Month: December 2011
Fela Anikulapo Kuti (15 October 1938 â 2 August 1997), or simply Fela, was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.
Nigeria – African Music Legends –
Fela Kuti in Concert 1 – YouTube
…In 1984, Muhammadu Buhari’s government, of which Kuti was a vocal opponent, jailed him on a charge of currency smuggling which Amnesty International and others denounced as politically motivated. His case was taken up by several human-rights groups, and after 20 months, he was released from prison by General Ibrahim Babangida. On his release he divorced his twelve remaining wives, saying that “marriage brings jealousy and selfishness.” Once again, Fela continued to release albums with Egypt ’80, made a number of successful tours of the United States and Europe and also continued to be politically active. In 1986, Fela performed in Giants Stadium in New Jersey as part of the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope concert, sharing the bill with Bono, Carlos Santana, and The Neville Brothers. In 1989, Fela and Egypt ’80 released the anti-apartheid Beasts of No Nation album that depicts on its cover U.S. President Ronald Reagan, UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and South African Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha…
…His album output slowed in the 1990s, and eventually he stopped releasing albums altogether. In 1993 he and four members of the Afrika ’70 organization were arrested for murder. The battle against military corruption in Nigeria was taking its toll, especially during the rise of dictator Sani Abacha. Rumors were also spreading that he was suffering from an illness for which he was refusing treatment. On 3 August 1997, Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, already a prominent AIDS activist and former Minister of Health, stunned the nation by announcing his younger brother’s death a day earlier from Kaposi’s sarcoma which was brought on by AIDS. More than a million people attended Fela’s funeral at the site of the old Shrine compound. A new Africa Shrine has opened since Fela’s death in a different section of Lagos under the supervision of his son Femi Kuti…
Fela Kuti – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reel Injun | Documentary Film | Independent Lens | PBS
Kemosabe? Loincloths, fringed pants, and feather headdresses? Heap big stereotypes. Reel Injun is an entertaining trip through the evolution of North American Native people (“The Indians”) as portrayed in famous Hollywood movies, from the silent era to today.
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond takes a look at the Hollywood Indian, exploring the portrayal of North American Natives through a century of cinema. Traveling through the heartland of America, and into the Canadian North, Diamond looks at how the myth of “the Injun” has influenced the world’s understanding â and misunderstanding â of Natives.
Reel Injun traces the evolution of cinema’s depiction of Native people from the silent film era to today, with clips from hundreds of classic and recent Hollywood movies, and candid interviews with celebrated Native and non-Native film celebrities, activists, film critics, and historians.
reelinjun's Channel – YouTube
- Labels: film, indigenous, television
Banmei Takahashi’s “Zen”
based on the life of Japanese Zen Master Dogen
(19 January 1200 â 22 September 1253).
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• DÅgen Zenji (also DÅgen Kigen éå å¸ç, or Eihei DÅgen 永平éå , or Koso Joyo Daishi) (19 January 1200 â 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in KyÅto, and the founder of the SÅtÅ school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there. DÅgen is known for his extensive writing including the Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma or ShÅbÅgenzÅ, a collection of ninety-five fascicles concerning Buddhist practice and enlightenment.
Zen (2009) Part 1
Zen – Movie about Dogen – DharmaflixWiki
….Banmei Takahashi’s “Zen” is that rare serious film about this form of Buddhism, which has had a huge cultural influence but is little understood â let alone practiced â by ordinary Japanese. Perhaps it’s a sign that, after decades of a single-minded focus on materialism, the culture is returning to its spiritual roots; or that one Baby Boomer director (Takahashi is 60) is getting religious in his old age.
Zen (2009) Part 2
Zen Beginner: Zen Movie Review: Zen
…Despite some moments of CG silliness the movie does manage to provide good dramatic pacing considering the amount to time in the movie that’s dedicated to Zazen (admittedly not the most compelling thing to watch), the major events of Dogen’s life are all covered, up to his death. The movie portrays him dying in Zazen as the monks continue to sit the rest of the period out of dedication to his practice. This portrayal diverges from the historical account but it’s emblematic of the way a Zen master is supposed to die: either standing or sitting in perfect samadhi.
Overall Zen is entertaining and contains enough of a historical outline of Dogen’s life that it’s a worthwhile movie. I give it four out of five enso’s.
see also
whats more: The Ino's Blog: Study Hall – Shobogenzo
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ShÅbÅgenzÅ(lit. “Treasury of the True Dharma Eye”) The term ShÅbÅgenzÅ has three main usages in Buddhism: (1) It can refer to the essence of the Buddha’s realization and teaching, that is, to the Buddha Dharma itself, as viewed from the perspective of Mahayana Buddhism, (2) it is the title of a koan collection with commentaries by Dahui Zonggao, and (3) it is used in the title of two works by Dogen Kigen…
If you do not realize the fruit at this moment, when will you realize it?If you do not cut off delusion at this moment, when will you cut off delusion?
