Istorii de viata autentice si pline de învataminte

În cartea “Exilul românesc la mijloc de secol XX” – scrisa de Octavian Curpas o sa gasiti, deopotriva, descrieri parca desprinse din clasicii nostri – si ma gândesc la Rebreanu, Slavici -, picaturi de istorie, politica, intriga politista si ceea ce m-a captivat pe mine, mai ales, o analiza fina a psihologiei umane. M-au impresionat în mod deosebit subcapitolele „Ce-i omul…” „O frumoasa floare vine”, în care sunt înfatisate, simplu si profund, evenimentele tragice ale unor familii.
Experientele prin care trece „Nea Mitica” (Dumitru Sinu – pe numele lui real), sunt pline de vitalitate (nu a avut timp sa se plictiseasca în viata), unele pline de umor, altele de tristete, altele de primejdie… asa cum este viata. Autorul prezinta cu multa claritate istorii de viata autentice si pline de învataminte.
Pot spune ca nu am citit pâna acum o astfel de carte, în care sa gasesc atâta experienta umana din care sa am ce sa învat si la ce sa reflectez, ca aceasta carte a lui Octavian Curpas. Personajul principal ne înfatiseaza destine diferite ale persoanelor pe care le-a întâlnit si pe care, cu îndrazneala le-a provocat. Sa înveti în acest fel din istoria altor popoare – iata un mare noroc pe care nea Mitica si l-a creat singur. Nu a asteptat ca viata sa îl traiasca, el a trait-o si si-a creat-o.
O carte bogata, plina de umanitate, în care plângi, râzi, traiesti alaturi de oameni reali. Este o carte pe care o recomand, mai ales celor care “au timp sa se plictiseasca în viata”.

Cristiana Alexandra Levitchi
psihoterapeut

 

Un pommier a fleuri dans nous

Un pommier a fleuri dans nous,
C’est un fruitier avec les pommes murs,
Nous avons tendu les bras
Dans son taillis riche,
Plein de fleurs et de murmures.

Le printemps chante dans un vol
Sur les ailes d’un rossignol,
Et l’arbre decoré de fleurs
D’une ârome seduisante,
Dans une journée très éclatante.

Les lettres germent sur un rameau,
Je les ancre d’une pluie et d’un vent,
Elles volent vers l’horizon,
Elles battent dans ta fenêtre au matin
Pour te réveiller dans mes pensées.

J’étends les petales des fleurs
Avec l’odeur des pommes murs
Sur la vieille table du coin,
Tu mets les lettres dans mes cheveux,
Ecrites tranquillement pendant la nuit.

Tatiana Scurtu-Munteanu

"For English in Our Schools… Please Press 1"

In my opinion, education is one of the most important things that an individual can do for him or herself. Without education, we would have a stagnant society. With that being said, I am torn between what in my mind I believe to be right and wrong. When it comes to an individual wanting to better their life through education, I stand behind them 100%. But if you’re going to do it in the United States, it should be mandatory to do it in English. In reference to immigrants not being able to better their lives in our educational system because of a language barrier, it makes me question if they really indeed want an education or a handout. In regards to bilingual education, I wonder why the United States should have to change its history and culture to more easily enable non-English-speaking citizens to acquire an education in an English-speaking country/society. I feel that bilingual education is an unneeded crutch for immigrants that do not respect the United States enough to learn its native language. Also, in my opinion, bilingual education can possibly make it more difficult for individuals once they reach higher grade levels of study, as well as in the job market.

Bilingual education has been around since the 1970s when educators, faced with a court decision, decided that using two languages for instruction –English and the individuals’ native language– was a good way to help children learn English while keeping up with their regular subjects. “When the civil-rights movement for African-Americans was at its height and Latino activists began to protest the damaging circumstances that led to unacceptably high proportions of school dropouts among Spanish-speaking children–more than 50 percent nationwide. Latino leaders borrowed the strategies of the civil-rights movement, calling for legislation to address the needs of Spanish-speaking children (Porter).” Basically, bilingual education is a special, tax funded effort to help immigrant children learn English so that they can do regular schoolwork with their English-speaking classmates and receive an equal educational opportunity.

