Clancy Tucker's Blog, page 254

3 July 2015 - HANGOVER AT THE ZOO

HANGOVER AT THE ZOO
G'day folks,
Ever been to a wild Christmas party? Well, animals at our local zoo also have one, and this is the end result.









































Clancy's comment: Wow. Must have been a great night, eh? I hope they didn't drink and drive.

I'm ...

2 July 2015 - BEN CARSON

BEN CARSONG'day folks,
Welcome to some background on a man who came from humble beginnings to become a specialist. Ben Carson overcame his troubled youth in inner-city Detroit to become a gifted neurosurgeon famous for his work separating conjoined twins.


 “I also came to realize that if people could make me angry they could control me. Why should I give someone else such power over my life?”
—Ben Carson


Ben Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951. His mother, though undereducated herself, pushed her sons to read and to believe in themselves. Carson went from being a poor student to receiving honors and he eventually attended medical school. As a doctor, he became the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33, and became famous for his ground-breaking work separating conjoined twins.


Benjamin Solomon Carson was born in Detroit, Michigan, on September 18, 1951. The second son of Sonya and Robert Solomon Carson, Ben grew up in the hardened climate of inner-city Detroit. Ben's mother was raised in Tennessee in a very large family. She dropped out of school in the third grade.
With not much hope or prospects in life, she married Baptist minister Robert Carson when she was 13, believing that he would change her life. The couple moved to Detroit, Michigan, and for a time, the marriage was a success. Carson showered his wife with gifts and attention. But over time, Robert Carson changed. Though benevolent, he could also be domineering and erratic. In time, Sonya felt it was best for her sons if she and Robert divorced.




Ben was 8 and Curtis, Ben's brother, was 10 when Sonya was left to raise the children on her own. The family was very poor, and to make ends meet Sonya sometimes took on two or three jobs at a time in order to provide for her boys. Most of the jobs she had were as a domestic servant. There were occasions when her boys wouldn't see her for days at a time, because she would go to work at 5:00 a.m. and come home around 11:00 p.m., going from one job to the next.

Carson's mother was frugal with the family's finances, cleaning and patching clothes from the Goodwill in order to dress the boys. The family would also go to local farmers and offer to pick corn or other vegetables in exchange for a portion of the yield. She would then can the produce for the kids' meals. Her actions, and the way she managed the family, proved to be a tremendous influence on Ben and Curtis.

Sonya also taught her boys that anything was possible. By his recollection many years later, Ben Carson had thoughts of a career in medicine, though it was more of a fantasy many young children harbor as they grow up. Because his family was on medical assistance, they would have to wait for hours to be seen by one of the interns at the hospital. Ben would listen to the pulse of the hospital as doctors and nurses went about their routines.

Occasionally, there'd be an emergency and he could hear in people's voices and in their quick movements the pace and emotions rise to meet the challenge. He'd hear the PA system call for a "Dr. Jones" and fantasized that one day they'd be calling for a "Dr. Carson."

 Early Education
Both Ben and his brother experienced difficulty in school. Ben fell to the bottom of his class, and became the object of ridicule by his classmates. He developed a violent and uncontrollable temper, and was known to attack other children at the slightest provocation. The poverty he lived in and the difficult times he experienced in school seem to exacerbate the anger and rage.

Determined to turn her sons around, Sonya limited their TV time to just a few select programs and refused to let them go outside to play until they'd finished their homework. She was criticized for this by her friends, who said her boys would grow up to hate her. But she was determined that her sons would have greater opportunities than she did.

She required them to read two library books a week and give her written reports, even though with her poor education, she could barely read them. She would take the papers and pretend to carefully review them, scanning over the words and turning the pages, before placing a checkmark at the top of the page to show her approval.

At first, Ben resented the strict regimen. While his friends were playing outside, he was stuck in the house, forced to read a book or do his homework. But after several weeks of his mother's unrelenting position, he began to find enjoyment in reading. Being poor, there wasn't much opportunity to go anywhere. But between the covers of a book he could go anyplace, be anybody and do anything.

Ben began to learn how to use his imagination and found it more enjoyable than watching television. This attraction to reading soon led to a strong desire to learn more. Carson read books on all types of subjects and found connections between them. He saw himself as the central character of what he was reading, even if it was a technical book or an encyclopedia. He read about people in laboratories, pouring chemicals into a beaker or flask, or discovering galaxies, or peering into a microscope.

