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Category: 1304 (April 2013)
Justin Gillis the American 2011 Oakes Award winner for Distinguished Environmental Journalism for his ongoing multimedia series, Temperature Rising, which examines the fundamental tenets of manmade climate change, has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years’. Gillis states “Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age. …Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period. Even if the temperature increase from human activity that is projected for later this century comes out on the low end of estimates, scientists said, the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that. That epoch began about 12,000 years ago, after changes in incoming sunshine caused vast ice sheets to melt across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe the moderate climate of the Holocene set the stage for the rise of human civilization roughly 8,000 years ago and continues to sustain it by, for example, permitting a high level of food production. In the new research… Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate. …The modern rise that has recreated the temperatures of 5,000 years ago is occurring at an exceedingly rapid clip on a geological time scale, appearing in graphs in the new paper as a sharp vertical spike. If the rise continues apace, early Holocene temperatures are likely to be surpassed within this century, Dr. Marcott said.”  Inspired by Justin Gillis, New York Times ow.ly/jBgYJ Image source UGA ow.ly/jBgWU Global temperatures highest in 4,000 years (April 30 2013)

 

Justin Gillis the American 2011 Oakes Award winner for Distinguished Environmental Journalism for his ongoing multimedia series, Temperature Rising, which examines the fundamental tenets of manmade climate change, has published an article in the New York Times titled ‘Global Temperatures Highest in 4,000 Years’. Gillis states “Global temperatures are warmer than at any time in at least 4,000 years, scientists reported, and over the coming decades are likely to surpass levels not seen on the planet since before the last ice age. …Previous research had extended back roughly 1,500 years, and suggested that the rapid temperature spike of the past century, believed to be a consequence of human activity, exceeded any warming episode during those years. The new work confirms that result while suggesting the modern warming is unique over a longer period. Even if the temperature increase from human activity that is projected for later this century comes out on the low end of estimates, scientists said, the planet will be at least as warm as it was during the warmest periods of the modern geological era, known as the Holocene, and probably warmer than that. That epoch began about 12,000 years ago, after changes in incoming sunshine caused vast ice sheets to melt across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists believe the moderate climate of the Holocene set the stage for the rise of human civilization roughly 8,000 years ago and continues to sustain it by, for example, permitting a high level of food production. In the new research… Shaun Marcott, an earth scientist at Oregon State University, and his colleagues compiled the most meticulous reconstruction yet of global temperatures over the past 11,300 years, virtually the entire Holocene. They used indicators like the distribution of microscopic, temperature-sensitive ocean creatures to determine past climate. …The modern rise that has recreated the temperatures of 5,000 years ago is occurring at an exceedingly rapid clip on a geological time scale, appearing in graphs in the new paper as a sharp vertical spike. If the rise continues apace, early Holocene temperatures are likely to be surpassed within this century, Dr. Marcott said.”

 

Inspired by Justin Gillis, New York Times ow.ly/jBgYJ Image source UGA ow.ly/jBgWU

Roberto Savio the Italian Economist , journalist and international communications consultant, founder of the IPS News Service has published an article on the service titled ‘Switzerland Sets Example for Income Equality’. Savio states “For those who think that Occupy Wall Street, the Indignados in Spain, the World Social Forum and the numerous manifestations of protest worldwide are expressions without concrete outcomes, the result of the Swiss referendum on Mar. 3 on capping the salaries and bonuses of banks executives should make them think twice. Like it or not, two-thirds of the Swiss, who are not exactly a revolutionary people, have given the shareholders of financial institutions the right to decide salaries and bonuses of their executives. Another referendum — on limiting the salaries and bonuses of company executives from all sectors to a figure that does not exceed 15 times that of the average salary of their employees — is due shortly. At the same time the European Commission and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on capping bank executives’ bonuses at an amount equal to their annual salary. If the shareholders decide, it can be twice their annual salary, but no more. …people are getting fed up, as the Swiss referendum has clearly shown. Everywhere discontent is seeping into the polls, with protest parties flourishing everywhere. We are in transition to a different system. This can be done through peaceful and cooperative means, or by a continuation of this growing social injustice. History has many lessons on this issue, and it is useless to recall them. We all read them at school, even the 100 billionaires. So, as the Swiss referendum shows, it is not awareness that is lacking: it is political will.”  Inspired by Roberto Savio, IPS News Service ow.ly/jBfFB Image source Gc-Council ow.ly/jBfEv Switzerland sets example for income equality (April 29 2013)

 

Roberto Savio the Italian Economist , journalist and international communications consultant, founder of the IPS News Service has published an article on the service titled ‘Switzerland Sets Example for Income Equality’. Savio states “For those who think that Occupy Wall Street, the Indignados in Spain, the World Social Forum and the numerous manifestations of protest worldwide are expressions without concrete outcomes, the result of the Swiss referendum on Mar. 3 on capping the salaries and bonuses of banks executives should make them think twice. Like it or not, two-thirds of the Swiss, who are not exactly a revolutionary people, have given the shareholders of financial institutions the right to decide salaries and bonuses of their executives. Another referendum — on limiting the salaries and bonuses of company executives from all sectors to a figure that does not exceed 15 times that of the average salary of their employees — is due shortly. At the same time the European Commission and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on capping bank executives’ bonuses at an amount equal to their annual salary. If the shareholders decide, it can be twice their annual salary, but no more. …people are getting fed up, as the Swiss referendum has clearly shown. Everywhere discontent is seeping into the polls, with protest parties flourishing everywhere. We are in transition to a different system. This can be done through peaceful and cooperative means, or by a continuation of this growing social injustice. History has many lessons on this issue, and it is useless to recall them. We all read them at school, even the 100 billionaires. So, as the Swiss referendum shows, it is not awareness that is lacking: it is political will.”

 

Inspired by Roberto Savio, IPS News Service ow.ly/jBfFB Image source Gc-Council ow.ly/jBfEv

Catherine Rottenberg the Israeli Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics and the Gender Studies Program at Ben-Gurion University has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Hijacking feminism’, arguing that powerful women are introducing a new form of feminism devoid of social justice. Rottenberg states “A new trend is on the rise. Suddenly high-powered women are publically espousing feminism. In her recently published book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg advocates for a new kind of feminism, maintaining that women need to initiate an "internalised revolution". Sandberg's feminist manifesto comes on the heels of Ann-Marie Slaughter's much- discussed Atlantic opinion piece, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All", which rapidly became the most widely read essay in the magazine's history. In her piece, Slaughter explains why professional women are still finding it difficult to balance career demands with their wish for an active home life: social norms and the inflexibility of US workplace culture continue to privilege career advancement over family. The buzz that has surrounded these two "how-to-reinvigorate-feminism" programmes suggests that Sandberg and Slaughter have struck a deep cultural chord. Indeed, the two women are quickly becoming the most visible representatives of US feminism in the early 21st century.  …Articulated at a time when Western liberal democracies are loudly decrying women's lack of freedom in the Muslim world while lionising gender equality in their own societies, it actually makes a kind of cultural sense to shift the conversation away from the gendered division of labour and profound social injustices upon which US liberalism itself is constituted. The turn to the language of balance, internalising the revolution and a happiness project, in other words, puts the burden of unhappiness, failure and disequilibrium once again on the shoulders of individual women while diverting attention away from US self-scrutiny with respect to its own "woman problem". “ Inspired by Catherine Rottenberg, Aljazeera ow.ly/jBfip Image source bgu ow.ly/jBfha New form of feminism devoid of social justice (April 28 2013)

 

Catherine Rottenberg the Israeli Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics and the Gender Studies Program at Ben-Gurion University has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Hijacking feminism’, arguing that powerful women are introducing a new form of feminism devoid of social justice. Rottenberg states “A new trend is on the rise. Suddenly high-powered women are publically espousing feminism. In her recently published book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg advocates for a new kind of feminism, maintaining that women need to initiate an “internalised revolution”. Sandberg’s feminist manifesto comes on the heels of Ann-Marie Slaughter’s much- discussed Atlantic opinion piece, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All”, which rapidly became the most widely read essay in the magazine’s history. In her piece, Slaughter explains why professional women are still finding it difficult to balance career demands with their wish for an active home life: social norms and the inflexibility of US workplace culture continue to privilege career advancement over family. The buzz that has surrounded these two “how-to-reinvigorate-feminism” programmes suggests that Sandberg and Slaughter have struck a deep cultural chord. Indeed, the two women are quickly becoming the most visible representatives of US feminism in the early 21st century.  …Articulated at a time when Western liberal democracies are loudly decrying women’s lack of freedom in the Muslim world while lionising gender equality in their own societies, it actually makes a kind of cultural sense to shift the conversation away from the gendered division of labour and profound social injustices upon which US liberalism itself is constituted. The turn to the language of balance, internalising the revolution and a happiness project, in other words, puts the burden of unhappiness, failure and disequilibrium once again on the shoulders of individual women while diverting attention away from US self-scrutiny with respect to its own “woman problem”. “

 

Inspired by Catherine Rottenberg, Aljazeera ow.ly/jBfip Image source bgu ow.ly/jBfha

Sally Le Page the British student studying Biological Sciences at Oxford University working on evolutionary theory and reproduction has won the Guardian/OUP Very Short Film competition. An article in The Guardian states “Sally Le Page has taken first prize at the Guardian and Oxford University Press (OUP) Very Short Film competition. She was awarded £9,000 towards tuition fees for her minute-long film about evolution in a ceremony at the Guardian's London headquarters. Three runners-up each received a £250 voucher for OUP books. The competition challenged students to make films inspired by the Very Short Introduction book series – no more than 60 seconds long. Thousands of Guardian readers voted to select four finalists, with the judging panel deciding the winner. Chair of the Judges, Judy Friedberg, the Guardian's universities editor, said: "All those that were selected for the final 12 were excellent and I'd like to congratulate everyone who made the cut on their talent and skill. "Sally Le Page's film on evolution is an energetic and uplifting piece, with strong use of typography and great communication skills. In fact, Sally would make a wonderful TV presenter." After winning the prize, Sally said: "I wanted to make my film about evolution because life is the most interesting thing in the universe – and we can't understand life without understanding evolution. Most people know what evolution is, but not how important it is. And that's what I wanted to get across in my video." Sally, a third-year biology student at Oxford, is set begin a PhD in evolutionary theory later this year. She said: "When I was little I spent all my time in the garden playing around with frogs or watching David Attenborough programmes on TV. Increasingly, evolution is being threatened by creationism – and that's threatening biology. So it's important that we have an understanding of what it is."  Inspired by Sally Le Page, The Guardian ow.ly/jBeYg Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBeXE Evolution is being threatened by creationism (April 27 2013)

 

Sally Le Page the British student studying Biological Sciences at Oxford University working on evolutionary theory and reproduction has won the Guardian/OUP Very Short Film competition. An article in The Guardian states “Sally Le Page has taken first prize at the Guardian and Oxford University Press (OUP) Very Short Film competition. She was awarded £9,000 towards tuition fees for her minute-long film about evolution in a ceremony at the Guardian’s London headquarters. Three runners-up each received a £250 voucher for OUP books. The competition challenged students to make films inspired by the Very Short Introduction book series – no more than 60 seconds long. Thousands of Guardian readers voted to select four finalists, with the judging panel deciding the winner. Chair of the Judges, Judy Friedberg, the Guardian’s universities editor, said: “All those that were selected for the final 12 were excellent and I’d like to congratulate everyone who made the cut on their talent and skill. “Sally Le Page’s film on evolution is an energetic and uplifting piece, with strong use of typography and great communication skills. In fact, Sally would make a wonderful TV presenter.” After winning the prize, Sally said: “I wanted to make my film about evolution because life is the most interesting thing in the universe – and we can’t understand life without understanding evolution. Most people know what evolution is, but not how important it is. And that’s what I wanted to get across in my video.” Sally, a third-year biology student at Oxford, is set begin a PhD in evolutionary theory later this year. She said: “When I was little I spent all my time in the garden playing around with frogs or watching David Attenborough programmes on TV. Increasingly, evolution is being threatened by creationism – and that’s threatening biology. So it’s important that we have an understanding of what it is.”

