The Worthy, Clever and Useful, Banana-Eating Monkey. The Maligned Epithetee.

Examining our Epithets.
The Unsung Virtues of the Maligned.


The Epitheter vs. the Epithetee.
The Epithetee Often Wins.


Jungle Monkeys?  

Hold. Your. Tongue.

One culture's brunt.  Another culture's example of a virtue. For example, what is at the root of our evolution-challenged disparagement of monkeys. And our deeply flawed obsession with likening the habitual walkers (us) as superior to those who locomote in different ways. Yet, Curious George is a monkey of many virtues; including a white face, see://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNzFFvW20G0/;  and this proud reddish fellow is the patron of a medieval trade guild for stonemasons and bricklayers, statue in Bern, Switzerland, see Switzerland Road Ways, Bern Statues.

Here, follow an investigation of sorts, into the nature of the put-down, the assertion of superiority that then falls apart if examined. Stereotypes. And find a surprising role of serotonin in leadership among leaders in monkey societies, and where it is lacking, belligerence.  Can we solve some problems by fostering serotonin in our bullies? Rush, is your belligerence because you simply don't feel good?  Ask the monkeys.
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Dan the Tourist and Tailless Gibraltar Ape

Here, see examples of the denigrated: issues here are in this sequence - including topics related to bananas, those who eat them (monkeys), and where they eat them (in jungles perhaps). And our forced uniformity, reducing their varieties for our economic gain.

1) Monkeys are key in banana variations.  Do not disparage.

2)  Monkeys and bananas grow in the greatest variation where commerce and corporations are controlled.

3)  Harnessing and limiting variation in animals and food for our own use, regardless of what is good for them, works against our best interest.

4)  Dietary wisdom.  Banana-eaters in variation (eat different kinds) are not obese.

5)  Monkeys know how to eat a banana.  Start from the bottom tip, not the stem.

6)  Monkeys teach us about hierarchies.  The lead monkey has the most serotonin.  Add serotonin to a low-status monkey, and it starts to lead - and the ladies notice, but the guys just look confused at the change in the order of things.  The most belligerent have the least serotonin.  Shall we feed serotonin to the far right? Bananas in the House?

7) In Spider Monkeys, females take the leadership role.

8)  Monkeys, people, and skin color.  Do monkeys have white skin.  Curious George has a white face. Some monkeys have black faces, but look at the overall skin color beneath the hair - is it white?  You go check. Examine stereotypes.

9) Theology.  Is there a Hindu connection with stonemasons, perhaps secret knowledge from the east, you experts are alerted. 

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1. Monkeys are key in banana variations.


Are we superior because we bury the variations, and let ourselves eat only the kind that industry bred so they could profit most. What we get ro eat are one type. The familiar yellow hand.

See the many varieties of bananas that have managed to survive despite us, from the Yucatan to the Himalayas. See Nature Products, at ://natureproducts.net/Forest_Products/Bananas/Musa_itinerans_tall.html/ Look up that Musa Itinerans.
Here is a fair use thumbnail from Wikipedia.

For most bananas, the seeds mature during the summer, and it is mainly the monkeys that distribute them. There are red bananas, cold-tolerant bananas, ornate and dwarf ones. The musella lasiocarpa golden lotus banana is sacred in Buddhism.
This thumbnail is from ://turtlegabys-tropical-oasis.net/.
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2.  Monkeys and bananas grow best where corporations and commerce are controlled.


Commercial focus is fine to a degree: it enables a floor to survival. Efficiency, knowledge, how things grow, distribution, good use. But past that mythical tipping point, profit takes over and variation suffers. It takes a conscious effort to sustain the variety, or it will be gone. And before, perhaps, we knew its contribution to our own well-being.

Varieties of bananas grow where people, if giant corporations have not taken over, sustain biodiversity- friendly lifestyles.  Is that also true of people:  our varieties die off when corporations move in, commerce takes over. This thumbnail (thumbnails also violate nothing, so we sing their praises as well) is from www.chinadiscover.net/  Do an images search for Xishangbanna and it will appear. 
Visit Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, see ://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl/, where no less than 14 different cultures, with linguistic differences from each other and from the surrounding Chinese, live in a biodiverse area and harvest bananas - but not our ordinary, uniform, cultivated and bland bananas. Will China let this diverse population thrive? Another topic.

