Edward's Educational thoughts on Literacy

Umberto D The futility of culture and indecency

2011-06-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/292-seeing-clearly-through-tears-on-the-smart-sentiment-of-umberto-d

Seeing Clearly Through Tears: On the Smart Sentiment of Umberto D. By Stuart Klawans
Umberto D. is perhaps the most astringent film ever made about a poor old man and his dog. Critics today tend to like the astringent parts: the long, deliberately undramatic sequences full of mundane activity (such as a housemaid’s morning routine), performed with little or no dialogue and shot as if in real time. People who admire the work of contemporary filmmakers such as Hou Hsiao-hsien, Chantal Akerman, or Abbas Kiarostami can see something up-to-date in this aspect of Umberto D., and even recognize in it a principal source of today’s cinema of the steady gaze.These same critics generally dislike the pooch. They feel that screenwriter Cesare Zavattini and director Vittorio De Sica did enough to immiserate their title character by depriving him of youth, family, friends, health, money, and home. Surely an audience needs no further prompting to feel the isolation of Umberto Domenico Ferrari. That the filmmakers also make him go everywhere with little Flike—clutching him to his breast, fretting over his well-being, ultimately begging the dog to come play with him—seems to these viewers an almost invasive ploy, as if Zavattini and De Sica had tried to force into their hands an already soggy handkerchief.But as someone who begins weeping at the first notes of the title music—someone who thinks this film’s long, undramatic sequences can be seen best when watched through tears—I wouldn’t have wanted Zavattini and De Sica to back off. I believe their greatest work, which surely includes Umberto D., kept touch faithfully with popular sentiment, even while helping to create the decidedly unpopular tradition of the art-house film. Perhaps today’s division between auteurist productions and mass-market movies might be eased, and contemporary cinema enlivened, if our filmmakers would more often risk themselves as did Zavattini and De Sica in Umberto D.Of course, this prescription is open to question, considering that Umberto D. was released to utter disaster.It was the fourth film that Zavattini and De Sica made together after World War II, and the first to fail. Shoeshine (Sciuscià, 1946) and The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette, 1948) had brought into focus, for domestic and international viewers alike, the intuitions, concerns, and methods of Italy’s best postwar filmmakers, and so had established neorealism as a movement. The impact on critics was enormous. “No more actors,” André Bazin wrote of The Bicycle Thief, “no more story, no more sets, which is to say that in the perfect aesthetic illusion of reality there is no more cinema”—or, rather, that the film is “one of the first examples of pure cinema.” The impact on audiences was equally strong, with both Shoeshine and The Bicycle Thief winning the Academy Award for best foreign-language film.But what Zavattini and De Sica had established with these earlier films, they brought to a close with Umberto D. Although the picture won the support of viewers abroad—the New York Film Critics Circle voted it an award as best foreign film of the year, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated Zavattini’s script for best screenplay—Umberto D. was a miserable flop at the Italian box office. Worse still, upon its release in early 1952, the film came under attack from Giulio Andreotti in Libertà, the weekly organ of the Christian Democratic Party. Since the Christian Democrats had full, seemingly permanent control of the government, and since Andreotti (later to serve seven times as prime minister) controlled the state’s movie production loans and exercised the right of precensorship over scripts, the brand of film criticism he practiced was unusually powerful.According to Andreotti, De Sica was guilty of “slandering Italy abroad” by “washing dirty linen in public.” Writing in the voice of his party, his government, or the Italian nation—it wasn’t clear which—Andreotti said: “We ask De Sica not to forget the minimal commitment toward a healthy and constructive optimism that can help humanity to move forward and to gain some hope. It seems to us that the world fame that our directors have rightly acquired gives us the right to demand that he accept his duty and fulfill this task.”This official condemnation, however damaging, would not have been enough in itself to doom Umberto D. with the public. You might imagine, for example, that the Christian Democrats’ political rivals would have rallied to the film. But the main opposition was the Communist Party, which had conducted its own attack against Zavattini and De Sica for what it saw as pessimism. And so, in Italy’s highly politicized film culture, Umberto D. opened without organized support, to compete against the recently revived Cinecittà superproductions and such government-subsidized fare as Don Camillo (1951), a nougat-centered clerical farce.With the dismal release of Umberto D., Italy’s neorealist period came to an end. But was the film itself dismal? Or was the pessimism that offended viewers in 1952 no more objectionable, intrinsically, than the sentimentality that bothers some critics today?For the beginnings of an answer, you need look no further than the first images of Umberto D., which dramatize an impromptu street demonstration of old-age pensioners. The event has the circumstantial brusqueness of a news item—one of those fatti di cronaca that Zavattini liked to use as seeds for his stories. The street, shown in deep focus, appears to have more than enough space to accommodate the crowd. There’s even room for a city bus, which noses forward in the opposite direction of the march, as if to assert the rights of normal routine. Although Alessandro Cicognini’s music comes on with the throb of verismo opera, the initial view prompts curiosity more than tears. Some viewers might even let out an ironic laugh when the police drive in to break up the protest, and the camera, shooting through the windshield of one of the cops’ jeeps, records the pursuit of the demonstrators: a gang of old men, who huff away in hats and flapping overcoats.The camera glimpses Umberto two or three times during this ruckus, but it does not single him out until the protesters have dispersed, to pronounce curses against their own organizers and recover their breath. So Umberto D. introduces its protagonist as one figure among many. His situation, at first glance, seems faintly ridiculous. His person—embodied by the nonprofessional actor Carlo Battisti, a Florentine professor of linguistic science—is distinguished by an alert, somewhat rabbity face and fussy manner, which hint at a lifetime of intelligence expended to no real effect on the world.The burden of decorum, the futility of culture: The film touches on these themes lightly, almost comically, in its opening sequence but soon begins to insist upon them by positioning Umberto between two characters of contrasting status—apparently the last two people in the world with whom he is still in contact. As an educated, middle-class man, he might be expected to feel closer to his landlady, but she is a tall blonde monster of bourgeois pretension. Played by Lina Gennari with all the mannerisms that a veteran actor can muster and Battisti can’t, she comes across rather like an unfunny Margaret Dumont. By . the end of the film, she will literally decorate Umberto out of her apartment, there being no room for him in her version of the high lifeAnd so, despite being a gentleman, Umberto finds himself in concert with the housemaid (another nonprofessional, Maria Pia Casilio, discovered by De Sica when she was an apprentice seamstress), whose dark, ingenuous, button-eyed face is unmarked by book learning.If I make this character scheme sound more diagrammatic than it actually plays, it’s only to make a crucial point about what Umberto D. is not. Unlike other neorealist films, such as Shoeshine or The Bicycle Thief, it is not a story about the working class. Nor does Umberto D. concern itself with the neorealist theme of economic hardship as such, despite Zavattini’s quickness in telling us, right in the first scene, how many lire Umberto gets for his monthly pension, how much he pays out in rent, and how much money he owes. Beggars abound in the film; soup kitchens and charity wards extend their provisional shelter; but Zavattini also makes it plain that Umberto needs these resources partly because he ran up debts, while other pensioners are in the clear. When I say that Umberto D. pushes neorealism to new extremes, then, it’s not only because of the film’s extraordinary concentration on the mundane but also because of its subject matter, which goes to the limit of social criticism. Yes, poverty and old age bear down on Umberto, in ways that are specific to Rome in the early fifties—but the key problem is indecency. Umberto is slowly being stripped of his dignity, and even of the desire for dignity.Which brings us back to Flike. He is the only major character other than the landlady to be played by a trained performer, the canine actor Napoleone. Perhaps this fact accounts for the movieness of Umberto’s interactions with him—a movieness that offends people who want a “perfect aesthetic illusion of reality,” giving the impression of “no more cinema.” But De Sica was not necessarily one of these people. He had spent his lifetime in show business; in his youth, he had been Italy’s most popular star. He knew that sentiment is as legitimate a mode of storytelling as irony or satire, so long as the sentiment is honest—which I believe it is in Umberto D. If the main character feels that his humanity itself is slipping away, his sense of being a proper man, then why shouldn’t he have a sentimental relationship with a dog?The great critic I.A. Richards once remarked that you could characterize an era of history according to a certain choice between anxieties: Were people more worried about being thought sentimental, or stupid? In Umberto D., two very smart filmmakers had the courage to jerk tears, and created a masterpiece. Couldn’t we use a few more?

Viva Maria

2011-06-09T22:47:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viva_Maria!
I viewed this film on netflix.
Viva Maria!
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"Viva Maria" redirects here. For the anti-Napoleonic movement, see Viva Maria (movement).
Viva Maria!

Directed by
Louis Malle
Produced by
Óscar Dancigers
Written by
Louis Malle Jean-Claude Carrière
Starring
Brigitte Bardot Jeanne Moreau
Music by
Georges Delerue
Cinematography
Henri Decaë
Editing by
Suzanne Baron Kenout Peltier
Distributed by
Les Productions Artistes Associés Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date(s)
December 18 1965
Running time
119 min.
Language
English French
Viva Maria! is a 1965 comedy-adventure film starring Brigitte Bardot and Jeanne Moreau as two women both named Marie (they later become referred to as "Maria") who meet and become revolutionaries in the early twentieth century. It also starred George Hamilton as Florès, a revolutionary leader. Filmed in Eastman Color, it was directed by Louis Malle. The majority of the film was made on location in Mexico. The film was released in both French and an English-dubbed version.
Contents[hide]
1 Plot synopsis
2 Cast
3 Trivia
4 Awards
5 Reference
6 External links
[edit] Plot synopsis
It's 1907 in a Central American country called San Miguel. Maria II (Brigitte Bardot), the daughter of an Irish terrorist, meets Maria I (Jeanne Moreau), the singer of a circus. After her father dies, Maria II hides in the circus where she sees Maria I's partner commit suicide after a failed love affair. Both Marias agree to form a theatrical team.
In her debut as a singer Maria II accidentally invents striptease, an action that lets the circus achieve great fame. Shortly afterwards the Marias meet Florès (George Hamilton), a socialist revolutionary. He invites them to join his cause, a revolution against "El Dictador" (José Ángel Espinoza). But Florès is soon shot. On his deathbed he makes them promise to carry through with his cause and they both agree.
The rest of the film concerns the revolution. After Maria I leads her men into an ambush, and Maria II saves them, the women create a peasant army, organizing the countryside into a quasi-Socialist state. There are numerous sight gags and comic actions.
Preparing to take the capital city, the Marias are captured by Catholic churchmen who fear the disorder of a revolution and want to stop the people from treating the women like saints. After a bungled attempt to tickle torture them (the Inquisition's equipment is too old to work well) the Marias are rescued by their victorious army. Finally they move to France, where the circus is recreated as a successful musical version of the revolution. The women now wear dark wigs to look more "Spanish."
[edit] Cast
Brigitte Bardot as Maria I
Jeanne Moreau as Maria II
Paulette Dubost as Mme Diogène
Claudio Brook as The Great Rodolfo
Carlos López Moctezuma as Rodríguez (as Carlos Lopez Moctezuma)
Poldo Bendandi as Werther
Gregor von Rezzori as Diogène (as Gregor Von Rezzori)
Francisco Reiguera as Father Superior
Jonathan Eden as Juanito Diogène
Roberto Pedret as Pablo
José Ángel Espinosa 'Ferrusquilla' as The Dictator of San Miguel (as José Ángel Espinoza)
George Hamilton as Flores
[edit] Trivia
Dialog is in English, French, Spanish, and Dutch, depending on the actor. The French version includes extensive English subtitles.
The last minute of the movie, with the women singing a Spanish song on stage, was cut from later American releases. MGM Technical Services archivist John Kirk was able to restore this final scene to the DVD release.[1]
[edit] Awards
Both Moreau and Bardot were nominated for Best Foreign Actress at the 1967 BAFTA awards. Moreau won the award.
[edit] Reference
^ DVD Savant: MGM/UA Technical Services rescues an ending for a famous, fun French frolic.
[edit] External links
Viva Maria! at the Internet Movie Database
Allmovies.com
Viva Maria! at the TCM Movie Database
[show]v · d · e Cinema of France
Actors · Directors · Cinematographers · Editors · Films A-Z · Producers · Score composers · Screenwriters · Film festivals