 

Inspired by Sally Le Page, The Guardian ow.ly/jBeYg Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBeXE

David H Remes the 58 year old American lawyer recognized for his human rights work notable for volunteering to serve as a pro bono attorney for some of the captives held in extrajudicial detention in the US Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba has published an article titled ‘The Tragic Death of Adnan Latif: What is the Military Trying to Hide?’ on Firedoglake by Jeff Kaye. Remes states “…Truthout first reported, the US military began saying that my client Adnan Latif, a Yemeni at Guantanamo, who died in his cell on September 8, committed suicide by overdosing on medication he smuggled into his cell. On Saturday, December 15, the military further stated that acute pneumonia was a contributing factor in Adnan’s death. The government’s theory doesn’t stand up. It leaves urgent questions unanswered. …is it plausible that Adnan smuggled medication into his cell, much less kept and used it? Or did the military, perhaps, plant medication in his cell to facilitate his suicide? (Other detainees have reported such apparent suicide prompts.) Did Adnan actually commit suicide, or was he forced to take the medication? Was he tricked? Did he even die of overmedication? What medications was Adnan administered? In what doses and on what schedule? How were the medications administered—By injection? Orally? If orally, how were they administered—As pills? Capsules? Liquids? Solutions? Where were the medications administered—in Adnan’s cell? The hallway? A dispensary? Somewhere else? …the military disclosed, out of the blue, that acute pneumonia was a contributing factor in Adnan’s death. Why did the military wait to disclose that information? The military continues to withhold the other information in the autopsy report. Why the selective disclosure? And how could the military have discharged from the hospital a man with acute pneumonia? …The autopsy report undoubtedly answers many of these questions. Yet the military will not release the report. Why is the military stonewalling? What is the military trying to hide?”  Inspired by Jeff Kaye, Firedoglake ow.ly/jBeGb Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBeCh What is the military trying to hide? (April 26 2013)

David H Remes the 58 year old American lawyer recognized for his human rights work notable for volunteering to serve as a pro bono attorney for some of the captives held in extrajudicial detention in the US Guantanamo Bay detention camps, in Cuba has published an article titled ‘The Tragic Death of Adnan Latif: What is the Military Trying to Hide?’ on Firedoglake by Jeff Kaye. Remes states “…Truthout first reported, the US military began saying that my client Adnan Latif, a Yemeni at Guantanamo, who died in his cell on September 8, committed suicide by overdosing on medication he smuggled into his cell. On Saturday, December 15, the military further stated that acute pneumonia was a contributing factor in Adnan’s death. The government’s theory doesn’t stand up. It leaves urgent questions unanswered. …is it plausible that Adnan smuggled medication into his cell, much less kept and used it? Or did the military, perhaps, plant medication in his cell to facilitate his suicide? (Other detainees have reported such apparent suicide prompts.) Did Adnan actually commit suicide, or was he forced to take the medication? Was he tricked? Did he even die of overmedication? What medications was Adnan administered? In what doses and on what schedule? How were the medications administered—By injection? Orally? If orally, how were they administered—As pills? Capsules? Liquids? Solutions? Where were the medications administered—in Adnan’s cell? The hallway? A dispensary? Somewhere else? …the military disclosed, out of the blue, that acute pneumonia was a contributing factor in Adnan’s death. Why did the military wait to disclose that information? The military continues to withhold the other information in the autopsy report. Why the selective disclosure? And how could the military have discharged from the hospital a man with acute pneumonia? …The autopsy report undoubtedly answers many of these questions. Yet the military will not release the report. Why is the military stonewalling? What is the military trying to hide?”

 

Inspired by Jeff Kaye, Firedoglake ow.ly/jBeGb Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBeCh

 

 

John Axelrod the 66 year old retired attorney and collector of so-called “Loisaida” art [Latino pronunciation of Lower East Side) artist of 1980s] has been profiled by Judith Gura in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Collecting Is a Disease”: Nonstop Art Acquirer John Axelrod Can't Stop Hunting’. Gura states “Visitors entering John Axelrod’s spacious town house apartment in Boston’s Back Bay are met by Myrna Loy, an affable Australian terrier, and an eruption of graffiti art by the likes of Dondi, Crash, and Lady Pink invading an environment of pristine walls, neoclassical moldings, and American modern furniture. Axelrod is passionate about graffiti art, but it is not his first collection; it follows a half-dozen others, all comprehensive. He is not simply an obsessive collector—he’s a serial one. Over a span of four decades he has assembled groundbreaking collections of American prints, European Art Deco objects, American modern decorative arts from 1920 to 1950, Memphis furnishings, African-American painting, and Latin American art. Each collection was accompanied by painstaking research, and each was divested as Axelrod moved on to another category with renewed enthusiasm for the thrill of the chase. “Collecting is a disease,” he explains. “I’m just another sufferer.” He doesn’t look like he’s suffering. A former lawyer and businessman, Axelrod has clearly enjoyed his art pursuits. More important, the outcome of this process has been substantial: All but one of his collections have gone to museums, where they have stimulated additional donations and acquisitions. …Axelrod admits to enjoying the endorsement of museums. “It’s the bottom line,” he says. “Nothing validates what you’ve done like having a museum take it.” Summing up his accomplishments, Axelrod adds, “I think I’ve helped the museums move into areas they might not have gone into, or not with the same depth. That’s my legacy. You made a change: That’s what I’d like as my epitaph.”  Inspired by Judith Gura, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/jBe1R Image source Vimeo ow.ly/jBe0Q Collecting is a disease I’m just a sufferer (April 25 2013)

John Axelrod the 66 year old retired attorney and collector of so-called “Loisaida” art [Latino pronunciation of Lower East Side) artist of 1980s] has been profiled by Judith Gura in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Collecting Is a Disease”: Nonstop Art Acquirer John Axelrod Can’t Stop Hunting’. Gura states “Visitors entering John Axelrod’s spacious town house apartment in Boston’s Back Bay are met by Myrna Loy, an affable Australian terrier, and an eruption of graffiti art by the likes of Dondi, Crash, and Lady Pink invading an environment of pristine walls, neoclassical moldings, and American modern furniture. Axelrod is passionate about graffiti art, but it is not his first collection; it follows a half-dozen others, all comprehensive. He is not simply an obsessive collector—he’s a serial one. Over a span of four decades he has assembled groundbreaking collections of American prints, European Art Deco objects, American modern decorative arts from 1920 to 1950, Memphis furnishings, African-American painting, and Latin American art. Each collection was accompanied by painstaking research, and each was divested as Axelrod moved on to another category with renewed enthusiasm for the thrill of the chase. “Collecting is a disease,” he explains. “I’m just another sufferer.” He doesn’t look like he’s suffering. A former lawyer and businessman, Axelrod has clearly enjoyed his art pursuits. More important, the outcome of this process has been substantial: All but one of his collections have gone to museums, where they have stimulated additional donations and acquisitions. …Axelrod admits to enjoying the endorsement of museums. “It’s the bottom line,” he says. “Nothing validates what you’ve done like having a museum take it.” Summing up his accomplishments, Axelrod adds, “I think I’ve helped the museums move into areas they might not have gone into, or not with the same depth. That’s my legacy. You made a change: That’s what I’d like as my epitaph.”

 

Inspired by Judith Gura, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/jBe1R Image source Vimeo ow.ly/jBe0Q

Dominique Moisi the 66 year old French political scientist and writer, co-founder and senior advisor of the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘France’s German Mirror’. Moisi states “…Berlin is a construction site that has managed to transform its multiple pasts into positive energy. …That positive energy contrasts starkly with the decadent beauty of Paris, a city that is on a path of “museification.” Of course, if you can afford to live there, Paris remains a great place to be. But Berlin is a better place to work, even if what you do is very poorly paid. …Thanks to its moderate housing costs, Berlin has not become, like Paris, a ghetto for the rich. Unlike the French, who are handicapped by the high cost of housing, Germans’ purchasing power is more harmoniously distributed, creating more room for household consumption to contribute to economic growth. Germany’s positive energy is, of course, the result of success translated into confidence, which Chancellor Angela Merkel incarnates with strength and simplicity. Merkel has changed profoundly while in office. Five years ago, she did not exude the natural authority that she now possesses. Today, like Pope Francis, she is clearly at ease with herself. Has there been a French president since François Mitterrand who was truly a match for a German chancellor? If France has replaced Germany as “the sick man of Europe,” it is for political reasons, above all: vision, courage, and strength on the northern side of the Rhine, and vacillation, inertia, and weakness on the southern. …France’s current direction is a source of deep concern in Germany, whose evolution should be seen in France as a source of inspiration – an example to be emulated, even if the country must not fall into self-flagellation. …France today can and should learn from Germany.”  Inspired by Dominique Moisi, Project Syndicate ow.ly/jBdO4 Image source Voltairenet ow.ly/jBdJt France can and should learn from Germany (April 24 2013)

 

Dominique Moisi the 66 year old French political scientist and writer, co-founder and senior advisor of the Paris-based Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘France’s German Mirror’. Moisi states “…Berlin is a construction site that has managed to transform its multiple pasts into positive energy. …That positive energy contrasts starkly with the decadent beauty of Paris, a city that is on a path of “museification.” Of course, if you can afford to live there, Paris remains a great place to be. But Berlin is a better place to work, even if what you do is very poorly paid. …Thanks to its moderate housing costs, Berlin has not become, like Paris, a ghetto for the rich. Unlike the French, who are handicapped by the high cost of housing, Germans’ purchasing power is more harmoniously distributed, creating more room for household consumption to contribute to economic growth. Germany’s positive energy is, of course, the result of success translated into confidence, which Chancellor Angela Merkel incarnates with strength and simplicity. Merkel has changed profoundly while in office. Five years ago, she did not exude the natural authority that she now possesses. Today, like Pope Francis, she is clearly at ease with herself. Has there been a French president since François Mitterrand who was truly a match for a German chancellor? If France has replaced Germany as “the sick man of Europe,” it is for political reasons, above all: vision, courage, and strength on the northern side of the Rhine, and vacillation, inertia, and weakness on the southern. …France’s current direction is a source of deep concern in Germany, whose evolution should be seen in France as a source of inspiration – an example to be emulated, even if the country must not fall into self-flagellation. …France today can and should learn from Germany.”

 

Inspired by Dominique Moisi, Project Syndicate ow.ly/jBdO4 Image source Voltairenet ow.ly/jBdJt

There is no such thing as empty space (April 23 2013) There is no such thing as empty space (April 23 2013)

 

Esther Inglis-Arkell the American physics writer blogging about what makes things explode has published an article on io9 titled ‘There is no such thing as emptiness. There is only quantum foam’. Inglis-Arkell states “According to some scientists, there is no such thing as empty space. What we have instead is called “quantum foam.” We can’t see it, but we just might be able to sense it. The guy who came up with the term “quantum foam” is John Wheeler. In the “shut up and calculate” era of post-World War II era, he pushed both students and the world at large to keep thinking about Einstein’s theory of relativity and its consequences – so you know he was cool. He also had the middle name of Archibald – so you know he knew a thing or two about cool names. And so it’s natural that he used term “quantum foam” to describe one of the more perplexing ideas of physics. The idea comes from the attempts to merge relativistic gravity with quantum mechanics. Gravity, Einstein proved, was a bending of the fabric of spacetime. It also behaves like a field. Place a point far away from the Earth, and it still will be part of the Earth’s gravitational field, but it will be out where the tug of gravity is weak. Place it close to the Earth, and the tug is stronger, and it will fall. Other planets warp spacetime and create their own gravitational tugs. So space isn’t gravity-free, but a vast array of different gravitational tugs through which particles move. Pretty much everywhere that anything is placed, there is a gravitational field that it moves through. …There are ideas on how to “see” this quantum foam. They vary in technique. Some ideas, such as the randomly appearing and disappearing particles, have already been established.  Either way, we have a creamy new way of seeing the universe.”

