text:
Q: FB App Invites with Xamarin I am looking at how to implement a Facebook invite dialog and noticed that Facebook now offers a new FB App Invite product.
Is there a way to use the new App Invite product with Xamarin iOS?
Thanks!

A: Here is the implemention of app invites

You need to create Native implementaion for appinvites

Just create one interface called IFacebookService
Define Method defination as shown in example
public interface IFacebookservice{
  InviteFriends (string appLinkURL, string previewImageURL);
}

and do that implementation on platform side as shown in below
IOS FacebookService.CS
public void InviteFriends (string appLinkURL, string previewImageURL)
{
            var fromController = UIApplication.SharedApplication.KeyWindow.RootViewController;
            var content = new AppInviteContent {
                AppLinkURL = new NSUrl (appLinkURL),
                PreviewImageURL = new NSUrl (previewImageURL)
            };
            AppInviteDialog.Show (fromController, content, null);
}

Android FacebookService.Cs
  public void InviteFriends(string appLinkURL, string previewImageURL)
    {
        if (AppInviteDialog.CanShow())
        {
            var activity = Xamarin.Forms.Forms.Context as Activity;
           var content =new AppInviteContent.Builder().SetApplinkUrl(appLinkURL).SetPreviewImageUrl(previewImageURL).Build() as AppInviteContent;
            AppInviteDialog.Show(activity, content);
        }
    }

Usage in Xamarin Forms
  var facebookservice=Dependency.Get<IFacebookservice>()
    button.click+=delegate{facebookservice.InviteFriends("appurl","previewimageurl")}

A: It's currently not supported by the Xamarin FB SDK. The invite feature is available from version 4.0, where the transformed version of FB SDK was done on version 3.6.
So you basically have two options:
1) Ask Xamarin dev team to update the FB sdk to version 4.0, you can check it here
2) Since it will probably won't be ready soon, you can take the FB iOS native sdk, and generate a xamarin library by yourself.
More details can be found in this  link
If you do decide to go on  option #2, it would be great if you would share your transformed sdk.

A: The answer from Jagadeesh is completely correct. Also consider implementing a result handler when returning from the Facebook multi-friend-selector. If at least one friend was invited, the Facebook API feedback will show it. For iOS the result can be 'canceled by the user' or completed

*

*{completionGesture = cancel; didComplete = 1;}

*{didComplete = 1;}

For Android nothing when 'canceled by the user', but if completed:

*

*Bundle[{didComplete=1}]

Android
        AppInviteDialog AppInv = new AppInviteDialog(activity);
        AppInv.RegisterCallback(callbackManager, invitecallback);
        AppInv.Show(content);
        var invitecallback = new FacebookCallback<AppInviteDialog.Result>()
        {
            HandleSuccess = Result =>
            {
                if ((string)Result.Data == "Bundle[{didComplete=1}]")
                {
                    textbox.Text = "Friend Invited";
                }
            },
            HandleCancel = () =>
            {
                textbox.Text = "Cancelled";
            },
            HandleError = Error =>
            {
                textbox.Text = "Error" + Error.Message;
            }
        };

iOS
    var dlgt = new MyAppInviteDialogDelegate();
    var dialog = AppInviteDialog.Show(fromController, content, dlgt);
    public class MyAppInviteDialogDelegate : AppInviteDialogDelegate
    {

        public override void DidComplete(AppInviteDialog appInviteDialog, NSDictionary results)
        {
            textbox.Text = "Friend Invited";
            if (results.Description.Contains("cancel"))
            {
                textbox.Text = "Cancelled";
            }
        }

        public override void DidFail(AppInviteDialog appInviteDialog, NSError error)
        {
            textbox.Text = "Error" + error.Description;
        }
    }


text:
The key to immune-based cancer therapies lies in the ability to exploit some weakness within the tumor and its environment or to elude cancer's offenses. Writing in the journal Scientific Reports, researchers led by a group from the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Center for Immunotherapy have shared new insights about a subset of T cells that appear to do both those things, inhibiting cancer growth at the same time that they enhance the tumor-killing powers of other immune cells.
The researchers identified a subset of CD4+ "helper" T cells that they call "tumor-recognizing CD4+ T cells" or TR-CD4 because of their unique ability to recognize and respond to cancer cells. These special CD4+ T cells are antigen-specific: they recognize the tumor antigen NY-ESO-1, which is expressed by many solid tumors, including ovarian, melanoma, prostate, lung, breast and synovial sarcoma cancers.
"While most studies today involving adoptive T-cell immunotherapy focus on CD8+ 'killer' T-cells, our team's findings highlight a significant role for CD4+ 'helper' T cells, which can also play a central role in promoting antitumor immune responses," says Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, Cancer Center Deputy Director, Executive Director of Roswell Park's Center for Immunotherapy and senior author on the new study.
In preclinical studies involving models of human ovarian cancer and melanoma, the TR-CD4 cells proved to be potent inhibitors of cancer growth, working both alone and in collaboration with CD8+ T cells. Conventional CD4+ T cells, meanwhile, showed no such effects.
The findings help explain the robust immune responses generated through vaccination with an NY-ESO-1 peptide in earlier preclinical studies, and add further evidence to suggest that adoptive T cell therapy targeting the NY-ESO-1 antigen may have strong and lasting efficacy.
"We also demonstrated that we can generate a large number of these special T cells, TR-CD4, from a patient's blood by gene engineering in a matter of days, and we expect that when we infuse these re-engineered cells back into the patient, they will recognize and attack tumors," says the paper's first author, Junko Matsuzaki, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology and Director of the Immune Analysis Facility within the Roswell Park Center for Immunotherapy.
"Our findings suggest that this approach -- gene-engineered TR-CD4 gene transduction in combination with CD8 adoptive T-cell therapy -- holds great promise as a cancer immunotherapy, one that may have benefit for patients with several types of cancer," adds Takemasa Tsuji, PhD, Assistant Professor of Oncology and co-corresponding author of the study.
The researchers are now designing a clinical research study to further develop and assess these concepts.
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Read more http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151015120316.htm

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We know Android has a malware problem, but just how bad is it? Between the beginning of 2012 and the end of 2013, security firm Lookout predicts 18.4 million Android users will be infected with malware.
The latest figure comes from the company's 2013 Mobile Threat Predictions report. The company says it uses its own "likelihood rate of infection" for October 2012 and extrapolated it across Android's expected user base for each market in 2012 as well as the expected shipment base in 2013.
In other words, Lookout wanted to get an accurate representation of the number of phones in the market based on the average two year cellphone contract. Unfortunately, the company didn't share the total number of Android devices it expects there to be for this year and next, so it's difficult to see how big of a problem we're really talking about.
We can extrapolate too. In September 2012, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt revealed there are now 1.3 million Android activations a day. He also said that there are 480 million Android devices in total.
So, if we take the 15 months following this past September all the way through next December, we have 456 days to work with. Multiplying this by 1.3 million and adding the 480 million devices up until December, we can expect there to be 1.0728 billion Android devices by the end of 2013.
In other words, the 18.4 million number ends up being just 1.72 percent of the total Android user base. Furthermore, that number is assuming Android activations don't keep accelerating, which is very unlikely. In short, we can say that for the years 2012 and 2013, some 1 percent of Android users will be infected, according to data from Lookout and Google.
Avoid toll fraud, regularly check your phone bill: Always review your monthly phone bill statements for suspicious charges. Contact your carrier if you identify something you believe to be fraud.
Double- check URLs on your mobile: After clicking on a web link, pay close attention to the address to make sure it matches the website it claims to be, especially if you are asked to enter account or login information.
Protect your privacy, understand app permissions: Be cautious about g ranting applications access to personal information on your phone or letting the application have access to perform functions on your phone. Make sure to check the privacy settings for each app before installing it.
Be smart about device settings: Keep network connectivity such as NFC / WiFi, or Bluetooth 'OFF' when not in use. Be sure to disable settings such as debug mode that can open a device up to illicit access.
Download a security app: Download a security app that scans the apps you download for malware and spyware, helps you locate a lost or stolen device, and protects you from unsafe websites.
Update your phone and apps: Make sure to download and install updates from your mobile operator as soon as they are available for your device. The same goes for apps, download app updates when they are available.


text:
Ez a lista Hollandia repülőtereinek listáját tartalmazza.

Kapcsolódó szócikkek
 Hollandia közlekedése
 Hollandia vasúti közlekedése

Források

 AIS the Netherlands
 Electronic AIS publications

  – includes IATA codes
  – IATA and ICAO codes
  – ICAO codes, coordinates, repülőtér data