Films directed by Louis Malle

human rights of indigenous peoples

2011-06-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

Rights of Indigenous People
Author And Page Information
by Anup Shah
This Page Last Updated Saturday, October 16, 2010
This page:http://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people.
To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
http://www.globalissues.org/print/article/693
There are approximately 370 million indigenous people spanning 70 countries, worldwide. Historically they have often been dispossessed of their lands, or in the center of conflict for access to valuable resources because of where they live, or, in yet other cases, struggling to live the way they would like. Indeed, indigenous people are often amongst the most disadvantaged people in the world.
This web page has the following sub-sections:
Who Are Indigenous People And What Makes Them Different?
Conflicting Issues Such As Environment, “Biopiracy”
Indigenous People Have Often Had Many Rights Denied
UN Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous Peoples
Major Countries Opposed To Various Rights For Indigenous Peoples
Setback: Draft Declaration Opposed/Delayed By A UN General Assembly Subsidiary In November 2006
Declaration Adopted By UN General Assembly, September 2007
Opposing Countries Rethinking Their Stance?
Customary Law—Backward Or Relevant Justice Systems?
Indigenous Peoples’ Struggle Around The World
More Information
Who Are Indigenous People And What Makes Them Different?
There does not seem to be one definitive definition of indigenous people, but generally indigenous people are those that have historically belonged to a particular region or country, before its colonization or transformation into a nation state, and may have different—often unique—cultural, linguistic, traditional, and other characteristics to those of the dominant culture of that region or state. (For more details, see this fact sheet from the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).)
In some parts of the world, they are very few indigenous people, while in other parts, they may number into the hundreds of thousands, even millions. Over the years, many groups of people have been wiped out, either by diseases of colonizing peoples, or through policies of extermination.
Those indigenous societies that remain today are predominantly subsistence-based (i.e. farming or hunting for food for immediate use), and non-urbanized, sometimes nomadic.
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Conflicting Issues Such As Environment, “Biopiracy”
Some people have been critical of indigenous peoples’ treatment of the environment, noting examples such as the deforestation of Easter Island or the disappearance of large animals from parts of America and Australia caused by native people.
However, others have argued that more generally, many indigenous people, for decades—even centuries—have accumulated important knowledge and traditions that allow them to work with nature rather than destroy it, because they are dependent on it and thus have a sense of interdependence. (See for example, works by Indian scientist and activist, Vandana Shiva.)
In other parts of the world, such as India, Brazil, Thailand, and Malaysia, multinational companies have been accused of participating in “biopiracy” whereby biological resources used by communities openly for generations (decades, centuries, or even millennia in some cases) have been patented away, leaving the local people unable to use their own local plants and other resources. This is discussed further on this site’s article,Food Patents—Stealing Indigenous Knowledge?. For other indigenous people, logging, dam projects and other activities threaten ways of life, sometimes leading to conflict.
Issues ranging from the current form of economic globalization, to climate change, all have an impact on indigenous people too. The following video clips give a few different perspectives on this.
The first is a speech (15 minutes, transcript) from Sheila Watt-Cloutier, former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council that represents more than 150,000 Inuit of Canada, Greenland, Alaska and Russia. She is a long-time defender of Inuit rights and has been the political spokesperson for the Inuit for more than a decade. She talks about the changes occurring in the Arctic region due to climate change and what that means for the Inuit people. She argues for the “right to be cold”. (This clip is an extract from a Democracy Now show on indigenous people.)
Sheila Watt Cloutier, Sheila Watt-Cloutier: Inuit’s Challenge in the Arctic, November 23, 2007, Democracy Now!
This longer documentary from explore.org also looks at the environmental and climatic changes in the Arctic and its impact on the indigenous populations:
Arctic: Change at the Top of the World, Explore.org, September 2007
This next clip (10 minutes, transcript) is also an extract from another Democracy Now show. This one is an interview by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez with President Evo Morales of Bolivia in which they discuss indigenous rights and challenges. An Aymara Indian, Evo Morales became the country’s first indigenous president when he was elected nearly two years ago with more popular support than any Bolivian leader in decades.
Evo Morales, Evo Morales: Indigenous Rights, September 26, 2007,Democracy Now!
This next clip (1 minute, transcript not yet available) is a short discussion by an Aboriginal elder on how his people are coping with the modern world. (This clip is also an extract from a larger interview (54 minutes) from the Global Oneness Project.)
Major “Muggi” Sumner, Share the “Me” Stuff,Global Oneness Project
In this next clip, Priscila Néri, from the social justice organization, Witness, posts an informative video asking if environmental rights are human rights. The point made is that for many communities, the environment provides a means for them to live. Environmental degradation jeopardizes that and as such, threaten their human rights too; the two are interwoven:
Earth Day: Do Environmental Rights = Human Rights?, The Hub, Witness, April 20, 2009
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Indigenous People Have Often Had Many Rights Denied
As the UNPFII notes,
Indigenous peoples around the world have sought recognition of their identities, their ways of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources; yet throughout history, their rights have been violated. Indigenous peoples are arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world today. The international community now recognizes that special measures are required to protect the rights of the world’s indigenous peoples.
— About UNPFII/History, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNFPII), accessed October 16, 2006
Indigenous people have often found their lands and cultures overridden by more dominant societies. During the era of European colonial expansion and imperialism, it was common for Europeans to think of themselves as more superior over others.
Many Europeans at that time saw native peoples from regions such as Africa, Asia and the Americas as “primitives,” or “savages” to be dominated. This would help justify settlement and expansion into those lands, and even slavery. Without civilization these people could be regarded as inferior, and if seen as “non-people” then European colonialists would not be impeding on anyone else’s territory. Instead, they would be settling “virgin territory” (sometimes “discovered”) overcoming numerous challenges they would face with much courage.
Other Europeans saw the same people as perhaps savages, but ones that could be “saved” by being civilized and introduced to Christ. Hence, many European Christian missionaries saw their goal as “civilizing the savages.” (Some of these attitudes still prevail though perhaps not as forthright, or even intentionally, as popular literature of that time that would have depicted non Europeans as inferior or at least to be feared, are still celebrated today. See works by Edward Said for more on this, such as the classicOrientalism (Vintage Books, 1979), and Culture and Imperialism, (Vintage Books, 1993).)
Today, celebrations of days such as Columbus Day in the US therefore raise bitter feelings for indigenous people. Interestingly, Christopher Columbus never set foot in the United States, though that day is celebrated there. (Democracy Now! radio show discusses explores this issue in more detail looking at the theme of power and dominance ideology that underpins why this day would still be celebrated.) For people of color and especially native American Indians, Columbus Day causes anger as they object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples and the slave trade.
Many Europeans and their descendants around the world have tried to look back at history and ask how it was that Europe and the West prospered and rose to such prominence. The late Professor J.M. Blaut accused many historians and others of employing self-congratulation and projecting eurocentric world views, whereby reasons for Europe’s rise were (and still are) attributed to things like favorable conditions for agriculture, for democracy to grow, and for economic superiority to take hold. Race was sometimes claimed to be a factor, too.
Blaut was critical of these and other underlying assumptions and belief systems that guided this view, showing many assumptions to be false, and suggested instead that colonialism and the “discovery” and exploitation of the Americas, with the plunder of silver, gold and other resources helped fund a European rise.
Blaut’s work is presented in two books (though a third was never finished for he passed away), part of a volume called The Colonizer’s Model of the World. His two books areGeographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History (Guilford Press, 1993), and Eight Eurocentric Historians, by J.M. Blaut (Guilford Press, 2000).
It was after World War I and II that movements for indigenous rights starting gaining more traction. Witnessing the immense destruction, violence and barbarism of those wars, colonized people began questioning the European claim that their civilizations were superior and peaceful. Weakened European countries could no longer hold on to their colonies, and a wave of anti-colonial and nationalist movements sprung up as people around the world saw their chance to break free. European countries began conceding territories, and for many indigenous groups, accepted that they should have more rights to determine their own destiny.
Under international law, tribal people, for example, do have some recognized rights. The two most important laws about tribal peoples are Conventions 107 and 169 under the International Labor Organization (ILO), part of the UN system.
Survival International, a prominent organization that presses for the rights of tribal peoples, summarizes that
These conventions obliges governments to identify the lands and protect these rights… It ensures recognition of tribal peoples’ cultural and social practices, obliges governments to consult with tribal peoples about laws affecting them, guarantees respect for tribal peoples’ customs, and calls for protection of their natural resources.
— International Law, Survival International, undated
The struggle for such rights is still not over. Many governments routinely violate the rights of indigenous people. A slow process is, however, raising hope for a more comprehensive set of rights, although some major countries are still against some particular aspects.
Back to top
UN Declaration On Rights Of Indigenous Peoples
After taking more than 20 years to draft and agree, on June 29, 2006, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted the U.N. Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The Declaration emphasizes the right of indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions and to pursue their development in accordance with their aspirations and needs.
Although it would not be legally binding if it were ever adopted by the General Assembly, indigenous communities around the world have pressed hard for this and have felt that the adoption of the declaration will help indigenous people in their effortsagainst discrimination, racism, oppression, marginalization and exploitation.
Major Countries Opposed To Various Rights For Indigenous Peoples
The process to draft the aforementioned declaration moved very slowly, not because of some imagined slowness and inefficiencies of an over-sized bureaucracy, but because of concerns expressed by particular countries at some of the core provisions of the draft declaration, especially the right to self-determination of indigenous peoples and the control over natural resources existing on indigenous peoples’ traditional lands.
Some historically and currently powerful countries have been opposed to various rights and provisions for indigenous peoples, because of the implications to their territory, or because it would tacitly recognize they have been involved in major injustices during periods of colonialism and imperialism. Giving such people’s the ability to regain some lost land, for example, would be politically explosive.
Inter Press Service (IPS) notes, for example, that countries such as the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, have all been opposed to this declaration. These countries have noted in a joint statement that “No government can accept the notion of creating different classes of citizens.”
Furthermore, as IPS also noted, the delegation claimed that the indigenous land claims ignore current reality “by appearing to require the recognition to lands now lawfully owned by other citizens.”
The problem with the delegations’ views are that they ignore historical reality. To say that “creating different classes of citizens” is objectionable does sound fair. However, in this case, different classes were created from the very beginning as indigenous people were cleared off their lands and either treated as second class citizens, or, not even considered to be citizens in the first place. Many of these laws then, were often made by a society that never recognized or accepted that such people had rights, and so the law only applied to the new dominant society, not the original people.
There are of course complications to this. For example, there is often a contentious debate about whether some European settlers colonized land that was not inhabited before, or were used by nomadic people, in which case European settlers could argue (from their perspective) that the land was not properly settled. Also, European settlers can also note that sometimes agreements were made with indigenous people to obtain certain lands, but it is also contentious as to whether all these agreements would have been made fairly, as some were made at gun point, while other agreements were achieved through deception and various forms of manipulation.
Survival International criticizes Britain and France, of being opposed to some aspects of rights for indigenous peoples, as well as the United States. These two countries, formerly commanding vast empires and colonies have also subjected native peoples to cruel denial of rights and oppression.
A key part of the declaration has been the “collective” right of indigenous peoples, for they are seen by many indigenous communities as “essential for the integrity, survival and well-being of our distinct nations and communities. They are inseparably linked to our cultures, spirituality and worldviews. They are also critical to the exercise and enjoyment of the rights of indigenous individuals.” (Letter from 40 indigenous peoples’ organizations to Tony Blair, September 2004, quoted by the above-mentioned article from Survival International.)
A reason such countries may be opposed to collective rights is that it implies land and resource rights, whereas supporting only individual rights would not. Collective rights could therefore threaten access to valuable resources if they cannot be exploited, or if they are used for, and by, the indigenous communities.
As Survival International also notes, individual rights is sometimes an alien concept to some societies, and it can be easier to exploit individuals than a collective people:
Full collective rights over land and resources are essential for the survival of tribal peoples. The Yanomami of Amazonia, for example, live in large communal houses called yanos. The concept of ‘individual ownership’ of such a building is nonsensical. A tribe’s right to decide, for example, whether a mining company should be allowed to operate on its land, also only makes sense as a collective right. The UK claims, however, that these vital collective rights should be individual rights ‘exercised collectively.’ In the USA, the infamous Dawes Act of 1887 demonstrated the danger of this approach. The Act turned communally-held Indian lands into individual plots; 90 million acres of Indian land were removed at a stroke, and the reservations were broken up.
— UK Government blocks historic UN Declaration, Survival International, February 1, 2005
When interviewed in the above-mentioned IPS article, Stephen Corry, director of Survival International noted,
The imperial era was largely based on the dispossession of most of the world’s indigenous people … It cannot be considered over until the world accepts these peoples’ rights.
— Stephen Corry, Director of Survival International, interviewed by Haider Rizvi, UN Faces Test on Native Rights, Inter Press Service, October 13, 2006
Setback: Draft Declaration Opposed/Delayed By A UN General Assembly Subsidiary In November 2006
A set-back for adoption of this declaration came at the end of November 2006 when, somewhat unexpectedly, a subsidiary body of the U.N. General Assembly rejected the draft declaration, proposing more time for further discussion.
As reported by IPS (previous link), some African countries who had previously supported the declaration this time raised concerns about the phrase “right to self-determination” because much of Africa is considered indigenous and they feared unwanted rebellions by some groups within their borders.
Some indigenous leaders, disappointed by this, claimed it was pressure from US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others opposed to the declaration, that had lobbied for this position, behind the scenes.
IPS also added that, “The U.S. and its allies argue that the declaration is ‘inconsistent with international law.’ The U.S. has also repeatedly held that the indigenous land claim ignores current reality by ‘appearing to require the recognition to lands now lawfully owned by other citizens.’”
What the US position seems to ignore is that many lands now “lawfully owned”, have been based on an initial theft from others. As detailed further above and summarized here:
Historically, conquering societies have created arguments and moral justifications for their approaches.
Some have included views that the former people living in the conquered lands were not “civilized” (they were “savages” etc), and had no concept of individual property rights, etc and so they never “owned” the lands they lived in
Therefore it was seen as okay to claim the “unoccupied” or “unowned” land as their own.
Furthermore, this subtle imposition of the outsider’s culture, practices and norms onto other cultures (to whom many facets may be alien or alternative to their ways) when used in this manner, is coercive and denies them rights, while transferring them to the newcomers instead.
And so, if ever the formerly dispossessed people attempt to regain some of what they unfairly lost, then it will be countered by such technicalities.
In the case of the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, they have, in theory, an enormous amount to lose if this declaration ever became a stepping stone to monumental indigenous claims, and therefore it is resisted.
(The resolution for amendments to the draft was endorsed by 82 countries. 67 voted against it, and 25 abstained.)
As another IPS report notes, while disappointed with the recent vote, many still feel the declaration is powerful and positive, even in draft form. For example, it had a strong endorsement from the UN Human Rights Council and the draft “was the basis for the formulation of the Indigenous People’s Rights Act in the Philippines, and it has been used as a framework for changing constitutions in Latin America” notes an interviewed activist.
However, Amnesty International fears the delay could result in a weaker draft declaration, fearing an attempt to reword parts of the declaration for future adoption, and warned that any rewording must be fully transparent, allowing all stakeholders to continue to participate.
Massachusetts-based Cultural Survival, an organization campaigning for indigenous rights around the world, shares these concerns and is very critical of larger states’ lobbying of smaller states to vote against this declaration. They felt it was a tactic to ultimately kill the declaration:
Packaged as a mere delay, the vote received no press coverage or wider attention. In fact, the tactic was designed to kill the declaration. No regular sessions of the General Assembly are scheduled after mid-December, and there is no budget authorized for a special session. Moreover, there is nothing in the resolution that would ensure indigenous peoples’ participation in the committee’s deliberations.
Why was the declaration shot down? At least some African states are concerned that it does not define “indigenous” and that it supports “self-determination” for indigenous peoples. Those states take the view that all Africans are indigenous, and that self-determination—one of the key points of the declaration—only applies to nations trying to free themselves from the yoke of colonialism. While fair concerns, the declaration, which is not legally binding, is clear that the meaning of these terms must be defined in context and negotiated between indigenous peoples and the state in which they live.
But the real impetus behind the initiative came from the same very powerful states that have objected all along. What they don’t like is the language in the declaration that gives indigenous peoples rights to their lands and resources, and ensures their free, prior, and informed consent before those rights are impeded upon.
— UN General Assembly Declines Vote on Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Survival, December 4, 2006
Declaration Adopted By UN General Assembly, September 2007
Despite the above concerns, the UN General Assembly eventually adopted the declaration on September 13, 2007. Predictably, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States voted against the declaration when 143 nations voted in favor of it.
Opposing Countries Rethinking Their Stance?
In October 2010, Inter Press Service reports that the four opposers to the declaration have all been rethinking their stance: “[Australia and New Zealand] have since reversed their positions and, in March, Canada announced its intention to change its position. Around the same time, the U.S. also decided to undertake a review of its position.”
11 countries also abstained at the time. Two of those, IPS also added, have since endorsed it: Colombia and Samoa.
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Customary Law—Backward Or Relevant Justice Systems?
Many indigenous cultures having developed their own societal traditions and norms naturally have ways to deal with crimes. Various anthropologists and others have noted some interesting differences between some traditional systems of justice and modern law. Guisela Mayén provides a useful summary:
indigenous law consists of a series of unwritten oral principles that are abided by and socially accepted by a specific community. Although these norms may vary from one community to another, they are all based on the idea of recommending appropriate behavior rather than on prohibition.
… customary indigenous law aims to restore the harmony and balance in a community; it is essentially collective in nature, whereas the Western judicial system is based on individualism. Customary law is based on the principle that the wrongdoer must compensate his or her victim for the harm that has been done so that he or she can be reinserted into the community, whereas the Western system seeks punishment.
— Guisela Mayén, quoted by Louisa Reynolds, Mayan law still lacks official recognition, Latin America Press, October 6, 2006
Rachel Sieder, quoted in the same article notes that such laws are not fixed; they adapt to circumstances, but also adds that it isn’t necessarily worse or better than the western approach, just different.
As the above cited article also exemplifies, many indigenous systems are often not recognized officially, even in countries with large indigenous populations. “Ethnocentrism” is also practiced sometimes, when some societies look at indigenous systems as backward or barbaric.
Anthropologists such as Richard Robbins (see for example, his book Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, (Allyn and Bacon, 2002, 2005), Jared Diamonds (see for example, Guns, Germs and Steel, (W.W. Norton and Co., 1997) make observations that in hunter-gather societies that pre-date our agricultural-based civilizations, the need forofficial systems of justice was not necessary. We sometimes view such systems as barbaric, backward and non-civilized, as we tend to view it through our civilization lens.
However, these systems—not necessarily peaceful in some romantic way—were, however, effective. For example, there was tacit knowledge that committing certain crimes would not be wise to do because the perpetrator would likely be cast out of the tribe or group, which in some ways would certainly be as bad as a prison sentence. In addition, because people would tend to know each other personally, there would be less tendency to commit many types of crimes we are familiar with today. In our societies of large populations where we are likely to know hardly anyone (comparatively), a more formal system of rules of law tends to work well.
In the United Kingdom recently, there has been much made about overflowing prisons, the problem of violent youth, even overflowing youth detention centers. A number of considerations in recent years has also been to put in place “anti social behavior orders” (ASBO’s) whereby attempts are made to keep people in the communities but be visibly punished or restricted in some way.
This technique being tried in UK has certainly come under criticism and it is by no means certain that it will work in the long run, but that different attempts are being considered does show that in a way then, there some a commonality with the more indigenous systems, suggesting that indeed indigenous systems are not necessarily bad, and there may be a place for various alternatives in modern society as well.
In addition, as Mayén’s article also notes, about the Mayan people in Latin American countries such as Guatemala, such indigenous systems may indeed be very relevant for such large indigenous populations.
In various countries in Africa, traditional systems of justice have often helped people come to term with conflict as part of a rebuilding process. Truth and reconciliation commissions, such as the well-known one in South Africa have bought victims and perpetrators together.
Truth commissions attempt to establish what happened, why, by whom, and may even include provisions for amnesty, forgiveness, or appropriate justice, all in the hope that “never again” should such gross human rights abuses occur. Victims get the chance to be heard and perpetrators have the opportunity to reintegrate back into society without the fear of backlash. In Africa, there have been commissions in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya. Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also hinted at the prospect of truth commissions.
These systems are not perfect, as sometimes war criminals may get off lighter than expected.
A visit to South Africa revealed to me that indeed there were some African people unhappy that some people from the apartheid regime had been spared prison or other forms of punishment and even had gone on to create wealthy businesses while their victims continued to suffer the effects of their harsh treatment at the time.
For example, there were moving stories from former political prisoners in South Africa, including one who was with Nelson Mandela, whereby their white prison guards were forgiven for many crimes committed on them, only to find that the guards had since gone on to make a lot of money in new business ventures. In the meanwhile, the prisoner had remained in poverty, continuing to suffer from the effects of the beatings and other damage received while in prison—without any compensation. There are many individual stories like this, not just from prisoners. However, as Robert Rotberg noted in Truth vs Justice, these were part of a set of compromises that was felt would be needed to forge a successful multiracial society.
In Rwanda, following the genocide, the sheer number of cases to be tried through retributive justice could not cope, so a traditional system—usually limited to small minor disputes—was incorporated as well, called gacaca, based more on restorative justice, whereby elements of leniency for admitting crimes, reparations to victims, and apology were essential. While this has helped, some people are still bitter, as these systems are not perfect. Yet, the traditional system has been seen as more citizen-based, while the official tribunal system is seen as remote and disconnected from local people. The tribunal has been left for those who planned the genocide and other such officials. The Rwandan experience with truth and reconciliation is explored in more detail on this site’s section on Rwanda.
Sierra Leone, another country recovering from immense violence has also seen mixed results from such commissions, and Lyn Graybill and Kimberly Lanegran survey these in detail, and conclude that there should be guarded optimism for such transitional justice systems:
South Africa’s TRC appears to be making a lesser contribution to interpersonal reconciliation than to national unity…. the interpretations of “the truth” revealed by a process like South Africa’s truth commission must be regarded as one set of voices among many others.… Both the ICTR and gacaca will fall short of hastening full reconciliation which Rwandans need to avoid future violence, but [there is hope] that Rwandans will receive some measure of justice. Similarly, … Sierra Leone’s truth commission has struggled to fulfill its objectives and appears to have made limited contributions to addressing the needs of its major stakeholder groups. Amputees, for example, regard reparations as the single most important component of justice for them, but the truth commission can only make recommendations to Sierra Leone’s government for appropriate payments for victims. None of … these experiments in transitional justice have been irrelevant or total failures, but all do call for modest expectations and rigorous evaluation of the actual results.
— Lyn Graybill and Kimberly Lanegran, Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Issues and Cases, African Studies Quarterly, (University of Florida), Volume 8, Issue 1, Fall 2004
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Indigenous Peoples’ Struggle Around The World
The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) has for years worked on these issues. Their world reports detail issues and struggles for indigenous people around the world. Their 570-page report for 2006, The Indigenous World 2006 , for example, details the following areas:
Image: Population distribution in the circumpolar Arctic, by country (including indigenous population), UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library, (Accessed 22 October 2009). Visit link for full size image.
The Circumpolar North
The Arctic Council
Greenland
Sápmi in Norway and Finland
Russia
Alaska (USA)
Arctic Canada
North America
Canada
United States of America
Mexico and Central America
Mexico
Guatemala
Nicaragua
Panama
South America
Colombia
Venezuela
Suriname
Ecuador
Peru
Bolivia
Brazil
Paraguay
Argentina
Chile
Australia and the Pacific
Australia
The Islands of the Pacific
West Papua
East and Southeast Asia
Japan
Tibet
Taiwan
Philippines
Indonesia
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
Laos
Burma
Nagalim
South Asia
Bangladesh
Nepal
India
Middle East
The Marsh Dwellers of Iraq
The Bedouins of Israel
North and West Africa
The Amazigh people of Morocco
The Touareg People
The Horn of Africa and East Africa
Ethiopia
Kenya
Tanzania
Central Africa, Cameroon and Gabon
Uganda
Rwanda
Burundi
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Republic of Congo (Congo Brazaville)
Gabon
Cameroon
Southern Africa
Angola
Namibia
Botswana
South Africa
Combining information from the above and a chart from the International Forum on Globalization looking at parts of the world where modern economic corporate globalization has impacted indigenous communities, the following world map of indigenous people has been constructed. While crude (for example, a large country may just have a portion of indigenous people in it, in a few areas only), it gives an idea of the global nature of this issue:
Image: countries with indigenous populations
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More Information
The above only scratches at the surface of the issues. For more detail, consider the following as useful starting points:
United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Survival International
Inter Press Service’s coverage of indigenous peoples’ issues
From OneWorld.net:
News coverage of indigenous rights issues
A large list of partner organizations working on indigenous rights issues
International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs
Intercontinental Cry is a detailed blog devoted to indigenous issues
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Racism
Women’s Rights
Rights Of Indigenous People
The Internet And Human Rights
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Corporations And Human Rights
A Chronology Of The Global Human Rights Struggle
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by Anup Shah
Created: Sunday, October 15, 2006
Last Updated: Saturday, October 16, 2010
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http://www.globalissues.org/article/693/rights-of-indigenous-people#ConflictingIssuessuchasEnvironmentBiopiracyCustomary Law—backward or relevant justice systems?
Many indigenous cultures having developed their own societal traditions and norms naturally have ways to deal with crimes. Various anthropologists and others have noted some interesting differences between some traditional systems of justice and modern law. Guisela Mayén provides a useful summary:
indigenous law consists of a series of unwritten oral principles that are abided by and socially accepted by a specific community. Although these norms may vary from one community to another, they are all based on the idea of recommending appropriate behavior rather than on prohibition.
… customary indigenous law aims to restore the harmony and balance in a community; it is essentially collective in nature, whereas the Western judicial system is based on individualism. Customary law is based on the principle that the wrongdoer must compensate his or her victim for the harm that has been done so that he or she can be reinserted into the community, whereas the Western system seeks punishment.

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Rachel Sieder, quoted in the same article notes that such laws are not fixed; they adapt to circumstances, but also adds that it isn’t necessarily worse or better than the western approach, just different.
As the above cited article also exemplifies, many indigenous systems are often not recognized officially, even in countries with large indigenous populations. “Ethnocentrism” is also practiced sometimes, when some societies look at indigenous systems as backward or barbaric.

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However, these systems—not necessarily peaceful in some romantic way—were, however, effective. For example, there was tacit knowledge that committing certain crimes would not be wise to do because the perpetrator would likely be cast out of the tribe or group, which in some ways would certainly be as bad as a prison sentence. In addition, because people would tend to know each other personally, there would be less tendency to commit many types of crimes we are familiar with today. In our societies of large populations where we are likely to know hardly anyone (comparatively), a more formal system of rules of law tends to work well.
In the United Kingdom recently, there has been much made about overflowing prisons, the problem of violent youth, even overflowing youth detention centers. A number of considerations in recent years has also been to put in place “anti social behavior orders” (ASBO’s) whereby attempts are made to keep people in the communities but be visibly punished or restricted in some way.
This technique being tried in UK has certainly come under criticism and it is by no means certain that it will work in the long run, but that different attempts are being considered does show that in a way then, there some a commonality with the more indigenous systems, suggesting that indeed indigenous systems are not necessarily bad, and there may be a place for various alternatives in modern society as well.In addition, as Mayén’s article also notes, about the Mayan people in Latin American countries such as Guatemala, such indigenous systems may indeed be very relevant for such large indigenous populations.
In various countries in Africa, traditional systems of justice have often helped people come to term with conflict as part of a rebuilding process. Truth and reconciliation commissions, such as the well-known one in South Africa have bought victims and perpetrators together.
Truth commissions attempt to establish what happened, why, by whom, and may even include provisions for amnesty, forgiveness, or appropriate justice, all in the hope that “never again” should such gross human rights abuses occur. Victims get the chance to be heard and perpetrators have the opportunity to reintegrate back into society without the fear of backlash. In Africa, there have been commissions in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya. Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also hinted at the prospect of truth commissionsIn Rwanda, following the genocide, the sheer number of cases to be tried through retributive justice could not cope, so a traditional system—usually limited to small minor disputes—was incorporated as well, called gacaca, based more on restorative justice, whereby elements of leniency for admitting crimes, reparations to victims, and apology were essential. While this has helped, some people are still bitter, as these systems are not perfect. Yet, the traditional system has been seen as more citizen-based, while the official tribunal system is seen as remote and disconnected from local people. The tribunal has been left for those who planned the genocide and other such officials. The Rwandan experience with truth and reconciliation is explored in more detail on this site’s section on Rwanda.

Sierra Leone, another country recovering from immense violence has also seen mixed results from such commissions, and Lyn Graybill and Kimberly Lanegran survey these in detail, and conclude that there should be guarded optimism for such transitional justice systems:
South Africa’s TRC appears to be making a lesser contribution to interpersonal reconciliation than to national unity…. the interpretations of “the truth” revealed by a process like South Africa’s truth commission must be regarded as one set of voices among many others.… Both the ICTR and gacaca will fall short of hastening full reconciliation which Rwandans need to avoid future violence, but [there is hope] that Rwandans will receive some measure of justice. Similarly, … Sierra Leone’s truth commission has struggled to fulfill its objectives and appears to have made limited contributions to addressing the needs of its major stakeholder groups. Amputees, for example, regard reparations as the single most important component of justice for them, but the truth commission can only make recommendations to Sierra Leone’s government for appropriate payments for victims. None of … these experiments in transitional justice have been irrelevant or total failures, but all do call for modest expectations and rigorous evaluation of the actual results.
Rights of Indigenous People
The Internet and Human Rights
Rights of the Child
Corporations and Human Rights
A Chronology of the Global Human Rights Struggle
Human Rights Links for more Information

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WHY WAR CRIMES TRIBUNALS ARE NECESSARY

