Saturday, February 28, 2009

JEAN COCTEAU A METZ

JEAN COCTEAU A METZ


En 1947, Jean Cocteau vient à Metz pour dédicacer un de ses ouvrages à la librairie Even. Solange Bertrand va à sa rencontre, lui offre un de ses dessins que le poète juge d’excellente facture. Puis ils se revoient… . De cette rencontre – et du respect que Bertrand a pour Cocteau - est née une amitié profonde. Jean Cocteau écrira même la préface de la première exposition de Solange Bertrand en 1951. En parallèle, Cocteau rencontre à Metz celui qu’il jugera comme étant l’homme de sa vie. Cette relation amène le poète a venir très régulièrement dans cette ville et à participer activement à sa vie culturelle. Outres les vitraux de Saint-Maximiin, Cocteau relève le Festival de Théâtre de Metz en créant des décors, des visuels et des costumes. L’exposition que la Fondation Solange Bertrand veut mettre en place est une transcription des activités de Cocteau à Metz. Par la présentation de décors, d’affiches, de maquettes, etc… la Fondation veut montrer l’influence de Cocteau ainsi que la marque et l’étude du maître pour arriver à un tel travail. L’exposition sera accompagnée de mises en scènes réalisées par des troupes de théâtre provenant de l’ensemble de la Lorraine. Un partenariat est en cour de réalisation avec le Théâtre de Metz et les cinémas de l’agglomération messine afin de projeter des programmations autour de Jean Cocteau.
Follow the link for some pictures of the stained glass windows Cocteau created for Metz and which are included in the exhibition quote above.

Friday, February 27, 2009

May Justice FINALLY Prevail!

This is GOOD news and indicates that the US, under President Obama, is returning to principles of justice and international law, trying in court those who are accused of wrong-doing.

U.S. Will Give Qaeda Suspect a Civilian Trial - NYTimes.com: "WASHINGTON — The Justice Department, in an abrupt change in policy from the Bush administration, is preparing to bring terrorism-related charges against a man identified as an operative of Al Qaeda who has been held in a military brig for more than five years, government officials said Thursday."

Nation Asks and I Answer

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Reading - Lecture - Zu lesen



Joy
Joie
Freude des Lesens
de la lecture
of reading

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Recommended Art: Peeping Back


ALAIN DECLERCQ HIDDEN
FEBRUARY 6 - MARCH 7, 2009

"For his solo exhibition at the gallery, Alain Declercq is showing Hidden Camera Obscura, a new series of photographs taken in New York last year. He crisscrossed Manhattan getting these images of some 70 sites where photography, precisely, is prohibited. These prisons, police stations, tunnels and bridges have had their security status raised since 9/11, so in order to take his forbidden pictures, Declercq built his own lo-tech pinhole camera by making a tiny aperture in a plastic box. He would then cut a piece of film, place it in the box, place this on the ground facing the location, and let the light in to print the negative.
The resulting photographs are often hazy, imprecisely framed, sometimes inadequately lit because of the fluctuating exposure times – everything draws attention to the crudeness of the homemade method. And yet with this very simple tool Declercq made a breach in the law, methodically stealing that which
is supposed to be hidden from the public gaze, yet exists at the heart of public space."

www.loevenbruck.com/declercq
Galerie Loevenbruck
40 rue de Seine, 2 rue de l’Echaudé 75006 Paris, France
In other words, peep right back at those peeping in on you!

No More Snow, Only Grit

So, no sledding in the woods near Detlef's mom's on Sunday, because some people were so busy wishing for an end of the snow that it started drizzling right after the Saturday picture and then rained and left nothing but grit and dirt and milder above freezing temperatures by Sunday. So now it's gray and crunchy under your feet and in the skies over Berlin.
But
there was a glimpse of sunlight this afternoon on the way home from torturing my poor students,
so
I'm hoping that there will, by next week, either be the first wild flowers in the parks
or
a hard freeze and return to snow and sunshine.
Either way I'll be happy.

By the way, Argentina has one neonazi fewer in the country since Maledictus' de-excommunicated bishop who'd been holed up there as a professor of theology (!) has left (actually they kicked him out). Yet he has evidently still not yet had time enough to consider the evidence for the Shoah: his retraction of his denial of it having taken place has yet to part his diabolical lips.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

A Week of Snow !

Almost all day every day this week it's been snowing here in Berlin, though it has melted off some in the afternoons, drizzled a little yesterday, but now it's powdering us again and we're going to get Detlef's old sled out of the storage room when we visit his mom for lunch tomorrow and go sledding on the hills in the forest at Müggelsee !

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Over for Twenty Years !

