In his book God After Darwin theologian John Haught claims that evolution opened a new window to God, giving us a new vision of God at home in a universe of chance and law. Not everyone has accepted this claim, however. Strict materialists such as Richard Dawkins readily dispense with God as an unnecessary hypothesis in an evolutionary world, claiming that it runs quite well on genes and natural selection. On the other hand fundamentalists say that evolution belies God's orderly creation recounted in the first book of Genesis. Evolution contradicts God's providential design of creation. In the midst of these polarities stands the figure of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a Catholic Jesuit priest and a trained scientist. Teilhard was one of the most provocative and seminal thinkers of the twentieth century; yet, his ideas are still marginally accepted. As a paleontologist, Teilhard's insights arose from his keen observations of the natural world and he was dazzled by the convergence of elements to form the stuff of life. His keen observation of nature and its inherent direction towards unity inspired him to seek God in nature.
Teilhard's writings are suffused with a radical Christocentrism which some have described as pan-Christism. The pervasiveness of Christ in his thought seems prima facie to truncate theology, a Christomonism devoid of any real theological ground. A closer reading of his works, however, reveals this not to be the case. Underneath his doctrine of Christocentrism lies a doctrine of God in evolution; Christogenesis is integrally related to theogenesis. My purpose is to explore Teilhard's theogenesis as the ground of a Christocentric universe, and to show that Christogenesis is the unfolding of divinity in space time. The universe is God coming to be fully the Christ through creative union in love.
In the case of a world which is by nature evolutive. . .God is not conceivable (either structurally or dynamically) except in so far as he coincides with (as a sort of "formal" cause) but without being lost in, the center of convergence of cosmogenesis. . . .Ever since Aristotle there have been almost continual attempts to construct models of God on the lines of an outside Prime Mover, acting a retro. Since the emergence in our consciousness of the 'sense of evolution' it has become physically impossible for us to conceive or worship anything but an organic Prime-Mover God, ab ante. Only a God who is functionally and totally 'Omega' can satisfy us. Who will at last give evolution its own God?
Teilhard's quest—to give evolution its own God—is a search for a credible God in an evolutionary universe. Since Aristotle, there has been almost continual attempts to construct models of God on the lines of an outside prime-mover, acting a retro. The emergence in our consciousness of the sense of evolution, however, has made it difficult to conceive or worship anything but an organic prime-mover God, ab ante. Thus Teilhard claimed, in the future, only a God who is functionally and totally 'Omega' can satisfy us. He indicates that in an evolutive world, God is conceivable only within the context of evolution, since evolution is no longer a mere hypothesis, he states but now dominates the whole of our experience. While in the case of a static world, the creator is structurally independent of his work—in the case of an evolutive world, the contrary is true. God is not conceivable except in so far as he coincides with evolution but without being lost in, [sort of a 'formal' cause] the center of convergence of cosmogenesis . The God who is in evolution cannot be a God who creates from behind but must be ahead, the prime mover who is Omega. Teilhard's question, "who will at last give evolution its own God" is challenging because the God of evolution must be the God in evolution. Evolution has direction and God is the direction, in Teilhard's view.
Teilhard left us no systematic treatment of the triune God; yet, it was clear that only a God who is a plurality of relationships unified in a common Center (the Word) could be the God of an evolutionary creation marked by a plurality of relationships directed towards greater unity.
Donald Gray, in his book The One and the Many, claims that the Trinitarian formulation provides the key to understanding the whole movement of reality as a process of unification. Although Teilhard did not develop a theology of the Trinity to any great extent, he indicated that the unity of God consists precisely in the plurality of relationships. The Trinity is the basis of God's self-communicative nature, that is, God could not be in relationship to the finite if God was not communicative in Godself. God's relational nature begins with the Father who vitalizes and engenders, the one who is fontal source of all that is, including the personal center of the Son and Word. The Spirit is the energy of divine love that unifies the Father and Son. Evolution is God turned toward the world in the act of love, that is, the love of the Father for the Son through the energizing bond of the Spirit.
Teilhard describes the God-world relationship as a type of formal causality. God is dynamically interior to creation, gradually bringing all things to their full being as his image—Trinity-in-unity-by a single creative act spanning all time. In Christianity and Evolution he said that God is a dominant causality among the other causalities, a divine energy which is imperceptible. God acts on the whole body of causes without making itself evident at any point. Every element is an overflow of God who is First Cause so that God makes things to make themselves. God acts from within, at the core of each element, by animating the sphere of being from within. Where God is operating, it is always possible for us to see only the work of nature because God is the formal cause, the intrinsic principle of being, although God is not identical with being itself. As principle of being, God imparts to creation its inner dynamism. Because creation is essentially relatedness and God is love, evolution is the unfolding process of God-related dynamic love.
The theory of creative union is not so much a metaphysical doctrine as a sort of empirical and pragmatic explanation of the universe. This theory came to birth out of my own personal need to reconcile, within the confines of a rigorously structured system, the views of science respecting evolution (which views are accepted here as being definitively established, at least in their essence) with an innate tendency which has driven me to seek out the presence of God, not apart from the physical world, but rather through matter and in a certain sense in union with it.
Christianity, influenced by the conquests of modern thought, will finally become aware of the fact that the three fundamental personalistic mysteries upon which it rests are in reality simply three aspects of one and the same process (christogenesis), depending on whether one looks at it from the point of view of its principal moving power (creation), or its unifying mechanism (incarnation), or it elevating effort (redemption).
For Teilhard "creative union" is the act of creation as an act of immanent unification—the world is in process of being created by the gradual unification of multiplicity. Thus "creation" is to be located not at the "beginning" of the world but at its "end." Creation is that which is always coming to be. Within evolution lower level entities become higher level entities with a persistent emergence of novelty whereby each unification results in new being. Teilhard suggested that multiplicity is dependent on unity and on some final unity which does not need any principle beyond itself to unify it, since it is the "already One." This ultimate unity is God incarnate who is Christ Omega.
The assertion that the world's movement towards unity "completes" God in some way is unusual and needs to be clarified. . . .Teilhard is doing nothing more nor less than asserting in a in evolutionary context the paradox which is already contained in St. Paul: the Pleroma of Christ cannot constitute an intrinsic completion of God himself, but it will nonetheless in some sense be a real completion. . . .Teilhard wants to do away once and for all with the idea that God's continuous act of creation is one of absolute gratuity.
For Teilhard the relationality of God's triune nature makes creation more than an act willed out of intellect or desire; creation is the truly beloved of God and hence completes God. He opposed the idea of an absolutely gratuitous creation because it makes creation independent of God. If creative union reflects God's nature to be relational and participative, then God cannot create an isolated creation. Evolution towards greater unity rests on the involvement of God in creation. Teilhard's doctrine of creative union suggests that creation does not participate in God; rather, God participates in creation. Because God is unified complexity (Trinity), evolution tends toward unified complexity. When the Trinity is properly understood, it strengthens our idea of divine oneness by giving it the structure of unity which is the mark of all real living reality. If God were not triune we could not conceive the possibility of his creating (by being incarnate) without totally immersing himself in the world he brings into being .
The twin poles of evolution and creative union meant that Teilhard was less concerned with being and becoming than with the relationship between unity and multiplicity, the One and the many. Rather than following the classic metaphysical construct of the many flowing from the One (a devolution or thinning out of being), Teilhard posited that the One flows from the many. The involvement of God in evolution through creative union means that everything happens as though the One were formed by successive unifications of the multiple, and as though the One were more perfect, the more perfectly it centralized under itself a larger multiple. The One appears to us only in the midst of the multiple, dominating the multiple, since its essential act is to unite. Creative union does not fuse together the terms which it associates; rather, it preserves the terms and completes them. The more something or someone is in union with another the more it is itself, since it is precisely the core of self that is the basis of union or as Teilhard proclaimed, "union differentiates." God reveals himself everywhere as a universal milieu, only because God is the ultimate point upon which all realities converge. The new evolutive God rises up at the heart of the old maker-God; for if he had not pre-emerged from the world, he could not be for the world.
Teilhard believed that God could not appear as prime mover without first becoming incarnate and without redeeming—in other words without our seeing that he becomes Christified. The observation in nature of greater unity, from atoms to cells to plants, animals and humans, led him to posit a centrating factor, a basis of unity that is both immanent and transcendent to material reality. The unity of the Trinity is the Center or Word of God who flows from the fontal love of the Father. The Father's self-expressed love is centered in the Word; hence when God turns toward the world Christ becomes the center of creation. The Trinity shows the essential condition of God's capacity to be the personal summit of a universe which is in process of personalization. It is not surprising that when Teilhard discovered the doctrine of the primacy of Christ in the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus he exclaimed "Voilà! La theologie de l'avenir." His doctrine of creative union complemented the Franciscan idea that Christ is first in God's intention to love; all of creation is modeled on Christ. For Teilhard, evolution was aimed at divinity from the beginning, and the Christified universe was always its goal.
