Martin Simek en het ongrijpbare -- podcast

12 januari 2007. In de Volkskrant, Trouw en NRC staat een advertentie:

Vrouwen én mannen,…wordt WAKKER! Voortplanting dient het ecosysteem van mens, plant en dier en is gebaseerd op het recht van de sterkste (genen!). Door godsdiensten ondergeschikt gemaakt aan de man, is de man aan het copuleren gegaan óók als de vrouw niet wilde. Gebrek aan zelfbeheersing en ‘vermorsing’ verzwakken de kracht van het zaad en beïnvloeden overdracht van genen. Gevolg: degeneratie van de soort. Vanwege eeuwenlange voorkeur voor een zoon geldt dat vooral de man. De man verloor zijn intuïtie, de op het eco-systeem gerichte intelligentie, en maakte er een zooitje van. Herstel is nog mogelijk: door een mondiale geboortestop. De intuïtie, de eco-intelligentie, komt dan vanzelf wel weer terug.

De advertentie is geplaatst door kunstenares Guus te Riele. De RVU kan het niet beter interpreteren dan als: een oproep tot een geboortestop.

20 mei 2007. Aan Martin Simek de op voorhand enorme taak deze vrouw te interviewen en de ongrijpbare tekst uit de krant in een perspectief te krijgen. Aan het einde van de moeizame uitzending waarin Simek er nauwelijks in geslaagd is om uit Guus iets concreets te trekken, zelfs niet een bevestiging dat zij oproept tot een geboortestop. Guus lijkt er niet in geslaagd te zijn haar inzicht erlangs te krijgen en dan gaat de microfoon open voor haar laatste woorden. Haar kans om zich tot de luisteraars te richten en dan luiden haar woorden:

Luisteraars, het enige dat ik van jullie vraag is vertrouwen te hebben in de toekomst. Net als ik dat heb gehad, ondanks de strijd die ik heb moeten leveren.

Wat moet je daar nou mee?

Er is een serieus probleem met persoonlijke ervaringen. Hoe moeilijk het ook is om Guus te Riele te volgen, je krijgt wel de stellige indruk dat ze heel oprecht is. Het is ook wel duidelijk dat haar persoonlijke ervaringen geresulteerd hebben in een voor haar diep en integer inzicht. Dat is fijn voor haar, maar als ze dat inzicht niet kan vertalen in algemeen geaccepteerde termen en in conventioneel coherente uitspraken, wat blijft er dan over, behalve een solipsistische, esoterische brij?
Alle lof voor de RVU en Martin Simek in hun poging om Guus te laten uitleggen. Alle lof voor Guus' moedige pogingen om dat ook te doen. Maar, als na bijna een uur gesprek, er niet meer staat dan: 'heb vertrouwen in de toekomst' na zo'n alarmerende oproep en zoveel gestrande uitleggingen, dan rest de conclusie dat mevrouw Te Riele op een eiland woont en haar inzichten in eenmaligheid verstikken. Uniek, eenzaam, geisoleerd. Moet dat gelden voor al onze diepste inzichten, zoals ze voortkomen uit een levenlang ervaren?

The genitals of Christ -- History 5 Podcast

I will be writing much more of the latest edition of the History 5 podcast series which is carried by Professor Margaret Anderson. But in the fifth lecture about the common culture of early Renaissance Europe, she mentions something very new and very thought provoking: the fascination of the culture (at least of the visual arts) with the genitals of Jesus. This ranks from the little penis of baby Jesus, to the erection with which the risen Christ is depicted.

Many pictures show either the wise men examining the baby's genitals, or mother Mary lifting his robe in order to show, or even the child doing it himself. In addition, many of the pictures showing the dead or the resurrected Christ, depict him with an erection. Needless to say, in consecutive prudent eras, these details were painted over only to be rediscovered in recent restorations.

Professor Anderson's explanation is that this is allegorical and is intended to emphasize that Christ is human, a man of flesh and blood and as such kin to humanity. What this meant is, that on account of being related to men, it made sense for the Renaissance European that Jesus could have perished for their sins. This logic follows from the culture of having relatives be held responsible for debts. In this respect, had Christ been only divine, the death at the cross, could not be logically linked to the sins of humanity.

It is not for me to challenge Anderson's expertise, it just so happens another thought came to my mind. I think I'll ask her about it. (I did and she replied) When the genitals of baby Jesus are at stake, I thought, this may be connected to circumcision. The genitals are studied and portrayed either to make sure he is circumcised, or the opposite, he is not circumcised and if so, the whole meaning of these portraits is to remove Christ from his Jewish roots and as such dislodge Christianity from its Jewish origin.
The same could go for the mature genitals, though that would not explain why they have to be erect. Could that then, be some pagan element seeping in? Just some thoughts. What a podcast.

