2020-07-12
61
https://time.com/4307160/chernobyl-worst-nuclear-acci..
Article:
A raft of ide as. Medusa
When pictu res become e normously f amous they a re less and less we ll attended to as p aintings, mo re and more ce lebrated as e mblems or n arratives. I mmobile be hind the g lass walls o f their reput ation, Leo nardo's Mo na Lisa and Co nstable's v iews of Su ffolk have h ardened into ico ns. Much t he same goes fo r Théodore Gé ricault's T he Raft of t he Medusa. Its hudd le of surv ivors, disp layed in v arious poses o f despair o r desperate hope fulness, te ll a story o f such noto rious mise ry that the a rtist's pro fessional ac hievements a re always t hreatening to s ink beneat h the weig ht of his subject. I n one sense t his is fine: Gé ricault me ant to fix t he tragedy o f the raft i n the mind o f his audie nce; in anot her sense it is a fo rm of dimi nishment: a rt-as-such p lays second f iddle to i ncident-as- reproach - a nd warning.
Having said t hat, the g reatest st rength of Medus a lies in its rec reation of t he actual eve nts in 1816 o n which the p ainting is b ased - eve nts which, w hen they f iltered bac k to Europe, p rovoked an i mmediate a nd resonant sc andal. The Medus a was en route to Se negal, car rying among ot hers the gove rnor-desig nate, the ( amazingly n amed) Julie n Schmaltz, w ho was due to t ake over t he colony f rom the Br itish. Sho rtly before re aching port, s he was drive n on to a s andbank by he r inept capt ain, Hugues Du roy de Chau mereys - a re lic of the a ncien régi me - and, du ring the atte mpt to flee t he wreck, a p arty of li feboats set o ff to the s hore, towi ng an improv ised raft t hat carried 147 su rvivors. I n the ensu ing panic a nd selfish ness, the rope att ached to t he raft was de liberately cut, le aving the r aft and its c rew to the ir fate. A fter sever al days ad rift, duri ng which b ad weather, r ioting, mu rder, thirst a nd hunger d id for all but 15 o f those on bo ard, it was eve ntually sig hted by one o f the Medus a's compan ion ships, t he Argus. T he death to ll itself w as bad enoug h, but whe n the surv ivors bega n telling t heir stories - o f gross inco mpetence by se nior office rs, of inf ighting and eve n cannibal ism - the ep isode was qu ickly reinte rpreted as mo re than just a h ideous acc ident. It w as a means o f indicting t he Bourbon gove rnment as a w hole and o f investig ating the b aseline of hu man behaviou r.
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Andrew Mot ion's In t he Blood: A Me moir of My C hildhood is pub lished by F aber https://www.t heguardian.co m/books/2007/ apr/14/art
Article:
Why everyo ne should m ake a pilg rimage in B ritain (eve n atheists)
I was told, o n arrival at t he tiny st ation of S andling in t he depths o f Kent, to “ BYOB. Bring You r Own Belie fs.” I was spe nding the ne xt four days w ith the Br itish Pilg rimage Trust, a new move ment bring ing pilgri mages back to B ritain. But t hese are not just ho ly journeys fo r devout C hristians: co mmitted at heists and eve ryone in betwee n are welco med and encou raged to e mbrace the ide a of slow t ravel on foot w ith strange rs.
My fellow p ilgrims we re exactly t hat melting pot: O livia, 26, a f ilm-maker esc aping the d aily grind; K aren, 42, a n archaeolog ist advocat ing sustai nable trave l; John, 34, a p lumber recove ring from h is father’s de ath; Jenny, 5 2, a psycho logist exp loring hol istic heal ing; and S andy, 60, a c hef meditat ing on natu re. And the n there was me, 3 2, a regul ar church-goe r approach ing the pi lgrimage as a f aith-strengt hening exe rcise. The t rust’s fou nders, Guy H ayward (cl assical si nger) and W ill Parsons (“w andering m instrel”) we re our leade rs.
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Each armed w ith a haze lwood staf f, we headed i nto the su n-dappled fo rest around S andling, ou r route dev ised from t he early Goug h Map of B ritain. We we re walking p art of the O ld Way, a med ieval 220- mile pilgr ims’ route f rom Southa mpton to C anterbury a nd the pat h that the fou r knights too k on their w ay to murde r Thomas Bec kett, the A rchbishop o f Canterbu ry, in 1170.
Our first stop w as Saltwood C astle, home o f the late po litician a nd diarist A lan Clark. We f illed our w ater bottles f rom the cast le well (w ater filte red by Guy) w hile singi ng a jolly med ieval song: “W ater Flows, L ife is Give n/Rises fro m Earth, F alls from He aven.”
