text:
Adly Abadir Youssef was born on February 16, 1920 in Assiout, Egypt. In 1961, under Gamal Abdel Nasser, he emigrated with his family to Switzerland. After a most successful professional career as engineer and businessman, Adly Youssef dedicated all of his time and efforts for the poor and persecuted people in Egypt and especially for the Copts. He invested all his energy to fight against the discrimination of the Copts and for their equal treatment and rights.
In 2004 he organized "The first international Coptic Symposium" in Zurich (cf "Copts in Egypt", Zurich 2006; ISBN 3-85710-040-0). Several important international conferences in the United States were to follow.
Adly Youssef had the courage to speak up and to speak about the injustice and the persecution the Copts are suffering from. He raised his voice at a time when everybody was silent. Not only did he raise his voice, but he also gave the Copts a voice and a profile. And above all, he helped the poor.
Adly Youssef died on December 31, 2009 in Switzerland. A great, unique an extraordinary person left us. His voice and his words remain and give us guidance to continue on his path.
Eng. Adly Abadir Youssef
Press Releases
Thursday ,02 February 2012


text:
4,000 blog posts. And no intention of stopping any time soon.
Figured I'd post a pic of my Pumpkinrot scarecrow for the occasion. It's funny, the name Pumpkinrot was around long before I built him. And when I decided to enter a scarecrow into the annual contest, I submitted a description of him (per the instructions of the application) and was stumped when I had to write his name. I labored over a name. Didn't have a clue what to call him.
I had used pumpkinrot for years for my email address, and happened to look up at my inbox while struggling with his name. And it clicked.
The Pumpkinrot Scarecrow.
My site came about in 2003 when I was posting photos to show family, friends, and coworkers photos of my Halloween display. Pumpkinrot.com seemed the perfect name for it. And the blog.
Maintaining the blog has been such a cool way to keep Halloween going every day. It makes me think back to the day when I did my blog updates through my website. I made a page using dreamweaver and I'd delete all of its content the day after each year's Halloween, to start fresh each new year. I think I did that for three whole years of photos and links. What was I thinking?
But looking forward... No end in sight. I keep thinking the Halloween blog-material well will run dry at some point, but there's always something neat out there, and a whole lot of cool people who love Halloween and all things Dark.
Halloween. It's so close now. Can't wait for the weather to break. For the trees to change. For decorations and pumpkins to appear in windows and on porches.
Halloween. The BEST thing ever.
And it's going to be a really neat year.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Four Thousand
37 comments:
- ShellHawk said...
I'm so glad you stuck with it this long! You give us all inspriation, every day, and you also raise the bar on cool, non-animatronic props. If I can convey this in a totally non-creepy-stalker way, you've really changed my life.
Thanks, Rot. You rock! - August 19, 2010 at 1:13 PM
- Rot said...
Hey, thanks : )
(totally not stalker-ish) - August 19, 2010 at 1:15 PM
- bean said...
Amen, love...it IS going to be a neat year.
- August 19, 2010 at 1:20 PM
- Rev. Dr. said...
If I could "LIKE" this post, I would. I've read this blog for a while. Keep up the good work. And I agree with ShellHawk.. it's an inspiration. I look at these pictures and only dream of someday being able to do what you do.
- August 19, 2010 at 1:21 PM
- Anonymous said...
Keep it up..I love it!
Every morning I step outside waiting for that feeling that there has been a change in the winds..I am in PA as well so I am hoping it will happen in next few weeks! - August 19, 2010 at 1:21 PM
- Vintage Seance said...
Congrats! I also can't wait for the whole beautiful season to come about. Your blog is inspirational and always amazing so keep posting Halloween goodness! Enjoy this Halloween and all the fun that comes with it!
- August 19, 2010 at 1:29 PM
- Jon said...
I second ShellHawk's comments. Thanks for this site. It's a source of great inspiration (and occasional mental refuge).
If I can convey this in a totally stalker way, I CAN SEE YOU RIGHT NOW. - August 19, 2010 at 1:29 PM
- Rot said...
And thanks so much, everyone.
I really appreciate it.
It's like a nice little Halloween party. - August 19, 2010 at 1:32 PM
- Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...
Sorry I am late to the party.
That is typical for me. :)
I have to say thank to, definately the inspiration for me blogging and for prop building.
I really cannot and don't want to imagine the blog/haunt world without you.
Thanks to both you and Bean for everything you stand for to us haunters.
Lots of love...it that totaly stalker kind of way :D
Cheers! - August 19, 2010 at 2:28 PM
- Anonymous said...
I hope this isn't stalkerish either, but I love your blog. I check in several times a day to see what neat things you've posted. I can't haunt my house the way I used to because of my little girls, but I don't have to anymore because of Pumpkinrot. Congratulations on 4000, and here's to 4000 more.
- August 19, 2010 at 2:35 PM
- Aron said...
You keep the rest of us going all year when the rest of the world is thinking about Presents, Easter Eggs, and Firecrackers. I can't thank you enough for keeping the Jack-o-Lantern lit all year 'round!!!
- August 19, 2010 at 2:37 PM
- JHMDF said...
Been checking out the page almost every day for a few years now and I plan on doing it until you stop. Your work is very much respected.
- August 19, 2010 at 3:10 PM
- Steve Ring said...
All hail the King of Halloween!!!
- August 19, 2010 at 5:00 PM
- Steve Ring said...
Oops! and the Queen, too...
- August 19, 2010 at 5:02 PM
- Doc said...
(lurker here!)
Rot, ever since I discovered your blog early last year I've been a devoted and nearly daily reader. I often stop by if I am in need of a mental pickmeup. You know, your photos, links and descriptions provide such inspiration and joy to us all.
Just wanted to say how much I appreciate you keeping the Pumpkinrot blog alive. I really look forward to reading it for long to come!
May this impending autumn season be filled with mouldering leaves underfoot, woodsmoke in the chill air, a decent Martha Stewart Halloween edition, flickering candles and plenty of musty old pumpkins. ;) - August 19, 2010 at 5:05 PM
- Jason-v said...
I agree!!! I have looked at your site everyday for the past 3-4 years when i saw your banner in your sig when you were posting at CGP with Terry.
You have given me lots of inspiration.. and while on the subject do you still have that pic that you photoshopped of sleepy hollow with the horseman using terrys headless mask. If i remember you had two pictures, one with the horseman putting the headless mask on, and one with ichabod and horseman with the tree of the dead in the back?? If so post them!! - August 19, 2010 at 5:26 PM
- Sara said...
Congrats on such a successful blog! :) SO HAPPY I found this site. Thanks for giving so much time to it.
- August 19, 2010 at 5:40 PM
- Anonymous said...
In agreement with everybody else. I have always loved Halloween for as long as I can remember. I have only done the decorating inside my house but never did anything outside but a few lights. Your site ended up giving me that big extra push to start doing things outside!
Thanks for the inspiration (now that my neighbors think I am evil and insane) and I'm sure you got at least another 4,000 more to go!
