Books Atlantis Five Works Inspired by the Legend of Atlantis The Lost City of Atlantis has been inspiring wacky theories and speculative fiction ever since Plato made it up. By James Davis Nicoll | Published on August 16, 2024 Photo by Salvatore Tonnara [via Unsplash] Comment 0 Share New Share Photo by Salvatore Tonnara [via Unsplash] The earliest mentions of fabled lost Atlantis were, as you know1, in two essays by Plato, Timaeus and Critias. The context of these mentions suggests that Plato invented Atlantis out of whole cloth, as an illustration of certain philosophical points. However, many have wondered if perhaps Plato had some real-world basis for his Atlantis. Others, Ignatius L. Donnelly for example, have firmly insisted that Plato did. Cynics might object that any mentions of Atlantis after Plato wrote were clearly derived from his essays; there are no mentions of Atlantis in other contemporary sources or in any previous sources. There is no physical evidence of an island such as Plato described or of any Atlantean empire. And yet… authorities such as Donnelley, Blavatsky, and Pournelle have asserted that Atlantis was real. Shouldn’t this count? Why, if we doubted the historical reality of Atlantis, we might as well disbelieve in the historical reality of Oz, Winnemac, and Narnia! Archaeological questions aside, the central idea of Atlantis—an ancient, highly advanced civilization whose stupendous achievements could not in the end save it from doom—has been an inspiration to many authors. Consider the following five works. The Lost Continent by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne (1899) Although of lowly birth, Phorenice is brilliant, opportunistic, and lucky. Through fortuitous adoption, martial prowess, and a determined disregard for tradition, she has seated herself quite firmly on Atlantis’ throne. She is that great land’s first empress. Alas, Phorenice’s hubris may well doom Atlantis, by civil war or divine wrath. An empress needs a consort. Phorenice makes the cold-blooded calculation that Deucalion, paragon of Atlantean virtue, would be an ideal consort. Good news for Atlantis: Deucalion could guide Phorenice away from certain disaster. Better news for Atlantis: Phorenice, to her surprise, falls in love with Deucalion. True, Deucalion is in love with someone else… but that is a trivial matter easily resolved by ordering Deucalion to murder the woman he loves. What could possibly go wrong? Hyne’s novel is notable for two things. First, it’s a very early example of a common Atlantean trope: teasing readers with the possibility that Atlantis will be saved from certain doom, then ending with Atlantis’ watery apocalypse. Second, the novel’s framing sequence features the most appalling depiction of careless Victorian-era desecration of irreplaceable relics that I’ve ever read. Lost Legacy by Robert A. Heinlein (1941) While hiking with his chums on Mount Shasta, Dr. Philip Huxley breaks his leg. Things look dire; Phil could die of exposure before his friends can bring aid. Fortuitously, a stranger appears to provide Phil with much-needed medical care. The stranger reveals himself to be Ambrose Bierce. He claims to be a member of a secret society of psychic adepts whose arts hark back to ancient Atlantis. Phil and company would be perfect recruits3. The catch? There are those who do not want humanity to regain its lost godlike powers, people who will go to great lengths to prevent such a development. By joining Bierce, the young Americans sign up to take part in a war for humanity’s soul. A question I blame Alec Nevala-Lee’s Hugo-finalist book Astounding for making me ponder: was Heinlein channeling the views of noted rocket scientist/occultist author Jack Parsons? Or was RAH simply drawing on the occultism in which everyone seems to have been steeped back then? “Exile of Atlantis” by Robert E. Howard (19674) Long before Atlantis was glorious, it was a patchwork of barbarian tribes, each more violent and superstitious than the next. Kull, lone survivor of his people, had the good fortune to be adopted by Gor-na’s tribe. Kull has the physical prowess to be a great man of the tribe… if only Kull could somehow smother his impious skepticism concerning his new tribe’s manifestly absurd customs and beliefs. Matters come to a head when Kull discovers a young woman is to be burnt alive for violating marriage law. The future King of Valusia faces a choice: do nothing about the cruel and unjust execution and be accepted by society, or act and face exile. Kull is in some senses very much like Conan, with one very important difference. Kull is far more introspective than Conan. As a result, Kull is often far more miserable than Conan, plagued as Kull is by perplexing philosophical dilemmas. The moral is probably that you can never go wrong overthinking things5. Operation Time Search by Andre Norton (1967) Photographer Ray Osborne reveals a heretofore unestablished use for Hargreaves and Fordham’s time-viewing technology when Osborne blunders into one of their tests. Osborne is transported to an old-growth forest unfamiliar to him. Soon after that, Osborne is captured by Atlanteans. The ancient world in which Osborne finds himself is divided between virtuous Mu and very much not virtuous Atlantis. Worse, Atlantis now has the means to win the long struggle against Mu. Can American pluck and a near-total lack of operational security on the part of Atlantis save the day? Or, like Plato’s