Video Clip from the Canadian International Policy Website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Government of Canada
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Martin Wolf on the Future of Globalization
Video Clip from the Canadian International Policy Website of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Government of Canada
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
SLEEPLESS @ Embassy Superclub
| Start: | Jul 1, '06 10:00p |
| End: | Jul 28, '06 |
SLEEPLESS @ Embassy Superclub
welcomes renowned club superstar ANTHONY PAPPA
flying in for a one night only set.
Saturday July 1, 2006
gates open at 10pm.
HOUSEMASTERS at PTTC AUG.4 2006!!!
| Start: | Aug 4, '06 9:00p |
| End: | Aug 5, '06 |
| Location: | Pasay City, Philippines |
TO MANILA IN A CLASSIC SHOWDOWN!
OLAV BASOSKI (rootz records)
vs
IAN "45" CAREY (defected records)
AUGUST 4, 2006
9:00 PM
Philippine Trade and Training Center (PTTC),
Pasay City
KNOW THE HOUSEMASTERS...
Feel free to add them up at FRIENDSTER:
Olav Basoski: olavbasoski_manila@yahoo.com
Ian45 Carey: ian45carey_manila@yahoo.com
For more information, text (0920) 954-4244 or e-
mail: thehousemasters@yahoo.com.
Why I would never do business with Development Bank of the Philippines again.
| Rating: | ★ |
| Category: | Other |
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Mutual (Mis)Understanding
From The New York Times:
Poll Finds Discord Between the Muslim and Western Worlds
By MEG BORTIN
Published: June 23, 2006
PARIS, June 22 — Non-Muslim Westerners and Muslims around the world have widely different views of world events, and each group tends to view the other as violent, intolerant and lacking in respect for women, a new international survey of more than 14,000 people in 13 nations indicates.
Views of Each Other In what the survey, part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project for 2006, called one of its most striking findings, majorities in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Turkey — Muslim countries with fairly strong ties to the United States — said, for example, that they did not believe that Arabs had carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
The findings illustrating the chasm in beliefs follow another year of violence and tension centered on that divide. In the last 12 months there have been terrorist bombings in London; riots in France by unemployed youths, many of them Muslim; a global uproar over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad; and no letup in the war in Iraq.
This led majorities in the United States and in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to describe relations between Muslims and people in Western countries as generally bad, Pew found.
Over all, Muslims in the survey, including the large Islamic populations in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, broadly blamed the West for the bad relations, while Westerners tended to blame Muslims.
Muslims in the Middle East and Asia depicted Westerners as immoral and selfish, while Westerners saw Muslims as fanatical.
The results were not uniform, and delivered some surprises. Support for terrorism declined in some of the Muslim countries surveyed, dropping sharply in Jordan, where terrorist bombings killed more than 50 people in Amman in November.
Two-thirds of the French people surveyed expressed positive views of Muslims, and even larger majorities of French Muslims felt favorable toward Christians and Jews. Muslims surveyed in Europe were less inclined to see a "clash of civilizations" than were general publics in Europe or Muslims elsewhere.
Pew found sharp divergences regarding respect for women: non-Muslims in the West view Muslims as lacking respect, the survey indicated, while Muslims outside Europe say the same of Westerners.
In the West, where many see Islamic customs like mandatory veils for women and regulations barring them from working outside the home or driving as discriminatory, big majorities saw Muslims as not respectful of women.
In contrast, fewer than half of the Muslims asked in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey said they associated Westerners with respect for women. European Muslims surveyed were more likely to view Westerners as respectful of women, in some places by wide margins.
Pew, which interviewed Muslims in Europe as a group for the first time this year, said their views represented "a bridge" between the widely divergent views of other Europeans and of Muslims in Asia and the Middle East.
The overall results, said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, show that "even though relations are not good, there hasn't been a spike in outright hostility between the two groups over the past year."
Nonetheless, majorities in every country surveyed except Pakistan expressed pessimism about Muslim-Western relations, with Germany most strongly viewing the situation as bad (70 percent), followed by France (66 percent), Turkey (64 percent), Spain and Britain (61 percent), and Egypt (58 percent).
Pew surveyed 14,030 people from March 31 to May 14 in Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus two to four percentage points, except in Britain and Germany, where it was six points.
For analytical purposes, Muslims were oversampled in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, and the margin of sampling error for their responses is plus or minus five or six points. Interviews were conducted face to face, except in the United States, Britain, France and Germany, where they were done by phone. The poll was conducted nationwide except in India and Pakistan, where it mostly covered only urban areas.
In follow-up interviews in countries surveyed about the results, Muslims attributed poor relations with the West to a variety of causes. But many pointed to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as the main cause and accused the West of double standards on terrorism.
Pew asked respondents to give their opinions of Christians, Muslims and Jews, and it found anti-Jewish sentiment to be "overwhelming" in the Muslim countries surveyed. It reached 98 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Egypt.
Majorities in the Muslim world, Pew said, also expressed the opinion that the victory of the militant group Hamas in Palestinian elections in January would "be helpful to a fair settlement between Israel and the Palestinians" — a view that was roundly rejected by non-Muslim publics.
Poll Finds Discord Between the Muslim and Western Worlds
By MEG BORTIN
Published: June 23, 2006
PARIS, June 22 — Non-Muslim Westerners and Muslims around the world have widely different views of world events, and each group tends to view the other as violent, intolerant and lacking in respect for women, a new international survey of more than 14,000 people in 13 nations indicates.