( Yes, I am stalking you, I'll admit it.....HAHAHAHA! Soon you both will be mine! >:) - August 19, 2010 at 5:41 PM
- Anonymous said...
I can't remember how I found your blog.
I check your blog every am first thing...I really enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures.
I am scared that you won't update it...for a long time...and then you and Bean will go away...you'll leave the internet a very cold, sad place.
Thanks Mr. Rot! Please keep Halloween in your perspective alive for a very long time! - August 19, 2010 at 6:09 PM
- Christina said...
I LOVE your blog..please don't ever stop :) I've read it from beginning to end and it is awesome! I love all the pics and inspiration. I'm so glad I found this place :)
The weather here in Vancouver is cloudy, drizzly and super chilly right now. The high on Saturday is only supposed to go up to 14 (58 degrees). we just got over a massive heatwave so this weather is amazing and very fall like. - August 19, 2010 at 6:13 PM
- MoridMariah said...
I too would like to jump on ShellHawk's bandwagon. :) Your site and your work is fabulous. And it really helps me to keep that Halloween Buzz going. You keep blogging, and we'll all keep on following!
- August 19, 2010 at 6:22 PM
- Rot said...
Wow. Really REALLY can't thank you guys enough.
Really. - August 19, 2010 at 6:31 PM
- Unknown said...
Keep up the great work! Both of you :)
Even my kids enjoy looking at your work! - August 19, 2010 at 9:39 PM
- Anonymous said...
I'm glad you have no intention of stopping because you are one of the bloggers that is essential for Operation: Save LJ's Sanity the the other 364 days of the year!
- August 19, 2010 at 9:49 PM
- NoahFentz said...
I can remember when PerfesserEvil(I think) first posted your link to the Halloween-l List back in 2003. I thought every haunter was on the List but here was this hidden treasure out there in the Halloween world. Cool name, amazing photography, earthy props, Halloween lover...I found myself going back to your website viewing and enlarging each photo, disecting...Each year got better. Not to mention the scarecrows.
AND then you came out with your blog....
its ALIVE! ITS ALIVE!! - August 20, 2010 at 12:46 AM
- K.O. said...
CONGRATULATIONS on 4000 posts!!!! Wow, that is truly an accomplishment. Keep 'em coming!
And you know what? Your blog IS a "way to keep Halloween going every day"--for all of US too. Thank you for that. - August 20, 2010 at 1:03 AM
- Mr. Chicken said...
nothing new being said here, but I'm so glad you've kept with it so long and so consistently! I make a point of checking in every day to see what's new. Your passion for Halloween and appreciation for all things October are really inspiring.
Here's to another 4,000! - August 20, 2010 at 1:59 AM
- Rot said...
Thanks so much.
The coolest blog readers in the world. : ) - August 20, 2010 at 6:42 AM
- Autumnleaf said...
Thank you Rot and Bean for a great inspirational blog....I too check in every day to see what is posted. May you have 4,000 more!!!
ps...how's your pumpkin growing? - August 20, 2010 at 10:10 AM
- Rot said...
We have some promising pumpkins in the garden. Two gourds have gotten really large, and we have a few pumpkins that look like they're going to make it. A damned squirrel took a bite out of one of our smaller pumpkins - it had already started to turn orange.
(so we bought some stuff to keep critters away)
I'll have to take photos this weekend. - August 20, 2010 at 10:14 AM
- Josh said...
Thanks so much for this great blog, and all the inspiring work that goes into it.
Anything that can keep my in the Halloween spirit year round is a wonderful thing. - August 20, 2010 at 11:32 AM
- Anonymous said...
I'm late to the party, too, but you and Bean are my King and Queen of Halloween. And like so many others, your blog is how I start off my day every day.
<3 Totally and stalkerishly <3 - August 20, 2010 at 11:53 AM
- Jerry said...
Congratulations on turning 4000! This blog and your creepy works of art (one of which I will own one day) are simply amazing and inspirational. You help us celebrate Halloween 365 days a year, and for we are eternally grateful.
- August 20, 2010 at 1:26 PM
- amy said...
I start and end my day, every day, with checking your blog. THANK YOU -amy
- August 20, 2010 at 1:41 PM
- RebelShade said...
Rot, I believe the reason we all love your blog so much is that you are so in tune with the magic of halloween. The details... It alows us maybe just for moments a day to "visit" halloween. You always capture the minute things that make halloween what it is and dust our days with it. Thank you for that :)
- August 20, 2010 at 6:59 PM
- The Gill-Man said...
Well, let me just throw my congrats in as well! I first discovered your website, then later your blog. If I miss a day, then I have to go back and catch up on what I missed. In the words of Alice Cooper, you are "keeping Halloween alive, 365", which is great for all of us Autumn people. By reading your blog I get my Halloween "fix" on all of those less exciting days of the year! Thanks for keeping it going, Rot! We all appreciate it!
- August 20, 2010 at 7:09 PM
- Arcane said...
4000! So cool!
When I think of Halloween, I think of Pumpkinrot and vice versa. This is my favorite website and blog by far. I sincerely wish you continued success of your blog and with all things Halloween. Keep up your amazing work and the continual inspiration Rot! - August 20, 2010 at 8:27 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CSS and Javascript
The easiest way to include CSS and Javascript in your application is to override the #style
and #script
methods, respectively, of your components. These should return static (not generated) string literals containing snippets of CSS or Javascript that will be included as external resources when the page is generated.
For more flexibility, however, you can also create a subclass of WAFileLibrary
. Put your JavaScript code in methods with a name ending with "Js" and your CSS in methods with a name ending on "Css". These are expected to consist solely a returned string literal. When configuring an application, you can add any libraries that have relevant scripts or styles, and all of the code in these libraries will be linked in to every page of the application. By default, applications include WAStandardFiles
; see this class for examples.


text:
Section 20
Revelation on Church organization and government, given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at or near Fayette, New York. Portions of this revelation may have been given as early as summer 1829. The complete revelation, known at the time as the Articles and Covenants, was likely recorded soon after April 6, 1830 (the day the Church was organized). The Prophet wrote, "We obtained of Him [Jesus Christ] the following, by the spirit of prophecy and revelation; which not only gave us much information, but also pointed out to us the precise day upon which, according to His will and commandment, we should proceed to organize His Church once more here upon the earth."
1–16, The Book of Mormon proves the divinity of the latter-day work; 17–28, The doctrines of creation, fall, atonement, and baptism are affirmed; 29–37, Laws governing repentance, justification, sanctification, and baptism are set forth; 38–67, Duties of elders, priests, teachers, and deacons are summarized; 68–74, Duties of members, blessing of children, and the mode of baptism are revealed; 75–84, Sacramental prayers and regulations governing Church membership are given.
1 The arise of the bChurch of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the ccoming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly dorganized and established agreeable to the elaws of our country, by the will and commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called April—
2 Which commandments were given to Joseph Smith, Jun., who was acalled of God, and bordained an capostle of Jesus Christ, to be the dfirst eelder of this church;
3 And to Oliver Cowdery, who was also called of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to be the asecond elder of this church, and ordained under his hand;
4 And this according to the agrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to whom be all glory, both now and forever. Amen.
