Race to cleanup California oil spill http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32821384
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Race to cleanup California oil spill http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32821384
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Oldest tools pre-date first humans
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-32804177
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Posted in ARTISTS AND ARTS - Music, Arts, Educational, FILM, IN THE SPOTLIGHT, MEMORIES, ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS, PEOPLE AND PLACES HISTORY, PEOPLE AND PLACES HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, Special Interest, Uncategorized, YouTube/SoundCloud: Music, YouTube/SoundCloud: Music, Special Interest
Tagged art, Bernstein, brahms, entertainment, EUZICASA, Great Compositions/Performances, historic musical bits: Johannes Brahms - Symphony No.1 - Wiener Philharmoniker - Bernstein - 1981, Johannes Brahms, Leonard Bernstein, Make Music Part of Your Life Series, Music, Orchestra, wiener philharmoniker, YouTube
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Shéhérazade (1903):
I. Asie 00:00
II. La flûte enchantée 09:19
III. L’indifférent 12:13
Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937) -composer
Véronique Gen -soprano
John Axelrod -conductor
Loire National Orchestra
Score: http://imslp.us/php/linkhandler.php?p…
Playlist “The art of French song: Faure, Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc, Satie…”: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=…
Ravel was drawn to the sensual allure of the Orient as early as 1898, when he composed the “Ouverture de Shéhérazade,” a work which quotes a Persian melody while drawing on the spiritual ancestry of Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Sheherazade” of 1888. He returned to its title in 1903 for this cycle of three songs for mezzo-soprano and orchestra, based on the exotic texts of the French poet Tristan Klingsor. With “Shéhérazade,” his first major statement for orchestra, Ravel demonstrates his mastery of muted and climactic orchestral details, while eliciting equal measures of ecstasy and restraint for the human voice.
Like the story in Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous suite, “Shéhérazade” conjures up Eastern tales of indulgence, perversity, death and danger. The first poem, “Asie” opens with a hushed string tremolo, followed by a meandering oboe melody, establishing a seductive atmosphere of Oriental fantasy. The opening four lines are declaimed syllabically and recitative-like (“Asia, Asia, Asia/marvelous old land of nursery tales/where fantasy sleeps like an empress/in her forest filled with mystery”). Pentatonic scale figures, grace notes and fluttering strings further impart the poem’s chilling decadence, leading to an accelerating climax on the words “I would like to see those who die for love as well as those who die for hatred.” The piece falls silent and shimmers to a close, as the recitative of the opening concludes the tale over a faintly rolling timpani.
“La Flute enchantée” and “L’indifferent,” are considerably shorter than “Asie,” and each song concludes with a brief yet subtly modified reference to the opening theme. “La Flute enchantée” is a timeless portrait of a girl listening to the sounds of a flute, while “L’indifferent” — sometimes regarded as the most beautiful of all of Ravel’s songs — concerns the attraction of the unattainable. If all three of the Tristan Klingsor settings in the cycle are expressions of longing, this final one finds a particularly personal tone, through false modality, and a final pandiatonically extended triad with a major ninth. After “Shéhérazade,” Ravel wrote no song with an erotic theme until he completed “Chansons madécasses” in 1926.
Source: http://www.allmusic.com/composition/s…
Buy the CD here: http://www.amazon.com/Berlioz-Hermini…
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Tagged Aldo Chiccolini, Great Compositions/Performances, great compositions/performances: Arabesque No. 1 from Deux Arabesques, Make Music Part of Your Life Series, Music, Piano, YouTube
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Tagged (Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino della Rai Conductor Sergiu Celibidache (1970), art, Death and Transfiguration, entertainment, EUZICASA, Great Compositions/Performances, Historic musical bits: Richard Strauss: Death and Transfiguration, Make Music Part of Your Life Series, Music, op. 24, Orchestra Sinfonica di Torino, Richard Strauss K. Stewart Bentley, Sergiu Celibidache, Tod und Verklärung, YouTube
Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Ireland, to become the first woman fly solo across the Atlantic. In this June 21, 1932 photo, President Herbert Hoover is shown presenting the gold medal of the National Geographic Society to Earhart in Washington DC. , in recognition of her solo flight. Photo: Library of Congress – See more at: http://www.historynet.com/picture-of-the-day#sthash.CaXwBnLB.dpuf
A chronological timetable of historical events that occurred on this day in history. Historical facts of the day in the areas of military, politics, science, music, sports, arts, entertainment and more. Discover what happened today in history.