Légi közlekedéssel kapcsolatos listák
Hollandia repülőterei

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Photo Galleries & Live Reviews
Collective Collab Blogs & Playlists
Vinyl Vault
The Collective Collaborative Blog: Favorite Albums of the Year
Here it is - the much anticipated year end list! This blog contains descriptions of fifty-five albums written by nine of the T&E Collective contributors. We present a huge variety of albums that you might not see on your average year end list. Take a look and tell us some of your favorites of 2015!
Hannah's Picks
Artist: Father John Misty
Album: I Love You, Honeybear
Label: Sub Pop
Favorite song: A tie-- "The Ideal Husband" / "Nothing Ever Happens at the Goddamn Thirsty Crow"
Josh Tillman dropped this record in February and I'm still listening to it on a weekly basis. All of the tracks, save for the intentionally contrasting "True Affection," are cohesive, yet markedly individual explorations on the themes of self-discovery, love, affection, and loathing. While the music (a variably-paced whirlwind of pianos and synths, bells, lax drums, guitars and other strings) is a strong point, the lyrics are the reason I return to this album. Tillman is a master of snark, cutting always and gritty where necessary. He can totally dismantle the confidence of a person or ideal with disparagingly accurate remarks (see "The Night Josh Tillman Came to our Apt." and "Bored in the U.S.A.") but you're laughing despite how bad you feel for his target. Hearing how deep he hates brings you back around to how intensely he can love.
Artist: Monolord
Album: Vaenir
Label: Riding Easy
Favorite Song: "Cursing the One"
Simply put, this is a mostly satisfying doom metal record. Vaenir's heavy and dark riffs are stretched long like satan's taffy, and Monolord's penchant for oppressive fuzz adds enough muck to sink every track down to an epic and heavy level. But this isn't a perfect record-- I'd like to see the aggressive energy and ingenuity of the first tracks, "Cursing the One" and "We Will Burn," trickle down more into the middle and later parts of the album. "Vaenir," the final track, clocks in at almost 17 minutes and almost loses the listener in that foggy fade and slow, looming intensity. Criticism aside, Monolord is a band that's pretty good at balancing heavy and ethereal (see "the Cosmic Silence") and they're only getting better. This sophomoric release is a compelling listen and a positive support to the influx of doom that's been recently bubbling to the surface.
Artist: Kurt Vile
Album: B'Lieve I'm Goin Down
Label: Matador
Favorite Song: "Dust Bunnies"
Kurt Vile has created a record that bounds between folk's thin, cold mountain air and country's hot and open empty desert sky. B'lieve I'm Goin Down fuses west-coast production and influence with his east coast pseudo-apathetic demeanor. All instruments, but especially the guitars, piano, and banjo, unify the sound of each track with a circular rollicking-and-rolling musicality. Kurt's words are also very sharp in this most recent record, and they're just as strong as his indiscriminate-but-really-sincere delivery. You'll chuckle at more than a few, and some lines will sting you in later reflection. The music in B'lieve I'm Goin Down weaves a story of Kurt spiraling down, but sometimes it feels like a spiral up to you-- and then suddenly he's singing over the music with a smirk telling you maybe he's going sideways after all.
Garth's Picks
Artist: Heathered Pearls
Album: The Body Complex
Label: Ghostly Records
Favorite Song: "Abandonded Mall Utopia"
I've already put my two cents in on this record for our summer favorites post and it's held up for me. Having dug into more minimal dance music this year, it's much more clear to me that this record owes a huge debt to Gas and the work of Wolfgang Voigt (and much of Kompakt Records), but it's still a damn slick listen.
Artist: Natural Snow Buildings
Album: Terror's Horns
Label: Badabing Records
Favorite Song: "King In Yellow"
These folks have been making weirdo folk/drone records in France for quite some time. This latest album is one of their shortest, about 45 minutes, but still manages to fill itself with freaky witch shit and nice soundscapes. Great music to write spells to.
Artist: Ulaan Passerine
Album: Light In Dust EP
Label: Worstward Records
Favorite Song: "Light In Dust"
Another perennial favorite artist of mine, Steven R. Smith somehow finds time to have semi-regular output with many recording projects. This EP, about 22 minutes and two songs long, falls neatly into his usual sounds, minimal droning guitars and eerie sounds. The second track is a very minimal piano composition, and though it is much less warm and buzzing that most of Steven's work, it's a breath of fresh air and a nice subtle contrast to the drones of the first track.
Artist: Oneohtrix Point Never
Album: Garden of Delete
Favorite Song: "Mutant Standard"
OPN's new record doesn't start with the letter "R" and that's the least surprising part about it. Many know Daniel Lopatin's work as very minimal, often sample-heavy (Lopatin low-key created vaporwave), and textural. This album is a stark departure from the quiet uncanniness of OPN's earlier catalog. At points this record is incredibly aggressive, the song "Sticky Drama", for instance, builds up to a high point that is industrial and percussive and suffocating. Other songs, such as my favorite on the album "Mutant Standard", use this momentum to build towering, shimmering castles of MIDI synthesized arcade-game freakouts.
Artist: Panopticon
Album: Autumn Eternal
Label: Bind Rune Recordings
Favorite Song: "Autumn Eternal"
Panopticon is the one man black metal project of Austin Lunn. Ever since they dropped Kentucky in 2012 the band has been turning heads. The project has free-flying riffs, screams, and blasts typical of any black metal project worth their salt, but is unique in that the compositions often take a huge influence from bluegrass, even starting off songs with bluegrass instrumentation before melting your face off. Panopticon is some of the most unique black metal in the States right now (though certainly not the only band pushing boundaries: see bands like Volahn from the southwest, replacing the imagery of the frozen north with Mayan and Aztec imagery), and this record is his most polished and gleaming chunk of bleak blackgrass. Worth the listen.
Artist: J. C. Satan
Album: J. C. Satan
Label: Born Bad Records
Favorite Track: "Satan II"
J. C. Satan are franco-italian garage rock dreamboats. Born Bad Records consistently puts out great post-punk and garage rock etc (check out labelmates Frustration, Wall of Death, Catholic Spray, Cheveu, and La Femme, who've all had great records the last few years). This album comes out of the gates heavy with Satan II and spends the next 45 minutes or so chilling out. "Waiting For You", what feels like the mid-point of the record to me, is a 6 minute long track dripping in saxophone. Some of the tracks are misses to me, sure, but it's refreshing to hear a garage rock band put out a record this varied in feel and not just 45 minutes of fuzz, reverbed-out vocals and the same song structure 5 times in a row (here's looking at you Segall). This album is worth it for fans of garage rock, at the very least as an intro to Born Bad and their stellar catalog.
Artist: Doldrums
Album: The Air Conditioned Nightmare
Label: Subpop
Favorite Song: "Loops"
You caught me listening to pop music. Don't tell anybody. The first track on this album, "Hotfoot", is what first caught my ear with its pounding drum tracks and cute song structure. Admittedly, the first time I listened through it I gave up immediately after the first song, and the second song on the record is still my least favorite. The album is pretty synth heavy with some neat transitions and changeups, and displays pretty impressive dynamic range for what I'd place pretty firmly as pop. "Loops" is one of the catchiest songs I've heard this year. I put this album on at work all the time and it's grown on me. Me! The forest drone goblin listening to pop music. Bah!
Artist: Human Behavior
Album: Bethphage
Label: Folktale Records
Favorite Song: "Chapter 2" and "Chapter 4"
Hometown dark folk heroes put out Bethphage this year, a longer and dronier release than their last LP Golgotha. Lots of great vocal harmonies, stripped down sad folk melodies and general gloom. This is the second in a three album trilogy, we'll see the last release in 2016. Not just shoehorning a local band into my Top Ten, Human Behavior makes some of my favorite music around and I've loved every record of theirs I could get my hands on.
Artist: bvdub
Album: A Step In The Dark
Label: AY
Favorite Song: "Alone Again"
bvdub is another very prolific artist. He only released two records this year, of which this one is my favorite. He has found his sonic niche, long, textural, ambient dance pieces, usually about 10-14 minutes. If you like bvdub, though, you know his output is reliable. This year was another solid album, and though there may have been flashier releases, I'm choosing bvdub over some obvious records in hopes of putting his name out there for those who haven't heard his material before.
To Pimp a Butterfly - Kendrick Lamar
Divers - Joanna Newsom
Fading Frontier - Deerhunter
Nymphs II - Nicolas Jaar
Golem - Wand
Abyss - Chelsea Wolfe
Brittne's Picks
Artist: Dan Deacon
Album: GLISS RIFFER
Label: Domino
Favorite Song: "Meme Generator"
Dan Deacon is our cute and colorful master of the sound collage. He is known for his high-energy live shows that involve him at level with the crowd surrounded by his various sound machines and synthesizers and lots of audience participation. His music is experimentally electronic in nature, and he seems to favor a lot of vocal manipulation. This album is naturally wacky, and makes me feel like I'm in a pinball machine or one of those boxes that rains money that they have on game shows. I love the album artwork too (check out Joanna Fields' Instagram when you get the chance). My favorite track is "Meme Generator" which feels a little more serious than its preceding tracks; It's kind of like you're in a bumper car with Dan Deacon flying through the jungle and fighting off animated creatures with ray guns.
Artist: FKA TWIGS
Album: M3LL155X EP
Label: Young Turks
Favorite Song: "Glass & Patron"
FKA Twigs is the UK's favorite video dancer turned singer, director, producer powerhouse. Her voice is hauntingly beautiful, and her music style is unconventional. Historically, she's been lumped into the vague genre of "experimental R&B," but that doesn't begin to sum her up. She started out producing and writing her own songs, was signed to Young Turks, and since then has managed some ridiculous collaborations, including producer Arca, artist Jessie Kanda, and famed vogue dancer Jamel Prodigy There is something about her that is so addictive and compelling--perhaps it's her classically trained angelike choir voice, or the (sometimes freaky) way she can manipulate her body, or her insane artistic vision. The first four songs of the five-song M3LL155X EP were released as a self-directed16 minute film that is fucking incredible! With her third EP, FKA Twigs proves herself as a true artist—not only a dancer and a singer but also a visionary director. M3LL155X is a shockingly different, genre-melding, audio-video experience.
Artist: Claude Von Stroke
Album: BARRUMP
Label: Dirtybird
Favorite Song: "Make that Cake"
It seems to me that West Coast deep house was absolutely explosive this year! Dirtybird, Claude VonStroke's record label never quits. They had bangers coming out left and right from the Martin Brothers, to J. Phlip, to Ardalan and Justin Jay, and of course Shiba San.This short little EP housed two songs, each as simple as the last in lyrical content, and possessing that deep housey beat we've come to expect from Dirtybird. If you want to just dance and not have to worry about anything else then blast either of these two songs and you're guaranteed to have a good time. Who can resist popping their booty to this shit? Not I, that's for sure.
Artist: Nicolas Jaar
Album: NYMPHS III
Label: Other People
Favorite Song: "Swim/Mistress"
There is really only one way to listen to this and that's all the way through. The two tracks of this EP, "Swim" and "Mistress", together create this 18 minute masterpiece. Nicolas Jaar constructs sound in a way that must be called something more than just music. This song is fashioned in layers of synth and drum machine, and the genius mind that is Nico Jaar, to create a visceral experience that transcends that standard soundwave-meets-eardrum exchange. No, after you listen to this a few times you're going to feel it in your gut; it'll infiltrate your entire body making its way down your spinal cord and out through your fingertips. It sounds simple but 11 minutes in you start to realize that the complexity is really building until Nico totally infiltrates your brain at the end of "Swim" and cools you right off with the beautiful, aquatic piano of the last track "Mistress." This Nymphs III is my favorite of the Nymphs series that Jaar released this year; it is everything my ears want to hear.
Artist: Thundercat
Album: The Beyond/Where the Giants Roam
Label: Brainfeeder
Favorite Song: "Them Changes"
Thundercat is a dynamic bassist (truly his technicality is unmatched), who also has an adorable little voice. He makes singing about death and heartbreak really sweet and funky. There is also a cosmic, otherworldly quality to his music. His tender lyrics are often matched to avant-garde jazz and spacey synths that places Thundercat is a category unmatched, sort of in a weird modern space jazz genre. Aside from "Them Changes," another one of my favorites on this short EP is Lone Wolf and Cub; it's mesmerizing; it will literally put you in a trance. This EP is super eerie, leaves you feeling something—can't quite say exactly what, but I'll keep listening to it.
Artist: Cocorosie
Album: Heartache City
Favorite Song: "Forget Me Not"