5 After it was truly manifested unto this first elder that he had received a aremission of his sins, he was bentangled again in the cvanities of the world;
6 But after arepenting, and humbling himself sincerely, through faith, God ministered unto him by an holy bangel, whose ccountenance was as lightning, and whose garments were pure and white above all other whiteness;
7 And gave unto him acommandments which inspired him;
8 And agave him power from on high, by the bmeans which were before prepared, to translate the Book of Mormon;
9 Which contains a arecord of a fallen people, and the bfulness of the cgospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and to the Jews also;
10 Which was given by inspiration, and is confirmed to aothers by the ministering of angels, and is bdeclared unto the world by them—
11 Proving to the world that the holy scriptures are atrue, and that God does binspire men and call them to his choly work in this age and generation, as well as in generations of old;
12 Thereby showing that he is the asame God yesterday, today, and bforever. Amen.
13 Therefore, having so great witnesses, by athem shall the world be judged, even as many as shall hereafter come to a knowledge of this work.
14 And those who receive it in faith, and work arighteousness, shall receive a bcrown of eternal life;
15 But those who aharden their hearts in bunbelief, and creject it, it shall turn to their own dcondemnation—
16 For the Lord God has spoken it; and we, the elders of the church, have heard and bear awitness to the words of the glorious Majesty on high, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
17 By these things we aknow that there is a bGod in heaven, who is infinite and ceternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same dunchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them;
18 And that he acreated man, male and female, after his own bimage and in his own likeness, created he them;
19 And gave unto them commandments that they should alove and bserve him, the only cliving and true dGod, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship.
20 But by the atransgression of these holy laws man became bsensual and cdevilish, and became dfallen man.
21 Wherefore, the Almighty God gave his aOnly Begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him.
22 He asuffered btemptations but gave no heed unto them.
23 He was acrucified, bdied, and crose again the third day;
24 And aascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the bFather, to creign with almighty power according to the will of the Father;
25 That as many as would abelieve and be baptized in his holy name, and bendure in faith to the end, should be saved—
26 Not only those who believed after he came in the ameridian of time, in the bflesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who cspake as they were inspired by the dgift of the Holy Ghost, who truly etestified of him in all things, should have eternal life,
27 As well as those who should come after, who should believe in the agifts and callings of God by the Holy Ghost, which bbeareth record of the Father and of the Son;
28 Which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are aone God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen.
29 And we know that all men must arepent and bbelieve on the name of Jesus Christ, and worship the Father in his name, and cendure in dfaith on his name to the end, or they cannot be esaved in the kingdom of God.
30 And we know that ajustification through the bgrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true;
31 And we know also, that asanctification through the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is just and true, to all those who blove and serve God with all their cmights, minds, and strength.
32 But there is a possibility that man may afall from bgrace and depart from the living God;
33 Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into atemptation;
34 Yea, and even let those who are asanctified take heed also.
35 And we know that these things are true and according to the revelations of John, neither aadding to, nor diminishing from the prophecy of his book, the holy scriptures, or the revelations of God which shall come hereafter by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, the bvoice of God, or the ministering of angels.
36 And the Lord God has aspoken it; and honor, power and glory be rendered to his holy bname, both now and ever. Amen.
37 And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who ahumble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and bcontrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the cname of Jesus Christ, having a ddetermination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their eworks that they have received of the fSpirit of Christ unto the gremission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.
38 The aduty of the elders, priests, teachers, deacons, and members of the church of Christ—An bapostle is an celder, and it is his calling to dbaptize;
39 And to aordain other elders, priests, teachers, and deacons;
40 And to administer abread and wine—the bemblems of the flesh and blood of Christ—
41 And to aconfirm those who are baptized into the church, by the laying on of bhands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures;
42 And to teach, expound, exhort, baptize, and watch over the church;
43 And to confirm the church by the laying on of the hands, and the giving of the Holy Ghost;
44 And to take the alead of all meetings.
45 The elders are to aconduct the bmeetings as they are cled by the Holy Ghost, according to the commandments and revelations of God.
46 The apriest's duty is to preach, bteach, expound, exhort, and baptize, and administer the sacrament,
47 And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to apray bvocally and in secret and attend to all cfamily duties.
48 And he may also aordain other priests, teachers, and deacons.
49 And he is to take the alead of meetings when there is no elder present;
50 But when there is an elder present, he is only to preach, teach, expound, exhort, and baptize,
51 And visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.
52 In all these duties the priest is to aassist the elder if occasion requires.
53 The ateacher's duty is to bwatch over the cchurch always, and be with and strengthen them;
54 And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither ahardness with each other, neither lying, bbackbiting, nor cevil dspeaking;
55 And see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the members do their duty.
56 And he is to take the lead of meetings in the absence of the elder or priest—
57 And is to be assisted always, in all his duties in the church, by the adeacons, if occasion requires.
58 But neither teachers nor deacons have authority to baptize, administer the asacrament, or lay on bhands;
59 They are, however, to warn, expound, exhort, and teach, and invite all to come unto Christ.
60 Every aelder, bpriest, teacher, or deacon is to be cordained daccording to the gifts and callings of God unto him; and he is to be eordained by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in the one who ordains him.
61 The several elders composing this church of Christ are to ameet in conference once in three months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint;
62 And said conferences are to do whatever church business is necessary to be done at the time.
63 The elders are to receive their licenses from other elders, by avote of the church to which they belong, or from the conferences.
64 Each priest, teacher, or deacon, who is ordained by a priest, may take a certificate from him at the time, which acertificate, when presented to an elder, shall entitle him to a license, which shall authorize him to perform the duties of his calling, or he may receive it from a conference.
65 No person is to be aordained to any office in this church, where there is a regularly organized branch of the same, without the bvote of that church;
66 But the presiding elders, traveling bishops, high councilors, high priests, and elders, may have the privilege of ordaining, where there is no branch of the church that a vote may be called.
67 Every president of the high priesthood (or presiding elder), abishop, high councilor, and bhigh priest, is to be ordained by the direction of a chigh council or general conference.
68 The aduty of the members after they are received by bbaptism—The elders or priests are to have a sufficient time to expound all things concerning the church of Christ to their cunderstanding, previous to their partaking of the dsacrament and being confirmed by the laying on of the ehands of the elders, so that all things may be done in forder.
69 And the members shall manifest before the church, and also before the elders, by a agodly walk and conversation, that they are worthy of it, that there may be works and bfaith agreeable to the holy scriptures—walking in choliness before the Lord.
70 Every member of the church of Christ having achildren is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their bhands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name.
71 No one can be received into the church of Christ unless he has arrived unto the years of aaccountability before God, and is capable of brepentance.
72 aBaptism is to be administered in the following manner unto all those who repent—
73 The person who is called of God and has authority from Jesus Christ to baptize, shall go down into the water with the person who has presented himself or herself for baptism, and shall say, calling him or her by name: Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
74 Then shall he aimmerse him or her in the water, and come forth again out of the water.
75 It is expedient that the church ameet together often to bpartake of cbread and wine in the dremembrance of the Lord Jesus;
76 And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this amanner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:
77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this abread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and bwitness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his ccommandments which he has given them; that they may always have his dSpirit to be with them. Amen.
