Finally, my last book for the Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009.  I made very good time despite adding two more books to the list.  But early as it is, I’ll have to wrap up as the Holidays draw near and my chances to read more books decrease as things are starting to get hectic.

I’ve wet my feet in breadmaking and I’m experimenting on perfecting scrumptious cinnamon rolls and ensaimadas (Filipino brioche) for gift-giving.    As I’ve never baked anything except for the occasional brownies, I forsee myself ambitiously wrestling with bread recipes, baking my day away, and snatching up my book only in between rising times.  So, let’s see how many more reviews I can dish out.

This book was a great finale to the challenge, albeit  a dark and brooding one.

Author :  Tobsha Learner

Publication Date :  January 2, 2007  (Mass Market Paperback)

Publisher :  Tor Books

ISBN-10: 0765350467

ISBN-13: 978-0765350466

No. of pages :  480

The Story :

Ruth bas Elazar Saul is daughter of the chief rabbi of the Jewish quarter of Cologne and a very good midwife with very unconventional methods.  Her  advanced  midwifery skills coupled with her studies in Kabbalah, taints Ruth’s reputation with suspicions of witchcraft in an era paranoid about heretics and devil worshippers.

She becomes the unfortunate target of the malevolent obsession of a Spanish friar and head of the Inquisition to Cologne.  Solitario takes his vengeance on an unknowing Ruth simply because she is the daughter of the woman who had jilted him and shredded his pride many years back.  Ruth is tried for witchcraft; but in the process gains the interest of the cleric, Detlef  von Tennen, cousin and close aide to the Archbishop of Cologne.

Detlef falls madly in love with Ruth and does everything in his power to avert her fate.  He succeeds and both start a love affair that in its time,  was unforgivable to both Jews and Catholics alike.  Amid this difficult union, Ruth and Detlef must struggle to live in a dangerous century at war with new philosophies threatening to overthrow its established beliefs, power and social structures.

The Review :

The book opens with “a woman writhing in labor”  which gave me the correct impression that I’d have a toe curling time with this one.

Learner is  an intense,  graphic writer who writes with a sensuality that is both raw and elegant.  Her torture scenes feel  horrendously realistic ; her descriptions of everyday life and her characterizations are rich and intimate, full of vivid details of seventeenth century Cologne, its lifestyle, its predominant psyche, and its prevailing social and religious atmosphere.

This novel is first and foremost a microcosmic representation of  a Europe inexorably marching toward the Age of Enlightenment, torn at one end by traditional society clinging tenaciously and fearfully to established institutions of power, thoughts, and morals and on the other, by radical philosophies and emerging new acceptances by free thinkers or the libertines of that time.

Solitario, the Spanish  Inquisitor, is the embodiment of the 17th century Roman Catholic Church, an institution reacting dangerously to threats to  its centuries-old European dominance by the emergence of new thoughts, values, mores and the new Protestant religion.  He is obsessed about bringing onto the Inquisition table  the Jewess, Ruth, and the breakaway cleric, Detlef, both of whom represent radical opposition to the faith which have begun to erode the Church’s right to absolute power.

Stories like these make me glad I was born in the 20th century, where we have education, modern conveniences, good medical knowledge and practices, and in most parts of the world, respect and freedom for all sorts of religions and ideas.  Imagine living in fear of torture and death because your ideas are heretically opposed to the prevailing beliefs of a Church which hold both  secular and spiritual domains in its grip.

It was also interesting for me to find out that Judaism has its own brand of occultism.  It has its own demons, grimoire, incantations, spells, and talismans.  The Kabbalah is practiced by a certain Jewish sect which does not find ready acceptance in the general Jewish populace; but nevertheless is a recognized albeit esoteric branch of the Jewish religion.

To Read Or Not To Read :

I have read reviews that slam this book for its love angle and gratuitous sex (which I didn’t find unwarranted at all).  The romance here is simply a support angle to the overall story of the book and is not the author’s point at all.  So if you are looking for a nice historical romance,  pass this up; this novel would be way out in left field.

However,  if you just want a well written story with a good historical background, The Witch of Cologne will be just the thing.  Although, be prepared for a very dark and somber tone (well matched with the era) throughout its entirety and for a substantial amount of graphic elements assiduously detailed in this book.

In A Nutshell :

Learner’s unconventional writing style marries quite well with her  objective of presenting a glimpse of medieval Europe in the cusp of social change, a dark and fearful transition for many,  when institutions of power, both political and religious, clawed desperately to maintain the status quo.  The story poses intelligent questions, some of which must have influenced how modern Europe evolved.

Don’t let the suggestive cover fool you into thinking this book is a shallow, sleazy read.  The book has the complexity and depth that makes it interesting and well worth your while — a perfect example  to heed the the adage:   “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

My Mark  :  Outstanding

]]> http://catcam.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/tuvalu/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:38:29 +0000 morath http://catcam.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/tuvalu/ http://estheppan.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/maya-inconsistency/ Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:15:18 +0000 Incognito http://estheppan.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/maya-inconsistency/

Christians talking about love

Protestent christians expressed their love by the rampant killing of native americans, who were called not humans, but ‘red indians’, and usurping their lands and destroying their livelihood. This was quite in line with the way Catholic christians in Europe called native cultures ‘pagan’ and killed the natives, who were again, not called humans, but ‘heathens’. Catholic christians also expressed their universal love through Inquisitions in Europe, South America and in other former colonies such as in Goa. They burned women on stakes, calling them not humans, but, witches. Thus they demonstrated that it is very easy to love people without feeling remorse when labelled with an alternate term instead of calling them humans.

Christians also expressed their love in Africa by enslaving the natives, shipping them off to plantations to be made to work like animals, calling them, not humans, but ‘negros’ or ‘niggers’ .

They loved the natives of Australia and New Zealand so much that they killed them, displaced them, enslaved them, took away their small children and de-cultured them, calling them, not humans, but ‘aboriginals’.

Christian love for India was expressed in the rampant plunder of this country. They not only enslaved the indians, plundered the wealth, they also appropriated the scientific advancements made by the indians, used that to develop their industries and economy and called it ‘industrial revolution’. Concurrently, so much love christians had, that they destroyed the education system that produced that scientific knowledge, destroyed the culture that produced that scientific knowledge, deracinated the indians, shipped them off to far off Carribeans and Africas as bonded labourers calling them ‘hindoos’.

