« Une arme pour bléssés grave!»






dimanche 26 décembre 2010

Stiff Little Fingers - Suspect Device








Inflammable material is planted in my head
It's a suspect device that's left 2000 dead
Their solutions are our problems
They put up the wall
On each side time and prime us
And make sure we get fuck all
They play their games of power
They mark and cut the pack
They deal us to the bottom
But what do they put back?

[Chorus:]
Don't believe them
Don't believe them
Don't be bitten twice
You gotta suss, suss, suss, suss, suss out
Suss suspect device

They take away our freedom
In the name of liberty
Why don't they all just clear off
Why won't they let us be
They make us feel indebted
For saving us from hell
And then they put us through it
It's time the bastards fell

[Chorus]

Don't believe them
Don't believe them
Question everything you're told
Just take a look around you
At the bitterness and spite
Why can't we take over and try to put it right

[Chorus]

We're a suspect device if we do what we're told
But a suspect device can score an own goal
I'm a suspect device the Army can't defuse
You're a suspect device they know they can't refuse
We're gonna blow up in their face

samedi 25 décembre 2010

Why We're All Romans, Carl J. Richard







In our intellectual lives we are Greeks, in our spiritual lives Hebrews. Or so the claim is made when speaking of the Western tradition owed to the Ancients. Carl J. Richard agrees with these assessments, but adds that it was the Roman Empire which filtered and facilitated both the Greek and Hebrew legacies to the nations of the West. Along the way Rome managed to add its own native embellishments to the tapestry of history. Richard provides a decent enough overview of The Eternal City's contributions to posterity.

Carl J. Richard is professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt. He has written numerous books on the impact of Greco-Roman civilization on history, particularly on American history. His prior research and conclusions appear frequently in this work; and much is made of how the Greco-Roman literati influenced the American Founding Fathers. This may not interest those outside the States (or even within). However, the classical legacy's impact on figures throughout European history is also showcased and thus provides a broader view. The author is also a confessed Christian. While I don't think any strong bias shows through on his chapters on religion, he treats Christianity and its triumph as a given rather than an historical aberration, which may annoy those with more atheistic tendencies or pagan sympathies.

Chapter one offers an outline of Roman history and culture, which is highly serviceable and competent with one exception: it largely ignores the later empire. This is strange given the Christianization of the later empire, and the part it plays in Richard's last chapter on the Romanization of Christianity.

The study of the Roman legacy begins with chapter 2, which focuses on law and administration. It was in this capacity that the practical, precise and prudent Romans were able to truly bequeath something new to the world. Conquerors like Alexander had captured large holdings of territory without much thought as to how to rule it after the battle was over. The Romans, by contrast, exercised a facility in legal and political matters that ensured their Mediterranean empire would lay intact for centuries. Roman law is still the basis of many Western legal codes. Chapter 3 focuses on engineering and architecture, and there too the Romans, while working off a Greco-Etruscan base, managed to innovate through the use of the arch and concrete.

Chapters 4 through 8 examine Roman accomplishments in letters and writing. In the area of philosophy, Romans managed to distill Greek philosophy from its abstract metaphysical heights into a practical concern for law and ethics. With poetry, history, speeches and plays, the Romans breathed fresh air into old Hellenistic forms, managing to equal or exceed the originals in many cases. In fact, given that many of the Hellenistic originals were ultimately lost, sometimes we know a Greek genre only through its Roman imitations.

Chapter 9 examines Greek and Jewish contributions to Rome during the Roman age. Much of "Roman" art was actually produced by agents of Greek-speaking lands. Furthermore, with the Romans dominating the practical sciences, it was left to Greeks like Galen and Ptolemy to make discoveries in the purely natural sciences. Meanwhile, Josephus the historian is our main source on Jews during this time period.

The last chapter details the interplay between Christianity and Rome: as Rome became more Christian so too did Christianity become more Roman. It was a Jewish Roman citizen, Saul of Tarsus, who rescued Christianity from a marginal and heretical Jewish sect; by severing Christianity from Jewish law and making it a matter of personal salvation, Christianity was easily marketed to Gentiles (especially to women and the urban poor who had the most to gain and the least to lose from a Messianic new religion). As the Church grew in converts it assimilated rather than destroyed many elements of paganism.