78 The amanner of administering the wine—he shall take the bcup also, and say:
79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this awine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
80 Any member of the church of Christ atransgressing, or being bovertaken in a fault, shall be dealt with as the scriptures direct.
81 It shall be the duty of the several churches, composing the church of Christ, to send one or more of their teachers to attend the several conferences held by the elders of the church,
82 With a list of the anames of the several members uniting themselves with the church since the last conference; or send by the hand of some priest; so that a regular list of all the names of the whole church may be kept in a book by one of the elders, whomsoever the other elders shall appoint from time to time;
83 And also, if any have been aexpelled from the church, so that their names may be blotted out of the general church brecord of names.
84 All members removing from the church where they reside, if going to a church where they are not known, may take a letter acertifying that they are regular members and in good standing, which certificate may be signed by any elder or priest if the member receiving the letter is personally acquainted with the elder or priest, or it may be signed by the teachers or deacons of the church.


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text:
News you can use
PARIS (AP) — France's far-right National Front said Sunday that it plans to sue Madonna after the singer showed a video at a Paris concert that contained an image of the party's leader with a swastika on her forehead.
The video has been shown at other concerts on the singer's tour, and the party has expressed its outrage before, warning that it would take action if the video were shown in France. On Saturday night, Madonna played it at the Stade de France.
National Front spokesman Alain Vizier said Sunday that the party would file a complaint in French court next week for "insults."
Party leader Marine Le Pen is briefly pictured in the video during a montage in which famous faces — or parts of faces — morph one into the next. Soon after Le Pen's face flashes up, Madonna's face follows with Hitler's mustache.
Le Pen, who inherited control of the party from her father, Jean-Marie, has tried to shed the National Front's image as racist and anti-Semitic, especially during her recent failed bid for president. But she has maintained a hard line on immigrants, saying France has too many and criticizing many Muslims, in particular, for insufficiently assimilating into French culture.
Meanwhile, anti-racism group SOS Racisme expressed its support for Madonna on Sunday, commending her for her "resolutely anti-racist and feminist discourse."


text:
Miss Havisham's makeover
London's Dickens Museum, once dusty and dismissed, gets a new look.
LONDON - Charles Dickens' London home has gone from bleak house to great expectations.
For years, the four-story brick rowhouse where the author lived with his young family was a dusty and slightly neglected museum, a mecca for Dickens scholars but overlooked by most visitors to London.
Now, after a $4.8 million makeover, it has been restored to bring the writer's world to life. The house reopened this month, and its director says it aims to look "as if Dickens had just stepped out."
"The Dickens Museum felt for many years a bit like Miss Havisham, covered in dust," said museum director Florian Schweizer, who slips references to Dickens' work seamlessly into his speech. Miss Havisham is the reclusive character central to the plot of Great Expectations.
Now, after a revamp code-named - inevitably - "Great Expectations," the house is transformed.
Or, Schweizer said recently, quoting that novel: "I have been bent and broken, but - I hope - into a better shape."
Few authors remain as widely quoted, read, and adapted as Dickens is 200 years after his birth.
And no writer is more closely associated with London than Dickens, whose accounts of Victorian workhouses, debtors' prisons, and the urban poor embarrassed the establishment into acting to alleviate poverty.
'Learning center'
He lived all over the city in his impoverished youth and increasingly affluent adulthood, but the house at 48 Doughty St. in the Bloomsbury area of London is his only home in the city to survive.
Dickens lived in the house between 1837 and 1839, a short but fruitful period that saw the birth of his first two children.
Dickens leased the simple but elegant Georgian house, built in 1807, for 80 pounds a year.
The restored museum has all the modern trappings, including audio-guides, a "learning center," and a cafe. There also is a temporary exhibition of costumes from Mike Newell's new film adaptation of Great Expectations, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes.
But at its heart it is a house.
Upstairs are the drawing room where Dickens moved guests to laughter and tears with readings from his works - visitors can hear actor Simon Callow do the honors on recordings - and the bedroom where his sister-in-law Mary died at the age of 17, a tragedy that may have influenced the many death scenes in Dickens' novels.
'Like a home'
The rooms are furnished with Dickens' own possessions - his writing desk and chair, his wardrobe and shaving kit, copies of his books annotated in his cramped handwriting.
"We're trying to make it feel like a home," Schweizer said. "As if Dickens had just stepped out."
The museum does not skip over the darker periods of Dickens' life.
On the top floor, the former servants' quarters hold a set of bars from Marshalsea prison, where Dickens' father was imprisoned for his debts, and jars from the boot-polish factory where 12-year-old Charles was sent to work.
The experience of financial insecurity marked Dickens for life, and drove his workaholic quest for success. He wrote more than 20 books, had 10 children, traveled the world on lecture tours, and campaigned for social change until his death at 58 from a stroke in 1870.
The museum's directors have been criticized for shutting the facility during most of the bicentenary of Dickens' birth - and during the tourism bonanza that accompanied the London Olympics.
It reopened in time for a Dickensian Christmas, complete with readings, performances of A Christmas Carol, mulled wine, and mince pies.
The museum hopes to draw 45,000 visitors a year, a 50 percent rise on pre-refurbishment levels. Schweizer thinks Dickens' future has never been rosier.
As evidence, he held up a London newspaper proclaiming news of the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy under the headline "Kate Expectations."
"People still get all the references," he said.


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Vito Roberto holds the chair for Private, Commercial and Business Law, and is the director of the Institute for Legal Studies and Legal Practice.
Areas of Research
Professor Roberto primarily researches Tort Law. He has also published articles and books on other selected topics of Swiss Private Law, mainly Contract and Company Law.
Professor Roberto teaches at graduate and undergraduate level. He is particularly known for co-organising the Assessment level's course «Introduction to Private Law» and the Bachelor level's course «Business Law». Other courses taught include «Tort Law» in the Master's programme.
A list of all currently taught courses can be found in the electronic courses directory.
Other Engagements
Vito Roberto is Of Counsel with Baker & McKenzie, Zurich.


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Nonetheless, it seems to confirm that the marker set influence on TMRCA estimates that Tim Janzen reported and I highlighted is a nuissance even for a relatively young haplogroup. It is also probably consistent with the idea that Y-STR based estimates are suspect because of deviations from the linear model.
The different codes are explained in the supplementary material, but notice the difference between 4.A (the 4 most "linear") and 4.C (the 4 least "linear"). Using a generation length of 31.5 years, these correspond to 8.3ky BP and 2.4ky BP, i.e., a >3-fold difference.
