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SCARP prof calls for Chinese community to save Chinatown’s character

A discussion panel was held in May at SFU Woordward’s about Everything Will Be, a documentary about the decay of Chinatown. The speakers in the panel argued that Chinatown is not in decline but changing on many different levels. School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) Adjunct Professor Nathan Edelson said the Chinese community needs to take an active role in preserving Chinatown’s character, calling for an analysis of the area’s urban design.

SCARP prof discusses Surrey’s LRT plan despite transit tax rejection

According to The Province, Mayor Linda Hepner will proceed with her plan to build a light rail track in Surrey despite the majority of residents voting against raising taxes to fund the project. Hepner plans to rely on a public-private partnership, along with provincial and federal funding. School of Community and Regional Planning (SCARP) Professor Larry Frank says the plan is “very ambitious” and adds that Surrey’s downtown density is projected to increase fivefold by 2040.

Engineers in Scrubs students’ Screw Cutter Project runner-up for James Dyson Award

Engineers in Scrubs and Biomedical Engineering students Gregory Allan, Vivian Chung, Andrew Meyer and Shalaleh Rismani were listed as runner-up of the 2015 James Dyson Award with their Screw Cutter Project. The Screw Cutter helps surgeons in the developing world create custom surgical screws for mending broken bones.

SALA prof questions artificial lawns’ safety and lack of habitat value

Artificial grass is gaining popularity for people interested in its aesthetic appeal and low maintenance. But School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) Professor Susan Herrington raises some concerns, saying synthetic lawns have no habitat value. “Something living is different than a piece of plastic…Animals can’t eat it, things can’t live in it that would normally live in the grass environment.” She also refers to reports that have questioned its safety for sports.

Applied Science News

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CEO Exchange

MB IPB Marketing class held on March 20th 2013, Our Lecture Ujang Sumarwan, Ph.D., gives us a video about CEO of world companies who had so many ideas, inspiring the next generation, shaping trends and forging the future, ideas that change the way we live. The name of the program is CEO Exchange. In class We watched the episode about Xerox lead by the most influenced woman, Anne M. Mulcahy the Chairman & CEO. and also we watched the story about The Coca Cola Company lead by Neville Isdell as a Chairman & CEO.

Based on their explanation about how to lead the company and solve the company problem, and also their style to improving the company performance, there are so many statement that inspired me to do the same as what they did in business performance and also career performance.

The Statement which already inspired me are..

Anne Mulcahy

Anne Mulcahy

Anne Mulcahy “Making it personal and you know, making sure that people understand that you know, wherever possible, you’ve tried to do the right thing for people”

Neville Isdell

Neville Isdell

Neville Isdell “Spoke to and listened to the people in the business. And the day that it was announced I was in the quadrangle talking to the people, telling them that they were the core and the heart of the business and that I was going to restore the spirit back to the business”

So, would you do the same as what they did to their business? or you’ve your own style in your business?

Back to the basic, i think “LISTEN to your people” is the powerful leadership skill to deliver you to success

Mohamad Adiguna

About Mohamad Adiguna

Ketika ada sebuah objek baru terlihat sekilas, saya tidak segan mencari tahu dan meng-explore sampai saya tau apa itu dan makna nya untuk saya.. hingga sebuah kesimpulan muncul tentang diri saya.. "i enjoy explore a new horizon" View all posts by Mohamad Adiguna

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The Summer in MMOs and Other Stuff

We have quite a summer ahead of us in the MMO sphere. The release of Guild Wars 2 may come before Mabon, and the free-to-play launch of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes should as well. My feeling is that both of those will happen late in the season, and there’s a good chance, in my estimation, that GW2 will get pushed back into the fall, although NCSoft is telling its investors that it’ll launch this year.

There’s also the chance that Mists of Pandaria will find its way onto store shelves during this period. The hunch at this point is that it’s pretty close to being ready, and that Blizzard is holding off on a firm date to see when its big potential rival (GW2) will launch so they can jockey for the best positioning. But I think that Blizzard’s patience will be as limited as that of WoW players — they’ll only wait so long, and then they’ll go ahead, because fresh content is badly needed, and the expansion is supposedly going to fix some lingering issues brought in with previous rounds of enhancement.

So what are my plans for the summer? Spring classes finally wind down this week, and I’ll get a couple of months of comparative leisure; last summer I got quite a bit of quality gaming in, a lot of it free thanks to Sony’s, shall we say, “suboptimal spring.” This year may not be quite as optimal; we’ve a houseguest (our nephew) for the next two weeks, we’re probably moving around late July, and there is the Pennsic War in early August, and that’s a definite this year (we didn’t go last year, which made both Mr. and Mrs. Ardwulf very sad.)

As far as gaming goes, I may try to get some boardgaming in — we have an excellent local club that does that kind of thing and I want to play some Twilight Imperium. Plus I’ve a hankering to do some old school hex and counter wargaming, no doubt where we all stand around reminiscing about the good old days of SPI, smoking pipes and thoughtfully stroking our beards as we pore over the mapsheets. There may be tweed involved. (I exaggerate only slightly.)

IN the MMO department, I have 30 days of Rift waiting, courtesy of Raptr (and Trion, of course,) so I plan to dabble in that over the next couple of weeks. The big thrust of my gaming, though, will be in SOE’s All Access pass games, primarily Vanguard and EverQuest II. So pretty much the same games I was playing last summer. By the time GW2 comes out classes are likely to have started back up, which is fine as I have every intention of taking my sweet time with it.

One response to “The Summer in MMOs and Other Stuff

  1. In our house we’re looking at a June of beta weekends followed by a summer of The Secret World and City of Steam alpha (assuming one or both of us gets invites). I plan on jumping into Vanguard when it goes F2P – not sure Mrs Bhagpuss will, though. Plus the inevitable EQ2 and much dabbling in a dozen other titles, no doubt.

    That should see us through until Septemberish, by when I hope we’ll at least have a firm release date for GW2. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see it as late as November. There are also a couple of wild cards out there – Otherlands could go into some kind of accessible beta later this year and there’s the FFXIV 2.0 relaunch that everyone seems to have forgotten about.

    Looking like a very good year for MMOs to me, counter to the prevailing doom and gloom. Next year looks good, too.


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21 - 17 Final
  for this game

The nightmare continues: Cards send Eagles to another loss

Nov 14, 2011 - 12:00 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - For the Philadelphia Eagles, it's the same tune. And, unfortunately, they can't find a different station.

Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes as part of a record-setting performance and made an unbelievable over-the-head grab to set up Arizona's go-ahead score late in regulation, handing the Eagles another gut-wrenching loss, 21-17.

Philadelphia (3-6) blew a fourth-quarter lead for the fifth time this season in a year that has become far from dreamy.

"We have to fix it. The obvious is there. Penalties, moving backwards. You can't do that," Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid said about the troubles in the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals (3-6), meanwhile, snapped an 11-game road losing streak.

Arizona trailed 14-7 after three quarters, but rallied behind backup quarterback John Skelton, who made his second straight start in place of Kevin Kolb. Though the former Eagle was out again because of turf toe, he still enjoyed the view from the sidelines as the Cardinals won as the visitor for the first time since September 12 last year at St. Louis.

The Cardinals began their game-tying drive at their own 11-yard line, and Skelton hit Fitzgerald for a 29-yard gain, placing the ball at the Philadelphia 48. Skelton threw incomplete on third down, but an offsides penalty on cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha gave Arizona another opportunity. This time, on 3rd-and-5, Skelton found Fitzgerald for 10 yards.

A 20-yard reception by Andre Roberts and six-yard run by Beanie Wells set up Fitzgerald's seven-yard touchdown off a deflection. And with the catch, Fitzgerald recorded his 70th career touchdown, surpassing Roy Green for the Cardinals franchise record.

Michael Vick appeared to have thrown an interception on Philadelphia's next possession. The Eagles challenged the turnover and it was determined Arizona cornerback Richard Marshall dropped the ball.

Philadelphia wound up punting the ball away and Asomugha picked off Skelton in Cardinals territory. Alex Henery kicked a 36-yard field goal to put the Eagles up 17-14 with 5:06 remaining.

Arizona was pinned at its own 13-yard line to start the ensuing drive. The Cardinals moved the ball to the 32, where they faced a 4th-and-2 with 3:10 left. Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt made a gutsy call, opting to stick with his offense, and Skelton delivered, finding LaRod Stephens-Howling for a 30-yard reception.

After back-to-back incompletions, Fitzgerald made his remarkable catch, falling down shy of the goal line for a 37-yard gain. Wells was stopped for no gain on first down, then tackled for a four-yard loss. On the next play, Early Doucet caught a short toss and ran into the end zone with 1:53 to play.

A.J. Jefferson then made a game-sealing interception, the second thrown by Vick.

"I give a lot of credit to our players and our team for believing in what we were doing," Whisenhunt said.

Arizona had more success than Philadelphia advancing the ball in the first quarter, but the game remained scoreless after Jay Feely missed two field goals (35 and 43 yards).

The Eagles defense opened the scoring when Asante Samuel picked off a pass intended for Fitzgerald and ran 20 yards to the end zone.

Skelton bounced back well on the next possession, guiding the Cardinals on a 10-play, 84-yard drive. Skelton, who converted a 3rd-and-8 with a completion to Roberts and was aided by a roughing-the-passer penalty, found Fitzgerald for a 10-yard scoring strike.

Arizona then appeared to make a big defensive play when safety Adrian Wilson intercepted Vick's pass in the end zone. The turnover was wiped out by a holding penalty, however.