(Picture: Wikimedia Commons)

Perry DeAngelis - Don't Get Me started

The skeptics' guide to the universe podcast is regularly co-hosted by Perry DeAngelis. He is the most vocal of skeptics when it comes to badmouthing the true believers and the deceivers in paranormalland. Frequently this puts me off. But in edition 95 of the Guide, I could only agree with him.
In the section of listener's email, a YouTube video was being discussed. It allegedly showed an abnormal object on the surface of the moon, either man made or ... alien. It takes the panel valuable airtime to discuss this obvious hoax, prank or whatever kind of false thing it is, when finally Perry speaks up. Why are we even discussing this? Indeed, Perry, why are you?
For once I totally agree with Perry. In stead of going for the obvious stuff, the skeptics could go for the more intricate issues. Take on deceptions that many more people believe in. It sure makes for a more interesting podcast. Right on.

My low fat recipes are no diet

I felt the need to make a general explanation for the fact I publish low fat recipes.
My recipes are not made for losing weight. If you want to and need to lose weight, you will have to find a dietician to help you design a diet that fits your physical make up and that will help you lose weight in a responsible way. Or if you do not want to go that road, you might want to try diets that are laid out in various dietary programs or books (for what they are worth; I am convinced there are a lot of scams and plain ineffective methods out there) or even enter a support group of the likes of Weight Watchers or OA. Whatever the road to take, and what ever the outcome, to reach the right weight is one thing, stay there is another.
My low fat recipes are our way of staying at the right weight. When I look back at the recipes I followed when I learned cooking, there was no intention of keeping the calories down. The amounts of calorie rich ingredients were not kept at a reasonable rate (sugars, fats, carbo-hydrates) and maybe made for very delicious meals, but not very healthy ones. The current quest is to make (or remake) recipes and crank down the calories. I try not to use sugars, but if I have to, use no more than one tea spoon per four servings and preferably replace with more natural sweeteners such as honey (which by the way can be obtained in a light, low calorie version) or raisins and other fruit. I keep oil, butter or cream at a rate of one table spoon per four servings. Carbo-hydrates (bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc) are fine with me, I'll just eat no more than one serving.
All of this is fine, but must go with two other rules for eating, otherwise it won't work. The first rule is to never go hungry. When you are starving you are inclined to indulge in eating or attack some high calorie food. When having eaten in time it is much easier to stay away from the bad foods.
The second rule is just as important and easier to abide by if you stay true to the first one: never over-eat. It amazes me now when I look back and understand how I had made myself used, over the years, to stuff myself up. I had to unlearn this and gradually get used to eating smaller portions. It is very important to understand that this needs getting used to, otherwise eating binges are on the lure again. But one should eat just enough to not go hungry until the next meal.
And thus, with a normal three meals a day, eating as much as I want (without stuffing), I can stay away from the calories and remain at a normal weight.

Chicken and vegetables

For our Sabbath meal I used the most amazing means to make a stew in an easy, clean and low fat way: the cookie bag. This is a plastic bag that is made to sustain the high heat of an oven (up to 200 degrees centigrade) and this allows for cooking with almost no fat at all and still come up with a very tasty meal. I am still in the process of perfecting my recipes for the cookie bag, but for completeness sake, I give the one for Friday evening below. First I want to explain more generally the use of the cookie bag, though.
Nothing sticks to the bag and as a consequence one can make a mix of all the desired ingredients of the stew and not add any more fat ingredients than is needed for taste. This allows for making a dish without oil or butter or such altogether. Any combination of vegetables with fish, fowl or meat can deliver a very tasty stew. Vegetables with a strong taste of their own such as garlic, ginger, fennel, carrot, paprika for example are fantastic contributors to the stew.

For one large cookie bag:
1 kilo cut chicken (remove skin for less fat)
400 gram potatoes
400 gram carrot
400 gram cauliflower
red paprika
small green pepper
6 cloves garlic squeezed
tea spoon of squeezed ginger
table spoon soy sauce
table spoon sweet chili sauce

Throw all the ingredients into a large cookie bag. Mix well. Close the cookie bag with delivered clip and punch some 4-8 tiny holes in the bag with a tooth pick. Put the bag in the oven at 180-200 degrees for one hour. Let the holes in the bag face upwards in order to prevent leaking, but allow steam to be let out and not cause the bag to explode.

Physics for future presidents - podcast

Here is the first thing I learned from the PffP podcast after two lectures on power and energy: hydrogen has three times more energy per kilo than gasoline, but it has three times less energy per liter. How is that? It is because of density. Gasoline is so much denser that you have more weight per measure of content. In other words: it takes up less space. The consequence is that hydrogen may be a really good alternative for gasoline, because it has more energy in it and also, very importantly, is less polluting, but for putting it in cars it will take up too much space. Then again, for trucks and airplanes space is much less a problem. So in the near future we may see trucks and planes hydrogen driven, but less likely cars.
On the subject of cars I also got a good explanation of why hybrids are the future. And even though this is a physics class at UC Berkeley, I did not drop out as I did in high school. Many more lectures to go; I am excited.

The physics for future presidents is a lecture series that intends to hand out the broad lines and important social relevant facts of physics to any student, regardless of majoring subject. The lecturer Richard Muller is very entertaining, yet well on track and persuasive on the important stuff. A gem in educational podcasts.