From BBC news : Warm-blooded fish traps its own heat

Warm-blooded fish traps its own heat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32742620

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From BBC news : Ukraine to charge ‘Russian soldiers’

Ukraine to charge ‘Russian soldiers’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-32788413

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For Arab Christianity, new women saints give encouraging example :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Tapestry of Sister Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas at St. Peter’s Basilica May 16. Credit: Daniel Ibanez / CNA.

By Ann Schneible

Vatican City, May 17, 2015 / 06:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church’s celebration of the canonization of two new women saints from Palestine on Sunday helps recognize both women’s important role in Arab culture and Arabs’ important role in Christianity.

“These two humble and simple women, consecrated women, give us also encouragement to pray for peace,” said Father Rifat Bader, general director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Amman, Jordan.

He was in Rome for the May 17 canonizations of Saints Mariam Baouardy and Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas.

Saint Marie Alphonsine herself called for prayer of the Rosary “for peace and tranquility in our region,” Fr. Bader told CNA ahead of the event.

Pope Francis presided over the canonizations and Mass in Saint Peter’s Square, before a congregation of tens of thousands of people.

The canonization of these two women saints, Fr. Bader said, is “a good example for all the citizens,” Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike. The canonizations show “that the woman can do positive and good things in her society.”

“It’s very important issue to talk about the mission, or the role, of women in our Arab countries,” Fr. Bader said, explaining that the role of a woman within society and within her own family is not always recognized for its importance.

“Now, when we talk about these two examples, of saints, women, from the Holy Land, it gives encouragement for the woman to go ahead and to go forward.”

One of the new Palestinian saints, Sister Mariam Baouardy (1846-1878) was a mystic and stigmatic also known as Mary Jesus Crucified. She was a Palestinian and foundress of the Discalced Carmelites of Bethlehem. She and her family were members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. She spent time in France and India before helping to found the Carmelite congregation in Bethlehem in 1875.

The other new Palestinian saint, Sister Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas (1843-1927), was a co-founder of the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters. Born in Palestine, she spent much of her life in Bethlehem and its area, where she helped the poor and established schools and orphanages.

Father Bader explained the joint identity of being Arab and Christian simultaneously.

“We have the possibility to be saints, even if we are Arabs,” he said. “It’s not something impossible.”

The region is not unknown for its saints. “The Virgin Mary herself was living in the Holy Land,” Fr. Bader observed. Also from the region were all the companions of Jesus Christ, including Saint Peter who was buried at the very basilica where the canonizations took place.

“Now we have these new saints of the modern time,” he said. “That’s why we are happy: that modernity cannot forbid a person to be a saint.”

The Palestinian women were canonized alongside two others: Saint Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve (1811-1854) and Saint Maria Cristina Brando (1856-1906), from France and Italy, respectively.

Tags: Women, Church in Middle East, Canonizations

via For Arab Christianity, new women saints give encouraging example :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Borodin: Symphony No.2 in B minor – Gergiev / Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

fur bru

Published on Oct 26, 2013

Alexander Borodin: Symphony No.2 in B minor

I. Allegro (00:00)
II. Scherzo: Prestissimo – Trio: Allegretto (07:50)
III. Andante (13:07)
IV. Finale: Allegro (23:42)

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor

August 14, 2005
Berwaldhallen, Stockholm

Eric Kleiber – Dvořák: The Wild Dove (Holoubek), Op 110, Wedding Dance

2ndviolinist

Published on Feb 21, 2014

Recorded in 1931. Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Thanks to Neal for allowing me to use his excellent transfers. You can find this and many other wonderful selections and information at his website: http://nealshistorical.wordpress.com/

The Wild Dove (also known as The Wood Dove; Czech: Holoubek), Op. 110, B. 198 (1896), is the fourth orchestral poem composed by the Czech composer, Antonín Dvořák. Composed in October and November 1896, with a revision in January 1897, the premiere was given on 20 March 1898 in Brno under the baton of Leoš Janáček. The story is taken from the poem of the same name from Kytice, a collection of ballads by Karel Jaromír Erben. The four musical scenes describe the story of a woman who poisoned her husband and married another man shortly afterwards. A wild dove then sits on the grave of her dead husband and sings a sad song day after day. The wife feels guilty and commits suicide at the end by jumping and drowning in a river.

Erich Kleiber, 1890 — 1956.
The eminent Austrian conductor, Erich Kleiber (father of Carlos Kleiber), studied at the Prague Conservarory and the University of Prague.

