You can't say civilization don't advance. ... for in every war they kill you another way.
[Will Rogers]
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
What a cardinal error
When art becomes estranged from worship, culture becomes degenerate (art).
Says Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, Germany.
Some people dare to critizise him.
Why not feel great pity for this poor man?
Born to be wilde, 70 years ago his "Aryan wisdom" would have generated (sic) thundering applause.
Says Cardinal Joachim Meisner, Archbishop of Cologne, Germany.
Some people dare to critizise him.
Why not feel great pity for this poor man?
Born to be wilde, 70 years ago his "Aryan wisdom" would have generated (sic) thundering applause.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Slightly strange syllogisms
One week after his "letter to the Turkish military", today Mustafa Akyol got another remarkable article published in Turkish Daily News (TDN). Headline: The opium of the atheists.
"Did you also read it?" I asked my closest friend. "Ah, sorry, what are you busy with?"
"Yes. Syllogisms, dialectic, nothing special."
"And did you read ..."
"Unconcentrated or impolite, Sean? One word for your first question, even four for your second."
"Sorry, missed that. What do you think about the article?"
"Thought-out. Question-provoking. Listen: The king has two legs. Hens have two legs. Ergo the king is a hen. What's your opinion?"
"Wrong."
"Lovely, my sophisticated friend. Your opinion is, of course, not wrong."
"But you think Mr. Akyol's opinion is wrong? By the way, I am relieved you chose king as your subject, and not ..."
"Mr. Akyol's opinion is not wrong. He is absolutely right. I do just wonder, if he means what he did not say."
?
"Theists are believers.
Atheists are believers.
Ergo there is a god."
"Did you also read it?" I asked my closest friend. "Ah, sorry, what are you busy with?"
"Yes. Syllogisms, dialectic, nothing special."
"And did you read ..."
"Unconcentrated or impolite, Sean? One word for your first question, even four for your second."
"Sorry, missed that. What do you think about the article?"
"Thought-out. Question-provoking. Listen: The king has two legs. Hens have two legs. Ergo the king is a hen. What's your opinion?"
"Wrong."
"Lovely, my sophisticated friend. Your opinion is, of course, not wrong."
"But you think Mr. Akyol's opinion is wrong? By the way, I am relieved you chose king as your subject, and not ..."
"Mr. Akyol's opinion is not wrong. He is absolutely right. I do just wonder, if he means what he did not say."
?
"Theists are believers.
Atheists are believers.
Ergo there is a god."
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wanted! Good answers to good questions
No, there does not exist any contract or gentleman's agreement between Mr. Bekdil and me.
No, I am not sure Mr. Bekdil is in possession of the best solutions to everything and all.
Yes, I do appreciate the questions he is asking.
Yes, I should like to read somebody's answers to these questions.
No, not Mr. Akyol's answers. (They would - with respect - be of no relevance.)
But what's about both Mr. Akyol's and (sic) Mr. Bekdil's president and prime minister?
Your turn, Mr. Gül! Your turn, Mr. Erdoğan!
Yes?
No, I am not sure Mr. Bekdil is in possession of the best solutions to everything and all.
Yes, I do appreciate the questions he is asking.
Yes, I should like to read somebody's answers to these questions.
No, not Mr. Akyol's answers. (They would - with respect - be of no relevance.)
But what's about both Mr. Akyol's and (sic) Mr. Bekdil's president and prime minister?
Your turn, Mr. Gül! Your turn, Mr. Erdoğan!
Yes?
World's most semiotic nation!
Apropos unrivalled.
Mr. Bekdil lets indeed follow a question mark to one of his recent headlines.
By reading the article it is transmogrifying into an exclamation mark, though:
World's most semiotic nation!
Mr. Bekdil lets indeed follow a question mark to one of his recent headlines.
By reading the article it is transmogrifying into an exclamation mark, though:
World's most semiotic nation!