“In theory, the children don’t fall behind in other subjects while they are learning English (Rothstein).” The problem that I have with this ideology is that a whole program has to be created to compensate for the fact that these kids do not know English. Discouraged enough by this “humanitarian program”, I also have a hard time understanding why these individuals make it more difficult on themselves; attempting to be educated in an English speaking educational system. The students’ parents should have the respect and responsibility to know that without English as a base language while living in the United States, their child is certain to learn in a much more difficult manner than an English-speaking child or student. I believe that the drive to want to learn English starts in the home.

Holding on to their native cultures, immigrants are coming into the United States and not accepting or adapting to American culture. Because the children are being taught they don’t have to learn our language, producing more non-English-speaking children is going to most likely reoccur when those children have children of their own. Rothstein brings up a good point in regards to this. “Today’s attempts to preserve immigrants’ native languages and cultures will not only balkanize the American melting pot but hurt the children upon whom bilingual education is imposed because their failure to learn English well will leave them unprepared for the workplace” (Rothstein). It just isn’t fair for these children to learn at such a young age that it’s OK not to do things the right way because we’ll just change the rules for you. It’s basically a slap in the face of our country and the faces of past immigrants who have been migrating to the United States for years. Those individuals progressed through our English speaking educational system and most excelled, because they had to.

For centuries immigrants have came from near and far to reap what the Americas have to offer. For them, I feel this was a sense of pride and recognition that they were going to become Americans regardless of where they were originally from. Their plans were to migrate, stay and make what they could of their lives in a different environment. Richard Rothstein states that, “In the early 20th century, public schools assimilated immigrants to American culture and imparted workplace skills essential for upward mobility. Children were immersed in English instruction and, when forced to “sink or swim,” they swam.” They “swam” because they needed to in order to make their lives better in the United States. There was no option, so they did what they had to do to survive in this country. Nowadays, our immigrants are migrating to reap the benefits, but in some cases have no desire to stay. Therefore, they don’t feel the need to adapt to our culture. I’m not saying that immigrants should completely forget about their own culture or not speak their native language; I’m just stating that if you are partaking in business, education, etc. in this country, you should speak the language of the country where those transactions are occurring.

After reading many documents on the subject of bilingual education, it seems to me that bilingual education can have more of a negative effect on a child than a positive one. Juana Zarzuela states, “My son has been in bilingual education for five years and in special education since 1994. [He] cannot read or write in English or Spanish,” she said (Chavez and Lyons). Carmen Quinones complained, “My son is in ninth grade and has been in bilingual education since he entered the school system. My son is confused between Spanish and English” (Chavez and Lyons). “I kept seeing kids doing poorly in the upper grades after they had gone through bilingual education,” said Virginia Martinez, a former bilingual educator in Santa Ana. “There was no transition to English. I felt that bilingual education was holding them back” (Hirsch in Lays). Of course, this is no more than a sample of the population but indeed accurate data.

In conclusion, I feel that it would be much easier for the immigrants entering the United States to just bite the bullet and learn the language of that country they are entering; which, will in turn move them forward in that country regardless if it’s the United States or not. The more I think about it, the refusal or laziness to do so is just regressing immigrants’ optimal potential which the majority of human beings possess. I believe that if the United States continues to pick up their “Slack” it will only make it more difficult for years to come.

Mathew Kleinhans
Woodland, California

Military Robotics: Science Fiction or Science Reality?

