Goodbye, Mr. Pollack!
May 30, 2008
May 27, 2008
TLS: Poem du jour
Divina Lux
by Simon Pomery
after Seneca, Epistle 102
Nature will reveal to you her secrets.
The haze that covers what you see will vanish
and light will pierce you through the clear air.
Imagine it as great as all the stars
blended together, incorruptible
radiance, untouched by night or shadow.
Its flame will fill all space, all sides of the sky:
day and night are only interchanged
in our lower sphere. This is the time
when you will rage and cry against the darkness
for having spent your life in ignorance.
At one remove, you look upon the marvel.
But how will you perceive the perfect light?
What will you think, when you are in its presence?
These thoughts allow for nothing sordid, mean
or cruel to trap the mind; to make it known
that everything we do is being watched,
to bid us earn the gods' good will and pity,
to keep the image of the heavens before us.
published in the Times Literary Supplement
May 26, 2008
May 25, 2008
Peru: Chucuito - Temple of Fertility
One of the most expensive and the tiniest fake museums I have ever seen....
May 24, 2008
May 23, 2008
Peru: on the train back to Cusco
On the train from Machu Picchu, I sat next to a wonderful family from Lima... With their limited knowledge of English, and my even more limited Spanish, we still manage to laugh together :)
May 22, 2008
Peru: Cusco, Corpus Christi Ceremony
A very crowded national relligious celebration of Corpus Christi happened at the very day when I arrived to Cusco. The crowds were chanting "Santa Maria, madre de Dios, ruega senora por nosotros los pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte Amen. Dios te salve Maria llena eres de gracias, El Senor es contigo, bendita tu eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito sea el fruto de tu vientre Jesus Amen" making stops only for singing hymns...
Peru: Cusco
Cusco - the city famous for its cathedral, soroche (altitude sickness) and trains to Machu Picchu...
On its street one can always buy roasted cuy, or a guinea pig, which is a staple of Peruvian cuisine...
Traditionally, teeth and toenails of guinea pigs are left intact...
It is so traditional that in Cusco cathedral there is a painting of the Last Supper, whose centerpiece is the roasted cuy.... The drink is chicha, or fermented corn drink, which is made by letting dry the masticated (pre-chewed) corn balls.
May 21, 2008
May 20, 2008
May 19, 2008
China: Earthquake
Un homme transporte sa mère parmi les décombres, vendredi 16 mai, dans la province
du Sichuan. KYODO NEWS/AP PHOTO
May 18, 2008
May 17, 2008
May 16, 2008
Poem du jour
Loneliness
by Rachel Hadas
Love costs anxiety, joy has a price:
the fragile edge and smoky smell of limits.
Loneliness
lacks any such suggestion of an end.
It is forever,
and plentiful beyond imagining.
Whatever realm it comes from
boasts a supply not only infinite
but constantly increasing. This is one
resource we need not fear will be depleted.
Nor do we need to doubt that anyone
who once has tasted loneliness will ever
forget its special savour.
May 15, 2008
LRB: On Resurrection
This is quite a fascinating theory that rationalizes "the" miracle that defined the Christian religion, and by consequence, the last two thousands years of human history. How simple, yet reasonable!
One of the remaining questions is, of course, does it really matter? was it a miracle or a quite simply explainable situation... Still, I hope this surprises you as well as it bemused me.
What Really Happened
From Dr Roger James
Frank Kermode does not include in his discussion of the resurrection the gospel reference that gives the best clue about the death and resurrection of Jesus, namely John 19.34: ‘Forthwith came there out blood and water’ (LRB, 20 March). There can be only one possible explanation for this happening after the spear had been thrust into his side: Jesus had a large pleural effusion, which the spear released. This diagnosis explains a good deal that is otherwise puzzling in the gospel stories. Although he had previously walked everywhere, Jesus needed an ass for his final entry into Jerusalem. Also, he was unable to carry his cross, which other men of his age could carry easily. A pleural effusion this size would have been accumulating for some time. It would have been tuberculous, and so Jesus would have been getting steadily weaker. It isn’t surprising that he felt ‘he was not long for this world.’
