Beatrice was the youngest of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert’s nine children, and only four years old when her father died and her mother embarked upon a long life-time of mourning. As her older children married and formed ties with royalty from throughout Europe, the Queen was determined to keep at least one of her daughters at home to serve as her constant companion and secretary. Too young at the beginning, the role passed through older sisters, until Beatrice, or “Baby,” the moniker by which she would be known into adulthood, was old enough to fill in.
Growing up in a house of mourning, Beatrice didn’t enjoy many childhood activities, and neither did she have playmates or the company of young people her own age. Her only rebellion against her mother was to fall in love and insist on marrying Prince Henry “Liko” of Battenberg, but even then, Victoria only gave her permission if the pair agreed to make their home with her. While this arrangement was suitable for Beatrice, who had known nothing else, and Prince Henry agreed to it in order to marry Beatrice, he was soon restless, setting off on hunting and sailing jaunts for weeks or even months at a time. Ultimately this was his downfall, as he decided it was his duty to go to Africa to fight the Ashanti, where he caught malaria, and died on his way home.
More interesting in many ways than Beatrice, the ever-devoted and self-subsuming daughter, was the portrait of the Queen who came across as dependent on husband and then children, spoiled, sometimes helpless, and not the imperious monarch who one thought ruled her country with an iron hand, other than within her own family. More reading is needed to understand Victoria within the context of her family and the era.
Soothing chimerical resolve: tackling our global problems; (August 10, 2009)
Note: I posted the original essay on June 23, 2009 and I needed to re-edit it. This post will focus on the global problems. The follow up post will consider viable global resolutions.
Fact one: Climate and environment are quickly deteriorating.
Fact two: Birth control is not efficient in the mostly under-developed States
Fact three: Potable water and water for irrigation are dwindling fast.
Fact four: The middle classes in China and India are expanding alarmingly.
Fact five: The world economy is experiencing serious deflationary period.
Fact six: The world is going through deep financial crisis and recession.
Fact seven: Effective military spending should decrease but it didn’t.
Fact eight: The identity crisis around the world is destabilizing order and security.
Fact One: Climate and environment are quickly deteriorating. The ten signs of alert are proven in the following evidences.
Oceans are turning more acid. At 8 kilometers of the Californian coasts shells and corals are being dissolved. In the Pacific Ocean, 30% of mussel has disappeared. Planktons, the basic food chain for fishes, small and large, are no longer abundant; 30% has depleted since the industrial age.
The Arctic is changing drastically. Ice field has melted by 27% in the last two decades. Temperature increased by 3 degrees in the last 5 years. Thus, the more ice melt the larger the surface is exposed to direct sun rays and consequently the more the rate of ice melting increases. The level of oceans is increasing and covering more dry lands.
The Amazon and tropical forests regions are drying up and liberating higher quantities of carbon dioxide. This equatorial forest is liberating more CO2 than absorbing; absorbing CO2 was their primary function. More trees are dying and thus liberating more CO2 by decomposition. The higher the concentration of CO2 the lesser trees “perspire” and the more reduced are rains in quantity and frequency.
The climate in Antarctica, the main source of future potable water, is milder; temperature has increased by one degree since the fifties. Salinity of sea water in the southern globe is decreasing. The Antarctic must be melting faster than observed.
Seasons are in advance of schedule and migratory birds are suffering. Spring is one week earlier in Europe: 75% of birds studied in Europe have declined in number and migrating further north and seek higher altitudes.
Dry seasons are extending. Monsoons are rarefied; precipitations are decreasing and the desert in North Africa is expanding southward western Africa. Deforestation might still be the main culprit but the warming up of the environment is catching up fast as the main factor.
Methane gas, present as methane hydrate in maritime sediment, is escaping from oceans. The under layer of pergolas (pergelisol) used to act as a lid but more abundant hot water is being ejected in the Arctic seas; the concentration along the Russian coast is 200 times superior to normal. Methane gas is far worse than CO2 (20 times more powerful in retaining heat) for the warming up of the environment.
