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Νεκτάριος
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« on: November 01, 2007, 02:25:38 PM » |
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For all those doubters as to the literal existence of hell, I think I have found it.  I was reading about Turkmenistan (Heohrij probably remembers the old Советский Союз series of books about each republic, which are actually really nice books once one sifts through a bit of Soviet propaganda). Apparently there are these gas craters in the middle of the desert that spew out gas and fire. If you are interested in odd natural phenomena, these pictures and videos might interest you: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TEjoga1yrn0
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« Last Edit: November 01, 2007, 02:27:11 PM by Νεκτάριος »
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Heorhij
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« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2007, 03:41:18 PM » |
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Oh my... As far as Turkmenistan goes, it's an interesting country now. The former General Secretary of the Politburo of the Turkmen Communist Party is now the absolute monarch, whom the people are supposed to call Turkmen-bashi ("the main Turkmen"), and "The father of all Turkmens." A while ago, on one ex-Soviet Web forum the audience was given a quiz. Somebody quoted "commandments," some of which sounded very much like Biblical commandments, of the kind, "thou shalt not steal," "honor thy father and thy mother," etc. Other passages sounded somewhat more "modern," like, "thou shalt not dodge the draft, nor shalt thou get involved in narcotics trafficking." The audience was asked, what's the source. The correct answer was - a book recently written by Turkmen-bashi and printed in several million copies. It is supposed to be a household item for every Turkmen family and a textbook for every Turkmen schoolchild. 
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« Last Edit: November 01, 2007, 03:41:48 PM by Heorhij »
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Sloga
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« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2007, 06:45:57 PM » |
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Oh my...
As far as Turkmenistan goes, it's an interesting country now. The former General Secretary of the Politburo of the Turkmen Communist Party is now the absolute monarch, whom the people are supposed to call Turkmen-bashi ("the main Turkmen"), and "The father of all Turkmens."
Actually, he died last year. Interesting dictator to say the least.
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Христе Боже, Распети и Свети!
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serb1389
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« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2007, 08:57:30 PM » |
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where does the fire come from?
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I got nothing. I forgot the maps March 27th and May 30th 2010 were my Ordination dates, please forgive everything before that
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Νεκτάριος
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« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2007, 09:36:53 PM » |
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where does the fire come from?
Apparently Soviet gas exploration gone wrong is the root of this. The flame is continually fed by gas coming up to the ground (Turkmenistan has some of the largest gas reserves in the world) and nobody seems interested in spending the money, resources etc. to fix the problem since it is in such an isolated area.
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Tzimis
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« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2007, 09:55:27 PM » |
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Looks more like a Soviet mishap with a nuclear war head.
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Excellence of character, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect.
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Elisha
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« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2007, 10:15:20 PM » |
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Anyone know if that is ice on the ground outside? I would think that place might be just like a nice bonfire to hang out at. Maybe not.
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PeterTheAleut
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« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2007, 12:55:05 AM » |
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Great! Hell freezes over every winter. 
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serb1389
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« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2007, 01:16:23 AM » |
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Apparently Soviet gas exploration gone wrong is the root of this. The flame is continually fed by gas coming up to the ground (Turkmenistan has some of the largest gas reserves in the world) and nobody seems interested in spending the money, resources etc. to fix the problem since it is in such an isolated area.
LOL! We spent how many billions in the Middle East purifying oil and the oil getting process, and here it is just burning in another corner of the world and no one cares....fantastic. Sorry, didn't mean to make it political, just thought it was ironic.
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I got nothing. I forgot the maps March 27th and May 30th 2010 were my Ordination dates, please forgive everything before that
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Νεκτάριος
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« Reply #10 on: November 05, 2007, 01:39:14 AM » |
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LOL! We spent how many billions in the Middle East purifying oil and the oil getting process, and here it is just burning in another corner of the world and no one cares....fantastic.
Sorry, didn't mean to make it political, just thought it was ironic.
The real problem with Turkmen (and Kazakh and Uzbek) energy exports is there is no way to export it. Because of embargoes it can't go through Iran and with the way how things are going in Russia that isn't an option either. So they are essentially sitting on goldmines but with no way to cash in until the political situation of their neighbors' calms down. And to tie this into an Orthodox topic that isn't solely political - one of the biggest losers in the latest round of sanctions on Iran is Armenia. When Russia closed its border with Georgia and cut off energy supplies, Armenia also lost its energy supplies. Its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed - leaving Georgia and Iran as its only neighboring trading partners.
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ytterbiumanalyst
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« Reply #11 on: November 05, 2007, 01:09:49 PM » |
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The real problem with Turkmen (and Kazakh and Uzbek) energy exports is there is no way to export it. Because of embargoes it can't go through Iran and with the way how things are going in Russia that isn't an option either. So they are essentially sitting on goldmines but with no way to cash in until the political situation of their neighbors' calms down.
And to tie this into an Orthodox topic that isn't solely political - one of the biggest losers in the latest round of sanctions on Iran is Armenia. When Russia closed its border with Georgia and cut off energy supplies, Armenia also lost its energy supplies. Its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are closed - leaving Georgia and Iran as its only neighboring trading partners.
At least Georgia is Orthodox. Any word on whether the two nations could possibly ship energy through Istanbul? With both nations on the Black Sea, they could potentially make a lot of money...but they'd be dependent on the good will of Turkey.
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"It is remarkable that what we call the world...in what professes to be true...will allow in one man no blemishes, and in another no virtue."--Charles Dickens
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Tzimis
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« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2007, 01:12:28 PM » |
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At least Georgia is Orthodox. Any word on whether the two nations could possibly ship energy through Istanbul? With both nations on the Black Sea, they could potentially make a lot of money...but they'd be dependent on the good will of Turkey.
Good luck.
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Excellence of character, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices, that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect.
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ytterbiumanalyst
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« Reply #13 on: November 06, 2007, 07:39:32 AM » |
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^Indeed.
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"It is remarkable that what we call the world...in what professes to be true...will allow in one man no blemishes, and in another no virtue."--Charles Dickens
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