If you rely on the national newspapers and the BBC for all your news, you may well have missed it completely. But on Thursday 19th November 2009 the world of climate science changed forever. Something happened that, just over a week on, still seems incredible. Sometimes I find myself with lingering doubts as to its authenticity: surely it could all be a cunningly contrived hoax? But so far there has been, to my knowledge, no detailed refutation from the scientists involved. It looks increasingly likely that most or all of the material contained in file FOI2009 is genuine.

Rather than going over the history of the “CRU hack” or leak, as I think it might better be described, I’ll point you to some sources on the internet. Firstly, this Wikipedia article (although the usual Wikipedia caveats apply.) Secondly, this article on Wattsupwiththat (currently one of my favourite websites), and this post on the excellent Bishop Hill blog. Thirdly, a very good searchable online database of the CRU e-mails here.

What can it all mean? It is virtually impossible at this early stage to say just what all the implications might be, or what new revelations may emerge from all the files and e-mails revealed hitherto. But from what I’ve seen so far, these are my conclusions:

1) The climate science reset button needs to be pressed. So many of the assumptions made by scientists, journalists and politicians all over the world are based on the published work by the scientists involved in this scandal – Michael Mann, Phil Jones, Ben Santer, Keith Briffa – that rather than proceeding as if nothing serious has happened, there should be a hiatus while these assumptions are challenged, and while the science is independently audited. By independently audited, I mean put under complete scrutiny by a group of independent scientists who understand what they are looking at, and whose own methods and communications are utterly transparent. So much is at stake here, in terms of the future wellbeing and prosperity of the human race, that an independent audit of the scientific work done by CRU so far is essential and, in my opinion, a minimum requirement.

2) The talks in Copenhagen scheduled for December 2009 (under a month from now) should be put on hold, or if they cannot be put on hold, it should be made clear that no legally binding agreement on carbon emissions can be imposed on the world’s nations until an independent audit of the science is carried out, as per (1).

Will this audit actually take place? There is little sign of this happening so far in official circles, although I think the The Global Warming Policy Foundation now being set up by Lord Lawson is a welcome sign of progress taking place on this front. You can find an online petition here to request the current British government to place CRU on hold until an investigation takes place; there are no guarantees, of course, that the petition will achieve anything much, but if enough people sign, hopefully someone in Whitehall will sit up and take notice.

With regard to the apparent evasion of Freedom of Information requests by Dr Phil Jones and his fellows, I will be writing to Sir Brandon Gough, Chancellor of the UEA, and will be sending a copy of my letter to Charles Clarke, current MP for Norwich South. I will be calling for the University to investigate the matter, and if the University has evidence that Dr Jones et al were in breach of the Freedom of Information Act, to treat this as potential law-breaking and turn the matter over to the police and the courts. I’ll publish my letter on this blog, in due course, with any replies that I receive.

The picture I have posted with this blog entry is of the tarot card known as The Tower; it is generally considered a very unsettling card to find, should it show up in a tarot reading. Here’s a very good and rather relevant description of The Tower from the Aeclectic Tarot website:

“False structures, false institutions, false beliefs are going to come tumbling down, suddenly, violently and all at once. What’s important to remember as a tarot reader is that the one you’re reading for likely does not know that something is false. Not yet. To the contrary, they probably believe that their lover is being faithful, that their religious beliefs are true and right, that there are no problems in their family structure, that everything is fine at work…oh, and that they’re fine. Just fine, really.

Alas, they’re about to get a very rude awakening. Shaken up, torn down, blown asunder. And all a reader can really do to soften the blow is assure the Querent that it is for the best. Nothing built on a lie, on falsehoods, can remain standing for long. Better to tear it all down and rebuild on the truth. It is not going to be pleasant or painless or easy, but it will be for the best.”

Thinking about this card, I am also reminded, alternatively, of the tower as a symbol of civilisation. Civilisation rises up from the earth, with each storey resting on the one beneath, each part of the superstructure (accumulated wealth and knowledge) depending on the one below, all the way down to the foundations. Stoutly and cleverly built, it has a good chance of withstanding the forces of entropy and chaos. Weakened and damaged by its enemies (which is what I anticipate will happen should the world’s nations expend huge efforts and divert sorely needed resources into combating what I suspect to be the monstrous non-problem of climate change) the odds begin to tip towards entropy, chaos and ruin.

Two towers – the edifice of climate science, as it now stands, and the structure of modern civilisation itself. Which will prevail?

UPDATE

When writing this blog post, I hadn’t read this BBC news item from Friday evening stating that the UEA will be making an inquiry into the Climategate e-mails and that more details will emerge next week. I note that the BBC’s Roger Harrabin is still referring to these e-mails as “stolen”, when “leaked” is just as likely a possibility. Anyway, it looks as though there will be little point now in writing to the Chancellor; I shall be directing my efforts elsewhere.

For almost eight centuries, the Iberian Peninsula lived one of its most privileged moments, not only with regard to Spain, but also to Europe as a whole: the age of Moslem Spain, which the Arabs called al-Andalus.

The mixture of races, religions and cultures gave rise to a brilliant civilisation, where both the Arts and Science flourished. Silks, objects of art produced in ivory, bronze and marble, ceramic tiling, the creation of a subtle architectural style and luminous sensual poetry all made al-Andalus the cultural focal point of Europe; a bridge between East and West, the cradle of a splendid and refined civilisation.

The Foundation the legacy of al-Andalus aims to preserve the historical, artistic and architectural heritage of al-Andalus. But also, its wish is to promote the most outstanding values of that civilisation: the people’s feeling for life, how they lived together in tolerance and harmony, their music, gastronomy, everyday life. The mark left by al-Andalus is reflected in the concept of art, in the character and in the attitude toward life of the present-day inhabitants, heirs to this legacy.

Today we can all delve into this living inheritance, thanks to projects such as the Routes of the legacy of al-Andalus, which will take us through beautiful spots, providing us with an overall vision of the culture, as well as with the chance to truly experience it. For the following routes car hire is essential. You will find many reputable car rental companies at all mayor airports like Malaga, Seville, Granada or Almeria.