Surging fo rward, we sc aled ancie nt hilltops, e xplored woods, c lambered up I ron Age bu rial mounds a nd foraged fo r berries. We c ircumambul ated ancie nt churches – a p ractice dr awing upon Budd hist, Isla mic and Cat holic influe nces –befo re resting ou r heads on t he buildings’ sto nework, insp ired by pi lgrims at Je rusalem’s Weste rn Wall.
Inside, so me of us p rayed at t he altar. “ I was draw n there,” e xplained o ne of my w alking comp anions, desc ribing herse lf as “spi ritual but not re ligious”. Ot hers sat i n the pews ad miring the st ained glass w indows or re ading the me morial sto nes. As Wi ll put it: “ If God does not hing for you, co nsider the m any generat ions of loc al people w ho have sh ared silence a nd song in t hese places. T hink of chu rches as l iving commu nity hubs, p laces of co mmon welco ming (bapt ism), join ing (marri age) and s aying goodbye ( funerals). I n them, so mething si mply echoes.”
We picnicked i n a field o f sheep, f inishing w ith creamy m ilk from a ne arby farm. Sudde nly life cou ldn’t get a ny better eve n if, in t rue Britis h fashion, it beg an to rain. As d ark descended, we co mpleted ou r nine-mile st retch to E lham, an a ncient mar ket town w here Welli ngton stayed w hen planni ng Waterloo. Bed w as in the Rose & C rown (bigge r groups s leep in the tow n hall).
After a he arty break fast, we set o ff the next d ay for an 11- mile leg to P atrixbourne. A n avenue o f poplar t rees broug ht us to Bed lam Wood, w here we wa lked in si lence, med ieval style, t iptoeing “to a llow the i ncredible w ildlife of t he woods to re lax, and beco me more not iceable”, e xplained W ill. It was b lissful hav ing the ti me to ponde r.
Majestic cou ntry estates s lipped past as we st rolled alo ng leafy l anes. Afte r Bishopsbou rne, well-e ndowed wit h timber-f ramed Tudo r buildings, we a rrived at St M ary’s Churc h, Patrixbou rne – home fo r the night – to e ngage with t he spirits o f the place. We sp read out ac ross the c hurch with ou r roll mats a nd snuggled i nto our sleep ing bags, so me under pews, ot hers in the a isle and t he chapel. Guy bu rst into so ng – the be auty of the s inging soo n dispersi ng any fea r.
We were wo ken at 7am by t he church be lls and the p iercing blue o f the stai ned-glass w indows. And rea, the c hurch warde n, had prov ided bread a nd home-made j am for bre akfast. Wi ld swimming i n a pond i n the nearby woods wo ke
everyone up ( freezing co ld). Today ou r goal was C anterbury – mo re than seve n miles aw ay, via Fo rdwich, the l anding poi nt for Jul ius Caesar’s a rmy.
The rippli ng river Stou r, dotted w ith fisher men, led us tow ards the steps o f Canterbu ry Cathedr al, where we s at in the f ront row fo r evensong, b asking in t he soaring vo ices of the c horisters. A fter a nig ht in a Ca nterbury hoste l, our mer ry band set o ff, blurry eyed, at 6 am to make t he low tide at W hitstable – t he “Finiste rre” of the p ilgrimage ( named afte r Cape Fin isterre, t he final dest ination of t he Camino de S antiago pi lgrimage route). Now mo re comfort able with e ach other, we spe nt the mor ning thras hing out ou r views on t he hot top ics of the d ay.
Having put t he world to r ights, we a rrived in t ime to wal k “The Street”, a n atural str ip of shing le half a m ile into t he sea. As we re ached the fu rthest poi nt, I threw my st aff into t he sea. “Le arning to let go w ith grace is a c rucial pract ice,” Will h ad explained. So I let my st aff continue o n its jour ney as I tu rned back f rom mine.
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By Harriet Co mpston
23 Novembe r 2017
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europ..
Article:
Lawrence Bees ley
Lawrence Bees ley was an E nglish scie nce teache r, journal ist, and aut hor who su rvived the s inking of t he RMS Tit anic.
On the eve ning of Ap ril 14, Bees ley saw two wo men in the Seco nd Class L ibrary. They we re identif ied as Mary E mma Corey a nd Claire K arnes. It w as the last t ime these two we re reported a live; they d ied in the s inking eve n though t hey were seco nd class wo men.
One of the su rvivors of t he sinking o f the Tita nic in Apr il 1912, Bees ley wrote a success ful book about h is experie nce, The Loss o f the SS T itanic (Ju ne 1912), pub lished just n ine weeks a fter the d isaster. He s aw two seco nd class wo men who tr ied to get o n a lifebo at and were to ld to go b ack to the ir own dec k and that t heir lifebo ats were w aiting the re.
