April 2003
Basque
I am half Spaniard (Basque) and half Irish ancestry, both sets immagrated thru Ellis Island in late 19th century. Every so often in the news is how groups of Basque extremists commit terrorism, wanting a separate nation from Spain. Here is a good page of FAQ's dealing with Basque heritage. It answered a few questions for me as to why extremists would feel this way. It also looks at the history of some words in question #21.
From the late 19th century, the Spanish Basques, fearing for their language and their culture, began pressing for reforms and for greater autonomy. This strictly peaceful campaign was interrupted by the installation of a right-wing dictatorship in Spain in the 1930s, but regained its momentum after the restoration of democracy. But then a military coup in 1936 led to the Spanish Civil War and to the establishment of a brutal Fascist dictatorship in Spain under General Franco. The Basques, who had fought against the Fascists during the war, suffered terribly during the war and under the subsequent Fascist oppression: quite apart from the death and destruction caused by the war itself (including the deliberate destruction of two Basque cities by Hitler's air force), the Basques found themselves singled out for particular vengeance by Franco. Basque soldiers and politicians who had not managed to flee into exile were imprisoned, condemned to forced labor, tortured, and often shot; all outward signs of Basque identity were prohibited, and the very speaking of Basque was declared illegal.
Here is a map of the Basque Region - which includes Spain and France. I was only vaguely aware of the French region, but seeing that the Basque Country is determined by the language, and the French are deeply hostile to languages other than French, it would make sense that the Spanish Region is better known.
But the Basque Country spills beyond the official borders. Basques call their nation Euskal Herria, or "land of the Basque language". And it is their ancient mother tongue that truly unites them. It was spoken here 5.000 years ago, before the Indo-Europeans arrived and spread out across the continent. And it is spoken today in cities and among the shepherds in the hills.
Philip Bloch
I like his insight of celebrity design - he's an almanac of who's who on the food chain. On friday, he has a spot with CNN Headline News. I try to watch it when I can. Not much on the net in way of a bio - sure today he is one of the most sought after stylists for special events, but how did he get started? A good page is this, a pdf file that google lets be viewed as an html page in browser. Click top link on page if you would like to download the pdf file. He also has a page on EBAY.
With his charismatic style, upbeat personality and classic good looks, Phillip was soon discovered by a
modeling agency and whisked off to Japan to find his second home - in front of the camera. It didnšt take
long before French designer Jean Paul Gaultier met him on the streets of Tokyo and flew him to Paris for
his fall collections.
However, like most creative people, Phillip longed for something more than being dressed up like a doll.
With Milan's "Fashion Army" behind him, he returned to behind-the-camera styling, coordinating shoots,
working with the American fashion press at Collection time and even designing his own collection outside
of Rome.
When VH1 produced its first Fashion Awards and Donald Trump acquired the Miss Universe, Miss USA,
and Miss Teen Pageants, Phillip was called on as the celebrity fashion coordinator. Phillip now regularly
serves as a guest correspondent for the E! Channel and "Entertainment Tonight". Phillip delivers fun and
informative celebrity and designer interviews as well as fashion coverage at events such as the Oscars, The
Emmys, and various other awards shows. He regularly covers the New York and European collections for
InStyle magazine as a contributing editor. Due to his popularity abroad, Phillip often appears on CNN,
Canal Plus, Telemundo, and Globo TV.
Cultures
This is a good article on how cultures developed differently.
This big question can easily be pushed back one step further. By the year A.D. 1500, the approximate year when Europe's overseas expansion was just beginning, peoples of the different continents already differed greatly in technology and political organization. Much of Eurasia and North Africa was occupied then by Iron Age states and empires, some of them on the verge of industrialization. Two Native American peoples, the Incas and Aztecs, ruled over empires with stone tools and were just starting to experiment with bronze. Parts of sub-Saharan Africa were divided among small indigenous Iron Age states or chiefdoms. But all peoples of Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific islands, and many peoples of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, were still living as farmers or even still as hunter/ gatherers with stone tools.
Obviously, those differences as of A.D. 1500 were the immediate cause of the modern world's inequalities. Empires with iron tools conquered or exterminated tribes with stone tools. But how did the world evolve to be the way that it was in the year A.D. 1500?
Cheesecake
Recipe sites are a dime a dozen on the net, but this one caught my eye. It's from the Culinary Institute of America - a culinary college. Here is the current months column and recipe, this link will take you to the archives. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts.
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