Route of the Caliphate
This Route runs through lands of Cordoba, Jaen and Granada, along the N-432 and N-331 main road and covering approximately 180 km. It links two large geological depressions; that of the river Guadalquivir and that of Granada, traversing passes in the Sub-Betic mountain ranges opened by basins and river valleys. Both depressions are closed in by the Sierra Morena and Sierra Nevada massifs. This journey follows one of Andalusia’s main communications routes.

The Route is a true adventure for the spirit: from Cordoba to Granada, also crossing ancient borderlands of Jaen. It shows the two extremes of the region, revealing the magnificent cultural, religious, political and social heritage left by the Moslems on the Iberian Peninsula. Cordoba, considered the binding brilliance that made all the other western cities pale by comparison. Granada on the contrary is the refined terminal mannerism of a civilisation under threat. And, between the two, a succession of walled towns and castles perched atop strategic vantage-points. Places that were witness to the occasionally agitated military exchanges and then formed the camps and bases from which to besiege Granada.

This journey is not just a lesson in history. It is also an aesthetic delight, a joy for the senses. Refined palates will discover products and tastes with echoes of the past. Those same echoes also seem to be palpable in any of the celebrations and traditions of the towns and villages along the Route. An itinerary by car which will undoubtedly make us that little bit wiser, thanks to all that we will experience along either of its two branches: northern and southern. History, celebrations and crafts, gastronomy, all taking place in a landscape with a vegetation, agriculture and climate that are unique to these provinces of the Region of Andalucia.

Here’s a little visualization of the decline of four great colonial powers: France, Great Britain, Portugal and Spain. Although I miss the Netherlands, and a delineation of the rise of colonialism, it’s great work and interesting to watch.

Visualizing empires decline from Pedro M Cruz on Vimeo.

Une des régions les plus ensolleillées de France.Plus d’un ,ilion de personnes vivent sur la cote entre  Menton et Cannes et ce no,bre est deux fois  plus grand en été.L’aéroport de Nice accuille è millions de passagers par an!La Cote d’Azur est l’endroit choisi pour l’organisation de nombreux festivals,dont ceux de jazz à Nice et à Juan-les-Pins.La partie est située entre Menton et Cannes se nomme ¨Riviera¨.

Sophia-Antipolis

La Cote d’Azur,c’est aussi le parc Sophia-Antipolis,situé entre Valbonne et Antibes sur 2300 hectares,soit le quart de la surface de Paris,et qui continue à se développer.Plus de 1200 entreprises françaises et étrangeres et plusieurs centres de recherche en télécommunication et en haute techologie s’y sont implantés depuis une trentaine d’années pur créer une ¨Silicon valley¨ à la française.Les entreprises emploient 14000 ingénieurs et techniciens de 63 nationalités.

Le festival Cannes

Le Festival international du film à Cannes à fété ses 50 ans en 1996.En un demi-siécle;le festival est devenu l’événement mondial du cinéma qui attire l’ensamble de la profession.Pendant deux semaines en mai,toutes les télévisions du monde ont leurs caméras tournées vers la Croisette et la montée der marches du palais des Festival.On projette plus cinq cents longs métrages et on vient vendre ou acheter un peu de reve dans cet immense marché du septiéme art.

Des villaes Fortifiés

Dans l’arrière-pays niçois,on trouve de vieux villages très pittoresques.Pendant tout le Moyen Age et la Renaissance,pour se protéger pendant les guerres,les paysans construisaient leurs maisons au sommet de colines et les entouraient de remparts.Batis aves la pierre de la colline,ils se confondaient presque avec elle comme à Coarazé,à Eze,à Peille,à Falicon…On ne peut aller dans les petitres rues en pente de ces villages qu’a pied.Elles sont coupées d’escaliers,eles passent sous des voùtes.Les maisons entourent l’église et souvent,le chateau qui les domine.Parfois,des remparts entourent encore ces villages et c’est par une porte fortifiée qu’on y entre.

These days, all are talking critical of Obama.
Forget he is the President of the USA.
He is a professor, visiting a land, home to the oldest civilisation in the world. The ingenuity of the Chinese is phenominal. They rejected the doctrinaire approach of the communist party leaders in Moscow, who concentrated on the working class movement in the coastal cities, which was crushed by Chiang Kaishek; instead, Mao realised that the PEASANTRY IN THE INTERIOR OF CHINA WAS CAPABLE OF BRINGING IN, A NEW SOCIETY THERE. He was a genius.
After the revolution, China became powerful, combining man power and technology. Today, it is the most powerful country in the world. The US IS ONLY A PAPER TIGER, as Mao was fond of saying, too old to run like the Chinese and burdened with the unenviable responsibility of reviving Capitalism, a dead horse!
Obama realised all this. If there is one nation, capable of saving the US, it is China.
We in India must realise this. It is no use feeling let down by history.
Women and children are always exploited by the mafia, in India.
Without the collusion of the police and the government officials, it is impossible for them to conduct their business.
Corruption is endemic in our system. All people concerned with the illegal activities, get regular pay packets, free from income tax. What else do they want?
(Sitting here in my room I can get pass port, visa, license for my gun, illegally brought from blacksmiths in UP, Engineering degree, if I spend enough money. I can get a girl of any age.)
China is progressing and we are stagnating.

The sun is rising in the East!

There is a great line in the REM song (which is also the title): ‘It’s the end of the World as we know it, and I feel fine‘. I used to find this line strange. How can you feel everything is fine if it’s the end of the world? Perhaps it’s because you’re bombed out on drugs, and so, have anesthetised yourself to the coming gloom, or perhaps you are nhilistic and couldn’t care less if it is the end of the world. Or perhaps you’ve figured something out which gives you joy even in the face of hopelessness. Regardless I have always loved this line and sing it with great gusto, as it somehow makes sense.

And it possibly is the end of the world as we know it. That is not to say the end of all life, but the world as we have come to know it. We show no signs of reducing our rapacious consumption of goods to which the bounty of the world must perpetually relent her sustenance. Even after 50 years of dire warnings about the future of our civilsation we show absolutely no intention of doing what needs to be done to ensure the survival of our civilsation. Instead we continue to buy bigger machines, buy bigger houses and constantly shop! And the rest of the world that do not have what we wealthy citizens have crave our lifestyle. This is reflected in the growing capitalist economies of China and India and the flow of economic migrants from poorer regions of the world to the wealthy regions of the world.

