recent reading
recently read books:
albert camus; "the myth of sisyphus"
"the stranger" (re-read, originally read in high school)
"caligula and three other plays"
"exile and the kingdom"
"the plague"
"the fall"
"the first man"
jean-paul sartre "no exit and three other plays"
alex haley "roots"
sophocles "elektra"
gabriel garcia marquez "one hundred years of solitude"
fyodor dostoevsky "notes from underground"
erich maria remarque "all silent on the western front" (re-read, originally read in high school)
noam chomsky "rogue states: the rule of force in world affairs" (for college world politics class)

recently read articles from old national geographics with synopsis:

marco polo three part article: author travels the same route as famed italian discoverer, starting at venice, through iran and the middle east, to china, and back through india to venice once again in an attempt to objectively coroborate polo's influential book entitled "description of the world." along the way the reader learns of kublai khan's affinity towards marco (kublai khan appointed marco to a position in his mongol controlled empire which stretched from china to the frontier of russia and much of the middle east), his various discoveries, including coal and silkmaking, and his misadventures on board a boat passing through samatra, at the time inhabited by cannibalistic tribes. the writer discovers that most of what marco described was indeed true.

megatransect three part article: author travels with a biologist making a year long trek through central african jungles, reporting on the discoveries and dangers they faced, including rebel soldiers, gorillas, ebola, and various other tropical diseases. the biologist is accompanied by various african tribesmen. the author devotes much space making a psychological profile of the biologist, and much of the remaining space is concerned with the future of african jungles in the face of extreme poverty, low government funds, volitile political conditions, and the needs of an exploding population. the group traveled through areas that human eyes had not seen in at least one thousand years.

light article: author reports on light, what it is, the history of light in a scientific context, the birth of the universe, dating its age based on "fossilized" radiation, how it behaves, and how it can be used in the future. near the end the author asks a physicist, "why does light travel at the speed it does?" the physicist's answer; "we may never know." theoretical scientists have postulated that light can possibly travel at a different speed in another universe, but of course it is very hypothetical and practically impossible to refute or confirm.

pterodactyl article: author interviews paleontologists whose expertise is pterodactyl biology. the reader learns that pterodactyls are possibly not cold blooded reptiles like was originally thought, pterodactyls had a 150 million plus year history, making them one of the most enduring life forms on earth, they had a brittle bone structure, were efficient fliers, different species fed on different foods, and they ranged from the size of a sparrow to the size of a world war two fighter plane. pterodactyls died out at roughly 65 million years ago, along with all other dinosaur species.

water conservation article: author investigates the state of water conservation on the planet and gauges its importance among environmental issues facing the world today. he discovers it is perhaps the most important. the author discusses new technology such as desalination, water treatment, and sprinkler systems that are programmed to give plants just the right amount of water to reduce run off and inefficient water usage. other solutions such as makeshift dams that collect monson rains are discussed. a breakdown of the planet's available water supply is also provided, revealing that 70% of the world's freshwater is stored in polar ice caps, and, in most areas, the most used source of water, groundwater, is quickly being exhausted by major cities and urban areas with an unquenchable thirst for water. the author discusses the grave threat posed by the current water situation, which includes areas being ravaged by drought, starvation due to the death of crops, the prevalence of water bourne diseases such as cholera and diahrrea, unclean water tainted with industrial chemicals and sewage, and, among countless others, the high cost posed to extremely poor people worldwide by the coming necessity of buying water in an urban center.

black sea and the biblical flood: scientists research the formation of the black sea, formed by the mediterranean breaching a natural dam, and how local populations would be displaced by massive flooding, possibly giving birth to the various flood stories that occur frequently in ancient literature, from the bible to the sumerian epic of gilgamesh. according to these scientists, the water level of the black sea could have risen by as much as fifteen inches a day over the course of an unknown number of months, forcing the human population of the time to flee their homes, causing widespread famine, death and warfare between fleeing tribes encroaching on the homelands of other populations. their research corroborated this theory, and also gave alarming evidence of the rising levels of the black sea's anoxic (water with trace levels of oxygen that cannot support animal life) water levels. one particularly grim, yet possibly realistic opinion is that all life in the black sea can die in the next fifteen years due to natural cycles which are accelerated by human pollution.

other articles read: the history, culture, religion, folklore, and future of the former soviet republics georgia and armenia, (two separate articles), the history of the ancient yet oft forgotten empire of axum, the descendant of which is modern day ethiopia, an article focusing on the current civil war in sudan, its origins and possible future, an article on how humans migrated to north and south america during the ice ages and the competing theories associated with the migration (siberian tribesmen crossing a landbridge over the current berring strait, south pacific islanders trekking to south america, etc)

latest books i own but have yet to read that would guarantee me entrance into the vietnam war era wannabe hippie cool club:

"the wretched of the earth" frantz fanon
"tropic of cancer" henry miller
"nostromo" joseph conrad
"the russians" (written by a collective of western journalists about the day to day life of soviet citizens circa 1970-1980)