History for now. Looking deeper into this map of the 12 tribes of Judea, one notices historic (white aera) people of both Phoenicians and Philistines. The area of Philistines seems to be somehow the Gaza one and that of Phoenicians, the Lebanon one. Interesting too because the Phoenicians founded Cartage (Tunisia) and for Philistines soldiers, enemies of Israelites, are supposed to have captured the Christ, asked for by the Jew, and had him delivered to the Romans. As it was often the case at that time, Phenicia was not a (unified) state, but a group of independent maritime cities covering Lebanon and part of Syria until the conquest of Alexander the Great in 333 Before Christ. (*) Today, Syria claims a part of Lebanon and its influence is very strong. The control of Lebanon has been granted in fact in recent decades to restore a semblance of peace. Land of covetousness between Sunnis and Shiites, respectively backed by Arabia and Iran, Lebanon struggles to find an identity maintained artificially at the time of the colonies. (*)Old large community, like the Celts, shared some knowledge and customs, presumably acquired through trade or inter-clan wars. The faculty of the ancient peoples to build pyramids, temples, cathedrals or large boats without any plan - a major point - , totally escapes today our understanding. Because this can exist only if each worker has a hability and a collective sense of the work to realize ; and ideas. So without a real architect or engineer, in the sense of the professions today, no offense to those who insist to believe, to value themselves. Better to evoke "masters", ex-workers or remarkable apprentices, if not great. Thus came to the top Imhotep, a worker digging stone vases, then a daring architect of who, as we know, had attended the greatest schools.

Olympia. What I saw from the Olympic stadium in Olympia seemed riquiqui (*). A small track overgrown with grass, few remains around to judge the importance of construction, all far from what we could imagine at the yard of our huge current stadiums. However, the boldness of innovation is still there, perpetuated. (*) riquiqui or rikiki is a french word to say "very small, tiny, teeny, skimpy, so little.. nearly nothing. During the first Olympic Games held in Olympia (city of ancient Greece), women were banned. This seems unlikely because they were very free in this evolved society, they say. The improbable would have a plausible explanation, for the time, but which seems today stunning, "nothing was to distinguish the origin of the competitors" (*). well, with the incognito, there should not have any supporters or sponsors ? And here is what, in the case of women, could have been embarrassing (!#?): dekan yllatot erew yeht os The answer is to read this charabia backwards, from the right.

Deux lieux mythiques localisés

Cyprus

It seems to be just a few small rocks and a beautiful blue sea (what is not so bad). But there, in the middle of this water, according to the panel, was born the goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite! At the end of the rocks, superb pebbles... of which very small ones, for your own collection. Some are deep black. At the end of the pebbles, pure water with dreamlike clearness.. hibis

Greece, Delphi. . Here, at the Parnassus Mount, is located the center of the world. Delphi (ex Pythos) was a religious center where one consulted also "the Pythia" (pythoness of the Apollon temple), before embarking in any maritime adventure. We were shown this round stone; I have since seen on TV (2004) something different; a sculpture or something like that had been put on it ! believe in authenticity.    hibis

A little everywhere, we "embellish" tourism without scruples. There are far worse things; many historic sites have been "renovated" if not made up and even "arbitrarily chosen".

A story about feet.

(Excerpt from a review) On the dried soil, Nazdacs lined these huge drawings whose meanings are not clear. a magazine

Italian architect Giuseppe Orefici seems well to have the explanation of these drawings, which were surely not made to be shown from a plane ! He noticed that the ground was packed in the middle of the track, which is bordered as if the ground had been driven back on the sides ; but the most astute is to have noticed two openings in the edges, looking as an entry and an exit. The pattern would be quite simply a way of pilgrimage. I belieeve this. However, this discovery does not explain this gigantism !

Pierre noire, Cyprus Extraordinary semi-conical stone. Axis of rotation, wedging, top finishing? mystery. Found while walking about near an archaeological site. There was also a superb decorated column head, shards of vases, and a sad widowed shepherd with whom we exchanged a few words. And his sheep. Enough to create guilty desires... and so many regrets! hibis

Pierre qui roule.. These wander around, seasons after seasons ; but nobody really know how they move : wind, freezing and warming ? (from documentation) Dried mug lake of Racetrack, Californian desert.