If you do not become a buddha at this moment, when will you?
If you do not sit as a buddha at this moment, when will you practice as an active buddha
Diligently examine this in detail…
whats more: Genjo Koan
Genjo Koan is perhaps the best known section of Eihei Dogenâs masterwork, Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye).
“The depth of the drop is the height of the moon”
- Labels: buddhism, enlightenment, film, zen
The Birth of Venus 1879
William-Adolphe Bouguereau
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (November 30, 1825 â August 19, 1905) was a French academic painter. William Bouguereau (French pronunciation: [vijÉÌ buÉ¡ÉÊo]) was a traditionalist; in his realistic genre paintings he used mythological themes, making modern interpretations of Classical subjects, with an emphasis on the female human body.
Bouguereau was a staunch traditionalist whose realistic genre paintings and mythological themes were modern interpretations of Classical subjectsâboth pagan and Christianâwith a heavy concentration on the female human body. The idealized world of his paintings, and his almost photo-realistic style, brought to life goddesses, nymphs, bathers, shepherdesses, and madonnas in a way that appealed to wealthy art patrons of the era.
Bouguereau employed traditional methods of working up a painting, including detailed pencil studies and oil sketches, and his careful method resulted in a pleasing and accurate rendering of the human form. His painting of skin, hands, and feet was particularly admired. He also used some of the religious and erotic symbolism of the Old Masters, such as the âbroken pitcherâ which connoted lost innocence. (read more)
there can and will be
no cold shutdown
of the Fukushima plant
Is there a China Syndrome at FukushimaDecember, 2011: Paul Gunter, Beyond Nuclear joins Thom Hartmann. The crisis at Fukushima continues. Over the weekend – the crippled Japanese nuclear plant spewed even more highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean – roughly 45,000 liters in all. According to a French nuclear research institute – since the Fukushima nuclear crisis began in March – the plant has leaked more radioactive material into the ocean than has ever happened before in the history of the planet. And he claims that after more than 8 months since an earthquake and tsunami triggered this crisis – it’s inevitable that nuclear fuel has leaked into the groundwater – meaning the “China Syndrome” is officially upon us. He also warned that if underground water gets overheated – it could trigger a hydrovolcanic explosion. So what does all this mean? Time to ditch nuclear power – the most expensive and dangerous form of energy on Earth.
Beyond Nuclear – Home
Fukushimaâs Cold Shutdown Condition | Nukespeak
âI just checked in to see what condition my condition is in.â
One of the truly scary but perversely enjoyable characteristics of nuclear developers is their penchant for making it up as they go along â and then creating new Nukespeak words and concepts to describe what theyâre up to as they do.
The latest example concerns the situation at Japanâs still-dangerous Fukushima Daiichi plant and comes to us via the Nuclear Energy Institute and its âAsk an Expertâ question-and-answer page:
Question: What is âcold shutdown?â
TEPCO understood this important nuance to achieving âcold shutdownâ early on this year when it developed its initial recovery plans and developed a new term, âcold shutdown condition,â which applies to how they are bringing the reactors to stable condition.
more > whats up: China Syndrome | No cold shutdown possible at Fukushima | whats up (RC’S NUCLEAR BLOG)
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW
- Labels: environment, fukushima, nuclear
“The News That Didnât Make the News”
CENSORED 2012 â
In this volume, there are 500 pages of real news you can use, plus ample analysis that eradicates civil paralysis, and antidotes to our current Truth Emergency that will strengthen societal media literacy.
The mission of Project Censored is to teach students and the public about the role of a free press in a free society â and to tell the News That Didnât Make the News and Why
Between 700 and 1000 stories are submitted to Project Censored each year from journalists, scholars, librarians, and concerned citizens around the world.
With the help of more than 200 Sonoma State University faculty, students, and community members, Project Censored reviews the story submissions for coverage, content, reliability of sources and national significance. The university community selects 25 stories to submit to the Project Censored panel of judges who then rank them in order of importance. Current or previous national judges include: Noam Chomsky, Susan Faludi, George Gerbner, Sut Jhally, Frances Moore Lappe, Michael Parenti, Herbert I. Schiller, Barbara Seaman, Erna Smith, Mike Wallace and Howard Zinn. All 25 stories are featured in the yearbook, Censored: The News That Didnât Make the News.
see > Top 25 Of 2012 (“Censored 2012: Stories of 2010-2011”)
The Sourcebook for the Media Revolution, The Top Censored Stories and Media Analysis of 2010-2011 by Mickey Huff and Project Censored.
