ARCHBISHOP TUTU PULLS OUT OF SUMMIT WITH TONY BLAIR

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has pulled out of an international summit, because he doesn't want to share a platform with the "morally indefensible" Tony Blair it emerged yesterday.

The retired archbishop, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his campaigning against apartheid, said that he had withdrawn from the event because he believed the former Prime Minister had supported the invasion of Iraq "on the basis of unproven allegations of the existence of weapons of mass destruction."
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Archbishop Tutu has long been a critic of Mr Blair's stance on Iraq – even before the invasion.

In 2003 the archbishop said Mr Blair's support for the Bush administration was "mind-boggling". "I have a great deal of time for your Prime Minister, but I'm shocked to see a powerful country use its power frequently, unilaterally," he said.

Archbishop Tutu is correct that the invasion of Iraq was illegal and based on false information.  A full explanation by the archbishop for his withdrawal may be found at the Guardian.

If leaders may lie, then who should tell the truth? Days before George W Bush and Tony Blair ordered the invasion of Iraq, I called the White House and spoke to Condoleezza Rice, who was then national security adviser, to urge that United Nations weapons inspectors be given more time to confirm or deny the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Should they be able to confirm finding such weapons, I argued, dismantling the threat would have the support of virtually the entire world. Ms Rice demurred, saying there was too much risk and the president would not postpone any longer.
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On these grounds alone, in a consistent world, those responsible for this suffering and loss of life should be treading the same path as some of their African and Asian peers who have been made to answer for their actions in the Hague.

The weapons inspectors from the UN had nearly completed their work and asked for a short delay in order to finish, but their request was refused.  They were close to a conclusion that Iraq had no WMD, and it's possible that Bush and Blair rushed the invasion, in part, to avoid the disclosure from being made public.  The two leaders were determined to bring down Saddam, WMD or no.  The inspectors had to rush out of Iraq in order not to be caught in the invasion.

I won't ever forget observing the process with horror, aghast that Blair would go along with Bush and crew in the madness.  There was an air of inevitability about the coming invasion, and it was plain that no new information would get in the way.

H/T to Juan Cole at Informed Comment.

I KNOW THE FEELING

Why I might even say with some degree of honesty that I have the feeling.

Thanks to susan s.

A CHRONOLOGICAL NEW TESTAMENT

Marcus Borg writes in The Huffington Post on a New Testament arranged in chronological order in which the books were written.  It seems to me that rearranging the books beginning from the earliest and ending with the latest according to a consensus or a majority of New Testament scholars would make a lot of sense.

Growing up in the Roman Catholic Church and attending RCC schools for 16 years, not a great deal of emphasis was placed on the study of the Bible.  I remember when I began to attend Bible study classes being puzzled about a particular dispute in a community mentioned in one of Paul's letters which would have been easily settled by passages in one of the Gospels.  When I asked the question of the leader of our group, he said, "Think about it."  We had already covered the estimated dates of the parts of the NT,  and after I thought for a while, I realized that the Gospel that would have settled the dispute was not yet written at the time of Paul's letter.  Since Paul was a not disciple of Jesus before his death, and his conversion was a result of a private revelation, he had not heard all the stories about Jesus, what he said and what he did, that are told in the Gospels which came later.  Aha!

Do read the entire article at HP in which Borg explains why it is important to the history of the church to know the order in which the books of the NT were written.  Below is the list the books in chronological order according to Borg. 

1 Thessalonians
Galatians
1 Corinthians
Philemon
Philippians
2 Corinthians
Romans
Mark
James
Colossians
Matthew
Hebrews
John
Ephesians
Revelation
Jude
1 John, 2 John, 3 John
Luke
Acts
2 Thessalonians
1 Peter
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
2 Peter

Photo from Wikipedia.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - GEORGE SMILEY

"The fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt."

From the film "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy".

The movie is excellent, and Gary Oldman is superb as George Smiley, a British secret service agent during the cold war.  I watched the movie twice to tie up the loose ends from the first time around, which included more than one than one distraction.  The film calls for close attention.  Although I'd read the book and watched the TV series of the same name years ago, I had mercifully forgotten who was the mole, so the suspense remained on the first view. 

When I heard Oldman speak the words above, they seemed very true to me, so I backed up to get the exact quote.   The words do not refer only to others but are cautionary for me to examine myself for drift into fanatic mode, and, should I find myself there, to look for the secret doubt. 

Picture from Wikipedia.

CHRISTIAN TETZLAFF - BACH SARABANDE - PARTITA IN D MINOR

"Bach's music confronts the player and the audience in a very personal situation, in a very alone way," he [Christian Tetzlaff] explained.  "And I try at that moment to put away pretensions - in levels of violin playing, pretensions of being a strong man, of being invulnerable - and instead say, 'This is where all of us have common ground.' Most of the time, we try to tell oursleves 'I'm confidant' or 'I'm doing well.' But then, in a moment alone at home, you feel how close you are to some kind of abyss." 

