Economic integration and FTAs in Asian Asian economies in the past three decades have experienced a market-driven economic integration, characterized by a dramatic surge in bilateral investment treaties, foreign direct investments, and a series of voluntary and unilateral tariff reductions. Integrated supply chains within Asian economies made trade barriers much
Continue readingAuthor: eugene plawiuk
LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-11-01 15:10:00
Ancient seal sheds light on Persian prophet AS THE LAST LINKS TO ANCIENT #MANICHAEISM; THE #YEZIDI AND#KURDS FACE GENOCIDE THE CRYSTAL SEAL OF #MANI THE #GNOSTIC APPEARS. Crystal seal of Mani [Credit: Northern Arizona University] A SERPENT SWALLOWING ITS TAIL IS WHERE THE INSCRIPTION IS IN THE CENTRE THE HOLY TRINITY WITH A FAMILAR LOOKING RUNE
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-11-01 15:10:00
Ancient seal sheds light on Persian prophet AS THE LAST LINKS TO ANCIENT #MANICHAEISM; THE #YEZIDI AND#KURDS FACE GENOCIDE THE CRYSTAL SEAL OF #MANI THE #GNOSTIC APPEARS. Crystal seal of Mani [Credit: Northern Arizona University] A SERPENT SWALLOWING ITS TAIL IS WHERE THE INSCRIPTION IS IN THE CENTRE THE HOLY TRINITY WITH A FAMILAR LOOKING RUNE
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-11-01 15:10:00
AS THE LAST LINKS TO ANCIENT #MANICHAEISM; THE #YEZIDI AND#KURDS
FACE GENOCIDE THE CRYSTAL SEAL OF #MANI THE #GNOSTIC APPEARS.
The rock crystal is flat on one side and rounded on the other, with a sunken carving on one half creating a positive image on the opposite side. Mani is flanked by two people, possibly disciples, and an inscription reading ‘Mani, apostle of Jesus Christ’ forms the perimeter. “The drills of the time used wound strings to spin a point to create an even carving,” Gulacsi said.
Gulacsi thinks Mani wore his crystal seal as a pendant, a practice of that time. The prophet’s only known surviving artifact is about the size of a quarter; the thin quartz seal was likely once encased in gold to facilitate its use.
When a personal artifact of a religious leader is discovered nearly 1,700 years after its use, the object provides invaluable historical insights. Zsuzsanna Gulacsi, professor of Comparative Cultural Studies, has been studying an ancient crystal seal used by prophet Mani, to provide new interpretations and prepare the seal for further research
Mani, a Persian born in 216, established Manichaeism, a religion drawing from the era’s dominant religions, including Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Mani stood out among religious leaders of the time, Gulacsi said, because he wrote his own doctrine, compared to Jesus, Mohammad and the historical Buddha who were not known to read or write.
The engraved crystal seal was used to authenticate Mani’s writings and correspondence. According to Gulacsi, Mani believed other religious leaders had their teachings distorted because they could not write themselves. “Their disciples did not have the capacity of a prophet, whose clarity of religious insight was believed to surpass that of ordinary human beings,” Gulacsi said.
The Prophet Mani [Credit: WikiCommons]
In 274, Mani died in prison after being persecuted for his religious teachings. His belongings were likely passed to his successor, but the fate of the crystal seal is not known until it turned up in Paris in 1896, where it was purchased and housed in the gemstone section of the National Library of France. Despite its historical significance, Mani’s engraved crystal seal had escaped attention until recently. Gulacsi has researched and written about the seal, including an article just published in the Bulletin of the Asia Institute.
Source: Northern Arizona University [October 30, 2014]
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LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 15:44:00
Hippolyta, Antiope and Penthesilea. These are the names of Amazonian women warriors made famous in folklore, thanks in large part to male Greek storytellers like Homer and Herodotus. In some archaeological digs in Eurasia, as many as thirty-seven per cent of the graves contain the bones and weapons of horsewomen who fought alongside men
[Credit Erich Lessing/Art Resource]
They were huntresses, founders of cities, rivals and lovers of adventurous men. They battled the Greek hero Heracles and fought alongside the Trojans in the final hours of Troy. And yet, they are widely held to be little more than figments of Greco-Roman imagination. But warrior women actually existed, according to Stanford’s Adrienne Mayor, a research scholar in the Department of Classics. In her new book, “The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World,” Mayor explains the real-world underpinnings and history behind the Amazonian folklore. In Hellenic legends, as Mayor learned, Amazons often faced defeat and death at the hands of male Greek heroes. Yet the storytellers also described these female foreigners as exceptionally heroic, civilized and worthy counterparts to the Greek champions. “Amazons were modeled on stories of self-confident women of steppe cultures who fought for glory and survival and enjoyed male companionship,” but, as Mayor puts it, “on terms that seemed extraordinary to the ancient Greeks.” The hereditary stories left quite a mark on the Greeks. “The popularity of Amazon stories and images suggests that Greek women and men enjoyed imagining heroes and heroines interacting as equals and seeking adventure and glory in hunting and battle,” Mayor said.