Project Censored is administered through the SSU Sociology Department with financial support from the SSU Instructionally Related Activity Fund, School of Social Science, Media Freedom Foundation Inc. and donations from thousands of supporters around the country.
see also > Top 25 Archive
Independent News Sources
Featured Articles
Censored Notebook
- Labels: censorship, ignorance, media, society
Alfred Charles Kinsey (June 23, 1894 â August 25, 1956) was an American biologist and professor of entomology and zoology, who in 1947 founded the Institute for Sex Research at Indiana University, now known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, as well as producing the Kinsey Reports and the Kinsey scale. Kinsey’s research on human sexuality, foundational to the modern field of sexology, provoked controversy in the 1940s and 1950s. His work has profoundly influenced social and cultural values in the United States and many other countries. (read more)
The Kinsey Reports are two books on human sexual behavior, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948) and Sexual Behavior in the Human Female (1953), by Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Wardell Pomeroy and others and published by Saunders. Kinsey was a zoologist at Indiana University and the founder of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction (more widely known as the Kinsey Institute).
The Sexual Behavior in the Human Female was based on personal interviews with nearly 6,000 women. Kinsey analyzed data on the frequency with which women participate in various types of sexual activity and looked at how factors such as age, social-economic status and religious adherence influence sexual behavior. Comparisons are made of female and male sexual activities. Kinsey’s evidence suggested that women were less sexually active than men in all aspects of sexual life but that they were still more sexual than traditional views allowed. By the time the book on female sexuality was published, it appeared that Kinsey seemed to feel that women and men are more alike in the biology of their sexuality than he had previously thought, and that both men’s and women’s sexuality seemed shaped, not merely repressed, by social and cultural forces.
The publications astounded the general public and were immediately controversial and sensational. The findings caused shock and outrage, both because they challenged conventional beliefs about sexuality and because they discussed subjects that had previously been taboo. (read more)
By Peter Phillips and Craig Cekala
For the second year (2010) in a row, more US soldiers killed themselves (468) than died in combat, reports Cord Jefferson January 27, 2011 on www.good.ir. Excluding accidents and illness, 462 soldiers died in combat, while 468 committed suicide. Veterans who, after serving, suffer Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are also at high risk. The study showed that 47 percent of veterans with PTSD had thoughts of suicide before they found help. The internal anguish a soldier experiences after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can be far more severe than that experienced during live external combat.
More than 2 million troops have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001. Those who do return often suffer from physical, psychological, and cognitive trauma. More than 40 per 100,000 men from the ages of 20 to 24 take their lives each year. Some deaths, which are not part of these statistics, are due to driving while under the influence of alcohol consumed due to depression. In 2008, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were 75 percent more likely to die in a car accident and 148 percent more likely to die in a motorcycle accident. By making the calculations of 40 per 100,000 per year the numbers of veteran suicides reaches into the tens of thousands nationwide since the beginning of the 9/11 wars…
more > Human Costs of War & ViolenceâCensored News Cluster From Censored 2012 Chapter 1 | Project Censored
Daddy, we’re so sorry
We’re so s – s- sorry yeah
We just like to party
Like to p- p- party yeah
So don’t blame us when our bail is high
Ha -ha – ha -higher than your daughter
And don’t blame society
When she da -duh -dies a martyr
BNB
An Afghan rape victim who was jailed for adultery does not have to marry her attacker to be freed, her lawyer has told the BBC.
Lawyer Kimberly Motley says this was clarified personally to her by President Hamid Karzai’s office.
Mr Karzai pardoned the woman, named as Gulnaz, earlier this week, but some reports had said this was on condition that she married her attacker.
Gulnaz gave birth in jail to a daughter who has been kept with her.
On Friday, Ms Kimberly said that 21-year-old Gulnaz would be released with no pre-conditions and would then be free to marry whomever she chooses.
“She doesn’t have plans for the future, she just wants to get out of prison,” the lawyer said.
The case has drawn international attention to the plight of many Afghan women 10 years after the overthrow of the Taliban.
Human rights groups say hundreds of women in Afghan jails are victims of rape or domestic violence.
Gulnaz earlier said that after she was raped in 2009 she was charged with adultery.
“At first my sentence was two years,” she said. “When I appealed it became 12 years. I didn’t do anything. Why should I be sentenced for so long?”
The most recent appeal saw her sentence reduced to three years before the presidential pardoning. (read more)
- Labels: freedom, insanity, rape, women, women's rights
“Oh my son, arise from thy bed, from thy slumber, work what is wise,
Fashion servants for the Gods, may they produce their bread.
Oh my mother, the creature whose name thou has uttered, it exists,
Bind upon it the will of the Gods;
Mix the heart of clay that is over the Abyss,
The good and princely fashioners will thicken the clay
Thou, do thou bring the limbs into existence;
Ninmah will work above thee
Nintu will stand by thy fashioning;
Oh my mother, decree thou its fate.”