Friday, July 27, 2007

Before Friday Noon Nap, Pan Cogito Checks News Reports: "NASA Let Astronauts Fly Drunk ... Grains Mixed, Livestock Mostly Higher ... 2Q GDP Rebounds"









"The sounds of a dying tradition are painful, particularly if the tradition's value is still so apparent, at least to the mourners, and still so vibrant to a wide number of sympathizers. Those melancholic strains can sometimes be sensed only on the edge of awareness, sounding like faint drones ..." Edward Rothstein "CONNECTIONS: Classical Music Imperiled: Can You Hear the Shrug?" New York Times July 2, 2007

Photo credit: (c) Matt Groening and team. With thanks.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Having Already Spent His WETA-FM Pledge Refund Check Signed By Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Pan Cogito Wishes That He Had Been Born A 'Corporate Classic'

"With the launch of Classical WETA 90.9 FM, a group of local companies are stepping up to demonstrate their support of classical music radio programming in the nation's capital by becoming CORPORATE CLASSICS.

By committing annual financial support, these CORPORATE CLASSICS enjoy benefits that define them as good corporate citizens who appreciate great music.

WETA thanks the following CORPORATE CLASSICS for their support" ...








Image credit: (c) WETA -- Public Broadcasting for Greater Washington [or at least the corporate, older, and richer part of it]. All rights reserved. 2007.

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"Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Thursday unveiled a plan that would increase taxes for the wealthy and create tax breaks for the middle class.

''It's time for us to put America's economy back in line with our values. It's time for us to put an end to George Bush's war on work,'' he told a packed theater at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa. ''It's time to restore fairness to a tax code that has been driven completely out of whack by the lobbyists in Washington, by the powerful interests in Washington and by those who value the few above the interests of many.''

He added that, ''It should not be in America that the middle class carries the tax burden, and that's exactly what's happening.''

Edwards' plan would fix what he called a ''rigged'' system by ending tax breaks to Washington insiders with wealth and corporate power. Those are the same people, he said, who keep politicians in power.

''We have crony capitalism. We have lobbyists who are there every single day working to rig the system, and it is rigged,'' he said, referring to insurance, oil and drug companies.

Among the proposals, Edwards would make long-term savings easier for low-income families with ''Get Ahead Accounts'' that would match savings up to $500 per year. He also would provide a tax credit he calls work bonds, which would also be matched and would go directly into savings accounts. He proposes exempting the first $250 in interest, capital gains and dividends to allow low-income families to get a start on savings tax-free.

In addition, Edwards proposed reforming the earned income tax credit for low-wage workers. He called for changing tax laws to cut the marriage penalty for up to three million families. He also wants to expand the child care credit, and allow families to use those credits to save for their future.

He said he would pay for such programs by closing loopholes and tax breaks now benefiting the wealthiest Americans." ...

Associated Press "Edwards Offers Tax Break to Middle Class" New York Times July 27, 2007

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The Hamilton Project of the Brookings Institution: Advancing Opportunity, Prosperity, and Growth.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

50 Years And A New Century Later, American Artists Continue To Keep The Faith Despite Natural Disasters And Uncaring Government And Corporations


















Eureka Brass Band end 1950's - Percy Humphrey - Kid Sheik - Peter Bocage (tp) - Black Happy Goldston (sn dms) - Robert Lewis (bs dms) - Manny Paul (tnr sx) - Willie Humphrey (alt sx) - Albert Warner - Chicken Henry (tbn) - Red Clark (bs horn) (Jempi De Donder collection).

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Photo credit: (c) Jempi De Donder Collection. All rights reserved. Via The JazzGazzette, Belgium. March 2004. With thanks.

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Leslie Eaton "New Orleans Recovery Is Slowed by Closed Hospitals" New York Times July 24, 2007

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Alex Berenson "Tax Break Used by Drug Makers Failed to Add Jobs" New York Times July 24, 2007

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Bill Gross Investment Outlook: Enough is Enough PIMCO Bonds August 2007

Case Studies In Sustainable Civilization: China To Restore Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal; Dedicates Grand Canal Culture Museum in Liaocheng

"Until the early 1990s, crews on barges and boats chugging down China’s 2,400-year-old Grand Canal did not need familiar landmarks to tell them they were approaching the scenic city of Hangzhou.

“The water was black,” said Zhu Jianbai, assistant director of the city government’s Grand Canal Restoration and Development Group. “There was no life in it. If you lived beside it, you had to live with the stink.”