Meanwhile the world’s climate is becoming more chaotic (even if Australia is full of climate change deniers), the world is running out of potable water and we have a population forever growing and forever demanding more goods and services. We are in a word, stuffed! Having faith that all of humanity will wake up one morning and say, ‘my God we are destorying ourselves, we must change our ways immediately’ is a way to avoid the malaise that such knowledge inspires; though it is a fairly ignorant viewpoint. Go to a local shopping centre and watch the lust on people’s faces as they greedily eat up all the goodies on offer. They ain’t gonna stop. Even though, overall, if you spoke to these people over a coffee they would be concerned about the state of the world and would wish they could do something about it…

Anyway I have accepted it is the end of the world as we know it, and after years of anxiety and anger I feel pretty much fine about it. My reasons are philosophical. Let me begin with a description of karma. I do not see karma as a moral law. I see karma as a natural law that ensures equanimity in existence. At the ground of existence is a harmony that keeps all things in check. This is necessary to ensure order. From order all arises including me here typing on this computer. It is the fundamental coalescing force of existence. (The nature of this existence is left for physicists and mystics to ponder. I have written an earlier blog on this.) Karma is the law which ensures that this state of equanimity is never compromised. Anything that goes to the extreme will be be brought back to a harmonious position through balancing actions.

In the case of our planet, Earth, we have a harmonious system that has developed over billions of years. The huge diversity of life, ecosystems and environments on our planet is testimony to the extraordinary range of possibilities that the harmony of existence implies. Karma works throughout this process causing extinctions, population growths, transformations and whatever is necessary to ensure harmony. The special case connected with homosapiens is our furious pace of change! We have changed things so rapidly due to our extraordinary level of intelligence that the few billion years of fine tuning, which created our planet is being transformed almost overnight. Unfortunately our intelligence does not always translate to wisdom and we have pushed things so far and so rapidly in one direction that karma will inevitably pull things back in another direction.

Time for an analogy. I picture a nail embedded in wood as an image of the point of harmony to which existence is held. The actions of existence are like a rubber band hanging off the nail. They will stretch in any number of directions depending on the circumstances. This is one of the extraordinary aspects of existence, it is harmonious and ordered yet it can take on many forms. One only has to reflect on the diversity of existence to appreciate this. The law of karma is analogous to the elasticity of the rubber band. If it stretches to far from a state of harmony it will bounce back. In the case of humanity we are stretching the rubber band to breaking point here on Earth, and it is going to bounce back. The form of this change is hard to predict. But pretty clearly, by recent events around the world it is going to be catastrophic.

The question arises as to why humanity would knowingly walk towards its own doom when it knows that it is walking towards its own doom? Not only that, we also have all the solutions to ensure our survival and the flourishing of our civilisation(s). And we have the intelligence and the imagination to pull it off. So what stops us? I don’t know! But I try to imagine a person who holds a gun to their head and is surrounded by loved ones who tell them they will help and that they will be there for them. But still they shoot. Why? Do they hate their self? Are they inherently selfish? Do they have an unexplained death wish? Are they blind to the love that surrounds them? Can these questions be translated to humanity at large? I am sure their are psychologists with some answers somewhere.

So getting back to the song. I feel fine because I am sure that universal processes are playing our whether or not humanity is able to hear it. Humans are a fine and extraordinary emergence from the ground of existence as is all life on Earth. If we were to destroy ourselves it would be tragic, but it would not be the end. It would mean a major transformation in existence on Earth as we know it, due to the laws of karma, but it would not be the end of life. The dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteor collision. They were grandiose creatures whose life ended with a type of climate change that will dwarf ours and yet life found a way and thrived, including our mammal ancestors.

I continue to fight for this beautiful world and the amazing creatures that live on it – humans and otherwise – but if it is the end of the world as we know it, it is not the end of all the world’s as existence knows it, and so yeah, I feel fine about that.

Chivalry

By REQUEST, I will begin to express my dearest opinions towards this topic.

A dead, well, dying stereotypical characteristic… It mainly depends on how you interpret what the notion of ‘chivalry’ actually is. It can be seen through a person living in the 18th, 19th or 20th century OR even back in the ancient society.

Ill express these different classifications of the ways people express the attitude, ‘chivalry’ through chronological order of events in history.

But I’ll start with modern day. In this contemporary age, the basic definition of ‘chivalry’ is ‘a courtesy towards women’. In relation, when one opens a door for a woman, it is classified as a characteristic of ‘chivalry’. This is not the case in this day and age. I may not speak for the whole of society as interpretations differ, the minds of every person is unique and so, I cannot clarify a general interpretation of ‘chivalry’, however, I can clarify for you, ‘MY’ interpretation of chivalry.

I believe that idea that to call someone ‘mistress’ is a dying custom and that only very few continue to use it. I also believe that sliding out a chair for a girl is ‘pussy’ and only gives a feeling for ‘awkwanoia’ (conrad’s made up word) between the two. However, I certainly believe that chivalry has developed to become accustomed to today’s traditions. Now, the characteristics of chivalry are to tend to a girl if they request for assistance, to compliment and to even buy a drink for.

I also should not deny the fact that modern feminism has influenced that notion of chivalry.

Sadly, chivalry is a topic too broad to clarify, but that does not mean I cannot compare it to past societies.

In the ancient society, chivalry was to call the women, ‘mistress, provide them with first serves of food, gifts for special events (marriage)’ this information can been gathered from archaeological evidence. In the 18th century, chivalry was to open the door for a woman, bow, hold their hand to walk. In the 19th century, chivalry was to basically to provide them with more equality, to allow them better education, job opportunities.

Ill end with my comment, ‘Chivalry is a characteristic that is influenced throughout the times, it is not uniform and will vary between different cultures, minds, ages and genders. Hence, it is a topic too broad too comprehend as vast amounts of information is required to clarify its notions’. I do not have time to write a book about it, but I will leave it as a definition that is undefinable due to its inability to be uniform.

I repeat, this was a request. From now on, I will only post opinions that will definitely be answered.

Sorry, but there are no pictures as i have no primary resources for this concept.

From, Rawk the World.