Sisters Bianca and Sierra have dialed back the production on this their newest album, Heartache City, for a more nostalgic sound. The emphasis is on the beauty of their voices - Bianca sings her poetry in a strange, baby clown voice while Sierra enchants us with her soprano vocals. The music is extremely creative and poignant, simple but inventive. Throughout Heartache City, Cocorosie explore themes in feminism, with songs like "Lost Girls" that emphasize the sexualization of girls and women and lost innocence. Speaking on more issues, "Big and Black" is another track that blatantly calls out the demonization of black men in society. "It must be hard being big and black. Giving everyone a heart attack" is echoed playfully throughout the song, which provides an interesting contrast to the heaviness of their message. "Lost Girls" and "Big and Black" are both examples of how Cocorosie can breach very serious topics with their music in a creative and child-like fashion.Bravo CocoRosie for creating yet another work of art.
Ronny's Picks
Artist: Guy Blakeslee
Album Waiting All Night for the Salvation Train
Label: Daytrotter
Favorite song: "Told Myself"
This is the kind of music you listen to when you're feeling miserable. Finding solace in knowing you're not the only one suffering—isn't that what makes the blues? For over a decade, Guy Blakeslee has crafted a unique brand of psychedelic folk rock inspired by the dark delta blues of Skip James, finger-picking virtuosity of Sandy Bull, and even a little lyrical wisdom from Bob Dylan. What sets Guy apart is possibly best exemplified on his trio The Entrance Band's Prayer of Death (2006): that is, a fascination with and reverence for the darker shades of life. Then there's this spectacular Daytrotter session, where Guy steps up to microphone with guitar and piano all by his lonesome self, howling painful odes to the dark themes on his last solo album, Ophelia Slowly. Daytrotter sessions notoriously offer an intimate framing of popular and up-and-coming artists, and it's that intimacy that complements Guy perfectly.
Artist: Panda Bear
Album: Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper
Label: Domino Recording Company
Favorite song: "Boys Latin"
I've been obsessed with Panda Bear ever since falling in love with his samples-based masterpiece Person Pitch, which will be a decade old in 2017. I adore everything from his unpolished, lo-fi self-titled (1999) to the entrancing elegy of Young Prayer (2004) to the heavy, percussive drones of Tomboy (2011). On his newest release, Panda Bear doesn't stray too far from his established style or sound, but that's fine. He's still a sonic anomaly after all these years. There are catchy numbers like "Mr Noah" and "Boys Latin" (above) that get you swaying in a groovy trance (especially if you see them performed live). There are heavy beats, with Panda Bear citing 90s hip hop legends like A Tribe Called Quest and J Dilla as key inspiration. Then there are the classically-influenced pieces, "Tropic of Cancer" and "Lonely Wanderer," sampling Tchaikovsky and Debussy, respectively, lending the album a heavenly aroma to complement its darker, dubbier elements. All in all, another worthy release from one of our time's most creative musicians.
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Album: To Pimp a Butterfly
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment / Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope Records
Favorite song: "The Blacker the Berry"
Everything has been said already. Usually I'm the first one to balk at the online media machine's instant renouncement of love or hate toward new releases. How much can you really appreciate a piece of music after just a couple listens, especially when that piece of music assembles 75 minutes of groundbreaking hip hop, exploring dense lyrics, free jazz, and banging funk? But this time, the critics were right. To Pimp a Butterfly is one of those perfect albums that doesn't work all the time, precisely because it's so personal, harrowing, and complex. You're not gonna flip this on in the club. You may not even listen to it with friends. But, when the time is right and you take the time to let the record spin, Kendrick Lamar's poetry gathers black as a cloud to blanket the mountain of trite, uninspired hip hop from the past decade.
aphex twin - snar2 - diskhat1 - vinyl from MMFF /F/ ROTY on Vimeo.
Artist: Aphex Twin
Album: Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt2
Label: Warp
Favorite song: "diskhat1"
The long-overdue return of Richard D. James to the music world in 2014 was to electronic music fans akin to what it might be like for Christians if the messiah ever comes back. While many of us would've been sated for a couple years by the magnificent full-length Syro (2014), Richard wasn't satisfied, as he eventually released a hundred tracks on SoundCloud as well as two official releases this year, Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt2 and Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-08. I haven't explored the latter extensively, but I have the former. Most memorably, I listened to the album while walking through a large, desolate valley in Nevada's Great Basin Desert, visually surrounded by serene spaciousness and wind and heat while sonically attacked by Richard's dark, organic tones from drums, pianos, and various mysterious instrument. In doing the research for this review, I discovered that Richard considers this album a sequel of sorts to his 2001 double album Drukqs, which just so happens to be my favorite Aphex Twin release. Well, now it all makes sense.
Artist: The Internet
Album: Ego Death
Label: Odd Future / Columbia Records
Favorite song: "Get Away"
My friend Zoë first introduced me to the Internet by playing a couple tracks on Spotify, but the band didn't win my heart until I watched the their performance on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert (embedded above). Girl. So goddamn beautiful. It's the classic formula: a full band of musical maestros on guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, synth, and egg shakers backing a charming, starry frontman. In this case, Syd tha Kyd is the band's frontwoman, though her androgynous look and sound admittedly had me confused for a few moments. Sex and gender expectations aside, Syd is clearly the leading creative force here, as lead vocalist and executive producer guiding the band through Ego Death with charisma and tender care, lyrically exploring love and relationships on a buoy of bumping funk.
Dreams Begin to Sway in These Spaghetti Western Fumes — Kitchen Hips
Invite the Light — Dâm-Funk
Moonbuilding 2703 AD — The Orb
Orphaned Deejay Selek 2006-08 — AFX
Summertime '06 — Vince Staples
Sieya's Picks
Artist: Lana Del Rey
Album: Honeymoon
Favorite Song: "Salvatore"
Honeymoon is a mixture of dreamy pop vocals, heavenly harmonies, and sadness. This album seems more adult than Lana's previous ones, shying a bit away from the "Lolita lost in the hood" persona that was more prominent in her earlier albums. I'd recommend listening to this album while lying on the beach and staring at the sky.
Artist: The Weeknd
Album: Beauty Behind the Madness
Label: Republic
Favorite Song: "Prisoner" feat. Lana Del Rey
I've written about this album so many times for this site already guys, please just buy it.
Artist: Rae Sremmurd
Album: SremmLife
Favorite Song: "Throw Sum Mo" feat. Nicki Minaj, Young Thug
Ok, before you judge me, this is one of the best Turn Up albums of all time. Listen to it while you're at work, running, pregaming, pretty much doing anything and you'll get sooo hype. Literally every song is good and it's impressive that they're so young.
Artist name: Big Sean
Album name: Dark Sky Paradise
Label: GOOD Music
Favorite Song: "Blessings"
I first saw Big Sean in concert in 2010 and it was really not good…fast forward to 2015 and he's at the top of the rap game. He's one of the most improved rappers out there, and with Kanye's production help you can never go wrong. Plus, does anyone really remember what life was like before "I Don't Fuck With You" came out?
Artist name: Drake & Future
Album name: What A Time to Be Alive
Label: Various
Favorite Song: "Big Rings"
Future was the king of 2015 and he proved that by showing up Drake on their joint mixtape. The mixtape came out as a semi-surprise, and Drake and Future did not disappoint with songs about money, strippers, and dirty sprite.
Parisa's Picks
Artist: Jose Gonzalez
Album: Vestiges and Claws
Label: Mute
Favorite Song: "What Will"
Jose Gonzalez was always one of those artists who I've always appreciated but never listened to very often. After listening to Vestiges and Claws, however, I listened to nothing but his music for two months straight. I first heard this album overlooking the cold, dark desert from my friend's house on the Tucson mountains, and as the music started I could feel a sense of warmth wash over the whole scenery. The analog, self-produced recordings maintain an intimate atmosphere that would otherwise be cleaned up in a big studio production, and I think that aspect of having a singer-songwriter stay true to those simple roots is what makes this album so genuine. The overall sound is more optimistic and major-oriented than his previous works, but it's still not your happy-go-luck folk album. Rather, it's a journey through the big questions of life while the warm vocal tones keep you rooted in earthy soil and the crisp acoustics guide you clearly through the foliage. I had a chance see Jose Gonzalez live andinterview him about this album, and his show was undoubtedly the best I've been to this year.
Artist: Cosmo Sheldrake
Album: Pelicans We
Label: Transgressive Records
Favorite Song: "The Fly"
I wrote about this song for the favorite summer albums collaborative post, and now that the year has come to an end I can officially say this was my favorite release of 2015. This EP offers the most unique blend of eclectic folkiness and electronic sampling, and each song is still just as catchy as when I first heard it. Sheldrake is masterfully inventive when it comes to creating his own samples. He carries his field recorder everywhere he goes to capture everyday sounds and transform them into rhythmic beats. Anyway, I've already gushed about this EP in that previous post so just listen to it already!
Arist: Fluoride
Album: Material
Label: Bayonet Records
Favorite song: "Mass Mind"
Who knew that the dude from Beach Fossils could be this fucking intense? This album is super abrasive, full of bass-heavy beats and experimental synth lines - kind of reminiscent of Death Grips beats but falling more on the darker, synth-wave side of the spectrum. Vocalist Dustin Pasyeur (Beach Fossils) switches between tracks from a soft-spoken, coy attitude with a bloodthirsty undertone to ruthless screaming that pierces through all of the instrumentation. Throughout the album, there's an overarching post-punk nostalgia that keeps me hooked throughout all the genre-melding combinations. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Beach Fossils just fine, but here's hoping that Pasyeur sticks with his experimental gut and keeps making heavy shit forever.
Artist: CORNERS
Album: Maxed Out on Distraction
Label: Lolipop
Favorite Song: "Caught in Frustration"
What can I say...if it's synthy and post-punk it's landing on my Top 10. But really, I was extremely impressed these LA garage rockers were able to seamlessly balance their surf rock roots into their new gothic and synth-driven direction. It's a little Joy Division, it's a little Dick Dale, and it's really damn good. Also, PLUG I got to interview these dudes at SXSW earlier this year and we discussed the different distractions in life that helped developed the theme for this album.
Artist: Jacco Gardner
Album: Hypnophobia
Label: Polyvinyl
Favorite Song: "Hypnophobia"
I feel as though "psychedelic music" is the new label that every upcoming band is trying to aim for. There's a lot of bland music out there that just adds some reverb and calls it 60s revival, so it's easy to get tired of a genre when it's being inundated with so much forgettable music. Thankfully, there are artists like Jacco Gardner who carefully intertwine baroque pop hooks with neo-psychedelia swirling compositions in order to create a truly masterful and unique "psych" record. Despite the grim album name, this record is a pleasant day-trippin' listen.
Artist: Public Service Broadcasting
Album: Race for Space
Label: Test Card Recordings
Favorite Song: "Spitfire"
Space is the place! God, I love geeking out to this album. Public Service Broadcasting bases their music off of old PSA audio clippings and builds soundscapes/songs around them with live drumming, guitar, keys, synths, and the occasional banjo accompaniment. This album was all themed of the space race in order to help revive the fascination of space exploration, and I often found myself listening to this album and reading Carl Sagan quotes in the wee hours of the morning. I think what makes this album so brilliant is how PSB uses the samples as a backbone for the song, and the instrumentation works around it to build up this entire storyline. It's not just a cool, quirky sample thrown in the mix - every sample and instrument is serving a fundamental purpose in building the story of each song. Seeing PSB live was definitely a highlight of SXSW this year, and I shit you not I heard some guy say, "Be still, my heart" to himself after their set was finished.
Artist: Hot Sugar
Album: God's Hands
Label: Break World Records
Favorite Song: "Mayday"
Break World Records is the new label to be keeping your eye on. Similar to the Cosmo Sheldrake, Hot Sugar (aka Nick Koenig) samples everyday sounds and transforms them into unique beats for his music. In a Noisey interview, he stated how he spent a year manipulating sounds of people in webcam videos blowing bubble gum bubbles or crushing cans on their head until it became a mini orchestra. What makes that so special is that he was able to take records of people being bored and make something melodic and beautiful out of it. The overall sounds are glitchy, playful, and as one of my friends would describe it, "squelchy". Koenig is also a great film producer and has worked on a short film for his music - so I'd highly recommend checking out his music videos to get a better glimpse of his world.
Artist: Suuns and Jerusalem in My Heart
Album: Suuns and Jerusalem In My Heart
Label: Secretly Canadian
Favorite Song: "Metal"