By Mathew Kleinhans
Woodland, California

Imagine for a moment that you are in the military in the middle of a United States conflict against an opposing enemy country or countries. Your squad is spread thin; you have your own coordinate to protect and you’re on your own. You have been taking enemy fire all day and the unfortunate probability of being hit becomes a reality. Feeling a sharp burning sensation in your lower back, you know that you’ve been wounded. Once assessing the situation and realizing that it is not a lethal wound, you move on to the next step of protocol. “Medic!” you yell. Knowing that your voice is being heard by dozens of strategically placed sensors throughout the battlefield, you wait. Within a matter of seconds you begin to hear the sound of rubber tracks and electronic solenoids slowly progressing nearer. Without thinking twice, you are not alarmed because those sounds are coming from a different creation of ally soldier. That’s affirmative; a TAC — tactical autonomous combatant medic– is meters away from helping you. The TAC unit, with minimal sound, gently reaches its lifting mechanism under your back and legs in order to slide you into its armored “womb.” Once inside the armored machine you are on your way back to the BAS — battalion aid station. During transport there are hundreds of electronic eyes scanning your body and sending information regarding your wound back to post. This enables the doctors there to assess your situation prior to your arrival so your injury may be dealt with promptly and accurately.
That scenario is just an example of science fiction which is quickly morphing into science reality. In today’s day and age there are a wide range of technologies such as tactical autonomous combatants, along with many other positive technologies regarding military robotics which are being promoted and kicked into high gear faster than we all think. “Project alpha, a U.S. Joint Forces Command rapid idea analysis group, is in the midst of a study focusing on the concept of developing and employing robots that would be capable of replacing humans to perform many, if not most combat functions on the battlefield (Shafer).” Technologies such as these are already being tested with human soldiers and could eventually remove soldiers from the battlefield entirely, replacing them with robotic technology of the future. Of course, with such technologies come questions and worries, but any technology that can reduce our military’s wartime human casualties I am certainly a proponent of and it is also something that needs to be seriously considered amongst the rest of the nation. Technologies such as these can be nothing but positive for soldier’s families, friends and colleagues. To me, making life a little easier for our soldiers, who are willing to risk their lives for our freedom, is priority number one.

One alarming problem that I do see and understand is that the United States isn’t the only country “tinkering” in military robotics. Countries such as Korea, Russia, and Iran are also very involved in these technologies. Now this is typical and no different from any other arms race, but to me, I feel being first and the best in this race can be nothing but beneficial. As explained by Dr. Ross Richards, Project alpha director, “We can be at the vanguard, or we can lag behind and some day have to oppose a lethal robotic force. Better to be in the lead (Shafer).” It’ s our government’s responsibility to keep the United States in this technological race for the future safety of our soldiers. Because in my opinion, technologies such as military robotics will drastically change the ways that wars are initiated and possibly change the psychological aspect of war both on and off the battlefield. With that being said, the United States needs to lead the way.

One issue that opponents may use to sway backers of technologies like these would be hacking issues. We all know how easy it can be for a creep to hack into our PCs; so why should we believe that they won’t be able to hack into the robotic software? Although this is a good question, I find it hard to believe that our government would overlook something such as this and not address it is one of the number one possibilities for failure; thus concentrating extremely on preventing such occurrences.

What about the moral psychological value of war? Isn’t a key factor of war the fact that people lose their lives? Ultimately, isn’t that how we have won or lost battles over the years? These are good questions, yet these questions answered themselves. With no loss of human life and only substantial loss of funds, there would be know point to war. That is why I am a firm believer that infantry soldiers will have a place in our military for many years to come. Military robotics will simply make those years less troublesome and possibly more manageable for our soldiers.

I am a firm believer that the main objective in wartime science should be to reduce loss of human life within our Coalition. Robots are used increasingly in wartime situations to reduce human casualties, being used for a mix of both combat against the enemy and non-combat roles such as scouting and bomb disposal. Utilizing these robots also has an extreme financial benefit. “At present stages robot casualties are less financially damaging than human, most robotics taking $230,000 to produce while the average cost of a U.S. soldier from enlistment to internment is $4,000,000 (Bolstering…) .” It is sad to put a dollar sign on human life but we must face the fact that we are indeed living in a capitalistic world and society. It would be foolish and irresponsible for our government to not pursue the future of military robotics when the end result is possibly saving lives as well as money.

There are many advantages to robotic technology in warefare, as stated by Major Kenneth Rose of the US Army’s Training and Doctrine Command, “Machines don’t get tired. They don’t close their eyes. They don’t hide under trees when it rains and they don’t talk to their buddies … A human’s attention to detail on guard duty drops dramatically in the first 30 minutes … Machines know no fear (Vesely).” Military robotics will allow humans to be removed from jobs that are highly hazardous, exhausting or boring. For example, an operation such as clearing mines, packing gear or night watch. They will make it possible for one person, with the aid of robots, to do the work of several.