Equally flawed is the inference that R1b1b2 is clinal (Figure 2A). Microsatellite variance is not significantly higher in Turkey than in Europe -- even if one makes the questionable assumption that modern Anatolian Turks are patrilineal descendants of Neolithic Anatolians. The significance of the regression line disappears if 1 or 2 data points are excluded, and the plot has a quite visible "gap" between Turkey and Italy corresponding to the entirety of eastern Europe and the Balkans, i.e. the routes that any putative Neolithic lineages would have entered Europe
"At the moment it's not possible to claim anything about the age of this lineage," he told BBC News, "I would say that we are putting the ball back in the middle of the field."
the homogeneity of STR variance and distribution of sub-types across the continent are inconsistent with the hypothesis of the Neolithic diffusion of the R-M269 Y chromosome lineage.Personally, I've often emphasized the huge (underappreciated) confidence intervals associated with Y-STR based estimates, so I appreciate the "caution" part of the paper. I was reading the Haplogroup R page on ISOGG, and the statement...
Haplogroup R1b1a2-M269 is observed most frequently in Europe, especially western Europe, but with notable frequency in southwest Asia. R1b1a2-M269 is estimated to have arisen approximately 4,000 to 8,000 years ago in southwest Asia and to have spread into Europe from there.... pretty much sums up my views on the subject, although I would add that I consider the most likely place of origin of R-M269 to be in the highlands west and south of the Caspian sea, "complementary" to an early R-M17 distribution in the arc of flatlands north and east of the Caspian.
- The dispersal must be slow, so that variation begins to accumulate at very different dates at the near and far ends of the expansion range
- The number of founder colonists spreading at any stage of the expansion must be very low, otherwise they will carry pretty much all the diversity found in their parent population.
The peopling of Europe and the cautionary tale of Y chromosome lineage R-M269
George B. J. Busby et al.
Recently, the debate on the origins of the major European Y chromosome haplogroup R1b1b2-M269 has reignited, and opinion has moved away from Palaeolithic origins to the notion of a younger Neolithic spread of these chromosomes from the Near East. Here, we address this debate by investigating frequency patterns and diversity in the largest collection of R1b1b2-M269 chromosomes yet assembled. Our analysis reveals no geographical trends in diversity, in contradiction to expectation under the Neolithic hypothesis, and suggests an alternative explanation for the apparent cline in diversity recently described. We further investigate the young, STR-based time to the most recent common ancestor estimates proposed so far for R-M269-related lineages and find evidence for an appreciable effect of microsatellite choice on age estimates. As a consequence, the existing data and tools are insufficient to make credible estimates for the age of this haplogroup, and conclusions about the timing of its origin and dispersal should be viewed with a large degree of caution.


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Millbrae Station
Plans for the Millbrae HSR station, described in the CHSRA's environmental impact documents, call for four tracks to pass through, with two outside platforms. This is shown as Option A in Figure 1 below.
Unfortunately, the incompetent design of the existing Millbrae station (opened in 2003 and billed as the largest multi-model station west of the Mississippi) has squandered much of the space available within the Caltrain right of way. Massive support columns for the expansive station mezzanine have been placed right where you'd want to run extra tracks, and a third platform track at the south end of the station (presumptuously built to terminate some Caltrain services, assuming everyone would want to ride BART into San Francisco) sits unused, with no possibility of continuing north through the station. The photo at right, taken in 2000 during construction, illustrates how a forest of concrete pillars now constrains the right of way.
The total lack of foresight in this design is breathtaking.
To make room for four tracks, the existing southbound platform and part of the mezzanine that it supports (including the ill-placed pillars) may have to be demolished and rebuilt a few dozen feet further to the west.
View Larger Map
Millbrae is an important stop for Caltrain, ranking 5th in ridership, and even higher when counting BART. As a measure of its importance, every Baby Bullet stops there. Assuming one wanted to make Millbrae an important interchange point with HSR, it would make sense to maximize the opportunities for cross-platform transfers. Cross-platform transfers require an island platform between two tracks, allowing passengers to quickly and easily change trains on the same platform. For example, a much-touted cross-platform transfer is already possible between Caltrain and BART in the northbound direction.
With four tracks through the station, a solution that maximizes cross-platform transfers would consist of two island platforms flanking the center pair of express tracks. The existing northbound island platform shared with BART would be preserved. Advantages:
- 4 trains can occupy the station at once (not counting BART)
- Cross-platform transfers between HSR and Caltrain
- Cross-platform transfers between Caltrain local and Caltrain express
- Flexible routing through station under perturbed schedule, which minimizes cascading delays
Option B, to construct new island platforms and preserve the existing BART cross-platform access, increases the station footprint the most. The westernmost track is shifted ~60 feet to the west (vs. ~30 feet for thru configuration), with possible impact to private residences to the north and Millbrae Ave overpass to the south. As in the CHSRA's Option A, most of the station mezzanine and support columns must be reconfigured.
Option D (raised in the very thoughtful comments to this post) calls for converting the westernmost BART track to use by Caltrain / HSR. The way BART is operated, with half the trains terminating at SFO, the Millbrae station is underused. The eastern BART island platform is usually closed to service. With the expected HSR and Caltrain improvements, BART has no chance of being extended past Millbrae. All of these factors support the notion of cutting the BART portion of the Millbrae station from three platform tracks to a more reasonable two.
The biggest advantage of this approach is to preserve the existing mezzanine and platform configuration, without the need for large-scale demolition. The cross-platform transfer to BART (the cherry on the cake!) would be lost, in favor of better cross-platform options between HSR, Caltrain express and Caltrain local services. Option D also has the least encroachment on land to the west of the station, which may ultimately seal the deal.
Constructing Option D would require some reconfiguration of the existing station, such as removing the eastern Caltrain siding track, removing the western BART tail track, reworking the BART subway portal, and probably constructing a physical barrier to separate BART from Caltrain/HSR on the adjacent track.
Another possibility that preserves the existing mezzanine structure is Option C, although it only provides three platform faces for HSR and Caltrain. This option involves routing two new tracks to the west of the existing station, with some of the disadvantages mentioned above.
None of the options discussed here is perfect; all of them have drawbacks because of the suboptimal way the station was originally built. If the city of Millbrae, Caltrain, and the CHSRA are serious about making the Millbrae station live up to its intermodal billing, they should opt for the lesser of all evils (Figure 1 Option D), and not the design currently described in the EIS/EIR documents. While the BART cross-platform transfer (the station's political selling point) would be lost, other advantages far outweigh this loss.
Station Area Development
Whatever the final station configuration, adding two tracks to the Millbrae station will expand its footprint to the west, encroaching on an area locally known as 'Site One,' where the city of Millbrae and private developers desire to build a Transit Oriented Development. Ironically, the developers have claimed that HSR threatens to derail their TOD plans, quite shamelessly undermining their claim to be "Transit Oriented." The people who run Caltrain appear to have capitulated prematurely by promising the developers that HSR can be accommodated within the existing station footprint, an option that even the CHSRA doesn't try to pass off as feasible.
The CHSRA has also penciled in another parking structure for 230-400 cars to the west of the station on Site One, apparently without regard to the existing under-utilized 3,000 space BART parking structure, which has plenty of surrounding land for expansion.
Grade Separations
Most road crossings in Millbrae are already grade separated. A separation at Center St, at the entrance to Marina Vista, remains to be built. This is a constrained location where the BART tunnel box runs immediately to the east of the crossing, which prevents lowering the road.