Canadian indie-electronic rock group Suuns teamed up with multimedia Lebanese producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh (aka Jerusalem in My Heart) to create an avant-garde art-punk record that's unlike anything else I've heard these year. These two have seemingly nothing in common, yet after just a week in the studio together they created this cohesive collaboration that incorporates thumping electro beats, krautrock-esque repetition, droney melodies, all through a Middle Eastern lens. The song "Metal" uses a traditional Lebanese melody but brings it into a new world/Western light with an aggressively raw guitar filter and heavy distortion. I'm not going to say that this is objectively one of the best records of the year, 'cause there are some tracks that are a little more forgettable. Nonetheless, I love it all the same and in my opinion, it's one of the more inventive collaborations of the year.
The Fourth Light - Niyaz
Man, It Feels like Space Again - Pond
Vulnicura - Bjork
Why Make Sense? - Hot Chip
Stage Hands - Stage Hands
Fly Right - The Blind Shake
Ecate - Ufomammut
Mutant - Arca
Intermission - Shiegto
Alex's Picks
Artist: Ghost
Album: Meliora
Label: Loma Vista Recordings
Favorite Song: "Absolution"
The latest offering from Papa Emeritus and his merry band of Nameless Ghouls is much more guitar-oriented than 2013's Infestissumam. This album has plenty of Sabbath and Zeppelin-inspired riffs and solos while maintaining the band's trademark theatricality, mystique, and just the right amount of cheesiness ("He Is" is particularly reminiscent of those old-timey evangelical gospel songs from the South). As a side note, the vinyl version is worth picking up just for the large copies of the stunning, intricately-detailed album artwork. It's so easy to get lost in those drawings.
Artist: Coheed and Cambria
Album: The Color Before The Sun
Label: 300 Entertainment
Favorite Song: "Atlas"
I already wrote a pretty lengthy piece that included my thoughts on this album not too long ago, so I won't go into too much detail here. Coheed and Cambria took a break from their usual science fiction rock operas to write a straightforward rock album. However, in the process of writing a more personal album, it still unfolds like a story and still has the same quality of memorable songs that made them so great in the first place. "Atlas" and "Here to Mars," in particular, are now two of my favorite Coheed songs of all time, and as a fan since high school, that's saying something.
Artist: Tribulation
Album: The Children of the Night
Label: Century Media Records
Favorite Song: "The Motherhood of God"
Tribulation's third album draws from a variety of metal subgenres as sources of inspiration. It contains raspy black metal vocals and some elements of old school death metal, which is to be expected given the nature of their previous two albums; however, the music is more heavily inspired by classic 70's heavy metal and gothic rock, and even contains hints of psychedelic rock. The vocals, clean guitar leads, and stripped-back production quality contribute to a dark, eerie atmosphere that compliments the driving, headbang-friendly riffs. Bands like this seem to be getting more and more common in Sweden nowadays, and I couldn't be happier about that.
Artist: Coliseum
Album: Anxiety's Kiss
Label: Deathwish, Inc.
Favorite Song: "Sunlight In A Snowstorm"
Truthfully, I'm not 100% familiar with Coliseum's entire body of work. The only other album I've heard by them is their self-titled debut, which is a damn good piece of no-nonsense hardcore punk. Anxiety's Kiss, on the other hand, is much more melodic and not what I expected given my prior knowledge of them. The band now plays a mixture of hardcore and 80's British post-punk, and writes songs that sound absolutely massive while somehow also managing to stay organic. Anxiety's Kiss has a strong Fugazi and Killing Joke vibe, with a little bit of The Pixies and The Cure thrown in for good measure, and the result is an absolute pleasure to listen to.
Artist: Bassnectar
Album: Into The Sun
Label: Amorphous Music
Favorite Song: "Into The Sun"
I don't listen to a ton of electronic music, but I've always been a big fan of Bassnectar. He has a knack for mixing lush, mellow sounds with massive bass sounds that sound otherworldly at times, and somehow always sounds totally natural in doing so. This album is no exception, and he shifts between loud, turn-up-friendly bangers to mellow, dreamy soundscapes, one after another. For the most part, it's also hard to tell apart the remixes from the originals, which really speaks to Bassnectar's ability to make a song his own.
Artist: Cult Leader
Album: Lightless Walk
Favorite Song: "Suffer Louder"
Cult Leader formed from the ashes of Salt Lake City metalcore band Gaza. While I never really got into Gaza, these guys REALLY remind me of The Red Chord, which is a good thing because I'm expecting the new The Red Chord album to come out shortly after the new Tool album does. Cult Leader play some devastating, explosive hardcore with plenty of crushing breakdowns and visceral vocals, but they also take breaks from the fast-paced chaos and slow things down to a sludgy crawl in order to focus on the textures that make up their song structures. The sludge doesn't last too long though, and before you know it, they go back to business as usual and continue to assault your eardrums.
Artist: Baroness
Album: Purple
Label: Abraxan Hymns
Favorite Song: "Chlorine and Wine"
I was introduced to Baroness through their fantastic 2012 album Yellow and Green, which struck me as a sludge metal band's attempt at writing an indie rock album. While this album has familiar indie-sounding song structures, Purple, true to the color for which it's named, has a heavier sound that combines their first two albums, Red Album and Blue Record. Purple is a much more straightforward rocker than the lengthy Yellow and Green, but it isn't afraid to use dreamy transitions between songs as a break from the constant riffs. The guitar solos and frontman John Dyer Baizley's cool vocals particularly shine on this one, and it's a good note on which to end 2015. Also, the 16-second final song, "Crossroads of Infinity," sounds like the audio equivalent of the hidden scenes at the end of the Marvel movies and makes me think the band is setting up something big in the future. We'll see what happens.
Artist: Cattle Decapitation
Album: The Anthropocene Extinction
Label: Metal Blade Records
Favorite Song: "Pacific Grim"
When I heard their 2012 album Monolith of Inhumanity, I thought to myself, "This is it. This is where Cattle Decapitation are going to peak. There's no way they can top this." Man, was I wrong. The San Diego death/grinders, whose music has always been popular with environmentalists and animal rights activists, managed to go above and beyond with The Anthropocene Extinction. The guitar riffs are dizzying, the drums are relentless, and Travis Ryan's bleak vocal techniques and lyrics about the impact of human activity on this planet fit the atmosphere created by the music. THIS is Cattle Decapitation's best album to date, and I can't wait to see what they do next.
Artist: Lamb of God
Album: VII: Sturm und Drang
Label: Epic Records
Favorite Song: "Embers (feat. Chino Moreno)"
Lamb of God regrouped and bounced back from vocalist Randy Blythe's heavily-publicized manslaughter trial in the Czech Republic, which stemmed from the accidental death of a fan at one of their concerts in Prague in 2010, with what is easily their best album since 2004's Ashes of the Wake. The band sounds more focused and hard-hitting than they've sounded for most of the last decade. They also step outside of their comfort zone and channel their inner Alice In Chains on the slow-burning, clean-sung "Overlord," which provides a welcome change of pace to the harsh vocals and heavy grooves that dominate the rest of the album.
Artist: Run The Jewels
Album: Meow The Jewels
Label: Mass Appeal Records
Favorite Song: "Creown (3D Remix)"
Why am I writing this? I shouldn't be writing this. This shouldn't work. Nothing about this makes sense. Run The Jewels just HAD to go and release a remix album of last year's excellent Run The Jewels 2 with beats consisting of mostly cat noises, and of course they made it work. Yes, I know Killer Mike and El-P enlisted the likes of The Alchemist, Dan The Automator, Portishead's Geoff Barrow, and Massive Attack's 3D for this. Still, I am mad at myself for not only thinking it sounds good, but for the fact that it actually somehow managed to find a spot on this list. Mike and El: If you're reading this, I want you to know I hate both of you for this album and I absolutely cannot wait for RTJ3.
Honorable Mentions:
Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late
Dr. Dre - Compton
CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye
Future - Dirty Sprite 2
Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss
Melanie's Picks
Artist: Chelsea Wolfe
Album Abyss
Label: Sargent House
Favorite Song: "Iron Moon"
Chelsea Wolfe's goth-electronic-folk-rock masterpiece absolutely stunned me upon first listen. She turned her struggles with sleep paralysis into a hauntingly brilliant work of 11 tracks. And she even concocted a perfume named after the single! From an artist who has consistently released uniquely beautiful music, this album is a standout.
Artist: Wand
Album: Golem
Label: In The Red Records
Favorite Song: "Planet Golem"
Another superb release from the garage-punk factory wonderland of Los Angeles, this time from Cory Hanson and crew. The band actually released two albums this year, but the more metal-leaning Golem packs more of a punch. Precise yet fuzzy guitar work with low rolling basslines, plus Hanson's Dwyer-esque vocals and a pinch of electronica make for a very, very enjoyable album. Also, the live show is excellent.
Artist: Fuzz
Album name: II
Favorite Song: "Burning Wreath"
Suprise! I picked a Ty Segall album! Cases could definitely be made as to why this album is not one of the best of the year, but I would feel wrong if I didn't include this. II was definitely my most-listened to album of the year. The combination of Charlie Mootheart, shredder extraordinaire, Chad Ubovich, who released his own superb album as Meatbodies last year, and you-know-who, but on drums this time (!), makes for a deliciously perfect garage-dudes-go-metal treat. The sound isn't new or crazy unique, but they do it so, so well. I can't resist.
Artist: Vince Staples
Album: Summertime '06
Label: ARTium, Def Jam
Favorite Song: "Norf Norf" and "Summertime"
This double LP really introduced the world to Vince Staples. The beats on this album are really superb. Sadly, I am nowhere near as articulate in this write-up as Staples is in his songs. Like the title suggests, the album feels nostalgic -- but not too nostalgic:
Indeed, Staples isn't living in anyone's shadows. He's working with modernistic, electronic sounds and stories of his experiences in Long Beach from the mid-2000s to now. There's violence, drugs, romance, emotion - after all, this is just a 22 year old guy. While not everyone can relate to the struggles of growing up in a gang, the desire to not to be alone and the desire to succeed resonate with any listener. The young rapper is only looking forward, and his methods led to one of the best debuts of the year.
A$AP Rocky - AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP
Earl Sweatshirt - I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside
Ty Segall - Ty Rex
Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness
Andre's Picks
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Label: TDE
Favorite Song: "For Sale?"
To Pimp A Butterfly has been discussed and dissected ad nauseum and for good reason, it's not every year that an album of instant-classic status is released and shakes the foundations of not only hip-hop, but music as a whole. In some ways I still don't think TPAB is getting the praise it deserves, although it's received nearly perfect reviews across the board and tops nearly every year-end list, I can't shake the feeling that people aren't grasping the sheer brilliance and importance of this album. While Drake drools over becoming a meme and J. Cole hides his casual misogyny under the guise of being "deep & relatable," Kendrick Lamar proves that he's operating on a completely different level than his competition. To Pimp A Butterfly sees him pouring out his emotions from the depths of his being and confronting his demons, both real and imagined, while simultaneously giving the oppressed people a voice; it celebrates the beauty of Blackness in a country that does everything to suppress it.
Artist: Joanna Newsom
Album: Divers
Label: Drag City
Favorite Song: "Divers"
There's so much I could say about this album and an infinite amount of praise I could give Joanna Newsom for constantly reinventing her music while staying true to herself. Divers explores love, time, and death, themes that Joanna has touched upon in the past, but not with the fervor that she does on this album. The poetry on Divers is unmatched with songs that are heart-wrenching and beautiful, odes to the fleeting nature of all things. Joanna has a way with words that is unmatched, weaving fascinating storytelling with experiences that seem rooted in something deeply personal. I hope that it doesn't take another 5 years for another Joanna Newsom album, but if it delivers the way Divers does, I know I won't be disappointed.
Artist: Future
Album: DS2
Favorite Song: "I Serve The Base"
My god, what a colossal year Future has had (pun intended). I could have picked just about any Future project from this year, from the Zaytoven-produced Beast Mode to the DJ Esco-hosted 56 Nights, but DS2 is the most complete work of the bunch. It's an album that makes you feel like you're in the middle of Magic City, with dollar bills cascading from the ceiling and styrofoam cups soaked in lean. Many have criticized this album for being a brainless trip through the usual hip-hop tropes: money, women, drugs, etc., but DS2 paints the picture of a Future dealing with his demons and depression through the use of pills and sex, a tortured soul trying to get better in the only we he knows. In this context, DS2 is a remarkable introspection, allowing us to peer into a life that is Tony Montana-esque: riveting, yet tragic.
Young Thug - Barter 6
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Future Brown - s/t
Jeremih - Late Nights
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What are some of your favorite albums from this year? Leave us some comments below!
Collaborative Blogs & Playlists


