vendredi 27 décembre 2013
mardi 24 décembre 2013
Joyeux Noël!
Christmas homecoming (1948)
Caricature Mandela: la barre est haute pour les successeurs...
L'Évangile selon Marie (New York Times)
"In addition to his responsibilities at the church in Philadelphia, however, Taussig is a professor of biblical literature at Union Theological Seminary in New York. One of his areas of expertise is those early Christian texts that are not part of the New Testament. Along with Karen King of Harvard Divinity School and others, he has championed the idea that the Gnostic Gospels were not necessarily heretical but were rather were an example of the diversity of thought and ideas that Christians were grappling with in the first and second centuries. Many of the academics who study these texts no longer use the term “gnostic” because of its connotation of heresy.
What’s more, Taussig believes that many of these texts are, in their own way, scriptural, as worthy of meditation and prayer as the texts in the 27 books of the New Testament. He often preaches from the early Christian texts. And in February 2012, he and a group of nationally known spiritual leaders and scholars got together in New Orleans to conduct an interesting exercise: to choose texts that might integrate well with the New Testament itself. They chose 10 of them, and the results were published in a book entitled “A New New Testament.” Earlier this year, the book landed on my desk, which is how I stumbled across Taussig and his work.
Those early Christian texts can seem quite astonishing. Several of them are told from the point of view of a woman, something that is not true of any of the New Testament. The Gospel of Mary, for instance, tells the story of Mary Magdalene, “who is portrayed as one of Jesus’s closest associates,” as Taussig writes in an introduction to that gospel, and has been given teachings from Jesus that she passes on to his male disciples. A second book that is written mostly in the female voice is “The Thunder: Perfect Mind.” A poetic work, what is particularly amazing about it is that the female voice is that of the deity Herself."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/opinion/nocera-the-gospel-according-to-mary.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131224&_r=0
lundi 23 décembre 2013
Obamacare plonge encore dans les sondages
"Opposition to Obamacare rose six points among women, from 54% in November to 60% now, while opinion of the new law remained virtually unchanged among men," CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said. "That's bad news for an administration that is reaching out to moms across the country in an effort to make Obamacare a success."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/12/23/cnn-poll-heath-care-law-support-drops-to-all-time-low/
Barack Obama et Lyndon Johnson: des leçons du passé?
"“Well, I’ll be damned!” Johnson exclaimed when his congressional liaison, Larry O’Brien, gave him the news. He had already decided on a battle plan, calling out to his wife, “Bird! Let’s have Congress over tonight!”
So at 5 p.m., just as the black crepe of mourning for President John F. Kennedy was coming down after 30 days, and Christmas greenery was going up, Johnson welcomed more than 200 members to the East Room for a bourbon-and-eggnog reception, lighting a big yule log in the fireplace himself. Then he stood up on a small gilt chair and apologized to Charlie Halleck, “if anyone down here said anything ugly about you.” “We’re Americans first,” he added. “I hope we can disagree without being disagreeable.” The foreign aid bill passed the next morning, in a special 7 a.m. vote in the House. “At that moment,” Johnson would later recall, “the power of the government began flowing back to the White House.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/a-toast-to-the-bad-old-days-101455.html?hp=f2
Caricature pape François: une vision du monde...
dimanche 22 décembre 2013
Edgar M. Bronfman (1929-2013): portrait dans le New York Times
Je retiens ce passage:
"Mr. Bronfman shrugged off criticism from those who feared that his aggressive tactics were risking an anti-Semitic backlash. “The answer isn’t to say, ‘Don’t make trouble,’ and hide our heads in the sand,” he wrote in his 1998 memoir, “Good Spirits: The Making of a Businessman.” “We may not earn the friendship of others, but we will demand their respect.”"
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/23/business/edgar-m-bronfman-who-brought-elegance-and-expansion-to-seagram-dies-at-84.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131222
Plus d'élèves, moins de profs: la logique comptable...
"Across the country, public schools employ about 250,000 fewer people than before the recession, according to figures from the Labor Department. Enrollment in public schools, meanwhile, has increased by more than 800,000 students. To maintain prerecession staffing ratios, public school employment should have actually grown by about 132,000 jobs in the past four years, in addition to replacing those that were lost, said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/education/subtract-teachers-add-pupils-math-of-todays-jammed-schools.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131222
Armes à feu et maladie mentale: les limites du deuxième amendement
"The Russo case highlights a central, unresolved issue in the debate over balancing public safety and the Second Amendment right to bear arms: just how powerless law enforcement can be when it comes to keeping firearms out of the hands of people who are mentally ill.
Connecticut’s law giving the police broad leeway to seize and hold guns for up to a year is actually relatively strict. Most states simply adhere to the federal standard, banning gun possession only after someone is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility or designated as mentally ill or incompetent after a court proceeding or other formal legal process. Relatively few with mental health issues, even serious ones, reach this point.