3. Harnessing fruits and animals for our own use works against our own best interest.


 So: bananas. Our history, as Americans, with the banana, is not honorable. See ://en.allexperts.com/q/Central-South-American-673/Banana-Wars.htm/ We have invaded, taken control, capitalism amok, all that, and weakened the once strong banana strain, so that now it is susceptible to disease and the one basic type we have reduced to boredom and fostered - the Bright Yellow Stop and Shop type - may well be in jeopardy. We have ourselves to thank. And our engendered Banana Republics are angry. Justifiably so. The United Fruit Company and the US - joined at the hand, see ://www.mayaparadise.com/ufc1e.htm/  Think Curious George.

Dull man, yellow hat,
Little monkey having fun
Monkey smartest one.

4.  Dietary Wisdom

 Monkeys are not obese, fat. We are. They are in shape. See Health and Wellness; The Banana Diet, at ://www.associatedcontent.com/article/715097/the_banana_diet_dont_monkey_around.html/. The site lists "bananas, berries, oranges, seeds, herbs, roots, ants and meat". Hey. Where's the beer? The pasta. The chips. "Don't monkey around with your health," says the article.

Eat like a monkey. Sounds like a new dance. Eat,,, like...  a...  Mon-key....

5.  Eat like a monkey.  How monkeys eat bananas.

Monkeys know how to eat bananas. Bananas grow up, from the stem at the bottom forming the hand for all the growing bananas upwards. So, hold the stem at the bottom, folks, and peel by starting with a pinch at the top. That is how monkeys eat bananas. Very wise, and leaves you with a little handle at the end.   See Instructables, at ://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Eat-a-Banana-Like-a-Monkey/

6. Learn from monkeys in establishing hierarchies, if you need to have one.

The highest status monkey is the one who turns out to have the highest serotonin levels, that hormone leading to feelings of well-being - and, interesting here, the highest status monkey, the one who feels best, enjoys the most well-being fights the least.  He doesn't have to fight. He gets the lieutenants to fight if the need arises.

Does that mean that the belligerent among us are so because they don't feel good.  Bring on the couches.  Rush? We are ready.

Lower status monkeys are the risk-takers, the ones making most noise, and often get smacked down, or make bad judgment calls. Overdoing the posturing, like leaping big chasms on their own.

Now, take the status monkey out of the troupe, and give serotonin (prozac, to us) to a low status monkey, and over time, he gains in status.

Who realizes it first?  The ladies - heightened sensitivity here. But the guys don't get it. They are confused at the change.

Serotonin turns out to be important in status and the more secure monkeys don't have to go out on the limbs like the lower status ones do.  See the video at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXxKBiidbeo/

So, the least secure make the worst judgment calls. 

7.  In spider monkeys, however, the female takes the leadership role.

Why isn't this in our text books? See ://www.honoluluzoo.org/spider_monkey.htm/  "It was also observed that males were not able to plan an economic and varied food route like the leading females; therefore they have a less varied diet." See the Honolulu Zoo site. Spider monkeys are banana-eaters, among other fruits, nuts, etc.

8.  People and Skin color.

How do we get the way we look.  Skin color apparently follows a gene for it.  There is no gene for "race".  See Researchers Discover Skin Color Gene, at ://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5055391/ Race is a social idea, dependent on many factors important to you, but perhaps not someone else.
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Gibraltar Tailless Ape On The Go

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Now look at the Monkey House.  Scroll down to the "Animations."  How different is the monkey, how it can move,  from us? See ://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~wilhelms/fauna/Monkeys/index.html/And monkey skin cells programmed to become stem cells?  See ://www.physorg.com/tags/monkey+skin/

Do monkeys mostly have white skin? Except for the ones that got color vision early, and developed a yen for red skin and hair? See ://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070524155313.htm/

Jungle behavior is reasonable and ecosystem syntonic.  What on earth is this? The wisdom of monkeys.  Worthy of emulation.

