Researchers open secret cave under Mexican pyramid

I actually  visited Teotihuacan about five years ago. The Sun Pyramid is one of the ones I climbed. Amazing.
 

By Miguel Angel Gutierrez Thu Jul 3, 12:22 PM ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Archeologists are opening a cave sealed for more than 30 years deep beneath a Mexican pyramid to look for clues about the mysterious collapse of one of ancient civilization's largest cities.

The soaring Teotihuacan stone pyramids, now a major tourist site about an hour outside Mexico City, were discovered by the ancient Aztecs around 1500 AD, not long before the arrival of Spanish explorers to Mexico.

But little is known about the civilization that built the immense city, with its ceremonial architecture and geometric temples, and then torched and abandoned it around 700 AD.

Archeologists are now revisiting a cave system that is buried 20 feet beneath the towering Pyramid of the Sun and extends into a tunnel stretching for some 295 feet (90 meters) with a height of 8 feet.

They say new excavations begun this month could be the key to unlocking information about the sacred rituals of the people who inhabited the city, later dubbed "The Place Where Men Become Gods" by the Aztecs who believed it was a divine site.

"We think it had a ritual purpose. Offerings were placed at the very end of the tunnel as part of the pyramid's construction process," Mexican archeologist Alejandro Sarabia told Reuters.

"We want to find out why the Teotihuacan people sealed it and when," he said.

Sarabia said the tunnel was first discovered in the early 1970s but it was closed soon afterward, and most of the information about it was lost when the archeologist who found it died.

Teotihuacan is Mexico's oldest major archeological site and during its heyday in 500 AD, the city was home to some 200,000 people, rivaling the size of ancient Rome at that time, according to archeologists.

Today, it is surrounded by encroaching slums spilling over from the outskirts of Mexico City, but swarms of tourists still visit the giant 212-foot (65-meter) sun pyramid each year to celebrate the spring equinox festival marking the sun's return to the northern hemisphere.
  (Writing by Mica Rosenberg; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Surf's Up (Movie Review)

Well, I haven't done a movie review in awhile. Now that summer is almost over I thought I should do some in case you are wondering what to see before the summer is gone. What better place to start than with a surfing movie?

I almost didn't watch Surf's Up because I thought it be lame, ho-hum, and just another penguin movie...kindof along the lines of Happy Feet (which this movies does reference, much to my amusement).

Surf's Up was funny, entertaining, had good graphics, and I actually like the story/moral for the most part. Not that I can say all of the movie was entirely appropriate, and there were some parts they could have cut out, but it was certainly worth seeing. They also got the right people to do the voices (which is, naturally, a big asset). Part of what made the movie was the filming technique used to get the "documentary" feel, and the way they recorded the dialogue.

Oh, and I don't care what their little disclaimer said about none of the events or people bearing similarity to real life unless it be coincidental. I mean, two of the characters were playing "themselves." But that aside there were obvious references to real events that took place as recorded in the surfing documentary Riding Giants. And since I'd seen the documentary it made the movie that much more enjoyable.

2 out of 5 stars.

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Poll: Voters Don't Know Barack Obama Pro-Abortion, John McCain Pro-Life

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
July 14, 2008
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Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll finds half of voters don't know that presidential candidate John McCain is pro-life on abortion or that Barack Obama is pro-abortion. The survey shows that, when pro-life voters know that information, they support McCain by a three-to-one margin.

A new poll from the Pew Research Center finds voters are more interested in the 2008 election than they were the 2004 election, but they are less informed on where the candidates stand.

Pew finds that just 52 percent of voters rightly identify Obama as pro-abortion ("pro-choice" in the poll's terminology") and only 45 percent know John McCain is pro-life on abortion.

A stunning 38 percent of voters don't know where either Obama or McCain stand on the issue of abortion. Some ten percent wrongly identify Obama as pro-life and 17 percent think McCain supports abortion.

This information gap is important and a subsequent question shows whichever side of the abortion debate can frame the candidates first will likely help one of them win the election.

Among pro-life voters who know where the two candidates stand, McCain trounces Obama by a whopping 70-24 percentage point margin. Surprisingly, Obama has a one percent lead (43-42 percent) among pro-life voters who are uninformed about their abortion positions.

On the other side, pro-abortion groups will be working overtime to educate their supporters as well.

That's because Obama leads 71-24 percent among pro-abortion voters who know where the two candidates stand and he has a much smaller 48-40 percent lead among pro-abortion voters who don't.