2011-06-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

What International War Crimes Tribunals Are
International war crimes tribunals are courts of law established to try individuals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Despite the often heinous nature of the crimes that individuals commit during intractable conflicts, including genocide, torture, and rape, it has become common practice to offer the accused an opportunity to explain his or her actions in front of the victims and their families, as well as the media. Tribunals have almost entirely replaced retributive justice's summary executions. Based on generally agreed-upon international standards of acceptable human behavior, they have introduced a new ethos of liberal legalism for dealing with war crimes.[1]
Why War Crimes Tribunals Matter
Following a conflict, crimes that have exceeded the normal parameters of war behavior (jus in bello) must be dealt with before a society can begin the peacebuilding process of reconciliation. War crimes tribunals do not offer the accused a chance for forgiveness as truth and reconciliation commissions do. Tribunals do, however, offer victims and their families the opportunity to confront those responsible for what happened to them, and hopefully to put the horrors of war behind them. A tribunal can be a forum for honoring the memory of those lost, as well as punishing those responsible.
The war crimes tribunals of Nuremberg and Tokyo, in which legal justice was used to punish the upper echelons of the German and Japanese military following World War II, continue to be regarded as the most successful tribunals to date. The democratic, progressive success of both nations following these tribunals is often given as evidence of the effectiveness of war crimes tribunals in helping a society that has perpetrated war crimes to return to stable diplomatic relations and the road to peace.
The Positive Side of War Crimes Tribunals
Mark Amstutz, a professor at Wheaton College, finds fault with retributive approaches to justice because they do not pay sufficient attention to how individuals are to reconstruct their lives.
One of the arguments in support of war crimes tribunals is that they act as a deterrent to potential war criminals. In fact, this idea is one of the main arguments behind a push to construct a permanent international war crimes tribunal. Currently, tribunals have to be sponsored by an organization like the U.N. or a national government. Without a permanently-established war crimes court, military and government leaders may feel emboldened to commit crimes such as the mass murder of ethnic groups in East Timor in the 1980s and 1990s, or in Rwanda in 1994.
War crimes tribunals offer a rare chance for the world's leaders and citizens to scrutinize both the deplorable decisions made by particular leaders, and the atrocities committed by the soldiers and agents of those leaders. Without such a forum, there would be no method for assuring that the masterminds and perpetrators of genocide and other war crimes are justly punished.
Tribunals also give victims and their families an opportunity to regain a sense of power that may have been lost resulting from a war crime. It is empowering for victims to stand up in a court of law and identify those who wronged them. A war crimes tribunal can also force forgotten or hidden atrocities to be retold by survivors. In this way war criminals living free of judgment are finally forced to accept responsibility for their actions and be judged for what they have done.
For a country attempting to make a transition from a repressive regime to a democracy, war crimes tribunals offer citizens and leaders the opportunity to put their faith in an equitable rule of law. Countries that truly wish to become modern democracies must accept the rule of democratic law and apply it to even their most powerful criminals. While this process takes an enormous effort of national will, nations that successfully conduct tribunals within the bounds of such laws prove they can function without reverting to the undesirable methods of repression and violence. Thus war crimes tribunals have the potential to help emerging democracies discover the benefits of a strong legal system while reconciling past atrocities.[2]
Finally, if all members of a society can agree upon what is unacceptable by trying its war criminals, then it is easier for the society to agree on what is acceptable. A successful war crimes tribunal allows the past to be laid to rest and a peaceful future forged from its results.
The Negative Side of War Crimes Tribunals
Terrence Lyons talks about the balance that lies between providing incentives for dictators to step down and enforcing punishment mechanisms for leaders who have behaved unjustly.
Many argue that war crimes tribunals offer no deterrent to potential criminals whatsoever. People with strong convictions against a certain religious or ethnic group will likely not feel any less hatred for that group just because a possible tribunal looms in the future. Both Hitler and Pol Pot believed they would be revered by future generations for the extreme measures they took to change the makeup of their societies. These leaders were inspired by their visions of the future and it is unlikely the prospect of a war crimes tribunal would have swayed either dictator.
In fact, another argument against tribunals is that men like Hitler and Pol Pot, the leaders of violent movements, are never judged by tribunals for what they do. A war crimes tribunal that tries only middle ranking officers, soldiers, and politicians is not as effective as one that tries the mastermind behind the crimes. The trial of Slobodan Milosevic offers some hope for the future of tribunals. However, if Milosevic is acquitted, that will support another argument against tribunals: often the legal system actually helps the accused avoid punishment. Insufficient evidence, unclear testimony, unsure witnesses, and the inability to directly link crimes with individuals due to chains of command are all factors that can lead to war criminals walking free, with full grace of the court.
Another criticism of war crimes tribunals is that they do not alleviate the underlying causes of the conflict. In fact, tribunals can escalate conflict, especially in a multi-ethnic society. In cases of genocide, those accused of war crimes are usually all from one ethnic group. To this group, a war crimes tribunal can appear to be a trial against their ethnicity, not just an individual from their group. This is especially true when the judicial system fails to fairly represent the whole society. For example, Rwandan Hutus accused of killing Tutsis would doubt in the possibility of a fair trial if only Tutsis were running the tribunal. Other Hutus, including those not accused, would likely feel the same way. Thus the war crimes tribunal could act as a wedge driving the two groups further apart.
This idea leads to another complaint about war crimes tribunals: that they are ineffective in transforming a fractured society into one of stability and peace. Following the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Rev. Desmond Tutu argued against a war crimes tribunal, pushing instead for a truth and reconciliation commission. He believed that no reconciliation or transformation was possible if the accused were not forgiven. War crimes tribunals necessarily demonize individuals and sometimes whole groups, further separating parties, instead of building peace.[3]
Possibly the most powerful argument against war crimes tribunals is that they offer only the victors justice. What was most obviously missing following World War II was not Hitler at Nuremberg, but a trial for Americans, French, British, and Russian individuals who committed acts that would have been considered war crimes had the Allies lost the war. The fire bombing of Dresden and the use of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki are clear examples of acts for which Allied leaders would have been tried had the war ended in favor of the Germans and Japanese. While it is easy and satisfying to put the enemy in prison for what he or she has done, it does not seem entirely fair if all those who participate in a war are not held to the same standards. In fact, one of the reasons that the United States has so far failed to support an international war crimes tribunal, the International Criminal Court, is fear that U.S. officers would be found guilty by the court. The United States also fears that this Court could be used for political revenge against the world's only superpower.
The Creation of an International Criminal Court
Sarah Cobb describes the importance of framing values clearly in one's narratives.
The International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) was officially established on July 1, 2002, and is located in The Hague, The Netherlands. However, all of the world's nations have not ratified the Rome Statute of the I.C.C., the document outlining the purposes, capabilities, and restrictions of the I.C.C. In fact, the United States, Russia, and Japan are among the major industrialized states that have yet to ratify this document. However, a sufficient number of nations have ratified the Rome Statute, and in accordance with its rules, the court now officially exists.
A key component of the I.C.C. is that only war crimes committed after the I.C.C.'s establishment can fall under its jurisdiction. Another aspect is that only those nations that ratify the document will fall under its jurisdiction. In general, the I.C.C. will have jurisdiction over crimes brought to its attention by outside parties or by its own investigators. The I.C.C. will not replace national tribunals, but will complement them by offering an arena for hearing claims that may be too complicated or extensive for a national court.[4]
One could argue that until all of the nations of the world ratify the Rome Statute, the Court cannot truly be considered an international criminal court. However, the establishment of the Court is a significant step toward the creation of an international system of war crimes justice.
[1] Bass, Gary Jonathan. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The politics of war crimes tribunals. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000)
[2] Kritz, Neil J. Transitional Justice: How emerging democracies reckon with former regimes. (Washington: USIP, 1995)
[3] Tutu, Desmond Mpilo. No Future Without Forgiveness. (New York: Doubleday, 1999)
[4] Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. (United Nations, 1999-2002) [on-line] Available from http://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/romefra.htm. Accessed on January 30, 2002.
Use the following to cite this article:McMorran, Chris. "International War Crimes Tribunals." Beyond Intractability. Eds. Guy Burgess and Heidi Burgess. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, Boulder. Posted: July 2003 <http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/int_war_crime_tribunals/>.
Sources of Additional, In-depth Information on this Topic
Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Brahm, Eric. "Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict -- Summary." Conflict Research Consortium, 2000. Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10047/.This is a summary of Nigel Biggar's "Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice After Civil Conflict."Brahm, Eric. "Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective -- Summary." Conflict Research Consortium, 2000. Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10185/.This is a summary of Jon Elster's "Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective."Brahm, Eric. "Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice vs. Peace in Times of Transition -- Summary." Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: http://www.beyondintractability.org/booksummary/10029/.This is a summary of Chandra Lekha Sriram's "Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice vs. Peace in Times of Transition"Facing History and Ourselves. Available at: http://www.facinghistory.org.This organization is based around helping people to understand the present and future by educating them about the past. It seeks to develop programs that would allow students to think critically about the past by emphasizing morality in history. The website has links to new articles discussing current world events and also provides resources for understanding these events. There are also resources like academic articles, films, books, and teaching tools provided at this site.International Criminal Court Fact Sheet. United Nations. Available at: http://www.un.org/News/facts/iccfact.htm.This United Nations site includes a helpful list of frequently asked questions about the ICC as well as a video of the press conference announcing the formal establishment of the Court. Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. Available at: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/imt/imt.htm.This site offers a comprehensive list of documents related to the Nuremberg war trials.Smith, Charles Anthony. "The Primacy of Politics: Justice, Power, and War Crimes Trials." Online Journal of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Vol. 2, No. 3 , 1999Available at: http://www.trinstitute.org/ojpcr/2_3smith.htm.This online article discusses the purposes behind war crimes tribunals, namely political trials versus trials seeking justice.Cassette, Jacquie. "Towards Justice in the Wake of Armed Conflicts?: The Evolution of War Crimes Tribunals." African Security Review, Vol. 9, No. 5/6 , 2000Available at: http://www.iss.co.za/Pubs/ASR/9No5And6/Cassette.html."This article traces the history and development of war crimes tribunals in the context of the development of international criminal law, with the emphasis on the establishment of the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and in hopeful anticipation of the establishment of a permanent international criminal court." "War Crimes Tribunals/Truth Commissions." , 2002Available at: Click here for more info."International or domestic war crimes tribunals and domestic war crimes trials investigate and prosecute war crimes and genocide where massive violations of human rights have been perpetrated, usually by military, para-military and political organizations associated with a government, often having incited civilians to participate in the violations. Commissions of inquiry and truth commissions investigate and publish war crimes and genocide." This page includes all the pertinent information regarding war crimes tribunals and truth commissions as tools in conflict prevention and resolution.
Offline (Print) Sources
Biggar, Nigel, ed. Burying the Past: Making Peace and Doing Justice after Civil Conflict. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, March 2001. This is a collection of essays drawn together by Nigel Biggar (Professor of Theology at the University of Leeds) that explores the challenges of establishing democracy after a period of violent and prolonged civil conflict. Relationships within the populace must be restored so that reprisals and revenge do not undermine or subvert emerging democratic processes. Click here for more info.Elster, Jon. Closing the Books: Transitional Justice in Historical Perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, September 6, 2004. This books examines historical examples of the process of transitional justice. It discusses how different countries have dealt with the fall of regimes, war criminals, and moving past the memories of conflict. Click here for more info.Sriram, Chandra Lekha. Confronting Past Human Rights Violations: Justice vs. Peace in Times of Transition. New York: Frank Cass, 2004. This book challenges transitional justice literature, which aruges that in a period of transition governments much choose between ensuring peace and attaining justice. This Sriram believes that there is a peace and justice continuum and rather than putting the two in competition with each other. Click here for more info.Akhavan, Payam. "Beyond Impunity: Can International Criminal Justice Prevent Future Atrocities?." American Journal of International Law 95:1, January 2001. Akhaven looks at the "determinate causes" of large-scale violence and determines that, despite an "inverted morality [that] has elevated otherwise 'deviant' crimes to the highest expression of group loyalty," international stigmatization of criminal conduct may have significant influence and promote post-conflict reconciliation.Weiss, Thomas G. and Don Hubert. "The Responsibility to Protect: Supplementary Volume to the Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty." Canada: International Development Research Centre, 2001. This book draws an important link between liberal democracies and the legalist use of war crimes tribunals. It offers case studies of the most historically significant war crimes tribunals.Transitional Justice: How Emerging Democracies Reckon with Former Regimes: General Considerations - Vol. 1. Herndon, VA: United States Institute of Peace Press, September 1, 1995. This volume (first in a series of three) is a compilation of works published elsewhere on the idea of transitional justice. The overall goal of the volume is to compile the many lessons learned by emerging democracies trying to use the rule of law to reckon with the atrocities of their national pasts.
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Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
van Metre, Lauren. Dayton Implementation: The Apprehension and Prosecution of Indicted War Criminals. United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Available at: Click here for more info.This report summarizes the recommendations of the USIP Working Group on Dayton Implementation regarding the apprehension and prosecution of war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. Prosecution must be one of the first steps in U.S. policy, since community development and reconciliation cannot begin until such justice has occurred.Wald, Patricia M. "Dealing with Witnesses in War Crime Trials: Lessons from the Yugoslav Tribunal." Yale Human Rights & Development Law Journal, Vol. 5 , 2002Available at: Click here for more info.This article argues that convictions, if they are to be legitimate, must be based on credible evidence presented in a public trial. The conflict between the right of an accused to a public trial and the exceptional pressures on victim witnesses of war crimes is omnipresent in ICTY trials.Fourth Annual Report of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda. Available at: http://www.un.org/ga/54/doc/tcir.pdf.The report addresses the activities of the Tribunal, including four judgments passed. The first of these was the first conviction for genocide ever delivered by an international court in the case of Prosecutor v. Jean Paul Akayesu.Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). Available at: http://www.history.com/.IWPR pioneers cross-community editorial projects that supports the independent press in regions in transition and informs the international debate on conflict. The focus of the Institute is on the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Central Asian states, Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union. They publish WarReport, and offers electronic reporting and monitoring services via the web or email. This site is searchable and has an excellent list of links.Kritz, Neil J. Rwanda: Accountability for War Crimes and Genocide. United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Available at: http://www.usip.org/pubs/specialreports/early/rwanda1.On September 16, 1994, the USIP convened a meeting to explore options for dealing with war crimes and genocide in Rwanda. Many of the options proposed at the conference were incorporated into a UN Security Council resolution on November 8, 1994, establishing a tribunal for Rwanda. This report contains in-depth analysis of these options in the context of the resolution and makes recommendations for enhancing the effort to bring perpetrators of atrocities in Rwanda and neighboring countries to justice.Dunn, James. "The Indonesian Tribunal: A Matter of Justice or Political Diversion?." Foreign Policy in Focus , August 30, 2002Available at: http://selfdetermine.irc-online.org/crisiswatch/0208timor.html.This article discusses the Indonesian war crimes tribunal investigating events in East Timor in 1999. The author questions whether the tribunal has any real power to convict those who perpetrated the crimes, and if those convictions will stand. He also addresses the possibility that the tribunal is little more than a political stunt, with no real intentions of punishing those who committed the war crimes.
Offline (Print) Sources
Magnarella, Paul J. Justice in Africa, Rwanda's Genocide, Its Courts, and the UN Criminal Tribunal. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company, February 1, 2000. This book outlines the historical background leading up to the Rwandan genocide of 1994, as well as the subsequent establishment of a UN-sponsored International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, designed to deal with the atrocities. The resource includes a discussion of the criticisms that followed the Tribunal's establishment.Tutu, Desmond Mpilo. No Future Without Forgiveness. Doubleday, 2000. Desmond Tutu's book outlines the reasons why South Africa preferred a truth and reconciliation commission to a war crimes tribunal. The most compelling reason is that reconciliation is easier following forgiveness and that reconciliation is most important for a nation wishing to build peace from such a negative pastReconciliation via the War Crimes Tribunal?. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2000. Critical examination of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Click here for more info.Bass, Gary Jonathan. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2000. Comprehensive study of the history of war crimes tribunals. He argues that the vigor with which war criminals are pursued is directly related to the degree to which troups from liberal democracies will be in harms way in apprehending criminals. Has chapters on St. Helena, Leipzig, Constantinople, Nuremberg, and Yugoslavia.
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Audiovisual Materials on this Topic:
Offline (Print) Sources
The Court. First Run Icarus Films. 1982. This film uses case studies to show now the International Court of Justice deals with countries and their leaders, when they commit unjust humanitarian acts. Click here for more info.The Pinochet Case. Directed and/or Produced by: Guzman, Patricio. First Run Icarus Films. 2001. This film follows the international criminal case against Augusto Pinochet of Chile. Click here for more info.Yellow Wasps: Anatomy of a War Crime. Directed and/or Produced by: Ziv, Ilan. First Run Icarus Films. 1995. This film questions whether justice can be found today in a world of global politics, as it monitors the Serbian war crimes trial against the Serbian paramilitary group know as the Yellow Wasps who were involved in atrocities of ethnic cleansing, and who received light sentences for their actions. Click here for more info

ICC a hybrided civil system of evidence

2011-06-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Why do you believe that the tribunals lack evidentiary standards (cite?)? Recall that the vast majority of the world community does not adhere to a Common Law system, but rather relies on the judge-made law of the Civil Law system. Many would sugest that the tribunals actually have a larger body of law to draw upon (conceiveably anything in International Law), and would therefore be more likely to come to a just outcome that the ICC which (if bound by rules of stare decisis, as you suggest below) would have a much more limited body of decisions from which to draw its reasoning.
Finally, tribunals are not perceived by many as being conceived ex nihilio (or, "out of nothing" for those new to latin...lol), but rather, out of the context of a more traditional international prosecution. While the ICC may be very "comfortable" to americans, as it contains some of the aspects of our legal system (as described above), we must remain aware that in the context of international prosecution (or International Law in the larger sense...), this is a very new concept/institution.

Prof Cummings
Prof. Cummings
The evidentiary standards of the ICC are much more delineated and specified to preset definitions and standards than in the trials of the ICJ where cases do not allude to former case law as one would expect in a civil system, you are quite right. However, the ICC does adhere to a specific format regarding admissibility in adhering to stages of proceedings as noted below which is not present in the ICJ procedings. Such procedings bespeaks to my mind a more than coincidental correlation to federal standards of evidence as I have purviewed them on Lexis..In chapter 4,section 1,rules 63-75 below alluded to are rules enunciated as principles not present in the ICJ lexicon, to be sure.This earmarks more than a civil system, but a hybrid composed of the elements of common law rulings on evidence which have been codified in anglo american law and stare decisis,but codified from their ulings in specific court cases and statutes.Note the underlined sectons below regarding admissibility,inspection and disclosure. The similarity of standards ,though encased in a civil type of system. are resonated in our discovery and evidentiary standards in our common law,but established by ruies of the court and by the Rome statute.Note epecially rule 73 regarding priveleged communications. These rules were stated not capriciously, but with the intent of focus not heretofore made in the canons of international law as applied to the specific crimes over which the ICC has jurisdiction.They have taken common law standards more in focus and enabled statutes in a civil frame of reference.The need for this was made manifest in the Rome statute dealing with thee unique crimes.The larger body of law to draw upon has not been done in the modus opeerandi of stare decisis as has occured in U.S. Supreme Court decisions , and that is what I indicated by the term "ex nihilo" insofar a a clear citing of allusions has not occured as in our Supreme Court cases explaining the holdings of cases specifically. The ad hoc manner contains a lack of such explication, though exegesis is done differently in the civil asystem. The borrowings are evident and hybrided into a statute arrangement in the civil mode, I believe.The larger body of law has not been sytematized to fit the specific crimes under which the ICC has suzerainty nor codified into specific digests of compilation as has occured in our law.The limited body of law to draw on by the ICC would not be applicable as the ICC could still draw on the resources of the ICJ through their cooperative agreements whch was why those agreements were made iniotially but applied to a recodified civil system of the Rome statute and the rules of the ICC.

Particle Physics and Experiments with antimatter

2011-06-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110605/sc_livescience/ephemeralantimattertrappedforamazinglylong16minutes

Ephemeral Antimatter Trapped for Amazingly Long 16 Minutes
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LiveScience StaffLiveScience.com Livescience Stafflivescience.com – Mon Jun 6, 2:25 am ET
Antimatter, an elusive type of matter that's rare in the universe, has now been trapped for more than 16 minutes — an eternity in particle physics.
In fact, scientists who've been trapping antihydrogen atoms at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva say isolating the exotic particles has become so routine that they expect to soon begin experiments on this rare substance.
Antimatter is like a mirror image of matter. For every matter particle (a hydrogen atom, for example), a matching antimatter particle is thought to exist (in this case, an antihydrogen atom) with the same mass, but the opposite charge.
"We've trapped antihydrogen atoms for as long as 1,000 seconds, which is forever" in the world of high-energy particle physics, said Joel Fajans, a University of California, Berkeley professor of physics who is a faculty scientist at California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a member of the ALPHA (Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus) experiment at CERN.
Trapping antimatter is difficult, because when it comes into contact with matter, the two annihilate each other. So a container for antimatter can't be made of regular matter, but is usually formed with magnetic fields.
In the ALPHA project, the researchers captured antihydrogen by mixing antiprotons with positrons — antielectrons — in a vacuum chamber, where they combine into antihydrogen atoms.
The whole process occurred within a magnetic "bottle" that takes advantage of the magnetic properties of the antiatoms to keep them contained. An actual bottle, made of ordinary matter, would not be able to hold antimatter because when the two types of matter meet they annihilate.
After the researchers had trapped antimatter in the magnetic bottle, they could then detect the trapped antiatoms by turning off the magnetic field and allowing the particles to annihiliate with normal matter, which creates a flash of light.
The team has now managed to capture 112 antiatoms in this new trap for times ranging from one-fifth of a second to 1,000 seconds, or 16 minutes and 40 seconds. (To date, since the beginning of the project, Fajans and his colleagues have trapped 309 antihydrogen atoms in various traps.)
And the researchers plan to improve on that, with the "hope that by 2012 we will have a new trap with laser access to allow spectroscopic experiments on the antiatoms," Fajans said in a statement. Those experiments would give researchers more information on the antimatter's properties.
In that way, it could help to answer a question that has long plagued physicists: Why is there only ordinary matter in our universe? Scientists think antimatter and matter should have been produced in equal amounts during the Big Bang that created the universe 13.6 billion years ago. [The Coolest Little Particles in Nature]
Today, however, there is no evidence of antimatter galaxies or clouds, and antimatter is seen rarely and for only short periods, for example, during some types of radioactive decay before it annihilates in a collision with normal matter.
The researchers detail their work on the antimatter trap in a new paper published online June 5 in the journal Nature Physics.
Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
Strange Quarks and Muons, Oh My! Nature's Tiniest Particles Dissected
Wacky Physics: The Coolest Little Particles in Nature
Twisted Physics: 7 Mind-Blowing Findings

Mladic's arraignment

2011-06-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

Mladic's arraignment

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/04/world/europe/04hague.html?src=mv&ref=world

THE HAGUE — For years Ratko Mladic impressed friends and foes with his barking voice and commanding presence. But in the dock on Friday, he seemed much diminished — the swagger gone, his speech slurred, the feared warrior now an infirm and elderly man.
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Dado Ruvic/Reuters
Bosnian women from Srebrenica, sitting in a room in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, filled with pictures of people who died in the town from 1992-95, watched the proceedings at The Hague.
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Mr. Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb general who was arrested in Serbia eight days ago after 16 years on the run, made his long-awaited appearance on Friday before an international court here that has accused him of genocide and multiple other atrocities. He quickly dismissed the charges read out to him as “obnoxious” and “monstrous.”
As Mr. Mladic, one of Europe’s most wanted men before his arrest, shuffled into court, two guards helped him into his chair. He looked around, a bit bewildered, then listened, sometimes rubbing his face or flashing a mocking smile.
Asked if he wanted to exercise his right to have the 37-page indictment read aloud in court, he said, “I do not want a single letter or sentence of that indictment read to me.” But the presiding judge, Alphons Orie of the Netherlands, went on to read from the 11 counts of crimes attributed to Mr. Mladic, a grave list that recounts unrelenting assaults on civilians by the troops under his command during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
But Mr. Mladic seemed most interested in his health. A few minutes into the 90-minute hearing, he told the judge: “I am a gravely ill man. I need a bit more time. Please be patient with me.” Later, he had a long private exchange with the judge about his ailments, which may well affect the course of his trial.
Aleksandar Aleksic, a lawyer for Mr. Mladic in The Hague, said Mr. Mladic had experienced three strokes and suffered from high blood pressure and from an intestinal hernia that required surgery.
Even so, Mr. Mladic tried to maintain some measure of decorum. With his right arm impaired by a stroke, he gave the judges a left-handed military salute as they entered the court.
At one point he straightened himself and told the court, “I am here defending my country and my people, not Ratko Mladic.” That drew a quick response from Judge Orie, who said, “I would like to remind you that you are charged as an individual.”
Mr. Mladic asked for more time to enter a plea, and the judge agreed, ordering him to appear in court again on July 4.
In the public gallery, separated from the courtroom by a wall of bulletproof glass, women who had traveled from Bosnia occasionally shouted abuse. “Butcher of the Balkans, you killed my son,” said one woman in a loud voice. “He has the devil inside him,” said another, before being told by guards to keep silent.
Outside the courtroom, Zumra Sahomerovic, of Srebrenica, Bosnia, the scene of the worst massacre that was said to have been ordered by Mr. Mladic, described the scene as pathetic. “Such a big general, and he’s now complaining about his health and how much stress he has,” she said.
Mr. Mladic’s arrival is expected to extend the life of the tribunal by several years. Created by the United Nations Security Council in 1993 to deal with war crimes cases related to the breakup of Yugoslavia, the tribunal had been scheduled to close in 2014.
Given the time it will take for Mr. Mladic and his lawyers to prepare his defense, the trial itself is not expected to begin for months. Prosecutors were debating whether to break out one or several segments from the indictment, which encompasses four broad sets of crimes: the violent campaign in 1992 to drive non-Serbs from large parts of Bosnia to create a region for Serbs only; the shelling and sniping during the 44-month siege of Sarajevo; the Srebrenica massacre; and the taking of Dutch troops from the United Nations peacekeeping force as hostages before overrunning Srebrenica.
Serge Brammertz, the lead prosecutor for the tribunal, said this week that Mr. Mladic “has come late, but not too late.” If anything, tribunal lawyers say, it may be easier for the prosecution to prove its case now than if he had arrived a decade earlier.
The violence during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s affected other regions, but Bosnia’s “ethnic cleansing” campaigns and the massacre at Srebrenica became the war’s overriding nightmares. Much evidence has been amassed and tested in trials of events that involve Mr. Mladic. Two of his close aides have received life sentences — the maximum the tribunal can impose — for their role in the Srebrenica massacre. Two others received life sentences for their role in the siege of Sarajevo, in which about 10,000 people died. Other underlings have also been tried and given a range of prison sentences.
In addition to extensive film footage that puts Mr. Mladic on the scene at the time of military action, the tribunal last year received the contents of secret material found in his Belgrade home. It included recordings of Mr. Mladic during meetings and telephone calls, and, most surprising to investigators, his military wartime diaries, adding up to some 4,000 pages.
With this great volume of material, the challenge for the prosecution will be to keep the trial manageable, since Mr. Mladic’s health may deteriorate if the proceedings run long.
Prosecutors have recently revised and updated the Mladic indictment to bring it broadly in line with that of Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnia Serb political leader who is already on trial here.
Each man now faces two counts of genocide as well as counts of extermination and murder; deportation; terrorism and unlawful attacks; persecution; and one count of hostage-taking of more than 200 United Nations peacekeepers.
One option now being studied is to try Mr. Mladic and Mr. Karadzic together on the Srebrenica charges. Mr. Karadzic’s trial, which began 18 months ago, has been focused on the Sarajevo siege and the abduction of the peacekeepers.
Geoffrey Nice, the lead prosecutor in the case of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president, said he believed that Mr. Mladic could be tried relatively quickly. “Srebrenica is such a grave offense that, if proved, just that would clearly be sufficient to obtain a sentence,” he said. Limiting the trial “would probably be wise, especially in view of Mladic’s age and health,” he said.
Peter Robinson, the legal adviser to Mr. Karadzic, who acts as his own lawyer, said there were “pros and cons to a joint trial.”
“Dr. Karadzic has not yet decided,” he said. “He thought it would be best to discuss this with Mladic.”

