This evening in Toronto and me completely oblivious, Tony Blair billed as a recent "convert to Catholicism" (as those his previous membership in the Anglican Church was not just as much Christian, and Christopher Hitchens, the renowned bombastic now shorn of his hair due to cancer treatments, debated in our town at the Roy Thompson Hall, downtown in the theatre district.
Christopher Hitchens 1-0 Tony Blair
Staunch atheist wins over audience in debate with Catholic convert over whether religion is a force for good in the world
Former British prime minister Tony Blair (left) and author Christopher Hitchens before their debate on religion. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters
In theory it was not an event that should have created a stir: a philosophical debate on the moral merits of religion. In an age of reality TV drama and Hollywood blockbusters loaded with special effects it would seem hard to get the masses to flock to witness such an old-fashioned, high brow spectacle.
But when the two debaters are the world's most famous recent Roman Catholic convert in the shape of Tony Blair and the charismatic yet cancer-stricken sceptic Christopher Hitchens suddenly it becomes easier to sell tickets.
Two thousand seven hundred tickets to be precise. For that was the size of the crowd that packed the space age-looking Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto late last night to watch the two ideological foes – when it comes to religion – spar and trade verbal blows.
The occasion was part of the Munk Debate series, organised by the Aurea Foundation group, and the motion was simply: "Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world".
Both men were unabashedly stalwart in their positions. Hitchens, one of the leading "new atheists" and author of the hit book God Is Not Great, slammed religion as nothing more than supernatural gobbledegook that caused untold misery throughout human history. "Once you assume a creator and a plan it make us subjects in a cruel experiment," Hitchens said before causing widespread laughter by comparing God to "a kind of divine North Korea".
Blair, perhaps not surprisingly, was a little less forthright. On the backfoot for much of the debate he kept returning to his theme that many religious people all over the world were engaged in great and good works. They did that because of their faith, he argued, and to slam all religious people as ignorant or evil was plain wrong. "The proposition that religion is unadulterated poison is unsustainable," he said. Blair called religion at its best "a benign progressive framework by which to live our lives".
Throughout the 90-minute debate Hitchens seemed to have the crowd's sympathy. That might have been to do with his ill appearance due to cancer, but was far more likely to be down to the sharpness of his verbal barbs and the fact that 57% of the audience already agreed with his sceptical position according to a pre-debate poll, while just 22% agreed with Blair's side. The rest were undecided.
But the true winner of the debate was most likely the organisers. The high-profile debaters and controversial subject matter ensured not only a packed hall but an overflow location where people who could not get tickets were able to watch it on TV monitors. Tickets sold out weeks ago and were selling on eBay for several times their cover price. The debate was also trailed on the front pages of some Canadian newspapers and covered by local television.
It even attracted a small but vocal knot of anti-Iraq war protestors accusing Blair of war crimes. Demonstrators unveiled placards that read "Arrest Blair" and "War criminals not welcome here", proving that, as with the merits of religion, some arguments are unlikely to ever be settled with a single night's debate.
In June the hard-drinking polemicist and atheist met his toughest opponent yet when he was diagnosed with cancer
A country of only 650,000 total population has had its premiere women's soccer team put under the miocroscope to question the private parts of some team members. But we shoud all remember that cases of hermaphroditism (which comes in innumberable varieties) def+nz persons as non-males in many societies. So, if the women's teams want such persons to be included in their roster of legit players, who's to question. We can't pretend that human beings only come in two clear-cut varieties, male or female. Tho small in number, there are many varieties inbetween, physiologically speaking.
Equatorial Guinea's footballers caught up in gender row
Country accused of fielding two men in recent African women's championship after reaching tournament final
Equatorial Guinea's women's football team. Captain Genoveva Anonma is on the right of the back row; striker Salimata Simpore is second from the left on the front row.
To field one man in a women's football team may be regarded as unfortunate. To field two looks like carelessness – or blatant cheating.
-- Sportikos
This is the accusation levelled at Equatorial Guinea, the tiny west African country, with a population of 650,000.
Keith Urban struts his "always-captivating showmanship" ...
anounces his June 16 launch
of his summer tour "Get Closer" ...
photo by fellow artist & guitarist
John Mayer
Keith Urban is set to return to the road next summer, along with special, yet-to-be-announced guests, with a U.S. tour that will debut in Mobile, Alabama on June 16, 2011. The “Get Closer 2011 World Tour” will have an all-new stage production that will feature Keith’s always-captivating showmanship.
“Playing live is what it’s always been about for me,” said Keith in a statement. “It’s creating in the moment, it’s the joy, the electricity, the unexpected, the passion and the unknown journey that we’re all taking together. I’ve always felt that the best live concert experiences tap into a deep need in all of us to feel a part of something…to belong. I’m bringing the big boom box and an arsenal of songs and I can’t wait to throw this party!!!!”