Views of Each Other In what the survey, part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project for 2006, called one of its most striking findings, majorities in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan and Turkey — Muslim countries with fairly strong ties to the United States — said, for example, that they did not believe that Arabs had carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.
The findings illustrating the chasm in beliefs follow another year of violence and tension centered on that divide. In the last 12 months there have been terrorist bombings in London; riots in France by unemployed youths, many of them Muslim; a global uproar over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad; and no letup in the war in Iraq.
This led majorities in the United States and in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to describe relations between Muslims and people in Western countries as generally bad, Pew found.
Over all, Muslims in the survey, including the large Islamic populations in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, broadly blamed the West for the bad relations, while Westerners tended to blame Muslims.
Muslims in the Middle East and Asia depicted Westerners as immoral and selfish, while Westerners saw Muslims as fanatical.
The results were not uniform, and delivered some surprises. Support for terrorism declined in some of the Muslim countries surveyed, dropping sharply in Jordan, where terrorist bombings killed more than 50 people in Amman in November.
Two-thirds of the French people surveyed expressed positive views of Muslims, and even larger majorities of French Muslims felt favorable toward Christians and Jews. Muslims surveyed in Europe were less inclined to see a "clash of civilizations" than were general publics in Europe or Muslims elsewhere.
Pew found sharp divergences regarding respect for women: non-Muslims in the West view Muslims as lacking respect, the survey indicated, while Muslims outside Europe say the same of Westerners.
In the West, where many see Islamic customs like mandatory veils for women and regulations barring them from working outside the home or driving as discriminatory, big majorities saw Muslims as not respectful of women.
In contrast, fewer than half of the Muslims asked in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey said they associated Westerners with respect for women. European Muslims surveyed were more likely to view Westerners as respectful of women, in some places by wide margins.
Pew, which interviewed Muslims in Europe as a group for the first time this year, said their views represented "a bridge" between the widely divergent views of other Europeans and of Muslims in Asia and the Middle East.
The overall results, said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, show that "even though relations are not good, there hasn't been a spike in outright hostility between the two groups over the past year."
Nonetheless, majorities in every country surveyed except Pakistan expressed pessimism about Muslim-Western relations, with Germany most strongly viewing the situation as bad (70 percent), followed by France (66 percent), Turkey (64 percent), Spain and Britain (61 percent), and Egypt (58 percent).
Pew surveyed 14,030 people from March 31 to May 14 in Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus two to four percentage points, except in Britain and Germany, where it was six points.
For analytical purposes, Muslims were oversampled in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, and the margin of sampling error for their responses is plus or minus five or six points. Interviews were conducted face to face, except in the United States, Britain, France and Germany, where they were done by phone. The poll was conducted nationwide except in India and Pakistan, where it mostly covered only urban areas.
In follow-up interviews in countries surveyed about the results, Muslims attributed poor relations with the West to a variety of causes. But many pointed to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as the main cause and accused the West of double standards on terrorism.
Pew asked respondents to give their opinions of Christians, Muslims and Jews, and it found anti-Jewish sentiment to be "overwhelming" in the Muslim countries surveyed. It reached 98 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Egypt.
Majorities in the Muslim world, Pew said, also expressed the opinion that the victory of the militant group Hamas in Palestinian elections in January would "be helpful to a fair settlement between Israel and the Palestinians" — a view that was roundly rejected by non-Muslim publics.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Hockey Subaquatique
This is the sport I recently took up. Extreme fun!
Underwater hockey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Underwater hockey (also called Octopush) is a non-contact sport in which two teams compete in a swimming pool to maneuver a puck sliding across the bottom of the pool into the opponent's goal with a short stick.
Equipment
Stick pushing puck
Stick pulling puckPlayers wear a diving mask, fins, and a snorkel to play. Safety gear includes a water polo style cap, a mouthguard, and a glove for the playing hand (different glove designs use different techniques to protect against pool-bottom abrasion and, in the case of some glove designs, knuckle protection in the event of puck impact). Because current rules permit a player to alternate which hand wields the stick, it is possible for players desiring to switch hands mid-play to wear a protective glove on both hands. Because water resistance makes large swinging motions inefficient, the puck is played on the leading edge of the stick (not a large playing face as in ice hockey). The stick is quite short (according to recent rules, not more than 350mm. in length including the handle) and is colored white or black to indicate the user's team. In tournament play, both stick and cap color indicate each players' team. The puck, which weighs three pounds (1.3-1.5 kg) and is surrounded by a plastic covering, is approximately the size of an ice hockey puck. Its weight brings it to rest on the pool bottom even if lofted during a pass, and the plastic coating is usually matched to the pool bottom to facilitate good grip on the stick face while preventing excessive friction on the pool bottom. The goals are three meters in width and lie at the ends of the playing area.
Play
Two teams of up to ten players compete, with as many as six players on each team in play at once. Substitution happens continually from a substitution area, which may be on deck or in the water outside the playing area, depending on tournament rules. Before the start of play the puck is placed in the middle of the pool, and the players wait in the water, touching the wall above the goals they are defending. At the start-of-play signal, in-play members of both teams are free to swim anywhere in the play area and try to score by sending the puck in the opponents' goal. Play continues until (a) a goal is scored, and players return to their wall to start a new point, or (b) a break in play is signaled by a referee (whether due to a foul, a time-out, or the end of the period of play).