As a result, the police often find themselves grappling with legal ambiguities when they encounter mentally unstable people with guns, unsure how far they can go in searching for and seizing firearms and then, in particular, how they should respond when the owners want them back.
“There is a big gap in the law,” said Jeffrey Furbee, the chief legal adviser to the Police Department in Columbus, Ohio. “There is no common-sense middle ground to protect the public.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/22/us/when-the-right-to-bear-arms-includes-the-mentally-ill.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131222&_r=0
samedi 21 décembre 2013
Duck Dynasty et Rosa Parks????
""To me, not knowing him, it is clear that he wanted to expose the, what I call, persecution of people who are open Christians. What better way to do it than in an open interview not on your television show so A&E can't argue some breach of contract," Republican Ian Bayne told TPM in a phone interview Friday."
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/goper-who-compared-duck-dynasty-star-to-rosa-parks-he-wanted-to-expose-persecution-of-christians
vendredi 20 décembre 2013
Sécurité nationale et respect de la vie privée: le dilemme d'Obama
"For Mr. Obama — who in the past five years has grown dependent on the N.S.A. for countering terrorist threats, and dependent on Cyber Command for buying time to deal with Iran and other long-term adversaries — the choices he makes in the next few weeks may well define America’s approach to national security long after his term is over.
But it is a major balancing act between a security system that he has come to depend on and principles of privacy that he has said are dear to him.
One of the five experts in the advisory group, Michael Morell, says the task is possible. “We are not in any way recommending the disarming of the intelligence community,” said Mr. Morell, who retired over the summer as deputy director of the C.I.A."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/us/politics/obama-weighing-security-and-privacy-in-deciding-on-spy-program-limits.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131220&_r=0
Bobby Jindal se porte à la défense de Phil Robertson
“Phil Robertson and his family are great citizens of the State of Louisiana. The politically correct crowd is tolerant of all viewpoints, except those they disagree with,” Jindal said in a statement released by his office. “I don’t agree with quite a bit of stuff I read in magazine interviews or see on TV. In fact, come to think of it, I find a good bit of it offensive. But I also acknowledge that this is a free country and everyone is entitled to express their views.”
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/bobby-jindal-duck-dynasty-101330.html?hp=r2_b2
Caricature Duc Dynasty ou duck tape: les droits de Phil Robertson bafoués?
Si les activistes en faveur des droits des gais et lesbiennes sont satisfaits de la suspension imposée à Phil Robertson après ses propos très durs sur les gais, ils sont plusieurs à dénoncer le choix de la chaîne A&E. A-t-on entravé sa liberté d'expression?
Caricature Duck Dynasty: contents là?
Après ses propos homophobes (homosexualité et terrorisme sont associés), Phil Robertson a été suspendu de la série Duck Dynasty. "Heureusement" Sarah Palin s'est porté à la défense de Robertson...
Caricature pape des pauvres
Le pape François aura marqué l'année 2013 autant par ses paroles que par ses gestes
jeudi 19 décembre 2013
Candy Crush and et Chris Christie
"Now, here’s the thing. Candy Crush is free, but if you get stuck on a level, you can purchase extra moves, extra turns, extra weapons. The creators — a London-based company called King — won’t reveal how much money they make on this gimmick, but the consulting firm Think Gaming estimates it’s more than $900,000 a day.
What would people do if they actually had a chance of winning something? This brings us to Chris Christie. Earlier this year, Governor Christie signed a bill legalizing Internet gambling in New Jersey. The idea was to help resuscitate the Atlantic City economy and raise a projected $150 million in tax revenue. Very few people believe the state will really make that much, but the number did help Christie to run for re-election waving what appeared to be a balanced budget.
The law went into effect a few weeks ago. Now, state residents can go online, create an account with one of the sponsoring casinos, and gamble on all the casino games — blackjack, poker, slot machines, etc. — in the comfort of their homes.
How many of you think this is a good plan?
So far, New Jerseyites have created more than 90,000 casino accounts even though many banks and credit card companies are wary of getting involved. You know that it’s quickly going to get easier and easier to play, and that more and more states will want to get in the act, sniffing those new tax dollars.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/opinion/collins-candy-crush-and-mr-christie.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131219&_r=0
Hillary Clinton annoncera ses intentions en 2014
On a jamais vraiment cessé de s'interroger sur une possible candidature d'Hillary Clinton pour la présidentielle de 2016. L'annonce officielle se fera en 2014.
"“I will look carefully at what I think I can do and make that decision sometime next year,” Clinton told ABC’s Barbara Walters in an interview that aired Wednesday night."