Glaciers such as the Himalaya and the Quelccaya (Peru) are losing 0.85 meters in their thickness every year. Around 40 frozen lakes in Nepal and Bhutan are breaking up.
Sea levels are climbing 3 mm every year on average; the levels in the Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean Sea are reaching the alarming climb of 20 mm a year.
The warming up of the climate is accelerating dangerously. Temperature increased 0.6 degrees just in the last 30 years while it took a century to increase 0.2 degrees before then. The concentration in CO2 has increased to about 400 molecules per million; it was just 270 before the industrial age.
The liberation of methane gas and the drought of tropical forests are the two major factors that show evidence in the acceleration of environmental degradation. The fast degradation has overtaken current research data that are no longer suitable for predicting the approaching calamity.
Fact Two: Birth control is not efficient in the mostly under-developed States.
China and India are supposed to have gotten birth rate under control but it is not because of higher educational level and better standards of living. There are evidence of massive euthanasia practices on females and minorities camouflaged within laws interpreted very loosely and selectively. In the under-developed States political instability, poor security for law and order, unsustainable social institutions, and lack of financial and technical supports are exacerbating an already dangerous trend. The UN is short on money and manpower in its specialized sections to counter this scourge. Over 50% of the population in Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, and Iran for example are under 15 years of age. (Global viable and alternative resolutions will be developed in a follow up article)
In Japan and many European States the trend is reversed; over 30% of the population is elderly (above 65 years) and draining the health budgets.
Fact Three: Potable water and water for irrigation are dwindling fast.
Climatic changes, heavy river pollution, accelerated urban centers, high rate of birth, and the early melting of mountain tops are depleting potable resources faster than expected. Many States rich in rivers, especially those witnessing drought seven months per year, have not be aided in erecting dams for emergency seasons. More States conflicts are centering on equitable potable water sharing. The criticality of water supply is one of the main problems facing people in the coming decade.
Fact Four: The middle classes in China and India are at least three times larger than the combined numbers in the USA and Europe and growing quickly.
China and India are experience much better increases in their GNP than the USA and Europe during this downturn. Consequently, China and India will focus on their internal markets to grow their economies in the same manner as the USA has been benefiting for over three centuries. Middle classes demand to have consumer goods available since they have the money to purchase them. They certainly have this right. The problem is that purchasing cars is the first priority for middle class citizens with investment in infrastructures and facilities to abuse of these vehicles. China has already surpassed the USA in the number of purchased car this year. India is making available inexpensive cars marketed at $2,000 in India. The kinds of energy sources that will drive these cars will have great consequences. Consumerism can drive economies but depletion of natural resources requires a cultural change to accommodate a sustainable earth.
Fact Five: The world economy is experiencing serious deflationary period.
The world economy is struggling and the downturn is expected to last for at least 5 years. This might be the best excellent news for a sustainable world production and a strategy for an economy of sobriety in consumption. There is the need for drastic diminishing of redundant and irrelevant consumer goods that can be substituted easily for human survival. Globalization created economic blocks with objective of exercising political pressures on the established developed nations. The economic or trade blocks such as South-East Asian States, the Southern Latin American States, the Gulf Arab/Iranian States, and soon a few African States are struggling to stay above water and keep up with the fast moving globalization trend.
The International Monetary Fund extended three quarter of its resources on the already industrialized states since its inception in 1944. The G20 decided to triple the IMF fund to $750 billions. The G20 will extended 44% of the funds, the other developed State a third and the over 55 poorer States will cover 17%. It was hoped the restrictions and conditions for funding projects will be reduced from 17 conditions to 5 but nothing has been materializing so far.
Fact Six: The world is going through deep financial crisis.
