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February 09 2010

Sigalon02
22:34
“ Chair Zeinab Badawi introduces the motion 'The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world.

Use the chapter bar on the right-hand side of this page to view each of the panelists' speeches.

Initial Vote: 678 For, 1102 Against, Undecided 346

Final Vote: 268 For, 1876 Against, Undecided 34

Arguing in favour of the motion are Archbishop John Onaiyekan and the Rt Hon. Ann Widdecombe MP.

Archbishop Onaiyekan begins by insisting that if the Catholic Church were not a force for good, he would not have devoted his entire life to serving it. He says that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church exists because of its 1.6 billion members worldwide, rather than in spite of them. He points not only to the spiritual assistance that his Church provides, but also to the tangible aid that is given internationally through Catholic projects. Finally, he admits that Catholics are not infallible, but are by necessity sinners trying to improve themselves through their faith.

Ann Widdecombe suggests that in trawling all the way back to the Crusades to find something to blame the Catholic Church for, Christopher Hitchens merely demonstrates how flimsy his argument really is. Why would the Pope have hidden 3,000 Jews in his summer palace during the Second World War if the Catholic Church was an antisemitic organisation? Admittedly, the New Testament does blame a Jew for the death of Christ; but it also blames a Roman, Pontius Pilate. Are we to infer then that Catholicism is anti-Italian as well as antisemitic? Widdecombe insists that the actions of the Catholic Church in the past should be judged with a degree of historical relativism; they were not the only people to murder and torture those deemed guilty of wrongdoing. She entreats us to imagine a world without the benefits of the Catholic Church, which provides hope, education and medical relief all over the globe.

Arguing against the motion are Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry.

Christopher Hitchens asserts that any argument trying to identify the merits of the Catholic Church must begin with a long list of sincere apologies for its past crimes, including but not limited to: the Crusades; the Spanish inquisition; the persecution of Jews and the forced conversion of peoples to Catholicism, especially in South America. He illustrates the vacuity of recent Catholic apologies by drawing on the case of Cardinal Bernard Law – shamed out of office in the US for his part in covering up the institutionalised sexual abuse of children – whose punishment from the Vatican was to be appointed a supreme vicar in Rome, and who was among those assembled in the 2005 Papal Conclave to choose the next Pope. Hitchens concludes by reminding the Archbishop that his own Church has been responsible for the death of millions of his African brothers and sisters, citing the Church’s disastrous stance on Aids prevention, as well as the ongoing trials in Rwanda in which Catholic priests stand accused of inciting massacre during the 1994 genocide.

Stephen Fry concedes that his opposition to the motion is a deeply personal and emotional one. He criticises the Catholic Church not only for the horrors it has perpetrated in the past, but also for its ideology, and for its sinister temerity to preach that there is no salvation outside of the Church. With two words he refutes Anne Widdecombe’s suggestion that the Catholic Church does not have the powers of a nation state: “The Vatican”. As a homosexual, Fry reflects how bizarre it is to be accused of being “immoral” and “a pervert” by an institution that has persistently hushed up the rape and abuse of children under its care, and whose leading members, abstentious nuns and priests, all share an attitude towards sex that is utterly unnatural and dysfunctional. He concludes by questioning whether Jesus, as a humble Jewish carpenter, would have approved of all the pomp and excess of the Catholic Church, and whether he would even have been accepted by such an arrogant organisation. ”
— Intelligence Squared - The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world
Reposted fromsigaloninspired sigaloninspired
Sigalon02
21:38

Intelligence Squared - Thought in action

Intelligence Squared is Britain's premier debating forum, providing a unique platform for the world's leading figures in politics, journalism, and the media to contest the most important issues of the day, be they political, social, intellectual or historical. Demand for tickets to our ten annual debates now far outstrips supply and we regularly have audiences ranging from 800 to 2,500. Employing the classic "Oxford Union" style of debating, the world's leading speakers are pitched against each other with a clearly defined motion, to try and win over the votes of the audience through intellectual argument, charm and persuasion.
Sigalon02
20:57
Dailymotion - The Intelligence² Debate - Stephen Fry (Unedited) - a Film & TV video
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Sigalon02
20:43
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Sigalon02
20:43
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Sigalon02
20:12
“ The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years. ”
— FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited | Politics and Law - CNET News
Reposted bymechanical mechanical
Sigalon02
18:25
“ The Cathars were a religious group who appeared in Europe in the eleventh century, their origins something of a mystery though there is reason to believe their ideas came from Persia by way of the Byzantine Empire, the Balkans and Northern Italy.  Records from the Roman Catholic Church mention them under various names and in various places.  Catholic theologians debated with themselves for centuries whether Cathars were Christian heretics or whether they were not Christians at all.  The question is apparently still open. Roman Catholics still refer to Cathar belief as "the Great Heresy" though the official Catholic position is that Catharism is not Christian at all. ”
— Cathars and Cathar Beliefs in the Languedoc
Tags: religion
Reposted by02mydafsoup-01 02mydafsoup-01
Sigalon02
13:28
“

