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religion-is-a-mental-illness · 2 years ago

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Published: Jun 29, 2023

An independent school has failed an inspection after it was found teaching the Bible "as fact" in subjects including science and history.

Bournemouth Christian School was judged "inadequate" by Ofsted after inspectors found multiple failings at the school during an inspection in April.

In a report published this month, Ofsted said the school's leaders have established a curriculum that presents "flawed and inaccurate information in all subjects", with pupils learning through an "unmoderated Christian worldview".

This includes presenting a Christian perspective as "more important than scientific fact", and failing to provide a "balanced, factually accurate curriculum". Ofsted said that this impedes pupils' understanding, and that they consequently do not gain the knowledge necessary for their futures.

Pupils "do not learn much about the world around them", including "citizenship in modern Britain", Ofsted said. It added that the curriculum's "focus on America" does not help pupils "prepare for life in modern Britain" or beyond school. This includes a focus on "the American literary tradition", which means pupils "do not learn about the literary traditions that have shaped the United Kingdom".

The school also fails to provide an effective personal, social and health education programme for students, including appropriate relationships and sex education.

The school, which teaches pupils between ages 3 and 18, uses the online curriculum of SwitchedOn Education. SwitchedOn Education describes itself as providing a "Christian digital education curriculum" for both "schools and home schools" in the UK and internationally.

Ofsted found teachers "do not have the subject knowledge to support pupils effectively" and are unaware of what pupils do or do not know, with pupils interacting "mainly with computers".

Ofsted said the school has also failed to "create an effective culture of safeguarding", with pupils at a "serious risk of harm". Leaders do not address concerns about pupils or ensure that pupils were safe in school. The school site was found to be insecure, with pupils easily able to leave.

NSS: school "more interested in indoctrinating its pupils than educating them"

National Secular Society campaigns officer Jack Rivington said: "This damning report from Ofsted reveals an organisation more interested in indoctrinating its pupils than educating them.

"The presentation of religious dogma as more valid and more important than scientific fact is unacceptable, and deprives children of their full right to an education.

"The appalling quality of Bournemouth Christian School's curriculum, teaching methods, and safeguarding processes revealed in this report is highly concerning. This school should now receive further scrutiny to ensure children and young people's rights are protected."

#religion #creationism #christianity #bible nonsense #creationist nonsense #corruption of education #religious indoctrination #child indoctrination #childhood indoctrination #religion is a mental illness

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warningsine · 5 months ago

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This summer marks the 45th anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution, when the guerilla forces of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) overthrew the Somoza dictatorship, the U.S.-backed dynasty that had ruled the country for more than 40 years. On July 19, 1979, after nearly two decades of struggle, armed Sandinistas entered the capital of Managua victorious, their red and black bandanas heralding a new era of socialist transformation.

The jubilation of victory was quickly tempered by the exigencies of war. From 1980 to 1989, a coalition of counterrevolutionary forces known as the Contras—who were financed and trained by the United States during the Reagan administration—waged a ruthless but unsuccessful terror campaign to unseat the revolutionary government. Between 30,000 and 40,0000 people died in the ensuing violence.

FSLN commander Daniel Ortega emerged as the leader of the revolutionary junta, and he was elected president in 1984. Six years later, Ortega was voted out by a coalition of opposition groups. In 2007, he was reelected and has served as president ever since, since the National Assembly modified the Nicaraguan Constitution in 2014 to allow for his indefinite reelection in contests widely recognized as shams.

Today, 17 years into Ortega’s rule, the 1979 revolution’s promise of liberation and equality has become little more than window dressing for another iron-fisted dictatorship. It is not one of the proletariat or of the people, but of another all-powerful family, led by Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, who is often referred to as his “co-president.” But as the two tighten their grip on power, it seems to be slipping through their fingers, and their rule appears increasingly precarious.

For nearly two decades, “the commander” and “comrade Rosario” have consolidated power through a series of radical legislative and constitutional changes. Murillo has steadily increased her influence since 2008, when she was appointed president of the Councils of Citizen Power, party-state committees that ensured loyalty to the regime and distributed resources at the local level. She assumed Nicaragua’s vice presidency in 2017 after a constitutional reform allowed for her election despite being the president’s wife.

“Ortega’s dictatorship is unique insofar as he is singularly uncharismatic and is uninterested in direct appeals to the Nicaraguan people that other more personalist populist leaders rely on to bolster support,” said Michael Paarlberg, an associate fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies and a professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University. Instead, Paarlberg added, Ortega “has had to rely chiefly on repression, both to create fear and to shrink the pool of potential rivals within civil society, religious institutions, and NGOs,” or nongovernmental organizations.

Any inkling of dissent in Nicaragua has been met with ruthless military violence. In 2018, soldiers, police, and paramilitary death squads crushed a civil rebellion, leaving more than 350 people dead, at least 2,000 injured, and thousands more imprisoned, disappeared, or exiled. Ortega and Murillo have since further entrenched their dictatorship, clamping down on the opposition, securing control of the judiciary and legislature, purging the party-state apparatus of perceived traitors, and criminalizing civil society.

