Lazy, arrogant cowards: how English saw French in 12th century – Telegraph

Although it is meant to be an ‘entente cordiale’, the relationship between the English and the French has been anything but neighbourly.

When the two nations have not been clashing on the battlefield or the sporting pitch they have been trading insults from ‘frogs’ to ‘rosbifs’.

Now the translation of the poem has shown just how deep-rooted in history the rivalry and name-calling really is.

Written between 1180 and 1194, a century after the Norman Conquest united England and Normandy against a common enemy in France, the 396-line poem was part of a propaganda war between London and Paris.

Poet Andrew de Coutances, an Anglo-Norman cleric, describes the French as godless, arrogant and lazy dogs. Even more stingingly, he accuses French people of being cowardly, and calls them heretics and rapists.

It has taken David Crouch, a professor of medieval history at Hull University, months to complete the translation of what is one of the earliest examples of anti-French diatribe.

The poem was written at a time when Philip II of France was launching repeated attacks on Normandy, taking advantage of in-fighting within the English royal family.

Prof Crouch says that the poem is of great interest to historians because of its “racial rhetoric”, which was deployed by Anglo-Norman intellectuals in support of their kings’ bitter political and military struggle.

While rivalry between the English and their Gallic neighbours now only tends to surface at sporting occasions and European summits, the poem recalls battles between the two countries and describes the vices of the French in detail.

In one passage, it claims that “eating is their religion” and warns that dining with them is not a pleasant experience.

“A man who dines with the French/ should grab whatever he may/ as either he will end up with the nuts/ or will just carry off the shallots,” the poet writes.

“When they’re abroad they’re even more greedy/And shamefully gorge themselves at every table/Whenever they get near one.

“And whenever hosts have them in their homes/they realise the French are such men/So greedy and so avaricious/That he ought to drive them off with kicks.”

“Intellectuals were deployed to compose diatribes against the enemy,” said Prof Crouch.

“This poem was poisonously undermining the French and their national legend while promoting the legend of King Arthur.”

The poet refutes criticisms of King Arthur and celebrates a legendary victory over Frollo, the French ruler who is portrayed as lazy and incompetent.

“Lying flat out without stirring himself/Frollo got the French to equip him/For that is the way of the French/ Getting their shoes on while lying down,” he writes.

Having described at length the cowardly nature of the French, he even claims, wrongly, that Paris derived its name from the word ‘partir’, which means to flee.

He calls the French “serfs” and “peasants” in an attempt to suggest that they are a race without nobility, adding: “People remind them often enough about this source of shame, but they may as well have not bothered; for they take neither offence or account, as they know no shame.”

Using phrases reminiscent of the insults used by the French knights in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, de Coutances says the French “live more vilely than a dog” and calls them “rascals” and “mockers”.

Extracts from the Roman des Frances by Andrew de Coutances:

On King Arthur leading the English against France

Arthur besieged Paris, doubt it not at all!

He had a large force of

Well trained and equipped knights,

So he fiercely attacked the city.

The English went on the attack,

And the French defended like cowards,

They gave up at the first onset

And shamefully ran away.

It was from this flight [partir] that

Paris got its name, there is no concealing it,

Originally the place was called Thermes

And was indeed very famous.

On France’s humiliation

Arthur took homage from the French

And he established as a release-payment

A four-pence charge for being a peasant

To be paid as their poll tax.

People remind them often enough about

This source of shame, but they may as well not have bothered;

For they take neither offence or account,

As they know no shame.

Such a Frenchman as does value virtue and honour

Will not like it of course,

But so far as he is the more ashamed

He will boast twice as much

So know that, wherever you go,

Believe a Frenchman not at all;

Seek indeed and you shall find

But you find no prowess if there’s none to be had.

On French culinary habits

A man who dines with the French

Should grab whatever he may

As either he will end up with nuts

Or will just carry off the shallots

A Frenchman would need to own the world

To live as well as he would like.

Because that is something that cannot happen

The French know to hold what provisions they have.

That’s the way they are in their own land

But when they’re abroad they’re even more greedy

And shamefully gorge themselves at every table

Whenever they get near one.