With a second chance, Vick scrambled for 14 yards, putting the Eagles on the Arizona three. Two plays later, LeSean McCoy powered his way across the goal line and into the Philadelphia record book. The third-year running back set a club mark with a touchdown in nine straight games, breaking Steve Van Buren's record that he established in 1947.

Arizona defensive end Calais Campbell picked off Vick at the line to thwart a promising drive late in the third quarter. The Eagles had marched to the Arizona 18.

Game Notes

Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson was inactive after missing a team meeting Saturday...Philadelphia wideout Jeremy Maclin suffered a right shoulder injury in the first quarter but returned to the game. He then went down with a hamstring injury in the fourth and was unable to return...McCoy became just the fourth player since 1960 to score a TD in the first game of the season, joining Lenny Moore (1964), O.J. Simpson (1975) and George Rogers (1986)...Skelton finished with 315 yards while completing 21-of-40 passes...Fitzgerald had 146 yards on seven receptions...Vick converted only 16-of-34 throws and was held to a season-low 128 yards passing...McCoy gained 81 yards on 14 carries. With 906 yards, he broke Ricky Watters' team record (898) for most rushing yards through the first nine games.


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for this game

Canadiens edge Bruins in Atlantic Division battle

Dec 6, 2013 - 4:30 AM
Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Carey Price made 32 saves to lead the Montreal Canadiens in a 2-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty scored the goals for the Canadiens, who won their fourth straight and moved a point ahead of Boston for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Gregory Campbell scored the only goal while Tuukka Rask made 25 stops for the Bruins, who had won four of five coming in.

Boston also lost defenseman Johnny Boychuk in the game, as he left the ice on a stretcher after getting hit early in the contest.

On the play, Boychuk went into the left-corner boards to try and chase down a puck and was pushed from behind by Pacioretty. He hit the boards head first and collapsed to the ice.

"I couldn't even walk you through the hit," said Pacioretty. "I felt terrible, I didn't know what happened. I was just kind of battling for the puck. There was no intent to injure anybody."

Boychuk laid on the ice for several minutes with trainers attending to him. He was conscious the whole time and his whole body was immobilized before he was carted off the ice on a stretcher.

Boychuk was taken to a local hospital for observation, and Boston head coach Claude Julien updated his status after the game.

"Johnny is on his way back from the hospital and is going to fly back with us," said Julien. "I don't know the severity of the injury, but it will be some time before he can go again."

Pacioretty was issued a boarding minor on the play at 4:28.

Boston took the initial lead in this game at the 17:35 mark of the first period, as a rush down the middle by Milan Lucic saw him kick the puck over to his left where Campbell one-timed it home for his second of the year.

Montreal, though, tied the game at 9:16 of the second period as Plekanec scored his 10th of the year on a one-timer from the low right circle.

It was a 2-1 lead for the Habs as a push to the front of the net from the right side by Raphael Diaz saw his backhand stopped, but the rebound came out to the slot and Pacioretty got it home with a backhand of his own.

Price turned away 16 shots in the third period to help Montreal secure the divisional victory.

Game Notes

Boston hosts Pittsburgh on Saturday ... Montreal hosts Buffalo on Saturday ... The Canadiens took three of the four games against the Bruins last season ... Boston was 0-for-2 on the power play, while Montreal went 0-for-4.


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Posts Tagged ‘Chapman Stick’

2010 for me, was the year of King Crimson….

For much of 2010 I searched for a number of bands who I could add to my favourite bands category. As a somewhat obsessive music collector (in the sense that when I ‘like’ a band, I buy everything they release/have released), 98% of the bands I own cds of, I have their entire back catalogue – and naturally, I have run out of cds to buy. I was desperate to find a band with a) longevity and b) would naturally fit into my musical state of mind. I tried a few obvious bands such a Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, Saxon, Diamond Head, Yes – but none of these bands seem to have any staying power, in terms of both a) talent and b) good songs to keep me interested as a listener and as a musician. AC/DC are a cool band but there’s only so many times songs like Back in Black and Highway to Hell can keep you interested from a musician’s perspective (unless of course, you’re rubbish). Enter King Crimson.

I’d been introduced to KC a couple of years ago, and despite really enjoying listening to them, never really ‘got’ them in the same way that I ‘got’ Genesis and Dream Theater at the time. I didn’t listen to them for about 6 years after that initial listen.

Fast forward to 2010. For some reason or other I was drawn towards the ‘K’ section on my iPod and stumbled upon a KC compilation disc given to me those many years previous. I decided to have another listen….

The era of KC on the compilation was the 80’s incarnation, featuring Fripp, Bruford, Levin and Belew who mainly seemed to specialise and experiment with polyrhythms, guitar synths and gamelan-style guitar patterns.

When I first listened to King Crimson’s 1981 comeback album (after a hiatus from 1975-1980), ‘Discipline’ – I was literally blown away, not only by the musicianship but by the complexity of the songs despite many of them being under 6 minutes in length. I literally could not believe music of this complexity could have been produced, let alone been played nearly 30 years ago.

As a guitarist, I’ve always strived to be constantly learning either new techniques or simply to further my skills by listening to music that challenges me. When it comes to playing guitar there are bands that challenge me and bands that don’t. Dream Theater challenge me in most areas of playing, whether it’s the odd time signatures or the sheer amount of notes that John Petrucci fits into a single bar. Winger’s Reb Beach challenges me, with his highly unorthodox tapping technique. AC/DC on the other hand, don’t challenge me – as I mentioned before, three chord rock n roll just doesn’t float my boat as a guitarist. AC/DC’s drummer, Phil Rudd is famous for his minimal technique (think boom-chink, boom-chink), but strikes me as someone who, although being in the most successful band of all time, simply hasn’t furthered himself as a musician,. Metallica are also a band that doesn’t challenge me anymore since they stopped being a thrash band (circa 1991). Their lead guitarist, Kirk Hammett has constantly relied on using Wah pedals to cover his poor blues-based technique, but has spawned a generation of clone’s intent on playing his beginner’s style solo of ‘Enter Sandman’.

I’ve found that learning music which is far beyond my present capabilities has really improved my playing as I’m either constantly being stretched or trying to better the last thing I learned. I’ve tried to apply this to the majority of my solo compositions on my band’s forthcoming LP, ‘The Nicene Creed’ and although many of the solos seemed difficult to record at the time due to me attempting to utilise passages that were in a sense, beyond my capabilities at the time, I certainly feel that the constant challenges bettered me as a musician.

Listening to King Crimson’s ‘Discipline’ has not only challenged me mentally (try breaking down the two guitar polyrhythms in the song ‘Frame by Frame’ at 4.21) but also challenged me to further my techniques as guitarist. Robert Fripp rarely appears in any ‘Greatest Guitarists’ lists, yet I’ve never listened to or seen a guitarist with a) better technique or b) more intelligence. Forget Hendrix (over-rated), Gilmour (boring), Page (sloppy), Van Halen (sloppier). Fripp is a master technician and alongside his use of alternate picking, dissonant chords, use of Classical, Jazz , Avant-Garde and Metal, actually invented and pioneered his own patented technique in Frippertronics and later, Soundscapes, despite a) looking more like a University lecturer (Fripp actually does do public speaking engagements on occasion with his sister Patricia Fripp) and b) playing sat down.

I buy many guitar tab books which either transcribes an artist’s album or breaks down an artist’s technique and through studying these, I can generally ‘see’ how a particular part is either played or how it has been conceived to be played, even if I can’t necessarily play it at the time. I’ve studied George Lynch, Reb Beach, Dave Mustaine, Iron Maiden, John Petrucci, Nuno Bettencourt, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson to name a few, and can generally understand the how’s and why’s of each of them. Fripp (particularly on ‘Discipline’) surpasses ALL of these by quite a stretch. There are some parts he plays on this record that even when I study the guitar tab, I cannot even begin to conceive HOW he plays it. Throughout the song ‘Frame by Frame’ there is a guitar part (Fripp’s) which is a repeating pattern of 16ths in sextuplet sub-divisions played at 155 bpm which is insanely difficult to even play 1 bar of. This coupled with an alternate picking technique makes it even more difficult to master. Many people have attributed this part to either being some kind of synthesised loop or a Chapman Stick (which allows a two-handed fretting technique) but check out a clip on YouTube and you’ll see Fripp playing this part, not only in a live setting, but also with relative ease.

Finding King Crimson has not only enabled me to invest in another band with an extensive back catalogue but also has caused me to examine and dissect my guitar playing and try to a) iron-out bad techniques and b) pursue new ones.  I guess ‘Discipline’ is not only the perfect name for this album but also the art of what comes after listening to it and applying it to your playing.

I encourage anybody wishing to further themselves mentally and as a musician to listen to King Crimson’s ‘Discipline’. Be a Robert Fripp. Don’t be a Phil Rudd.


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Arsenal Depot

A depository for musings on Arsenal FC

Clearance Sale At Arsenal And Jack To Be Back Soon

Good morning Goonerworld.

The papers and footballing sites are reporting that Arsenal are set for a major squad clearout this summer. As many as nine players might be taken off the books to save hefty player wages and reorganise the team for next season.

I agree with A Cultured Left Foot’s post yesterday, that we supporters do not always grasp the concept of having a squad player – someone who is not good enough to be a regular starter but good enough to do a job when called upon.

However, it cannot be disputed that most of the names on the list being bandied about – Squillaci, Almunia, Park, Chamakh, Arshavin, Bendtner, Vela and Denilson have not performed when given the chance – for one reason or another. Whatever those reasons may be, and I am not blaming the players entirely, they just haven’t been effective when played and there comes a time when you have to move them on.