The government has outlawed public protest; seized the offices and assets of dozens of news outlets; revoked the legal standing of thousands of nonprofit organizations, universities, and churches—most recently in mid-August, when the regime banned 1,500 nonprofit organizations in a single day��and denounced hundreds of students, journalists, literary figures, and human rights defenders as “foreign agents,” stripping them of their citizenship. Since 2018, more than 300,000 Nicaraguans have sought asylum in neighboring Costa Rica—and U.S. Customs and Border Protection has encountered nearly 440,000 at the southern border of the United States. Many hope to win an asylum claim. Today, 1.5 million Nicaraguans—roughly 22 percent of the country’s population—live outside the borders of their homeland.

Recently, however, the Ortega dictatorship has appeared increasingly precarious as the presidential couple pluck away at the base of their own house of cards. Ortega and Murillo are getting old—they are 78 and 73, respectively—and the prospect of a democratic opening hangs over their hopes for smooth dynastic succession. All signs indicate that the couple is positioning their son Laureano to succeed his mother after she inherits the presidential crown from her husband.

But as Ortega and Murillo grow more isolated and self-destructive—executing mass purges and banning civil society groups—their popularity continues to wane, down to about 15 percent by last Gallup count in 2023. As their inner circle shrinks and their enemies multiply, a seamless succession appears increasingly unlikely.

For many observers, the question is not whether the dictatorship will implode, but when and how.

“There is no question that the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo is getting weaker and weaker every day,” said Tamara Dávila, a leader of the opposition coalition Blue and White National Unity who is now exiled in the United States. Dávila believes that Ortega’s death or departure from office could create the possibility for a democratic opening despite the regime’s hopes for dynastic succession.

“The question is what that possibility will look like,” she said.

Since February 2023, when the regime released, banished, and denaturalized Dávila and 221 other political prisoners, Nicaragua has drifted out of the international spotlight. But repression and terror continue apace; according to the most current and commonly cited estimate, at least 141 political prisoners languish in Nicaragua’s prisons, according to the United Nations, enduring isolation, torture, and other inhumane conditions.

Dora María Téllez, a celebrated former Sandinista commander, was one of the 222 dissidents imprisoned and then exiled by the Ortega-Murillo regime. She said that the real number of political prisoners in Nicaragua is much higher than 141. “Families are afraid to report people as political prisoners. So there’s probably a little over 250 in total,” she told me in a recent interview. “But it’s a system of revolving doors: They let some out, they bring more in. … It’s a mechanism of repression that the Ortega-Murillo regime uses to keep the whole country intimidated.”

As recently as April, police intensified patrols in Nicaragua’s major cities, detaining five family members of protesters who were killed during the 2018 crackdown. On April 15, the body of opposition activist Carlos Alberto Garcia Suárez was found in a garbage dump in the city of Jinotepe. His corpse was badly burned, but police ruled out foul play, and the coroner ordered an immediate burial without an autopsy.

What is left of the opposition in the country is small and operates in secrecy.

Power in Nicaragua is structured vertically. Members of Ortega and Murillo’s loyal inner circle have some influence over decision-making, but their main role is administrative: All policy decisions lie in the hands of the ruling couple. Dismissals for perceived disloyalty are routine, and purges are increasingly common. Often, they are carried out under the personal direction of Murillo, maneuvering to eliminate perceived threats to her presumed succession.

No one is immune: Friends and close relatives of the couple have been branded traitors and remanded to El Chipote prison or exiled. In 2021, the former Sandinista commander Hugo Torres Jiménez, who risked his life securing Ortega’s release from prison in 1974, was prosecuted by the regime as a traitor. Torres had served as vice president of an opposition party led by ex-Sandinistas and was a vocal critic of Ortega and Murillo, calling the dictatorship “fiercer and more totalitarian than that of the Somozas.” He died in prison two years after his arrest, at age 73.

The presidential couple even went after Ortega’s brother, Gen. Humberto Ortega, a hero of the revolution and the former head of the Nicaraguan Army, accusing him of treason for criticizing the regime’s authoritarian drift and for questioning Murillo’s dynastic succession. On May 19, police surrounded Humberto’s home, placing him under house arrest. Later, after suffering symptoms of a heart attack, he was transferred to a military hospital in Managua.

“Just because we’re blood brothers, that doesn’t mean that Daniel and his group aren’t extremely uncomfortable with someone like me,” Humberto said in a recent interview with Infobae. “Some have even thought about eliminating me. I’ve never heard it from Daniel himself, but I’ve heard it from people who are close to him.”

In October 2023, the regime dismissed 10 percent of all judicial branch employees, including the president of the Supreme Court, a devoted Sandinista militant personally disliked by Murillo. Even the judge who had dismissed charges brought against Ortega for sexually assaulting his now-exiled stepdaughter, Zoilamérica Ortega Murillo, was caught up in the mass firing.

High-level officials continue to fall as the dictatorship closes ranks around Murillo. In the past six years, she has assumed an increasing share of power in areas once managed by her husband, such as the judiciary and Foreign Affairs Ministry. She has also maneuvered to eliminate intermediaries between her and the leaders of key institutions, such as the Interior Ministry, the attorney general’s office, and the national police. The resulting loss of power among Sandinistas loyal to Ortega has increased internal struggles within the party.

Last month, Nicaraguan police raided the office and home of Finance Minister Ivan Acosta, who was forced to resign—allegedly for acts of corruption, but more likely because he had fallen out of favor with the presidential couple. Employees in the Finance Ministry now fear a wave of dismissals, similar to those that occurred following Murillo’s purge last year of the Supreme Court, which resulted in the mass firing of some 900 government workers—including magistrates, secretaries, janitors, drivers, and even Ortega’s first-born son, Camilo Ortega Herrera, who led the court’s technical services department.

