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You know I am a pretty normal type of guy, I buy my milk in a bottle and drive my car carefully but I swear I just saw a car fly? It might have been a day dream but I am pretty sure.

It was probably me just imagining it again, Ever since I brought a great car from aber car sales in west wales I have just been so happy to be not dealing with the broken down old car I had that I day dream a fair bit. buying a car will do that to you, especially when you find an excellent example of a classic car, a used car in west wales. If you don’t believe me I dare you to go and buy a new or used motor and see if your not happier as a result, I mean don’t get yourself into debt but buy something with leather and you will be generally a happier person as a direct result of buying that car!

A History of Olmec Civilization.
The first relatively modern awakening to the existance of the Olmecs
was when plantation workers in 1862 came upon hat they thought was a large, buried, iron kettle. Upon further excavation, and driven by thoughts of buried treasure, they finally excavated a huge stone carved head, which turned out to be the first Olmec sculpture to be discovered in Mexico.

OLMEC ORIGINS.
Who were the Olmecs? What is known about them is that they preceded the Mayans in Mesoamaerica, and are thought to be the foundation of all subsequent cultures in that part of the Americas, though there is evidence of humans going back to 20,000 B.C. There will always be differing opinions when it comes to dates, but the Olmes are believed to have originated in around 1250 B.C. and disappeared around 400 B.C. A common feature with theirs and later civilisations were that they:-

Followed a 365 day year.
Built pyraminds.
Cultivated corn.
All had similar religious rituals and the same Gods of fertility, war, sky & nature.

Regarding the thick-lipped Negroid features of their carvings, some
researchers postulate that the Olmecs originally came from Africa, and
indeed their language is very similar to that spoken today in Mali. Details of facial scaring & lines on Olmec statues also bear similarities to tribal marks found among the Yoruba peoples of West Africa.

OLMEC LANDS.
Their range of influence extended from the Tuxtlas mountains in the
west, to Contalpa in the eastern Mexican lowlands, around the Gulf of
Mexico area. The three largest Olmec cities were:-

La Venta in Tabasco (the eastern sector), dominated the rich coastal
estuaries, including the cocao, rubber & salt trade.

San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan in Veracruz was at the center of the Olmec civilization, and an important political/religious center, which controlled the vast flood plains of the Coatzacoalco basin and river trade routes. The first drainage system in Mesoamerica was discovered there, consisting of channeled blocks of stone set into the earth, covered with slabs. Their region is also famous for the colossal basalt carved heads, weighing 20-40 tons each.

Laguna de los Cerros, also in Veracruz, to the West, controlled the
important basalt mines/mountains, important for the manufacture of Metates (stones for grinding food), & monuments.

OLMEC ART.
The Olmecs must have had a high regard for art as many cave paintings & huge stone scullptures have been found, along with jade artefacts & statues. Typical Olmec art featured jaguars, thick-lipped soldiers and goatee-bearded men and often a combination of jaguar and children. As they believed themselves to be descendants of the Jaguar, the animal was held in very high esteem, often featuring in religious ceremonies. Some of these huge carved stone heads have been found up to 100km away from the source of stone, leaving researchers still wondering exactly how they managed to transport such massive pieces those distances, though the most likeliest explanation must be that they floated them on barges down the extensive network of rivers.

WORK & PLAY.
Rubber was first exloited by the Olmecs and various carvings show ball
games where the ball could be deflected off elbows, hips, knees and
head, though using the hands was considered an illegal move. Initially,
the Olmecs in the swampy tropical heartland lived a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle, later spreading to outlying areas and developing agriculture and distinct political & economic hierarchies as wealth and commerce with outside people grew.

RELIGION Olmec religion featured mainly worship of the Jaguar and Werejaguars (children with Jaguar features), though snake worship was popular too. They believed that the Jaguar was very closely associated with a person’s spirit and that should the Jaguar die, the person would also die. In common with all religions, to maintain their position in society the Olmec ruling elite needed to make the people believe either that they were Gods or that they were associated with The Gods (Gods of Fire, Water, Earth & Sun were the popular deities).