I fully understand that when you create something new and improved there is usually a consequence or something that you have to give up in return. One problem that may occur while probing into this technology is that a majority of these robots are being built and tested within laboratory confinements. It’s all very well getting a robot to work in the clean confines of a laboratory, but the outdoors poses huge problems for robots, as it does for ordinary soldiers. One thing that any tactical military robot will need to make use of will be complicated environment sensing. “Creating a robot to work in the water or even in the air is far simpler than creating something that will be able to deal with different terrains, weather conditions, temperatures and the various rigors of nature. We humans have been dealing with those things for millions of years. Military robots will have to learn it from scratch (Weiner).” Although that may be true, we would have to assume that with the funding the government is talking about, it would be senseless to believe that our United States military is going to put something into mass production that doesn’t have some kind of guarantee revolved around it.

War is always tragic and the loss of human life is always unbearable. Yet wars are also, sadly, a part of modern life. Ask yourself, could robots be used by the military to limit the loss of life? Military Robotics is becoming a reality and is no longer confined to the imagination and to fiction or comic books. Whether we like it or not, military robotics is a technology that is going to happen. Agreed, it will be expensive. But as Retired Maj. Gen. Robert H. Scales stated, “Land warfare is no longer the cheap alternative.” Today soldiers do virtually all of the fighting and dying in Iraq. They deserve the best tools we can give them to insure that they will prevail on all future battlefields (Bolstering…).”

Să apucăm nădejdea …!

 George Danciu

să apucăm nădejdea care ne era pusă înainte, pe care o avem ca o ancoră a sufletului; o nădejde tare și neclintităEVREI, 6.19

Iată îți pun azi înainte viața și binele, moartea și răul. Alege viața ca să trăiești...”

                                                                        Deuteronom, 30.15, 19

ÎN FAȚA VIEȚII

Majoritatea oamenilor trăiesc viața de zi cu zi ca și cum Dumnezeu nu ar exista și nu ar veghea asupra a ceea ce fac ei clipă de clipă. Nu-și aduc aminte deloc de Dumnezeu, nici chiar aceea care meditează la starea filozofică a vieții, iar viața le merge la fel, fără ca nimic să-i perturbe din filozofia lor, prestabilită sau acceptată, decât atunci când o catastrofă cum ar fi o boală excepțională, un cutremur sau decesul neașteptat al cuiva drag, să-i trezească din mersul lor  imperturbabil din trăirea fără Dumnezeu. Continue reading “Să apucăm nădejdea …!”

Liceul Industrial Forestier din Blaj – Prima promotie –

Liceul din BlajLa prima  întâlnire anuala!

.

ANUNT

..

Prima promotie a

.

Liceului Industrial Forestier din Blaj –   1966-1971,

organizeaza o reîntâlnire a colegilor si profesorilor

.

Sâmbata 9 Iunie 2012, ora 11.00

.

Grupul Scolar “Timotei Cipariu” Blaj

.

Organiozatori: Nicolae Berghian,  Florin Moldovan, Gheorghe Fratila 

Profesori diriginti: Ioan Man (clasa A)

Miron Mondoc, Ștefan Gore (clasa B)

DIRECTOR: Ing.Virgil PRUNĂ

Profesori:

 prof.dr.Ion Buzași – Limba si Literatura Româna

ing.Aurora Buzași – Materii de Specialitate

prof. Terezia Caragiov – Matematica

prof.univ.dr.ing. Arcadie Hinescu – Materii de Specialitate

ing.Ion Hinescu – Materii de Specialitate

ing.Virgil Prună – Desen Tehnic

Preot prof. Iacob Borcea – Limba Franceza

prof. Ana Bulat,  prof. Nicolae Albu – Limba si Literatura Româna 

prof. Aurel Berar – Fizica

prof. Miron Mondoc – Educatie Fizica si Sport

Virgil Mărculeț – Chimie

 prof. Maria Mărculeț – Matematica

prof. Ioan Man – Istorie, Filozofie

prof. Ștefan Gore – Educatie Fizica si Sport

Gheorghe Cristea – Maistru, Atelier de Tâmplarie

Les printemps

Je te ceinture avec tous les printemps,
J’écris les absoutes sur la neige tricotée dans tes cheveux,
Je cours avec toute la joie à la colline fatigué,
Où les fleurs dansent et le pas de la porte chante.

Je bois la rosée de la maison,
Le berceau moldave de l’enfance,
Je cueille les couleurs du ciel sur une fresque du matin,
Dans le carnaval d’encre des printemps masqués.

Tatiana Scurtu-Munteanu

Sur la colline

Prends les papillons dans tes mains
Et vole avec eux dans le ciel,
Entrons dans la danse avec la fleur de lys,
Egrises-moi dans une gorgée de vin.