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/hillary-clinton-2016-election-decision-101318.html
Caricature Target et fraude informatique: une clientèle "ciblée"
Caricature Edward Snowden et évolution de la perception
Caricature NSA et bonne année... 1984!!!
Bien sûr en référence au roman de George Orwell 1984 publié en 1949.
mercredi 18 décembre 2013
Chronique à Radio-Canada cet après-midi
Caricature Kim Jong-un et le renforcement positif...
Barack Obama cancre des Présidents pour la cinquième année d'une présidence?
Comment se compare-t-il avec d'autres Présidents dans l'histoire pour cette première année d'un second mandat? Des historiens se penchent sur cette question et leurs réponses sont parfois étonnantes. Obama trouvera peut-être un certain réconfort dans le fait que C'est Franklin Delano Roosevelt, pour plusieurs le plus grand Président du vingtième siècle), qui a vécu la pire cinquième année de présidence...
"In 1937, the greatest president of the twentieth century suffered the worst fifth year in presidential history. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s effort to reform the Supreme Court was denounced as “court-packing” and cost him nearly all the momentum he had gained in his huge reelection victory. And then the economy tanked, undoing most of the progress that had been made against the Great Depression. The Roosevelt magic was gone; even Democrats began turning against him. If World War II hadn’t given him another chance, he would be remembered today as a mediocre president at best."
Le lien pour cet article fort intéressant:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/12/american-presidents-year-5-obama-101257.html?hp=pm_1
mardi 17 décembre 2013
Nathan Bedford Forrest High School change de nom. Pourquoi?
"As the school board worked up to Monday's vote, opposition in Jacksonville was also voiced by H.K. Edgerton, a black "Confederate activist" whose Georgia-based organization, Southern Heritage 411, was founded to "inform the public about Southern Heritage from the perspective of the hundreds of thousands of black people who love and support the South, its people, its customs, and its history."
Edgerton has been busy in the Jacksonville area lately. A few weeks ago, he was in the news for attending a public meeting in Lake City, Fla. concerning a Union monument proposed for the Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park. At that meeting, Edgerton led opponents of the project in a rendition of "Dixie" while he waved a large Confederate flag.
Edgerton told TPM on Monday that he had been in Florida again last week. Last Wednesday, he demonstrated outside Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, and he was joined by several members of the the Sons of Confederate veterans.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/kkk-high-school-changes-its-name-despite-black-confederate-s-efforts
War on Christmas: une histoire
"Today’s War Over Christmas still revolves around department stores, and focuses on the rise of “Happy Holidays” and “Holiday Trees.” And it remains alert to an internal enemy poised to stab America in the back. But like everything else, the War Over Christmas has become tarted up, 24-houred and Twitterized—even as it has grown drearily routine, an annual pageant in which culture warriors line the trenches and, like mechanical toy soldiers in a shopping-mall display, fix bayonets and wage the same battle all over again."
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2013/12/war-on-christmas-short-history-101222.html?hp=pm_2
Qu'est qu'un bon enseignant? Documentaire "The new republic"
Une fois de plus un article intéressant sur la pédagogie et le rôle des enseignants. Un documentaire qui n'est pas dénué d'intérêt. Un documentaire qui présente l'intérieur d'une classe, mais qui se dirige aussi vers la vie des élèves à l'extérieur de l'école. Comment peut-on rejoindre nos élèves? Le documentaire connait une grande popularité au sein du corps professoral et on l'utilise maintenant dans la formation des enseignants.
"Partly this is because it is the rare film that sympathetically conveys how hard it is to be a teacher in an inner-city school. “The New Public” not only shows what goes on in the classroom — which can be rough if the teacher can’t manage the classroom — but she also goes into the homes of the students she has focused on. There, the odds that the students are trying to overcome are made abundantly clear.
But it is also because the movie is an unwitting primer on how to teach disadvantaged students. There are teachers in the movie who know how to connect with their students, and teachers who don’t. Teachers College at Columbia University liked the film so much that it is creating a companion curriculum, so the film can be used to help train teachers. Until Gunther’s movie came along, Teachers College used to show “The Wire” to give prospective teachers a feel for what it’s like to teach in a disadvantaged community.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/opinion/nocera-what-is-good-teaching.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131217
Homeland denier épisode de la saison 3: critique dans le New York Times
"Mr. Lewis is a remarkably talented actor who manages to convey every nuance of Brody’s multiple, ever-changing identities. But Brody’s doomed love affair with Carrie lost some of its zing with second chances. When the two were alone at last in a rustic, candlelit Iranian safe house — a Persian version of the lakeside cottage where they first had sex — it was hard not to smirk a bit.
The poignancy of their last moments, making eye contact across a wire fence and crowds of angry Iranian demonstrators, was undercut by faint hints and visual red herrings, allowing viewers to believe that Brody would somehow escape the noose at the last second.