The story in John implies that the soldiers were surprised to find Jesus dead so soon. With the effusion pressing on his heart and his body fixed upright he would probably have gone into severe heart failure, and would have appeared dead even though his heart itself was perfectly sound. The spear blow that was expected to finish him off might actually have saved his life by relieving the pressure on his heart. Being laid horizontally would have allowed the blood and fluids pooled in his legs to return into circulation, a process assisted by the coolness of the tomb. He might, in these circumstances, have regained consciousness and thus have seemed to be resurrected.
Dr Roger James
Portsmouth
May 13, 2008
May 11, 2008
Oh, Ohio :)
Many of my friends from Ohio know how much love and how many jokes I have about Ohio. So every mention of Ohio gets my full and undivided attention. So here's a very short excerpt from the New York Times article about Chinese students coming to Americato study.
from Matching Newcomer to College, While Both Pay
By TAMAR LEWIN
Fei Peng, right, who came to Ohio University through a recruiting agent, in the dining hall with her roommate, Andrea Chen
ATHENS, Ohio — When Xiaoxi Li, a 20-year-old from Beijing, decided she should go to college in the United States, she applied only to Ohio University — not that she knew much about it.
“I heard of Ohio, of course,” Ms. Li said. “I knew it was in the middle, and has agriculture.”
What brought her here was the recommendation of a Chinese recruiting agent, JJL Overseas Education Consulting and Service Company. For about $3,000, JJL helped Ms. Li choose a college, complete the application and prepare for the all-important visa interview.
“Everyone I know used an agent,” she said. “They are professionals. They suggested Ohio University might be the best for me. They have a good relationship with Ohio University.”
Actually, JJL has more than a good relationship with Ohio University. Unknown to Ms. Li, it has a contract, under which the agent gets a $1,000 commission for each undergraduate it sends.
May 10, 2008
NYT on Brighton Beach
Not every day the New York Times publishes an article and a slideshow about Brighton Beach, a very multinational patchwork on the Atlantic shore. Take a look here
May 8, 2008
Photo du jour: Burma
Dans la rivière Pyarmalot après le passage du cyclone Nargis à Laputta, située à 168 km au sud-ouest de Rangoun. AP
In the fields of Burma...
May 5, 2008
NYT: Turkmenbashi's statue to go
By DAVID L. STERN
ALMATY, Kazakhstan — A 246-foot tall, rocket ship-like monument to the late ruler of Turkmenistan, topped with a golden statue of himself that rotates to always face the sun, will be removed from the center of the Turkmen capital, state news media there have reported.
A decision by President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to move the monument was his latest step in dismantling the personality cult of Saparmurat Niyazov, whose often bizarre decrees turned the isolated, energy-rich country into the punch line of a bad international joke. The president had already reversed Mr. Niyazov’s order renaming the days of the week and months of the year in honor of himself and his family. He had also ended the bans on opera, ballet and the circus, which Mr. Niyazov had decreed un-Turkmen, and lifted restrictions on the Internet.
The monument, erected in 1998 and known as the Neutrality Arch, remains the most prominent icon to Mr. Niyazov, who ruled the desert nation of five million people from its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 to his death in 2006. A giant white tripod with an Eiffel Tower-type observation deck, the monument is capped with a spinning 39-foot-tall effigy of Mr. Niyazov. President Berdymukhammedov ordered that the monument be moved to the southern edge of the capital, Ashgabat, the official Web site, turkmenistan.ru, reported late Saturday night.
In its isolation and leader worship, Mr. Niyazov’s Turkmenistan resembled a less severe but more eccentric version of Kim Jong-il’s North Korea. Turkmen could travel abroad, but with difficulty, while foreign visits to the country were sharply restricted. Mr. Niyazov’s image was plastered throughout the country — on buildings, watches, and vodka and perfume bottles. Although the country was widely considered a joke abroad, the reality was not humorous. Most of the population lived in abject poverty. The country’s health and education systems were eviscerated.
Mr. Berdymukhammedov has raised hopes that the country may be experiencing a political thaw. Chief among those hoping for political and economic reform are Western energy officials and the executives of multinational hydrocarbon companies, who hope to tap what are considered some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves.
American and European officials in particular hope to pipe Turkmen gas across the Caspian Sea into southern Europe in order to break the Russian gas behemoth Gazprom’s growing hold over the continent’s energy market.