And whenever hosts have them in their homes

They realise the French are such men

So greedy and so avaricious

That he ought to drive them off with kicks.

Marc Chagall’s Illustrations for Gogol’s “Dead Souls” at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art | Art Knowledge News
TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - In the spring of 1931, Marc Chagall set sail for a visit in Eretz-Israel. He had been invited by Tel Aviv Mayor Meir Dizengoff, following their acquaintance in Paris in 1930. Chagall was taken with Dizengoff’s passion to establish a museum in the emerging Jewish city, and agreed to join the Paris Committee set up to promote the project. Chagall brought a gift, his series of prints illustrating Nikolai Gogol’s novel Dead Souls. The series was personally dedicated to Dizengoff, and was intended to enrich the collection of the museum, due to open in 1932.

At the center of Gogol’s “Human Comedy” Dead Souls is the character of Chichikov, a charming, shrewd scoundrel, who buys from landowners dead serfs whose names have not yet been taken off the official census, that is, the “dead souls” that must be disposed of in order to avoid paying serf tax for them. Chichikov intends to present these souls as living persons, “deposit” them as collateral against a bank loan, settle in a far province and establish himself as a respectable country gentleman. Through Chichikov’s journey the reader is exposed to Russia’s people and social classes: the lazy, greedy landowners; the power-hungry, honor-craving bureaucrats; the destitute serfs who are nothing but their masters’ chattel – in life as well as after death. They are all described by Gogol – and illustrated by Chagall – with exaggeration, as a larger-than-life yet compassionate grotesquerie.

Gogol wrote Dead Souls, a penetrating yet affectionate novel, in 1842 while far from Russia, in Rome, and that Chagall, too, made his witty prints when he was far from Russia, in Paris. The satirical prints are characterized by an acerbity that at times verges on cruelty, and are reminiscent of the work of expressionist artist Georg Grosz, whom Chagall had known in Berlin. Distorted, diagonal scenes and a top angle view evoke a sense of movement and instability. This arrangement of form and space, so typical of Chagall, appears in this series for the first time.

From 18 January 2010 Grotesque, exaggerated figures that are more than slightly critical of 19th century Russian society, with its characteristic corruption and bureaucracy.

The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel’s main art museum, first opened to the public in 1932 in the home of Tel Aviv’s first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The Museum quickly became the cultural center of the Tel Aviv, presenting local and foreign artists. In addition to its steadily growing collections, the museum serves as a platform for free-thinking cultural and artistic exchanges. Visit : http://www.tamuseum.com/index.html

The story of Zhemchugova, an 18th-century serf is one of those romantic, tragic tales that demands a mini-series. Born a lowly but beautiful serf, she was chosen by her master the Count Sheremetyev at the age of seven to be the star of his private theatre. Educated like a gentlewoman she charmed all and entertained Catherine the Great. Finally, Sheremetyev married her and they had a son but she died of consumption soon after. Her room at the lovely Kuskovo estate is on show along with some of her belongings and portraits of the beauty.

Promontory with Pictish stronghold before Scots takeover

In recent years an increasing flow of evidence supports a gradual spread of Gaelic through Pictish territory, rather than a sudden loss of culture after a takeover of Picts by Scots.

Here we trace how this progressive Gaelicisation may be attributed to the contemporary work of the Church. Rather than cover all of Pictland from the Orkneys to the Forth, evidence is directly drawn from Northeast Scotland as a ‘control’ area and used comparatively with Fortriu,

centred on Forteviot.   Further work in a wider spectrum, based on this evidence, might prove interesting.

First it is helpful to draw a larger picture connecting the Church with royal foundations.

At the beginning of the period marked by the Columban mission to the Northern Picts, one such as the fortress of Bridei at Ness (munitio Brudei, d.585), is unlikely to have had any developed form of Christian building. Northern Picts at that time were still carving pre-Christian stones.

However around 100 years later there is evidence supporting the foundation of churches in association with Pictish royal centres.

As early as 678 Trumwine was ‘bishop to those Picts . . . subject to English rule’ at Abercorn, south of the Forth (Bede, HE IV, 12).