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Драгоне́ра (,  — «остров Драконов») — необитаемый скалистый остров у западного побережья острова Мальорка, отделённый проливом шириной в 780 метров. Остров Драгонера входит в состав островного совета Мальорка Балеарских островов.

Площадь острова составляет 288 га, длина острова составляет 4,2 км, а ширина — до 900 м. Остров Драгонера относится к муниципалитету Андрайч и входит в состав природоохранной зоны Балеарских островов.

До 1987 года остров Драгонера находился в частной собственности, ныне является муниципальной собственностью. В 1995 году остров был объявлен охраняемым природным парком. На острове Драгонера обитает эндемический вид — балеарская ящерица.

Примечания

Ссылки
 Официальный сайт природного парка Драгонера

Балеарские острова
Острова Средиземного моря
Достопримечательности Балеарских островов


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Defying the Nazis
Screening Event ~ About the Film ~ Resources for Educators ~ Images
ideastream is holding a screening event of DEFYING THE NAZIS: THE SHARPS' WAR on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 from 6pm – 8pm.
The screening event will also include a panel discussion about themes explored in the film. Panelists include:
Rev. Joe Cherry, Unitarian Universality Society of Cleveland
Erika Gold, Holocaust survivor from Hungary
DEFYING THE NAZIS: THE SHARPS' WAR
A film by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, III
DEFYING THE NAZIS: THE SHARPS' WAR tells the story of a daring rescue mission that occurred on the precipice of World War II. It tells the previously untold account of Waitstill and Martha Sharp, an American minister and his wife from Wellesley, Massachusetts, who left their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly committed to a life-threatening mission in Europe. Over two dangerous years they helped save scores of imperiled Jews and refugees fleeing the Nazi occupation across Europe.
The film is a 90-minute documentary that will premiere in September 2016 nationally on all PBS stations. The film is directed by Artemis Joukowsky, III and legendary filmmaker Ken Burns serves as Producer, Executive Producer, and Presenter of the project. Tom Hanks and humanitarian Marina Goldman are the featured actors in the film, lending their voices to Waitstill and Martha Sharp. Beacon Press will also publish a companion book by the same name in September 2016.
A Co-Production of NO LIMITS MEDIA, Inc. and Florentine Films, in association with WETA, Washington, DC. A film by Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky, III. Produced by Matthew Justus and Ken Burns. © 2016 Farm Pond Pictures, LLC All Rights Reserved
Funding Credits
Funding is provided by members of the Better Angels Society, including Jan and Rick Cohen and Jonathan and Jeannie Lavine; The Starr Foundation; The Threshold Foundation; and donations from individuals.
Print Materials Credit:
DEFYING THE NAZIS: THE SHARPS' WAR is a co-production of NO LIMITS MEDIA, Inc., and Florentine Films, in association with WETA Washington, D.C.
Facing History and Ourselves is a nonprofit international educational and professional development organization with a mission to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and antisemitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed society. The organization has put together some resources tied directly to the film that can help students deepen their understanding of the dilemmas involved in the fim.
Access the resources provided by Facing History and Ourselves.
Martha and Waitstill Sharp, 1942. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Portrait of Martha Sharp from her congressional campaign, 1946. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Waitstill and Martha Sharp at the Christening of their son Hastings, 1932. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Martha and Watistill Sharp departing New York Harbor for Prague (via London), 1939. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Martha Sharp presents a train load of powdered milk to the Mayor of Pau, France, 1940. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
A young female refugee France, photographed by Martha Sharp, 1940. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Refugees in France, photographed by Martha Sharp, 1940. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
From left: Martha Sharp, Hastings Sharp, Waitstill Sharp, and Martha Content Sharp, 1947. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]
Martha and Waitstill Sharp at home in Wellesley, MA., 1938. [Credit: Sharp Family Archives]