Going for strikeThe most typical playing formation in the US is 3-3 (three forwards, and three defenders). Other options include 2-3-1 (i.e., two forwards, three midfielders, and a defender), 1-3-2, or 2-2-2. As important to tournament teams' formation strategy is the substitution strategy: which players will substitute for which positions, and how many players are substituting for how many positions. A 10-member team playing 3-3, for example, may have two players substituting for each other at the center-forward position, three players covering the other two forward positions, and five players covering the three defensive positions. Substitution errors might result in a foul (too many players in the play area) or a tactical blunder (too few backs in play).
There are a number of penalties described in the official underwater hockey rules, ranging from use of the stick other than against the puck or the playing surface, playing or stopping the puck other than with the stick, or "screening" (interposing one's self between a team mate who possesses the puck and an opponent; one is allowed to play the puck, but not merely block out opponents with one's body). If the penalty is a minor one, referees award an advantage puck -- the team that committed the foul is pushed back 3 meters from the puck, while the other team gets a free possession. For major penalties, such as a dangerous pass (.e.g., over an opponent's shoulder near the head) or intentional or repeated fouls, the referees may eject players for a specified period of time or the remainder of the game. A defender committing a serious foul sufficiently close to his own goal may be penalized by the award of a point to the fouled player's team.
Games consist of two halves, typically ten to fifteen minutes in length (depending on tournament rules; 15 minutes at world championship tournaments) and a short half time interval. At half time the two teams switch ends.
Referees
Refereeing the game are two (or three) "water refs" (referees in the pool with full snorkelling gear, and usually a distinctive refs cap and t-shirt) to observe and referee play at the pool bottom, and one or more poolside "deck refs" to track time (both in the period and for each ejected player), maintain the score, and call fouls (such as excessive number of players in play, failure to start a point from the end of the playing area, or another foul capable of being committed at or noticed at the surface). The "deck ref" responds to hand signals given by the water refs to start and stop play, including after an interruption such as a foul or time-out.
Spectators
Spectators may either try on fins, a snorkel, and mask and enter the pool for a view of the playing area, or take advantage of the work of underwater videographers who have recorded major tournaments. Organizers of major tournaments are usually the only contacts for acquiring underwater hockey footage, and no worldwide repository yet exists for recorded games. Filming the games is challenging even for the experienced videographer, as the players' movement is fast and there is no place on the surface or beneath it which is free from the frenzied movement of the players. The forthcoming World Championships in Sheffield (UK) will have live web-streaming of matches via the UK Worlds Web-Site.
History
The sport was invented in 1954 and first played by four divers from Southsea, England: John Ventham, Alan Blake, Jack Willis, and Frank Lilleker. Originally called Octopush (and known primarily by that name in the United Kingdom even today), the original rules called for teams of eight players (hence, "octo-"), a bat reminiscent of a tiny shuffleboard stick, called a "pusher" (hence, the "-push"), an uncoated lead puck called a "squid", and a goal known at first as a "cuttle" but soon thereafter a "gully". The first rules were tested in a 1954 two-on-two game, and an announcement was made in the November, 1954 issue of Neptune. The object of the game was to keep members of British Sub-Aqua Club #9 from abandoning the new club during the winter months in which it was too cold to dive the North Sea. The substantial changes in equipment, team size, and other factors have helped make the game the international sport it is today.
Other
Underwater hockey enjoys popularity in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands and France, and can be found in numerous additional countries catalogued at The Underwater Hockey Tourist, which has catered to the needs of traveling underwater hockey players since 1996.
The world championships are held every two years in an event sanctioned by the World Underwater Federation (Conféderation Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques, or "CMAS"). At the 2004 World Underwater Hockey Championships held in Christchurch, New Zealand, at least 36 teams competed in six age and gender categories, including teams from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. Winners of the elite divisions [therefore current world champions] were the Netherlands in women's division, and New Zealand in men's division.
The Official Rules promulgated by CMAS, are available in PDF form without charge and define (including with illustrations) a valid goal, the fouls and signals, and the dimensions of the playing area, sticks, and goals.
Following Vid is European Championships of Underwater Hockey.
Underwater hockey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Underwater hockey (also called Octopush) is a non-contact sport in which two teams compete in a swimming pool to maneuver a puck sliding across the bottom of the pool into the opponent's goal with a short stick.
Equipment
Stick pushing puck
Stick pulling puckPlayers wear a diving mask, fins, and a snorkel to play. Safety gear includes a water polo style cap, a mouthguard, and a glove for the playing hand (different glove designs use different techniques to protect against pool-bottom abrasion and, in the case of some glove designs, knuckle protection in the event of puck impact). Because current rules permit a player to alternate which hand wields the stick, it is possible for players desiring to switch hands mid-play to wear a protective glove on both hands. Because water resistance makes large swinging motions inefficient, the puck is played on the leading edge of the stick (not a large playing face as in ice hockey). The stick is quite short (according to recent rules, not more than 350mm. in length including the handle) and is colored white or black to indicate the user's team. In tournament play, both stick and cap color indicate each players' team. The puck, which weighs three pounds (1.3-1.5 kg) and is surrounded by a plastic covering, is approximately the size of an ice hockey puck. Its weight brings it to rest on the pool bottom even if lofted during a pass, and the plastic coating is usually matched to the pool bottom to facilitate good grip on the stick face while preventing excessive friction on the pool bottom. The goals are three meters in width and lie at the ends of the playing area.