Why We're All Romans is a decent enough read on the classical intellectual legacy. Chapters usually begin by highlighting Greek precursors, then moving on to the Roman contributions, and concluding with its impact on European and American civilization. The prose is engaging enough, and a few obligatory maps and photographs are included. Not included, which I find a major detraction and quite an astonishing omission in a scholarly work, are citations. There are no footnotes or endnotes of primary references used, and so one cannot check the author's purported facts. Therefore this book honestly doesn't belong in a university where further research and academic veracity are required; however, it might be effective in a public library for the general audience.



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0742567788/ref=nosim/unrvromanempi-20

dimanche 19 décembre 2010

Les "Assises contre l'islamisation de l'Europe" se sont tenues ce samedi à Paris. Près de mille personnes ont assisté à la conférence. Mais qui sont-elles?


La rue de Charenton à Paris est inhabituellement animée. Ce samedi, une salle du XIIe arrondissement parisien accueille les controversées "Assises contre l'islamisation de l'Europe", organisées par le Bloc identitaire et Riposte laïque. Des CRS -déployés en nombre- bloquent les accès et fouillent les passants qui souhaitent s'engager dans la rue. Plus de mille personnes sont attendues.

Plusieurs voix se sont élevées contre la tenue de cette conférence, une provocation savamment calculée du groupe d'extrême droite, rompu à ces manoeuvres depuis les "apéros saucisson-pinard". Bertrand Delanoë, le maire de Paris, avait réclamé son interdiction, en vain. Ce samedi, deux cent personnes manifestaient en marge de l'événement pour protester contre les "assises du fascisme" (voir ci-dessous).

A l'entrée de l'Espace Charenton, blousons en cuir, crânes rasés, capuches noires et écharpes bleu-blanc-rouge font la queue. La salle a été décorée pour l'occasion: drapeaux français - parfois avec la croix de Lorraine - portrait d'une femme en burqa... "Ni charia, ni burqa, la France ne veut pas ça", annoncent les affiches placardées sur les murs.

Certains prennent place et attendent les intervenants prévus au programme, parmi lesquels le célèbre Oskar Freysinger, le député suisse qui a proposé le référendum sur les minarets. Lorsque le politicien helvétique entre, la salle est en ébullition. Standing ovation. L'homme porte un gilet pare-balles et est suivi de près par des gardes du corps. Ambiance...

Christophe, 20 ans, a fait le voyage depuis Metz. "Je me sens concerné et inquiet, explique-t-il. Les gens qui viennent en Europe doivent délaisser une partie de leur culture." Pour Michel, 50 ans, originaire de Châteauroux et soutien actif du Bloc identitaire, "les Français doivent se réveiller". Sarcastique, il lâche: "J'accepte autant de mosquées en France qu'il y a d'églises en Algérie!" Un argument rabâché par les militants d'extrême droite. Et largement biaisé, les chértiens représentant moins d'1% de la population algérienne...

Antoine et Angélique, respectivement 28 et 25 ans, sont venus de Bretagne avec leur fille. "C'est plus par curiosité", avancent-ils timidement, avant d'ajouter: "Nous sommes inquiets des dérives de l'Islam. On est en France alors si on se retrouve encore avec des guerres de religion!". Marie Thérèse, 69 ans, lâche le morceau: "Seule Marine Le Pen peut en finir avec ce problème."




L'express 18/12/2010.

http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/societe/des-assises-de-l-islamophobie-ordinaire_946462.html

dimanche 12 décembre 2010

Marine Lepen seule contre tous!

«Il y a quinze ans on a eu le voile, il y avait de plus en plus de voiles. Puis il y a eu la burqa, il y a eu de plus en plus de burqa. Et puis il y a eu des prières sur la voie publique (...) maintenant il y a dix ou quinze endroits où de manière régulière un certain nombre de personnes viennent pour accaparer les territoires», a dénoncé la vice-présidente du parti. «C'est une occupation de pans du territoire, des quartiers dans lesquels la loi religieuse s'applique, c'est une occupation. Certes y'a pas de blindés, y'a pas de soldats, mais c'est une occupation tout de même et elle pèse sur les habitants», a-t-elle poursuivi sous les applaudissements de ses partisans.






cdans l'air f5, 29/10/09

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