Christians loved the Jews and the Gypsies in Europe throughout the centuries so much that christian Nazis, continuing with such love, starved them to skeletons and incinerated them in gas chambers in millions.

Despite all these accomplishments, christians consider themselves full of love of the only true God and want to convert the remaining adherents of native cultures to this version of love. They call it God’s work. They also call such expressions of love as civilising the natives.

If the past is any indicator, how godly is this christian God ? how merciful ? how benevolent ? how loving is this entity ?
To some of the above victims, the entity God may appear indistinguishable from the other entity these christians bandy about, called Satan.

Muslims talking about peace

Since the death of Khadija, the aggrandizing instinct of muslims have been unleashed unbridled upon the world in such a violent manner that it matches that of christian inquisitions, at times even surpassing that. So ‘peaceful’ were the muslims that they enslaved and killed people following native customs calling them ‘kaffirs’, not humans. In the name of their merciful ‘Allah’, these people have been waging ‘jihad’ over a millennium upon human beings. These peaceful people have mercilessly butchered women and children and enslaved them brutally. Their peaceful acts still continue unabated, in India, in Pakistan, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Iran, in Saudi Arabia, in Bangladesh, in Indonesia, in Malaysia, in Sudan, in Palestine, in Libya.

To the victims of muslim’s peace campaigns throughout the centuries, the entity ‘Allah’ may seem anything but peaceful or merciful.

Communists talking about liberating the masses

If Cuba and China, let alone Stalinist Russia and Cambodia, are examples of liberating the masses, what would be imprisonment ?

The condition of the states of West Bengal and Kerala, that have repeatedly elected communists to power- the impoverishment, material as well as ethical and cultural, people having to work for capitalists outside those states and send money back home, the violence that underlies these societies becoming a fertile ground for exploitation by subversive ideologues -are indicators of how communists ‘liberate’ the masses in a democracy.

To the beneficiaries of such liberation, liberty may seem indistinguisable from incarceration.

Capitalists talking about environment

The way in which capitalists have rampantly and remorselessly looted the earth and destroyed her sustainability over the past few centuries, causing changes in climate and on the native flora and fauna, all to feed their aggrandizing drive, their new found concerns for environment and their pious endeavours towards ‘reducing carbon emissons’ and bringing in ‘green technology’ without discarding the unbridled greed that caused the damage in the first place, without recognizing that Nature is to be sustained for its own sake, not merely for continuation of human’s consumption levels, belie their claim and their intention.

To people living with Nature in a mutually nurturing way, the capitalists’ effort at greening the planet may seem mere continuation of the selfish project of grabbing yet another opportunity to increase bank balance at the cost of environment and ethics.

Indian liberals talking secularism

Secularism of the indian liberals is to demonstrate cronic intolerance towards bharatiya samskriti and to excessively indulge the relentless attack on indian psyche by the four groups- christians, muslims, communists and capitalists.

To the practitioners of bharatiya samskriti, such liberals may seem like puppets dancing to the tune of western imperialism that sprouts four heads- christianity, islam, communism and capitalism.

Maya

Despite the blatant inconsistencies, majority of people today end up buying the lemon sold by the four headed western imperialism.

maya

By Janis Colton

CHEVY CHASE, Maryland– Over the past few years, I had glimpses of the world of Sephardic Jewish history that streamed from the period of the Inquisition, but no real knowledge about these Jewish ancestors.

Finally, this past summer (July 2009), my husband Bob, another couple and I signed up for an Elderhostel trip in New Mexico to learn the Converso/Crypto- Jewish story. In my most enthusiastic expectations I could not have imagined what an extraordinary and deeply emotional experience awaited me. My three travelling companions were just as moved and surprised.
We arrived in Albuquerque on a Sunday afternoon, emerging into the heat and dust of the arid climate. The scenery was, to my surprised eyes, bleak and uninviting, not the exciting vista others had described to me. For the next five days I listened to the surprising story, to envisage in amazement how the Converso families who fled there managed to not only survive in such a hostile climate, but to deal with the everyday tensions defending their Converso status.
Two women led our group of 14; Norma Libman was the lecturer/ teacher. Her scholarly depth of knowledge, dedication, and enthusiasmfor the subject sparked similar feelings in all of us. Karen Long, our group leader, provided, with similar enthusiasm, not only a perfectly planned and executed schedule, but knowledge about New Mexico, the Native Indian and Spanish heritages, and even the climate, flora and fauna, and current social and demographic background.
I’m sure the people who read the Kulanu newsletter know much more about the Converso/Crypto experience than I could absorb in five days. So, I will resist telling you the whole story as it unfolded for us, the significant place of Jews in the history both of Spain and of early Mexico and the United States.

In the interest of emphasizing the novelty of the subject for us, I will list some “factual” items that some of my companions told me know that Jews were ever noted as sailors or navigators, let alone dominated the field in the 14 and 15 hundreds.”

“I didn’t know these Jews were so numerous in the settlement of New Mexico and other areas of the southwestern United States.”

“I didn’t know that at the time of the Inquisition Conversos accounted for 40% of the Spanish colonization of the area now known as New Mexico.”

“I didn’t know the Inquisition was active in Mexico and even in the then Spanish held parts of America.”

“I didn’t know the Office of the Inquisition in Spain was not closed until the 1900’s and then only in response to

Spain’s desire to have the Olympics held there.”

And so on!

As a fairly literate Jew, I have read and heard much history.

How could such a dramatic part of Jewish and American history havebeen omitted from my education? We Ashkenazic Jews rightfully hold the Holocaust as the loss of a significant portion not only of our population, but also of our culture and heritage. So, too, was the loss of that cultured and large community wiped out by the Inquisition. Its tattered remnant also fled to our shores and deserves to have its proud tale enrich our study of history. Perhaps the parallels between these two events are too ominous to integrate into our thinking.

The new scholarship being done on our Southwestern Jewish history is quite amazing. ( I thoroughly recommend New Mexico’s Crypto-Jews: Image and Memory, Cary Herz’s wonderful book of photographs, interviews, and essays. And I learned much from Stanley Hordes’ To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico.) As more and more unfolds, it will be fascinating to see if any Crypto-Jewish community survives as such or if it is absorbed into the existing community. Either way, we can all be grateful to have the opportunity to learn about these courageous people.
We are very grateful to the Elderhostel for providing this course.
**

This story previously appeared in the fall 2009 edition of the Kulanu newsletter.  http://www.kulanu.org/newsletters/2009-fall.pdf Janis Colton is  a retired Clinical Social Worker, specializing in Adult Psychotherapy. She is enjoying this phase of her life exploring new places, people, skills and ideas.  She lives in Chevy Chase, MD.