‘We will Rawk and Rawk until the whole world hears us’

-Conrad & Vanessa

November 18, 2009 – The Independent, UK

Fast-rising carbon emissions mean that worst-case predictions for climate change are coming true

The world is now firmly on course for the worst-case scenario in terms of climate change, with average global temperatures rising by up to 6C by the end of the century, leading scientists said yesterday. Such a rise – which would be much higher nearer the poles – would have cataclysmic and irreversible consequences for the Earth, making large parts of the planet uninhabitable and threatening the basis of human civilisation.

We are headed for it, the scientists said, because the carbon dioxide emissions from industry, transport and deforestation which are responsible for warming the atmosphere have increased dramatically since 2002, in a way which no one anticipated, and are now running at treble the annual rate of the 1990s.

This means that the most extreme scenario envisaged in the last report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, published in 2007, is now the one for which society is set, according to the 31 researchers from seven countries involved in the Global Carbon Project.

Although the 6C rise and its potential disastrous effects have been speculated upon before, this is the first time that scientists have said that society is now on a path to meet it.

Their chilling and remarkable prediction throws into sharp relief the importance of next month’s UN climate conference in Copenhagen, where the world community will come together to try to construct a new agreement to bring the warming under control.

For the past month there has been a lowering of expectations about the conference, not least because the US may not be ready to commit itself to cuts in its emissions. But yesterday President Barack Obama and President Hu Jintao of China issued a joint communiqué after a meeting in Beijing, which reignited hopes that a serious deal might be possible after all.

It cannot come too soon, to judge by the results of the Global Carbon Project study, led by Professor Corinne Le Quéré, of the University of East Anglia and the British Antarctic Survey, which found that there has been a 29 per cent increase in global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel between 2000 and 2008, the last year for which figures are available.

On average, the researchers found, there was an annual increase in emissions of just over 3 per cent during the period, compared with an annual increase of 1 per cent between 1990 and 2000. Almost all of the increase this decade occurred after 2000 and resulted from the boom in the Chinese economy. The researchers predict a small decrease this year due to the recession, but further increases from 2010.

In total, CO2 emissions from the burning of fossil fuels have increased by 41 per cent between 1990 and 2008, yet global emissions in 1990 are the reference level set by the Kyoto Protocol, which countries are trying to fall below in terms of their own emissions.

The 6C rise now being anticipated is in stark contrast to the C rise at which all international climate policy, including that of Britain and the EU, hopes to stabilise the warming – two degrees being seen as the threshold of climate change which is dangerous for society and the natural world.

The study by Professor Le Quéré and her team, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, envisages a far higher figure. “We’re at the top end of the IPCC scenario,” she said.

Professor Le Quéré said that Copenhagen was the last chance of coming to a global agreement that would curb carbon-dioxide emissions on a time-course that would hopefully stabilise temperature rises to within the danger threshold. “The Copenhagen conference next month is in my opinion the last chance to stabilise climate at C above pre-industrial levels in a smooth and organised way,” she said.

“If the agreement is too weak, or the commitments not respected, it is not 2.5C or 3C we will get: it’s 5C or 6C – that is the path we’re on. The timescales here are extremely tight for what is needed to stabilise the climate at C,” she said.

Meanwhile, the scientists have for the first time detected a failure of the Earth’s natural ability to absorb man-made carbon dioxide released into the air.

They found significant evidence that more man-made CO2 is staying in the atmosphere to exacerbate the greenhouse effect because the natural “carbon sinks” that have absorbed it over previous decades on land and sea are beginning to fail, possibly as a result of rising global temperatures.

The amount of CO2 that has remained in the atmosphere as a result has increased from about 40 per cent in 1990 to 45 per cent in 2008. This suggests that the sinks are beginning to fail, they said.

Professor Le Quéré emphasised that there are still many uncertainties over carbon sinks, such as the ability of the oceans to absorb dissolved CO2, but all the evidence suggests that there is now a cycle of “positive feedbacks”, whereby rising carbon dioxide emissions are leading to rising temperatures and a corresponding rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“Our understanding at the moment in the computer models we have used – and they are state of the art – suggests that carbon-cycle climate feedback has already kicked in,” she said.

“These models, if you project them on into the century, show quite large feedbacks, with climate amplifying global warming by between 5 per cent and 30 per cent. There are still large uncertainties, but this is carbon-cycle climate feedback that has already started,” she said.

The study also found that, for the first time since the 1960s, the burning of coal has overtaken the burning of oil as the major source of carbon-dioxide emissions produced by fossil fuels.

Much of this coal was burned by China in producing goods sold to the West – the scientists estimate that 45 per cent of Chinese emissions resulted from making products traded overseas.

It is clear that China, having overtaken the US as the world’s biggest carbon emitter, must be central to any new climate deal, and so the communiqué from the Chinese and US leaders issued yesterday was widely seized on as a sign that progress may be possible in the Danish capital next month.

Presidents Hu and Obama specifically said an accord should include emission-reduction targets for rich nations, and a declaration of action plans to ease greenhouse-gas emissions in developing countries – key elements in any deal.

6C rise: The consequences

If two degrees is generally accepted as the threshold of dangerous climate change, it is clear that a rise of six degrees in global average temperatures must be very dangerous indeed, writes Michael McCarthy. Just how dangerous was signalled in 2007 by the science writer Mark Lynas, who combed all the available scientific research to construct a picture of a world with temperatures three times higher than the danger limit.

His verdict was that a rise in temperatures of this magnitude “would catapult the planet into an extreme greenhouse state not seen for nearly 100 million years, when dinosaurs grazed on polar rainforests and deserts reached into the heart of Europe”.

He said: “It would cause a mass extinction of almost all life and probably reduce humanity to a few struggling groups of embattled survivors clinging to life near the poles.”

Very few species could adapt in time to the abruptness of the transition, he suggested. “With the tropics too hot to grow crops, and the sub-tropics too dry, billions of people would find themselves in areas of the planet which are essentially uninhabitable. This would probably even include southern Europe, as the Sahara desert crosses the Mediterranean.

“As the ice-caps melt, hundreds of millions will also be forced to move inland due to rapidly-rising seas. As world food supplies crash, the higher mid-latitude and sub-polar regions would become fiercely-contested refuges.

“The British Isles, indeed, might become one of the most desirable pieces of real estate on the planet. But, with a couple of billion people knocking on our door, things might quickly turn rather ugly.”

We have to understand the geographical features of our continent, about 5000 yeas ago, to understand what happened at that time.