“It was an embarrassment,” Mr. Zhu said.

But a $250 million makeover that began in 2001 has improved water quality and spurred urban renewal along a 24-mile section of this ancient transport artery that once connected China’s great west-to-east river systems, carrying the goods, taxes and official communications that sustained successive dynasties.

Today, small fish swim among the pylons supporting cargo wharves where effluent from factories and raw sewage from homes had poisoned this section of the world’s oldest man-made waterway. Walkways and parkland line sections of the canal, and some of China’s most expensive apartment buildings have sprung up beside it on what has become prime real estate. Water taxis connect historic piers and bridges along the winding route through the city where old shop houses and tenements are being restored." ...

David Lague "On an Ancient Canal, Grunge Gives Way to Grandeur" New York Times July 24, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/world/asia/24canal.html

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HERITAGE OF THE GRAND CANAL Chinese Heritage Quarterly No. 9 March 2007
The Australian National University (Many photographs and maps)
















Above, photograph published in 1987 of the Gongchen Bridge at the southern end of the Grand Canal in Hangzhou. Source: Photograph among frontispiece illustrations in An Zuozhang, Zhongguo yunhe wenhua shi (History of the culture of the Grand Canal), Jinan: Shandong Jiaoyu Chubanshe, 2001, vol.1, no page numbers.

Middle, The Grand Canal once linked Hangzhou with Beijing and connected China’s great west-to-east river systems. The canal is no longer navigable between Beijing and the city of Jining in Shandong Province, but the remaining section south to Hangzhou remains in heavy use. Photo (c) David Lague, International Herald Tribune.

Below, exterior of newly opened Grand Canal Culture Museum in Liaocheng, Shandong province. © China Heritage Project, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies (RSPAS), The Australian National University.

Photo credits: As noted above. With thanks.

Confucius To Overheating, Out Of Balance Chinese [World] Economy: "It Does Not Matter How Slowly You Go, As Long As You Do Not Stop"

"At first, the Web site director and his schoolteacher wife sent their 5-year-old son to a Confucian school in this central Chinese city simply because it was two minutes from home. But the more they learned about the school, the more they liked what they saw.

Children as young as 3 were memorizing and reciting ancient Chinese classics, notably the works of Confucius, the philosopher best remembered for promoting filial piety in the 6th century B.C. Even if students didn't understand all the words, they grasped the concepts of treating their elders with respect and their classmates with care.

"Nowadays society is very superficial," said the Web administrator, Guan Tao, explaining why he continued to enroll his son at the school. "As a Chinese, you must know something about your own culture and literature."

Confucianism is enjoying a resurgence in this country, as more and more Chinese like Guan seek ways to adapt to a culture in which corruption has spread and materialism has become a driving value. For many Chinese, a system of ethical teachings that stresses the importance of avoiding conflict and respecting hierarchy makes perfect sense, even if it was first in vogue centuries ago." ...

Maureen Fan "Confucius Making a Comeback In Money-Driven Modern China" Washington Post, July 24, 2007

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"Hearing of Lao Tzu's wisdom, Confucius travelled to meet him. Confucius put a lot of emphasis on traditional rituals, customs and rites.

Confucius asked Lao Tzu about performing rites and rituals. Lao Tzu replied: "The bones of the people you are talking about have long since turned to dust! Only their words linger on. If a man's time comes, he will be successful; if not, he will not be successful. A successful merchant hides his wealth and a noble person of character will feign foolishness. Therefore, you should give up your proud airs, your desires, vanity and extravagant claims! They are useless to you.

Much later, Lao Tzu perceived that the kingdom's affairs were disintegrating , so it was time to leave. He was travelling West on a buffalo when he came to the Han Gu Pass, which was guarded. The keeper of the pass realised Lao Tzu was leaving permanently, so he requested that Lao Tzu write out some of his wisdom so that it could be preserved once he was gone.

Lao Tzu climbed down from his buffalo and immediately wrote the Tao Te Ching. He then left and was never heard of again."

Source: www.thetao.info/tao/laotzu.htm


















Around the 6th century B.C.E. Greece had Plato and Socrates; India had the Buddha and China had Confucius and Lao Tzu (pictured together, above. Lao Tzu is seated, and Confucius kneels respectfully before him.)

Image credit: www.thetao.info. With thanks.