BART Tracks
The BART to SFO project (which, as built, is much better described as BART to Millbrae) was brought to you by Quentin Kopp, who is now chairman of the High Speed Rail Authority. While Kopp has clearly established a track record in bringing large transportation projects to fruition, his BART extension shows all the signs of having satisfied not just a transportation need, but the raw urge to pour way more concrete than strictly necessary.
A lot of this concrete was poured on, under, and around the Caltrain right of way, constraining it in various unpleasant ways that will come back to bite us (the taxpayer) as HSR is built. The botched Millbrae station discussed above is only the tip of the iceberg. The construction companies won't mind: there's real money to be made in jackhammering old concrete to make room for new concrete.
According to the CHSRA's environmental impact report Appendix 2D for the Caltrain Corridor, the HSR tracks will run through Millbrae at grade, right next to the BART tracks. But after BART was built so expansively into the Caltrain right of way, there isn't a lot of room left to build another pair of tracks. For example, take a look here and here, and think about how to fit in the planned 100-foot, 4-track right of way as shown at left.
NOTE: This post will be updated continuously, as warranted by additional information or new events relating to Millbrae. Last updated 09 December 2008.


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Where is the 800 pound gorilla?
The writings of the apostle Paul are the earliest stream of Christian thinking available to us today. He wrote from circa 50 CE to perhaps the early 60's. Only the epistle to the Hebrews competes with Paul for primacy in time. Paul never wrote a fully developed theology, nor did he offer much description of the history of his exploits, but in his letters addressing issues troubling particular congregations, we can look over his shoulder and get a feel for the situations he was addressing. His insistence that gentiles be admitted to full membership in the synagogues set off a host of issues since many of them brought some of their customs with them.
Among the problems which distressed Paul were sexual immorality, eating food offered to idols, losing hope, improper observance of the supper, observance of holy days, inter-congregational relations, charity, and the understanding of the means of salvation. But no issue dominated his conversation more than that of the inclusion of gentile believers into the congregation without becoming fully observant Jews. Paul fancied himself as the man tasked with converting the gentiles and bringing them into the true Israel of God. His letter to the churches of Galatia, generally considered to be his first, is targeted directly to this issue.
In the Epistle to the congregations of Galatia Paul takes issue with Judaizers, emmissaries from Jerusalem, who are insisting that his converts become fully observant Jews. The initiation rite of circumcision was used as the term standing for adherance to the whole Torah including following kosher rules for eating, ceremonial washing, wearing proper clothing, observing holy days, etc. While some of the gentile converts to Paul's preaching were willing to follow some of the laws of the Torah, some were not. And the biggest issue was that of circumcision itself. This rite of entrance into the covenant with the God of Abraham was obviously not something an adult male would wish to undergo, sans anesthesia. Yet the Judaizers contending with Paul were convincing some of his converts to undergo the procedure and to become subject to all the rules of the Torah. Those who were resistant were under pressure to submit. Paul was apoplectic.
Historical context must be appreciated at this point. It must be remembered that the crisis with the Greek king Antiochus IV was fresh in the mind of every Jew. In the 160's BCE, in his conquest of Judea, Antiochus disallowed circumcision under pain of death. He intended to force his subjects to receive the blessings of his superior Greek culture, and destroying the temple-state culture of the Jews was paramount in his mind. Parents who circumcised their sons on the 8th day were routinely killed. Many followed the prohibition out of fear. Others continued to circumcize and rose in rebellion eventually throwing off the rule of Antiochus and brutally re-establishing proper Torah observance and the necessity to circumcize (commemorated in the festival of Channukah). Many of those who refused circumcision were circumcized forcibly. Others were exiled, many to the region of Galilee. To the Jews, these events were like yesterday. The issues were fresh. The necessity to be fully observant was no longer a question. The requirements were clear and final. The religious police were actively enforcing the rules.
To Paul, this was a crisis of ultimate importance. To his rivals, the argument was foundational. One must be a full Jewish convert in order to find inclusion within the covenant community. Paul argued strenuously against that necessity, stating that faith alone was sufficient; that the promise to Abraham to be a blessing to all nations (gentiles) through his seed was to be enjoyed without submission to the Torah.
Paul indicates that he had gone to Jerusalem to meet with the pillars, specifically Cephas and James, and received their blessing on the inclusion of gentiles based only on their faith and willingness to abstain from various immoralities. Circumcision and adherance to the entire Torah would not be required. From Paul's point of view, his arguments carried the day.
But as important as the issue of Torah observance was, it pales beside the issue which defined Judaism. That issue is the nature and identity of God. This issue is fundamental to Judaism and preceeds observance to the laws in that the laws proceed from God, and he is recognized and defined in the most important prayer of Judaism. This prayer, and the identity of the 800 pound gorilla standing unnoticed in the corner, is known as the SHEMA.
The Shema is the prayer which begins and ends the day of every observant Jew. It is recited at the time of death. It is the recognition that there is one God, transcendent, above all, and requiring of recognition and obedience as he calls his people into covenant with himself. Here is thereading of the Shema:
שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד
Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.
Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Deut 6:4
Note that the name of God YHWH is rendered "Adonai" (the Lord) so as to avoid accidentally pronouncing the holy name. To observant Jews, the person of God is frequently called "Ha Shem" which in Hebrew means "The Name." The name of God is not to be pronounced, so holy is it. The Shema defines Jews as monotheists. This cannot in any way be minimized. They believe in the one God, the Most High, the Almighty, The Lord, and there is none like him. No image can represent him. Nothing on earth can be worshipped. There is nothing of correspondence between YHWH and his creation.
Now, referring back to the crisis of Greek rule under Antiochus IV, the event which triggered the bloody rebellion of the Maccabean Jews was when Antiochus put his own image in the most holy place in the temple. Antiochus promoted the cult of the living ruler. He proclaimed himself to be the incarnation of Zeus on earth, the supreme God in human flesh. He demanded that the Jews offer worship and sacrifice to his image. The Jews would have none of it. That a man would be proclaimed to be God was the ultimate abomination. The Jews under Judas Maccabee rose up and killed both the Jewish collaborators and the foreign soldiers, reinstituting the worship of the one true God and ejecting the image of the man who claimed to be the incarnation of God.
Why is this an issue, an 800 pound gorilla which no one wants to notice? Because Paul and presumably others were proclaiming that Jesus was God. Next to this claim, the issue of whether or not to circumcize would pale into insignificance. If there was one issue which should have been the ultimate point of contention in the early Christian proclamation, this was it. Where were the Jews ready to take up stones against Paul for blasphemy claiming that a man was God? Where was Paul's argumentation defending the proposition that God had come to earth and lived as a man? Where is the discussion with the Pillars in Jerusalem over this issue? Was the issue of eating food sacrificed to idols really more fundamental than the claim that God had been recently incarnated? A war had recently been fought over that very claim. To claim that anyone or anything in the material realm could have ontological correspondence with the Most High was anathema.