Probable cause (US Standard) v Reasonable Basis (International Criminal Court)

2011-06-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

http://angel04.gcu.edu/section/default.asp?id=554405
In your own words, explain the differences between the American law system of probable cause, and the reasonable basis standard required by the prosecutor in the International Criminal Court to bring charges.
The U.S. definition of probable cause has been measured by the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting the fourth amendment of the bill of rights in its case determinations and these have served as criteria for the lower courts to follow in the proper application of probable cause as applicable to a plethora of local and federal laws and topics.It is necessarily a subjective standard to follow the guidelines of Terry v Ohio , the seminal case establishing the definition of probable cause . A particular suspicion on the part of law enforcement linked to a set of facts must lead a "reasonable person" to conclude that arrest and detention of a suspect is in order and that a possible illegal act has been committed.This excludes generalized suspicions not linked to a specific fact scenario.In 1968, the Supreme Court included in the definition of reasonable suspicion the following grounds and criteria:a law offcer's expertise an experience,a suspect's reputation, anonymous tips supported by other facts. These factors comprise the test of rasonableness in assessing probable cause to justify arrest of a suspect.
The reasonable basis standard of the International Court of Justice is similar in some respects to probable cause ,but is not so much based on legakl case preedent but proceeds on a case basis.The procedure i more intricate tan probable cause arrest and is initiated by the prosecutor and evaluated by the pretrial chamber on information in the prosecutor's possession fromreliable organs such as UN organs, NGO's, Guidelines are given in Article 15(2) and 15(3) of the Rome statute where standards are more spelled out, yet there is a wide latitude of standards , and the judges must approve of the pretrial investigation according to article 15(3).The reasonable basis standard is detailed in 15(4) and is a lower standard of evidence that does not require it to be foregone as to its conclusions ,but that it be reasonable (the subjective standard again) that a crime has been committed over which the ICC has jurisdiction: wa crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity, and aggression. The crime must have been committed after the Rome Statute has been enacted (July 1,2002) by a "National of a State Party".Other requirements requisite to enabling ICC jurisdiction are: "complementarity": are other national courts ivestigating re: alleged crimes or persons charged with those crimes. If the state is unwilling to investigate the crime(s), then Article 17 would empower the ICC to take jurisdiction; the "gravity" requirement to justify ICC intervention, including the persons, nature of their crimes and their modus operandi.The prosecutor need not etablish interests of justice as a provision for the investigation.Then tghe pretrial chamber may review the interest of victims and the gravity of the crimes involved. This basis is a much more detailed and thorough investigaion as to process (Article 53) which is spelled out than what is involved in assessing probable cause.
I might add that venue establishment is more primary in ICC assessments than in the jurisdictional determinations in state and local courts in the U.S.The Demjanjuk case is being tried in a German national court whereas the Mladic case is being taken to the ICC for want of prosecution by the national state of Belgrade Serbia. (http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6671724644852957271&postID=5177308667314487895) ( http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110529/ap_on_re_eu/eu_serbia_mladic )

http://www.answers.com/topic/probable-cause

http://www.peaceandjusticeinitiative.org/implementation-resources/proprio-motu-investigation-by-the-icc-prosecutor

Ancient world dictionary finished — after 90 years

2011-06-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110604/ap_on_re_us/us_postcard_the90_year_dictionary_project
Ancient world dictionary finished — after 90 years
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By SHARON COHEN, AP National Writer Sharon Cohen, Ap National Writer – Sat Jun 4, 9:56 am ET
CHICAGO – It was a monumental project with modest beginnings: a small group of scholars and some index cards. The plan was to explore a long-dead language that would reveal an ancient world of chariots and concubines, royal decrees and diaries — and omens that came from the heavens and sheep livers.
The year: 1921. The place: The University of Chicago. The project: Assembling an Assyrian dictionary based on words recorded on clay or stone tablets unearthed from ruins in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey, written in a language that hadn't been uttered for more than 2,000 years. The scholars knew the project would take a long time. No one quite expected how very long.
Decades passed. The team grew. Scholars arrived from Vienna, Paris, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Berlin, Helsinki, Baghdad and London, joining others from the U.S. and Canada. One generation gave way to the next, one century faded into the next. Some signed on early in their careers; they were still toiling away at retirement. The work was slow, sometimes frustrating and decidedly low-tech: Typewriters. Mimeograph machines. And index cards. Eventually, nearly 2 million of them.
And now, 90 years later, a finale. The Chicago Assyrian Dictionary is now officially complete — 21 volumes of Akkadian, a Semitic language (with several dialects, including Assyrian) that endured for 2,500 years. The project is more encyclopedia than glossary, offering a window into the ancient society of Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, through every conceivable form of writing: love letters, recipes, tax records, medical prescriptions, astronomical observations, religious texts, contracts, epics, poems and more.
Why is there a need for a dictionary of a language last written around A.D. 100 that only a small number of scholars worldwide know of? Gil Stein, director of the university's Oriental Institute (the dictionary's home), has a ready answer:
"The Assyrian Dictionary gives us the key into the world's first urban civilization," he says. "Virtually everything that we take for granted ... has its origins in Mesopotamia, whether it's the origins of cities, of state societies, the invention of the wheel, the way we measure time, and most important the invention of writing.
"If we ever want to understand our roots," Stein adds, "we have to understand this first great civilization."
The translated cuneiform texts — originally written with wedged-shaped characters — reveal a culture where people expressed joy, anxiety and disappointment about the same events they do today: a child's birth, bad harvests, money troubles, boastful leaders.
"A lot of what you see is absolutely recognizable — people expressing fear and anger, expressing love, asking for love," says Matthew Stolper, a University of Chicago professor who worked on the project on and off over three decades. "There are inscriptions from kings that tell you how great they are, and inscriptions from others who tell you those guys weren't so great. ... There's also lot of ancient versions of `your check is in the mail.' And there's a common phrase in old Babylonian letters that literally means `don't worry about a thing.'"
There were omens, too — ways of divining the future by reading smoke patterns, the stars, the moon and sheep livers.
"Like all people at all times, they wanted to try to find some way of controlling their world," says Martha Roth, the dictionary's editor-in-charge and dean of humanities. "It's very difficult to draw the line between actually believing and being superstitious."
Robert Biggs, professor emeritus at the university, devoted nearly a half century to the dictionary, sometimes uncovering tablets on digs in the Iraq desert, sometimes poring over texts in museums in London and Baghdad. His specialty is Babylonian medicine. For almost an entire year, he studied thousands of references to sheep livers.
For example: If a sheep's gallbladder — part of the liver — was long and pointed, it meant the defeat of the enemy king. If there was a certain kind of crease on the liver, it could mean the king was going on a journey. A lunar eclipse could mean danger for a king.
But the tablets reached far beyond royalty. Biggs says they included everything from a disputed paternity case to agricultural loans to famine, where desperate people sold their children for cash. "Life was very fragile ... it was much more risky that it is now," he says.
Making sense of it all was painstaking work. Some of the wedge-shaped characters changed over the thousands of years, and the tablets excavated from ancient temples, palaces and cities were frequently crumbling. Often there was no punctuation, so it was hard to know where one word ended and the other began.
"You'd sit in a room with a good light and turn the tablet in various directions to see as much as possible," Biggs explains. "Quite often the tablets were broken so you might see part of a sign. And different people looking at the same thing would see something different because of the way you'd hold it."
"Sometimes it got to be very tedious," he adds. "Other times there was a sense of exhilaration if you could solve some problem or figure out what a rare word means."
Regardless, the work continued.
"You always saw the light at the end of the tunnel," Biggs says. "But the end of the tunnel kept getting further and further away."
An early 10-year completion deadline was soon deemed unrealistic. "Scholars always underestimated how difficult it would be," Roth says. "People always expected the project would end in their lifetime. What can I tell you? That's not always the way it goes."
There was much to research, much to record. By 1935, scholars already had 1 million index cards. It would take more than 30 years before the first of the 21 volumes was published. Most cover a single letter. The entire collection spans about 10,000 pages and 28,000 words. The definitions are more fitting for an encyclopedia; they provide cultural and historical context, similar to those in the Oxford English Dictionary.
"It's not such a word means king," Roth says. "It's a matter of understanding the thousands and thousands of references to the word king in every document in every period."
Roth notes that after arriving at the university in 1979, she asked to work on the word witness or witnessing. That took four to five years. On the other hand, there might be just a dozen references to a jar holding grain and that research could be complete in an afternoon.
Now that the dictionary is finished, Roth says there's a feeling of tremendous accomplishment and "a little bit of a sense of loss.... This has occupied my waking and sleeping moments for 32 years. You dream this stuff."
The end also brings a realization as more tablets are unearthed, more discoveries will be made.
"It's like driving a Porsche off the lot and looking in the Blue Book (listing a car's worth) and seeing how much value it's lost," Stolper says. "The moment it's done, it's out of date."
Biggs says the scholars are satisfied with the final version, but there is that lingering temptation.
"It might be nice to start over," he says, "but no one has the courage to do it anymore."
___
Online:
Chicago Assyrian Dictionary: http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects

do we really need an International Criminal Court?

2011-06-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

The United Nations has authority to set up tribunals to address criminal offenders in global society. Therefore, do we really need an International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
However, tribunals were established to try crimes committed only within a specific time-frame and during a specific conflict, there was general agreement that an independent, permanent criminal court was needed. On 17 July 1998, the international community reached an historic milestone when 120 States adopted the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court.
I believe that we do need the ICC.
I agree with your assessment that we need a spcialized international criminal court defining the worst crimes of humanity as genocide, war crimes , and crimes against humanity,specifically defined in the Rome Statute and agreed upon by 120 nations.The UN tribunals have ad hoc situations with other than these crimes during a specific time of conflict with statutes of limitation. The ICC still adddresses a specific need spelled out by the mass incidents of genocide and war crimes during and after WWII, and hence the Hague tribunal. The uniqunessof the scenarios and crimes necessitated the Hague tribunal where specificity of the statute links with the UN charter a unprecedented and specific attention is paid to those crimes as well as a new foruth class of crimes of aggression.

Modern Myth and Non Linear Storytelling :Comics

2011-06-03T23:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.realitysandwich.com/David_Mack_Interview

Drawing Outside the Lines: A Talk with David Mack
James Curcio

This interview originally appeared on Modern Mythology. It will be run in the Immanence of Myth anthology along with many other interviews with creators working in the realms of modern myth.
James Curcio: I still remember the first time I encountered Kabuki. I was just browsing around a Barnes & Noble, buzzing on caffeine, and this beautifully illustrated hardcover book found its way into my hands. It's not hard to be taken in by the art, really, it is both graceful and bold -- but I actually laughed out loud when I started reading it -- there was a section where the characters were talking to one another, and then moving through a building. Now most sequential artists would draw panel after panel of them walking and talking, West Wing style, maybe breaking it up with different angles and whatnot so it's not just a bunch of talking heads. But you just give us a top down view of the building, and little talk bubbles as they wind their way around the maze. I just thought that was completely brilliant... I never would have thought of that, but then looking at it, it's just like "of course!" This is something I've seen continuing through these books, that you are really good at finding the straightest line, the best means of telling the story rather than just adhering to whatever storytelling conventions people might be used to.David Mack: I like how you described that. I think you described it very astutely. That is how I approach the art. As a tool of the writing. I try to consider what pace, or rhythm, or medium or visual personality of style of art will best and most effectively communicate that particular story or scene of the story.
Do you refer back to previous myths and stories when you write? Are there any that you find yourself returning to frequently?I allude to myth quite a bit in my work.Certainly, Kabuki often refers to a certain amount of Japanese mythology. The story often incorporates the framework of Japanese myths and the Japanese Ghost Story that was a central theme in the Kabuki plays.Kabuki also incorporates the traditional "Hero's Journey." The central myth that myths from all cultures and times continue to orbit around. From Biblical literature (which was probably my introduction to literature & mythology) to Greek Mythology, to folk stories around the globe. The scholar Joseph Campbell has written some incredible books about this: the journey of the hero, and the use of masks in mythology and storytelling.But Kabuki also corresponds to a template of children's literature and the mythology that has grown around that. Each of the Kabuki volumes alludes to a kind of children's fairy tale. Both western and eastern fairy tale mythology & children's literature is interwoven into the story. For instance the first volume of Kabuki is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll told a fantastical story that was essentially the journey of a child into adult consciousness.Hence the allegory of chess pieces. The story of a pawn into a queen. If the pawn can make it to the other side of the board they become the most powerful piece on the board.I used this iconography in Kabuki as well. In Kabuki Vol. 1, each main character pertains to a piece on the chess board. And each main character correlates to a character from Alice in Wonderland. The Twins, Siamese, are Tweedle Dee & Dum. The General is Humpty Dumpty, Scarab is the Beetle, Tigerlily & Snapdragon are named after the talking flowers in Through the looking glass and so on. When you know this, it is quite easy to correlate the characters. But when you don't know it consciously, there is still a mythological iconography that gives weight to the story subconsciously.
This is how I find it best to work as well... you don't depend on your audience to be familiar with a certain myth, but if older myths inform the birth of newer ones, it's almost like people can feel the power of that structure, even if they don't catch the reference...In the character of Echo in Daredevil, I told the Vision Quest story using the template of traditional Native American Folk tales & Mythology. I used the same act structure that the tales use. The same framing devices. The traditional Vision Quest stories are echoed in this story beat for beat. The Native American Manitou character is enacted by the Logan or Wolverine character in the story even though we never say his name. If you know the Marvel universe, you can recognize him as Wolverine. But if you are reading it as a Native American Vision Quest story, he is the Manitou, one of the animal spirits or nature spirits that appears in the last act of the Vision Quest to deliver helpful information to the questor that will benefit her tribe.In my children's book The Shy Creatures , mythology is central. All of the characters are mythological or cryptozoological creatures. They are borrowed from Greek myth in the case of the Cyclops, Pegasus, & phoenix, literary mythology in the case of the Push-me-pull-you, and international modern urban mythology in the case of the Latin Chupacabra, the Himalayan Ambominable Snowman, & the Scottish Loch Ness Monster.Where does the inspiration for you characters come from?
My stories are, in a sense, my playground to make sense of, and give an order to, all the things that I experience and think about. As such, key inspiration for characters and story comes from my childhood, my family, aspects of myself, people I've known, stories I've experienced and that have been told to me. Then the characters take on a life of their own in context of story.

Because the storytelling of comics can oftentimes be so visual -- in a way I think even more than film -- I often find myself writing for comics in images and then working the writing later. What's your writing process like?I always begin with the story. I write a very full script. I think of myself as a writer primarily and that gives me the freedom to use the art as another tool of the writing. As such, I try to think of what visual tone, or media, or art style, colors, or visual rhythm will best communicate each individual story or section of the story.And then I try to develop a visual look or visual them that will best tell that particular scene or sequence and serve as an overall visual identity to that particular story.Often, in the scripting stage I may think of several different visual motifs for a particular scene, and I will just write them into the script as notes of possible visual avenues to explore when drawing the scene later.But on each level there is room for spontaneity and improvement. After I do the art, I will then go back and rewrite and edit the original text to accommodate the new epiphanies that have happened in the visual translation.
Do you start with an image, words, a character, or does it really depend on the circumstance?It does vary from story to story, but in general, things begin with the character. Sometimes scenes begin with an idea of a striking visual image. Something that I know begins the scene and an image that may end it.But character arc is usually where things begin. Where is this character coming from -- where do they want to go -- what is causing them to behave as they do -- if they continue that behavior where does it take them? Can they change the behavior? Why would they do that?External and internal causal incidents. Sometimes this is very conscious in planning and it is also always intertwined to a certain amount of unconscious planning. The things in your head and soul that are happening and making order of things without you really knowing why at first.
I have come to think the exact same way about writing, no matter the ultimate medium that the story will be told in. Have you discovered any resistance to these less traditional storytelling devices? I can imagine some people who are really stuck on one method might get frustrated or confused, the same way the linear-obsessed oftentimes go nuts over non-linear narratives.You mentioned two great points. New forms of storytelling beyond the completely conventional, and non-linear narratives.I love the traditional and conventional tropes of storytelling and panel design in comics. However, I also feel I would be doing a disservice to the story, if I did not invent new ways of telling the story that are custom designed for the feel of that particular story. It would be ridiculous to tell every story the same way. Not to mention just plain lazy. The conventional and traditional tropes and devices of comics were originally invented for problem solving of specific storytelling situations.These problem solving techniques contributed and built the early grammar of comics.I'm actually being traditional in a way by continuing to invent new problem solving for particular stories. And by adding and building to the lexicon of comics, by contributing more options and subtleties to the grammar of comics.It seems lazy and ignorant to use solutions that were designed for specific storytelling problems, and use those as a rigid template for each and every story. I believe there is actually more clarity to each story, by letting that story solve its own storytelling challenges and have each story and issue that I do add a new dimension to the medium.I've built on so many things that brilliant creators before me have brought to the medium of comics, it is only fair that I give back to the medium with new designs for future stories to build on and revolutionize.As for linear vs non-linear storytelling: Each are a solution for a particular story that may best be served by it.I believe what is considered "linear storytelling" is actually the more stylized and fanciful, where "Non-linear storytelling" is closer to how we experience the real world day to day.
I would have to agree.Non-linear storytelling is the way each of us make our way through the day as we are having a conversation with someone and a physical action, and that conversation or action, triggers a memory of something from the past, and part of us follows the tangent in that direction. Then we think of something we have to do in the future and another part of our consciousness follows that stream of storytelling, and the various streams converge at points back with the physical action or external conversation or interaction we are having. It happens just about every minute of the day. All humans are able to follow that. So I see no reason not to show that in a story if that is the best solution for that particular story. Especially if you are following a story from a specific character's personal point of view.