He continued, "Music, even at terrible moments, can make you accept so much more - accept your dark sides, or the things that happen to you. Maybe it's just because you see that this is a common trait for all of us. You see that we are not alone." He said this with such quiet intensity that it seemed the opposite of sentimental.  "And that's what the concert situation is about for me, when I'm sitting in the hall and also when I'm playing myself.  It's about communication - I almost want to say 'communion.'  As a player, you really don't interpret anymore.  You listen, together with the audience."

Tetzler says he is not a religious man.  What shall we say of him?  He is spiritual but not religious?  Earlier in the article the author, Jeremy Eichler, says of Tetzlaff:

Tetzlaff is not a religious man, but he describes his art in frankly spiritual terms.  Performing music, he says, "is the job that has the most to do with the belief in the existence of a soul.  I deal in Berg's soul, in Brahm's soul - that's my job.  And you can challenge me, but I find that music is himans' most advanced achievement, more so than painting and writing, because it's more mysterious, more magical, and it acts in such a direct way.  Trying to turn lead into gold is nothing compared to taking something mechanical like an instrument - a string and a bow - and using it to invoke a human soul.

Something beyond the senses, something ineffable is evoked by music, art, and words, which I've had great difficulty describing.  Tetzlaff's description as soul meeting soul articulates for me what I have never been able to put into words.  It's not that I never notice mastery of the skills, or technique, or style, because I do, but either a soul to soul encounter happens, or it doesn't.  When I hear Tetzlaff play Bach, we three meet soul to soul, and, in a concert hall, I'd encounter the other souls listening with me.

With my slow internet connection which allows the video to play only in fits and starts, along with my poor sound system on my laptop, I can't say whether the video is of good quality or not.  I can but hope.... 
 
The quote is from "String Theorist" in The New Yorker by Jeremy Eichler.  Unless you have a subscription, you can read only the abstract of the article.

NOT QUITE YET

Did I say Tropical Storm Isaac had passed over us? Another storm band came through with winds and more rain. Upper Lafourche (that is us) is still under a tropical storm warning and flash flood watch.

Areas in New Orleans and Jefferson are flooded, but the new levees held. Neighborhoods in Slidell and LaPlace are flooded, and communities north of Lake Pontchartrain are threatened by a dam on Lake Tangipahoa that is in danger of breaking. Isaac has and will cause much devastation. 

WWL-TV's website has good information, but I have difficulty navigating the site because of a slow internet connection. 

Sorry about all the misinformation, which is probably due, in part, to wishful thinking.

KEEP WALKING

Seems right to me. Thanks to Doug.

ISAAC IS STILL WITH US

I thought Isaac was past us, but apparently we were in a kind of lull, and now the wind and rain is back, but not as strong as previously.  My internet connection is so slow that any website with pictures loads at a snail's pace, and I can't get to all the information I want.  I finally reached Wunderground with the satellite picture shown above.

ISAAC NOW CATEGORY 1 HURRICANE

Isaac, who is no gentleman, is now a Category 1 hurricane, with winds predicted at 75 mph and rainfall over a long period as it comes near or passes over us.  What can I say?  I'm not looking forward to Isaac's arrival, but I've been through worse.  Four-letter words come to mind, but I won't inflict the words on my readers in my post, as mine is a family-oriented blog.

Image from WunderMap.

UPDATE:  Before dark, I took my dog, Diana, for a half mile walk, with the thought in mind that the weather will get worse later.  I usually walk her late, because she's an older dog and sometimes has problems with incontinence, and exercise is the best medicine.  A blustery wind blew, with occasional stronger gusts, along with short periods of relative calm.  I wore my plastic parka for protection against the light rain, because an umbrella would have been of no use.  So far, we still have electric power, but who knows for how long?

UPDATE 2: We're fine. The weather is still blustery and rainy. We have power at this time, but periodically it goes off. Internet service on my laptop is slow, very slow. No TV or internet for the desktop. Tom and I slept last night, so we don't know what the worst of the hurricane was like. No large limbs fell from our trees, just a lot of small limbs to be cleaned up.

Thanks for your prayers and concern.  We are very grateful.  Love.

GOVERNOR JINDAL STAYS HOME

From DemocraticUnderground.com
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Bobby Jindal was passed over...

1. As Mitt Romney's choice for vice-president

2. As keynote speaker for the Republican National Convention

3. As a speaker in prime time at the RNC

That's not to say that I think the governor is staying home for any reason other than the approach of Tropical Storm Isaac.