[gallery] robertogreco:
ALLEY 1, Miha Štrukelj (via “Alleyway Appeal: Miha Štrukelj’s Explorations of West L.A.”)
Send us your spirit, Lord, with the gifts of humility and understanding. Teach us that your Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, but even beyond our vision. Give us the comfort of knowing that nothing we can do will be complete, no statement of ours will say all that can be said, no prayer of ours fully express our faith, no confession of ours fully bring us to perfection. Make us content to plant seeds that will one day grow, to water seeds which others have planted, to accept that their promise may be for the future, to lay foundations for others to build on better. Give us the comfort of knowing that we are merely workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs, and, with your grace, prophets for a future not our own.Adapted from the ‘Romero Prayer’ of Bishop Untenor of Saginaw, in Eamon Duffy’s The Heart in Pilgrimage: A Prayerbook for Catholic Christians
No Mass in Mosul
“Last Sunday, for the first time in 1600 years, no mass was celebrated in Mosul. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized Iraq’s second largest city on June 10, causing most Christians in the region to flee in terror, in new kinship with the torment of Christ crucified on the cross. The remnant of Mosul’s ancient Christian community, long inhabitants of the place where many believe Jonah to be buried, now faces annihilation behind ISIS lines. Those who risk worship must do so in silence, praying under new Sharia regulations that have stilled every church bell in the city.”
Last Sunday, for the first time in 1600 years, no mass was celebrated in Mosul. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) seized Iraq’s second largest city on June 10, causing most Christians in the region to flee in terror, in new kinship with the torment of Christ crucified on the cross. The remnant of Mosul’s ancient Christian community, long inhabitants of the place where many believe Jonah to be buried, now faces annihilation behind ISIS lines. Those who risk worship must do so in silence, praying under new Sharia regulations that have stilled every church bell in the city.
W. H. Auden, "The Unknown Citizen"
[alternate title: “The Unknown Facebook User”]
(To JS/07 M 378 This Marble Monument Is Erected by the State)
He was found by the Bureau of Statistics to be One against whom there was no official complaint, And all the reports on his conduct agree That, in the modern sense of an old-fashioned word, he was a saint, For in everything he did he served the Greater Community. Except for the War till the day he retired He worked in a factory and never got fired, But satisfied his employers, Fudge Motors Inc. Yet he wasn’t a scab or odd in his views, For his Union reports that he paid his dues, (Our report on his Union shows it was sound) And our Social Psychology workers found That he was popular with his mates and liked a drink. The Press are convinced that he bought a paper every day And that his reactions to advertisements were normal in every way. Policies taken out in his name prove that he was fully insured, And his Health-card shows he was once in hospital but left it cured. Both Producers Research and High-Grade Living declare He was fully sensible to the advantages of the Instalment Plan And had everything necessary to the Modern Man, A phonograph, a radio, a car and a frigidaire. Our researchers into Public Opinion are content That he held the proper opinions for the time of year; When there was peace, he was for peace: when there was war, he went. He was married and added five children to the population, Which our Eugenist says was the right number for a parent of his generation. And our teachers report that he never interfered with their education. Was he free? Was he happy? The question is absurd: Had anything been wrong, we should certainly have heard.
In The Gated City, Ryan Avent observed that high housing costs in America’s most productive cities had forced large numbers of middle- and low-income households to either accept long, costly commutes, which eat into the ability of families to work and save, or to move to low-cost, low-productivity regions. Over time, this greatly impairs the ability of working- and middle-class Americans to climb the economic ladder. Moreover, when you move large numbers of people from high-productivity, high-wage regions to low-productivity, low-wage regions, you lower the productivity of the entire country. In other words, the rich homeowners who are fighting development in San Francisco and throughout coastal California are actually making America poorer. That’s not cool.
[gallery] Kayaköy, Turkey, an abandoned town
[gallery] biblipeacay:
Engraved frontispiece from 2nd Edition of John Bulwer’s:‘Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d, or the Artificial Changeling. Historically presented, in the mad and cruel Gallantry, foolish Bravery, ridiculous Beauty, filthy Fineness, and loathesome Loveliness of most Nations, fashioning & altering their Bodies from the Mould intended by Nature. With a Vindication of the Regular Beauty and Honesty of Nature, and an Appendix of the Pedigree of the English Gallant’Sangbleu: “Anthropometamorphosis literally means ‘humanity-changing’ and this exceptional book is thought to be one of the first studies in comparative cultural anthropology. Published in 1653 the book heavy emphasises on looking at how humans around the world were modifying their bodies in the then present and past. [..]The author John Bulwer^ is best known for pioneering and practicing the importance of educating deaf people following the outbreak of the English Civil War but he also wrote this fascinating book thought to be one of the first books ever dedicated to body modification.”
Image source - above image spliced together from screenshots.