Today in History
May 20
325 | The Ecumenical council is inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in Nicea. | |
1303 | A peace treaty is signed between England and France. | |
1347 | Cola di Rienzo takes the title of tribune in Rome. | |
1520 | Hernando Cortes defeats Spanish troops sent against him in Mexico. | |
1690 | England passes the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II. | |
1674 | John Sobieski becomes Poland’s first king. | |
1774 | Parliament passes the Coercive Acts to punish the colonists for their increasingly anti-British behavior. The acts close the port of Boston. | |
1775 | North Carolina becomes the first colony to declare its independence. | |
1784 | The Peace of Versailles ends a war between France, England, and Holland. | |
1799 | Napoleon Bonaparte orders a withdrawal from his siege of St. Jean d’Acre in Egypt. | |
1859 | A force of Austrians collide with Piedmontese cavalry at the village of Montebello, in northern Italy. | |
1861 | North Carolina becomes the last state to secede from the Union. | |
1862 | President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act, providing 250 million acres of free land to settlers in the West. | |
1874 | Levi Strauss begins marketing blue jeans with copper rivets. | |
1902 | The U.S. military occupation of Cuba ends. | |
1927 | Charles Lindbergh takes off from New York for Paris. | |
1930 | The first airplane is catapulted from a dirigible. | |
1932 | Amelia Earhart lands near Londonderry, Ireland, to become the first woman fly solo across the Atlantic. | |
1939 | Pan American Airways starts the first regular passenger service across the Atlantic. | |
1941 | Germany invades Crete by air. | |
1942 | Japan completes the conquest of Burma. | |
1951 | During the Korean War, U.S. Air Force Captain James Jabara becomes the first jet air ace in history. | |
1961 | A white mob attacks civil rights activists in Montgomery, Alabama. | |
1969 | In South Vietnam, troops of the 101st Airborne Division reach the top of Hill 937 after nine days of fighting entrenched North Vietnamese forces. | |
1970 | 100,000 people march in New York, supporting U.S. policies in Vietnam. | |
Born on May 20 | ||
1663 | William Bradford, printer. | |
1750 | Stephen Girard, American financier and philanthropist. | |
1768 | Dolley Madison, first lady of President James Madison. | |
1799 | Honore de Balzac, French novelist (The Human Comedy, Lost Illusions). | |
1806 | John Stuart Mill, British philospher and economist. | |
1818 | William George Fargo, one of the founders of Wells, Fargo & Co. | |
1882 | Sigrid Undset, Norwegian novelist (Kristin Lavransdatter). | |
1908 | Jimmy Stewart, actor (It’s a Wonderful Life, Mr Smith Goes to Washington). |
– See more at: http://www.historynet.com/today-in-history#sthash.eBhWLXrM.dpuf
By Elise Harris
Vatican City, May 19, 2015 / 10:15 am (CNA/EWTN News).-
Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi has said that Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta could be canonized during the upcoming Jubilee for Mercy, although he clarified that no concrete plans have been made.
Fr. Lombardi told CNA May 19 that the possible canonization of Mother Teresa during the Holy Year is “a working hypothesis.”
“There is no official date but you can say that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is studying the cause.”
When asked if there was a second miracle attributed to the nun’s intercession, the spokesman said, “The cause is in the process.”
An Italian cardinal heading one of the Vatican dicasteries who preferred to remain anonymous told CNA May 19 that the canonization was brought up during a Monday meeting between Pope Francis and the heads of various dicasteries in the Roman Curia.
According to the cardinal, the Vatican’s prefect of the Congregation of the Causes for Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, suggested Sept. 4, 2016 – which is being observed as a jubilee day for workers and volunteers of mercy – to the others as a possible canonization date, since it is close to Sept. 5, the nun’s feast day
.- One day after canonizing the first two Palestinian saints since the early days of Christianity, Pope Francis met with a group of sisters from the Holy Land – urging them to pray for peace against “white-gloved terrorism” and persecution.
Speaking of the newly canonized women, Saints Mariam Baouardy and Marie Alphonsine Danil Ghattas, the pontiff said: “I give you a mission: pray to the two new saints for peace in your land, in order that this never ending war may end, and that there may be peace among your people.”
He made these remarks during a May 18 audience with members of the Religious Carmelites of Bethlehem and the Middle East, and the Sisters of the Rosary of Jerusalem, who were in Rome for Sunday’s canonization.
Meeting with them in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, the Pope urged the religious present to also pray for persecuted Christians suffering at the hands of what he described as “white-gloved terrorism.”
These Christians, he said, are “driven from their homes, from their lands, and are victims of persecution ‘with white gloves.’ It is hidden, but it is done!”
This is not the first time Pope Francis has made reference to “white-gloved terrorism.” In June 2014, he spoke of this persecution with “white gloves,” referring to those Christians forced out in a so-called “elegant way.”
The sisters present at the audience with the Holy Father were among the tens of thousands in attendance for the canonization Mass of the Palestinian sisters on May 17.
