Monday, December 30, 2019
Friday, December 27, 2019
The Art of Dying | The New Yorker
The Art of Dying | The New Yorker: Personal History by Peter Schjeldahl: I always said that when my time came I’d want to go fast. But where’s the fun in that?
"Writers can be only so conscientious about truth before becoming paralyzed."
"Writers can be only so conscientious about truth before becoming paralyzed."
10 of the Most Powerful All Natural Antibiotics Known To Man – Collective Evolution
10 of the Most Powerful All Natural Antibiotics Known To Man – Collective Evolution: There’s a huge shift right now occurring within the medical industry. More and more people are starting to learn that modern medicine and the pharmaceutical industry have become more concerned with profit than they are with people. Mark Mattson, Chief of the Laboratory of Neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging, has explained that pharmaceutical companies can’t […]
Unusual Seismic Activity On The West Coast Has Experts Extremely Concerned
Unusual Seismic Activity On The West Coast Has Experts Extremely Concerned: The west coast never stops shaking, but lately the shaking has gone to an entirely new level, and this has many people deeply concerned about what may be coming.
From Vancouver, Seattle, south to Mojave Desert....please read.
From Vancouver, Seattle, south to Mojave Desert....please read.
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
Can You Lose Your Salvation?
Can You Lose Your Salvation?: Biblical commentary on whether or not a Christian can lose their salvation in the Lord.
The most difficult part of medicine: Diagnosis
He never felt well. It took doctors more than 50 years to figure out why. - The Washington Post: The 61-year-old sometimes feels angry about years of ineffective treatments. But he’s grateful that evolving medical knowledge spurred “a diagnosis that seems to make sense.”
Monday, December 23, 2019
Christmas deconstructed
NTEB RADIO BIBLE STUDY: The Mind-Blowing True Story Of The Birth Of Jesus Will Forever Change How You Look At The Roman Catholic Holiday Called Christmas • Now The End Begins: Jesus and the real story of His birth has nothing to do with the Roman Catholic holiday called Christmas and everything to do with end times bible prophecy.
The War Vet, the Dating Site, and the Phone Call From Hell | WIRED
The War Vet, the Dating Site, and the Phone Call From Hell | WIRED: Jared Johns found out too late that swapping messages with the pretty girl from a dating site would mean serious trouble. If only he had known who she really was.
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Clint Eastwood Exposes the FBI and American Media - PaulCraigRoberts.org
Clint Eastwood Exposes the FBI and American Media - PaulCraigRoberts.org: Clint Eastwood Exposes the Scum That Is the FBI and American Media https://amgreatness.com/2019/12/17/clint-eastwood-ahead-of-the-curve-on-the-fbi/ Clint
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Eating chili peppers may prevent fatal heart attacks and stroke
Eating chili peppers may prevent fatal heart attacks and stroke: Adding hot peppers to your meal could save your life.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Quantum Experiment Sheds Light On The Metaphysical Properties of Human DNA – Collective Evolution
Quantum Experiment Sheds Light On The Metaphysical Properties of Human DNA – Collective Evolution: Vladimir Poponin is a well known Russian scientist who in 1995, with his colleagues, including biophysicist Peter Gariaev, conducted a very interesting experiment during their time at the Russian Academy of Sciences. In their paper (P.P. Gariaev and V.P. Poponin. Vacuum DNA phantom effect in vitro and its possible rational explanation. Nanobiology 1995 (in press)), Poponin states, in […]
Monday, December 16, 2019
Drum Circles Put Pharmaceutical Antidepressants To Shame -- and then there's Turmeric
Drum Circles Put Pharmaceutical Antidepressants To Shame – Collective Evolution: This article was written by Sayer Ji, founder of Greenmedinfo.com, where it was originally posted. Posted here with permission. With the World Health Organization identifying depression as the #1 leading cause of disability, globally, and psychiatric medications causing severe side effects, including permanently disabling the body’s self-healing mechanism, drug-free alternatives are needed now more than ever. Could group […]
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Why the ‘Left’ is Dead in the Water (revisited), by Gilad Atzmon - The Unz Review
Why the ‘Left’ is Dead in the Water (revisited), by Gilad Atzmon - The Unz Review: Introduction: Following his party’s catastrophic defeat, humiliated Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn announced this morning that he would discuss with the party its need for a ‘process of reflection’ and promised that he himself “will lead the party during this period to ensure this discussion takes place.” I will not hold my breath waiting for Labour […]
The shift in our human landscape has created a desperate need for a new ethos: a fresh stand point that will reinstate the Western Athenian ethical and universal roots and produce a new canon that aspires for truth and truthfulness as opposed to the current cancerous tyranny of correctness.
The shift in our human landscape has created a desperate need for a new ethos: a fresh stand point that will reinstate the Western Athenian ethical and universal roots and produce a new canon that aspires for truth and truthfulness as opposed to the current cancerous tyranny of correctness.
Don Webster's Addiction, Through His Widow's Eyes
Don Webster's Addiction, Through His Widow's Eyes: Janet Webster, the widow of author Donovan Webster, opens up about her late husband's battles, including him going to prison for a deadly crash, and subsequent suicide.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Ever Wonder How They Manufacture a "False Flag?"
Real False Flag Caught on Camera: This was a false flag event used in British media to push the **war on terror** narrative.
All credit goes to the **UK Column** for picking this one up!
[UK Column Website](https://www.ukcolumn.org)...
All credit goes to the **UK Column** for picking this one up!
[UK Column Website](https://www.ukcolumn.org)...
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Sunday, December 08, 2019
Group of Muslims beat & rob Christian street preacher in Norway, threaten to kill him if he does not convert to Islam — RT World News
Group of Muslims beat & rob Christian street preacher in Norway, threaten to kill him if he does not convert to Islam — RT World News: A Christian man preaching in the streets of a Norwegian city was beaten and robbed after being asked for spiritual healing by a group of Muslim men. He was also threatened with death if he did not convert to Islam.
Saturday, December 07, 2019
10 comfort foods that aren’t high in calories
10 comfort foods that aren’t high in calories: Comfort food is calling, but—oh, the calories! Fear not. Low-calorie comfort foods are easy to make and lighter to eat.
What do high-fat diets do to the brain?
What do high-fat diets do to the brain?: Although the brain is about 60% fat and needs fatty acids for fuel, a high-fat diet may not only fail to benefit memory, learning, and other cognitive functions, but actually impair them.
Thursday, December 05, 2019
Brain Pickings – An inventory of the meaningful life.
Brain Pickings – An inventory of the meaningful life.: An inventory of the meaningful life.
Dostoyevsky, Just After His Death Sentence Was Repealed, on the Meaning of Life
“To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart — that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.”
Monday, December 02, 2019
Psilocybin Designated As A “Breakthrough Therapy” For Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) – Collective Evolution
Psilocybin Designated As A “Breakthrough Therapy” For Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) – Collective Evolution: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently granted psilocybin treatment (the active component of magic mushrooms) a Breakthrough Therapy classification for the second time this year. They are hoping to accelerate trials that will test its efficacy in treating major depressive disorder (MDD). According to the FDA, a breakthrough therapy designation is for […]
Iran to Have Nuclear Bomb in a Few Months?
Iran to Have Nuclear Bomb in a Few Months?: This marks a dangerous phase in Iran's nuclear defiance. Tehran is now using a kind of prototype centrifuge that enriches uranium almost 50 times faster. Although Iran is a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), it refuses to allow the
Turmeric Produces ‘Remarkable’ Recovery in Alzheimer’s Patients – Collective Evolution
Turmeric Produces ‘Remarkable’ Recovery in Alzheimer’s Patients – Collective Evolution: This article was written by Sayer Ji, founder of Greenmedinfo.com where it was originally published. Posted here with permission. A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), sadly, has become a rite of passage in so-called developed countries. AD is considered the most common form of dementia, which is defined as a serious loss of cognitive function […]
Saturday, November 30, 2019
Monday, November 25, 2019
Monday, November 18, 2019
Friday, November 15, 2019
Sunday, November 10, 2019
Thursday, November 07, 2019
Monday, November 04, 2019
GQ And The New Masculinity: Turning Men Into Women
GQ And The New Masculinity: Turning Men Into Women
Quoting:
Read more at https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3565#gwyaZpleeuiEvStL.99
Quoting:
Husbands and dads, beware. Your solid, steady, protective and nurturing acts are increasingly out of step with today's new reality.
The playing field must be perfectly leveled. Male-female distinctions must be downplayed and denied. And gender confusion must reign supreme.
From a man being named Woman of the Year to Drag Queens reading to toddlers, and from "men" menstruating to "men" having babies, gender norms must go.
For months now I have been shouting from the rooftops about a "Jezebelic" attack on our nation, by which I mean a coordinated, ideological attack on our country. The spiritual assault is real.
Read more at https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=3565#gwyaZpleeuiEvStL.99
Friday, October 25, 2019
Sunday, October 20, 2019
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Tuesday, October 15, 2019
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Oligarchs Will Crash System to Boot Trump – Paul Craig Roberts | Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog
Oligarchs Will Crash System to Boot Trump – Paul Craig Roberts | Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog
Dr. Roberts points out, “Where is William Barr? We already know Russia-gate, the Steel Dossier, the deception of the FISA Court, we know all of these were felonies. Indeed, I consider it treason, and there is nothing? There is no action? Nothing, and that’s the most amazing thing to me when every legitimate whistleblower has been destroyed. Now, we have a fake one, a CIA operation against the President, and nobody even knows who the whistleblower is? It’s so transparent. If the American people fall for this they, will go down in history as the most utterly stupid people who have ever walked the earth, and they will deserve the consequences. It will be the end of America.”