9.  Theology.  See the Hindu monkey god, Hanuman, who aided Lord Rama against evil, at ://hinduism.about.com/od/lordhanuman/a/hanuman.htm/.  Is there a bricklayer, stonemason, masonic connection, secret knowledge, etc.  Beyond us, but the Bern monkey is no slouch.

Cathars, Albigensians. Vet the So-Called Heresies. Violent Phase-Outs by Religious Zoning Forces

Check this out about the Cathars:  

There is no heresy.  

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There is no heresy.  There is only the drive of many to flock with the powerful, and drive out the threats to that power. Is that so?  Vet it.

We are looking here at the Cathars and the Roman Catholics in the Middle Ages.  The Cathars were deemed "heretics" and killed off, so they say, from the Languedoc area of France by the 14th Century.  We look into what they believed, and whether their collective extinguishing was justified.  Is killing unbelievers ever justified? Who says? 

1. The life cycle of a religion.

Must it include a period of time, about a thousand years after a founding, where a) its immune system turns on itself and b) the religious with most power lash out against all nonconforming uses. This looks like zoning from hell. The ultimate cancer. Who are we to criticize Sunni vs. Shi'a and others. Revisit the Languedoc, and the 13-14th Century purge/slaughter of the Cathars, the Albigensians, as "heretics." The Pope(s) sent Crusaders to kill Evildoers in the Holy Land. Then, Upgrades on Ideas, or Heretical Ideas, depending on your viewpoint, returned with the Crusaders; then when the Ideas took root in many parts of Europe (Balkans, France especially), the adherents were hunted and killed as Evildoers. Inquisitions thrived.

We are interested in this group because the concept of "heresy" itself is interesting.  Who defines, and for what purposes.

2.  The wording of the search matters.

See what different persuasion approaches result from the slant of the search.

Try "Cathar heresy" or "Albigensian heresy" and you get dogma, how evil and in error they were, how foreboding their concepts.  Those are attached to sites with a religious bent.  Read them, and it is hard to see why anyone could ever question the Church's efforts to wipe them out. And those efforts largely succeeded. The sites against them seem almost to have to justify what happened.  Why else use such tilted words, focusing on the conclusion that Cathars were Evil personified and we are better off without anyone who so disagrees with Established Truth.

 Then try "Cathar beliefs" or "Albigensian beliefs" and up pops neutral, or, at least, some counterarguments to the dogma presented before. 

Go here first, for the neutral presentation, and for the perspective of counter-arguments:  "The Cathars: Cathar Beliefs" at ://www.cathar.info/1201_beliefs.htm/.  The drive against them was completed in the 14th Century, in the Languedoc area of France, but as with the Bogomils in the Balkans (see home page here, photograph of Bogomil graveyard in Bosnia), the ideas lived on in other forms, as people blended in with other cultural groups more tolerant.

3.  Cathar Beliefs:

So far, we have found these.  These are points to check out further, and represent the beliefs as were alleged by the Cathars; or as viewed today by pro-Cathar people, see the cathar.info site.

Why kill these people?  They were a threat to authority, and had stayed closer to original precepts than the Roman Catholics in power.  Is that so?

 Overall, our understanding is that the Cathars followed the model of living of the Founder. For Catharism today, see this group called "Assembly of Good Christians" or the "General Conference Cathar Church". Start at ://www.cathar.net/20904_aboutus.html/ and navigate about, especially to ://www.cathar.net/cathar_distinctives.html#home/ and other topics listed there. As we find sites with additional or different information, we will report and revise.

This is a checklist for checking further, not an adoption of all it says - we are not experts, just interested in these ideas.

4.  Tracking original precepts:

Which was more "Christian" - the Cathars, or the Roman Catholics.  Note, however, that there is disagreement on exactly what the Albigensians or Cathars believed, because the site says they did not leave many writings, and records were purged, leaving opponents to frame many issues. We think so far that the Cathars and the Albigensians are the same. See ://www.medievalchurch.org.uk/h_cath_alb.php/  They were also known as Poblicantes, or Publicani, perhaps from Paulician, and reflected ideas brought back by the Crusades to the Holy Land.

