Lincoln Continental Makes a Comeback

Lincoln Continental is making a comeback. It is poised to restore its lost glamor decades ago. The Continental is about the same length as a Mercedes-Benz S-class or long-wheelbase BMW 7-series. Cadillac’s new flagship sedan is the other contender in the high-end luxury cars market that will give the Continental a run for its money.

The Lincoln Motor Company, Ford's luxury division, mostly sold improved versions of Ford cars with little difference apart from the design and some added features. Ford boasts that the Continental has a new turbocharged engine not available in any Ford brand car. Lincoln has a reclining rear passenger seat with a foot rest. A fold out table with an attached tablet computer and a champagne cooler were added to its features.

Lincoln Continental’s backwards-opening rear doors was a stylish icon of the Kennedy era. The Continental name also resonates among Chinese car buyers, according to Ford executives, despite the fact that Lincolns only went on sale there last year, the CNN reported on 30 March 2015.

Anything Under the Sun: Gambling Requires Skills

REBLOG>Anything Under the Sun: Gambling Requires Skills

SavySeph's Original Blog

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I tried to convince my readers that gambling requires skill. There are tons of researches that would conclude otherwise. In a recent (2012) study Professor Gerhard Meyer, of the University of Bremen's Institute of Psychology and Cognition Research, suggested that poker was chiefly a game of chance. There were 300 participants in Prof Meyer's research. They played 60 hands poker each, on tables of six. The players were classified as 'expert' and 'average' players based on their ability to make money from good, bad and average hands. The research found that 'expert' players lost less money on bad hands, but did no better than 'average' players on mediocre hands - and made slightly less on good ones. Prof Meyer concluded that 'poker players overestimate the skill factor in their play'.

A research studied 456 million hands of poker from a year's worth of online game. In just a few hands the better-performing players fared better half the time. Their success rate gradually increased until they played 1,471 hands. Given that frequency, they could do better at least 75 per cent of the time. Dr Dennie van Dolder, of the University of Nottingham's School of Economics, said the study showed 'skilled players will consistently outperform less skilled players if enough hands...are played.'

Researchers from the University of Nottingham, working with colleagues from Erasmus University Rotterdam and VU University Amsterdam, also noted that players who finished in the top one per cent in the first half of the year were 12 times more likely than others to repeat the feat in the second half. Writer and TV presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell, one of Britain's top professional players, has won more than £1.5m - including £400,000 at a single event. Dr van Dolder said, "It's up to legislators to decide whether the role of chance diminishes fast enough for poker to be considered a game of skill," the Daily Mail reported on 25 March 2015.

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My Comments

I guess Professor Gerhard Meyer study did not include a larger sample size (more games). If Professor Meyer went up to 1471 hands would the result had been the same with Dr Dennie van Dolder?

Filling Bottles: Islamic Ring in Viking Grave

REBLOG>Filling Bottles: Islamic Ring in Viking Grave:

Sue DaJi's Original Blog

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Vikings ties with the Islamic caliphate existed during the 9th century. Ancient texts and tales recorded the Vikings sojourn to the Islamic caliphate but they usually include references to "giants and dragons". A finger ring excavated during the late 19th century that was inscribed with Arabic letters indicate such ties and researchers led by Stockholm University biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer are re-examining it.

The ring was excavated Swedish grave in the town of Birka, on Björkö Island, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) from Stockholm. The town was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993 because it was an important Viking trading center. Arabic Kufic writing was inscribed on the ring. The letters appear to read "AL_LLH," researchers say, which they interpret as meaning "for/to (the approval of) Allah." It is only ring with an Arabic inscription ever found at a Scandinavian archaeological site, the CNN reported on 19 March 2015.

The ring belong to a women clad in traditional Viking attire but her ethnicity was unknown due to the decomposed state of the bones in the grave. "It is not impossible that the woman herself, or someone close to her, might have visited -- or even originate from -- the Caliphate (which then stretched from Tunisia to the borders of India) or its surrounding regions," the researchers said.

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My Comments

About a century ago people made some conclusion on it based on evidence. How much of that opinion will change now as evidence could not be easily altered?

China: Mummified Monk Statue Stolen

China claims that the Buddha statue, exhibited at the Hungarian Natural History Museum, was stolen from Fujian Province. This statue was a phenomenon because a 1,000-year-old mummified monk was found encased in it. The China Daily reported on 24 March 2015 that China's State Administration of Cultural Heritage had taken the necessary steps to retrieve the statue.

The mummified monk statue is now in the possession of a Dutch collector. The mummified monk statue made its debut when it first showcased at Drents Museum in the Netherlands last year. The mummy was discovered when a collector brought it to an expert for restoration. Subsequently a team of researchers and scientists was brought in to do a comprehensive study. CT scan show the mummy sitting on a bundle of cloth covered in Chinese inscriptions, revealing its identity as a Buddhist monk called Liuquan, the CNN reported on 23 March 2015.

