The Dream - Making Beats

The Dream is multi talented like crazy. He cranks out two hits in two hours. Efficiency at it's best.

They cut down the trees and name the roads after them

Architects of Control Program One - Mass Control & Future of Mankind
Michal Tsarion - "They cut down the trees and name the roads after them."


Stop the Clash of Civilizations


HIP HOP and SUBLIMINAL SYMBOLISM
DR. Amos Wilson LECTURE
www.watchitall.tv


Rap Terrorist Goes To School
Watch Lavoisier talk to school kids about lying rappers, snitching, and more!
Feedback Welcome:
www.rapterrorist.com
www.myspace.com/lavoisiermc
Info@aomegamusic.com


STARMUMMY
www.nosis.tv
Gnosis Channel

Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

The TRUE gentleman. From the way he was dressed to the way he presented himself. I know I'm late, but fuck it, a good movie is a good movie.

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy - Fundraising Event...

Magnolia Tea: An afternoon Tea in aid of the PSP Charity will be held at 4:00pm on Wednesday 8th April at St Mary & St Giles. Bishop Andrew, as a Champion of this Charity, has promised to make a detour and visit on his way back from the Midlands Chrism Mass. PSP stands for “Progressive Supranuclear Palsy” and is a very debilitating disease which affects more people than does Motor-Neurone Disease and there is no known cure. People who have died with this disease include well-known people such as the actor Dudley More and the journalist Nigel Dempster. Please do support this endeavour. Jane Hardy, Churchwarden at Calverton, is the Chief Executive of this Charity and will gladly help you with more information about the work of the Charity.

See the Charity's website for more information: http://www.pspeur.org/

Put People First!!!

http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/

Peace, Love, Unity, Justice, People Power & Equality!!!
Direct Link!!!

On 28th March thousands marched through London as part of a global campaign to challenge the G20, ahead of their 2nd April summit on the global financial crisis.
We marched for...


Jobs,



Justice


& climate (Omnipotent Eye in the Sky...)





They shall not cross!


Jarrow Man Remix


The Jarrow Crusade, Old School People Power!!!












"No More!!!!"

Spem in Alium....

On Saturday the 6th June in St Mary & St Giles, Stony Stratford, at 7:30pm Thomas Tallis' wonderful "Spem in Alium" will be performed. Eight choirs of 5 voices will surround you with sublime choral music.

The Programme

Choirs: I Was Glad, Parry
Organ Solo: James Wharton, Toccata & Fugue D Minor, BWV 538, J.S. Bach
Quorum: Lord, give thy Holy Spirit; Loquebantur variss linguis, Tallis
The Deadwood Quartet: Recorder trio with 'cello continuo play music by Susato and anonymous
Choirs: Spem in alium, Tallis

Interval

Choirs: With a Voice of Singing, Shaw
Vivant: The Obvious Mat, Jan Lucas; Canon, Tallis
Parish Singers: choral item, When to the temple Mary went, Eccard
Organ Solo: Andrew Storer, Praeludium in D Minor, BuxWV 140 Buxtehude.
Choirs: Zadok the priest, Handel
Encore: Spem in alium, Tallis

Many thanks to James, Quorum, The Deadwood Quartet, Vivant, Parish Singers and Andrew for agreeing to perform the solo items and of course to the spem singers.

Tickets
Entry to the concert is by programme. Programmes will be available on the day of the concert (from 6.30pm at the door). However, you can now buy Vouchers for your family and friends and when they arrive they can exchange their Voucher for a full programme at no extra cost. Vouchers are priced £10, (concessions £8, accompanied under 16s £1).

Vouchers will be on sale at all rehearsals. Vouchers can also be purchased by visiting smsg-organ-appeal.co.uk/spem.htm where there is a contact form. You can also buy Vouchers at Odells - the ironmonger's shop, 60 High Street, Stony Stratford, (8.30 to 5.30 Mon to Sat) - opposite the Church.

Captain America #600 Cover

(click image to enlarge)
No, you didn't miss 449 issues. After Captain America #50 in May, the book will return to it's original numbering making the next issue #600. Here's how it's described in Marvel's June 2009 Solicitations:

CAPTAIN AMERICA #600
Written by ED BRUBAKER with MARK WAID, ROGER STERN & OTHERS
Pencils by BUTCH GUICE, LUKE ROSS, DALE EAGLESHAM & OTHERS
Cover by STEVE EPTING
50/50 Cover by ALEX ROSS
Where were you when Captain America died? It's the anniversary of the day Steve Rogers was killed, a day of reflection and mourning in the Marvel U...a time to look back on the things Steve did and what he stood for... or is this issue actually the beginning of the most wicked plot twist since issue 25? Yeah, actually it's both. Plus, contributions from Cap creators past and present, including a very special essay by Joe Simon, a classic story from Cap’s Golden Age, a full gallery of 600 Cap covers, and more anniversary shenanigans than you can shake a shield at!
104 PGS./New and Reprints/Rated T+ ...$4.99

A fairly straightforward cover of James Buchanan Barnes in his three identities all under the watchful eye of Steve Rogers. It should be a great issue and I'm looking forward to reading it.

A Thousand Words

A Thousand Words from Ted Chung on Vimeo.

RAW

BIG sean

"G.O.O.D Music, And We Do's It"

Skin Teeth!!!

cutty ranks @ 1986 PNP Political Rally


Pinchers - Reggae Sunsplash '92


Wayne Wonder & Buju Banton - Reggae Sunsplash '92


Remix


ninja man vs junior cat Stone Love Sound1997


Mavado,Demarco, Vybz Kartel,Elephant, Busy signal
http://www.myspace.com/lawl...
Shoot Out Riddim

3:00pm on the Eve of Palm Sunday:Charles Wood's St Mark's PassionSung by the St Mary & St Giles Parish Singers & Friends....

The St. Mark Passion (full title: The Passion of Our Lord According to Saint Mark) of Charles Wood is a musical composition written in 1920. The work calls for solo tenor (Evangelist), solo baritone (Jesus), chorus and organ, as well as minor roles for five solo basses (Judas, High Priest, Peter, Pilate, Bystander), a solo treble (Maid), and a solo treble or alto (Maid II). It was composed while Wood was employed at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge and lasts on average around an hour.

Sometime during Eastertide 1920, the Revd Dr Eric Milner-White, recovering in the Cambridge Nursing Home after an appendicitis operation, wrote a letter to Charles Wood, asking for him to consider a possible collaboration on a new piece of service music. As Dean of King's College, Cambridge, he had been asked by the school to provide more Passion music for the Easter season. He explains in the letter to Wood: the Passions of Johann Sebastian Bach would be too unwieldy for their resources, and the Bach cantatas would be theologically inappropriate. John Stainer's The Crucifixion (1887) had been regularly performed during Passiontide in Anglican Churches in England, and Milner-White was anxious to provide an alternative to the popular work.