Carrie, however, sees firsthand that he is a goner. As he dangles from the neck, she even climbs the fence calling his name, and an Iranian guard hits the barrier hard with a riot stick, causing her to fall and miss his final death throes.
There was nothing unbelievable about the final outcome, and that too was a little anticlimactic. It turns out that Saul’s efforts to infiltrate the Iranian government worked: As they relax over the morning newspaper, Mira reads a headline saying the Iranians have agreed to pause their nuclear program if the West removes sanctions — a breakthrough that in real life is unfolding in real time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/arts/television/shock-but-no-awe-in-homeland-seasons-end.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131217
Caricature savon antibactérien et Congrès
Caricature de RANDY BISH, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Caricature qui fait suite aux recherches menées par la FDA aux États-Unis sur l'efficacité des savons antibactériens. Non seulement ne seraient-ils pas efficaces, ils pourraient même être dangereux. Comme le Congrès? "
“It’s a big deal that they are taking this on,” said Rolf Halden, the director of the Center for Environmental Security at Arizona State University, who has been tracking the issue for years. “These antimicrobials have taken on a life all of their own,” Dr. Halden said. “Their use has really proliferated.”
Studies in animals have shown that the chemicals, triclosan in liquid soaps and triclocarban in bar soaps, can disrupt the normal development of the reproductive system and metabolism, and health experts warn that their effects could be the same in humans. The chemicals were originally used by surgeons to wash their hands before operations, and their use exploded in recent years as manufacturers added them to a variety of products, including mouthwash, laundry detergent, fabrics and baby pacifiers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the chemicals in the urine of three-quarters of Americans.
The F.D.A. said that accumulated scientific information has prompted it to re-evaluate whether these chemicals are safe when used over long periods of time. The agency also said there was no evidence that the substances were any more effective in preventing infection than plain soap and water."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/fda-to-require-proof-that-antibacterial-soaps-are-safe.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131217
George Zimmerman le peintre: 100 000$ pour une de ses toiles?
George Zimmerman is selling a patriotic painting on eBay that has already amassed more than 90 bids, pushing the price of the painting to nearly $100,000.
Zimmerman's attorney Jayne Weintraub confirmed the artwork's authenticity when it was put up for auction on eBay. The auction began with a bid of $50, but soared to $99,966 after 98 bids as of 3 a.m. EST.
The signed, 18-by 24-inch painting features a blue American flag with a few words from the Pledge of Allegiance: "God," "one nation," "with liberty and justice for all."
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmermans-painting-bids-reach-100000/story?id=21242693
Caricature Peter O'Toole (1932-2013)
Caricature qui souligne le professionnalisme de l'acteur, mais aussi sa réputation de fêtard.
Tunisie divisée: les islamistes cèdent le pouvoir (NY Times)
Photographie du leader d'Ennahda (parti islamiste) Rachid Ghannouchi
Depuis le début du printemps arabe j'ai réservé quelques entrées sur mon carnet web à la situation en Tunisie. je tentais de le faire dans le cadre des activités de mon carnet (tout ce qui touche à l'histoire ou à la politique intérieure et étrangère des États-Unis), mais aussi parce qu'après des séjours en Tunisie j'ai développé un attachement particulier pour ce pays et ses habitants qui nous ont si bien traités mes étudiants, mes collègues et moi. Je ne peux que souhaiter que les événements actuels permettent le développement d'un climat politique plus stable. Il y a bien des gens dont je n'ai plus entendu parlé depuis quelques années et j'espère qu'ils n'ont pas trop souffert de tous les bouleversements...
"Tunisia had been careening toward chaos and political paralysis after two assassinations this year and an inability to finalize a new constitution, and it remains fragile and divided. But months of laborious back-room haggling led by two political leaders helped, at least for now, to avoid the kind of zero-sum politics that have come to define the post-Arab Spring tumult in Egypt, Libya and the battlefield of Syria.
Beji Caid Essebsi, a former prime minister who leads a new secular-minded political party, Nidaa Tounes, and Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamist party Ennahda, have starkly different visions of the country’s future. But since Tunisia’s political crisis flared this year, the two men have met one on one at least five times to try to find a political solution.
It has not been easy for either side, and in an indication of just how deep the divisions remain, the two could still not agree on a candidate to serve as interim prime minister. When the deal was announced late Saturday, between Ennahda and about half of the liberal parties in the opposition, Mehdi Jomaa, 50, the industry minister, was chosen as interim prime minister. But Mr. Essebsi did not sign on and could conceivably block cabinet picks.
L'article au complet:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/world/africa/a-political-deal-in-a-deeply-divided-tunisia-as-islamists-agree-to-yield-power.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131217&_r=0
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