Atlantis, will Atlantean hubris ensure catastrophe? It’s not clear whether Norton’s Atlantis is Plato’s, and therefore in the distant past, or a realm in a parallel universe that happens to be very similar to Plato’s Atlantis. What’s even less clear is exactly what happens at the end of the novel. Did Osborne save Atlantis and Mu from immersion, somehow without affecting history? Or did something even less likely happen? The Dancer From Atlantis by Poul Anderson (1971) A malfunctioning time machine clearly out of warranty scoops up American Duncan Reid, Kievan Russian Oleg, Hun Uldin, and Minoan Erissa from their native eras, and deposits them in the past. The time traveler who accidentally time-napped the quartet barely has a chance to choke out a surprisingly detailed infodump before perishing of his wounds. The four are, it seems, trapped in the past. Erissa comes from a time closer to the one where she ended up. She can tell where they are: not too far from an island known to fellow Bronze Agers as Atlantis. As to when they are? The days immediately before volcanic disaster snuffed out Atlantis and upended civilization across the Mediterranean. Is history fixed? Or can Duncan and the others do anything about a foreordained calamity that underlines how ephemeral everything good and valuable is? I regret to report that Poul Anderson in his most gloomy period is not the author to turn to for what Tolkien termed “eucatastrophe.” Still, The Dancer from Atlantis is more upbeat than Anderson’s “The Pugilist.” Factual or not6, Atlantis has been an inspiration to many authors. The above is only a small sample. I didn’t even mention the role Atlantis played in the Perry Rhodan novels or the eyebrow-raising Jane Gaskell novel Some Summer Lands. Perhaps you have Atlantean favorites not mentioned above. If so, extol them in comments below.[end-mark] Bob. ︎Yes, it is tremendously lucky that the hikers Bierce rescues are perfect candidates for enlightenment, to the point that one has to wonder if Bierce orchestrated the accident as a meet-cute. Still, either the hikers would be perfect or they would not be, so 50/50 odds, right? And there’s a story in the encounter either way. ︎Howard died in 1936. As a general rule, authors’ work tends to be written prior their death. The 1967 denotes when the story was first published. ︎True story: in 2016 or so, my boss told me not to overthink things. I waited five or six years, then assured her I had come up a 128-step process to determine if I was overthinking something. A week later she realized I was joking. ︎Not. ︎The post Five Works Inspired by the Legend of Atlantis appeared first on Reactor.

A city teenager moves to a small town where rock music and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace. Cast: 1984 viewing A new mall opened in my hometown in CONTINUE READING... The post 84 From ’84: Footloose appeared first on The Retro Network.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. Actor Dennis Quaid, alongside the marketing team for the movie “Reagan,'” has accused Facebook of hampering their promotional efforts for the soon-to-be-released biopic. The accusations come in the wake of alleged restrictions and impediments encountered by the film’s marketers while attempting to enhance the visibility of their content related to Reagan on Facebook. The social networking giant has commented on these allegations, suggesting there may have been an error on their part. Quaid imparted his frustrations to Newsweek through an email, expressing his belief that Facebook’s actions amounted to a blatant censorship of ideas and an obstruction to the promotional campaign for his upcoming movie. He indicated that such undertakings were harmful as they stymied the free circulation of ideas. Quaid’s sentiments were echoed in a letter sent to Meta Platforms CEO and Chairman, Mark Zuckerberg, which chronicled the issues the promotion team faced trying to bolster their Reagan-related content on Facebook. Among the chief complaints raised in the letter, penned by the film’s digital marketing director, Eric McClellan, was an instance of apparent censorship, where a simple post featuring the movie’s title, a picture of Quaid, and a quote from the former president did not pass Facebook’s promotional criteria. Although the post was allowed on the platform, paid advertising of the post was refused by Facebook. The social media behemoth tried to justify its decision on the grounds that the post included mentions of politicians and sensitive issues that could potentially sway public opinion or the outcomes of elections. “Like the old Soviet Union—are we turning into a country of tech oligarchs who control the platform of groupthink to silence the individual or ‘other’ groups?” Quaid asks in his written statement. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Dennis Quaid Accuses Facebook of Stifling “Reagan” Film Promotion, Citing Censorship of Ideas appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Kamala's Radical 'Jewish Community Liaison' Sets Off Alarms in Israel