Milner-White's ideas for a Passion cantata based on the Gospel of Mark divide the Passion into its five traditional parts, termed "Lessons": the Last Supper, Gethsemane and Betrayal, the Jewish Trial, the Roman Trial, and the Crucifixion. The intervals between the Lessons he proposes should be filled with either prayers and psalms, hymns, or interspersed stanzas of the hymn Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle, which is based on the plainchant tune Pange lingua gloriosi.

Wood responded by visiting Milner-White as he convalesced. During their meetings, the two refined the shape the musical setting of the Passion would assume. Wood composed the piece over the course of nine days 1 Aug to 9 August 1920. It received its first performance Good Friday 1921 or 1922 at King's College Chapel.

Passion (Palm) Sunday....

An advance notice for the faithful at St Mary & St Giles:

Bishop Andrew will be the Principal Celebrant on Palm Sunday this year for the Blessing of Palms, the Procession and Parish Mass at 9:30am beginning at the London Road Car Park at 9:30am.

This Week's Homily....

Lenten Homilies AD 2009 – The Scriptures

4th Sunday of Lent –
The Relationship between the Old and the New Testament

In the early-Church period there were heretical groups who would have nothing to do with the Old Testament and which claimed that Jesus was a different God to that of the Old Testament. Given some of the strange teachings that masquerade as theology today we can say that such views have nearly always been around, but we can also say that they are heretical and that they have no place within the deposit of Faith.

A minor example which goes to show how ignorant such people are is that there are those who claim that the New Testament Nativity events do not record any animals in the stable when Christ was born and therefore the figures of animals that Christians put in their crib scenes are simply sentimental nonsense – and if you don’t believe me then I can tell you that Sister Janet and I once worked with a very liberal priest who taught his parish such things. He also taught that the Church was far more interesting than the Bible which goes to show why he didn’t know the biblical reason for putting the ox and the donkey in the crib. The reason is in the very first chapter of the Book of Isaiah, verse 3 reads: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib.”

There is an ancient teaching which states: “The New Testament lies hidden in the Old and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.” The Lord Jesus said that he came to fulfil the law not to destroy it. The dramatic events of the Life of Christ and especially what happens to him during Holy Week and Easter are difficult to appreciate fully without reference to their Old Testament background.

There are four important points that we should note when considering the relationship between the Old and New Testaments:

a) Jesus uses many Old Testament references and quotations in his teaching
b) Jesus and the writers of the Gospels and Epistles allude to the Old Testament time and time again
c) There are Old Testament foreshadows of the life, death and resurrection of Christ
d) Old Testament Prophecies are fulfilled in the life of Christ

In the early-Church it was the last two that were used especially in the teachings of the early-Church Fathers. They were basically classed as:

1. The fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy
2. Typology

Now there are lots of examples of each of these and time does not allow me to list them all, but here are a few of each:

1. The Fulfilment of Prophecy

Here are a few examples of prophecies from the Old Testament that are explicitly used in the New Testament.

· Psalm 2:7 refers to God’s Son
· Isaiah 9:5 refers to the messiah being born of a woman and in 7:14 the Emmanuel is to be born of a virgin
· The early-Church Fathers saw several prophecies in Genesis that showed that the messiah would be descended from Abraham
· Micah 5:1 refers to the birth in Bethlehem
· Numbers 24:1 refers to his birth being heralded by a star and along with Isaiah and the Psalms shows that he would be given homage by the Gentiles
· There are the various references in the Gospels to John the Baptist being the herald that prepares the way for the messiah
· There are the Suffering Servant passages in Isaiah
· His betrayal and his silence; his being beaten and his humiliation, his being insulted and taunted; his being killed without his bones being broken and his burial in a strangers tomb are all to be found in the Psalms and Isaiah.

All these and more were used by the Gospel writers and the authors of the Epistles to show that Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies.

2. Typology:



Hans Holbein's painting Allegory of the Old and New Testament gives visual expression to this way of biblical interpretation. The pictures and text on the left come from the Hebrew Bible and represent the old (e.g., law given to Moses). This side is contrasted with the new found in the images on the left (e.g., grace, resurrection, etc.). The prophet Isaiah on the left side (with the text of Isa. 7:14 alluded to in the writing under his feet) points man to Christ on the right side and represents the way that the old finds fulfillment in Christ.

• 
  In this understanding Christ is revealed on the basis on figures, or types – what we might call historical people who foreshadow a person or event.
  
  So the New Testament writers see these events surrounding the life of Jesus foreshadowed in many of the Old Testament events. There are many of them, but here are a few:
  
  The Annunciation is seen as being foreshadowed in the story of Moses and the burning Bush as well as the announcements of the births of Isaac, of Samson and of Samuel.
  
  The Incarnation is seen as being foreshadowed in the story of Jacob’s ladder with the angels ascending descending and in the story of God’s presence in the Temple.
  
  The Nativity of Jesus is seen as being foreshadowed in the story of the flowering of Aaron’s road, in the birth of Eve and of Moses in the bulrushes.
  
  The Transfiguration is seen as being foreshadowed in the story of the angel appearing to Abraham, in Moses shining face, and in Nebuchadnezzar seeing the three young men in the blazing fiery furnace.
  
  Jesus cleansing of the Temple is foreshadowed by the cleansings by Ezra and Judas Maccabeus.
  The events surrounding the Passion, Death, Burial and Resurrection of the Lord are all linked to types in the Old Testament; e.g. the seamless garment worn by Christ is linked with Joseph’s many-coloured coat; the piercing of Christ’s side with Eve coming from Adam’s side and Moses bringing forth water from the rock; the Resurrection appearances are seen foreshadowed in Joseph revealing himself to his brothers and in the story of the Prodigal Son, who was forgiven by his Father, as were the disciples for their cowardice.
  
  Melchizedek is seen as a type of Christ, and his action of bringing bread and wine to Abraham, along with Elijah being fed by angels and the manna in the wilderness are seen as foreshadows of the Mass.
  

The Old Testament was the Bible that the earliest Christians looked to find out more about Jesus as the contents of the New Testament were not agreed until the 5th Century. The early-Church Fathers excelled at finding prophecies and foreshadows of Christ in the pages of the Old Testament, and I want to read an example of this to you from the writings of St Irenaeus (2nd Century):

That which had been done typically through his actions by the prophet, the apostle proves to have been done truly by Christ in the Church. Thus, too, did Moses also take to wife an Ethiopian woman, whom he thus made an Israelitish one, showing by anticipation that the wild olive tree is grafted into the cultivated olive, and made to partake of its fatness. For as He who was born Christ according to the flesh, had indeed to be sought after by the people in order to be slain, but was to be set free in Egypt, that is, among the Gentiles, to sanctify those who were there in a state of infancy, from whom also He perfected His Church in that place (for Egypt was Gentile from the beginning, as was Ethiopia also); for this reason, by means of the marriage of Moses, was shown forth the marriage of the Word; and by means of the Ethiopian bride, the Church taken from among the Gentiles was made manifest; and those who do detract from, accuse, and deride it, shall not be pure.