Guillaume Bélibaste (occitan: Guilhèm Belibasta) is said to have been the last Cathar parfait in Languedoc. He was burned at the stake in 1321, as a result of the Inquisition at Pamiers led by Jacques Fournier (afterwards Pope Benedict XII). Much of Bélibaste's biography can be found in the pages of Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou; although Bélibaste never lived at Montaillou, he is frequently mentioned in the interrogations of suspected heretics from Montaillou.

He was the son and namesake of Guillaume Bélibaste, a rich farmer at Cubières. After killing a shepherd, he had to leave Cubières and became a shepherd himself, and, in due course, a parfait. As a Cathar preacher, he was the pupil of Pierre and Jacques Authié.

He eventually settled in Catalonia at Sant Mateu and then Morellain the Maestrazgo, where he made baskets and carding combs and became mentor to a community of Cathars, some of whom had fled persecution in the Languedoc. Others migrated regularly between the two regions. One of the latter was Pierre Maury, a native of Montaillou.

In flagrant violation of the strict celibacy demanded of the Cathar elite, Bélibaste enjoyed normal male/female sexual relations. When, in 1313, his lover, Raymonde Piquier, became pregnant, Bélibaste persuaded Pierre Maury to marry her. Then, a few days later, he dissolved the marriage salvaging his own reputation by making it appear the child was Maury's. Eventually he was betrayed by a spy in the service of the Inquisition. Bélibaste was taken to Carcasonne and burnt at the stake there.

 ”
— Guillaume Bélibaste - Wikipedia, 
Sigalon02
13:23
“

Catharism was a name given to a Christian religious sect with dualistic and gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France and other parts of Europe in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries. Catharism had its roots in the Paulician movement in Armenia and the Bogomils of Bulgaria with whom the Paulicians merged. They also became influenced by dualist and, perhaps, Manichaean beliefs.

Like many medieval movements, there were various schools of thought and practice amongst the Cathari[citation needed]; some were dualistic (believing in a God of Good and a God of Evil), others Gnostic[citation needed], some closer to Orthodoxy while abstaining from an acceptance of Roman Catholicism. The dualist theology was the most prominent, however, and was based upon the complete incompatibility of love and power. As matter was seen as a manifestation of power, it was also incompatible with love. They did not believe in one all-encompassing god, but in two, both equal and comparable in status. They held that the physical world was evil and created by Rex Mundi (translated from Latin as "king of the world"), who encompassed all that was corporeal, chaotic and powerful; the second god, the one whom they worshipped, was entirely disincarnate: a being or principle of pure spirit and completely unsullied by the taint of matter. He was the god of love, order and peace.

According to some Cathars, the purpose of man's life on Earth was to transcend matter, perpetually renouncing anything connected with the principle of power and thereby attained union with the principle of love. According to others, man's purpose was to reclaim or redeem matter, spiritualizing and transforming it.

This placed them at odds with the Catholic Church in regarding material creation, on behalf of which Jesus had died, as intrinsically evil and implying that God, whose word had created the world in the beginning, was a usurper. Furthermore, as the Cathars saw matter as intrinsically evil, they denied that Jesus could become incarnate and still be the son of God. Cathars vehemently repudiated the significance of the crucifixion and the cross. In fact, to the Cathars, Rome's opulent and luxurious Church seemed a palpable embodiment and manifestation on Earth of Rex Mundi's sovereignty.

The Catholic Church regarded the sect as dangerously heretical. Faced with the rapid spread of the movement across the Languedoc region, the Church first sought peaceful attempts at conversion, undertaken by Dominicans. These were not very successful, and after the murder on 15 January 1208 of the papal legate Pierre de Castelnau by a knight in the employ of Count Raymond of Toulouse, the Church called for a crusade, which was carried out by knights from northern France and Germany and was known as the Albigensian Crusade. The papal legate had involved himself in a dispute between the rivals Count of Baux and Count Raymond of Toulouse, and it is possible that his assassination had little to do with Catharism. The anti-Cathar Albigensian Crusade, and the inquisition which followed it, entirely eradicated the Cathars. The Albigensian Crusade had the effect of greatly weakening the semi-independent southern Principalities such as Toulouse, and ultimately bringing them under direct control of the King of France.