Teilhard used the term Christogenesis to indicate that the biological and cosmological genesis of creation—cosmogenesis—is from the point of faith, Christogenesis. Creation itself is God uniting to form one with something, to be immersed in it. The genesis of Christ is characteristic of Teilhard's thought. By "genesis" he indicated that evolution involves directed change, organized becoming, patterned process, cumulative order. It is not mere change or becoming which can be random, disordered, and meaningless. Rather evolution has direction. Teilhard recognized that there is a unifying influence in the whole evolutionary process, a centrating factor that continues to hold the entire process together and move it forward toward greater complexity and unity. The ultimate mover of the entire cosmogenesis, he indicated, is something that is simultaneously within the sequence of beings as tendency, desire and purpose, and in front of the advancing wave of development, beckoning it, as its ideal culmination. This Mover Teilhard identified with God. The evolutionary pressure is the presence of God at every stage, helping, driving, drawing. We always assumed that God could be located "above," he said, but now we realize that he can also be situated "ahead" and "within" as well.
His faith in Christ led him to posit Christ, the future fullness of the whole evolutionary process, as the "centrating principle," the "pleroma" and "Omega point" where the individual and collective adventure of humanity finds its end and fulfillment. The universal Christ could not appear at the end of time at the peak of the world, if he had not previously entered it during its development, through the medium of birth, in the form of an element. If it is indeed true that it is through Christ Omega that the universe in movement holds together then it is from his concrete germ, the Man of Nazareth that Christ-Omega derives his whole consistence, as a hard experiential fact. The two terms are intrinsically one whole and they cannot vary in a truly total Christ except simultaneously.
Through his penetrating view of the universe, Teilhard found Christ present in the entire cosmos, from the least particle of matter to the convergent human community. The whole cosmos is incarnational. "The Incarnation," he said, "is a making new. . .of all the universe's forces and powers." Christ is the instrument, the centre, the end of the whole of animate and material creation; through him, everything is created, sanctified, and vivified. Christ invests himself organically with all of creation, immersing himself in things, in the heart of matter and thus unifying the world. By taking on human form, Christ has given the world its definitive form: he has been consecrated for a cosmic function. God could not create unless God was incarnate and to be incarnate is to share in the sufferings and evil inherent in the painfully concentrating multiple. By saying that cosmogenesis is now Christogenesis Teilhard showed that the very being of the world is now being personalized. Someone and not something is in gestation and this birth of Christ involves all the pain and suffering of the world. Our universe is a christified universe, marked by divine omnipresence shining through both the glory and pain of the world.
Teilhard sought to show that the cosmic function of Christ was not only moral but physical as well. The Pauline phrase Omnia in ipso constant (In him all things consist) (Col 1:17) dominated his thought. "I find it quite impossible," he wrote in 1924, "to read St. Paul without being dazzled by the vision under his words of the universal and cosmic dominance of the incarnate word." The one who is in evolution is himself the cause and center of evolution and its goal (emphasis added). It became increasingly evident to Teilhard that if Christ is to remain at the center of our faith in an evolutionary universe, then this cosmic Christ must begin to offer himself for our adoration as the "evolutive" Christ–Christ the evolver. This evolutive Christ, for Teilhard, was not distinct from Jesus but indeed was "Jesus, the center towards whom all moves." Teilhard did not believe that the human reality of Jesus Christ was lost in the superhuman and vanished in the cosmic. Rather, the universal Christ could not appear at the end of time at the peak of the world, if he had not previously entered it during its development, through the medium of birth, in the form of an element. It was the humanity of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and resurrection, therefore, that spoke to Teilhard of the evolutive Christ. Because Christ is both the center and goal of an evolutionary creation, Teilhard viewed Christ as a dynamic impulse within humanity (and non-humanity) which is moving toward greater complexity and unity, from biogenesis to noogenesis, from simple biological structures to the emergence of mind.
Although Teilhard introduced a new understanding of Christ the evolver, the notion of Christ as evolver is one with Christ Omega since it is from Jesus of Nazareth that Christ-Omega derives his whole consistence. The link between Christ the evolver and Christ the Omega means that the cosmic goal is disclosed by creative union. As evolver, Christ is that which is coming to be in evolution through the process of creative union. As Omega, Christ is superpersonal in nature—the One who fills all things and who animates and gathers up all the biological and spiritual energies developed by the universe. Since Christ is Omega, the universe is physically impregnated to the very core of its matter by the influence of his superhuman nature. The presence of the incarnate Word penetrates everything as a universal element through grace. Everything is physically "christified," gathered up by the incarnate Word as nourishment that assimilates, transforms, and divinizes. Thus Christ is not a static idea but a living Person, the Personal center of the universe. Teilhard posited a dynamic view of God and the world in the process of becoming something more than what it is because the universe is grounded in the Personal center of Christ.
While Teilhard was aware of the doctrine of Christ formulated at Chalcedon, he did not refrain from suggesting a "third nature" of Christ based on spiritual insight and contemplation of the world. By positing a "third nature" Teilhard indicated that the whole physical world has a spiritual nature which attains its full consciousness and openness to God in the person of Jesus Christ.
Thus, Christ is related organically not simply juridically to the whole cosmos. It is a nature contingent on the humanity of Christ but not subordinate to his divinity. Since the cosmic Christ is the resurrected Christ, this third nature or cosmic nature emerges from the union of divine and human natures so that it is neither one nor the other but the union of both, although it exists on the side of creation. This third nature means that Christ the Redeemer is Christ the Evolver. The evolutionary progression towards greater complexity in creation is Christ-in-the making. Every bacteria, blood cell, plant, tree, animal, pre-human, human whether black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, atheist, deist—every single created being is integral to Christogenesis. In short, Christ is the fullness of nature's evolving unity in God.
Teilhard's Christogenesis is a radical departure from understanding Jesus Christ as an absolute, single, salvific figure. Jesus is the Christ, the one in whom and through whom healing and wholeness comes into creation. If the humanity of Jesus emerges out of an evolutionary process, then the humanity of Jesus is the explosive love of God, the pattern of what the Christ is about in creation. Jesus ushers in a new level of consciousness and a new future, precisely because Jesus returns love for love unconditionally. When Teilhard speaks of Christ the redeemer as the Christ the evolver I think what he is saying is that divine love is at the heart of creation and the movement towards the fullness of love incarnate is the Christ who is coming to be. This is the very process of creation itself in evolution. Teilhard recognized that every act of evolving nature is the self-expression of God, since the very act of nature's transcendence is the energy of divine love. God unfolds in the details of nature; thus, evolution is not only of God but is God incarnate. In his Phenomenon of Man he describes evolution as an unfolding process of withinness and withoutness. The within is the mental aspect and the without is the physical aspect of the same stuff. Although this relationship between within and without points to the role of consciousness at the heart of matter, I think it also points to the unfolding simultaneity of God and world: God is the withinness of the withoutness of matter in evolution. God is dynamically relational, trinitizing creation, and the trinitization of creation is, at the same time, personalizing it in Christ. Love is the energy of trinitization. Love is dynamic, and dynamic love is never the same from moment to moment. What Teilhard pointed to is that divine love is evolutionary—it changes, grows, complexifies—and this growth and complexification is the basis of unity. God is not the source of love; rather love is the source of God, that is, God emerges out of relationships of love. Even in human relations, the perfection of love comes at the end of a long, loving relationship, not in the beginning.
If God is the dynamic ever fullness of love, then God is indeed up ahead, the future in which we have our being and in which we are coming to be. But God can only be up ahead as Omega if God is within evolution as evolver. That is why Incarnation does not take place in evolution; Christ does not intervene in creation and then become its goal. Rather the whole evolutionary process is incarnational. Evolution is christogenesis or God coming to be at the heart of matter. As Teilhard said, "… not just something but Someone holds together the plurality of elements in a personalizing center" and this is Christ. Christ is the meaning of the whole creation because Christ is the One who is coming to be, the One who is engendered by the Father's love and the object of that love through the life-giving bond of the Spirit. That is why a Christocentric universe is not only possible for Teilhard; it is the only universe that makes sense. Evolution is a single act of love between Father, Son and Spirit, one Christ, unfolding in space-time unto the fullness of love.
We might say that for the discursive reason two phases can be distinguished in 'theogenesis.' In the first, God posits himself in his Trinitarian structure ('fontal being reflecting itself, self-sufficient, upon itself): 'Trinitization.' In the second phase, he envelops himself in participated being, by evolutive unification of pure multiple (positive non-being) born (in a state of absolute potency) by antithesis to pre-posited Trinitarian unity: Creation.
This is a rather obtuse way of saying that the triune God who is source of creation, enfolds divine being in creation through incarnation, so that the God who is evolutionary source (fontal principle) is evolutionary goal (Omega). Rather than following a classical, static theology of God-world relationship, however, where the end returns to the beginning (Omega revolvit ad alpha) Teilhard reframes the God-world relationship from the point of evolution. "The organic vastness of the universe," he states, "obliges us to rethink the notion of divine omnisufficiency: God fulfills himself, he in some way completes himself, in the pleroma." Thus evolution reveals a newness to God. Just as novelty marks "being-in-evolution" so too novelty marks "God-in-evolution." Teilhard viewed evolution and Incarnation as interrelated; the God-matter creative union means that creation "can only have one object: a universe, that is, creation "can be effected only by an evolutive process (of personalizing synthesis) and that it can come into action only once: when absolute multiple is reduced, nothing is left to be united either in God or 'outside' God." We might call this idea the primacy of Christ in evolution. Christ is first in God's intention to love which means evolution is a single act of Trinitarian love; however it is a single act of love in space-time and thus an unfolding towards the fullness of unity. God can only create evolutively, Teilhard states, because the whole point of creation is the fullness of love which is Christ who is the trinitizing center of creation. Evolution, therefore, has meaning and purpose; it is intended to be God, all in all. Christ the evolver is the unifier within creation, the personal principle within matter to unite.