China's Claim

According to the documents, the monk was a local man who gained a reputation for curing diseases and promoting Buddhist principles. He passed away at the age of 37. Pictures provided by the Da Tian Museum, Fujian and those taken during the exhibition were found to have identical facial expressions as well as scratches on the stomach and the hand. The shape, height and weight of the Dutch collector's statue matches the measurements provided by the Da Tian Museum. The same Chinese character is also carved on the cushion that the Buddha sits on. "There are five proofs of evidence that show that the Buddha statue is the relic stolen in 1995 from a Chinese ancestral temple in Fujian province's Yangchun village," said a spokesman of the Da Tian Museum in Fujian.

The Dutch Collector's Claim

On March 23, the Dutch collector issued a statement saying the statue was acquired in 1994 from a sincere Chinese friend in the art circles. The statue was shipped to his residence in Amsterdam from a workshop in Hong Kong in 1995. Coincidentally, a Buddha relic was reported stolen in China in 1995. The Chinese and Dutch governments will seek a diplomatic solution to address the issue.

Beware of Wrong La Plagne Ski Resort

La Plagne on Search Engine

The La Plange is a famous alpine ski resort in France. Just type La Plange on your search engine and the list will point you it. Some of the images that show on the search engine can enchant you. This seem like a must visit for a skier.

La Plagne on GPS

Looking up La Plagne on the GPS will result in some ambiguity. There are 3 La Plange listed on the GPS in France. A bus driver found out that choosing the wrong one was be a costly mistake and 50 Belgian tourists paid the price for his error on 9 March 2015.

The Pathetic Story

The Guardian reported that the bus driver made a 750 mile (1,200km) detour. The bus driver took the road leading to La Plagne village in the south of France near Spain, some 400 miles (600 km) southwest of the ski resort. The pathetic tourist reached their destination in the Alps 24 hours late.

Seeking Enlightenment: The Silk Road

REBLOG> Seeking Enlightenment: The Silk Road:
Sophia Logica's Original Blog

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The Silk Road's Recent Development

China's proposals to build a modern-day trading route on the skeleton of the ancient traders' trail, known as the silk road, have been welcomed by its neighbor. The China Daily reported on 9 March 2015 that the project had led to misunderstanding and criticism. Oppositions fear this ambitious and long term project would be derailed. The Polish were supportive of the project and pledge to be part of the project. First secretary of the Polish embassy in Beijing, Wojciech Jakobiec, said "for us, the Silk Road Economic Belt is an especially important project, and we would like to participate in it."

Europeans Understanding of the Silk Road

Based on UNESCO's understanding, silk road was a recent term. They traced it to German geologist, Baron Ferdinand von Richthofen. He called the trade and communication network Die Seidenstrasse (the Silk Road). The silk road is sometimes used in the plural term because the network extend to a web of sea and land routes.

Baron Coining Silk Road Don't Jive

With due respect to the UNESCO, I do not think that the silk road is a recent term. The Baron lived from 5 May 1833 – 6 October 1905. UNESCO had established that silk was a monopoly of China and found its way to Rome "at some point during the first century". Such and important route could not have been named in 1877 [see Wikipedia] by the baron. I believe it had some reference to it since if was even in existence until the 17th century.

China Reference to the Silk Road

The Chinese had referred to the silk road as "silu" form as far as the recording of their chronicles existed. That goes back to the time that the prominent Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty (206BC—220AD). The UNESCO article also concur with this date. Since this is not about conquest there was not much to hide. The Chinese account had not been inconsistent with the accounts of those they had traded with.

The Meaning of Silu

Out of curiosity, I looked up the translation for "silu". Actually I was not surprised it meant silk road. Si is the word for silk while lu is the Chinese word for road. It is whimsical to think that such a simple name is coined up in 1877 when people who traveled the road to buy or sell silk for ages would refer to it as silk road for simplicity.

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Amenda Steels' Comments

The Crusade Wars had put strong antagonism between Europe and Arabic nations. The Arabs block the Europeans from spice and silk since European travelers had to pass to Arabic land to get to Asia. In the late 15th century, Vasco da Gama, had to go around this hostile land to get access to exotic Asia. This resulted in navigating round the Cape of Good Hope and the establishment of a new sea route. Once this old road is reestablished, the existing routes which are less efficient will be phased out.

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My Comments

The spot at GuangXi looks like the middle of the world. Asia, Europe, Africa and Arabic Nation converge at this point. Once the existing road are phased out, fortunes will change for some nations.