He began to see himself differently, different from the other kids in his neighborhood who only wanted to get out of school, get some nice clothes, and a nice car. He saw that he could become the scientist or physician he had dreamed about. Staying focused on this vision of his future helped him get through some of the more difficult times.



Within a year, Ben Carson was amazing his teachers and classmates with his improvement. The children's books he read while he was confined to quarters now had relevancy in school. He was able to recall facts and examples from the books and relate them to what he was learning in school. In 5th grade, Ben astonished everyone by identifying rock samples his teacher had brought to school.

As he recalled several years later, he began to realize that he wasn't stupid. Within a year he was at the top of his class, and the hunger for knowledge had taken hold of him. It wasn't easy in the predominantly all-white school, though. After Ben received a certificate of achievement at the semester break, one of the school's teachers berated the white students for letting a black student get ahead of them academically.

Ben also had several teachers along the way who expressed a strong interest in his success. After he demonstrated his proficient knowledge of rocks in his 5th grade class, his teacher asked Ben to come by the school's lab after classes ended for the day. There Ben found squirrels to feed and a tarantula to observe. He discovered the wonders of using a microscope to study water specimens, and learned about paramecium and amoebas.

Later, at Southwestern High School in inner-city Detroit, his science teachers recognized his intellectual abilities and mentored him. Other teachers helped him to stay focused when outside influences pulled him off course.

After Ben graduated with honors from high school, he knew he wanted to pursue a medical career. But because his mother was not financially well off, Carson had to work through most of his time in college. The automobile industry was facing a downturn in Detroit during the 1970s, making it tough to get a summer job.

But Carson was determined to achieve his goals. He knocked on doors looking for summer work and usually, through persistence, was able to obtain one. From this work, and a scholarship, he attended Yale University and earned a B.A. degree in psychology.

 Anger Issues
Despite his academic successes, Ben Carson still had a raging temper that translated into violent behavior as a child. One time he tried to hit his mother with a hammer because she disagreed with his choice of clothes. Another time, he inflicted a major head injury on a classmate in a dispute over a locker. In a final incident, Ben nearly stabbed to death a friend after arguing over a choice of radio stations.

The only thing that prevented a tragic occurrence was the knife blade broke on the friend's belt buckle. Not knowing the extent of his friend's injury, Ben ran home and locked himself in the bathroom with a Bible. Terrified by his own actions, he started praying, asking God to help him find a way to deal with his temper. He found salvation in the book of Proverbs in a passage that went, "Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city."

Ben began to realize that much of his anger stemmed from putting himself in the center of everything. Anytime anything happened that was not to his liking, he internalized it and made it his problem. Once he took himself out of the equation, he could see that not everything was directed at him and that he wasn't the only one with troubles.

He began to see things from other points of view. He soon realized he could control his anger, rather than it controlling him. He realized his future depended on the choices he made and the degree of energy he put into his life. Seeing that living in the inner city was only temporary, Carson believed he had the full power to change his situation.




After graduating from Yale in 1973, Carson enrolled in the School of Medicine at the University of Michigan, choosing to become a neurosurgeon rather than a psychologist. In 1975, he married Lacrena "Candy" Rustin whom he met at Yale. Carson earned his medical degree, and the young couple moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he became a resident at Johns Hopkins University in 1977. His excellent eye-hand coordination and three-dimensional reasoning skills made him a superior surgeon early on. By 1982, he was chief resident in neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins.

In 1983, Carson received an important invitation. Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth, Australia, needed a neurosurgeon and invited Carson to take the position. Resistant at first to move so far away from home, he eventually accepted the offer. It proved to be an important one. Australia at the time was without enough doctors with highly sophisticated training in neurosurgery. Carson gained several years worth of experience in the year he was in Australia and honed his skills tremendously.

Carson returned to Johns Hopkins in 1984 and, by 1985, he became director of pediatric neurosurgery at the young age of 33. In 1987, Carson attracted international attention by performing a surgery to separate two 7-month-old craniopagus twins from Germany. Patrick and Benjamin Binder were born joined at the head. Their parents contacted Carson, who went to Germany to consult with the parents and the boys' doctors. Because the boys were joined at the back of the head, and because they had separate brains, he felt the operation could be performed successfully.