Laisse-moi dans la pluie de mai,
Prends ma taille comme un évantail,
Couche le soleil sur la colline,
Quand les souffles courent vers la lune au galop.

Tenons sur nos epaules et nos bras
Le tapis d’herbe fauchée dans la rosée,
Un choeur de cigales chante une serenade,
Nous sommes égarés dans le verger.

Tatiana Scurtu-Munteanu

Este un lucru rău!

George Danciu

Este un lucru rău pe care l-am văzut sub soare, și care se întâlnește des între oameni                         ECLESIASTUL, 6.1

 .

NIMIC NOU SUB SOARE

.

Mulțumiți totdeauna lui Dumnezeu Tatăl, pentru toate lucrurile, în Numele Domnului nostru Isus Hristos.EFESENI, 5.20

Prin El să aducem totdeauna lui Dumnezeu o jertfă de laudă, adică, rodul buzelor care mărturisesc Numele Lui.  EVREI, 13.15

Copilul nu poate să se descurce singur, de aceea este ajutat de cei mari, părinți, prieteni, educatori. Când am fost în clasa primară învățătoarea mi-a purtat mâna în care țineam creionul, ca să învăț corect să aștern pe hârtie primele bastonașe sau litere (multora li s-a întâmplat la grădiniță sau acasă, de timpuriu). Continue reading “Este un lucru rău!”

La pluie

La cendre coule boulversée
Sur les lacs gelés de bronze.
Les rues sont couvertes de fumée,
Et l’obscurité devient jaune.
Les pissenlits ont rempli l’air
Avec l’amertume de la nostalgie,
Le lait des fleurs coule
Dans les veines de l’esprit.
Le vide complète
La disparition des saules,
Des lacs gelées de bronze.

Tatiana Scurtu-Munteanu

“Copila cu suflet de floare de mai” – Janice Curpas

Când rostim cuvântul “copil”, fiecare dintre noi – bunici, parinti sau copii la rândul nostru – simtim fiorul acela unic care ne patrunde fiinta ori de câte ori suntem tentati sa ne spunem în gând: ”ramâi ca un copil!” Aceasta sintagma s-a întiparit profund în registrele universului meu interior cu ocazia participarii, în urma cu patru ani, la un curs sustinut de catre un renumit doctor american: „atunci când dorim sa ne detasam de absolut toate problemele cotidiene, de grijile sau necazurile de care nu suntem ocoliti, avem la îndemâna cel mai minunat instrument – pur si simplu ramânem ca niste copii -, calea cea mai sigura de ne simti curati, sinceri, buni, plini de energie si fericiti pe deplin” – spusese Dr. Eric Pearl. Am mai amintit de acest episod în unul din articolele mele anterioare si o sa-l folosesc în continuare, ori de câte ori îmi va fi data bucuria de a vorbi despre copii.

Desi iubesc enorm aceste mici fapturi cu ochisori zglobii, cu zâmbete deschise, pline de sinceritate si voiosie în care ma regasesc de nenumarate ori, aici si acum nu voi vorbi despre copii, la modul general, ci voi încerca, în cuvinte putine, dar cu deplina sinceritate, sa ma apropii de universul unui copilas minunat care a venit pe lume ca o adevarata binecuvântare în familia unor prieteni de departe, la Phoenix, în însorita Arizona, în urma cu trei ani – la 19 mai 2009 – JANICE CURPAS.

Fiind departe de tara, de familie, de prieteni, zilele acestea am rasfoit câteva fotografii primite din toate colturile lumii de la persoane dragi sufletului meu. M-am oprit pentru câteva minute asupra unui colaj continând o sumedenie de fotografii ale Janicei, fetita Roxanei si a lui Octavian Curpas – scriitorul si neobositul jurnalist român din SUA care, în paralel cu activitatea din care-si asigura existenta, ne reprezinta cu pricepere si devotament pe continentul american si nu numai, în special prin editarea si coordonarea revistei românesti din Arizona, Phoenix Mission Magazine dar si în multe alte publicatii din tara si din diaspora.