 

Inspired by Esther Inglis-Arkell, io9 ow.ly/jBdnL Image source Revision3 ow.ly/jBdmi

Anne Marie Waters the British journalist activist for secularism, public ownership, civil liberties, and the power of the people to hold the state to account has published an article at the National Secular Society titled ‘Sharia Law and Free Speech’ in which she states “…There exists in Britain a network of sharia family 'courts'. They are the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal and the Islamic Sharia Council. The former operates under the powers of the Arbitration Act, and the latter is a registered charity. They both operate a system of family law which is expanding and has created a parallel legal system on family matters for Muslims. It is taking us to an increasingly divided and fractured society where application of the law is subjective and based on personal belief. The men who run these bodies are real charmers – they believe men should be able to rape and beat their wives. They believe a woman's word is worth only half of a man's, and they believe children are the property of their fathers… Some women are beginning to speak out against these 'courts' and the stories they tell are more and more disturbing. Women are being seriously abused here and we have to say so – while we're still allowed. …Talking about the sharia system in Britain is not an easy thing to do, but the brilliant Atheist, Secularist and Humanist (ASH) societies keep marching on regardless. …For the record, I have nothing against Islam per se. I would never ever object to or try to prevent Muslims practicing their religion. But when any practice is an abuse of human rights, it must be opposed by those of us who believe in human rights. I'm not against sharia family law because it's got anything to do with Islam, I'm against it because it abuses human beings, especially women…. and I insist upon my right to say so.”  Inspired by Anne Marie Waters, National Secular Society ow.ly/jBd4h Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBd3S I insist upon my right to say so (April 22 2013)

 

Anne Marie Waters the British journalist activist for secularism, public ownership, civil liberties, and the power of the people to hold the state to account has published an article at the National Secular Society titled ‘Sharia Law and Free Speech’ in which she states “…There exists in Britain a network of sharia family ‘courts’. They are the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal and the Islamic Sharia Council. The former operates under the powers of the Arbitration Act, and the latter is a registered charity. They both operate a system of family law which is expanding and has created a parallel legal system on family matters for Muslims. It is taking us to an increasingly divided and fractured society where application of the law is subjective and based on personal belief. The men who run these bodies are real charmers – they believe men should be able to rape and beat their wives. They believe a woman’s word is worth only half of a man’s, and they believe children are the property of their fathers… Some women are beginning to speak out against these ‘courts’ and the stories they tell are more and more disturbing. Women are being seriously abused here and we have to say so – while we’re still allowed. …Talking about the sharia system in Britain is not an easy thing to do, but the brilliant Atheist, Secularist and Humanist (ASH) societies keep marching on regardless. …For the record, I have nothing against Islam per se. I would never ever object to or try to prevent Muslims practicing their religion. But when any practice is an abuse of human rights, it must be opposed by those of us who believe in human rights. I’m not against sharia family law because it’s got anything to do with Islam, I’m against it because it abuses human beings, especially women…. and I insist upon my right to say so.”

 

Inspired by Anne Marie Waters, National Secular Society ow.ly/jBd4h Image source Twitter ow.ly/jBd3S

Pardiss Kebriaei the American Senior Staff Attorney at the Center Constitutional Rights focusing on challenging government abuses post-9/11, including in the areas of “targeted killing“ and unjust detentions at Guantanamo has been interviewed by Amy Goodman for Democracy Now in reference to the Guantanamo prisoner hunger strike. In the interview Kebriaei states “…there is a large-scale hunger strike in Camp 6, which is the largest of the facilities at Guantánamo. That prison holds about 130 men. He said that almost everyone, except for a few who are sick and elderly, are on strike. He himself [her client Ghaleb Al-Bihani] had lost over 20 pounds. He is a diabetic. His blood glucose levels are fluctuating wildly. He told me that medical staff at Guantánamo have told him his life is in danger. And he and others want us to get the word out about this. We [at] CCR and group of other habeas counsel, wrote a letter to the authorities at Guantánamo and to the Department of Justice reporting what we have heard and asking for a response. And to date, almost two weeks later, we have not heard anything, other than denials of the strike.  …They have downplayed the scale of the strikes and have said that there are only a handful on strike and only a handful being tube-fed. It may be a matter of semantics: The way that Guantánamo authorities define people on  hunger strike is largely discretionary. But what we have heard from every habeas counsel who has been down to the base or communicated with their clients since February is the same, which is that there is a large-scale strike, men are refusing food. …you start seeing things like loss of vision, loss of hearing, and eventually death. So this is—it’s an emergency situation. We view it as an emergency situation. And denials by the authorities, at this point, of the strike are dangerous and irresponsible.”  Inspired by Amy Goodman & Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now ow.ly/jBcHz Image source CFR ow.ly/jBcGy They downplayed scale of the hunger strikes (April 21 2013)

Pardiss Kebriaei the American Senior Staff Attorney at the Center Constitutional Rights focusing on challenging government abuses post-9/11, including in the areas of “targeted killing“ and unjust detentions at Guantanamo has been interviewed by Amy Goodman for Democracy Now in reference to the Guantanamo prisoner hunger strike. In the interview Kebriaei states “…there is a large-scale hunger strike in Camp 6, which is the largest of the facilities at Guantánamo. That prison holds about 130 men. He said that almost everyone, except for a few who are sick and elderly, are on strike. He himself [her client Ghaleb Al-Bihani] had lost over 20 pounds. He is a diabetic. His blood glucose levels are fluctuating wildly. He told me that medical staff at Guantánamo have told him his life is in danger. And he and others want us to get the word out about this. We [at] CCR and group of other habeas counsel, wrote a letter to the authorities at Guantánamo and to the Department of Justice reporting what we have heard and asking for a response. And to date, almost two weeks later, we have not heard anything, other than denials of the strike.  …They have downplayed the scale of the strikes and have said that there are only a handful on strike and only a handful being tube-fed. It may be a matter of semantics: The way that Guantánamo authorities define people on  hunger strike is largely discretionary. But what we have heard from every habeas counsel who has been down to the base or communicated with their clients since February is the same, which is that there is a large-scale strike, men are refusing food. …you start seeing things like loss of vision, loss of hearing, and eventually death. So this is—it’s an emergency situation. We view it as an emergency situation. And denials by the authorities, at this point, of the strike are dangerous and irresponsible.”

 

Inspired by Amy Goodman & Nermeen Shaikh, Democracy Now ow.ly/jBcHz Image source CFR ow.ly/jBcGy

Barbara Bloom the 61 year old American Sculptural artist who studied with John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts and is often associated with the postmodern “Pictures Generation” that includes Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, has been profiled by Karen Roseberg in a New York Times article titled ‘She Makes Objects Speak, and They Won’t Stop Arguing’. Roseberg states “…“As it were ... So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue With Barbara Bloom,” at the Jewish Museum. Ms. Bloom, invited to organize a show from elements of the museum’s collection, has turned to the Talmud for inspiration. Her exhibition is modeled on its heavily annotated pages, which surround ancient texts with rabbinical commentaries added over centuries. Weaving together real and fictional narratives, historical and literary sources, Ms. Bloom creates new and often ambiguous contexts for ceremonial and decorative objects like Torah pointers, Kiddush cups and spice containers. Somehow she manages to quote Nietzsche, Freud, Leonard Cohen, Joan Didion, the Bible and various Wikipedia entries, all without losing her own probing, skeptical voice. “The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other,” Ms. Bloom writes in a preamble to the show. …she is especially attuned to these vibrations between objects, drawing them out and spinning them into debates that are as least as fascinating as the objects themselves. … she is an accomplished rescuer of forgotten objects, known for reviving old paintings, vintage photographs and the odd flea-market find with clever and critical installations. But even if her methods are old hat to the art world, they’re sure to have an impact on a wider audience. And they are certainly a departure for the Jewish Museum, which is just starting to rethink its permanent-collection strategy under its director, Claudia Gould.”  Inspired by Karen Roseberg, New York Times ow.ly/jAsaX Image source Linda Yablonsky ow.ly/jAsao Objects are placeholders for thoughts (April 20 2013)

 

Barbara Bloom the 61 year old American Sculptural artist who studied with John Baldessari at the California Institute of the Arts and is often associated with the postmodern “Pictures Generation” that includes Cindy Sherman, Louise Lawler, Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger, has been profiled by Karen Roseberg in a New York Times article titled ‘She Makes Objects Speak, and They Won’t Stop Arguing’. Roseberg states “…“As it were … So to speak: A Museum Collection in Dialogue With Barbara Bloom,” at the Jewish Museum. Ms. Bloom, invited to organize a show from elements of the museum’s collection, has turned to the Talmud for inspiration. Her exhibition is modeled on its heavily annotated pages, which surround ancient texts with rabbinical commentaries added over centuries. Weaving together real and fictional narratives, historical and literary sources, Ms. Bloom creates new and often ambiguous contexts for ceremonial and decorative objects like Torah pointers, Kiddush cups and spice containers. Somehow she manages to quote Nietzsche, Freud, Leonard Cohen, Joan Didion, the Bible and various Wikipedia entries, all without losing her own probing, skeptical voice. “The objects are placeholders for thoughts, and when they are situated in proximity to one another, meanings can reverberate and ricochet off of each other,” Ms. Bloom writes in a preamble to the show. …she is especially attuned to these vibrations between objects, drawing them out and spinning them into debates that are as least as fascinating as the objects themselves. … she is an accomplished rescuer of forgotten objects, known for reviving old paintings, vintage photographs and the odd flea-market find with clever and critical installations. But even if her methods are old hat to the art world, they’re sure to have an impact on a wider audience. And they are certainly a departure for the Jewish Museum, which is just starting to rethink its permanent-collection strategy under its director, Claudia Gould.”

 

Inspired by Karen Roseberg, New York Times ow.ly/jAsaX Image source Linda Yablonsky ow.ly/jAsao

Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia the 63 year old Central African politician, military leader and President of the Central African Republic has been profiled by Farouk Chothia in an BBC Africa article titled ‘Michel Djotodia: Central African Republic rebel leader’. Chothia states “A Soviet-trained civil servant who turned into a rebel leader, Michel Djotodia has finally achieved his long-held ambition of becoming leader of the Central African Republic (CAR). …Djotodia - some seven years after playing a key role in the launch of the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebel group - is now in power. …Djotodia led the UFDR into a coalition with other rebel groups last year to form Seleka, which spearheaded the offensive to overthrow Mr Bozize. For Mr Djotodia, this was sweet revenge: Mr Bozize's rebel forces had toppled his political boss, then-President Ange Felix-Patasse, in 2003. Mr Djotodia had served in Mr Patasse's government as a civil servant in the ministry of planning after studying economics in the former Soviet Union. ... As Mr Bozize fled to Cameroon, Mr Djotodia announced that elections would be held in three years, suggesting, in an interview with Radio France Internationale, that he would run for the presidency to legitimise his rule. "I did not say that in three years I will hand over power. I said that in three years, we are going to organise free and transparent elections," he said. It is a remarkable change in the fortunes of a man who had been jailed in Benin in November 2006, for using the country as a base for his rebellion against Mr Bozize. According to rights group Amnesty International's 2009 report on CAR, Mr Djotodia and another rebel leader Abakar Sabone were detained without trial in Benin for more than a year, before being released at Mr Bozize's request as part of yet another regionally brokered peace initiative to end the conflict. It was probably Mr Bozize's biggest political mistake, as it opened the way for Mr Djotodia to shrewdly play the dual role of peace-maker and rebel leader until he finally seized power in Bangui.”  Inspired by Farouk Chothia, BBC ow.ly/jArOT Image source Facebook ow.ly/jArMd Dual role of peace-maker & rebel leader (April 19 2013)

 

Michel Am-Nondokro Djotodia the 63 year old Central African politician, military leader and President of the Central African Republic has been profiled by Farouk Chothia in an BBC Africa article titled ‘Michel Djotodia: Central African Republic rebel leader’. Chothia states “A Soviet-trained civil servant who turned into a rebel leader, Michel Djotodia has finally achieved his long-held ambition of becoming leader of the Central African Republic (CAR). …Djotodia – some seven years after playing a key role in the launch of the Union of Democratic Forces for Unity (UFDR) rebel group – is now in power. …Djotodia led the UFDR into a coalition with other rebel groups last year to form Seleka, which spearheaded the offensive to overthrow Mr Bozize. For Mr Djotodia, this was sweet revenge: Mr Bozize’s rebel forces had toppled his political boss, then-President Ange Felix-Patasse, in 2003. Mr Djotodia had served in Mr Patasse’s government as a civil servant in the ministry of planning after studying economics in the former Soviet Union. … As Mr Bozize fled to Cameroon, Mr Djotodia announced that elections would be held in three years, suggesting, in an interview with Radio France Internationale, that he would run for the presidency to legitimise his rule. “I did not say that in three years I will hand over power. I said that in three years, we are going to organise free and transparent elections,” he said. It is a remarkable change in the fortunes of a man who had been jailed in Benin in November 2006, for using the country as a base for his rebellion against Mr Bozize. According to rights group Amnesty International’s 2009 report on CAR, Mr Djotodia and another rebel leader Abakar Sabone were detained without trial in Benin for more than a year, before being released at Mr Bozize’s request as part of yet another regionally brokered peace initiative to end the conflict. It was probably Mr Bozize’s biggest political mistake, as it opened the way for Mr Djotodia to shrewdly play the dual role of peace-maker and rebel leader until he finally seized power in Bangui.”

