Author Archives: maria.plaksina

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Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases/Confucius

Roman Catholic Church Sex Abuse Cases/Confucius

“For more than two decades, the Catholic Church has grappled with a series of clergy sexual abuse scandals and lawsuits. The cases have cost an estimated $2 billion in settlements and have shaken the faith of many of the church’s members.”

There were number of cases: Gilbert Gauthe in Louisiana was sentenced to 20 years in prison for molesting at least 35 children, Father John J. Geoghan was accused of abusing more than 130 boys over three decades, the priest, Brendan Smith, who was exposed 15 years later as the most notorious child-abuser in the history of the Irish church. There were number of cases in different countries of the EU.

As the reaction on that “the Vatican issued revisions to its internal laws on July 15 making it easier to discipline sex-abuser priests.” The overall document codified existing procedures that allow the Vatican to try priests accused of child sexual abuse using faster juridical procedures rather than full ecclesiastical trials.

Church is nor necessarily governed by good people. Confucius said in the Analects, “2-1. The Master said, ‘He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place and all the stars turn towards it.’”  Probably he thought too well about people as we see from the article even in the holy institution there are awful problems and Confucius ideology can not be applied to the contemporary world.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church_sex_abuse_cases/index.html?scp=1&sq=catholic%20children%20abuse&st=cse

Posted in Asian Literature | 7 Comments

Confucius/Afghan Wives

“Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.”

“There is little chance for education, little choice about whom a woman marries, no choice at all about her role in her own house. Her primary job is to serve her husband’s family. Outside that world, she is an outcast.”

According to the Human Development Index, Afghanistan is the second least developed country in the world. Every half hour, an average of one woman dies from pregnancy-related complications, another dies of tuberculosis and 14 children die, largely from preventable causes.

Historically women were not treated fairly out there, also while in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban became notorious internationally for their treatment of women.

“Women were forced to wear the burqa in public, because, according to a Taliban spokesman, “the face of a woman is a source of corruption” for men not related to them. They were not allowed to work, they were not allowed to be educated after the age of eight, and until then were permitted only to study the Qur’an. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools such as the Golden Needle Sewing School, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught. They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperon, which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public  flogging execution for violations of the Taliban’s laws. The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were considered to be by force.”

Confucius said , “Analects 7:23: The Master said, Women and little people are hard to handle. If you let them get close, they presume, and if you keep them at a distance, they resent it.” That obviously shows his attitude toward women, although some scholars might doubt it. Pretty much women were created to serve men, and a man could divorce a wife on a ground of being to talkative. Although Confucius’s attitude toward women was not that impressive still it wasn’t that oppressive as he propagated very humanistic ideals.

Posted in Asian Literature | 8 Comments

Too Good to Check/ The Thousand and One Nights

“On Nov. 4, Anderson Cooper did the country a favor. He expertly deconstructed on his CNN show the bogus rumor that President Obama’s trip to Asia would cost $200 million a day”.

Mark Twain said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” “But it also showed that there is an antidote to malicious journalism — and that’s good journalism”.

A story circulated around the Web that the Obama’s trip to Asia would cost U.S. taxpayers 200 million a day that would make 2 billions for the entire trip. Anderson Cooper, a host of the CNN show, had “Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, a Republican and Tea Party favorite, on his show and had asked her where exactly Republicans will cut the budget”.

Instead of answering the question she mentioned the story and the next day Cooper claimed “that he felt compelled to trace that story back to its source, since someone had used his show to circulate it.”

He found out that alleged Indian official from the Indian state of Maharashtra wrote it in his article where he estimated the cost of the Obama’s trip. “No proof was given; no follow-up reporting was done.”

In a little while a number of hosts of radio shows and TV programs mentioned the story but nobody checked the facts. “For security reasons, the White House doesn’t comment on logistics of presidential trips, but they have made an exception this time.”

That’s the example how people like to repeat and listen to crazy stories. Same Shahrazad did to the King Shahrayar. Her stories were so entertaining and interesting that even the King listened to her for so long.

Posted in The Thousand and One Nights | 2 Comments

The Book of the Courtier/NYT

The Book of the Courtier/NYT

EU Suggests Jail Time for Insider Trading

“The European Commission on Wednesday suggested mandatory jail terms for insider trading and other market abuses as part of measures aimed at bolstering market confidence.”

