Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Krowbar who wrote (21578)	5/15/1998 1:14:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

But the Greenland that Erik saw during his explorations in the late 10th century was an arable land with a somewhat warmer climate than it has today (Marcus, 73). To Erik, "Greenland" could have seemed a fair and accurate name for the new land and such arable land would be welcomed news to many Vikings residing in the now heavily settled lands of Iceland.... During the 11th and 12th century, ice was rare in the waters between Iceland and the Greenland settlements. During the 13th century,however, the northern hemisphere witnessed a "mini ice-age", bringing the ice further south. Seasonal ice floes began appearing in sailing lanes and near the settlements. The ice season lengthened and the ice floes were followed by icebergs (Logan, 78)... In 1410, Icelandic annals affirm "That in the year of Our Lord one thousand four hundred and eight we were present in Hvalsey Church, in Greenland, on the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross and witnessed the wedding of Sigrid Bjornsdatter and Thorstein Olafson." After this, Greenland grows silent. Beginning in 1585, Englishman John Davis sailed three times to western Greenland and found only Eskimos (La Fay, 123). Likewise, in 1712, an expedition including Pastor Hans Egede was sent on behalf of the king of Norway and Denmark to restore the Christian faith among the descendants of the Viking settlers. The expedition found only Eskimos (Roesdahl, 276).. For a brief moment in history, Christianity thrived on the very edge of civilization. The unforgiving lands of Greenland granted these early settlers fertile lands to allow their cattle and sheep to graze upon and ice-free sailing lanes to import goods such as timber, wine, and iron and the export of walrushides, sealskin, and ivory. At it's pinnacle, Greenland supported a Norse population of over 3500 men and women (Marcus, 101). From it's frozen grounds, sprang up sixteen parish churches and its very own bishopric in control of most arable lands there. In the end, however, the land exhibited its control. Ice began blocking the sailing lanes that the Greenlanders desperately relied upon for communication and raw materials. In the absence of bishops, the settlers began retreating back to the old religion. As hunting land became scarce, clashes with the native Eskimos became inevitable. Cut off from the rest of the world and facing violent incursions from the natives there, the decline of Viking settlement in Greenland was as rapid as it's expansion into the new land. It was now time for the Europeans to "discover" the new lands that the Vikings had visited hundreds of years before and re-introduce Christianity in these parts of the world. mugsy.com

To: Krowbar who wrote (21578)	5/21/1998 11:47:00 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

Del, I was watching the network news this evening, and between stories on the latest gun massacre by a child, there was a little tiny blurb which stated that the brown stuff under the ice on Europa has been found to be salt! What would be the significance of this information? Incidentally, there is an article in the Irish Times about Germans protesting because nuclear waste shipments have been discovered to be more radioactive than they should have been, and the nuclear power plant operators have admitted that they knew that since 1988, but didn't say anything. What is it about nuclear stuff that causes so many malfunctions, breakdowns, and outright lies? Germany has now stopped all shipments of nuclear waste. I am beginning to suspect nuclear energy has a lot of bad karma around it, or something!! irish-times.com