Yes, we are also nearing the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Berlin and the end of the GDR. It's national anthem, which you can hear in the video below, never suited the reality it provided, as you can also see in this video.

It's easy to remember why it was good that this failed adventure untrue to its own ideals came to an end !

It's Official: Bad Bank for Blogs

Yes, while bad banks for bad loans, bad investments, bad financial planning, bad bankers, and bad banking are still being planned, (mis)funded, and (dis)organized,
the first BAD BLOG is up and running. This German blog is designed for only BAD blog postings, things no one in their right mind would pay for or sign,
and it is enjoying a huge success, under this link:
BadBlog, die Müllhalde der Blog Community,
which roughly translates as the garbage dump of the blog community.
Have fun!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

One Down - How Many Left to Go?

As Maledictus continues his evil empire of fundamentalism, at least one fundamentalist bowed to public and "collegial" pressure and resigned from the position of Auxiliary Bishop of Linz, Austria, to which the papal reactionary had only just recently appointed him. Mr. Wagner, famed for saying Katrina was a godly punishment on New Orleans and that gays should be forcibly "cured" quit on his own; the Vatican, which had done nothing against him and his remarks, "accepted the resignation".
One fundamentalist down, unfortunately many more to go!

Amid Scandals, Questions of Where the Pope’s Focus Lies - NYTimes.com:

"On Sunday, a priest known for such provocative statements as blaming the sins of New Orleanians for Hurricane Katrina asked the pope to rescind his appointment as an auxiliary bishop in Austria.
[...]
In Vienna on Monday, 10 Austrian bishops convened a crisis session to deal with the fallout. Erich Leitenberger, a spokesman for the Vienna Archdiocese, said church officials around the country had been inundated with letters, phone calls and e-mail messages, including from parishioners saying they were leaving the church.
[...]
“The larger problem is the inability of the church leadership to come to terms with the modern world,” Mr. Feichtlbauer said. “The problem is a long-term one, and in no way is it solved.”"

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Martin Heidegger : Cours et Conférences (1951-1957)

Link via Sollers-site to a recording of the famous interview from September 1966 with Augstein from Der Spiegel:
Martin Heidegger : Cours et Conférences
Annexe : Entretien au Spiegel (21’23)
Fribourg-Zähringen (23.09.1966)

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Enlightened Justice for Love

Thanks to Jenn for sharing this important message with me, which I'm now sharing with everyone who checks in here.

"Have you heard that Ken Starr -- and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund -- filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and attempting to forcibly divorce 18,000 same-sex couples that were married in California last year? The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in this case on March 5, with a decision expected within 90 days.
The Courage Campaign has created a video called "Fidelity," with the permission of musician Regina Spektor, that puts a face to those 18,000 couples and all loving, committed couples seeking full equality under the law.Please watch this heartbreaking video now. If you have the same reaction that I did, please help me spread the word by sharing it with your friends and family ASAP:
http://www.couragecampaign.org/Divorce
The more people who see this video, the more people will understand the pain caused
by Prop 8 and Ken Starr's shameful legal proceeding. After you watch the video, please join me and over 200,000 people who have signed a letter to the state Supreme Court, asking them to invalidate Prop 8 and reject Starr's case. Thanks."

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Raise the Roof and Turn the Lights Back On

This is only a beginning...

...the reality of surrealism.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Cure the Ones Who Are SICK !

Maledictus has not only recommunicated reactionary fundamentalists who deny the Shoah, but also appointed as Bishop in Austria a lunatic who claims the hurricane that destroyed New Orleans was god's punishment on that sinful city and Harry Potter is an exercise in satanism. The same man now claims homosexuality is a disease and that it can be treated and healed.
I AM NOT ILL, will accept no treatment, need not be healed, because I am extremely HEALTHY! But Bishop Wagner of Linz, appointed AGAINST the counsel of Austria's bishops by Maledictus XVI, is DANGEROUSLY ILL and the cure can only be found in determined efforts against all forms of fundamentalism.

Another diseased mind can be found in the Pius Fraternity, Mr. Williamson, an archreactionary Lefebvre bishop recommunicated by Maledictus. Despite the Vatican (not the papa personally) demanding him to retract his statements denying the Shoah, this fundamentalist has announced he has no intention of doing so until he finds proof of the Holocaust. This man is reactionary beyond imagination and is hiding under the cloak of Maledictus' reintroduction of the Latin mass and purported efforts for church unity. The evidence seems to speak for efforts to turn the church in Rome into one of the most fundamentalist organizations of the world, i.e. a band of terrorists against democracy, human rights, justice and freedom.