The twofold function of the incarnate Word of God as evolver and Omega means that the God-world relationship is not a static relationship but one of dynamic newness. As Christ the evolver, Christ is the one in evolution; as Omega Point, Christ holds together the universe in movement. However, instead of seeing creation return to the Father, Teilhard identified the Father in relation to the Son as the one who vitalizes and engenders. Every theological development which "affects the theology of the Son-Object-of-Love must affect the Father in whom all being must ultimately find its source." Thus if Christ the Word incarnate is in evolution it is because the Father is in evolution as well, the one who makes possible the dynamism of love. As Trinity or perfect multiplicity-in-unity, God is truly up ahead, the God of the future who draws the universe towards a new future of creative union. The future of evolution, therefore, is marked by the horizon of love. God "is the transcendent future horizon that draws an entire universe, and not just human history, toward an unfathomable fulfillment yet to be realized." Evolution is progress towards union in love in relation to a God of ever-deepening love. If the power of divine love is source and goal of all that is, then the fidelity of divine love in an evolutionary universe is the transcendent source of change. God is ever newness in love, eternally becoming other in love unto love.
For Teilhard, God is no static Being transcendent to the world. Rather God's transcendence is God's immanence, the fecundity of divine goodness intimately involved in creation and the creative union of God in creation becoming something more through the evolutionary process of complexity-consciousness. The newness of God in creation is the newness of Christ. In this respect, human activity is essential to God who is coming to be. The human endeavor completes the deepest intentions of God's love by bringing creation to its fulfillment. The human person does something for God which God, because of his love for us, cannot do for himself. The human completes the yearning of God's own love for us and God's desire for our salvation which is union with God. Gray writes: "Man (sic) completes God's love for the creation by bringing that love to the effective realization of its goal, which is the good of the creation". Thus God is completed through creation insofar as creation is completed through human persons. It is this completion of creation as pleroma which God has in view in creating because the completion of creation is the fullness of God. Creation completes God not by supplying something God lacks but by relating to what God is as divine love. Christian love, he states, is to be dynamized, universalized and pantheized. To love God in and through the universe in evolution is the spiritual energy of convergence and the axis of hominization. God and creation evolve to pleroma in and through human efforts to unite through love and thus to unite the multiple into unity.
According to Teilhard, we are evolution made conscious; thus, a deepened consciousness should yield to greater bonds of love, promoting unity in creation. Such unity, according to Teilhard, is not sameness but differentiated unity. True creative union preserves the distinct personalities of each term. Thus evolutionary progression toward greater union is a progression towards greater divergence. It is overcoming multiplicity or separateness through bonds of unity that preserve distinction. The progression of hominization in the universe (and with hominization non human creation) through complexity-consciousness (the development of noosphere, for example, and in our age, the internet) is the progressive unification of the world in God. What Teilhard emphasizes is that the God who is and who is coming to be is united with the whole evolutionary process through Christogenesis. Christ evolves through the unfolding fabric of evolution by the power of the Spirit. As self-reflected being-in-evolution, humans are to continue weaving the process of evolution towards greater wholeness. Christianity, in particular, is faith in the progressive unification of the world in God—unity with the natural world, unity with other religions, unity with other planets, unity with all people—Christians are to be engaged unifiers in a world of evolution, working towards the pleroma, the fullness of plurality in unity. Thus the whole earth in all its natural diversity, the whole planet and planets in their diversity, all religions or spiritual yearnings in all their diversity, all of these are being drawn together from the future in a boundless love, the fullness of Christ.
If Christogenesis gives meaning to the whole evolutionary progression, it is because God is at the heart of creation as source and goal; the One who is in evolution is the goal of evolution. Teilhard emphasized that Incarnation fulfills God by contributing to God that which God is not—material reality. Evolution, therefore, will always be integral to God because it reveals the nature of God to be relational and participative and hence open to novelty and future. As long as God is, we are and creation will be. What we will be, however, depends on our actions, choices and decisions. Evolution demands a consciousness of the present and attentiveness to the future as the ground of our actions. It is a forward moving act of creative union where life is always new and God is ever newness in love. The pleroma is the forward moment of evolution itself; God drawing us from the future to become more conscious, more united, more one-in-love, more Christ. The pleroma is not the end of time but the fullness of life where creation is trinitized and personalized in Christ the Omega. In space-time, God is always creative union in evolution and the pleroma is the horizon of deepening bonds of unity. For evolution is not simply the way God creates, evolution is the nature of the Trinity who is always coming to be.


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E.J. Dionne Jr.: Putin's Reactionary Push Finds Friends In U.S.
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
Jul 30, 2018 | 6:00 AM
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of the 10th BRICS summit (the world's leading emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) on July 27 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (ALEXEY NIKOLSKY / AFP/Getty Images)
The links among Vladimir Putin, President Trump, and segments of both the Republican Party and the American conservative movement seem bizarre. How can this be, given the Russian president's KGB pedigree and a Cold War history during which antipathy toward the Soviet Union held the right together?
In truth, there is nothing illogical about the ideological collusion that is shaking our political system. If the old Soviet Union was the linchpin of the Communist International, Putin's Russia is creating a new Reactionary International built around nationalism, a critique of modernity and a disdain for liberal democracy. Its central mission includes wrecking the Western alliance and the European Union by undermining a shared commitment to democratic values.
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Putin is, first and foremost, an opportunist, so he is also happy to lend support to forces on the left when doing so advances his purposes in specific circumstances. But the dominant thrust of Putinism is toward the far right, since a nationalism rooted in Russian traditionalism cements his hold on power.
And the right in both Europe and the United States has responded. Long before Russia's efforts to elect Trump in the 2016 election became a major public issue, Putin was currying favor with the American gun lobby, Christian conservatives and Republican politicians.
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In a prescient March 2017 article in Time magazine, Alex Altman and Elizabeth Dias detailed Russia's "new alliances with leading U.S. evangelicals, lawmakers and powerful interest groups like the NRA."
Evangelicals, they noted, found common ground with Putin, a strong foe of LGBTQ rights, on the basis of "Moscow's nationalist and ultraconservative push — led by the Russian Orthodox Church — to make the post-Soviet nation a bulwark of Christianity amid the increasing secularization of the West."
Altman and Dias highlighted the role of Maria Butina, a Russian national who was in court last week following her indictment for conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
Butina was at the forefront of forging Russian ties with the NRA. In 2015, many of its leaders traveled to Russia to attend her annual gun-rights conference, Altman and Dias reported. Such a meeting is absurd on its face given Russia's autocratic nature. It should be a bigger scandal than it has been so far that those who speak so much about Constitutional liberties and individual freedom have cozied up to Putin.
The Russian president did not have to invent Europe's new right. It was rising without him, although he has been happy to help it along. Writing in New Statesman, the British center-left magazine, veteran journalist John Lloyd described the formation of what he called an "Illiberal International" that seeks to limit immigration and weaken or destroy the European Union.
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Lloyd focused on Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor; Victor Orban, Hungary's prime minister; and Matteo Salvini, Italy's interior minister whose Lega party is now in a coalition government with the Five-Star movement.
It's important to recognize that something more is going on here than merely a generalized effort to disrupt American and European politics. Putin is pushing in a very particular direction, a lesson that should be absorbed across our philosophical divides.
The deepening ties between the Russian government and elements of the right should give pause to all conservatives whose first commitment is to democratic life. The willingness of traditionalists and gun fanatics to cultivate ties with a Russian dictator speaks of a profound alienation among many on the right from core Western values — the very values that most conservatives extol.
It should bother members of the GOP that the progressive writer Brian Beutler was on to something when he observed recently that "in many ways, Moscow understood Republicans better than Republicans understand themselves." Putin saw that what he and parts of the right share is a hatred of liberalism.
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And Republicans should bear in mind that disrupting Robert Mueller's probe serves Putin's interests, not just Trump's.
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In the meantime, progressives and moderates should not be intimidated by those, including Trump apologists, who claim that standing up to Putin's intervention in our election represents an effort to revive the Cold War. No, opposing Putin is principled, rational and necessary because he is waging a campaign against democracy and is working to undermine the pluralism and tolerance on which it depends.
It's odd that self-styled opponents of globalization who shout slogans about putting their own countries "first" are actually putting their ideology first as they seek to globalize the far right. Friends of democracy everywhere need to stand in solidarity and resist this backward-looking drift to autocracy.
E.J. Dionne Jr. is a syndicated writer in Washington. His email address is ejdionne@washpost.com.
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Devizes Days in Words and Pictures 2015
A Retired Woman´s Views and News on a Wiltshire Life
A Wander around Calne.