• No priesthood. Had no formal priesthood, as was the case also in the earliest Christian churches. See ://www.cathar.info/12011411_priesthood.htm/  The Cathars did have a lesser hierarchy idea, however, of those with a secret knowledge, and those without such knowledge; like the gnostics.  A "priesthood" indeed developed later with the Roman Catholics.  
• Dualism *, docetism - the nature of God, good and evil, nature of Matter, and spirit, see://www.medievalchurch.org.uk/h_cath_alb.php/
• Apostolic Succession. Originated the idea of an apostolic succession, see ://www.cathar.info/12011402_succession.htmas other gnostics, see http://www.cathar.info/12011414_gnosis.htm/ also did, and this was adopted by the Roman Catholics later. Even translations of early texts changed in form for the Roman Catholic version, see ://www.cathar.info/12011406_forgeries.htm
  
• Ascetic. Followed an ascetic lifestyle, as did Jesus; and the Roman Catholic church itself did not (monks and nuns did so, depending on their Orders); poverty - and here we start on the injunctions section at ://www.cathar.info/12011412_injunctions.htm
• Shared authority.  Shared power, as in the earliest Christian Churches and 
• Included women.  Women were teachers, as well as men, also true of the early Church
• No killing. But you could starve yourself to death (that form of suicide acceptable) and kill fish; compare to all the killing allowed in the Catholic church, see this injunctions section of the cathar beliefs site at ://www.cathar.info/12011412_injunctions.htm
  
• No swearing of oaths. None. This later was reason for killing someone as a heretic, if they refused to take an oath, see ://www.cathar.info/12011412_injunctions.htm
  
• No judging others
• Baptism of the spirit.  Not water.  This follows the earliest church and according to Jesus' teaching, see ://www.cathar.info/12011403_practices.htm/, not with water (what church today does not use water in some way?), see ://www.cathar.info/12011404_baptism.htm; their baptism of the spirit, or consolamentum (also given to the dying) see://www.cathar.info/12011001_consolamentum.htm/, was also closer to the early Church practice.  It required preparation, instruction, not just doing it to babies as the Roman Catholic church did. See the chart there, at that site, with more comparisons.  The extreme unction of the Roman Catholic church came in the middle ages, and is modeled on the Cathar consolamentum. See://www.cathar.info/12011405_sacrements.htm
  
• Sacraments.  They disagreed on what the sacraments were supposed to be - but the Roman Catholic Church also had no agreement on what the "seven" were, as late as 1167 AD, see http://www.cathar.info/12011405_sacrements.htm/ (the misspelling of sacrements in the URL is corrected in the text there)
• Confession.  As to the Cathar sacraments, their confession, the apareilementum, was closer to the early Church than the later Roman Catholic one, see ://www.cathar.info/12011003_apareilementum.htm; 
• No marriage. Marriage was not instituted by God and Jesus did not sanctify it, just went to a wedding and made wine, so is not required, see http://www.cathar.info/12011405_sacrements.htm/  See also Created from What  An exploration of the no marriage idea.
• Agape.  No transubstantiation or eucharist (the Roman Catholic Church only initiated those interpretations in 1215 AD), but a blessing of bread at meals, agape, as in the earliest Churches.  These agape meals were discontinued in early Church groups after 2-3 centuries, because apparently they degenerated behaviorally (agape - love? more research!) ://www.cathar.info/12011405_sacrements.htm/
• Lord's Prayer:  The Cathars had it right as to thine-is-the-power-and-the-glory etc. - and now our Prayer includes it.  The Cathars translated the word we still don't know what is, but use "daily" as in give us our daily bread, in a more sensible meaning of "supplemental" - give us this day our supplemental bread.  See ://www.cathar.info/12011413_prayers.htm/ 
  

These ideas were a threat to the Roman Catholic Church, that had already just separated itself from the Eastern Christians, the Orthodox, in 1054 AD, on grounds of theology and competition, see http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_orthh.htm/.  Force decided which theology would prevail, not affinity to original precepts of a Founder.  Is that so?