By Janis Colton

CHEVY CHASE, Maryland– Over the past few years, I had glimpses of the world of Sephardic Jewish history that streamed from the period of the Inquisition, but no real knowledge about these Jewish ancestors.

Finally, this past summer (July 2009), my husband Bob, another couple and I signed up for an Elderhostel trip in New Mexico to learn the Converso/Crypto- Jewish story. In my most enthusiastic expectations I could not have imagined what an extraordinary and deeply emotional experience awaited me. My three travelling companions were just as moved and surprised.
We arrived in Albuquerque on a Sunday afternoon, emerging into the heat and dust of the arid climate. The scenery was, to my surprised eyes, bleak and uninviting, not the exciting vista others had described to me. For the next five days I listened to the surprising story, to envisage in amazement how the Converso families who fled there managed to not only survive in such a hostile climate, but to deal with the everyday tensions defending their Converso status.
Two women led our group of 14; Norma Libman was the lecturer/ teacher. Her scholarly depth of knowledge, dedication, and enthusiasmfor the subject sparked similar feelings in all of us. Karen Long, our group leader, provided, with similar enthusiasm, not only a perfectly planned and executed schedule, but knowledge about New Mexico, the Native Indian and Spanish heritages, and even the climate, flora and fauna, and current social and demographic background.
I’m sure the people who read the Kulanu newsletter know much more about the Converso/Crypto experience than I could absorb in five days. So, I will resist telling you the whole story as it unfolded for us, the significant place of Jews in the history both of Spain and of early Mexico and the United States.

In the interest of emphasizing the novelty of the subject for us, I will list some “factual” items that some of my companions told me know that Jews were ever noted as sailors or navigators, let alone dominated the field in the 14 and 15 hundreds.”

“I didn’t know these Jews were so numerous in the settlement of New Mexico and other areas of the southwestern United States.”

“I didn’t know that at the time of the Inquisition Conversos accounted for 40% of the Spanish colonization of the area now known as New Mexico.”

“I didn’t know the Inquisition was active in Mexico and even in the then Spanish held parts of America.”

“I didn’t know the Office of the Inquisition in Spain was not closed until the 1900’s and then only in response to

Spain’s desire to have the Olympics held there.”

And so on!

As a fairly literate Jew, I have read and heard much history.

How could such a dramatic part of Jewish and American history havebeen omitted from my education? We Ashkenazic Jews rightfully hold the Holocaust as the loss of a significant portion not only of our population, but also of our culture and heritage. So, too, was the loss of that cultured and large community wiped out by the Inquisition. Its tattered remnant also fled to our shores and deserves to have its proud tale enrich our study of history. Perhaps the parallels between these two events are too ominous to integrate into our thinking.

The new scholarship being done on our Southwestern Jewish history is quite amazing. ( I thoroughly recommend New Mexico’s Crypto-Jews: Image and Memory, Cary Herz’s wonderful book of photographs, interviews, and essays. And I learned much from Stanley Hordes’ To the End of the Earth: A History of the Crypto-Jews of New Mexico.) As more and more unfolds, it will be fascinating to see if any Crypto-Jewish community survives as such or if it is absorbed into the existing community. Either way, we can all be grateful to have the opportunity to learn about these courageous people.
We are very grateful to the Elderhostel for providing this course.
**

This story previously appeared in the fall 2009 edition of the Kulanu newsletter.  http://www.kulanu.org/newsletters/2009-fall.pdf Janis Colton is  a retired Clinical Social Worker, specializing in Adult Psychotherapy. She is enjoying this phase of her life exploring new places, people, skills and ideas.  She lives in Chevy Chase, MD.

Ah, ketvirtadienis. Kažkur 4 valandos miego. Priderintai.

Per seminarą diskutavom apie vaikus ir panašiai. Galutinis rezultatas: visi sakosi savo vaikam kompiuterio neduosią iki 7, makiažo – 14 metų. Jaunieji konservatoriai pas mus

Šiandien (ketvirtadienį) teko stumt troleibusą! Ne tai kad jį kažkiek nustumt pavyko, bet teko

Kūrybinė mintis: kodėl mes negalim turėt stipraus {gėrio} protagonisto, kurį vaidintų Michael Berryman? Kuris nepakeistų išvaizdos gale? kodėl veikėjas negali būti pleišto formos galva, šešiomis degančiomis akimis, trijų dalių žiauturais, čiuptuvais kabintis į sieną ar pritraukti grobį, lenktais nagais ir virš jų nesilaikančiais skraidančiais aštriais trikampiais? kodėl jis negali būti toks “gėrio kankinys”? Kodėl negalime turėti kaip veikėjo the Burned Man, Inkvizitoriaus, kuris per atgailą apdegė 100proc kūno? Kur jam einant pro plyšius sunkias kraujas, bet dėl atgailos ugnį jis atsparus lazeriams ir liepsnai?

Dienos citata: Matas Šalčius – “Kai kurių moterų sijonėliai ir skraistės aukščiau kelių, o veidas uždengtas. Veido atidengimas naudingas tik gražioms moterims. Negražioms uždengimas geriau, nes visos gatvėse yra lygios.”

Sėdėjau konferecijoj ir viela ranką braižiau kad neužmigčiau. yay?

Drink drink, pažiūrėjom Ink. Kodėl geriečiai visad turi būt neformalai, o blogiečiai – technomoksliukai?

Paveiksliuko šiandien nebus.

JcDent

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Wende Museum

Correction: MAJOR BOULEVARD CLOSED

On the night of Sunday November 8^th the Wende Museum finally presented The Wall Project.  The event commemorated the 20^th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  I’ve been looking forward to this event for months and months.  I’ve been reading all the press leading up to it wondering what the final wall would look like, first the wall was going to be up all day long and then finally it was decided it would only be up for several hours.  The wall across Wilshire ran across the boulevard right in front of LACMA’s Urban Light.

The event necessitated the closure of Wilshire Boulevard, so no big deal.  The closer of one of L.A.’s major streets signified the divide between East and West Berlin caused by the Berlin Wall.  Wilshire was closed for several hours, giving crews time to construct the wall across Wilshire.  And at midnight that wall came down.

