Happy Fourth of July

World Hum’s Most Read: June 28-July 3

What We Loved This Week: Def Leppard in Greece, Austrian Competence and Freedom in Colombia

The LAX Theme Building, Then and Now

As a Woman, Can I Really Travel Without Much Fear for my Safety?

Vagabonding traveler Rolf Potts answers your questions about travel

Inside Slum Tourism

With mixed feelings, Rob Verger recently signed on for a tour of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. He looks back on the experience—and the photos he was allowed to take.

Break Bread and Brie in France

Great cheese abounds in the land of Gaul, but dig in and you risk committing any number of faux pas. Terry Ward explains how to partake of the nation’s famed fromage with savoir faire.

10 Wanderlust-Inducing Summer Concerts

Call it world music or global pop or the sound of the world hum. Ben Keene reveals 10 acts on tour that are sure to transport you. Plus videos.

Bryan Mealer: ‘War and Deliverance in Congo’

The former AP correspondent traveled up the Congo River. Frank Bures asks the author of “All Things Must Fight to Live” about following in the wake of Joseph Conrad. 

A Journey Into ‘The Second World’

Some bureaucrats joke that they would never claim expertise about countries they had not at least flown over. In an excerpt from his new book, Parag Khanna argues that real global understanding can only come from serious travel.

‘The Worst Guidebook Writer Ever’?

Lonely Planet author Robert Reid reviews Thomas Kohnstamm’s “Do Travel Writers Go to Hell?” and weighs in on the controversy surrounding it

The Saints of Los Angeles

Seven years is a pretty long time. Fullness of humanity and all is fine, but the guy probably just has way too much time on his hands.

It explains why the city has survived for so long. I’ve always believed that names have power. A place or person will become whatever their name means. If you give your kid a name like loser or stupid, you will end up with an adult like Homer Simpson or Al Bundy.

For example:  Al Gore has problems with people believing him or respecting him because his name is too simillar to the star called Algol, aka Medusa—the snake-haired woman who was killed by the Greek hero Persesus. Algol is also known as the “demon-star” according to ancient myth because it was believed it caused calamity. In reference to Al Gore, some people think Al Gore made up or is exaggerating the “global warming” issue.

When I’ve been in Los Angeles, I’ve also noticed various streets named “Avenue of the Champions” and “Avenue of the Stars”. There is even a place called Miracle Mile!  It’s not surprising that there are so many luxurious places and so many successful people. Yes, there are poor people too, but you have to move like a champion to survive in this city. As long as I thought as a winner and kept my eyes open for opportunities, I had no problem getting jobs here.

In contrast, Seattle and it’s surrounding cities have poverty or government related names. There is a mountain called Mt. Adams. Federal Way, which is 25 miles south of Seattle, was founded during the depression and named after the US government. Historically, there have been many welfare recipiants, wandering homeless people, people living paycheck-to-paycheck. Many people in Washington State were heavily affected by the overseas outsourcing that happened at the beginning of Bush’s reign.

So in conclusion, you are what you are named.

Perhaps names aren’t destiny, KS. Check out these two stories:

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/31/1027926917671.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/science/11tier.html?scp=2&sq=baby+names&st=nyt

Names are an inheritance. Sure, destiny is never locked in because of free will. To give the name, “Loser”, to a kid is increasing his chances for failure.

It’s not superstition. It’s known to Christians as the Law of Seed-time and Harvest. Non-Christians know it as “The Secret”, the Law of Attraction. However you name it, there is a force at work in this world. Sure the names of this force (Seed-time and Harvest, Law of Attraction) are modern names. Despite that, the effects of this force are very, very real and have been in this world for a very long time.

Words have more power than the modern mind thinks. That’s why in ancient times only a select few could read and write. That’s why the Israelites were so careful in taking God’s name in vain. Even Jews today spell the God as G-d.

One last thing, your New York Times article proves my side right with this quote:

“Studies showed that children with odd names got worse grades and were less popular than other classmates in elementary school. In college they were more likely to flunk out or become “psychoneurotic.” Prospective bosses spurned their résumés. They were overrepresented among emotionally disturbed children and psychiatric patients. “

I still believe that names do have power.