On Aug. 6, Nicaraguan news outlet Confidencial reported that in late July, Murillo dismissed Ortega’s chief police escort, Commissioner-General Marcos Alberto Acuña Avilés, who had served as a loyal member of the president’s security team since the 1990s.

All this reveals “an internal crisis tied up with the growing power of Rosario Murillo,” said Téllez, the former FSLN commander, who served as Nicaragua’s health minister from 1979 to 1990. “Rosario is not satisfied with appointees who are unconditionally supportive of Daniel Ortega. She wants people who are unconditionally supportive of her.”

The dismissals, surveillance, harassment, and imprisonment—not only of opposition figures, but also of Sandinista partisans, including high-level members of Ortega and Murillo’s inner circle—are dramatically reconfiguring the makeup of power in Nicaragua. The presidential couple has generated discontent, distrust, and fear at every level of the party-state apparatus.

With institutions in chaos, what little support and perceived legitimacy the regime has remains tied to the increasingly frail and marginalized figure of Ortega, who is a lingering symbol of the revolution. The vast majority of the Nicaraguan population disfavors the dictatorship, and it appears increasingly unlikely that Murillo would be able to fill his shoes without creating a power vacuum that could very well spell the regime’s end.

“Murillo is perhaps the only person in Nicaragua with a less credible claim on authority than Ortega, given her deep unpopularity and having never been popularly elected in a legitimate election,” said Paarlberg, the fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies.

“She would have no choice but to double down on repression,” he continued. “Should she fail to hold power, such as by failing to maintain the loyalty of the Sandinista security apparatus, it would create the conditions for a regime transition.”

#nicaragua #politics

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mariacallous · 1 month ago

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In the 1970s, my parents and all the Jewish parents I knew had what I came to call the Jewish Bookshelf. On it sat “The Source” by James Michener, “Exodus” by Leon Uris, “The Chosen” by Chaim Potok, “Portnoy’s Complaint” by Philip Roth, “This Is My God” by Herman Wouk and “World of Our Fathers” by Irving Howe.

The first four were novels, shelved here in ascending order from lowbrow to highbrow. Wouk’s book is nonfiction, part memoir and part how-to about living an observant Jewish life. Howe’s is a classic history of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe.

Whenever I share this list with boomer friends, they nod in recognition, and a certain nostalgia for a time when Jews — or certainly suburban American Jews of the post-war era ± were literally on the same page. The era that also gave us a synagogue building boom, the ever-more-lavish bar and bat mitzvah and the rise and fall of the Jewish Catskills was a middle-class, Ashkenazi monoculture. Our parents shared reading tastes in ways that seem to be unthinkable today, when media culture, like Jewish culture, has splintered. I’d be hard-pressed to pick five Jewish books from the last decade or two that I am confident could be found on the shelves of a present-day cohort of middle-aged Jews.

How that Jewish literary monoculture came to be and how it crumbled has become the subject of academic study, and of at least three books in the past year alone. The one that most directly focuses on the middle-class tastes of Jews like my parents is “Postwar Stories: How Books Made Judaism American,” by Rachel Gordan. An assistant professor of religion and Jewish studies at the University of Florida, Gordan examines what Jews were reading and writing in the period immediately following World War II. She’s less interested in the literary heavy hitters of the time — Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud and Roth, say — than in two very specific genres of middlebrow books.

The first she calls “Introduction to Judaism literature.” It includes Wouk’s “This Is My God,” “Basic Judaism” by Conservative rabbi Milton Steinberg and “What the Jews Believe,” by Steinberg’s cousin, Rabbi Philip Bernstein.

Many of these books — Gordan counts over 40 written between 1945 and 1960 — were marketed to the general public. Such books addressed non-Jew’s ignorance of Judaism at a time “when Cold War American citizenship seemed to require denominational affiliation.” (America, remember, was facing down the godless communists.) The authors of such Intro to Judaism books were also motivated by the suspicion that “American Jews themselves, not just non-Jews, were often ignorant about Judaism.” These children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren of immigrants “stood at a remove from the religion of their ancestors.”

Gordan’s second genre is “anti-antisemitism literature,” epitomized by “Gentleman’s Agreement,” Laura Z. Hobson’s 1947 novel about a journalist who goes undercover as a Jew to experience antisemitism for himself (the film adaptation, starring Gregory Peck, won that year’s Oscar for best picture). Such works asserted that eschewing antisemitism and accepting Jews as part of the (white) American religious mainstream were essential parts of a “pro-democracy and anti-fascist worldview.”

Gordan argues that both genres helped transform American Jews and Judaism, turning them into “subjects that Americans could understand and accept.” Jews themselves, meanwhile, learned that their Jewishness did not have to be experienced as a liability. This led, by the 1970s, in two paradoxical directions: Jews embraced their ethnic identity in private and popular culture, but also assimilated into the mainstream and lost their Jewish distinctiveness.