No issue could be expected to come to the fore more than the issue of identifying Jesus as God. Yet, it didn't happen. What are we to make of this conundrum? There are several possibilities:
POSSIBILITY 1. Paul never claimed divinity for Jesus, therefore no battle over monotheism would be expected:
This is not a credible suggestion based upon clear statements from Paul's authentic epistles. Some examples:
"Who (the Son) is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him and for him: he is before all things and by him all things consist." Col 1:15-18. This sounds rather God-like. The Son is being presented as the Creator of Genesis.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Phil 2:5,6. Literally "not something to be held onto." This is in the hymn showing the Son descending and ascending. Again, the claim of divinity for Jesus is clear.
It is apparent that Paul did proclaim the divinity of Jesus. Possibility number 1 is thus null and void.
POSSIBILITY 2. There was a battle over the claim that Jesus was God, however, the record has been lost:
That something so fundamental could have gone unmentioned in the book of Galatians is difficult to believe. Could there have been a battle not mentioned elsewhere in Paul? There are at least two epistles of Paul which are lost to history. His epistle to the Colossians mentions an epistle to the church of Laodicea. We have no information as to its contents. The second epistle to the Corinthians mentions "a letter of tears" which does not seem to be a match with first Corinthians.
Since these have been lost, and since others not mentioned could have been lost, it is possible that a great discussion over the issue of Jesus as God could have ensued, but it cannot be known. If God had been providencially protecting his word, not allowing these letters to be lost might have been a good place to start (this has implications for the doctrine of innerancy). This possibility, however, is difficult to maintain, for it can be safely assumed that such a discussion would have touched all the epistles which were preserved. It is simply too fundamental an issue to have gone unmentioned in the foundational period of Christianity. To claim that a man was God incarnated would have been the ultimate hot button issue and an offense to Judaism. Silence on the question indicates that the battle did not take place.
Therefore we must conclude that possibility 2, while not absolutely falsifiable, is overwhelmingly unlikely.
POSSIBILITY 3. Paul did not assume that Christ Jesus had lived on earth as a Jew just a few years prior to his own conversion. If he did not consider Jesus to have been a man, no battle over monotheism would be expected:
This is not as far-fetched as it may seem at first gasp. Mark's Gospel, the first documented mention of Jesus living in the recent past, would not be written for many years after Paul's epistles. It is nothing more than an inferrance to assume that Paul was envisioning the Jesus of the gospels. He himself is silent on the details of the "Jesus of history."
The questions must be asked, Is it legitimate to read into Paul the beliefs of others from a later time? Since later writers referred to Jesus "of Nazareth" is it a necessary implication that Paul had that personage in mind? Orthodoxy would answer yes to both questions. Those accepting a priori that all writings which were collected into the New Testament were inspired, non-contradictory, and are different aspects of a single truth will feel free to harmonize Paul with the gospels, but if we examine Paul in isolation, his Jesus inhabits a very different universe than did Jesus of Nazareth. Just because Christians of later years would choose to compile a collection of disparate documents together, does not necessarily indicate that they belong together nor that their authors shared a common outlook.
Paul had much to say about Jesus. His Jesus, though, does not share much commonality with the Jesus of the gospels. Imagine for a moment that Mark's gospel had never been written, or like some of Paul's letters, lost. What would we know of Jesus from reading Paul and the other epistle writers? The obvious answer is nothing aside from the activities of a descending and ascending heavenly savior who has created a new Israel through faith.
Where, for instance, does one find in Paul:
A. Any mention of the birth of Jesus
B. The virgin Mary
C. Joseph
D. The family of Jesus
E. The birthplace of Jesus
F. His hometown of Nazareth (a town which may not have existed at the time)
G. His baptism by John in the Jordan river
H. His temptation in the wilderness
I. His healing miracles
J. His exorcisms
K. His preaching ministry in Galilee
L. His cleanshing of the temple
M. His disputes with the Pharisees in the synagogues
N. His disciples
O. His betrayal by Judas
P. His struggle in Gethsemane
Q. His arrest
R. His trial
S. His questioning by Herod
T. His crucifixion in Jerusalem
U. The two thieves
V. His burial in Joseph's tomb
W. The empty tomb
X. The resurrection appearances to the women
Y. The great commission
Z. The ascension before a crowd of witnesses
Many more details of the life of the Jesus of the Gospels are missing from Paul of course, but we've run out of alphabet. That which we are touching on here is The Pauline Problem. The problem is that Paul never locates the activities of Jesus in a particular historical period nor in a particular geographical location. He seems to be completely unaware of the gospel details of Jesus of Nazareth. He specifically says that he received his information about Jesus through direct revelation or interpretation of the Jewish scriptures, not by oral tradition or knowledge via human agency. His Jesus operates in the cosmos.
Is it possible that the reason the issue of Jewish monotheism didn't come to the fore is because Paul wasn't making pronouncements which would be in conflict with it? If that is the case, what would the explanation be?
Judaism in that period was very eclectic, and freely made use of hellenistic philosophy. For instance, God was seen as being so transcendent that some intermediary form was needed to communicate with man. It was not seen as a contradiction of belief in the one God to envision "emanations" or "aspects" of God acting in lower regions of the heavens, even treating them as somewhat separate persons.
Some Jewish writers and poets of the period freely spoke of Wisdom, or Sophia, as an aspect of God, even as the feminized consort of God, or the Spirit of God. She was pictured as being sent forth by God to communicate to man but was rejected and returned to the highest heaven. In some instances she was pictured as being a virgin mother to an anointed (Christ) Son of God who was a savior to those who believe. Philo, a contemporary of Paul and platonic philosopher/theologian and historian, spoke of the logos (word) of God who was God's agent in the creation of the world and cosmos. God Himself was seen as being too transcendent to deal directly with the lower material world; he used an intermediary to create, but still an aspect of Himself. Philo's concepts were the source for the preamble to John's gospel, "in the beginning was the 'logos' (the word) and the logos was with God and the logos was God. Through him were all things made that were made."
The Jewish religious literature of the period is rich with speculation and contemplation of the aspects of God descending through the heavens for the benefit of man. Diaspora Judaism was living in a Greek universe, and was immersed in Platonic thought. The concepts from that literature were the basis for many of the foundational ideas which we find in the NT and other early Christian literature. Many of the Jewish texts eloquently describing the saving aspects of the personified emanations of God sound utterly Christian until one notices that they are not referring to a man named Jesus. Some of the literature makes much of the coming of God's holy spirit and savior and uses the term "the anointed" which in Greek is simply "Christos." Paul's heavenly savior has an apropros name in "Jesus" which literally means Yahweh Saves. To refer to him in Paul's manner as "Christ Jesus" would not be foreign to the Jewish literature of the period, meaning the Anointed One through whom Yahweh Saves. There is no reason in Paul's context that "Christ Jesus" cannot be a title as much as a name. Paul's "Son of God" character did not even receive the name "Jesus" (savior) until he had ascended back to God's side. Phil 2:5-11 (nothing remotely resembling the naming of a baby in Bethlehem)
It is difficult for us moderns to get into the ancient mindset with a seven layered heaven with God in the 7th and highest layer and intermediary levels descending until the first heaven just above us. But Paul believed in it. He even claimed to have known someone who had been to the third level of heaven 2 Cor 12:2, perhaps he was speaking of himself in the third person. The concept of descending and ascending aspects of God was a commonplace to the first century Jewish mind. Aspects of God such as the logos, the spirit, Wisdom, or the son, could easily move through the different levels. The lower the descent, the more they would take on material characteristics and become less spiritual so as to be more understandable to man.