In 685 King Ecgfrith led an army into Pictish country (HE IV, 26) and his defeat and death at the battle of Nechtansmere near Dunnichen, Forfarshire accelerated Pictish independence from Northumbria. Although a break from Anglian domination in church matters resulted from the battle, it was not until 717 that there appears the first recorded instance of a Pictish king taking the Church under royal patronage.

At the request of King Nechtan, son of Derilei (706-726, d.732), architects were sent from Wearmonth to

‘build a stone church . . in the Roman style’ (Bede HE V, 21).

Arch from stone building in Pictish capital Fortriu/Forteviot

Certainly by the mid-9th century Forteviot in Strathearn was the chief royal centre of the Pictish kingdom, featuring a richly carved stone arch with central short cross, which suggests the presence of a royal chapel and a royal hall or palace where Kenneth son of Alpin, first king of combined kingdoms of Picts and Scots died ‘in palacio, 858’ (in the palace, Pictish Chronicles).

During Kenneth’s rule of both kingdoms, particularly after the translation of the relics of Columba to his royal foundation at Dunkeld, 848/9, Gaelic would become the language of Alba (the Scots’ name for the kingdom of Picts which they took over). It had already become one of two

languages of learning and writing, albeit bilingual, in Pictland before his reign.

Four elements mark bilingual literacy via the Church during the 7th and 8th centuries.

• Class II stones in a Christian tradition, using pre-Christian symbols;
• ogham inscriptions; 
• plain incised crosses alongside ogham or alone and 
• ‘kil’ (cill-) placenames.

 All provide unquestionable links with a Pictish Church.

Ecclesiastical and agricultural placenames continued to evolve as Gaelic adaptations were added up to the 13th century.

Most potent evidence of a thriving Church in 8th century Pictland is firstly the large number of sculptured stones whose art derives from monastic culture, erected following Nechtan’s Romanization of the Pictish Church.

East face of the Dupplin Cross as it stood in a field above Forteviot; now in a museum

Class II stones bear elaborate crosses on one side while maintaining relief-form Pictish symbols, perhaps as an attempt at legitimization or to be better understood by an uneducated populace. Yet by the reign of Constantin (c789-820), at Forteviot not only is that king’s name inscribed on the free-standing Dupplin cross, but any attempt at placating a pagan minority with Pictish symbolism has been abandoned.  

There appears to have been a concerted effort to use the royal connection to spread the Christian word.

The Elgin Class II cross slab shows Christ alongside falconry symbolism, a regal pursuit as meaningful to the population as a griffin motif in royal funerary art would have been on the St Andrews sarcophagus.

Massive Sueno's Stone at Forres, wrongly named for a Viking

By the late 9th century via Sueno’s Stone, on the Class III monolith at Forres displaying a Christian message, ranked horsemen, but no pagan symbols, Kenneth follows in the footsteps of Constantin’s Dupplin proclaiming victory in battle and thanksgiving to God (and doubtless Columba), in what is seen as a royal inauguration ceremony below a giant cross on Sueno’s west face.

In areas where Class II cross-slabs are notably more numerous than Class I, such as in Angus, Forfar, Perth and Fife, the presence of a fully Christian Pictish establishment is clear.

However, beyond the Mounth in Aberdeenshire, where Class I (pagan) stones vastly outnumber Class II (early Christian), the separate practice of cross-incision may have substituted for fully-developed Class II stones during the sixth and seventh centuries. These are called by Dr Henderson’s (1987) classification Class IV: cross-incised stones ‘with no other ornament’. They may even have sufficed for a ‘conservative’ populace.

Only at Monymusk were cross-incised stones followed by a so-called Class II cross-slab, itself not fully progressed from Class I incision.

In Moray, where classes I, II and III all exist, alongside one known free-standing cross – unusual for North Pictland – there is new evidence for a long-standing ecclesiastical foundation at Kinneddar on a par with Forteviot or Kilrymonth/St. Andrews.  This foundation is thought to be perhaps as early as the mid-eighth century.