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Tag Archives: Monotheism
The "comforting illusion" of India
I have a serious philosophical issue with all monotheisms; the concept just doesn't hold water for me and I never understood why in junior high history it was presented as such a leap forward in the development of human consciousness. Like, what's so smart about this totally reductive idea?
I've always said that if I could be a sentient embryo and choose what religion I would be born into, it would be Hinduism, because it seems to me that it contains the most intelligent and sophisticated dialectic between unity and plurality. Just the Gita — where a handsome, young, womanizing god is revealed to be the very principle of existence itself — has always been enough to seduce me both intellectually and emotionally — and sexually, frankly. I think Kanha's "I am the taste of water", may be even more powerful than Yahweh's «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν» — "I am the Is".
But it's precisely that kind of Western romance with Hinduism and its infinite polymorphousness, to paraphrase Freud*, that has led to the "free pass" we've given to a criminal Modi from "Bible-belt" Gujarat and a criminal BJP for way too long. It's tempting and comforting to think that Hindu fundamentalism is an oxymoron, but fanaticism and hate can infect any ideology.
Modi is a criminal and the BJP and Shiv Sena — with its increasing stranglehold on one of the world's great, open, cosmopolitan cities, which is why "Mumbai" infuriates me, though nobody seems to listen to me — are criminal, murderous organizations.
No amount of saffron and marigolds can change that.
* Anthropologist Clifford Geertz used to tell an anecdote — whether real or not has never been verified — about an Englishman who asked a saddhu he came across one day where the universe was located. And the holy man replied:
"On the back of an elephant that rests on the back of a turtle."
"And the turtle?"
"On the back of another turtle."
"And that turtle?"
"Ah, sahib, after that it is turtles all the way down."
Tags: "I am the taste of water", anthropology, Arjun, «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν», Bhagavad Gita, BJP, Bombay, China, Christianity, Clifford Geertz, Gujarat, Hinduism, India, Islam, Judaism, Kanha, Krishna, Maharashtra, marigolds, Monotheism, Mumbai, Murtaza Mohammad Hussein, Narendra Modi, saffron, Shiv Sena, Yahweh
Lebanese food: September 14th and the Feast of the Holy Cross in Ein Zebde, Shouf
Ein Zebde peach orchards
This is one of those photos that shore up all literary descriptions you've ever read of Lebanon as the land of milk and honey.
Because only that sort of blessed (but unfortunately cursed too) land could produce Lebanese food. More than the landscape, the mountains, my personal emotional response to a still functioning society of Arab Christians, the post-nightmare joy that even a partly-Resurrected Beirut must offer, and more, even, than the boys — it's the food that makes Lebanon one of the top entries on my list of must-visits. The boldness of the Lebanese culinary imagination reflects such care for both the sensuality and sanctity of food that I can't helped being moved by just reading descriptions of it. China, India and France (mmm…yeah, ok, Iran too) are the only places that can compete, I think, with this tiny little corner of the Mediterranean in sheer kitchen creativity.
Mansoufe (below), for example: made of pumpkin-and-bulgur balls, cooked with caramelized onions and flavored with sour grape juice. Where else would people even think of this? (Though I think "dumplings" or something might have been a better word; "balls" makes it sound like pumpkins have testicles.)
But just like there's not really any French food without the produce of France itself, and like I've come to believe what most South Asian friends think: that there's no good regional Indian food outside of India, just Punjabi versions of dumb-downed Doabi-Mughlai food cooked by Sylhetis (though I know two good Bengali places in New York, one in Sunnyside, where you have to convince them you want the real stuff, and one in the Bronx, and an even better secret, a great Sindhi vegetarian place in Jackson Heights…Indian vegetarian is the only vegetarian food I'll eat, actually the only vegetarian food I'll honor by calling "food"), so, it seems, that if you want something other than stale felafel or inedible tabbouleh made by a dude who had too many lemons he needed to get rid of and who needs to be told that parsley isn't a vegetable, then you need to go to Lebanon.
In steps the Food Heritage Foundation to help you get your bearings food-wise once you've gotten yourself to Lebanon: a great resource for anything you might want to know about Lebanese cuisine. Yesterday they posted photos of the Ein Zebde (the Shouf village with the peach orchards at top) celebration of the Feast of the Holy Cross, and the annual potato-kibbe-making event the women there have held for the past twenty-four years. Check out the page for captions on the pics below:
Yesterday I tweeted my kudos to the Food Heritage Foundation (above). But actually it would have been impossible to hide the fact this is a Maronite community even had they wanted to. Even if they felt they didn't have to explain why the women were doing this, the women's hair and bare arms would have been a giveaway.
Still, I'm just saying this because if certain people like Mlle I___m de M_____i had their way both the entire staff of the Food Heritage Foundation and I would've been thrown in jail for fomenting sectarianism, publicly shamed for being Islamophobic and made to wear a Green "I", and the Ein Zebde post would have had to be mysteriously cleansed of its Christianess.
The feast of the Holy Cross — I doubt any Catholics remember or even know — commemorates the discovery by the Empress Mother Helen of the Holy Cross on which Christ was crucified, of which Mark Twain famously said there were so many splinters of everywhere that it was apparently a Holy Forest. She was the mother of Constantine, the emperor who moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to the city on the Bosporus called Byzantion, renamed Constantinople (that's İstanbul for those that don't know), and who, like a good mother-ridden Greek boy (though he was really from what's now Niš in in what's now southern Serbia), unfortunately made what-a-monotheist-drag Christianity the official religion of the Empire to make her happy; though also like a good Greek boy he passive-aggressively wasn't himself baptized till he was on his death-bed. The discovery of the Cross and the feast of Sts. Constantine and Helen, "the Equal-to-the-Apostles", on May 21st, when Athens is paralyzed by traffic for three days because a quarter of the city is named Kosta or Helene and another half is going to visit them for their name-day, is usually commemorated in the Orthodox Church by the same image:
But for more fun, more lyrical descriptions of Lebanese food, mixed up with some serious butch conflict-zone reporting and a hilarious Middle Eastern mother-daughter-in-law relationship, see Annia Ciezadlo's beautiful Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love and War.
Tags: Annia Ciezadlo, Arab Christians, Athens, Bangladesh, Beirut, Bengal, Bronx, Byzantion, Byzantium, China, Constantinople, Day of Honey, Doab, Ein Zebde, Feast of the Holy Cross, felafel, Food Heritage Foundation, France, Greece, Greeks, India, Iran, Istanbul, Jackson Heights, kibbeh, Lebanese, Lebanese boys, Lebanese Christians, Lebanese food, Lebanon, Levant, mansoufe, Maronites, Mediterranean, Monotheism, Niš, potato kibbeh, Punjab, Serbia, Shouf mountains, Sindh, St. Constantine, St. Helen, Sunnyside, Sylhet, tabbouleh
Michael Eric Dayson: "Facing this unadorned hate tears open wounds from atrocities that we have confronted throughout our history."
In a truly disturbing op-ed piece in the Times: "Charlottesville and the Bigotocracy", Dayson makes the same point I made in "Ireland — Gimme a break; I can't believe this is even up for discussion".
White nationalists and neo-Nazis demonstrated in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. Credit: Edu Bayer for The New York Times
"This bigotocracy overlooks fundamental facts about slavery in this country: that blacks were stolen from their African homeland to toil for no wages in American dirt. When black folk and others point that out, white bigots are aggrieved. They are especially offended when it is argued that slavery changed clothes during Reconstruction and got dressed up as freedom, only to keep menacing black folk as it did during Jim Crow. The bigotocracy is angry that slavery is seen as this nation's original sin. And yet they remain depressingly and purposefully ignorant of what slavery was, how it happened, what it did to us, how it shaped race and the air and space between white and black folk, and the life and arc of white and black cultures.
"They [white supremacists] cling to a faded Southern aristocracy whose benefits — of alleged white superiority, and moral and intellectual supremacy — trickled down to ordinary whites. If they couldn't drink from the cup of economic advantage that white elites tasted, at least they could sip what was left of a hateful ideology: at least they weren't black. [my emphasis] The renowned scholar W.E.B. Du Bois called this alleged sense of superiority the psychic wages of whiteness. President Lyndon Baines Johnson once argued, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.""
From my post:
"But everybody has to be better than somebody, or else you're nobody. So, just like Catalans have to think they're really Mare-Nostrum-Provençal Iberians (3 ***) and not part of reactionary Black Legend Spain; or Neo-Greeks have to think that they're better than their Balkan neighbors (especially Albanian "Turks") because they think they're the descendants of those Greeks; or the largely lower-middle class, Low Church or Presbyterian or Methodist Brits who fled their socioeconomic status back home and went out to India in the nineteenth century in order to be somebody, had to destroy the modus vivendi that had existed there between Company white-folk and Indians, creating an apartheid and religiously intolerant social system that laid the groundwork for the unbelievable blood-letting of the Indian Rebellion of 1857; or, perhaps history's greatest example, poor whites in the American South (many, ironically, of Northern Irish Protestant origin) that had to terrorize Black freedmen back into their "place" because the one thing they had over them in the old South's socioeconomic order, that they weren't slaves, had been snatched away (and one swift look at the contemporary American political scene shows clear as day indications that they're, essentially, STILL angry at that demotion in status); or French Algerians couldn't stomach the idea of living in an independent Algeria where they would be on equal footing with Arab or Berber Algerians. So Protestant Ulstermen couldn't tolerate being part of an independent state with these Catholic savages."
But since we're talking about the dangerous, delusional myths people need to believe, I might as well take this moment and take one tiny issue with one point in Dyson's piece:
"This bigotocracy overlooks fundamental facts about slavery in this country: that blacks were stolen from their African homeland to toil for no wages in American dirt."
People might not like me saying this, or at least think it's the wrong time. Oh well… Of course African slaves were made "to toil for no wages in American dirt." But they were not "stolen" from their African homeland; they were bought from other Africans.
Am I blaming the victim? No. But if that's what it seems like, like a lot of people think I'm anti-semitically blaming the victim if I say that the idea that there's only one God and everybody else's is false, and on top of it that one God loves you more than anybody else, is bound to get you kinna disliked by those around you sooner or later, then that's cool. (Another favorite idea of mine: if Christianity makes Jews so uncomfortable, they shouldn't have invented it.)
I wrote my M.A. thesis in Latin American Studies on Cuba, particularly on abolition, and the complex interaction between the Cuban wars of independence from Spain, a vicious struggle that lasted three decades from 1868 to 1898 when the United States stepped in and annexed all of Spain's remaining colonies, and the abolitionist struggle to end both the slave trade and slavery itself (the Spanish slave trade ended in 1868, and slavery itself wasn't abolished, and then only gradually, until 1886). In brief, and with clear echoes in the American South, a creole class in Cuba was ambivalent about independence because they were afraid of being over-run by the Black Cuban majority, while a bourgeois pro-independence class didn't think Cuba could be a democratic republic while so many Cubans were enslaved. In the end they did what most ex-slave societies did: free the salves and import indentured workers from the English-speaking Caribbean and immigrants from Galicia, marginalizing native Black Cubans, so that all groups together could be kept in a state of seasonal semi-employment which kept wages depressed and created enmity between the ethnic groups that should have felt some socioeconomic solidarity. Let's not forget that the "Danza de los millones" — "the Dance of the Millions" — when sugar generated unprecedented wealth for Cuban planters, surpassing anything the nineteenth-century slave economy could produce, and made Cuba one of the richest countries in Latin America, when the beautiful Havana we now see was largely constructed — happened in the 1910s and 20s, decades after abolition.
My thesis involved a heavy dose from my advisor of reading in West African history. So any one who knows something about that history knows that almost none to absolutely none of the Africans brought to the Western Hemisphere during the slave trade — by some estimates 12 million human beings — were hunted down by slave-hunters Kunta-Kinte-style; it would have been logistically impossible to carry so many people across the Atlantic by that method. African slaves were bought in huge numbers, in en masse cargo-loads by European slave traders, from West African kingdoms who had enslaved them in the course of warfare between those kingdoms. There's a legitimate argument to be made that the European slave trade made warfare between those kingdoms so profitable that conflict between West African states became endemic. Doesn't absolve anybody though, not Africans, not Yankee do-gooders, who didn't need slaves anymore because they had already gotten rich off the trade (as that great song from the musical "1776" points out: "Hail Boston! Hail Charleston! Who stinketh the most?" — see below) and could afford to get moral on the rest of us, not Protestants or Catholics or any Christians, or Muslims for that matter.
Here's some other un-fun truths:
* Black slavery in the Muslim world never and nowhere reached the scale that it did in the Christian Western Hemisphere, but that may simply and largely be because the agro-industrial infrastructure was not present, not because Islam was more enlightened on the idea of slavery generally. East Africa supplied the Muslim eastern Mediterranean and Arabian peninsula with plentiful slaves for centuries. I don't remember when the Ottomans abolished slavery, but I think it wasn't even during the Tanzimat, but at some point in the 1908 constitutional revolution, i.e. early twentieth century. I'm always amused at "religion of peace" Islam apologists who try and make us understand how many passages there are in Muslim scripture that deal with the fair and "humane" way to conduct war, and massacre/execution or enslavement, and I wanna think: "gee, if there are so many passages that deal with the right or wrong way to conduct war, and massacre/execution or enslavement then those things must be mighty important to this religion of peace."
NO monotheism is innocent; let's get that through our heads once and for all.
* I hate to burst the bubble of Muhammad Ali or Malcolm X's souls, or that of the wacked Nation of Islam, but Islam was not the religion of your African ancestors. (They may not have been called Cassius Clay, but it's for sure that they weren't called Muhammad Ali either.) Islam took a while to penetrate as far south as the coastal regions of West Africa. And actually, your ancestors almost certainly were the still polytheist inhabitants of the coast who might have been sold to European slave-traders by the newly Muslim kingdoms of the Sahel (currently Boko Haram country), the belt between the Sahara and the coastal jungle/savanna. If Afro-Americans anywhere in the Western Hemisphere are at all interested in the religion of their ancestors, they should look to Cuban Santería or Brazilian Candomblé or Haitian Voudon to re-establish a historical connection; when I was researching Santería in the 90s in Brooklyn, there was a real culture war between those Black Americans who were attracted to the Cuban religion of Yoruba origins — an amazingly relaxed, open-minded group, since polytheism is an open system, where you got to experience great music and dance, once you got past the practice's defensive boundaries — and those Black Americans who were recent converts to Islam: puritanical pains-in-the-ass, like most converts, who had learned enough Arabic to call everybody else Kafirs, and who irritated the Senegalese and Malian immigrants in New York to no end.
And Black Southern Baptist or Pentecostalist Christianity may have originally been the "slaveowner's religion," but its "getting the spirit" is a purely African phenomenon that has its emotional-devotional roots in the same parts of West Africa as Santería/Candomblé/Vodoun. Read the second to last chapter of James Baldwin's Go Tell it on the Mountain, which takes place in 1930s (I think) Harlem and then the last chapter of Maya Deren's Divine Horsemen on Haitian Vodoun. They mirror each other totally and both pieces still blow me away whenever I read them with the closest possible artistic representation of deity possession, the most impressive discursive capturing of a completely non-discursive, intangible experience, that I know of.
* Another bubble to burst is the "Kwaanza-ism" bubble. No African-American before President Obama had any connection to East Africa, Kenya, or Swahili. Another geographical term — Africa — turned into a completely artificial cultural construct, as if anything that happens on the African continent is somehow connected to African-Americans. The BBC is currently running a series on "The History of Africa" — so modest those folks over there — that, as had become common-place but I thought we had moved on from (turns out we haven't), lumps together Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco into one "African" history instead of placing them in the history of the Greco-Roman-Christian-Arab-Muslim zone. (Does anyone remember the height of this absurd argument: the Newsweek magazine cover with the picture of an Egyptian relief and the screaming caption: "Was Cleopatra Black?" To Newsweek's credit, however, the article didn't take its own title seriously and after going into an analysis of the African-American kulturkampf that gave rise to this question, ended simply with: "And Cleopatra? She was Greek.")
And does anybody still celebrate Kwaanza?
I always chuckle when people call Constantinople the city on two continents, as if the quarter-mile crossing of the Bosporus into "Asia" is some kind of massive, marked civilizational change, like the people in Kadiköy are Chinese or something because it's in "Asia."
This was a real train-of-thought, free-association post — many think that everything I write is — so thanks for sticking with me. Below are some videos selections based on my continued free association process:
"Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
"Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
"Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop."
"Strange Fruit" was written by Abel Meeropol, a real shayne Yid (beautiful Jew) if there ever was one. Read the NPR story on him that I've linked to. He also adopted the Rosenbergs' children, Robert and Michael, after that closetted scumbag Roy Cohn (a real self-hating Jew and queen if there ever was one) had their parents electrocuted.
Abel Meeropol watches as his sons, Robert and Michael, play with a train set. Courtesy of Robert and Michael Meeropol
And Maya Deren's beautiful documentary footage of Haitian Vodoun:
See also Talking Heads' David Byrne's beautiful documentary, Ilé Aiyé on Bahian Candomblé. It's the best introductory "text" I know. In reference to the dancing, drumming and singing, and animal sacrifice, food, alcohol and tobacco offerings that are meant to bring the god (or orisha in Yoruba) down into possession of his or her devotee, the narration includes the precious line: "They threw a party for the gods — and the gods came."
And — on a lighter note — the great Celia Cruz below singing "Guantanamera" (you have to watch her move…wasn't it great when women were allowed to have bodies like that? and if you have any idea what those silly kids who appear at the end are doing, please share) a song based on a poem of José Martí's, Cuba's national poet and a man revered by Cubans of every color and political stripe anywhere. In the end, Black Cubans played a significant part in the Cuban struggle, personified most in the person of Antonio Maceo. As Celia sings: "Freedom was a trophy won for us by the mambí [largely Black guerilla fighters], with the words of Martí, and the machete of Maceo." Yikes. The Cuban Wars of Independence were truly brutal, often really fought with machetes, the symbol of Afro-Cubans' cane-cutting bondage become an instrument of rebellion, but Spain's imperial ego simply did not want to let go of "la siempre fiel" — "the always loyal" — and extremely profitable island. 1898, the year Spain had to give in, was a year that became a byword for disaster for Spaniards, and Cuba was the most lamented loss; there's still a common expression in Spain: "Más se perdió en Cuba" — "There was more lost in Cuba" — when you want to say that "oh well, things aren't so bad, not, at least, compared to the loss of Cuba." Ironically, Cuban independence was followed by a massive wave of migration to the island from Spain, largely from Galicia and Asturias, so in a weird way Cuba is the most connected to Spain of Latin American countries; a great, very unresearched musicological subject is the reciprocal exchange of musical influences from Cuba to southern Spain, especially for the gypsies of Seville and Cádiz, both port cities that were gateways to the Americas or "the Indies", the flamenco genre "rumba" being just one indicator.
Celia was an initiated Santería priestess of the Yoruba male fertility deity Changó (you have to move a little in your seat every time you hear or say his name or you see lightning); her performances often contained dance moves associated with Changó (you have to move a little in your seat every time you hear or say his name); whether she was "mounted" by him at the time — which is the expression used to indicate deity possession, de allí Maya Deren's reference to "horsemen" — is something only she can have known, though mostly devotees have no memory of their trance after they come out of it. Most salsa singers since have been initiates — have to stay competitive and you only can if the gods are helping you — and the improv vocabulary and dance gestures of salsa performances are heavily derived from Yoruba Santería. There's one video of her singing "Quimbara" (below) where I think it's really happening — the bending down and touching of the floor especially.
Finally, a NikoBakos memory. Mambí was a chain of 24-hour Cuban restaurants, Mambí #1, Mambí #2 — I think there were five of them all over once heavily Cuban Washington Heights and Inwood — that used to provide me and friends with some early morning, post-salsa sustenance. The food, like the neighborhoods, had become pretty Dominican by then, but they still made a mean Cuban sandwich. All the Cuban restaurants I knew as a kid in New York are now gone, in Manhattan and Brooklyn replaced by Dominican plantain places, and in Queens, by one more mediocre Colombian bakery. Schiller's on Rivington Street still makes a good Cuban sandwich, but it's $18.
Tags: "1776", "Charlottesville and the Bigotocracy", "Danza de los Millones", "Divine Horsemen", "Go Tell it on the Mountain", "Guantanamera", "Más se perdió en Cuba" -- "There was more lost in Cuba", "Molasses to Rum to Slaves", "Roots", "Spirit in the Dark", "Strange Fruit", "the psychic wages of whiteness", "They threw a party for the gods -- and the gods came.", 1898, Abel Meeropol, Africa, African slaves, African slavetraders, African-American kulturkampf, African-Americans, Afro-Americans, Algeria, Andalusia, anti-semitism, Antonio Maceo, Arabian peninsula, Aretha Franklin, Asia, Asturias, Bahian Candomblé, BBC, Billie Holiday, Black Cuban majority, Black slavery in the Muslim world, Boko Haram, Bosporus, Boston, Brazilian Candomblé, Brooklyn, Casius Clay, Catholics, Cádiz, Celia Cruz, Chango, Charleston, Charlottesville VA, Christianity, Cleopatra, coastal savanna, Constantinople, Constitution of 1908, converts to Islam, Cuba, Cuban abolition, Cuban Santería, Cuban War of Indepence, David Byrne, Egypt, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, Europe, Galicia, Greco-Roman-Christian-Arab-Muslim zone, Gypsies, Haitian Voudon, Havana, Ilé Aiyé, indentured workers, Inwood, Ireland, Islam, Islam and slavery, Istanbul, James Baldwin, Jews, Jim Crow, José Martí, Kadiköy, Kafir, Kunta Kinte, Kwaanza, Latin American Studies, Libya, Malcom X, Mali, Malians, Mambí, Maya Deren, Mediterranean, Michael Eric Dayson, Monotheism, Morocco, Muhammad Ali, Muslim eastern Mediterranean, Neo-Nazis, Newsweek, NPR, Ottomans, President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Protestants, Reconstruction, Rivington Street, Roy Cohn, rumba, Sahara, Sahel, Schiller's, Senegalese, Sengal, Seville, shayner Yid, Spain, Talking Heads, Tanzimat, Tunisia, W.E.B. Du Bois, Washington Heights, West Africa, West African kingdomas and city-states, Western Hemisphere, White nationalists, Yankee do-gooders, Yoruba
For all the senders of "Islamophobe" accusations: facile, hysterical, stupid, or all of the above…and some notes on the corrida
I've gotten a thousand emails about my Hajj comments and about the Pakistani cab-drivers post. Not unexpected. And actually a quite gratifying response as it may allow me to begin a serious discussion about monotheism and my discontents and not just Islam. Just give me some time because it'll be a long post, its being something that I've been thinking about most of my life.
But some quickies… For one writer: not only, yes, would I have been as obnoxious to an American Christian Fundamentalist — or an Orthodox nationalist crazy here in Greece or in Russia — if he had given me a hard time about my "pagan" tattoo, I would've ripped either of them apart much more mercilessly, because they don't have the excuse of being born Muslim, so don't worry about my soul's economy of justice or fairness.
For the writer who objected to me referring to Muhammad as "just" [not a word I used] one man" — I don't get it. Isn't that the point? That he was a man? Isn't what so many Muslims find a ridiculous idea (in my experience), and what so many Muslim and Jewish theologians through the ages objected to — not precisely to the Christian idea of the Incarnation — that God and Man are one, that God became a Man in order in order to approach a beloved humanity?
As for the PETA chick (just assumptions — both "PETA" and "chick" — because the email address betrays neither, just the tone and content do…) who thought my reprinting Saba Imtiaz' beautiful photo essay on Eid-al-Adha in Karachi was not only a glorification of violence against animals, but a perpetuating of stereotypes about Islam as "a religion of blood," you haven't read any of the rest of my blog, so I will really have nothing to say to you — as I don't to most of you — except perhaps that I'm an avid fan of the Spanish corrida, and if there's a good goring the better, so I don't associate normal, biological blood-shed with Islam.
But I'll be back.
Photo: For those who don't know, this is a particularly dramatic goring, as the torero had already gotten the bull with a perfect through-the-traps, into the chest cavity, sword-thrust, so it would've been a matter of seconds probably before it had collapsed dead, but it still managed to get the guy in the guts before dying — but that's always the most dangerous moment in a bullfight anyway. Most bullfighters go for the over the horns into the shoulder stab, then instinctively jump ever so slightly out of the way. The super-majete torero, however — was it Manolete who was famous for this? – gets the sword in…and stands there…in the extremely risky hope that the animal will immediately drop dead at his feet. As you can see, it doesn't always turn out that way. According to a Mexican friend and corrida aficionado, the torero in the photograph is Spaniard Alejandro Talavante, though I can't find anything on-line about him getting hurt like this.
But see what you learn on the Jadde…
Tags: corrida, Fundamentalism, Islam, Monotheism, Spain