Play
Two teams of up to ten players compete, with as many as six players on each team in play at once. Substitution happens continually from a substitution area, which may be on deck or in the water outside the playing area, depending on tournament rules. Before the start of play the puck is placed in the middle of the pool, and the players wait in the water, touching the wall above the goals they are defending. At the start-of-play signal, in-play members of both teams are free to swim anywhere in the play area and try to score by sending the puck in the opponents' goal. Play continues until (a) a goal is scored, and players return to their wall to start a new point, or (b) a break in play is signaled by a referee (whether due to a foul, a time-out, or the end of the period of play).
Going for strikeThe most typical playing formation in the US is 3-3 (three forwards, and three defenders). Other options include 2-3-1 (i.e., two forwards, three midfielders, and a defender), 1-3-2, or 2-2-2. As important to tournament teams' formation strategy is the substitution strategy: which players will substitute for which positions, and how many players are substituting for how many positions. A 10-member team playing 3-3, for example, may have two players substituting for each other at the center-forward position, three players covering the other two forward positions, and five players covering the three defensive positions. Substitution errors might result in a foul (too many players in the play area) or a tactical blunder (too few backs in play).
There are a number of penalties described in the official underwater hockey rules, ranging from use of the stick other than against the puck or the playing surface, playing or stopping the puck other than with the stick, or "screening" (interposing one's self between a team mate who possesses the puck and an opponent; one is allowed to play the puck, but not merely block out opponents with one's body). If the penalty is a minor one, referees award an advantage puck -- the team that committed the foul is pushed back 3 meters from the puck, while the other team gets a free possession. For major penalties, such as a dangerous pass (.e.g., over an opponent's shoulder near the head) or intentional or repeated fouls, the referees may eject players for a specified period of time or the remainder of the game. A defender committing a serious foul sufficiently close to his own goal may be penalized by the award of a point to the fouled player's team.
Games consist of two halves, typically ten to fifteen minutes in length (depending on tournament rules; 15 minutes at world championship tournaments) and a short half time interval. At half time the two teams switch ends.
Referees
Refereeing the game are two (or three) "water refs" (referees in the pool with full snorkelling gear, and usually a distinctive refs cap and t-shirt) to observe and referee play at the pool bottom, and one or more poolside "deck refs" to track time (both in the period and for each ejected player), maintain the score, and call fouls (such as excessive number of players in play, failure to start a point from the end of the playing area, or another foul capable of being committed at or noticed at the surface). The "deck ref" responds to hand signals given by the water refs to start and stop play, including after an interruption such as a foul or time-out.
Spectators
Spectators may either try on fins, a snorkel, and mask and enter the pool for a view of the playing area, or take advantage of the work of underwater videographers who have recorded major tournaments. Organizers of major tournaments are usually the only contacts for acquiring underwater hockey footage, and no worldwide repository yet exists for recorded games. Filming the games is challenging even for the experienced videographer, as the players' movement is fast and there is no place on the surface or beneath it which is free from the frenzied movement of the players. The forthcoming World Championships in Sheffield (UK) will have live web-streaming of matches via the UK Worlds Web-Site.
History
The sport was invented in 1954 and first played by four divers from Southsea, England: John Ventham, Alan Blake, Jack Willis, and Frank Lilleker. Originally called Octopush (and known primarily by that name in the United Kingdom even today), the original rules called for teams of eight players (hence, "octo-"), a bat reminiscent of a tiny shuffleboard stick, called a "pusher" (hence, the "-push"), an uncoated lead puck called a "squid", and a goal known at first as a "cuttle" but soon thereafter a "gully". The first rules were tested in a 1954 two-on-two game, and an announcement was made in the November, 1954 issue of Neptune. The object of the game was to keep members of British Sub-Aqua Club #9 from abandoning the new club during the winter months in which it was too cold to dive the North Sea. The substantial changes in equipment, team size, and other factors have helped make the game the international sport it is today.
Other
Underwater hockey enjoys popularity in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Netherlands and France, and can be found in numerous additional countries catalogued at The Underwater Hockey Tourist, which has catered to the needs of traveling underwater hockey players since 1996.
The world championships are held every two years in an event sanctioned by the World Underwater Federation (Conféderation Mondiale des Activités Subaquatiques, or "CMAS"). At the 2004 World Underwater Hockey Championships held in Christchurch, New Zealand, at least 36 teams competed in six age and gender categories, including teams from Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, the Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America. Winners of the elite divisions [therefore current world champions] were the Netherlands in women's division, and New Zealand in men's division.
The Official Rules promulgated by CMAS, are available in PDF form without charge and define (including with illustrations) a valid goal, the fouls and signals, and the dimensions of the playing area, sticks, and goals.
Following Vid is European Championships of Underwater Hockey.
Monday, June 12, 2006
A Love That Doesn't Speak Its Name
Here is a post from: http://aelredandfriendship.blogspot.com/
St. Aelred of Rievaulx and Friendship
Prior Aelred of St. Gregory's Abbey recently commented of his attraction for the opposite sex--apparently Laura Linney is admired, which caught Caelius by surprise apparently given that the name "Aelred" is these days associated with all things gay.
We must always remember in our conversations that "gay" and "straight" are recent constructions, and that those of St. Aelred's time still operated on a single sex dual gender model (which was capable of in-betweens of gender and more helpful than our present Enlightenment/Modern rigid two sex model upon which so many recent theologies of the body are based and which was more capable of eschatological thinking that understands that God working through, with, and in us queers all of us), so that attraction to either men or women by either men or women was not overly surprising. What one did with attraction to the same gender was then and is still now a matter of disagreement (but so was matters dealing with attraction to the opposite gender! Something we forget in our presumptive heterosexual discourse these days that is quite ahistorical and ignores the real controversies over marriage until the 11th century, especially regarding the sinfulness of (hetero)sex and ignores the venality often associated until that time with same gender sex acts.).