And I believe Arsene Wenger will do exactly that.

Bendtner, Vela and Denilson have been out on loan since the start of the season. The fact that we haven’t missed them, even in our worst season worst start to the season under Wenger, is indication that they are unlikely to return.

Almunia and Squillaci have not displayed any signs of being able to make a comeback, and age is not on their side. But if their rumoured wages are true, it may prove slightly difficult to offload them.

Chamakh has got few opportunities this season, making 16 appearances, 9 of them from the bench. He has just one goal to show for it. And it’s not just his goal return, the Moroccan hasn’t had any positive influence in the games he’s played.

Arshavin may return, although seeing his performances at Zenit, he doesn’t look like he wants to play football right now. Brilliant as he is when on form, he is glaringly poor when off form. If he does not improve dramatically in the next two months, I think Wenger will be forced to sell him.

The only players that should be retained, in my opinion, are Johan Djourou and Chu Young Park. While Djourou makes me nervous everytime he tries to dribble past an opposing striker in our own half, he is very versatile and can be played in a host of different positions.

Chu Young Park has only made 6 appearances this season and scored 1 goal. Park is a player with more skill and technique than Chamakh, and it is only his first season at the club. Remember also that Podolski will most likely arrive in the summer. As a third choice striker, I would prefer Park over Chamakh any day.

As for Abou Diaby, I do not consider him to be a squad player at all. He possesses power, technique and can make driving runs from midfield, all attributes highly rated by Arsene Wenger. When fit, he will most likely be an integral part of Arsenal’s midfield.

I also believe we will attempt to buy Yossi Benayoun from Chelsea.

The Israeli is a model squad player, with enough hunger to keep pressuring for a starting place, versatile enough to play wide or in the centre, and possessing enough quality and experience to make a difference when called upon. He’s scored 3 goals for us in 9 starts and 10 sub appearances and his performances have also been encouraging, especially in ‘that’ 5-2 win against the enemy.

If Arsenal can do well in cup competitions next season, the squad players will get regular playing time which would help their form and confidence. Of course, this is all theory – only time will tell whether the incoming players perform any better than the outgoing ones.

There’s just one other story to mention and that is the imminent return of Jack Wilshere. The Daily Star claim the Englishman could be back within a matter of just two weeks.

As much as I would like to see Wilshere play again, I hope the Arsenal medical team err on the extreme side of caution in his case. Jack will be a key part of our challenge next season, and we can ill afford any setbacks on that front.

Until tomorrow.

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5 thoughts on “Clearance Sale At Arsenal And Jack To Be Back Soon

  1. Mohammed kawa on said:

    Your analysis were all in place my dear,we need 2 offload dem 4 de new comers.we need trophies 4 nex season

  2. Gud morning afc,pls arsenal offload dose naugty players so we need more experience players,in other 4 us 2 challenges 4 next season. Up gunners 4 life.

  3. Wao, am extremely happy 2 have wilshere bck. Bt for djourou,diaby, chu young, arshavin, lets retain dis players; as 4 d rest let them be cleared completely

  4. The font on said:

    Wot do u mean worst season under wenger if we finish above spurs it will be the best season ever

    • Good point, that should read ‘worst start to the season under Wenger. We have done brilliantly to recover from the start we had. Now corrected.

      My point was that even at our most difficult times this season, neither of the three loanees have been missed.

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Black W/ Black Minimalist Wallet

14 items left

Assists in blocking RFID transmission (Click to Learn)

•Back pocket for your most used card

•Ultra Thin minimalist design (.35in)

Microfiber Leather Material

•SIX easy access card slots

•TWO underneath pockets for business cards

•3.25 in. tall x 4.25 in. wide

* Internal usable dimensions for currency is 3 in. tall

How long does it take to receive my order?

Once you place your order it will be processed and packed within 24 hours excluding holidays. USPS packages usually take 2-4 days business days depending on your shipping location.

What is Microfiber?

Microfibers are very small strands of synthetic fibers that are kniteed and woven together. Microfiber fabrics are highly versatile & popular for a wide variety of uses; in our case money clips, wallets & clutches. Mircofiber is  extremely lightweight, durable & eco-friendly.

What is RFID?

RFID is the technology that allows an individual to simply wave their credit card to complete a purchase. Instead of the traditional swipe action that we are so accustomed to, people now have the ability to simply wave there card in front of a scanner which completes a transaction. read more

Why does the money clips come with two metal clips?

We couldn't decide which one looked better so we left if up to you :)

How many cards/cash can your products hold?

We recommend carrying between 5-8 cards & 3-5 bills.


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Archive for the ‘attack’ Category

Obama team hopes letter will heal Iran rift

January 29, 2009

Symbolic gesture gives assurances that US does not want to topple Islamic regime….

By Robert Tait and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
The Guardian (UK)
Officials of Barack Obama‘s administration have drafted a letter to Iran from the president aimed at unfreezing US-Iranian relations and opening the way for face-to-face talks, the Guardian has learned.

The US state department has been working on drafts of the letter since Obama was elected on 4 November last year. It is in reply to a lengthy letter of congratulations sent by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on 6 November.
Diplomats said Obama’s letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an “axis of evil”.

It would be intended to allay the suspicions of Iran’s leaders and pave the way for Obama to engage them directly, a break with past policy.

State department officials have composed at least three drafts of the letter, which gives assurances that Washington does not want to overthrow the Islamic regime, but merely seeks a change in its behaviour. The letter would be addressed to the Iranian people and sent directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, or released as an open letter.

One draft proposal suggests that Iran should compare its relatively low standard of living with that of some of its more prosperous neighbours, and contemplate the benefits of losing its pariah status in the west. Although the tone is conciliatory, it also calls on Iran to end what the US calls state sponsorship of terrorism.

Read the rest:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the Natanz uranium ...
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility.(AFP/File/Atta Kenare)

Israel in Gaza: Is the Real Target Hamas Rule?

January 3, 2009

EREZ CROSSING, on the IsraelGaza border — As Israel’s tanks and troops poured into Gaza on Saturday, the next phase in its fierce attempt to end rocket attacks, a question hung over the operation: can the rockets really be stopped for any length of time while Hamas remains in power in Gaza?

By Ethan Bronner
The New York Times
And if the answer is determined to be no, then is the real aim of the operation to remove Hamas entirely, no matter the cost?

After her visit to Paris on Thursday to explain to French authorities why she thought this was not the time for a quick cease-fire, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni of Israel said, “There is no doubt that as long as Hamas controls Gaza, it is a problem for Israel, a problem for the Palestinians and a problem for the entire region.”

Vice Premier Haim Ramon went even further Friday night in an interview on Israeli television, saying Israel must not end this operation with Hamas in charge of Gaza.

“What I think we need to do is to reach a situation in which we do not allow Hamas to govern,” Mr. Ramon said on Channel One. “That is the most important thing.”

Neither Prime Minister Ehud Olmert nor Defense Minister Ehud Barak has made such a statement. Still, there is a growing and shared concern among Israeli leaders that any letup against Hamas would be problematic for Israel’s broad goals in the long term because it could bolster and validate the group, which says Israel should be destroyed.

“If the war ends in a draw, as expected, and Israel refrains from re-occupying Gaza, Hamas will gain diplomatic recognition,” wrote Aluf Benn, a political analyst, in the newspaper Haaretz on Friday. “No matter what you call it,” he added, “Hamas will obtain legitimacy.”

In addition, any potential truce deal would probably include an increase in commercial traffic from Israel and Egypt into Gaza, which is Hamas’s central demand: to end the economic boycott and border closing it has been facing. To build up the Gaza economy under Hamas, Israeli leaders say, would be to build up Hamas. Yet withholding the commerce would continue to leave 1.5 million Gazans living in despair.

Gaza Day 9 Sunday: Israeli Ground Troops, Tanks Join Air Assault on Hamas

Read the rest:

Israeli ground forces enter Gaza in escalation

January 3, 2009

Israeli tanks and infantry rolled into Gaza after nightfall Saturday, launching a ground offensive in a widening war against Hamas that the Israeli defense minister said “will not be easy and will not be short.”

The ground operation was preceded by several hours of heavy artillery fire after dark, igniting flames in the night sky. Machine gun fire rattled as bright tracer rounds flashed through the darkness and the crash of hundreds of shells sent up streaks of fire.

By Ibrahim Barzak And Jason Keyser, Associated Press Writers

Artillery fired illuminating rounds, sending streaks of bright light drifting down over Gaza’s densely packed neighborhoods. Gunbattles could be heard, as troops crossed the border into Gaza, marching single file. They were backed by helicopter gunships and tanks.

“Gaza will not be paved with flowers for you, it will be paved with fire and hell,” Hamas warned Israeli forces. Spokesman Ismail Radwan said in a televised speech Gaza will “become a graveyard” for Israeli soldiers.

“This will not be easy and it will not be short,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a televised address shortly after the ground invasion began. “I don’t want to disillusion anybody and residents of the south will go through difficult days,” he added.

“We do not seek war but we will not abandon our citizens to the ongoing Hamas attacks.”

Read the rest:

Israel’s Defense Minister: “We Are Aware of Dangers, Difficulties and Victims”

January 3, 2009
The decision to undertake a ground operation was made with the knowledge that soldiers would be at risk, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said several hours after ground troops began an incursion into the Gaza Strip.

From the Jerusalem Post

“We know there will be dangers, difficulties and victims… It must be said that the ground operation entails dangers to the lives of soldiers,” Barak said in a press conference early Saturday night.