Dr. Roberts points out, “Where is William Barr? We already know Russia-gate, the Steel Dossier, the deception of the FISA Court, we know all of these were felonies. Indeed, I consider it treason, and there is nothing? There is no action? Nothing, and that’s the most amazing thing to me when every legitimate whistleblower has been destroyed. Now, we have a fake one, a CIA operation against the President, and nobody even knows who the whistleblower is? It’s so transparent. If the American people fall for this they, will go down in history as the most utterly stupid people who have ever walked the earth, and they will deserve the consequences. It will be the end of America.”
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Anti-Suicide Advocate Dies by Suicide
Jarrid Wilson, Pastor, Author and Mental Health Advocate, Dies by Suicide
A sobering story indeed when a mental health advocate diverts from his chosen path, and one that is antithetical, paradoxical, mysterious, contradictory, but still we can only conclude: suicide remains the permanent solution for what could be a persistent but ultimately temporary problem....
A sobering story indeed when a mental health advocate diverts from his chosen path, and one that is antithetical, paradoxical, mysterious, contradictory, but still we can only conclude: suicide remains the permanent solution for what could be a persistent but ultimately temporary problem....
Friday, October 11, 2019
Wednesday, October 09, 2019
Abandoning our allies is an American tradition
The mujahideen (remember them?) were our partners once, we employed them to fight the USSR. Osama bin Laden was "our man." When we abandoned them, they turned on us and became Islamic terrorists of different stripes.
Many other such stories abound. Hungary, 1956, comes to mind. We encouraged the Magyars to revolt, implying aid. Foolish Hungarians believing all that stuff on the radio. Was just words.
Today, it is the Kurds who learn about American fecklessness as Turkey bombs and strafes our former "ally." As Bob Marley said, 'who feels it knows it mon.'
Hey hey USA.
Things is: in the realm of karma, what goes around comes around....And that can be a real bitch.
Many other such stories abound. Hungary, 1956, comes to mind. We encouraged the Magyars to revolt, implying aid. Foolish Hungarians believing all that stuff on the radio. Was just words.
Today, it is the Kurds who learn about American fecklessness as Turkey bombs and strafes our former "ally." As Bob Marley said, 'who feels it knows it mon.'
Hey hey USA.
Things is: in the realm of karma, what goes around comes around....And that can be a real bitch.
Tuesday, October 08, 2019
Monday, October 07, 2019
Saturday, October 05, 2019
Tuesday, October 01, 2019
Friday, September 27, 2019
Coronary calcium scans: NYT article highlights value and minimizes limitations - HealthNewsReview.org
Coronary calcium scans: NYT article highlights value and minimizes limitations - HealthNewsReview.org
There is still no definitive evidence from randomized controlled clinical trials to show that patients with elevated calcium scores who are treated to lower their risk actually experience a reduced rate of cardiac events. Researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine have calculated that it would require a costly trial of about 30,000 people deemed to be at low-intermediate risk of a future heart attack to show such benefit.
....................
There is still no definitive evidence from randomized controlled clinical trials to show that patients with elevated calcium scores who are treated to lower their risk actually experience a reduced rate of cardiac events. Researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine have calculated that it would require a costly trial of about 30,000 people deemed to be at low-intermediate risk of a future heart attack to show such benefit.
....................
Two of our physician contributors weigh in
Adam Cifu MD
“I generally find calcium scores unhelpful,” said Adam Cifu, MD, and internist at the University of Chicago. “Often patients don’t need it. Either they are at low risk and the results are meaningless, or they’re at high risk and already maximally risk controlled and the results lead either to to anxiety or false reassurance.”
But Cifu adds that he will rarely order the test in very specific circumstances.
“Usually this is in patients without traditional cardiovascular risk factors. They have normal lipids but a worrisome family history. These then are low-to-moderate risk people in whom a high calcium score would make me more aggressive about modifying their risk factors with something like aspirin or a statin. It may not be an evidence-based approach, as there are no trials to fully support this, but it is reasonable based on previous studies.”
Christopher Labos, MD
Cardiologist Christopher Labos, MD agrees.
“It simply refines risk prediction,” said Labos. “If you had a medium risk patient and weren’t sure about whether you should start a statin or not, the calcium score could help tip the balance. If the calcium score was high that would help justify starting the medication.”
But he raises another point which highlights why Brody’s opening anecdote about her brother isn’t all that helpful.
“One of the main problems with calcium scans is even they’re completely normal, you still need to recommend the healthy lifestyle changes. So you haven’t really gained anything.”
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Did the Saudis buy a president? | Salon.com
Did the Saudis buy a president? | Salon.com
How much money has flowed from the House of Saud to the Bush family and its friends and allies over the years? No one will ever know -- but the number is at least $1.477 billion.....
How much money has flowed from the House of Saud to the Bush family and its friends and allies over the years? No one will ever know -- but the number is at least $1.477 billion.....
Sunday, September 08, 2019
Wednesday, September 04, 2019
Tuesday, September 03, 2019
The Book of Prince | The New Yorker
The Book of Prince | The New Yorker
Prince had grand plans for his autobiography, but only a few months to live......
Prince had grand plans for his autobiography, but only a few months to live......
Thought
“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid … Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.” ― Bertrand Russell, Why Men Fight
Sunday, September 01, 2019
The Intercept Says
Go See “Official Secrets” Right Now
The Intercept says: “OFFICIAL SECRETS,” WHICH opened Friday in New York and Los Angeles, is the best movie ever made about how the Iraq War happened. It’s startlingly accurate, and because of that, it’s equally inspiring, demoralizing, hopeful, and enraging. Please go see it.
It’s been forgotten now, but the Iraq War and its abominable consequences — the hundreds of thousands of deaths, the rise of the Islamic State group, the nightmare oozing into Syria, arguably the presidency of Donald Trump — almost didn’t happen. In the weeks before the U.S.-led invasion on March 19, 2003, the American and British case for war was collapsing. It looked like a badly made jalopy, its engine smoking and various parts falling off as it trundled erratically down the road...
Thursday, August 29, 2019
20 GREAT Movies that Flew Under the Radar - henrymakow.com
20 GREAT Movies that Flew Under the Radar - henrymakow.com
"Movies used to be based on novels. Now they're based on comic books. Nothing better illustrates the Illuminati goal of infantilizing mankind. The people of the world and even their governments will be "as children under-age...."
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Monday, August 19, 2019
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2019
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Saturday, August 10, 2019
One of my absolute favorite pieces of music
Slipped Disc | What’s the best music for proof-reading?
Paul Hindemith is not an obscure composer, but is very underrated.....
Paul Hindemith is not an obscure composer, but is very underrated.....
Friday, August 09, 2019
‘To Get Things More Real’: An Interview with Ira Glass | by Claudia Dreifus | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books
‘To Get Things More Real’: An Interview with Ira Glass | by Claudia Dreifus | NYR Daily | The New York Review of Books
Glass attributes his story-telling prowess to a close study of Roland Barthes S/Z, so we got hold of it and found these remarkable lines at the end:
(531) Sarrasine sat down before the terrified singer. Two huge tears welled from his dry eyes, rolled down his manly cheeks, and fell to the ground: two tears of rage, two bitter and burning tears. * REF. Code of Tears. The code of the hero allows a man to cry within the very strict limits of a certain ritual, itself strongly historical: Michelet complimented and envied St. Louis for having had the "gift of tears," audiences cried abundantly at Racine's tragedies, etc., whereas in Japan, in the Bushido, a code inherited from the Samurai, any physical sign of emotion is forbidden. Sarrasine has the right to cry for four reasons (or on four conditions):
Glass attributes his story-telling prowess to a close study of Roland Barthes S/Z, so we got hold of it and found these remarkable lines at the end:
(531) Sarrasine sat down before the terrified singer. Two huge tears welled from his dry eyes, rolled down his manly cheeks, and fell to the ground: two tears of rage, two bitter and burning tears. * REF. Code of Tears. The code of the hero allows a man to cry within the very strict limits of a certain ritual, itself strongly historical: Michelet complimented and envied St. Louis for having had the "gift of tears," audiences cried abundantly at Racine's tragedies, etc., whereas in Japan, in the Bushido, a code inherited from the Samurai, any physical sign of emotion is forbidden. Sarrasine has the right to cry for four reasons (or on four conditions):
- because his dream as an artist, a lover, has been destroyed;
- because he is about to die (it would not be fitting for him to survive his tears);
- because he is alone (the castrato being nothing);
- because the very contrast between virility and tears inspires pathos. Further, his tears are few (two) and burning (they do not participate in the unworthy humidity associated with femininity, but in fire, dryness, virility).
Thursday, August 08, 2019
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
3 Major Developments Happening Right Now That Could Lead To Global War
While USA media school us on the politics of the Left, the world is moving to some explosive developments:
3 Major Developments Happening Right Now That Could Lead To Global War
3 Major Developments Happening Right Now That Could Lead To Global War
Monday, August 05, 2019
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
The truth about exercise and weight loss | MNN - Mother Nature Network
The truth about exercise and weight loss | MNN - Mother Nature Network
Nutritionists will say that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise.