We can given historical context neither say that St. Aelred was gay or straight, or bisexual for that matter. We can note his bonds of affection with his brothers and his encouragement of friendships. Prior Aelred is right to point out the variety of ways that companionate same sex friendships arise, and I would suggest that fratrimonial and sororimonial unions are a subset or better concentration of this and a Sign of Christ's Friendship with us and of the Unity of the Body. As such, ours are first and foremost ecclesial relationships, and matters of sexual expression must be placed within the context of our ascesis and contextualization within the Body as a whole.
In reading St. Aelred's writings, I am always struck by the iconic nature of his thought (which shouldn't surprise given his Celtic roots heavily influenced by Eastern Christianity) and by the overall focus on movement toward God in all of our relationships; we do not escape the flesh and bodies to find God, but in good Benedictine fashion, we find God present as if in windows in those before us.
There is something though in St. Aelred of Rievaulx's writings that seems especially to speak to the heart of same sex configurations (his texts end up in union ceremonies a lot), perhaps, because St. Aelred gets friendship, and friendship is a paradigm for how God relates to us as shown in Christ (in John) every bit as powerful as the marriage analogy (in Ephesians). Indeed, I would say that the two actually are one, but reveal different aspects of our union to God in Christ by the Holy Spirit.
As I've written here and recently commented on Gay Erasmus' thoughts on Queer Friendship, as Foucault has suggested, a charism of homosexuality is friendship, and perhaps our greatest gift to the world. Some note with criticism or disdain that we blur the lines between friendship and romance, but I think such thinking quickly moves toward hardened categories where there are in fact softer lines, permeable bounds, and subset groupings. If not, how can they in the same stroke refer to husband and wife as brother and sister as early Christians did, or heterosexual married folk as friends, which many do? Hard and fast categories tell lies and half-truths.
Our partnerships are in many ways a subset of friendship, but it is indeed fascinating how the loves which we have tended to keep firmly separate in our modern discourse were not quite so clearly separable to our ancestors (though there were always some willing to do so; sick spiritualities were often a result): eros (passionate/desirous/romantic), filia (friendship/companiote), agape(unconditional/universal), storge (familial), xenia(hospitality). Were that we focused on xenia today in all of relating, greeting all before us as Christ. We forget that in Greek thought, the categories were never so hardened, and that in both ancient and modern Greek agape was and is used both for passionate love and uncondiational love. I would suggest that iconic thinking is at play. At our best we come to the unconditional through the passionate, the companionate, the familial, the hospitable.
The cover of our invitation reads (in CloisterBlack font) as follows:
Itaque amicus in spiritu Christi adhaerens amico, efficitur cum eo cor unum et anima una; et sic per amoris gradus ad Christi conscendens amicitiam, unus cum eo spiritus efficitur in osculo uno. Ad quod osculum anima quaedam sancta suspirans: "Osculetur me, inquit, osculo oris sui" (Cant. I, 1).
Translation with context:
Nevertheless, turn your attention briefly to the manner in which friendship is, so to say, a stage toward the love and knowledge of God. Indeed, in friendship there is nothing dishonorable, nothing deceptive, nothing feigned; whatever there is, is holy, voluntary, and true. And this itself is also a characteristic of charity. In this, truly, friendship shines forth with a special right of its own, that among those who are bound by the tie of friendship all joys, all security, all sweetness, all charms are experienced….And so in friendship are joined honor and charm, truth and joy, sweetness and good-will, affection and action. And all these take their beginning from Christ, advance through Christ, and are perfected in Christ. Therefore, not too steep or unnatural does the ascent appear from Christ, as the inspiration of the love by which we love our friend, to Christ giving himself to us as our Friend for us to love, so that charm may follow upon charm, sweetness upon sweetness, and affection upon affection. And thus, friend cleaving to friend in the spirit of Christ, is made with Christ but one heart and one soul, and so mounting aloft through degrees of love to friendship with Christ, he is made one spirit with him in one kiss. Aspiring to this kiss the saintly soul cries out: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.
St. Aelred of Rievaulx. Spiritual Friendship. Trans. M. E. Laker, SNND. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1977.
I cannot say that all is always charm, sweetnesss, and affection, but God is working on us still.
© W. Christopher Evans, February 15, 2006
St. Aelred of Rievaulx and Friendship
Prior Aelred of St. Gregory's Abbey recently commented of his attraction for the opposite sex--apparently Laura Linney is admired, which caught Caelius by surprise apparently given that the name "Aelred" is these days associated with all things gay.
We must always remember in our conversations that "gay" and "straight" are recent constructions, and that those of St. Aelred's time still operated on a single sex dual gender model (which was capable of in-betweens of gender and more helpful than our present Enlightenment/Modern rigid two sex model upon which so many recent theologies of the body are based and which was more capable of eschatological thinking that understands that God working through, with, and in us queers all of us), so that attraction to either men or women by either men or women was not overly surprising. What one did with attraction to the same gender was then and is still now a matter of disagreement (but so was matters dealing with attraction to the opposite gender! Something we forget in our presumptive heterosexual discourse these days that is quite ahistorical and ignores the real controversies over marriage until the 11th century, especially regarding the sinfulness of (hetero)sex and ignores the venality often associated until that time with same gender sex acts.).
