The world did not end today as scheduled by doomsday interpreters of the Mayan calendar. And so, WordPress says:
“Surprise. There was talk of some sort of apocalypse today, but so far, so good. Big surprise! In honor of the world continuing, show me some surprises! xxx.”
The major religions speak of an end of days, or hold that there is an end to everything [the Bible, the Quran, the Vedas (Vedic scriptures)], except that the Buddhist texts put it this way: there is no beginning or end but infinite repeated births, changing from one form to another.
Here is my entry for the Weekly Photo Challenge: End of the World, este, er, Surprise.
A sunny day of apple-picking. J, L, Z, and Ztwo in an apple orchard, with more than a hundred trees heavily laden with luscious fruits all for the picking.
Surprise. They pick only a bagful, only what will sustain them for a week.
The world will continue.
But if we consume and burn the planet the way we do, Z’s granddaughter — and your great grandchildren — might face long-drawn floods, then long-drawn droughts.
They will reap what we sow, and it might not be apples.
Hopefully, we keep learning everyday, and finding better ways to live without destroying what gives us life. Surprise.
And that’s my post for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise.
(Photo by Myra Lambino, apple-picking on a Saturday just a couple of months ago, Oak Glen, Yucaipa, San Bernardino Country about 80 miles from Los Angeles.)
xxx
Thanks: WordPress users and “likers” (pls click their avatars and public profiles below): PhotoBotos.com, Dr. Anto Youssef, Esenga’s Voice, Judy, Leanne Cole, shammee, Pat, taethne, Jo Bryant, Vladimir Brezina, Maurizio Riccio, lifeoutofthebox, Brad Stanton, Hamburg und Mee(h)r, BeWithUs, efratadenny, 4rozebds, eof737…
Apple tries to ban Samsung smartphone sales in the U.S.
The other day, i received “alerts” or promotional texts for a Samsung Galaxy and other Samsung android smartphones sales.
Newspeg: “A hearing that will give Apple the stage to argue if Samsung should be banned from selling some of its Android smartphones in the U.S. has been pushed back until December. Xxx The news comes less than a week after a jury awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages for patent infringements, with a looming possibility that several Samsung devices might be banned from the U.S.” (by Samantha Murphy | Mashable)
But can Samsung later on be enjoined from selling its Android smartphones (Samsung Galaxy etc.) outside the U.S.?
Well, it would take some work: Apple can ask the U.S. government to ask the World Trade Organization to enforce (after notices and hearings) the TRIPS provisions (trade-related aspect of intellectual property rights) of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade on governments that fail to enforce intellectual property laws (copyright, patents, etc.); the provisions authorize trade sanctions. (asa ka pa, ang dami ngang pekeng Nike)
Right now, it’s just the U.S. market they’re after (although…if Samsung continues selling, the amount of damages already awarded could still be increased later on)