Barak opened by explaining to the public the need for Israel to proceed with the second stage of Operation Cast Lead, saying that he had made it clear from the very beginning of the maneuver that he intended to expand operations.

The decision to widen the operation, he said, was made following “intensive consideration” and after “every possible scenario was examined… We must end the hostile actions against Israel,” Barak insisted. “We will not abandon our citizens,” he said.

“I know very well what dangers are involved in every offensive as well as what the potential heavy price we can pay is. I take full responsibility. This will not be easy. This will not be short,” Barak said.

The minister expressed his gratitude to the residents of the south, the cities’ mayors, police forces, firefighters and the Shin Bet. He acknowledged his faith in the senior IDF command, specifically IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant, saying that there was indeed “who to trust.”

Read the rest:

Israel infantry soldiers gather on the border just before leaving ...
Israel infantry soldiers gather on the border just before leaving Israel for the northern Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009. Israeli tanks and infantry entered Gaza after nightfall Saturday, launching a much anticipated ground offensive in a widening war on Gaza’s Hamas rulers. Israeli security officials said the operation is likely to go on for several days, but that the objective is not to reoccupy Gaza.(AP Photo/Yossi Aloni)

Saturday Night in Gaza: Israel Unleashes Artillery, Warns Gazans to Flee, Ground Assault Ready

January 3, 2009

More signs of an impending ground assault from Israel against Hamas in Gaza this Saturday night in the Middle East.

For the first time, Israeli artillery unleashed a barrage on targets within Gaza, after a week-long air assault subsided.

Israel Launched Ground Offensive
Into Gaza; Saturday Night Jan 3-4

Leaflets, phone messages and other media were used to warn Gazans to leave or risk personal danger.

The leaflets were signed by the commander of the Israeli military and were dropped over northern Gaza on Saturday morning, warning residents to “leave the area immediately” to ensure their safety.

But Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai played down speculation the artillery fire and leaflets promised a ground offensive.

“I don’t think this is the next stage. This is part of a military campaign being waged and now artillery cannons have joined in,” he told Israel Radio.

Fox News reporters said they had seen tanks reporitioning and moving closer to Gaza.

Troops and tanks looked poised to attack following the week-long air assault, according to several observers.

An Israeli soldier walks in front of tanks and armored vehicles ...
An Israeli soldier walks in front of tanks and armored vehicles in a staging area near Israel’s border with Gaza, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009. Israel demanded international monitors as a key term of any future truce with Gaza Strip militants, as its warplanes bombed the parliament building in Gaza City on Thursday and its ships attacked coastline positions of the territory’s Islamic Hamas rulers.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

From Reuters:

Jerusalem Post:

Israel bombs Hamas sites, split on ground invasion

January 3, 2009

Israeli warplanes and gunboats blasted more than two dozen Hamas targets Saturday, including weapons storage facilities, training centers and leaders’ homes as Israel’s offensive against Gaza’s Islamic militant rulers entered a second week.

There were tentative signs that the current phase of fighting may be nearing an end. Most of the airstrikes targeted empty buildings and abandoned sites, suggesting Israel may be running out of targets.

Israeli defense officials said some 10,000 troops, including tank, artillery and special operations units, were massed on the Gaza border and prepared to invade. They said top commanders are split over whether to send in ground forces, in part because such an operation could lead to heavy casualties but also because they believe Hamas already has been dealt a heavy blow. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were classified discussions.

At the same time, international cease-fire efforts were also gaining momentum. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is visiting the region next week to try to end the violence, and President George W. Bush and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon both spoke in favor of an internationally monitored truce.

But Hamas, in its first reaction to the proposal on Saturday, reacted coolly to the idea of international monitors.

Israel launched the offensive on Dec. 27 in response to intensifying rocket fire by Hamas militants in Gaza. The operation has killed more than 430 Palestinians, including….

Read the rest:

Israel: Ground Attack Tonight?

January 2, 2009

Israel is launching a ground attack into Gaza tonight (January 2-3, 2009) according to an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) representative.

International voices have been calling for a cease-fire by Israel but Hamas has been launching and continues to fire rockets into Israel, which is provoking the Israeli leadership to launch the attack, we are told.

The aircraft attacks by Israel into Gaza continued well past sunset tonight for the first time since the air campaign began.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday a “durable and sustainable” cease-fire was needed to end the violence.

“We are working toward a cease-fire that would not allow a re-establishment of the status quo,” she said after meeting with President Bush at the White House.

The Bush-Rice meeting at the White House could have been as a result of Israel telling its key ally that the ground attack would commence soon….

Israeli soldiers stand on tanks at a staging area near Israel's ...
Israeli soldiers stand on tanks at a staging area near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008. Israeli aircraft kept up a relentless string of assaults on Hamas-ruled Gaza on Tuesday, smashing a government complex, security installations and the home of a top militant commander as thousands of Israeli ground troops, backed by tanks and artillery, massed along the border, waiting for a signal to attack.(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

Despite its use of precision weapons, Israel has been urged to further reduce civilian injuries and deaths inside Gaza.

A United Nations agency said the civilian death toll in Gaza was over 25 percent of the total killed in the violence. A leading Palestinian human rights group put it at 40 percent.

Israel made a big show during the last few days of allowing humanitarian supplies into Gaza and removing neutral civilians from Gaza….
Gaza is now a disaster area, with sewage sytems opened and the risk of disease on the rise.

CNN reported that Robert Serry, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said during a video news conference that much of Gaza’s infrastructure has been destroyed.

“Protection of civilians, the fabric of Gaza, the future of the peace process and regional stability — all are trapped between the irresponsibility of Hamas rocket attacks and the excessiveness of Israel’s response,” he said from Jerusalem.

 Gaza: Israel’s Nuclear Site Within Hamas Rocket Range? Civilians Flee

 “Making a Lot of Martyrs”: Where’s Israel’s Ground Assault? Are Objectives Clear?

Israeli soldiers stand on their tanks in a deployment area near ...
Israeli soldiers stand on their tanks in a deployment area near the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip. Israel has thousands of troops massed for a ground offensive on Gaza that would aim to deal a hammer blow to Hamas and re-establish Israel’s military credentials with its other foes, experts said.(AFP/Menahem Kahana)

By The Times (UK)

Israel is poised to launch a major ground offensive into Gaza tonight after allowing hundreds of foreigners living in the devastated territory to evacuate.

After a week of air strikes that have killed at least 420 Palestinians and left scores of buildings in rubble, the Israeli army was set to fling hundreds of troops and tanks into a blitz to stamp out Hamas’s military wing, The Times understands.

Despite the looming onslaught, more Hamas rockets – which have so far killed four Israelis – were fired into southern Israel today.

The Islamist group vowed that its attacks, which have lasted for years and which finally provoked the massive Israeli campaign, would not stop.

Read the rest:

Egypt has urged Israel against launching a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip and is in contact with Hamas to seek an end to the week- long onslaught of the territory, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit has sent a message to his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni urging the Jewish state “to abstain from launching ground operations (into Gaza),” a statement said.

The message sent through the Egyptian ambassador to Tel Aviv also asked that Israel put an immediate end to its military operations against the territory, it added.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in the statement that Egypt was in talks with leaders of the  Hamas movement which control Gaza about ” ceasefire proposals.”

Israel has called up reserves for an expected ground incursion into Gaza, which analysts say would sharply increase casualties among both Palestinians and Israelis.

Hamas Vows “Fight to Last Breath” And For Key Leader, 400 Others, They Get It

January 1, 2009

Nizar Rayyan, a key Hamas leader, has been killed by Israeli air attack in Gaza.

Nizar Rayyan - file photo dated 23/09/2005

Above: Nizar Rayyan

Nizar Rayyan, the most senior Hamas figure to be killed since 2004, had urged suicide attacks against Israel.

Medical staff said seven people were killed in the airstrike on Rayyan’s house Thursday, including at least two of Nizar Rayyan’s four wives and several of his children.

New York Daily news writers in Gaza reported that Hamas vowed to fight “until the last breath.” Ordinary Palestinian citizens in Gaza City – where there is no power or water – braced for an invasion. Bread lines and funeral marches were the only signs of life in the normally crowded streets on the first day of the new year, 2009.

According to CNN, Palestinian medical sources said 400 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli raids began Saturday, with 42 children, 13 women and two medical workers among the dead. In addition, 2,000 have been wounded, 216 critically, they said.

From CNN:

Gaza: Hamas Was Dying, Now Israel Has Revived It….

December 30, 2008

In its efforts to stop amateur rockets from nagging the residents of some of its southern cities, Israel appears to have given new life to the fledging Islamic movement in Palestine.

By Daoud Kuttab
The Washington Post

For two years, the Islamic Resistance Movement (known by its Arabic acronym, Hamas) has been losing support internally and externally. This wasn’t the case in the days after the party came to power democratically in early 2006; despite being unjustly ostracized by the international community for its anti-Israeli stance, Hamas enjoyed the backing of Palestinians and other Arabs. Having won a decisive parliamentary majority on an anti-corruption platform promising change and reform, Hamas worked hard to govern better than had Fatah, its rival and predecessor.

Things began to sour when Hamas violently seized control of Gaza, but even then, Hamas enjoyed considerable domestic support — and much goodwill externally. Then the movement turned down every legitimate offer from its nationalist PLO rivals and Egyptian mediators to pursue reconciliation, and support for it began to slip.