Their religion, symbolic language and archtictural systems seemed strong & popular enough to have lasted through to the Zapotecs, Teotihuacans and Mayan peoples, until everything changed with the Spanish conquests of Hernandez Cortez and Spanish influence. That of the Catholic Church being especially instrumental in destroying the old
Gods and bringing a new one that eventually spread throughout the
whole of South America.

Some might argue that Catholicism brought about changes for good and others point to the great poverty of the majority of predominantly Catholic South America.

Whatever your opinions, I will just leave you with this thought:-

“Religion is regarded by the common people as true,
by the wise as false, and by rulers as convenient.”

Seneca the Younger. (3 B.C.-65 A.D.)

handmade-chocs.co.uk

Chocolate cultivation was started by The Olmecs.

Writing about Wahabism and Salafi-Islam, could fill many books. I will however in this article, try to make clear why it is of tremendous importance in our time. Both movements are considered as the origin of Islamic terrorism. A lot of recent Islamic terrorists such as Osama Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, have been inspired by Wahabism.

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703 - 1792 ) was an Arab theologian born in Saudi Arabia and can be considered as the founder of Wahabism. Wahab is considered by many to be a great reformer of Islam, and at the same time as the “father of Islamic terrorism. Iwill not go deeply into his teachings, but expose the teachings of two of his contemporary followers.

Salman bin Fahed al-Auda, in his book “The End of History”, asserts that the solution to Islamic distress , that may bring about the fall of America and the Western world, “exists in one word which is Jihad”. According to al-Auda, the meaning of jihad is much broader than fighting with a sword. Appealing to Muslims throughout the world, he wrote: “We should not simplify this issue and narrow its meaning to a restricted military battle in one of the Islamic regions or even to an all-out war against the West, which is possible and predicted and we assume is arriving… Life as a whole is a battlefield. The weapons are not only the rifle, the bullet, the airplane, the tank, and the cannon. Not at all! Thinking is a weapon, the economy is a weapon, money is a weapon, water is a weapon, planning is a weapon, unity is a weapon, and so there are many types of weapons.” In “The End of History”, al-Auda concluded that the West by itself was already in an advanced state of decay: “The West, and above all the United States, and Western culture, in general are undergoing a historical process that is deterministic. This process leads to its total collapse, sooner or later.” His jihad was intended to accelerate that collapse. During the 1990’s, he was regarded as the most influential preacher in Saudi Arabia and Osama Bin Laden often cites out of his work.

Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, lin his book “Democracy is a Religion”, denies the traditional protection given by Islam to Jews and Christians. For al-Maqdisi, democracy is a prohibited innovation that contradicts Islamic values and embodies a new heretical religion. Its followers are “infidels” and “polytheists,” even if they consider themselves as Jews or Christians by religion. Al-Maqdisi based his claim on the following arguments:
1. “Democracy gives legitimacy to the legislation of the masses or to the despotic regime. It is not the rule of Allah….Allah ordered his Prophet to execute the commands given to him and forbade him to follow the emotions of the nation, the masses, and the people.”
2. “Democracy is the rule of the masses or the rule of paganism, which is conducted according to a constitution and not according Allah’s laws….Democracy has become the mother of laws and is considered by as a holy book. The religion of democracy has no relation to Quranic verses or the Prophet’s way of life and it is not possible to legislate according to them unless they are compatible with the holy book (the constitution).”
3. “Democracy is an outcome of despicable secularism and its illegitimate daughter, since secularism is a heretical school striving to separate religion from state and government.”
Al-Maqdisi concludes: “Democracy is a religion that is not Allah’s religion….It is the rule of paganism…it is a religion which includes other gods in its belief…the people represented in the religion of democracy by its delegates in the parliament…who are actually standing idols and false gods placed in their chapels and their pagan fortresses, namely, their legislative councils. They and their followers rule according to the religion of democracy and the constitution’s laws upon which the government is based, and according to the paragraphs of their legislation….Their master is their God, their big idols who approve or reject legislation. He is their emir, their king, or their president