 The Himalayas have been growing up all the while, and it is safe to assume that in those days, travellers could easily cross the region either way. The sentimental attachment of Hindus, towards Kailash and Manasarover is proof of my statement. If we have not seen the place, there will be no love for it. The description of the area as a green forest, in the Bhagavat Puran too confirms this view. Therefore, migration of people across the Himalayas is a distict possibility.

 The most intimate charactoristic of a people, is their language. Early Aryans had Samskrutam as their mother tongue. If today it is a dead language, it is because, those people were in a minority and were forced by circumstances, to forget it and use whatever was the language of the people, among whom they lived. The fact that European Aryans do not know vedas, shows that, they migrated before we composed vedic sutras. 

My children do not know Malayalam. Of course, they can talk in our language. Talking is not literature. To write in Malayalam, it is necessary to learn the script. So Aryans in India, forced their children to learn Samskrutam, in order to preserve their heritage and identity. Their early literature was the Vedas which, enen now, we learn by heart. All debates and writings were in Samskrutam. A poet who wrote in Malayalam was rediculed as half poet !

The Aryans who migrated towards the north and north west, were not so lucky, as we were in India.The fact that several Samskrutam words are transformed into the local language of the area only proves the Aryan ancestry of these people. Maximum similarity is in Hindi, even spoken Hindi. Samskrutham     Hindi            English

 ekam                     ek                   one

 dwayam             doh                  two

 thrayam             theen              three ( here the English word too is similar) dasham                dus                  ten (“decimal” is derived from Samskrutam) mathr                     matha          mother (derived from Samskrutam)

bhradru                  bhai              brother ( do )

Russian and German languages have many Samskrutam words. It was a German scholar who wrote Malayalam grammar!

 During second world war, a German scholar  met the King of Cochin, who was a scholar in Samskrutam, They started chit chatting in Samskrutam; the English Resident was scared. The King was asked to abdicate.

 Those Aryans who migrated to the peninsular India, accepted the local language, but continued to patronise Samskkrutam ,as there were no books in local languages.  Thus the conclusion is inevitable. Aryan migration is from India towards Europe. Why they did not go towards Tibet and China, is a mystery.

Sexual contact with the local people was inevitable. Hence, the Aryan features are dimmed and local charactoristics became prominent.

 Theoretically, we may say that north Indians are Aryans and others are non Aryans. In this, we ignore the people living in the hills, including the north east.

Davidians are a mystery. Unlike others, they have body hair, jet black complexion, teeth pushing the lips outwards, heavy jaws and stocky, short body. There is not a single Samskrutam word in Tamil which has only 26 letters. Malayalam too had no Samskrutam words. The numbers onnu, randu, moonnu, nalu, anchu, aru, ezhu, ettu, onpathu and pathu (one to ten) of Malayalam can be understood by people of all states in the south. It is a proof that Dravidian people are a distinct group. They are even earlier than the civilisation of the north.

Hanuman was impressed bythe grandeur of the Lankan capital, which seemed to be paradise in this world!

 Tamil literature was highly developed, even before English education spread in the country.

 Every day we read about new archeological discoveries in Tamilnadu.

La Saint-Jean-Baptiste était autrefois une fête religieuse de grande importance au Québec. On célébrait alors le “saint patron” des québécois. Les temps ont changé, mais la fête est restée. C’est qu’au-delà de l’aspect religieux, la date de la Saint-Jean a toujours été reliée au cycle solaire.

C’est en effet pour l’hémisphère nord le moment du solstice d’été, c’est-à-dire le jour de l’année où l’ensoleillement est maximal. Cette date était célébrée dans toutes les traditions spirituelles depuis des temps immémoriaux. Pensons à Stonehenge où aujourd’hui encore, des milliers de personnes se rassemblent chaque année aux solstices.

Au 24 juin correspond l’autre solstice, celui célébré dans la tradition chrétienne le 25 décembre, et qui a toujours été une date cardinale dans le calendrier des civilisations spirituelles. Une relation dynamique basée sur le cycle solaire s’établit donc entre le baptiste et l’ “enfant-lumière”, cette lumière qui va croître pendant 6 mois.

 La période entourant le solstice d’hiver est le moment de la vie intérieure, du regard intérieur, un moment pour l’âme. Le sens même du mot solstice, en latin “solstare”, signifie l’ “arrêt du soleil” avant qu’il ne reprenne sa course en sens inverse, comme un immense yo-yo arrivé au bout de sa corde.

La période qui commence maintenant, celle qui va du 24 juin au 25 décembre, est marquée par la décroissance de la lumière visible, au début imperceptible, puis très évidente après l’équinoxe d’automne. Au solstice d’hiver, la lumière doit exister dans l’âme des humains parce qu’elle est minimale à l’extérieur.

 Ainsi l’exhortation de Saint-Jean à “se préparer” est compréhensible parce que celui qui ne l’aura pas fait, celui qui pense l’été durera toujours, se retrouvera démuni quand viendra l’obscurité. Il ne pourra pas “re-naître”.

Au 24 juin, la tradition veut que l’on allume un feu de joie, une sorte de pyramide de lumière autour de laquelle on danse et on chante, en un rituel qui célèbre la lumière dans la nuit. La forme conique de ce feu de joie rappelle celle du sapin de Noël. Là où le feu monte vers le ciel à la Saint-Jean, à Noël c’est l’étoile des bergers qui descend pour féconder la terre.

Avec le rythme de la vie moderne et le style de vie “24h / 7 jours”, peu de gens ont conscience de ces moments clés de l’année que sont les solstices et les équinoxes. Ce sont pourtant des opportunités pour se relier aux cycles de la vie et en tirer des enseignements.

 -Charles Goyette

Près d’Abydos en Haute Égypte, une mission archéologique a découvert un ensemble de cercueils datant de 3000 ans avant notre ère.

Il s’agit de treize cercueils en bois avec des restes d’ossements humains. Cette découverte suscite de nombreuses réactions de la part des experts qui se demandent si les défunts faisaient partie de la famille royale ou s’ils étaient des artisans.

Chose certaine, cette découverte pourra nous éclairer encore plus sur cette remarquable civilisation qu’était l’Ancien Empire, connu comme l’Âge d’Or de la civilisation égyptienne. D’ores et déjà l’on peut dire que l’un des objets trouvés démontre l’ancienneté et la pérennité de la vision du monde de l’Égypte pharaonique.