If Paul were referring to Christ Jesus as a descending and ascending Son-of-God savior figure rather than to a man, the problem ceases to exist. We wouldn't expect to find contention over monotheism if Paul were not envisioning a recently living man as God incarnate. Shema, the 800 pound gorilla, would no longer be in the room. Paul would simply be extrapolating the implications of Jewish thought already in vogue in his milieu. He would also be in harmony with the Greek-Egyptian hero/dying and rising sons of God common in the mystery religions of the era; Dionysus, Attis, Osiris, Adonis, Bacchus, et al.
To summarize, the absence of a battle over monotheism vis a vis claims to the divinity of Jesus must be explained. It is too fundamental to first century Jewish though to just gloss over. The need to answer the "WHY?" is overwhelming. The explanation must fall into one of three categories: Early Christians didn't think of Jesus as being divine; The story of the intense battle has been lost; Paul wasn't identifying Jesus as a man who had been his contemporary in Palestine. Only the third theory offers a coherant resolution to the question.
Bart Willruth
March 2, 2008


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As I take the elevator up from the parking garage every morning to go to work, I have enjoyed being greeted by twelve large animal heads for the last six months. Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads will be leaving LACMA at the end of this week on February 12, but the sculptures' connections to the museum's collections will live on. As a decorative arts and design curator working in a department with objects dating to the fifteenth century, I am always looking for the present in past and vice versa. Believe it or not, Ai Weiwei's Zodiac project can beam you back to the eighteenth century in a single bound.
Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads (installation view), © Ai Weiwei, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
The eighteenth century was one of prolific exchange between China and the European world, which resulted in incredibly creative trans-hemispheric interpretations of design aesthetics. By midcentury there were a considerable number of Jesuits present in the Chinese imperial court, where Eastern and Western concepts of science, art, mathematics, horology, astronomy, and religion mingled. In 1747 the Qianlong emperor decided to build a complex of European palaces on twenty acres in the northwestern section of the Yuan Ming Yuan, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. Based on the designs of grand European palaces such as Versailles, Jesuits Giuseppe Castiglione and Michel Benoist and Manchurian artists and architects built what would become a series of forty structures, including the European Pavilions, formal gardens, and three fountains. Ai's Zodiac Heads recall the water clock fountain built in front of the Hall of Calm Seas, which featured twelve animal figures based on the Chinese zodiac that spurted water from their mouths to tell the time.
Daniel Garnier, Two-handled Cup, 1685, gift of Mimi and Leonard Foreman, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
While the Chinese showed interest in European design, Westerners in China were recording their experiences through sketches and drawings that were sent back to Europe and published, thus providing a plethora of Asian inspirations for the decorative arts, designs, architecture, and landscaping. Providing the West with its first source of engravings based on Chinese models, Johannes Nieuhof's An Embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces to the Emperor of China, a collection of 150 illustrations from the travels of a Dutch embassy to Beijing in 1656, was first translated into English and published by John Ogilby in Britain in 1669. Capturing an extensive view of the Chinese empire's topography, principle cities, inhabitants, architecture, flora and fauna, as well as a map indicating the route taken by the embassy from Java to Beijing, Nieuhof's engravings presented a defining vision of China for European eyes and became a rich source of visual imagery for myriad media, including this English silver cup, featuring chased scenes of Chinese figures and exotic birds.
Chinoiserie Plate, c. 1770, Lunéville Petit Feu Faience Manufactory, Lunéville, France, gift of MaryLou Boone, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
Anne Allen, Chinoiserie Design (after Jean-Batiste Pillement), c. 1798, Graphic Arts Council Fund, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
The European adaption of Asian aesthetics is known as chinoiserie, a term derived from the French word chinois (Chinese) that denotes a type of European art influenced by Asian styles. Often the Western version of Asia was quite imaginative, based more on fantasy than reality. As the mania for imported Asian objects grew in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe, Westerners began to copy Asian motifs, forms and even methods of manufacture, especially the production of porcelain. Faience is the French version of tin-glazed earthenware, or ceramics covered with an opaque white glaze. Initially faience was an attempt to mimic true hard-paste porcelain imported into Europe from Asia, but these wares ultimately became distinctive and sought-after ceramics in their own right. This French faience plate is decorated with a scene after the designs of Jean-Baptiste Pillment, whose first Chinese fantasies, entitled A New Book of Chinese Design Calculated to Improve the Present Taste and A New Book of Chinese Ornaments,were published in London in 1754 and 1755. Subsequent publications by Pillement, as well British adaptations of his work such as Robert Sayer's The Ladies Amusement, which contained approximately 1,500 drawings, the majority of which were by Pillement, further supplied chinoiserie motifs to craftsmen.
John Swift, Tea Urn, 1768–1769, gift of Julian Sands, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
John Swift, Tea Urn (detail), 1768–1769, gift of Julian Sands, photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA
In the hands of British silversmiths working in the second half of the eighteenth century, chinoiserie designs began to take over the design scheme of works. John Swift was known for his coffeepots, tea kettles, and hot water urns with scenes of relaxed Pillementesque chinoiserie figures enjoying tea, at leisure in the garden, or playing musical instruments. His examples of British silver illustrate the mid-century trend for chinoiserie scenes to burst forth from the containment of reserves or cartouches and cover the entire body of the vessels. On this tea urn by Swift a Chinese figure rests casually on a latticed fence, strumming a stringed instrument by a pagoda-shaped building.
Thomas Pitts, Epergne, 1763–64, long-term loan from the Arthur and Rosalinde Gilbert Collection on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photo: The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
It was in the 1760s that a fully three-dimensional realization of chinoiserie flourished in British silver and English epergnes, one of the most complex pieces of silver commissioned from English silversmiths, reached the highest level of fanciful articulation and greatest degree of inventiveness, expressed in a manner that engaged Western participants in a complete sensorial experience of an envisioned Orient. Leading the way was a series of pagoda-topped epergnes by Thomas Pitts; these multi-purpose pieces were meant to facilitate the new French dining style of helping oneself. At least twelve of these epergnes were made beginning in 1761 with identical rococo scrollwork feet and frames. The addition of the pagoda canopy to epergnes lent a new dramatic dimension to their composition. Should the exotic nature of the piece possibly be overlooked, the Asian-inspired creation is topped with a pineapple, the epitome of imported fruit from foreign ports. I will miss being surrounded by Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads when I come and go from the museum, but as twelve sculptures set sail from the West Coast they leave another layer of meaning on centuries-old works of art that will stay right here at LACMA. Elizabeth A. Williams, the Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross Assistant Curator, Decorative Arts and Design