We can given historical context neither say that St. Aelred was gay or straight, or bisexual for that matter. We can note his bonds of affection with his brothers and his encouragement of friendships. Prior Aelred is right to point out the variety of ways that companionate same sex friendships arise, and I would suggest that fratrimonial and sororimonial unions are a subset or better concentration of this and a Sign of Christ's Friendship with us and of the Unity of the Body. As such, ours are first and foremost ecclesial relationships, and matters of sexual expression must be placed within the context of our ascesis and contextualization within the Body as a whole.
In reading St. Aelred's writings, I am always struck by the iconic nature of his thought (which shouldn't surprise given his Celtic roots heavily influenced by Eastern Christianity) and by the overall focus on movement toward God in all of our relationships; we do not escape the flesh and bodies to find God, but in good Benedictine fashion, we find God present as if in windows in those before us.
There is something though in St. Aelred of Rievaulx's writings that seems especially to speak to the heart of same sex configurations (his texts end up in union ceremonies a lot), perhaps, because St. Aelred gets friendship, and friendship is a paradigm for how God relates to us as shown in Christ (in John) every bit as powerful as the marriage analogy (in Ephesians). Indeed, I would say that the two actually are one, but reveal different aspects of our union to God in Christ by the Holy Spirit.
As I've written here and recently commented on Gay Erasmus' thoughts on Queer Friendship, as Foucault has suggested, a charism of homosexuality is friendship, and perhaps our greatest gift to the world. Some note with criticism or disdain that we blur the lines between friendship and romance, but I think such thinking quickly moves toward hardened categories where there are in fact softer lines, permeable bounds, and subset groupings. If not, how can they in the same stroke refer to husband and wife as brother and sister as early Christians did, or heterosexual married folk as friends, which many do? Hard and fast categories tell lies and half-truths.
Our partnerships are in many ways a subset of friendship, but it is indeed fascinating how the loves which we have tended to keep firmly separate in our modern discourse were not quite so clearly separable to our ancestors (though there were always some willing to do so; sick spiritualities were often a result): eros (passionate/desirous/romantic), filia (friendship/companiote), agape(unconditional/universal), storge (familial), xenia(hospitality). Were that we focused on xenia today in all of relating, greeting all before us as Christ. We forget that in Greek thought, the categories were never so hardened, and that in both ancient and modern Greek agape was and is used both for passionate love and uncondiational love. I would suggest that iconic thinking is at play. At our best we come to the unconditional through the passionate, the companionate, the familial, the hospitable.
The cover of our invitation reads (in CloisterBlack font) as follows:
Itaque amicus in spiritu Christi adhaerens amico, efficitur cum eo cor unum et anima una; et sic per amoris gradus ad Christi conscendens amicitiam, unus cum eo spiritus efficitur in osculo uno. Ad quod osculum anima quaedam sancta suspirans: "Osculetur me, inquit, osculo oris sui" (Cant. I, 1).
Translation with context:
Nevertheless, turn your attention briefly to the manner in which friendship is, so to say, a stage toward the love and knowledge of God. Indeed, in friendship there is nothing dishonorable, nothing deceptive, nothing feigned; whatever there is, is holy, voluntary, and true. And this itself is also a characteristic of charity. In this, truly, friendship shines forth with a special right of its own, that among those who are bound by the tie of friendship all joys, all security, all sweetness, all charms are experienced….And so in friendship are joined honor and charm, truth and joy, sweetness and good-will, affection and action. And all these take their beginning from Christ, advance through Christ, and are perfected in Christ. Therefore, not too steep or unnatural does the ascent appear from Christ, as the inspiration of the love by which we love our friend, to Christ giving himself to us as our Friend for us to love, so that charm may follow upon charm, sweetness upon sweetness, and affection upon affection. And thus, friend cleaving to friend in the spirit of Christ, is made with Christ but one heart and one soul, and so mounting aloft through degrees of love to friendship with Christ, he is made one spirit with him in one kiss. Aspiring to this kiss the saintly soul cries out: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth.
St. Aelred of Rievaulx. Spiritual Friendship. Trans. M. E. Laker, SNND. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1977.
I cannot say that all is always charm, sweetnesss, and affection, but God is working on us still.
© W. Christopher Evans, February 15, 2006
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Co-Dependency Horrors.
My friend B. dates several women. And he is very possessive on each one of them. They are not allowed even to get my number. Today, while I was with B. on a date with his girl W., his other girl C. who is a FA for one of the airlines sent me a msg on an errand I asked. B. found out and was furious. Last time before I went out and typed this entry, I saw C. down on her knees on the doorway crying, because B. wants to throw her out. It is such bullshit.
Schedule for the weekend? Friday- Spanish night with friends at Valle Verde 1.
Saturday- whole day - Subic at Clearwater. Sat. night- Dinner at Valle 1. then Fiama or Embassy. Sunday- tentative for Tagaytay.
Schedule for the weekend? Friday- Spanish night with friends at Valle Verde 1.
Saturday- whole day - Subic at Clearwater. Sat. night- Dinner at Valle 1. then Fiama or Embassy. Sunday- tentative for Tagaytay.
Monday, June 5, 2006
Futbol!!