On September 4, 1987, Carson and a team of 70 doctors, nurses, and support staff joined forces for what would be a 22-hour surgery. Part of the challenge in radical neurosurgery is to prevent severe bleeding and trauma to the patients. In this operation, Carson had applied a technique used in cardiac surgery called hypothermic arrest.

The boys' bodies were cooled down so the blood flowed slower and bleeding was less severe. This allowed the surgeons to perform the delicate task of untangling, dividing and repairing shared blood vessels. Although the twins did have some brain damage, both survived the separation, making Carson's surgery the first of its kind.




In 1994, Carson and his team went to South Africa to separate the Makwaeba twins. The operation was unsuccessful, as both girls died from complications of the surgery. Carson was devastated, but vowed to press on, as he knew such procedures could be successful. In 1997, Carson and his team went to Zambia in South Central Africa to separate infant boys Luka and Joseph Banda. This operation was especially difficult because the boys were joined at the tops of their heads, making this the first time a surgery of this type had been performed. After a 28-hour operation, both boys survived and neither suffered brain damage.

Over time, Ben Carson's operations began to gain media attention. At first, what people saw was the soft-spoken hospital spokesperson explaining the complicated procedures in simple terms. But in time, Carson's own story became public -- a troubled youth growing up in the inner-city to a poor family eventually finding success.

Soon, Carson began traveling to schools, businesses and hospitals across the country telling his story and imparting his philosophy of life. Out of this dedication to education and helping young people, Carson and his wife Candy founded the Carson Scholars Fund in 1994. The foundation grants scholarships to young students and promotes reading in the younger grades.

Biggest Medical Challenge

In 2003, Ben Carson faced what was perhaps his biggest challenge: separating adult conjoined twins. Ladan and Laleh Bijani were Iranian girls who were joined at the head. For 29 years, they had literally lived together in every conceivable way. Like normal twins, they shared experiences and outlooks, but as they got older and developed their own individual aspirations, they knew they could never lead independent lives unless they separated. As they told Carson at one point, "We would rather die than spend another day together."

This type of medical procedure had never been attempted on conjoined adults because the outcome would almost certainly result in death. By this time, Carson had been conducting brain surgery for nearly 20 years and had performed several craniopagus separations. He tried to talk the two women out of the surgery, but after many discussions with them and consultations with many other doctors and surgeons, he agreed to proceed.

Ben Carson and a team of more than 100 surgeons, specialists and assistants traveled to Singapore in Southeast Asia. On July 6, 2003, Carson and his team began the nearly 52-hour operation. They used a 3-D imaging technique that Carson had developed several years earlier during the Banda twins operation. The computerized images allowed the medical team to conduct a virtual surgery before the operation. During the operation, they followed digital reconstruction of the twins' brain. A specially designed chair allowed the operation to be performed while both sisters were in a sitting position.

Besides the girls age, the surgery revealed more difficulties because their brains not only shared a major blood vessel, but had fused together. The separation was completed at 1:30 p.m. on July 8. But it was soon apparent that the girls were in deep critical condition, having both lost a large volume of blood due to the complications of the surgery.

At 2:30 p.m., Ladan died on the operating table. Her sister, Laleh died a short time later at 4:00 p.m. The loss was devastating to all, especially Carson, who found some solace in the fact that the girls' bravery to pursue the operation had contributed to neurosurgery in ways that would live far beyond them.
Because of his unflagging dedication to children and his many medical breakthroughs, Carson has received more than 50 honorary doctorate degrees and is a member of the Alpha Honor Medical Society, the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans and sits on the boards of numerous business and education boards.



Later Career

In 2002, Carson was forced to cut back on his break-neck pace after developing prostate cancer. He took an active role in his own case, reviewing X-rays and consulting with the team of surgeons who operated on him. Carson fully recovered from the operation cancer-free. The brush with death caused him to adjust his life to spend more time with his wife and their three children, Murray, Benjamin, Jr. and Rhoeyce.

