Myth bustin popular 'castle island' in Ireland as a fake

This a photo that did the rounds on the more visual social media spots such as Pinterest, Imgur and Reddit. The varying captions claim it is a “castle island” and many say it is in Dublin.

As an office of native Irish people our first reactions was “Wow!” and then, "Wait, this can’t possibly be real."

However, all you have to do is carry out a cursor Google Image search to see that many are taken in by this Photoshop trickery.

This image is actually Khao Phing Kan island, also known as “James Bond Island,” in Thailand, with a portion of the Lichtenstein Castle, near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Württember, Germany, plonked on top.

There you have it! Don’t believe everything that you see!

Source: http://www.irishcentral.com

Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaandam

This visually stunning 4 star hotel has an impressive façade. The structure is a lively stacking of various examples of the traditional houses to be found in the Zaan region. Inntel Hotels Amsterdam Zaandam offers superb rooms, a Wellness Club with swimming pool and free WiFi throughout.

In short, it provides the best of tradition combined with modern-day comfort. It is the ideal location for your overnight stay as well as for meetings, conferences or stylish celebrations.

The hotel's green façade of traditional Zaan houses is a real eye-catcher. The interiors of the hotel rooms also reflect the rich history of the Zaan area: the traditional products, the pioneers of the local craft industries and the families which made the area world famous.

The hotel is located next to the Zaandam train station, where the train will take you directly to the centre of Amsterdam within 12 minutes and to Schiphol Airport within 18 minutes.

Source: http://www.inntelhotelsamsterdamzaandam.nl/

World's oldest person Emma Morano dies at 117

The world's oldest person has died in Italy at the age of 117, reports say.

Emma Morano was born on 29 November 1899 in the Piedmont region of Italy. She was officially the last person born in the 1800s still living.

She had attributed her longevity to her genetics and a diet of three eggs a day, two of them raw.

Ms Morano looks at a picture depicting her when she was young

Ms Morano was the oldest of eight siblings, all of whom she has outlived. She died at her home in the northern city of Verbania.

Her life not only spanned three centuries but also survived an abusive marriage, the loss of her only son, two World Wars and more than 90 Italian governments.

Ms Morano had admitted that her longevity was partly down to genetics: her mother reached 91 and several sisters reached their centenary.

But it was also down to a rather unusual diet of three eggs - two raw - each day for more than 90 years.

It was a regime she took up as a young woman, after the doctor diagnosed her with anaemia shortly after World War One.

She had cut down to just two eggs a day, and a few biscuits recently.

Her doctor of 27 years, Carlo Bava, had told AFP news agency that she rarely ate vegetables or fruit.

"When I met her, she ate three eggs per day, two raw in the morning and then an omelette at noon, and chicken at dinner."

Ms Morano also credited her longevity to her decision, in 1938, to kick out her husband - a year after her baby boy died at just six months old.

The marriage had never been healthy, she said. She had been in love with a boy who was killed during World War One, and had no interest in marrying someone else.

But, she told La Stampa newspaper in an interview when she was a spritely 112 that she was left with little choice.

"He told me: 'If you're lucky you marry me, or I'll kill you'. I was 26 years old. I got married."

Eventually, it became too much. Though they separated in 1938, they remained married until he died in 1978. Ms Morano, who worked until she was 75, chose never to marry again.

"I didn't want to be dominated by anyone," she told the New York Times.

She had only taken on a full-time carer a couple of years ago - but had not left her small two-room apartment for 20 years.

According to the US-based Gerontology Research Group (GRG), the world's oldest human being is now Jamaican Violet Brown, who was born on March 10, 1900.

Source: http://www.bbc.com

What is MOAB? 'Mother of All Bombs' GBU-43/B dropped on ISIS is 11-tonnes of pure TNT

It's a weapon that justifies the use of the word 'terrifying' to describe its power and marks a deadly ramping up of America's military initiative abroad.

The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, nicknamed MOAB, or 'Mother of All Bombs', is a 21,600 pound, GPS-guided munition that is America's most powerful non-nuclear bomb.

Almost 20 feet long, it truly is the queen of the so-called 'bunker busters'.

Deployed from as high as 20,000 feet, the MOAB races to the ground at supersonic speed before slamming its way toward a hardened target through layered subterranean defenses such as native rock, reinforced concrete, and steel plates.

The 11-tonnes of TNT warhead then bursts about 6 feet (1.8 meters) above the ground.

The idea behind an 'air burst' weapon, as opposed to a weapon that explodes on impact with the ground, is to increase its destructive range.

A bomb that penetrates the ground and then bursts tends to send all of its energy either down into the ground or straight up into the air.

An air burst weapon sends a great deal of its energy out to the side.