Nutritionists will say that weight loss is about 80% diet and 20% exercise.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Monday, July 29, 2019
Friday, July 26, 2019
A meaning of life
“We die. That may be the meaning of life,” author Toni Morrison observed from the Stockholm stage upon becoming the first black woman to win the Nobel Prize (1993). “But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
425 Obscure Composers Later: The World's Greatest Cello Concerto Known to Almost No One
I wrote these words at the end of my three-volume survey of little-known classical geniuses, Obscure Composers 3:
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Postscript
All things must end. Thus endeth Obscure Composers 3.
The 90 composers profiled here now remain “friends” of yours and mine forever, as do those earlier surveyed in Obscure Composers 2 (100), and Obscure Composers 1 (80, plus 65, total 145), plus those composers covered in Death in classical music: making friends with the unfriendly (90).
Not to mention the original “obscure composer,” J.S. Bach, who was the subject of our book Bach and Heaven: The Promise of Afterlife in the Text of the Cantatas.
All totaled: 425. Perhaps you, like me, feel like you know each one, not personally, per se, of course, but from the best that they were: their work.
We have seen that fame is fleeting, obscurity awaits (almost) everyone. And the meaning of life, for the fortunate, is to press on in spite of it all, and find one’s meaning and satisfaction in the work that one does.
Composers, to compose, to keep building ladders and bridges to the spiritual world from this material world.
If you have read any single volume in the three-book set, thank you. If been motivated to take the entire trip, volumes 1 through 3, thank you all the more. I think that you, like me, believe the search for obscure masterpieces, and the fascinating stories that go with them, is a worthwhile pursuit for its own sake, and one that never ends.
We will take a quotation here from a most un-obscure composer, Gioachino Rossini, when asked about why he retired from opera after writing 40, by the tender age of 37: “I decided that I had something better to do, which was to remain silent.”
Foolish consistency being merely the hobgoblin of little minds, (do I contradict myself? Very well then....) Rossini did compose, later on, and so, too, we will keep listening, and researching, wondering and marveling at this peculiarly compelling and human business of composing music. We think you will, too.
Good listening to you, and good research.
==============================================
And so I did. Keep listening and research, that is.
Remarkably enough, I found what I consider to be the greatest overlooked Cello Concerto ever written, one that can stand alongside those by Haydn, Schumann, Dvorak, and Elgar by a name that almost no one knows.
Me included. He is not profiled in Obscure Composers 1, 2 or 3. Quelle omission! I stumbled across him recently in a piano concerto anthology. Compelling work, yes, his Konzertstuck in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, as is his other orchestral works, and add to that a set of rhythmically-vital string quartets, among his 76 opus-numbered works, plus more that are unnumbered. But it is his Cello Concerto, A minor, Op. 33, that is absolutely remarkable for its power of expression, thoroughly romantische, with an emotive range of utmost tenderness to shocking bombast. Wonderful transparent writing, and unstinting employment of percussion. Taken all together, a tour de force that must be heard.
(We would maintain, by the way, that the greatest violin concerto, is similarly neglected. This would be the Schumann. We wrote extensively on it, and its backstory in Obscure Composers 3. Schumann is anything but an obscure composer we hasten to add, but couldn't resist exploring the related theme of "obscure work" by famous composer, especially this one. It holds an incredible, almost unbelievable story. But we digress.....)
The name: Friedrich Robert Volkmann. In the Obscure Composers Index he ranks 1,601 of 30,000, with 18 recordings.
Interestingly, he was a "lieber Freund" ("dear friend") of Brahms. Liszt was a fan of his piano trio, played it across Europe.
Wikipedia says of this unknown genius: Friedrich Robert Volkmann, (Hungarian: Volkmann Róbert), (6 April 1815, Lommatzsch bei Meißen – 30 October 1883, Budapest) was a German composer.
Robert Volkmann was born in Lommatzsch, Saxony, Germany. His father, a music director for a church, trained him in music to prepare him as a successor. Thus Volkmann learned to play the organ and the piano with his father, studied violin and cello with Friebel,[1] and by age 12 he was playing the cello part in string quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. In 1832 he entered the Freiberg Gymnasium for the purpose of becoming a teacher. There he studied music with August Ferdinand Anacker, who encouraged him to devote himself to music more fully.[2] From there he went on to Leipzig in 1836 to study with Carl Ferdinand Becker. In Leipzig he met Robert Schumann, who encouraged him in his studies. They met again several times after that.
When he finished his studies, he began working as voice teacher at a music school in Prague. He did not stay there long, and in 1841 he moved to Budapest,[3] where he was employed as a piano teacher and a reporter for the Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung.
After a short period of freelance work, he became the choirmaster and organist of a Reform synagogue in 1848.[4] He composed in virtual obscurity until 1852, when his Piano Trio in B-flat minor caught the ears of Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, who proceeded to play it several times all over Europe. In 1854 Volkmann moved to Vienna, only to return to Budapest in 1858.
Thanks to the publisher Gustav Heckenast, who in 1857 bought the rights to publish all Volkmann's works in exchange for regular income regardless of sales, Volkmann was able to fully dedicate himself to composition, until Heckenast closed down his Budapest publishing house in the early 1870s.
While visiting Vienna in 1864, Volkmann became acquainted with Johannes Brahms, and they became close friends. In letters they addressed each other as "lieber Freund" ("dear friend").
From the 1870s Volkmann slowed down and composed very little. From 1875 until his death, he was professor of harmony and counterpoint at Budapest's National Academy of Music, where Liszt was the director. Volkmann died in Budapest on 30 October 1883.
References
1 Wikisource-logo.svg Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Volkmann, Robert" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
2 David Ewen, "Robert Volkmann" Composers of Yesterday. New York: H. W. Wilson Company (1937): 452. "He was, however, not intended for music but for pedagogy."
3 Viktor von Herzfeld, "Robert Volkman" The Musical Quarterly 1 3 (1915): 336 - 349
4 Austrian Music Dictionary (German)
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Perhaps the piano concerto of Moritz Moszkowski cannot similarly place among the top 3 or 5 or 10 ever written, where we would nominate the Volkmann Cello Concerto for consideration, but we would ask who has written a more striking or evocative Andante (2nd movement)? We recommend the work to you.
Here is our chapter on this little known giant of the keyboard from Obscure Composers 2, and his tragic end:
44. Moszkowski, Moritz (1854-1925)
August 23, 1854, Wroclaw, Poland - March 4, 1925, Paris, age 70;
The Obscure Composers Index™: 201
After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique. Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941), Polish pianist, composer, prime minister of Poland
The progress of wunderkind Moritz Moszkowski was so fast he was made a piano professor, age 17, at the Neue Akademie der Tonkunst, Berlin. From that base, he progressed to become one of the top touring piano virtuosi in Europe, and composers for piano, world famous. Now his showpiece style of writing, and a large portion of those works themselves, have passed into obscurity. There are exceptions, and huge ones: ‘the last romantic’ Vladimir Horowitz kept some of his works on his programs (the Etude in F, the Etincelle Op. 36 No. 6 were favorites), and kept the name from being altogether unknown to modern audiences.
But in his day, the day of salon music, when pianos were, in fact, the ‘home entertainment system,’ Moszkowski reigned. His works were widely published, and quite popular. In fact, they made him wealthy.
These include Serenata Op. 15/1, Concert Studies Op. 24, Caprice Espagnol Op. 37, Etincelles Op. 36 (especially Horowitz’s favorite, No. 6) and Guitarre Op. 45/2. Piano duets were a specialty and well-received by the public, e.g. Spanish Dances Opp. 12, 21, and 65.
Early on, Moszkowski wrote orchestral music as well, had some success, but did not see his works through publication, and now many are lost. Nevertheless, these efforts were not all a loss to him personally, they enhanced his reputation and practice as a conductor, and he was recognized with an honorary lifetime membership in the Royal Philharmonic Society in Britain where he often led from the podium.
On the personal side, as his life progressed, he faced many difficulties. He married composer Cécile Chaminaude’s sister, Henrietta (1884), and settled in London, but things would end badly. She left him for his best friend, the poet Ludwig Fulda, and took their daughter with her (1890). Divorce followed two years later (1892); the wounds never left him.
Rejoined with his daughter, by 1897 he was well off: living in Paris, in town, with a rented country house in the summer. He was in demand for lessons by aspiring musicians, including the likes of Thomas Beecham, Wanda Landowska, Josef Hofmann and Gaby Casadesus. But neurological disorders affected his arm, and caused him to give up performing. He withdrew more and more from the musical life of the capital. Some describe him at this time as a recluse.
Meanwhile, Moszkowski sold his copyrights to his popular piano works, and invested the proceeds in German, Polish and Russian stocks and bonds. In 1914, when the hostilities of WWI broke forth, all these paper assets became worthless. The once rich virtuoso and composer was broke. Former students Josef Hofmann and Bernhard Pollack rallied to his aid, surreptitiously, with monetary gifts disguised as royalties from the composer’s opera Boabdil. Friends and admirers also arranged a huge benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, December 21, 1924; it featured 15 pianos on stage. Performers included stellar names like Percy Grainger, Josef Lhévinne, and Wilhelm Backhaus, among others. The concert netted $13,275. Part was immediately wired to Moszkowski in Paris; the remainder went to purchase an annuity from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
But it was of little aid to the ailing composer. Diagnosed with stomach cancer, Moszkowski was dead within 10 weeks of the tribute concert. The funds went largely, instead, to his funeral expenses, and the remainder to family members.