Then there is a strong case for early dissemination of ideas by the Pictish Church through the use of ogham as an Irish influence, rather than one of Iona.  With its 3rd-5th century origins in locations where Irish was spoken, ogham in Pictland appears in sixth to eighth century contexts. This compares with the use of Irish-Roman script on Pictish stones such as Fordoun [inscription: P Idarnoin trans. Pax, peace of St.Eddarnon] of 7th century date and the ‘Drosten Stone’ at St Vigeans [inscription reads: ‘drosten ipe uoret ett forcus’, trans. son/descendant of Fergus and Uurad].  This one has been dated to AD 839×842, the dates of the reign of Uurad son of Bargoit.  

A variant peculiar to the Pictish Church, borrowed ogham seldom uses Irish unless one allows marginal use of ‘mac’, son of, but exploits an Irish alphabet.  Thus it succeeded in portraying Pictish names often within a Latin context. Latin was since Nechtan’s time the preferred language of his ‘Roman’ church.

Ogham and unknown script reside side by side on the Pitmachie stone at Newton

This multi-cultural incongruity is seen at its most ‘Pictish’ where V is substituted for the Irish C sound in recently-discovered Pictish ‘vvrohht’ (Doric ‘vracht’, Eng. wrought, Lat. me fecit) on at least one Class II stone, at Dyce and possibly in the interchangeable use of the ogham X instead of crroscc, Ir.Gael. cross written out in full, as on stones at Aboyne, Afforsk, Bressay and Newton.

The rather under-catalogued remnants of cross-incised stones in Northern Pictland can be seen as an indication of widespread Christian teaching by Gaelic-speaking missionaries in 6th/7th centuries.

In Aberdeenshire occurrences of early church dedications linked to a controversial ‘pre-Columban’ Brittonic mission are also widespread.

Debate is warm in Pictish academia on activity in Northeast Scotland of saints such as Brandan (Banff, Ruthven), Comgan (Turriff), Drostan (Deer, Aberdour), Marnan (Marnoch, Aberchirder, Leochel), Moluag (Clatt, Clova, Lumsden, Mortlach, Rhynie), Serf (Culsalmond), Maelrubha (Applecross, Loch Maree), Nachlan (Tullich, Oldmeldrum) and Walloch (Glass, Tarland).

Simple incised cross in a boulder delineating the boundary of Pictish church lands at Afforsk, Aberdeenshire

The association of cross-incised or simple cross-relief stones with all of these localities is remarkably clear. In addition, cross-stones have been found in locations of known early foundations such as Botriphnie (Fumac), Culsalmond (Serf), Dyce (Fergus), Fintray (Modan), Premnay (Caran), as well as in early ecclesiastical sites with no proven founder, such as at Abersnithock, Barra, Bourtie, Dunecht and Inverurie (Apollinarius).

Placenames, particularly those containing cill- and both- elements, show

origins in the seventh century and possibly earlier of the location of a simple church or cell. This ties them in with contemporaneous reference to patron saint Ethernan, d.669, as one means to substantiate dating.

While a lot of Ethernan research concentrates in Fife one might extrapolate to include the occurrence of IDDARRNON or its abbreviations (DDOAREN, DDARRNNN) in ogham in locations where all three elements exist, suchas Brodie, Brandsbutt, Fordoun, Newton and Scoonie.

King Giric (878-889) is said in the Chronicles to have given

‘liberty to the Church, which was in servitude up to that time after the custom and  fashion of the Picts’,

(Scots Chronicle, Skene, 1867, 1887).

In 906 King Constantin and Bishop Cellach swore on Scone’s Hill of Faith to ‘keep the laws . . .of the faith and rights of the churches. . .in the same

manner as the Irish’ (Poppleton MS).

By that time, brought back to prominence at the Scots court from banishment in Pictish King Nechtan’s time, Ionan céli Dé reform had begun again.  Certainly in ‘Alba’ by the 9thC, the Gaelic language must have been in full use by kings, noblemen and the skilled classes in former Pictland, with diminishing enclaves of Pictish survival.

There appears a rationale for the concept of domination and utter extinction of the Picts by the ‘might is right’ attitude of their aggressors, the Gaelic Scots, with consequent purging of all Pictish lifestyle, customs and language.