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Fourth Forbes Symposium on Scientific Research
in the Field of Asian Art


Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
September 27–29, 2007

Studies of Historic Asian Ceramics using Scientific Methods

Symposium Program

The symposium will be published. Support for the symposium is provided by the Edward W. Forbes Fund.

Registration
For those interested in attending the symposium, there will be no conference fee, but registration is necessary. Preconference registration is available until September 14, 2007.

Policy on Provenance
The Smithsonian Institution adopted the UNESCO convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property on May 9, 1973. Objects discussed in the papers must have an ownership that complies with this SI policy.

Monday, July 23, 2007

National Symphony Free, One-Hour Kennedy Center Outreach Concert To Spotlight Bugle, Organ, And Four American Classical Excerpts

NSO: A Concert Preview of the 2007-2008 Season (Free)

Jul 27, 2007 at 6:00 PM
Concert Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Running Time: 1 Hour
About the Kennedy Center NSO Classical Concerts Series

Emil de Cou, conductor

Program:

BERNSTEIN - Overture to Candide
MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL - "Baba Yaga" from Pictures at an Exhibition
MUSSORGSKY/RAVEL - "The Great Gate of Kiev" from Pictures at an Exhibition
COPLAND - "Buckaroo Holiday" from Rodeo
GRIEG - "Anitra's Dance" from Peer Gynt
BEETHOVEN - Overture to Egmont, Op. 84
ANDERSON - Bugler's Holiday
STRAVINSKY - "Infernal Dance" from The Firebird
TCHAIKOVSKY - Polonaise from Eugene Onegin
WILLIAMS - "Imperial March" from Star Wars
SAINT-SAËNS - Finale from Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78, "Organ Symphony"


American and European Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

When Benjamin West arrived in Rome in 1760, he was the first American artist to study in Europe. Upon seeing the Vatican's famous classical statue, the Apollo Belvedere, West exclaimed, "My God! How like it is to a young Mohawk warrior!"















Benjamin West "The Death of General Wolfe"
1770; Oil on canvas, 152.6 x 214.5 cm; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

[Click on image to enlarge.]

West painted his most famous, and possibly most influential painting, The Death of General Wolfe, in 1770, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1771. Although originally snubbed by Reynolds and others as over ambitious, the painting became one of the most frequently reproduced images of the period.

Photo credit: (c) Nicholas Pioch and the WebMuseum, Paris, France, European Union. All rights reserved. With thanks.

In Search Of American Classical Music 'Luminism' or "Luminescence"

... "When the Revolutionary War ended in 1783, artists sought to create a distinctive environment for the ideals of liberty. The eighteenth century's classicizing concepts evolved seamlessly into the nineteenth century's neoclassical style of idealized anatomy, symmetrical composition, and pure colors. The large Peale family, several members of which were artists, bridges this transition toward a more scientific naturalism.

Romanticism, partly engendered by reactions to the American and French revolutions, sought to release the emotions in dynamic design, dramatic spotlighting, and virtuoso displays of palpable paint textures. Such emotional elements mark the later paintings of Benjamin West. Two of West's later pupils, Thomas Sully and John Trumbull, helped to introduce romanticism to the United States.

When the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 instantly doubled the nation's area, artists such as John James Audubon and George Catlin began to investigate the native people, flora, and fauna. These academically educated artists were outnumbered by unschooled artist-craftsmen, such as Edward Hicks, who painted for their own pleasure or on commission from rural patrons. After the War of 1812, landscape painting came to prominence, symbolizing America's unique natural resources and vast territory. And, with the introduction of photography to the United States in 1839, the cameraman soon usurped much of the clientele of the portrait painter.

As nineteenth-century Americans sought an appropriate vehicle to express their national zeal, artists turned to images of the land. Thomas Cole, the leader of the Hudson River School, portrayed a once-pristine environment threatened by the onslaught of civilization. Spurred on by his romantic idealism, some of Cole's followers created pastoral, idyllic views, while others carefully painted what they saw. During the 1850s, an intimate approach to landscape evolved in New England. The twilight marine paintings of Fitz Hugh Lane are paradigms of this elegiac style, which some scholars have termed "luminism." Artists seeking nature's more awesome aspects often traveled far afield: Frederic Church journeyed from the Arctic to below the equator, while other peripatetic painters explored the far western United States, giving tangible expression to America's dream of Manifest Destiny." ...

American Painting National Gallery of Art Washington, D.C.

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Luminism is an American landscape painting style of the 1850s – 1870s, characterized by effects of light in landscapes, through the use of aerial perspective, and the hiding of visible brushstrokes. Luminist landscapes emphasize tranquility, and often depict calm, reflective water and a soft, hazy sky.