I also noticed -- at least in Metamorphosis, the Kabuki graphic novel I've been reading -- that there are multiple overlapping narratives. You can read most of it like a traditional comic, just following the illustrations and the talk bubbles, but worked into the illustrations is a subtext that seems to come from the subconscious of the characters, if you want to call it that. In places it almost seems to come directly from their physical experience, written on their bodies like a tattoo. I'm curious how that storytelling device occurred to you, whether it's been gestating in your work for a long time or if you just started breaking away like that one day?A lot of this relates to the so called linear and non-linear storytelling choices. There is a hierarchy of things happening. What is being said, vs what is being done, vs what is being thought. So I figured out ways to show that visually.Mostly it was problem solving of how to incorporate the lettering with the image. Unlike in film, words in comics take actual physical space. In film a character can talk for paragraphs and none of the words will encroach over the image that you see. In comics you have to be very mindful of your word to image ratio, and your panel to time, to beat, to word ratio.
Yeah. When I am lettering a comic book, I find that I have written entirely too many words to fit comfortably with images. So it then forces me to edit very considerately what words must remain for special and pacing reasons.
Tell me about it! I think writing for comics teaches some very important lessons, even for writers who prefer to work primarily within prose.One of my solutions to this was to put one level of text into the images, so it creates a movement, if the idea it describes is meant to have a movement, and to be a sub-level of wording, if it is a thought or unconscious, subconscious or private string of words, to contrast the surface wording. It is a way to establish an order to the wording, and a rhythm to the actions, and an insight of words vs image of the characters.One of the things that I love about the medium of comics is that if they are done right, you can not distinguish between the art and the story. The art is the story, and words contribute to the design and art. At its most effective, you cannot distinguish where one starts and the other ends.
Can you tell me a bit about your early introduction to visual art and storytelling? How you got interested in it, how you feel you learned your trade?I'd say my mother has been my biggest artistic influence. She was a first grade teacher, and I was introduced to how she made art as visual learning devices for her students. She also introduced me very early on to visual stories in the form of children's books. My new children's book The Shy Creatures is in bookstores this week, as well as Amazon.com. It kind of picks up where my memory and experience of children's books as a kid left off.With comics, my real introduction of storytelling came when I read a friend's Daredevil when I was nine years old. It was a Frank Miller issue and it had quite an effect on me. I remember realizing how the writer was using so many visual techniques to set the mood and pacing of the story.After that, I later searched out more of Frank Miller's work, and in an interview of Miller and Klaus Jansen, I learned that Miller was inspired by Wil Eisner. So I then sought out Eisner's work and ordered his book Comics and Sequential Art and began my study of comic book storytelling.I should mention that I'm working on a new Daredevil series right now in which I am thrilled to collaborate with some of the creators that inspired me as a kid. It is called Daredevil: End of Days. I'm co-writing it with Brian Michael Bendis, and we are working with Klaus Jansen and Bill Sienkiewicz who are doing the art for it. Alex Maleev is doing the covers, and Brian and I are thrilled to be writing this as our love letter to Daredevil with such incredible artists that have dedicated large chunks of their careers to building the history of this character.
I see you've worked with Andy Lee. I had a table at Megacon in 2005 and met him when I was making my rounds, and have been talking off and on since... I'd never seen someone work so fast -- a real benefit to him at con's, I'm sure, when people are paying you $30 an original. He actually struck me with a similar, really open and friendly vibe. You know there's this conception of comic artists being these kind of socially retarded troglodytes. I keep getting that illusion shattered. What did you collaborate with him on?I've been close friends with Andy Lee for over 15 years. When he was beginning his art career he moved into my house and we shared it as a studio and learned quite a bit from one another. Not unlike the relationship with Kabuki, and Akemi, and M.C. Square working from the House 13 in the current Kabuki -- The Alchemy series.It was kind of like Fight Club. But with art instead of soap.I learned quite a bit from his Chinese Calligraphy and his quick spontaneous style. And I like to think I contributed some insights to his art approach as well. He was living and working from my house while I created the Kabuki: Metamorphosis volume that you mentioned.We've collaborated a lot on various personal works and paintings as well as some comic book work. For Marvel, we worked on Brian Michael Bendis' Marvel Team Up story on the Master of Kung Fu issues. Andy Lee contributed some Kabuki gallery work to the Kabuki Images book that included interpretations from some of my favorite artists. Also to Brian Michael Bendis' Jinx collection and more.I think you can find more info on this and any of my other work at davidmackguide.com which is updated with new stuff every day.-----David Mack is one of the only creators to be listed in both the Top Ten Writers List, and the Top Ten Artists List in Wizard Magazine. Mack's writing and art work on KABUKI, have earned him international acclaim for his innovative storytelling, sophisticated content, mixed media painting techniques, and page design. KABUKI is available internationally and has been translated in seven different languages, in addition to nearly two million copies of KABUKI Comics, Paperbacks, and Hard cover graphic novels in print in the U.S. alone. Mack has toured and exhibited his work throughout, Europe, Asia, and America with numerous gallery shows, and book signing tours at premier bookstores in over a dozen countries. He was the first American to be nominated for Germany's most prestigious Max-Und-Moritz award in the category of Best Imported Comic.Mack has illustrated and designed jazz and rock albums for both American and Japanese Labels (including work for Paul McCartney), painted Tori Amos for her RAINN benefit calendars, designed toys and packaging for companies in Hong Kong, animation art for MTV, ad campaigns for SAKURA art materials, written and designed video games for film director John Woo and Electronic Arts, and contributed the artwork for Dr. Arun Ghandi's essay on the "Culture of Non-Violence".Mack's KABUKI books have been the subject of under-graduate and graduate university courses in Art and Literature, and listed as required reading. His work has been studied in graduate seminars at USC and hung in the Los Angeles Museum of Art. He's lectured at universities and taught classes in writing, drawing, and painting all over the world, including a Masterclass at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia, for Japan's School of Communication Arts of Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, and an invitation to speak at Harvard as the Guest of Honor at their annual Science Fiction Writing convention for 2005. Besides working for Twentieth Century Fox as a writer of the treatment to the Kabuki motion picture, Mack's film credits also include, Visual Designer, Creative Consultant, and Co-Producer.Currently Mack is working with the Philip K. Dick Estate to adapt the Science Fiction Master's work to graphic novels at Marvel Comics, Co-writing a new Daredevil story with Brian Michael Bendis, and writing his new children's books.

The Necessity of the Hague

2011-06-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

I believe my reply to John's post is why I favor the ICC at the Hague where specific attention is paid to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity,and aggression on a global acale. These crimes are well defined without statute of limitations and are linked to the UN charter, are subscribed to globally, and are unique to the post WWII era. Ad hoc tribunals to try war criminals in a specific conflict with statutes of limitations are more descriptive of ICJ cases and are more legalistically intricate insofar as extradition is concerned such as the cases referenced on the ICJ website. The research web site in our current readings afforded me much insight into the Rome statute and the need for galvanizing definitions of standards of evidence and categorizing these unique cimes by definition of elements. Much thought went into the definition of aggression, and the standards of evidence were quite in line with common law elements of evidentiary standards in U.S. federal law as commented on in Lexis.The Rome treaty and this work on specificity in relating to the crimes of our era necessitated the Hague tribunal as unique and separate and the global community has recognized its need.
Note the below excerpted topics and the similarity to the common law concepts of discovery and disclosure: I obtained this and the Rome statute from the excellent web site alluded to below.
____________________________________________________________________
Edward:
As the world becomes increasingly global, international issues are logically on the rise--including criminal issues.
Why do you think ut took the international community so long to adopt a permanent ICC?
Was it nationalism? What other factors may have played a part?
The need for the ICC was not fully recognized until presented with the debacle of those crimes of genocide, war crimes, and aggression which were anti humanitarian crimes .The spectre either was not so appaling as during and after WWII , or else the global community turned a blind eye to them which they no longer could do because the spectre was so evident and these crimes were widespread and embedded in the global consciousness.Nationalism and its perversive and indeed pervasive camouflages and deceptions were seen in a more glaring light as counter to the true interests of humanity and also the nationalistic perversions of minority rights were seen as an endangerment to all nations. I believe the spectre of the Holocaust played a formative role.

Chapter 4 Provisions relating to various stages of the
proceedings 22
Section I Evidence 22
Rule 63 General provisions relating to evidence 22
Rule 64 Procedure relating to the relevance or admissibility of evidence 22
Rule 65 Compellability of witnesses 22
Rule 66 Solemn undertaking 23
Rule 67 Live testimony by means of audio or video-link technology 23
Rule 68 Prior recorded testimony 23
Rule 69 Agreements as to evidence 24
Rule 70 Principles of evidence in cases of sexual violence 24
Rule 71 Evidence of other sexual conduct 24
Rule 72 In camera procedure to consider relevance or admissibility of evidence 24
Rule 73 Privileged communications and information 25
Rule 74 Self-incrimination by a witness 26
Rule 75 Incrimination by family members 28
Section II Disclosure 28
Rule 76 Pre-trial disclosure relating to prosecution witnesses 28
Rule 77 Inspection of material in possession or control of the Prosecutor 28
Rule 78 Inspection of material in possession or control of the defence 28
Rule 79 Disclosure by the defence 29
Rule 80 Procedures for raising a ground for excluding criminal responsibility under
article 31, paragraph 3 29
Rule 81 Restrictions on disclosure 29
Rule 82 Restrictions on disclosure of material and information protected under
article 54, paragraph 3 (e) 30
Rule 83 Ruling on exculpatory evidence under article 67, paragraph 2 31
Rule 84 Disclosure and additional evidence for trial 31
http://www.eisil.org/index.php?sid=438497646&t=sub_pages&cat=500

AP IMPACT: US declines to try half Native crimes

2011-06-02T09:52:00.001-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110531/ap_on_re_us/us_tribal_crime_justice

AP IMPACT: US declines to try half Native crimes
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AP – This March 25, 2011, image shows Navajo Nation chief prosecutor Bernadine Martin looking through a folder …
By FELICIA FONSECA AND SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press Felicia Fonseca And Sudhin Thanawala, Associated Press – Tue May 31, 4:23 pm ET
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – There was swelling on the little girl's skull and hemorrhages around her brain. There was a tear between her right ear and scalp. The scars on her 36-pound body were consistent with burns from a space heater, a curling iron and hot noodles.
The mother said she had accidentally rolled over onto her daughter in bed, smothering her. The medical examiner concluded that the brown-eyed toddler with the wavy dark hair had been beaten, declaring her death a homicide.
Had 2-year-old Kiara Harvey died elsewhere the case likely would have been handled by the county sheriff or police, and the local district attorney.
But Kiara was a Navajo and she lived on the expansive Navajo Nation. On tribal lands, only federal prosecutions can lead to serious penalties for major crimes involving Native Americans. Those prosecutors, however, end up declining to pursue half of the cases nationally.
"No one speaks for that baby," said Bernadine Martin, the Navajo Nation's chief prosecutor. "It's OK to kill her and go on because prosecutors apparently don't want to put a little more effort into investigations."
In the Arizona portion of the Navajo Nation, which also stretches into New Mexico and Utah, Kiara's case was one of 37 that federal prosecutors declined to take during a 9-month period last year, an Associated Press review found.
Among all tribes in Arizona during the same period, there were 122 such cases. The overwhelming majority were alleged sex crimes that included rape and abusive sexual contact, followed by assaults. Nineteen cases involving deaths were rejected.
The AP's analysis found the reasons to be both complicated and frustratingly similar, and perhaps as exasperating to federal prosecutors as they are to tribal authorities. They cited poor evidence, reluctant witnesses and jurisdictional issues.
Federal authorities "want to prosecute the individual, they want to get a stiff sentence, they want to go to trial, so declining it is tough," said Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, whose office issued the letter saying that it would not take the Kiara Harvey case.
"It's not a process that leaves anyone with any comfort," he said.
Whatever the reasons, no one disputes that many people suspected of violent crimes are walking free on reservations, or are lightly punished under tribal laws that allow only a year in jail — or up to 3 years if the tribe has trained judges and tribal courts can guarantee that defendants get legal aid.
The Arizona letters provide a window into a much larger government study of Department of Justice records in which 50 percent of the 9,000 cases filed from tribal lands during fiscal years 2005-2009 were declined.
In the study, 42 percent of rejections were attributed to weak or insufficient admissible evidence; 18 percent to "no federal offense evident;" and another 12 percent to witness problems.
In the AP's Arizona review, the reasons — many cases cite more than one — were:
• 59 percent cited insufficient or inadmissible evidence. That could mean anything from inferior investigations by law enforcement to inadequate crime scene preservation.
• 27 percent cited witness problems, which can include witnesses recanting, being viewed as not credible, or simply disappearing.
• 16 percent cited a lack of jurisdiction, which can speak to the level of a crime. For example, the injuries of a detention sergeant beaten by an inmate weren't serious enough to be a federal crime.
The Government Accountability Office's study was published after a change in federal law last summer meant to bolster justice on tribal lands. The report was produced at the behest of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs led by then-Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota.
Former U.S. attorneys testified that reservation cases were often not treated as a priority, Dorgan told the AP in an interview before the bill was passed. "In many cases, it didn't get done. The result is that violent crime continues and those that commit them don't get prosecuted."
DOJ officials don't like being measured by declination rates.
"Unfortunately, federal declination numbers on face value, without full context, are not an appropriate measure of whether justice was served," DOJ spokeswoman Jessica Smith said. The numbers don't capture the reasons cases are rejected and miss those that are prosecuted outside the federal system, she said.
The declination rate for other federal cases, which can include terrorism, environmental violations or corruption, is not directly applicable since they are so different from the types of cases in Indian Country, said David Maurer, who helped author the GAO study.
The Justice Department has reported that the crime rates experienced by Native Americans are two and a half times higher than those experienced by the general population, and that violent crime happens in Indian Country at a rate of 101 per 1,000 persons.
Federal prosecutors in South Dakota and Arizona had the largest number of cases reported from Indian Country. Each comprised some 24 percent of the total national caseload, according to the GAO report.
Arizona has 12 federally recognized tribes, with the Navajo Nation being the largest in number and land area. Federal prosecutors received 2,538 cases and declined 38 percent of them. South Dakota has seven federally recognized Indian tribes, including the well-known Oglala Sioux at Pine Ridge and Rosebud Sioux at Rosebud. Federal prosecutors there received 2,414 cases, declining 61 percent.
Brendan Johnson, the U.S. attorney for South Dakota, said a lack of manpower makes it more difficult to investigate and prosecute cases. "We need more police officers. We need more investigators," he said.
Johnson said a lack of collaboration between tribes and federal prosecutors is also to blame.
His office has focused on improving ties with tribes by having an assistant U.S. attorney spend most of his week at one reservation and working to have the tribal prosecutor on another reservation designated a special U.S. attorney, he said. That would allow the attorney to come into federal court and help prosecute cases.

____________________________________________________________________

The Kiara Harvey Case
In the Navajo Nation capital of Window Rock, the Navajo prosecutor keeps the Kiara Harvey case rejection letter in a red folder on her cluttered desk. The letter offers details of Kiara's death in Cove, 145 miles to the north, on June 6, 2008:
Kiara woke up early that morning, crying, and followed her father into the living room as he was leaving for work. An aunt said he picked up the girl wearing a shirt, diaper and socks and took her to a bedroom where her mother and sister were sleeping.
When her mother tried to wake her around 8:30 a.m., Kiara was cold to the touch and her body was stiff, according to the initial report by tribal police — who arrived 75 minutes after the mother called. The officers wrote that they saw no signs of foul play, but noted bruising and burns on her body.
New Mexico medical examiner Ross Reichard, whose office was closest to Cove, ruled out the mother's assertion that she had accidentally smothered the child. The girl was "beaten by assailant(s)," he reported. But he said he couldn't rule out that the child was with her father at the time she was fatally injured.
Kiara's parents no longer live together but maintain contact for the sake of their children, her mother, Norena Joe, said in a phone interview with the AP. She declined to talk about her daughter's death.
Both parents denied any abuse, according to FBI records obtained by the AP as part of a Freedom of Information Act request.
Burke, the U.S. attorney in Arizona, wouldn't say when his office received the case from the FBI, but the bureau's records show that it was more than 19 months after Kiara's death. FBI agents — along with those from the Bureau of Indian Affairs — conduct most of the federal investigations in Indian Country.
"You have a situation where the only two people in the room are the parents, and being able to say we have enough on one as opposed to the other, that has to be really solid," Burke said. "It is really a disturbing situation, but it just doesn't get you a conviction."

____________________________________________________________________
Federal prosecutors rejected the case more than two years after Kiara died.
Martin received the case file from Navajo investigators at the end of March, including copies of the autopsy report, interviews, pictures and results of polygraph tests that, according to the case rejection letter, the father passed and the mother failed.
Mac Rominger, supervisory special agent for the FBI's Flagstaff office, declined to comment specifically on Kiara's death. But, he said, "There are rarely more difficult cases to prove than cases involving infants who are the victims of homicide."
Even if Martin can get a conviction in the child's death under tribal law, the maximum sentence would be one year in jail.
John Major, the chief prosecutor for the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona, said tribal authorities there pursue charges under tribal law even when cases are referred to the federal government. If federal prosecutors take the case, tribal charges often are dropped. If not, the tribe still can pursue justice. Federal prosecutors rejected 20 cases from the tribe over nine months last year. why do they pursue chargea in this manner due to the close knit community and to have these charges closed to the larger community and govt? MY COMMENT LENIECNY ISSUE WHY -THE TRIBE KNOWS FAR BETTER THE EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES AND REVERBERATIONS THAT CAN OCCUR
"The federal system is like a huge freight train that, when it goes, it's very powerful. But it takes a long time to accelerate from a dead stop and get up to speed," Major said.
Under last year's Tribal Law and Order Act sponsored by Dorgan, federal prosecutors must explain declinations to tribal prosecutors and provide evidence that could be used in tribal court to prosecute the case.
When Burke became U.S. attorney in Arizona in late 2009, he sent a letter to tribes saying that every case referred to his office would have a 30-day turnaround. In the past, that communication hadn't been made to tribal prosecutors for months or years.
Burke doesn't dismiss criticism of those delays, and said those affected by the crimes have a right to assume a lack of interest on the part of federal prosecutors when cases are declined. By communicating better and using the rejection letters as teaching tools, "we're doing a better job" of helping tribal leaders understand why there was a problem with the case, he said.
Tribal prosecutors in Arizona say they largely agree with the federal government's reasons for declining cases but often don't have the resources to investigate for themselves.
The 270 Navajo police officers and criminal investigators respond to 235,000 calls a year on the 27,000-square-mile reservation, the size of West Virginia, and officials say it's difficult to do more than race from one crime scene to another.
The Navajo prosecutor said none of the 37 Navajo cases declined for federal prosecution in the Arizona tract of the vast reservation have been prosecuted under tribal law.
The large number of declined sex assault cases, both in the national study and in the AP's Arizona survey, are particularly problematic because the victim and suspect often know one another, making the victim reluctant to pursue charges, BIA officials said.
"I hate to see that our Native women here seek help, cry for help, but no one helps them," said Doreen Gatewood, a victims' advocate for the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
Domestic violence charges face similar hurdles.
"You have a very close-knit community that's tied together by family or traditional means," said Darren Cruzan, deputy director of the BIA's Office of Justice Services and a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma. "Everybody kind of knows everybody else." close knit community and desire to keep everything private and at home MY COMMENT
Martin, the Navajo prosecutor, holds out hope for a tribal prosecution in Kiara's case, saying evidentiary rules that differ under tribal law may provide an opening. "We can't let this one go," Martin said. "They may get a `not guilty,' but we're going to make our best effort to let the public know you can't kill your kid and get away with it."
Kiara has now been dead longer than she was alive. Martin knows she must act quickly. The tribe's three-year statute of limitations — the last chance to file charges — expires June 6. these rules reflect the desire for home rule and an understanding of the why behind the crimes and are so disparate from the evidence rules the federal courts have and the criminal sanctions involved there- my comment
___
Thanawala reported from San Francisco.
___
Felicia Fonseca can be reached at _http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storytext/us_tribal_crime_justice/41686733/SIG=10ub4utl7/*http://twitter.com/FonsecaAP

kindred spirits ofthe heretic religion of the heart

2011-06-01T23:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.realitysandwich.com/heretic_religion#comment-116673

In my recent viewing of the film Vision, which is an adaptation of the life story of the great female Christian mystic, Hildegard Von Bingen, I am remindedyet again of the importance of heretics in Christianity. Indeed, Christianity was founded by one of history's greatest heretics, and began as a spiritual revolution by a visionary. Throughout Christianity's history, there have been special visionaries who have continued the original flame of Christianity's founding, mystics who sought direct communion with Spirit, with God rather thanblind obedience to hierarchical religious structures of dogma -- and Hildegard Von Bingen was but one of them.
The Anabaptist wing of Christianity began as a heretic religion, and growing up inOhio in the Church of the Brethren, I was constantly reminded of the left-wing,conscientious-objector, progressive source of our founding. It's funny how progressive, visionary heretic sects evolve and begin to embody the very same qualities of hierarchy and structured dogmatic control that they originally rebelled against. I guess it's the metaphor of a young teenage boy rebelling against the controlling father, only to mature into manhood and becoming the same authoritarian father that he rebelled against.
But it isthis essence of rebelliousness and spiritual inquiry, of seeking directcommunion with God, that excited me and spurred me to be a heretic against myfamily and Church, to find out for myself what is spiritual truth from directexperience rather than from what is handed to me in religious propaganda. WhenI was 17, a friend at a Youth Conference at Manchester College triggered me tobegin asking questions like 'What is God?', and 'What's wrong with drugs andsex and nudity?' rather than just accepting what I was told. Thus I left myhome and my Church as I entered college and began my spiritual quest ofmysticism and seeking God in the many paths to enlightenment.
Aftermany years of exploring Quaker meeting houses, Zen Buddhist temples, Yogaclasses, Tai Chi, Rumi poetry, the Tao Te Ching, New Age Psychic Channeling,Reiki, Sufism and Islamic Mosques, I found myself on the West Coast living outof my backpack. I wandered around homeless with but pennies to my name and theuniverse providing daily miracles to support and prove to me that reality isimbued with consciousness.

My questto find God, to find Enlightenment and to be guided by synchronicity, inspiredlargely by the Mayan shaman author, Martin Prechtel, found me one day in Juneof 2003 in Salt Lake City, Utah, having my first great mystical breakthroughexperience. Earlier that week, I'd been in Seattle and had discovered my newbest friend, Mira, on the sidewalks bumming for change. She'd just arrived inSeattle days before and had been sleeping underneath bushes, on a journey toheal herself of bulimia, seeking Ayahuasca as a means to heal herself of herbulimic curse. I'd never heard of Ayahuasca and had no idea what that was, butI told Mira that I would help her find Ayahuasca because I had faith in magicand miracles.
Dayslater, we were hitch-hiking through rural Idaho on our way to a RainbowGathering in Utah, and had been blessed with a string of really sweet ridesoffered by lovely and kind drivers, but had suddenly found ourselves on the sideof a highway for 50 minutes unable to lure anyone to stop for us. As I carriedthe gigantic pack on my back, weighed down by the exhausting weight and theheat from the sun, I began praying for help. I cried out for God to open theheart of some kind person on the highway. Moments later a driver pulled ontothe side of the highway, with Mira jumping up and down, her arms wavingexcitedly. We had found a ride!
Ourdriver explained his story. He was an ex-military man who had found a lucrativejob doing what he'd been trained to do in the military; working on helicopters.He would drive to some station on the west coast, work a week-long shift, andthen drive home to Salt Lake City, arrive in his furniture-less bachelor padhouse and take every psychedelic known to mankind for several days beforedriving back to work for another week-long shift. Right as we entered Utah, heasked Mira and I if we'd like to join him and do Ayahuasca that evening! Ourjaws dropped and hit the floor at the same time as we stared at each other inwide eyed disbelief! At that time, I was completely oblivious to the traditionof Amazonian Ayahuasca ceremonies and had never seen it, smelled it or tastedit before -- so I was totally wide eyed, innocent and said Yes. Mira wanted tojoin us but was terrified of finally having an opportunity to partake of theAyahuasca, plus she wanted to make it to a PsyTrance party out in the woods anhour away from Salt Lake City, so we dropped her off in the middle of nowhere,the contents of her backpack splayed out on the ground, with an enormous stormsystem approaching from the west and only a tiny bit of raw veggies to sustainher.