There is a passage in the Poppleton Chronicle (Skene, 1867), a post-AD780 kinglist translated into 10th century Gaelic from materials contemporary with the 9th.  It demonstrates the self-righteous attitude of an already victorious race for a ‘people expelled for its sins from its promised land’:

 

pre-Christian pagan symbolism on the Pictish carved stone in Inverurie kirkyard

God deemed (Picts) deserving of being deprived of their inheritance 

‘by reason of their wickedness,

because they not only spurned the mass

and commandment of the Lord,

but in right of justice

would not be put on a level with others’.

From within the security of an accepted (Columban) faith, this message proclaims a holy right to Gaelicize Pictland, and to subdue a previously superior and independent people.

I forgot last week’s recap, in part because it was a fairly dull, somewhat disappointing week. I hate to say it, but Week 3 was technically only 5 days of meaningful exercise. I had to take one day off to deal with my horrific allergies (I probably sneezed more than 300 times in one day…and that’s no hyperbole) and another to help Erinn move into her apartment. That moving day kinda sorta counts as a workout, I think, not in the least because I did a fair amount of heavy lifting (both loading and unloading the truck) and running stuff up and down the three sets of stairs to Erinn’s second-floor apartment. I sweated through a shirt in the process, so I might just chalk that one up to being a 75% workout.

Aside from that, though, I’m still chugging along. During Week 4, I spent a lot more time in the actual SERF. In these waning weeks of summer, it’s been getting progressively emptier and emptier, to the point that during my Friday workout I was the only one on the basketball courts and only one of two people in the fitness room. (That’s all changing as I write this, though, since all the [expletive] students are returning to their drunken mating grounds this very week.) I thought it best to take full advantage of the space while I had it. And I think I did. Last week was all in-building workouts, most of which lasted in excess of one and a half hours.

I’ve cut back on playing soccer over at Reynold’s Park, too. Now that I’m in considerably better shape than Week 1, I’ve found I don’t get quite the workout I want by just juggling a soccer ball and doing some random fitness exercises (push-ups, sit-ups, et. al.). And it’s started getting a bit dull. And I’ve had a number of unpleasant experiences while doing so. Week 3 was capped off by a trip to the soccer fields that included a pair of overweight middle-schoolers taunting me. Two girls walked by the fields and told me to “Do a rainbow kick.” I can, in fact, do a rainbow kick, but I do not indulge the whims of bitchy teenagers. When I did not oblige these two young women, in spite of their charms, they walked around the building and crouched behind the adjoining tennis courts, where they proceeded to mannishly yell “You suck” at me while I was juggling. I didn’t respond, and they stepped it up to yelling “You suck dick.” I had the passing thought of walking over to them and just reaming them out, but I held back and went all Gandhi on them, continuing to juggle my soccer ball whilst not even batting an eye. And they eventually shut their traps. (Lord, what a reminder that I need to send my future kids to boarding school from ages 11 to 17.) I was happy with my solution, but in a perfect world they would have both been struck in their respective heads by large chunks of decommissioned satellites falling from the sky. Where’s divine/scientific intervention when you need it?

This coming on the heels of the previous week’s run-in with the Soccer Dudes, I’m not especially keen on heading back to that field by myself. And I’ve been really content with the progress I’m making both in my jump-shot (hooray, basketball!) and my circuit training (hooray, not getting winded walking to campus at a brisk pace!) back at the SERF. I’ve finally hit a point where I feel like I have decent muscle tone, and now I’m beginning to ramp up the amount of weight I’m throwing around on the Fitness Room’s awkward weight machines. Moreover, my SERF-related depression is pretty much gone — I’ve made my peace with the industrial architecture and the over-taxed workout rooms and the preening meatheads — and, nine times out of ten, I leave the building feeling way, way better than when I walked in.

But the countdown is on. Five more days and I’m done (with this phase, at least). I’m already beginning to plan what my semester workout schedule might look like — perhaps with even a cardio class in the mix? — and, more importantly, what Wii games we’ll buy. Unfortunately, as far as the reward goes, I’ve made myself a corollary rule: no Wii until my incomplete is done. (I’m hoping to buckle down and knock this thing off something in the next week, but it just keeps spiraling outwards.) I’m something of a gym acolyte now, I do believe, and I hope that belief will stick with me as the madness that is this year gets underway. Vamos a ver, I guess…

Monday, July 27th –> Sunday, August 2nd

I’ve managed to work out six of the last seven days, which, outside of playing year-round sports way back in high school, is some kind of personal record. By and large, I have no great love for indoor workouts — I like my fresh air and wide open spaces more than the cramped, sweat-soaked muscle dungeons in the SERF — but I think I’m coming around at least a little bit. I can attribute part of that, at least, to finally coming up with a workout regimen that I enjoy. What might that be, you ask?