Millions of workers and employees lost their jobs in a few months and that trend is increasing faster than expected. The infusion of trillions of dollars into banks in order to facilitate the flow of trade transactions did not save banks from declaring bankruptcy. The meeting of the biggest 20 financial markets that produce over 85% of the world economical transactions has not reached any consensus as to the financial basket reference for money fluctuation or the control of paper money issuing rights of individual power States. Consequently, the financial crisis is opened to dangerous more frequent reversals on a downward trend. The USA is heavily relying on China for covering its increasing debt by purchasing US Treasury Bills. China will be facing enormous capital investment inside because of the consequences of rapid economical strategies. The rivers in China are over polluted, drought seasons are more frequent, and over 30 millions working in urban centers have been forced to relocate to rural areas where no job opportunities are available. The moment China decides to cut down on financing US debt the dollars will be devalued (for printing more paper money than the economy can support) and another financial crisis will loom on the horizon.
Fact Seven: Effective military spending at the increase.
People expected a rational decision by States in this economic and financial troubled times; people were hopeful that military budgets should decrease to balance other more needy budgets such as health, the environment, creating productive jobs, and education. The reverse happened: every major State that exported military hardware increased its military budget and it skyrocketed. The USA expenditure is more than double China and Russia combined and the fields of military operations expanding around the world. Societies are far more unstable and experiencing high unemployment rates and lower quality jobs for the qualified graduates.
Fact Eight: The identity crisis around the world is destabilizing order and security.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Europe had to face up to the identity and ethnic crisis in East Europe such as ethnic and religious “cleansing” and the drive for independence of tiny States within the disintegrating Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. The European Union (EU) is the best representative for projects of unification among States with identity crisis. The EU is clearly the most advanced union in matter of forging ahead with ethical issues.
Gorbachev has declared recently that Europe squandered 20 years of potential opportunities for stabilizing the European continent after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the defeat of communist Soviet Union. If we revisit the problems that Europe had to deal with in priority then Europe had plenty of excuses. First, West Germany had to absorb the cost of the re-unification of the crumbling economy of East Germany; then the EU had to battle the consequences of the disaster of 9/11 of 2001 and the frantic pressures of the Bush Jr. Administration to rally Europe to the invasion of Iraq; then the pronouncement of the Christian Conservatives alliance of the US administration of the binary dicta “either you are with us or against us”; then the declaration of an old senile Defense Minister Rumsfeld lambasting “old and senile Europe” and getting hold of the European oil investments in Iraq. The EU has now to come with a plan for the increased illegal immigration as the ideal destination location. It must be that Europe was in a rejuvenation phase to have forged ahead in short time to a successful unification program.
Global problems to whom? These problems affect us all but the “G20 something” think that they are the only one concerned. Solution for the G20 is lending money to more mega polluting mega projects. So far, the UN did not propose a program to deal with global problems. Not a single President of the G5 went public to remind us that there is such a program. Life is going on leisurely as if dirt is swept under the carpet and that is worrisome; citizens of earth are not asked to contribute and share in the responsibilities. A follow up article will attempt to offer viable global resolution and will tackle the troubles with religious extremism and state ideologies. All that I am asking is to be offered soothing chimerical resolves of the international community that it is aware of the global problems and that it promises me at least a few plans and directions.
Well, here’s a photo of a daffodil which has just flowered in my front garden, isn’t it lovely? (Try not to notice the weeds at its feet!) This means, of course, that the spring issue of Alphabet Soup magazine is just around the corner – it will be out next week!
What will you find inside?
Q&A with Mark Greenwood, author of Simpson and His Donkey, The Legend of Moondyne Joe, and Fortuyn’s Ghost (among others!)
Curiosity corner: a family growing their own vegies
Stories and poems
Writing by kids!
Crossword
Book reviews
Writing tips for kids from The Book Chook
Spring writing competition
Design-a-cover competition
(You can subscribe to Alphabet Soup via our website – parents can order with a credit card online, or print off a form to post to us with a cheque. Subscribers are entered into a draw each issue – this issue’s winner will receive a $200 book pack from Fremantle Press!)
Yes, this issue has a spring-is-in-the-air feel to it! Daffodils are easy to grow in Perth, and they suit my garden perfectly, as they don’t mind a bit of neglect! I do love to see their yellow trumpets bobbing about in spring. So – what’s growing in your garden at the moment?
