Music and Worship in the Evangelical Brazilian Church podcast

I'm glad to announce the podcast I did with Denise - my mother - featured at the Emergent Village podcast. It's called "Music and Worship in the Evangelical Brazilian Church". Here it is:

http://www.emergentvillage.com/podcast/music-and-worship-in-the-evangelical-brazilian-church

It ends with the music "Em Nome da Justiça" by João Alexandre.

Let me know what you think!

- Gustavo

Unis en Jésus / Eins in Jesus / Uniti in Gesù

I like this CD. I bought it in Paris. It is a group of Christians from Switzerland. What I like most (more than the lyrics) is the fact that they sing in the 3 official languages: French, German and Italian. Here's an excerpt in French:

Nous voulons vivre Wir wollen eins sein - Sylvain Freymond

1 Nous voulons vivre l'unité, rester ensemble à chaque instant.
Sourtout ne pas nous séparer, continuer d'aller de l'avant.

Tous ensemble, nous partageons l'amour du Seigneur, l'adoration du Sauveur.
Tous ensemble, nous accueillons l'Esprit du Seigneur, l'unité du Créateur.

2 Nous voulons te rester fidèle et devenir un même corps,
Travailler au lien de la paix, marcher toujours dans le même Esprit.

3 Reconnaissons nos différences en Dieu, elles seront notre force.
Nous allons partager ensemble, chercher encore le Royaume de Dieu.

There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea

If it said "there's a hole in the roof of the sky" I guess they would be referring to the ozone layer and global warming. That's not the case. If you think of it from the philosophical sense, what does it mean that "There's a hole in the bottom of the sea"? I guess it's one of those tales from the XV century. At that time people created these myths to impress others and to impart fear on others. I don't think that's what Grover says. I think he's helping us to expand our imagination. He gradually adds to the details. It must be something important, otherwise he wouldn't repeat it this much. Here it is (I hope I could sing it Sunday):

There's a Hole in the Bottom of the Sea
sung by Grover (Frank Oz)

There's a hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a hole
There's a hole
There's a hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a log on the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a log on the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a log
There's a log
There's a log on the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a bump
There's a bump
There's a bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a frog
There's a frog
There's a frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a tail
There's a tail
There's a tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a flea
There's a flea
There's a flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a speck on the flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a speck on the flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log on the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a speck
There's a speck
There's a speck on the flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

There's a teeny weeny something that's so small you can't see it
On the speck on the flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea
There's a what?!!
There's .... all that stuff in the bottom of the sea
There's a teeny weeny something
There's a teeny weeny something
There's a teeny weeny something ...
On the speck on the flea on the tail on the frog on the bump on the log in the hole in the bottom of the sea

Let's forget about that teeny weeny something and we'll ...
Pluck the speck
Flick the flea
Tweak the tail
Flip the frog
Move the bump
Lose the log
Fill up the hole ...
In the bottom of the sea ...

'Cuz no one wants a hole in the bottom of the sea!!!!

In the Name of Justice

It's not intended to fit the metric. In any case, here it is

In the Name of Justice
Original title: “Em Nome da Justiça”
Music and Lyrics: João Alexandre
English translation from Portuguese (2007): Gustavo Frederico

While violence devastates people in the slums,
And those who know everything say they know nothing,
While wages rot waiting in line,
And men revoke the laws instead of fulfilling them,

While sickness takes the place of health,
And those who promised being beside the people keep changing their attitudes,
While deals are struck behind closed doors,
And the noble’s honor yields its place to the scoundrel’s sauciness,
There’s no way out, there’s no way out

We can only change this country with plenty of love
Only God’s love can make our people truly happy
We, his children, must unite our hands
In the name of justice, through deeds of justice.
She who knows God cannot hear this and be silent,
She has to be a prophet and raise his banner high
To transform the world is a matter of commitment
It’s all of that and so much more…

While Sunday is still our sacred day
And in the name of God we overlook the wounded,
While sin is just a sin,
Lived out, felt by, embedded within, sneaked in and thought out

While some sing and dance with their eyes closed
There’s people dying of hunger everywhere
The “God” one sings about not always is the God one lives out,
Because God reveals himself, gets involved, resolves and revives
There’s no way out, there’s no way out
There’s no way out, there’s no way out

===========

Em nome da justiça - João Alexandre

Enquanto a violência acabar com o povão da baixada
E quem sabe tudo disser que não sabe de nada...
Enquanto os salários morrerem de velhos nas filas
E os homens banirem as leis ao invés de cumpri-las...

Enquanto a doença tomar o lugar da saúde
E quem prometeu ser do povo mudar de atitude...
Enquanto os bilhetes correrem debaixo da mesa
E a honra dos nobres ceder seu lugar à esperteza...

Não tem jeito não, não tem jeito não...

Só com muito amor a gente muda essa país,
Só o amor de Deus pra nossa gente ser feliz...
Nós, os filhos Seus, temos que unir as nossas mãos
Em nome da justiça, por obras de justiça...
Quem conhece a Deus não pode ouvir e se calar,
Tem que ser profeta e Sua bandeira levantar...
Transformar o mundo é uma questão de compromisso,
E muito mais e tudo isso...

Enquanto o domingo ainda for nosso dia sagrado
E em nome de Deus se deixar os feridos de lado...
Enquanto o pecado ainda for simplesmente um pecado,
Vivido, sentido, embutido, espremido e pensado...

Enquanto se canta e se dança de olhos fechados,
Tem gente morrendo de fome por todos os lados...
O Deus que se canta nem sempre é o Deus que se vive, não,
Pois Deus se revela, se envolve, resolve e revive

E não tem jeito não, não tem jeito não...

L'église universelle

L'église universelle

1 L'église universelle
a pour roc Jésus Christ;
elle est l'oeuvre nouvelle
que sa parole fit.
Habitant le ciel même,
il vint se l'attacher,
et, par un don suprême,
mourut pour la sauver!

2 L'église en sa prière
unit à leur Sauveur
les peuples de la terre
soumis au seul Seigneur.
C'est son nom qu'elle acclame,
son pain qui la nourrit;
elle verse à toute âme
l'espoir qui la guérit.

3 Honnie et méconnue, menant de durs combats,
elle attend la venue de la paix ici-bas.
Contemplant par avance la fin de son tourment,
la grande délivrance, le repos permanent.

4 Aujourd'hui, sur la terre,
elle est unie à Dieu,
et, par un saint mystère,
aux élus du saint lieu.
Rends-nous, comme eux, fidèles,
et reçois-nous, Seigneur,
dans la vie éternelle,
dans l'éternel bonheur!

Words: Samuel John Stone 1866; French translation: Fernand Barth 1923

Myths About Hunger

Myths About Hunger
Myth 1: Not Enough Food to Go Around
Reality:
Abundance, not scarcity, best describes the world's food supply. Enough wheat, rice and other grains are produced to provide every human being with 3,500 calories a day. That doesn't even count vegetables, beans, nuts, root crops, fruits, grass-fed meats, and fish. Enough food is available to provide at least 4.3 pounds of daily food per person worldwide: two and half pounds of grain, beans and nuts, about a pound of fruits and vegetables, and nearly another pound of meat, milk and eggs - enough to make most people fat! The problem is that many people do not have access to the resources to produce or purchase food. Foodgrains Bank member churches seek to address this problem by working with people to gain access to more food.