Each trip has been a little more than an hour and follows the same general pattern. I warm up by shooting hoops for about 20 minutes, an activity which gets all of my muscles working and kicks up my heartbeat. I’ve been following that up with a trip down to the fitness room in the basement. It’s a heck of a lot nicer than the testosterone-laden weight room just up the corridor — it has hardwood floors, windows to the outside world, and a full range of weight machines and cardio equipment — and it is typically far less crowded than most other parts of the SERF. I stretch a little, do a couple sets of sit-ups and push-ups, and then lift for another 20 minutes or so. Lately, I’ve been focusing on my legs, with the hopes of getting my gimpy, ACL-damaged leg knee back to some modicum of normalcy.

From there, I finish out my workout with 20 minutes of cardio, all of which has to be zero-impact (i.e. no running on a treadmill or track) on account of me not having any cartilage left in the aforementioned gimpy knee. Luckily, that still leaves me with a range of options. Day 1 was the stationary bike, Day 2 was the rowing machine, and Day 4 was the elliptical. I love the punishing, whole-body workout that the rowing machine affords, but I always find it tough to muster the willpower to get on that machine after doing a lot of arm-, back-, and shoulder-work on the weight machines. Similarly, the elliptical, with its variable speeds and tensions and whatnot, tends to get a pretty good burn going. But I tend to default to the bike, both because it is most frequently the free machine and because I like being to read while I do my cardio on it. I think I need to break myself of that habit, as its not the best workout. Eh. We’ll see.

But so far, so good. I’m feeling better each day, and I’ve found myself pleasantly tired heading to bed at night. I’m a little bit rough around the edges — namely, I already have some pain-in-the-ass shin splints, but those are owing more to the 30 minute walk to and from the gym rather than the workouts themselves — and so I’m trying to keep myself healthy by not pushing too hard to start. As you can probably tell, these workouts have been pretty light. That won’t stay the case. I plan on adding about 10 minutes per session (and increasing the general difficulty of the stuff I’m doing) every week, meaning that the final week of workouts will be almost twice as long (and twice as difficult) as the first week. I’ve also come to the realization that I can’t do six straight days in the gym — that is, I think I’ll try to have at least one outdoor session a week. I broke up this week by spending Wednesday outdoors, kicking around a soccer ball in the public field just around the corner from our apartment. And that seemed to help, so that’ll probably stay.

Right now, I’m looking towards how I might expand my workout. I’ve been poking around the Interweb, looking for some solid 1-hour workouts. Here’s some of the highlights:

Men’s Health, “Your Best Body in One Hour”
Most interesting tidbit: “You’re no doubt familiar with interval training, in which you run hard, rest, and then repeat. That burns fat, for sure. But here’s another option. Perform squats, chinups, or pushups for 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat, alternating for 4 minutes. This technique boosts your metabolism and your strength. What’s more, Japanese researchers found that it provides the same cardiovascular benefits as a 30-minute bike ride.”

Associated Content, “The One Hour Weight Loss and Strength Training Workout”
Most interesting tidbit: (Echoing the previous link) “12 minutes of all-out cycling sprints = 10.5 hours of moderate cycling…sprinting increases the body’s production of citrate synthase, an enzyme that helps muscles use oxygen. Furthermore, a varied pace, like you’d get in a spin class, burns more calories than a steady pace.”

Daily Burn, “1 Hour Workout”
Most interesting tidbit: No spectacular revelations, but there are helpful videos at the bottom of the screen for exercise-challenged people like me.