Wall across Wilshire

Also part of the project was the wall along Wilshire.  This wall had been installed since earlier on in October and remained there for a few weeks after the main event.  This wall was made up of ten pieces of the actual Berlin wall and is the largest section of the wall outside of Germany.

Sister cities

Official installation video:

When I arrived at the event people were surrounding this wall, in a way that surprised me.  Large lights had been set up along the wall to illuminate it brightly.  People were standing in front of the wall to take pictures, and the flashbulbs were going off like it was a paparazzi event.  The whole scene reminded me of a red carpet, but I guess this is L.A.

Is this a red carpet event? I did see Sandra Oh there.

After taking some of my own photos of my friends it was time to go see the wall across Wilshire.  This wall was not made from the actual Berlin wall, but was constructed out of wood and Styrofoam bricks.

Ost (East) - Side of the wall across Wilshire

...and West-side of the wall across Wilshire

On the front of the wall artist had created murals on the various section.  Shepard Fairey, and other professional artists, as well as art students from several L.A. schools had decorated the panels of the wall across Wilshire.

Shepard Fairey portion of the wall, my hot little hands couldn’t resist

Thierry Noir was notably involved in the project; he was one of the first artists to paint on the Berlin Wall.  Part of his work was featured in the wall along Wilshire, and he was also invited to decorate a segment of the wall across Wilshire.

Thierry Noir on the wall across Wilshire

The need for a bathroom dragged me away from the wall across.  A private event for the Wende Museum was happening in 5900 Wilshire (the Variety building).  Directly outside of this event a replica of a section of the Berlin wall was set up.  Sharpie markers were provided for anyone to write messages or sketch doodles on this section of wall.

Wall comments

Some people simply signed their names, other wrote political messages.  While I was standing in this crowd I realized that the majority of the people there were German.

This guy was probably German.

The festivities were starting (around 11:15) so I decided to head back to the wall across.

Germans and Non-Germans gathering.

Significantly more people had gathered, people of all ages, many were my age which was interesting since none of us were alive, or are old enough to remember the fall of the actual Berlin wall.  This is why this event was so meaningful to me, because it served as an event to replace a memory of a historically important event I don’t personally have.

Seeing East and West / actually North/South

A documentary style video was on the TV monitors showing the fall of the original wall.  Then the presentations started.  Frank Mottek introduced all of the speakers for the night beginning with a broadcast from the mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit.

Mr. Mayor live, all the way from Berlin

Tom Labonge from the city spoke and made some lame jokes about his efforts to get Wilshire closed off.

Then Ute Lemper was introduced.  She certainly was something, but her speech about her experience living with the wall was very touching.

A real-life chanteuse

The chanteuse performer only had time to sing two songs before the wall was scheduled to come toppling down. A short while after midnight several people from the Wende Museum and some of the participating artists pulled down a central section of the wall.  This central section was made up of Styrofoam bricks with a thin layer of paper onto which the painting had been done.

Wall across Wilshire, going, going, gone.

People starting throwing the bricks into the air, their silhouettes dancing created quite a dazzling moment.  Then people started attacking the wall trying to get their own souvenirs.  Opps the rest of the wall across Wilshire was supped to be auctioned off.  I may have gotten a portion of the Shepard Fairey section…

Some cops were sent out to keep us from completely tearing down the wall.

A Sunday night extremely well spent.

- H.I.

The messengers God would choose from amongst His chosen people.  The Jews would be given the ability to understand the hidden mysteries in the Bible.  These Jews were chosen to do the same work of exposing the lies fabricated about Jesus.  They would then set out to teach those truths, as they are recorded in the Bible, and wouldn’t need a Bible to accomplish it.  They would also experience the persecution of Rome, which the New Testament explains is the result for daring to go against Roman lies spread about Jesus.

For Jesus, who is the Holy Spirit, would develop a personal relationship with that chosen person.  This would enable the Holy Spirit to use the person’s mouth.  Jesus alone knows the Bible and its cryptic language.  Thus, enabling the person to speak Biblical passages without memorizing them, but only the chosen Jew would know it was not their brain that had memorized the Biblical passages being spoken.

Therefore, the Apostle Paul admits he had nothing to brag about, for having the unique power of God to recite the Bible to others without a book and without memorizing the passages.  Therefore, Rome could never genocide the Jews, or to keep the truth about Jesus from reaching the world.

No matter how many times the Jews are offered as sacrifices upon the Roman altars of holocaust!  Rome had no way of knowing that the God of Israel had a plan; and that plan was simply based upon people hearing and believing the words written in the Bible; any words, cryptic or not!

Sorcery would not help Rome with this problem, since the last thing demons wanted was the Romans believing the truth about Jesus and the Bible.  Therefore, even the demons wouldn’t prepare Rome by revealing the truth about the Bible; and that the power of God is unleashed by simply hearing the words in the Bible.

Rome had become a victim of the lying spiritual world, upon whom it depended.  It was too late!  Rome had too much time and money invested in false Christianity to turn back now.  It would have to accept the fact that Rome would have to hunt down and kill all newly-born teachers of truth, concerning Jesus and Christianity, until the end of the world.  For their newly established Roman Catholic Church, founded upon the Roman Empire, could not easily be revamped.

It would take a thousand years to return to a state-controlled Roman Empire without Christianity as the basis of its New World Order!  Roman Churches began splintering into groups protesting against Rome’s lies about Jesus.

The Protestants were born.  How was this possible?  There were no writings available to instruct people about the truth.  Rome had made sure of that during the Crusader Wars.  There were no teachers left alive to carry on the work of Jesus.  Rome kept the Bible secret by writing it in the dead language of Latin.  No one could read it except themselves.

Rome had made certain that the actual Biblical information read to the people wouldn’t add up to one hour’s teaching per year, and that depended upon a person coming every Sunday.  (Compare that to the Apostle Paul teaching a group for 48 hours straight, without breaks.)

Rome quickly labeled the Protestants as heretics!  Rome controlled all the pulpits, which is the same as controlling the media today and yet they failed to stop true Christianity.  So, the witch-hunts began with the Inquisition!