Myth 2: Too Many People
Reality:
Globally, population growth is slowing. Although rapid population growth remains a serious concern in some countries, population density does not explain hunger. For every Bangladesh, a densely populated and hungry country, we find a Nigeria, Brazil or Bolivia, where abundant food resources coexist with hunger. Rapid population growth is not the root cause of hunger. Like hunger itself, it results from underlying inequities that deprive people, especially women who are poor, of economic opportunity and security. Foodgrains Bank members work at issues of land ownership, jobs and education in communities where there is hunger.

Myth 3: Nature's to Blame for Famine
Reality:
Food is always available for those who can afford it. Starvation during hard times hits only the poorest millions who live on the brink of disaster because they are deprived of land, trapped in the grip of debt, or poorly paid. Natural events rarely explain deaths; they are simply the final push over the brink. Human institutions and policies determine who eats and who starves during hard times. The real culprits are economies that fail to offer everyone opportunities, and societies that accept hunger as inevitable. The Foodgrains Bank members work to bring about lasting change in disaster-prone countries like Bangladesh and Ethiopia through helping communities build a more equitable economic base.

Myth 4: The Environment vs. More Food?
Reality:
Efforts to feed people who are hungry need not cause an environmental crisis. The world is capable of producing enough food for everyone in a sustainable way, but as people without access to resources struggle to survive, they are often forced to farm marginal lands that are susceptible to erosion, flooding or drought. Over-cropping and lack of crop inputs may mean further soil loss. Foodgrains Bank members work with partners in developing countries who promote good farming practices and local production for local consumption.

Myth 5: New Technology is the Answer
Reality:
The production advances of the past 20 years are no myth. Thanks to the new seeds, millions of tonnes more grain a year are being harvested. But focusing narrowly on increasing production cannot alleviate hunger because it fails to alter the tightly concentrated distribution of economic power that determines who can access the additional food. That's why in several countries - India, Mexico, and the Philippines for example - grain production has increased while hunger has persisted. Foodgrains Bank members promote appropriate agricultural technologies and access to those technologies by those most vulnerable.

Myth 6: We Need Large Farms in the Developing World
Reality:
Large landowners who control most of the best land often leave much of it idle. By contrast, small farmers often achieve four to five times greater output per acre, in part because they use more "hands-on" farming practices. However, without secure tenure, millions of tenant farmers in the developing world have little incentive to invest in land improvements, rotate crops, or improve soil fertility. A World Bank study of northeast Brazil estimates that moving farmland into smaller holdings would raise output an astonishing 80 percent. The Foodgrains Bank members support small-scale farmers in developing countries.

Myth 7: The Free Market Can End Hunger
Reality:
Unfortunately, market efficiencies only work to eliminate hunger when purchasing power is widely dispersed. Those who believe in the usefulness of the market and the necessity of ending hunger must concentrate on promoting not only the market, but also the ability of people to participate in the market in ways that reduce poverty. Foodgrains Bank members work to inform policy makers in Canada about the effects Canadian trade policies have on developing countries.

Myth 8: Too Hungry to Help Themselves
Reality:
People will feed themselves, if given a chance. Bombarded with images of people who are poor and hungry, we lose sight of the obvious: for those with few resources, mere survival requires tremendous effort. If people who are poor were truly passive, few of them could even survive. Our responsibility is to remove the obstacles in their paths. Foodgrains Bank members take the responsibility to work with people in developing countries to increase their self-sufficiency.

Myth 9: There is little we can do about hunger
Reality:
World hunger can be ended - significant progress has been made. The percentage of people who are hungry has declined substantially in the 20th century. Bread for the World Institute has outlined (2000 report) a politically feasible and economically affordable plan to overcome hunger worldwide. The outcome of the war on hunger is determined not by forces beyond human control, but by decisions and actions well within the capability of nations and people.

You can make a difference by raising awareness in your own community - talk with your neighbours or encourage discussion about hunger issues in your schools and churches.

Through prayer, mobilizing resources, becoming aware of the effect of our investments and lifestyles on international economic systems, and writing to politicians to encourage better trade and hunger policies, together we can bring an end to hunger.

Based on "World Hunger: Twelve Myths, 2nd Edition," by Frances Moore Lappé, Joseph Collins and Peter Rosset (Grove Press/Earthscan, 1998), a book from Food First/The Institute for Food and Development Policy

As curas

A cura - Lulu Santos

"Existirá,
em todo porto tremulará
A velha bandeira da vida
Acenderá todo farol iluminará
Uma ponta de esperança
E se virá, será quando menos se esperar
Da onde ninguém imagina
Demolirá, toda certeza vã, não sobrará
Pedra sobre pedra
Enquanto isso não nos custa insistir
Na questão do desejo, não deixar se extinguir
Desafiando de vez a noção
Na qual se crê que o inferno é aqui

Existirá E toda raça então experimentará
Para todo o mal, a cura."

A Cura - Cassiane

"
Eu quero mergulhar nos rios do Espírito
Entrar na dimensão do sobrenatural
E onde esses rios me levarem eu irei
E cada vez mais fundo eu mergulharei
E aquilo que se fez deserto em mim florescerá
E a terra seca, em mim, se faz manancial
E poços,rios, vales dentro do meu coração,
Cheios de águas vivas para sempre serão

A cura logo vem...
Não há como impedir
Os rios do espírito estão passando por aqui
A nuvem da unção...
Repousa sobre nós
É hoje o dia de romper
Não há como impedir

Hoje é dia de romper
E eu recebo a unção de Deus
"

( pegando o gancho do saite Crer e Pensar )

My Masters Thesis

For those that are looking for something to read, here's my Master's Thesis.

FEATURE SELECTION AND EVALUATION FOR GENRE CLASSIFICATION OF
SYMBOLICALLY ENCODED CLASSICAL MUSIC WITH THE AID OF MACHINE
LEARNING

Gustavo Cesar de Souza Frederico

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Computer Science

June 1st, 2006

Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Computer Science
School of Information Technology and Engineering
University of Ottawa

Abstract

This work defines useful features for the classification of symbolically encoded music into 14 classical genres namely chorale, symphony, étude, fugue, prelude, contrafactum, sonata, mazurka, motet, sonatina, waltze, concerto, Gregorian chant and scherzo. Features are based on Music Theory and grouped into seven categories: distances in the harmonic möbius strip, distances on the line of fifths, scale, rhythmic syncopation and meter, polyphony measurements, duration and instrumentation. Features are extracted and ranked combining 5 filter-based methods. Six Machine Learning algorithms are defined for classification: three Support Vector Machines, one Bayesian network, the C4.5 and random forests. Using nested cross-validation for training and testing and considering all the features, the Bayesian network classifier yields 84.10 % empirical accuracy. The FEATUROMETRE process measures the usefulness of the feature subsets in an approach similar to wrapper methods, conveying relevant information to domain experts. Another experiment measures the usefulness and accuracy of features individually and by category using FEATUROMETRE. Grouping the music pieces by their period, the measured accuracy with the random forest classifier in the second experiment reaches 89.81 %.