Read the rest:

Israeli Foreign Minister Says Hamas Is to Blame; U.S. Seems To Agree

December 28, 2008

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni defended the Israeli assault in Gaza, saying on America’s Sunday morning talk shows that Hamas, not Israel, “is the one who needs to be condemned by the international community.”

By Sharon Otterman
The New York Times

Hamas rocket hits Israeli house

Above: Aftermath of Hamas rocket hitting an Israeli house

Reacting to anger from the Arab world, as well a call by the United Nations to cease hosilities, Ms. Livni said on “Fox News Sunday” that the assault “is needed in order to change the realities on the ground, and to give peace and quiet to the citizens in southern Israel.”

Speaking from Jerusalem in taped interviews, Ms. Livni said that until Hamas recognized Israel’s right to exist and ceased rocket attacks against Israel, they remained terrorists who needed to be acted against. The Israeli air assault has killed at least 280 Palestinians since it began Saturday.

She said army was seeking to avoid unnecessary deaths in the assault against Hamas headquarters in Gaza. Palestinian hospitals have reported numerous civilians among the dead and wounded.

“We are targeting Hamas, we are not looking for civilians to kill more than that,” she said in a second interview, on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Israel Sees Existential Fight: Enemies, Uncertainty All Around

Read the rest:

The Bush administration, due to hand over to Obama on January 20, put the onus on Hamas, the Islamists in charge of Gaza, to prevent more violence. It did not demand an end to Israeli attacks but urged all concerned to protect innocent lives.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza three weeks before Barack Obama becomes U.S. president pose an unexpected challenge for a man who has promised to work for Middle East peace from his first day in office.

Jordanians shout anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans during a ...
Jordanians shout anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans during a demonstration against Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, in Amman December 27, 2008.(Muhammad Hamed/Reuters)

By Reuters: Read it all:


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Neelkanteshwar Mahadev Mandir, Panchavati, Nashik

Panchavati is an amazing city with some very ancient and beautiful temples, and some very big problems of governance. The sacred temples get easily overshadowed by the trash everywhere and the lack of respect for the sanctity of this place. And it was not even the Kumbha mela. This tiny temple, the Neelkanteshwar Mahadev Mandir […]

Peigutso Lake towards Saga

photos of Peigutso Lake in Tibet by Arun Shanbhag

Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, Day 6: Peigutso Lake (4,400 m; 14,436 ft) on the Tibetan Plateau (noticed this in my private posts; edited and posted in Dec 2014) After lunch and pics of local kids, we headed west along a ravine and climbed a pass. There before us was the serenely beautiful Peigutso Lake. Overcast skies […]

Agniteertham in Rāmeshwaram

photos from Agniteertham in Rameshwaram by Arun Shanbhag

Just in time for Ram Navami Visiting the island of Rameshwaram is considered a most auspicious pilgrimage; here Hindus pay their respects to Ramnathaswamy (Shiva) and it is one of 12 sacred Jyotirlingams.

Aśṭa Vināyak – Pilgrimage to Eight Gaṇeśa Temples – A Photo Essay

Pics from AstaVinayak Tirth Yatra Maharashtra by Arun Shanbhag

In the Indian state of Maharashtra, a tīrth yātra (pilgrimage) to visit eight ancient temples to Gaṇeśa (Aśṭa Vināyak) is mentioned in the puranas and considered very sacred. These eight temples, each with exquisitely beautiful Gaṇeśa murtīs, are in tiny villages, scattered around the mountainous terrain between Mumbai and Pune. After much procrastination, last February […]

Monks at the Pashupatinath Temple, Nepal

(click for larger versions on Arun Eyes) In an ancient stone portico (bhojan mandap) outside the Pashupatinath Temple (Kathmandu, Nepal), several sanyasinis (female monks) were resting and enjoying meals. Here donors arrange free meals for monks and the needy. Loved the colors.

Tirth Yātra: Temples of Tāmil Nādu

Pics of Kapaleeshwara Temple in Mylapore Chennai by Arun Shanbhag

Even as a child, I enjoyed visiting temples. The prasad was certainly a big draw. I’d stop by random SatyaNarayana Pujas, just to receive of the nectarine prasad. Aarti bhajans were equally soothing. At annual Wadala GSB Ganapati celebrations, while we were enticed by stalls selling bhajiyas and bondas, we first paid our respects to […]

Lake Manasarovar, Finally

An Accidental Pilgrim Reaches Manasarovar, Day 10 Approximate Elevation: 4,560 m (~ 15,000 ft) Over the six months I had planned this trip, I never gave much thought to the significance of going on a yatra (pilgrimage). I had signed up primarily as an adventure with my brothers and several of my cousins; to shoot […]

Kailash Manasarovar: Brahmaputra and Onwards to Paryang

Kailash Manasarovar Yatra: Brahmaputra, Day 6,7: Paryang Elevation: 4,540 m (14,895 ft) Considering the spectacular Peigutso Lake, the 185 km drive from Saga to Paryang was tedious. We made a bee-line to the western edge of the Tibetan Plateau, which remained featureless; the skies were overcast and in the distant south we discerned the grey-brown […]

Cerulean Skies Over Nyalam

photos of mountains around Nyalama Tibet by Arun Shanbhag

Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra continues: Day 5, Blue Skies Over Nyalam Once we reached Kailash, the plan was to walk around the mountain parikrama. We’d hike 40 km over three days, at elevations starting at 15,000 ft and reaching over 19,000 ft. While this might appear trivial at sea level, reality is vastly different at 15,000 ft. […]

Tension In Kodari

Pictures of the Tibetan side from Kodari Nepal by Arun Shanbhag

Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra continues: Tension in Kodari Kodari Elevation: 2250 meters; 7,382 feet. Our initial plan was to have a quick lunch in Kodari, perform exit visa procedures, and cross over the Friendship bridge into China-occupied Tibet. But instead, we found ourselves gobbling lunch to a backdrop of a frenzied stone-throwing mob and the staccato of […]

Onwards to Kodari, Nepal

pics of Emerald green fields enroute Kathmandu to Kodari by Arun Shanbhag

See larger image here. The Kailash-Manasarovar Yatra continues: Onwards to Kodari We spent a day in Kathmandu flying along the Everest Mountain Range, taking darshan at Pashupatinath, and the Baudhanath Stupa, (Monks and Kids at the Baudhnath) and visiting the local markets. We left early the following morning for the border town of Kodari, where […]

Kids at the Baudhanath Stupa

Pics of Kids at the Baudhanath Stupa, Kathmandu Nepal by Arun Shanbhag

One of the joys of traveling is taking spontaneous photographs of complete strangers. Our interaction is only for a few seconds, or at most a few minutes. But through their pics they leave a lasting impression. In the comfort of my home, those few moments get stretched, not unlike Einstein’s time. I recall every blink […]

Tirupati: A Walk Enlightens

Walking up the stairs to the Tirupati Devasthan pics by Arun Shanbhag

It was a dream of mine to walk up the mountains to the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthan. When I shared this with M, the 14 km hike up more than 4000 steps did not dissuade her. My dream became her’s too!


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Paris: City of Light, Love and Teargas

When people think of Paris, certain images flash through their minds: the splendor of the Eiffel Tower; the culture of the Louvre; the expensive shops of Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Dior sparkling along the Champs-Élysées. They fantasize about sampling crêpes and coffee while celebrating French ideals of freedom, justice and beauty in the City of Lights and Love.

We were walking down the street in Northern Paris on our way to attend a dance workshop when we passed through a neighborhood on the street Halle Pajol.

Lav, Marjorie and I were hurrying along, excited to learn Bollywood dance moves, when we walked through dozens of mattresses lined on either side of the road. People were squatting on the mattresses, their few belongings piled or folded neatly next to them. As we walked a little farther we came to a nice cafe sitting in the sunshine. The outdoor tables were filled with young, smiling people enjoying the fresh air and food. I looked back at the people on the mattresses literally 100 yards away and asked Marjorie what was going on.

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. Maybe they are immigrants that the government doesn’t know what to do with.”

When I looked into the situation further I found many of the migrants came from countries like North and South Sudan and Eritrea, fleeing long-term war and violence. The global refugee crisis has grown larger with over 10 million people forced from their homes worldwide. With so much movement and the intracacies of bureacracy, many have not had the time or resources to fill out the necessary paperwork to receive refugee status or aslyum. When you’re trying to escape a bombed-out city you don’t always have time to grab your birth certificate.

The refugee issue is affecting many European countries with stories about sunken ships and racist legislation filling the media. Many politicians feed on locals’ fear of the other and paranoia of terrorism to polarize them against immigrants searching for refuge. By creating a common enemy or scapegoat, the politician can become reelected by showing they can protect and insulate the people from the immigrant problem.

We’ve seen this anti-immigrant sensibility throughout history. I’ve studied the stories at various Holocaust museums through our trip including in Berlin, Belgium and D.C. For example, during WW2, ships of Jewish children were turned away from the U.S. as they sought refuge from the Nazis.

 When I looked into the stories of the people on Halle Pajol, I found many immigrants had been expelled from other neighborhoods around Paris. When they tried to seek safety at a historical church, they were forcibly removed. On June 8, the day we visited the Eiffel Tower, immigrants, and politicians and locals standing in solidarity with them were treated to tear gas by authorities.

If I wanted to move another country, it would not be too difficult for me. If I want to visit another country I usually don’t even need a visa. If someone from Sudan escaping genocide wants to move, they have to overcome massive hurdles just to protect their family.

History cycles itself and until we can let go of our fear of anyone who is from a different place, we will not move forward as a society. Paris is hailed as the most beautiful city in the world, but for some visitors it’s just another place where they’re made to feel like they don’t belong.