To be continued…

Mir reichts! – Der Fall Zogaj, Politik, Medien und deren Publikum:

(“Password Gilles de Rais – A Conspiracy” by The Karlbauers)

Nein, zur tatsächlichen Lynchjustiz fehlt uns der Mumm. Genüsslich dabei zuzusehen, wie eine Familie vor unser aller Augen in eine aussichtslose Situation getrieben wird, das schaffen wir, dabei sind wir gut. Da machen wir uns auch keine Finger schmutzig dabei. Achtung, mehrmals täglich die Hände waschen, wegen der Schweinegrippe und wegen der Unschuld. Vielleicht sollten sich vor allem Schweine die Hände waschen!? Was hier stattfindet ist eine moderne Variante der römischen Arena, wo Opfer den Löwen zum Fraß vorgesetzt wurden. Um nichts weniger brutal. Wir sprechen hier nicht von trainierten Gladiatoren, wir sprechen von normalen Menschen, die keine Chance haben, sich zu wehren gegen diese Urgewalt an Feindschaft, die über sie hereinbricht. Wie sagte Imre Kertesz kürzlich in einem Interview, “Das, was Ausschwitz ermöglicht hat, gibt es immer noch”. Ich übertreibe? Überzeugt euch selbst, lest die Postings in diversen Online-Foren. Ich spreche hier nicht von den gefakten Kronenzeitungs-Leserbriefen oder Jeannes widerlichem Gegeifer. Ich spreche hier von Qualitätsmedien wie Der Standard. Lest diese Postings, die nicht von den vielbeschworene bildungsfernen Schichten stammen, die ja angeblich laut Propaganda Analphabeten sind (!?), nein, sie stammen von Menschen die lesen und schreiben können ( Zweifle zunehmend daran, ob diese Fähigkeit das Denken automatisch impliziert). Was in diesen Foren an Emotion und Resentiment in Form von Neid, Hass, Missgunst hochgespült wird aus den tiefsten und sumpfigsten Niederungen der österreichischen Seele… (Erwin Ringel schau oba… Nein, schau weg!) Es geht hier natürlich um den menschlichen Aspekt, aber das möchte ich gar nicht so sehr in den Vordergrund rücken, denn damit handelt man sich wieder ein paar Schläge mit der Fekter’schen “Rehlein-Keule” ein. Es ist auch vollkommen irrelevant, ob ich persönlich die Familie Zogaj oder Teile davon sympathisch finde oder nicht. Meine subjektiven Emotionen sind hier nicht das Thema. Es geht darum, dass an diesem exemplarischen Fall unmissverständlich das eiskalte Kalkül unserer Protagonisten aus Politik und Medien sichtbar wird, deren Ziele sich in 2 Worten ausdrücken lassen: Quoten und Wähler. Der Zweck heiligt die Mittel nicht immer! Das hier ist mir nicht egal. Damit wird eine Grenze überschritten und jetzt schwinge ich mal eine Keule und zwar die Inquisitions-Keule: Ich spreche jedem, der an dieser Hexenjagd teilnimmt, das Recht ab, am Sonntag in der Kirche scheinheilig vor sich hin zu beten und weiterhin an Weihnachten zu glauben (Das ist mal eine Drohung, die es in sich hat!) Es gäbe noch Vieles dazu zu sagen, aber damit habe ich mir zumindest Luft gemacht, denn der Ärger und die Fassungslosigkeit über all das quält mich seit Tagen. Wie werden alle bald sehen, wie die Geschichte weitergeht bzw. ausgeht. Einschaltquoten, die Big Brother alt aussehen lassen, sind garantiert. Man sollte auch Wetten abschließen dürfen, wie viele Tote es geben wird. Prognosen dazu gibt es bereits u.a. von der Universitätsklinik Wien:

“Bei der Mutter, Nurie Zogaj, werde sich in der Abschiebesituation “mit an Sicherheit grenzender Wahrscheinlichkeit eine Suizidalität ergeben” – und ein “Mitnahmesuizid (Kinder)” sei denkbar, heißt es demnach in einem Befund des Wiener Professors für Psychiatrie Thomas Stompe für das Bundesasylamt vom September”

Zum Abschluss noch eine einfache Frage, “Wer hat persönlich was davon, wenn die Familie Zogaj zurück in den Kosovo geschoben wird, ich meine, so ganz subjektiv, als Individuum. Wieviel bleibt dann mehr auf dem Gehaltskonto? Wenn es das nicht ist, worum geht es dann? Um Emotionen? Ja aber, um welche? Worum geht es wirklich dabei? Handelt es sich hierbei um eine Freud’sche Projektion oder sitzen wir alle einem Ablenkungsmanöver auf? Ich bin kein Anhänger von Verschwörungstheorien, obwohl ich Urheber obiger “Conspiracy” bin, aber… Fragen über Fragen, kann mir bitte jemand helfen?

Fortsetzung

The Inquisitorial Rhino with Forgeworld doors and hatches is done and looking pretty good! I’ll start getting photos up some time this weekend, I promise! Also the first of my Grey Knights squads is done. I completed the squad of 8 with two Psycannons, a Justicar and a Targetter for long range fire support as the rest of the mechanised army move up. As I said, pictures soon!

The principle of Cuius regio, eius religio provided for internal religious unity within a state: The religion of the prince became the religion of the state and all its inhabitants. Those inhabitants who could not conform to the prince’s religion were allowed to leave, an innovative idea in the 16th century. The phrase cuius regio, eius religio as applied to the outcome is attributed to the early seventeenth century (1612, by the jurist Joachim Stephani (1544-1623) of the University of Greifswald[9]). (via Cuius regio, eius religio: Information from Answers.com).

After war … peace

All immigrants who do not ‘fit in’ or  who don’t ‘integrate’ into the Danish ‘community’, it was decided recently, will get an incentive of 100,000 kroner. By the Danish Government, to go back to their home countries. The ‘fitting in’ and ‘integrating’ refers to Muslims in Denmark.

The Danes are not alone. The French feel let down because “immigrants were supposed to blend harmoniously into society and not exist in separate communities.”

For centuries, the settled principle in the Desert Bloc was ‘Cuius regio, eius religio’ (meaning whose land, his religion; CRER) – the ruler decided his people’s religion.

After the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204), Vatican invoked the CRER principle (‘Cuius regio, eius religio’) during its brief rule over the Byzantine Empire to reject religious objections by the Byzantine subjects. Post Hussite Wars and the ‘Reformation’, establishing the CRER principle to settle Germany, giving rise to the logic of ‘ubi unus dominus, ibi una sit religio’ (One ruler, one religion). Just in case someone had religious disagreement, the logic was they could well emigrate – (ius emigrandi).