5.  So, are these conclusions, suggested from the cathar.info site, true:

• The Cathars predated Roman Catholicism

• Many of the Roman Catholic beliefs at the time themselves were "erroneous".  Here is the vindication page at the cathar.info site:  ://www.cathar.info/120114_truth.htm
  

• Many of the Cathar beliefs at the time were "correct" (in terms of later development of dogma)

• The Cathars were accused not only of faulty theology, but abominable practices -- that led directly to their persecution in the Inquisition and Crusades against them (what were those?  were any true?  which? is this the usual use of propaganda, or is it fact-based? did they eat babies, for example) 

Wikipedia has an extensive entry on Catharism, that does not seem to contradict any of the thoughts here -- but it needs source references - too much unattributed. We are not in a position to do that, but recommend the Wiki for its scope and historical setting. See ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharism/

Supplemental sites as found:  language and presentation are not neutral here, in that they lead to a conclusion of "heresy oh my", instead of simple description, but read anyway, ://www.mystae.com/restricted/streams/gnosis/cathar.html/ 
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* Dualism.  See the modern philosophical idea at://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/dualism.htm

The Vlachs. Nomads, Shepherds, Roma Roots

Vlach shepherd, Romania

Vlach culture here is ancient, and nomadic. They often are shepherds. So far, we have seen them in Romania and Greece. See Romania Road Ways; and Greece Road Ways.
Many, however are now settled, urbanized. For extensive coverage on details of life of Vlachs and their history, see this site on Hungarian Vlachs, Everyculture, at http://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html

They were once a kingdom, in the middle ages. See cepes.ro/publications/pdf/politics_culture.pdf at page 115. That is a UNESCO site, Studies on Science and Culture, Politics and Culture in Southeastern Europe 2001. Vlachs are also said to be a branch of Gypsies, see the Magyar connection at ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary.html/ and reference to the origins of some groups in Romania in slavery, in Wallachia and Moldavia. The Magyars appear to be different, however, at another section of that site, at ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-Settlements.html

Vlachs from Czechoslovakia settled in Texas and here is a site explaining a view of their overall background: www.angelfire.com/tx5/texasczech/Valachs/Who%20are%20the%20Valachs. Another broad history: experts.about.com/e/h/hi/History_of_Vlachs.

We saw only this one shepherd maneuvering this huge flock through a village, under the wheels of cars and trucks, and out the other side. Drivers and passers-by all checked carefully for lambs huddled by axles, and only proceeded when an all-clear was very clear. Start up, rev slightly, then check again. There was an 18-wheeler up to the right.

Vlach flock, Romania

Vlachs are usually Eastern Orthodox Christians in the Eastern Balkans, and Roman Catholic in the Western Balkans. There are few Muslims. See overview at ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlachs-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html/ Their traditional religious, social and cultural life is interspersed with practices including conjuring, fortune-telling, and exuberance, preferring to implement or celebrate important events of life within their communities, not in the church. There are traditions of tattooing, but little "fantastic" imagining in oral tradition, story-telling, riddles, ballads. Sounds very practical, and fitting for a non-luxurious lifestyle. Healthcare: traditional herbs, infusions largely. See the Everyculture site at ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html/ They believe intensely in life after death, and celebrate life-death simultaneously in some circumstances.

They are not workers of the land - that is for "peasants" - and the Rom engage instead in buying and selling, trading, other occupations, see ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-Economy.html/ Is the Hungarian site applicable elsewhere? That takes an expert. Family customs: ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-Marriage-and-Family.html

Read their history. See reference to India and mogul invasion era at ://www.everyculture.com/Europe/Vlach-Gypsies-of-Hungary-History-and-Cultural-Affiliations.html/ and later Greek roots, at this site,://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.culture.romanian/2009-04/msg00754.html/ They are also called Koutsovlach. The newsgroups site notes the efforts of the Romanian government to identify Vlachs as Romanian, through education, and the Roman and Orthodox Churches competed in trying to attract them. Eventually, apparently, the Romanian Vlachs lost the right to claim Greek citizenship, so could not return even though many had wanted to. This was in the early 20th Century. Then, a Vlach homeland area, Dobrogea, went from Romania to Bulgaria, and the Vlachs became virtually homeless.