“We are humans, not animals.” Source: Instagram, cliquetv

2 thoughts on “Paris: City of Light, Love and Teargas

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How does yoga effect your brainwaves?

Yoga practices have long been associated with improvements in mental function.  The ways in which the brain actually responds to postures, breathing and meditation, are slowly being discovered.  In 2014, researchers at the University of Illinois sought to compile primary scientific literature aimed at elucidating the underlying mechanisms.  A year later, their review was published in the journal: Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.  Now, I wish to do my part by summarizing the key findings therein, which include waveform, psychological and physiological results.

Image cited:

There are five types of waves which brain experts like to study using an electroencephalogram (EEG).  The list below highlights a few differences:

  • Delta Waves:     0.5-3.9 Hz  |  Deep Sleep
  • Theta Waves:     4-7 Hz       |  Effortlessness of Action
  • Alpha Waves:     8-13 Hz     |  Relaxation
  • Beta Waves:       12-39 Hz    |  Memory / Learning
  • Gamma Waves: 40-100 Hz |  Concentration / Attention

All yoga activities strengthen one or more of these wave forms.  What is interesting is that certain activities target precise frequencies.  These effects also appears to differ depending on whether the practitioner was a beginner, intermediate, or highly experienced at yoga.  The authors pose a few interesting theories:

  1. Physical yoga has been shown to increase in both alpha and beta waves.  Afterwards, the beta and theta waves were most pronounced.
  2. Breath retention techniques are highly associated with gamma waves, yet these brainwaves essentially disappeared after practice or were replaced by beta waves.
  3. Alternate nostril breathing was strongly associated with beta wave propagation.
  4. Kriya yoga practitioners demonstrate a gradual increase in alpha and theta wave amplitudes over a 30 day period. These changes were most apparent in the parietal lobe (governs sensation and movement).
  5. Meditation substantially increases in both alpha and beta waves.

The psychological and physiological finding of the report were also convincing.  Participants who preformed left nostril breathing had significant improvements on spacial awareness exercises.  By contrast, right nostril and alternate nostril participants showed improvements primarily in language tasks.  Measurable differences in brain anatomy were also reported among asana and pranayama practitioners.  PET scan imaging shown that Iyengar practitioners have increase blood flow to the pre-frontal context while decreased flow to the amygdala.  The overall effect would be one of increased mental clarity with decreases in fear-based impulses.  Those who preformed pranayama saw increases in hippocampus and insular cortex densities.  These areas are responsible for our working memory and awareness, respectively.  As the data mounts, yoga therapists will be able to customize uniquely tailored practice routines like never before!

For more information, please see:

Desai R, Tailor A, and Bhatt T. Effects of yoga on brain waves and structural activation: A review. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 2015 May; 21(2):112-8.

EEG and Meditation/Yoga. KalpaTaru. Available from:

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Monthly Archives: April 2014

  1. It’s Not My Story to Tell

    Leave a comment

    April 23, 2014 by Kimberly Beauchamp, ND

    I’ve been inconsiderate. My daughter sometimes protests when I say, “Oh! I have to share that on Facebook!” It’s not …
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  2. How to Prevent Rhabdomyolysis

    April 10, 2014 by Kimberly Beauchamp, ND

    I wish this could be a foolproof plan, but I have no way of knowing that it is. However, I …
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  3. How I Got Rhabdo from Doing CrossFit and Why I’m Going Back for More

    April 5, 2014 by Kimberly Beauchamp, ND

    …CrossFit, that is. I’m in reasonably good shape, and I didn’t think that I was really at risk for developing …
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text:
what’s that sole?

by Christen

So, I’m embarrassed to say that as I was researching a bit for this blog post, I started to get really confused. I couldn’t figure out why my very scientific Google search for “lug soles” wasn’t turning up any information of value. It wasn’t until Elizabeth pointed out that I had lug soles and gum soles mixed up that I realized my mistake. #blondemoment

Indeed, the topic of today’s post is gum soles–the natural-colored rubber typically available in stacked or wedge heels for women. After a second round of research, I discovered that the gum rubber sole was invented for indoor sports for two reasons: It does not leave marks on a hard court surface and it provides additional grip, preventing slippage. Furthermore, the rubber absorbs shock, making them more comfortable than other sole varieties.

It seems to me then rather obvious that the reasons it was/is popular as a sports shoe are the same reasons it is popular, particularly this fall and winter, among women’s shoes. Who doesn’t want a comfortable heel that will keep you from slipping on wet, snowy sidewalks? Count me in.

The gum sole now conootes more of a “countryside” aesthetic than it references a “badminton court.” But this season the gum sole is leaving the hillside and hitting the streets. Designers are using it to transform already sharp shoes and boots into all-terrain hybrids. You can pair them with oversized flannel shirts as easily as you can with a structured leather jacket.

Here are a few we currently have in store. You’ll notice there are other common denominators among them, including fur lining, suede outer and a wedge heel.

photo 1

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We only have a few of these left. Call if you want us to hold your size!

We only have a few of these left. Call if you want us to hold your size!

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photo 5

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text:
A few days ago I went to visit my old baseball coach and his wife. He was my coach, along with my dad and some friends’ dads, for about ten years. I hadn’t seen them since I returned in March. Actually hadn’t seen them since 2012. We talked for hours about my time in Korea, what they’d been up to, they showed me all the changes they’s made to their property. We talked about the town and the families that make up the fabric of what that place is, wether it be funny or downright annoying. We talked of the new parish priest in town and how he has been divisive by being assertive. It may seem boring and trivial but I hadn’t felt that sense of belonging and normal-ness for quite some time and it felt good to be with people who knew me when I was young, knew where I came from and understand how I got to be what I am today and indeed shaped who I am. It’s also strange and kind of beautiful how two people who were authority figures, pretty much other parents when I was young, become friends as I have gotten older.

On an unrelated note, it was sunny and 80 degrees for two days before going back to the gloomy rain that’s been coming down for two months. I had forgotten how depressing the not summer months can be here.

Even with the internet and being hyper-connected, there are some things from home that kind of fade away off to your peripheral when you live abroad. I have always been a big sports fan, American Football in particularly, but if you are watching a west coast early game from Korea, it comes on Monday morning at 3am. I tried a few times to wake up, watch the game, go back to sleep and then go to work, but I couldn’t do it consistently, so I ended up following the season mostly on instagram or watching highlights on my phone on my commute to work. I guess I could have downloaded games later but by the time my day was finished and I was back home, I had already seen all the scores or didn’t really think to grab the game later.

But last Sunday was Wrestlemania. I’ve been a huge wrestling fan since I was very young, but it was another one of those things that I had a hard time keeping up with, especially since I had not met anyone abroad who shared my passion for it. It’s way easier when a friend texts you or calls you to ask if you’re going to watch RAW or Smackdown, or to come over and watch a Pay-Per -View, then to keep up with it all on your own.

Wrestlemania is a big deal for me and my friends, and we always make a big production of it. We barbeque, start early for the pre-show activities and talk about Wrestlemanias of the past and our favorite matches and what happened to this wrestler or whatever. It’s an all-day thing, and it felt really good to be back in that place with like-minded people about a “sport” that I feel the general public still doesn’t really understand. Yes, we know a lot of it is fake. But it’s not about that. It’s about the pageantry, the rivalries, the drama and athleticism. But we know why we like it, and that’s enough.

I’m New Here, Too

I’m amazed how many people, after I tell them I recently returned to America after living in Korea, ask me if I was in North Korea or South Korea. I guess it’s partly my fault for not specifying, but no one in Korea refers to is as “South Korea.” It’s just Korea. And after being there so long I dropped the south bit. But I would have thought it was common knowledge that Americans aren’t really allowed in North Korea. It’s doable but expensive and we generally just don’t go there.

Anyway I mowed the acre yard we have today with a push mower because the battery in the riding lawn mower is dead. Yaaaaaay cardio.

I’m New Here, Too

It’s been over a week since renewing my driver’s license. I have my temp but the real card still hasn’t come in the mail. I think a new postman took over the rural route that I live on and has a hard time reading addresses. I know numbers are hard, but you’re supposed to be good at this.

Also, after mostly being in cabs and not really driving for the past however many years, getting up to 60MPH felt like I was flying. Country roads are great.

I’m new Here, Too.

I have a history of going to the DMV unprepared. I think it comes from a desire to figure things out myself rather than read an instruction manual or do research. I remember in 2014 some Korean friends and I did a road trip. I was told that all you had to do was take your American license to the Korean DMV and exchange it for a Korean one, and just go back and turn it in whenever you were leaving the country. So I walked into the Korean DMV all excited about my upcoming road adventure, pulled a number from the waiting list machine and when I was called up, handed over my American license and asked for a Korean one, to which the woman behind the counter replied “Where is your apostille?”

” Uh….my what now?”

” You need an apostille from your home country so we know this ID is genuine.”

“Fuck……okay thank you!”

After arriving at home I, logically, thought my embassy could help me out with this. So I checked their website which proclaimed in big, bold letters that they no longer provided American citizens in Korea with apostilles. (Side note, the embassy in Seoul seemed to go out of their way to be unhelpful to its own citizens as my time there went on, but that’s a different post). So the only thing to do was have a private agency take care of it, which was way too expensive for a 4 day trip (I remember one of the cheaper options being $300). My solution to all of this? Drive without a license and not get caught. Which I did and I had a wonderful time.

Which brings me to the American DMV.