Sweden has confirmed its first case of the clade I strain of mpox, the first case to be diagnosed outside of Africa. The news comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that the situation has been deemed a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).According to a statement from the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the individual caught the infection during travel to a part of Africa that is currently dealing with a “major outbreak”, before returning to Sweden. State epidemiologist Magnus Gisslén confirmed that the patient has received medical care.The clade I strain of mpox differs from the clade II strain that spread to dozens of countries – including Sweden – and was declared a PHEIC back in 2022, in that it’s considered more likely to cause severe disease.Mpox is a viral infection that causes symptoms like fever, headache, and muscle aches, which later progress to a rash that can affect skin anywhere on the body. This typically develops into blisters that can be itchy or painful. Complications can include secondary skin infections, pneumonia, eye infections, and sepsis. While most people will make a full recovery within about four weeks, the very young, pregnant people, and those with compromised immune systems are at particular risk of severe disease that can be fatal.The disease is spread through close contact with an infected person. In the clade II outbreak that began in 2022, a major route of transmission has been sexual contact, with men who have sex with men emerging as a particularly at-risk group.Clade I viruses can also spread this way, but authorities are equally concerned about spread via close contact within households, including to children. A person can spread mpox until the rash has completely healed.Swedish authorities stressed that the country is ready to “diagnose, isolate and treat people with mpox safely,” and say the case does not represent a significant risk to the general public.“This case does not require any additional infection control measures in itself, but we take the outbreak of clade I mpox very seriously,” Gisslén said. “We are closely monitoring the outbreak and we are continuously assessing whether new measures are needed.”Numerous outbreaks of clade I mpox in Africa this year – including in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, which have never reported mpox before – led to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declaring a continental public health emergency earlier this week. The agency suggested that cases are being underreported, hiding the true scale of the issue, but said suspected cases in 2024 alone have risen to about 17,000.WHO figures show that there have so far been over 2,100 confirmed cases of mpox across 12 countries in Africa this year, and 13 deaths. This already exceeds the numbers from the whole of 2023. The latest strain of the virus emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has been particularly hard-hit by mpox over the years, but its rapid spread to so many other countries in recent months has caused concern.There are two approved vaccines for mpox, which can be used as both preventatives and as post-exposure prophylaxis if given soon after contact with an infected person, but supplies to many parts of Africa affected by the virus have been insufficient. In collaboration with the European Commission, Africa CDC has just secured over 215,000 doses of vaccine to be distributed where the need is greatest.Meanwhile, other countries in Europe and elsewhere will continue to monitor the virus. Experts say the spread of this strain of virus outside Africa is not unexpected – albeit, as immunologist Dr Brian Ferguson told Science Media Centre, it is “clearly a concerning development.”

Good news for lunar lovers, as the first Supermoon of the year is fast approaching on August 19 at 6:26 pm UTC. It’s also a double whammy of celestial phenomena: as well as being “super”, the Moon will be “blue” – here’s what that all means.The Moon’s orbit is not quite a perfect circle, so as it travels around the Earth it passes through its closest point (we call it perigee) and its most distant (known as apogee). A Supermoon occurs when the Moon is full and at perigee – and because it is at its closest to us, it appears bigger and brighter, hence the term Supermoon. The difference is difficult to notice with the naked eye, however.Monday’s Supermoon will be the first of four this year, with the others occurring on September 18, October 17, and November 15. Of these, the one in October is tipped to be the closest at 357,364 kilometers (222,055 miles). Next week's approach will be 361,970 kilometers (224,917 miles) – compared to the average Earth-Moon distance of 384,400 kilometers (238,900 miles), that’s pretty close.If you weren’t excited enough at the prospect of a bigger, bolder Moon, the coming Supermoon will also be a Blue Moon – but unfortunately, it won’t be turning a stunning shade of sapphire.There are two definitions of Blue Moon, which have nothing to do with color. The first is a seasonal Blue Moon, the third Full Moon in a season that has four Full Moons. This is the traditional definition and the type we will be seeing on Monday. The other definition refers to the second Full Moon in a single month.Despite what the phrase “once in a Blue Moon” might have you believe, they’re not that uncommon: Blue Moons tend to occur every two to three years.August’s Full Moon is also known as a Sturgeon Moon – the Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern USA named it as such after the fish, which are caught more easily this time of year.The upcoming Supermoon Blue Moon extravaganza will be best viewed on Monday evening, but the Moon will appear full for three days, from Sunday morning through early Wednesday. Check out these tips on how to capture it with your smartphone.

