. I feel sorry for people who don`t drink. When they wake up in the morning, that`s as good as it`s going to get all day! Is a glass half full or half empty? It depends whether you`re pouring or drinking! But I`m not as thunk as you drink I am. Alcohol will not solve your problems, but neither will water or milk. Abstainer - A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure I`ve never been drunk but I`ve often been overserved. If you drink, don`t drive - don`t even putt.
Isn`t it convenient, that, on His death. Jesus ascended to Heaven rather than be buried. If He had been buried and His grave was known, current DNA analysis could possibly have found who his actual father was. If his father had proved mortal, then bang goes a whole religion! If not mortal, then discovering Gods DNA would have brought a whole new meaning to "Creation" Answer to "More Decisions, Decisions" on 23 July Assume one branch of the fork is M (Mildenhall) and the other is L (Lakenheath)
Remember, we don`t know which guide tells the truth and which one lies. Ask either of the Guides (lets say the one at M) the question:- "What would the other guide say is the correct fork for Mildenhall?" If he is the truthful guide he would answer "fork L" - as he knows the other guide is the liar. If he is the liar he would answer "fork L"- because as he is the liar, he would lie about the truthful guides answer of "fork M" Now ask the other guide at L the same question/ "What would the other guide say is the correct fork for Mildenhall?" If he is the truthful guide he would answer "fork L" as he knows that the other guide is the liar If he is the liar he would answer "fork L"- because as he is the liar, he would lie about the truthful guides answer of "fork M" Therefore fork M is the correct fork to Mildenhall Q E D ish More Decisions, Decisions My home town, Newmarket, was (and still is) close to two American Air Force bases, Mildenhall and Lakenheath, the first a bomber base and the second a fighter base.
Newmarket was therefore one of the local towns used for R and R for the servicemen and inevitably, returning to base at the end of an evenings` "relaxation" could prove difficult. To help the returning servicemen, the good folk of Newmarket provided two guides every Saturday night at a particularly difficult fork on the Fordham Road. The right fork going to Mildenhall and the left fork to Lakenheath. Unfortunately, or perhaps deliberately, one of these guides was an habitual liar while, luckily, the other always told the truth. This obviously caused some misunderstandings to start with - what with the local dialect and the airmens sobriety, or lack of it. However, after a number of Saturday evenings in which Jeep loads of confused American airmen were seen driving ever more haphazardly around The Fens, some never to be seen again a solution was required. The base commanders came up with a series of fool proof questions for semi-conscious airmen, driving on the wrong side of the road, to put to the two guides in order to elicit the correct directions to either bases. What questions were they? Answers soon - when I`ve worked it out!! That was easy-answers on 27 July Is the World Over Populated? The worlds population is expected to reach 8 billion (8,000,000,000) people sometime this year (2022) Let`s look at the practicalities according to "Jack" First, some basic assumptions.