Well, here goes Week 2…

Crowdsourcing

“Le crowdsourcing est un néologisme conçu en 2006 par Jeff Howe et Mark Robinson, rédacteurs à Wired magazine. Calqué sur l’outsourcing, qui consiste à faire réaliser en sous-traitance, donc externaliser des tâches qui ne sont pas du métier fondamental de l’entreprise, le crowdsourcing consiste à utiliser la créativité, l’intelligence et le savoir-faire d’un grand nombre d’internautes, et ce, au moindre coût. La traduction littérale de crowdsourcing est « approvisionnement par la foule », mais ne reflète pas le véritable contenu du vocable.”

Un article de Wikipédia, l’encyclopédie libre.

Il est probable que le crowdsourcing sera le nouveau système économique des années à venir.

Notre société occidentale est en train de régresser au niveau du troc, de l’échange, avec le renouveau de l’économie souterraine, des trafics en tout genre, la création de nouveaux réseaux de convergence et d’initiative.

Ce qui entraine, soit dit en passant, de nouveaux systèmes de pensées, basés à la fois sur un individualisme primaire au mieux axé sur les liens familiaux, au pire sur un individualisme forcené ou tous les coups peuvent être permis.

Si une parade rapide par la mise en commun des possibilités offertes dans ce genre de réseaux, ou un système gagnant – gagnant n’est pas trouvé, gageons que de nouveaux groupes émergeront de ce nouveau chaos, ou les oligarchies règneront en maîtres et ou quelques privilégiés (mais n’est ce pas déjà le cas?) règneront par la terreur, et la distribution de maigres miettes résultant de vols, pillages, mises au pas et rançonnage de diverses sources et ressources, pillant pour le bien collectif, mais s’en mettant la par du lion de côté.

Une nouvelle race de seigneurs est à naitre, si l’ETAT n’y met pas bon ordre.

Et ce n’est pas en évitant le contact avec le peuple, ou en le prenant pour valetaille ou bas peuple que l’on arrivera à y mettre bon ordre.

Il est urgent de comprendre et d’analyser l’abstention à ces élections européennes, en comprendre les raisons, et rectifier le tir, rapidement.

Assez de miroirs aux alouettes, ou de rsa tape à l’œil.

Text and video by Mike Parker

On last week’s show, local musician Clinton Charlton came into the studio for a chat with host Mark Leger.

Charlton, 36, is the former front man for the roots-based band Carousels. But he has released his first full length solo CD entitled Parade and is holding a release party Thursday May 28 at the Blue Olive on Rothesay Avenue. Joining Clinton will be the  alt-country queens The Reckless Sweethearts. The fun starts at 8pm and tickets are $7 at the door and $5 in advance.

You can watch a clip from the interview and listen to Charlton perform here. The full interview can be heard in our podcast section here, where the two discuss Clinton’s musical influences, the challenges of being a performing singer-songwriter and his rapidly growing obsession with collecting guitars (he has 17 in various stages and different vintages).

Be sure to listen to Serf City every Thursday evening from 6:30 to 7:00 pm on CFMH 107.3 FM, where you can listen to interviews with the city’s musicians, artists, politicians and other rebels with a cause.

Obama King Abdullah’s Serf

Is socialist Barack Hussein Obama the President of the USA or a serf of King Abdullah’s? Since when did an American President act as if they were a serf to a Saudi? Was this taught in the Muslim schools Obama attended? more

Diane, pointed me in the direction of  wikimapia and I have added a couple of items,  so that people know the Alex triangle.  I will be one of a few places this next quarter:

> SERF:  Center of Astrophysics  and Space Sciences (CASS) dept on campus.  Find me here doing research or more probably teaching some students about the universe.

> Mayer Hall Addition:  While Mayer hall is nearly done,  physics has not moved in yet, so that the main grad student classroom will be somewhere here in the addition.  Find me learning here.

> Miramar Apts: This is the eastern edge of my living radius.  Find me here sleeping, and possibly running in circles.

> BioMedical Library:  I study here,  It is nice except when finals roll around, with all of those “smelly” undergrads, who take up all the seats and are loud.

I might actually have to leave the triangle on a daily basis, they have moved some of the classrooms around, so that either for the class that I am teaching / the for my classes, I might be moving around.  but who knows…

I still want to get a gps locator data logger, so that I can trace my location over time for a couple of years.