I had just gotten off the plane about 3 hours previously and was woefully unprepared for the DMV. My license had expired last year, I had lost it (drunkenly) in Seoul, didn’t know where my birth certificate or social security card were located. The only ID i had was my passport. I got a ride over there, walked in, took a number, then found the form to fill out for a renewal. My number being called, I explained to the woman behind the counter that all I had was my passport to identify myself, to which she didn’t reply but simply looked up my license number in the computer, then told me I had to take a new photo. I presently have an out of control beard and pink hair, so I asked if I could give her a recent passport photo. Turns out the DMV doesn’t let you do that and now I have a photo of me looking like a baked, pink haired terrorist that I have to put up with for the next 8 years. Also, the DMV gets a bad wrap as a hellhole of inefficiency, but if you go in on a Monday morning while normal people are working, it’s a ten minute, in-and-out sort of deal.

I’m new here, too

This is the post excerpt.

The first thing I noticed about being back was that the TSA and security in American airports are no joke. The immigration officer really doesn’t care if you give them an American passport, they really hammer you with questions, but in a friendly, trying to disarm you kind of way. The woman I got at the counter was genuinely surprised when I told her I had been gone 8 years and very sweetly welcomed me home.

I had a ten hour overnight layover in San Francisco before my hour and a half flight home to Oregon. I found that quite a few homeless people enter the airport to sleep at night and I spoke to one homeless woman in her late 40s for well over an hour. She was very interesting and told me about her travels through the middle east as well as her days of hitch hiking through America when she was young, which is something that has fascinated me since first picking up a Jack Kerouac novel. We talked of the Trump administration and how it’s affected her and some of the homeless community in SF as far as health care is concerned. I left shortly after Obama was elected so I asked her what is the general feeling about Trump? She said, fear.

It felt weird landing in Portland. Korea felt like a really long, elaborate dream, and Portland felt like something I had once known well, forgotten and suddenly remembered years later.


text:
Birds and Flowers

Posted: April 7, 2011 in Words

The title of this post has been a saying in our house since the day we got married. It’s a reminder of this passage from Matthew:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” -Matthew 6:25-33

When money gets tight around our house, we just say it out loud- “Birds and flowers. Birds and flowers.” Recently, though, we’ve been saying it for a different reason.

When Liz started teaching, we thought, “That’s a great career. No matter where we ever move- everybody needs teachers, right?” Maybe…

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the economy’s been struggling recently.* Across the country, public education is taking a kick in the teeth. Districts in our area have already been cutting teachers, aides, support staff, etc., and Jasper, where Liz teaches, is looking to do the same. This morning she had to attend a meeting where the news was basically, “If you want to work here next year, write us a letter and let us know. We’ll look over all of them, and some of you will be back.”

There are a couple of things working in our favor. One thing is that Liz has been at Jasper for three years. That’s not an eternity, but around here she’s considered a seasoned veteran. Second, she’s a great teacher. She’s got her stuff together, her class scores are always good, her evaluations are always great. After last year, they asked her to get her GT certification so she could teach those classes. They did that because she’s a really good teacher.

But besides all that, the thing that gives us the most assurance is that passage of scripture. That little saying, “Birds and flowers.” We know that God is going to take care of us. It’s not a guess or a hope, it’s a fact. He feeds the birds, he clothes the flowers, he takes care of his children. He’s done it over and over again for us. The key, though, is verse 33. That’s the one that says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I can’t stress enough- that’s the crux of this truth.

We trust God completely because we have made the decision to live our lives in a way that honors him. We try to be generous to others because God has been generous to us. We love others because God loves us. We give to others because God gives to us. And the return on “seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness” is that “all these things” we need continue to be provided.

*Understatement of the year.

  1. Mandy Cooper says:

    Everything will work out exactly the way it’s supposed to. The best thing I think that happened to me recently is that I got laid-off. I’ve gotten to spend some much needed time with my baby (&the other 2) & at the house. Love you & am praying for you.

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text:
UD: Feb. 2017

‘Then verily, having crossed the narrow strait of the Hellespont,

The devastating host of the Gauls shall pipe’.

(Paus. X, 15: 2-3)

In 278 BC a group of Celts broke off from Brennos’ main force in the Balkans and, under two chieftains called Leonnorius and Lutarius, crossed into Asia-Minor (277 BC), where a Celtic state was founded which subsequently became known as Galatia.

  Despite the popular misconception that these ‘Galatians’ represented a large proportion of the Celts who had migrated into southeastern Europe in the previous decades, they were originally a relatively small group consisting of 20,000 people (Livy 38.16:9). Indeed, while historians have traditionally translated the testimony of Livy as 20,000 men (latest Delev 2003:108), the Roman author actually speaks of ‘homines’ not ‘viri’ – i.e. people, not men (see Boteva 2010: 37), and we are further told that ‘of these 20,000 people, not more than 10,000 were armed’ (Livy op cit). Thus, the Celts who migrated into Asia-Minor in 277 BC consisted of no more than 10,000 warriors, accompanied by their families. To put this into context, the central Celtic army in the Balkans in 279 BC had consisted of 150,000 infantry and at least 10,000 – 15,000 cavalry. Nonetheless, the small Celtic force who migrated into Asia-Minor was to have a significant geo-political impact on the region.

The head of a Galatian as depicted on a gold disc discovered in a Celtic tumulus at Bolu, northwestern Turkey (3rd c. BC).

(Istanbul Archaeological Museum)

One question which has never been satisfactorily addressed is the exact ethnic origin of the ‘Celts’ who migrated into southeastern Europe and Asia-Minor at the end of the 4th / beginning of the 3rd c. BC. In the case of the Galatian tribes this answer to this question is clearly given in ancient sources. Of the 3 tribal groups which broke off from the main Celtic force on the Balkans – the Tolostobogi (-boii), the Trocmi (/Trogmi) and the Volcae Tectosages – the latter are the key to identifying the exact ethnic origin of the Celts who would become the Galatians.

 The Volcae Tectosages, one of the Belgae tribes (see Mac Congail 2007), ‘were named after the tribe in Celtica’ (Strabo xii, 5:1). Of this tribe, Caesar tells us that they had originally been settled north-east of the Rhine, in what is now western and central Germany in the basin of the river Weser, and he mentions that the Volcae Tectosages still remained in western Germany in his day (Caesar BG 6.24):

“And there was formerly a time when the Gauls excelled the Germans in prowess, and waged war on them offensively, and, on account of the great number of their people and the insufficiency of their land, sent colonies over the Rhine.”

“Accordingly, the Volcae Tectosages, seized on those parts of Germany which are the most fruitful [and lie] around the Hercynian forest (which, I perceive, was known by report to Eratosthenes and some other Greeks, and which they call Orcynia), and settled there. Which nation to this time retains its position in those settlements, and has a very high character for justice and military merit; now also they continue in the same scarcity, indigence, hardihood, as the Germani.”

This similarity between the Celtic Belgae tribes and the Germani in the eyes of classical authors is also crucial to our understanding of another ethnic group who appear in southeastern Europe in the late Iron Age – the Bastarnae (see Bastarnae article). By the 3rd c. BC the Volcae had also expanded into southeastern Gaul where we find them in the province of Gallia Narbonensis occupying the district between the Garumna, Cerbenna Mons and the Rhodanus. They were divided into two groups – the Volcae Arecomici and the Volcae Tectosages (whose territory included that of the Tolosate tribe) in the west separated by the river Arauris or a line between the Arauris and Orbis. The chief town of the Tectosages was Tolosa (Mac Congail op cit: 298; on further topographical links between the Tectosages in Gaul and those in Galatia see also Mac Congail 2004: 171-176).

 The other two groups who accompanied the Volcae in the Galatian migration of 277 BC – the Tolistobogi and Trocmi are otherwise unknown and we learn that they ‘took their names from their leaders’ (Strabo vii, 5:1), indicating that these were mixed tribal groups. Of vital importance is Strabo’s testimony (loc cit) that ‘all three spoke the same language and differed from each other in no respect’. As the Trocmi and Tolistobogi ‘differed in no respect’ from the Volcae Tectosages, it logically follows that these were also Belgae. Thus, one may conclude that the tribal groups who migrated into Asia-Minor in 277 BC, and subsequently became the Galatians, originated from the Belgae branch of the Celtic group.

Ethnogenesis and migrations of the Volcae

 1 - 1 - Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu

Galatian bronze plate and H-Shaped horse bit  – from Hidirsihlar tumulus, Bolu, Turkey (3rd c. BC)

However prolific they may have been (see below) the Galatians could not hold the large territory which they initially occupied (Mac Congail 2008:95-96), and appear to have overextended themselves. They subsequently fought with various success against the Syrian king Antiochus I who gained the title Soter (Saviour – Αντίοχος Α’ Σωτήρ) after defeating them at the ‘Battle of the Elephants’ in 275 BC. Following this defeat, the Galatians settled astride the Halys river and on the Phrygian plain – the poorest and least populated part of the region (Kilburn 1959:165-167; Mac Congail 2008:104).

1 - Dead Galatian - Marble. Roman copy of second half of 2nd century CE after a Pergamon original of second half of 2nd century BC.