We dismiss the Old Testament at our peril, because it informs our understanding of the New Testament which, as we will see next week in the final instalment of this series of Homilies, records God’s fullest and complete revelation of himself in the person of his Son: our Lord Jesus Christ.

All Saints, Calverton: Listing....

All Saints Church Calverton was formerly listed as Grade B and is now likely to be regraded as "Grade II*" Here is the report by Dr Brandwood who is working for English Heritage on this project:

Name of Church: All Saints
Street: Church Hill
Parish: Calverton
Local Planning Authority: Milton Keynes
County: Buckinghamshire

LMS Reference No: 140860



Notes: Visited 17 March 2009.

A building of considerable interest – medieval remnants, a rebuilding of 1817-18, and a truly remarkable Victorian scheme for which, sadly, we vurtually no documentary information. A transfer from B to II* seems wholly appropriate.

ADMIN NOTE - NB The parish of Wolverton and Greenleys is no longer part of the edifice of local govt! The parish is Calverton (not Lower Weald) where, the incumbent tells me, the civil and ecclesiastical parishes are coterminous. I have altered the parish and street above to what I believe to be correct

PROPOSED GRADE: II*

NAME OF CHURCH: All Saints

DATES OF MAIN PHASES, NAME OF ARCHITECT: Rebuilt 1817-18 by William Pilkington but medieval work retained in the S arcade, tower and chancel arches. Extensively Gothicised probably in the 1850s (architect unknown).

MATERIALS: Semi-coursed and roughly dressed limestone; limestone dressings. Slate roofs with crested clay ridge tiles on the chancel and baptistry.

PLAN: Nave, chancel, S aisle, S porch, SE baptistry, N vestry, W tower.

EXTERIOR: The exterior appears to have work of two phases, the rebuilding of 1817-18, and a florid remodelling probably of the 1850s on the S side. The Georgian campaign provided a neo-Norman W tower but Gothic detailing elsewhere. The tower is of four stages and has a NW circular stair-turret which rises to a conical top above the plain parapet. There are set-back buttresses to the SW angle. The lower stages of the tower are quite plain. There is a three-light W window with cusped intersecting tracery. In the belfry stage there are two-light neo-Norman windows with a central shaft. The nave is of three bays divided by buttresses with an offset in the centre and a gabled head. The windows of each bay are large, three-light intersected ones and are probably those installed in 1817-18. The chancel windows are similar (E, three-light; S two-light). The S side of the church has very rich Victorian decoration derived from work of the early C14, hence the openwork parapet with cusped wavy detail, the flowing tracery of the SE baptistry S window and the large pinnacles to that part of the church. The baptistry has a gable to the E as well as the S and standing on the gables are an angel (S) and an eagle (E). In the E wall is a circular window with five cusped lobes. The S aisle has very varied fenestration - flowing tracery in the two-light SW window, reticulated tracery in the W window, a two-light Geometrical SE window and one-light windows with Perpendicular detailing either side of the porch. The N side of the church is. There is no clerestory.

INTERIOR: The nave and aisle are separated by a medieval three-bay arcade with chamfered arches, and octagonal piers with moulded capitals and bases. At the W end a neo-Norman arch is set within a higher and broader, apparently reused medieval tower arch. The chancel arch has continuous mouldings and semi-circular responds. The nave roof is arch-braced to a collar which has a crown post to the ridge and raked struts. The trusses are quite closely spaced and have angels holding shields at the springing. In the chancel the roof has arch-braces that form semi-circular trusses while the S aisle has a lean-to roof but with braces that spring from ornate foliate capitals of varied design, set in the valleys of the arches. The wall treatment in the nave and aisles is of plain, whitened plaster, apart from around the chancel arch where there are stencilled stylised green foliage sprays. The chancel itself, however, has a remarkable decorative scheme of sgraffito patterning of circles ornamented by stylised leaves and fleurs-de-lys: the raised parts have natural coloured rendering, while the recessed ones are pink. The sanctuary has Minton encaustic tiles and the chancel flooring has coloured, patterned tiling. The nave and aisle are laid with red and black quarry tiles. More Minton tiles floor the baptistry. At the W end the tower was partitioned off by a timber and glass screen c.2004 to provide a toilet and kitchen facilities.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: At the E end is a fine mosaic reredos probably of the 1870s depicting the Adoration of the Magi; recesses on either side have paintings of adoring angels. Further figure painting occurs in the panels of the stone pulpit and again probably date from the 1870s and is by Daniel Bell. The bench seating is, unusually, of two different patterns, square-ended in the aisle and N side of the nave, with curved shoulders in the centre of the nave. The stalls have traceried fronts and poppy-head ends. The font is octagonal with a shallow bowl with tracery which is in the same spirit as the S aisle parapet. Nearby is a C16 brass to John Robys and his wife. There is a good tablet to Thomas Ravenscroft (d 1752). At the W end there is a foiled circle over the tower arch bearing the royal arms. In the tower windows there are two medieval stained glass heads. In the nave there is extensive glass by O’Connor depicting saints. The organ, between the chancel and baptistry, is by T. Atterton of Leighton Buzzard, and has attractively decorated pipes.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: South of the tower is an ornate churchyard cross of c1873 with the symbols of the Evangelists at the corners.

HISTORY: The fabric has some work dating back to the Middle Ages but the predominant character of the church stems from the C19 activity. The rebuilding work of 1817-18 is from a period when church-building was generally at a low ebb and was financed by the 2nd Lord Arden. The architect responsible was William Pilkington (1748-1848). In 1781 he was appointed surveyor to the Board of Customs and he also became district surveyor to the parishes of St Margaret and St John, Westminster (1784). He was employed as a surveyor and architect by the Earl of Radnor. He exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy between 1780 and 1790. He retired about 1842 to his estate at Hatfield near Doncaster. The contract for the rebuilding dated 4 September 1817 was with a James Laird and it stipulated that work was to be complete by 29 September 1818: the sum was £2176. Pilkington kept the plan of the old church, it seems, except for one important particular. Old watercolours in the church show the previous tower to have been on the N side of the nave at its E end. The arrangement at the W end of the nave, therefore, is very curious in that an old arch seems to have been reused and a smaller, Norman one placed within it. Pevsner (1st ed) and Colvin (probably following Pevsner) give the date as 1818-24 but the contract suggests these dates are unlikely to be right.
The early- to mid-Victorian remodelling of considerable interest. It was undertaken by the Hon. and Rev. Charles George Perceval, the third son of Lord Arden, who, during his long incumbency from 1821, was a considerable benefactor not only to the church but the village too. He built the almshouses to the SE of the church in 1830 and the school house of 1857. He made the church a centre of Tractarianism and welcomed J H Newman and H E Manning as visitors. Apart from the ornateness of the work, a curious feature is the positioning of the baptistry to the E of the S aisle. The incised inscription over the arch leading to it – ‘One Lord One Faith One Baptism’ – is a clear sign that it was built as a baptistry. Some further work (details unknown) was carried out in 1871-2 by the local architect E. Swinfen Harris.