 

Inspired by Farouk Chothia, BBC ow.ly/jArOT Image source Facebook ow.ly/jArMd

Tiago Maranhao Alves the Brazilian a physical engineer  and CEO of CSEM Brasil an innovations-based company is the subject of an article published by Alice Marcondes on the IPS News Service titled ‘Brazilian-Made Plastic Solar Panels, a Clean Energy Breakthrough’ which states “[Maranhao Alves] While the capacity for power generation is almost the same, its small size means that it can be given uses that are almost impossible for silicon panels”.  What looks like a thin, flexible sheet of regular plastic is actually a solar panel printed with photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity. This new material, totally unlike the heavy and costly silicon-based panels commonly used to generate solar power today, was created by scientists at CSEM Brasil, a research institute based in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Made by incorporating organic photovoltaic cells into common polymers, the new panels resemble transparent sheets of plastic with stripes where they have been printed with carbon-based organic polymers. …The lightweight, flexible new material can be used to power the electrical components of automobiles and in electronic devices like mobile phones and wireless computer keyboards and mice. But the Brazilian researchers are concentrating on the production of solar panels, which can be used to cover relatively large areas, like windows. “A panel with a surface area of two or three square metres could be sufficient to generate the energy needed in a house lived in by a family of four. Because of its good cost-benefit ratio, it could also be an option for bringing energy to remote areas without electric power service.” …The plastic can also be used to cover buildings and venues like airports and sports stadiums, avoiding the need to set aside an area for the installation of conventional solar panels. …”We are now going to study the best way to scale up the product.”  Inspired by Alice Marcondes, IPS News Service ow.ly/jArfG Image source LinkedIn ow.ly/jAreE Uses impossible for silicon panels (April 18 2013)

Tiago Maranhao Alves the Brazilian a physical engineer  and CEO of CSEM Brasil an innovations-based company is the subject of an article published by Alice Marcondes on the IPS News Service titled ‘Brazilian-Made Plastic Solar Panels, a Clean Energy Breakthrough’ which states “[Maranhao Alves] While the capacity for power generation is almost the same, its small size means that it can be given uses that are almost impossible for silicon panels”.  What looks like a thin, flexible sheet of regular plastic is actually a solar panel printed with photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity. This new material, totally unlike the heavy and costly silicon-based panels commonly used to generate solar power today, was created by scientists at CSEM Brasil, a research institute based in the southeast Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Made by incorporating organic photovoltaic cells into common polymers, the new panels resemble transparent sheets of plastic with stripes where they have been printed with carbon-based organic polymers. …The lightweight, flexible new material can be used to power the electrical components of automobiles and in electronic devices like mobile phones and wireless computer keyboards and mice. But the Brazilian researchers are concentrating on the production of solar panels, which can be used to cover relatively large areas, like windows. “A panel with a surface area of two or three square metres could be sufficient to generate the energy needed in a house lived in by a family of four. Because of its good cost-benefit ratio, it could also be an option for bringing energy to remote areas without electric power service.” …The plastic can also be used to cover buildings and venues like airports and sports stadiums, avoiding the need to set aside an area for the installation of conventional solar panels. …”We are now going to study the best way to scale up the product.”

 

Inspired by Alice Marcondes, IPS News Service ow.ly/jArfG Image source LinkedIn ow.ly/jAreE

Christine Haight Farley the American Professor of Law at University Washington College of Law, teaching Intellectual Property and Trademark Law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Whether to challenge or protect offensive trademarks’ referring to offensive trademarks that may deeply offend a minority while the majority may be insensitive or unaware of the offence. Farley states “How would you feel about a wine called "Khoran?" Apparently, the word "Khoran" is Armenian for altar, which is why a company sought to trademark "Khoran" for wine in the United States. But should such a trademark be registered by the US government when, being phonetically equivalent to the sacred text of Islam, it may offend Muslims when used to denote an alcoholic beverage? In this case, the trademark was refused registration by the US trademark office. Should a trademark application for jeans called "Jesus Jeans" be treated any differently? In the US and European Union, this registration was allowed, however, China, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Cuba, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have all refused the trademark, and Britain's trademark office rejected its as "morally offensive to the public". What should we do about offensive trademarks? Granted, this is not the biggest problem that plagues us today and there are very few offensive trademarks that are still in use. Perhaps the most obvious thing to do is to vote with our dollars. That is, generally the market will correct the problem since merchants usually do not want to offend their customers. …Racist trademarks tear down the fabric of society by promoting negative stereotypes of minority groups. There is a strong public interest in eliminating damaging stereotypes and stigmatisation. The social costs to the public at large are huge and include reinforcing hateful and erroneous stereotypes and misinformation about our fellow citizens. The psychological harms of such racialised representations impact not only the referenced group, but also society as a whole.”  Inspired by Christine Haight Farley, Aljazeera ow.ly/jAqgz Image source Facebook ow.ly/jAqg6 Racist trademarks tear down fabric of society (April 17 2013)

 

Christine Haight Farley the American Professor of Law at University Washington College of Law, teaching Intellectual Property and Trademark Law has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Whether to challenge or protect offensive trademarks’ referring to offensive trademarks that may deeply offend a minority while the majority may be insensitive or unaware of the offence. Farley states “How would you feel about a wine called “Khoran?” Apparently, the word “Khoran” is Armenian for altar, which is why a company sought to trademark “Khoran” for wine in the United States. But should such a trademark be registered by the US government when, being phonetically equivalent to the sacred text of Islam, it may offend Muslims when used to denote an alcoholic beverage? In this case, the trademark was refused registration by the US trademark office. Should a trademark application for jeans called “Jesus Jeans” be treated any differently? In the US and European Union, this registration was allowed, however, China, Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Cuba, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have all refused the trademark, and Britain’s trademark office rejected its as “morally offensive to the public”. What should we do about offensive trademarks? Granted, this is not the biggest problem that plagues us today and there are very few offensive trademarks that are still in use. Perhaps the most obvious thing to do is to vote with our dollars. That is, generally the market will correct the problem since merchants usually do not want to offend their customers. …Racist trademarks tear down the fabric of society by promoting negative stereotypes of minority groups. There is a strong public interest in eliminating damaging stereotypes and stigmatisation. The social costs to the public at large are huge and include reinforcing hateful and erroneous stereotypes and misinformation about our fellow citizens. The psychological harms of such racialised representations impact not only the referenced group, but also society as a whole.”

 

Inspired by Christine Haight Farley, Aljazeera ow.ly/jAqgz Image source Facebook ow.ly/jAqg6

Jason Lazarus the 37 year old American artist, curator, writer, and Assistant Adjunct Professor has been interviewed by Julia Halperin for Blouin Artinfo in an article titled ‘26 Questions for Semiotically Inclined Photo and OWS Sign Artist’. In the article Lazarus states “The documentation of OWS created more questions than answers — the disparate messages on protest signs resisted clear, linear, or congealing narratives that traditional media rely on to produce content. Re-creating the signs, collaboratively, with the public, allowed a way to not only produce those messages documented widely across time and space en masse, but the process of creating them literally slowed down readings of the phenomenon, producing an experience of heightened awareness of the productive (unresolved) questions that linger in OWS’s wake as well as to the economy of protest (materials, aesthetics, scale, textual play/innuendo/multiple layers of meaning). The project is a kind of reverse-photography, imaging 3D sculptures from flattened images demands a careful, multiple-layered, and active reading. …The project … frames a collective process of becoming where our strain of late capitalism is openly and visibly questioned and criticized as incompatible with our current iteration of democracy. Meanwhile, the capital in the system, like water, continues to fill in the gaps with unending resilience and infinite flexibility. … it’s important to me that the project started as re-created signs that actually occupied public space as part of Occupy USF Tampa, and they have since traveled to alternative exhibition spaces on their way to a museum. They will make their way back to alternative venues and street as well. Political art is optimal when it’s most liquid, able to travel through contexts and paradigms. I’m interested in how this project will change as its referents become distant with time.”   Inspired by Julia Halperin, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/jAq2p Image source Twitter ow.ly/jAq0S Its referents become distant with time (April 16 2013)

 

Jason Lazarus the 37 year old American artist, curator, writer, and Assistant Adjunct Professor has been interviewed by Julia Halperin for Blouin Artinfo in an article titled ‘26 Questions for Semiotically Inclined Photo and OWS Sign Artist’. In the article Lazarus states “The documentation of OWS created more questions than answers — the disparate messages on protest signs resisted clear, linear, or congealing narratives that traditional media rely on to produce content. Re-creating the signs, collaboratively, with the public, allowed a way to not only produce those messages documented widely across time and space en masse, but the process of creating them literally slowed down readings of the phenomenon, producing an experience of heightened awareness of the productive (unresolved) questions that linger in OWS’s wake as well as to the economy of protest (materials, aesthetics, scale, textual play/innuendo/multiple layers of meaning). The project is a kind of reverse-photography, imaging 3D sculptures from flattened images demands a careful, multiple-layered, and active reading. …The project … frames a collective process of becoming where our strain of late capitalism is openly and visibly questioned and criticized as incompatible with our current iteration of democracy. Meanwhile, the capital in the system, like water, continues to fill in the gaps with unending resilience and infinite flexibility. … it’s important to me that the project started as re-created signs that actually occupied public space as part of Occupy USF Tampa, and they have since traveled to alternative exhibition spaces on their way to a museum. They will make their way back to alternative venues and street as well. Political art is optimal when it’s most liquid, able to travel through contexts and paradigms. I’m interested in how this project will change as its referents become distant with time.”