Haiti – and after

The CRER policy guideline was finally abandoned in post-bellum America and Europe after The Haiti Fright. With Haiti breaking loose, when slaves defeated all the major Euro-colonial powers, in battle after battle, slavery was doomed. More than 200 slave rebellions, revolts and conspiracies made slavery in the West impractical. Cuban slaves were the last to win their freedom – which sounded the slavery’s death knell.

Western propaganda has made slavery, an invisible factor in their ‘success.’ And they are on the half way mark, on the erasure in popular memory, about the use of colonies for Western enrichment.

Western political constructs

With an acute labour shortage, looming over the West, slavery made way for indentured labour – and America made way for immigrants from all parts of Europe, Japan, China and Philippines.

As immigrants of various colours and beliefs made their way across the world, the CRER principle was relegated into the background.

Added to this was the 1857 War in India, against Christian proselytism, which too had to take a back seat. Victoria Regina’s Colonial India Government printed leaflets in tens and thousands to proclaim that the British Crown had no intentions to dictate faith to its Indian ‘subjects’. The 1857 War also forced Euro-centric historians to change the entire drift of world history.

Faced with a reality of ‘warm-bodies-shortage’, ‘liberalism’, ‘secular’ Governments, Marxism, Socialism et al were invented in the 19th century. It is this principle which accounts for the low levels of diversity in the West – and which also accounts for the shrillness with which the West proclaims it ‘liberalism’ – facts being otherwise.

Melting pot vs Mosaic patterns

The need for ‘integration’, the concerns over the slow ‘assimilation’ of the Mexicans in the American melting pot, the Islamo-phobia, the Compulsive Jihadic Syndrome, are all sides of the same cube. The schizophrenic Christian aggression in India combined with hysterical protests against any backlash are symptoms of the same ideological thread.

While the West talks about the respect for the individual, reality is different.

Members of the Catholic Church note with anxiety (and so does the its replacement, The State) that “the continued insistence that Hispanics will soon pass through the assimilationist melting pot and be American like us is not only false, but also harmful for our Hispanic sisters and brothers, and thus for the church”.

Another study to measure ‘assimilation’ notes “Mexican immigrants are assimilating more slowly than Italian immigrants did at the turn of the last century”. Similarly, expatriate populations in the Middle East have to live with disrespect and intolerance of non-Islamic religions.

Lowest diversity vs. Biggest talk

The West today has the lowest levels of ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity – and persecutes whatever little is left, like the Roma Gypsies for example. Would critics like to mention any other country, where such a large minority Muslim population, has greater freedom and opportunity, than in India? Would you like to suggest France instead?

The language conundrum

India, has 15 official languages. (Note check comments below on exact number of languages in India).

Shameless vegetables

No other countries even had the courage to think of that. Various US state governments outlawed all languages – except English. It was only in 1923, was this finally set aside after the matter reached the US Supreme Court (read Meyer vs Nebraska). The USA gathered some courage to start timidly with more than English only after seeing India’s success with 15 languages. Switzerland has only four. Sri Lanka’s Sinhalas do not want to accept Sri Lankan Tamils as full and equal citizens – hence the 20 year old civil war.

In the thrall of One

The Western concept of nation building requires the cornerstones of Desert Bloc – One God, One Book, One Holy Day, One Prophet (Messiah), One Race, One People, One Country, One Authority, One Law, One Currency, One Set of Festivals. This tyranny of the ‘One’ is the root of most problems in the world. From this ‘Oneness’, we get the ‘One’ Currency, ‘One’ Language logic  – a fallacious syllogism. Once you accept ‘One’, you will accept all others.

EU wants to dictate rules to vegetables and fruits

For more than 20 years, EU had rules in place to allow vegetables of specified shapes and sizes to come onto shop shelves. After more than 20 years, the EU decided that it is easier to change laws than to make tomatoes, cucumbers and bananas follow EU rules.

The Indic model

Unlike the Indian social system, where differences are respected and encouraged, the position of the French Government, paraphrases the thinking of the ‘desert bloc’. Indians believe that all are वासुदेवाय कुटुम्बकम ‘vasudevaih kutumbakam’ and ईसा वास्यो मिदं सर्वं ‘isa vaasyo midam sarvam’ (meaning we are all God’s family and God is in everyone and everywhere respectively).

Es muss vor einiger Zeit einen Skandal im Umfeld der Herrnhuter Mission gegeben haben, betreffend vom Standpunkt bürgerlichen Rechts fragwürdige Missionierungsmethoden. Afrikanischen Missionsschäfchen seien angeblich Lebensmittel vorenthalten worden, um die Annahme des Christentums attraktiver zu machen. Das nennt man wohl Erpressung. Schließlich wäre da noch die “Jugend mit einer Mission”, die im Stile amerikanischen christlichen Fundamentalismus´ zum Einsatz des eigenen Lebens bei der Missionierung aufruft.

Die Details interessieren mich hier nicht, ich stehe auf dem Standpunkt des Rechtsstaates und bin zufrieden, wenn eine von der Kirche getrennte staatliche Gewalt Straftaten verhindert bzw. aufklärt.
Darüber hinaus hat die Katholische Kirche für alle klar gestellt, wie sie es mit der Religionsfreiheit und mit gewalttätiger Missionierung hält:

“Das Vatikanische Konzil erklärt, daß die menschliche Person das Recht auf religiöse Freiheit hat. Diese Freiheit besteht darin, daß alle Menschen frei sein müssen von jedem Zwang sowohl von seiten Einzelner wie gesellschaftlicher Gruppen, wie jeglicher menschlichen Gewalt, so daß in religiösen Dingen niemand gezwungen wird, gegen sein Gewissen zu handeln…
(…)
Man muß sich jedoch bei der Verbreitung des religiösen Glaubens und bei der Einführung von Gebräuchen allzeit jeder Art der Betätigung enthalten, die den Anschein erweckt, als handle es sich um Zwang oder um unehrenhafte oder ungehörige Überredung, besonders wenn es weniger Gebildete oder Arme betrifft. Eine solche Handlungsweise muß als Mißbrauch des eigenen Rechtes und als Verletzung des Rechtes anderer betrachtet werden.” (ERKLÄRUNG DIGNITATIS HUMANAE)