SOURCES:
Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, PR 32/3/1.
Records of Buckinghamshire, vol 5, p 138.
Howard Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, 3rd ed. 1995, pp 755-6
Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, 1960, pp 79-80
Nikolaus Pevsner and Elizabeth Williamson, The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire, 1994, pp 212-13.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The church of is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* It is a building of outstanding interest showing a variety of highly interesting work from the late Middle Ages to the mid-Victorian period.
* The Victorian decorative scheme in the chancel and in the stained glass windows is of considerable importance.

One rule for one, and one for another....

Being incredibly busy of late has not given me much time to engage in blogging, which perhaps is no bad thing. However, there have been many matters in the news that I felt a blog coming on about - not least the antics of the sex-craved media types and male politico's who think that condoms are the answer to every sexually transmitted disease.

The approach taken by such people seems to be to be totally disingenuous for a number of reasons. Firstly, they seem to use this as a reason to blame the Holy Father for the deaths of countless people in Africa through HIV and Aids - this is a poor argument as countless men refuse to use them anyway and so abstinence has to be advised in such a situation. This is barely disguised anti-Roman Catholic sentiment, and a cheap-shot to boot, which takes little account of nuanced arguments put forward by the Holy See.

A Government Minister (can't remember whether he was in the Cabinet or not) claimed some few weeks ago on BBC Television news that "everyone has a right to a fulfilling sexual life" REALLY? A RIGHT? How do such ignorant people get into positions of power and influence. Any sexual relationship is a gift, not a right - would that "minister" care to say what he said to the poor victims of rape? "Everyone?" - including paedophiles?

I sometimes think that we are led by men who are using the force of law to enable themselves to legitimise any form of sexual behaviour that they wish to indulge in - and what surprises me even more is that in an age when women's rights have, we are told, been advanced we see women being compliant in allowing men, to use women for their own gratification with very little consequence. It seems that condoms are OK for people in Africa, but ladies in this country don't have to worry as they can always have an abortion, thus making sure the male gets heightened pleasure and at the same time doesn't have to worry about the consequences. Oh yes, we recommend condoms to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in this land, but it really does seem that the original intention of them, i.e. birth control has been replaced by treating abortion as the main form of preventing the birth of a child.

On the one hand the Government seeks to promote the use of condoms and on the other encourages high-risk sexual behaviour at ever younger ages. How long before we see a move to lowering the age of consent to 14 as in some European nations? Already, the age of consent is 15 in Poland, 14 in Portugal and 13 (with some restrictions) in Spain - and there are those who advocate such moves in this land too. If we go down this route then we run the risk of pandering to the base desires of those men who seek to use others for their gratification rather than seeing sexual relationships as a gift from God best expressed in the Sacrament of Marriage, where commitment and the promise of fidelity bring safety and assurance to both man and woman.

Who is wiser - the man who says use a condom and have as many partners as you like, or the man who says abstain until you are married to the man or woman that you love? Politicians may argue that human nature tends towards multiple partners, but in previous ages we asked men to reign in their baser instincts and to respect women, and we taught women not to be fooled by predatory men. Have we really progressed? I think not.

Right Side Of My Brain.

Just another fly ass dream track from the new album Love Vs. Money.

Stay Up!

sketchbook 015

(click image to enlarge)
Wow, I apologize for the long absence from the ol' blog. I didn't realize it had been this long. Hopefully you all didn't wreck the place while I was gone. I should be back to my regular 2 - 3 times a week posting from now on, provided I can come up with something to show you. For now, here's another sketchbook page I filled up a while back but just now got around to scanning.

Join The Bandwagon

Before it gets too full.


Rob Roy "Fur In My Cap" Director: Ethan Lader from ethandirector on Vimeo.

Iron Mike is in the house

This Week's Homily....

Lenten Homilies AD 2009 – The Scriptures

3rd Sunday of Lent – The Old Testament

Last week we looked at the history of the Bible's translation into English and how language changes and the need for accurate translations that enable the literal meaning of the text to be conveyed in every generation.

This week we turn our thoughts to the Old Testament. Now to cover the whole of the Old Testament in one homily is impossible - so much material is there to consider. Having given an overview of the Scriptures two weeks ago when the theme of the Homily was “The Book” I intend to look at two matters that are important to any serious study of the Bible. The first is a brief historical outline of the period covered by the Old Testament books and then secondly I want us to look at some of the Titles used for God in the Old Testament. In the former the online version of this homily will include far more dates. In the latter I want us to reall what I said from the outset in this series of Homilies “The Scriptures are the record of God’s revelation of himself to mankind” and it is very often through the names or titles given to God that we see that revelation and understand God’s relationship with ourselves.

Historical Outline:
So first of all we look at a brief historical outline. It is difficult to say just how many thousands of years the historical period is that is covered by the Old Testament. Some fundamentalist Christians would tell you exactly how much time has elapsed since the creation, and tell you to boot that the devil had planted the dinosaur bones to confuse us. No wonder limited scientists like Richard Dawkins have a field day! But there is nothing to worry about really for the ancient scribes were not all that concerned with accurate times and dates.

The historical era covered by the Old Testament falls basically into three broad periods. The first is what we would call pre-history which deals with the origins of the Cosmos, earth, and mankind. It describes Creation, Paradise and Original Sin. Now in my series of Homilies looking at the works of Richard Dawkins I explained how we need not be overly concerned about the Creation accounts in the Book of Genesis seemingly being in conflict with the Theory of Evolution so I do not intend to go over that again. Suffice to say that the scribes were trying to describe what happened and by whom rather than when. So ascribing dates to this period would be a foolish exercise.

The second period covered is that of the origins of the Hebrews and it covers the time of the Patriarchs and the period when the Hebrews were in Egypt. It is with this period that we can begin to put some dates to what happened. Now bear in mind that the numbering of years in the BC era goes backwards from the year nought. It is generally believed that the era of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was around 1850 to 1600 years before Christ, and it is thought that the period when the Hebrews were in Egypt was from about 1600 to 1250 BC.