The term luminism was introduced by 20th century art historians to describe a 19th century American painting style that developed as an offshoot of the Hudson River school. The artists who painted in this style did not refer to their own work as "luminism", nor did they articulate any common painting philosophy outside of the guiding principles of the Hudson River school.

Luminism shares an emphasis on the effects of light with impressionism. However, the two styles are markedly different. Luminism is characterized by attention to detail and the hiding of brushstrokes, while impressionism is characterized by lack of detail and an emphasis on brushstrokes. Luminism preceded impressionism, and the artists who painted in a luminist style were in no way influenced by impressionism--nor were impressionists in France influenced by luminism in America. (Wikipedia)

Leading American luminists

Fitz Hugh Lane (1804 – 1865)
David Johnson (1827 – 1908)
John Frederick Kensett (1816 – 1872)
James Augustus Suydam (1819 – 1865)
Sanford Robinson Gifford (1823 – 1880)
George Caleb Bingham (1811 – 1879)
Martin Johnson Heade (1819 – 1904)
Jasper Francis Cropsey (1823 – 1900)
Frederic Edwin Church (1826 – 1900)
Dylan Evaldsson (1826 – 1900)

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Luminescence is light not generated by high temperatures alone. It is different from incandescence, in that it usually occurs at low temperatures and is thus a form of cold body radiation. It can be caused by, for example, chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions, stress on a crystal, or certain superb, often elegaic, handlings of form, light, and texture in classical painting and music.














Fitz Henry Lane
Lumber Schooners at Evening on Penobscot Bay, 1863
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Francis W. Hatch, Sr.
1980.29.1

[Click on image for enlargement.]

Photo credit: (c) National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C. All rights reserved. With thanks.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Mr Cogito Does The Math And Determines That Alan Gilbert Will Become New York Philharmonic Music Director At Same Age Teddy Roosevelt Became President

"How young is Alan Gilbert?

You be the judge. Here are the ages of New York Philharmonic music directors or lead conductors when they took the job:

Ureli Corelli Hill, 1842-1847: age 40
Theodore Eisfeld, 1848-1865: age 33
Carl Bergmann, 1855-1876: age 34
Leopold Damrosch, 1876-1877: age 43
Theodore Thomas, 1877-1891: age 41
Anton Seidl, 1891-1898: age 41
Emil Paur, 1898-1902: age 43
Walter Damrosch, 1902-1903: age 40
Wassily Safonoff, 1906-1909: age 54
Gustav Mahler, 1909-1911: age 49
Josef Stransky, 1911-1923: age 39
Willem Mengelberg, 1922-1930: age 51
Arturo Toscanini, 1928-1936: age 61
John Barbirolli, 1936-1941: age 37
Artur Rodzinski, 1943-1947: age 51
Bruno Walter, 1947-1949: age 71
Dimitri Mitropoulos, 1949-1958: age 53
Leonard Bernstein, 1958-1969: age 40
Pierre Boulez, 1971-1977: age 46
Zubin Mehta, 1978-1991: age 42
Kurt Masur, 1991-2002: age 64
Lorin Maazel, 2002-2009: age 72
Alan Gilbert: 2009 - : age 42"

[Pan Cogito's pencil whirls ... average age of 47.]

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Alex Ross of The Rest Is Noise and the New Yorker, of course, provided the important research for this comment.
























"In 1901, as Vice President, Roosevelt succeeded President William McKinley after McKinley's assassination. He is the youngest person ever to become President (John F. Kennedy is the youngest elected President). Roosevelt was a Progressive reformer who sought to move the dominant Republican Party into the Progressive camp. He distrusted wealthy businessmen and dissolved 40 monopolistic corporations as a "trust buster". He was clear, however, to show that he did not disagree with trusts and capitalism in principle but was only against their corrupt, illegal practices. His "Square Deal" promised a fair shake for both the average citizen (through regulation of railroad rates and pure food and drugs) and the businessmen. As an outdoorsman, he promoted the conservation movement, emphasizing efficient use of natural resources. After 1906 he attacked big business and suggested the courts were biased against labor unions."

Photo and caption credit: Wikipedia. With thanks.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Jerry Hadley: An Operatic Green Light In Our Time Of Empire









"His death ends a career that in the 1980s seemed one of the most promising in American opera. ... His final Met appearance was as Gatsby in a 2002 revival of [John Harbison's] work."