When Iarrived at my driver's house, we entered the kitchen and he opened up thecabinet, exposing shelves containing nearly every psychedelic drug known toman. He prepared the chacruna leaves and the Syrian rue pills and I prepared analtar of all my sacred items in the empty living room. When the bowls ofChacruna tea were ready, we downed it, and he sat down to watch movies and playvideo games - meanwhile I sat in the living room and began meditating andpraying to God. I had no idea what this would possibly do to me; I was apsychedelic baby.
It beganwith gorgeous fractal mandalas opening in the sky above me; a sensation movedthrough my body that felt like I was an empty vessel and God was being pouredinto me. I was reminded of my favorite Christian hymn, "Have Thine OwnWay, Lord", the lyrics of "Thou art the potter, I am the clay, mold me andmake me after thy will, as I am waiting, yielded and still." I felt thatstillness and yielding within me, opening to the heavens, experiencing my firsttrue mystic awakening of God pouring into me like a waterfall.
I beganweeping in bliss. I looked into a mirror and began watching all the faces fromall my past lives and past incarnations wash over me and I wept, and then arealization swept over me in its awe-inspiring totality -- that everything thatexists is the flesh of God. We are literally standing on God; this street isGod, this front porch is God, this sky is God, this lawn is God; everything isGod. The ecstasy of this realization prompted me to leave the house and beginwandering barefoot through the streets in pure awe of the divinity ofeverything surrounding me. I wandered for several blocks and found a manwaiting at a bus stop for a bus. As I approached him, his face was one ofcomplete and utter fear and revulsion -- his first words to me were "Areyou an Angel?" I explained that I wasn't an angel, I was just awakened bythe Light of God. I asked him why he was waiting for a bus, when he issurrounded by God, and that God is waiting for him. I sat with him for almostan hour as he poured his heart out and listened to him gush about hischallenges with his wife, their child, his job, everything. I sat there withhim and reminded him that God is everywhere and everything, and that God iswaiting for him to open his heart and receive. As I left, I felt as though I'djust experienced the most important experience of my entire life up to thatmoment.

I believethat every one of us needs to personally experience the transcendent presenceof God, of the Divine, in some way in one's life in order to truly know thatthere is a Divine hand at work in reality and in our lives, in order tocultivate a faith based on a real connection, rather than a blind faithenforced by some external belief system. And truly, every single one of usdeeply deserves to experience this relationship with what we could call "God"so that we may know in the depths of our Soul, our connection to the universalmystery that is much larger than any one religion.
It isthis concept that birthed initiations and vision quests in Native American andindigenous cultures, where the youth were put into situations where they had toopen up to the wider girth of awareness that reality can envelope when one isprayerfully in connection to this "holy spirit" wisdom emergent inreality. It is these kinds of direct experiences of the Divine, of God, thatinspired the Christian mystic, Hildegard Von Bingen. As a Benedictine nun, shesought to express her uncontrived and unconventional visionary experiences ofGod with others through song, through writings, through art, and through herbalmedicine. Despite her unconventional spiritual expressions, and especially asan empowered woman expressing an almost pagan facet of Christianity, she isstill revered for her spiritual wisdom as one of the greatest Christian mysticsin history.

I willnever understand why Christianity evolved in such a way as to make narrowlydefined belief systems and structures more important than the kind ofheart-centered, community-centric, Love and Forgiveness is the way to theKingdom of Heaven concepts that Jesus taught. It has always seemed to me to behistory's greatest irony that the most liberated, visionary mystic man whowalked the planet spurred the creation of the most dogmatic religion historyhas ever seen, due to the fact that it was co-opted by the Roman powers fortheir own selfish purposes of elitist control over their empire. The veryempire that Jesus spoke against took his cross and turned it into the mostauthoritarian, controlling religious empire in history. And it is this veryRoman Catholic empire that the Anabaptists were spurning a heretic religionagainst.
So I askyou, my fellow Brothers and Sisters of the Church of the Brethren, the GermanBaptists, the Mennonites, the Dunkards, the Amish; where is your inner heretic?Have you had a direct experience of God? Have you sought your own personalredemption, have you awakened your soul to your own divinity? Have you doneyour own deep work of transforming yourself from a programmed slave of ahierarchical system of oppression, have you found your liberation? If youhaven't, have you read the history of your own church? Do you know that theAnabaptists were started by rebels, in revolt against both the Roman CatholicChurch and Lutheranism? There is something I've always treasured and valuedabout the Anabaptist concept of choosing one's own baptism when one actuallyhas cultivated true faith and belief, coming to the faith from oneself ratherthan being baptized at birth because that's what everyone did.
I havelong admired the Anabaptists for living on the fringes of society, for theAmish living simply and traditionally, for the 'Salt of the Earth' people thatI grew up surrounded by -- the rural farming communities that I grew up aroundin Ohio. But, largely prompted by my mom, I also admired the women's liberationmovement and the history of women's empowerment in the church, such as thesuffragette movement that grew out of Quaker meeting houses in Philadelphia,and the empowerment of early German Baptist Brethren women like Sarah RighterMajor. Growing up in a congregation with two pastors -- a married couplesharing the reigns -- I grew up believing that progressive values were morallyright and questioned the accepted standards of society, and had to push theenvelope beyond what is traditionally accepted as true, by aligning more andmore with what morally feels right in my spirit, such as empowering women eventhough it broke conventions of traditional patriarchal religious institutions. In fact,when I went to a German Baptist church with my family near Covington Ohio, itfelt more oppressively male-centric and utterly patriarchal than any otherexperience in my entire life, even more so than my dabbling experiences withIslamic Mosques. This one experience helped give me a clearer understanding ofthe karmic lineage of my family than any other before or since; since that timeI have sought to completely extract all aspects of this harsh hard woodfloored, patriarchal, hierarchical, anti-dancing, anti-freedom, anti-sensualityreligion from my soul. And thus I have been a heretic ever since, essentiallyshunned in not so many words from my family and religion of birth.
I havehad to find a whole new family, a whole new community, a whole new spiritualityout here on the West Coast. We are a spiritual community of misfits, freaks,artists, hippies, musicians, mystics, massage therapists, tantrikas,psychonauts, devoid of the structured hierarchy and control that is endemic tospiritual communities that are structured around strict belief systems andchurches. We may all be self-obsessed fanatical new age weirdos, but we've allcome together based on common energetic patternings, lifestyles of freedom andcreativity, and have tried to find ways to be mutually supportive of each otherwhile living on the fringes of the mainstream society, outside of any dogma.
Ourspirituality seems to be self-created through our own process of awakening andliberation, and is something each of us has had to discover on our own viaparties, ceremonies, drugs, sexuality, our journey away from our Church ofbirth, and life. Sometimes it doesn't make any sense to me, sometimes I missthe support of a blood family, but most of the time I am just in awe of thestunningly gorgeous earth-centered community of freaks that I am surroundedby.

Butdespite this, I keep discovering new layers to the Anabaptist in my skin -- Ikeep finding new layers to peel away that reveal more and more an inherentquality of the heretic Christian mystic within myself. It is only just now thatI've realized that I was born in a counter-culture fringe religion, that I wasborn to never fit into mainstream society. I was born programmed to give amiddle finger to war, military, law enforcement and the global elite. I've longwondered why down deep in the root of my soul I just can't accept the socialconventions of this American society -- like buying cars, paying taxes, usingcredit cards, working a regular "job," shopping in malls, supportingthe endless wars, and I cannot seem to fit into it in any way, no matter howmuch I have tried and struggled.
It's beenan absolutely maddening and infinitely confusing schism within myself; to tryto fit into the mainstream and follow its program or give it a big middlefinger and follow my heart and live as a mystic rebel. But it's what myancestors have been doing for hundreds of years, living outside of themainstream society, struggling as conscientious objectors against every singlewar, refusing to wear anything but modest clothes, driving horses and buggies,living simply within their means, gardening and absolutely refusing to getintoxicated.
Afterseveral years as a total stoner, It has shown up as a need for sobriety andmental clarity, for a need for living simply, for a need to live in a spiritualcommunity of kindred spirits, for a need to participate in spiritual communityevents that bring us together to sing on a consistent basis, for a need to livein small towns connected to the Earth surrounded by gardens. The containerlooks very different than the gardens, churches, tractors, hymns, services andPassover bread of my ancestors, but in its actual day to day actualization, itoften feels like the next level of the same paradigm, simply a more modernfree-spirited version of a similar lifestyle. And I am grateful for the safecontainer I grew up in, but I will be forever dedicated to stripping away allthe layers of repression of joy, creativity and sensuality that were instilledin me as a child.
Thus I amalways seeking communion with my brothers and sisters, those kindred spirits ofthe heretic religion of the heart

awesome!
Submitted by Wahkeena Sitka Huva on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 14:33.
Yeah, Martin Prechtel is amazing and was very inspirational to me... 'Secrets of the Talking Jaguar' is the one I'd recommend most, but all 3 of his books are amazing. I love 'Stealing Benefacio's Roses' for the insane story he went through during the Guatemalan civil war.
http://vocal-alchemy.com/

Indeed
Submitted by JahSun on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 08:05.
I concur totally with your idea of mystics as social heretics. Occasionally a social or religious order will adopt one as a role model or a saint, but only when the person is long gone... and their heretical ideas or actions are of no-immediate consequence or threat to the existing institutions.
Christians in general forget that the New Testament is not a book of moral rectitude as much as it is a promise. It clearly states that if you do certain well defined things, you will get certain well defined results. Namely, you will receive the Holy Spirit (without which one can not be considered a Christian). If one HAS the Holy Spirit, there are certain signs by which this can be known. One should be able to perform miracles, engage in prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons, trod on serpents and scorpions... etc. etc. If you can not do any of these things, you have not the Holy Spirit... and by extension, you are not a member of Christ's flock. Period.
Yet, so few so-called Christians have the courage to actually pursue the divine directly. Instead they practice idolatry (most churches have statues of a dying Jesus), judgement on other people's lifestyles (judge not lest ye yourself be judged), collect firearms, and jump up and down when some "enemy" (no matter how wrong headed) is shot in the eye. There is no "love your enemies" and certainly no Pentecost type awakenings in modern Christianity.
Your ayahuasca experience is closer to what happened to the apostles on Pentecost than anything happening in any church anywhere at this time.
Keep pursuing that direct connection to divinity my brother... namaste.

The Cosmic Religious Feeling
Submitted by Zorro on Fri, 05/20/2011 - 11:51.
"...there is a third stage of religious experience which belongs to all of them, even though it is rarely found in a pure form: I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. It is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it. The individual feels the futility of human desires and aims and the sublimity and marvelous order which reveal themselves both in nature and in the world of thought. Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole. (...)
The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it. Hence it is precisely among the heretics of every age that we find men who were filled with this highest kind of religious feeling and were in many cases regarded by their contemporaries as atheists, sometimes also as saints. Looked at in this light, men like Democritus, Francis of Assisi, and Spinoza are closely akin to one another.
How can cosmic religious feeling be communicated from one person to another, if it can give rise to no definite notion of a God and no theology? In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it. "
Albert Einstein

"The SACRED (whatever that means) is surely related (somehow) to the BEAUTIFUL (whatever that means)..."Gregory Bateson

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“I've long wondered why down deep in the root of my soul I just can't accept the social conventions of this American society.” Because the aspect of this society you are rebelling against is the very culture devoid of questioning assumptions. But it sounds like you have connected with a legacy of American society that is the heritage of the Native Americans. I recently watched a wonderful series, “The Native American Experience” that demonstrated just how marvelous and radically autonomous Native American culture was. To the extent that when the great leader Tecumseh wanted to round up warriors to fight off the invading whites, he had to appeal to every individual warrior. A chief could not make the decision for anyone other than himself!

The Inward Light
Submitted by jeff on Sat, 05/21/2011 - 12:28.
Hello Wahkeena
Thank you for your inspiring article
I'm a Quaker and you definitely 'spoke to my condition.'
There is still so much that a Christian path can offer and I'm glad to hear you speak of this so eloquently. There is tremendous power, love, wisdom and compassion to be found and why let fundamentalists high jack it when it is available to all, right now, in this instant?
As you know, direct experience of God here and now without intermediary is the essence of the Quaker path.
Your article reminds me of the words of the twentieth century Quaker mystic Thomas Kelly written in 1941.
To you who are seekers, to you, young and old who have toiled all night and caught nothing, but who want to launch out into the deeps and let down your nets for a draught, I want to speak as simply, as tenderly, as clearly as I can. For God can be found. There is a last rock for your souls, a resting-place of absolute peace and joy and power and radiance and security. There is a Divine Center into which your life can slip, a new and absolute orientation in God, a Center where you live with Him and out of which you see all of life through new and radiant vision, tinged with new sorrows and pangs, new joys unspeakable and full of glory..
Thankyou again
Jeff :O)

drugs" are but one way, and definitely not invalid
Submitted by Wahkeena Sitka Huva on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 18:06.
In our culture, we are systematically taught to repress altered states of consciousness for they might lead to schizophrenia or insanity... However, that does not in any way negate using substances to attain the altered states of consciousness to expand the mind and open up to divine states of awareness. In fact, I am of the opinion, that there is no way possible to access the state of being that I entered into in this essay without the use of DMT. However, I have also chosen a drug-free / sober lifestyle the last 5 years, and have attempted to find ways to cultivate myself spiritually without any substances. Which is why systems of teaching such as QiGong, Kundalini Yoga, Tai Chi, and Meditation exist. These are all other vehicles or ways to connect in and open up to that same source; perhaps not quite so "hit you over the head" intensely... But it's all just working on different vibrational levels..... But definitely do not negate in any way your spiritual awakenings through drugs, just look deeper! xo

___Quaker roots
Submitted by Inin-Soi on Tue, 05/31/2011 - 22:08.
Thanks for a great article. I found the writing style fresh and with the feeling of coming straight from the heart.
It helped put me in touch with the essence of my Quaker heritage for which I have a lot of gratitude although I live mainly in the world of indigenous shamanism these days.
The Austrian white magician and clairvoyant Rudolf Steiner said that the age of real Christianity has not even begun yet.
Food for thought

__Localisation of the divine
Submitted by Paul_Kiritsis on Wed, 06/01/2011 - 09:42.
Greetings, Just read your article. Very interesting. I'm quite sure that "heretic" should probably be applied leaders of religious denominations that have deliberately monopolised spiritual revelation to garner secular power. The faction most guilty of this is the Roman Catholic Church which appropriated Biblical Scripture to the extent that it became a victim of the very "evil" it was attempting to subdue. How many people died in the Salem witch hunts? During the Middle Ages, many royals approached the Pope for advice regarding the murder of innocent civilians only to be told that "If it serves God it will be forgiven". Sadly, when philosophies and ideas pertaining to the nature of God are transposed to the most debased, literal level, they garner retrograde mentalities which preclude any consideration of human life as a wholly valuable, sacred and indispensible entity. The sacrifice of life for a defunct "truth" that is the biggest sin that humankind has committed since its coming to consciousness.
http://www.evolver.net/user/paul_kiritsis

_____________________________________________________________

GIZA Hidden no more

2011-05-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

GIZA

Hidden no more: Pyramid findings rock the Web

Are the glory days of the archaeologist over? Has everything cool and ancient already been discovered? Nope. Thanks to ever-improving technology, several new findings have electrified the Web.
A robot explorer recently discovered ancient markings at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The robotic device found the markings inside a secret chamber inaccessible to humans--and then proceeded to film the painted hieroglyphics and stone markings, which hadn't been seen by human eyes in 4,500 years, via a small robotic camera that was fit through a tiny hole in a stone wall.
It is too soon to tell what the markings mean, but experts are hoping they may shed some light on why the ancient Egyptians originally built the tunnels. An article from CNN explains that the tunnel is "one of several mysterious passages leading from the larger king's and queen's chambers."
This wasn't the first time a robot explored the passageways--but it was the first time a robot could focus on details on the walls. This breakthrough occurred thanks to a new kind of micro-camera that can be bent side-to-side instead of just focusing straight ahead.
News of the discovery quickly took the Web by storm. Over the past 24 hours, Web searches for "great pyramid of giza" and "egypt pyramids" both spiked into breakout status. Also seeing big bumps in lookups: "hieroglyphic dictionary" and "hieroglyphic meanings."
Meanwhile, other technologically enhanced discovery expeditions have turn up other fascinating new information about the pyramids in recent days. Archaeologists from the United States (with some help from the BBC) used satellite imagery to discover 17 pyramids beneath the sand and silt in Egypt. An article from Canada's CBC explains that 1,000 tombs and around 3,000 other buildings were also discovered thanks to the technology.
How does the satellite-mapping work? According to the CBC, "kiln-fired bricks used to build ancient cities can be distinguished from the earth covering it" on the infrared satellite images. This find may be just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. There may be many more buildings, tombs and pyramids buried further beneath the Earth's surface.
Their tools have changed, but archaeologists shouldn't fear for their jobs. Clearly, the Earth still holds many secrets--if you look hard enough.
(Egyptian archaeology workers ferrying sand in trolleys on rail tracks in front of the Great Pyramid, in Giza, Egypt. AP/Amr Nibil)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20110531/wl_yblog_upshot/hidden-no-more-pyramid-findings-rock-the-web

London, England (CNN) -- A robot explorer has revealed ancient markings inside a secret chamber at Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza.
The markings, which have lain unseen for 4,500 years, were filmed using a bendy camera small enough to fit through a hole in a stone door at the end of a narrow tunnel.
It is hoped they could shed light on why the tiny chamber and the tunnel -- one of several mysterious passages leading from the larger King's and Queen's chambers -- were originally built.
The markings take the form of hieroglyphic symbols in red paint as well as lines in the stone that may have been made by masons when the chamber was being built.
The big question is the purpose of these tunnels.--Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University
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Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities
According to Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University, similar lines have been found elsewhere in Giza. "Sometimes they identify the work gang (who built the room), sometimes they give a date and sometimes they give guidelines to mark cuttings or directional symbols about the beginning or end of a block," he said.
CNN Money video: How much would the Great Pyramid cost to build today?
"The big question is the purpose of these tunnels," he added. "There are architectural explanations, symbolic explanations, religious explanations -- even ones relating to the alignment of the stars -- but the final word on them is yet to be written. The challenge is that no human can fit inside these channels so the only way to do this exploration is with robots."
Pictures of the markings have been published in the Annales du Service Des Antiquities de l'Egypte, the official publication of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, following an international mission led by the Minister for Antiquities.
The robot explorer that took the images is named Djedi, after the magician whom Pharaoh Khufu consulted when planning the layout of the Great Pyramid. It was designed and built by engineers at the University of Leeds, in collaboration with Scoutek UK and Dassault Systemes, France.