Pecados do Pai - Sins of the Father

Culto número 3
Pecados do Pai
Contexto do culto
Há uma lógica pragmática que recomenda-nos que evitemos lutar contra uma força que é muito superiora à nossa. Isto, é claro, reflete a simples sabedoria de auto-proteção. Contudo tal lógica é freqüentemente ignorada nas escrituras Judaico-Cristãs, pois ali encontramos inúmeros indivíduos que constantemente confrontam seu criador. Nessas iterações nós não achamo-nos confessando humildemente suas transgressões perante Deus, mas ao invés acusando Deus de transgredir contra eles. Esta rica tradição, na qual a pessoa se ajoelha perante Deus com o punho cerrado, não se encontra somente nas histórias de Moisés e Jó, juntamente com os Salmos, mas também na obra de crentes contemporâneos que se debateram com eventos aterrorizadores como o holocausto.
Esses confrontos violentos entre a criação e criatura se tornam ainda mais impressionantes pois são várias vezes instigados por aqueles fiéis amigos de Deus. Somos confrontados pelo vasto número de crentes através da história cuja profunda e firme fé pareceu como infidelidade, de uma forma que evoca o grito de Cristo na cruz.
O porquê dessa incapacidade de comprender tais comoções se encontra em parte na nossa incapacidade de assimilar a natureza radical da fé, uma fé que deve ser marcada por paixão, mesmo se esta paixão várias vezes parece se dirigir contra a fonte da fé. Certamente, no livro de Apocalipse lemos que Deus prefere que o fiel seja ou quente ou frio ao invés de morno. Certamente, ser 'frio' pode na verdade ser um sinal de que a pessoa esteja muito perto de Deus. Ao invés de pensar que a genuína experiência religiosa é sempre confortante, a idéia de que há alguém que pode ver o profundo do nosso ser pode fazer-nos fugir de Deus. Tal repulsão e medo provêm da própria experiência de Deus, pois sentir-se nu e envergonhado perante Deus pressupõem um tipo de relacionamento com Deus.
Contudo, isto não esgota a experiência de uma reação contra Deus inspirada por Deus, pois no livro de Jó testemunhamos uma reação contra Deus que está ligada não aos nossos próprios atos maus mas aos que parecem serem atos maus de Deus. Enquanto a Bíblia geralmente fala de Deus como alguém que permanece além de todas as acusações humanas, isto se coloca em tensão com outros trechos do texto que testificam à experiência humana de um Deus que se arrepende, é ciumento, irado e é até mesmo indiferente ao sofrimento. O fato de algumas personagens serem desenhadas lutando contra Deus em nome da justiça mostra que acusar Deus de malfeito tem cabimento na tradição Judaico-Cristã. Pois embora possa Deus estar em última instância além de qualquer acusação, nossa experiência do mundo pode nos levar a questionar isto legitimamente.

Descrição do culto
Uma longa mesa é posta ao longo do palco. Sobre ela ficam uma dúzia de taças de vinho quebradas numa caixa de areia. Uma das paredes é coberta por uma grande projeção das pelavras "Ó Vigia das Pessoas", enquanto pequenas tiras de papel e canetas ficam sobre cada mesa. Ao entrarmos na sala somos saudados pela música do DJ que faz um loop das seguintas palavras sobre a música:
Quando eu estava com fome vocês não me deram comida.
Quando eu tive sede vocês não me deram água.
Era estrangeiro e não me convidaram para entrar.
Precisei de roupas e vocês não me vestiram.
Estive doente e na prisão porém vocês não cuidaram de mim.

Gradualmente a música vai morrendo à medida que estas palavras ficam mais fortes. As palavras começam a vencer as conversas das pessoas. À medida que a sala fica em silêncio, um jovem chega no microfone e, tendo as palavras morrido completamente, começa a falar:
Certa vez, há muito tempo atrás, eu tive o privilégio de gastar algum tempo com um velho rabino, calejado pela idade e muito íntimo com o sofrimento. Cada noite ele me contava a história de um judeu que tinha escapado da Inquisição Espanhola com sua esposa e filho, conseguindo chegar com pequeno barco através do mar agitado a uma ilha pedregosa. Um raio explodiu e matou sua esposa. Um vento forte apareceu e levou seu filho para as entranhas do mar. Sozinho, miserável, estarrecido por raios e trovões, com seu cabelo embaraçado, seu corpo castigado pela fome e suas mãos erguidas a Deus, o judeu conseguiu subir na ilha deserta e pedregosa e assim voltou-se a Deus:
- 'Deus de Israel', disse, "eu fugi para este lugar para que eu te servisse em paz, para seguir tuas leis e glorificar teu nome. Tu, porém, estás fazendo de tudo para que eu pare de acreditar em ti. Mas se tu pensas que vais conseguir com essas provas desviar-me do caminho verdadeiro, então eu apelo a ti, meu Deus e Deus dos meus pais, para que nada te corrobore. Podes me insultar, podes tirar de mim o mais querido e o melhor que eu tenho no mundo, podes me torturar até a morte eu sempre vou crer em ti. Eu vou amá-lo sempre e para sempre - até mesmo apesar de ti.
'Eis, portanto, as minhas últimas palavras a ti, meu Deus irado: nada disto será de proveito para ti! Tu fizeste tudo para que eu perdesse minha fé em ti, para fazer-me cessar de crer em ti. Mas eu morro exatamente como vivi: um crente inabalável.'
Ele vive até hoje, este homem bravo com seu Deus, naquela pequena ilha pedregosa em algum ligar quieto nos nossos corações. Hoje à noite vamos tentar dar-lhe voz.

Enquanto a música volta alguém vai até o microfone e fala o seguinte texto das escrituras como uma oração:

'Será que eu sou algum monstro do mar para que fiques aí me vigiando?
Eu prefiro ser estrangulado; é melhor morrer do que viver neste meu corpo.
Quando deixarás de olhar para mim, a fim de que eu tenha um momento de sossego?
Se pequei, que mal fiz a ti, ó vigia das pessoas?
Por que fizeste de mim o alvo das tuas flechas?
Por acaso sou uma carga tão pesada assim?
Por que não perdoas o meu pecado
e não apagas a minha maldade?
Logo estarei na sepultura; tu me procurarás, mas eu não existirei mais.

Por que continuo a sofrer?
Por que as minhas feridas doem sem parar?
Por que elas não saram?
Será que não posso confiar em ti?
Será que és como um riacho que seca no verão?

Ó Eterno, eles me desprezam e zombam de mim o tempo todo
porque anuncio a tua mensagem.
Mas, quando penso: 'Vou esquecer o Eterno
e não falarei mais em seu nome',
então a tua mensagem fica presa dentro de mim
e queima como fogo no meu coração"

Ao findar a oração, um músico vai ao palco. Ele canta algumas músicas que expressam uma mistura de raiva e paixão por Deus ao mesmo tempo. Quando ele termina, uma outra pessoa vai ao palco e começa a ler:

"Claro, o primeiro padre apareceu apropriadamente, e Ahab entendeu qual era a verdadeira ameaça. Para compensar, ele instituiu algo que aprendera dos Judeus: um Dia de Expiação, exceto que ele se propôs a estabelecer um ritual do seu próprio jeito.
Uma vez por ano, os habitantes se trancavam nas suas casas, faziam duas listas, viravam seus rostos para a montanha mais alta e então erguiam seus punhos aos céus.
'Aqui, Senhor, estão todos os pecados que cometi contra ti', diziam eles, lendo o relato de todos os pecados que haviam cometido. Trambiques nos negócios, adultérios, injustiças, coisas desse tipo. 'Eu pequei e imploro perdão por ter te ofendido tão grandemente'.
Então (e aqui está a originalidade do Ahab) os habitantes imediatamente tiravam sua segunda lista do bolso e, ainda virados para a mesma montanha, erguiam essa também aos céus. E diziam algo parecido com 'E aqui, Senhor, está uma lista de todos os teus pecados contra mim: tu me fizeste trabalhar mais do que necessário, minha filha ficou doente apesar das minhas orações, fui assaltado quando estava tentando ser honesto, sofri mais do que era justo.'
Depois de ler a segunda lista, eles terminavam o ritual assim: 'Eu tenho sido injusto para contigo e tu tens sido injusto para comigo. Contudo, como hoje é o Dia de Expiação, tu se esquecerás das minhas faltas e eu me esquecerei das tuas, e nós prosseguiremos juntos por mais um ano."