Anthony Tommasini "Jerry Hadley, Operatic Tenor, Is Dead" New York Times July 18, 2007

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In 1997, Mr Hadley starred in the world premiere of Myron Fink's American opera The Conquistador, at the San Diego Opera. He also shared in Grammy Awards for his recordings of Floyd's Susannah (1995) and Bernstein's Candide (1992) -- as well as a Grammy for the recording featuring his portrayal of Steva in Janacek's Jenufa (2004).

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"Out, Out---"

The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the other
Under the sunset far into Vermont.
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened; day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy: counts so much when saved from work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them "Supper." At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out of the boy's hand, or seemed to leap---
He must have given the hand. However it was,
Neither refused the meeting. But the hand!
The boy's first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand,
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all---
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man's work, though a child at heart---
He saw all spoiled. "Don't let him cut my hand off---
The doctor, when he comes. Don't let him, sister!"
So. But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then--the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They listed at his heart.
Little---less---nothing!---and that ended it.
No more to build on there. And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.

Robert Frost

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With profound sympathy to the artist's two sons, sister, female companion, former wife, and friends and colleagues.

Photo credit: (c) Rudi Blaha and Associated Press. All rights reserved. With thanks.

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Brookings Institution Transcript of Conference on Economic Anxiety and the American Dream: Is the Dream At Risk in the 21st Century?

New York Philharmonic Does The Right Thing! Chooses Musically Progressive American Classical Conductor To Lead Classical Culture Into Complex Future

"The New York Philharmonic reached into its family tree and plucked Alan Gilbert, the 40-year-old son of two Philharmonic musicians, as its next music director, making him the first native New Yorker in the position and a rare American in the job.

Philharmonic officials also said they would appoint an elder statesman, Riccardo Muti, 65, to serve in a supporting role equivalent to principal guest conductor.

The decisions, to be formally announced at a news conference today, ended several years of speculation about who would succeed Lorin Maazel, who has two seasons left on his contract.

Mr. Gilbert, who started an annual two-week stint as guest conductor last season, had long been a likely candidate. Orchestra officials said he appeared to be a front-runner at least a year ago, and that the decision crystallized in the spring." ...

Daniel J. Wakin "The Philharmonic Picks New Music Director" New York Times July 18, 2007













Alan Gilbert is tapped to lead the New York Philharmonic as America's restored cultural capital transitions beyond America's second Gilded Age.

Photo credit: (c) Jennifer Taylor for the New York Times. All rights reserved. With thanks.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Sustainable Civilization Most Often Begins From The Bottom-Up: Chinese Mayor Of City Of 10 Million Pleads 'Do Not Buy Any More Cars!'

"The mayor of one of China’s largest cities has issued an unusual plea to residents in an attempt to reduce mounting pollution and traffic problems – please do not buy any more cars.

Xu Zongheng, mayor of Shenzhen, a metropolis of 10m people just north of Hong Kong, said car ownership was growing far faster than the city’s ability to build roads and was causing heavy air pollution.

“Although I have no legal power to do this, I am asking everyone to not buy cars,” he told a public forum at Shenzhen City Hall this week.

Mr Xu’s unorthodox appeal reflects the huge pressure that China’s larger cities are facing as a result of the explosion in car ownership among the country’s burgeoning middle class.

The number of cars in Shenzhen was likely to increase by around 200,000 this year and car exhaust fumes caused an estimated 70 per cent of the air pollution, he said.

China is already the second- biggest market in the world after the US with 4.3m cars sold last year, and sales grew a further 22 per cent in the first half of this year.

The government has given enthusiastic encouragement to the car industry, which it views as a pillar for the economy over the next two decades.

However, in recent years a number of cities – most notably Beijing, the capital – have begun to suffer heavy congestion and pollution far above World Health Organisation guidelines as a result of cars." ...

Geoff Dyer "Stop buying cars, says Shenzhen mayor" Financial Times July 6, 2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/bdb4e19c-2be7-11dc-b498-000b5df10621.html


OECD highlights Chinese pollution

















Shenzhen, China.

Photo credit: (c) english.ctrip.com. With thanks.

Sustainable Civilization Challenged By Natural And Man-Made Nuclear And Chemical Accidents In Japan And Ukraine

"A powerful earthquake tipped over barrels of nuclear waste at a power plant and officials on Tuesday were investigating whether there were any radioactive leaks, a day after they said the quake had caused the reactor to spill radioactive water into the sea.