The “Get Closer 2011 World Tour” will make stops in Nashville, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Washington DC, and other locations and will not only include songs from Keith’s deep catalog of hits, including “Better Life”, “You’ll Think Of Me”, “Days Go By”, “Somebody Like You” and “Sweet Thing”, but will feature the debut of music from his sixth studio CD, Get Closer, including his latest single, ”Put You In A Song.” Get Closer follows two previous consecutiveBillboard country and pop No. 1 albums, as well as five previous CDs, allof which have been certified platinum or multi-platinum.
For a complete list of tour dates and ticket information, visit http://www.keithurban.net/">Keith Urban.
BBC (Nov27,2k10) Dig the technics evidenced below in the L+v Text Commentary:
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By David Ornstein
2210: So that just about wraps up our coverage of the ATP World Tour Finals semi-finals. One was absolute belter of a match, the other a cold-blooded demolition. It leaves us with the tantalising prospect of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer scrapping it out for the 22nd time in Sunday's final; the latest instalment in one of the greatest rivalries the sport has ever seen. Kick-off is 1730 GMT and you really, really don't want to miss this one. Really. See you then. Oh, and in the meantime, you can relive Federer-Djokovic via Piers Newbery's excellent match report. Night.
2151: "It seems like it's working this week," says Federer following his victory. "I played well against a player who's had a great season. I played a great match so I'm very happy. I hope I can keep this up for a long, long time. I'm really enjoying myself and I hope I can produce something good tomorrow. Rafa showed today why he is the best player in the world at the moment and it should be a good match. We haven't played that much recently but I'm looking forward to playing him. Our styles match up well and he's always very respectful, which I appreciate. We've had some epics and some matches that didn't quite live up to expectations. Hopefully tomorrow will be a great match."
Federer 6-1 6-4 Djokovic
Text book front foot cover drive (this is cricket, isn't it?) puts Federer 15-0 up. When Djokovic goes long it's 30-15 and a forehand wide makes it 40-15. Two match points. Djokovic frames a forehand return into the crowd. That's it. Game, set and match Federer. Still hasn't dropped a set all tournament. No smiles from Federer - his mind is firmly set on Sunday's final against Rafael Nadal. The final everyone wanted. Nadal v Federer at 1730 GMT. Can't wait.
Washington Post's Soccer Ins+der listings for football / soccer worlw+d:
Posted at 6:00 PM ET, 11/24/2010
Weekend soccer TV listings:
Thanksgiving edition
By Steve Goff
Happy thanksgiving. Enjoy the turkey. Enjoy the matches.
What are you going to watch -- besides Barcelona-Real Madrid?
Many additional matches are available at espn3.com, foxsoccer.tv
(All times are Eastern)
See, I found this image -- a 12-panels narrataive comix-strip for daily noozmedia, print and digital -- I found the page on the blog Faith and Theology, so I'll have faith that they got their facts and theology correct r+t, and it's theologically and theomorally okay to spread the meme of this strip around. But I thawt there shoud be some value added. So, I did a semiotic analysis, expressed by the Rookmakerian Nature (bottom / foreground) and Grace (top / background replaced by text of prayers made on the baseball field below the horizon-l+n which is also the talk-buble-l+n, wanting to catch that ball.
Then suddenly his prayers are ansswered like a shower from heaven, and the ball drops out of the upper cloud level (which doubles as the text-inscribed talk-buble), as it were, his prayers are andwered and ssuddenly the rain-clouds/talk-bubble, as it were (you don't really see this moment) showers down the baseball -- only to have the visor of his cap obstruct the ball's fall and tho it drops into Charlie Brown's pocket -- he's a second to late, and it plops out of his mitt and onto the ground, in a dec+dedly unmiraculous way. Or ... .
Click the page-image to see a larger version of the comix-strip.
Look in the pix above that I've marked with a downward blue arrowhead and the inscribed words "the cap BONK!" Look at that point, where Schulz himself has inscribed the text BONK! and he's obviously letting us witness how Charlie fell rapt on the thawt of a miracle, and all cute and outwardly humble as thru his own prayer-words the Holy Spirit is converting him to Christ, the reformation of his people, and the coming of his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
• What's the meaning of this panel ? (Panel #11, my numbering)
• What role does this panel play in the story? What role does this panel play in the shift of horizon?
• What role does the disappearance of the horizon-l+n play, especially when the Nature/Grace schematic disappears?
• Why the disappearance of the horizon-l+n in the last two panels (Panels #!! and #12)? Has the Age of Nature/Grace in painting (a la Rookmaker) given way to the Age of Enl+tenment?
• What role do the colors play in Albert's hommage-version overlayed on Schulz's masterpiece original, my version being entitled "Albert's mutilation."
• In Albert's version, when and why do the purple epaulettes disappear from Charlie Brown's cap?
Joey Votto, defensive first-baseman for the Cincinnati Reds (National Baseball League), was voted Most Valuable Player of his league yesterday (Nov22,2k10).
-- ESPN vid, posted by Sportikos
Josh Hamilton, American League's Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was named the American League Most Valuable Player on Tuesday, reaching a peak after years of being derailed by drugs and alcohol.