"Adam House" known also as "Pineapple House"
Calne is a small town with some delightful hidden corners, all waiting to be discovered once you have escaped from the busy A4 Bath Road that runs through the town centre. The present road was built in the 18th century to accommodate the increased traffic travelling to Bath, which had became a popular place to take the spa waters. "Adam House" also known as "Pineapple House," is named after the four stone pineapples adorning the facade. It was built in the 17th century, and the earlier timber framed house was refaced in stone in 1750. "Adam House" is said by Lord Shelbourne of Bowood House to be named after the architect Robert Adam, who worked on nearby Bowood House and is said to have lived here. I love the symmetry of this building.
Celia and Pippin enjoy the sun at Cheveywell, renowned for its pure water.
Celia and Pippin the poodle enjoy the sunshine sitting beside Cheveywell, a spring from which the water runs crystal clear. During an epidemic of typhus in the 19th century, this well provided the only clean source of water for the town. The water feeds into the nearby Calne Arm of the Wilts and Berks Canal. The plaque below commemorates Dr Joseph Priestley who lived in Calne and discovered oxzgen in a laboratory at Bowood House. A full history of Priestley´s life can be read on Wikipedia, the address is below.
The plaque commemorating Dr Joseph Priestley, who discovered oxygen whilst living in Calne.
Joseph Priestley - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Priestley
Posted by Vicki M at Saturday, March 31, 2012 No comments:
Cat Sitting Tiger and Tugger in Calne.
Tugger and I watch "The Battle of Britain."
I am on one of my biannual holidays in Calne, a week of cat sitting for friends who have gone off to the West Country for a nice spring holiday. Calne is only a twenty minute bus ride from Devizes, but I still feel that I'm on holiday here. The kitties are easy to care for, although Tugger has an ear infection and needs daily medication, which he does not like taking! I mix it thoroughly with nice smelly tuna fish, but he still knows it's there and turns up his nose. He is looking somewhat lopsided at the moment, with his poorly ear tilting his head to the left. Tiger is very old and slow, and is content to sleep most of the day and night, which seems to be the favourite occupation of most domestic cats. Tugger likes to sit on my lap, and yesterday we watched together the film, "The Battle of Britain." Sir Lawrence Olivier played Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding, the man responsible for masterminding the second world war air battle over eastern England. Tugger was very impressed with the acting and purred his way through the film.
Tiger on the table. (Naughty cat!)
Both cats have the run of the conservatory, and outside, just viewed to the left, is a lovely flowering Magnolia tree. One the table is my book, "The Old Man and the Sea" in which I am reading in German at the moment in our German conversation group.
Tugger sleeping on the sofa and Tiger coming through the door looking for more food. These cats look identical, but now I can recognise lopsided Tugger very easily.
Posted by Vicki M at Monday, March 26, 2012 No comments:
A "Blot on the Landscape" and the new "Jubilee Wood."
The former Devizes Law Courts.
These two photos show the sad state of the once lovely Grade 11 listed 19th century Devizes Law Courts and County Police Office. Built by T H Wyatt in 1835, it consists of a symmetrical group of Bath stone buildings in the Grecian style. It has a high central portico, with four Ionic columns on a stone base, which is approached by five stone steps between rectangular stone bastions. The columns carry a complete entablature and pediment with a carved Coat of Arms in tympanum. It is a tradegy that his building is being allowed to fall into dereliction, and has been in this state for many years. It is regularly vandalised and the stone is suffering from frost damage. Very sad.
The magnificent Portal of now derelict Law Courts.
Various attempts have been made to turn this building into residential appartments, and several planning applications have been granted. However, for one reason or another, the owner of the property seems unable to put the building to sensible use. What a waste of a lovely building, which would make a lovely theatre and arts centre for the people of Devizes.
Newly planted trees in Jubilee Wood at Caen Hill.
The year makes the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth 11, and will be celebrated over the weekend of the 2nd - 5th of July. As part of this celebration the nation is planting new woodland, encouraging children, parents, schools and many organisations to plant new trees. The photo above shows the wood planted on land owned by British Waterways at the bottom of Caen Hill. Over a series of weekends many local people turned out with spades to plant the trees.
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, 2012
www.royal.gov.uk/.../TheQueensDiamondJubilee2012
Avebury and the River Kennet.
Avebury Church is viewed here through the Lychgate, so named as the place where the coffin containing the dead body (lych) would enter the churchyard. Lych originates from the middle English word liche, a dead body or a corpse. In German the word is Leiche, not so different from the English. We walked from here to see "Adam and Eve," two standing stones that once formed part of a stone avenue that led to the great stone circle. A village once stood in the middle of the stone circle, but when John Lubbock, later Lord Avebury purchased the manor and land in ca 1850, he encouraged future homes to be built outside the circle, in an attempt to preserve the site. A new village called "Avebury Trusloe" was established nearby. Alexander Keiller acquired the land in the early 1900's and began excavating the site. He re erected the stones, dug out the ditches and re established the site into what is now a World Heritage Site. It is a most interesting and spiritual place.
"Adam," left with the big nose, and "Eve" to the right.
The waterless bed of the River Kennet.
The photo above was taken in April 2012, and shows the dried up bed of the River Kennet, a once crystal clear, brisky flowing stream containing much wild life. Below, photographed in February 2010 from almost the same spot is the former stream.
The swiftly flowing River Kennet in February 2010.
At the moment England is experiencing a severe drought, having had a very dry winter for the second year running, which has left many streams and ponds completely dry. Wildlife experts are concerned about the survival of frogs, rare toads, fish and plant life that depend on little streams and ponds for their survival. It is a sad to see it waterless and desolate.
We are walking here towards "Windmill Hill" a neolithic hill camp. On top of the hill are three "Bell Barrows," burial mounds in which ancient man buried his dead. This whole area of Wiltshire contains many prehistoric sites, and the ancient people who lived here must have depended on the River Kennet for their water.
Posted by Vicki M at Thursday, March 22, 2012 No comments:
Marlborough College Choral Society singing "Messiah" on Sunday March 18th 2012.
It was a wonderful occasion and one I will always remember. I am standing to the right, in the third row from the front of the sopranos at this end.
Posted by Vicki M at Tuesday, March 20, 2012 No comments:
Singing the "Messiah" in Marlborough College Chapel.
At Saturday afternoon´s rehearsal.
Our performance of this great work by GF Händel was wonderful, a magnificent sound filled the airy space of the college chapel. The photo right, shows the heavenly blue ceiling above the high altar. We had a hard day of singing, a two hour rehearsal in the afternoon, followed by another two hours of singing in the performance itself. In the afternoon we tried to conserve our voices, but alas, it is not easy to sing the "Messiah" half heartedly. The performance began at 7.30pm and finished at 9.45pm by which time, many of us had sore, croaky throats. The four soloists were excellent, particularly the tenor, who moved into the audience to sing his message to them. The young soprano had the voice of a bell, and the bass was full of sound a fury. I have sung this work so many times, and each time I notice something new about the music, some nuance in the phrasing or words that I had not seen or thought about before. The whole occasion was a great success, and now we must all wait until next October before we find out what music we will sing at Easter 2013.
The view from the sopranos of the altos sitting opposite, with the harpiscordist preparing his music. In the aisle the orchestra is tuning up.
Just after the interval, Simon our conductor prepares for the second half, and the tenor and bass soloists take their seats.
The Bear Hotel in Devizes.
The facade of The Bear, with a little black bear holding a bunch of grapes standing over the portico.
Devizes has its fair share of pubs and hotels, and one of my favourites is this former coaching inn that stands in the Market Place. It has a long history as a meeting place for local businessmen and as an inn for travellers en route from London to Bath, Bristol and the West Country. The first records state that John Sawter was the landlord in 1559, but it is presumed that a hostelry exisited on the site long before that date.
A view of the Market Place from the bay window of the hotel.
The hotel has hosted many famous travellers including King George 111 and his wife Queen Charlotte and other members of the royal family, famous actor and actresses and politicians en route for Bath. Bath became popular as a place to "take the waters" and in the late 18th century, the coach route from London became busy with weathly travellers, who were targeted by highwaymen, keen on relieving them of their valuables. The Bath Road was eventually diverted to take the safer route through Devizes, and during this period, the inn became a popular coaching hotel, providing comfortable accommodation for travellers and stabling for the horses. Jane Austen, the famous authoress, recorded her visits to The Bear in her diaries, as she travelled from Kent into Bath. The hotel now provides the most splendid and expensive accommodation in Devizes! The coffee is good though!
The comfortable front saloon bar.
The hostelry was run from 1773 to 1781 by Thomas Lawrence, the father of Sir Thomas Lawrence the famous painter. Several of his paintings can be viewed in the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. A full history of the hotel can be read at: www.thebearhotel.net click Home, then History.
The Canal and Old Railway Track from Seend to Devizes.