Depois que isto for lido, todos são convidados a usar o papel e canetas nas mesas para escrever sobre algo que os torna raivosos ou frustrados com Deus. Se isso for algo que eles queiram manter particular, alguém pede que eles dobrem o papel e ponham um 'X' na frente. Os pedaços de papéis são então juntados e trazidos a duas pessoas que ficam lá no palco. Dizem a todos que depois de lidos, os papéis serão simbolicamente repassados para Deus via um ritual de queima. Toda vez que um pedaço de papel com um 'X' aparece, ele é queimado, sem ser lido, enquanto um trecho do Salmo 10 é dito como oração:

Por que ficas aí tão longe?
Por que te escondes em tempos de aflição?

Enquanto essas orações são lidas vinho tinto é despejado sobre as taças quebradas sobre o palco de forma que o vinho transborda na areia. Quando todas as orações forem queimadas há alguns momentos de silêncio. Então um organizador vai ao palco com o que parece ser uma Bíblia. Ele abre-a e começa a ler:

No dia do julgamento uma intimação foi ao mar, ordenando que ela entregasse seus mortos, e uma voz chamou o Hades para que os prisioneiros fossem libertos de suas cadeias.
Então os anjos reuniram toda a humanidade e trouxe-os ao grande trono branco de Deus. Toda a criação permaneceu em silêncio enquanto um grande anjo abriu os livros.
O primeiro a ser julgado se levantou e se aproximou-se do texto. Quando o acusado viu as acusações, toda a humanidade falou em uníssono:
'Quando nós tivemos fome você não nos deu nada para comer. Quando nós estivemos com sede você não nos deu nada para beber. Fomos estrangeiros e você não nos convidou para entrar. Precisamos de roupas e você não nos vestiu. Estivemos doentes e na prisão e você não cuidou de nós.'
Silêncio desceu sobre toda a criação enquanto as pessoas pronunciavam suas sentenças sobre Deus.

Depois de ler isto, o organizador fecha o livro e começa a falar:

Nós não vamos tentar e concluir esta noite de lamento com qualquer resposta bonita. Talvez as coisas façam sentido algum dia, talvez não. Mas, a razão desta noite não é respoder por Deus, algo que só Deus pode fazer. A única coisa que queremos fazer aqui é reconhecer que no meio da incerteza nós permanecemos fiéis.
De certa forma o porquê dessa frágil fidelidade, assim como Jó, talvez se encontre na crença de que nossas acusações irão um dia se tornar cinzas nas conseqüências da insondável presença de Deus; de que nossas preocupações legítimas serão um dia silenciadas perante aquele o qual nós não podemos dar nome mas que nos dá nome. Por enquanto, a única coisa com a qual podemos nos consolar é a possibilidade de que o Deus quem acusamos é um Deus da nossa própria criação. É por esta razão que Slavoj Žižek diz que o Deus que nós pensamos compreender é como um Tamagotchi - nossa própria criação que posteriormente exige de nós.

Ao findar o culto uma cesta cheia de Tamagotchis (comprados baratos do eBay) é dada às pessoas para levarem para casa.

--
Do livro "How (not) to Speak of God", de Peter Rollins, ISBN: 1557255059, Editora Paraclete Press.

Gustavo's Live™ Space

And here is Gustavo's Live Space:

http://gcsfred.spaces.live.com/

It has photos, lists of books and links to other good audio content.

Qual o Adorno Desta Vida?

Qual o Adorno Desta Vida?
Letra: Sarah Poulton Kalley
Música: Hubert Platt Main (adapt)
John Walter Clancy (harm)

Qual o adorno desta vida? É o amor, é o amor
Alegria é concedida pelo amor, pelo amor
É bondoso, é paciente, não se torna maldizente,
Não se torna maldizente este meigo amor

Com suspeitas não se alcança doce amor, doce amor
Onde houver desconfiança, ai do amor, ai do amor!
Pois mostremos tolerância; muitas vezes a arrogância,
Muitas vezes a arrogância murcha e mata o amor

Mesmo quando for custoso, nutre amor, nutre amor.
Ao irado e mui furioso mostra amor, mostra amor.
Não te dês por insultado, mas responde com agrado,
Mas responde com agrado, vence pelo amor

Pois, irmão, ao teu vizinho mostra amor, mostra amor.
O valor não é mesquinho deste amor, deste amor.
O supremo Deus nos ama, Cristo para os céus nos chama,
Cristo para os céus nos chama, onde reina o amor.

Semantic Web, Semantic DNS, browsers

I begin to like Firefox and Mozilla. There are two very interesting projects:
Annotea. It is a good base to bootstrap the semantic web. It is interesting because it leverages the multitude of existing content on the web, and allows structured annotation on top of them. They have server reference implementations, which are very intersting. Hey, where are the meta-servers and the new generation of semantic "DNS" (or "Semantic ONS", RFID fans)?

Annozilla is also an interesting animal. It is like Annotea for Mozilla. Too bad the development seems to be going very slowly. Also I can't quite understand what Netscape has to do with all this. I hope these nice ideas were not thrown into the garbage because of Netscape 'pulling the plug'. Despite what the various marketing groups will say, we all need a good and sound Semantic Web (or semantic web).
Interestingly enough, I see very good support for RDF in Mozilla, even though the documentation seems cryptic at times.

As for IE, I see no activity related to RDF (or OWL, or annotation). Plug-ins and extensions for IE are difficult and too close to the OS. You are looking at C++ very early on, still using COM (no .NET). I can see good support for feeds (RSS, Atom, etc), but that's it. Oh, yes, and a strong marketing behind "Web 2.0", with few cases of one explaining precisely what it is.

How (not) to speak of God

I'm really liking the book "How (not) to speak of God", by Peter Rollins.
Here's the beginning of Chapter 2: "
There is an old anecdote in which a mystic, an evangelical pastor and a fundamentalist preacher die on the same day and awake to find themselves by the pearly gates. Upon reaching the gates they are promptly greeted by Peter, who informs them that before entering heaven they must be interviewed by Jesus concerning the state of their doctrine. The first to be called forward is the mystic, who is quietly ushered into a room. Five hours later the mystic reappears with a smile, saying, 'I thought I had got it all wrong.' Then Peter signals to the evangelical pastor, who stands up and enters the room. After a full day has passed the pastor reapears with a frown and says to himself, 'How could I have been so foolish!' Finally Peter asks the fundamentalist to follow him. The fundamentalist picks up his well-worn Bible and walks into the room. A few days pass with no sign of the preacher, then finally the door swings oopen and Jesus himself appears, exclaiming, 'How could I have got it all so wrong!'
"

Michael Frost :: 1 of 7 (hosted by Odeo)

This is Michael Frost, from Resonate Audio.