 Cet objet intriguant est un jeu composé d’un échiquier et de pièces en ivoire. Ce n’est pas la première fois qu’un tel jeu, appelé “le jeu de Senet”, est retrouvé. Howard Carter, lors de la mise au jour du tombeau de Toutankhamon en 1922, y avait trouvé un jeu de Senet.

Ce jeu ressemble sous certains aspects à notre actuel jeu de dames. Son existence remonte aux premières dynasties de l’Égypte. Le jeu de Senet avait des significations spirituelle, philosophique et religieuse très importantes pour les égyptiens de cette époque. D’où son usage dans les rites funéraires où il représente le passage de l’âme du défunt à une autre vie.

 C’est que les égyptiens, comme toutes les grandes civilisations, considéraient que l’âme habite un corps lorsqu’elle est incarnée sur Terre. Puis lorsque le corps meurt, l’âme continue de vivre dans une autre dimension. La bonne transition de l’âme vers l’autre vie est jugée selon les actes posés lors de son passage sur Terre.

Sur les peintures funéraires qui présentent le jeu de Senet, on ne nous montre qu’un seul joueur… alors avec qui joue-t-il? Se pourrait-il que ce soit avec soi-même – l’on serait alors son propre “adversaire”, à la fois obstacle et solution de nos difficultés? Ou bien serait-ce que l’âme, pour transiter, a besoin d’avoir fait des acquis spirituels lors de sa vie terrestre?

Chose certaine, avec les connaissances actuelles sur la profondeur de la pensée égyptienne, il est trop simpliste que 3000 ans d’histoire puissent résumer le Senet à un simple divertissement, ou à un rituel funéraire magico-religieux pour tromper les masses.

 -Liliana Homrich

« Nous appelons personnaliste toute doctrine, toute civilisation affirmant le primat de la personne humaine sur les nécessités matérielles et sur les appareils collectifs qui soutiennent son développement ».

Emmanuel MOUNIER, Manifeste du personnalisme.

____________________________________________________________________

GRILLE DE LECTURE

Le personnalisme est un courant de pensée qui pose l’absoluité de la personne. Il veut donc affirmer le caractère absolu de la personne humaine. Nous savons qu’une personne est un individu en relation, en rapport avec les autres. C’est dire qu’une personne ne peut qu’être relationnelle. Elle est au cœur de tout ce qui est fait pour son bonheur, son développement, son mieux-être social. L’absoluité de la personne humaine vient dire aussi l’absoluité de sa vie, de son existence. Nous pensons alors que tout ce qui constitue sa vie, son existence, ses réalités, son histoire est absolu, c’est-à-dire qu’il n’est pas à relativiser. Il prime absolument sur tout.

Toutes les actions qui concernent la personne humaine ne peuvent avoir de sens que si elles sont orientées vers la personne humaine. Dans cette pensée que nous sommes en train de méditer, Mounier veut nous montrer que toute entreprise concernant la personne ne peut la surpasser, se passer de ses réelles aspirations profondes et existentielles.  La personne doit être à l’origine, au centre et à la fin de tout cela. Une civilisation, une quelconque œuvre, un quelconque faire ne peut faire et ne doit faire fie de la personne humaine. Tout doit être orienté vers elle. Le personnalisme vient rappeler que toutes les politiques, toutes les entreprises humaines sont pour la personne humaine.

On peut dire que la personne humaine est aux yeux du personnalisme « sacrée » et son être, « sacré ». Le développement en société ne sera développement que dans la mesure où il prend en compte la personne humaine. Dans cette ère de la technologie pointue, le personnalisme tire la sonnette d’alarme pour la considération de la personne. La vie humaine n’est pas à dénaturer. La personne n’est pas à aliéner, à dénaturer. Tout doit se faire par l’homme et pour l’homme. La recherche effrénée des produits, du matériel de tout genre (posé comme ce qui est visé et donc ce qui est absolument la fin des entreprises technoscientifiques) est un dérapage. Tout ce qui menace la vie humaine, la personne humaine doit être banni pour son bonheur. La personne est valorisée dans toute conception personnaliste. La personne comme un être « absolu » prime sur tout.

fr Aristide BASSE, op

Pensée du 16 novembre

NUL N’ENTRE ICI S’IL N’EST GEOMETRE>>>

ALLER AU SOMMAIRE >>>

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]]> http://floreal.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/ballade-virtuelle-dans-la-france-multiple-ii/ Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:48:27 +0000 Floréal http://floreal.wordpress.com/2009/11/15/ballade-virtuelle-dans-la-france-multiple-ii/ http://nicholasgraham.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/end-of-story/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:39:59 +0000 Nick http://nicholasgraham.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/end-of-story/

I read two articles this week touching on a similar theme: the rise of the internet and the demise of narrative.

The Washington Post’s A Vestigial Tale worries that the impact of digital technology has undermined the sustained narrative with negative consequences for the human soul – ‘Narrative isn’t merely a technique for communicating; it’s how we make sense of the world.’ According to Johnathan Franzen, our lives will become ‘a bowl of mush’, if we forget how to tell stories to each other.

The Times strikes a similar note in The internet is killing storytelling. In a digital age we are now ‘magpie readers’ unable to concentrate and unable digest the rich pickings that is storytelling, and we are suffering for it. The Times would have us believe that ‘Storytelling is the bedrock of civilisation.’

I don’t feel qualified to speculate on whether the end of the long-form story is the end of the world as we know it or whether the Internet is the cause of narrative entropy (in fact I think that an equally convincing case could be made that consumerism or educational philosophy has undermined serious literature) however, loss there certainly will be, though perhaps in less apocalyptic terms. Here is my guess at 5 things that could follow from the human loss of story.

