Which is more newsworthy?

Sometime last week, a submersible (a titanium-carbon fibre-made mini-submarine, christened Titan) commissioned to investigate the remains of the Titanic went into trouble. A catastrophic implosion is said to have instantaneously killed the five aboard. Each had sent about $250 000 to get 40,000 ft below sea level to catch a glimpse of the ill-fated ship. The dead ranged from wealthy businessmen to adventure explorers. A few days later, a Greek boat carrying hundreds of refugees from Pakistan, Syria, Egypt and Palestine submerged off the coast of Libya. 

The papers went agape with moving stories of economic refugees picking up the pieces and risking their lives for a better life in Europe. At the same time, the mass media has also been accused of paying more attention to the five victims of the Titanic sub rather than the refugee boat accident that swallowed more than a hundred lives. 

Critics assert that life is precious, whether the victim is rich or poor, educated or otherwise. Unfortunately, life does not work like that. It is pretty naive to insist that a homeless vagabond should be accorded the same level of treatment as the CEO of a multinational company. At the risk of sounding unkind, the reality is that the latter will contribute back to society, whereas the former will just sponge its resources. But hey, he could have a veteran, a professional who had fallen from grace or whatnot. But such is life. 

The communists and the religious will insist that all men are created equal, but in reality, some animals are more equal than others. When the shove comes to the push, hierarchy does exist. 

For example, when a destitute in Saint Theresa’s sanatorium has chest pain, she is offered prayers and paracetamol. When Mother Theresa herself has chest discomfort, an appointment at Harley Street Cardiology Clinic is made for her immediately. 

Looking at the two maritime mishaps above, one refers to the failure of mankind’s engineering marvel. All the years of research, experimentation and trial runs have led to this. The Titanic, another engineering, supposed proof of an unsinkable oceanliner, went down tamely on its maiden voyage. Just when the researchers thought they could have a peek into what could have gone wrong, now this. Naturally, a post-mortem of the failure of human endeavours excites many. 

Conversely, the refugee crisis denotes political failure. We deserve the government we choose. If millions of people within a vicinity cannot agree on how they want the country to be, they should not be playing victimhood. Politics is what people decide for themselves. Others cannot meddle. The rest of the world has enough problems, and now, the refugee crisis. The experience of many developed countries with the waves of immigrants over the last twenty years could have been anything but pleasing. Refugees, upon acceptance, have abused the system. Many of their siblings have yet to really integrate into the system. Some are hellbent on biting the hands that fed them. The host countries have never been the same since.

It is understandable why one news presides over the other in importance. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Unexplained!

20 Worlds greatest unresolved mysteries ever
None of them is not explained yet, here are some fact about each of them…(from doctorweird.com)

1. The mighty Incan Empire of South America

 The mighty Incan Empire of South America flourished between 1200 and 1535 AD. They developed drainage systems and canals to expand their crops, and built stone cities atop steep mountains — such as Machu Picchu (right) — without ever inventing the wheel. Despite their vast achievements, the Incan Empire with its 40,000 manned army was no match for 180 Spanish conquistadors armed with advanced weapons and smallpox.

2. Ancient Pyramids in Giza , Egypt

Khafre (l.) and Khufu (r.) are two of the three ancient Pyramids in Giza, Egypt . Khufu is the biggest, consisting of more than 2 million stones with some weighing 9 tons. The Pyramids, built as elaborate tombs for divine kings, date back to 2,550 BC. Modern Egyptologists believe that the Pyramids are made from stones dragged from quarries and, despite ancient Greek testimony, were built predominantly by skilled craftsmen rather than slave labor.

 3. The Mayan Temple

According to the Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar, made famous by the ancient Mayan people, December 2012 marks the ending of the current baktun cycle. This little bit of information has many archeologists spooked. Some believe the Mayans were warning of a coming apocalypse, while others insist it’s simply a mathematical misconception.

4. The Legend of El Dorado

 The Legend of El Dorado originates from the Muisca, who lived in the modern country of Colombia from 1000 to 1538 AD. In a ritual ceremony for their goddess, the tribal chief would cover himself in gold dust and jump into a lake as an offering. This spawned the legend of a lost golden city, which led Spanish conquistadors on a wild goose chase to nowhere.

5. Easter Island 

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is remotely located 2,000 miles off the coast of Tahiti . The original settlers of the island were Polynesians who migrated to the far-off land between 400 and 600 BC. They built many shrines and statues, called moai, from stones quarried throughout the island including a volcano site. Researchers still question exactly how the large stones were moved.