Concerto
AUTHOR’S PICK
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: I. Moderato
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: II. Andante
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: III. Scherzo: Vivace
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: IV. Allegro deciso
This unknown marvel of the concerto repertory more than fulfills Paderewski’s assessment. A rich work full of oxygen, high spirits, charm and grace that one can come back to, time and again. Herein the world is not such a bad place at all. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Piano
Today Moszkowski is probably best known for his fifteen Études de Virtuosité, Op. 72. Huge stars such as Vladimir Horowitz and Marc-André Hamelin have kept these before the public. Others of his miniatures find their way onto the stage today as encores. Here we have this set on Spotify, and a special guest artist for No. 6 on youtube:
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 1 in E Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 2 in G Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 3 in G Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 4 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 5 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 6 in F Major
Must see: Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K78vuNYXzS4 “It is like an after dinner mint,” the maestro opines after tossing off the fiendishly difficult piece as if it were nothing.
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 7 in E-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 8 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 9 in D Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 10 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 11 in A-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 12 in D-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 13 in A-Flat Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 14 in C Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 15 in B Major
Etincelles. Op. 36 No. 6
Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgA6m53-KH4
Piano duets, or ‘piano four hands’-- a Moszkowski specialty
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 1. Moderato
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 2. Allegretto con moto
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 3. Moderato e grazioso
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 4. Allegro animato
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 5. Allegro con brio
Five German Dances.
2 Morceaux, Op. 43: No. 1. Cortege: Allegro ma non troppo
2 Morceaux, Op. 43: No. 2. Gavotte: Moderato
Morceaux from ‘morsel,’ or piece.
4 Polnische Volkstanze, Op. 55:
No. 1. Mazurka: Allegro
No. 2. Mazurka: Allegro un poco moderato
No. 3. Polonaise: Allegretto con moto
No. 4. Krakowiak: Allegro con spirito
Four Polish folkdances.
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 2. Andante con moto
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 3. Habanera: Allegretto
Three new Spanish dances, sometimes more expressive than virtuosic, and so perhaps some of his very best ‘ethnic essays.’
Aus aller Herren Landern (From Foreign Lands), Op. 23:
I. Russian: Allegretto
II. Italian: Presto
III. German: Andante
IV. Spanish: Molto vivace
V. Polish: Allegro con fuoco
VI. Hungarian: Molto allegro
Moszkowski’s not-overly-spiced conception of these native styles in which the piano itself is always the star. This is not brilliant ethnomusicology, no, nor was intended to be, but it is brilliant pianism of a style that is not so often heard anymore.
==============================================
Even less known than his PC No. 2, E, is Moszkowski's PC No. 1, Op. 3, and Symphony in D Minor, (1873). Both performed February 1875, and promptly forgotten. Now, remembered, and made available, through youtube......
By the way, his name is pronounced [ mawsh-kawf-skee, -kof-]. See https://www.dictionary.com/browse/moszkowski or https://www.howtopronounce.com/polish/moszkowski/
==============================================
Postscript
All things must end. Thus endeth Obscure Composers 3.
The 90 composers profiled here now remain “friends” of yours and mine forever, as do those earlier surveyed in Obscure Composers 2 (100), and Obscure Composers 1 (80, plus 65, total 145), plus those composers covered in Death in classical music: making friends with the unfriendly (90).
Not to mention the original “obscure composer,” J.S. Bach, who was the subject of our book Bach and Heaven: The Promise of Afterlife in the Text of the Cantatas.
All totaled: 425. Perhaps you, like me, feel like you know each one, not personally, per se, of course, but from the best that they were: their work.
We have seen that fame is fleeting, obscurity awaits (almost) everyone. And the meaning of life, for the fortunate, is to press on in spite of it all, and find one’s meaning and satisfaction in the work that one does.
Composers, to compose, to keep building ladders and bridges to the spiritual world from this material world.
If you have read any single volume in the three-book set, thank you. If been motivated to take the entire trip, volumes 1 through 3, thank you all the more. I think that you, like me, believe the search for obscure masterpieces, and the fascinating stories that go with them, is a worthwhile pursuit for its own sake, and one that never ends.
We will take a quotation here from a most un-obscure composer, Gioachino Rossini, when asked about why he retired from opera after writing 40, by the tender age of 37: “I decided that I had something better to do, which was to remain silent.”
Foolish consistency being merely the hobgoblin of little minds, (do I contradict myself? Very well then....) Rossini did compose, later on, and so, too, we will keep listening, and researching, wondering and marveling at this peculiarly compelling and human business of composing music. We think you will, too.
Good listening to you, and good research.
==============================================
And so I did. Keep listening and research, that is.
Remarkably enough, I found what I consider to be the greatest overlooked Cello Concerto ever written, one that can stand alongside those by Haydn, Schumann, Dvorak, and Elgar by a name that almost no one knows.
Me included. He is not profiled in Obscure Composers 1, 2 or 3. Quelle omission! I stumbled across him recently in a piano concerto anthology. Compelling work, yes, his Konzertstuck in C Minor for Piano and Orchestra, as is his other orchestral works, and add to that a set of rhythmically-vital string quartets, among his 76 opus-numbered works, plus more that are unnumbered. But it is his Cello Concerto, A minor, Op. 33, that is absolutely remarkable for its power of expression, thoroughly romantische, with an emotive range of utmost tenderness to shocking bombast. Wonderful transparent writing, and unstinting employment of percussion. Taken all together, a tour de force that must be heard.
(We would maintain, by the way, that the greatest violin concerto, is similarly neglected. This would be the Schumann. We wrote extensively on it, and its backstory in Obscure Composers 3. Schumann is anything but an obscure composer we hasten to add, but couldn't resist exploring the related theme of "obscure work" by famous composer, especially this one. It holds an incredible, almost unbelievable story. But we digress.....)
The name: Friedrich Robert Volkmann. In the Obscure Composers Index he ranks 1,601 of 30,000, with 18 recordings.
Interestingly, he was a "lieber Freund" ("dear friend") of Brahms. Liszt was a fan of his piano trio, played it across Europe.
Wikipedia says of this unknown genius: Friedrich Robert Volkmann, (Hungarian: Volkmann Róbert), (6 April 1815, Lommatzsch bei Meißen – 30 October 1883, Budapest) was a German composer.
When he finished his studies, he began working as voice teacher at a music school in Prague. He did not stay there long, and in 1841 he moved to Budapest,[3] where he was employed as a piano teacher and a reporter for the Allgemeine Wiener Musik-Zeitung.
After a short period of freelance work, he became the choirmaster and organist of a Reform synagogue in 1848.[4] He composed in virtual obscurity until 1852, when his Piano Trio in B-flat minor caught the ears of Franz Liszt and Hans von Bülow, who proceeded to play it several times all over Europe. In 1854 Volkmann moved to Vienna, only to return to Budapest in 1858.
Thanks to the publisher Gustav Heckenast, who in 1857 bought the rights to publish all Volkmann's works in exchange for regular income regardless of sales, Volkmann was able to fully dedicate himself to composition, until Heckenast closed down his Budapest publishing house in the early 1870s.
While visiting Vienna in 1864, Volkmann became acquainted with Johannes Brahms, and they became close friends. In letters they addressed each other as "lieber Freund" ("dear friend").
From the 1870s Volkmann slowed down and composed very little. From 1875 until his death, he was professor of harmony and counterpoint at Budapest's National Academy of Music, where Liszt was the director. Volkmann died in Budapest on 30 October 1883.
References
1 Wikisource-logo.svg Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Volkmann, Robert" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
2 David Ewen, "Robert Volkmann" Composers of Yesterday. New York: H. W. Wilson Company (1937): 452. "He was, however, not intended for music but for pedagogy."
3 Viktor von Herzfeld, "Robert Volkman" The Musical Quarterly 1 3 (1915): 336 - 349
4 Austrian Music Dictionary (German)
==============================================
Perhaps the piano concerto of Moritz Moszkowski cannot similarly place among the top 3 or 5 or 10 ever written, where we would nominate the Volkmann Cello Concerto for consideration, but we would ask who has written a more striking or evocative Andante (2nd movement)? We recommend the work to you.
Here is our chapter on this little known giant of the keyboard from Obscure Composers 2, and his tragic end:
44. Moszkowski, Moritz (1854-1925)
August 23, 1854, Wroclaw, Poland - March 4, 1925, Paris, age 70;
The Obscure Composers Index™: 201
After Chopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique. Ignacy Paderewski (1860-1941), Polish pianist, composer, prime minister of Poland
But in his day, the day of salon music, when pianos were, in fact, the ‘home entertainment system,’ Moszkowski reigned. His works were widely published, and quite popular. In fact, they made him wealthy.
These include Serenata Op. 15/1, Concert Studies Op. 24, Caprice Espagnol Op. 37, Etincelles Op. 36 (especially Horowitz’s favorite, No. 6) and Guitarre Op. 45/2. Piano duets were a specialty and well-received by the public, e.g. Spanish Dances Opp. 12, 21, and 65.