It should be obvious by now that, except for Hobson, the writers I’ve mentioned so far are men. All of the recent scholarly works about this period are by women, and each addresses the gender gap. In the delightfully titled “Carrying a Big Schtick: Jewish Acculturation and Masculinity in the Twentieth Century,” Miriam Eve Mora writes how many of the male novelists, stung by antisemitic accusations that Jewish men were “feminized,” set out to “demonstrate the Jewish ability to perform masculinity on par with their national brethren.” She quotes historian Paul Breines, who describes the macho works of Uris, Roth, Mailer and Bellow as the “Rambowitz novels.”

Mora, the director of academic programs at the Center for Jewish History in New York City, analyses this attitude with some sympathy. The “view of Jewish men as weak or effeminate,” she writes, “has been a constant strain among popular sentiments about Jewish manhood in America, and there has always been a corresponding strain of Jewish men attempting to remedy this sentiment through proving or improving their manhood.”

Somewhat less sympathetic is Ronnie Grinberg, a historian at the University of Oklahoma. Her book, “Write Like a Man: Jewish Masculinity and the New York Intellectuals,” studies the aggro posturing at “little” magazines like Commentary and Partisan Review and among their male contributors, including Norman Mailer, Lionel Trilling, Nathan Glazer, Irving Kristol and Norman Podhoretz. Besides exerting an outsize influence on the era’s debates over domestic and international affairs, they wrote and argued as if they were pounding the typewriter with their fists.

These writers absorbed American norms about manhood on the streets, at the movies and in popular culture, which together shaped “a new intellectual culture that valued a combative stance shaped by a desire and need to perform a new kind of secular Jewish masculinity.” The paragon of the New York Intellectual, Irving Howe once wrote, valued “pride in argument, vanity of dialectic, a gleaming readiness for polemic” — which was probably a lot more fun for readers than for the targets of their aggression.

Grinberg also writes about the women writers in this circle, often the wives of the gatekeepers, including Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Hardwick and Diana Trilling. Not all were Jews, but they were willing to mix it up with the men in a style that came to be seen as distinctly Jewish.

Such “secular Jewish masculinity” shaped the intellectual discourse and the marketplace where work by men was taken more seriously. My parents — my mother anyway — read Jewish books by women, although they tended to be bestselling authors whose work was rarely regarded as great literature: Belva Plain, Cynthia Freeman, Judith Krantz. I don’t remember them reading books by Anzia Yezierska, Grace Paley or Cynthia Ozick, important writers often excluded in the talk about a golden age for Jewish American literature.

Gordan, Mora and Grinberg describe the forces that shaped Jewish identity, as well as reading tastes, in the 20th century: assimilation and acceptance, gender, the Cold War. Gordan explores how the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel also influenced the postwar literary era — the former by shaming or at least marginalizing antisemites, the latter by casting a glow of triumph and even cockiness over Jews living in the Diaspora.

What books would capture the Jewish vibes of the 21st century? In 2020 Yehuda Kurtzer and Claire E. Sufrin put together an anthology called “The New Jewish Canon,” attempting to catalogue the books and articles that represent the “Jewish intellectual and communal zeitgeist.” Among the 70 or so picks, only two could be called bestsellers: “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Harold Kushner and Joseph Telushkin’s “Jewish Literacy.”

It’s increasingly hard to talk about a Jewish community when Jews are split along denominational, political and ethnic lines, and when the Holocaust and Israel are fading as forces that bind Jews to one another. My parents didn’t agree with their fellow Jews on everything, but they saw themselves in common cause. Their books they bought and read reflected this.

Perhaps the current lack of a common Jewish bookshelf of popular, middlebrow books is a good thing, hinting at a richly diverse community that can’t be captured between the covers of a handful of bestsellers.

Or maybe it points to an inability of a people to see themselves in each other, or agree on what they share.

Your turn: What books reflect our current Jewish moment — and which might you guess are on the shelves of even a plurality of American Jews? We’d like to hear from you: Suggest one or more general interest, scholarly and even cookbooks that have broken through to a wide readership and would tell a future historian what was on the minds of American Jews in the 2020s. Send your suggestions to [email protected] and put “Jewish Bookshelf” in the subject line.

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power-chords · 1 year ago

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Spanning the last two centuries, Horizons Blossom, Borders Vanish: Anarchism and Yiddish Literature by Anna Elena Torres combines archival research on the radical press and close readings of Yiddish poetry to offer an original literary study of the Jewish anarchist movement.

Torres examines Yiddish anarchist aesthetics from the nineteenth-century Russian proletarian immigrant poets through the modernist avant-gardes of Warsaw, Chicago, and London to contemporary antifascist composers. The book also traces Jewish anarchist strategies for negotiating surveillance, censorship, detention, and deportation, revealing the connection between Yiddish modernism and struggles for free speech, women’s bodily autonomy, and the transnational circulation of avant-garde literature.

Rather than focusing on narratives of assimilation, Torres intervenes in earlier models of Jewish literature by centering refugee critique of the border. Jewish deportees, immigrants, and refugees opposed citizenship as the primary guarantor of human rights. Instead, they cultivated stateless imaginations, elaborated through literature.

I'm attending the YIVO Zoom discussion on this book which is on February 12 at 1 PM ET and it's free to register.

#yiddishkeyt #anarchism #anna elena torres

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reyaint · 3 months ago

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history of HAIQIN | part V: treaty of silver shores

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date: october 1, 2024. 7:04pm

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Treaty of The Silver Shores (1687): The War's End

Terms of the Treaty:

Recognition of Sovereignty:

The most important aspect of the treaty was the formal recognition of Haiqin's sovereignty by the British Crown. This meant that Haiqin could now engage in diplomatic relations with other nations, signaling its legitimacy on the global stage.