As a precision-guided 'smart bomb' the MOAB is designed to cause maximum damage to bunkers, tunnels and other areas that can typically withstand even large standard bombs or artillery strikes.

It can kill people within several hundred metres of the point of detonation, and cause lung damage and other injuries over an even wider area.

“The most amazing thing about MOAB is it’s the most powerful bomb ever built and has done its job—deterring the enemy—simply because they know about it,” Robert Hammack, a team chief for the bomb’s development, was quoted as saying in an Air Force article in 2008.

The bomb, dropped at 7pm local time (4pm UK time) today in Afghanistan, was operated by an Air Force Special Operations Command.

It was deployed by an MC-130 aircraft to target ISIS and extremists.

The bomb had to be "kicked" out the back of the cargo plane due to its colossal size, according to military sources.

The US Air Force targeted a cave complex in the Achin district of Nangarhar province after a US special forces 'Green Beret' was killed fighting the terror group in the country, according to Fox News .

In terms of destructive capability, it can be said to be the most fearsome explosive weapon among a range of massive-blast ordnance developed by the Pentagon over the past decade.

It replaces the Vietnam-era "Daisy Cutter," a 15,000-pound bomb with 12,600 pounds of the less-powerful GSX explosives.

Gen. John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, signed off on the use of the bomb, according to U.S. sources.

As [ISIS'] losses have mounted, they are using IEDs, bunkers and tunnels to thicken their defense," General Nicholson said in a statement.

"This is the right munition to reduce these obstacles and maintain the momentum of our offensive against [ISIS]."

This is the first time a MOAB is believed to have been used in battlefield after first being developed during the Iraq War.

Military officials told CNN in 2003 that the MOAB was mainly conceived as a weapon employed for "psychological operations."

They said they hoped the MOAB would create such a huge blast that it would rattle Iraq troops and pressure them into surrendering or not even fighting.

Officials suggested that perhaps the Iraqis might have even mistaken a MOAB blast for a nuclear detonation.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk

Glass bottomed swimming pool sits 152m above the ground below

If you’re in any way scared of heights then you should avoid this see through swimming pool at all costs.

Located in a new apartment development — Market Square Tower — in Houston, Texas, the pool sits 152m above the road below and offers guests the chance to take a dip from the 40th floor of the building.

In a video posted to the building’s official Facebook page, a swimmer gives viewers a hair raising bird’s eye view of the ground below as they walk out onto the see through glass platform.

Despite seeming like you might be standing on nothing at all, there’s an eight inch thick plexiglas panel that comes between your feet and the empty space to the ground below.

Additional amenities at the luxury tower include a poker suite, indoor basketball court and movie theatre, with a unit setting you back between $2400 and a hefty $25,000 per month.

Source: http://www.news.com.au

The Indian Caste System

Although many Hindus subscribe to the belief that one is born into a certain caste this belief is not supported by their scriptures. The caste system in India has degenerated into a system falsely recognizing men born in Brahmin families as Brahmins, even though they don’t exhibit the qualities of Brahmins. This has caused so many problems.

“Brahmanas, ksatriyas, vaisyas and sudras are distinguished by the qualities born of their own natures in accordance with the material modes, O chastiser of the enemy.

“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness–these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work.

“Heroism, power, determination, resourcefulness, courage in battle, generosity and leadership are the natural qualities of work for the ksatriyas.

“Farming, cow protection and business are the natural work for the vaisyas, and for the sudras there is labor and service to others.

“By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. Now please hear from Me how this can be done.

“By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, a man can attain perfection through performing his own work.

“It is better to engage in one’s own occupation, even though one may perform it imperfectly, than to accept another’s occupation and perform it perfectly. Duties prescribed according to one’s nature are never affected by sinful reactions.” (From Bhagavad-gita 18th chapter)

So the Vedas recognize different people have different skills and qualifications, but it is no by birth, it is by guna [qualification] and karma [work]. So if someone born of a sudra [worker] father becomes qualified [guna] and works as [karma] a brahmana he should be accepted as a brahmana… In the same way if the son of a brahmana doesn’t have the qualifications of a brahmana or work as a brahmana then he is not a brahmana. There are so many examples of this in the Vedic scriptures.

The current Indian system is something like accepting the sons of supreme court judges as supreme court judges… It’s nonsense. They have to be qualified, they have to attend the university and pass the course, then they have to work under a qualified judge and get the practical experience, then they may be able to become supreme court judges…

So there is actually nothing stopping anyone from bettering his position in the Indian system in the scriptures… But also there is no need for everyone to strive to be supreme court judges. Anyone, from any social position can be liberated by performing his own work…

You have the same system in America. You have intellectuals [brahmanas], you have administrators and military men [ksatriyas], you have businessmen and farmers [vaisyas] and you have workers. The Vedic system just recognizes these groups, that’s all. It’s quite natural.

rsjames@husc7.harvard.edu (Rajesh James) wrote:

>A question (no offense intended). I am familiar with the idea of the caste

>system as traditionally practiced: the child of a Brahmin being a Brahmin

>himself, the child of a Kshatriya a Kshatriya, etc. This system, while

>perhaps not compatible with present political sensibilities, at least had

>two points in its favor.

