mardi 21 septembre 2010

Particules of light in the night


http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/auroramax/default.asp


Science is beautiful...
and since yesterday night, watchers of the sky can open their internet window to gaze to the magic of the northern lights, and observe their slow dancing

The Canadian Space Agency on Monday launched an online observatory streaming the aurora borealis live over the Internet.

"Armchair skywatchers everywhere can now discover the wonder of the northern lights live on their home computer screen," Canadian Space Agency president Steve MacLean said in a statement to AFP."We hope that watching the dance of the northern lights will make you curious about the science of the sky and the relationship we have with our own star, the sun."
On their site you can see Auroras live, like a web cam on the sky, you can inform yourself thanks to a discovery chapter. Learn that "Auroras occur, when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in a ribbon of lights dancing across the night sky." You can explore the sky, see images. And this for all sort of ages.

"Science is beautiful", as they say. In the warmth of ones bed, at a kitchen table with ones laptop, among residues of breakfast, to feel like under some northern sky, in winter, watching particules of light dancing ... Magic.
Magic exists.
In the sky. Even if nowhere else on this planet full of technology, turning everything to dust, at least, in the sky, dust becomes particules of light. Dancing.

mardi 7 septembre 2010

Act of Burning Books

Gustave Doré, illustrating the Bible, Eustache illustrating the same event in Ephesus, NY's way to deal with "Vice", Berlin's way to deal with "improper" ways (jewish or other) to think. One could add the Spanish Inquisition and the Qurans burning, but very quickly, people were burned too, so...

From Paul and Ephesus in the Book of Acts … and Act of Burning Books, to some Pastor of Florida, the practice of burning books, which are considered « evil » is sadly common. Burning books, burning Holy Qurans during Inquisition, then burning witches, and then Jews after having taken first, golden teeth, that may help to continue the mission as like old mayan’s gold helped the genocides .… all this, is a story of slapping cheeks. And a story of arrogance, believing that some should deserve a white check to hurt, again and again ...

Should Holy Books be burned ?

Should books be burned ?


As Heinrich Heine wrote :
Where they burn books, at the end they also burn people.

Almansor :

We heard that the frightening Ximenes
In middle of the Market, on the way to Granada –
Put the Koran in the flammes !

Hassan :

It was only the beginning, where they burn Books,
At the end they also burn people.

(in Almansor : a Tragedy – Heinrich Heine - published in 1923)

Heinrich Heine’s books were burnt by Goering and Nazis, too…


About Gustave Doré, Eustache's illustrations of the Bible :

It's about Paul in Ephesus, and the The Sons of Sceva (19:11-20)

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17 And this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.
18 Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.
19 And a number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily.


So when I hear about :
Pastor weighing plans to burn Qurans amid U.S. warnings

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/07/florida.quran.burning/?hpt=Sbin#fbid=PhnQNVRSUes&wom=false

And when I hear about cheeks... it seems to me that there is a never-ending history of primitive christians burning pagans's books, jewish or muslim books ! And then, on the market, in front of Goya's horrified eyes and sorrow, tortured, burned, or in front of our eyes, covered with napalm or other unhuman bombs ! So when are people going to cut the crap and look at themselves ?