Mich interessiert die Unlogik der aufgeklärten Rationalatheisten meines Umfeldes. Sie können Gottesglauben nicht nachvollziehen und erregen sich doch heftig darüber, wie man jemandem ein Bekenntnis zu Gott gegen Lebensmittel abnötigen könne.
Liebe Leute, wenn es keinen Gott gibt, kann doch der Eingeborene jedem daher gelaufenen reaktionären Pfaffen aus dem Westen die Taschen voll hauen, nicht wahr?! Oder ist der Eingeborene gar weniger vernunftbegabt, als ihr? Oder sind für euch Darwin-Fans vielleicht die Götter der Eingeborenen eine zu schützende autochthone Eigenheit, während der christliche Gott zwangsläufig – nach Inquisition und Kreuzzügen – das westliche Anspruchsdenken und den “gewalttätigen Zugriff auf die Welt” generiert, die ganze zauberhafte, bunte Eingeborenenkultur zugunsten so hartherziger Dinge wie Logik und Vernunft also beseitigt hat? Ihr Urknall-Anbeter und Evolutionstheologen seid doch auch sonst ganz aus dem Häuschen, wenn irgendein unbedarfter amerikanischer GI in irgendein Mikrofon verkündet, der Prophet Mohammed sei ein Kinderficker gewesen. “Schande!” und “Beleidigung!” ruft ihr dann. Es gibt Gott also plötzlich doch? Beleidigen kann man ja nur, was existiert.

Worauf ich hinaus will: Eure strenge Durchführung von Religionskritik ist nichts anderes als Selbsthass auf die eigene Lebensweise bei anhaltendem Unvermögen für das Gute, gegen das Schlechte einzutreten.

ERKLÄRUNG
DIGNITATIS HUMANAE
ÜBER DIE RELIGIONSFREIHEIT

DAS RECHT DER PERSON UND DER GEMEINSCHAFT
AUF GESELLSCHAFTLICHE UND BÜRGERLICHE FREIHEIT
IN RELIGIÖSEN BELANGEN

I stole this from Scattered Sheep…lol.  Thanks Guys!

http://scatteredsheep.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/studies-in-revelation/

You’ll Be Shocked To Discover Who Gave Birth To The Antichrist W. J. Mencarow – Refomation Church

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=12409199281

Roman Catholics are correct when they say their faith was founded by Peter in Rome. But it wasn’t the Apostle Peter.

“Men will readily rally around any one who can give the least appearance of plausibility to any doctrine that will teach them that they can be assured of happiness…though their hearts and natures are unchanged, and though they live without God in the world…” – Alexander Hislop, “The Two Babylons”

What you think the book of Revelation teaches determines how you live your life – are we to conquer the world for Christ or tread water until He rescues us on the last day? – and what you think the headlines mean. Do events in the Middle East prove we are on the brink of the end times? Is Antichrist about to be revealed? Is Armageddon around the corner?

This generation of Christians has been taught Futurism; that most of Revelation describes end-time events.

Futurism is a late 16th century Roman Catholic invention that was crafted to defend the Papacy against the claims of the Protestant Reformation. Sadly, most fundamentalists and evangelicals are unknowingly parroting Roman Catholic propaganda.

The historic Protestant view is that Revelation is a panorama of world history from the first century to the end of time. It reveals the rise and fall of nations, of Romanism, Islam, the Protestant Reformation, a future New World Order of one civil government and religion imposed upon the world. But it also reveals the final triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christianization of all nations BEFORE the end of history.

Please listen to all the sermons in this series to understand the historic Protestant view of the book of Revelation.

  666 – The Beast of Revelation, Antichrist; The Historic Protestant Interpretation

W. J. Mencarow – Refomation Church

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=715081640154

The church settled the meaning of the book of Revelation centuries ago. Sadly, this has been lost to the modern church.

This sermon series is an appeal to the church to recover that meaning.

Rev. 13:18 says understanding (or wisdom) is required to “count” the meaning of the number of the beast, 666. This is clearly not the human wisdom of this world, which God calls foolishness. I Cor. 3:19: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” This is the problem with many of the claims you’ve heard about the meaning of 666 and the identity of Antichrist. What the Lord requires is not human wisdom, falsely called, but the wisdom that comes from reading and meditating upon the revelation of God through His written Word, the Bible, and living your life in obedience to it.

This sermon presents the interpretation of 666 that was held by the majority of Protestant theologians from the Reformation until the 1800s when mysticism on the one hand and liberalism on the other began to invade the church. This historic interpretation of the number of the beast has also been held by some proto-reformers (before the Protestant Reformation) and even by some of the church fathers going back to the second century — and possibly even before!

The First Thousand Year Reich (kingdom) of Rome lasted from 45 A.D. to 1045 A.D.  It begins with Rome murdering Jesus.  It encompasses the destruction of Israel in 70 A.D., and ended with the Roman Crusader Wars on a quest to destroy Jesus’ Church!

The first thousand years saw the birth and death of the Roman Empire and Jesus, both of which have passed into history, leaving Rome in full control of an imposter church.  Church and State, opposite ends of the same serpent, of which Isaiah spoke.  One end equipped with a mouth full of poison (the lies) to devour its enemies, and the other end equipped with a warning device to detect and warn the head about its enemies all over the empire.

The church would deceive people seeking God and enable Rome to detect anyone opposing her.  The Roman State could remove anyone who was a threat to them in the furthest distant corners of its personal realm, the Roman Empire.

The Second Thousand Year Reich (kingdom) of Rome, from 1045 A.D. to 2045 A.D., began with the Roman Crusader Wars and ends with World War III.  It encompasses false christs like Napoleon Bonaparte, and a man named AdoIf Hitler, who claimed he was beginning a Third Reich that would last for a thousand years: The Third Thousand Year Reich (kingdom) of Rome. Curiously, the Gentile Christian Churches are teaching: when Jesus comes, he will establish a thousand year kingdom called the Millennium (which is Latin for a thousand years).

The second thousand years saw the Roman Crusaders crushing Jesus’ Church, their enemies, the original Jewish Christians.  Rome crushed the Jews under their feet, stamping them out of existence until the 14th century A.D. when Rome handed the reigns of the Empire to Portugal; who continued Rome’s work of rooting out the true followers of Jesus during the Inquisition.