 

Inspired by Julia Halperin, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/jAq2p Image source Twitter ow.ly/jAq0S

Gareth Evans the 68 year old Australia’s former foreign minister and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group and currently Chancellor of the Australian National University has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Valuing the United Nations’ Evans states “No organization in the world embodies as many dreams, yet provides so many frustrations, as the United Nations.  …The peace plan for Cambodia in the early 1990’s, dragged the country back from hellish decades of horrifying genocide and ugly and protracted civil war. Likewise, the Chemical Weapons Convention, steered through the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, is still the most robust arms-control treaty related to weapons of mass destruction ever negotiated. …In 2005… endorsed the concept of states’ responsibility to protect populations at risk of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes. With that vote, the international community began to eradicate the shameful indifference that accompanied the Holocaust, Rwanda, Srebrenica, Darfur, and too many similar catastrophes. …the UN system’s total cost is still only around $30 billion a year. That is less than half the annual budget for New York City, and well under a third of the roughly $105 billion that the US military has been spending each year, on average, in Afghanistan. Wall Street employees received more in annual bonuses ($33.2 billion) in 2007, the year before the global financial meltdown. The whole family of the UN Secretariat and related entities, together with current peacekeepers, adds up to around 215,000 people worldwide – not a small number, but less than one-eighth of the roughly 1.8 million staff employed by McDonald’s and its franchisees worldwide! …the UN provides fabulous value for what the world spends on it, and that if it ever ceased to exist, we would have to reinvent it. The downsides are real, but we need to remember the immortal words of Dag Hammarskjold, the UN’s second secretary-general: “The UN was created not to bring us to heaven, but to save us from hell.”   Inspired by Gareth Evans, Project Syndicate ow.ly/jyVmH Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/jyUWN Valuing the United Nations (April 15 2013)

 

Gareth Evans the 68 year old Australia’s former foreign minister and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group and currently Chancellor of the Australian National University has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Valuing the United Nations’ Evans states “No organization in the world embodies as many dreams, yet provides so many frustrations, as the United Nations.  …The peace plan for Cambodia in the early 1990’s, dragged the country back from hellish decades of horrifying genocide and ugly and protracted civil war. Likewise, the Chemical Weapons Convention, steered through the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, is still the most robust arms-control treaty related to weapons of mass destruction ever negotiated. …In 2005… endorsed the concept of states’ responsibility to protect populations at risk of genocide and other mass atrocity crimes. With that vote, the international community began to eradicate the shameful indifference that accompanied the Holocaust, Rwanda, Srebrenica, Darfur, and too many similar catastrophes. …the UN system’s total cost is still only around $30 billion a year. That is less than half the annual budget for New York City, and well under a third of the roughly $105 billion that the US military has been spending each year, on average, in Afghanistan. Wall Street employees received more in annual bonuses ($33.2 billion) in 2007, the year before the global financial meltdown. The whole family of the UN Secretariat and related entities, together with current peacekeepers, adds up to around 215,000 people worldwide – not a small number, but less than one-eighth of the roughly 1.8 million staff employed by McDonald’s and its franchisees worldwide! …the UN provides fabulous value for what the world spends on it, and that if it ever ceased to exist, we would have to reinvent it. The downsides are real, but we need to remember the immortal words of Dag Hammarskjold, the UN’s second secretary-general: “The UN was created not to bring us to heaven, but to save us from hell.”

 

Inspired by Gareth Evans, Project Syndicate ow.ly/jyVmH Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/jyUWN

Ronald Ventura the 39 year old Filipino contemporary artist noted for paintings featuring complex layering, combining images and styles ranging from hyperrealism to cartoons and graffiti has been profiled by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Filipino Artist Ronald Ventura Is Making Connections Across Cultures’, in which she states “Like many emerging artists, early in his career Ronald Ventura tended to sell everything he produced. Now that his reputation is firmly established and he is dreaming of one day setting up a contemporary art museum in Manila …has found himself in the unenviable position of going back to collectors to buy back key pieces. …says he was stunned to find out how much some of his older works had appreciated. “A couple of years ago, I was looking for a good drawing that I had done. Most of my drawings are usually covered in paint, but I was looking for a drawing that wasn’t. When I found out the price I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. It was 10 times more than the original gallery price,” he said, his laugh underscoring his mixed emotions at the steep price increase. …The artist has learned his lesson. He says he now keeps one artwork from every solo exhibition. At the rate his pieces are selling, he should. In his latest show, “recyclables,” held at the Singapore Tyler Print institute, 70 percent of the works were sold by the morning of the opening. …Ventura loves nothing more than to subvert familiar cartoon figures, such as Mickey Mouse or a dwarf from Snow White, giving them a “new reality” with the help of a skull or a gas mask. The artist has risen to prominence on the Asian contemporary art scene with complex, layered works that juxtapose unexpected images, often rather dark — internal organs with flowers and butterflies, or a clown and a gas mask — always rendered with exquisite draughtsmanship. He is known for mixing different styles, such as hyperrealism and Surrealism, cartoons and graffiti.”  Inspired by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/j4IEo Image source ManilaArtBlogger ow.ly/j4Izv When I found out the price I was shocked (April 14 2013)

 

Ronald Ventura the 39 year old Filipino contemporary artist noted for paintings featuring complex layering, combining images and styles ranging from hyperrealism to cartoons and graffiti has been profiled by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop in an article published on Blouin Artinfo titled ‘Filipino Artist Ronald Ventura Is Making Connections Across Cultures’, in which she states “Like many emerging artists, early in his career Ronald Ventura tended to sell everything he produced. Now that his reputation is firmly established and he is dreaming of one day setting up a contemporary art museum in Manila …has found himself in the unenviable position of going back to collectors to buy back key pieces. …says he was stunned to find out how much some of his older works had appreciated. “A couple of years ago, I was looking for a good drawing that I had done. Most of my drawings are usually covered in paint, but I was looking for a drawing that wasn’t. When I found out the price I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it. It was 10 times more than the original gallery price,” he said, his laugh underscoring his mixed emotions at the steep price increase. …The artist has learned his lesson. He says he now keeps one artwork from every solo exhibition. At the rate his pieces are selling, he should. In his latest show, “recyclables,” held at the Singapore Tyler Print institute, 70 percent of the works were sold by the morning of the opening. …Ventura loves nothing more than to subvert familiar cartoon figures, such as Mickey Mouse or a dwarf from Snow White, giving them a “new reality” with the help of a skull or a gas mask. The artist has risen to prominence on the Asian contemporary art scene with complex, layered works that juxtapose unexpected images, often rather dark — internal organs with flowers and butterflies, or a clown and a gas mask — always rendered with exquisite draughtsmanship. He is known for mixing different styles, such as hyperrealism and Surrealism, cartoons and graffiti.”

 

Inspired by Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/j4IEo Image source ManilaArtBlogger ow.ly/j4Izv

Sarah Mousa the American graduate student at the Center of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Layers of resistance’ implying Egyptian murals aren't a form of art - they are an act of protest. Mousa states “…just one month after the fall of Mubarak, security forces gathered demonstrators from Tahrir Square into the National Museum. There, amid ancient Egyptian artifacts and under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the protesters were tortured. One year later, that day was marked with another act of protest; members of the opposition used their talent to paint elaborate murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, just off Tahrir Square. The street, home to the American University of Cairo, had been the site of bloodshed for months. …SCAF erected eight cement walls, barbed wire barriers and security checkpoints throughout Downtown Cairo, citing security purposes. …The walls were a point of great contention; some climbed over them, others attempted to knock them down. …Graffitists, who had mostly used stencils or quickly scribbled messages on walls to avoid arrest or torture …spend more time painting …Mohamed Mahmoud Street as well as the SCAF-constructed barriers became sites of elaborate paintings. Over the past year, the murals, whitewashed and painted one over the other several times, have confronted a number of forces of power: the SCAF government, the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist-dominated parliament, societal apathy, the Morsi leadership, Mubarak-era hijacking of culture, and Western modernist dictations on the utility of art. …The dimensions of resistance revealed in the evolving walls of Downtown Cairo point to the depth of Egypt's revolution. The range of authoritarian forces, both political and social, and on local and global scales is poignantly confronted through the protest murals, which are far more than artistic works to be preserved and displayed.”  Inspired by Sarah Mousa, Aljazeera ow.ly/j4H6R Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4H6C Egyptian murals are an act of protest (April 13 2013)

 

Sarah Mousa the American graduate student at the Center of Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Layers of resistance’ implying Egyptian murals aren’t a form of art – they are an act of protest. Mousa states “…just one month after the fall of Mubarak, security forces gathered demonstrators from Tahrir Square into the National Museum. There, amid ancient Egyptian artifacts and under the rule of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the protesters were tortured. One year later, that day was marked with another act of protest; members of the opposition used their talent to paint elaborate murals on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, just off Tahrir Square. The street, home to the American University of Cairo, had been the site of bloodshed for months. …SCAF erected eight cement walls, barbed wire barriers and security checkpoints throughout Downtown Cairo, citing security purposes. …The walls were a point of great contention; some climbed over them, others attempted to knock them down. …Graffitists, who had mostly used stencils or quickly scribbled messages on walls to avoid arrest or torture …spend more time painting …Mohamed Mahmoud Street as well as the SCAF-constructed barriers became sites of elaborate paintings. Over the past year, the murals, whitewashed and painted one over the other several times, have confronted a number of forces of power: the SCAF government, the Ministry of Interior, the Islamist-dominated parliament, societal apathy, the Morsi leadership, Mubarak-era hijacking of culture, and Western modernist dictations on the utility of art. …The dimensions of resistance revealed in the evolving walls of Downtown Cairo point to the depth of Egypt’s revolution. The range of authoritarian forces, both political and social, and on local and global scales is poignantly confronted through the protest murals, which are far more than artistic works to be preserved and displayed.”

 

Inspired by Sarah Mousa, Aljazeera ow.ly/j4H6R Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4H6C

Claudia Ciobanu the Bucharest journalist writing on the issues of transition within Romania and Bulgaria, has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘Poland Cornered Over Its Secret Prisons’ in which she states “A Polish official investigation into the existence of a secret CIA prison on its territory is being stalled, according to official sources, while pressure on the country to tell the truth mounts. … [a] report to the recent Globalising Torture study of Open Society Foundations, claim Poland hosted a secret CIA prison used in the extraordinary rendition programme from the end of 2002. Under this programme, the U.S. detained and interrogated terrorism suspects in Europe. …Poland seems to be this new location. …officials from governments and intelligence services of various countries, including Poland and the U.S., interviewed by UN and EU bodies, NGOs and journalists, point to the fact that the Polish site was key to the CIA scheme. Those sources continue to speak under the condition of anonymity because both Poland and the U.S. refuse to officially reveal details about how rendition functioned. In Poland, a prosecutors’ investigation started in 2008 has recently taken a dubious turn. Until a year ago, the investigation was conducted by the Warsaw prosecutors’ office, under two successive prosecutors. …After this news came out, the case was moved to Krakow. Mikolaj Pietrzak, the Polish lawyer [stated] “It is extremely irregular that a case be shifted to three different prosecutors, and the fact that in the last year nothing has gone forward apparently is a very sad statement about the investigation.” … Pietrzak, who has at one point seen the full file of the Polish investigation, claims: “This case is going to be very difficult to overturn, because there is a lot of evidence, and you simply cannot pretend that what is there in the prosecutors’ file doesn’t exist.”  Inspired by Claudia Ciobanu, IPS News Service ow.ly/j4E5X Image source Human Wrongs Watch ow.ly/j4DmR Investigation into secret CIA prison being stalled (April 12 2013)

Claudia Ciobanu the Bucharest journalist writing on the issues of transition within Romania and Bulgaria, has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘Poland Cornered Over Its Secret Prisons’ in which she states “A Polish official investigation into the existence of a secret CIA prison on its territory is being stalled, according to official sources, while pressure on the country to tell the truth mounts. … [a] report to the recent Globalising Torture study of Open Society Foundations, claim Poland hosted a secret CIA prison used in the extraordinary rendition programme from the end of 2002. Under this programme, the U.S. detained and interrogated terrorism suspects in Europe. …Poland seems to be this new location. …officials from governments and intelligence services of various countries, including Poland and the U.S., interviewed by UN and EU bodies, NGOs and journalists, point to the fact that the Polish site was key to the CIA scheme. Those sources continue to speak under the condition of anonymity because both Poland and the U.S. refuse to officially reveal details about how rendition functioned. In Poland, a prosecutors’ investigation started in 2008 has recently taken a dubious turn. Until a year ago, the investigation was conducted by the Warsaw prosecutors’ office, under two successive prosecutors. …After this news came out, the case was moved to Krakow. Mikolaj Pietrzak, the Polish lawyer [stated] “It is extremely irregular that a case be shifted to three different prosecutors, and the fact that in the last year nothing has gone forward apparently is a very sad statement about the investigation.” … Pietrzak, who has at one point seen the full file of the Polish investigation, claims: “This case is going to be very difficult to overturn, because there is a lot of evidence, and you simply cannot pretend that what is there in the prosecutors’ file doesn’t exist.”