(...)CHETRY: What about turn thy cheek? I mean, this is- you know, Christianity at its most- you know, refined. It's that you just don't act out in violence. You don't act out in any manner of hate, that you turn thy cheek, that you don't rise to the nastiness or the level of payback that your perceived enemies do. I mean, isn't this the exact opposite of what Christ taught all of us to be and to do? /
JONES: I agree with you exactly. I think, most of the time, we as Christians are indeed called to turn the other cheek. I believe that, most of the time, talk and diplomacy is the correct way. But I also think that once in a while- I think you see that in the Bible- there are incidents where enough is enough and you stand up. Jesus went into the temple and he threw all of the money-changers out. He did not ask them to leave. He was not peaceful. He was at that time very, very upset. Even when this very close friend and disciple, Peter- even when he tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his will- from fulfilling the father's will, Jesus called him the devil. Jesus called the religious leaders of that time serpents and snakes. So I agree that, most of the time, diplomacy and turning the other cheek is the proper way, but sometimes not.
CHETRY: Are you- you don't care- I mean, yes or no- you don't really care if you're offending Muslims by burning the Koran, right? That doesn't bother you if they're offended?
JONES: We realize that we are definitely offending them, yes.
CHETRY: Okay. So I want to ask you this: does it bother you though-
JONES: But we actually think that Muslims should-CHETRY: I just want to ask you this: does it bother you that the military and the military leaders believe that by doing this, you are very likely putting the risk- the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk in Muslim countries? David Petraeus, the general- this is what he said: 'Their actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of young men and women who are serving in uniform over here, and also undermine the very mission that they're trying to accomplish.' Are you willing to have the blood of soldiers on your hands by this demonstration?
JONES: Yeah, we are actually very, very concerned, of course, and we are taking the general's words very serious. We are continuing to pray about the action on September 11th. We are indeed very concerned about it. It's just that we don't know- I mean, how long do we back down? When do we stop backing down?(..)

This old biblical tradition, this Pastor wants to practice proves, if it was needed, that fanatics interpreting their holy books should not have the right to express themselves outside of their holy places. And this principle is universaly respectfull

dort wo man Bücher ...

Alors, comme cela, ce soir, je lis que d'une tranchée, quelque part dans ce pays où les hommes sont en pièces, les femmes en lambeaux et les enfants d'une forme aléatoire, quelque part dans ce pays aux couleurs tendres de Sienne, de jaune de Venise, d'ocre et de terre cuite, un général s'inquiète pour ses troupes. Le général David Petraeus en Afghanistan, a dit que le fait de brûler les livres saints de l'Islam, pourraient causer "des problèmes significatifs" aux troupes outre-mer.

On le conçoit. Quoi que fondamentalement, le fait même de se trouver sur place, n'est pas trop bien vu. Alors je regarde un bout de CNN, je lis qu'une lectrice de téléprompteur a ainsi interviewé ce pasteur qui prouve que même dans un pays ne souffrant pas d'être de l'autre bord de la fracture numérique, informative, imagée, l'éducation laisse plus qu'à désirer.

De voir une chaîne de telle écoute poser des questions aussi hallucinantes que : mais nous, sieur, n'est-on pas, en super chrétiens, sssieur, des braves gens qui ne faisons pas ça, hein ssieur ? Même que les autres sont cons, hein, nous on est gentils, non ?

(je n'éxagère même pas, sans une bonne Efes, je pourrais même déprimer, tiens)

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/09/07/florida.quran.burning/?hpt=Sbin#fbid=PhnQNVRSUes&wom=false

(...)
CHETRY: What about turn thy cheek? I mean, this is- you know, Christianity at its most- you know, refined. It's that you just don't act out in violence. You don't act out in any manner of hate, that you turn thy cheek, that you don't rise to the nastiness or the level of payback that your perceived enemies do. I mean, isn't this the exact opposite of what Christ taught all of us to be and to do? /

erm sorry, seems to me that there is a never-ending history of primitive christians burning pagans's books, jewish or muslim books !

JONES: I agree with you exactly. I think, most of the time, we as Christians are indeed called to turn the other cheek. I believe that, most of the time, talk and diplomacy is the correct way. But I also think that once in a while- I think you see that in the Bible- there are incidents where enough is enough and you stand up. Jesus went into the temple and he threw all of the money-changers out. He did not ask them to leave. He was not peaceful. He was at that time very, very upset. Even when this very close friend and disciple, Peter- even when he tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his will- from fulfilling the father's will, Jesus called him the devil. Jesus called the religious leaders of that time serpents and snakes. So I agree that, most of the time, diplomacy and turning the other cheek is the proper way, but sometimes not.

CHETRY: Are you- you don't care- I mean, yes or no- you don't really care if you're offending Muslims by burning the Koran, right? That doesn't bother you if they're offended?

JONES: We realize that we are definitely offending them, yes.