A section of that culture.romanian site is entitled, Assimilation and Oblivion.

After WWI, the government needed places for refugees, and took Vlach lands that had been used for grazing and wintering over. Use of the language declined, became low status. Greek-Romanian political rivalries proved a disaster. In 1997, however, there was increased interest in preserving minority languages, and "Aromanean" began to be taught in Greece. Then stopped, for lack of interest, and is being taught now, apparently, in Germany.

Ah, ha, ha, ha, Livin' a Lie. When Appearance is Not the Reality.

For Those Whose Reality
Is Not The Appearance

Or Those Who Overcame


Like Lawrence of Arabia

In cultures, families, governmental relationships, sometimes the smile precedes a scream. For many.

This comes to mind with Lawrence of Arabia, see Wales Road Ways, Lawrence of Arabia, of Wales. Many secrets, orientation, flaws, at issue a thwarted respectability in the family if, the trying on of new identities, the coming home, still caught in old tapes. For some, a consequence of a status sounds trivial to those on the outside, for others, a hidden past. Meet some of the unsung illegitimate in history, see The Unsung, The "Illegitimate" - Many Who Made It Anyway. And meet those who became great leaders, or in their field, anyway, when the culture still was damning. In its way.

For all who. Who knows. Knew. The used. The erred. In any way. Culture, music, politics, relationships and history - the misfits - and leaders - fake it 'til you make it - ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_it_till_you_make_it/ - who made it anyway, or not.

Disguise. If the twig is silent, is there anyone to hear.

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To be. Gee. Or not to be. Gee. Dub it at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G7ZbhsQsaE/  Not this one, but perhaps it, too - "Livin' a Lie" - Rihanna at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw1SynDpufE/. In the noos. ://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8026249.stm/ Noose? Who knows. Knew. Not in the news. Until.

Shadow Children - Unsung Backgrounds, But Doing Well, Thank You

Unofficial Children - A Continuing Human Tradition.

Welcome Them All Home.

Backgrounds and All.
It's Time. It's Safe Now.

We should be equally proud of children born in as out of wedlock.  Our culture has a mixed record on that issue.  Other cultures are more uniformly condemning, especially of the mother, see ://www.sistani.org/local.php?modules=nav&nid=2&bid=59&pid=3090/  There, the taint of having an "illegitimate" child carries over into broad other areas of life.

• Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci, Amboise, France

• Evita Peron

Those from ://www.parentdish.com/2007/11/23/some-famous-illegitimate-children/. We think none are "illegitimate." Just largely unrecognized, some for reasons that balance out, others that do not, given times, cultures.

Add from this site, ://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9842/

• Confucius
• Thomas Paine
• Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton and Friends, Madame Tussaud's, London

• Lawrence of Arabia. See also ://www.pbs.org/lawrenceofarabia/players/lawrence.html; Wales Road Ways, Lawrence of Arabia, of Wales.

• Miscellaneous Royal Offspring.  Kings have many.

See The Royal Family Tree Sprouts Unofficial Limbs, at ://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/03/nyregion/the-royal-family-tree-sprouts-unofficial-limbs.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all /

Then on to some that particularly interest us:

• Christopher Columbus - 

Speculation, a Portuguese Prince's son extra-marital, see Spain Road Ways, Seville, Christopher Columbus' Bones; in addition to those items, is he the son of Pope Innocent VIII, see "Christopher Columbus, The Last Templar," at ://store.innertraditions.com/Product.jmdx;jsessionid=AD4D23697D8F982AE64B465ACE039850?action=displayDetail&id=2252&searchString=978-1-59477-190-3&selectedTextTypeKeynames=23&displayZoom=1/

Cristoforo Colombo, with Tourist for scale, Madrid

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Enjoy the detailed outline of the book, the resemblances physically (but that can be said of many of us to unrelated persons), cultural clues, etc. An enjoyable speculation, and we know nothing of his upbringing. The name "Columbo" apparently was often given to foundling children, perhaps of Jewish parents in the north of Italy (Jews were expelled from Spain finally in 1492, same year), Colombo or Colon signify the Jewish "Jonah", says the site, and the children were considered born courtesy of the Holy Spirit, thus "dove" and "Colomba." Great fun to speculate about history. Just enjoying this bit. Birth of a man without parents. Hmmm.