Turkishness unrivalled
By "googling" Argentinianness, Chineseness, Germanness, Hungarianness etc., coming to Turkishness it becomes obvious:
Turkishness is unique!
Evidence: People trying to learn more about history, geography, literature, architecture, poetry, cuisine, music etc., on the first two pages would find nothing but
denigration of Turkishness (2)
insulting Turkishness (15)
belittling Turkishness
degrade Turkishness
Telling this my closest friend whose current topic of research - Pre-Assyrian Philately - is keeping him very busy, did not even look up when saying: "Inferiority complex."
"Tetrapilotomos", I whispered, "mind your tongue! Some people might feel insulted."
"That's it. Exactly those who feel insulted are meant. I can just repeat again and again that according to a Chinese saying those who feel insulted by others confess to their mental, their intellectual inferiority."
And off he went.
Turkishness is unique!
Evidence: People trying to learn more about history, geography, literature, architecture, poetry, cuisine, music etc., on the first two pages would find nothing but
denigration of Turkishness (2)
insulting Turkishness (15)
belittling Turkishness
degrade Turkishness
Telling this my closest friend whose current topic of research - Pre-Assyrian Philately - is keeping him very busy, did not even look up when saying: "Inferiority complex."
"Tetrapilotomos", I whispered, "mind your tongue! Some people might feel insulted."
"That's it. Exactly those who feel insulted are meant. I can just repeat again and again that according to a Chinese saying those who feel insulted by others confess to their mental, their intellectual inferiority."
And off he went.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
All these mysterious Nessies
Scientific way to better present 'Turkishness'.
An interesting headline, isn't it?!
Why do people tend to do the second step before the first?
Why trying to find a "scientific" (sic) way to better present (sic) 'Turkishness'?
What is Turkishness?
Or Argentinianness, Chineseness, Germanness, Hungarianness ... Finnish...ness?
Questions I asked my closest friend Tetrapilotomos, who is one of the politest human primates under the sun and therefore should rarely answer a question by a counterquestion.
The more I got surprised hearing him murmur:
"Turkish Ness ... Turkish Ness ... Has it something to do with Lough Ness?"
Monday, September 10, 2007
Mens insana . . .
World is small.
Coincidences are great.
1. I do highly recommend to read this. The background arcticles are worth reading, too.
2. James Higham who happened to find a link to this very article on another blogger's site (sorry for not memorising it), left a comment roughly saying he'd need to learn more about the issue and - voilà, today delivered interesting thoughts.
3. I am a little tired (not only) these days talking about religion, fanatism, stupidity etc.
But I shall not withhold following short "dialogue":
Spake Tetrapilotomos: "I think to understand it is enough to read the 23rd paragraph."
?
"Just read and get close to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything."
Mr ul Haq was 3 when he came to Britain and 13 when he became a student at the first and most influential of Britain’s Deobandi seminaries, which opened in 1975 in a converted sanatorium in the rural hills above Bury, Greater Manchester.
?
Spake Tetrapilotomos: "A sanatorium is a sanatorium is a sanatorium . . ."
Coincidences are great.
1. I do highly recommend to read this. The background arcticles are worth reading, too.
2. James Higham who happened to find a link to this very article on another blogger's site (sorry for not memorising it), left a comment roughly saying he'd need to learn more about the issue and - voilà, today delivered interesting thoughts.
3. I am a little tired (not only) these days talking about religion, fanatism, stupidity etc.
But I shall not withhold following short "dialogue":
Spake Tetrapilotomos: "I think to understand it is enough to read the 23rd paragraph."
?
"Just read and get close to the essential inheritent interior essence which is hidden in the root of the kernel of everything."
Mr ul Haq was 3 when he came to Britain and 13 when he became a student at the first and most influential of Britain’s Deobandi seminaries, which opened in 1975 in a converted sanatorium in the rural hills above Bury, Greater Manchester.
?
Spake Tetrapilotomos: "A sanatorium is a sanatorium is a sanatorium . . ."
Friday, September 07, 2007
Some more tears for Tabori
Peculiar.