Wahabism (together with the related Salafi-movement), is not representing the majority of Islam. Actually, it is however the most aggressive teaching and it act as if it represents all Muslims. Many terrorist groupings such as Hamas, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Al Quaida, Abu Sayyaf…,are followers of Wahabism (or Salafi). Enormous quantities of money are funneled through Charity organisations to these terrorist groups. Most of the money is distributed by the Saudi Monarchy. The U.S. has already blocked many of these channels. New ways for financing the radicals, will however always be found.
The only way to stop terrorism is eradicating its roots and these roots are the teachings of Wahabism and the Salafi movement.These intolerant teachings have to be stopped. The House of Saud that has been connected to Wahabism since Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, must with the help of the moderate Muslims, renounce and forbid the Wahabi teachings and if necessary, banish the terror-preaching clergy. This is however an internal Muslim problem. The question is: has the moderate Muslim-world the wil and the strenght to realize this.
Meanwhile, the “West” has no other choice than continue it’s “War on Terror”
http://www.westernfreedom.com

Robert Maegh is a Belgian engineer, born in Germany in 1945. He spent several years in Africa and the Middle East. “A Holy Terror” is his first novel and a sequel can soon be expected. www.westernfreedom.com
degree@skynet.be

Thomas Edison failed thousands of times before he revolutionized the world by inventing and patenting the incandescent light bulb. Because of his desire to create the incandescent light, he was one of the most persistent people in history. The invention in which Edison had the most failures, the incandescent light, was one of his most famous inventions. His persistence also led to many other great inventions. He had patents on items such as electricity, batteries, cement, motion pictures, phonographs, mining, telegraphs and telephones.

How many times have you failed in your endeavors? When you were learning how to ride a bike, roller skate, play the piano, learn a foreign language, etc., didn’t you fail many times?

Many modern conveniences are the result of Edison’s ingenuity. Edison did amazing things simply by persevering.

1. Edison was persistent

After fifty years of efforts to create a long-lasting incandescent light bulb, Edison achieved success with the incandescent light bulb. Edison needed a material that would be compatible to form a long-lasting filament. He initially tried platinum, which only worked for about one to two hours. He tried carbon, which had the highest melting point. When carbon didn’t seem to work, Edison tried boron, chromium, molybdenum, tungsten, nickel, platinum (again). Finally, Edison got carbon to work as a filament material for his light bulb, which lit for over 40 hours.

What are some of the things that you are doing in your life and careers? Do you like what you are doing for a living? Are there other things that you would like to be doing as a career? You may ask, “what if I try something and it doesn’t work?” Try something else. And if you’re not successful, try again! Reference the example with a baby learning how to walk. How do most people walk? They kept on trying, no matter how long it took, to walk.

2. Edison learned how to meet the unmet need

The classic marketing philosophy says to “fill the unmet need.” Edison invented practical items that a majority of the population could use, such as the light bulb, the phonograph, batteries, etc.

Edison not only could invent things, he could invent practical things. Every one of us has practical skills that we can offer the world. The world needs your talents much like the world needed Edison’s talents. What are some ideas that you have that would meet the unmet need? What are you seeing around you that could be improved? Edison did the same pondering and look at how much he accomplished.

3. Edison knew he could invent something when he was determined

Edison’s quest to invent the incandescent light bulb took him about four years. About his electric light experiments, he said “I was never myself discouraged or inclined to be hopeless of success.” Edison knew that he could find a way to make the light bulb work and to be a practical item for the general public to use.

For those of you involved in obtaining goals, are you determined enough that you are going to succeed? Do you have that attitude of accomplishing something no matter what?

Edison saw thousands of better ways of doing things. He had to literally make many things happen in order to achieve success. Edison did not think that any of his failures were actually “failures.” Edison said “If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is just one more step forward….” Do you turn your “mistakes” into learning experiences? Adopt the same attitude as Edison did. Learn from mistakes. Be persistent.

Sean North primarily helps writers gain focus, motivation, remove mental blocks that help to unblock the writing process.

EVERYONE who writes has been stuck at some point in his or her career. You do not have to accept these mind-boggling roadblocks!

seannorthstn@aol.com

(586) 216-7516