The Pew poll also found that Democrats and Obama supporters are much more energized about Obama than Republicans and McCain backers are about McCain.

Compared with previous election cycles, voter engagement is up among all demographic groups, but has increased more among voters under age 50 than among older voters.

Uncharacteristically, the youngest voters -- those under age 30 -- are at least as knowledgeable, and in some cases more knowledgeable, about candidates' positions on abortion than are older voters.

The Pew poll found younger voters are more likely to know where the candidates stand on abortion than older voters, evangelicals were more likely than Catholics, and white voters were more likely than black voters to know -- especially concerning McCain.

One pattern that differs from previous surveys of political knowledge is that younger voters are significantly more knowledgeable about the candidates’ positions than are older voters. For example, 60% of voters 18-29 correctly say that Obama is pro-abortion, compared with just 51% of those ages 50-64 and just 41% of those ages 65 and older.

Let Me Help You Smile

Missing MA Lighthouse Shows Up In ... CA?

Missing Cape Cod lighthouse located in Calif.

Jun 5, 2008

WELLFLEET, Mass. (AP) — Local historians for decades thought the 30-foot tall lighthouse that once overlooked Wellfleet Harbor had been taken down and destroyed in 1925.
Turns out, it had just been moved to the California coast.
The fate of the cast-iron tower was uncovered last year by lighthouse researchers and reported by Colleen MacNeney in this month's edition of Lighthouse Digest.
MacNeney told the Cape Cod Times in Wednesday's edition it was her most exciting discovery.
Wellfleet historian Helen Purcell says the discovery of the lighthouse at Point Montara, 25 miles south of San Francisco, was a genuine shock.
MacNeney says she discovered correspondence that proved the lighthouse, first erected in 1881, had been moved by the Coast Guard from Wellfleet to Yerba Buena, Calif., and eventually to Point Montara.
There is no known documentation explaining how it was moved across the country, MacNeney said.
But Jim Walker, chairman of the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, speculates that because it is metal, it could have been disassembled bolt by bolt, with the pieces then transported by rail.
The lighthouse is still used as a navigational aid and a hostel.

A lighthouse at Point Montara is shown in Montara, Calif., Wednesday, June 4, 2008. According to lighthouse researchers, this lighthouse was first erected in 1881 overlooking Wellfleet Harbor in Wellfleet, Mass. and had been moved by the Coast Guard from Wellfleet to Yerba Buena, Calif., and eventually to Point Montara. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)


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"I Don't Want to Take Life for Granted Like I Used to"

Pretty self-explanatory. Very true. When I was a child I marveled at the world, the way things were, I wondered about life. As I grew the world became commonplace. A routine. Something to get through. I "woke up" one day. Realized what I was missing. "I don't want to take life for granted like I used to." I live. I love. I sing. I dream. I pray. I wonder. I praise. Instead of commonplace, the world is marvelous once more. I never want to lose the wonder. My friend (who has since left the blogging world) inspired me when he penned these words:

I wonder at the world I see
I marvel at its mystery
Who am I to have this glimpse of God?
Why should He reveal himself to me?

At night the outspread starscape shines
Reminding us to look between the lines
The sleeper to his sweetest dream may cling
But I must rise to [all] creation sing
Knowing not the words I simply stand amazed
And let my wonder be my greatest praise

I've been told I should always comment on a quote. I don't think it's necessary right now. That pretty much sums it up.

My Favorite Things

My Favorite Things to Taste:
1. Good, Pure Water
2. Sharp (and Extra Sharp) Cheddar Cheese
3. Chicken, cooked almost any way
4. Sunflower Seeds
5. Southern Casserole

My Favorite Things to Feel:
1. A Baby's Touch
2. The Wind in My Hair
3. Winter's Bite
4. The Sun's Kiss
5. Flower Petals

My Favorite Smells:
1. The Air after a Rain
2. Anything Citrus
3. An Old Book
4. A Room Full of Memories
5. Sea-Salt Air and the Brisk Mountain Breeze

My Favorite Sounds:
1. The Voices of my Family and Friends
2. Rain on a Tin Roof
3. Seashells Washing Over Each Other
4. The Stillness of the Mountains and the Crashing of the Waves
5. Horses

My Favorite Things to See:
1. An Answer to Prayer
2. The Sun Rise/Set
3. A Storm Rolling in
4. Anything "Picture Perfect"
5. Love

A Few Miscellaneous Things:
1. Edelweiss
2. Old Glory
3. Ancient Landmarks and Museums
4. Smooth Wooden Banisters
5. Watermelon

What are a few of your favorite things?