Although in the US it has already been a normal practice for a long time, many EU countries “resisted sending white-collar offenders to prison.” Wrongdoers just paid a certain amount and were free to go (“Spain, Poland and Sweden are capped at €1 million, while only 12 countries impose sanctions corresponding to the amount earned from the violation, according to E.U. officials”). Still the amount of penalties and fines varies hugely across the EU.

“’Traders and executives must realize that they won’t get away with it and that the response will be tough,’ said Michel Barnier , the E.U. commissioner for financial services, referring to violations of financial services laws”.

In NYT article is written what a good and law-abiding citizen shouldn’t do. On the other hand in The Book of the Courtier is mentioned what a perfect Courtier should learn and do. “[B]eing of noble birth, graceful, charming, and expert in so many exercises”, “a man of honor and integrity: for included in this are prudence, goodness, fortitude, and temperance of the soul”, he also should avoid affectation and be devoted to his prince. In the excerpt from the Book C we can read mostly about perfect person(Courtier). Therefore in the EU government have to punish Courtiers who don’t seem to possess qualities praised by Baldesar Castiglione.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/business/global/09criminal.html?_r=1&ref=business

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on The Book of the Courtier/NYT

Odyssey/NYT

In article in NYT “Austrian girl describes 8 years of captivity and her escape” is stated that a man, Wolfgang Priklopil, 44, a communication technician, kidnapped and was keeping in captivity for 8 years Natascha Kampuch, 18. She spent “[e]ight years of her childhood incarcerated in a basement cell outside Vienna.”  “In a handwritten statement read to journalists by a psychologist made available to her by the Austrian government, Ms. Kampusch, 18, gave a scant, matter-of-fact account of her everyday life in captivity, spoke of a psychological standoff with her captor and asked the public to wait until she was ready to talk more directly about her ordeal. Her words, and the tale of how she got away from the man who seized her when she was 10, hinted at an intelligent, articulate young woman who managed somehow to educate herself and maintain a sense of optimism despite her isolation.”

She ran away when the captor asked her to vacuum his car and went away to talk on his phone. As she described his attitude to her she stated that it was both loving and punishing. She refused to comment anything about his abusive behavior as she wanted to remain it private.

She turned out to be very intelligent and educated young woman who didn’t looked scared or badgered. “According to her account, they had breakfast together on most days — ‘he rarely worked’ — then she would do housework for him and cook. The rest of the time, she said, they talked and she listened to the radio and watched television. Investigators found stacks of schoolbooks and other reading material in her narrow, windowless cell, which the police are still searching for evidence.”

Same in Homer’s Odyssey the protagonist spent 7 years in captivity on Calypso’s Island. “[C]alypso, the bewitching nymph, the lustrous goddess, held him back, deep in her arching caverns, craving him for a husband (A, 259)”. The difference is that she released Odysseus by being under the pressure as it was Athena’s will. “[B]ut my heart breaks for Odysseus, that seasoned veteran cursed by fate so long (A, 260). ”

  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/world/europe/29austria.html?scp=27&sq=in%20captivity&st=cse

Posted in The Odyssey | 18 Comments

Book of Job/NYT

The Book of Job/NYT

The Book of Job says, “[t]here was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.(A, 126)” He was rich and happy.  God believed that Job loved and honor him. During meeting between Satan and God, Satan doubted Job’s loyalty by asking, “[d]oes job fear God for nought?(A, 126)”. In other words, Satan meant that it’s easy to be pious if you have such a great life as Job had. After that Job’s troubles started: his sons died, he lost his fortune, and was in a bad state of health.  Job considered himself as innocent and couldn’t understand the reason all the misfortunes happened to him. However, he does not curse God’s name or accuse God of injustice but rather seeks an explanation or an account of his wrong doing. He did keep his faith.

As it’s written in NYT a movie based on true story had been released. “The pursuit of happiness” is an inspiring story of Chris Gardner who is a successful stockbroker.  Back in 1980th he didn’t have that much luck,” [h]e found himself faced with a curious set of circumstances: single father to a young boy, a barely paid intern-trainee at the brokerage firm Dean Witter, and — suddenly — homeless.”