Early on, Moszkowski wrote orchestral music as well, had some success, but did not see his works through publication, and now many are lost. Nevertheless, these efforts were not all a loss to him personally, they enhanced his reputation and practice as a conductor, and he was recognized with an honorary lifetime membership in the Royal Philharmonic Society in Britain where he often led from the podium.
On the personal side, as his life progressed, he faced many difficulties. He married composer Cécile Chaminaude’s sister, Henrietta (1884), and settled in London, but things would end badly. She left him for his best friend, the poet Ludwig Fulda, and took their daughter with her (1890). Divorce followed two years later (1892); the wounds never left him.
Rejoined with his daughter, by 1897 he was well off: living in Paris, in town, with a rented country house in the summer. He was in demand for lessons by aspiring musicians, including the likes of Thomas Beecham, Wanda Landowska, Josef Hofmann and Gaby Casadesus. But neurological disorders affected his arm, and caused him to give up performing. He withdrew more and more from the musical life of the capital. Some describe him at this time as a recluse.
Meanwhile, Moszkowski sold his copyrights to his popular piano works, and invested the proceeds in German, Polish and Russian stocks and bonds. In 1914, when the hostilities of WWI broke forth, all these paper assets became worthless. The once rich virtuoso and composer was broke. Former students Josef Hofmann and Bernhard Pollack rallied to his aid, surreptitiously, with monetary gifts disguised as royalties from the composer’s opera Boabdil. Friends and admirers also arranged a huge benefit concert at Carnegie Hall, December 21, 1924; it featured 15 pianos on stage. Performers included stellar names like Percy Grainger, Josef Lhévinne, and Wilhelm Backhaus, among others. The concert netted $13,275. Part was immediately wired to Moszkowski in Paris; the remainder went to purchase an annuity from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
But it was of little aid to the ailing composer. Diagnosed with stomach cancer, Moszkowski was dead within 10 weeks of the tribute concert. The funds went largely, instead, to his funeral expenses, and the remainder to family members.
Concerto
AUTHOR’S PICK
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: I. Moderato
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: II. Andante
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: III. Scherzo: Vivace
Piano Concerto in E Major, Op. 59: IV. Allegro deciso
This unknown marvel of the concerto repertory more than fulfills Paderewski’s assessment. A rich work full of oxygen, high spirits, charm and grace that one can come back to, time and again. Herein the world is not such a bad place at all. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Piano
Today Moszkowski is probably best known for his fifteen Études de Virtuosité, Op. 72. Huge stars such as Vladimir Horowitz and Marc-André Hamelin have kept these before the public. Others of his miniatures find their way onto the stage today as encores. Here we have this set on Spotify, and a special guest artist for No. 6 on youtube:
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 1 in E Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 2 in G Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 3 in G Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 4 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 5 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 6 in F Major
Must see: Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K78vuNYXzS4 “It is like an after dinner mint,” the maestro opines after tossing off the fiendishly difficult piece as if it were nothing.
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 7 in E-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 8 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 9 in D Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 10 in C Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 11 in A-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 12 in D-Flat Major
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 13 in A-Flat Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 14 in C Minor
15 Etudes de virtuosité, Op. 72, ‘Per Aspera’ : No. 15 in B Major
Etincelles. Op. 36 No. 6
Horowitz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgA6m53-KH4
Piano duets, or ‘piano four hands’-- a Moszkowski specialty
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 1. Moderato
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 2. Allegretto con moto
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 3. Moderato e grazioso
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 4. Allegro animato
5 Deutsche Reigen, Op. 25: No. 5. Allegro con brio
Five German Dances.
2 Morceaux, Op. 43: No. 1. Cortege: Allegro ma non troppo
2 Morceaux, Op. 43: No. 2. Gavotte: Moderato
Morceaux from ‘morsel,’ or piece.
4 Polnische Volkstanze, Op. 55:
No. 1. Mazurka: Allegro
No. 2. Mazurka: Allegro un poco moderato
No. 3. Polonaise: Allegretto con moto
No. 4. Krakowiak: Allegro con spirito
Four Polish folkdances.
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 2. Andante con moto
3 Neue Spanische Tanze, Op. 65: No. 3. Habanera: Allegretto
Three new Spanish dances, sometimes more expressive than virtuosic, and so perhaps some of his very best ‘ethnic essays.’
Aus aller Herren Landern (From Foreign Lands), Op. 23:
I. Russian: Allegretto
II. Italian: Presto
III. German: Andante
IV. Spanish: Molto vivace
V. Polish: Allegro con fuoco
VI. Hungarian: Molto allegro
Moszkowski’s not-overly-spiced conception of these native styles in which the piano itself is always the star. This is not brilliant ethnomusicology, no, nor was intended to be, but it is brilliant pianism of a style that is not so often heard anymore.
==============================================
Even less known than his PC No. 2, E, is Moszkowski's PC No. 1, Op. 3, and Symphony in D Minor, (1873). Both performed February 1875, and promptly forgotten. Now, remembered, and made available, through youtube......
By the way, his name is pronounced [ mawsh-kawf-skee, -kof-]. See https://www.dictionary.com/browse/moszkowski or https://www.howtopronounce.com/polish/moszkowski/
Costa Rica Blames Tainted Alcohol For 19 Deaths, Warns Of Counterfeit Products | HuffPost
Costa Rica Blames Tainted Alcohol For 19 Deaths, Warns Of Counterfeit Products | HuffPost
And not just in Costa Rica, also in top-flight resorts in Mexico:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/mexico-blackouts/2018/06/27/mexico-resorts-and-tainted-alcohol-assaults-blackouts-tourists-continue/733401002/
Brazil implicated as well.
Not a new problem, and not relegated to Central and South America:
https://travelskills.com/2017/07/28/tainted-alcohol-and-travel-what-you-need-to-know/
And not just in Costa Rica, also in top-flight resorts in Mexico:
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/mexico-blackouts/2018/06/27/mexico-resorts-and-tainted-alcohol-assaults-blackouts-tourists-continue/733401002/
Brazil implicated as well.
Not a new problem, and not relegated to Central and South America:
https://travelskills.com/2017/07/28/tainted-alcohol-and-travel-what-you-need-to-know/
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Amy Butler fired from Riverside Church in the midst of harassment claims.
Amy Butler fired from Riverside Church in the midst of harassment claims.
Abortion, gay rights, climate change, vibrators, a firing of a $350,000/year Protestant "minister" and now Riverside church leaders “have been prayerfully discerning how best to fulfill the work of God in the world to which they are called.”
The rather appalling state of the liberal "church" today. But then again: Who needs God when you can improvise all along the way....to hell.....
Abortion, gay rights, climate change, vibrators, a firing of a $350,000/year Protestant "minister" and now Riverside church leaders “have been prayerfully discerning how best to fulfill the work of God in the world to which they are called.”
The rather appalling state of the liberal "church" today. But then again: Who needs God when you can improvise all along the way....to hell.....
As evangelical teens at Willow Creek Church, my friends and I were inseparable. How did we all drift so far apart?
As evangelical teens at Willow Creek Church, my friends and I were inseparable. How did we all drift so far apart?
Thoughtful writing, thought provoking:
When your religion is "feelings," and your "feelings" succumb to the quicksand on which they are built, what happens next..................?
Thoughtful writing, thought provoking:
- Sentiment vs. doctrine.
- Illusion vs. reality.
When your religion is "feelings," and your "feelings" succumb to the quicksand on which they are built, what happens next..................?
Wednesday, July 17, 2019
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Monday, July 15, 2019
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Friday, July 12, 2019
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Are Cortisone Shots for Tendon Injuries Worth It?
Are Cortisone Shots for Tendon Injuries Worth It?
In a comment accompanying the study, Alexander Scott and Karim Khan of the University of British Columbia point out that the evidence for exercise therapy ''is more encouraging than the evidence for corticosteroid injection."
In a comment accompanying the study, Alexander Scott and Karim Khan of the University of British Columbia point out that the evidence for exercise therapy ''is more encouraging than the evidence for corticosteroid injection."
Tuesday, July 09, 2019
Monday, July 08, 2019
Saturday, July 06, 2019
Thursday, July 04, 2019
Monday, July 01, 2019
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Friday, June 28, 2019
Thursday, June 27, 2019
On Iran, as with most everything else, Ron Paul says it best
The Donald's Latest Iranian Caper – Sh*t-Faced Stupidity - Antiwar.com Original
As Ron Paul cogently observed: Is Iran really the aggressive one? When you unilaterally pull out of an agreement that was reducing tensions and boosting trade; when you begin applying sanctions designed to completely destroy another country’s economy; when you position military assets right offshore of that country; when you threaten to destroy that country on a regular basis, calling it a campaign of “maximum pressure,” to me it seems a stretch to play the victim when that country retaliates by shooting a spy plane that is likely looking for the best way to attack.
Even if the US spy plane was not in Iranian airspace – but it increasingly looks like it was – it was just another part of an already-existing US war on Iran. Yes, sanctions are a form of war, not a substitute for war.
As Ron Paul cogently observed: Is Iran really the aggressive one? When you unilaterally pull out of an agreement that was reducing tensions and boosting trade; when you begin applying sanctions designed to completely destroy another country’s economy; when you position military assets right offshore of that country; when you threaten to destroy that country on a regular basis, calling it a campaign of “maximum pressure,” to me it seems a stretch to play the victim when that country retaliates by shooting a spy plane that is likely looking for the best way to attack.
