Thoughts on Decline - Part I - Fine Art

I cannot shake the apparent and obvious realization that we are living through an era of decline. The evidence of decay in virtually all of the institutions is overwhelming. A look at the drop in quality in the arts most reflect this but the same creep has metastasized with rapidity and now permeates most of the social sciences. 

While original thoughts may exist they lack quality, people break parameters of excellence for the wrong reason without truly understanding what those parameters are. Modern Art nauseates more than it inspires as does the musical equivalent that substitutes technological fuzz for original brilliance.

The trend is not new but it is more difficult to obfuscate than it was earlier on. There is a destructive nihilism that has produced a paradigm that loathes the core of Western civilization and it is given cover by a screen of cynicism that gives no heed to value.

Art in its essence reflects the zeitgeist of the day. It externalizes the soul of the culture unveiling its spirit. At times during the turbulence of the human struggle this bestows a bleakness as it rightfully should. However even then, in previous times of much hardship, it has sought to elevate.

This is rarely the case now despite our submergence in an era of material wealth. Desperation, alienation and negativity abound. The light has been dimmed with the artist all too often suffusing a desperation with a poverty of technique. They should do better but they don't. A mentality of decay pervades the discipline qualifying greater concerns that exist elsewhere.

FROM THIS

source: worldatlas.com

source: news.psu.edu

TO THIS...

Source: Garbage Easter Drawing source: saatchiart.com

AND THIS

source: kmccrusade.com

Western History 146: What happened during the Peninsular War (1808-1814)?

The Peninsular War was fought between France and the alliance of Britain, Spain and Portugal for domination of the Iberian Peninsula. In Spain the War was Known as the War of Independence. To France it was seen in less glorifying terms as the Spanish ulcer. In a sense it was a war of Liberation that was noted for its guerilla type nature of the military tactics employed.

So how did it begin?  In 1807 France invaded Portugal and occupied the country as part of his war against Anti-French coalition forces. This necessitated a transit across Spain. On the 16^th of February 1808 Napoleon’s forces advanced into Spain in greater number to provide support for French troops occupying Portugal. Soon afterward French political intervention forced the abdication of the Spanish monarch Charles IV and  his replacement by Napoleon’s brother Joseph.

This was an unpopular move and resulted in the Dos de Mayo (2^nd of May) uprising of the people in Madrid against the French troops who were propping up the Bonaparte monarch. The fallout from the rebellion spread throughout the country resulting in a war that the French considerably underestimated with respect to its overall severity

The Second of May by Francisco Goya source: francisco-de-goya.com

A French setback occurred at the Battle of Bailén which prompted Britain to enter the war on the side of the Spanish people. France responded by stepping up the size of her army as a further rebellion broke out in Portugal.

At the helm of the British troops was  Lt.-Gen. Sir Arthur Wellesley (aka the Duke of Wellington) who would enjoy much success in this theatre despite the early withdrawal of his forces from La Coruna.

Duke of Wellington source: biographyonline.net

Wellington’s situation improved when Napoleon returned to France. His forces defeated the French general ean-de-Dieu Soult at Porto.  At the Battle of Talvera the Portuguese held the lines at a cost forcing a stalemate. Fighting during this early stage of the Peninsular War took place on two fronts: Corunna and Portugal. In the former, the Spanish struggled against superior French forces necessitating a strategy change in favour of guerilla warfare.

In 1811 the French under André Masséna and Wellington’s army fought to a draw at the Battle of Fuentes de Oñoro. At around the same time the French proved incapable of relieving the besieged city of Badajopz. They were turned back by the British although they did have more success in the relief of Tarragona. .By 1812 as Napoleon focused on his ill-fated Russian campaign, Wellington upped his attack. He won the the Battle of Salamanca and took Madrid. The French pushed him back to Lisbon by the end of the year but it was too little too late. The war was proving to be  a serious drain on French resources.

As 1813 rolled around the French looked more desperate. Madrid fell once again to Wellington’s forces with the British general winning the Battle of Vittorio and then chasing the French across the Pyrenees. French defeated was imminent and by 1814 this was realized soon after the Allied seaborne landing at Bayonne and the French evacuation of Toulouse (both in France proper).

Battles of the Peninsular War source: timewisetraveller.com

How do I find G-d?

This is not an easy question and perhaps one of the most difficult to answer on any forum as it is so subjective. Here is a self-reflection I wrote a few years ago.

Not sure for certain if others here feel the same way but I expect that many do. I have always considered myself a rational person. Logic and reasoning and a healthy dose of skepticism dominates my thinking. Many years of immersion in the sciences have definitely played a key role in my personal evolution but so has the writing of Hume, Burke, Mills and Russell. On the surface I should be a strong agnostic yet I find that as much as I try, I cannot free myself from a spiritualism (perhaps mysticism... I even have a fondness Kabbalah) that I should theoretically reject.

I believe, although with limited scientific evidence, in an essence that extends beyond the physicality of the matter/energy universe and even though I cannot quantify or even qualify its being, its presence seems real. Perhaps this is a function of my individuality (so defined by my genetics and environmental history) but as much as I have tried to shrug off its presence and succumb to scientific materialism and the logical consequence of atheism I simply cannot. To do so would be untrue to myself just as much as an adoption of religious orthodoxy and blind worship flies in the face of who I am. I have tried to reconcile these two pillars but such attempts seem contrived so at best I operate under the avenue of separate domains. Acknowledging that there may be fusion on an objective level somewhere but content to treat the dualism as a outgrowth of my subjective challenge.