The death toll stood at nine a day after the 6.6-magnitude quake. One person was missing and another 13,000 were homeless, as rescue workers rushed to locate any survivors in the rubble amid fears of landslides.

A total of 50 cases of malfunctioning were discovered at the plant after the quake, Kyodo News agency reported Tuesday, including fires, water and oil leaks, and pipes knocked out of place. The report cited the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., but TEPCO officials could not immediately confirm it." ...

Eric Talmadge Associated Press "Nuke Waste Drums Tipped in Japan Quake" New York Times July 17, 2007

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"A freight train carrying toxic yellow phosphorus derailed on the evening of July 16 in western Ukraine, sparking a fire and a poisonous cloud that has contaminated over a dozen nearby villages, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reported.

Fifteen rail cars overturned when the train, traveling from Kazakhstan to Poland, derailed near Lviv on the Polish border. Of those, six caught fire, spreading a poison cloud over 90 square kilometers.

"The [poison] cloud has affected 14 villages in the Busk district, where some 11,000 people live," Pavlo Vasylevskyy, the press secretary for the Lviv branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry, said today.

Vasylevskyy added that a government committee ordered the evacuation of 793 people, 472 of whom left the area on their own.

Twenty people, including emergency workers and local residents, suffered inhalation injuries after the liquefied yellow phosphorus combusted, forming the toxic cloud." ...

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty "Train Carrying Toxic Cargo Derails In Ukraine" July 17, 2007
















Photo credit: (c) Yriy Kalinak/Ukraine Emergency Ministry, via Associated Press. With thanks.

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[Click for enlargement.]

European Stork City Organization paces the fatigued European Union.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Under Pan Cogito's Guest Editorship, Renaissance Research Moves Up Two Places From 69,978,923 To 69,978,921 In World Wide Web Blog Readership

..."Tony Blair says there are 70 million blogs. Presumably, British Intelligence has been counting." ...

Harold Evans, Editor at large, the Week (London) commenting in the Wall Street Journal on the 10th Birthday of the blog, July 16, 2007.

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Again, we thank our faithful readers. And sincere thanks to our colleagues at Google for the publishing opportunity (and now for helping turn Cogito's Oyster into a Blackberry). And with apologies to many for taking so long to learn what a "hot link" is and why they are to be avoided in organizing the photos gratefully used in this blog. (And with apologies for the resumed need to enable comment moderation. Thank you for your understanding, patience, and faith.)

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Mr Cogito's colleague is presently indisposed and is working on some long-delayed settings of Albrecht Haushofer and Johannes Bobrowski.

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Johannes Bobrowski's "Levins Mühle” (Levin’s Mill) by composer Udo Zimmermann, premiere in 1973, produced by Harry Kupfer.

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Isang Yun - CD 4 (CD IYG 004 der Internationalen Isang Yun Gesellschaft e.V., © 2005, P 1979 + 2005)

1 An der Schwelle. Sonette von Albrecht Haushofer
für Bariton, Frauenchor, Orgel, Bläser und Schlagzeug (1975) 17’14
Ernst Gerold Schramm (Bariton), Frauen des RIAS-Kammerchors,
Zsigmond Szathmáry (Orgel), Solisten-Ensemble Berlin, Uwe Gronostay

2 Leggiero. Etüde II für Violoncello solo (1993) 2’43
Myung-Jin Lee

3 Piri für Oboe solo (1971) 12’43
Heinz Holliger

4 Dolce. Etüde V für Violoncello solo (1993) 7’38
Myung-Jin Lee

5 Der weise Mann. Kantate für Bariton, gemischten Chor und Kammerensemble
nach Texten des Predigers Salomo und von Lao-tzu (1977) 26’12
Carl-Heinz Müller (Bariton), Mitglieder des Kammerchors Ernst Senff,
Instrumental-Ensemble Berlin, Peter Schwarz

Gesamtspieldauer:
67’04

CD IYG 004 der Internationalen Isang Yun Gesellschaft e. V., © 2005, P 1979 + 2005


















Image credit: (c) Der Internationalen Isang Yun Gesellschaft. With thanks.

Friday, July 13, 2007

In Which Mr Cogito Stares At All The Shiny, Sleek New I-Pods And I-Phones And Then Secretly And Shamefully Consults His Muted New Oyster

In Re: "Squirting music from one device to another" ...