After his recovery, Carson still kept a busy schedule, performing nearly 300 operations a year and speaking to various groups around the country. He has written several books including the autobiography Gifted Hands (1996). Three other works, The Big Picture (2000) and Think Big (2006), Take the Risk: Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk(2009) are about his personal philosophies on success, hard work, risk and faith in God.

In 2001, CNN and Time magazine named Ben Carson as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists. In that same year, the Library of Congress selected him as one of 89 "Living Legends." In 2006, he received the Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP. In February 2008, President Bush awarded Carson the Ford's Theater Lincoln Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the U.S. highest civilian honors. In 2009, actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. portrayed Carson in the TNN television production Gifted Hands.



In recent years, Carson has focused more on politics than practicing medicine. He has been known as an outspoken conservative Republican. In 2012, he published America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great. In February 2013, Carson attracted a lot of attention for his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. He criticized President Barack Obama for his positions on taxation and health care. He announced that he was officially retiring from his career as a surgeon the following month. That October, he was hired by Fox News in October 2013 to work as a contributor. In May 2014, Carson published his book One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America's Future.

On May 4, 2015, Carson launched his official bid for the Republican presidential nomination at an event in Detroit. “I’m not a politician,” Carson said. “I don’t want to be a politician because politicians do what is politically expedient. I want to do what’s right.”

Clancy's comment:  Interesting man, eh?
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1 July 2015 - GREAT QUOTES FROM WRITERS

GREAT QUOTES FROM WRITERS
G'day folks,
This has always been a very popular post. Hope you enjoy some of these quotes from some famous authors.



















































Clancy's comment: I hope some of these comments have stirred up your creative spirits.


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30 June 2015 - LECH WALESA

LECH WALESA
G'day folks,
Welcome to some background on a great trade unionist in Poland.
“Without a single shot we’ve managed to liberate the world of communism … but now there is a need for a global solidarity.”
– Lech Walesa

 Lech Walesa was born in Poland in 1943. He grew up in Communist controlled Poland and became active in the trade union movement in Gdansk shipyards, where he worked as an electrician.



In 1970, he was a leader of the workers union as they clashed with the government seeking to gain improved working conditions and recognition. Because of his union activity as a shop steward, in 1976, he was fired by the state owned firm. For the next few years, he was forced into doing odd jobs to provide income for his family and supporting his political activities.
In 1978, he helped to organise the first non-communist trade union, and raised the profile of opposition to the Communist party and its grip on the country.

The sole and basic source of our strength is the solidarity of workers, peasants and the intelligentsia, the solidarity of the nation, the solidarity of people who seek to live in dignity, truth, and in harmony with their conscience.
– Lech Walesa



By 1980, Walesa was seen as the national leader of the independent trade union movement, and he was soon elected leader of Solidarity (a non-communist workers movement) He helped to lead strikes in the summer of 1980, and these proved relatively successful, with the government agreeing to many of the workers’ demands, such as the recognition to strike and form their own independent union. This gave the Solidarity movement great hope. But, at the end of 1981, the Russian backed general Jaruzelski cracked down on the movement. Walesa was interned, but given his high international profile was only placed under house arrest.

Although the government cracked down on Solidarity they were not as repressive as in previous years (such as Hungarian rising). The government made life very difficult for Solidarity, but its leaders, such as Lech Walesa remained potent symbols of opposition to the government. As the 1980s progressed, the new Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev indicated the Soviet Union would no longer use force to impose Soviet control over an Eastern Bloc country. Thus solidarity were able to organise and provided a growing opposition to the Communist control. The movement gained international recognition and in 1983, Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The movement was also encouraged by the first Polish Pope John Paul II.His popularity in Poland gave Solidarity much extra strength.

“The defense of our rights and our dignity, as well as efforts never to let ourselves to be overcome by the feeling of hatred – this is the road we have chosen.”
– Lech Walesa



After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Lech Walesa was elected Poland’s first President of the Republic of Poland. In December 1990 in a general ballot he was elected President of the Republic of Poland. He served until defeated in the election of November 1995.

He was married and had eight children. He said his Catholic faith sustained much of his political activity and determination to resist Communist control.