 

Inspired by Claudia Ciobanu, IPS News Service ow.ly/j4E5X Image source Human Wrongs Watch ow.ly/j4DmR

Sergey Karaganov the Russian political scientist who heads the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a security analytical institution, and has been Presidential Advisor to both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Fatal Thaws’. Karaganov states “During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and, in a milder way, the United States imposed external limits on the activities of states and societies, causing longstanding conflicts among smaller countries to be “frozen”. Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in the 1990’s, those conflicts began to “unfreeze”. With interethnic tensions already on the rise, Yugoslavia was the first country to dissolve into conflict. Soon after, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by fighting in Transdniestria and Chechnya. … Most threatening, however, is the possibility that the EU could collapse, triggering a third unfreezing. The EU, established to break the destructive cycle of European nationalism that had facilitated the rise of two totalitarian systems and caused two world wars, amounted to the creation of a prototype of a humane world order. After being its own – and thus the world’s – worst enemy for centuries, Europe became a beacon of peace. …At the same time, Europeans must prepare for an even more profound transformation. In order to regain economic competitiveness, European countries will have to abandon many of their social-welfare policies and reform their political institutions. Most Europeans prefer to ignore the looming challenge of radical policy reform, owing to the decline in living standards that it implies. Global leaders must encourage Europe to tackle its problems decisively by offering advice, financial support, and constructive criticism. Russia must continue to press for an Alliance of Europe – a new framework for economic and diplomatic relations among the EU, Russia, and the rest of Greater Europe – which could offer a way out of Europe’s systemic crisis. The first unfreezing had serious consequences. Now, global leaders must work to minimize the fallout of the second, and use all available means to prevent a third.”  Inspired by Sergey Karaganov, Project Syndicate ow.ly/j4BYH Image source http://karaganov.ru ow.ly/j4BHb EU could collapse triggering a third unfreezing (April 11 2013)

 

Sergey Karaganov the Russian political scientist who heads the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a security analytical institution, and has been Presidential Advisor to both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Fatal Thaws’. Karaganov states “During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and, in a milder way, the United States imposed external limits on the activities of states and societies, causing longstanding conflicts among smaller countries to be “frozen”. Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in the 1990’s, those conflicts began to “unfreeze”. With interethnic tensions already on the rise, Yugoslavia was the first country to dissolve into conflict. Soon after, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by fighting in Transdniestria and Chechnya. … Most threatening, however, is the possibility that the EU could collapse, triggering a third unfreezing. The EU, established to break the destructive cycle of European nationalism that had facilitated the rise of two totalitarian systems and caused two world wars, amounted to the creation of a prototype of a humane world order. After being its own – and thus the world’s – worst enemy for centuries, Europe became a beacon of peace. …At the same time, Europeans must prepare for an even more profound transformation. In order to regain economic competitiveness, European countries will have to abandon many of their social-welfare policies and reform their political institutions. Most Europeans prefer to ignore the looming challenge of radical policy reform, owing to the decline in living standards that it implies. Global leaders must encourage Europe to tackle its problems decisively by offering advice, financial support, and constructive criticism. Russia must continue to press for an Alliance of Europe – a new framework for economic and diplomatic relations among the EU, Russia, and the rest of Greater Europe – which could offer a way out of Europe’s systemic crisis. The first unfreezing had serious consequences. Now, global leaders must work to minimize the fallout of the second, and use all available means to prevent a third.”

 

Inspired by Sergey Karaganov, Project Syndicate ow.ly/j4BYH Image source http://karaganov.ru ow.ly/j4BHb

Bennett Ramberg the American writer, foreign policy consultant and expert on nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and international politics, has published an article on Reuters titled ‘Responding to North Korea’ in which he states “Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy. The impulse to push the North’s nuclear toothpaste back into the tube will remain. But sanctions have repeatedly failed. For reasons known only to itself, China — the one country that can effectively pinch North Korea both economically and politically — continues to provide Pyongyang with energy and foodstuffs. Beijing’s policy will likely continue. …Then there is a China card that Japan and South Korea could manipulate. Through their pundits or politicians, either could declare that the time has come to reconsider non-proliferation vows that could prod Beijing to put the squeeze on the North or risk a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. Even talk about the option, however, could exacerbate already simmering tensions if Tokyo were to take the lead. While we can clearly exclude some options — like a U.S. military strike on North Korea’s nuclear sites — the benefits of other solutions remain murky. Rather than rush one way or another, the best course would be for Washington and its allies — following their perfunctory declarations of dismay — to take a deep breath and carefully evaluate options rather than respond compulsively. Pyongyang still has a long way to go before it becomes a credible nuclear threat.”  Inspired by Bennett Ramberg, Reuters ow.ly/j4AKM Image source TamilNet ow.ly/j4Av1 Beijing’s policy will likely continue (April 10 2013)

 

Bennett Ramberg the American writer, foreign policy consultant and expert on nuclear weapons proliferation, terrorism and international politics, has published an article on Reuters titled ‘Responding to North Korea’ in which he states “Now that Pyongyang has conducted its third nuclear test, the international community must accept what it cannot change: North Korea is a nuclear-arming state. No sanctions, no carrots, no rhetoric, no threat, no military act is likely to change this fact. The question now is how to minimize risks. First, we need to take a deep breath before we leap to any new policy. The impulse to push the North’s nuclear toothpaste back into the tube will remain. But sanctions have repeatedly failed. For reasons known only to itself, China — the one country that can effectively pinch North Korea both economically and politically — continues to provide Pyongyang with energy and foodstuffs. Beijing’s policy will likely continue. …Then there is a China card that Japan and South Korea could manipulate. Through their pundits or politicians, either could declare that the time has come to reconsider non-proliferation vows that could prod Beijing to put the squeeze on the North or risk a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia. Even talk about the option, however, could exacerbate already simmering tensions if Tokyo were to take the lead. While we can clearly exclude some options — like a U.S. military strike on North Korea’s nuclear sites — the benefits of other solutions remain murky. Rather than rush one way or another, the best course would be for Washington and its allies — following their perfunctory declarations of dismay — to take a deep breath and carefully evaluate options rather than respond compulsively. Pyongyang still has a long way to go before it becomes a credible nuclear threat.”

 

Inspired by Bennett Ramberg, Reuters ow.ly/j4AKM Image source TamilNet ow.ly/j4Av1

Shaker Aamer the 44 year old Saudi Arabian citizen and the last British resident still held by the US in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp for 12 years. Aamer has never been charged never received a trial, his lawyer says he is "totally innocent", and has been cleared for release by both the Bush administration in 2007, and the Obama administration in 2009 but still remains in Guantanamo. He has been described as a charismatic leader who spoke up and fought for the rights of fellow prisoners, and some have speculated that this might be a reason for his continued detention. Aamer alleges that he has been subject to torture while in detention. Murtaza Hussain in The Guardian article titled ‘Obama promised to close Guantanamo. Instead, he's made it worse’ states “In his letters, Shaker Aamer appeals in desperation to his captors and the outside world: "Please … torture me in the old way. Here they destroy people mentally and physically without leaving marks." …the father of four …is just one of hundreds of detainees who remain imprisoned... Despite running on an explicit campaign promise to shut down the island prison which has become a symbol of the abuses of the "war on terror", President Obama has continued to preside over its operation. And by recent accounts, under his tenure, the conditions … have become markedly worse. …the majority of prisoners at Guantanamo began a hunger strike in protest of alleged mistreatment at the hands of guards at the facility. …In the words of his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith: "I have known Shaker for some time; because he is so eloquent and outspoken about the injustices of Guantánamo, he is very definitely viewed as a threat by the US. Not in the sense of being an extremist, but in the sense of being someone who can rather eloquently criticize the nightmare that happened there." For those who have experienced and borne witness to beatings, torture, and even death at Guantánamo Bay over the past decade, Barack Obama has ensured that the prospect of freedom will remain as remote as ever.”  Inspired by Murtaza Hussain, The Guardian ow.ly/j4zQy Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4zSI Please torture me in the old way (April 9 2013)

 

Shaker Aamer the 44 year old Saudi Arabian citizen and the last British resident still held by the US in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp for 12 years. Aamer has never been charged never received a trial, his lawyer says he is “totally innocent”, and has been cleared for release by both the Bush administration in 2007, and the Obama administration in 2009 but still remains in Guantanamo. He has been described as a charismatic leader who spoke up and fought for the rights of fellow prisoners, and some have speculated that this might be a reason for his continued detention. Aamer alleges that he has been subject to torture while in detention. Murtaza Hussain in The Guardian article titled ‘Obama promised to close Guantanamo. Instead, he’s made it worse’ states “In his letters, Shaker Aamer appeals in desperation to his captors and the outside world: “Please … torture me in the old way. Here they destroy people mentally and physically without leaving marks.” …the father of four …is just one of hundreds of detainees who remain imprisoned… Despite running on an explicit campaign promise to shut down the island prison which has become a symbol of the abuses of the “war on terror”, President Obama has continued to preside over its operation. And by recent accounts, under his tenure, the conditions … have become markedly worse. …the majority of prisoners at Guantanamo began a hunger strike in protest of alleged mistreatment at the hands of guards at the facility. …In the words of his lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith: “I have known Shaker for some time; because he is so eloquent and outspoken about the injustices of Guantánamo, he is very definitely viewed as a threat by the US. Not in the sense of being an extremist, but in the sense of being someone who can rather eloquently criticize the nightmare that happened there.” For those who have experienced and borne witness to beatings, torture, and even death at Guantánamo Bay over the past decade, Barack Obama has ensured that the prospect of freedom will remain as remote as ever.”

 

Inspired by Murtaza Hussain, The Guardian ow.ly/j4zQy Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4zSI

Bjarne Melgaard the 45 year old Norwegian artist born in Sydney Australia by Norwegian parents, raised in Oslo, Norway, and now works and lives in New York has been profiled by Julia Halperin in a Blouin Artinfo article titled "The Most Famous Norwegian Artist Since Munch Brings a Buddy to the Armory Show’. Halperin states “Rising art star Bjarne Melgaard is using his critical clout to introduce a relatively unknown Scandinavian painter to New York audiences. …a series of bright, brash paintings Melgaard created in collaboration with Sverre Bjertnes, a fellow Norwegian a decade his junior. …The artists met 15 years ago, when Melgaard gave Bjertnes his first gallery exhibition at a now-defunct experimental space he founded in Oslo. Now, they often work side-by-side. Bjertnes estimates the two have produced more than 300 artworks together. …The new paintings, made especially for the Armory Show, combine Melgaard’s nihilistic, childlike smears and Bjertnes’s studied, academic figures. (The younger artist’s formal style is informed by years as a student of Norwegian realist Odd Nerdrum.) Text, images of sneakers, and shapeless, abstract shapes dance around portraits of cult individuals like Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, fixtures of New York’s downtown art scene who committed suicide within a week of one another in 2007.  …a series of paintings devoted to New York dealer Mary Boone. “She is the ultimate dealer, and the paintings are about a relationship with her as this sort of unattainable dream,” Bjertnes said. The largest homage is almost nine feet wide and contains dozens of sketches of Boone’s face and close-ups of her eyes. The words, “The beauty of Mary Boone” are scrawled across the front. A yellow Chanel suit hangs primly overtop. Collaborating with Melgaard, who has been called the most famous Norwegian artist since Munch, lends Bjertnes instant legitimacy…”  Inspired by Julia Halperin, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/j4ybs Image source Rolf Aagaard ow.ly/j4y9T This sort of unattainable dream (April 8 2013)

 