1. Total land area of the earth is approximately 149 million square kilometres 2, The estimated habitable area is approximately 60 million square kilometres 3. Assume each person requires one square metre of space to stand in 4. Assume each person requires 1500 calories per day to live 5. Assume each person requires 3 litres of water per day - ignoring washing and waste disposal 6. Assume one 400g loaf =1025 calories One person therefore requires 1500/1025 loaves per day i.e. 1.5 loaves approximately each day 7. Assume one 400g loaf requires 400g flour 8. Assume 1kg flour requires the harvesting of 1.2kg wheat 9. Assume wheat production is 5 tonnes/ha i.e 5,000kg per 10,000sq.m or 5,000,000g per 10,000sq.m or 500g per sq.m or 500/1.2 grammes of flour per sq.m i.e 415g of flour or approximately one loaf per sq.m 10. Each person requires 1.5 loaves of bread to live and 1square metre standing room, 11. The land requirement for each person is therefore 1.0+1.5 or 2.5sq.m 12. Therefore, for 8 billion people the land required is 8,000,000,000 x 2,5sq.m = 20,000,000,000/1,000,000sq. km = 20,000sq.km = 0.03% of habitable land area 13. The area of the Wales is 20,750 sq.km Therefore the world population can be accommodated in Wales 14. Amount of water required for 8 billion people is 8,000,000,000 x 3 litres i.e. 24 billion litres 15. The volume of Lake Windermere is 314 million cubic metres or 314 billion litres 16. Therefore, Lake Windermere can supply drinking water for the world for 13 days and waste recycling plants and de-salination plants can be erected in the 750sq.km excess land in Wales to keep it topped up. 17. The amount of bread to feed the world for a year is 8 billion x 1.5 x 365 loaves 18. Each loaf requires flour from the wheat grown in one square metre 19. Therefore the area of wheat required to feed the current world population for a year is 8 billion x 550 square metres of wheat i.e. 8,000,000,000 x 550/1,000,000sq.km or 4,400,000sq.km 20. The area of Canada is 9.100,000 sq.km approximately (6.1% of habitable area)) of which approximately half is wheat growing Therefore the wheat lands (3.0% of habitable area) of Canada could feed the world for a year This leaves 96.97% of the habitable world to green and re - wild and therefore reduce carbon dioxide emissions substantially - so saving the world! Whether this adds to the sum of human happiness is another matter! Also, Wales may object. Marines in Deal 10 July 2022 The Royal Marine Band returned to Deal for the first time in three years to commemorate the death of eleven bandsmen as a result of an IRA bomb in 1989
Decisions, Decisions! The whole purpose of places like Starbucks and Costa Coffee is for people with no decision making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee:- short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low fat, non fat.
Therefore, people who are inherently indecisive can, for the price of a cup of coffee, not only get a cup of coffee, but an overwhelming sense of self!! I know What I Like - Wine My association with wine started in the mid 1950`s with my first Babycham at Christmas. It was then held in abeyance until the mid 1960`s when it was used to woo my future fiancee with Blue Nun (without anti freeze). Subsequently marriage, mortgages and children curtailed serious interest in wine - except for home made wine and cheese at weekends watching Morecombe and Wise and competing to see who could find the cheapest bottle during camping holidays on the Continent! However, interest was awakened with the appearance of New World and eastern European wines in the eighties. Before this I didn`t know what I liked, but over the next ten to fifteen years my tastes refined until I almost knew what I liked! These are some of the wines I tasted during this period. The dates don`t reflect the age of the wine but when I bought it. During my adventures into wine I learnt five things -
1) Wine tasting - While the wine may taste fine at the time, when drunk with different foods, it`s taste changes completely. Therefore the wine that you know you like must go well with food. This is rather like the perfect drink you discover on holiday, in Spain, in the pool - when you try it at home on a cold wet winters evening it`s not quite the same! 2) A wine merchant, in France, told me not to buy a young wine to lay down for five years or so (with all difficulties of storage, temperature etc.) but to buy the same wine five yers old. 3) Alcohol content isn`t everything. 4) New World wines were, generally, too heavy for me while Bordeaux wines were good for quaffing or having with meals as they were generally slightly lighter. 5) I have tried, several times, to tell the difference between different ages of wine (and their elevation in cost) by buying, say, a three year, a seven year and a twelve year bottle of the same wine. Normally I can tell the difference between three and seven years, but after that, there is very little discernible difference. And as for all the flavours of berries, vanilla, may blossom, tapioca, etc. - I don`t know where they come from. I have just read "the Billion Doller Brain" by Len Deighton and there was an interesting definition of optimism and pessimism,
A pessimist is a man who says that things were bad in the past, things are still bad and things will only get worse. An optimist, on the other hand, says things were bad in the past, are still bad, but nothing can be worse than this Solving Summer Time Today seems a good time to set out my answer to the problems of "clocks going forward":-
Assuming one usually puts ones clock forward on the Saturday evening before - My solution is to put ones clock forward on the Friday evening - then one has the whole of Saturday to get used to the new time scale and goes to bed at a time compatible with the new Summer time on the Sunday. Q.E.D |
AuthorMy name is Jack, I live in at the back of Greta Garbo`s home for wayward boys and girls Categories
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