Marsh Lane Bridge
Friday's walk took us along the towpath from Seend to Devizes, with a short diversion onto the old railway line that once linked Chippenham via Devizes to Lydeway and to trains for London. I have friends who remember travelling to Chippenham on the train many years ago. The day was overcast but dry, and the photo right, shows us at Marsh Lane Bridge, which has two arches, one for the canal, and the other for a rail track that once ran along the towpath. This little track allowed horses to pull brick filled wagons up Caen Hill, when the locks was being constructed. This flight of 29 locks is the second longest in Britain, and the "Fifth Wonder of the British Waterway system."
The group walking along the line of the old railway that closed in 1966.
We walk here along the line of the old railway track, now used as path, and in many parts of Britain, old railway lines have become long distance paths. Fortunately the paths are flat, and I now appreciate a flat walk with a nice pub at the end. We had lunch in the "Black Horse," a cosy pub, which was recently renovated after a severe fire in 2011 destroyed its roof, kitchen and bars. The pub is owned by "Wadworth" the famous Devizes brewery. Cheers!
Peering over the line of the demolished railway bridge at Lower Foxhangers, which took the line over the canal.
Posted by Vicki M at Wednesday, March 14, 2012 No comments:
A Walk around Drew's Pond Nature Reserve in Devizes.
The group admires the flowering Blackthorn tree.
Tucked away in a quiet corner of Devizes is "Drew's Pond" a nature reserve nestling in a small dip in the hills. There are several springs here, and a large pond has formed, which, during the last century, fed the streams that drove the many watermills in the area. It is a verdant, tree covered place of great beauty, where the birds sing and wild flowers and ferns bedeck the ground. At bluebell time, a carpet of blue, with yellow celendine, covers the woodland. Part of this wood was once the burial ground of the nearby "Roundway Hospital," a huge institution which has now been converted into apartments and houses. Green Lane hospital was built nearby to replace some of the psychiatic services onced housed in the old asylum.
Many former hospital staff and patients were buried here in unnamed graves. In 1993 the Bishop of Salisbury gave permission for 800 trees to be planted as a memorial to the dead. At this time of year the snowdrops are blooming, soon to be followed by the bluebells and celendine. An old drover's road from Potterne to Devizes runs through the lower half of the reserve, and a small ale house once stood along the track, so that the drovers's could buy themselves a pint on their travels. Cheers!
Tombstone marking an unknown grave. In the last century many woman who had babies out of wedlock, found themselves locked up in asylums. Some spent their whole lives hospitalized.
Rangebourne Mill, one of many water mills that were once driven by water collected in Drew's Pond.
Moonlight over Silbury Hill.
On the A4, the old Bath Road and driving towards Marlborough, I detected a distant piece of cheese floating in the sky above Silbury Hill. No! It was the moon shining brightly in the cold night sky, accompanied by crystal clear Venus and a disappearing Jupiter, all three bound for infinity. What a wonderful spectacal and thankfully no cloud to block the view. Magnetic storms from the sun are heading towards planet Earth, and it would be nice to glimpse the "Aurora Borealis" from southern England, although I expect we are too far south and cloud will block the view.
The organ in the College chapel.
We were on our way to a choral workshop and organ recital at Marlborough College, this time given by Adrian Lucas, the organist from Worcester Cathedral. He performed a varied programme of music, from C P E Bach, the son of J S Bach, to 20th century composers. He performed "Fiesta" by Iain Farrington, six short descriptive pieces about dances, celebrations, converstions and song. "Sweet Sixteenths" by William Allbright was based on themes from the music of Scott Joplin. I have never heard jazz played on an organ before, the sounds were very exciting and extremely noisy. I do like modern music for the organ, not something I ever expected say.
Moonlight over Marlborough.
A Twinning Dinner in the Town Hall.
Devizes Town Hall built ca 1820
Some words here about last week's twinning dinner in Devizes Town Hall, beautifully built in the early 1800's using Bath stone which became readily available as a building material when the Kennet & Avon Canal opened in 1810. The canal runs from Bristol's River Avon to Bath in the west and on to Newbury, where it links up with the canalised River Kennet. Devizes businessmen fought long and hard for the canal to come through the town, as its original course would have taken it around Caen Hill. John Rennie, the canal engineer, intended building a contour canal, one that avoided building expensive locks the take a canal up hill, and as Devizes stands on the top of Caen Hill, many locks would be needed. The Devizes businessmen achieved their wish, and Rennie was faced with the prospect of building a flight of 29 locks to bring the canal up Caen Hill.
I like to think of John Rennie, sitting on his horse at the bottom of Caen Hill, looking upwards and thinking, "Oh dear, must I really take this expensive route?" Luckily clay for the thousands of bricks needed to build the locks was readily available at the bottom of the hill. I digress! The top photo shows the facade of the Town Hall, and our dinner was held in the grand reception room on the first floor.
The Twinning group dining under the painted ceiling in the grand reception room.
Devizes is twinned with the German town of Waiblingen, Mayenne in France and with Tornio, a town in Finland. Last week the members of the German and French twinning associations enjoyed their annual dinner and get together. I am a member of the Devizes/Waiblingen group and sat down to a two course meal, sitting around a table of 10, chatting and generally having a good time. The Town Council website gives more general information and photos of Devizes. www.devizes-tc.gov.uk/
A portrait of the Hanoverian King George 1V graces the wall, with a similar large painting of his wife,
Queen Caroline of Brunswick, whose tomb I have visited in Braunschweig Cathedral.
History of the Monarchy > The Hanoverians > George IV
www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/.../georgeiv.aspx Cached
The painted ceiling, supposedly a copy of the ceiling in Bath Town Hall and complete with chandeliers. This ceiling was restored a few years ago, after it had become completely stained brown by cigarettes and cigars smoked during civil occasions. Thank goodness smokers now have to seek a puff somewhere else.
Organ Music in the Chapel at Marlborough College.
High altar in the Chapel, with the organ pipes (left)
The music department at Marlborough College hold organ recitals every year, and last week I listened to works by Louis Nicolas Clerambault (1676 to 1749) a French composer, and also to music by the modern French composer Pierre Cocherau (1924-1984.) I am realising that I enjoy modern organ music, which at times is discordant, but which has huge sounds, joyful at times, sometimes threatening and always very exciting. Last year in the Kaiserdom in Königslutter near Braunschweig, I heard the most amazing music by Baptiste Dupont, "Improvisation über ein gegebenes Thema," Improvisations on given Themes. This work sounded like an industrial city starting up in the early morning fog. The engines whirled, clanged and banged, the whistles blew, valves and pistons hissed open, blew their tops and closed, and at the end of the day all gradually shut down, until a final whistle spluttered into silence.
The "new" Marlborough College Chapel, dedicated to St Michael and All Angels was consecrated on 29th September, 1886 by the Bishop of Salisbury. It was erected on the site of the old chapel, and was built at a cost of £31,000 by Stephens & Barstow and under the direction of architects, George Bodley and Thomas Garner. The organ was restored circa 2006, the contract for its rebuild going to "Beckerath" of Hamburg. The chapel is a wonderful place in which to sing, and our spring concert is held here every year. This year we are singing "Messiah" by Händel.
Mural of "The Woman at the Well" painted circa 1880
Three of the murals that surround the chapel walls.
A series of 12 large murals by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Spencer Stanhope adorn the walls. They depict Biblical scenes involving angels, six on the north side from the Old Testament and a similar number on the south from the New Testament. Other artistic features of note are the Scholars' Window on the south side (a green window featuring two boys, which was designed by Burne-Jones and made under the direction of William Morris) and Eric Gill`s sculpture of "The Virgin and Child" outside, above the West Door. The ceiling of the apse is a bright, heavenly blue, and just visible at the top in the first photograph.
Vicki M
Devizes, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Still alive and kicking, and enjoying spending the winter months in Little England and the summer in Braunschweig, Germany. I have one life which I attempt to live with zest and enthusiasm, although I do get very tired. I suffer from the delusion that I'm only 40 years old and will never grow up. "Adventure before Dementia" is my motto. I am engaged in a continual battle with the German language, a battle, which I´m glad to say, I´m now winning.
A "Blot on the Landscape" and the new "Jubilee Woo...
Marlborough College Choral Society singing "Messia...
Singing the "Messiah" in Marlborough College Chape...
The Canal and Old Railway Track from Seend to Devi...
A Walk around Drew's Pond Nature Reserve in Devize...


Kahu – Rev. Dr. Alan Akana has been our Kahu (Pastor) since February 2014. He was born and raised on the San Francisco Peninsula where his family settled from the Island of Hawaii in the late 1950's. Dr. Akana is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. A graduate of Palo Alto High School, he received his Masters of Divinity (1990) and Doctor of Ministry (1999) degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. He has spent 26 years in parish ministry in Hawaii, Montana, Utah, Texas, and California.
Dr. Akana also spent 6 years working full-time as a consultant to faith-based organizations, leading feasibility studies and capital fund campaigns. He is also an accomplished artist and published author, and enjoys writing, reading, water coloring, and spending time outdoors.
Koloa Union Church hosts a gallery featuring the works of Kahu (Pastor) Alan Akana. The gallery is just around the corner from the church at 3281 Waikomo Road in the historic Smith Memorial Parsonage, a beautiful building on the grounds formerly owned by Congregationalist missionaries. Proceeds from sales at the gallery support the maintenance, upgrades and repairs of the parsonage. Dr. Akana has been watercoloring the flowers of Hawaii since 1993 and features his work of nearly a quarter of a century. Gallery hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. See www.alanakanagallery.com to learn more about the gallery and Dr. Akana's art.