“It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.”
– Lech Walesa



Clancy's comment:  A very inspired man. Love his last quote.
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29 June 2015 - THE WONDERS OF MOTHER NATURE

THE WONDERS OF MOTHER NATURE
G'day folks,
Time to check out some more of those creatures that share our planet.























































And, not only but also, folks. Another great review has appeared for my first novella - a poignant story about bullying - 'KY!' The review, by one of Australia's best book reviewers, has been made by Anastasia Gonis on Buzzwords Books:


Rida is caught between two cultures. She is the only Muslim girl at her school, and she wears glasses and a hijab. She also loves books so is classed as a nerd by her peers. This mixture leaves her open to ridicule, emotional and physical bullying, which she is afraid to report. It also sees her isolated from the rest of the students.


Then she meets Ky, a Cambodian refugee who also loves books. At last Rida has a friend.


On a day when her two tormentors are pursuing her, she runs into a house where an old man is tending his garden. This rose garden becomes a haven; somewhere she can hide from the bullies, read and feel safe until she can get home. The man will also play a significant role in Rida’s future.


It seems she’s always running – to get away from bullies, to get to safety, or to reach home. When Mr Conan the sports master asks her to run in the inter school sports, she accepts. She learns that Ky has leukaemia and is seriously ill.


Rida has tried to fit in at school; not be so nerdy. She stops reading during recess, becomes a part-timer in not wearing her hijab during school hours. If she wins the race, will people like her more? Or will that be one more reason to dislike her?


Inspired by Ky’s presence and despite her grave illness, Rida wins the 400 metres and the relay wearing her hijab. Their school gets the trophy, and all the differences that were obstacles disappear. She is now one of them and the school’s hero with respect and acceptance.


This poignant and inspiring novella, Clancy Tucker’s first short novel, uses the backstory and generous dialogue as a gateway into awareness about the lives of refugees. The reasons they embark on treacherous journeys to reach a safe country and a possible future without fear and threat of death are told through the children’s voice and experiences. It also focuses on the endless possibilities for children’s lives, no matter what their origins, to be turned around when opportunity is made available to them.


Other themes, and there are many in this excellent story, cover cancer in children, hope, kindness and love, family unity, and how people are more than their external appearance or specific beliefs.

BUZZWORDS BOOKS


Clancy's comment: Amazing critters, eh? And, thank you for a great review, Anastasia. 

Love ya work!


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28 June 2015 - WORDS OF WISDOM

WORDS OF WISDOM
G'day folks,
Time for some more words of wisdom. Enjoy the humour.



























































Clancy's comment: Loved some of these. You?
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27 June 2015 - MONUMENTAL STUFF-UPS

MONUMENTAL STUFF-UPS
G'day folks,
We have all seen some odd things and stuff-ups. Check out these pearlers.




















Clancy's comment: Confused? Me too. Mm ... Who was checking the checker?
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Think about this!

26 June 2015 - LARGEST SALT FLAT IN THE WORLD

LARGEST SALT FLAT IN THE WORLD
G'day folks,
Here is something different. Ever seen a salt flat? Well, here is the largest in the world.
The Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at 10,582 square kilometers (4,086 sq mi) and it's a major tourist destination in the South American country of Bolivia. The Salar is virtually devoid of any wildlife or vegetation but it is home to an estimated 10 billion tons (9.8 billion LT) of salt.

But what is no less incredible, is where  people who visit this amazing place stay, and how does one build something in the middle of the vast emptiness. The answer is quite remarkable.

Anyone arriving to visit this exotic part of the world is in for a real treat and a stay in one of the world's most unique hotel experiences. Due to a lack of conventional construction materials in this area, many of the hotels here are built entirely with salt blocks cut from the Salar itself. The most famous one is called Palacio de Sal, Spanish for "Palace of salt".

The hotel is made of about 1 million 35-cm (14-inch) salt blocks, which were used for the floor, walls, ceiling and furniture, including the beds, tables, chairs and sculptures. The hotel even has a dry sauna and a steam room, a saltwater pool and whirlpool baths for guests to relax in and fully enjoy this unreal place.

Imagine what it feels like, sleeping on salt beds, sitting on salt chairs and even eating at salt tables. And while no one can deny how beautiful everything in this hotel is, that beauty is nothing compared to the view…
The salt flats are so white and clear they often show a perfect reflection of the sky and the objects above them. In fact, because the Salar is so flat and has such a strong reflection, similar to that of ice sheets, it is used for calibrating the distance measurement equipment of satellites in space!