 ”
— Catharism - Wikipedia
Reposted by02mydafsoup-01 02mydafsoup-01
Sigalon02
13:13

YouTube - DaMum's Channel

Från Trettondagskonserten i Botkyrka Kyrka 6 januari 2010. Medverkande Botkyrka Motettkör under ledning av Elisabeth Haag.Musiker:Rune Karlsson orgel, Rebecka Karlsson och Berit Mattson violin, Olof Ander viola, Sara Wijk violoncell, Olle Hagson kontrabas, Kina Sönstevold flöjt, Anita Bohlin-Heggestad klarinett, Knut Sönstevold fagott. Inspelning och redigering Stefan Sundlin.
Sigalon02
13:11

YouTube - HmmmApfelstrudel's Channel

Sigalon02
13:04
Play fullscreen
Mille Regretz (De Navárez)
lute: Jacob Heringman
Reposted from02mydafsoup-01 02mydafsoup-01
Sigalon02
13:03
Play fullscreen
Josquin Des Prez / Desprez : Mille Regrets
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
Jordi Savall
Reposted from02mydafsoup-01 02mydafsoup-01
Sigalon02
13:02
Play fullscreen
Josquin Des Prez / Desprez: Mille Regretz
Reposted from02mydafsoup-01 02mydafsoup-01
Sigalon02
11:41

Video: Peruvian Cuisine on the Net

ceviche picture by scaredy_kat on flickr, used according to CC license

ceviche picture by scaredy_kat on flickr, used according to CC license

Peruvian food is considered one of the most diverse foods in the world, due in part to the varied geography of the region, the blending of different cultures into iconic dishes and the way in which ancient recipes are still being interpreted and adapted in modern cooking.  In this post, we bring you some online videos which may inspire you to try your hand at some of the most representative dishes of Peruvian cuisine.

On the Seven culinary wonders of Peru site, they have listed the top 7 dishes that represent Peruvian food:  cebiche, lomo saltado, aji de gallina, anticuchos, chupe de camarones, papa a la Huancaina and causa.  However, as with any contest, there are dozens of dishes which weren't included in the winning list which may have been favorites in other regions. Thus, they have expanded their search and are looking for the top seven dishes in each of the provinces of Peru.

First well start with Cebiche, the widely popular Peruvian dish made of fresh fish cooked in lime juice. There are dozens of videos around ceviche (or seviche or sebiche, all correct ways to write it) on the web, some of them showing ways in which to make it, others just showing the pleased expressions when they eat a bite of it. In this next video, you can see the steps required for making a quick and easy cebiche at home. In the video, Chef Cucho La Rosa explains that the best cebiche has only 5 ingredients: absolutely fresh fish, onions, lime juice, Peruvian chili pepper and salt. Once the cebiche is done, you can eat it with a lettuce leaf as garnish, a round of corn on the cob and a slice of sweet potato:

Another recipe is the Aji de Gallina, which can be roughly translated into Hen Chili. This simple spicy dish includes peanuts, chicken and rice, and packs a lot of flavor. This recipe is in English, brought to us by Chef Guillermo:

Not all landmark recipes made it into the list: such is the case with the millenary Andean Pachamanca. The process is quite a step from the 5 ingredient ceviche since it requires more than a day's worth of prep work, and helping hands. In fact, it is reserved for feasts and special occasions, since the lengthy process that starts with marinating the meats, digging a hole and heating up clean river rocks which will become the oven to cook a mixture of beef, pork, chicken, mutton and vegetables such as potatoes, fava beans, sweet potatoes and corn. That's the story RarezaXXX tells in his video, in his case, the process started by not only digging the hole, but actually harvesting the produce which they will eat. Check out the colorful collection of potatoes, at least 5 different varieties:

The Pachamanca has made it all the way to Mexico in this next video, where Chucheman explains and illustrates the process:

Another regional dish that didn't make it into the national list is the Juane, a rice based tamale-like concoction eaten throughout the year but of mandatory consumption during the San Juan (Saint John the Baptist) festivities in the Peruvian Amazon. There are many types of Juane, but the basic shape is respected: it is round, in the shape of St. John's decapitated head which was handed to Salome on a platter in the biblical story. In spite of the not so cheerful story behind the dish, even after diaspora, Peruvians from the amazon make this dish when Saint John's day rolls around, like elmaxin who prepared them in Spain:

What is the local cuisine like where you're from? If you would recommend one local dish that everyone should try, which one would it be? Please share your answers with us through the comments, and maybe even leave some links to videos so we can try our hand in making them!