The third period covers the Origins and History of the State of Israel and this is broken down into eight smaller periods linked with particular events:

• 
  The origins of Israel as a nation: the Exodus, the forty years in the wilderness and the conquest of the land from about 1250 -1200 BC
  
  
  
• 
  The period of the Judges before Israel had a King and when God raised up defenders of the people and the land such as Samson, Gideon, Deborah and others, from about 1200 – 1000 BC
  
• 
  The beginnings of the Monarchy in Israel and the reigns of Saul (1000BC), David (1000-965 BC) and Solomon (965-922 BC)
  
• 
  Then we get the period where the nation is divided into two Kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Alongside this we see the rise of prophecy in the land. Now this period is dated as being 922-587 BC. We can date fairly accurately the fall of these two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom, Israel, fell to the Assyrians in 721 BC, and the Southern Kingdom, Judah, fell to the Babylonians in 587
  
• The period of the Exile in Babylon is dated as being 587-53 BC

• Following the return from Babylon we see the restoration of the Temple and national life and the beginning of the end of prophecy. But this period is also marked out by Persian domination of the Region. 538-333 BC

• 
  In the late fourth century before Christ the Greeks took over the land, first under Alexander in 333 BC, then under the Seleucids up to 175 BC. After this for forty year the Maccabean Revolt took place which ended in 135 with a period of Jewish independence under the Hasmonean era until 63 BC

• 
  In 63 BC disaster struck again when the Roman General Pompey took Jerusalem and Israel became part of the Roman province of Syria.
  

Throughout all this time the Jewish people still continued to write Scripture recording what happened and seeing it all through what God was revealing of himself and asking of the people. So we see not a sanitised version of history, but one that describes failure and despair as well as glory and victory.

The Titles ascribed to God:
There are many titles ascribed to God in the Old Testament but I want us to briefly consider what are thought to be the seven most important ones. They tell us about God’s nature and his dealings with his people. An important point to note is that the Hebrews (the ancient people of Israel) do not pronounce the name of God out of respect for His holiness.

1. 
   El. This is a common term used throughout the Semitic speaking world. It suggests: power, wholly other, Highest. We see evidence of this in certain names: Michael (Who is like God?) – note that this was a question not a statement – Gabriel (Man of God), or Israel (One who has striven with God).



2. 
   Elohim. This appears thousands of times in the Old Testament and is the Hebrew plural of El and refers to the god’s (note small g) of the nations. But it can also be used in the singular and is reflected in Jesus cry from the Cross “Eli, Eli lama sabacthani”



3. 
   Adonai. This Hebrew word is translated as Kyrios in Greek, as Dominus in Latin, and as LORD in English. It is the Hebrew substitute for the unspeakable name of God: YHWH. Christians use this title deliberately for Jesus in order to proclaim his divinity.



4. 
   Yahweh (or incorrectly, Jehovah). This stems from the YHWH (or tetragrammaton). The Hebrews never wrote the vowels so as to render God’s name unpronounceable. Whether "Yahweh" is correct is also a matter for debate amongst Biblical Scholars.




5. 
   Ehyeh-asher-Ehyeh. “I am that I am”- God’s revelation to Moses from the Burning Bush. This divine name is mysterious just as God is mystery. It is at one and the same time a name revealed and something like the refusal of a name, and so it expresses God as what he is - infinitely above everything that we can understand or say: he is the "hidden God", his name is ineffable as we sing in the hymn, meaning unutterable, and he is the God who comes close to mankind. After Israel's sin, when the people had turned away from God to worship the golden calf, God hears Moses' prayer of intercession and agrees to walk in the midst of an unfaithful people, thus demonstrating his love. When Moses asks to see his glory, God responds "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'the LORD' [YHWH]." Then the LORD passes before Moses and proclaims, "YHWH, YHWH, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness"; Moses then confesses that the LORD is a forgiving God. The divine name, "I Am" or "He Is", expresses God's faithfulness: despite the faithlessness of mankind's sin and the punishment it deserves, he keeps "steadfast love for thousands"... By giving his life to free us from sin, Jesus reveals that he himself bears the divine name: "When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will realize that "I AM"."




6. 
   (El) Shaddai. Literally, in English, this means “Lord of the Mountain”, but in Greek it means “Pantocator”: “Ruler of all” and many of the Icons of Christ in the Byzantium Exhibition show Christ bearing this Title. El means God and “Shaddai” is more commonly translated as “almighty.” Thus this title means: Almighty God.



7. 
   Zebaot. This is translated into English as Sabaoth or Hosts. It is used with the tetragammaton YHWH and forms the Title “Lord of Hosts” – unfortunately this was ditched by the 1960/70’s liturgists in favour of “God of power and might”, but at least the Roman Catholics have seen sense and will be restoring it in their revised liturgy in 2010.
   

These Titles resonate with Christians because we know that there is a progression in God’s revelation of himself from Old Testament times to the Christian Era and the fullest revelation of himself in Christ. They show us that God reveals himself at one and the same time as Almighty and as the one who comes close to us. We see this in displayed in the Mass as we all face east awaiting the return of the Lord in glory and celebrating a foretaste of the heavenly Banquet and then under the veils of bread and wine the Lord himself comes to us and feeds us with himself the Living Bread which has come down from heaven.

God is revealed as "a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." as St Paul records from a possible early Christian hymn: "We may be unfaithful, but he is always faithful" 2 Timothy 2:13.

The Woman at the Well of Samaria....

With the arrival of our Orthodox brothers and sisters in the former St Mary’s Church in London Road my mind has been mulling over much of the service held there last Friday Evening for their observance of the “Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.” So with that in mind I thought of researching the Orthodox teaching of the Woman of the Well at Samaria. Some interesting understanding emerges..........

The original name of the Samaritan woman is not known, but the Orthodox Church knows her as Photini (Svetlana in Russian), "Equal to the Apostles". She was baptized after the resurrection, and in a continuation of her zealous apostolic ministry begun on the day she met the Lord, preached in many areas, including Carthage and Smyrna in Asia Minor, where she was martyred. She had 5 daughters and two sons, all of whom became martyrs. She is commemorated February 28th, and, of course, on the fifth Sunday of Pascha (Easter).