The Empire was now firmly in their iron grip.  Rome had semi-retired from combat.  Rome decided to play out the rest of the thousand years like a shell game; keeping the world guessing which shell the pea was under instead of Rome trying to maintain the empire itself.  Rome put down the sword and picked up the Bible, which it had captured from the original men entrusted with the Word of God.

By keeping the cost down generated by their legions of armies, Rome could fill her coffers with gold.  The politicians of Rome, known as Senators, traded their military uniforms for religious garments.  Re-labeled, the Senators became known as Cardinals, while the Emperor was renamed the Pope.  Politics as usual, the rule makers continued ruling by using bribes, intrigue, and assassination.  Rome was now in the business of controlling everyone else’s politics.

The Roman bishops busied themselves with the conspiracies on a world chessboard that was only visible to people traveling in outer space called angels!  The Roman politicians did not retire from politics; they merely retired from directly waging war on their enemies.  Although they did not wage war directly, the Cardinals and Pope just maneuvered various world leaders into starting wars.

The Roman hierarchy replaced their costly military with the many armies of the rulers of the nations.  Beginning a Roman Confederacy of nations, each with its own army, to be allied against any common enemy of Rome.  Now the nations would maintain their own armies, thus reducing Rome’s direct cost of maintaining an army, while increasing its profits.

To be continued…

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

LACMA’s current exhibition: Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life (on view until January 3) has traveled from the National Gallery of Art in D.C. and is currently on view in LACMA’s European painting and sculpture galleries (which are currently closed for reinstallation).  The exhibition was originally organized by the National Gallery to celebrate its new acquisition of Meléndez’s work.  Works from the 18^th century Spanish master are on loan from many collections, including the Prado, the Louvre, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Kimbell Art Museum, and a few private collections.  The show at LACMA features 26 still lifes, one self portrait and an odd collection of kitchen artifacts.

What nice melons you have.

Because I knew the shorter route to the two galleries the show occupies I initially missed the introductory wall text, so I went back to the front entrance to go through the show the direction in which the curators wanted me to.  The introductory wall text was set on a slab of a wall (on the back of which was hung Meléndez’s self portrait).  A nice gold title seemed fitting for an old master exhibition.  The wall text mostly sang the praises of Meléndez as a mostly-ignored master overshadowed by the formidable Goya.  This show it seems is a way of rediscovering a forgotten master.

LACMA don’t you dare do this to the European galleries

The first thing I noticed about the galleries was the hideous treatment of the walls.  Christopher Knight of the LA Times gave his opinion, as have other bloggers.  And I am not alone in thinking that the walls are only ugly but also out of place in these galleries.  The odd plaster treatment (which LACMA’s Unframed blog claims makes “new walls look old”) are distracting and look like a project on a reality television home improvement show.

My rendering of the frames, thanks Microsoft Paint

Once I was able to get away from the odd walls, I was able to focus on the numerous still lifes.  What I noticed immediately was that most of the paintings had the exact same frames, gold with a pilaster-look and circles in the four corners.  This frame was used on works from the various collections the exhibition was culled from.  This made me think that most of these works came originally from the same place.

Something that made me aware that these paintings were not all from the same place was the wire partition set in front of only some of the paintings.  The paintings that were “special” enough to warrant the ugly wire partition (same wire from Your Bright Future) were the works from the Prado Museum.  The segments of wire were obnoxious—I felt that if any of the paintings were valuable enough to justify the wire partition they all should have had a partition, just run a wire all around the galleries.  I wasn’t the only one curious about the wire, another visitor asked a gallery guard about it.

The Master Himself

The only painting that wasn’t a still life was Meléndez’s self portrait.  The portrait was an amazing addition to the now seemingly generic still lifes.  The self portrait was painted by Meléndez while he was still in school.  It is hung in a way that makes it a real centerpiece of the show, behind the wall with the exhibition title and intro text.  The portrait shows all the skill and technique required of a master painter, and the portrait shows Meléndez’s ambition and genius, which the exhibition claims were never fully realized.

I will keep making these diagrams until someone tells me they’re stupid.

The first room of the exhibition features mostly smaller works, and then the second contained both smaller and more extravagant tableaus of apples, grapes, watermelons, cantaloupes, etc.  I did have an issue with the order that one wall was hung.  Two works from the Prado museum, which a wall text clearly said “are probably pendants” were hung at opposite ends of the wall, with two large artichoke works dividing them.  Formally the two works: Still Life with Pomegranates, Apples, Azaroles, and Grapes in a Landscape and Still Life with Watermelons and Apples in a Landscape look like pendants, and I was confused why the curators did not hang the works directly next to each other, there seemed to be no reason why the weren’t.

So, why aren’t these hung next to each other?

At the end of the second room are two display cases set into the walls of the galleries.  Inside the two cases were objects like wine coolers, chocolate pots, and other vessels which can be seen in the still lifes of Meléndez.

Get it? That’s that thing in that painting.

Through some research I discovered that the addition of these objects was not LACMA’s idea, the curators at the National Gallery are responsible for the inclusion of the objects (however I still don’t forgive LACMA for the walls).  I understand that the objects are there to illustrate the skill required of Meléndez to depict such objects in such a high degree of realism.

More stuff from the display cases

This display made me think; well if they’ve included the kitchen objects why not also include fruit from the still lifes in these cases.  This is ridiculous I know, but I think included these objects is just as ridiculous.  A visitor can see that the still lifes in this exhibition are extremely realistic, almost photographic.

Artichokes show the skill of a Master

The skill of Meléndez and this show as a tribute to a forgotten master seems unrealized in the size of this exhibition.  While the collection of paintings from many collections is an impressive feat on its own, I thought that some editing was in order.  Not all of the works in the show were Meléndez’s finest; the show could have been edited down to maybe half the size, with only the best of the works.  Featuring only the best of Meléndez’s work would have done Meléndez more justice, especially when trying to convince an audience that Meléndez is an underappreciated and mostly ignored artist.

Christ in Limbo? What are you doing here?

As a final note, when exiting the Meléndez show one is confronted with LACMA’s Christ in Limbo.  The work, while Spanish, has nothing in common with the Meléndez show.  Christ in Limbo and two other painting remain in the chamber right after the Meléndez exhibition, they are remnants of the reinstallation of LACMA’s European galleries, but no other works are still on view, the curators should really remove the three works as they are out of place and starkly alone.

And please, please LACMA curators do not use the weird plaster technique on the walls in the European galleries once they are reinstalled as you have hinted at, save your money.

- H.I.