Who is Online

We have 69 guests and no members online

 

Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic was our last port before returning to Fort Lauderdale.  The port has been setup as a mini-resort, with bars, water sports and retail outlets, designed to separate cruise-ship passengers from their money. 

There is a local fort, Fortaleza de San Felipe, that we though might be worth a look, perhaps of historical interest and more than twenty years old.  But alas, as it was nearly 2 kilometres (an almost 5 minute drive) away, it would cost us $120, each, to be taken there. 

We considered walking but the cocktail bars beaconed. Wi-Fi again.


The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with the country of Haiti. On the UN's Human Development Index, Haiti ranked 163 out of 191 countries in 2021, one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on earth. At the eastern end the Dominican Republic, while almost as corrupt as Mexico, has one of the highest development rankings in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region. Same island, different cultures. So, not all cultures are equally beneficial to their possessors.  Religion is obviously a factor here.

***

And so it was another relaxing sea day - back to Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale 

 

Our next stop would be Boston



No comments

Travel

India

October 2009

 

 

 

 

In summary

 

India was amazing. It was just as I had been told, read, seen on TV and so on but quite different to what I expected; a physical experience (noise, reactions of and interactions with people, smells and other sensations) rather than an intellectual appreciation.

Read more: India

Fiction, Recollections & News

The Cloud

 

 

 

 

 Chapter 1 - The Party

 

 

 

This morning Miranda had an inspiration - real candles!  We'll have real candles - made from real beeswax and scented with real bergamot for my final party as a celebration of my life and my death. This brief candle indeed!

In other circumstances she would be turning 60 next birthday.  With her classic figure, clear skin and dark lustrous hair, by the standards of last century she looks half her age, barely thirty, the result of a good education; modern scientific and medical knowledge; a healthy diet and lifestyle and the elimination of inherited diseases before the ban on such medical interventions. 

It's ironical that except as a result of accidents, skiing, rock climbing, paragliding and so on, Miranda's seldom had need of a doctor.  She's a beneficiary of (once legal) genetic selection and unlike some people she's never had to resort to an illegal back-yard operation to extend her life. 

Read more: The Cloud

Opinions and Philosophy

Science, Magic and Religion

 

(UCLA History 2D Lectures 1 & 2)

 

Professor Courtenay Raia lectures on science and religion as historical phenomena that have evolved over time; starting in pre-history. She goes on to examine the pre-1700 mind-set when science encompassed elements of magic; how Western cosmologies became 'disenchanted'; and how magical traditions have been transformed into modern mysticisms.

The lectures raise a lot of interesting issues.  For example in Lecture 1, dealing with pre-history, it is convincingly argued that 'The Secret', promoted by Oprah, is not a secret at all, but is the natural primitive human belief position: that it is fundamentally an appeal to magic; the primitive 'default' position. 

But magic is suppressed by both religion and science.  So in our modern secular culture traditional magic has itself been transmogrified, magically transformed, into mysticism.

Read more: Science, Magic and Religion

Terms of Use

Terms of Use                                                                    Copyright