Michael Frost :: 6 of 7 (hosted by Odeo)

This is Michael Frost, from Resonate Audio

Michael Frost :: 5 of 7 (hosted by Odeo)

This is Michael Frost, from Resonate Audio

The Freeway

"[...] The story of our church plant here in Hamilton. Five years ago a few of us came up with the idea to start a church community that would be full of people that actually gave a crap about each other. And that was a big reason why we started the Freeway. For a lot of us who had been around the church our experience was that people talked a very good game about Jesus and his grace and his love and his love and his hope. But when push came to shove we didn't really know anyone. And for some of us our experience was that anyone who didn't believe everything, signed on dotted line and know the secret handshake that we were pushed to the outside and we couldn't be part of church. And so some of us - it really made us want to create a place, to create a space to create a community where people could really honestly journey together regardless of looking the same or thinking the same. And that is a big part of the reason why we started this little adventure called the Freeway. And at first [we talked a bit actually in our group over here] about the fact that we were church planting for a denomination - the Salvation Army. And with that came a certain model, ,a certain set of expectations as to what the church would look like and what church planting would look like. And we didn't really have a lot of the same expectations. And so in the beginning stages we were working in a model that we knew which I would say at this stage was like hyper-contemporary. So at that stage we thought church planting looked like you go in like a bunch of rock stars , move into a town and drama business by creating really funky worship gatherings and lots of hi-tech stuff like a U2 concert. And you dazzle people with your incredible smile and your astonishing ability to exume the scriptures in a manner with which they can really change their lives. What we found out was that we really sucked about [it]. Our projector kept dying, I'm a crappy preacher, and Melissa's smile only goes so far. So we realized that what we were trying to do still wasn't us. The cool journey about the Freeway has been over the past 5 years it's been a journey of figuring out as a community who we are and what we are about. And trying to shed some of the dead skin of things that we thought were expectations on us that weren't from Jesus, but were from other places: either culture, or the church or where we get our paycheck from. So ours has been a story of brutal failure and huge success all rolled into one. So at the beginning our form of creating community or building community was small groups because evidently when you want to build community you have to start a small group ministry. That's what you do. So we did that and we sucked at that too. And even the small groups that we did that worked pretty well still never fit us. And through the process of going throught that and trying to programmy type things we realized that what we really wanted to do was learn how to be friends. It dawned on us that none of us really knew how to have deep organic relationships. So that became the new thing that we wanted to try. And we didn't know how to do that. We didn't know how to tell people how to do that, and we didn't know how to model it because we had never seen it. So we decided that our process of community would be really slow-going. So rather than inviting to come to the church, inviting them to small groups, we decided we'd try to figure out how to live right and be missional and do it together. So we started to throw parties, and hang out and encourage mentoring, and tried as much as we could in a loosey-goosey way to learn how to be friends and model what friendship looks like. A few of the programmy-type things that we have done which we would consider really big keys to community building for us - one would be spiritual retreats. We do them twice a year and we do a camping trip once a year. And those have been amazing. Because we decided not to do spiritual retreats where we would pulled in speakers and we would go for, like, the pomp and circumstance, the hop-la, the whole thing. Instead we decided to go away for weekends and spend time together. And explore some worship practices that maybe we didn't normally. And to play games and laugh and burp and fart and high-five and throw things at each other. Through spiritual retreats and organic-friendship trying what we realized is that we didn't and haven't found the secret of how to build community and not hurt people or not be hurt. And I think what we are figuring out is that ther eis no such thing as deep community without hurting each other because that's what we do. But we are starting to get to the point where we are building enough community that we can get beyond the hurts and still try to stick together. The Freeway is a story of failed relationships too. There's lot of people that don't come anymore . And it's not because they moved their way or got better jobs but because they did - weren't able to be community with us. And there's other stories of people who probably wouldn't be part of any other church community if we weren't here. And we are their community. And so we have been great and we suck. What I want to say about community [...] is that we('ve) tried to figure out the secret to what it means to live in the community of the Kingdom in a particular context with a particular group of people who God happens to send your way and we haven't figured out the secret yet. So we just keep plugging away and trying to learn how to love each other. For those of you just who are starting to do church planting or who are thinking a bout church planting or who are in a current context that you're like beating your head against the wall saying 'there has to be something different' . There is. And it's bloody hard work and it's discouraging and it sucks, but it's amazing. "

http://frwy.ca/

The Freeway:
333 King Street East
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 1C1
Canada
Phone: 905-296-1424
E-mail: info@frwy.ca

See also the (impressive) 100 Huntley Street video on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/v/oniD9QshZ6U



Extract from Resonate Audio podcast
http://www.resonate.ca/audio/

Cisco VPN

No wonder computers have a bad reputation. In the list of the champions of bad software, here's the Cisco VPN client. It's the champion in unpredictable connections. And it has nothing to do with security, since some days it connects, others it doesn't. In the picture below you can see how Cisco says the service is not started, but Windows says it is started.

Stanley Hauerwas quote

"Consider the problem of taking showers with [Christians]. They are, after all, constantly going on about the business of witnessing in the hopes of making converts to their God and church. Would you want to shower with such people? You never know when they might try to baptize you." - Stanley Hauerwas ("Why Gays (as a Group) are Morally Superior to Christians (as a Group)" in The Hauerwas Reader (2001) eds. John Berkman and Michael Cartwright)

Correr de Mim

Ouvi ontem cantado por Carlinhos Veiga e banda, em Brasília

Correr de Mim - Juraildes da Cruz

Eu pensei correr de mim,
Mas aonde eu ia, eu tava
Quanto mais eu corria,
Mais pra perto eu chegava

Quando o calcanhar chegava,
O dedão do pé já tinha ido
Escondendo eu me achava,
E me achava escondido
Só sei que quando penso que sei,
Já não sei quem sou
Já enjoei de me achar
No lugar que aonde eu vou, eu tô

Eu pensei correr de mim,
Mas aonde eu ia, eu tava
Quanto mais eu corria,
Mais pra perto eu chegava

Tô pensando em tirar férias de mim,
Mas eu também quero ir
Só vou se minha sombra não for,
Se ela for eu fico aqui
Um dia desses sonhando eu pensei:
Não vou me acordar,
Vou me deixar dormindo
E levanto pra comemorar

Eu pensei correr de mim,
Mas aonde eu ia, eu tava
Quanto mais eu corria,
Mais pra perto eu chegava

O espelho me disse:
Só tem um jeito pro assunto
Não adianta querer morrer
Porque se morrer vai junto
Se correr o bicho pega
Mas se limpar o bicho some
Tem que desembaraçar
O novelo da vida do homem

Se quiser que eu vá, eu vou
Se quiser que eu fique, eu fico
Quero ver você sair, meu irmão
Dessa sinuca de bico

Eu pensei correr de mim,
Mas aonde eu ia, eu tava
Quanto mais eu corria,
Mais pra perto eu chegava

====

Run away from me - Juraildes da Cruz

I thought I would run away from me,
But wherever I went there I was
The more I ran
The closer I got

When the heel arrived,
The toe had already gone
Hidding I found myself
And I was hidden
All I know is that when I think I know
I don't know who I am anymore
I'm tired of finding myself
At the place I go there I am

I thought I would run away from me,
But wherever I went there I was
The more I ran
The closer I got

I'm thinking about taking vacation from me
But I too want to go
I'll only go if my shadow does not,
If it goes I'll stay here
One of these days, dreaming, I thought:
I won't wake up,
I'll leave myself sleeping
And I'll get up to celebrate

I thought I would run away from me,
But wherever I went there I was
The more I ran
The closer I got

The mirror told me:
There's only one solution to this matter
There is no gain in wanting to die
Because if you die you go along
If you run the monster gets you
But if you clean the monster disappears
You have to untangle
The hank of man's life

If I want me to go, I'll go
If I want me to stay, I'll stay
I want you, pal, to find your out
Of this tight corner

I thought I would run away from me,
But wherever I went there I was
The more I ran
The closer I got

On modeling rhythm (Holy cow! These guys just don't know how to model music!)