Holocaust Denier's Vow
"A bishop who faces a Vatican demand to recant his denial of the Holocaust said he would correct himself if he is satisfied by the evidence but insisted that examining it "will take time," the German magazine Der Spiegel reported.
Richard Williamson is one of four bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X whose excommunication was lifted by the Vatican last month. The decision sparked outrage because Williamson had said in a television interview he did not believe any Jews were gassed during the Holocaust."
More on the illness of the recommunicated fundamentalists:
"Insensible aux critiques, hermétique aux appels demandant qu'il se rétracte, l'évêque intégriste Richard Williamson ne veut rien entendre. Dans sa première intervention depuis la polémique née de ses propos négationnaistes, Williamson explique qu'il va se pencher sur les "preuves" historiques de l'existence des chambres à gaz avant d'envisager une "rectification"."
Holocaust-Leugner Williamson lehnt Widerruf vorerst ab [Der Spiegel]
Der Papst hat ihn zum Widerruf aufgefordert, doch dazu ist er derzeit nicht bereit: Holocaust-Leugner Richard Williamson sagt dem SPIEGEL, er wolle zunächst die historischen Beweise prüfen - "das wird Zeit brauchen".
Hamburg/Berlin - Er hat die katholische Kirche in eine tiefe Krise gestürzt - und wird zu deren Lösung vorerst nicht beitragen. Der umstrittene Bischof der
Piusbruderschaft, Richard Williamson, will seine Thesen zum Holocaust vorerst nicht widerrufen. Er werde zunächst die historischen Beweise prüfen, sagte der Katholik dem SPIEGEL: "Und wenn ich diese Beweise finde, dann werde ich mich korrigieren. Aber das wird Zeit brauchen."
And the people in such an organization claim to have a right to decide whether you and I are "ill" or not, are allowed to partner or not, to protect ourselves from STD or not, to decide about when and how many children to have, about what is "moral" or not; yet these are people of the most immoral sort, trampling on the rights of others and unconcerned about anything but their so precious dogma.
NO TO FUNDAMENTALISM EVERYWHERE !
WE ARE NOT DISEASED; THEY ARE !

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Adequate Descriptors

elegance

vivacity

rigor

gaiety

insolence

pleasure
*
TIME TRAVELLERS !
[Figure from the Art Institute of Chicago]
*In hommage to PhS: Les Voyaguers du Temps

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Maledictus Too Reactionary for Conservatives?

Germany: Pope Is Asked for Holocaust Clarification
NYTimes, By RACHEL DONADIO, February 4, 2009

In a rare case of a head of state openly criticizing the pope, Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday to make a “very clear” rejection of Holocaust denial. Benedict recently revoked the excommunication of four bishops, including Richard Williamson, who had said there were no Nazi gas chambers. Responding to outrage, the pope, who is German, expressed his “full and indisputable solidarity” with Jews and warned against Holocaust denial. “I do not believe that sufficient clarification has been made,” Mrs. Merkel said. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope’s repeated condemnation of Holocaust denial “could not be more clear.”
A version of this article appeared in print on February 4, 2009, on page A8 of the New York
edition.
And just think how obedient Bishop Williamson is being to his Holy Father by denying the Holocaust as Bishop in Maledictus' own church! Others had to go to Rome on their knees, Luther was demanded to recant, Galilleo to deny his astronomical findings, etc., etc. But this man can just go right on with his dirty claims recanting nothing. (And this is not the only or the first malfeisance of Maledictus. He just appointed a fundamentalist bishop in Austria and he has allowed the Latin mass again himself.) Now other bishops are openly questioning his authority.

Auf Grundlage der mir ausdrücklich vom Heiligen Vater Benedikt XVI. übertragenen Vollmacht hebe ich kraft dieses Dekrets für die Bischöfe Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson und Alfonso de Galarreta die Strafe der Exkommunikation latae sententiae auf, die von dieser Kongregation mit Datum vom 1. Juli 1988 erklärt worden war. Ich erkläre das damals erlassene Dekret ab dem heutigen Datum für juristisch wirkungslos.
Rom, am Sitz der Kongregation für die Bischöfe, 21. Januar 2009
Kard. Giovanni Battista RePräfekt der Kongregation für die Bischöfe

My modest proposal: In a final act to end his pontificate, this pope should excommunicate himself !