Even if the US spy plane was not in Iranian airspace – but it increasingly looks like it was – it was just another part of an already-existing US war on Iran. Yes, sanctions are a form of war, not a substitute for war.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Tuesday, June 18, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
Orwell’s 1984 Is No Longer Fiction | By John W. Whitehead |
The Rutherford Institute :: The Omnipresent Surveillance State: Orwell’s 1984 Is No Longer Fiction | By John W. Whitehead |
Excerpt:
All three—Bradbury, Huxley and Orwell—had an uncanny knack for realizing the future, yet it is Orwell who best understood the power of language to manipulate the masses. Orwell’s Big Brother relied on Newspeak to eliminate undesirable words, strip such words as remained of unorthodox meanings and make independent, non-government-approved thought altogether unnecessary. To give a single example, as psychologist Erich Fromm illustrates in his afterword to 1984:
The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in such statements as "This dog is free from lice" or "This field is free from weeds." It could not be used in its old sense of "politically free" or "intellectually free," since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed as concepts....
Where we stand now is at the juncture of OldSpeak (where words have meanings, and ideas can be dangerous) and Newspeak (where only that which is “safe” and “accepted” by the majority is permitted). The power elite has made their intentions clear: they will pursue and prosecute any and all words, thoughts and expressions that challenge their authority.
Excerpt:
All three—Bradbury, Huxley and Orwell—had an uncanny knack for realizing the future, yet it is Orwell who best understood the power of language to manipulate the masses. Orwell’s Big Brother relied on Newspeak to eliminate undesirable words, strip such words as remained of unorthodox meanings and make independent, non-government-approved thought altogether unnecessary. To give a single example, as psychologist Erich Fromm illustrates in his afterword to 1984:
The word free still existed in Newspeak, but it could only be used in such statements as "This dog is free from lice" or "This field is free from weeds." It could not be used in its old sense of "politically free" or "intellectually free," since political and intellectual freedom no longer existed as concepts....
Where we stand now is at the juncture of OldSpeak (where words have meanings, and ideas can be dangerous) and Newspeak (where only that which is “safe” and “accepted” by the majority is permitted). The power elite has made their intentions clear: they will pursue and prosecute any and all words, thoughts and expressions that challenge their authority.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Buddha said it first: life is change
Artists Cafe in Downtown Chicago has closed after nearly 60 years - Eater Chicago
Sad to see another landmark of "old Chicago" pass away.....
Walk one and one-half miles south, to 2100 S. Michigan, and what was once a wasteland has become a near paradise of gentrification.
On this planet, the only thing we know for sure -- is change is coming....
Sad to see another landmark of "old Chicago" pass away.....
Walk one and one-half miles south, to 2100 S. Michigan, and what was once a wasteland has become a near paradise of gentrification.
On this planet, the only thing we know for sure -- is change is coming....
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Friday, May 10, 2019
Donald Trump’s Trade War With China Is Terrible Politics - Bloomberg
Donald Trump’s Trade War With China Is Terrible Politics - Bloomberg
World falling to pieces, or pieces falling in place.......does this presage a Democrat win in 2020, and a hard left turn back to globalism, and the globalists' much-desired "one world government?"
Or is Pres. Trump truly the Teflon president?
Stay tuned.
World falling to pieces, or pieces falling in place.......does this presage a Democrat win in 2020, and a hard left turn back to globalism, and the globalists' much-desired "one world government?"
Or is Pres. Trump truly the Teflon president?
Stay tuned.
Thursday, May 09, 2019
Wednesday, May 08, 2019
Monday, May 06, 2019
Context
Context is everything.
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
― Jalal Ad-Din Rumi
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and right doing there is a field.
I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”
― Jalal Ad-Din Rumi
Friday, May 03, 2019
NEWS FROM HAL LINDSEY: Only Hungary has said "NO", and a New Religion Breaks on the Scene!
Here is today's letter from Hal Lindsey, as always, it is thought-provoking:
There are major prophetic signs unfolding across the world that we do not hear about in the mainstream media. One of the most important is the rapid and dramatic increase in the persecution of Christians.
Recently, in Sri Lanka and Nigeria, hundreds of Christians were brutally murdered while attending church services. In Burkina Faso last week, jihadists entered an Assemblies of God church during the service and executed the pastor and five men, including his son.
Few prominent leaders on the Left will even acknowledge that these are Christians being murdered and persecuted. They refer to them as "Easter worshipers."
And after the recent fire destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the world press and globalist governments have worked tirelessly to convince us that it was an accident that caused the blaze, even though strong evidence suggests otherwise. Even some influential conservative media-types refuse to allow any discussion of other possibilities on their programs.
They fail to mention that in 2017, more than 800 churches and synagogues were destroyed or defaced in France alone! Hundreds, maybe thousands, of incidents of persecution against Christians and Jews happen every year across Europe and Africa. Almost none of which even receive mention in the Western media.
And almost every instance involves Muslims.
We are now beginning to see Islamic influence being exerted in the halls of Congress. Shocking, heretofore intolerable, examples of anti-Semitism and anti-Christian attitudes are being articulated by prominent leaders. Most importantly, though, they are not being challenged by the leaders on the Left.
Instead, those attitudes are being defended, and thus seconded, by the nation's most senior and prominent Democrat leaders -- and wannabes.
But you shouldn't be surprised that this day would come. I, and others, have been sounding this warning for years. But few people in leadership seem to be listening.
(To be fair, I thank God that we currently have an administration that is taking these issues much more seriously and is quietly -- and sometimes publicly -- exerting pressure on other nations to actively defend their Christian and Jewish communities against these Islamic forces. It is critical that we daily pray for courage, encouragement, and inspiration for our leaders.)
In view of these developments, I have chosen to present an "Encore Presentation" of a show that I produced on September 25, 2015. It directly deals with these issues. It is eerie how so many of the stories I discussed on that program are figuring prominently in what is happening across the world now. And it explains how we reached the crises points we face today.
Here is the description of that program that I shared with you on September 25: 2015:
The refugee crisis in Europe grows uglier by the day. Mobs of angry migrants, many of whom are fleeing the Syrian civil war, are encountering resistance from the European nations they are seeking to enter.
The influx of refugees and migrants, most of whom are Muslim, threatens to overwhelm existing European abilities to cope with the human tsunami.
Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Foreign Minister, recently said that it is not an exaggeration that there might be as many as 35 million migrants flooding Europe and the West.
The image of 35 million angry, rioting migrants, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" and demanding free entry raises an awful question that leaders in Europe and the United States do not seem ready to address: When does a migration become an invasion?
"Hijrah" means "jihad by emigration." The Koran teaches immigration as a way to spread Islam.
Already, the imam at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount in Jerusalem is threatening Europe. Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ayed recently admonished his congregation, "Europe has become old and decrepit and needs human reinforcement... Soon, we will trample them underfoot... we shall conquer their countries!"
In February, ISIS threatened to send 500,000 migrants into Europe. They even published a booklet for potential jihadists with information on how to move to Libya, then from there emigrate more easily into Europe. But now, they are passing directly into Europe via Turkey.
Even though some writers have criticized European nations for resisting this flood of Muslim refugees by comparing them to the Jewish refugees prior to World War Two, the analogy is flawed. The Jews in the 1930s were fleeing those who were murdering them because they were Jews. Most of today's refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern nations are running from the results of Islam.
But they're not running from Islam itself.
Instead, they're carrying the destructive religion of Mohammed with them. They're bringing with them the very thing that made their lives miserable in the first place - the false religion of Islam!
In 1478, Spanish monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I established a tribunal now commonly known as "The Spanish Inquisition." It was a futile attempt to maintain Catholic orthodoxy by intimidation and torture.
Historians now see The Inquisition as one of the darkest chapters in human history.
Well, there's a new religion on the scene and a new inquisition on the horizon. And it's not happening in Europe, but right here in the United States.
The religion is Scientism, especially as it relates to man-made climate change. And the tribunal may well be a collaboration between insecure (and dishonest?) climate change scientists and power-hungry politicians.
Do you think I'm just being an alarmist? Consider this. Recently, 20 prominent climate change scientists and professionals wrote a letter to President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. They asked the President to utilize RICO laws to find, prosecute, and punish other scientists and organizations who do not believe as they do.
RICO stands for "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act." This is the law that Congress passed many years ago to fight organized crime.
In other words, these scientists are asking the government of the United States of America to launch a New Inquisition. And you just thought we lived in an "enlightened" age! Obviously, human nature remains the same.
But even more frightening is the fact that these scientists were not the first to think of this cowardly and unconstitutional ploy. A sitting U.S. Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, beat them to the sucker punch. In a Washington Post editorial, Senator Whitehouse accused the fossil fuel industry of funding research that directly contradicts conventional climate science.
Hey, forget about free speech or freedom of opinion. He thinks that anyone who doesn't see things his way is only in it for the money. Never mind that the climate scientists who toe the elitist line clean up with grants, university tenure, publishing contracts, plum teaching positions, and mega-dollar research projects.
Peer pressure in the academic community is almost unbearable. That's why even though huge numbers of reputable scientists do not believe in man-made climate change, you seldom hear about them. They fear for their jobs.
And they fear condemnation and ostracization by the complicit mainstream media.