It’s amazing how the research community in Computer Science misunderstands music and music modeling. They come up with non-discrete models! Holy cow! Even Elaine Chew’s spiral is a bad model that fails to capture the discrete nature of music theory. And all these other guys looking at statistics and Markov chains. Holy cow! They really don’t grasp music theory. These guys should take a close look at abstract algebra and topology abandoning everything that is continuous. Mainly the Computer Science research community. It should really abandon all this continuous thinking and get serious with discrete Math. Given that computers count more 'naturally' it would be natural for folks in Computer Science to make better use of Discrete Math. Maybe it's the engineers that just contaminate Computer Science with their continuous Euclidean view of the world.

Given the rhythmic fragment



I model it as the following:

0 mod 2 = 0
1 mod 2 = 1
(0 + 2) mod 2 = 0
(1 + 2) mod 2 = 1
(3 + 4) mod 4 = 3

In 0 mod 2 why do I chose 2? It’s because given C = 4/4, I get 4 in the upper part and I factorize 4 into 2^p1*3^p2*5^p3... I get p1 > 0. That’s enough to select 2 as the only prime in this case. I could begin trying to fit the numbers into n mod 1 but that’s not interesting. It would only capture the first notes of the bars. The main reason is that the half-note is the maximum subdivision of the example. So I begin modeling it as n mod 1 * 2 (remember that p1 > 0). Then I try n mod 2 * 2 and I stop there because the quarter note is the finest quantization I can get for the segment. And there you go! I just modeled the rhythmic fragment in a discrete way.

Now we can group the notes according to their congruence. Now things get interesting! Mr Thomas Noll, Andreatta Moreno and Mazzola, why didn’t you model it this way? Why come up with functions for meter that are too procedural in nature? Peraí um pouquinho, tchê! It’s much better to model rhythm using algebra! And you guys are the math gods. I remember reading one paper by Noll and another by Elaine Chew that just create a procedural function to model meter. This is much closer to how a musician sees rhythm in a purer mathematical form.

If we group the notes above according to sharing modules we get

( 0 mod 2, 1 mod 2, (0 + 2), (1 + 2) ) mod 2 which are the 4 notes, fitting into the half-note quantization.

Then we get (3 + 4) mod 4 for the last note.

In the next post, congruence will help us correlate these notes.

Atirei o pau no gato - Falcão

"... Então agora eu peguei uma música em Inglês e passei para o Português
Só que aconteceu o seguinte:
É uma música de um conjunto Pink Floyd
Mas tem um corno lá, um tal do Roger Walter,
Que proibiu de eu gravar essa música
Foi a maior confusão
E eu fiquei com tanta raiva
Que agora eu também não deixo o Pink Floyd
Gravar nenhuma música minha.
Então vou cantar essa música
Que é "Another brick in the wall part two" que ficou
"Amorda um bicho na parede parte dois"

Atirei o pau no gato
Mas o gato não morreu
Dona Xica admirou-se
Do berro que o gato deu

Hey, Xica, deixe o gato em paz
Não vamos traumatizar o coitado do animal
Eu só joguei o pau no bicho pra ouvir o miau

- Falcão

wines and ratings

Here's a wine list and some of my ratings. The scale is from 0 to 10. Bitterness is in an inverse scale: the higher the number the less bitter it is (the better).

Little Penguin Merlot Australian bitterness: 8 rating: 9
Sangloves di Tusdano, Dievole bitterness: 7 rating: 7
Peller Cabernet Sauvignon bitterness: 7 rating: 8
Chardonnay Brancott Classic bitterness: 8 rating: 9
Serras de Azeitão Merlot bitterness: 8 rating: 9
Pinot Noir Estancia Pinnacles bitterness: 6 rating: 6
Redwood Creek Merlot bitterness: 8 rating: 8
Copper Merlot bitterness: 8 rating: 8
... Shiraz bitterness: 8 rating: 8
Pinot Grigio bitterness: 7 rating: 6
Cabernet Merlot Australian bitterness: 8 rating: 5

I couldn't find a reference to this Copper Merlot anywhere. It's too soon to draw conclusions. I need a larger database! Who knows - perhaps later on I can create an ontology to classify the wines.

Orleans -> Hull - commute times

I finally calculated the average commute time driving to work in Hull from Orleans. The result: Nicholas is the best route averaging 28 minutes. Rockliffe is the 2nd best route averaging 29 minutes. Vanier Parkway is the worst route, averaging 36 minutes. Interestingly, Rockliffe's standard deviation (4.15) is smaller than Nichola's (7.05), probably because of the traffic jams near Blair and the 417 junction that I cut in the former. I haven't consolidated the times, but it looks like that if I leave home during rush hours it's best to take Rockliffe, whereas if I leave home not during rush hours the Nicholas route is the best.



(Hey, this blogging software is bad. It doesn't let me upload a picture in IE 7. That's after I 'upgraded' the blog... that's why computers have a terrible reputation: because of bad software. Firefox saved the day)

Zune software is bad

This Zune software is terrible. I can't buy one song from the Zune marketplace. I'm asked to sign in 500 times, even though I tell Microsoft to remember me. And then when I think I'll get to the page I want (buy this song, or account management), I'm taken to the support page. The support page is not what I wanted. I wanted to buy one song (yes, I clicked on the song). Since the support page was there, I went on to see how to buy a song. I can't read it! The background is black and the font is... black too! Wonderful, beautiful. But I can't do anything with this software. I have to create software and it has to be good. Why can't Microsoft do better?

"Jesus saves" by Oduyoye, African Theologian

“…the meaning of ‘Jesus saves’ should not be a meta-physical analysis of what it means to be truly God and truly human but rather… the meaning of the Christ-event in view of the challenges of racism, sexism and other contexts…in which we profess Christ.” Amba Oduyoye

BUY NOTHING DAY

BUY NOTHING DAY
Here it is, Buy Nothing Day once again and the frenzied shopping begins. Every year the Goliath of Consumerism walks toward us, and each year he is a couple feet taller, with global warming and market-driven wars at his back. Only the

products have changed, last year the X-Box 360 and now the Playstation 3. Sound like weapon systems. How do you stanch the tsunami of corporate pixels? We offer our clowning, our faith, and ask you for yours. We suffer from the anxiety that we are too late in an addicted world, and my hair follicles want a break, but here it is: Buy Nothing Day in the USA.We start at 5 AM, duct-taping Reverend Billy's Christmas Commandments to big box front doors, and pastoring to the sinners waiting for their Lake of Hellfire to engulf them. We'll criss-cross the city preaching the Gospel of Buylessness.At 3 PM, we invite you to gather with us at Soho Square Park, Spring and 6th Ave. Wear red - we will go "traffic-jamming" on our way to Old Navy. We'll hand out global warming info to the folks stuck in their box-filled SUVs. The Stop Shopping Gospel Choir will be there in full voice.The Shopocalypse Tour schedule is at Reverendbilly.org. Our "Save Christmas" show is at Cooper Union's Great Hall on Sun Dec 10th.Stop Shopping! Start Living!
Buy Nothing Day With Reverend Billy and the Church Of Stop Shopping
Contact: Michael O'Neil michael@revbilly.com 917-825-35623 PM, Soho Square Park, Spring and 6th, New York City.
Wear red. Please forward widely.

