Ruprecht and Santaclaus

Knecht Ruprecht, Companion of Father Christmas, is also known as "Servant Ruprecht", "Farmhand Ruprecht", "Pelzebock", "Pelznickel" ("Nicholas in furs"), "Zwarte Piet" or "Zwarte Peter" in the Netherlands and Flanders, "Black Peter", and "Schmutzli Samichlaus" in Switzerland, sometimes associated with Saint Rupert. Other names include "Rumpelklas", "Bellzebub", "Hans Muff", "Drapp", and "Buzebergt" in the neighborhood of Augsburg.

from: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I think this is one of the most funny examples how myths get mixed-up, altered and confused with fiction books of only a few people.
I found it a lot of fun to read the wikipedia description of Sinterklaas, compared to Santa Claus, and Pelzneckel.

I would love to see all traditions changed into one new, world-wide view:
Santa-Claus (as pelzrot) and Saint Nicholas are travelling companions from the North pole and Spain (or Turkey), who travel the world to see whether all children (and adults) have behaved well. If they have, they get small presents in their stockings, if they have not, they only get sticks or grass! The naughty children should improve their behaviour between december 6th and christmas, otherwise they will not get any presents under the christmas tree!
Of course the children must invite these men to come to their houses and prove their well behaviour by singing songs and leaving cookies, milk, and carrots and hay for the reindeer and the white horse.


from: stnicholas.kids.us

the only thing which is unfortunate, is that 'zwarte Piet' is lost in this new tradition. He is a very charming character, but I also find it discrimination that he is based on the time when it was fashionable to have black servants. It is no longer fashionable to have black servants, and we do not want to teach outher children such a thing. Whatever parents say, all children at some time realise that he is simply a black slave. I would prefer to see our two old men being accompanied by an army of elves of all colours and sorts, wearing dresses from all over the world, or even myths. now would that not be fun?


from: at a school

from: at a school

merry Saint Niclaus' day!

rubik's cube part two

yesterday I finished another rubik's cube. Now I'm really finished cubing for a while...

genocide and democide

from: Millstein Library
and 'Power kills;, absolute power kills absolutely.'

some terminology

Genocide: among other things, the killing of people by a government because of their indelible group membership (race, ethnicity, religion, language).
Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

• (a) Killing members of the group;
  
• (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
  
• (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
  
• (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
  
• (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Politicide: the murder of any person or people by a government because of their politics or for political purposes.

Mass Murder: the indiscriminate killing of any person or people by a government.

Democide: The murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder.

link:
prevent genocide international
http://www.genocidewatch.org/

Rubik's Cube

YOUHOU! Today I solved Rubik's cube!
For the third time in my life, as far as I can remember. The other two times were about one or two years ago. And just like then, it took me quite a long time now.
And a long time is something like weeks or months. But hey, I made it!

I started my latest Rubik's cube about two months ago, and the last few weeks I was pretty posessed by solving it. I even got a querrel about it with my boyfriend, who found it useless and a waste of time. So what? A lot of things we do are useless. Like sleeping! I only wish sleeping were not necessary! That would save so much time, during which you can do so much!

Anyway, I can remember that last time I used the strategy of solving a triangle, then solving all edges, then positioning some corners, solving again all edges, positioning new corners, solving again the edges, etc. In the end I kept undoing what I had, because each time there were about 2 or 4 block in the wrong place.

This time I used the strategy of solving a 2x2x3 block, adding a square to that, and then positioning the rest, until I kept three block wrong all the time. About two weeks ago I started wondering what there would be on the internet on Rubik's cube and I found the following site By Lars Petrus.
Even this site could not help me much further, but it did increase my skills in looking a few turns farther. So in the end, I solved the cube by using my noodles, as a certain professor would say.

on the bald Muslima

the following text is inspired by a short article in the newspaper.

A few weeks ago I read in the newspaper that a French girl had shaven all her hair off, to be allowed to go to school. In France, high-school pupils are no longer allowed to attend school while wearing a veil or other prominent religious signs. The girl’s mother declared that her daughter believed that showing her hair was against her religion. The girl wanted desperately to attend school and to her this was the only way to stay faithful to her beliefs and be allowed to attend school.