 The white, endless flats also offer visitors a unique opportunity to take some truly mind-bending pictures. With no other objects in sight, the human eye loses its ability to establish a proper field of depth. The results are some of the most creative and bizarre pictures you will ever see.

The salar is truly a place like no other, a magical kingdom of salt and beauty where one can drive on the endless flats and see the sky both above and below him. It is just one of many places on earth that prove that beauty has no rules and that nature always has one more trick up her sleeve.





















































Clancy's comment: Mm ... Not the type of resort I'd stay at, but ingenious just the same. I wonder if they use pepper?


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25 June 2015 - KARL MARX

KARL MARX
G'day folks,
Welcome to some facts about Karl Marx.

Karl Marx (1818-1883) founder of Marxism and an influential political science which was highly critical of capitalism. The ideology of Marx and Communism shaped the Twentieth Century.
“The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it.”

– Karl Marx “Theses on Feuerbach” (1845), (and engraved on tomb)

Karl Marx was born 5 May 1818 in Trier in western German. His father was a successful lawyer who had converted from Judaism to Christianity in order to help his law career.

 At the age of 17, Karl Marx enrolled in the University of Bonn to study Law. He was not the most diligent student, enjoying drinking societies and meeting friends. His father eventually had him transferred to the University of Berlin, which had a stricter reputation. During his time at University, Marx increasingly became attracted to radical ideas and philosophies. For a time he associated with a group known as the ‘Young Hegels’ Those students who rejected the ideas of Hegel.



Karl Marx married Jenny von Westphalen, the educated daughter of a Prussian baron, on June 19, 1843. Shortly after this he moved to Paris to escape the censorship of the Prussian government who were increasingly cracking down on left wing agitators.

Paris in the 1840s was a hotbed of revolutionary activity. Here, Marx met many revolutionaries such as Frederick Engels – an English radical. These two were to become lifelong friends and supporters; Engels would later become the chief financial support for Marx.

Engels wrote an influential book The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844. This helped Marx develop his idea of a proletarian revolution. This led to Marx’s first work – Communism Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. This philosophical work sought to show Communism as a moral force for good to overcome the alienation of labour under capitalism.

Marx also became interested in the development of history and the changes which inevitably passed through society. He termed this idea – historical materialism. Marx increasingly began to believe that a Proletarian (communist revolution) was not just desirable, but, an inevitable consequence of historical evolution.

This period led up to Marx and Engel’s most famous work – A short pamphlet titled, ‘The Communist Manifesto‘.

“The Communists disdain to conceal their views and aims. They openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE!”

Unlike the majority of Marx’s work, this Manifesto was short, to the point and included fiery, inspiration language, designed to awaken the desire for revolution.

 “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
(The Communist Manifesto, Chapter 1)



After the revolutions which swept Europe in 1848, Marx increasingly found himself under suspicion and scrutiny from French and Belgian authorities. He decided to flee to London and continue his work from there.

In London, Marx became more involved with the burgeoning Communist Movement. He was influential in the First Congress of the international, where he sought to argue against the anarchist wing led be Mikhail Bakunin.

Another influential event was the Paris Commune uprising of 1871, though defeated after two months. Marx enthusiastically supported this as being a forerunner of future Communist revolutions.

Marx spent considerable time in the British Library researching political economy. This led to his deepest work – Das Capital – a dense and thorough examination of Capitalist society and economy.

 “A commodity appears, at first sight, a very trivial thing, and easily understood.Its analysis shows that it is, in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties.”
* Volume I, Chapter 1, Section 4, pg.81

Marx also sought to examine all aspects of life from his new Marxist analysis. For example, he sought to show religion was merely a tool of Capitalist society to keep the workers under the thumb.



  Following the death of his beloved wife, Jenny, in 1881, Marx’s health deteriorated and died from Bronchitis and Pleurisy in 1883. He was buried at Highgate cemetery London. 
Clancy's comment: Obviously a deep thinker.
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24 June 2015 - BRILLIANT PICTURES

BRILLIANT  PICTURES
G'day folks,
Welcome to some more brilliant photographs from some clever photographers with a great eye for a shot.






























































Clancy's comment: Stunning shots, eh?

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