Sunday, January 28, 2007
Sunday, and yes Way Very LATE for Komrad Katjuša !
I spent today mostly with my daughter, son-in-law and grand-kids, and then came home and did some of the sorting I have been doing. I'm getting rid of some things I don't need any more. It was cold and there were a few flakes of snow but no actual snowfall. It's still pretty icy out at my daughters. Among other things we went to Mass together at St. Joe's. My daughter is considering putting her daughter in Catholic school. She's realized that the way I raised her, and the prevailing culture are at odds. Kindergarten has been fine, my little grand daughter has an EXCELLENT teacher, but I guess that my daughter has seen the way the bigger kids look and behave. She has come to value the way she was raised. I have to say that I appreciated today's homily quite a bit, things I've said for years were stated very clearly, and it was as well good to see old friends, people who have been friends of my family since we came to live in the Yakima Gulag.Then my daughter grabbed some hamburgers, and rented Curious George, which was very pleasant watching. I thought it would only amuse the kids, but it amused us all.
Then my son-in-law dropped me home. My daughter worked on 4 hours of sleep and was at work something like 1 am, and went until something like 8:30 am, the typical hours of a baker. So she fell asleep as soon as she was home. Mojo was in to have a break from the cold. He's a very good dog, he's settled down a lot. If I'm there he likes to sit by me, I'm not much of a dog person but this dog doesn't care! He likes me anyway, so he's irresistible. I'm listening to some good Breton music, and music from Galicia (Celtic Spain for those of you in Rio Del!) on Thistle and Shamrock.
Today's very late news links.
Building a Future for Heathrow's Lost Children
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070129/lf_nm/britain_asylum_children_dc
This is just so NationStates
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004109.html
Slovenia sends Croatia a diplomatic note
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n104478
A lot of Europeans feel the same way I do about the Euro
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n104495
I remember when I was in Ireland, even for a significant price reduction I didn't use Euros. I figured it wasn't what Pearse and Conelly fought for, and I liked the beauty of the Irish currency anyway.
There was a raise in prices for at least some things after the Euro was adopted. That isn't cool with me. I hope that trend doesn't continue. That's probably behind some of the annoyance and skepticism about the E.U. and the Euro currency. The upside is not having to go change currency all the time. As for migration issues, well fair wage standards in the Euro-zone would make a difference, and that's going to take some time too, because different countries have had different wage systems and work systems, and different costs of living.
Textile Town Dying
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/europe/29serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
This is pretty typical in the whole of the Balkans, that industries go away and so do those young people who can.
Then my son-in-law dropped me home. My daughter worked on 4 hours of sleep and was at work something like 1 am, and went until something like 8:30 am, the typical hours of a baker. So she fell asleep as soon as she was home. Mojo was in to have a break from the cold. He's a very good dog, he's settled down a lot. If I'm there he likes to sit by me, I'm not much of a dog person but this dog doesn't care! He likes me anyway, so he's irresistible. I'm listening to some good Breton music, and music from Galicia (Celtic Spain for those of you in Rio Del!) on Thistle and Shamrock.
Today's very late news links.
Building a Future for Heathrow's Lost Children
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070129/lf_nm/britain_asylum_children_dc
This is just so NationStates
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/004109.html
Slovenia sends Croatia a diplomatic note
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n104478
A lot of Europeans feel the same way I do about the Euro
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n104495
I remember when I was in Ireland, even for a significant price reduction I didn't use Euros. I figured it wasn't what Pearse and Conelly fought for, and I liked the beauty of the Irish currency anyway.
There was a raise in prices for at least some things after the Euro was adopted. That isn't cool with me. I hope that trend doesn't continue. That's probably behind some of the annoyance and skepticism about the E.U. and the Euro currency. The upside is not having to go change currency all the time. As for migration issues, well fair wage standards in the Euro-zone would make a difference, and that's going to take some time too, because different countries have had different wage systems and work systems, and different costs of living.
Textile Town Dying
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/29/world/europe/29serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
This is pretty typical in the whole of the Balkans, that industries go away and so do those young people who can.
# posted by Katja R. @ 6:09 PM 
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Not only textile.... So many towns are dying these days on Balkans. Do we have to thank this to globalization? I guess so.
Yes I'm afraid globalization is at the back of it, and changes to industries. The bad news is that there will be more rootless young people who have no traditions or culture. That can't lead to anything good.
When people are not even part of their own culture, some very bad things can and usually do replace it. Turbofolk vs real folk music in the Balkans, that dreadful Windham Hill type New Age garbage in the case of Celtic music, Bollywood film music totally replacing the folk and classical musical traditions in India, I could go on and on about that.
Padraic Pearse had a lot of things to say on this which remain relevant, not only to Ireland, but to the world at large. So often in studying what is going on in the Balkans some phrase of his will come to mind, and I will say 'Yes old Paddy got it right!'
I believe a lot of the religious extremism comes from the rootlessness of people forced to leave their home villages where they have lived for centuries, where their house isn't just real-estate, and then go to cities where everyone is alike, and harrassed into sameness, not by some cruel government but by the people around them, their corporate overlords and the world of commerce, entertainment and advertising, as well as fashion design, the medical field, psychology, and mass education.
People turn to religion to have some cultural cohesion, because they have sacrificed their actual cultures in the process of making a living. Culture and religion used to be a lot more close.
Now it can be hard to tell what is culture and what is religion unless it's something written down and carefully interpreted.
Which gets us back to one of my major objections to the war in Iraq, namely the destruction of Christian communities which have maintained both the Scripture in daily practice along with a culture that traces back to the time of Jesus. The war has destroyed so many of those communities that I think the roots of authentic Christianity itself are in danger.
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When people are not even part of their own culture, some very bad things can and usually do replace it. Turbofolk vs real folk music in the Balkans, that dreadful Windham Hill type New Age garbage in the case of Celtic music, Bollywood film music totally replacing the folk and classical musical traditions in India, I could go on and on about that.
Padraic Pearse had a lot of things to say on this which remain relevant, not only to Ireland, but to the world at large. So often in studying what is going on in the Balkans some phrase of his will come to mind, and I will say 'Yes old Paddy got it right!'
I believe a lot of the religious extremism comes from the rootlessness of people forced to leave their home villages where they have lived for centuries, where their house isn't just real-estate, and then go to cities where everyone is alike, and harrassed into sameness, not by some cruel government but by the people around them, their corporate overlords and the world of commerce, entertainment and advertising, as well as fashion design, the medical field, psychology, and mass education.
People turn to religion to have some cultural cohesion, because they have sacrificed their actual cultures in the process of making a living. Culture and religion used to be a lot more close.
Now it can be hard to tell what is culture and what is religion unless it's something written down and carefully interpreted.
Which gets us back to one of my major objections to the war in Iraq, namely the destruction of Christian communities which have maintained both the Scripture in daily practice along with a culture that traces back to the time of Jesus. The war has destroyed so many of those communities that I think the roots of authentic Christianity itself are in danger.
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