>1) It is logically consistent. Although I certainly cannot prove that a

> sudra, for instance, arrived at his present situation in life as a

> consequence of his actions in past lives, once I make the assumption

> that reincarnation functions as the system implies it does, the

> system does not exhibit any glaring logical inconsistencies.

It is true that on takes his birth according to his previous karma [activities] so one gets birth in a Brahmin’s family because of his past activities. So mostly the son of a Brahman has the potential to become a Brahmin. But it requires training. And it requires the Brahman father to be actually a qualified Brahmin… But in any case the training and the proper observation of the samskaras [purificatory ceremonies] is required… It’s not automatic at birth as is generally accepted now.

prapya punya-krtam lokan

usitva sasvatih samah

sucinam srimatam gehe

yoga-bhrasto ‘bhijayate

“The unsuccessful yogi, after many, many years of enjoyment on the planets of the pious living entities, is born into a family of righteous people, or into a family of rich aristocracy.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.41)

These days, in Kali-yuga, the samskaras are generally not performed or not properly performed and the gurukuls, the training schools for the boys, are no longer in operation… So there is generally no training and also no purificatory ceremonies… So these sons of Brahmins who have no brahminical training have to be called “dvija-bandhus” or friends of the Brahmins… Unless they actually have the qualities of Brahmins and work as Brahmins they can’t be called a Brahmin. You may even be qualified as a lawyer educationally but if you don’t practice, if you don’t work as a lawyer, no one will accept you as a lawyer.

The qualities of a Brahmin are given in the Bhagavad-gita:

samo damas tapah saucam

ksantir arjavam eva ca

jnanam vijnanam astikyam

brahma-karma svabhava-jam

“Peacefulness, self-control, austerity, purity, tolerance, honesty, knowledge, wisdom and religiousness–these are the natural qualities by which the brahmanas work.” (Bhagavad-gita 18.42)

>2) It is practicable. It is immediately apparent who belongs to what caste.

> If my father belongs to a given caste, I know that that caste is my own.

Yes. That is there. But because one’s father is a supreme court judge one is not automatically a supreme court judge… He may have a good opportunity to become one. His father can help him, all the reference books are in his house, he is hearing about the law all the time… But he has to become qualified, he has to go to school, study the books, pass the exams, work as an apprentice under a qualified judge… If you just let any son of any supreme court judge sit in the supreme court that would be the end of the supreme court…

If someone, on the other hand, has a businessman as his father but he develops an interest in the law, attends the university, passes the exams, etc. If he develops the qualities and works as a lawyer, then one has to accept him as a lawyer, even though his father is a businessman. It is his guna [qualities] and karma [work] that are important, not his birth.

>Some individuals have said the traditional system is in fact a perversion

>of the idea of caste. Caste is instead a reflection of one’s intrinsic

>abilities and/or inclinations. In such a system, is caste any more

>meaningful than the idea that we all fit in some fashion into the divine

>plan? Is caste useful any longer as an organizing principle for society?

Yes. There are three modes of material nature, [goodness, passion and ignorance] and everyone of us is associating with material nature in a certain way. It is that mixture of our association with the modes of nature that determines our “caste”. It is undobutedly influenced by our parents guna and karma, but we can change it… One in the mode of goodness is a Brahmin, one in the mode of passion is a ksatriya, one in the mixed modes of passion and ignorence is a vishya and one in the mode of ignorance is a sudra. This system is everywhere, even in America. Unless it is recognized social interaction and the smooth running of a society become very difficult. It is true that certain people are suited to performing certain tasks… Someone has a very good brain, he can think analytically very nicely, so he can advise the government, he can be a judge in a court of law…

But if you put someone with no brain and little analytical thinking ability in that position he will not be very successful… Society will suffer…

This is one of the main problems in our society now [both in India and in the US]… No one knows who is who and so many jobs which should be being performed by Brahmins and ksatriyas are being done by sudras… It is said kalo sudra sambhavah, “In the age of Kali everyone is a sudra.” So it is a very difficult time. Mostly people are sudras, there may be a few vaisyas [businessmen] but almost no ksatriyas or Brahmins… This is the problem. We are not training them. The intelligent people are available, but instead of training them as Brahmins and ksatriyas we are training them as technologists. But these are sudra jobs…

>Furthermore, is there any restriction on my declaring myself to be whichever

>cast I wish to be? Is there any authority which can bar any person from

>declaring himself a Brahmin? If everyone chooses to adopt the “highest”

>caste, has the idea become a meaningless concept?