Nalebuff began collecting stories from women about their first menstrual periods as a high school project. She found that while women had a variety of stories to tell, several themes, taboos, or old wives tales, carried across cultures. The stories collected here are from young women who have just recently started their periods to elderly women long over with menopause. A large number of women mentioned getting their initial, or only information about menstruation from Judy Blume’s children’s book, “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,” originally published in 1970. Nalebuff brings to our attention that young women in many countries in Africa miss weeks and weeks of school because they have no sanitary supplies, or because there are no private toilets at school.
The royalties from this book are going to support the School Water and Sanitation Project of the Health and Water Foundation in Kenya which will supply private and sanitary supplies, and to Seva Mandir, a health education program in India.
Nalebuff provides information about similar programs, as well as a variety of resources, including a website where girls can track their periods, ask questions, and share stories (www.beinggirl.com); the online menstrual museum (www.mum.org), and more.
This book is recommended to women and girls of all ages, and would make a nice book for mothers to share with daughters as they give “The Talk
Here’s my long overdue review of the book ‘God, Actually’ by Australian writer Roy Williams, a former lawyer who struggled for years with his faith. It was a gift from my devout Christian friend, who has recommended many such texts to me over the years in his attempts to convert me (after I told him I read ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins!). And I must say, out of all the things I have read, ‘God, Actually’ is the only book that has really done anything to clarify some of the fundamental issues I have about religion and Christianity in particular.
I should make it clear from the outset that you are unlikely to find any ground-breaking arguments in this book. So if you don’t start off with an open mind, you’re likely to scoff at what Williams has to say. However, what I did like about the Williams’ approach is how he applies (or at least tries to) reason and logic to religious issues and does not take an unreasonable, hard-line stance to the more controversial questions. While I don’t agree with a lot of what he says, he does end up espousing a form of ‘liberal’ Christianity that I think a lot of people on the fringe can relate to, and perhaps even believe in.
Who is Roy Williams?
We’ve all seen those Christian books written by ‘former skeptics’ on the shelves; people who were once atheists that became advocates because of some life-changing experience or because they actively sought God. Sure, it makes the book seem more compelling and the transformation more amazing, but when you actually read a couple of pages you realize that these people were probably (closet) Christians all along just using a clever marketing ploy. They never answer the tough questions that true skeptics or unbelievers would ask.
And so I had my doubts about the author when I first started reading the book. A former lawyer, Williams claims he was a skeptic about Christianity for most of his life, even though his great-grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. It was not until his mid-thirties, through ‘prodigious reading’, parenthood and a bout with depression that he became a true Christian. Is this guy a Christian in skeptics’ clothing or a genuine converted?
Well, a bit of both. Reading ‘God, Actually’, I got the feeling that Williams was not a ‘pretend atheist’, but the seeds of Christianity were always inside him, ready to bloom. He had a Christian upbringing and never strayed too far from the church, though his heart was not in it and was disheartened with it all. However, he says that his journey back into Christianity occurred when he and his wife decided to send their daughter to Sunday school. That raised alarm bells – why would someone who was truly skeptical about Christianity want to do that?
Nevertheless, I didn’t allow that to cloud my judgment when it came to the merit of Williams’ arguments.
Main issues covered
The book is divided into 3 parts. Part 1 covers ‘Reasons to Believe in God’, in which Williams tackles evolution and the human mind, in particular the emotion of love.
Part 2 discusses ‘Reasons to Believe in Christianity’, which explains why Christianity ought to be preferred to other religions – and the reason, of course, is the ‘evidence’ of Jesus and his resurrection.
Finally, in Part 3, Williams provides answers to some common objections to Christianity, such as suffering, other religions and the concepts of Heaven and Hell.
What I liked
What I liked most about Williams is that he does not talk down to the reader – he merely offers his personal point of view on why he believes the arguments against God are unconvincing to him, and why the arguments for God are.
However, just like the way Christian apologists can find a way to break down any argument propounded by atheists, I have no doubt atheists can do the same to all of William’s arguments. But Williams doesn’t deny this – he is putting forward his view and hopes to convince the reader. As he says, if he can convince just one person, then his job has been a success.