Back row, from left to right: Phil Younghusband, Andy Prochnow, Michael Casas, Chad Gould, James Younghusband, Aly Borromeo
Front Row, from left to right: Jeffrey Liman, Mark Villon, Bervic Italia, Gerald Orcullo, Arnie Pasinabo
23rd SEA Games Men's U23 Football Competition
This is one sport that I wished we excel. But as the World Cup fast approaching, I can only watch in envy how other teams, play in the world's most prestigious sports competition. Here is the latest full ranking- May 2006, of the different countries (from www.fifa.com)
Rank Team
1 Brazil
2 Czech Republic
3 Netherlands
4 Mexico
5 USA
5 Spain
7 Portugal
8 France
9 Argentina
10 England
11 Nigeria
11 Denmark
13 Italy
14 Turkey
15 Cameroon
16 Sweden
17 Egypt
18 Japan
19 Germany
20 Greece
21 Tunisia
22 Uruguay
23 Iran
23 Croatia
25 Romania
26 Costa Rica
27 Colombia
28 Senegal
29 Poland
29 Korea Republic
31 Republic of Ireland
32 Côte d'Ivoire
33 Paraguay
34 Saudi Arabia
35 Switzerland
36 Morocco
37 Russia
37 Bulgaria
39 Ecuador
40 Norway
41 Slovakia
42 Honduras
42 Australia
44 Serbia and Montenegro (before the declaration of separation of Montenegro)
45 Ukraine
46 Jamaica
47 Trinidad and Tobago
48 Ghana
49 Finland
49 Israel
51 Guinea
52 Iraq
53 South Africa
54 Bahrain
55 Zimbabwe
56 Belgium
57 Angola
57 Zambia
59 Scotland
60 Uzbekistan
61 Togo
62 Guatemala
63 Bosnia-Herzegovina
64 Chile
65 Belarus
66 Peru
66 Mali
68 China PR
69 Congo DR
70 Latvia
71 Slovenia
71 Venezuela
71 United Arab Emirates
74 Kuwait
74 Wales
76 Hungary
77 Estonia
78 Qatar
79 Austria
80 Cuba
81 Panama
82 Oman
83 Canada
84 Jordan
85 Albania
86 Libya
87 Algeria
88 Korea DPR
89 Burkina Faso
90 Syria
91 FYR Macedonia
92 Singapore
93 Lithuania
94 Rwanda
95 Kenya
96 Northern Ireland
97 Uganda
97 Sudan
99 Iceland
100 Cyprus
101 Georgia
102 Bolivia
103 Botswana
104 Moldova
105 Gabon
106 Haiti
107 Malawi
108 Thailand
109 Armenia
110 Indonesia
111 Congo
112 Azerbaijan
112 Ethiopia
114 Benin
115 Palestine
116 Hong Kong
117 India
118 New Zealand
119 Barbados
120 Turkmenistan
121 Tajikistan
122 Lebanon
123 Liechtenstein
123 Cape Verde Islands
125 Malta
126 Vietnam
127 Mozambique
127 Malaysia
129 Andorra
129 El Salvador
131 St. Lucia
132 Yemen
133 St. Kitts and Nevis
133 St. Vincent and the Grenadines
135 Kazakhstan
136 Sri Lanka
137 Maldives
138 Swaziland
139 Faroe Islands
140 Bangladesh
141 Lesotho
142 Fiji
143 Liberia
144 Solomon Islands
145 Tahiti
146 Mauritius
147 Kyrgyzstan
148 Vanuatu
149 Myanmar
150 Burundi
151 Madagascar
152 Luxembourg
153 Pakistan
154 Equatorial Guinea
155 Grenada
156 Chinese Taipei
157 Nicaragua
158 Surinam
159 Chad
160 Antigua and Barbuda
161 San Marino
162 Guyana
162 Bermuda
164 Namibia
165 Sierra Leone
166 Gambia
167 Tanzania
168 Papua New Guinea
169 Nepal
170 Netherlands Antilles
171 Eritrea
172 Laos
173 British Virgin Islands
174 Dominica
175 Dominican Republic
176 Seychelles
177 Niger
178 Mauritania
179 Mongolia
180 Belize
181 Central African Republic
182 Cayman Islands
183 Samoa
184 Cambodia
185 Somalia
186 Guinea-Bissau
187 Tonga
188 Afghanistan
188 New Caledonia
190 Bhutan
191 Philippines
192 Macau
193 Brunei Darussalam
194 Bahamas
195 Cook Islands
196 Puerto Rico
197 US Virgin Islands
198 São Tomé e Príncipe
199 Anguilla
200 Djibouti
201 Aruba
202 Montserrat
203 Guam
204 Turks and Caicos Islands
205 American Samoa
--Women Ranking--
1 Germany
2 USA
3 Norway
4 Brazil
5 Sweden
6 France
7 Korea DPR
8 China PR
9 Denmark
10 Italy
...
84 Philippines
85 Cameroon
86 Tunisia
87 Estonia
88 Bolivia
89 Equatorial Guinea
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Vanuatu
92 Singapore
93 Surinam
93 Dominica
95 Honduras
96 Angola
97 Moldova
98 Zimbabwe
99 Congo DR
100 Tahiti
101 Nicaragua
102 Cook Islands
103 El Salvador
104 Samoa
105 Dominican Republic
106 Bahamas
107 Malta
108 Ethiopia
109 Guinea
110 Armenia
111 St. Lucia
112 Congo
113 Maldives Republic
114 Puerto Rico
115 Gabon
115 Cyprus
117 Bermuda
118 Namibia
119 Lebanon
120 Zambia
121 Macedonia FYR
122 Antigua and Barbuda
122 St. Kitts and Nevis
124 Cayman Islands
125 Mozambique
126 Belize
127 Aruba
128 Netherlands Antilles
129 Tanzania
Association Information
Philippine Football Federation (PFF)
- Foundation year 1907
- Affiliated since 1928
President: ROMUALDEZ Juan Miguel
Vice President: ARANETA Pablito
General Secretary: GARAMENDI Domeka B.