The revised edition of Dr. Akana's book is now available: The Volcano Is Our Home: Nine Generations of a Hawaiian Family on Kilauea Volcano (Bloomington: Balboa Press, 2016). Signed copies are available at Koloa Union Church and at Alan Akana Gallery. A portion of the proceeds from sales go to a fund to improve and maintain the church's buildings and grounds. For more information, visit www.thevolcanoisourhome.com.
Administrative Assistant – Penny Osuga is a 3rd generation member of Kōloa Union Church, following in the footsteps of her parents and grandparents. She enjoys flower gardening and spending time with her grandchildren. Penny has been our Administrative Assistant since 2007. She is in the office from 8-noon Monday through Thursday.
Director of Music – Kathleen Dahill has a B.S. in theater education and a wealth of experience writing and arranging music, as well as accompanying and leading musical groups. She has won several musical awards, including a Mokihana Award for best new Hawaiian song. Kathleen is available during the week by appointment.


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Hey, all. Omari Daniels here. Just a guy who enjoys television and film- and does long recaps because his mind just goes all over the place.
A Look at Fargo- Season 1, Episode 7: "Who Shaves the Barber?"
Posted on May 29, 2014 by omarid513
Last week's explosive ending left us with many questions: what would become of Deputy Solverson's fate? Would Lester successfully set Chaz up for murder? How would Malvo react to almost being caught?
This episode had the task of answering those questions, but also progress the storyline without dwelling too much on last week's episode. What we got was a solid episode that, above all things, showed the further evolution of Lester's character as he slips into madness. Additionally, Malvo's thirst for revenge has no bounds and Solverson slowly realizes she may be one of the few rational and sane police officers in maybe the entire state.
The episode begins in a hospital as Gus Grimly awaits the news of Molly Solverson's fate.
Juxtaposed against this are Chaz, Kitty and Gordo having breakfast. Before heading off to school, Gordo grabs his backpack, unaware of what's inside.
When Gordo arrives at school, two of his classmates roughhouse and knock over Gordo's backpack. A gun slides out from the backpack and across the floor. That's not how show-and-tell works, Gordo.
Back at the Nygaard residence, a knock at the door interrupts Kitty's vacuuming. Bill and other officers arrive with a search warrant. Kitty calls Chaz at his job with the news that Gordo's been arrested and that cops are searching their home.
Chaz arrives just in time to find Bill opening his gun stash and find the damning evidence that implicates him for the murder of Pearl Nygaard.
So let's go to the other Nygaard brother for a moment. Lester sits in holding until Bill arrives. Bill, not Molly. Lester wonders why she isn't present- hey, if she's on your case, consider this a blessing, Lester- but since she was, you know, shot, she's unable to be present for this. Lester puts on his best performance and is completely and utterly shocked to know about the items found in Chaz's home.
Bill sympathizes with him, he really does. He knows that Lester has pined for Pearl since their school days. But Lester is just distraught at this news. As he tells Bill, what happened is that he knew that Pearl and Chaz were having an affair, but he loved her too much to do anything about it.
On that fateful night, he heard Pearl tell Chaz that he's not even half the man his brother is. Lester wanted to say something, but he was just so doggone afraid. Bill lets Lester know that if Chaz is guilty, he'll have the book thrown at him.
As Lester leaves, Chaz watches and rages at his brother from his cell. Lester just smiles in silent triumph.
We then flash back to last week's snowstorm. Molly navigates through the blizzard and comes face to face with Lorne Malvo for a split second before something else grabs her attention. She fires two shots and downs someone, but then someone downs her.
Solverson awakens to find Greta in her face. Sheesh, Greta, personal space, much? Gus has his daughter leave the room before he fills Molly in: Malvo escaped and the assault rifle-wielding man she shot is in intensive care. He then admits to shooting Molly by accident in the middle of a blinding snowstorm.
Oh, and she's down a spleen, so there's that unfortunate news, too. Gus suspects there will be an inquiry later, meaning that he'll lose his badge after confessing to shooting a fellow officer. Molly doesn't take it too hard. After all, she could just as easily have shot Gus. Hell, she probably would have been a better shot, too.
Lester returns to his residence and calls a cleaning service about tidying up his home. He gets far enough to mention that there's blood in the home before the cleaning provider hangs up the phone.
In Reno, Nevada, we revisit Mr. Rundle, played by Brian Jensen, as he heads to Rundle Realty. He's unable to sit in his office chair, though.
It's a bit occupied. Lorne Malvo would like to know why Rundle has a pin in every state except for Georgia. Well, Rundle had a Korean wife who spit on him during sex. Not sure what that has to do with Georgia, but we'll just accept that for now. Malvo then inquires as to how someone managed to find him. Rundle denies any involvement. He's also not about to get involved with someone's private affairs, and if someone is coming after Lorne Malvo, then it's personal.
So Malvo leaves Rundle with two options: between the two of them sit two phones. One calls an ambulance and the other calls a hearse.
We don't know what Rundle chose, but we do hear a woman scream as Malvo leaves Rundle Realty.
Back at the hospital, Molly meets with the man she shot, who turns out to be Mr. Wrench. Of course, since he's deaf and doesn't have Mr. Numbers to translate for him, their conversation doesn't go very far. Despite the possibility of jail time, Mr. Wrench won't cough up any information that Molly may need.
While Chaz is transferred to county jail until the trial or he makes bail, the happier Nygaard brother heads back to work and is ready to start anew. Unfortunately, there's bad news: Gina Hess' claim is being denied because Sam Hess stopped paying the premiums on their policy. While saying this over the phone would be safer, Lester offers to do it in person. How thoughtful.
Gus arrives at Solverson's room with flowers, only to find her drawing a literal crime web that connects everything that's happened in the past few days. Granted, all of this is based on hunches, but Molly figures that Hess' company was tied to organize crime. When he was killed, someone in Fargo sent Mr. Numbers and Mr. Wrench to find out who killed him.
And if Lester had been bullied by Hess and then met up with Malvo, there's a possibility that Lester hired Malvo to kill Hess. But to cover up his tracks, Lester then sent Numbers and Wrench after Malvo, which would mean Lester knew that Malvo was in Duluth. Bit of a stretch. Lou arrives to take Molly home, but Molly tells Gus to keep his chin up. After all, they're winning.
We then cut to Fargo, North Dakota and are introduced to Federal Agents Bill Budge and Webb Pepper, played, respectively, by Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key. And if I didn't know any better, I'd think this was a sketch from Key & Peele, because they are, right now, probably the worst federal agents ever, as they discuss sandwiches and random experiments instead of maintaining their focus on the Fargo mob they're monitoring.
They also don't notice Lorne Malvo walk pass them, in plain sight, with a machine gun in tow and enter a building where he massacres everyone in sight. All right, one ends up through a window and onto the pavement.
And only then do Agents Budge and Pepper pay attention. When local police arrive on the scene, they try to explain the scene, but Malvo is able to make his escape.
Lester heads to the Hess household, where Gina awaits him. She's home alone, as her sons are at a game she couldn't be bothered to attend. She drinks to her incoming fortune, but Lester tells her that there are a few more things to work out. He tries to warm up to Gina and avoid explaining the reality of the situation.
So yeah, they screw and Lester gets the ultimate payback on Sam Hess.
Lou drives Molly to the police department and she comes in to talk to Bill, but he's not there. The woman there lets her know that the case is close to being open and shut: Chaz Nygaard has been arrested for the murders.
Solverson heads out and snow starts to fall as a mix of anger and sadness wash across her face. I can't help but wonder if she realizes she's surrounded by idiots.
How do I sum up the general trend of this episode? Maybe descending into madness works due to the losses characters face. Fargo has shown us that it only takes a moment to turn the mundane into crazy. Malvo has been able to bring out the crazy, darker sides in people that had been buried within them all their lives, sort of like the alien symbiote from the Spider-Man series.
The episode also focused on how good characters like Gus and Molly strive to maintain their humanity when coming up against a force they don't fully understand- a man who believes in a world without rules. This belief clashes against the police force, which is obligated to its core to abide by rules. So much so that Bill is just happy that the gun Gordo brought to school wasn't loaded.
We want to assume the best in people and believe that they are, at their core, good, but Malvo's mere existence challenges this notion not just through his actions, but bringing out the worst of those around him. Much like the shotgun pellet in Lester's hand, Malvo has infected those with good intentions to commit horrible actions and driven them to desperate acts. Or, in the case of Chaz, they're dragged into situations they wanted no part in.
Lester is becoming what Malvo drove him to and he's becoming a man who lives by no rules. As of now, he believes that he's escaped justice by painting himself as the victim through his strong sob story. His entire 'confession' was well acted by both Martin Freeman, but also Bob Odenkirk as the cop who just wants to believe the good in Lester, but also have someone validate his drifter theory.