An ancient Greek vase depicting an Amazon female warrior [Credit: Colin/WikiCommons] Real women warriors
Mayor began her investigation by amassing all the surviving ancient Greek and Latin accounts she could find that told of encounters with Amazons as well as “warlike, barbarian” women who behaved like Amazons of myth. The texts described them as members of nomadic tribes roving the territories that the Greeks collectively called “Scythia” – a vast expanse between the Black Sea and Mongolia – from the seventh century B.C. until the fifth century A.D. She proceeded to research the Scythians – Eurasian steppe peoples who cultivated a mastery of horseback riding and archery for thousands of years. Mayor consulted early European travelers’ reports and ethnographical materials as well as contemporary descriptions of steppe life, comparing the latter to ancient Greek knowledge and speculation concerning the identity of the Amazons. Mayor also analyzed physical evidence – including “actual battle-scarred skeletons of women buried with their weapons and horses” – and she corresponded with the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg to learn how researchers there used infrared cameras to reveal invisible tattoos on frozen female Scythian mummies from more than two millennia ago. “Their tattoos of deer and geometric designs resemble the tattoos and patterns on Amazons depicted in ancient Greek vase paintings,” Mayor said. Furthermore, Mayor was able to collect and verify lesser-known tales and reports (such as a newly translated Egyptian papyrus in Vienna) that showed warrior women were the subject of much fascination in cultures beyond Greece – Persia, Egypt, Caucasia, Armenia, Central Asia, China and among the steppe peoples themselves. Examining the corroborating evidence, Mayor found that “real women warriors lived at the time that the Greeks were describing Amazons and warlike women of exotic eastern lands.” She even determined that there was even more respect and exaltation for women warriors in the non-Greek traditions that stretched from the Black Sea to China. In these non-Greek stories, she said that male and female enemies were so equally matched that neither could win: “Instead of ending in doom for the woman, the former foes declare their mutual admiration and decide to become companions in love and war.”
A battle between Amazons and Greek warriors is depicted in a marble sarcophagus on display at the Pio Clementino museum in the Vatican [Credit: Colin/WikiCommons]
Gender dynamics While Greek heroes usually defeat Amazon women in their mythic narratives, the triumphs are depicted as hard-won from worthy rivals. As Quintus of Smyrna described the tragically slain Queen Penthesilea in The Fall of Troy, “All the Greeks on the battlefield crowded around and marveled, wishing with all their hearts that their wives at home could be just like her.” “After Heracles, Amazons were the single most popular subjects in vase paintings of myths,” Mayor wrote. Artistic Greek objects of all sorts, crafted for men, women, boys and girls, underscored that admiration for the Amazons transcended gender and age groups. Mayor’s exploration of the subtler gender dynamics within the Scythian culture is reflected in her linguistic analysis of the Greek name for this people, Amazones antianeirai. Homer’s Iliad offers the earliest reference to the Amazons in the eighth century B.C., using the full designation Amazones antianeirai.
Mayor counters the popular modern translations of antianeirai as “opposites of men” or “against men,” pointing out that in ancient Greek epic diction, the word would more ordinarily translate to “equals of men.” Scythian culture, she explained, was not a purely female-dominated society. Instead it afforded a greater range of roles to women and promoted parity between genders. Scythian women often dressed in the same clothes as their male brethren and often joined them in battle – helping them thwart forces such as those of Cyrus the Great and Darius of Persia. For example, the “Nart” sagas, Scythian oral traditions of the Caucasus passed down to their descendants, hold great praise for their women warriors, as led by the valorous Queen Amezan: “The women of that time could cut out an enemy’s heart … yet they also comforted their men and harbored great love in their hearts.” The sagas point to the possibility of a Caucasian etymology for the Greeks’ nomenclature of “Amazon.” Mayor’s work also clears up confusion over whether the word signifies women who sacrificed a breast to become better archers: “The single most notorious ‘fact’ often used to describe Amazons is wrong … The origins of the ‘single-breasted’ Amazon and the controversies that still surround this false notion are so complex and fascinating that Amazon bosoms have their own chapter,” Mayor said.