Treasurer: MORAN Daniel
Room 405, Building B
Philsports Complex Meralco Avenue, Pasig City
METRO MANILA 1604
Tel:+63-2/634 5552
Fax:+63-2/687 1598
domeka13@hotmail.com
Men's Coach: CASLIB Jose Ariston
(PHI)
Women's Coach: MARO Marlon (PHI)
Media Officer: FORMOSO M. Eduardo
Jerseys: Blue Referee Coordinator: DOFITAS Cyril V.
Shorts: Blue
Socks: Blue
Futsal Coordinator: PREYSLER Joaquin A.
Body Count.
Reliable information from a Western diplomat based in Manila confirmed my suspicion that Media, NGOs and left-wing organizations are sensationalizing the killings of journalists and militants in the country. Inside information from National Union of Journalists in the Philippines internally agree that only 40% of the mediamen killed since PGMA rose into office were actually related to their work. The embassy official figures are even lower citing only 25% of media persons slain was actually related. A journalist who was slain in Iloilo 2 years ago was actually related to personal vendetta for his alleged philandering. I should know, it is an open secret in the city.
On the issue of militant killings, Teddy Casiño might as well shedding crocodile tears during the ambush of former NPA operative turned politician Sotero Llamas. To the eyes of the Pro-Sison, Llamas was a turncoat. Llamas ran under Ping Lacson- a notorious torturer, during the previous election and lost. The same diplomat also mentioned that some are actually internal purges within the party. Which is actually true. Communist Party undertook a horrific series of purges in the aftermath of EDSA Revolution well into the early '90s called Kampanyang Ahos (Garlic Campaign).
(from the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines Website- http://nujp.org)
The Journalist’s Code of Ethics
I. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.
II. I shall not violate confidential information on material given me in the exercise of my calling.
III. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs and/or documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press when obtaining any personal interview intended for publication.
IV. I shall refrain from writing reports that will adversely affect a private reputation unless the public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for public access to information.
V. I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me in the performance of my duties, nor shall I accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature that may cast doubt on my professional integrity.
VI. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.
VII. I shall not, in any manner, ridicule, cast aspersions on, or degrade any person by reason of sex, creed, religious belief, political conviction, cultural and ethnic origin.
VIII. I shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise. I shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal cases so that they may not unjustly lose their standing in society.
IX. I shall not take unfair advantage of a fellow journalist.
X. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and dignity of my profession, invoking the “conscience clause” when duties imposed on me conflict with the voice of my conscience.
XI. I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watchword.
(This Journalist’s Code of Ethics was unanimously adopted during the founding congress of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on July 30, 1988. NUJP members must agree to this covenant, violation of which could mean expulsion from the union. The NUJP’s by-laws provide an arbitration mechanism to try violations of this code.)
What a laugh. From a media who sensationalizes, unfair and biased reporting, that encouraged envelopmental journalism, class conflicts, and peddler of false hopes. Shame!
On the issue of militant killings, Teddy Casiño might as well shedding crocodile tears during the ambush of former NPA operative turned politician Sotero Llamas. To the eyes of the Pro-Sison, Llamas was a turncoat. Llamas ran under Ping Lacson- a notorious torturer, during the previous election and lost. The same diplomat also mentioned that some are actually internal purges within the party. Which is actually true. Communist Party undertook a horrific series of purges in the aftermath of EDSA Revolution well into the early '90s called Kampanyang Ahos (Garlic Campaign).
(from the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines Website- http://nujp.org)
The Journalist’s Code of Ethics
I. I shall scrupulously report and interpret the news, taking care not to suppress essential facts nor to distort the truth by omission or improper emphasis. I recognize the duty to air the other side and the duty to correct substantive errors promptly.
II. I shall not violate confidential information on material given me in the exercise of my calling.
III. I shall resort only to fair and honest methods in my effort to obtain news, photographs and/or documents, and shall properly identify myself as a representative of the press when obtaining any personal interview intended for publication.
IV. I shall refrain from writing reports that will adversely affect a private reputation unless the public interest justifies it. At the same time, I shall fight vigorously for public access to information.
V. I shall not let personal motives or interests influence me in the performance of my duties, nor shall I accept or offer any present, gift or other consideration of a nature that may cast doubt on my professional integrity.
VI. I shall not commit any act of plagiarism.
VII. I shall not, in any manner, ridicule, cast aspersions on, or degrade any person by reason of sex, creed, religious belief, political conviction, cultural and ethnic origin.
VIII. I shall presume persons accused of crime of being innocent until proven otherwise. I shall exercise caution in publishing names of minors and women involved in criminal cases so that they may not unjustly lose their standing in society.
IX. I shall not take unfair advantage of a fellow journalist.
X. I shall accept only such tasks as are compatible with the integrity and dignity of my profession, invoking the “conscience clause” when duties imposed on me conflict with the voice of my conscience.
XI. I shall conduct myself in public or while performing my duties as journalist in such manner as to maintain the dignity of my profession. When in doubt, decency should be my watchword.
(This Journalist’s Code of Ethics was unanimously adopted during the founding congress of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines on July 30, 1988. NUJP members must agree to this covenant, violation of which could mean expulsion from the union. The NUJP’s by-laws provide an arbitration mechanism to try violations of this code.)
What a laugh. From a media who sensationalizes, unfair and biased reporting, that encouraged envelopmental journalism, class conflicts, and peddler of false hopes. Shame!
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