“Mr. Gardner spent night after night trudging the streets of the crime-ridden Tenderloin district of San Francisco, with all his earthly possessions on his back, diapers shoved under one arm, pushing the stroller with his toddler toward a homeless shelter. When the shelter was full, they slept in the park. Or under Mr. Gardner’s desk. Or sometimes in the public bathroom of a subway station.”

Finally Mr. Gardner got it all: success, currier, money and happiness. Sufferings were first.  Even during these dark moments he didn’t lost his faith and considered hard work and persistence crucial elements.

Same In a Book of Job, he didn’t lost faith, he truly believed. Only in a moment of extreme desperation Job cursed the day he was born.

Posted in Book of Job | 1 Comment

Flood myth

Genesis doesn’t state when it was written but Epic of Gilgamesh is around 1200 b.c.e. but they say that Gilgamesh was probably a real ruler in the late Early Dynastic II period (ca. 27th century BC). Two diminant dates for the Genesis is about 5500 b.c. and 4000 b.c.

Main connection between stories is Flood myth. It’s a theme widespread among different cultures. This story is mentioned in biblical, Quaranic accounts, in greek mythology and in Epic of Gilgamesh. The details, motive, outcomes are mostly the same in both sotries. Difference is that Utnapishtim was made to be a God  but Noah in Genesis staied a human and was tald to “go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives, with you. All the animals that are with you of all flesh, fowl and cattle and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth, take out with you, and let them swarm throught the earth and be fruitful and multiply on the earth”(pp 36).  Timewise thereis a differense too as in Epic of Gilgamesh the flood was for 7 days and in Genesis for 10 month and 7 days. There is a mysterious thing for 7 in both cultures.

Its hard to say what story came first but some scholars say that  early Jews were not a people who wrote things, so the Genesis story could have been around orally for some time before it was written.

A lot of discussions and arguments are going on this issue but still supporters say that finding the Ark would validate their views on a whole range of matters.

Genensis is seen as more scientific book but the Epic of Gilgamesh contains a lot from myth. This explains its divine-human interactions, mortality issue, divine inteference in humans’ lives.

Posted in Genesis - Gilgamesh | 35 Comments

Former RussianPresident V. Putin/Gilgamesh

Well known V. Putin who was an acting Russian president for 2 terms since 2000 till 2008 became a prime minister. His successor D. Medevedev is notoriously known to be his cover and protégé. As rumors said that V. Putin might be one of the richest and powerful man in Russia and he hasn’t got a will to eliminate his power in a country.

On 28 January 2008, Gorbachev in his interview to Interfax “sharply criticized the state of Russia’s electoral system and called for extensive reforms to a system that has secured power for President Vladimir V. Putin and the Kremlin’s inner circle”. Following Gorbachev’s interview The Washington Posts editorial said: “No wonder that Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s last leader, felt moved to speak out. “Something wrong is going on with our elections”, he told the Interfax agency. But it’s not only elections: In fact, the system that Mr. Gorbachev took apart is being meticulously reconstructed.”

In July 2007, Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal wrote: “Russia has become, in the precise sense of the word, a fascist state. It does not matter here, as the Kremlin’s apologists are so fond of pointing out, that Mr. Putin is wildly popular in Russia: Popularity is what competent despots get when they destroy independent media, stoke nationalistic fervor with military buildups and the cunning exploitation of the Church, and ride a wave of petrodollars to pay off the civil service and balance their budgets. Nor does it matter that Mr. Putin hasn’t re-nationalized the “means of production” outright; corporatism was at the heart of Hitler’s economic policy, too.”

In NYT article “Medvedev Speech Sparks Rumor of Putin’s Return” is said that they might revise russian political system and increase presidency term to 6 years and after a break as a prime minister V. Putin might come to political arena again in 2012.

In Epic of Gilgamesh Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh’s equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens of Uruk. Together they undertake dangerous quests that incur the displeasure of the Gods.

Epic of Gilgamesh and Russian situation right know has something in common. Same as V. Putin nominated to an office D. Medvedev to distract people same  the Gods created Enkidu to distract Gilgamesh from oppressing people. V. Putin is like the God in Russia who does whatever he wants even if it agains the Constitution and interests of Russia. D. Medvedev is like loyal Enkidu.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/world/europe/07putin.html?scp=2&sq=medvedev+putin&st=nyt

Posted in Gilgamesh | Comments Off on Former RussianPresident V. Putin/Gilgamesh