Originally, tonight I intended to drop a few words about why I would not be able to drop a few posts for a couple of days.
And now I am sitting here, thinking of a few people who enriched my life for quite a few decades and who recently took their last dwelling six feet under.
Ulrich Mühe (July 22nd)
George Tabori (July 23rd)
Ingmar Bergman (July 30th)
Michelangelo Antonioni (July 31st)
Today Luciano Pavarotti.
And tomorrow?
Coincidences. Coincidences?
No necrologies to follow, don’t worry. There has been shown, told, written enough about these artists.
But I shall not stop myself to tell that non of his plays impressed me more than this “joke” by the man who in a way was the obstetrician to a serious reflection of the holocaust and other atrocities “made in Germany”: George Tabori:
[To understand you need to know: Witz means joke]
”Wie lautet der kürzeste deutsche Witz? - Auschwitz.”
”What is the shortest German Witz? - Auschwitz.”
It was - I think – for this sentence that I dropped more than one tear – when I heard this wonderful wise human being ("There are tabus that need to be destroyed") had done his last breath.
Originally, tonight I intended to drop a few words about why I would not be able to drop a few posts for a couple of days.
And now I am sitting here, thinking of a few people who enriched my life for quite a few decades and who recently took their last dwelling six feet under.
Ulrich Mühe (July 22nd)
George Tabori (July 23rd)
Ingmar Bergman (July 30th)
Michelangelo Antonioni (July 31st)
Today Luciano Pavarotti.
And tomorrow?
Coincidences. Coincidences?
No necrologies to follow, don’t worry. There has been shown, told, written enough about these artists.
But I shall not stop myself to tell that non of his plays impressed me more than this “joke” by the man who in a way was the obstetrician to a serious reflection of the holocaust and other atrocities “made in Germany”: George Tabori:
[To understand you need to know: Witz means joke]
”Wie lautet der kürzeste deutsche Witz? - Auschwitz.”
”What is the shortest German Witz? - Auschwitz.”
It was - I think – for this sentence that I dropped more than one tear – when I heard this wonderful wise human being ("There are tabus that need to be destroyed") had done his last breath.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Una (non) furtiva lacrima
Once upon a time, after reading or telling a (bedtime) story, on the children’s demand intoning with my deepest voice “the song”, there would quite frequently a caring voice been chirping, “Sean, why wouldn’t you try it in a friendly manner first?”
”But the children love it”, I’d say, vehemently nodding and rolling my eyes at my audience who would immediately tell the chirping voice what they had learnt by heart: “Pavarotti would give up his career, if only once he could listen Daddy singing.”
Anyway, despite the enormous popularity that I achieved with “What shall we do with the drunken sailor”, this chirped question was – there can’t be any doubt – the main reason that I lost the little interest in the opera that had been remaining.
End of the antecedent.
Although not really fond of opera, it was always a pleasure for my ears to hear Luciano Pavarotti singing.
Was?
Is.
Right now I can/do listen to his voice. Nessun dorma.
And yes, although agnostic I do not deny “Una furtiva lacrima”.
”But the children love it”, I’d say, vehemently nodding and rolling my eyes at my audience who would immediately tell the chirping voice what they had learnt by heart: “Pavarotti would give up his career, if only once he could listen Daddy singing.”
Anyway, despite the enormous popularity that I achieved with “What shall we do with the drunken sailor”, this chirped question was – there can’t be any doubt – the main reason that I lost the little interest in the opera that had been remaining.
End of the antecedent.
Although not really fond of opera, it was always a pleasure for my ears to hear Luciano Pavarotti singing.
Was?
Is.
Right now I can/do listen to his voice. Nessun dorma.
And yes, although agnostic I do not deny “Una furtiva lacrima”.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
Ready for the cold Season
January, February, March, April . . ."No. No. No!" I said.
Tetrapilotomos' reaction: brows forming a questionmark.
"It has neither to do anything with politics, nor with language and literature."