"I would say a 99 percent chance that this would never happen," said Hamilton, who became the franchise's fifth MVP. "I mean, honestly, I think a lot of people would agree with that."
Leading webs+t in the country-music genre and its field of listeners with big ears swarming toward the nearest truest sound, Great American Country is the place to watch. I recently happened upon this brief on GAC, "Frankie Ballard Biography" (I just found it today and don't see any documentation or even mention of Ballard's actual age.) I think they're trying to keep floating the urban legend that this guy is still 18, but more l+lk 28, I'd say.
Hailing from Battle Creek, MI, Frankie Ballard may be a newcomer to Nashville, but his edgy country rock sounds like the work of someone deeply at home in Music City. His heartfelt first single, "Tell Me You Get Lonely," is a power mid-tempo song, but a slow down for this singer and powerful guitar slinger. Currently at work on his upcoming debut album for Reprise Records with producer Michael Knox (Jason Aldean), Frankie keeps things rolling on songs like "Get On Down the Road" and "While The Sun Sleeps," which is brim with a brash, youthful vigor and potent high energy.
The fleet-fingered Frankie got his start singing Elvis songs with his dad at the age of five and jokes that he shot his first music video in the family basement when he was seven. Obsessed with baseball and intent on becoming a professional athlete, Frankie didn’t learn to play guitar until he was 18, but once he did, it was full-steam ahead as he locked himself in his room for hours a day to master the instrument. He began playing in blues bands, juggling weeknight gigs with his weekend college baseball commitments. Eventually, music won out, and in the summer of 2008, Frankie won Kenny Chesney’s "Next Big Star" regional competition in Michigan.
Frankie Ballard photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.
He opened for Chesney at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids and at Ford Field in Detroit, which led to a publishing deal with Sony ATV, Morris Artists Management (Alabama, Kenny Chesney) representation, and a recording contract with Reprise Records. Frankie moved to Nashville in April 2009 and began recording songs penned by such hit makers as Dallas Davidson (Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn) and David Lee Murphy (Jason Aldean) on his debut album. Listen for his first single, "Tell Me You Get Lonely," off his forthcoming Reprise Records debut album, which has already landed inside the Top 40 on the country charts.
U.S. Slavery in the North - Inner Compass from Calvin College on Vimeo.
When Katrina Browne was 28 years old and in seminary, she learned that her ancestors were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. And, they were not from the South; they had lived in Rhode Island. Katrina wrote to 200 family members, inviting them to explore their family's past. The result: an award-winning documentary, Traces of the Trade, made with co-producer Juanita Brown, who helped plan a journey to Africa for the group and facilitate painful conversations about their discoveries. Karen Saupe hosts.
I'm not keen on the idea of reparations. I'm white (w+t). I feel no guilt whatsoever for slavery or special responsibliity shoud someone bother to accuse me of being a descendent of slave-traders or slave-owners. I'm not. My ancestors were driven out of Lithuania at the turn from the 19th to the 20th centuries, driven out by economic conditions and Czarism. Racism was not believed in, nor tawt in my family. Perhaps with an exaggerated Marxist totality-analysis, one coud argue with me that I and m+ family were "complicit" in slavery, or Jim Crow, or the Lord knows what. Of course, no sooner brawt up than the obvious requ+rment is to determine the precise degree of complicity. I notice that some thinkers among American Jews now talk about "degrees of anti-Semitism."
But the guilty and the descendents of slaves in America shoud not construct the realities so that this becomes / is made a black versus w+t issue. Some American blacks are not the descendents of slaves, at least not of slaves brawt to America or raised here. We have a significant population now of Black Americans who are immigrants from Black Africa. They shoudn't receive any reparations, were there such. And some of them perhaps were the descendents of Black slave-traders and Black owners of slavces in Africa's history (I certainly welcome the producers in limiting the discussion to slavery in the MidAtlantic trade triangle and in slavery in the USA, but m+ own interests embrace the African milieu which welcomed slave-traders from Western and Islamic civilizations). Prez Barack Obama is not the descendent of American slaves, but his w+f apparently and their children are.
L+kw+z, some w+ts in America are not the descendents of slave-traders or slave-owners and were not "complicit" in any immiseration of Black people, here or abroad, except in the most trivial totalistic sense. Except: if you are using racist categories to begin with (w+t = slaver; black = innocent), or use Marxist-originated ideas of totality-systems of society, a grandiose metanarrative that turns out to be trivializing by including all sorts of w+t people, wrongly, among the "complicit." For instance.
It's a hard topic. I deeply appreciate the Calvin College video interview, and will probably benefit much by and appreciate deeply the original work whose producers are the interviewees. The documentary movie itself were shown at the Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim.
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Apple/Mac brand blog New: Slugging turns to negotiating in Apple vs Creative counter-suits regarding iPod patents. Question of USA imports of iPod-made-in- Communist- China raised by Creative re unfair labour practices.
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interview with Russ Weakley