6. The Bermuda Triangle

 The Bermuda Triangle — located in the Atlantic between Bermuda , Florida and Puerto Rico — is a thief, stealing planes and boats right out of existence. The area got its name after Sgt. Howell Thompson (l.), along with 27 Navy airmen, vanished from the devilish spot during a routine flight in 1945. Rumors persist on a supernatural explanation, but many specialists blame hurricanes, a heavy Gulf Stream and human error.

7. The Nazca Lines

 The Nazca Lines cover more than 190 square miles in the southern deserts of Peru . The mysterious shapes etched into the land rival football fields and predate the Incan Empire. The ‘Las Manos’ figure (above) is 2,000 years old. Little is know about why the Nazca people constructed such vast pieces of sand art, some believe they are extraterrestrial in nature, while others claim they may have carried and pointed to sources of water.

8. Aliens  

Area 51, located on Groom Lake in southern Nevada (c.), was founded in 1955 by the U.S. Air Force to develop and test new aircrafts – such as the U-2 Spy Plane, A-12 Blackbird and F-117 Stealth Fighter. The secretive nature of the military base, combined with its classified aircraft research, helped conspiracy theorists imagine an installation filled with time-travel experimentation, UFO coverups and alien autopsies.

9. Sphinx of Giza , Egypt

Another Egyptian wonder, the Sphinx of Giza has the body of a lion and the head of a Pharaoh, believed by most to be that of king Khafre. It was carved from soft limestone, and has been slowly falling apart over the years. A popular theory of the missing nose claims Napoleon’s soldiers shot it off with a cannon in 1798, but early sketches discovered of the Sphinx without a nose predate Napoleon’s rampage.

10. The Loch Ness Monster

 According to Scottish folklore, a mystical creature called a water horse lures small children to a watery grave by tricking them to ride on its sticky back. The Loch Ness Monster became an English wonder in 1933, after witness accounts made newspaper headlines. No hard evidence of the creature has ever been recorded with several pictures, including the one above, being proven as hoaxes.

 11. The Fountain of Youth

Don Juan Ponce de Leon completed Spain’s claim on America in 1509, and soon after was made governor of Puerto Rico . Six years later, following Indian rumors, he traveled north to the island of Bimini in search of the Fountain of Youth. Bimini turned out to be the peninsula of Florida, and the fountain remained hidden until July 2006, when famed magician David Copperfield claimed the waters on his $50 million Exumas Island (c.) had healing properties.

12. Chupacabra

 Phylis Canion holds the head of what she is calling a Chupacabra at her home in Cuero, Tex. The strange-looking animal, first reported in Puerto Rico in 1995, apparently has a taste for chicken and goat blood. Although many pictures like the above might prove its existence, biologists assure none such creature exists.

13. The Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a wooden casket, gold plated, made for carrying the tablets of the Ten Commandments. The casket was carried throughout the desert and remained in the Israelite Temple until its destruction by the hand of the Babylonian Empire. Its whereabouts are still unknown, but Hollywood made its own version for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark. ’

14. The Stonehenge

 The Stonehenge landscape of Salisbury Plain , England , has become a tourist hotspot. But before foreigners with windbreakers and cameras showed up, the area may have been a burial ground and ceremonial den dating back 5,000 years.

15. The Iron Pillar of Delhi

 The Iron Pillar of Delhi is a 1,600-year-old, 22 feet high pillar located in the Qutb complex in India . The pillar, made from 98% wrought iron, has been astounding scientists by its ability to resist corrosion after all these years.

16. Stone Spheres in Costa Rica

Discovered in the early 1940s in Costa Rica during excavations by the United Fruit Company, these perfectly formed stone spheres date from 600 AD to the 16th century. Their makers and purpose still unconfirmed, many believe them to be some religious effigy made to worship the sun.

17. Mothman

A humanoid with insect wings and crimson eyes, known as the Mothman, terrorized Point Pleasant , W.Va. , during the late 1960s. No solid evidence exists of the creature, except for a handful of witness reports documented in paranormal-journalist John A Keel’s ‘Mothman Prophecies’.

18. Jersey Devil

According to legend, 250 years ago a Jersey woman by the name of Mrs. Leeds cried out in despair during her 13th pregnancy, ‘Let it be the Devil!’ After childbirth, the baby was revealed to be a kangaroo-like creature with wings, and flew away to cause all sorts of Jersey Devil mischief. Today the Jersey Devil can be seen getting fans riled up during local hockey games.

19. The Tunguska Explosion of Russia

The Tunguska Explosion in Russia occurred around 7:14 a.m. on June 30, 1908. To this date, the exact cause of the explosion – which leveled 80 million trees over 830 square miles – remains a heated debate. Most believe it to be caused by a meteoroid fragment, others insist either a black hole or UFO origin.