Flavorful, aromatic, and packed with benefits, Tulsi tea is a stalwart among detoxing and immunity boosting teas. A well-known ingredient in Ayurvedic remedies, Tulsi is native to tropical conditions and can offer notes ranging from peppery to lemony, with a subtle sweetness underneath. Tulsi teas are usually herbal and caffeine free, and used to cleanse the system or relieve sore throats. They feature dried Holy Basil leaves, along with a melee of fragrances and spices to impart diverse flavor profiles to the tea. Tulsi blends with black tea, green tea or rooibos are also available on the market.
Tulsi has earned its 'holy' basil tag over thousands of years of medicinal use. One of the most famous sacred herbs in India, Tulsi continues to be revered for its healing properties. From featuring in Hindu scriptures, to finding a place in almost every Indian house, it remains rooted in Indian culture. Ayurveda regards Tulsi as a natural stress-reliever. Teas infused with Tulsi are commonly consumed in Indian households in winter, often additionally spiced with ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, or mint.
Tulsi teas are "soothing" and "subtle", making for a "perfect cup of everyday calm". The "slight aroma" of Tulsi is often accented with floral fragrances such as lavender, to craft "relaxing bedtime teas". Tulsi is also added to certain black teas to create "complex and flavorful" brews with a "pleasant finish". Tulsi also adds a "refreshing and aromatic" overlay to green teas. Despite their "mild" flavor, basil leaves add a "wintery" touch to any cup of tea.
With the right additives, you can take your Tulsi tea in any direction you please. Add warming spices such as cardamom, cloves or cinnamon for a comforting brew on a cold day, or mint and lemon to cool off in summer. Honey works as an excellent sweetener for Tulsi tea. Consume it daily to cleanse your system naturally.