1. the death of meaning.  I know that on a philosophical level post-modernism has already killed off the medieval idea of the grand narrative, but on the practical level, if it is true that we structure our lives along narrative lines, then an inability to do that – to understand the method of storytelling in order to ‘make sense’ –  will create slightly odd results.  Random and contingent our lives might be but understanding ourselves with history, purpose or as protagonists in a plot (or even a mini-series) is what we do to survive existential angst and suicidal despair.
2. God bless the Enlightenment, but rationalism does lack imagination.  Something within us – call it neural programming if you must – seeks something more than factual and rational explanations for things.  I predict boredom on a global scale if we cannot weave a yarn to justify some endeavour.  
3. An essential element of story – and life – is anticipation.  It is the waiting and the set up before the payoff that drives us on.  Without story we will have no method to curb our impatience, our besetting problem will not be immaturity but prematurity, and we will be diminished because of it.
4. the truth will suffer.  Not the cold, hard, rational and correct variety of truth.  I mean the nuanced expression of an idea presented in story, that leaves things hanging, which describes love and tragedy, which – although fiction – makes you sit back and shake your head and say, ‘So true.’
5. Story is detail, multi-layered, pregnant, suggestive detail.  The absence of detail, the ignoring of it to get to the ‘real’ point of the plot, makes for blandness.  I predict blandness will be the new syndrome.

Le schéma narratif est identique à celui du Jour d’après, à tel point que les films se confondent presque, à cette différence près qu’au lieu de souffler le froid, la Terre de 2012 ressemble plutôt à une immense cocotte minute prête à exploser dans des gerbes de chaleur. Que cela ait ou non un rapport avec les antiques prédictions calendaires des Mayas, dont les prévisions d’avenir s’arrêtent au 21 décembre 2012, il s’avère que l’écorce terrestre est en train de chauffer dangereusement et que, dans un bref délai, les plaques tectoniques se verront libres de leurs mouvements. Imaginez-vous une cyclopéenne planche de surf sur laquelle se tiendrait en équilibre notre civilisation ! Joyeux programme. C’est pourtant celui que découvre un expert géologue indien, découverte qu’il partage avec son ami Adrian Helmsley, le conseiller scientifique en chef du président des Etats-Unis – rien que ça ! Informés de la prochaine destruction du genre humain, les présidents du monde organisent une opération de sauvetage à grande échelle, mais la rareté des places les rend particulièrement chères. En sus des politiciens et de leurs familles, seules seront sauvées les familles capables d’investir massivement leurs économies dans l’aventure… Aux dépens du reste de la civilisation.
Au cinéma, ce peut être la fin du monde plusieurs fois par an. Est-ce la proximité de l’année maudite – 2012 – qui fait que l’humanité ne cesse désormais de s’éteindre par écran interposé quand, les décennies précédentes, elle se contentait de perdre plusieurs millions de ses membres ? Le sujet est en tout cas porteur. En 2h40 de péripéties improbables et de catastrophes inexorables, conséquences de perturbations géologiques profondes, Roland Emmerich transforme la Terre en poudrière et l’humanité en vestige. Le « Grand Destructeur » qui, une fois n’est pas coutume, envoie au diable la Maison-Blanche (que dirait Freud de cette mauvaise habitude ?) alterne entre deux points de vue : celui d’un romancier peu glorieux (John Cusack) qui tente de mettre sa famille éclatée à l’abri (dont son ex-femme, interprétée par Amanda Peet) et celui des autorités compétentes, incarnées par le président des USA (Danny Glover, prenant le relais de Morgan Freeman comme chef d’Etat cinématographique de couleur), sa fille (Thandie Newton), le secrétaire général de l’administration (Oliver Platt) et le conseiller scientifique spécial (Chiwetel Ejiofor). L’incessant va-et-vient entre les deux entités participe d’un grand yo-yo humanitaire, au centre d’un joyeux fourre-tout de destructions massives.

John Cusack, en plus de confirmer son statut d’outsider talentueux du cinéma hollywoodien, éclaire de son aura les excellents choix de casting faits par Emmerich. Face à tant de situations invraisemblables et de fariboles scientifico-mystiques, il reposait sur les épaules des comédiens de nous donner à croire à la destruction du monde, de nous convaincre de sa possibilité sinon matérielle, du moins humaine. Cusack / Curtis est un médiocre romancier de science-fiction – tiens ! comme dans le récent Un enfant pas comme les autres – dont un livre se retrouve tout à fait par hasard embarqué avec ces chanceux qui pourront survivre à la catastrophe. Il y a beaucoup de La Guerre des mondes dans la relation qu’entretient Curtis avec son ex-femme et ses enfants, mais sans le sourd pessimisme qui clôturait le chef-d’œuvre de Spielberg, dissimulé derrière une feinte image d’Épinal.
Au milieu de tant d’œuvres d’art consciencieusement conservées – tableaux, sculptures, ouvrages phares de l’humanité – la présence du livre profane de Curtis, d’une qualité discutable, mais plein d’une honnêteté naïve, fait dire à Adrian Helmsley que derrière un tel hasard pointe un miracle discret qui fait tout le sel de l’Homme. Et permet à Emmerich de transformer son arme de destruction massive en plaidoyer pour l’humanité, sur un mode toutefois plus candide que celui d’un Voltaire dans son conte Le monde comme il va, dont les dernières lignes, on s’en souvient, comparaient l’Homme a une sculpture faite de pierres précieuses autant que de scories. En ce sens, 2012 est aussi une réponse – peut-être pleinement consciente – au Jour d’après, dont il recopie méticuleusement le schéma narratif : dans ce dernier les protagonistes y jetaient les livres au feu afin d’échapper aux mordantes griffes du froid, choisissant de brûler Nietzsche plutôt que la Bible de Guttenberg. Dans 2012, au contraire, les écrits d’un écrivain sans grande valeur côtoient les rayons des œuvres lumineuses de l’Histoire, prouvant ainsi que la plus infime individualité mérite d’être sauvegardée au même titre que la plus respectable des créations.

Synthétiquement, on pourra reprocher à 2012 une foule de défauts très ou trop hollywoodiens : un film naïf, accusant des longueurs, ne cachant par un américano-centrisme accentué, parsemé de personnages bouffis d’archétypes, et où l’on sauve – sic ! – encore une fois le petit chien, comme aux plus mauvaises heures d’Independence Day. Certes. Mais bon sang, que c’est bon d’assister à la disparition quasi-complète de la Californie dans la gueule béante de la couche terrestre ! Qu’il est suave de constater la tentation universaliste d’Emmerich qui, par acquis de conscience, accumule les protagonistes ethniquement opposés, formant un melting pot culturel ! Alors, de deux choses l’une : soit je me métamorphose petit à petit, et tout à fait inconsciemment, en amateur imbécile de l’obésité culturelle américaine, dont les bons sentiments dégoulinent par tous les pores ; soit le cœur graisseux d’Emmerich dissimule un vrai plaisir de cinéaste qui transpire à l’écran et fait plaisir à voir. Finalement, la meilleure caractérisation de ce film tient en une métaphore simple : 2012 est tout comme le volcan Yellowstone, réveillé par les ronflements de la planète : tandis qu’il explose en volutes étouffantes et en scories mortelles, on observe de loin la grande beauté de sa colère.