Chaz said last week that Lester isn't right in the world, and he's probably right, so Lester is removing himself from the world by believing he's a man who can't be caught. He believes what he's doing is perfectly fine. Sure, there's something to be said about a man who frames his brother for the murder of his wife and then goes to have sex with the wife of the bully who tormented him.
However, that'd be putting things in our idea of a civilized world. Lester doesn't see the world we do anymore. But rather than be super crafty about it, he's digging his way out of one situation and into another while still making careless mistakes, as I'm sure Gordo remembers his brief run-in with Lester and Chaz knows that Lester wasn't kidding when he talked about being abducted. Oh, and punching a police officer just to get yourself arrested wasn't exactly smart, either.
In his own world, Lester is untouchable, but I can't help but wonder if he feels he deserves the reward of having sex with Gina Hess or, for now, escaping justice. He's the happiest he's been in a long time, so he's reaping the benefits of being slimy and underhanded. And the picture frame of Sam and Gina Hess falling from the wall was a nicely added visual punch. At this point, even if it's pity sex, Lester sees himself as the victor and nothing can stop him.
And nothing can stop Molly Solverson, either. I've never lost a spleen, but I can't help but wonder if everyone who ever did made as quick of a recovery as Solverson did. However, she was a bit sluggish both in her movement and words. Despite that, her spirit remained undeterred. She's the polar moral opposite of Lorne Malvo and Lester Nygaard in that she believes in a world with rules. Hell, maybe that's how she got this far in her police career without having to shoot someone- she just went by the book.
Again, though, I feel she pieced together the entire matter a bit too fast for my taste since she's relying on guesses. They're smart guesses and she's not far off, but I still find it too convenient for her to get it all right that quickly. She has great detective skills, no doubt, so I must wonder how she hasn't moved higher up the police food chain yet. I would just want to know where she picked up her detective instincts, given how this feels like a small town with little to no crime.
But even after she believes she's pieced the matter together, Lester is still one step ahead of her. Tolman's performance in that final scene was great, as she shows a blend of barely contained rage, sorrow and anguish all at once. She actually can't believe that Lester fooled the other officers that easily. Chances are she is the only competent cop around.
Gus certainly isn't feeling all that competent this week. He wants to do the right thing, but he's so doggone inept. That's not on purpose, but he's trying to do too much on his own. He and Molly plunged blindly into a snowstorm with no idea of what to find, which led to Grimly's mistake. He shows clear remorse for his actions and I did like the direction during the open scene where Grimly sitting in the hospital is played in reverse, as if he wants to undo the past.
Since Gus hasn't had his gun or badge taken away, I assume Molly is the only one who knows that he shot her. That should change, as I hope the two don't just try to brush that aside. This is probably the best chemistry I've seen between Allison Tolman and Colin Hanks, by the way, particularly when Molly tells Gus to keep his chin up. They're two of the few good people in a world filled with evil and they can't help but show the occasional optimism.
Then there's Lorne Malvo, the doer. Thornton is ruthless in his portrayal of this cold killer. He's not unstoppable, as we saw last week, but he's pretty damn durable. We know what he wants because, like his conversation with Mr. Rundle proves, he just flat out says it and doesn't make threats. He promises.
We've seen Malvo murder already that if we didn't see it actually happen, we could still get the full effect. It's what made the machine gun massacre feel more memorable. Things like the woman screaming or the gun clicking instead of firing told us everything that we needed to know as everyone inside the building was helpless to Malvo's machine gun.
But I don't think his troubles are over now that he's murdered the folks who sent Numbers and Wrench after him. The only minor qualm I have with the episode is how Don Chumph's execution isn't mentioned. Sure, it wouldn't have added anything, but given the way he went out, I'm surprised no one in the police department even references it.
As for Key and Peele, I do want to know how useful they'll be at this point in the series' run, given how there are only about three more episodes. I'm sure they'll be funny, no doubt, but I'm interested about their involvement. Great start for them, but I'm looking forward to more.
"Who Shaves the Barber?" was a good follow up to "Buridan's Ass." Lester demoralizing himself to cover his tracks and Malvo killing to survive and stay ahead shows how these two operate through their own subverted morals. Justice has been slightly sidetracked, but like Molly told Gus, the good guys are winning. We'll see.
This entry was posted in Fargo and tagged Adam Goldberg, Allison Tolman, Ari Ziskind, Bill Budge, Bill Oswalt, Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Odenkirk, Brian Jensen, Brian Markinson, Bruce Gold, Byron Noble, Carl Showalter, Carlos Diaz, Catherine Forbes, Chaz Nygaard, Coen Brothers, Colin Hanks, Crocodile Dilemma, dark comedy, Dave Trimble, Don Chumph, Ethan Coen, Eve Marlow, Fargo, Film, Frances McDormand, FX, FXX, Gina Hess, Glenn Howerton, Gordo Nygaard, Gus Grimly, Joel Coen, Jordan Peele, Joshua Close, Kate Walsh, Keegan-Michael Key, Keith Carradine, Kelly Holden Bashar, Kevin O'Grady, Lester Nygaard, Lorne Malvo, Lou Solverson, Martin Freeman, Max Gold, Minnesota, Molly Solverson, Mr. Numbers, Mr. Rundle, Mr. Wrench, Noah Hawley, Oliver Platt, Pearl Nygaard, Phil McCormick, Rachel Blachard, Russell Harvard, Shawn Doyle, Spencer Drever, Stavros Milos, Steve Buscemi, Vern Thurman, Webb Pepper, William H. Macy by omarid513. Bookmark the permalink.
2 thoughts on "A Look at Fargo- Season 1, Episode 7: "Who Shaves the Barber?""
Pingback: Fargo TV Series Who Shaves The Barber Recap | Film Encounters
Ieuan jones on August 11, 2015 at 7:39 pm said:
I what sex


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Climate change: A triple threat for the ocean
Posted on November 15th, 2019
Guest post by Heidi Cullen, MBARI, https://www.mbari.org/climate-change-ocean-threats/
MBARI scientists have seen changes in deep-sea communities over the last three decades. For example, Humboldt squid (Dosidicus gigas) and sergestid shrimp populations appear to be shifting with climate change. Image © 2019 MBARI.
The ocean headlines these past few months have been unsettling.
"Feds declare emergency as gray whale deaths reach highest level in nearly 20 years" (May 31, Monterey County Herald)
"There are so many great whites at Santa Cruz beaches, locals are calling it 'shark park'"(July 17, SFGate)
"'Blob' of warm Pacific water is back—could be trouble for marine life and weather" (Sept. 10, San Francisco Chronicle)
A just-released scientific report connects these and a host of other ocean changes with human activities that take place largely on land. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate marks the first time that the IPCC has written a stand-alone report on the marine realm. It presents a detailed account of the increasingly severe consequences of climate change for the ocean, its trillions of creatures, and, ultimately, ourselves.
The report makes clear that to protect the ocean, we must first reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. But we must also reduce ocean stresses caused by overfishing and pollution, so the ocean is healthy enough to weather the changes already underway.
"The bottom line is that we need the ocean. And right now, the ocean needs us," said Julie Packard, executive director of the Aquarium. "It's not too late to take courageous climate action and safeguard the ocean from further damage."
Our liquid life-support system
The emerging footprint of human influence is increasingly clear—fossil fuel emissions are harming the ocean. Image: Todd Walsh © MBARI 2008.
Decades of scientific research have confirmed that human activities—including the use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial agriculture—are causing climate change. This IPCC special report outlines the ways in which these activities, which release carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, imperil the ocean and everything it does for humankind.
The ocean, too often overlooked, provides life-sustaining services that make Earth habitable for us. The blue expanse that covers 70 percent of our planet's surface produces roughly half of the oxygen we breathe and circulates heat and moisture around the globe, creating the regional weather patterns we depend on to grow our food. The ocean also provides humanity with one-sixth of the animal protein we eat, sustaining coastal communities around the world. In the United States alone, the ocean economy produces more than $280 billion a year in goods and services and supports almost 3 million jobs, including thousands right here in the Monterey Bay area.
Our emissions have raised the global average surface temperature by about 1°C (1.8°F) since the late 1800s. But it could be much worse. The ocean, so far, has absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the climate system since 1970 and about 25 percent of the carbon dioxide we've pumped into the atmosphere since 1870. Without the ocean to put the brakes on climate change, our planet would be roughly 11°C (20°F) warmer today, on average, than it's been over the past century—in other words, largely uninhabitable by people.
Symptoms across the global ocean
The IPCC report details the triple threat of climate change to ocean ecosystems: warming, acidification, and deoxygenation.
The top 200 meters (656 feet) of the ocean have warmed roughly 0.6°C (1°F) since 1870. In 2018, the ocean had its warmest year on record—a trend that increases the likelihood of marine heat waves, harmful algal blooms, wildlife loss, more intense tropical storms, and coral bleaching.
Ocean acidification causes a depletion of carbonate ions, which are critical for shell-forming animals including corals, crabs, clams, oysters, and tiny free-swimming snails called pteropods.
At the same time, the open ocean is losing oxygen. The IPCC report estimates a loss of between 0.5 to 3.3 percent between 1970 and 2010 from the surface to 1,000 meters (0.6 miles). In addition, oxygen minimum zones are expanding, especially in tropical areas.