text:
package com.evolveum.midpoint.model.api.context;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Collection;

import com.evolveum.midpoint.common.refinery.ResourceShadowDiscriminator;
import com.evolveum.midpoint.util.DebugDumpable;
import com.evolveum.midpoint.xml.ns._public.common.common_3.FocusType;
import com.evolveum.midpoint.xml.ns._public.common.common_3.ObjectType;
import com.evolveum.midpoint.xml.ns._public.common.common_3.ShadowType;

/**
 * @author semancik
 *
 */
public interface ModelContext<F extends ObjectType> extends Serializable, DebugDumpable {

	public ModelState getState();

	public ModelElementContext<F> getFocusContext();

	public Collection<? extends ModelProjectionContext> getProjectionContexts();

	public ModelProjectionContext findProjectionContext(ResourceShadowDiscriminator rat);

    Class<F> getFocusClass();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Lonely Drifter Karen are back with a resolutely pop album, a new song cycle which shatters many preconceived notions of their music. The colours have morphed: gone is the largely acoustic, piano-led instrumentation. This time, analog electronics, Asiatic arpeggios, sliding bass-synths, sinuous guitar riffs and funky grooves abound, while Tanja Frinta's voice is wilder, more vibrant, and seems to have acquired unsuspected new dimensions.
With these new shades and brushes, the band have painted an alternate version of their own, unmistakable world: dreamy, poetic, and slightly surreal, overflowing with those lush arrangements and irresistibly seductive melodies which have become the band's trademark.
The core duet of the group — Austrian singer/guitarist Tanja Frinta & Spanish keyboardist/arranger Marc Melià Sobrevias — are now firmly relocated in Brussels, Belgium. Following the amicable departure of their long-time drummer, they have enlisted the help of young French guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Clément Marion, and of several percussionists (both of the human and the robotic kind) to launch into sound explorations and create these songs which take the listener on an enticing journey through sound & space.
The songs on Lonely Drifter Karen's first two albums have often been travel stories. On Poles, the travels are mostly extraterrestrial. This wasn't a deliberate decision: the 'space' theme, which runs through the album, has gradually snuck into the songs, partly because Marc's use of certain synth sounds strongly reminded Tanja of the music in some late '70s/early '80s sci-fi movies she's fond of. Accidents also played a part: while listening to a song by Air, Tanja thought they were singing "you need a soul traveler" (the actual lyrics are "universal traveler"), and proceeded to write a new song with that title… When a friend of the band misheard a line in an early version of Brand New World, and thought it referred to a "reptile" instead of a "red tie", Tanja rewrote the story accordingly, and the main character became a huge reptile walking among skyscrapers… As for songs such as Exactly Light and Henry Distance, they seem to talk about love stories between a human and an undefined being referred to as "it" (possibly an alien?).
Aside from the birth of this formidable new album, 2011 also saw the use of LDK's music in a growing number of films and commercials, as well as the band's first foray into China (with a successful 10-date tour), which made a strong impression on Tanja and Marc, who will certainly be back there soon. Meanwhile, let's pack our bags, don our pressurised suits and go where no one has gone before: an exciting expedition to the outer reaches of LDK's expanded pop universe.
A pop album of the very highest calibre.
'Poles' is seamless, every seemingly effortless song a perfect, melodic, atmospheric gem.
Tanja Frinta's beautiful, Karen Carpenter-esque voice is the focus.
This is a landmark album. The year is still young, but 'Poles' is one 2012's best.
Notes of wistful, 60s Gallic pop, funky, Luscious Jackson-style grooves, loungey, retro-futurist electronica and, on 'Comet', Nu Shooz-like '80s synth pop. All up, it's irresistible.
We are sincerely in love with the cosmic reveries of this Brussels-based trio, who mix Les Baxter/Esquivel-style space-age pop with the woozy grind of real guitars. Singer Tanja Frinta is quite something to hear — an intergalactic Charlotte Gainsbourg.
The incredibly versatile singing voice of Tanja Frinta (…) can sound serene like Feist or Lyke Li, dark and melancholic like Nancy Sinatra or Lana del Rey or even slightly mad like tUnE-yArDs or Róisín Murphy. What makes (this) all the more admirable and pleasing is that Frinta never actually sounds like any of the aforementioned female singers. Lonely Drifter Karen manage to mould their many-sidedness into instantly accessible song shapes. The level of songwriting is persistently high, echoing the unbounded craftsmanship of Moloko, Beach House and Wir Sind Helden. Poles is one of the most interesting releases of the first quarter of 2012.
The trans-European trio serve up a more synthy, streamlined set of brooding but punchy interplanetary dream pop. Bolder, colder and brushed in chrome, Poles is the sound of a band finding their stride, hitting their straps and reaching new heights.
Frinta finds mantras to chant in many of the songs, every echo sustaining the spell.
For all the rallying chants, however, it is swirling, mercurial instrumental patterns that create the album's vortexes. The abundance of stylish gloss, eerie allure and ever-chanted refrains create a stylistically cohesive, colourful maelstrom.


The boom and bust of a homestead community on the Eastern Plains. Founded in 1880, the town of Keota was a major stop on the Old Prairie Dog Express. Never reaching a population of over 150 people, the town served a farming community of 1250 homesteads. Keota thrived during the World War I, as demand for wheat soared. Keota lives on through the memories of its residents and their descendents.