CHETRY: Okay. So I want to ask you this: does it bother you though-

JONES: But we actually think that Muslims should-

CHETRY: I just want to ask you this: does it bother you that the military and the military leaders believe that by doing this, you are very likely putting the risk- the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk in Muslim countries? David Petraeus, the general- this is what he said: 'Their actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of young men and women who are serving in uniform over here, and also undermine the very mission that they're trying to accomplish.' Are you willing to have the blood of soldiers on your hands by this demonstration?

JONES: Yeah, we are actually very, very concerned, of course, and we are taking the general's words very serious. We are continuing to pray about the action on September 11th. We are indeed very concerned about it. It's just that we don't know- I mean, how long do we back down? When do we stop backing down?
(..)


Oui, parce qu'évidemment... d'abord, je pense, on ne peut pas, ne pas penser, à cette nuit d'enfer ...




10 mai 1933 ... Des livres représentant "l'esprit anti-allemand" seront brûlés par les Nazis, en présence de Joseph Goebbels, ministre pour l'Education populaire et la Propagande. 20 000 livres sont brûlés. Oeuvres d'auteurs allemands ou étrangers, juifs ou non. Parmi ces livres : Heinrich Heine.

Celui qui avait écrit : Là où l'on brûle les livres, on finit également par brûler les êtres humains"

"dort wo man Bücher verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen.”


Il avait écrit cela en 1821, par rapport à un évènement à Grenade, qui sous les ordres d'un Cardinal en pleine inquisition, consistera à brûler ... un Coran.

Dans ses lignes qui sont une ode à la tolérance, Almansor partage avec un autre musulman, Hassan, ses inquiétudes concernant l'occupation chrétienne ...

Almansor :
Nous avons entendu que le terrible Ximenes
Au milieu du marché, pour Grenade -
j'en ai les lèvres sèches - un Coran
dans le feu ont jeté !
Hassan :
C'était un simple exemple, là où l'on brûle les livres
on finit par brûler également les êtres humains

Source :
Almansor:
Wir hörten daß der furchtbare Ximenes,
Inmitten auf dem Markte, zu Granada –
Mir starrt die Zung im Munde – den Koran
In eines Scheiterhaufens Flamme warf!
Hassan:
Das war ein Vorspiel nur, dort wo man Bücher

Verbrennt, verbrennt man auch am Ende Menschen

Des livres paiens, brûlés par des chrétiens, débarquant de toute leur superbe à Ephèse... on s'en souvient, même sans gorgée d'Efes...

Actes (19, 8-20) - Saint Paul à Ephèse


Ac 19:16-
Et se jetant sur eux, l'homme possédé de l'esprit mauvais les maîtrisa les uns et les autres et les malmena si bien que c'est nus et couverts de blessures qu'ils s'échappèrent de cette maison.
Ac 19:17-
Tous les habitants d'Éphèse, Juifs et Grecs, surent la chose. La crainte alors s'empara de tous et le nom du Seigneur Jésus fut glorifié.
Ac 19:18-
Beaucoup de ceux qui étaient devenus croyants venaient faire leurs aveux et dévoiler leurs pratiques.
Ac 19:19-
Bon nombre de ceux qui s'étaient adonnés à la magie apportaient leurs livres et les brûlaient en présence de tous. On en estima la valeur : cela faisait cinquante mille pièces d'argent.
Ac 19:20-
Ainsi la parole du Seigneur croissait et s'affermissait puissamment.



La Prédication de saint Paul à Éphèse
Eustache LE SUEUR

Et après, quoi ?

Un mémorial ?




"Bibliothek" de Micha Ullman
dans la rue, à Berlin
en mémoire à 1933



Etrangement, il n'y a peut-être qu'en Allemagne, que ce souvenir donne encore l'impression de sentir le sol frémir sous ses pas, l'impression d'un grand vide, d'une vacuité terrible de l'esprit
de l'annihilation de l'autre.
L'autre que l'on tue, du bout des allumettes
d'abord
ou en communion
par delà les océans
Alors, comme ça, le général s'inquiète
Quel monde étrange ...où les hommes d'armes pensent à l'âme
quand les hommes de Dieu, sont des connards sauvages