"It's part of Omnium", said Tetrapilotomos. "Isn't it politics that your 83-years-old mother-in-law is demonstrating to her neighbours - and thus to the world - that she is ready for another season?
And isn't it lovely to make a joke about her "unspeakables", and she would wholehearted laugh about her wicked son-in-law?"
Sometimes, I repeat: sometimes I do like my friend.
To be fair against Mr Akyol
It's not easy to lose twice in row.
Therefore here, to be fair against Mr. Akyol, quasi with open visor an announcement.
But let's first read the final passage of his reply to Mr Bekdil:
This “theory of taqiyya,” which Mr. Bekdil repeatedly refers to, is an “unfalsifiable” idea, to use a term coined by political philosopher Karl Popper. What this means is that the person accused with “taqiyya” can never falsify that. The more he rejects the accusation that he is willing to destroy the secular republic, the more the ultra-secularists become convinced about the imagined conspiracy he supposedly cooks up. It is like believing that all top politicians are freemasons; the fact they deny this would only prove how effectively the secret brotherhood works. It is a pity that such an immature paranoia is shared not only by the superficial demagogues of secular fundamentalism, but also otherwise reasonable and sophisticated minds like Mr. Bekdil. I am sure he can do better than that.
Hope this was green enough, and everybody could read.
Now, there is (almost) no doubt that Mr Akyol is a talented writer. I should like to compare him with my friend Tetrapilotomos, a writer who would not write for reasons that I shall probably never understand.
Anyway, if I did so and came to the conclusion that ... that ... that Mr Akyol were more talented than Tetrapilotomos, (I suppose) according to Mr Akyol (who seems to have read Karl Popper) this would be unfalsifiable.
This said, I promise Mr. Akyol that next time he will raise his sword ... hm ... his feather (what a picture in these times!) to take up the cudgels for praising so-called intelligent design, he will be asked to falsify, that is: to prove or declare false.
The Peace of the Night.
Postscriptum: Apropos "mature paranoia", Mr Akyol. Do you think Mr Bekdil is psychotic? Language, Sir, language!
And be careful with your answer.
As Tetrapilotomos uses to say: I do always mean what I say, but I wouldn't say all I mean.
Therefore here, to be fair against Mr. Akyol, quasi with open visor an announcement.
But let's first read the final passage of his reply to Mr Bekdil:
This “theory of taqiyya,” which Mr. Bekdil repeatedly refers to, is an “unfalsifiable” idea, to use a term coined by political philosopher Karl Popper. What this means is that the person accused with “taqiyya” can never falsify that. The more he rejects the accusation that he is willing to destroy the secular republic, the more the ultra-secularists become convinced about the imagined conspiracy he supposedly cooks up. It is like believing that all top politicians are freemasons; the fact they deny this would only prove how effectively the secret brotherhood works. It is a pity that such an immature paranoia is shared not only by the superficial demagogues of secular fundamentalism, but also otherwise reasonable and sophisticated minds like Mr. Bekdil. I am sure he can do better than that.
Hope this was green enough, and everybody could read.
Now, there is (almost) no doubt that Mr Akyol is a talented writer. I should like to compare him with my friend Tetrapilotomos, a writer who would not write for reasons that I shall probably never understand.
Anyway, if I did so and came to the conclusion that ... that ... that Mr Akyol were more talented than Tetrapilotomos, (I suppose) according to Mr Akyol (who seems to have read Karl Popper) this would be unfalsifiable.
This said, I promise Mr. Akyol that next time he will raise his sword ... hm ... his feather (what a picture in these times!) to take up the cudgels for praising so-called intelligent design, he will be asked to falsify, that is: to prove or declare false.
The Peace of the Night.
Postscriptum: Apropos "mature paranoia", Mr Akyol. Do you think Mr Bekdil is psychotic? Language, Sir, language!
And be careful with your answer.
As Tetrapilotomos uses to say: I do always mean what I say, but I wouldn't say all I mean.
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