Assimilation or Departure:

British citizens residing in Haiqin faced a stark choice: integrate into Haiqinese society or leave. This policy helped to prevent future political tensions, as those who chose to stay had to abide by Haiqin’s laws and customs. The British who stayed were granted citizenship on the condition that they contributed positively to Haiqin’s social and economic fabric.

Return of Confiscated Lands:

Properties seized by the British during their occupation were returned to their original Haiqinian owners, restoring land rights and helping to stabilize the post-war economy. This act of restitution was critical in preserving Haiqin’s agricultural base, which was key to its recovery.

Rebuilding the Nation:

Roads and Bridges:

King Katalies prioritized the construction of roads and bridges to connect remote regions of Haiqin, facilitating trade and communication. These infrastructural projects also employed many displaced citizens, providing much-needed jobs in the post-war period.

Public Buildings:

The king commissioned the rebuilding of schools, government offices, and temples, which had been destroyed during the conflict. Educational reform was particularly important to Katalies, as he believed that fostering a strong sense of national identity in the youth would help to prevent future divisions. Schools were established throughout the country, focusing on the history of Haiqin, its indigenous traditions, and the contributions of the various cultural groups that now called the nation home.

The Royal Library:

One of the most notable projects was the creation of the Royal Library of Haiqin, a grand repository of knowledge that symbolized the nation’s commitment to learning and cultural preservation. The library became a center for scholars from around the world, housing texts in multiple languages, including Haiqinian, Greek, and English.

Economic Development and Sustainability:

The post-war economy under King Katalies was focused on sustainability and self-sufficiency. The king believed that Haiqin's strength lay in its ability to rely on its resources and people.

Agriculture and Crafts:

The agricultural sector, revived by British farming techniques, was complemented by a resurgence in local crafts such as pottery, weaving, and metalwork. These goods became key exports, particularly in the growing trade with Europe and the Mediterranean.

Port City Expansion:

Haiqin’s coastal cities, particularly its ports, experienced significant growth. These cities became bustling centers of commerce, attracting merchants from across the world. The expansion of the maritime industry brought wealth and international recognition to the nation.

Cultural Renaissance

Following the war, Haiqin experienced a cultural renaissance that solidified its national identity and celebrated the nation’s unique blend of influences.

Music and Dance:

Music and dance, both traditional and imported, flourished during this period. Native Haiqin dances, which had ceremonial significance, were performed alongside European folk dances, leading to new styles that reflected the diversity of the population.

Literary Expansion:

Writers and poets emerged from all corners of the country, chronicling the stories of the Nine-Year War and the journey to independence. The king himself sponsored many of these literary works, ensuring that the heroism of Haiqin’s people was immortalized.

Theater and Festivals:

Public festivals and theater became integral to post-war life, serving both as entertainment and a means of reinforcing the new national identity. Plays that depicted the struggles and triumphs of the war were widely popular, as they connected the common people with their shared history.

International Relations and Alliances:

Forging Alliances with Greece, Ireland, and Scotland:

The alliances that Haiqin had cultivated during the Nine-Year War blossomed into deep, long-lasting diplomatic relationships. Trade agreements were negotiated with Ireland and Scotland, with Haiqin exporting cotton, silk, and olive oil in exchange for textiles, whiskey, and military aid. The Greek alliance was particularly significant, given Haiqin’s deep cultural and historical ties with Greece. Greek philosophers, architects, and artists were invited to Haiqin, where they helped in the reconstruction of public buildings and the revitalization of Greek-inspired art and literature.

Cultural Diplomacy:

Haiqin’s post-war diplomacy wasn’t limited to trade or military matters. King Katalies spearheaded a cultural exchange program with Greece, Ireland, and Scotland, encouraging the exchange of scholars, artists, and musicians. This helped not only to strengthen diplomatic ties but also to foster a cultural renaissance within Haiqin itself, as new ideas and artistic movements from Europe influenced the local scene.

Military Reformation:

Strengthening National Defense:

Though the treaty had ended British colonial rule, Haiqin remained wary of foreign intervention. In response, King Katalies reorganized the military, creating a national militia system in which every able-bodied man was required to undergo basic military training. At the same time, Haiqin’s professional army was modernized with the help of Scottish military advisors. The nation's military became known for its defensive strategies, particularly the construction of coastal fortresses and fortified trade routes to protect against piracy and potential foreign invasions.

#reality shifter #reality shifting #shiftblr #shifting community #shifting #shifting motivation #shifting reality #dr scrapbook #dr world #reyaint #anti shifters dni

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ravenkings · 2 years ago

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Just what is reading, anyway? What is it for? Why is it something to argue and worry about? Reading isn’t synonymous with literacy, which is one of the necessary skills of contemporary existence. Nor is it identical with literature, which designates a body of written work endowed with a special if sometimes elusive prestige.

Reading is something else: an activity whose value, while broadly proclaimed, is hard to specify. Is any other common human undertaking so riddled with contradiction? Reading is supposed to teach us who we are and help us forget ourselves, to enchant and disenchant, to make us more worldly, more introspective, more empathetic and more intelligent. It’s a private, even intimate act, swathed in silence and solitude, and at the same time a social undertaking. It’s democratic and elitist, soothing and challenging, something we do for its own sake and as a means to various cultural, material and moral ends.