Erich Kleiber made his debut at the Prague National Theater in 1911; Then he conducted opera in Darmstadt (1912-1919), Barmen-Elberfeld (1919-1921), Düsseldorf (1921-1922), and Mannheim (1922-1923). In 1923 he was appointed Generalmusikdirektor of the Berlin State Opera.

Erich Kleiber’s tenure was outstanding, both for the brilliant performances of the standard repertoire and for the exciting programming of contemporary works. In December 1925 he conducted the world premiere of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck. In 1934, in protest against the Nazi government, he resigned his post and emigrated to South America. He conducted regularly at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires from 1936 to 1949. Having first conducted at London’s Covent Garden in 1937, he returned there from 1950 to 1953. He then was appointed Generalmusikdirektor once more of the Berlin State Opera in 1954, but resigned in March 1955, before the opening of the season, because of difficulties with the Communist regime.

Erich Kleiber was renowned for his performances of the music of Mozart and L.v. Beethoven. He also composed; among his works are a Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto, orchestral variations, Capriccio for Orchestra, numerous chamber music works, piano pieces, and songs.

today’s holiday: Haiti Flag and University Day

Haiti Flag and University Day

National unity is a primary theme of Flag and University Day in Haiti, an independence celebration and an occasion to recognize the country’s educational system. Flag Day became an annual celebration shortly after Catherine Flon sewed the first red and blue flag in 1803, a year before Haiti won its independence from France. The government incorporated University Day as part of the celebration in 1919. Haitians wave flags throughout the day’s parades and fairs, which take place throughout Haiti as well as in New York and Miami, two cities with large Haitian communities. More… Discuss

quotation:…judgement shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision. Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855)

The passions may rage furiously, like true heathens, as they are; and the desires may imagine all sorts of vain things: but judgement shall still have the last word in every argument, and the casting vote in every decision.

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855) Discuss

today’s birthday: Omar Khayyám (1048)

Omar Khayyám (1048)

Khayyám was a Persian poet, mathematician, and astronomer. The details of his life are mostly conjectural, but he is known to have been a celebrated mathematician of his time. Yet, he is now best known for his Rubaiyat, a collection of epigrammatic verse quatrains whose hedonism often masks serious metaphysical reflections. It was little known in Europe until Edward FitzGerald’s loose English translations were published in 1859. What does the name Khayyám indicate about his lineage? More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Jackie Cochran: First Woman to Break Sound Barrier (1953)

Jackie Cochran: First Woman to Break Sound Barrier (1953)

A pioneering American aviator, Cochran was the first woman to break the sound barrier and, in 1961, to fly at twice that speed. She was also the first woman to fly in the Bendix transcontinental race, which she won in 1938, a few years after her initial attempt. During WWII, she trained female transport pilots in the British and US Air Force auxiliaries and became the first woman to pilot a bomber across the Atlantic. A successful entrepreneur, Cochran learned to fly to promote her line of what? More… Discuss

J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor “Agnus Dei” – Andreas Scholl

Sotto Voce

Uploaded on Jul 9, 2007

J.S. Bach:
Mass in B minor, BWV 232 “Agnus Dei”

In this video:

Andreas Scholl, countertenor
Collegium Vocale Gent,
Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe

Harmonia Mundi

In part from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

“The Mass in B Minor is a musical setting of the Latin Mass. Although parts of the Mass in B Minor date to 1724, the whole was assembled in its present form in 1749, just before the composer’s death in 1750.
…

Due to its length–over two hours of music–it was never performed as part of a church liturgy. The first performance seems to have been after Bach’s death, when his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach performed the Gloria section (but not the entire Mass) in Berlin. Large-scale performances of the entire Mass in B Minor were not staged until the 19th century.”

Latin Text:

Agnus dei
qui tollis peccata mundi
miserere nobis.

Translation:

Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
have mercy upon us.

Pizza

Pizza

Pizza is a baked pie of Italian origin consisting of a shallow breadlike crust covered with toppings such as seasoned tomato sauce and cheese, and often peppers, sausage, and mushrooms. Popular throughout the world, pizza is now a symbol of cultural variation. In Brazil, pizzas may be topped with chocolate; in South Korea, sweet potato puree is popular; in Scotland, the “pizza supper” consists of French fries and a deep-fried frozen pizza. What toppings are popular in Sweden? More… Discuss

word: disperse

disperse

Definition:	(verb) To drive off or scatter in different directions.
Synonyms:	dissipate, spread, dispel
Usage:	When it seemed that a riot was about to start, the police arrived to disperse the crowd. Discuss.