The impacts on Monterey Bay
Our beautiful blue backyard is not immune to climate change. It too is becoming warmer, more acidic, and depleted of oxygen. These changes put additional stress on marine wildlife, from zooplankton to whales.
The surface of Monterey Bay has warmed about 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1930. This warming has been linked to large blooms of toxic algae—like the one that delayed the Dungeness crab fishing season in 2015. Warming has also prompted range shifts among invertebrates, like some species of snails and anemones, that live in the rocky intertidal areas of Monterey Bay. While there have been several strong El Niño events, including in 2015-16, that have warmed the surface waters off the West Coast of North America over the past 60 years, climate change is boosting these events and making the waters even warmer.
MBARI's research vessel Rachel Carson cruises in Monterey Bay. Even our beautiful blue backyard is becoming warmer, more acidic, and depleted of oxygen. These changes put additional stress on our valuable marine ecosystems. Image: © 2014 MBARI.
Since industrialization, humans have increased atmospheric and surface oceanic carbon dioxide content by approximately 50 percent. Over the last 20 years, MBARI scientists have measured a roughly 2 parts per million per year increase in carbon dioxide in the surface waters of Monterey Bay—the same rate at which it's been increasing in the atmosphere. In that same time period, the bay's acidity has increased by about 10 percent. Recently a team of researchers from MBARI found that carbon dioxide and other pollution from traffic in Silicon Valley and agriculture in the Salinas Valley are changing the chemistry of Monterey Bay, likely making the water more acidic.
In addition, Monterey Bay's oxygen minimum zone—where seawater oxygen levels are the lowest—is getting bigger. Animals that can tolerate low oxygen, like Humboldt squid, seem to be taking advantage of this development, while other animals, such as Sergestes shrimp, are being displaced. These changes, in turn, affect the marine food web and the health of our local fisheries. For example, increased ocean acidity has been shown to make some juvenile rockfish slower and less energetic—which makes it harder for them to escape predators and catch prey.
The ocean is slow to react to atmospheric changes, so even if we stopped emitting greenhouse gases tomorrow, ocean warming would persist for hundreds of years. That's why it's critical that we act now to prevent further stress on the ocean.
We know how to heal the ocean
The picture this new report paints is grim, but the good news is that the solutions are clear. We must take courageous action to slow the pace of climate change and protect our global ocean—starting now. In order to avoid the worst impacts, the IPCC advises, humanity should keep the planet's average warming below 2°C relative to pre-industrial levels.
This requires getting net carbon dioxide emissions down to zero by mid-century. This may be the biggest, most ambitious and most important challenge modern society has ever faced.
Last year, at the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and allied organizations presented the Ocean-Climate Action Agenda, which outlined the critical steps forward, including: protecting and restoring coastal wetlands, establishing and effectively managing marine protected areas, and improving the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture.
At a broad scale, we need to rapidly shift our energy infrastructure to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like solar and wind, developed both on land and in the ocean. We also must conserve our forests and transition to low-emission transportation and agriculture.
At an individual level, each of us can make a difference, too. To reduce our carbon footprints, we can prevent food waste and eat less meat, use energy more efficiently, and fly less often. To support ocean resilience, we can choose sustainable seafood and avoid single-use plastic.
"It's time to double down on our investment in ocean and climate research, technology, and conservation," said Chris Scholin, president and CEO of MBARI. "We are in a race to explore and understand our ocean as it undergoes massive change as a result of human activity. The sooner we act, the healthier our ocean will be."
By Heidi Cullen, MBARI, https://www.mbari.org/climate-change-ocean-threats/
For additional information or images relating to this article, please contact: Kim Fulton-Bennett
831-775-1835, kfb@mbari.org


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Q: Using VaultTemplate with username and password I'm following a Spring Vault tutorial https://docs.spring.io/spring-vault/docs/current/reference/html/index.html and I have successfully connected the Java program with Vault through token access. In the picture below, tab number 1.
VaultTemplate vaultTemplate = new VaultTemplate(endpoint, new TokenAuthentication("MySecretToken"));
How do I instantiate the VaultTemplate using user name and password such as when we login through the Vault WebUI in this option (tab number 2)?:

I'm looking at this JavaDoc, but it's not obvious which one to pick:
https://docs.spring.io/spring-vault/docs/current/api/index.html?overview-summary.html
So in another word: How do I connect with Vault, using spring-vault, using username+password instead of token? Or at the very least, I need a pointer on how to generate a token with username+password

A: As @h3rmanj indicated, Spring Vault does not support username/password authentication because this method is intended for human authentication, not machine-to-machine authentication.
Authentication depends on your threat model and how you can/want to address the exploitation of credentials in case of a breach. With username/password, you basically need to lock the user of a breached account. This is unfortunate as these accounts tend to be associated with people and you would lock out an operator.
If you use AppRole, you get two factors and you can segregate accounts by application type. Using tokens gives you the most flexibility if you do not reuse the token across multiple applications. Reuse is convenient but also if you encounter a breach, you have to take all applications offline that share the same token. So assigning individual tokens comes with the highest flexibility and the highest amount of operational overhead.
Anything in between is a compromise between a reaction to potential breaches and the amount of operational work.
HTH.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Tauranga has scored a major sporting coup at the expense of Napier.
The Bay Oval will be hosting a marquee game, a day-night ODI against England on Wednesday February 28.
"We found out yesterday and it was confirmed today," says Kelvin Green, general manager at the Bay Oval Cricket Trust.
Tauranga's stroke of good luck is Napier's misfortune.


There are two main components to the apartment inspection. First, the inspector will walk through the apartment and review the condition and adequacy of all appliances and mechanical systems, such as electrical service, plumbing, heating and cooling. The inspector will also search for signs of water infiltration, structural concerns, possible code violations (e.g., makeshift wiring) and terrace issues, if applicable. Secondly, experienced inspectors will then do a walk through of the building with the superintendent, in order to check that status of the mechanical systems, as well as the roof, the boiler, the hallways and other areas of the building that are accessible at the time of the inspection. Remember, a fifty-year old building may have fifty-year old problems.
There is always pressure to get a deal done. When an inspection is requested, the buyer often worries that a higher or easier offer will be accepted before the contract is signed. The seller is concerned that the buyer will use the inspection process as a means to renegotiate the purchase price. As you might expect, when there are many suitors for an apartment, adjustments on the price are highly unlikely. Conversely, when an apartment sits on the market for months, an adjustment on the price is a real possibility when a serious issue is discovered.
Time Pressure: If delaying the contract process to get an inspection done will put your deal at risk, you must weigh your desire to purchase the apartment against what might be discovered during an inspection. If you're sure you want the apartment, no matter what might be revealed, then you may have to forego the inspection. On the other hand, if you want to be certain about what you're buying, the inspection has to be considered, irrespective of the time pressures and consequences for delaying the process.
New Construction: If you're buying a condo from a sponsor in a recently completed building, it may make sense for an architect or engineer to review the technical description of the intended construction that is annexed to the offering plan as an exhibit. Comparing the finished product to what was promised in the offering plan, may raise red flags about the quality of the construction and possible problems in the future. Unfortunately, construction issues often come up with new buildings, but problems generally don't surface until several years down the road. In those cases, an inspection will not reveal latent defects. Although past performance is never a guaranty of what will happen on the next condo, knowing your developer's background, including successes and failures, is an important component of due diligence.
Major Renovations: If you're planning major renovations, having an architect or engineer look the place over is a must. What's major? Gutting the apartment, moving plumbing or electrical service from one place to another, rewiring, joining two apartments, renovations that might raise structural issues or any improvements that might involve the Landmarks Preservation Commission--in short, those renovations that go beyond cosmetic improvements like painting and having the floors sanded.
Small Buildings: If you're buying in a building with less than twenty-five units, it's essential to have someone look over the apartment and the building. Since major repairs in a small building will have a significant financial impact on each owner, knowing the physical condition of the building is a prerequisite to going forward with the transaction.
Notice of a Problem: If you're aware of a serious problem that impacted the apartment or the building, having an inspection can give a lot of comfort that the issue has been resolved in all respects. For example, if the apartment has been subject to leaks from the upstairs neighbor's terrace in the past, but you're being told that the problem has been rectified, an inspector may be able to confirm the current condition of the terrace by a visual inspection. Also, when the inspector talks to the super or managing agent, they share the same lingo and sometimes the inspector gets a more in-depth explanation of the problem or of its solution than will be available from a review of the minutes.
Cost: Hiring an inspector is an additional expense that usually ranges from $500.00 to $1,000.00. In complicated situations, that cost could be higher. Don't let the additional expense be the only reason you decline to have the apartment inspected if any of the above scenarios is applicable to your purchase.
The purpose of an inspection is not to kill your deal, but to educate you on the condition of the building as well as your proposed apartment. Buying a co-op or condo may be the biggest investment of your life, so give it the same consideration as you would for any other major acquisition. Think car, not toaster. At the same time, the rough waters of New York City residential real estate transactions require you to act expeditiously to make sure that your great deal doesn't get away.
For more, see my NY1segment on pre-constract inspections with Jill Urban.