From the start, Williams tells his reader that it is impossible to be 100% certain about the existence of God (think of the implications, he says!), and thus it is necessary to adopt a deductive approach. Faith is ultimately required. It’s a reminder that no matter how much you read about religion, at the end of the day, it’s a matter of faith – either you have it or you don’t.
Williams is what I would call a ‘liberal’ Christian, and in some ways that may be problematic because many fundamental Christians probably won’t agree with his views, particularly those on the difficult issues of abortion, euthanasia and cloning. But because it emphasises substance rather than form, the Christianity that Williams advocates is one that a lot of non-believers may accept. For instance, he recognises that culture plays a crucial role in shaping a person’s religious beliefs, and that God (if he exists) will take a fair and overall approach to evaluating a person’s life when they die. So someone who was born, lived and died in a place without access to Christianity will not be judged unfavourably.
Another thing I liked was the constant references to literature and films in his examples and analogies – like Shakespeare, Jane Austen and The Matrix. Needless to say, I could relate!
What I didn’t like
While Williams starts off well in tackling the main arguments raised by atheists, as he moves on, he too often lapses into preach-mode, citing verses from the Bible as evidence and proceeding on the basis that God exists as fact. He may start off on a topic objectively (or at least try), but he can’t help but make the same mistake that a lot of Christian apologists do. For example, Williams uses the emotion of ‘love’ as justification for God’s existence – because it’s such a wonderful thing. But that argument is predicated on the existence of God!
Another common trap that Williams falls into (and to be fair, many atheists do too) is that he argues why people SHOULD believe in God rather than whether God exists as a matter of FACT. For example, he says that we should believe in God because of his love for us, or because he ‘created’ us. But God either exists or he does not – whether we SHOULD believe in him is irrelevant.
Williams also makes some incorrect assumptions. For instance, he suggests that humans are wired by God to believe in a deity – but judging from the number of atheists and agnostics out there, the applicability of that statement is limited. He also says that people must seek God to be saved – but what if someone really tried, really put in an effort, and yet still didn’t find God convincing, or believed in the wrong God, or a different God, or no God at all? That seems awfully unfair if God punishes you for not reaching the conclusion that he wants – especially if he was the one that ‘created’ you to be this way.
There are also some inconsistencies in Williams’ arguments. On the question of suffering, he says that God doesn’t intervene when humans suffer because of free will. That I understand. However, on the other hand, when things are favourable (eg we haven’t been blown up by nuclear weapons despite close calls), Williams attributes this to God’s grace. God either intervenes or he does not. To say God does not intervene because of free will, and then to say the fact that we have not blown ourselves up (something totally within the control of humans) is evidence of God’s grace is inherently contradictory.
But perhaps Williams’ biggest problem is that he too often explains something by saying that it simply ‘rings true’ to him. The problem is, the same argument won’t necessarily ring true to everyone, and it may actually have the opposite effect. What if something rings true to him but rings false to someone else? Does that mean his instincts are right and the other person’s are wrong?
Oh, and I didn’t like Williams’ explicit use of his ‘lawyer’ training to support his arguments. For example, he applies his lawyer skills to the inconsistent records of Jesus, in particular the Gospels. He says he would be more skeptical if all the records matched up. Well, isn’t the first thing that a lawyer looks for inconsistencies? Sometimes that’s all it takes to generate reasonable doubt.
Conclusion
‘God, Actually’ provides viable alternatives to atheist theories. Whether they convince you or not is beside the point – what it does well is put holes in some atheist arguments and suggest that these arguments are not irrefutable. In a way, this book best helps people who are ALREADY believers in the Christian faith who have doubts because of atheist theories and arguments. Williams’ arguments may put away those lingering doubts. But what it falls well short of is convincing atheists from switching sides or agnostics from falling towards Christianity.
That being said, it’s about as objective of a book as you can expect to find from a Christian apologist. It would be great if one of these books could be written by a genuine agnostic and not someone who has already fallen firmly into one side or another (Christian or Atheist) and analyses the arguments objectively without providing a subjective conclusion – instead, allowing people to decide for themselves.