"The holy martyr Photina (Svetlana) ... was that Samaritan woman who had the rare fortune to speak with the Lord Christ Himself at Jacob's Well in Sychar (John. 4). Coming to faith in the Lord, she then came to belief in His Gospel, together with her two sons, Victor and Josiah, and five sisters who were called Anatolia, Phota, Photida, Paraskeva and Kyriake. They went to Carthage in Africa. But they were arrested and taken to Rome in the time of the Emperor Nero, and thrown into prison. By the providence of God, Domnina, Nero's daughter, came into contact with St. Photina and was brought by her to the Christian faith. After imprisonment, they all suffered for Christ. Photina, who first encountered the light of truth by a well, was thrown into a well, where she died and entered into the immortal Kingdom of Christ."
(Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic, The Prologue from Ochrid / Ohridski Prolog)

By the well of Jacob, O holy one,
thou didst find the Water
of eternal and blessed life;
and having partaken
thereof, O wise Photina,
thou wentest forth proclaiming Christ, the Anointed One.
(Megalynarion for St. Photina, according to the Byzantine usage)

SHPE-NYC Speaker Series Event: Al Matos, PSEG Vice President of Renewable & Energy

SHPE-NYC Speaker Series Event

Al Matos, PSEG Vice President of Renewable & Energy Solutions

Please join us for our first SHPE-NYC Webinar event, sponsored and hosted by PSEG!
This event will take place via the web, allowing you to participate from any internet connected computer.

Please RSVP to rsvp@shpe-nyc.org

Climate change is the pre-eminent issue of our time.  How we respond to climate change will define our world for generations to come.  Innovative companies likePSEG are addressing climate change head on through a variety of methods.  Join us for an informative presentation outlining PSE&Gs renewable and energy efficiency initiatives!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

12:00pm – 1:00pm

Web Participant code:  3612219

Web Login Page:  http://www.startmymeeting.com

Phone: 866-682-6100  US/Canada callers - 201-499-0416  International callers

Title:  “Green Technology Future”

Please RSVP to rsvp@shpe-nyc.org

www.shpe-nyc.org

American Gangster

I forgot how DOPE(no pun intended) this movie was.

Super Boo.

"Her body is sick...her face is dope"

Moon Walking

The Dreams new album is most definitely ill. He collabos with Kanye on this one.

This Week's Homily....

Lenten Homilies AD 2009 – The Scriptures

2nd Sunday of Lent – The Translation

One of the major problems we face in trying to grapple in our minds with the Teaching of the Church is that much of what we were taught in schools was taught either by teachers who did RE because no one else would do it or by teachers who really didn’t know their subject. Occasionally matters were really bad and we got a teacher who fell into both categories. There was another problem and that was that what was taught was according to an agreed version, and to a certain degree this affected the study of history too. I well remember a conversation with a history teacher a few years ago who rattled out the old line of “Henry VIII: good and bad, Mary Tudor: bad, Elizabeth 1st: good.” I said that it wasn’t quite as simple as that and he said “Ah, you’ve been reading 'The Stripping of the Altars' and stuff by Scarisbrick, and yes they are right, but for the purposes of exams: Henry was good and bad, Mary was bad and Elizabeth was good."

Now if those of us who are well into our middle-age were taught RE poorly imagine what it is like today when it is even more difficult to get people to teach it.

What has all that got to do with today’s theme regarding the Scriptures, you might think? Well, I guess like me most of you were taught at school that one of the major problems in the mediaeval Church was the row over the translation of the Bible into the vernacular, that is local languages. This we were told was because the bishops and priests didn’t want people finding out what they already knew, because knowledge was power and that this in turn was one of the contributory factors in bringing about the Reformation. In reality the matter was, as is usually the case, not quite so simple. There was a very real fear that if the Bible was readable by everyone that it would be misinterpreted and to be honest I think anyone could acknowledge that this has been proved true over the last 500 years. The Church at the time wanted to safeguard the interpretation of Scripture rather than its translation and that is proved by the fact that translations into common tongues had been going on since earliest times.

The Scriptures were originally written in Hebrew and Greek with parts of the Old Testament being written in Aramaic. But were any of us ever told at school that in the 56 years before Martin Luther translated it into German in 1522 eighteen translations had been made in Germany and yet somehow this is considered one of Luther’s crowning achievements. Furthermore translations were made into Italian in 1471, Dutch in 1478 and French in 1479. If we go back in time to AD 400 we will see a translation, by St Jerome, into a common tongue: Latin. Some of you may have heard of the Vulgate version of the Bible – Vulgate is Latin for “Common” for Latin in that era was the common tongue of the Empire. As vernacular languages began to develop and take over from Latin the Bible was one of the first books to be translated and were common throughout Europe before the Reformation. Not something that we were taught at school!

Having the Bible translated was not the main problem – making sure it was a correct translation and the interpretation of it were.

There is an old Latin saying which says “Omnis traductor traditor” which means “Every translator is a traitor.” What this is trying to say is that there is no such thing as an accurate translation. It has been suggested that a new translation is needed every thirty years or so, but most good translations try to express a literal word for word translation. This will usually mean a more traditional style of language and some involved sentence structure. Our Bibles fall into this category. Some translations try to give the meaning in a way that is engaging and the Good News Version is one such translation, but most scholars would question whether it was an accurate translation. The Living Bible is a complete paraphrase and should be avoided at all costs.

Now I could take you on a “Cooks’ Tour” of the history of the translation of the Bible (and of the large number of translations available today) but that would take far too long and I doubt would be very beneficial, but did you know that the following ancient English Saints used various parts of the Bible translated into English: St Augustine, St Wilfred, St Caedmon and the Venerable Bede? Incidentally, so did King Alfred the Great. You will have all no doubt heard of the Lindisfarne Gospels which are handwritten in Anglo-Saxon – you can see it in the British Museum.

If anything the resurgence, after a 1000 years, of reading the Biblical texts in the original Hebrew and Greek were what precipitated a demand for more thorough English translations, as biblical scholars and others realised that the language had developed and that the translations were out of date. Interestingly, we were all told at school about the problems that John Wycliffe caused with his English translation, but it was never printed until 1850 and today we would not recognise it as English as our language has developed considerably. I have put up at the back of Church the English translations of the “Our Father” in the Lindisfarne Gospels and those by John Wycliffe and William Tyndale (included here for online readers):

Lindisfarne Gospels (about 950 – Old English / Anglo-Saxon):
fader gehalgad sie noma oin tocymaeo ic oin half usene daeghuaemlice sel us eghuelc daege fgef us synna usra gif faestlice aec pe fgefaes eghuelc scyldge us fgef ne usic onlaed ou in costunge.

Wycliffe Bible (1382 – Middle English):
Fadir, halewid be thi name. Thi kingdom come to. Zyue to vs to day oure eche days breed. And forzyue to vs oure synnes, as and we forzyuen to eche owynge to vs. And leed not vs in to temptacioun.