Ironically, even Pope Francis, who is currently pushing man-made climate change right here in the United States, is contributing to the New Inquisition. By joining with the world's elitists to promote this bogus catastrophe, the pope is contributing forcefully to changing world opinion on this trumped-up power grab.
The upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, may turn out to be a major milestone on the road to one-world government.
Remember, this is not just about climate. This is ultimately about control. If enough people buy into the false premise, they will relinquish control to international governing bodies who will then control the world's corporations and countries through taxation and regulatory mechanisms.
Did you ever think that one-world government might actually come into existence by virtue of its ability to tax you for exhaling or drinking water?
The Apostle Paul warned that in the last days, "perilous times will come." He could have also added "bizarre," and "strange" to that description!
These are those times!
But, do not fear. God Himself, in one of the strongest promises given in the Bible declared that man cannot and will not change the climate on earth. He said, "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night SHALL NOT CEASE!"
Personally, I choose to stand on the promises of the Architect of the Universe, the Creator of the earth and the heavens. If He says that man cannot change the order of things, including the climate, then I believe Him.
Don't miss this week's Report on Daystar, CPM Network, various local stations,www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. Check your local listings.
God Bless,
Hal Lindsey
There are major prophetic signs unfolding across the world that we do not hear about in the mainstream media. One of the most important is the rapid and dramatic increase in the persecution of Christians.
Recently, in Sri Lanka and Nigeria, hundreds of Christians were brutally murdered while attending church services. In Burkina Faso last week, jihadists entered an Assemblies of God church during the service and executed the pastor and five men, including his son.
Few prominent leaders on the Left will even acknowledge that these are Christians being murdered and persecuted. They refer to them as "Easter worshipers."
And after the recent fire destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the world press and globalist governments have worked tirelessly to convince us that it was an accident that caused the blaze, even though strong evidence suggests otherwise. Even some influential conservative media-types refuse to allow any discussion of other possibilities on their programs.
They fail to mention that in 2017, more than 800 churches and synagogues were destroyed or defaced in France alone! Hundreds, maybe thousands, of incidents of persecution against Christians and Jews happen every year across Europe and Africa. Almost none of which even receive mention in the Western media.
And almost every instance involves Muslims.
We are now beginning to see Islamic influence being exerted in the halls of Congress. Shocking, heretofore intolerable, examples of anti-Semitism and anti-Christian attitudes are being articulated by prominent leaders. Most importantly, though, they are not being challenged by the leaders on the Left.
Instead, those attitudes are being defended, and thus seconded, by the nation's most senior and prominent Democrat leaders -- and wannabes.
But you shouldn't be surprised that this day would come. I, and others, have been sounding this warning for years. But few people in leadership seem to be listening.
(To be fair, I thank God that we currently have an administration that is taking these issues much more seriously and is quietly -- and sometimes publicly -- exerting pressure on other nations to actively defend their Christian and Jewish communities against these Islamic forces. It is critical that we daily pray for courage, encouragement, and inspiration for our leaders.)
In view of these developments, I have chosen to present an "Encore Presentation" of a show that I produced on September 25, 2015. It directly deals with these issues. It is eerie how so many of the stories I discussed on that program are figuring prominently in what is happening across the world now. And it explains how we reached the crises points we face today.
Here is the description of that program that I shared with you on September 25: 2015:
The refugee crisis in Europe grows uglier by the day. Mobs of angry migrants, many of whom are fleeing the Syrian civil war, are encountering resistance from the European nations they are seeking to enter.
The influx of refugees and migrants, most of whom are Muslim, threatens to overwhelm existing European abilities to cope with the human tsunami.
Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Foreign Minister, recently said that it is not an exaggeration that there might be as many as 35 million migrants flooding Europe and the West.
The image of 35 million angry, rioting migrants, shouting "Allahu Akbar!" and demanding free entry raises an awful question that leaders in Europe and the United States do not seem ready to address: When does a migration become an invasion?
"Hijrah" means "jihad by emigration." The Koran teaches immigration as a way to spread Islam.
Already, the imam at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount in Jerusalem is threatening Europe. Imam Sheikh Muhammad Ayed recently admonished his congregation, "Europe has become old and decrepit and needs human reinforcement... Soon, we will trample them underfoot... we shall conquer their countries!"
In February, ISIS threatened to send 500,000 migrants into Europe. They even published a booklet for potential jihadists with information on how to move to Libya, then from there emigrate more easily into Europe. But now, they are passing directly into Europe via Turkey.
Even though some writers have criticized European nations for resisting this flood of Muslim refugees by comparing them to the Jewish refugees prior to World War Two, the analogy is flawed. The Jews in the 1930s were fleeing those who were murdering them because they were Jews. Most of today's refugees from Syria and other Middle Eastern nations are running from the results of Islam.
But they're not running from Islam itself.
Instead, they're carrying the destructive religion of Mohammed with them. They're bringing with them the very thing that made their lives miserable in the first place - the false religion of Islam!
In 1478, Spanish monarchs Ferdinand II and Isabella I established a tribunal now commonly known as "The Spanish Inquisition." It was a futile attempt to maintain Catholic orthodoxy by intimidation and torture.
Historians now see The Inquisition as one of the darkest chapters in human history.
Well, there's a new religion on the scene and a new inquisition on the horizon. And it's not happening in Europe, but right here in the United States.
The religion is Scientism, especially as it relates to man-made climate change. And the tribunal may well be a collaboration between insecure (and dishonest?) climate change scientists and power-hungry politicians.
Do you think I'm just being an alarmist? Consider this. Recently, 20 prominent climate change scientists and professionals wrote a letter to President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. They asked the President to utilize RICO laws to find, prosecute, and punish other scientists and organizations who do not believe as they do.
RICO stands for "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act." This is the law that Congress passed many years ago to fight organized crime.
In other words, these scientists are asking the government of the United States of America to launch a New Inquisition. And you just thought we lived in an "enlightened" age! Obviously, human nature remains the same.
But even more frightening is the fact that these scientists were not the first to think of this cowardly and unconstitutional ploy. A sitting U.S. Senator, Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, beat them to the sucker punch. In a Washington Post editorial, Senator Whitehouse accused the fossil fuel industry of funding research that directly contradicts conventional climate science.
Hey, forget about free speech or freedom of opinion. He thinks that anyone who doesn't see things his way is only in it for the money. Never mind that the climate scientists who toe the elitist line clean up with grants, university tenure, publishing contracts, plum teaching positions, and mega-dollar research projects.
Peer pressure in the academic community is almost unbearable. That's why even though huge numbers of reputable scientists do not believe in man-made climate change, you seldom hear about them. They fear for their jobs.
And they fear condemnation and ostracization by the complicit mainstream media.
Ironically, even Pope Francis, who is currently pushing man-made climate change right here in the United States, is contributing to the New Inquisition. By joining with the world's elitists to promote this bogus catastrophe, the pope is contributing forcefully to changing world opinion on this trumped-up power grab.
The upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, may turn out to be a major milestone on the road to one-world government.
Remember, this is not just about climate. This is ultimately about control. If enough people buy into the false premise, they will relinquish control to international governing bodies who will then control the world's corporations and countries through taxation and regulatory mechanisms.
Did you ever think that one-world government might actually come into existence by virtue of its ability to tax you for exhaling or drinking water?
The Apostle Paul warned that in the last days, "perilous times will come." He could have also added "bizarre," and "strange" to that description!
These are those times!
But, do not fear. God Himself, in one of the strongest promises given in the Bible declared that man cannot and will not change the climate on earth. He said, "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night SHALL NOT CEASE!"
Personally, I choose to stand on the promises of the Architect of the Universe, the Creator of the earth and the heavens. If He says that man cannot change the order of things, including the climate, then I believe Him.
Don't miss this week's Report on Daystar, CPM Network, various local stations,www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. Check your local listings.
God Bless,
Hal Lindsey
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
Endgame: Starting In 2024, All US Debt Issuance Will Be Used To Pay For Interest On Debt
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-01/minsky-moment-starting-2024-all-us-debt-issuance-will-be-used-pay-interest-debt?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29
What happens to Mr. Joe and Mrs. Josephine Consumer when they "borrow" to pay their interest payments?
What happens to Mr. Joe and Mrs. Josephine Consumer when they "borrow" to pay their interest payments?
Tuesday, April 30, 2019
Saturday, April 20, 2019
'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,' by David Browne book review - The Washington Post
'Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young,' by David Browne book review - The Washington Post
By then end, Babe Ruth hated the Yankees, Ripken the Orioles, and CSNY each other.....
By then end, Babe Ruth hated the Yankees, Ripken the Orioles, and CSNY each other.....
Friday, April 19, 2019
Hearing loss not just the bane of rock musicians; Royal Opera House loses appeal over loss of viola player's hearing - BBC News
Royal Opera House loses appeal over viola player's hearing - BBC News
On 1 September 2012, Mr Goldscheider was seated directly in front of the brass section of the orchestra for a rehearsal of Wagner's thunderous opera Die Walkure in the famous orchestra pit of the opera house, in Covent Garden.
The bell of a trumpet was immediately behind his right ear during the rehearsal and noise levels reached 132 decibels - roughly equivalent to that of a jet engine.
His hearing was irreversibly damaged. Mr Goldscheider, from Bedfordshire, now has to wear ear defenders to carry out everyday household tasks such as preparing food.....