A close-up view of the red marks on the floor in the pyramid
Although robots have previously sent back pictures from within the pyramid's tunnels, Djedi's creators say it is the first to be able to explore the walls and floors in detail, rather than just take pictures looking straight ahead, thanks to a "micro snake" camera.
The camera also scrutinized two copper pins embedded in the door to the chamber at the end of the tunnel. In a statement, Shaun Whitehead, of Scoutek UK, said: "People have been wondering about the purpose of these pins for over 20 years. It had been suggested that they were handles, keys or even parts of an electrical power plant, but our new pictures from behind the pins cast doubt on these theories.
"We now know that these pins end in small, beautifully made loops, indicating that they were more likely ornamental rather than electrical connections or structural features. Also, the back of the door is polished so it must have been important. It doesn't look like it was a rough piece of stone used to stop debris getting into the shaft."
The team's next task is to look at the chamber's far wall to check whether it is a solid block of stone or another door.
"We are keeping an open mind and will carry out whatever investigations are needed to work out what these shafts and doors are for," said Whitehead. "It is like a detective story, we are using the Djedi robot and its tools to piece the evidence together."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2011/05/31/pyramids-found.html
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/28/pyramid.markings/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular

Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape

2011-05-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_israel_underground_jerusalem
Beneath Jerusalem, an underground city takes shape

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AP – In this May 17, 2011 photo, a view of Zedekiah's Cave is seen in Jerusalem's Old City. Underneath the …
Slideshow:Underground Jerusalem
By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Matti Friedman, Associated Press – Mon May 30, 12:09 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Underneath the crowded alleys and holy sites of old Jerusalem, hundreds of people are snaking at any given moment through tunnels, vaulted medieval chambers and Roman sewers in a rapidly expanding subterranean city invisible from the streets above.
At street level, the walled Old City is an energetic and fractious enclave with a physical landscape that is predominantly Islamic and a population that is mainly Arab.
Underground Jerusalem is different: Here the noise recedes, the fierce Middle Eastern sun disappears, and light comes from fluorescent bulbs. There is a smell of earth and mildew, and the geography recalls a Jewish city that existed 2,000 years ago.
Archaeological digs under the disputed Old City are a matter of immense sensitivity. For Israel, the tunnels are proof of the depth of Jewish roots here, and this has made the tunnels one of Jerusalem's main tourist draws: The number of visitors, mostly Jews and Christians, has risen dramatically in recent years to more than a million visitors in 2010.
But many Palestinians, who reject Israel's sovereignty in the city, see them as a threat to their own claims to Jerusalem. And some critics say they put an exaggerated focus on Jewish history.
A new underground link is opening within two months, and when it does, there will be more than a mile (two kilometers) of pathways beneath the city. Officials say at least one other major project is in the works. Soon, anyone so inclined will be able to spend much of their time in Jerusalem without seeing the sky.
On a recent morning, a man carrying surveying equipment walked across a two-millennia-old stone road, paused at the edge of a hole and disappeared underground.
In a multilevel maze of rooms and corridors beneath the Muslim Quarter, workers cleared rubble and installed steel safety braces to shore up crumbling 700-year-old Mamluk-era arches.
Above ground, a group of French tourists emerged from a dark passage they had entered an hour earlier in the Jewish Quarter and found themselves among Arab shops on the Via Dolorosa, the traditional route Jesus took to his crucifixion.
South of the Old City, visitors to Jerusalem can enter a tunnel chipped from the bedrock by a Judean king 2,500 years ago and walk through knee-deep water under the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. Beginning this summer, a new passage will be open nearby: a sewer Jewish rebels are thought to have used to flee the Roman legions who destroyed the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D.
The sewer leads uphill, passing beneath the Old City walls before expelling visitors into sunlight next to the rectangular enclosure where the temple once stood, now home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the gold-capped Dome of the Rock.
From there, it's a short walk to a third passage, the Western Wall tunnel, which continues north from the Jewish holy site past stones cut by masons working for King Herod and an ancient water system. Visitors emerge near the entrance to an ancient quarry called Zedekiah's Cave that descends under the Muslim Quarter.
The next major project, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority, will follow the course of one of the city's main Roman-era streets underneath the prayer plaza at the Western Wall. This route, scheduled for completion in three years,
will link up with the Western Wall tunnel.
The excavations and flood of visitors exist against a backdrop of acute distrust between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims, who are suspicious of any government moves in the Old City and particularly around the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam's third-holiest shrine. Jews know the compound as the Temple Mount, site of two destroyed temples and the center of the Jewish faith for three millennia.
Muslim fears have led to violence in the past: The 1996 opening of a new exit to the Western Wall tunnel sparked rumors among Palestinians that Israel meant to damage the mosques, and dozens were killed in the ensuing riots. In recent years, however, work has gone ahead without incident.
Mindful that the compound has the potential to trigger devastating conflict, Israel's policy is to allow no excavations there. Digging under Temple Mount, the Israeli historian Gershom Gorenberg has written, "would be like trying to figure out how a hand grenade works by pulling the pin and peering inside."
Despite the Israeli assurances, however, rumors persist that the excavations are undermining the physical stability of the Islamic holy sites.
"I believe the Israelis are tunneling under the mosques," said Najeh Bkerat, an official of the Waqf, the Muslim religious body that runs the compound under Israel's overall security control.
Samir Abu Leil, another Waqf official, said he had heard hammering that very morning underneath the Waqf's offices, in a Mamluk-era building that sits just outside the holy compound and directly over the route of the Western Wall tunnel, and had filed a complaint with police.
The closest thing to an excavation on the mount, Israeli archaeologists point out, was done by the Waqf itself: In the 1990s, the Waqf opened a new entrance to a subterranean prayer space and dumped truckloads of rubble outside the Old City, drawing outrage from scholars who said priceless artifacts were being destroyed.
This month, an Israeli government watchdog released a report saying Waqf construction work in the compound in recent years had been done without supervision and had damaged antiquities. The issue is deemed so sensitive that the details of the report were kept classified.
Some Israeli critics of the tunnels point to what they call an exaggerated emphasis on a Jewish narrative.
"The tunnels all say: We were here 2,000 years ago, and now we're back, and here's proof," said Yonathan Mizrachi, an Israeli archaeologist. "Living here means recognizing that other stories exist alongside ours."
Yuval Baruch, the Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of Jerusalem, said his diggers are careful to preserve worthy finds from all of the city's historical periods. "This city is of interest to at least half the people on Earth, and we will continue uncovering the past in the most professional way we can," he said.

:War crimes suspect Ratko Mladic

2011-05-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110529/ap_on_re_eu/eu_serbia_mladic

AP – Bosnian Serb people holding photos of former Gen. Ratko Mladic during a protest in Kalinovik, Bosnia, …
Slideshow:War crimes suspect Ratko Mladic
By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press Jovana Gec, Associated Press – Sun May 29, 7:56 pm ET
BELGRADE, Serbia – Protesters throwing stones and bottles clashed with baton-wielding riot police Sunday in Belgrade after several thousand Serbian nationalist supporters of jailed war-crimes suspect Ratko Mladic rallied outside the parliament building to demand his release.
By the time the crowds broke up by late evening, about 100 people were arrested and 16 minor injuries were reported. That amounted to a victory for the pro-Western government, which arrested Mladic on Thursday, risking the wrath of the nationalist old guard in a country with a history of much larger and more virulent protests.
Rioters overturned garbage containers, broke traffic lights and set off firecrackers as they rampaged through downtown. Cordons of riot police blocked their advances, and skirmishes took place in several locations in the center of the capital.
Doctors said six police officers were among the 16 people brought to a hospital with minor injuries. Police remained on the streets as the crowds broke up.
The clashes began after a rally that drew at least 7,000 demonstrators, many singing nationalist songs and carrying banners honoring Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander. Some chanted right-wing slogans and a few gave Nazi salutes.
Supporters of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party were bused in to attend the rally. Right-wing extremists and hooligan groups also urged followers to appear in large numbers, creating the biggest test of Serbian sentiment and the government's resolve since Mladic's arrest.
The demonstrators, who consider Mladic a hero, said Serbia should not hand him over to the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"Cooperation with The Hague tribunal represents treason," Radical Party official Lidija Vukicevic told the crowd. "This is a protest against the shameful arrest of the Serbian hero."
Demonstrators demanded the ouster of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who ordered Mladic's arrest. A sign on the stage read, "Tadic is not Serbia."
More than 3,000 riot police were deployed around government buildings and Western embassies, fearing that the demonstration could turn violent. Riot police tried to block small groups of extremists from reaching the rally.
Nationalists are furious that the Serbian government apprehended Mladic after nearly 16 years on the run. The 69-year-old former general was caught at a relative's home in a northern Serbian village.
The U.N. tribunal charged Mladic with genocide in 1995, accusing him of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica and other war crimes of Bosnia's 1992-95 war. Mladic's arrest is considered critical to Serbia's efforts to join the European Union, and to reconciliation in the region after a series of ethnic wars of the 1990s.
Mladic's son, Darko Mladic, said Sunday that despite the indictment, his father insists he was not responsible for the mass executions committed by his troops after they overran the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995.
"Whatever was done behind his back, he has nothing to do with that," Darko Mladic said.
The massacre in Srebrenica is considered to be Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. Bosnian Serb troops under Mladic's command rounded up boys and men and executed them over several days, burying the remains in mass graves in the area. Prosecutors say they have compelling evidence that Mladic personally ordered and oversaw the executions in and around Srebrenica.
But Serb nationalists in Serbia and parts of Bosnia still consider Mladic a hero — the general who against all odds tried to defend Serbs in the Bosnian conflict. Among his men, Mladic commanded fierce devotion — many Bosnian Serb soldiers pledged to follow him to the death.
Some 3,000 supporters arrived Sunday by bus from other parts of Bosnia to a rally at Kalinovik, the area where Mladic grew up. Many wore black T-shirts with Mladic's picture and the words "Serbia in my heart."
The crowd called Tadic a "betrayer" for ordering the arrest of "the Serb hero" and urged him to "kill himself." Many said they would fight under Mladic again.
Many of the Kalinovik protesters headed afterward to the shack Mladic was born in at the end of a steep, muddy road in the village of Bozanici, turning the shabby house into a pilgrimage site. Mladic's aunt and cousins spoke to them, telling stories about Mladic's childhood.
Mladic's family and lawyers have been fighting his extradition, arguing that the former general is too ill to face charges. The family plans to appeal the extradition on Monday and to demand an independent medical checkup — moves described by the authorities as a delaying tactics.
"He's a man who has not taken care of his health for a while, but not to the point that he cannot stand trial," Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric told The Associated Press. "According to doctors, he doesn't need hospitalization."
Mladic has suffered at least two, and possibly three, strokes, the latest in 2008, his son said. The suspect's right arm is only semi-functional, and his family says he is not lucid — but Vekaric said that assessment was not true.
Lawyer Milos Saljic says that Mladic above all keeps demanding that he be allowed to visit the grave of his daughter, who committed suicide in 1994.
"He says if he can't go there, he wants his daughter's coffin brought in here," the lawyer added. "His condition is alarming."
Saljic said the family does not believe that Mladic would receive proper medical attention in The Hague. He noted that several high-profile Serbs had died there, including former President Slobodan Milosevic, who suffered a heart attack.
___
Dusan Stojanovic and Danica Kirka contributed.
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SYNCHRONICITIES UNEARTHED WORLDWIDE

2011-05-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

http://noosphere.princeton.edu/
This statement comes from a blog newly discovered that has unearthed synchronicities conforming to the below statement from the SAID blog and the post on Jose Arguelles and the philosophical and mystic underpinnings of the noosphere.
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Subtle interactions link us with each other and the Earth
When human consciousness becomes coherent and synchronized, the behavior of random systems may change. Quantum event based random number generators (RNGs) produce completely unpredictable sequences of zeroes and ones. But when a great event synchronizes the feelings of millions of people, our network of RNGs becomes subtly structured. The probability is less than one in a billion that the effect is due to chance. The evidence suggests an emerging noosphere, or the unifying field of consciousness described by sages in all cultures.
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It is multidisciplinary multidisciplinary as it must be to engraft the full picture of synchronicity on a global society whose time has come in the next step of spiritual evolving on this planet, another coming not "the coming" (?). Has this project quantified what as previously a near impossible task?

The pathcwork of interconnectedness . Quantum events. Are we tuned in correctly?

Aesthetics update page
-->the GCP dot daily movies the egg story poetic history youtube spots planetary smile realtime display
-->globalbrainpaint musical interlude production credit how to contribute random tapestry speculations
-->our allies videos links
Evolve! You can do it!

The Clay idols of this present time

2011-05-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

http://majorityoftwo.blogspot.com/2011/05/cult-of-celebrity.html
The Cult Of Celebrity
The cult of celebrity is something that has always been a mystery to me. I don't understand it. When someone becomes famous, it's almost the same as when someone passes away; they become imbued with qualities that they perhaps really did not possess. It must be a psychological thing, a part of the human psyche, to admire people and put them onto an unrealistic pedestal. It was said that Princess Diana became so overwhelmed with her own celebrity that she developed a "God complex" and felt she had the power to heal people. She believed the touch of her hand, or her very presence, was enough to cure serious illnesses, to the annoyance of more than one doctor in the hospitals and clinics she visited.I have never been a huge fan of Oprah Winfrey. I don't understand her cult following; it puzzles me. Oprah first began her career as a journalist and a talk show host. She interviewed people -- interesting people. But somewhere along the way the show started to be about her. Oprah almost became a religion. When she signed off the other day, folks were posting to her website:"Your shows cleaned my soul and opened my heart every time. Thank you so much for wonderful TV-hours.""I have seen a spot of light around you for all these years you were shining every sunset replacing sun's ray with your hopeful smile, spreading love and understanding all over the world, with your simplicity and humility.""It is my opinion that Oprah, without children of her own, adopted the world as her children.""I am so PROUD to be an Oprah believer. I have been watching, following, agreeing, and loving your agenda for years!""I remember when I was a child I would get angry with my mother because she had to watch "Oprah" and all I wanted to do was watch cartoons. Then as I got older, I realized that mother truly did know best and then "Oprah" turned into my little piece of heaven every day.""Cleaned my soul"? ... "Ray of light"? ... "Adopted the world as her children?" ..."Little piece of heaven?" ..."Agenda?"There are over 2,300 comments exactly like these, and they are downright frightening. She's a talk show host and a businesswoman, folks, not the Messiah.The key to success seems to be to affect a persona and stick to it. Get that persona out there until it permeates every corner of the media. If you're famous, sheeple people will be devoted.Oprah now has her own television network, and interestingly the acronym for her initials is OWN. That frightens me even more. I have watched a couple of the programs on her network, and it is more of the same "This is what Oprah believes, so you should believe it too". Unfortunately, there are too many people who can't - or chose not to - think for themselves. So, they are very easily influenced by someone who does their thinking for them.In 1998 there was a movie called "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey. It was a movie about a long-running television program following a man's fictional life. The whole thing was set up in an elaborate TV studio, but Truman believed it was his real life. People all over the world had watched the show from Truman's infancy. When Truman finally learned the truth and made his escape from the studio, the final scene put everything into perspective. Two security guards were eating pizza and watching television:First Guard: "You want another slice?"Second Guard: "No, I'm OK." First Guard: "What else is on?" Second Guard: "Yeah, let's see what else is on." First Guard: "Where's the TV guide?"It's all up to you. Don't give these personalities more power than they deserve. To you, they are like members of your family; they are in your homes every day. But to them ~~ well, they have never even heard of you. They're business people, and the only thing they really want from you is your business."Let's see what else is on..."

Edward Yablonsky said...
Hero worship is an ancient phenomenon and exhibits a world craving apropos to a certain a certain set of individuals and psyches that find the reality sandwich doesd out daily and insensitively and out of context by the media to be unbearable. They desire to the core of their being the ideal world enshrined, yes in their idol whether it be Emperor worhsip which was formalized or medis hype with the clay idols of the present. Most of us grow out of this idol fantasy we subliminally foist on our psyches. Others do not want to ever "grow" spiritually and are encased in this idolatry and love it that way. I liked the below quote and find it quite apropos :(The unsung heroes that deserve our passing notice receive the least notice, and that exhibits the modern patholo0gy in all of its unbalanced madness.) PhilipH said... Hero worship. Never entered that temple. Never seen the Oprah show and I doubt I've missed anything.Soaps, such as Coronation Street, EastEnders and Emmerdale have huge followings in the UK. People (mainly the ladies I have to say) become addicted. Easier to come off heroin than to miss an episode of 'Corrie' - but don't let my OH see this comment - she'd kill me.My only hero was TARZAN. I longed to go and live in his tree house with Jane, Boy and Cheeta. It was so real; so exciting. Then I began to wear long trousers and realised it was just all fantasy. Nonsense. I admire the unsung heroes of this life and world, such as people who take care of ailing relatives and that includes children who look after a parent who is stricken with illness. We seldom hear of life's REAL 'celebrities'.

Jesuit Father Raffaele de Ghantuz Cubbe

2011-05-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.raoulwallenberg.net/news/jesuit-honored-for-saving-3-jewish-children/
Jesuit Honored for Saving 3 Jewish Children
Source:
Pair of Brothers, Cousin hid among Catholic School studentsROME, DEC. 15, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Graziano Sonnino and Marco Pavoncello remember Jesuit Father Raffaele de Ghantuz Cubbe for his courage and goodness. It was that courage and goodness that saved their lives, along with the life of Sonnino’s brother Mario.
The Sonninos and Pavoncello, as young Italian Jews, were saved from the Holocaust when Father Cubbe hid the children at his Jesuit school. Their surname was changed to Sbardella, a southern name of the region of Cassino, which had been bombed by the Allies, meaning their identity was impossible to verify.
Father Cubbe (1904-1983) was recognized Tuesday in Rome with the honor of Righteous Among the Nations, the title bestowed by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.
Mordechay Lewy, Israel’s ambassador to the Holy See, presented the honor to Father Cubbe’s nephew, Francesco de Ghantuz Cubbe.
Pavoncello and Graziano Sonnino took part in Tuesday morning’s ceremony; Mario Sonnino died last July, as did his sister Virginia.
Their children and grandchildren were present, as were their nieces and nephews.
Doing their duty
After the War, the brothers and cousin had gone on to finish their education at Father Cubbe’s Jesuit school. Only two or three people knew of their true identity during the occupation; they revealed it to their friends after the liberation.
It was Celeste Pavoncello, Marco’s daughter, who in 2004 initiated the process to have Father Cubbe recognized as a member of the Righteous Among the Nations.
This came after she discovered a photograph of her father in a document of Berlin private archives at an exhibition at the Victor Emmanuel monument of Rome on the anti-Jewish laws and the Shoa.
When Celeste Pavoncello announced this year to Giovanna de Ghantuz Cubbe that her uncle was going to receive the medal of the Righteous Among the Nations, she discovered a story that was little known.
The “saviors” thought they had done nothing other than their duty, Giovanna de Ghantuz Cubbe said, or they believed that their “right hand should not know what the left hand was doing.”
Traces of heroes
The award was given by Lewy in the presence of the president of the Jewish community of Rome, Riccardo Pacifici.
Pacifici recalled that his father and his uncle were also saved thanks to Catholic priests. He also pointed out that the Yad Vashem Memorial has recognized some 28,000 “Righteous,” 487 in Italy.
The community president spoke of a veritable “hunt for the righteous” to find traces of these “heroes” and honor their memory. He also suggested the creation of an Association of “Children of the Righteous.”
Rooted in holiness
Raffaele de Ghantuz Cubbe was born in Orciano Pisano, Italy, in 1904. He died in Rome in 1983.
He was the fourth child of a profoundly Christian family. His father, the marquis Riccardo, was secret chamberlain of Popes Benedict XV to Pius XII.
The family was friendly with Salesian Father Michele Rua (now a blessed), who had a premonition of Raffaele’s religious vocation. In fact, Raffaele entered the Society of Jesus when he was very young.
He was rector of the prestigious School of Mondragon, near Frascati, south of Rome, from 1942-1947. It was there that Pavoncello and the Sonninos were hidden.
Father Cubbe also served as vice-president of Pius XII’s association to support victims of World War II.
By Anita S. Bourdin

JOSE ARGUELLES REINTRODUCING TIME AS THE ANCIENTS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EXPERIENCED DREAMSPELL NECESSITATING QUANTUM SHIFT IN 2012-2013

2011-05-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

As the new century unrolled, the 2012 date began to take shape on the cultural horizon and many writers and cultural channelers took a stab at its significance. The movies, books, documentaries and television specials, not to mention the jokes and the derision and the religious fervor, have put those numbers into most people's consciousness. Many present-day Mayans are speaking their truths and parallel prophecies are all receiving attention. A plunge into the Internet will take you from one extreme to another, a wild ride that leads, essentially, nowhere. In most cases, you will believe what you are conditioned to believe, because in this kind of time, there are no indisputable facts and nothing external resolves the internal turmoil. Meanwhile, the Earth herself is speaking with event after event breaking through our modern world and proving that we are as vulnerable as we have ever been to nature, if not more.
http://www.realitysandwich.com/arguelles_everything_perfect

A Vision from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun
Arguelles started something of a comeback toward public presence a couple of years ago. He spoke at two Prophet's Conferences in 2011 and he and Stephanie South made appearances to promote her biography of him, a work that documents his evolution to the mystic and shaman that he ultimately became.
He was born on January 24, 1939, in Rochester, Minnesota, elder of two identical twins. His father was Mexican and his mother was of German parentage, born in Minnesota. His early years were spent in Mexico and then the family lived in Los Angeles and returned to Rochester when his mother was diagnosed with tuberculosis. When he was 14, his father brought his two boys back to Mexico for a visit, and it was on this trip that Jose had his first life-changing experience, a visionary altered state from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan. In the autobiography-biography co-created with Stephanie South (2012: Biography of a Time Traveler) he provides this description of the experience:

Teotihuacan: place where the seekers of the One Creator God listen in silence to the songs of creation

There it was! The magnificent Pyramid of the Sun! So grand, so monumental, the pyramid shimmered in full sunlight like a fantastic dream. Joe suddenly bolted ahead, racing at top speed toward the pyramid, where he eagerly climbed the steps of the immense earthen structure. He wanted to be the first to reach the top. Breathless, he found himself virtually alone on the great platform atop the Pyramid of the Sun. Something inside of him shifted. Everything took on a crystalline clarity, unusually sharp in focus; the fine details of faces and clothes on the people all the way down to the end of the Avenue of the Dead were suddenly clear. A deep knowing stirred within him. He fell silent. Teotihuacan: place where the seekers of the One Creator God listen in silence to the songs of creation. Joe looked around. Sky-brilliant and blue. Mountains everywhere echoed the forms of the pyramids. Teotihuacan: place where the Toltec warriors receive the light of a distant star. He saw the great stretch of the Avenue of the Dead and the Pyramid of the Moon up to the right and, down below, the humans of the present era. Teotihuacan: place where the people receive their godly powers. A few college students in white-sleeved shirts and a sprinkling of tourists talked to each other as if oblivious to where they were. Teotihuacan: place of the teachers of the geometry of time. Where were the great masters who had designed and built this city with such profound perfection and geometry? As Joe gazed around, this question penetrated his being. A shining white light, emanating from within things, bathed everything in a soft glow. And then the earthly world disappeared.

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Counter cultures and academia

As a young man he was swept into various artistic, bohemian and counter-culture subcultures. He changed his name from Joe to Jose, experimented with peyote and marijuana, made a pilgrimage to San Francisco in homage to the Beat culture, fell in and out of love, and began carving a career path in academia that had art and art history as the center of it. In 1965 a fellowship gave him the opportunity to study in Paris where he first sampled LSD and delved into a variety of mystic explorations. These years were full of youthful excesses, strange accidents and agonizing relationships. He began his academic career as an assistant art history professor at Princeton and returned to his own art that was now taking a cosmic direction, reflecting influences he was soaking up all around him. He met and married Miriam, the first woman he established a deep collaborative creative relationship with and began family life as an art history professor. Together they wrote and illustrated Mandala [1972] and The Feminine: spacious as the sky [1977], published by Shambhala Publications.

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LUMINARIES OF THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA Chogyam Trungpa

In 1968, the needle on Jose's compass pointed west, and Arguelles and his wife left Princeton for the freewheeling climate of California and a position at UC Davis teaching art history. These fertile years were characterized by initiations of all types, Arguelles meeting virtually all the luminaries of the psychedelic era: Laura Huxley, Charles Tart, Ralph Metzner, Ram Dass, Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg. He caught the attention of some of the most important figures of the transformational times: Buckminster Fuller, Dane Rudhyar, Chippewa medicine chief Sun Bear and the yogi Baba Hari Dass, all of whom wanted him to be their protégé. It was Chogyam Trungpa, the first Tibetan teacher who came to America who eventually was his major mentor, and Jose completed cycles of intense meditation practices with Trungpa at his center in Boulder, Colorado. The roots of his subsequent creations, like Dreamspell, can be seen in these practices and he once referred to the Dreamspell teachings as "advanced Shambhala transmissions."

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CLEANSING OF THE WORLD AND THE GREAT CYCLE

He also met Tony Shearer, a Native America poet, scholar and storyteller who planted the seed of the work that would finally capture Arguelles' whole being: the Thirteen Heavens and Nine Hells prophecy of Quetzalcoatl. Jose's account, dictated to Stephanie South, puts it cryptically:
Tony explained that each of the thirteen heavens and nine hells refers to a 52-year cycle. Thirteen 52-year "Heaven" cycles lasted from AD 843 to 1519, the beginning of the conquest of Mexico. Eight 52-year "Hell" cycles occurred between 1519 and 1935. The ninth hell, Tony told Jose, began in 1935 and ends August 16, 1987. "Thirteen heavens of decreasing choice, nine hells of increasing doom."
"But then what?" Jose asked.
"We must get ready for the cleansing of the world and for the end of the Great Cycle."