Author: Fabrice Palumbo-Liu | Source: Stanford University [October 29, 2014]
LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 15:44:00
Researcher explores the truths behind myths of ancient Amazons Hippolyta, Antiope and Penthesilea. These are the names of Amazonian women warriors made famous in folklore, thanks in large part to male Greek storytellers like Homer and Herodotus. In some archaeological digs in Eurasia, as many as thirty-seven per cent of
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 15:44:00
Researcher explores the truths behind myths of ancient Amazons Hippolyta, Antiope and Penthesilea. These are the names of Amazonian women warriors made famous in folklore, thanks in large part to male Greek storytellers like Homer and Herodotus. In some archaeological digs in Eurasia, as many as thirty-seven per cent of
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:03:00
Food regimes and their transformation
LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:03:00
Food regimes and their transformation In her first half-hour talk, Harriet Friedmann looks at food system transformation from the perspective of food regimes. She developed this perspective with Philip McMichael at Cornell University. They drew on French historiography, which looks at long time lines (long duree), and on US work on World System
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:03:00
Food regimes and their transformation In her first half-hour talk, Harriet Friedmann looks at food system transformation from the perspective of food regimes. She developed this perspective with Philip McMichael at Cornell University. They drew on French historiography, which looks at long time lines (long duree), and on US work on World System
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:02:00
The End of the Long Twentieth Century?
The Rise of China and the Possibilities of a New
Global Fordism
LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:02:00
The End of the Long Twentieth Century? The Rise of China and the Possibilities of a New Global Fordism Nick Jepson It is now 20 years since the publication of Giovanni Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century, a highly influential and ambitious work charting the evolution of global capitalism over five centuries. Arrighi’s account
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-31 13:02:00
The End of the Long Twentieth Century? The Rise of China and the Possibilities of a New Global Fordism Nick Jepson It is now 20 years since the publication of Giovanni Arrighi’s The Long Twentieth Century, a highly influential and ambitious work charting the evolution of global capitalism over five centuries. Arrighi’s account
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-24 03:33:00
ANARCHISM A HISTORY OF LIBERTARIAN IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS GEORGE WOODCOCK1962, Postscript 1975 Contents PROLOGUE 7 PART ONE THE IDEA THE FAMILY TREE 35 THE MAN OF REASON 56 THE EGOIST 87 THE MAN OF PARADOX 98 THE DESTRUCTIVE URGE 134 THE EXPLORER 171 THE PROPHET 207 PART TWO THE MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL ENDEAVOURS 223 ANARCHISM IN FRANCE 257 ANARCHISM IN ITALY 307
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-24 03:33:00
ANARCHISM A HISTORY OF LIBERTARIAN IDEAS AND MOVEMENTS GEORGE WOODCOCK1962, Postscript 1975 Contents PROLOGUE 7 PART ONE THE IDEA THE FAMILY TREE 35 THE MAN OF REASON 56 THE EGOIST 87 THE MAN OF PARADOX 98 THE DESTRUCTIVE URGE 134 THE EXPLORER 171 THE PROPHET 207 PART TWO THE MOVEMENT INTERNATIONAL ENDEAVOURS 223 ANARCHISM IN FRANCE 257 ANARCHISM IN ITALY 307
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: LA REVUE GAUCHE – Left Comment 2014-10-24 03:33:00
ANARCHISMA HISTORY OF LIBERTARIAN IDEAS AND MOVEMENTSGEORGE WOODCOCK1962, Postscript 1975ContentsPROLOGUE 7 PART ONE THE IDEATHE FAMILY TREE 35THE MAN OF REASON 56THE EGOIST 87THE MAN OF PARADOX 98THE DESTRUCTIVE URG…
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: RADICALS AND RADICALIZATION
RADICAL MEANS TO GET TO THE ROOT Radix, the Latin word for root, is the origin of the word radical. In contemporary political philosophy, the term describes activists who challenge established views and who operate outside the parameters of social convention to achieve political aims, sometimes employing extreme or violent
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: RADICALS AND RADICALIZATION
Radix, the Latin word for root, is the origin of the word radical. In contemporary political philosophy, the term describes activists who challenge established views and who operate outside the parameters of social convention to achieve political aims, sometimes employing extreme or violent methods in that pursuit.
The concept of political radicalism evolved out of the language and logic of the scientific revolution when educated intellectuals began to view the world in scientific, secular terms. It gained popularity during the Enlightenment as social theorists employed the new method of critical thinking to challenge traditional religious and political dogma.
http://science.jrank.org/pages/8021/Radicals-Radicalism.html#ixzz3Gu4BLJxK
“To be radical is to go to the root of the matter. For man, however, the root is man himself.” ― Karl Marx
LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: RADICALS AND RADICALIZATION
RADICAL MEANS TO GET TO THE ROOT Radix, the Latin word for root, is the origin of the word radical. In contemporary political philosophy, the term describes activists who challenge established views and who operate outside the parameters of social convention to achieve political aims, sometimes employing extreme or violent
Continue readingLA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: THE DAY AFTER THE OTTAWA SHOOTING
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is already calling the Ottawa shooting a false flag operation by the police, for Alex everything is a false flag of course It isn’t, but neither is it a terrorist act like Harper likes to claim. Firstly we have no knowledge of why this incident occurred and to jump to conclusions,
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