His past. Her future. Can love bring them together in time?
Abby’s senior year of high school is going according to plan: good friends, cute boyfriend, and college applications in the mail. But when Dante Alexander, foreign-exchange student from Italy, steps into her life, he turns it upside down. He’s mysterious, and interesting, and unlike anyone she’s ever met before. Abby can’t deny the growing attraction she feels for him. Nor can she deny the unusual things that seem to happen when Dante is around. Soon Abby finds herself drawn into a mystery whose roots reach into sixteenth-century Florence, and she uncovers a dangerous truth that threatens not only her future but the lives of those she loves.
Girlchamploo’s Review:
I say this often, and I’ll say it again, Twilight, or Stephenie Meyer, has seriously ruined the future of most teen supernatural romances. Everything I read since Twilight, I think “This is so twilight-esque,” but is it? Because she used every girly love cliche out there doesn’t make Meyer the original Teen romance author, which saddens me.. however, as much as I hate to say it, The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum was a little thick on the “twilight-esque”.
But I loved it! It was sultry and mysterious and leaves your whole body aching for the next book. I was left so unsatisfied at the end, thinking “But I was just beginning to understand it all!” Lisa Mangum’s ideas are refreshing and inspiring. I loved her take on time travel and the time paradox. Her characters are alive and well in my memory even now writing this review.
Her writing style was a little rough, considering it was a debut, but not impossible to get through. I was a little bored after so many paragraphs of dow dreamy, dark and handsome Dante was, but I think Twilight just wore me out on lusting for dark, mysterious and seemingly dangerous strangers. That being said, it didn’t stop me falling for Dante myself. He’s a true gentlemen and I’ll admit I kept thinking about investing in an Italian dictionary!
If you want a new, exciting tale of time travel and endearing love, The Hourglass Door should be your nest pick!
Over the last couple of months I have been under conviction to earnestly and academically interact with the official teachings of the Roman Catholic church in order to prepare myself for ministry to people who come out of a Catholic background. Even though many of these people are likely going to be Catholic in name only, I should be prepared to accurately speak on the doctrines of their church, which is a task that as of two months ago I was wholly unequipped to do. Like I told my wife, I want to be able to know more about Catholicism than Catholics.
So, to start myself along that path I have been reading from two sources.
The first one is a book written by Thomas Howard, a former evangelical who has “returned to Rome.” It is entitled On Being Catholic and offers a broad, though at most points theologically shallow, perspective on Roman Catholicism. Addressing issues ranging from ecclessiology to Mariology to soteriology, Howard does his best to give an insight into the life of a doctrinally aware Catholic. At the same time he makes an argument for evangelicals to say that our two traditions are not as far apart as we often think. Throughout the book I found myself seeing how the different doctrines logically sprang from one another, even though I ultimately had to reject the premises upon which most of them were built. All in all the author manages to give a very clear layman’s understanding of why Catholics do what they do.
The second text I read is historian Mark Noll’s venture with journalist Carolyn Nystrom into answering the question Is the Reformation Over? This is a very interesting look at the current state of relations between Protestantism and the Catholic church. Because of the nature of Catholicism, where official teachings are set down by the Magisterium, one can look at the document containing them, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and (surprisingly?) see that much of what they have to say is tolerable, likely even identical, to the teachings coming out of evangelical pulpits. Place on top of this the growing calls from voices on both sides of the Reformation divide to join together in evangelistic cooperation and you find that the question of whether or not the Reformation is over is not as cut-and-dry as on the surface it may seem.
I am convinced that it is time for American evangelicals to reassess their understanding of Catholic doctrine. In the end I believe that there are still many points on which the differences are irreconcilable, but the attitude that is commonly brought to the table makes seeing the similarities nearly impossible. If we are ever to reach the nominally Christian individual in this post-Christian/post-Catholic nation then a good first step is cutting through the stereotypes and misinformation that most of us cling to when it comes to the Catholic church.