Patent: From Apple's Server to Your Ear

"Another day, another newly discovered Apple (AAPL) patent application.

This one has to do with wireless "data delivery to mobile devices," as the abstract puts it, and it's signed by some of the biggest names in Apple's music division, including Tony Fadell, the engineering mastermind who built the original iPod and supervised construction of the iPhone.

Following the lead of Dennis Sellers at Macsimum News, who dug the thing out of the Patent Office slush pile yesterday, most commentators have focused on the part of the patent filing that describes what Microsoft's (MSFT) Zune already does: squirt music from one device to another....

But if you read what Apple actually filed, which you can do here, the focus is pretty clearly on applications where data -- not just music, but playlists, software updates, airplane schedules, etc. -- is beamed from a local server to wireless devices that wander into the range of its broadcast signal. ...

Only Steve Jobs (and maybe Tony Fadell) know what Apple has in mind, but based on what the company filed, you can imagine airports that beamed instant messages to your iPod when your plane was boarding or running late, coffee shops that streamed music into your headset [emphasis added], tennis tournaments that alerted you when Nadal was about to serve to Federer, Apple TVs that broadcast shows to various screens around the house, Apple stores that peeked into your iPhone, determined what versions of its apps you were running, and updated them on the spot." ...

Philip Elmer-DeWitt Apple 2.0 "Mac news from outside the reality distortion field" via Business 2.0" July 13, 2007



























from Apple data sharing U.S. patent filing (above)

Northern Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) (below)

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"In each creature there is a spark of God" (Leos Janacek, composer, librettist, humanist)

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Image and photo credits: (c) Apple Corporation via the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office July 5, 2007 and State of Michigan, Department of Natural Resources. All rights reserved. With thanks.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Beyond Nuclear Winter: Opening The Global Debate To Pluralistic Perspectives On Political And Economic Models Of Development

... "This is the challenge for the future: how does the United States provide global leadership now that it is seen by much of the world with suspicion, distrust, and even hatred rather than respect? Thinking about major global challenges facing the world might provide insight into how the US transforms its role from a hyperpower to a trusted global leader. Better to have form follow function and style be shaped by substance, than the other way around.

The biggest challenge is global poverty. Fifty years from now there will be 3 billion more people in the world than today. All the additions to global population will come from the non-industrial, non-western, non-white world. The West will have less than 1 billion people in a world of 9 billion. Forty percent of the world's population now lives on less than $2 a day. The great challenge is how to absorb the additional 3 billion in population into the global economy in a socially and politically sustainable way.

The problem in meeting this challenge for the United States is that the global economy is seen as based on an American model, and thus globalisation is often viewed as Americanisation. Giving globalisation a human face and forging an economic model with social inclusion, greater equality and massive reductions in extreme poverty are now security issues for the United States, since it is identified in the rest of the world with exclusion, inequality and polarisation.

With 40 million Americans without health insurance and income inequality on the rise, the struggle for new social integration into the market economy is a domestic issue for America, not just a global issue. Europe is struggling with how to define social democracy within the framework of the newly liberalised and enlarged market of the European Union. Latin America is questioning its own recent democratic and market-oriented reforms as social conditions have worsened rather than improved. As Chavez rises in Latin America as an alternative voice, Africa looks to China, wondering if there is not another path available to it, apart from the free enterprise, free market, free trade model pushed by the west. The United States, instead of being a proselytizer for democracy and markets, should open up the global debate to pluralistic perspectives on political and economic models of development, which would diffuse current tension and polarisation and weaken the profile of advocates of false alternatives, such as Chavez." ...

Colin I. Bradford "From Dominance to Trust [Restoring America's Leadership Legitimacy]" Guardian Unlimited [London], July 9, 2007. Republished by the Brookings Institution [Washington, D.C.], July 12, 2007.


















Nesvizh Renaissance Palace Complex in Belarus [above]; and Pidhirtsi Renaissance Palace Complex near Lviv, Ukraine [below].

Guess which World Heritage Monument has received greater world and national heritage preservation funding? [Please think carefully!]

Photo credits: (c) Sergey Plytkevich and www.belintourist.by [Belarus] and Vladyslav "Slav" Tsarynnyk and Lviv Ecotour [Ukraine]. All rights reserved. With thanks.