Tyndale New Testament (1525 – early modern English):
Oure father which arte in heve, hallowed be thy name. Lett thy kingdom come. They will be fulfillet, even in erth as it is in heven. Oure dayly breed geve us this daye. And forgeve vs oure synnes: for even we forgeve every man that traspaseth vs, and ledde vs not into temptacio, butt deliver vs from evyll. Amen.

These translations over time only go to illustrate that language in any land does develop, and that an accurate translation that is able to convey the meaning of the original text is vital if we are to retain our roots with the early-Church and to be able to convey the same truths as were handed down by Christ to the Apostles.

What is important to understand about all this is that we need a translation that we can rely on to be literal in its translation of the original Hebrew and Greek. There will always be arguments about interpretation, but that is why the Church sends people off to theological colleges and seminaries so that they can explain the meaning to God’s People and so equip the saints for the work of ministry. That is why all this is important: you have a role to play in spreading the story of God’s revelation of himself and to do that you need to be equipped, and to be equipped you need good and reputable Biblical Scholars and Translators to do the work and who themselves equip Bishops and priests to equip the laity. However, most lay people haven’t got time to learn all this stuff so they rely on Bishops and priests to help them. Yes there will be lay people who have the time to learn and so they can and should be able, but every Christian needs help to be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them. The translation of the Scriptures into the Common tongue has been going on since AD 400 and will continue to go on and the need for it to be interpreted correctly and accurately will go on too, so that each generation will be able to bear faithful witness to the Gospel of Christ both in word and deed.

as eye see it....

Many of us are getting used to "New Ways of being Church" and "Fresh Expressions" - after all Anglo-Catholics have been doing just that remarkably successfully since 1993 - too well according to one General Synod Member who used that as his justification for not giving us anything but the Code of Practice.

However, in other parts of this federation of loosely affiliated clergy bound together by the stipend the liturgy and practice of the Church is up for radical overhaul too. I am given to understand that in the Diocese of my birth, Baptism and Confirmation the annual Chrism Mass (no doubt under the euphemism of "A Renewal of Ministerial Commitment" so as to avoid the charge of exclusivity) has been transferred from Holy Thursday to June. I am sure that many of us await with baited breath for the excuse being given for this innovation.

The Chrism Mass is so bound up with Holy Week and the events that unfold in the Triduum Sacrum that one can scarcely believe that such things are true were it not for the fact that my source is impeccable. "Change and decay in all around I see...."

What a week....

It has been a very busy week in the parish this week - hence the lack of posts on the blog.

Monday saw an unexpected and very short notice meeting about the future of our former Parish Hall - the proceeds from the sale of which (when completed) will pay for the extension to the Parish Church in Stony Stratford. The rest of Monday (apart from Stations of the Cross and the Lenten Study Group in the evening) along with all day Wednesday and Thursday were filled with Pastoral Visits and Home Communions. Friday saw more visits plus all my desk work except for the evening when I was invited to the local Greek Orthodox Community for their celebration of the Salutation of the Blessed Virgin Mary during which the Akathist hymn was sung - this makes Anglo-Catholic devotion to Our Lady look very tame indeed.

Today was our Day of Teaching, Reconciliation and Healing. Bishop Andrew and Bishop Keith gave us a whole day in which over 60 people participated and learnt more about the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing. The Laying on of Hands for healing by the Bishops during Vespers was very moving and I am sure for the bishops themselves was very special as we gave people the space and privacy (by quiet organ voluntaries) to voice their ailments and problems to the Bishops before the Laying on of Hands.

The next day of Teaching will be on the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. The day on the Eucharist was three years ago and was held jointly with our local Roman Catholic Church followed by a joint Corpus Christi Procession and Benediction. The final day of Teaching on the Seven Sacraments will be on Marriage and Ordination and will have a slightly wider focus of Vocation and the Christian Life.

National No Curse Day

Purple Wigs & OG Kush


N.O.R.E's is a funny guy.

Musiq is my shit.

SHPE-NYC and SWE-NY Networking Social

The Society of Women Engineers and The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers cordially invite you to our first Social Networking Event.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009
6:00pm – 9:00pm

FLUTE BAR
40 EAST 20TH Street
New York City
(between Broadway and Park Ave South)

Please RSVP to rsvp@shpe-nyc.org

"This Beat Is Military" - Hip-Hop, Computer Games & The Military

50 Cent Blood On The Sand

Swordfish Studios and Shady Aftermath have just released a new 50 Cent computer game called "Blood In The Sand". Its described as “a loud shiny parade of gun violence and rap music.”


“Surprise bitches” 50 Cent in game dialogue


“Their world, his rules.”



In the Xbox game, you Dodge R.P.G.’s AK Fire, Drive around in Hummers (Military - no rims) avoiding Snipers in a poor war torn Arab country in a casual mix of Desert combat fatigues and Hip-Hop/Hood wear.

“THE ULTIMATE 50 CENT EXPERIENCE - Play as one of the world’s biggest hip hop stars.”



There is plenty of product placement as you would expect, G-Unit everything, Reebok G-Unit signature sneakers, it ends up as a symbiotic mix of hood wars and world wars all rolled (role modelled) up into very strange message.


50 Cent Still


Private Security On The Ground


50 Cent performing at an MTV event celebrating Military Veterans (in full fatigue gear)

It is nothing new for Rappers to dress in Military surplus, Marine caps, Desert Boots, camo jackets, Jeep Caps are all and have been for quite some time hip-hop staple wear. Army surplus is durable, practicle and cheap.



But looking at 30 plus Rapper 50 Cent and his slimmed down G-Unit entourage Lloyd Banks and DJ etc, conducting urban gorilla battles with masked terrorists, it looks so much like the footage of the private security corporations like Haliburton etc, of ex-military personnel with a loose collection of firearms and civilian and military uniform. As we know the U.S. military machine is winding down troop numbers in Iraq, these Security firms which almost outnumber Regular military personnel, will step in to fill the breach.


Controversial Private Security Firm Black Water



50 is one of the biggest selling Hip-Hop artists ever, so on a corporate responsibility level and the amount of impressionable young ears he has access to is “Intense High Body Count Gun play” such a good thing?



Aaron Blean, Producer on 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand describes the game is “a fictional Middle Eastern setting”, “war-torn country”. Although it is just a game at present there are only a few countries that fit this description, namely countries where the U.S. and various other European nations are engaged. Many of these same nations the U.S. in particular are the core target audience for the game.



Aaron Blean, Producer on 50 manning the gun on a Black hawk helicopter -
“Basically, 50 takes over a helicopter via a gun to the pilot's head and 50's manning a turret, raining death from above into this forsaken, war-torn area. It looks fantastic.”

“This city has the worst gangsters in the world” – Arab Character in the game remarks


“Just another day at the office” 50 Cent

“I’m a hustler, in God we Trust, ashes to ashes, we sling the dust” - 50 Cent lyrics in the game.