Bjarne Melgaard the 45 year old Norwegian artist born in Sydney Australia by Norwegian parents, raised in Oslo, Norway, and now works and lives in New York has been profiled by Julia Halperin in a Blouin Artinfo article titled “The Most Famous Norwegian Artist Since Munch Brings a Buddy to the Armory Show’. Halperin states “Rising art star Bjarne Melgaard is using his critical clout to introduce a relatively unknown Scandinavian painter to New York audiences. …a series of bright, brash paintings Melgaard created in collaboration with Sverre Bjertnes, a fellow Norwegian a decade his junior. …The artists met 15 years ago, when Melgaard gave Bjertnes his first gallery exhibition at a now-defunct experimental space he founded in Oslo. Now, they often work side-by-side. Bjertnes estimates the two have produced more than 300 artworks together. …The new paintings, made especially for the Armory Show, combine Melgaard’s nihilistic, childlike smears and Bjertnes’s studied, academic figures. (The younger artist’s formal style is informed by years as a student of Norwegian realist Odd Nerdrum.) Text, images of sneakers, and shapeless, abstract shapes dance around portraits of cult individuals like Theresa Duncan and Jeremy Blake, fixtures of New York’s downtown art scene who committed suicide within a week of one another in 2007.  …a series of paintings devoted to New York dealer Mary Boone. “She is the ultimate dealer, and the paintings are about a relationship with her as this sort of unattainable dream,” Bjertnes said. The largest homage is almost nine feet wide and contains dozens of sketches of Boone’s face and close-ups of her eyes. The words, “The beauty of Mary Boone” are scrawled across the front. A yellow Chanel suit hangs primly overtop. Collaborating with Melgaard, who has been called the most famous Norwegian artist since Munch, lends Bjertnes instant legitimacy…”

 

Inspired by Julia Halperin, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/j4ybs Image source Rolf Aagaard ow.ly/j4y9T

Antonin Gregory Scalia the 76 year old Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, described as the intellectual anchor of the Court's conservative wing, has been featured in an article by Cliff Schecter published on Aljazeera titled ‘The Republican party's anger mismanagement’. Schecter states “Praise be to Judge Antonin Scalia, for he sees what the rest of us do not. The man for whom nasty, brutish and short is not simply a political formulation, but a mirror image, can look at hundreds of years of slavery, 100 more of legalised segregation and another 50 of daily discrimination and see "racial entitlement" in the basic right to vote in America. I guess it's kind of like the right-wing-clown entitlement enjoyed by our current Supreme Court. Scalia, of course, was a modern Republican (in a robe) before it was even cool. I mean that in the sense that it's clear to anyone taking so much as a gander at what animates the GOP of 2013 - as well as Scalia's immunity to legal reasoning - that it's not any set of policy ideas, but simple emotion: all-consuming, blood-curdling, vein-bulging-out-of-the-forehead, Mel Gibson-watching-Fiddler-On-The-Roof ANGER. Policy-wise, the GOP is an entity that literally lacks any new ideas, has no interest in governing and has rejected all of its own policy positions from as recently as early 2008 as "oh-my-God-we're-all-doomed!" creeping Socialism (see: cap and trade, earned-income tax credit, individual healthcare mandate). Rejecting anything right wingers sneeringly see as created by them-there libruls is the secret handshake of modern conservatism. …Meanwhile, Antonin Scalia seems to size up any crowd he's in and think to himself, what would a Morlock do? And then does it. That the guy's an activist judge of the first order and his legal opinions on guns, campaign finance reform and the Commerce Clause imply he should be banned from operating heavy machinery, that's only a sweetener to the Right.” Inspired by Cliff Schecter , Aljazeera ow.ly/j4wrv Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4wpv Kind of like the right-wing-clown (April 7 2013)

 

Antonin Gregory Scalia the 76 year old Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, described as the intellectual anchor of the Court’s conservative wing, has been featured in an article by Cliff Schecter published on Aljazeera titled ‘The Republican party’s anger mismanagement’.  Schecter states “Praise be to Judge Antonin Scalia, for he sees what the rest of us do not. The man for whom nasty, brutish and short is not simply a political formulation, but a mirror image, can look at hundreds of years of slavery, 100 more of legalised segregation and another 50 of daily discrimination and see “racial entitlement” in the basic right to vote in America. I guess it’s kind of like the right-wing-clown entitlement enjoyed by our current Supreme Court. Scalia, of course, was a modern Republican (in a robe) before it was even cool. I mean that in the sense that it’s clear to anyone taking so much as a gander at what animates the GOP of 2013 – as well as Scalia’s immunity to legal reasoning – that it’s not any set of policy ideas, but simple emotion: all-consuming, blood-curdling, vein-bulging-out-of-the-forehead, Mel Gibson-watching-Fiddler-On-The-Roof ANGER.  Policy-wise, the GOP is an entity that literally lacks any new ideas, has no interest in governing and has rejected all of its own policy positions from as recently as early 2008 as “oh-my-God-we’re-all-doomed!” creeping Socialism (see: cap and trade, earned-income tax credit, individual healthcare mandate). Rejecting anything right wingers sneeringly see as created by them-there libruls is the secret handshake of modern conservatism. …Meanwhile, Antonin Scalia seems to size up any crowd he’s in and think to himself, what would a Morlock do? And then does it. That the guy’s an activist judge of the first order and his legal opinions on guns, campaign finance reform and the Commerce Clause imply he should be banned from operating heavy machinery, that’s only a sweetener to the Right.”

 

Inspired by Cliff Schecter , Aljazeera ow.ly/j4wrv Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4wpv

Peter Frankopan the British historian and Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘The Byzantine empire's own 'eurozone' crisis offers a lesson for the EU today’, in which he states “…the Byzantine empire has the distinction of being one of the very few realms to survive for more than a millennium, from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 to its fall in 1453. …Like the EU, the Byzantine empire was a multilingual, multi-ethnic commonwealth that spread across different climates and varied local economies, ranging from bustling cities to market towns, from thriving ports to small rural settlements. Not only that, but it also had a single currency – one, furthermore, that did not fluctuate in value for centuries. Contrary to popular opinion expressed on an almost daily basis in the House of Commons, where MPs queue up to describe over-regulation or over-complex legislation as "Byzantine", the Byzantine empire was in fact a model of sophistication – particularly when it came to the sorts of areas where the EU has been found wanting. Unlike the European Union, Byzantium was not riddled with inefficiency and disparity when it came to tax: profits could not be parked in a more attractive region, thereby undermining the empire's structure. Government in Byzantium was lean, simple and efficient. …If Eurocrats could learn from the structure of the empire, then so too could they benefit from looking at how it dealt with a chronic recession, brought on by the same deadly combination that has crippled western economies today. In the 1070s, government revenues collapsed, while expenditure continued to rise on essential services (such as the military); these were made worse by a chronic liquidity crisis. So bad did the situation become that the doors of the treasury were flung open: there was no point locking them, wrote one contemporary, because there was nothing there to steal. Those responsible for the crisis were shown no mercy…”  Inspired by Peter Frankopan, The Guardian ow.ly/j4uLh Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4vh6 Byzantine lesson for the EU today (April 6 2013)

Peter Frankopan the British historian and Director of the Oxford Centre for Byzantine Research has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘The Byzantine empire’s own ‘eurozone’ crisis offers a lesson for the EU today’, in which he states “…the Byzantine empire has the distinction of being one of the very few realms to survive for more than a millennium, from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 to its fall in 1453. …Like the EU, the Byzantine empire was a multilingual, multi-ethnic commonwealth that spread across different climates and varied local economies, ranging from bustling cities to market towns, from thriving ports to small rural settlements. Not only that, but it also had a single currency – one, furthermore, that did not fluctuate in value for centuries. Contrary to popular opinion expressed on an almost daily basis in the House of Commons, where MPs queue up to describe over-regulation or over-complex legislation as “Byzantine”, the Byzantine empire was in fact a model of sophistication – particularly when it came to the sorts of areas where the EU has been found wanting. Unlike the European Union, Byzantium was not riddled with inefficiency and disparity when it came to tax: profits could not be parked in a more attractive region, thereby undermining the empire’s structure. Government in Byzantium was lean, simple and efficient. …If Eurocrats could learn from the structure of the empire, then so too could they benefit from looking at how it dealt with a chronic recession, brought on by the same deadly combination that has crippled western economies today. In the 1070s, government revenues collapsed, while expenditure continued to rise on essential services (such as the military); these were made worse by a chronic liquidity crisis. So bad did the situation become that the doors of the treasury were flung open: there was no point locking them, wrote one contemporary, because there was nothing there to steal. Those responsible for the crisis were shown no mercy…”

 

Inspired by Peter Frankopan, The Guardian ow.ly/j4uLh Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4vh6

 

 

Jose Graziano da Silva the 63 year old American-born Brazilian agronomist, writer and Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘Guardians of Life and of the Earth’ stating “Around the world, but especially in the planet’s poorest regions, women represent a life force that renews itself daily, sometimes against all odds. Rural women, for instance, make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. Fighting hunger is something they do every day. They are the faceless enlistees in the most devastating war of our times, one which – paradoxically – is the easiest to win: the war on hunger, that afflicts one in every eight inhabitants of our Earth, some 870 million human beings. …Putting food on a family’s table involves extending a woman’s reach beyond her maternal instincts. It means applying her energy and her life lessons to tilling the land and harvesting crops. …The double and sometimes triple burden of work in the field, at home and in the community is not always recognised, or shared by the men in the households. This frequently makes the empowerment of women more difficult. Paradoxically, everywhere in the world it is women who suffer most from restrictions on access to the legal ownership of land. This in turn limits their access to credit and to the inputs they need to maximise the utmost efforts they put into community wellbeing. Achieving those rights and that access, in order to close the gender gap in the most vulnerable countries’ farming systems, is one of the most important food security policies that governments and international cooperation agencies could ever implement. Making states aware of the core role women play in economic and social development and forging a political consensus to give them the tools and rights that their role demands will be vital steps in the fight against hunger.”  Inspired by Jose Graziano da Silva, IPS News Service ow.ly/j4tLB Image source Renato Araujo ow.ly/j4tIA Guardians of Life and Earth (April 5 2013)

 

Jose Graziano da Silva the 63 year old American-born Brazilian agronomist, writer and Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘Guardians of Life and of the Earth’ stating “Around the world, but especially in the planet’s poorest regions, women represent a life force that renews itself daily, sometimes against all odds. Rural women, for instance, make up 43 percent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries. Fighting hunger is something they do every day. They are the faceless enlistees in the most devastating war of our times, one which – paradoxically – is the easiest to win: the war on hunger, that afflicts one in every eight inhabitants of our Earth, some 870 million human beings. …Putting food on a family’s table involves extending a woman’s reach beyond her maternal instincts. It means applying her energy and her life lessons to tilling the land and harvesting crops. …The double and sometimes triple burden of work in the field, at home and in the community is not always recognised, or shared by the men in the households. This frequently makes the empowerment of women more difficult. Paradoxically, everywhere in the world it is women who suffer most from restrictions on access to the legal ownership of land. This in turn limits their access to credit and to the inputs they need to maximise the utmost efforts they put into community wellbeing. Achieving those rights and that access, in order to close the gender gap in the most vulnerable countries’ farming systems, is one of the most important food security policies that governments and international cooperation agencies could ever implement. Making states aware of the core role women play in economic and social development and forging a political consensus to give them the tools and rights that their role demands will be vital steps in the fight against hunger.”

