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2009

Aristotle Onassis – the ideal type of a modern “Neanderthal” (Part C)

thumbch_on_nea_large In essence,Onassis initiates his shipping activities in the beginning of the 1930s in Argentina,when he buys with his first money 2 old steamboats,which he names them “Socrates” and “Pinnelope” in honour of his parents.We Greeks,are always “first” in these acts of “superficial family sentimentality”!!But Aristotle Onassis soon realises,that the “big money” in the future ,will come from transporting “oil” by the various ocean lanes.As a consequence ,almost all his next moves in the shipping sector would be acquiring oil ship-carriers and transporting oil,especially from the oil producing countries of the Middle East.During this same period(1930s),he bought 10 merchant vessels from a Canadian company for 120,000 american dollars.At the same time,he registers all his ships in Panama(not in Greece),where the tarrifs and taxes are much lower than those of Argentina.In 1938,he builds his own oil carrier at the shipyards of Sweden,the “Ariston”,with a volume capacity of 15,000 tons (p.2.www.onassis.gr/enim_deltio/34_06/special_2.php ).

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September 4, 2009

2009

“Slumdog Millionaire” – the movie (2008); Cultural Globilization* not a Cosmopolitan** Culture (Part B).

“Slumdog Millionaire” the movie,directed by the British director Danny Boyle,produced by the American producer Christian Colson,and distributed by the all-powerful American distributing company Fox Searchlight,was released at the end of 2008,and by June 2009,had grossed more than 213 million american dollars worldwide(p.2.www.themiamihurricane.com/2009/ 04/05/slumdog-kids-remain…).

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September 4, 2009

2009

Why is the disappearance of the “Neanderthal” Man 30,000 years ago, significant today? (Part C)

“Glacial age” or “ice age”, defines scientifically a period in the Earth΄s geological evolution when there is”a long- term reduction in the temperature of the Earth΄s surface and atmosphere,resulting in an expansion of continental ice sheets,polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers.”(p.1.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age).

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September 4, 2009

2009

“Slumdog Millionaire”-the movie (2008);Cultural Globalization* not a Cosmopolitan** Culture (Part A)

A few friends and even some youg students of mine ,suggested that I should go and see “Slumdog Millionaire”,the movie, because they not only thought it was a very entertaining movie but that it also had great originality in its story and production.They especially emphasized the fact that many of the young Indian children who acted as real stars in the movie ,were not professional actors but ordinary youngsters who had been living all their lives in the slum areas of Mumbai or Bombay.

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July 12, 2009

2009

Aristotle Onassis-the ideal type of a modern “Neanderthal” (Part B)

The most accurate and complete description that has been recorded concerning Aristotle Onassis΄”philosophy of life”, has been provided by his closest assistant and the President of the Onassis Foundation, Stelios Papadimitriou. He said the following of Onassis which I will transelate it from Greek into English:”His enterpreneurial designs and aspirations were enormous. Early on, he understood that life belongs to the strong who dare, not to the bold who are powerless, or the strong who sit quiet. He worshiped human courage and strength, and he reached his hand out as far as he could;but with great caution so that it wouldn΄t get cut off” (p. 8 www.rodosport.gr/enlefko/onasis.htm)

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July 12, 2009

2009

Why is the disappearance of the “Neanderthal” Man 30,000 years ago, significant today? (Part B)

From what has been provided as scientific evidence,we have today,the following information concerning the basic “genetic” and “anatomical” characteristics of the “Neanderthal”Man. First of all,we know that the “size” of the brain of the Neanderthal was larger than that of modern human beings. Second, Neanderthals had all the anatomical characteristics (skull structure) which suggest that they were able to speak as modern humans do today. Third, the skeletons discovered demonstrate that Neanderthals had identical “bone count” and “types” as ourselves.Finally,through the science of “genetics”,we have learned that the DNA of Neanderthals is very close to that of the “Cro-Magnon” Man and the Homo-Sapien, our only direct ancestors genetically (www.conservapedia.com/Neanderthal). With so many common anatomical and genetic characteristics with those of the “Cro-Magnon”Man and of course with us,what were the causes for the complete disappearance of the “Neanderthal” Man? Not only “from the face of the earth”, but also from the genetic composition (DNA) of modern human beings!