‘The problem lies in the unwillingness to recognize that your own terrorism is terrorism'

‘The problem lies in the unwillingness to recognize that your own terrorism is terrorism'

Noam Chomsky interviewed by Saad SayeedExcalibur Online, October 25, 2006
Known in academic circles for his contribution to the field of linguistics, MIT professor Noam Chomsky is widely recognized as one of the most influential political dissidents of our time. In this interview, Chomsky talks about the roots of terrorism and the role of the intellectual in society."The problem lies in the unwillingness to recognise that your own terrorism is terrorism"
Excalibur (Ex): How important is an understanding of the role of states such as the U.S. and the U.K. when examining the question of terrorism?
Chomsky (Ch): It depends on whether we want to be honest and truthful or whether we want to just serve state power ( . . . ) We should look at all forms of terrorism.I have been writing on terrorism for 25 years, ever since the Reagan administration came in 1981 and declared that the leading focus of its foreign policy was going to be a war on terror. A war against state directed terrorism which they called the plague of the modern world because of their barbarism and so on. That was the centre of their foreign policy and ever since I have been writing about terrorism.But what I write causes extreme anger for the very simple reason that I use the U.S. government's official definition of terrorism from the official U.S. code of laws. If you use that definition, it follows very quickly that the U.S. is the leading terrorist state and a major sponsor of terrorism and since that conclusion is unacceptable, it arouses furious anger. But the problem lies in the unwillingness to recognize that your own terrorism is terrorism. This is not just true of the United States, it's true quite generally. Terrorism is something that they do to us. In both cases, it's terrorism and we have to get over that if we're serious about the question.
Ex: In 1979, Russia invades Afghanistan. The U.S. uses the Ziaul Haq regime in Pakistan to fund the rise of militancy. This gives Zia a green light to fund cross-border terrorism in Kashmir. Now we allegedly have some of those elements setting off bombs in Mumbai. Clearly, these groups are no longer controlled by any government.
Ch: The jihadi movements in their modern form go back before Afghanistan. They were formed primarily in Egypt in the 1970s. Those are the roots of the jihadi movement, the intellectual roots and the activist roots and the terrorism too.But when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, the Regan administration saw it as an opportunity to pursue their Cold War aims. So they did with the intense cooperation of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and others ( . . . ) so the Reagan administration organized the most radical Islamic extremists it could find anywhere in the world and brought them to Afghanistan to train them, arm them.Meanwhile, the U.S. supported Ziaul Haq as he was turning Pakistan into a country full of madrassahs and fundamentalists. The Reagan administration even ( . . . ) kept certifying to Congress that Pakistan was not developing nuclear weapons, which of course they were, so that U.S. aid to Pakistan could continue. The end result of these U.S. programs was to seriously harm Pakistan and also to create the international jihadi movement, of which Osama bin Laden is a product. The jihadi movement then spread ( . . . ) they may not like it much but they created it. And now, as you say, it's in Kashmir.Kashmir, though, is a much more complex story. There are plenty of problems in Kashmir and they go way back, but the major current conflicts come from the 1980s. In 1986, when India blocked the election, it actually stole the election, and that led to an uprising and terrorist violence and atrocities, including atrocities committed by the Indian army.
Ex: The colonial legacy is generally dismissed by the media. What role does this legacy play in the emergence of home-grown terrorists in countries such as the U.S., the U.K. and Canada as well as to the creation of terrorism as a whole?
Ch: It's not brought up in the West because it's inconvenient to think about your own crimes. Just look at the major conflicts going on around the world today, in Africa, the Middle East, in South Asia, most of them are residues of colonial systems.Colonial systems imposed and created artificial states that had nothing to do with the needs and concerns and relations of the populations involved. They were created in the interests of colonial powers and as old fashioned colonialism turned into modern neo-colonialism, a lot of these conflicts erupted into violence and those are a lot of the atrocities happening in the world today.How can anyone say colonialism isn't relevant? Of course it is and it's even more directly relevant.Take the London bombing in 2005. Blair tried to pretend that it had nothing to do with Britain's participation in the invasion of Iraq. That's completely ridiculous. The British intelligence and the reports of the people connected in the bombing, they said that the British participation in the invasion and resulting horrors in Iraq inflamed them and they wanted to do something in reaction.
Ex: What is the role of the intellectual when dealing with imperialism and are the intellectuals doing they job?
Ch: Unfortunately, intellectuals are doing their historic job. The historic role of intellectuals if you look, unfortunately, as far back as you go has been to support power systems and to justify their atrocities. So the article you read in the National Post for the production of vulgar Stalinist connoisseurs, that's what intellectuals usually do as far back as you go.If you go back to the Bible, there's a category of people who were called prophets, a translation of an obscure word, they were intellectuals, they were what we would call dissident intellectuals; criticising the evil king, giving geopolitical analysis, calling for the moral treatment of orphans, decent behaviour. They were dissident intellectuals. Were they treated well? They were prisoned and driven into the dessert and so on, they were the fringe. The people who were treated well were the ones who centuries later, like in the gospel, were called false prophets. So it goes through history. The actual role of the intellectual has been supportive of power.Should they do that? Of course not; they should be searching for truth, they should be honest, they should be supporting freedom and justice and there are some who do it. There is a fringe who do it, but they're not treated well. They are performing the task that intellectuals ought to perform.
Ex: And what keeps you motivated?
Ch: I'll just tell you a brief story. I was in Beirut a couple of months ago giving talks at the American university in the city. After a talk, people come up and they want to talk privately or have books signed.Here I was giving a talk in a downtown theatre, a large group of people were around and a young woman came up to me, in her mid-'20s, and just said this sentence: "I am Kinda" and practically collapsed. You wouldn't know who Kinda is but that's because we live in societies where the truth is kept hidden. I knew who she was. She had a book of mine open to a page on which I had quoted a letter of hers that she wrote when she was seven years old.It was right after the U.S. bombing of Libya, her family was then living in Libya, and she wrote a letter which was found by a journalist friend of mine who tried to get it published in the United States but couldn't because no one would publish it. He then gave it to me, I published it. The letter said something like this:"Dear Mr Reagan, I am seven years old. I want to know why you killed my little sister and my friend and my rag doll. Is it because we are Palestinians? Kinda". That's one of the most moving letters I have ever seen and when she walked up to me and said I am Kinda, and, like I say, actually fell over, not only because of the event but because of what it means.Here's the United States with no pretext at all, bombing another country, killing and destroying, and nobody wants to know what a little seven-year-old girl wrote about the atrocities. That's the kind of thing that keeps me motivated and ought to keep everybody motivated. And you can multiply that by 10,000.

Expresso 2222

Começou a circular o Expresso 2222
Que parte direto de Bonsucesso pra depois
Começou a circular o Expresso 2222
Da Central do Brasil
Que parte direto de Bonsucesso
Pra depois do ano 2000
Dizem que tem muita gente de agora
Se adiantando, partindo pra lá
Pra 2001 e 2 e tempo afora
Até onde essa estrada do tempo vai dar
Do tempo vai dar
Do tempo vai dar, menina, do tempo vai
Segundo quem já andou no Expresso
Lá pelo ano 2000 fica a tal
Estação final do percurso-vida
Na terra-mãe concebida
De vento, de fogo, de água e sal
De água e sal, de água e sal
Ô, menina, de água e sal
Dizem que parece o bonde do morro
Do Corcovado daqui
Só que não se pega e entra e senta e anda
O trilho é feito um brilho que não tem fim
Oi, que não tem fim
Que não tem fim
Ô, menina, que não tem fim
Nunca se chega no Cristo concreto
De matéria ou qualquer coisa real
Depois de 2001 e 2 e tempo afora
O Cristo é como quem foi visto subindo ao céu
Subindo ao céu
Num véu de nuvem brilhante subindo ao céu

The God Who May Be - Part Two

Good stuff
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/podcast.html
"It was a modern axiom that philosophy and religion should be strangers, the one relying on reason the other on revelation. But, as the limits of both reason and revelation have become clearer, a new conversation has begun, and Irish philosopher Richard Kearney has been one of its leaders. In a three-part conversation with David Cayley, he talks about his philosophy of the imagination and his book, The God Who May Be. "

Brazil: FEBEM convictions should trigger wide reform

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE

AI Index: AMR 19/033/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 259
5 October 2006


Brazil: FEBEM convictions should trigger wide reform
Amnesty International today said the convictions against 14 FEBEM (Fundação Estadual do Bem-Estar do Menor) employees and ex-employees for their involvement in acts of torture in the detention centre are a step in the right direction and it should trigger deep reforms to the juvenile detention system in Brazil.