Lourdeur de jambes ? Here is a very odd object. For thermal reumathism cure. Top the it with hot water and then, put your hand inside. Exists for legs ! Ephesus, Turkey. hibis

Painted nature If we believe the greenness of that mount, inhabitants of that Chinese country don't have to suffer from water depletion as in other many places in China. It is in reality a false back ground in the Chinese way. Not a large canvas or gigantic net stretched onto the mount, no at all. With a bit less than a millions of yuans and a lot of time, the local government which - is it a coincidence - settled just opposite, have it painted all this part of the mount. Very simple. "courier international". 2007.

Canals of Chine. China pumps water from north to south through a set of three canals and a very complex network of rivers, lakes and canals all interconnected in an incredible mesh. The Grand Canal is divided into thirteen levels with pumping stations. For example, the second level will be equipped with twelve gigantic pumps capable of propelling - six metres higher - 300 cubic metres of water per second, the flow of the Seine in Paris. Something to make the Dutch dream.

Sand Castles. (revue) Achievement of an artificial island, in the "Gulf". Arab Emirates get the sand sprayed over with pumping boats,  thus producing islands and islets, of which the more famous ones stand representatives for a world country, or shaped like patterns as palm tree branches. High ranked hotels, buildings or properties for these new Bahamas heaven are at exclusive prices. Will these constructions last more than frailty sand castles ?  a special sea wall has been designed to fulfil the need, while preserving the overlooking on the open sea. Inspired from the corals reefs, the sea wall is wide and rise up on three levels, the last toping is a crack above the surface of the sea.  Unbelievable, they run short both of lime rocks and even of sand ! (they couldn't dig out to much in the vicinity) so they had to import them ! Yes, sand also because the desert sand is not suitable !

Artificial Town. Far from the rich Shanghai blooms the shocking Chongqing, 500km southwest of the Three Gorges Dam. This ancient Sichuan city is crossed by the Yangsi River at the junction of its tributary Jialing. Difficult to obtain a precise number od inhabitants for they said 35 millions inhabitants in june 2008, "on the steep hills", with 500.000 people more each year, and I found a 32 millions hab in 2018 (2010 : 15 294 255). And another value is for the urban city.. May be 2008 was a forecast. A forest of towers, 30 to 40 storeys buildings by bunches, the whole surrounded by aerial runways. All what hampers is condemned, small shops, traditional and poor old districts, cultures on terraces. A 600 metres square model show the achievement. Le monde 2, 2008.

They are all usal military traps that still work and probably will be working forever. Last products are more sohisticated than the wooden classic ones, like those who lured the German during the second world war, with a false huge armada gathered near an England shore. The new comers can't be spotted from the reall ones at less than 100 metres and are proof against electronic detection too.

There are also buildings, missiles launch pads, etc.

007 car An old American dream is going to come true within 2016. This time, it's serious ; the car fly and has satisfied the necessary certifications. The flying object can run and take off from one of the 5.000 small fields of the country.

The 007 car : on the road, the aisles are vertically foldedt. Could take off in case of emergency ?

2015. Futuriste,  here is the first version fnally marketed. They gave up the vertical wings, but as a result it became significantly longer. The drones are coming, but they're not yet on the road. Another challenger, the flying car with vertical take-off: it is underway or under test (?) at EADS (2017). The transition from vertical to horizontal flight is difficult and not economical. .

Picking pickles. In a Swiss-German province and may be in Southern Germany  (TV report and Net research for Switzerland).. The huge machine called "Gurkenflieger" (pickle hovering?) spreads its two wings at ground level, pulled by a big tractor.

Competition is fierce and markets have gradually shifted from Europe to India (salary, 50 cents per half-day). Only germans could dare to do that.

On either side, the pickers are on their belly (on a cushion) and do not have to bend down.

The position is still tiring. These machines are all locally tinkered with.