Saint Mariam Baouardy (1846-1878), canonized Sunday, 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.
Pope Francis expressed his happiness that the sisters had made the pilgrimage for the canonization. He then recounted a story told him by Mahmoud Abbas, president of the State of Palestine, of how he left Jordan in a plane full of nuns.
“Poor pilot,” the Pope joked. “Many thanks!”
The pontiff urged those present once again to “pray much for peace,” and invited them to recite the Hail Mary with him, each in their own language.
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.
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In the year 1400, a young man came to the door of the largest hospital in Siena. A plague was raging through the city so horrible that as many as twenty people died each day just in the hospital … continue reading
The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.bmt
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Italian police arrest Tunisia museum attack suspect
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Netanyahu calls off segregating West Bank buses
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Fighting HIV where no-one admits it’s a problem
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-32792830
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Why some people are blaming war for… women on bikes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-32797265
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Protests grow against Internet.org
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32795270
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Complaints about YouTube Kids app http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32795177
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Woman jailed for Google boss overdose
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-32805400
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ProPublica, May 18, 2015, 11:01 a.m.
David Sleight/ProPublica
As a reporter who covered the National Security Agency before before the Edward Snowden documents brought it to the mainstream, Patrick Radden Keefe of The New Yorker says it would be easy to feel jealous of the journalists breaking those stories now. “But I’ve sort of moved on,” Keefe says, “and I watch those stories with great interest.”
This week he joins ProPublica’s Assistant Managing Editor Eric Umansky and Senior Reporter Jesse Eisinger of ProPublica for a podcast on what he’s been up to since his book “Chatter: Dispatches from the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping.”
Highlights include discussion of:
Hear their conversation on SoundCloud and Stitcher, and read Keefe’s story “Where the Bodies Are Buried,” from the March 16 issue of The New Yorker.
After a court ruling, the state’s legacy of borrowing to cover public employee pensions landed a $2.2 billion problem in the city’s lap.
What happens when you’ve been kicking the fiscal can down the road for years, but the road suddenly hits a dead end? That’s what Chicago – and the state of Illinois – are about to find out.
Chicago’s immediate problem is yesterday’s credit downgrade by Moody’s Investors Services, which turned its debt to junk and could force the city to immediately come up with $2.2 billion to satisfy debts and other obligations.
It’s not clear how – or if – the city could come up with that money.
When big cities have had debt crises – such as Detroit’s recent problems or New York City’s epic problems in the 1970s – states typically rode to the rescue in one way or another. But Illinois, which has the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, says it can’t help the stricken city.
The downgrade follows a Friday decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, which invalidated state limits on cost-of-living adjustments to state pensioners. The limits were part of a slate of reforms signed into law in 2013 by then-Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, to deal with underfunded pensions.
Moody’s said the court decision was key to its downgrade because the city has been hoping to dig out of its own financial hole by reducing cost-of-living adjustments, which typically raise the cost of pensions by close to 50 percent.
Chicago’s predicament actually has its roots in a 2003 decision by Illinois to kick the pension can down the road – by borrowing money to fund pensions rather than trying to get the benefits reduced or to stepping up payments to make them financially sound.
In the ultimate can kick, the state borrowed a whopping $10 billion – the biggest bond issue in its history – on the premise that investing the proceeds would earn more than the interest on the bonds.
Unfortunately for Illinois taxpayers, the pension funds’ investments, hurt badly by the financial market meltdown of 2008–2009, have earned less than expected.
Even worse, the state gets to deduct interest and principal on the bonds – currently some $500 million to $600 million a year – from the contributions it makes to the pension funds.
The net effect: The funds are worse rather than better off as a result of the pension bonds. Unfunded liabilities swelled from $43 billion when the bonds were sold to $86 billion by 2010, state data show.
Despite that grim history, Illinois borrowed another $7.2 billion for pensions in 2010 and 2011. By the time Quinn signed reforms in 2013, the state was in major trouble, with unfunded liabilities of nearly $100 billion – about $7,500 per resident.
Illinois isn’t alone in turning to pension bonds.
In 1997, New Jersey tried to borrow its way out of pension fund problems with debts that are still being repaid. The California city of San Bernardino sought bankruptcy protection in 2012 under the weight of its pension costs, pension obligation bonds and other debts.
“The borrowing is taking the pressure off politicians from actually facing the actual reforms that need to happen on these pension systems,” said Ted Dabrowski, vice president of policy at the Illinois Policy Institute in Chicago. “You’ve got a situation where the system is no longer sustainable, whether it’s New Jersey or Illinois.”
But Chicago and Illinois are the biggest examples of what happens when you can no longer kick the pension-cost can down the road. They are unlikely to be the last examples.
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