When I was a child, Saturday morning cartoons were sometimes interrupted by public service announcements from Reading Is Fundamental, an organization dedicated to putting books in the hands of underprivileged children. The group’s slogan was “Reading Is Fun!” Fun and fundamental: Together, those words express a familiar utilitarian, utopian promise — the faith that what we enjoy doing will turn out to be what we need to do, that our pleasures and our responsibilities will turn out to be one and the same. It’s not only good; it’s good for you.

But nothing is ever so simple. Reading is, fundamentally, both a tool and a toy. It’s essential to social progress, democratic citizenship, good government and general enlightenment. It’s also the most fantastically, sublimely, prodigiously useless pastime ever invented. Teachers, politicians, literary critics and other vested authorities labor mightily to separate the edifying wheat from the distracting chaff, to control, police, correct and corral the transgressive energies that propel the turning of pages. The crisis is what happens either when those efforts succeed or when they fail. Everyone likes reading, and everyone is afraid of it.

–A.O. Scott, “Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?” The New York Times, June 21, 2023

#a.o. scott #education #article #quote

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jaga888 · 11 months ago

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My First Post.

About Me.

Welcome to the World of Words, Jose Guaido!

Hi there, friends who share my passion for language, learning, and art! As the curator of this virtual haven where ideas blossom, language becomes beautiful, and words come to life, my name is Jose Guaido.

A Little About Myself

I'm an enthusiastic writer who is looking to defend human rights and freedom capabilities, driven by the limitless potential that language presents. I have had a meandering trip exploring the fields of linguistics, literature, and expressiveness; my blog is a canvas on which I paint the hues of my linguistic palette.

The Significance of Words

In an information-rich society, words, in my opinion, can reshape viewpoints, ignite the imagination, and fill gaps. Here, we celebrate the enchantment that happens when words dance on the page, whether it's by examining the subtleties of language, discovering the glories of literature, or piecing together the concepts of provocative ideas.

This blog is a tapestry of my reflections, ideas, and explorations. Since we all realize that citizenship cannot become one if it is not united to complete plans of action that will ensure that our people and the entire region are governed by a voice of justice and freedom. From linguistic advice and literary analysis to thought-provoking discussions on a wide variety of topics, I invite you to join me on this intellectual journey. Expect a combination of the profound and the whimsical, the informative and the entertaining, as we navigate the vast landscape of human expression.

This is a community of similar individuals who value language's artistic quality, not simply my place. I invite you to express your ideas, participate in conversations, and let the power of language to unite us.

Together, let's set out on this language journey, where each post serves as a destination, each paragraph as a path, and each sentence as a step. I appreciate your participation in this trip.

Let us celebrate the power of words and freedom!

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onetwofeb · 1 year ago

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But whoever is not willing to talk about capitalism should also keep quiet about fascism.

Max Horkheimer, The Jews and Europe, 1939

Zeitschrift für Sozialforschung December 1939 Whoever wants to explain anti-Semitism must speak of National Socialism. Without a conception of what has happened in Germany, speaking about anti-Semitism in Siam or Africa remains senseless. The new anti-Semitism is the emissary of the totalitarian order, which has developed from the liberal one. One must thus go back to consider the tendencies within capitalism. But it is as if the refugee intellectuals have been robbed not only of their citizenship, but also of their minds. Thinking, the only mode of behavior that would be appropriate for them, has fallen into discredit. The “Jewish-Hegelian jargon,” which once carried all the way from London to the German Left and even then had to be translated into the ringing tones of the union functionaries, now seems completely eccentric. With a sigh of relief they throw away the troublesome weapon and turn to neohumanism, to Goethe’s personality, to the true Germany and other cultural assets. International solidarity is said to have failed. Because the worldwide revolution did not come to pass, the theoretical conceptions in which it appeared as the salvation from barbarism are now considered worthless. At present, we have really reached the point where the harmony of capitalist society along with the opportunities to reform it have been exposed as the very illusions always denounced by the critique of the free market economy; now, as predicted, the contradictions of technical progress have created a permanent economic crisis, and the descendants of the free entrepreneurs can maintain their positions only by the abolition of bourgeois freedoms; now the literary opponents of totalitarian society praise the very conditions to which they owe their present existence, and deny the theory which, when there was still time, revealed its secrets. [...]

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latamclassiclitbracket · 2 years ago

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Poesías Completas - Josefina Pla

María Josefina Teodora Pla Guerra Galvany, más conocida como Josefina Pla, fue una poetisa y dramaturga española con doble nacionalidad paraguaya. Tuvo una gran influencia sobre las futuras generaciones de intelectuales de Paraguay. A lo largo de su vida recibió numerosos premios y distinciones por su labor literaria, por su defensa de los derechos humanos y por la igualdad entre hombres y mujeres. Su libro Poesías Completas fue publicado en 1996.

Lee más sobre la autora en Wikipedia.

Poesías Completas - Josefina Pla

María Josefina Teodora Plá Guerra Galvany was a Spanish-born poet, playwright, journalist, art critic, sculptor, ceramicist, and historian with Paraguayan citizenship. She has been described as "the most influential woman in Paraguayan cultural matters in the twentieth century." She received numerous awards and distinctions for her artistic and literary work, for defending human rights and the equality between men and women. Her book Poesías Completas was published in 1996.