“The Dead Galatian” – Marble. Roman copy from the late 2nd century AD, after a Pergamon original of the 2nd century BC

(Museo archeologico nationale di Venezia)

  Pliny the Elder gives us the most detailed account of the geographic dispersion of the Galatian tribes:

‘Galatia, which lies above Phrygia and includes the greater part of the territory taken from that province, as also its former capital Gordium. The Gauls who are settled in these parts are called the Tolistobogi, the Voturi and the Ambitouti; those who dwell in Maeonia and Paphlagonia are called the Trocmi. Cappadocia stretches along to the north-west of Galatia, its most fertile parts being possessed by the Tectosages and the Teutobodiaci. These are the nations by which these parts are occupied; and they are divided into people and tetrarchies, 195 in number. Its towns are, among the Tectosages, Ancyra, among the Trocmi, Tavium, and among the Tolistobogi, Pessinius’  (Pliny V,42).

 There is disagreement in the sources on whether the Celts founded these towns or ‘adopted’ them from the previous population. Memnon tells us that, ‘They each founded cities, the Trogmi at Ancyra, the Tolistobogi at Tabia and the Tectosages at Pessinus’ (Memnon 11,7). However, Pausanias testifies that the town of Ancyra had been a Phrygian settlement before the Celts arrived – ‘Now this people occupied the country on the far side of the river Sangarius capturing Ancyra, a city of the Phrygians which Midas son of Gordius had founded in former times’ (Paus I, 4:5).

 galat tribes g.

Each Galatian tribe was sub-divided into 4 groups, the 12 sub-divisions being sub-tribes similar to the Pagi in Gaul (Hubert II:48). They had an organized and highly developed political and legal system. Each tribe was divided up into 4 administrative portions called tetrarchies, which had its own ruling tetrarch. Each of these units also had its own judge and military commander, both subject to the tetrarch, and also 2 subordinate commanders. A council, consisting of 300 men, met at Drynemeton and passed judgement in murder cases, but the tetrarch and the judges had jurisdiction over all other cases (Strabo vii, 5:1). The mass of the Galatian population lived in villages and they intermarried with the local population (Livy 38:17-18; Strabo 13, 4,3).

Earlier interpretations of Galatian settlements as poor farming villages have changed in recent years. Excavations such as those at Gordium (above) indicate that some houses contained evidence of considerable wealth, including gold coins and stone sculptures. Moreover, some of these people could at least read Greek, the language used to inscribe some of their possessions, and favored items made in Greek style.

(after Dandoy et al 2002)

Galatian bracelets and earrings 3rd c. BC

Bolu, Hidirsihlar Tumulus.

(Istanbul Archaeological Museum)

 One phenomenon which is remarked on in a number of sources is that the Galatians were an exceptionally prolific people (Justin. xxv, 2). An analysis of the statistics would appear to confirm the veracity of these accounts. Although only 20,000 Celts had migrated into Asia-Minor in 277 BC by the beginning of the 2nd c. BC their population had increased radically. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that during the Galatian genocide carried out by the Romans under Gnaeus Manlius Vulso in 189 BC, 40,000 Galatians were massacred on one day at Olympus (Livy 38:23) and another 8,000 a few days later at Ancyra (App. Syr. Vii, 42; on the Vulso campaign see Mac Congail 2008: 114-119).

The destruction layer at the Celtic settlement at Gordium left after the Roman massacres in 189 BC

(After Dandoy et al 2002)

Undoubtedly, considering the longevity of the Galatian state, the Celtic culture not only influenced, but was influenced by, the surrounding cultures – Hellenistic, Phrygian etc. The Galatian Celts adopted the local religious practices in some cases – we are told, for example, that the Celtic princess Camma was a priestess of the Phrygian Artemis (Polyaen. Strat. Viii, 39). In later Galatian coins we see the busts of Hermes, Artemis, Minerva, Jupiter and Hercules, and in addition Cybele, the local Phyrigian deity.

( On Camma see:  https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2014/01/10/the-revenge-of-camma/ )

Galatian coin from Pessinius (1st century BC). On the obverse are the busts of Cybele (Sibel) and Attis. On the reverse side is a lion sitting with its left paw on a tympanum. Two stars (attributed to Dioskouroi?) visible on either side of the lion. A fragmentary “PESSINUS” is visible to the left

( On Galatian coins see:  https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/coins-of-the-galatian-kings/ )

gal tomb tumulus O rob 1950's - Gordium

Galatian tomb at Gordium (2nd c. BC). The tomb was robbed by locals in the 1950’s.

Human Sacrifice?

What is striking is the juxtaposition of Greek and Celtic customs illustrated by new evidence for Galatian religious practices at settlements such as that at Gordium. On the mound at that site, the workshop next to a monumental building produced figurines totally Greek in style; figures of Greek deities such as Nike and Kybele were also found. But near the mound archaeologists also found remains left by very different ritualschilling evidence of strangulation, decapitation, and bizarre arrangements of human and animal bones, similar to practices well known from Celtic sites in Europe.

 At the Gordion site, several of the people whose remains were found in area A died violently, with strangulation the most common cause of death, whether by hanging or garotting. All of these people were presumably “sacrificed”, but the exact circumstances have not been determined (Dandov et al 2002).

The uppermost of these two women had suffered blows to the head and a broken neck; large grinding stones had been placed on top of the lower woman

(After Dandoy et al 2002)

Excavation in area B, in the western part of the lower town at Gordium, revealed clusters of human bones from bodies that had been dismembered. The remains, co-mingled with animal bones, were then carefully rearranged, sometimes in symmetrical patterns, on an outside ground surface with shallow depressions. The ceramic material dates it to the 3rd c. BC. Similar placing of animal bones in burials is to be observed at Celtic burials on the Balkans such as those at Kalnovo in eastern  Bulgaria, which date to the beginning of the 2nd c. BC. (See ‘New Material 2’ article).

This skull of a teenager (12-17 years old) was carefully placed alongside the skull, pelvis, and upper leg bone of a dog. Beneath these was the pelvic bone of another person.

(After Dandoy et al 2002)

The largest deposit at Gordion, bone cluster 3 (below), consists of a few human bones, and over 2,100 animal bones and fragments. Three humans are present. A 4-8-year-old child is represented by a lower jaw and some cranial fragments. A fragmentary right pelvic bone came from an adult female aged 35-39, and a pair of pelvic bones represent an adult male aged 40-44. A sacrum (the fused vertebrae forming the back of the pelvis) and several long bones could belong to either adult. The human bones are cracked from weathering and the pelvic bones were gnawed by carnivores-signs that they were exposed on the surface for some time (Dandoy et al 2002).

While many of these human remains have been correctly interpreted as examples of human sacrifice, there is another explanation for some of the rituals to be observed at the Galatian settlement. Evidence of weathering and dismemberment of the dead is consistent with the well documented Celtic religious practice of exposing corpses after death to be devoured by birds of prey and carnivores. The removal of flesh from corpses, which is well documented in the Celtic world, had a mortuary significance that differed greatly from the Greco-Roman practices (Soprena Genzor 1995: 198 ff.). The last 25 years of research have revealed how interments were the culmination of previous very complex rituals. The removal of flesh before interment is clearly attested at Celtic sanctuaries like Ribemont (Brunaux 2004: 103-24), but the enormous deficit of interments, especially in the late La Têne period, can be partially explained by the exposure of corpses with the consequent destruction of most of the skeleton. Such practices are recorded among the Balkan Celts (Churchin 1995) and were particularly common among the Belgae tribes, from whom the Galatians originated (on these Celtic rituals see Soprena Genzor 1995; Brunaux 2004: 118-24; also:  https://balkancelts.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/excarnation/ ).

Bone cluster 3 at Gordion, consists of human bones from 3 individuals, and over 2,100 animal bones and fragments.

 In the first century AD the Galatians initially received St. Paul as an angel from heaven (Galatians 4:14). However, the message of Christianity appears not to have been fully understood by the Celts of Asia-Minor. Acts (xiii-xiv) gives indications that, even at this late stage, old traditions were still strong in Galatia – at Lystra they had to be restrained from sacrificing to St. Paul, and shortly afterwards they stoned ‘the Angel of God’ , and left him for dead …

(Modern) Literature cited

Boteva D. (2010) The Ancient Historians on the Celtic Kingdom in South-Eastern Thrace. In: In Search of Celtic Tylis in Thrace (III c. BC). Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Colloqium Arranged by the National Archaeological Institute and Museum at Sofia and the Welsh Department, Aberystwyth University. Held at the National Archaeological Institute and Museum. Sofia 2010. p. 33-50

Brunaux J.L. (2004) Guerre et religion en Gaule. Essai d’anthropologie celtique. Paris: Errance.

Churchin L.A. (1995) The Unburied Dead at Thermopylae (279 BC) In: The Ancient History Bulletin 9: 68-71

Dandoy J., Selinsky P, Voight M. Celtic Sacrifice. In: Archaeology. Volume 55 Number 1, January/February 2002.

Delev P. (2003) From Corupedion towards Pydna: Thrace in the Third Century. In: Thracia 15, 2003, 107-120.

Hubert H. The History of the Celtic People. London 1934 (Rep. 1992).

Kilburn K. (1959) Lucian. Harvard.

Mac Congail B. (2004) Observations on Inscriptions from the Plovdiv/Pazardjik Districts Containing the Element Tiuta-.  Ann. Arch. Mus. Plovdiv IX/2 2004. P. 171-176.

Mac Congail B.(2007)  Belgae expansion into South Eastern Europe and Asia-Minor (4th – 3rd c. BC.) In: PRAE. In Honorem Henrieta Todorova. National Archaeological Institute With Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Sofia 2007. p. 295 – 302.

Mac Congail B. (2008) Kingdoms of the Forgotten. Plovdiv. (attached Pdf.)

Soprena Genzor G. (1995) Ética y ritual. Aproximación al estudio de la religiosidad de los pueblos celtibéricos. Zaragosa

Mac Congail