But analysts like Prof. Eric McGlinchey, a regional expert at George Mason University in Virginia, warn against reading too much into Mr. Berdymukhammedov’s moves, which have included purging the former members of Mr. Niyazov’s inner circle but also issuing coins bearing his own portrait. “I would hesitate to uncork the Champagne just yet,” Professor McGlinchey said by telephone. “What he is doing is typical of any new leader trying to remove the legacy of a predecessor and consolidate his hold on power.”
May 4, 2008
May 3, 2008
May 2, 2008
Anti-War Strike
This is very unusual piece of news. I have abandoned all hope in America's ability to wake up and protest what its government does do this country. After witnessing how eagerly America abandoned its pensions without even trying to go on national strike to change the course of these deplorable events, this article made me feel that not all has been still lost.
Union’s War Protest Shuts West Coast Ports
By WILLIAM YARDLEY
SEATTLE — West Coast ports were shut down on Thursday as thousands of longshoremen failed to report for work, part of what their union leaders said was a one-day, one-shift protest against the war in Iraq.
Cranes and forklifts stood still from Seattle to San Diego, and ships were stalled at sea as workers held rallies up and down the coast to blame the war for distracting public attention and money from domestic needs like health care and education.
“We’re loyal to America, and we won’t stand by while our country, our troops and our economy are being destroyed by a war that’s bankrupting us to the tune of $3 trillion,” the president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Bob McEllrath, said in a written statement. “It’s time to stand up, and we’re doing our part today.”
read more
About 25,000 union members are employed at 29 West Coast ports, but the protest took place only during the day shift. A spokesman for the main West Coast employers’ group, the Pacific Maritime Association, said it appeared that about 6,000 workers did not show up for work, which meant that about 10,000 containers would not be loaded or unloaded from about 30 cargo ships.
The spokesman, Steve Getzug, cast the action as a strike and therefore a violation of the union’s labor contract, which is up for renewal this summer.
“What the union says and what the union does are two different things,” Mr. Getzug said. “This is genuine defiance.”
Union leaders said that the association had rejected their request weeks ago for Thursday’s one-shift work stoppage, but that local longshoremen continued to promote the protest. It went forward, the union leaders said, despite a demand on Wednesday by an independent arbitrator that they instruct members to go to work.
In many cases, dock workers were joined at port entrances or at rallies by other groups protesting the war or frustrated by economic issues or immigration policies. Some rallies seemed as much like street fairs as angry acts of resistance, with booksellers setting up stands and supporters of the presidential candidate Ralph Nader carrying banners.
On the Seattle waterfront, members of the United Auto Workers and the Service Employees International Union mixed with self-described socialists while many of the scores of police officers on the scene ate box lunches and petted their horses.
In Oakland, Calif., some truckers who said they were angry about high gas prices decided not to cross picket lines at the port.
“I got here ready to haul,” said César Lara, 41, a resident of Richmond, Calif., born in Zacatecas, Mexico. “They told me it was a picket but if I wanted to go in I could. But I’m supporting them and to end the war.”
Several drivers said truckers were planning their own nationwide work stoppage in the next several days to protest record-high gas prices and surcharges.
In Long Beach, Calif., part of nation’s largest port complex, truck drivers from California and neighboring states waited for the port security gates to reopen on Thursday evening, when union members said they planned to return to work. Nearby, in Wilmington, longshoremen met inside a hall while some union members outside read pink fliers stating the reasons for work stoppage.
Kevin Schroeder, director of Local 13’s political action committee, said, “The children of middle-class people are over there dying, so we decided to do something. We are fortunate enough to be in an organization that has a platform to do something.”
Rebecca Cathcart contributed reporting from Long Beach, Calif., and Carolyn Marshall from Oakland, Calif.
LRB articles
I think I resolved the issue of LRB articles not opening correctly - your browser may ask you if you trust my website, but then would open the article as it should have right away... Let me know if you continue to experience problems...
May 1, 2008
Nevada
Beautiful Nevada from the plane...
Unfortunately, the plane windows were SO dirty, so the stains and spots were almost inevitable....
(c) Valera Meylis 2008
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