Corey Lewandowski is back in the headlines after the 2016 campaign manager was tapped as the 2024 campaign chairman Thursday in a move that puts the hard-charging politico a rung above senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles. The move has been brewing for some time. The Trump family had expressed growing frustration with the slow response to the Democrats’ bait-and-switch candidate swap, and jealous, competing power centers within the mid-level ranks of the campaign have only added to the irritation. With just over 80 days left until Election Day, as one Trump veteran put it, “it’s time to get to the races.” LaCivita and Wiles still have their jobs and have voiced public approval for the new hires, but it’s hard to miss that the two veteran politicos promised an orderly operation — and thus far have not delivered. While talks to bring Lewandowski were in motion this past weekend, they’ve quickly progressed toward action. The new chairman began making moves Thursday to reassemble the 2016 team, tapping original talent that had been boxed out or moved on in the hopes of recreating the team of old-school loyalists former President Donald Trump trusts and building out the campaign’s internal muscle. Campaign shake-ups are not unusual on any level. Eight years later, it’s easy to forget how bare bones a campaign an insurgent Trump ran in 2016. His re-election effort was more professional, but when the campaign began to run out of money, campaign manager Brad Parscale was shown the door in July and Bill Stepien was brought in. The ghosts of 2020 still haunt the Trump campaign, which over the past few months has worked to save money by outsourcing its ground game and a lot of its infrastructure to outside organizations and the Republican National Committee and has allowed super PACs to spend like sailors on advertising while holding its own war chest for the special candidate rates later in the race, when things get more expensive. The campaign may have outsourced a bit too much for the family’s liking, however — or at least not shown the results they expected. It’s too early to tell where it’s all going, but the broader public is just starting to pay attention. With just over 80 days left until Election Day, as one Trump veteran put it, “it’s time to get to the races.” Blaze News: Trump campaign brings back Corey Lewandowski Blaze News: Harris campaign's altering headlines misdirects from other Google threats, professor says: 'They don't want us to look at them' Daniel Horowitz: Red-state Republicans embrace the Green New Deal Sign up for Bedford’s newsletter Sign up to get Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford's newsletter. IN OTHER NEWS The ballot-measure battle on how to say 'aborting a child’ Abortion is back in the news (as if it ever left). The Supreme Court of Arizona ruled Wednesday that the state’s November ballot measure will include the term “unborn human beings” to describe the person abortion kills. The Wednesday decision overturned a Maricopa County Superior Court decision that had ruled this kind of honesty was somehow biased. The decision has infuriated pro-abortion activists, who wanted the ballot to call babies “fetuses.” They say that’s impartial, because obscuring reality is a favorite — and essential — Democratic tactic for convincing Americans to support abortion any time after the first trimester. It’s tempting to believe this tactic, backed by Arizona’s Republican legislature, might be the future of fighting radically pro-abortion ballot initiatives that have successfully passed even in red states while energizing Democratic voter turnout. There are a couple of problems with this idea, however. First, you need a hard-core legislature, secretary of state, attorney general, etc., willing to push that fight. Then, you need a court willing to call out Democratic misinformation. That’s a hard combo in a lot of states, including those run by Republicans. Montana’s Republican attorney general, for example, fought pro-abortion groups whose proposed ballot language was vague, essentially enshrining in the state constitution that abortion providers can decide when an unborn baby is viable and what constitutes a health risk to the mother. In April, the court rejected his rewrite. Abortion is already legal in the state up to the time of viability, and on Wednesday, that same court overturned a Montana law that required parental assent for children to obtain abortions, citing privacy concerns the U.S. Supreme Court had struck down in relation to abortion in its Dobbs decision. You see: Not all legislators, officials, or courts are up to the task. Neither are all voters. In New York, it’s the Democrats who are currently fighting to put the word “abortion” and the phrase “LGBTQ” on the ballot, arguing that the state election commissioners’ Orwellian use of "gender expression" and "reproductive healthcare and autonomy” in the state’s Equal Rights Amendment didn’t let voters know what’s at stake. “Compare this with what happened post-Dobbs in California, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio in 2022 and 2023,” the pro-abortion editorial board of the New York Daily News wrote Thursday. In each state, explicit abortion protections were approved by the public to be added to the state constitution with the word "abortion" or explicit abortion restrictions or limitations (again, with the word "abortion") were rejected by the public. In every instance, the protections and the bans, the word "abortion" was used. And in every case, the pro-choice position prevailed, with constitutional protections approved in California, Michigan, and Ohio and constitutional bans rejected in Kansas and Kentucky. It’s hard to see where it’s all going to shake out, but it’s becoming increasingly clear as Democrats battle to take advantage of Americans’ innate libertarian leanings with “pro-choice” ballot measures that the next front will be the war of words. Blaze News: Arizona permitted to call potential victims of abortion initiative 'unborn human babies' in voter pamphlet Blaze News: Harris seized evidence of abortionists' lucrative butchery of babies. Activist reveals who helped him fight back.

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