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July 12, 2009

2009

Aristotle Onassis – an ideal type of a modern “Neanderthal” (Part A )

thumbon_ne There are two basic reasons why I have chosen Aristotle Onassis as an ideal type of a modern “Neanderthal”;one is personal and the other is more general. The first reason has to do with the older son of the woman friend to whom I have dedicated all those personal letters in my site. The son had been my student since he was 12 years old until the time he went abroad for his university studies. His father, who is a truly successful businessman, had only once given him a book as a present(from what I know), and that was when he was 17 years old. This particular book was the biography of Aristotle Onassis, and his son revealed to me that his father wanted him by reading this book to acquire the “proper guidelines” in becoming “socially successful” and of course “financially powerful”. “At that time”, the son considered his father΄s gesture as strange, while I don΄t think he ever read the book.

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May 18, 2009

2009

“Playing it dumb”…..!!!

I have a former student who is doing postgraduate studies in a European country, and who is a regular reader of my site. I honour him, I respect him and I love him very much because he is a young person who is trying to “disentangle” himself from the mediocrity and the greyness of the established social roles, so that he can evolve into a real creative individual with a universal conscience. Yet, I consider it a bit strange when this young man, often expresses the opinion that my texts are not very optimistic. And I always try to explain to him that just the process of trying to identify what is real, is an act of faith and hope. Turning now to my friend Phedros from the swimming pool (extra-The psychological state of the young today, 2009-02-01), our exchange of messages have almost but stopped due to the fact that I had been trying to explain to him my position that it is not enough just to recognize all those harsh and impersonal everyday realities;but it is also very imperative to question all these everyday realities, in a substantial way if they subvert our personality and our psyche. And this can be realized only when one begins to recognize and respect one΄s own personality and the creative potentialities of life itself, not the limited and unnatural framework of a “virtual society”.

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May 18, 2009

2009

Why is the disappearance of the “Neanderthal” Man 30,000 years ago, significant today? (Part A)

The “Neanderthal” Man represents a branch of the human specie who lived for more than 200,000 years in a large geographical area,covering all of Europe and reaching into Central Asia.More specifically,we could say that the “Neanderthal” Man was the only humanoid who had lived in this vast territory for 200,000 years;a territory which included the Iberian Peninsula,Italy,regions north of the Pyrenees and the Alps, central and eastern Europe,and portions of Asia.The name “Neanderthal”is derived from the Neander Valley in western Germany, where in 1856 the first fossils of a humanoid were found,and were identified as such.What is of great interest,is the fact that for 200,000 years,the “Neanderthal” had absolute dominion over all this vast territory,surviving drastic climatic and environmental changes,especially within the course of the different “glacial” or “ice” ages,when about 45,000 years ago ,another human specie began to arrive in eastern Europe and in the Iberian Peninsula;originating from the Middle East and North Africa.The crux of this interest lies in the fact that within 15,000 years of this “new specie” arrival,the “Neanderthal” human specie had completely disappeared,and was completely replaced by this “new human” invador.This “new human specie” was given the name “Cro-Magnon” after the location in France where the first fossils of this human specie were found in 1868.The “Cro-Magnon”Man is the sole “human” ancestor of modern human beings(Homo Sapiens);their DNA is identical, while no trace of “Neanderthal” DNA(mitochondrial DNA which is Matrilinear) has been discovered in “Cro-Magnon” bones.Nevertheless,we have to mention here that DNA evidence shows that Neanderthals had a DNA which is very similar to that of modern humans.

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May 18, 2009

2009

A letter to a friend (Conclusion)

My dear friend, finally, your younger son after two nights of intense discussions and some revelations about how he really felt, he began to look upbeat. So I decided to stay on one more night, while we were going to leave together the following morning with the ferry boat. Your younger son had arranged some meetings with his friends and I had to visit my aging father. Throughout the day, that third day, everything brimmed with serenity, joy and creative communication, AS OLD TIMES!!!Those grey shadows that lingered, had disappeared from his eyes. It was only much later that I realised that this sincere and positive communication between your son and myself was stifling you, because you must have felt out of touch. I was then so very proud and contented with this positive turn of events, while unconsciously ignoring the vast amounts of egotism and insecurity you were carrying within your mind and your soul. I was really so mistaken!!!

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April 1, 2009