In short its a quest but as a Theist friend once told me. …..Sometimes you just have to open your eyes and feel.

On the Difference between Judaism and Islam

 I have often been asked about this. Here are twelve differences.

1. Judaism is based on the People Wide Revelation at Mt. Sinai. Islam sees revelation through a single individual - the Prophet Muhammad (via the archangel Jibril).
2. Islam sees itself as a replacement theology (based on a newer revelation) of Judaism and Christianity. Judaism sees no reason for a replacement theology.
3. The Jewish dietary Laws of Kashrut are stricter than Islam’s Halal equivalents.
4. Islam’s chief book is the Koran supplemented by the Hadiths and Sunnahs. Judaism has the Five Books of Moses (Torah), the Writings, Prophets and Oral Laws (Tradition of the Mishna/Talmud).
5. Alcohol is not forbidden in Judaism (although drinking to excess is). In Islam Alcohol is strictly forbidden.
6. One cannot have more than one wife in Judaism (although this was clearly not the case in biblical times).In Islam you can although the vast majority of Muslims don’t.
7. Judaism sees the Abrahamic tradition passing through Isaac. Islam sees Ishmael as the carrier of such a tradition.
8. Islam’s chief holy cities are Mecca and Medina. Jerusalem is the chief holy city for Judaism. Muslims face Mecca when they pray. Jews face Jerusalem.
9. Islam believes in proselytizing. Judaism does not.
10. There is a greater emphasis on submission to God (Allah) in Islam. In Judaism you are encouraged to wrestle with God.
11. The 613 Mitzvot are central to Judaism. Islam has its Five Pillars of Wisdom.
12. Judaism is a 3500 year old religion. Islam is about 1400 years old.

Liverpool's Latest Lost

Premier League champions Liverpool were beaten 7-2 away at Aston Villa on Sunday....Here are my thoughts.

A mammoth thrashing can be a blessing in disguise. For one it highlights the big problems for all too see. Liverpool have been dodging the problem of the high press for some time. Allison's brilliance in goal, Mane's back tracking and Henderson's break up play were all weapons that could be used to safeguard against the pitfall of the high line. None of them were available against Villa on Sunday and Liverpool paid the price.

I have always felt the high press to be a risky way of playing. It gets results, which is why Klopp uses it, but when it fails it fails big time. Klopp needs to rethink his strategy. Possession isn't everything. There is a time to throttle back on such an approach and focus on the basics. It doesn't mean that Klopp can't have the methodology in his tool bag but variation in style is necessary. The Villa game seems to have emphasized this.

Western History 145: Why events characterized the Wars of the Fourth and Fifth Coalitions?

The War of the Fourth Coalition lasted between 1806 and 1807 and saw a coalition that included Britain, Prussia, Russia and Saxony alliance against Napoleon. The French Emperor though continued where he had left off with the last war, defeating the Prussians at Scheiz, Jena-Austertedt and Halle. The last loss caused Saxony  to switch alliances and throw their lot in with the Pro-French Confederation of the Rhine.

On the 21^st of November 1806 the Berlin Decree was signed establishing the Continental System that Napoleon would use to force the isolation of Britain via a trade embargo. The system would survive until 1814 but the strength of the British navy doomed it to failure.

The intention of the Continental system was to isolate Britain www.timewisetraveller.co.uk

In 1807 the inconclusive Battle of Eylau was fought with the war moving into its Swedish, Polish and Russian phase. Eventually the French achieved the success here that they craved with a victory over the Coalition at the Battle of Friedland. Russia then sued for peace and Napoleon signed the Treaty of Tilsit with the Tsar Alexander I.

Napoleon meets Tsar Alexander I at Tilsit (Meeting on the raft) source: Look and Learn

Britain still stood against France and made effective use of her navy to ensure a victory against Denmark-Norway (allies of France) at the Second Battle of Copenhagen  This setback  however did not do much to dampen French fortune fortunes with France being seen as the victor in this war.

Napoleon’s foes did not rest and by April 1809 France  stood in opposition against the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon’s France (allied with the Confederation of the Rhine, Holland plus several smaller states) faced off against an Austrian dominated coalition that included Hungary, Tyrol, Britain, Sicily and Sardinia.

The coalition has earlier been given a boost by a Spanish victory at the Battle of Bailen in 1808 (part of the Peninsular War). The defeat caused much consternation among Napoleon’s Allies. This was further compounded by the backroom political deals instigated by France’s foreign minister Talleyrand and Russia’s Tsar Alexander I at the Congress of Erfut (October 1808).

The Austrians seized the moment and struck first in the War winning the Battle of Aspen-Essling. However the French regrouped and defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Wagram. A final French victory occurred at the Battle of Znaim. In October 1809 the Treaty of Schönbrunn was signed ending the war. Austria gave up land to Bavaria (Tyrol and Salzburg). The Russians received the Duchy of Warsaw and France took control over much of Austria’s Adriatic coastal possessions (Ilyrian provinces) leaving her landlocked, 3.5 million less in population and having to pay a war debt of 75 million francs to France.

Napoleon at the Battle of Wagram (1809) source: alamy.com

Worth noting is that although the French won the critical battle of the war - Wagram - it came at a heavy price. French losses were placed at 27,500 compared to the Austrian death toll of 23,750.

On a grander scheme. The war halted hostilities in non-Iberian Europe until 1812 when France invaded Russia.

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded for Black Hole Research....well done Roger Penrose

Stephen Hawking may have won this had he been alive. Glad to  see Roger Penrose earn his dues.

Nobel Prize for Physics awarded