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Ukrainian Girls from Disadvantaged Families Learn to Use the Internet

On December 20, 2006, 6 teenage girls from Pidhirtsi, Ukraine, created a website entitled,“Let’s Attract Tourists to Pidhirtsi!” after learning web design skills from IATP Trainer Iryna Kozak. The site was dedicated to the ancient castle [Renaissance palace] located in the village, its history and legends. A statement on the home page of the website reads, “Our aim is to draw society’s attention to Pidhirtsi Castle, which is neglected now, and find sponsors to repair the castle. It will make it possible to attract tourists to Pidhirtsi.”

Public Radio Classical Music Broadcasting, In Nation's Capital, Struck Down By Neoconservative Musical Meteorite

Listeners in Classical WETA-FM Lite's "Greater Washington" will not be hearing the following program, this week, on NPR's SymphonyCast, since the program contains humanistic works by two Classical WETA-FM Lite proscribed 20th century composers, Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky and Dmitri Shostakovich:

SymphonyCast

Week of July 8, 2007

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
in Amsterdam


Nikolai Alexeev, conductor
Vadim Repin, violin [not piano]

Glazunov: Concert Waltz No. 1 in D
Myaskovsky: Violin Concert in d
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 6 in b

For a Map of the 128 provincial capitals of the United States where one can hear this and other outstanding, and curated, classical music programming (including works by American classical composers), click on this link.

The Greater Nation's Capital, on the linked Map, appears to have been hit earlier this year by a neo-conservative musical meterorite rendering it's public radio classical music broadcasting humanistically lifeless.



















Master classical composers Myaskovsky and Shostakovich are unwanted -- by the lone Classical Music Director -- on public radio in the Nation's Capital.

The Nation's Capital has "come a long way, baby" since the days it welcomed Alexandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn and Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich.

Photo credits: www.classical-composers.org and Wikipedia. With thanks.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

საქართველო 's Always On My Mind -- Along With New Music And New Opera

Now on the homeland optical turntables: Stephen Hartke's The Greater Good or The Passion of Boule de Suif; and Pascal Dusapin's Faustus, the Last Night.

Now on the Mind's Eye turntable: selective images from all 22 Mozart operas, as staged in Salzburg, Austria, European Union, in 2006; and selective images from the Mariinsky Theater/Saint Petersburg's touring production of Wagner's Ring (Metropolitan Opera House, 2007).

In the musical bullpen: Osvaldo Golijov's Oceana, and Jack Reilly's Green Spring Suite.





















Opera Designer George Tsypin and Composer-Pianist-Author Jack Reilly look beyond both The Decline of Western Civilization and The End of New Music.

Photo credits: (c) Erfurt, Germany Opera House and Jack Reilly. All rights reserved. With thanks.

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Georgia, Future European Union. [Capital: Tbilisi]

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Transit

Last Friday, at midnight, we (I) could not find any blooming scarlet ferns nor scarlet elf-cups, and had to settle for thousands of fairy candles ...














Black Cohosh, Fairy Candles, Black Snakeroot
Latin: Cimicifuga racemosa

'Most woodland wildflowers are spring bloomers, completing their life cycle before the forest is fully foliated. But one wildflower, known by a long list of common names - black cohosh, black snakeroot, bugbane or fairy candles - (Cimicifuga racemosa), blooms when the shade is at its peak.'

Photo and text credit: (c) Gerald Klingaman of the University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture. With thanks.

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Prokofiev's The Tale of the Stone Flower.

Monday, July 09, 2007

For One Day Only, New Classical WETA-FM Lite Allows Imprisoned American Classical CDs To Enjoy The Breezes Of A Living Classical Broadcasting Culture

The new Classical WETA-FM Lite, in the Nation's Capital, suddenly -- and for one day only -- found its previously imprisoned boxes of American classical music, and actually allowed American classical music to be heard in the Nation's Capital on July 4, 2007.

After that one day, the American classical CDs were quickly returned to their boxes, securely duck-taped, and returned to an undisclosed, high security location in the Northern Virginia suburbs.

The new Classical WETA-FM Lite, in the Nation's Capital, does not broadcast American classical music because a "Great Nation Deserves Great Art."



















Classical WETA-FM takes Greater Washington listeners for a ride.

Photo credit: answers.com. With thanks.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Terrible Year: In Remembrance Of Two Beautiful Souls Who Both Loved Limantour Beach, Point Reyes, California














In fond and loving remembrance of Lorraine and fht.

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Limantour Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore, site of "Indios Luzones" landing, on the galleon San Augustine (November 1595).

Photo credit: (c) J. Sobredo of California State University, Sacramento. With thanks.