20. The Lost City of Atlantis

 The Lost City of Atlantis was introduced to the West 2,400 years ago by Plato, who claimed it to be the island home of an advanced society. Legend says it was sunk by an earthquake, with later interpretations as an underwater kingdom protected by mermaids. Its whereabouts still a mystery, recent underwater evidence suggests it was once apart of a larger landmass in Cyprus off the Mediterranean but the only true Atlantis exists in the Bahamas as a grand casino and resort hotel.

The curse of the Titanic

Nazi Titanic ine or a!hyped by the medi
Even 100 years after the sinking of the mammoth supposedly unsinkable ocean liner on its maiden trip, it still evokes emotion in some. Seriously, nobody actually knows whether the sentimentality is genuine or hyped by the media.
It must have left the same feeling among the Nazi sympathizers then. Even during the heights of the World War II, to highlight the cowardice, stupidity and greed of the British to the German public to justify their attack on the British soil, what better way do than to use this maritime blunder to their benefit through the propaganda tool which they have perfected, the silver screen.
The Nazi regime realize that using human drama with ability to create emotion was an excellent way to coax the German people to follow the party's agenda. They depicted a story of socially decadent society of Britain exploiting the transatlantic voyage for the pure purpose of profit without a care for the safety of its passengers. To show German true honesty, a fictitious character, a hero in the form of a know all German captain in included in the cast. He is the only person with a heart and tries to warn the danger of iceberg.
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, who is known for producing anti Semantic propaganda films is appointed to carry this task. Herbert Selpin, an accomplished director is given a massive budget to recreate the tragedy of the Titanic with the party agenda on mind. Walter Zerlatt-Olfenius, an old friend of Selpin is in turn selected to write the screenplay.
Germany in the early of 20th century was known as the Hollywood of Europe. Many of these movie makers like Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang were mostly Jewish. Turn of events in the 30s made these people to migrate en masse to America, explaining the conquer of Hollywood by them and their course.
Meanwhile, the flamboyant Selpin kept on demanding bigger budget and sets all in the name of party aspirations and Nazi ideology. He even demanded a real mammoth ship to depict the real Titanic at the height of war in sea and air front.

They managed to secure SS Cap Arcona in mid 1942 in spite of attacks by Allied Force into Germany.
Groebble's obsession with movies assured Selpin to get everything he wanted (money, wine, a luxurious hotel as base and even soldiers) as if there was no war whilst the rest of the country was under rationing.
Zellet, the screenwriter, a decorated nationalist war hero, a good friend of Selpin for years, gets into an argument over delay in production. Selpin ridicules the Army, the Nazi war efforts and even the Iron Cross and the Third Reich. Zellet, humiliated, reports the incidence to the Ministry. At that time, in this totalitarian country, everybody was reporting each other.
Selpin is interogerated by ministry and Goebbels. He stood on his ground and was imprisoned and had mysteriously hanged himself in custody. In spite of two years into production, the film was not fully ready.
Time goes on and money getting less as the war is not going Germany's way..
Hollywood joins the proganda chase after the Pearl Harbour bombing with movies like 'Casablanca'.
Another director is given the task of completing the movie.
Come December 1942, things are going terribly wrong for Germany. Groebbles who watches the movie 'Titanic' realizes that he had made a mistake. Too much had been lost - too much money, the life of director and the question of people dying seem of context as too many people in Germany had lost their loved ones and the idea of people dying might not resonate well with them. It was therefore never shown to German public. It was felt that Selpin had subtly mocking the Third Reich and his and Nazi policies through the characters in his 'Titanic'.
It was however screened in German's occupied territories and the movie became smashing blockbuster there.

J Bruce Ismay , Chairman of the White 

Star Line which operated the Titanic.

Before another propaganda movie can be produced to rectify the faux paus, Germany loses the war.
3 days after Hitler's demise, thousands of Jews are marched from concentration camps and placed on SS Cap Arcona (the same ship which used in filming) filled in inflammable gases and set on sail. The RAF planes fired at them thinking it was German war ship. The survivors of the wreckage were shot at by the the German soldiers.
The ironic of the story is that, just like the doomed original 'Titanic', the 'Nazi Titanic' seem to carry the same curse. On top of all that, the 'Nazi Titanic' actually brought down with it more lives than its predecessor (more than 4500 vs 1500) that it was suppose to depict!
In 1950, the edited version was finally shown to the German public with no mention of Selpin's effort. Now it is restored and Selpin is given credit as its director.