SEND THEM BACK | Intelligence Squared! Debate on the Return of Parthenon Marbles to Greece

The sculptures on the facade of the Parthenon, also known as the Elgin Marbles, consist of a large collection of marble sculpture, which was transported in Britain in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, ‘Z Count of Elgin, ambassador in the Ottoman Empire from 1799 till 1803. Taking advantage of the Ottoman reign of the Greek territory, Lord Elgin managed to obtain permission (the firman) by the Ottoman Sultan to remove the marbles in order to enumerate and register them in schemes, but later he moved on to their abstraction and their exportation out of the country.

The UNESCO World Heritage Center included the Parthenon as part of the wider monument complex, recorded in the catalog of world heritage monuments since 11th September 1987. However, the Parthenon is beyond the numbers of a World Monument Record. As a grand achievement in architecture, engineering and aesthetic context, the Parthenon stands as the most credible witness to an ancient Western civilization which hassignificantly influencedthe development of the modern Western world.

The Parthenon is the greatest monument of the Athenian State and the apex of the Doric order. Its construction began in 448/7 B.C., whereas the opening was held in 438 B.C. at the Panathenean Games and the sculpture decorations were finished in 433/2 B.C. According to sources of antiquity, the architects who worked for the construction of the Parthenon were Iktinos, Callicrates and possibly Pheidias, who was also responsible for the sculpture decoration. It is one of the Greek temples that is entirely built of marble as well as the only Doric temple with anastatic metopes. Many parts of the sculpture decoration, the architrave and the coffers of the ceiling were drawn with red, blue and gold colour. Pentelicon marble was used, except from the stylobate, which was built of limestone.

From a total of 97 surviving stones of the frontispiece of the Parthenon, 56 are in London and 40 in Athens. From a total of 64 surviving metopes, 48 are in Athens and 15 in London. From a total of 28 surviving figures of the frontispieces, 19 are in London and 9 in Athens.

The video is a British televised debate on the return of the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece, held in London in 2012.

Seeing the Parthenon through ancient eyes | PBS

BBC Journalists Are Asked To Stop Inviting Crackpots on News Shows in The Name of “Scientific” Balance.

Phil Plait for SLATE

Oh, I do so love this. It’s precisely the right thing to do, sorely needed and sorely overdue. In this specific case, back in 2012 the BBC was criticized for news shows inviting on people with fringe views, especially when the science being discussed was solidly understood.

Obviously, the topic most abused in this way was the reality of global warming. That should come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying any attention at all.

Read the full article here… | SLATE

Dr. Cornell West | Dr. Simon Critchley | Conversation About Love | BAM

Foucault – The Lost Interview

This rarely-seen, until now, 15-minute interview conducted by Dutch philosopher Don Elders, in preparation for the debate with M. Foucault and N. Chomski in 1971. Philosophiles, enjoy.

The Fraught History of Heroin Addiction | Nash Jenkins for The Atlantic

Read the entire article from The Atlantic

[…. In the frankest and arguably finest epitaph for Hoffman I’ve read, the writer known online as General Gandhi encourages us to avoid the ritual of narration altogether. It is a habit, he writes, of masturbatory sensationalism, an example of the crude and self-contradictory lens of detached idolization and quietly zealous schadenfreude through which the American public watches its stars.]

California Drought and What It Really Means in Terms of Our Food and Water | Maps

California Drought and What It Really Means in Terms of Our Food and Water | Maps

(from Mother Jones) California, supplier of nearly half of all US fruits, veggies, and nuts, is on track to experience the driest year in the past half millennium. Farms use about 80 percent of the state’s “developed water,” or water that’s moved from its natural source to other areas via pipes and aqueducts.

 

Dinosaur Thieves, or… So Much Crime in the Desert!

Dinosaur Thieves, or… So Much Crime in the Desert!

In 2005, on one of our off-road Jeep trails in Moab (gateway to the sublime American desert), we found ourselves within view of newly revealed baby dinosaur fossils that a severe flush flood had snatched out of a Navajo sandstone stone wall (which broke in boulders as it fell from the 500-ft. cliff at the notorious Switchbacks). National park rangers were there marking the spot until the archaeology dept. from BLM arrived. i remember the feeling of actually laying eyes, among the very first who did, on this little critter of such value.
Five days ago, another dinosaur footprint, not far from that area, and also in Moab, was stolen. So, taking the high road and following the scientific method, I repeat the medieval curse of the following article to the thieves. Thank you for reading. :o)

Not Every Disagreement Is a Logical Fallacy

Not Every Disagreement Is a Logical Fallacy.