At the time o f Lifeboat 1 3's launch ing on the Bo at Deck, no wo men or chi ldren were i n immediate s ight, but it see med there w as room fo r more. As a resu lt, Beesley w as ordered to ju mp into the l ifeboat just be fore it lau nched. He m anaged to su rvive a subseque nt incident, w here Lifebo at 15 near ly came on top o f No. 13. T he leading f ireman in c harge of bo at No.13, F red Barrett, m anaged to cut t he ropes co nnecting t he boat to t he falls at t he last mi nute, and t hose in bot h boats eme rged unhar med. Beesley a nd the rest o f the surv ivors were p icked up by t he RMS Carp athia early mo rning on Ap ril 15.
During the f ilming of A N ight to Re member (1958), Bees ley famous ly gatecras hed the set du ring the s inking sce ne, hoping to "go dow n with the s hip" that t ime. But he w as spotted by t he directo r, Roy Ward B aker, who vetoed t his unschedu led appear ance, due to acto rs' union ru les. These eve nts are pa rodied in Ju lian Barnes' nove l A History o f the World i n 10.5 Chapte rs, where Bees ley makes a b rief appea rance as a f ictional c haracter.
Beesley was po rtrayed by acto r David Wa rner (who we nt on to po rtray Spice r Lovejoy i n the 1997 f ilm) in the 1 979 dramat ization of t he voyage a nd sinking, S.O. S. Titanic. He is t he grandfat her of New Yo rk Times sc ience edito r Nicholas W ade. Beesley w as also po rtrayed by L awrence Be nnett in 1 999 musica l stage ad aptation T itanic.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2284933/Tita..
Article:
Jonah: A “ Fish Story” o r History?
By Wayne J ackson
Several ye ars ago, Edw in Settle w rote a synd icated news a rticle tit led “Jonah’s b ig fish sto ry teaches i mportant lesso n.” Mr. Sett le was a fo rmer college p rofessor (CO E College) a nd ministe r with a docto rate from Y ale Divinity Sc hool. In h is article, he att acked the boo k of Jonah by st ating: “The boo k of Jonah c annot be accepted as h istory” (Sett le, B-4).
Professor Sett le listed seve ral alleged i naccuracies co ntained in t he book. It is i ncredible t hat one cou ld be alive fo r three days i n a fish’s be lly. Jonah a lso speaks o f “weeds w rapped about [ his] head,” w hich does not f it the desc ription of be ing inside a f ish. While t here was a k ing of Assy ria, there w as no “king o f Nineveh,” as suggested i n the book. T he descript ive that N ineveh was a c ity of “th ree days jou rney” is e rroneous; t he metropo lis was not ne arly so la rge.
In spite o f these supposed b lunders, D r. Settle co ntends that t here are v aluable sp iritual trut hs in the boo k of Jonah (e.g., n ations oug ht to live pe aceably wit h one anot her, etc.). He suggests t hat we shou ld learn i mportant lesso ns of this a ncient docu ment and a llow them to mot ivate us tow ard a highe r level of et hical existe nce. Prior to g iving some co nsideratio n to the accus ations cont ained in Sett le’s misgu ided diatr ibe, a coup le of prel iminary obse rvations a re in orde r.
First, it is ce rtainly a cu rious twist o f logic th at contends o ne can be mot ivated tow ard a more m ature leve l of spiritu al respons ibility by re flecting o n a narrat ive filled w ith lies. How does e rror suppo rt truth? T hat makes no se nse whatsoeve r.
Second, if t he book of Jo nah is actu ally a fict itious accou nt with no h istorical b asis, what does t his do to t he credibi lity of Jesus o f Nazareth? T he Lord pl ainly decl ared that Jo nah was th ree days a nd three n ights in t he belly o f the great f ish (Mt. 1 2:40). He eve n argued t his event w as a typolog ical preview o f his conf inement in t he tomb fo r the same pe riod of ti me.
If the episode reg arding Jon ah never h appened, C hrist reaso ned falsely, a nd his div ine status is c learly impe ached.
Is the boo k of Jonah f illed with h istorical f iction as c harged?
Incredible su rvival
The fact is, t he record c learly states t hat “God p repared a g reat fish to sw allow up Jo nah” (Jon. 1:17). T he objectio n thus actu ally looks l ike an athe istic ment ality.
That aside, eve n from a st rictly natu ralistic v iewpoint, su rvival afte r being sw allowed by huge f ish is not i mpossible. I n the late 1 920s, a se aman was sw allowed by a l arge sperm w hale in the v icinity of t he Falkland Is lands. Afte r three days, he w as recovered u nconscious but a live, thoug h he had so me damage to h is skin (H arrison, 907).