This is the biggest problem! Every sudra wants to be called a Brahmin! But they don’t want to follow the principals of brahminical life. In the Vedic age it was the kings duty to see that everyone claiming to be a Brahmin was qualified in terms of guna [qualities] and karma [work]. This safety mechanism has to be there otherwise unqualified “Brahmins” will spoil everything… It has happened in India so now many Indians want to get rid of the caste system altogether, because it has become a system being used by a few to exploit the others… But it is better to correct the system than throw it out. But where are the qualified Brahmins? That is the difficulty… So we should start training some. Srila Prabhupada wanted us to start “Varnasrama Colleges” to train Brahmins and ksatriyas… but it has not happened yet… But these colleges hold the key to the success of society in the future.

varnasramacaravata purusena parah puman

visnur aradhyate pantha nanyat tat-tosa-karanam

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu, is worshipped by the propper execution of prescribed duties in the system of varna and asrama. There is no other way to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead. One must be situated in the institution of the four varnas and asramas.” (Visnu Purana 3.8.9)

But one also has to consider:

dharmah svanusthitah pumsam visvaksena-kathasu yah

notpadayed yadi ratim srama eva he kevalam

“The occupational activities a man performs according to his own position are only so much useless labour if they do not provoke attraction for the message of the Personality of Godhead.” (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.2.8)

All things considered, Kali-yuga is a very difficult time for spiritual life and there are many faults. If despite all the faults we chant the holy names of the Lord (Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare) then everything will be perfect…

hare nama hara nama hare namiava kevalam

kalau nasty eva nastya eva nastya eva gatir anyatha

“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is the chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”

Thank you. Hare Krishna!

Source: https://krishna.org

Iran struggles to expand oil exports as sea storage cleared

Iran has sold all the oil it had stored for years at sea and Tehran is now struggling to keep exports growing as it grapples with production constraints, shipping and oil sources say.

Since the easing of international sanctions in January 2016, Iran tried to make up for lost sales by releasing millions of barrels parked on tankers offshore.

Tanker tracking and oil sources said Iran had sold its last stocks from the floating storage in the past two weeks. Much of the oil stored was condensate, a very light grade of crude.

With no more stocks at sea, Iran has lost a vital resource that had propped up exports.

"We do think that (floating storage) has been the primary cause of the boost in exports," Energy Aspects analyst Richard Mallinson said, adding that now floating storage had ended total exports of crude and condensate were likely to slip.

"We see a very difficult path for Iran to raise crude output until it can get the Western expertise and investment back into the upstream, which has been notably slow to materialize," he added.

After Western sanctions were eased, Iran's output jumped from about 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to about 3.6 million bpd in June.

But it has barely risen since - fluctuating between 3.6 million and 3.7 million bpd - even though Iran fought hard with fellow OPEC members to be excluded from production cuts that came into effect on Jan. 1 and will last till June.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pledged to reduce output by about 1.2 million bpd, but Iran was allowed a small increase to compensate for years of isolation. Yet it has produced less in the past three months than it was allowed.

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said last month Tehran was prepared to produce 3.8 million bpd if OPEC agreed to extend cuts to the second half of 2016, effectively signaling there was little hope of a steep rise in Iranian output.

Prior to the lifting of sanctions, Iran stored unsold oil on ships, which peaked in 2015 at 40 million barrels on around 25 tankers. The country has up to 60 oil tankers in its fleet.

Iran's drawdown of floating storage gathered pace in September. By the start of 2017, Iran still held an estimated 16 million barrels of oil on ships. Since then, they have emptied.

While the EU and United Nations lifted sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program more than a year ago, the United States has held separate measures in place and President Donald Trump's administration has promised a tough line.

This has increased concerns among Western banks about offering finance to Iran, slowing energy investment decisions.

French oil company Total said in February it planned a final investment decision on a $2 billion gas project in Iran by the summer, but said this hinged on a renewal of U.S. sanctions waivers.

"The uncertainty over the U.S. position on further sanctions is casting a huge shadow on the oil trade with Iran," said Paddy Rodgers, chief executive of tanker company Euronav.

In addition, the oil minister's efforts to secure deals with Western firms has run into internal opposition in Iran, which holds the world's fourth biggest oil reserves. The plans have now been postponed until after a May presidential election.

"Iran needs billions of dollars of investment to boost crude oil production and natural gas capacity," said Mehdi Varzi, a former official at state-run National Iranian Oil Company and now an independent consultant.

"Most of the fields were discovered many decades ago and are way beyond their production capacity," he said.

Source: www.oilpro.com