 

Inspired by Jose Graziano da Silva, IPS News Service ow.ly/j4tLB Image source Renato Araujo ow.ly/j4tIA

Ingvar Feodor Kamprad the 86 year old Swedish business magnate and founder of the retail company IKEA, has been profiled by Oliver Truc in an article published in Le Monde titled ‘Ingvar the king and his three son’. Truc states “The story of the Swedish furniture giant, founded in 1943 … definitely qualifies as a saga. It combines successes, setbacks and the carefully maintained mythology around the patriarch, who even though he is still active has taken a step back since he resigned as CEO in 1986. Today his role in the company is mostly advisory, but he still chairs the Kamprad family foundations. As he hands the reigns of the company down to the next generation – his three sons – questions arise on the issue of IKEA’s sustainability, and Kamprad’s legacy. … Getting things wrong, making mistakes is part of Kamprad’s nine commandments. In 70 years, his company has not been spared embarrassing revelations: child labor, secret foundations with billions of euros stashed in tax havens, destruction of primitive or protected forests, forced labor from political prisoners in East Germany, corruption in Russia, Ingvar Kamprad’s Nazi past in the 1940s and 1950s, spying on employees in France. The list is long – and not complete. Some of these mistakes are directly attributable to Kamprad himself, and he has always gotten off the hook by making light of his weaknesses. Kamprad has sometimes been IKEA’s worst enemy, but he was also its essence. Behind the scenes, IKEA’s executives must manage this paradox – using his image wisely, minimizing his presence, and only keeping his brilliance. No one disputes the old man’s business skills or his encyclopedic memory. Equally legendary is his stinginess and the fact that he sometimes acts like a simpleton. “I have enough money to get by, he said, but the fact is that it is not me who has the money, it’s the foundation.”  Inspired by Olivier Truc, Le Monde ow.ly/j4rWr Image source Hasse Karlsson ow.ly/j4rTw I have enough money to get by (April 4 2013)

 

Ingvar Feodor Kamprad the 86 year old Swedish business magnate and founder of the retail company IKEA, has been profiled by Oliver Truc in an article published in Le Monde titled ‘Ingvar the king and his three son’. Truc states “The story of the Swedish furniture giant, founded in 1943 … definitely qualifies as a saga. It combines successes, setbacks and the carefully maintained mythology around the patriarch, who even though he is still active has taken a step back since he resigned as CEO in 1986. Today his role in the company is mostly advisory, but he still chairs the Kamprad family foundations. As he hands the reigns of the company down to the next generation – his three sons – questions arise on the issue of IKEA’s sustainability, and Kamprad’s legacy. … Getting things wrong, making mistakes is part of Kamprad’s nine commandments. In 70 years, his company has not been spared embarrassing revelations: child labor, secret foundations with billions of euros stashed in tax havens, destruction of primitive or protected forests, forced labor from political prisoners in East Germany, corruption in Russia, Ingvar Kamprad’s Nazi past in the 1940s and 1950s, spying on employees in France. The list is long – and not complete. Some of these mistakes are directly attributable to Kamprad himself, and he has always gotten off the hook by making light of his weaknesses. Kamprad has sometimes been IKEA’s worst enemy, but he was also its essence. Behind the scenes, IKEA’s executives must manage this paradox – using his image wisely, minimizing his presence, and only keeping his brilliance. No one disputes the old man’s business skills or his encyclopedic memory. Equally legendary is his stinginess and the fact that he sometimes acts like a simpleton. “I have enough money to get by, he said, but the fact is that it is not me who has the money, it’s the foundation.”

 

Inspired by Olivier Truc, Le Monde ow.ly/j4rWr Image source Hasse Karlsson ow.ly/j4rTw

Jean Pisani-Ferry the 61 year old French Professor, economist and public policy expert, currently the Director of Bruegel a Brussels-based economic think tank, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Is the Euro Crisis Over?’. Pisani-Ferry states “Financial crises tend to start abruptly and end by surprise. Three years ago, the euro crisis began when Greece became a cause for concern among policymakers and a cause for excitement among money managers. Since the end of 2012, a sort of armistice has prevailed. Does that mean that the crisis is over? By the usual standards of financial crises, three years is a long time. A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, confidence in the United States’ financial system had been restored, and recovery had begun. A little more than a year after the 1997 exchange-rate debacle triggered Asian economies’ worst recession in decades, they were thriving again. Has the eurozone, at long last, reached the inflection point? Many battles were fought in the last three years – over Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, to name the main ones. The European Union’s financial warriors are exhausted. Hedge funds first made money betting that the crisis would worsen, but then lost money betting on a eurozone breakup. Policymakers first lost credibility by being behind the curve, and then recouped some of it by embracing bold initiatives. Recent data suggest that capital has started returning to southern Europe. The current change in market sentiment is also motivated by two significant policy changes. First, European leaders agreed in June 2012 on a major overhaul of the eurozone. By embarking on a banking union, which will transfer to the European level responsibility for bank supervision… Second, by launching its new “outright monetary transactions” scheme in September, the European Central Bank took responsibility for preserving the integrity of the eurozone…”  Inspired by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Project Sync ow.ly/j4ps2 Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4p4X Is the Euro Crisis Over? (April 3 2013)

 

Jean Pisani-Ferry the 61 year old French Professor, economist and public policy expert, currently the Director of Bruegel a Brussels-based economic think tank, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Is the Euro Crisis Over?’. Pisani-Ferry states “Financial crises tend to start abruptly and end by surprise. Three years ago, the euro crisis began when Greece became a cause for concern among policymakers and a cause for excitement among money managers. Since the end of 2012, a sort of armistice has prevailed. Does that mean that the crisis is over? By the usual standards of financial crises, three years is a long time. A year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, confidence in the United States’ financial system had been restored, and recovery had begun. A little more than a year after the 1997 exchange-rate debacle triggered Asian economies’ worst recession in decades, they were thriving again. Has the eurozone, at long last, reached the inflection point? Many battles were fought in the last three years – over Greece, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, to name the main ones. The European Union’s financial warriors are exhausted. Hedge funds first made money betting that the crisis would worsen, but then lost money betting on a eurozone breakup. Policymakers first lost credibility by being behind the curve, and then recouped some of it by embracing bold initiatives. Recent data suggest that capital has started returning to southern Europe. The current change in market sentiment is also motivated by two significant policy changes. First, European leaders agreed in June 2012 on a major overhaul of the eurozone. By embarking on a banking union, which will transfer to the European level responsibility for bank supervision… Second, by launching its new “outright monetary transactions” scheme in September, the European Central Bank took responsibility for preserving the integrity of the eurozone…”

 

Inspired by Jean Pisani-Ferry, Project Sync ow.ly/j4ps2 Image source Twitter ow.ly/j4p4X

Gina McCarthy the American public administrator, an environmental health and air quality expert currently the assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head of the EPA. George Zornick in an article published in The Nation magazine titled ‘Obama Makes a Strong Choice to Head the EPA’ states “There are three basic things one would hope to see in the White House’s nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency. …should possess a big, ambitious vision for combating climate change; …should have federal rule-making experience, since that’s the administration’s only real hope for getting things accomplished in that area; and …should be able to get confirmed by the US Senate. At first blush, Obama’s selection of Gina McCarthy seems to clearly check each box. …Here’s why: She constructed or played a role in several pioneering cap-and-trade initiatives. McCarthy spent most of her early career in Massachusetts, eventually becoming a top environmental official for none other than Mitt Romney. She commanded the development of Romney’s “Climate Action Plan” for the state, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ambitiously low levels… At Obama’s EPA, McCarthy oversaw the clean-air rulemaking process. Though Lisa Jackson headed the EPA and took a lot of heat from Republicans over new regulations, it was McCarthy who was doing much of the “heavy lifting,” according to the National Journal in 2011, “playing a key role in the march of environmental regulations to fight climate change and slash pollution from coal-fired power plants.”… McCarthy already passed Senate confirmation once. Republicans are well aware that the EPA will take the lead in the administration’s climate initiatives, and are certain to battle the EPA nominee regardless of who it is. McCarthy will no doubt face stiff opposition. But insofar as a nominee can be resistant to GOP opposition (and still be a strong pro-environmental choice), McCarthy fits the bill.”  Inspired by George Zornick, The Nation ow.ly/j4nzQ Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4n8t Seems to clearly check each box (April 2 2013)

 

Gina McCarthy the American public administrator, an environmental health and air quality expert currently the assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to head of the EPA. George Zornick in an article published in The Nation magazine titled ‘Obama Makes a Strong Choice to Head the EPA’ states “There are three basic things one would hope to see in the White House’s nominee for the Environmental Protection Agency. …should possess a big, ambitious vision for combating climate change; …should have federal rule-making experience, since that’s the administration’s only real hope for getting things accomplished in that area; and …should be able to get confirmed by the US Senate. At first blush, Obama’s selection of Gina McCarthy seems to clearly check each box. …Here’s why: She constructed or played a role in several pioneering cap-and-trade initiatives. McCarthy spent most of her early career in Massachusetts, eventually becoming a top environmental official for none other than Mitt Romney. She commanded the development of Romney’s “Climate Action Plan” for the state, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ambitiously low levels… At Obama’s EPA, McCarthy oversaw the clean-air rulemaking process. Though Lisa Jackson headed the EPA and took a lot of heat from Republicans over new regulations, it was McCarthy who was doing much of the “heavy lifting,” according to the National Journal in 2011, “playing a key role in the march of environmental regulations to fight climate change and slash pollution from coal-fired power plants.”… McCarthy already passed Senate confirmation once. Republicans are well aware that the EPA will take the lead in the administration’s climate initiatives, and are certain to battle the EPA nominee regardless of who it is. McCarthy will no doubt face stiff opposition. But insofar as a nominee can be resistant to GOP opposition (and still be a strong pro-environmental choice), McCarthy fits the bill.”

 

Inspired by George Zornick, The Nation ow.ly/j4nzQ Image source USA Govt ow.ly/j4n8t

Jason Leopold the American investigative reporter, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller ‘News Junkie - a memoir’ and the current deputy managing editor of Truthout has published an article titled ‘Guantanamo Hunger Strike "Potentially Life-Threatening" Attorneys Allege in Letter to Prison Officials’. Leopold states “…One prisoner who has experienced dramatic weight loss is 37-year-old Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has been detained at Guantanamo for nearly 11 years. His military attorney, Air Force Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, told Truthout Tuesday that al-Kandari has lost roughly 26 pounds and another Kuwaiti prisoner, Fawzi al-Ohda, 24 pounds since they began hunger striking three weeks ago. Wingard, who is currently at Guantanamo visiting with his client, said neither prisoner has been "tubed yet." Wingard said al-Kandari was "unfocused and had difficulty focusing on our various discussions." On a Facebook page set up for al-Kandari and al-Ohda, 35, a post dated February 28 claimed Guantanamo guards were taunting the hunger strikers. "In response to the hunger strike, soldiers opened containers of food so the smell could fill the prison," the Facebook post alleges. "The prisoners were then asked if they wanted one or two servings of food. The response with a big smile: 'Do you really think the smell of your food is stronger than our religion?'" …"There is a real sense of frustration and desperation beginning to sink in here," Wingard said. "I believe the bigger problem is that the 30- to 40-year-old men have decided not to passively die in animal cages without an opportunity to represent themselves, now well into their twelfth year. For them, any hope of justice has long since faded and death is looking like the only road out of Guantanamo." In January, the State Department shut down the office that was set up to close Guantanamo and repatriate the prisoners who have been cleared for release.”  Inspired by Jason Leopold, Truthout ow.ly/j4lbx Image source Facebook ow.ly/j4lFl Decided not to passively die in animal cages (April 1 2013)

 

Jason Leopold the American investigative reporter, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller ‘News Junkie – a memoir’ and the current deputy managing editor of Truthout has published an article titled ‘Guantanamo Hunger Strike “Potentially Life-Threatening” Attorneys Allege in Letter to Prison Officials’. Leopold states “…One prisoner who has experienced dramatic weight loss is 37-year-old Fayiz al-Kandari, a Kuwaiti who has been detained at Guantanamo for nearly 11 years. His military attorney, Air Force Lt. Col. Barry Wingard, told Truthout Tuesday that al-Kandari has lost roughly 26 pounds and another Kuwaiti prisoner, Fawzi al-Ohda, 24 pounds since they began hunger striking three weeks ago. Wingard, who is currently at Guantanamo visiting with his client, said neither prisoner has been “tubed yet.” Wingard said al-Kandari was “unfocused and had difficulty focusing on our various discussions.” On a Facebook page set up for al-Kandari and al-Ohda, 35, a post dated February 28 claimed Guantanamo guards were taunting the hunger strikers. “In response to the hunger strike, soldiers opened containers of food so the smell could fill the prison,” the Facebook post alleges. “The prisoners were then asked if they wanted one or two servings of food. The response with a big smile: ‘Do you really think the smell of your food is stronger than our religion?'” …”There is a real sense of frustration and desperation beginning to sink in here,” Wingard said. “I believe the bigger problem is that the 30- to 40-year-old men have decided not to passively die in animal cages without an opportunity to represent themselves, now well into their twelfth year. For them, any hope of justice has long since faded and death is looking like the only road out of Guantanamo.” In January, the State Department shut down the office that was set up to close Guantanamo and repatriate the prisoners who have been cleared for release.”

 

Inspired by Jason Leopold, Truthout ow.ly/j4lbx Image source Facebook ow.ly/j4lFl

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