OT: Ecological Disaster and Global Politics

As an interesting  aside that seems to somewhat related to all the 
discussion of colonization, immigration, and "Pushes,"	I saw an
interesting 
program on U.S. Public Television (www.pbs.org) the other night.  It was

called "Secrets of the Dead: Catastrophe!"  And discussed a theory put
forth 
by an English scientist that a major eruption of Krakatoa in around 535
AD 
and the ensuing ecological catastrophe played a major part in quite a
few 
upheavals in religion, politics, and populations, and that these changes

were both widespread and long lasting, still being felt today.	It took
them 
a while to get to the point, and some of the conclusions are arguable 
(though plausible), but overall it was quite fascinating.  It also
discusses 
issues involving an asteroid strike and a tunguska-like comet airburst, 
since in the beginning of his investigation, this scholar only theorized
a 
catastrophe, he wasn't sure exactly what kind until he further
investigated 
his theory.  Altogether, if you're an astronomer, a vulcanologist, an 
ecologist, a sociologist, an archaeologist, a historian, a meterologist,
or 
just plain insatiably curious, I highly recommend checking this program
out.

Brian Bilderback
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