Eric Nuevo

> Sortie le 11 novembre 2009
Lire aussi l’article sur les “pandémies et catastrophes” dans VERSUS n° 17, actuellement disponible.

Bande-annonce VF

Portarna slogs upp till tonerna av tonsatta dikter. De som råkat ta vägen förbi skolan stannade upp och försökte förstå vad det var som hände. De senaste månaderna hade hela byggnaden varit svept i grått tyg, en liksvepning under vilken något nytt och spännande utvecklades.

På ett upphöjt podium satt en krum gumma och skrockade in i en mikrofon.

Alla de desillusionerade åren är över. Kunskap för vetandets skull är till enda. Själar som i århundraden har vittrat sönder, aldrig mer.

Med ambitionen att lära ut om livet och levandet har vi uppfört detta hus, denna institution som vi när en förhoppning aldrig ska dö.

Det vackra och undersköna. Böckerna som slår an klangen av lust ändå in i märgen, musiken som får kroppen att reagera som vore den i förälskelse, framförandena som får oss att förstå allt det där vi aldrig har förstått.

En utbildning som saknats sedan civilisationens födelse. Vetenskapen om att leva. Livsvetenskapen.

Och människorna undrade och tittade på varandra. Höjde på axlarna och fortsatte dit de var på väg. Kanske var de inte mogna. Kanske var inte tiden mogen.

Vous souhaitez mieux connaître la culture et l’histoire de la France ? Vous souhaitez mieux connaître la musique française ? Vous souhaitez enrichir votre vocabulaire en français ?

Alors venez au Lectorat français le 16 novembre 2009 à 17h

Vous pourrez écouter des chansons francophones de 1940 à nos jours, et parcourir musicalement 70 ans d’histoire de la France pour mieux comprendre la France d’aujourd’hui !

A l’issue de cette écoute, nous réaliserons aussi un Top 3 des meilleurs morceaux.

Entrée libre et gratuite dans la limite des places disponibles !

L’Himalaya est la plus vaste, la plus longue et la plus haute chaîne de montagnes de la terre. Elle s’étend sur plus de 2 400 kilomètres de long et entre 250 à 400 kilomètres de large. Elle sépare le sous-continent indien du plateau tibétain dans le sud de l’Asie. Cet ensemble abrite donc les 14 plus hauts sommets du monde, dont le principal : le mont Everest qui culmine à plus de 8 000 mètres d’altitude et qui de ce fait est appelé : le toit du monde. Ce sommet a suscité à de nombreuses reprises des expéditions réalisées par beaucoup d’alpinistes confirmés et de renommées, Sir Edmund Hillary et le Sherpa Tenzing Norgay sont  les premiers en 1953.

Au nord, s’étend l’immense plateau tibétain. Ce vaste territoire situé à une altitude moyenne supérieure à 4000 mètres, n’est peuplé que de quelques millions de nomades qui vivent dans des conditions très dures.
Le Népal est le plus connu des royaumes du massif himalayen. Ce petit pays, blotti entre ses deux gigantesques voisins que sont la Chine et l’Inde, est longtemps resté fermé au monde extérieur. On trouve une ethnie propre à la vallée de Kathmandu, les Newaris, alors que les vallées au nord du massif des Annapurnas sont de culture tibétaines, la culture du petit royaume du Mustang, dans le haut de la vallée de la rivière Marsiangdi est encore différente. La région de l’Everest, à l’est du pays, est peuplée par l’éthnie bien connue des Sherpas.
Plus à l’est, blottie entre le Népal et le Bhoutan, on trouve la ville de Darjeeling. Le nom de cette localité est bien connu grâce au thé produit dans cette région de l’Himalaya. Si l’on suit l’Himalaya vers le nord-ouest jusqu’ au Pakistan, on atteint le fleuve Indus qui marque la limite de la chaîne. Si on traverse l’Indus, on entre dans le massif du Karakoram. En remontant vers le nord, on passe la frontière chinoise. On débouche finalement sur le plateau du Pamir, territoire qui couvre des portions du Pakistan, du Tadjikistan, de l’Afghanistan et de la Chine.

Les styles de construction des maisons, les coutumes et l’habillement des gens varient entre des villages distants de seulement quelques dizaines de kilomètres.

Well, lessons recommenced this week, after the nice leisurely “vacances de Toussaint”. Monday is one of my favourite days for lessons, as I have one lecture at 10am. It is nice and leisurely. My only complaint, is that it is very biased towards France. Below are a few issues that have arisen during lectures:

• France keeps going on about how they were the first to give universal suffrage to it’s citizens. They forget to mention the important fact that it was taken away from them a few years later by Napoleon III. They like to mention that universal suffrage wasn’t acheived in the UK until around WWI. They forget that they gave women the vote AFTER WWII!. Morons.
• The lecturer looks like Alan Carr.
• The lecturer wore a turtleneck the other day. Fo sho.
• He claimed that the Tories and the Liberals were the first political parties in England, and that they were very late forming. Someone hasn’t been told about the Whigs.
• The dreaded préfet popped up, and regional government in France. So boring.

So, that was Monday. Tuesday was worse. I had my nice Civilisation class, as always, as well as my terrible English class. We did a translation, two infact, before half term. As a test. I got 9,5 for my French-English one, which is 45 in real terms, and 5, which isn’t even a pass, for my excellent rendition of Harry Potter in French. The woman who teaches it is an odd one. She kept saying “Privet Drive” as “Private Drive”, she said “drowsy” as it is written, instead of “drough-zy”, and said “bespecktackled” instead of “bespecktekld”. She is teaching them wrong English. She taught them that a ’squall’ is a kind of wind. I’m sure it is, but I have never EVER used that word in my life…