• 
  IOL - news
  
• a French Forum with a picture of the girl. (I did not find this forum until after having written this text)

Why do Islamic women go hidden under their veil and is going bald an acceptable alternative? I am not a Muslim, so I do not know why those women wear a veil. I sometimes wonder whether they really know it themselves, or simply do it, because other (older) people told them to do so. The Islam religion does not allow people to criticise the Islam. The Qur’an is perfect, and whoever questions the book, or Allah, is a sinner.
However, I know the Qur’an prescribes women to cover their chest, and believe this is interpreted as ‘to cover their hair (and chest).’ As I understand it, the goal of the veil is to hide the beauty of the woman. This beauty will turn the heads of men, who cannot contain their lust. Women are therefore bad creatures, who try to lure the men away from the right path. And men are sexual beasts, who stop thinking straight the moment they see a woman. Since we cannot change the nature of men, the Islam wants to hide the beauty of women, and punishes them for their beauty. All women that show their hair and skin (other than face and hands) are therefore hores.
In this context, I do not think going bald has the same effect as hiding one’s hair. It is not just the hair that makes a woman beautiful and attractive. And it is not just hair that arouses lust. I find bare skin much more sexual than hair.
Though most men will not find a bald woman attractive, there are some very beautiful bald ladies. And there are probably some men that will only fall for bald women.

Finally I wondered whether strangers would now consider her to be a skinhead, with all prejudice that goes along with this entitlement. The following French Forum has a picture of her.

The last thing I would like to say is that I find this girl very courageous and hope that a lot of girls will follow her example. I hope Muslim men will show their compassion and shave their heads as well. I would applaud it if bald would become the trend, because it would eliminate all differences.
Though shaving her hair could have been an act of despair, it also strikes me as an act of protest. I see it as a protest against this discriminating law (even though there are good intentions behind it), which does not allow freedom of expressing one's religion, and as a protest against the rigid nature of her own religion, which does not allow a lot of things which are normal for Western people.

After having read an article in which the attitude of Dutch and French people towards the Islam is considered, I came to the conclusion that the people in these countries have totally different perspectives. It is therefore unlikely that I share the view of the French, or that they share mine. I do not know the exact reasoning of this girl, or her motives to shave off her hair.

She is probably just a girl that tries to be faithful to herself (her own culture and religion) and to the Law of the French Democracy. She proves herself a French citizen with dignity.

on slavery

from: http://www.hoffman-info.com/forgottenslaves.html

an interesting website on slavery before the era of black slaves in America. It made me realise that slavery is of all times, of all races and that it still exists. People in Asia and Africa are still being kidnapped and transported to europe, the filipines and other countries, where they are sold or forsed in labour (in the sex industry). Even the chances of dying during transport are still high!

zappa: on kneeling and bending over

a short citation of Frank Zappa's fantastic oeuvre:

Whoever we are
Wherever we’re from
We shoulda noticed by now
Our behavior is dumb
And if our chances
Expect to improve
It’s gonna take a lot more
Than tryin’ to remove
The other race
Or the other whatever
From the face
Of the planet altogether

They call it the earth
Which is a dumb kinda name
But they named it right
’cause we behave the same...
We are dumb all over

….

Hey, we can’t really be dumb
If we’re just following god’s orders
Hey, let’s get serious...
God knows what he’s doin’
He wrote this book here
An’ the book says:
He made us all to be just like him,
So...
If we’re dumb...
Then God is dumb...
(an’ maybe even a little ugly on the side)



remember there's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over...

from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank-zappa/57039.html

but really from Frank Zappa!

on 'there'

I used to say "I believe there is something", meaning that I did not believe in the christian god, but that I did believe in a divinity. However, in the same year I said that, I stopped believing in that divinity, and started to become a real scientist. I now pretty much believe in atoms, elements and the laws of physics. (but I do realize that those laws only attempt to describe processes that we do not fully understand)

recently I have come to understand why stating "I believe there is something" stopped me from belief. I could not agree with that sentence. I do not believe there is something, I believe something ís.

Because 'there' implies that something is in a place somewhere, but I do not believe that. A holy spirit would be everywhere

Ivan

from: http://hurricane.info.usaid.gov/ivansmall.jpg

Track his future path on: ivan

Vlieland

I spent a few days on the Island Vlieland. Here's a view of the Island by the hands of an artist I admire:

on Veda's and Muslims

"Before the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, brought the religion of Islam to Arabia, the Arabs were a polytheistic people. Hindu merchants frequently passed through Makkah, a major trading hub. Ancient Indian Vedic texts refer to Makkah as a place where Alla the Mother Goddess was worshiped. In Sanskrit, Alla means “mother.” This name was connected to the Hindu Goddess Ila. She was the consort of the Hindu God Śiva in his form known as Il, and this form of Śiva was known and worshiped in pre-Islamic Makkah."

from: http://http://www.quiddity-inc.com/id10.html

on mormons and gnostics

" Viewing the character of the deity of Genesis with a sober, critical eye, the Gnostics concluded that this God was neither good nor wise. He was envious, genocidal, unjust, and, moreover, had created a world full of bizarre and unpleasant things and conditions. In their visionary explorations of secret mysteries, the Gnostics felt that they had discovered that this deity was not the only God, as had been claimed, and that certainly there was a God above him.