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Sigalon02
11:38
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Sigalon02
11:33
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Out of the Ruins, A More Sustainable Haiti?
Photo credit: Getty Images. With over a million left homeless and its capital city all but destroyed, Haiti is set to become the focus of an enormous rebuilding effort. Internationally, many are calling for a full-fledged "Marshall Plan" to rebuild the country, lasting at least a decade and costing billions of dollars. Moves this weekend to cancel its debts, while funding rebuilding efforts with grants, instead of more loans, are a positive...Read the full story on TreeHugger
Reposted fromSigalonenvironment Sigalonenvironment
Sigalon02
11:32

Better Place Preps for Israel Launch: Partners, Demo Center

Electric vehicle infrastructure company Better Place has a lot of work to do before it commercially launches its first networks of battery swap and charging stations in Israel and Denmark next year. But this weekend the company took a couple steps forward in Israel. First, Better Place announced the opening of a slick demonstration center in Israel built on top of a gasoline storage and distribution center, inside a refurbished oil tank (see photos). The company also announced partnerships with gas station operator Dor Alon and additional corporate customers that have pledged to swap portions of their fleets with Renault electric vehicles next year.

As you can see from the photos the demo center is pretty swanky. It’s meant to be used as outreach for both potential Israeli customers, as well as international visitors, and features a multi-media center, a driving track, and will eventually have demos of the Renault Fluence.

In terms of the partnerships, Better Place says it plans to install battery swap stations at outlets owned by Dor Alon, one of the biggest gas station operators in Israel with 170 public retail outlets across the region. We’re waiting to hear back on how many of Dor Alon’s outlets will get the battery swap technology (Update: Better Place says they’re still finalizing deal). Better Place also says it’s boosted the number of corporate fleet partners in Israel, like Motorola and Computer Associates, to 92 companies, which have a collective total of 45,000 fleet vehicles. We’re also waiting to hear back on what percentage of that fleet will get swapped out for electric vehicles. (Update: No specifics offered on this either).

All of this prep work is needed to make the Better Place proposal attractive to Israel customers. The big question for 2011 will be, once the first Better Place network is launched commercially in Israel, will customers sign up?

One thing that next year’s launch will need is much more marketing, particularly because the Fluence will have just gone on sale. But Better Place does have that recently-raised whopping $350 million in funding — which was one of the largest rounds raised for cleantech ever — to help with the launch. And Better Place has now raised about $750 million. The funding is massive, but so are the stakes — if Better Place doesn’t work in Israel, it might not work anywhere.

Images courtesy of btrplc’s photostream Flickr.

Reposted fromSigalonenvironment Sigalonenvironment
Sigalon02
11:31

NYT. Goldman pushed AIG to edge, profited mightily from it

NYT has a long, detailed timeline of what happened and when. Required reading.

Clusterstock is even blunter. Goldman Sachs Killed AIG, but then bizarrely says it was all AIG’s fault.

So it was just a coincidence those at the NY Fed and in the US government who gave Goldman such a sweetheart deal just happened to be Goldman alumni who forced AIG to pay off in full even when Goldman previously had said they’d settle for less. Imagine that.

Sue, a CPA and Certified Fraud Examiner, wants to know, what trading positions did they have at the time and did they personally profit from what happened?

Stephen Friedman certainly did. As chair of the NY Fed at the time and a Goldman director, he owned Goldman stock then bought more. He was forced to resign. And should have been indicted for insider trading or any number of felonies, IMHO.


Reposted fromSigalonenvironment Sigalonenvironment
Sigalon02
11:29

Smith Electric Vehicles and Proton Power Sign MoU for Developing Commercial Electric Vehicle With Fuel Cell Range Extender; First Prototype at Hannover Fair 2010

Smith Electric Vehicles and Proton Power Sign MoU for Developing Commercial Electric Vehicle With Fuel Cell Range Extender; First Prototype at Hannover Fair 2010 Proton Power Systems recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Smith Electric Vehicles, the commercial electric vehicle division of The Tanfield Group Plc. Under the MoU ...
Reposted fromSigalonenvironment Sigalonenvironment
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