On 1 September 2012, Mr Goldscheider was seated directly in front of the brass section of the orchestra for a rehearsal of Wagner's thunderous opera Die Walkure in the famous orchestra pit of the opera house, in Covent Garden.
The bell of a trumpet was immediately behind his right ear during the rehearsal and noise levels reached 132 decibels - roughly equivalent to that of a jet engine.
His hearing was irreversibly damaged. Mr Goldscheider, from Bedfordshire, now has to wear ear defenders to carry out everyday household tasks such as preparing food.....
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Monday, April 15, 2019
Encounter with Notre Dame
Nearly 50 years ago, I heard the organist of Notre Dame, Paris, Pierre Cochereau, in concert at the Ohio State University. It was Wed-Apr-12-1972. Now, as this icon of Western Christendom and a birthplace of the Western classical music tradition burns, many hearts are sinking a bit, mine included.
Here was the program from M. Cochereau:
Perotin le Grand Pedal point en triple
Raquet Fantaisie
Dacquin Noel sur lees flutes
Calviere Pieces breves
Vierne Sym. No 2 for grand organ, excerpts
Saint-Martin Offertoire sur two noels
Cochereau Improvisations on two themes
Here was the program from M. Cochereau:
Perotin le Grand Pedal point en triple
Raquet Fantaisie
Dacquin Noel sur lees flutes
Calviere Pieces breves
Vierne Sym. No 2 for grand organ, excerpts
Saint-Martin Offertoire sur two noels
Cochereau Improvisations on two themes
One of the themes was "Carmen Ohio," the alma mater of our great university. His improvisation was remarkable.
I well recall this was a cold, rainy night. Only a few devotees turned out to find seats in the cavernous Mershon Auditorium. We went backstage afterwards. Monsieur Cochereau was most gracious to meet his public.
Sadly, this great artist suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and passed on 12 years later, just 59. His art lives on, and ones feels certain, even today as the flames rage, that his ancient, venerable Notre Dame will be rebuilt and live on, too.
Monday, April 08, 2019
Saturday, April 06, 2019
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Friday, March 22, 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Blueberries or Statins to Reduce Heart Attack Risk? Your Call... - Regenexx Blog
We did some due diligence on a current AARP Bulletin piece making health claims for blueberries. Was it true? Apparently so.
Turns out these exist for grapes and cherries as well.
We found some cautionary comments on statins, too:
Blueberries or Statins to Reduce Heart Attack Risk? Your Call
Turns out these exist for grapes and cherries as well.
We found some cautionary comments on statins, too:
Blueberries or Statins to Reduce Heart Attack Risk? Your Call
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Saturday, March 09, 2019
Wednesday, March 06, 2019
Suicide or assassination?
Széchenyi: Sad End of the Great Visionary
Erika Papp Faber
http://www.magyarnews.org/news.php?viewStory=1865
Following the events of March 1848, when Petőfi’s ”Talpra, magyar!” stirred the ember of independence into flame, a Hungarian government was formed, independent of Austria. Count Batthyány Lajos, who agreed with most of Széchenyi’s ideas, was leader of the Opposition Party in the Upper House, and became the first Prime Minister of the new Hungarian government. At the same time, Kossuth was the Opposition leader in the Lower House, and Batthyány began to lean towards Kossuth’s idea of independence.
It was Batthyány who appointed Széchenyi to be Minister of Transportation. This seemed to be a natural culmination of Széchenyi’s monumental projects to develop and improve navigation and rail transport throughout the country.
Although Széchenyi was fundamentally opposed to Kossuth’s radical idea of total independence from Austrian rule and had great reservations about accepting the appointment, he did so nevertheless (March 23rd, 1848) for the sake of presenting a united front. But he noted in his diary that he had thereby signed his own death sentence, that he was sure to be hung, together with Kossuth. Because he feared that Kossuth’s policy would bring national disaster: ”I clearly see outlined before me the most complete dissolution of all the elements of Hungarian life”, he wrote in his diary on July 5th.
He had always considered working with the Habsburgs the only way to achieve viable progress, and so he still spoke out in the new parliament against a break with the empire, but he did not prevail. By this time, Kossuth’s ideas of total independence had become the heady inspiration of the people, while Széchenyi’s ideas were no longer fashionable.
As the Viennese Court began to backtrack on its initial acceptance of certain reforms, Széchenyi endured increasingly serious pangs of conscience, reproaching himself with causing the ruin of the nation by his ideas that had opened the way for this liberal, and what he regarded as a dangerous and destructive, process. ”There has never been anyone who has brought greater chaos into this world than I ! O my God, have mercy on me!”
So after five months, in September 1848, he resigned as Minister of Transportation. And had a nervous breakdown.
His doctor took him to the neurological Goergen Clinic in Döbling, on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria, which he would never leave again. His wife Crescence (see the June 2016 issue of Magyar News Online) moved to Vienna to be near him, and they were in constant contact. She would visit him, bringing him personal items he requested, and in the letters they exchanged almost daily, they discussed their sons Béla and Ödön. Neither of them was willing, or able, to continue their father’s zealous commitment to service for the betterment of their native land. They were both a sore disappointment to Széchenyi.
His condition improved with the treatment provided at the Clinic. After a while he was able to receive visitors, many of whom also had the welfare of Hungary at heart, and who came seeking his advice. He even helped some of them to publish their writings. He also began writing again, revising his ”Pesti por és sár” (Dust and Mud of Pest), and ”Hunnia”, and starting a new book titled ”Önismeret” (Self-knowledge, expounding on different pedagogical themes), but these were never published.
More important, and having fatal consequences, was his rebuttal of an ”anonymous” work entitled ”Rückblick” (”A Backward Glance”), which attempted to justify the Austrian Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bach’s repressive terrorist measures applied in Hungary. Popular opinion guessed that the author had been Bach himself. Széchenyi entitled his reponse ”Ein Blick” (”A Glance”), making Bach and his politics a laughing stock through ridicule and puns. It was published in London in 1859, and became known as ”The Yellow Book”. It caused the fall of the Bach regime, but also Széchenyi’s death.
On March 3rd, 1860, the Viennese police carried out a house search in Széchenyi’s quarters at the Goergen Clinic, and seized his writings, on the basis of which they presumed to discover a wide political conspiracy. They told him that he could not stay at the Clinic any longer. He feared they would take him away by force.
On Easter Sunday, April 7th, 1860, Count Széchenyi István was found dead in his suite of rooms at the Goergen Clinic in Döbling, with a pistol on his left thigh.
Suicide or assassination?
While historians tend to accept Széchenyi’s death as a suicide, there seems to be sufficient circumstantial evidence for his having been murdered by Austrian decree. Details supporting this view were provided by dr. Kacziány Géza in his book ”Széchenyi meggyilkoltatása” (The Assassination of Széchenyi), originally published in 1931, and reprinted in 2000.
Széchenyi had sometimes received visitors who were served a meal from the Clinic’s kitchen. One such visitor was Baron Jósika Samu, Chancellor of Transylvania and a strong proponent of the Empire among the Hungarians. On the day of his latest visit, the main dish was truffles, which Széchenyi was fond of, and it was very likely that he would eat a good portion of it. However, he had digestive problems that day, and did not take any. His guest, on the other hand, had several helpings. On arriving home, Jósika became sick, and they called the Court doctor who diagnosed intestinal cramps and treated him for them. Twelve days later, the Baron, who had a strong physique, was dead. It is worth noting that, while Jósika was sick, no one from the Court inquired about his health!
It is also interesting to note that Széchenyi himself had asked Dr. Goldberg whether it might be possible that, for 20,000 forints, an assistant doctor would mix poison into a patient’s food ? The doctor objected, horrified, whereupon Széchenyi remarked, ”For that much anyone would do it.” Dr. Goldberg left, highly insulted.
When the investigating magistrate examined Count Széchenyi’s corpse, he found him sitting in an easychair, both arms resting on his thighs, with the discharged pistol on his left thigh. The left side of the head was totally smashed, the skullbone several steps away on the floor. The bird shot found in his brain could not have had such a violent effect. There was no blood spattered anywhere.
It is obvious from this report that the shot that killed Széchenyi came from the left side. Now the Count was not left-handed! And it is not likely that the hand that pulled the suicidal trigger would fall on his thigh, together with the pistol that he used. It would rather have fallen by his side, and the pistol to the floor! It is thus more than probable that the body’s position had been tampered with.
Dr. Goldberg testified that Széchenyi was often thinking about suicide and the immortality of the soul. True, this was one of the recurring topics in his diary. But the day before his demise he played chess with Count Zichy, some game with two servants, and chess again with his secretary Kiss until 10 o’clock.
The old servant Brach, who locked the door at 10 o’clock every night, testified that he knocked on the Count’s door at 7 in the morning, and getting no answer, sent for assistant doctor Goldberg, and then stepped into the room with him. He said they found him in the easychair with the discharged pistol in his right hand. – Presumably this was not the first time the servant received no answer to his knock. Why did he right away send for the assistant doctor only on this particular morning? He probably knew about what was to happen the previous night and to whom he had given the key. A week later Brach too was dead.
 |
| Biography of the remarkable Count may be found on Amazon. |
Although no suicide note was found, the last entry in his diary was, “I can’t save myself.” Count Széchenyi István is buried in the family mausoleum at Nagycenk.
Erika Papp Faber is Editor of Magyar News Online.
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