Read more about the author on Wikipedia.

#latam classic lit works #literature #literatura #Poesías completas #Josefina Pla #igual solo encontre info de la actora

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jinhogwarts · 1 year ago

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the post i just reblogged reminded me how i used to love learning languages... aside from hebrew (my native language), the languages i learnt in my life:

english - at school, then i lived in nyc in 8th grade, and have been on social media & read books so i would say i'm very fluent in it.

spanish - i mentioned it in the tags of the post that inspired this one but I'll tldr - when i was young i was obsessed with argentinian telenovelas and learnt the language through watching them. i used to be semi fluent but because i haven't used it in so long i forgot 🥲

french - learnt it in high school, then forgot about it for many years, and went back to it about a year or so ago through duolingo. i'm planning to learn it officially to become fluent because my husband has french citizenship (through his grandfather and mom, he never lived there) so i can get one too but I'll have to pass a very difficult test. i would also need a third language if I'll do a master's degree so i would go with that (especially since i have a slight obsession with french feminists so it would be the most beneficial for my degree)

german - i learnt it for like a year maybe less lol mostly because of tokio hotel 😂

japanese - back in my jpop days (which weren't that long but i did enjoy learning the language)

korean - i took classes for a while, then stopped, many years later i studied through duolingo but quit. i wouldn't say i know much atm

chinese (mandarin) - back in 2013 i started a degree in east asia studies and the language i learnt was chinese but it was SO difficult and i generally didn't like my degree (and also had depression) so i quit that degree

arabic - i tried a few times tbh, once just spoken and once written/literary but never got the time to actually learn properly. which is a shame, because i think i should.

sign language - i did like two courses in it but i forgot everything

#personal #languages #language learning #idk why i'm even posting this

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soubrettc · 2 years ago

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𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄.

𝙿𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙴𝚁𝙴𝚂𝚃 . 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐑𝐀 . . .

name ( s ) : marie sharon connage . d . o . b . august 3 , 1994 . in : los angeles , california . she holds citizenship in the united states . she speaks : english , phrases via songs in german , italian , . religious beliefs : raised orthodox catholic . educational achievements : opera and vocal performance degree , new england conservatory . current occupation : opera singer , dubbed singing voice for actresses . eye colour : blue-green . hair colour : blonde . height : 5′6″ . distinguishing characteristic : a spitting image of her mother , a late film actress .

beverage of choice : sparkling water , champagne . preferred holiday : dreaming of the idea of paris . reading choice : literary classics , namely romance novels . exercise preference : walking , dancing . watching : every new film she can , she loves cinema . designers : valentino is pretty but paolo sebastian is more in her budget . accessory : always carries a small purse she puts down and forgets to pick up before leaving . prized possession : her mother’s old jewelry . random : she loves the way she feels after drinking champagne .

inspo ; 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘢𝘩𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 , 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 : 𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘢 , 𝘤𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘺 : 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘺𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘯 , 𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘥 , 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 : 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴 , 𝘢𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 ( 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 )

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 . . .

𝘵𝘸 : 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩

⧽ in ‘88 up and coming hollywood film actress marlene collins fell in love with the wrong person , and both of them knew it. gardner connage was a stuntman , and at best he’d amount to a few fancy stunt scenes with credit given to another before an injury would force him into early retirement. he was a bad bet. adrian benjamin was not a bad bet , he was the son of director griffith benjamin with the promise of a secured future for marlene.

⧽ and in ‘94 that unspoken love triangle came to an end with the birth of her child , a daughter , marie. the only child gardner would ever call his own. but marlene would claim marie as her third , that tumultuous love afair had gifted her another child , a son , four years earlier. marie grew up in los angeles , even starring alongside her mother as a toddler when all the other child stars proved to be too fussy that day. she has two acting credits to her name because of this. and it seemed like marie might be one for stardom like her mother , the ones the cameras adored with her name in lights.

⧽ by 2001 marlene had become a household name , or the start of one. she was lined up to star in a new film set in italy with an a-lister co-star. marie was ten at the time and had begged her mother not to go as children often do , but maybe she should have listened. plastered all over the headlines a month into filming had been ‘ death in italy ’ her mother was found dead on set.

⧽ speculations of a murder circulated for a few weeks , just enough to sell enough tabloids , before the police put that rumor to rest far too quickly for gardner’s liking. that’d been the final straw. hollywood had never been kind to the man , and it hadn’t been kind to his family either. to save marie from a similar fate , they left.

⧽ the idea of hollywood and the golden lights were forever banned at that moment , but the hope hadn’t been. moved across to the other side of the country , marie would find herself often sneaking every old film she could. she loved them and the idea of them but that was also the problem , her ideas of what everything was like came from them. dare say marie worshiped the romanticized ideas hollywood gave her.

⧽ in spring 2013 she’d graduated high school and went on to study opera and vocal performance at the new england conservatory in boston. she was supposed to want a quiet life , away from the hollywood lights , after all her father had witnessed the worst they could do to a person — things he hadn’t told marie.

𝐋𝐎𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒 . . .

⧽ new york would have been the logical choice , a chance at broadway , but the allure called to her and in 2015 she’d defied her father. the start of a strained relationship. los angeles was far from what she had remembered , that child-like wonder stripped by the realities of it all , but she wasn’t only there for the dream job but finding the truth about her mother. the real story about the death of marlene collins that was a case closed far too quickly.