In particular, Amnesty International urged Sao Paulo's State authorities to:
Ensure the full independence of bodies responsible for the documentation and investigation of cases of torture -- such as the Medical Legal Institute (Insituto Medical Legal).
Comply with measures stipulated in the Statute for Children and Adolescents (Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente, ECA) – including ensuring the physical integrity of all detainees in the FEBEM’s care.
Provide police and prison guards with adequate resources and training to enable them to carry out their work without resorting to human rights violations, including torture.
Thoroughly investigate all remaining accusations of torture in juvenile detention centres and bring to justice those involved under Brazil’s Torture Law.

The 14 men were convicted yesterday under the Torture Law. The convictions came for their involvement in acts of torture, including beatings with wooden sticks and metal bars, perpetrated against 35 detainees in November 2000 in the Raposo Tavares complex.

Two high ranking officials were sentenced to 87 years, ten guards to 74 years and 8 months and two of the prison directors received 2 years and 2 months for negligence.

“These convictions tackle not only incidents of torture, but, significantly, the key issue of chain-of-command responsibility,” said Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s campaigner on Brazil.

“It is now essential that Sao Paulo's state authorities take all necessary steps to advance long-overdue reforms,” said Patrick Wilcken.



Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web: http://www.amnesty.org

For latest human rights news view http://news.amnesty.org

Theological Conversation with Miroslav Volf

Yes, good conversations. I subscribed to the "Emergent Podcasts" from the emergentvillage.com. There are some interesting stuff there. Driving through Rockliffe I listened to one of the conversations with Miroslav Volf. As we say in Portuguese, "que viagem!" ("what a trip!" or something like "the guy is out-to-lunch!") It was interesting to hear his comments about atheists proximity to God and comment on an imaginary church of atheists with a beliving pastor. The other funny part is his story about his 'spiritual director' (whatever that means) that gave up on him. And his 'spiritual excercises' listening to 'God speak with an Irish accent on his Treo'.
The other interesting part was to think about what would or will be the Brazilian Emerging Church (igreja emergente no Brasil). The reality of christianity in Brazil is very different from that of the US and even Europe. Whereas in the North they are worried about conservative/liberal-related dilemas, in Brazil the context is very different. Why would a Brazilian christian worry about issues on gender, homossexuality, theology of attonement, etc with the terrible levels of violence and the social disparity in Brazil?

Crossing the Chasm

This is a good book.

Crossing the Chasm (Paperback)
by Geoffrey A. Moore
Publisher: Collins; Revised edition (August 20, 2002)
ISBN: 0060517123



It started well with interesting ideas and definitions. It has a very accurate description of people's roles in each market. However, after page 40 or so I read some fuzzy expressions as I always do in Marketing. By reading the author's bio I thought he would have more formalism and a systematic approach to the problem with better justification and better modeling of the problem, but that is not the case. That doesn't mean the book is not good. I guess it may make more sense to those that speak the same dialect. Maybe the good business people are predestined, elected and initiated into the mystery of how to make money and maybe the book makes more sense to them. Or it may have in it a bit of the notorious marketing mask and language that is disconnected with reality.

Good algebra books

Yes, these are good algebra books:
Concrete Abstract Algebra : From Numbers to Gröbner Bases
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521534100
Lauritzen, Niels

and

Algebra
Mac Lane, Saunders

One day I'll write my book about Rhythm and Math... It's in my to-do list for things to do after a Master's Thesis.

O bom pastor

"Eu sou o bom pastor; o bom pastor dá a vida pelas ovelhas. O empregado, que trabalha somente por dinheiro, não é pastor, e as ovelhas não são dele. Por isso ele abandona as ovelhas e foge quando o lobo chega. Então o lobo ataca e espalha as ovelhas. O empregado foge porque trabalha somente por dinheiro e não se importa com as ovelhas." - João 10.11-13

crazy people attract crazy people

Funny how crazy people attract crazy people, eh? Yes, I can remember two people that are probably, let's say, a bit crazy. Then they brought one day a (likely) crazy girl to church saying 'she has some mental challenges'. Interesting...

Parabéns pra você!

"Parabéns pra você nesta data querida. Muitas felicidades, muitos anos de vida!" Parabéns, amorzinho!

Travessia do Araguaia

Travessia do Araguaia - Almir Sater

Naquele estradão deserto,
Uma boiada descia
Pras bandas do Araguaia
Pra fazer a travessia.
O capataz era um velho
De muita sabedoria,
As ordens eram severas
E a peonada obedecia.

O ponteiro, moço novo
Muito desembaraçado,
Mas era a primeira viagem
Que fazia pra esses lados;
Não conhecia os tormentos
Do Araguaia afamado,
Não sabia que as piranhas
Eram um perigo danado.

Ao chegarem na barranca
Disse o velho boiadeiro:
Derrubamos o boi n’água
Deu a ordem ao ponteiro.
Enquanto as piranhas comem
Temos que passar ligeiro,
Toque logo esse boi velho
Que vale pouco dinheiro.

Era um boi de aspas grandes
Já roído pelos anos,
O coitado não sabia
Do seu destino tirano.
Sangrando por ferroada
No Araguaia foi entrando,
As piranhas vieram loucas
E o boi foram devorando.

Enquanto o pobre boi velho
Ia sendo devorado
A boiada foi nadando
E saiu do outro lado.
Naquelas verdes pastagens
Tudo estava sossegado.
Disse o velho ao ponteiro
Pode ficar descansado.

O ponteiro revoltado
Disse: 'que barbaridade
Sacrificar um boi velho
Pra que essa crueldade?'
Respondeu o boiadeiro:
'Aprenda esta verdade
Que Jesus também morreu
Pra salvar a humanidade'

Pra Dentro

O primo Dênis me apresentou o cachorro da família que era um vira-lata chamado “Pra Dentro”. O “Pra Dentro” era um cachorro muito ativo e volta e meia fazia bagunça dentro de casa. Quando isso acontecia, o Dênis ficava brabo e gritava “pra fora, Pra Dentro, pra fora, Pra Dentro!”. Diz a lenda que o cachorro ficava sem saber o que fazer e ficava saindo e entrando de casa. É a situação da igreja. A palavra igreja vem do Grego que quer dizer 'pra fora'. Mas várias vezes na prática quer dizer 'pra dentro'.

Mal Calladine, Tribal Generation, Sheffield, U.K.

"We believe that small groups can be "NGOW": Non-Guitar Oriented Worship (and teaching is optional as well). Only two times inScripture do Christians sing, and on both occasions they are inprision!"