But Australian government was not so keen on the violent content of the game as explained by the producer to IGN.com

IGN AU: Australia's classification board, the dreaded OFLC, actually banned the original game for a while. I'm curious, first of all, if you remember that, and secondly, if you're working with all the classification boards to make sure 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand gets through the classification process?

Aaron Blean: Oh, absolutely. When we first presented it to the board, we had some challenges. But we made a low-violence version for Australia, so it did end up shipping. As for the sequel, we're creating a mature title here for North America and we're getting heavily involved with not only our international partners here but also with the ratings boards, so that we get ahead of any concerns about the game that would hinder the game from shipping there. So, we're already taking the necessary steps to ensure that this game will be shipped in any territory that has violence concerns.




Advert for the original 50 computer game, which was a urban evironment "shoot 'em up".

Rider Part 2
Uploaded by yardie4lifever2

G-Unit Rider Pt2

The advertising banner above the IGN.com article for a computer page I took from had content specific advertising, R.A.F Royal Airforce, suggesting that the British military are also attempting to recruit from within the Gaming community.




Recent movie featuring 50 Cent as a Soldier in Iraq






80's recruitment advert for women


and for the Black community




US Army using Hip-Hop style Street Team Techniques for recuiting

“I done told you boy I'm a soldier boy, I got no choice but to be a rider” 50 Cent - RIDER PT. 2


Criminal Conviction Waiver to take the strain of drops in Military recruitment




Operation Hollywood is an excellent documentary exploring the relationship between the U.S. Military and Hollywood.

As the Computer Games Industry is bigger than the music industry and could overtake the Film Industry, is there now a clamour for using Computer Games as Military propaganda?


US Army Commercial Targeting Video Gamers

The Army Game Project description from the US Armies website:

AMERICA'S ARMY
Launched in July 2002 the America's Army game, which is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB, has become one of the most popular computer games in the world. America's Army has penetrated contemporary culture and is one of the most recognizable game brands as a result of its unique inside perspective of the U.S. Army and its exciting gameplay. As the game's popularity continued to grow with each of its dozens of new version releases, the Army has expanded its brand through a variety of products including console and cell phone games, America's Army merchandise such as t-shirts, the Real Heroes program which tells the stories of heroic Soldiers, training applications for use within the military and government sectors, and the incredible Virtual Army Experience. In the near future, the America's Army brand will expand with the launch of America's Army: True Soldiers for Xbox 360 in the Fall of 2007 and America's Army version 3.0 next year.

In the America's Army game, players are bound by Rules of Engagement (ROE) and grow in experience as they navigate challenges in teamwork-based, multiplayer, force versus force operations. In the game, as in the Army, accomplishing missions requires a team effort and adherence to the seven Army Core Values. Through its emphasis on team play, the game demonstrates these values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage and makes them integral to success in America's Army.

In keeping with the dynamic nature of Soldiering, the America's Army game will continue to expand and will allow players to explore the Army of today, tomorrow and the future.

There's strong, and then there's Army Strong!"
http://www.americasarmy.com/about/


"The armies goal? To educate the public about what serving in the Armed Forces is really like, potentially giving a boost to its recruiting numbers "

“War ain't no Computer Game!!!” A video made by a concerned parent read the side bar comment


America's Army

“America's Army - or the Army Game Project - is a freeware tactical multiplayer first-person shooter game -- owned by the United States Government. It's the first game that made recruitment its explicit goal -- and the first well-known use of computer gaming for political aims. Gamers should also realize that America's Army was originally designed to test military aptitude -- and that your online gaming data IS being collected.”


Americas Army Special Forces Trailer
“Empower youself”

Lil’ Wyte (Three Six Mafia)


Lil WYTE U.S.Soldier Boy

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/US-Soldier-Boy-lyrics-Lil'-Wyte/09FEF2F6CC19506D48256F2F0005E5CF

Crunchy Blac:
I'ma U.S. mother fuckin soldier boy/
Playin around with them army toys/
You wanna go to war then we can go to war/
See W.Bush he sent us over boy/
Them men all went and got some soldier toys/
Put 'em in a battle and we'll showed you boys/
That army fatigue we gonna make some noise/
And blow that mother fucker from shore to shore/

I’m one of the rappers that understands the difference between entertainment and real life.” - Lil WYTE


US Army Rapper on Recruitment tour


Tricked out US Army Reruiting Hummer

In the US the military is seen as a way out, a job for life, a way to pay for collage tuition. In low income areas recruiting offices are very common, and African Americans and Latin Americans make up a large section of the US military. So hypothetically what better way to target those particular groups, than through Rap music, Video Games and Films featuring "Hood Stars".


Recruiting in the Latino Community


1978 recuitment poster

After the Vietnam war for example, when a huge swathe of military vets returned to the US with no jobs, large scale gang networks started to appear, from L.A. to N.Y. in the 70's the seeds of the cross country gang culture started to appear. Some people say this was as a result in part of the Vietnam War. New York Times Reporters Sontag and Alvarez unearthed a study from 1988 that claims a link between increased Crime and Vietnam Vets.

"The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, considered the most thorough analysis of this population, found that 15 percent of the male veterans still suffered from full-blown post-traumatic stress disorder more than a decade after the war ended. Half of the veterans with active PTSD had been arrested or in jail at least once, and 34.2 percent more than once. Some 11.5 percent of them had been convicted of felonies, and veterans are more likely to have committed violent crimes than nonveterans, according to government studies. In the mid-1980s, with so many Vietnam veterans behind bars that Vietnam Veterans of America created chapters in prisons, veterans made up a fifth of the nation’s inmate population.

"As Iraq and Afghanistan veterans get enmeshed in the criminal justice system, former advocates for Vietnam veterans are disheartened by what they see as history repeating itself."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/us/13vets.html?hp=&pagewanted=all


Gangs in the Military

School For LA Gangsters - US Military


Gangland - Gangs In The Military 'Basic Training' 1 of 5

People have said that Iraq was the first war with a Hip-Hop soundtrack, and there is some truth in that, but when you have a monopoly on every aspect of influence on young people and it is so highly charged with violence and singular aims, how does that expression play out in a cilvilian environment? Are we seeing unprecidented increased murder rates in the US and the UK, as a result in part by the militarisation of entertainment?


Teenagers with a Military Recruiter at Career day in New York


Iraqi child Malitia with 50Cent T-shirt

“Chess anyone?”

Referance:
www.50bloodonthesand.com
http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/objects/142/14242591.html
http://www.freedocumentaries.org/index.php
http://www.americasarmy.com
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.lil-wyte.net


This article is in no way negative to the members of the armed forces or their families. It is just examining the milaterisation of young peoples entertainment.