What Really Happened During the Recession?

Michigan Central Station, Deroit. Image Source: Next Nature.

The Great Recession did not hit everyone equally. The suffering went deep, but not everyone felt the downturn to the same degree. There is a quote attributed to Harry S. Truman: "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours."

Some people still consume in a pre-2007 fashion. And the recession is only reaching some industries and economic regions now. As a result, understanding what really happened during the recession is skewed between the experiences and corresponding perceptions of the new haves and the new have nots.

All Hallows' Eve Countdown: Happy Hallowe'en!

"I can't see. Where are my teeth?" Image Source: Facebook.

Happy Hallowe'en! Here are some great photos for today from around the Web.

All Hallows' Eve Countdown: The Curse of Tolkien's One Ring

The Vyne ring, aka the Ring of Silvianus. Image Source: BBC.

BBC has reported on the likely original source for Sauron's One Ring in J. R. R. Tolkien's stories. The history of the ring is complicated. It was found in a farmer's field near Silchester, in Hampshire, UK, in 1785. In 1929, with Tolkien's help, archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler connected the ring to a curse tablet in a late Roman Celtic temple in Gloucestershire, 100 miles away. The curse tablet describes a stolen ring. The area around the temple was also awash in superstitions about elves and dwarves. It is commonly believed that this research helped inspire Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937) and the The Lord of the Rings trilogy (1954-1955).

All Hallows' Eve Countdown: The Curse of the Purple Sapphire

The Delhi Purple Sapphire, in an arcane setting designed by one of its owners to contain its maleficent power with binding spells. Image Source: Live Science.

Today's Countdown to Hallowe'en post is about a curse of imperial plunder. Above, a gemstone with a reputation for leaving disaster in its wake. The gem is in fact an amethyst, stolen by a British soldier from a Temple of Indra - Hindu god of rain and thunderstorms - around the time of the 1857 Indian Mutiny. The current owner, the Natural History Museum in London, claims that it was stolen in 1855. From Kanpur, India, the stone made its way to Britain in the hands of Bengal cavalryman, Colonel W. Ferris. According to Live Science and The Indian Express, the gem spread misery to all who possessed it.