Just now, fresh reports have appeared online that the Vatican is demanding Williamson to retract his statements before he will be allowed to exercise the office of Bishop. The following is the original Italian statement just released:

A seguito delle reazioni suscitate dal recente Decreto della Congregazione per i Vescovi, con cui si rimette la scomunica ai quattro Presuli della Fraternità San Pio X, e in relazione alle dichiarazioni negazioniste o riduzioniste della Shoah da parte del Vescovo Williamson della medesima Fraternità, si ritiene opportuno chiarire alcuni aspetti della vicenda.
1. Remissione della scomunica.
Come già pubblicato in precedenza, il Decreto della Congregazione per i Vescovi, datato 21 gennaio 2009, è stato un atto con cui il Santo Padre veniva benignamente incontro a reiterate richieste da parte del Superiore Generale della Fraternità San Pio X.
Sua Santità ha voluto togliere un impedimento che pregiudicava l’apertura di una porta al dialogo. Egli ora si attende che uguale disponibilità venga espressa dai quattro Vescovi in totale adesione alla
dottrina e alla disciplina della Chiesa.
La gravissima pena della scomunica latae sententiae, in cui detti Vescovi erano incorsi il 30 giugno 1988, dichiarata poi formalmente il 1° luglio dello stesso anno, era una conseguenza della loro ordinazione illegittima da parte di Mons. Marcel Lefebvre.
Lo scioglimento dalla scomunica ha liberato i quattro Vescovi da una pena canonica gravissima, ma non ha cambiato la situazione giuridica della Fraternità San Pio X, che, al momento attuale, non gode di alcun riconoscimento canonico nella Chiesa Cattolica. Anche i quattro Vescovi, benché sciolti dalla scomunica, non hanno una funzione canonica nella Chiesa e non esercitano lecitamente un ministero in essa.
2. Tradizione, dottrina e Concilio Vaticano II.
Per un futuro riconoscimento della Fraternità San Pio X è condizione indispensabile il pieno riconoscimento del Concilio Vaticano II e del Magistero dei Papi Giovanni XXIII, Paolo VI, Giovanni Paolo I, Giovanni Paolo II e dello stesso Benedetto XVI.
Come è già stato affermato nel Decreto del 21 gennaio 2009, la Santa Sede non mancherà, nei modi giudicati opportuni, di approfondire con gli interessati le questioni ancora aperte, così da poter giungere ad una piena e soddisfacente soluzione dei problemi che hanno dato origine a questa dolorosa frattura.
3. Dichiarazioni sulla Shoah.
Le posizioni di Mons. Williamson sulla Shoah sono assolutamente inaccettabili e fermamente rifiutate dal Santo Padre, come Egli stesso ha rimarcato il 28 gennaio scorso quando, riferendosi a quell’efferato genocidio, ha ribadito la Sua piena e indiscutibile solidarietà con i nostri Fratelli destinatari della Prima Alleanza, e ha affermato che la memoria di quel terribile genocidio deve indurre "l’umanità a riflettere sulla imprevedibile potenza del male quando conquista il cuore dell’uomo", aggiungendo che la Shoah resta "per tutti monito contro l’oblio, contro la negazione o il riduzionismo, perché la violenza fatta contro un solo essere umano è violenza contro tutti".
Il Vescovo Williamson, per una ammissione a funzioni episcopali nella Chiesa dovrà anche prendere in modo assolutamente inequivocabile e pubblico le distanze dalle sue posizioni riguardanti la Shoah, non conosciute dal Santo Padre nel momento della remissione della scomunica.
Il Santo Padre chiede l’accompagnamento della preghiera di tutti i fedeli, affinché il Signore illumini il cammino della Chiesa. Cresca l’impegno dei Pastori e di tutti i fedeli a sostegno della delicata e gravosa missione del Successore dell’Apostolo Pietro quale "custode dell’unità" nella Chiesa.
Dal Vaticano, 4 febbraio 2009 [00216-01.01] [Testo originale: Italiano] [B0087-XX.01]

  • The section in Italics is, though not by the Pope personally, at least a clear call for retraction of statements by Williamson. Earlier in the text, it is pointed out that the ex-excommunicated bishops have no church office or right to perform liturgical functions, and here, roughly translated concludes:
    Bishop Williamson, for admission to bishoprical functions in the Church, must also absolutely, unequivocally, and publicly distance himself from the positions he has taken regarding the Shoah and which were unknown to the Holy Father when he rescinded his excommunication.
  • Better would have been a statement by Maledictus himself, but we can hope this will produce results and be followed up and enforced should this revisionist not quickly recant!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Koko Had Guests for Coffee and Supper and Playtime

Lea, Malte, and their parents, Steffi & Heiko, paid Koko a visit, and their grandparents Bernhard & Roswitha also came along (not in the pictures). Lea made us Blitzkuchen and for supper we had a nice thick veggie soup, bread, and cold cuts.
Koko rode around on Lea's shoulder and let her feed him peanuts, sunflower seeds, apple, and lettuce leaves; at one point after letting Lea know he didn't want to come, he gave Steffi a harsher beak warning. Malte spent most of the time watching him and repeatedly telling us all that Koko is a Papagei (parrot in German).
(And the cake Lea baked us, with her mom's help, was really yummy.)