⧽ her way towards the hollywood lights weren’t easy but easier than some. marie was a ghost-like image of her mother with one problem — she didn’t have the screen presence marlene did and what a disappointment that had been. it was perhaps the cruelest form of rejection , that she was a shallow copycat of the late marlene collins at best. her acting credits reflected that.

⧽ 2017 felt like a breath of fresh air however as marie landed an uncredited role as the singing voice that was dubbed for the character of singer jenny lind in the greatest showman. since then her film credits has had a drastic decline , left to singing her classically trained opera and whatever lounge would accept her. 2023 has ushered in the rumors of a remake of phantom of the opera but who would dare ruin such a classic? and would marie be able to deal with the strong hatred that’d accompany such a modernized retelling.

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fideidefenswhore · 2 years ago

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Partly in specific response to dissatisfaction with factional models and partly against broader reaction against the perceived failure of revisionism [...] new approaches to reconstructing a socially derived model of politics have been explored. These comprise four key aspects. First, the investigation of the relationships and interaction between people, ideas (including monarchial power, Ciceronian concepts of citizenship, republicanism, and confessionalization), and institutions, including the conventions or rules that governed them. Second, the importance of classical and Renaissance traditions which provide the political, cultural, and intellectual context for actions, methods, and ideas. Third, an exploration of how individuals presented themselves and their actions to others. This draws on Stephen Greenblatt's concept of 'self-fashioning': that individuals consciously constructed and presented a persona, for their own ends, which did not always match reality. It is important for assesing critically sources which purport to reveal straightforwardly the life or mental world of contemporary figures. Fourth, archival research of traditional sources-- letters, statutes, financial accounts, legal records, etc.-- remains central. But literary, visual, and material sources are also explored and attention is paid to contemporary uses and meanings of language.

Courts, Courtiers, and Culture in Tudor England, Natalie Mears

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balbharatidwarka · 2 months ago

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Creating an Environment of Appreciation for Cultural and Literary Engagements at Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka

Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka, has long recognized that academic excellence goes hand in hand with a well-rounded education that includes a deep appreciation for cultural and literary pursuits. BBPS Dwarka, which is recognised as one of the best schools in cocurricular activities, a nurturing environment is provided to students where they are encouraged to explore literature, arts, and culture. Recognised as one of the best schools in Dwarka, the school fosters not only intellectual growth but also emotional and social development. This focus on cultural and literary engagement enhances students' understanding of the world around them, enriches their perspectives, and shapes them into well-informed, empathetic individuals.

At Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka, cultural and literary events are an integral part of the academic calendar, bringing students, teachers, and even parents together in a shared appreciation for diverse expressions of thought and creativity. From Dhoom to Cultural and Carnival celebrations, BBPS Dwarka, creates a platform for students to explore a wide array of subjects, including poetry, storytelling, visual arts, music, and drama.

One of the highlights of these cultural programs like Dhoom are the spectrum of activities which are a vibrant celebration of words, ideas, and voices. Organized annually, Dhoom includes activities such as creative writing competitions, book discussions, debates, music competitions, dramatics and poetry recitation. At BBPS Dwarka, which is recognised as one of the best schools in co curricular activities, students get the opportunity to present their original compositions, share their favorite literary works, and engage in discussions that broaden their understanding of different cultures and historical perspectives. Dhoom not only strengthens their command over language but also encourages self-expression, critical thinking, and empathy.

In addition to literature, BBPS Dwarka, celebrates Indian cultural heritage by organizing events dedicated to traditional arts, music, and dance forms. Events like Spic Macay allow students to delve into the rich tapestry of Indian traditions, be it through classical dance performances, folk art exhibitions, or music recitals. These programs held at BBPS Dwarka, one of the best schools in co curricular activities encourage students to value their roots while also opening their minds to the importance of preserving cultural heritage. Furthermore, international cultural exchange programs have been established, helping students to connect with and appreciate global cultures and fostering a sense of global citizenship.

Literary and cultural clubs are another pillar of Bal Bharati Public School,Dwarka's commitment to holistic education. The Literary Club, for example, organizes workshops with authors, poets, and journalists, giving students direct insights into the literary world. Meanwhile, the Dramatics Club brings literature to life, allowing students to explore classic and contemporary plays, hone their acting skills, and develop teamwork and confidence. These clubs play a crucial role in creating a community where students can pursue their interests in a supportive and collaborative environment.

The faculty at Bal Bharati Public School,Dwarka, play a pivotal role in fostering this environment of appreciation. Teachers at BBPS Dwarka, are not only mentors but also co-participants in the cultural and literary journey of their students, frequently hosting storytelling sessions, book reading clubs, and language workshops. By setting a positive example and encouraging open dialogue, teachers help students understand the profound impact that culture and literature have on individual and societal growth.

In conclusion, Bal Bharati Public School,Dwarka, has successfully cultivated an environment where cultural and literary engagements are not merely extracurricular activities but fundamental aspects of education. By nurturing creativity, critical thought, and respect for diversity, BBPS Dwarka, ensures that its students grow into culturally sensitive, intellectually curious, and socially responsible individuals. This commitment to an education enriched with culture and literature remains central to the school’s mission of shaping well-rounded future leaders

#best school #best school in sports #best school in co-curricular #dwarka

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