This true God above was the real father of humanity, and, moreover, there was a true mother as well, Sophia, the emanation of the true God. Somewhere in the course of the lengthy process of pre-creational manifestation, Sophia mistakenly gave life to a spiritual being, whose wisdom was greatly exceeded by his size and power. This being, whose true names are Yaldabaoth (child of the chaos), Samael (blind god), and also Saclas (foolish one), then proceeded to create a world, and eventually also a human being called Adam. Neither the world nor the man thus created was very serviceable as created, so Sophia and other high spiritual agencies contributed their light and power to them. The creator thus came to deserve the name "demiurge" (half maker), a Greek term employed in a slightly different sense by philosophers, including Plato....

from On the Origin of the World:
Sophia sent Zoe, her daughter, who is called "Eve," as an instructor in order that she might raise up Adam, in whom there is no spiritual soul so that those whom he could beget might also become vessels of light. When Eve saw her companion, who was so much like her, in his cast down condition she pitied him, and she exclaimed: "Adam, live! Rise up upon the earth!" Immediately her words produced a result for when Adam rose up, right away he opened his eyes. When he saw her, he said: "You will be called 'mother of the living', because you are the one who gave me life."
from: http://www.gnosis.org/genesis.html

Today I discovered that a week ago, I had a gnostic insight. After a visit to the website mormon.com, I wrote them an e-mail, which i was not able to send, because it was too long. I will quote a part of the letter here: and the entire letter can be read on my website www.geocities.com/cmvankempen

" God created our spirits in a sort of eternal place, and makes our spirits in such a way that they should develop. Part of their education is the school called earth, where the spirits learn what it is like to be living in a world like ours. Learn right from wrong, etc. We must learn this, to become more like our heavenly father himself. The school is also a test. Not everybody passes, some end up in hell, or must pay for their sins before returning to the spirit world.
You did not state a reason why the spirits develop, or what they develop to, other than becoming more like god. Assuming all stated is reality, then I cannot believe we develop to become more like god and then just sit and ' be' spirits, resembling god.
The information on your site raises the interpretation, that we are offspring of god (he is our heavenly father) and he is educating us to become gods ourselves (more like him), but not
necessarily on the same level as him. Like family ties on earth, the father always remains older, wiser, and higher in hierarchy. God himself is not perfect, since he made spirits that are not perfect. They must develop, and when on earth, they can proof to fail the test and turn out inappropriate to fulfil their purpose in the spirit world. These failed spirits are going to hell, which surely has a purpose as well, but I will not elaborate on that.
So we are being sorted out, and the reason for that is that our final purpose is too important to let spirits that were not capable to learn certain things get a chance to screw up in our work of 'final purpose'.
Now the clue: we are learning what it is to be on earth, to be tempted and to know right from wrong, because we one day will do the same thing as god did: create spirits and a world
for spirits to learn. And he wants us to do a better job than he did. The new worlds must be better, with more peace and righteousness, allowing the new generation of spirits to learn other things, so that they are more
evolved/intelligent. "

from: cmvankempen

dagspreuk

" why take Oma als je Aap hebt "

from: aapvader J

welcome, to the first blog of my brand new blogging life

wowie, I've got my own blog! (really sounds like vomiting....)
All thankx to Sjoerd, because I wanted to reply on his and congratulate him with his latest achievements. And now look at this. Who would have thaught.
I wanted to start a blog on my own website, but that was too much work to create in an easy way. Actually its not that hard, It only gets hard when you get lots of posts and if you want people to be able to react.
Anyway, its not that I'm so interesting, that I really should have a blog. It's more my ego that wants to be heard from time to time and very occasionally gets entirely inspired and wants to tell the world about this thing I'' ve made up.
Hope I will be able to keep this up better than my website,

greetings to you all,
or maybe it is time to undust my own old greet:

pleins de calins

Cheryl

what's in the name

Blockbuster was the name of the largest conventional bomb used in World War II by the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force. ... The name was given because a "Blockbuster" was capable of destroying an entire city block.

from: wikipedia, search on blockbuster

actually, I named my blog this way, because my beloved hated the caption 'cmvankempen', and I like the vomiting feeling of 'blugh' and the stupidity of the word 'blog'. So after some brainstorming, I came up with 'blog buster', because it has a meaning of success (in theatre and movie business, see wikipedia) And Of course, because of my big ego, my name just had to be included in the title. One of my alter's names is also included, because I felt like she was a bit absent lately, and I hope her to be a bit more present in the future, to give me inspiration and delivery in my normal life.

So, from now on, until it is changed, this blog is baptised: the Blog Buster: Cheryl Melati, Lamati