• Dorothy Jennings Ruth Pirone, daughter of Babe Ruth. 

This seems to be established. Dorothy is from Babe Ruth's relationship with Juanita Jennings, not his wife. Their relationship was in 1920. See ://radio.javaranch.com/michael/2006/05/11/1147383508809.html/ Babe and his wife, Helen, eventually adopted Dorothy, but she was not told this until she was 59, so it is said. This is not the adopted Julia Ruth Stevens, daughter of Babe Ruth, and there were other children from various wedlocks (see ://www.baberuthmuseum.com/press/pr/index.html?article_id=27/). Search Amazon for a copy of "My Dad, The Babe - Growing Up With An American Hero," by Dorothy Ruth Pirone and Chris Martens, see ://www.amazon.com/My-Dad-Babe-Growing-American/dp/1557700311.

Play ball! Hatpin, Scharfe Collection.

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See Young Babe Ruth, by Harry Rothberger, at page 167 google book http://books.google.com/books?id=hJOD0KlvCSAC&pg=PA167&lpg=PA167&dq=Dorothy+Jennings,+Babe+Ruth+daughter&source=bl&ots=phAVuOU88c&sig=7SiKpMNk2dArsj7gOjk9bx8xfWg&hl=en&ei=B0TeSaOkAqLflQe0uJhV&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8

Dorothy died in 1989. See obituary at ://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/20/obituaries/dorothy-r-pirone-68-babe-ruth-s-daughter.html/ She knew her natural mother only as a family friend.
Look at page 63 of the google book, Babe Ruth, a Biography, by Wayne Stewart. Juanita's father was president of Mexico, and ultimately assassinated. See ://books.google.com/books?id=AVXykh_yjP8C&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=Dorothy+Jennings,+Babe+Ruth+daughter&source=bl&ots=Fu7zHxWklh&sig=Wq7lxFVbNhyt1gskVpt2BDMaIBg&hl=en&ei=B0TeSaOkAqLflQe0uJhV&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3/

• Jesus of Nazareth - 

Faith begins where reason can go no further, so see ://www.jesusdynasty.com/blog/2006/07/26/an-unnamed-father-of-jesus/; and Tiberius Iulius Abdes Pantera, at ://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090207222647AAnWyuL/ and the rest on your own, as you may or may not be inclined. See Germany Road Ways, Pantera Tradition Adding to Christmas.

• Many, many more 

Here is a site with 20 more famous people listed - see Trivia on 20 Famous Illegitimate Children, at ://www.trivia-library.com/a/20-famous-illegitimate-children.htm/ That list stopped in 1981. Find on the long list these folks:

• Marilyn Monroe
• Sarah Bernhardt
• Richard Wagner
• Jenny Lind
• Erasmus
• Cesare Borgia
  
• Alexandre Dumas
• Pope Clement I

Then:

• William the Conqueror. 

Looking back to the top, one of our favorites remains William the Conqueror, from Normandy and the Norman Invasion of Great Britain. He came to a sad, painful end.
Until then, William the Conqueror, here, did quite well. See France Road Ways, Normandy, Normans.


William the Conqueror, Grave, Caen, France

• Alois Hitler, Father of Adolf Hitler (1837-1903). 

 Alois Hitler was employed at Austria's customs service; Adolf feared him, distrusted him, but Alois himself did well and left an adequate pension to support the family. See biography of Adolf Hitler at  ://www.biography.com/articles/Adolf-Hitler-9340144/  Adolf's surname for a time was his mother's, Schicklgruber; but by 1876, Adolf had firmed up his claim to use the Hitler name.  Did he ever use "Schicklgruber"? Or did he personally always use Hitler. Still checking.


Applause for all who did well with hands dealt. One day it will not matter - any of that.
Go here for applause ://www.partnersinrhyme.com/soundfx/applause.shtml