Cu o fatuca inocenta, plina de lumina, am regasit-o pe micuta printesa a familiei Curpas în diverse ipostaze: de la seriozitate maxima, asemeni unei adevarate domnisoare „prinse cu treburi” importante carora trebuie sa le gaseasca rezolvarea, la cea contemplativa ce da impresia ca dragalasa copila mediteaza profund – poate la o povestioara sau o poezioara care a fascinat-o – sau într-o reala dezlantuire de voie buna, în fotografii în care râde din tot sufletelul demostrând, neîndoielnic, ca se bucura cu-adevarat de cea mai frumoasa perioada din viata unui om, anii copilariei. Cum de felul meu sunt o tipicara (zodia e de vina, iata scuza de care ma folosesc când mi se imputa acest defect, sic!) si am agenda aniversarilor tuturor celor dragi aproape, mi-am amintit imediat ca se apropie ziua de nastere a papusii ce-mi zâmbeste smechereste, de parca-mi spune: mai sunt câteva zile si împlinesc trei ani!

Folosesc acest prilej pentru a adresa fetitei cu ochii – luceferi si zâmbetul – izvor de apa vie, „La multi ani!” frumosi si buni, sa creasca mare si frumoasa, sa aiba sufletul plin de bucuria Luminii mereu si ocrotirea cereasca aproape, alaturi de Roxana si Tavi, umplându-le viata de soare si sufletele de bucurie! Sa ne traiti si voi, parinti fericiti si mândri de realizarile voastre, dintre care se distanteaza net cea mai mare dintre ele – copila cu suflet de floare, Janice – semnificatia biblica a numelui ei fiind „Dumnezeu este îndurator”!

si pentru ca sufletul de poet este mereu si-ntotdeauna puternic ancorat în lumea copilariei, nu pot sa închei altfel decât cu o dedicatie, ca de la copil la copil:

Copila cu suflet de floare de mai
si doi ochisori – vii luceferi
Stralucind luminosi, parca rupti din alai
De raze de soare dansând printre nuferi

Copila cuminte nascuta-n florar
Când râzi daruiesti, plin de viata,
Un zâmbet sublim. Peste versu-mi hoinar
Presari bobi de rou-aducând dimineata.

Dimineata sa-ti fie mereu în priviri
si-n suflet sa porti cu mândrie
Curcubee de gânduri, mereu fericiri,
Sa-ti dea Domnul pace si bucurie!

Sa cresti în credinta si sa-ti împlinesti
Destinul frumos, pe alei cu castani,
În Iubire Divina mereu sa traiesti
Janice, îti urez si în vers „La multi ani!”

Georgeta Resteman
Limassol, Cipru

La lumiere douce

Sur les eaux celestes tombent les cercles de lumière,
Ils entrent dans mon corps avec les doux sons,
La romance des étoiles sonne dans mon coeur
Et dans la coeur de la romance j’ai fait la poussière d’étoiles.

Ce verset reste
Entre ciel et terre,
Il est rempli de nostalgie et d’espoir.
Dans un siecle passé
Et dans une douloureuse pensée,
Il est resté seulement une romance.

Les violons me noient dans tes yeux ouverts,
Où mes pensées respirent dans le feu,
L’obscurité est rompu dans l’echo des voix,
La romance et son ange sont toujours avec moi.

Ce verset reste
Entre ciel et terre,
Il est rempli de nostalgie et d’espoir.
Dans un siecle passé
Et dans une douloureuse pensée,
Il est reste seulemet une romance.

par Tatiana Scurtu-Munteanu

O mamă demnă de numele ei

George Danciu

Text adaptat după predica pastorului Nelu Urs  – Hickory, NC – 13 Mai 2012

Aduceţi-vă aminte de nevasta lui Lot.LUCA, 17.32

Atunci Isus i-a zis: „O, femeie, mare este credinţa Ta; facă-ţi-se cum voieşti.” Şi fiica ei s-a tămăduit chiar în ceasul acela.

                                                                                       MATEI, 15.28

NEVOIA DE MODELE

Oamenii își aleg diferite modele, dintre oamenii cunoscuți și care le-au atras privirea și s-au și bucurat de aprecierea lor, în  funcție de ceea ce au văzut sau ceea ce cred despre ele. Modelele, ipotetice sau nu, pot fi persoane publice, din artă  sau din sport, din sfera politică sau din mass-media, din mediul lor de instruire sau din societatea din care fac parte Continue reading “O mamă demnă de numele ei”