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Founding the Whole Earth Festival at UC Davis
UC Davis was the site of the infamous Whole Earth Festival in 1970, a project of Jose's art history students who were instructed to create their own final exam. By then, his reputation as being the radical teacher on campus was firmly set. The environment was right. Human be-ins were happening, the first Earth Day was brewing and the administration had no idea what was about to explode on their campus. Just this very spring, at the 42nd annual Whole Earth Festival, a former student, Sunny Shine, penned her commemoration of that event in the Festival program:
Our assignment for the year? Create a Festival to celebrate the very first ever Earth Day. We had no idea. Then he's showing us slides of sacred sites from ancient cultures around the world, talking astrology, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mayan calendar, physics, traditional initiations from indigenous peoples -- on and on and on with long interludes of silence, seated in the lotus position on his grey Formica institution-sized teacher's desk, bare feet, Native American flute resting gently in his lap. Not like any teacher we had ever seen or imagined. "This world is magic, is sacred, is precious, you must care for her, love her." What was he talking about?! The more we did not know, the more we knew he was giving us the Truth. He was passing on something sacred and ancient, something that connected us to every being who had ever taken the journey before us. We wanted to learn this dance, it had been resting in our bones forever, and he was the Pied Piper to start us out on our own heart path.

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All hippiedom also descended on the Whole Earth Festival and, in terms of career path, after the outrageousness of the event, 31-year old Arguelles quickly realized that he and conventional academia were heading toward irreconcilable differences. Over the next 10 years he had a series of interesting teaching gigs (Evergreen State College, San Francisco State University, the University of Colorado and the Union Graduate School), but finally in the late 70s his next big move took him to the feet of his formative teacher, the Tibetan crazy wisdom teacher Chogyam Trungpa. The years at Naropa were the stage for intense meditation trainings and the battle for his soul as years of increasing alcoholism finally caught up with him, unraveled his marriage and forced him to face his darkest demons.
When he emerged from his descent with a clear head at 42, he met the next formative feminine partner, Lloydine Burris, a fellow student at Naropa. Lloydine was by his side for the years leading up to the Harmonic Convergence and shared the great push to spread his insights and discoveries all over the world, co-shepherding the flock of "kin" who were forming the 13 Moon Calendar Movement. Their meditation experience gave them a common frame of reference as they collaborated in the creation of Dreamspell, which bears both their names.
They had settled in Hawaii after Jose's son's death and it was amid the beauty and power of that island that the pieces of a new creative surge were formed. Together they had also explored the Museum of Time in Switzerland where Jose had the revelation that our notions of time connected with the clock were about mechanical time and had little to do with time as a dimension of its own, a dimension of the mind. Jose formed his theories then about the mechanization of time being the root of the industrial age. Clock time forever speeding up leads us to the present day when all the ailments of modern society converge into total alienation from natural rhythms and harmonics.

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The absurdity of the present-day calendar with its irregular and meaningless months is another theft of the soul, he also cited, where we are ruled by the economic clock of time is money and holidays are shopping days, not holy days. Nothing, in fact, is holy in the world we have manifested in the cycle of history, which began when Babylonian priests imposed a 12-month calendar over the natural timing led by the moon and kept by all indigenous people. The link between our estrangement from the natural world, celestial and terrestrial, and the imposition of an authoritarian calendar is the radical idea that Jose Arguelles and his wife Lloydine discovered in their explorations. This was the message that they brought to light in 1992 when they introduced Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013 into the world.

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DREAMSPELL KITS

Dreamspell Kits Arrive
The giveaway of 500 Dreamspell kits in San Francisco in the spring of 1992 was a chaotic and exciting affair, most people completely unprepared for what they took to be something of a game to share with their consciousness-expanding friends, like the Transformation Game that was popular at the time. It turned out to be more like the opening day of cosmic science school -- a learning paradigm that took concentration, patience and dedication to understand and probably a lifetime to truly master. People needed to work on this together to get it and keep at it. Dreamspell kits had a way of finding their true owners, being passed on until they reached hands and minds that were ripe for the exploration. There was a book, several boards with graphics on every panel, a galactic compass for converting dates from the Gregorian to the Dreamspell and various other visual aids. All were crafted impeccably and boxed in a study box with brilliant primary colors.

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REINTRODUCING TIME AS THE ANCIENTS AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES EXPERIENCED DREAMSPELL NECESSITATING QUANTUM SHIFT IN 2012-2013

That such a brilliant piece of craftsmanship and intricate teaching would suddenly drop into the world from the sky, so to speak, was one of the many magical acts that Jose Arguelles created in his lifetime. I have my original Dreamspell kit, one of the first 13 that were flown to the continental US (Turtle Island) from Hong Kong where it was produced, and it is still intact, not worn out, and, other than being well-used, still as vibrant as it was the day it was put in my hands 20 years ago. These days, people compute the date conversions on the Internet sites with clicks of the mouse, but I still compute them with the Galactic Compass, a circular slide-rule-like device, and in the process I see how the patterns work and continually discover little internal rhythms. One of the themes of the tools that Jose produced was remembering that we learn through all our senses not just our eyes glued to a computer screen. Folding and unfolding the boards, laying out the little tiles with the glyphs, putting together the chromatic time atom...all these exercises return us to an embodied intelligence that we were designed to use until the modern mechanized era. We'll see when the time comes which tools are still in our hands when the predicted technology/cyber era yields to a quantum shift in 2012-2013.

___________________________________________________________________

COSMIC HISTORY CHRONICLES PSYCHOZOIC ERA SPIRITUAL EVOLUTION HARMONIC CONVERGENCE

In a matter of years, Dreamspell kits were translated and produced and distributed along with many variations of the 13 Moon Calendar, large and small, in many languages. The Japanese were the first to produce color calendars and beautiful little daybooks with sturdy covers. As production costs lowered and digital processing from the personal computer got more sophisticated, the calendars flourished. One year I was with Jose when he returned from a trip at the turning of the year (which is celebrated on Gregorian July 26, the heliacal rising of Sirius) and found all the 13 Moon Calendars of the world waiting for him -- a tribute from all the calendar makers. He put them up all over the walls and looked at the whole display. The 13 Moon Calendar movement had truly gone round the world. The next phase of Jose's creative work was looming and it required another agonizing split and realignment with a new feminine partner. Stephanie South, the person who had emerged from the ranks of his students as his true apprentice, gradually assumed that role.

In 2002 Jose and Stephanie, also known by the spiritual title Red Queen in reference to a Mayan temple discovered in 1994, commenced their collaborative creative work. The Cosmic History Chronicles project began: seven volumes to be published in the seven-year count down to 2012. These books are like none other on the planet, elaborate elucidations of a radical new science and a radical new history. "The philosophy of Cosmic History is that the universe exists as the vehicle for the involution and evolution of the soul as a single unifying circuit of all evolving divine consciousness regulated by the Law of Time." (Vol. 1; Book of the Throne). Valum Votan and The Red Queen identify themselves as transmitters and receivers -- "We are but the secretaries. The authors are in eternity." The Cosmic History Chronicles are a wild and compelling read, to put it mildly.

In these volumes -- all now completed -- and in the last major communications given by Jose Arguelles, it is clear that his whole being was firmly grounded in a deeply spiritual perspective. He saw our human journey as a journey of spiritual evolution and was convinced that the end of the cycle of history, December 21, 2012, (which he called Harmonic Convergence 2012: the Convergence of All Prophecy), would be an awakening from a dream -- if not nightmare -- of a profane history and a re-entrainment of humanity into cosmic consciousness. He brought forth the term "noosphere" from key thinkers of the past and defined it as the collective state of mind that will launch a new age in 2013, the Psychozoic Era, in which we will share the awareness of the connectedness of all beings. He proposed a global meditation as an experiment in bringing a mental visualization into a physical reality, converting the energies coming into the planet into a rainbow visible night and day around the planet. The Rainbow Bridge Meditation is being shared via Internet and is the cornerstone of the commitment to carry on his work and inspiration among those who value what they learned from Arguelles over the last two decades.

THE LAW OF TIME WEBSITE AND JOSE ARGUELLES' PASSING

Jose's death on Red Spectral Moon (March 23, 2011) in Australia was another unifying event, a compression of mind and heart energy as hundreds of thousands of people who were affected by his teaching and his radical insights stopped and remembered their experiences with him. We were part of a movement that never had any money, that eschewed the conventional New Age marketing, that produced books that were challenging and unorthodox, books that never got any publicity ("too new for the New Age" was my report to Jose after yet another magazine rejection) so the news of a new book was an underground event. We keep a calendar together that most of our friends and relatives don't keep so we either have it as our own secret passageway into a vast new land of relationship and synchronicity or we seek out other kin as best we can wherever we are. The Law of Time website is our connection point and, with the news of his passing, a tribute page formed and honored his 49-day bardo cycle. There were postings from people who lives crossed at an exotic gathering somewhere on the planet where Jose was teaching and who use images from Dreamspell for their Facebook profile. The voices came in from far and wide, sharing love and respect and gratitude for the life-saving teachings that made living in a crazy, out-of-control, time-is-money world less of an ordeal.

This spring, a handful of kin gathered at the 42nd Whole Earth Festival to once again introduce people to the work and the calendar and to speak words in memory of Jose Arguelles at an intimate ceremony in the midst of the cacophony of the festival and its music. Ceremonies have been taking place all over the world among other groups of followers, honoring the teacher, honoring the teaching and rededicating the kin to the path articulated in so many mind-expanding creative works. He was a pathfinder of epic proportion, an intellect that had few peers, and a shamanic presence on the world stage -- whether the world knew it or not. As the days roll on toward the prophetic end date of history, those who have studied his writing and listened to his lectures are tuned in to the extraordinary and expecting nothing but the extraordinary. As Uncle Joe Zuvuya would say, "Surf's Up!"

Definitions of a sovereign national state

2011-05-28T01:54:00.000-07:00

The elements defining national sovereign states according to international law are four fold:
Defined territories
Permanent stable populations
A government with permanent apparatus in place to govern
International standing inthe global community
I think International law has developed in a fluid and ad hoc manner according to situationally determined scenarios on these issues. The most contentious isue is territory, or territorial disputes for the most part. The border dispute has been seminal in the Israeli-arab fiasco since the time of the Carter diplomacy and this is an ongoing haggle in U.S. peacemaking efforts.Notwithstanding populations by numbers, populations if they are stable without the occurence of civil war seems to be the concern of the global community.Government apparati with a central government in force is lacking in Somalia. In the past, instability has often been temporarily remedied by mandateships and trusteeships pending global diplomatic recognition of the failed state involved. A failed state is subjected to such action if they are decimated or unstable as to the foregoing elements.Although this did not occur in Japan after she was vanquished by war, as she was kept afloat by U.S.economic efforts as was Europe through Lend Lease and other aid after the War (II).
The Arab Israeli peace talks and diplomacy during the Carter Presidency, were complicated diplomatic overtures by the U.S. as the situation involving the issues of a general peace involved diplomatic recognition , and the general nature of peace, Israeli withdrawal, and the Palestinian "question" and the bearing and opinions even among the Arabs on how to configure the Palestinians at Geneva. There were at the outset irresolvable issues even with dissidence amongthe Arab actors. Often these dissident scenarios fester for years ,as has this one, and does not always involve the primacy of territory.
Territorial disputes are often the cosmetics and pretextual of unerlying sectarian hatreds and disuniions within a contiguous territory.
http://angel04.gcu.edu/section/default.asp?id=554405

North Korea-desperate acts of a starving nation?

2011-05-24T10:16:00.000-07:00

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-11-23-korea-reaction_N.htm
I have read the article above referenced and find this international incident of the North Korean attack more than just puffing with many subtle sides and implications and has multiple complications not likely to be solved by a non proliferation treaty. Bruce Bennett's comments in the article are revealing and his analysis is compelling, I believe. I do believe the North is a potent threat as described for more than just the succession issue of Kim Jong II as a proof of his mettle in dealing wth the West. Obama has vowed support of the South Koreans. China's silence and apparent non intervention is possibly deceptive and she needs to be more vocal along with other "nuclear nations", to be certain.It seems the North is in the despeation of poverty and paranoia , and they would fear massive retaliation should they use nuclear weapons on the South. They could not win a war, but retaliation ,I deem would be Pyrrhic but a necessary response if an overt action by the North on the South should occur.China's silence should not be construed as turning a blind eye, and Obama shelving the problem as non prioritized is a misake also.Antecedent actions tell us worlds of meaning such as the act boldened in red in the quote below from the article below. Growing desperation in the North might be the motive of paranoia from the South,and Kim Jong's begging for aid from China twice, without response,and fleeings from the North to the South paints a picture of a desperate North indeed using its Nuclear capabiliy as a blackmail/bargaining technique gone awry.

Quote from http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-11-23-korea-reaction_N.htm
Bennett agreed that the attacks indicate growing desperation in North Korea and the potentially turbulent transfer of power to Kim's son.
Kim Jong Il has been to China twice this year, "begging for aid" and has not received much in return, Bennett said. Millions of North Koreans have starved to death in the past 10 years, according to the United Nations, and the South says the 10,000 North Koreans who have fled over to its side of the border since 2007 matches the number that made it over from the end of the 1950-53 Korean War to 2007.
"The attacks appear to be an attempt to force South Korea and the United States to negotiate with him and provide assistance," Bennett said.
Bennett said Kim's son lacks military credentials and wants to prove that he can provide "great victories" for North Korea. Footage of smoking ruins in South Korea aid that perception, he said.
Bruce Klinger of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank said the Obama administration has committed itself to Mideast peace talks that are "going nowhere" and a new START arms reduction treaty with Russia that "has no advantages for the United States." In doing so, he said, the administration has sent "messages to the Iranians and the North Koreans that they're not at the top of his radar."
"One could argue that that's why they're becoming so aggressive," he said.
Klinger said the Obama administration believed that "because Bush was gone, North Korea would no longer feel threatened and would abandon provocations."
"The world is a much more difficult and dangerous place that the campaign thought it would be."
Cha recommended Obama put a lot of pressure on China to rein in North Korea, which relies on China for aid, food and energy.
Cha agreed that the North has not been a "top-tier" issue for the administration. "But events like this need to make it a much higher priority. This is close to conventional war in Asia."

Pirkei Avos ch6 mishna 6

2011-05-22T03:18:00.000-07:00

The simple behaviorof the Patriarchs and the scholar

The 48 Ways: 32
Back to NatureChapter 6, Mishna 6
"Torah is greater than priesthood and kingship, for kingship is acquired with 30 qualities, priesthood is acquired with 24, whereas the Torah is acquired with 48 ways. These are: ... (32) loving uprightness..." This trait, "ohaiv es ha'maisharim", relates to the word "yashar" -- straight, referring to straight or upright behavior. A scholar is "straight". This does not simply mean he does not lie. There is something very straight and level, almost simplistic about his behavior. He is sincere and honest, he says what he means and means what he says, and he does not cover himself with layers of complexity or false airs. He is who he is. He does not attempt to project a false image -- or even to expend great efforts projecting a semi-accurate one. His concern is for truth and intellectual honesty alone, not image and popularity. People know just who he is and what he stands for -- and they usually admire him for it too. There is something very pure and wholesome -- almost childlike -- about the scholar's behavior. In spite of probably a keen, penetrating and deep-thinking mind, the scholar comes across as a very "plain", unsophisticated person. And as I heard R. Berel Wein once put it, "childish" we should attempt to outgrow (though few of us do); "childlike": we should only live our entire lives with such a clear and unsophisticated self-image and world view. We often find people who attempt to be -- or at least project themselves as -- complex and difficult-to-figure-out individuals. They possess all sorts of intrigue, moods, counter-moods, shades, and colors, and it would take a frustrated suitor a lifetime to figure them out. Such people seem to want to create an impression of depth and sophistication where it probably does not exist -- and likely where it is not even appropriate. The Torah does not really go for such behavior. Our forefather Jacob is described by the Torah as a "plain man" ("ish tahm") (Genesis 25:27) -- one who lacked entirely layers of deceit and deception. As the Sages put it, he was not adept at dishonesty and false imagery as his brother Esau -- who feigned a false righteous appearance before his father. Rather, his mouth and heart were one and the same. He said what he meant and meant what he said. He was who he was -- and he was content with that. He saw no need to embellish himself with false airs and images. As the Book of Genesis progresses, Jacob learns to contend with the wiles and wickedness of Laban, Esau and others -- and to return in kind. The Jew has long learned to be coy and cautious before his enemies, who -- as with the PA and UN of today -- claim peace and fairness when they mean anything but. Through such healthy skepticism Israel has survived until today. Ultimately, however, this was not the essence of Jacob, whom the Talmud refers to as the quintessential man of truth (Makkos 24a). If anything, we must view the Book of Genesis as Jacob's ultimate challenge: to maintain his own personal integrity when confronted with the guiles and cynicism of the outside world. And in this he would set the precedent for Jews in all generations, who would exist in a hostile and inhospitable exile, yet maintain their inner sanctuary within -- in their hearts, homes and synagogues. Jacob showed us the way with the honesty and simplicity he never veered from in all of his wanderings and tribulations, as he himself attested: "I have dwelt with Laban, yet I have fulfilled all the commandments" (Rashi to Genesis 32:5). We find likewise throughout Scripture that some of Israel's greatest individuals were equally simple and straightforward. Abraham and Isaac were known primarily for a single quality each: Abraham was the man of kindness and generosity while Isaac was the person of inner strength. They did not attempt to be a little bit of everything -- something different to everyone they met. They were pure and straightforward, clear on what they meant to accomplish in life and unwavering in their efforts. Similarly, many of Israel's greatest leaders, such as Moses and David, spent the earlier parts of their lives as shepherds. There are those who suggest that only one who proves himself caring of every errant lamb can lead a nation as well. This is no doubt true, but there is also something about the simplicity, the almost back-to-nature living of being a shepherd. Being alone on the land, becoming familiar with the terrain and geography as well as the behavior of the animals of one's care, spending time with oneself, all of these bring a certain self-awareness and inner harmony which cannot be easily achieved otherwise -- which our forefathers could have hardly achieved in the confusion and modernity of ancient Mesopotamia. In such rustic tranquility, these individuals became in touch with themselves; they saw who they were in simple, natural clarity. Likewise, many of the great Chassidic masters as well as other great Jews were unknowns (at least for the earlier part of their lives), posing as simple laborers while reaching out to and developing their inner selves in solitude. Perhaps today we are much more "complex" not because we are more advanced and sophisticated than our predecessors but because we are less. We are so bombarded with noise, confusion and external stimuli that we develop all sorts of interests and appetites -- some more worthwhile than others -- but they come from without, rather than within. What our forefathers and so many other great Jews taught us is that true self-awareness and fulfillment comes from within. If we from time to time withdraw to be with ourselves and to find out who we truly are, we will find the simplicity and uprightness which are the hallmark of the true Torah Jew. And in the process, we will find true contentment.

Physical man and G-dly Love

2011-05-22T02:49:00.000-07:00

Today's Tanya Lesson
Iyar 18, 5771 · May 22, 2011
Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 49
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ואיך יבא האדם החומרי למדה זו
But how can physical man attain this level? — of G‑dly love that nothing can obstruct.
לכך סידרו תחלה ברכת יוצר אור, ושם נאמר ונשנה באריכות ענין וסדר המלאכים העומדים ברום עולם
It is to this end, therefore, that the blessing of Yotzer Or was introduced to be recited first, for in this blessing there is stated and repeated at length — and this meditation must indeed be a lengthy one, taking into account all the specific details — the account and order of the angels “standing at the world’s summit,”
להודיע גדולתו של הקב״ה, איך שכולם בטלים לאורו יתברך, ומשמיעים ביראה כו׳ ומקדישים כו׳ ואומרים ביראה: קדוש כו׳, כלומר שהוא מובדל מהם ואינו מתלבש בהם בבחינת גילוי
in order to proclaim the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He — how they are all nullified in His blessed light and “pronounce in fear...” “and sanctify...” G‑d’s Name, and “declare in fear, ‘Holy’,”... meaning1 by saying “Holy...” that He is apart from them, and does not clothe Himself in them in a revealed state,
אלא מלא כל הארץ כבודו, היא כנסת ישראל למעלה, וישראל למטה, כנ״ל
but where is G‑d revealed? — “The whole earth is full of His glory,” namely, the Community of Israel above i.e., Malchut of Atzilut, the source of Jewish souls, which is called “earth”, and Israel on this earth below, wherein Jews perform Torah and mitzvot, for which reason specifically is this world filled with His glory: it is here that G‑d clothes and reveals Himself, as has been explained earlier.
All the above refers to the comprehension of the supernal angels, the serafim, who are able to comprehend how G‑d is apart from them and that only the earth is charged with His glory.
וכן האופנים וחיות הקודש ברעש גדול וכו׳: ברוך כבוד ה׳ ממקומו, לפי שאין יודעים ומשיגים מקומו
So, too, we find related in the2 blessing of Yotzer Or, regarding other categories of angels, whose place is in a lower world than the serafim, and who are therefore unable to comprehend how G‑dliness is separate and apart, that “the ofanim and the holy chayyot with a mighty sound” declare:3 ‘Blessed be the glory of the L‑rd and may it be drawn down from its place,’" for they neither know, nor do they apprehend His place — the place from which G‑dliness is revealed, for which reason they say ”from its place,“ wherever that place may be,
וכמו שכתוב: כי הוא לבדו מרום וקדוש
as we say a few lines later, “For He alone is exalted and holy.”
The various degrees of nullification of these angels are thus spoken of in the first of the two blessings preceding the Shema. When a person meditates on this matter he will begin to understand G‑d’s greatness, for all the lofty angels are nullified to Him.
FOOTNOTES
1.
The Rebbe comments: The Alter Rebbe adds the word ”meaning“ in order to tell us that the declaration ”Holy“ does not mean here, as it does in other places, that notice is being given that the one spoken of is holy, or the like. For to make it known that someone is holy implies that the speaker is aware of and grasps the other’s holiness. (Likewise, regarding the Shunamite woman who called Elisha holy, the Gemara asks: ”How did she know?“)
Here, however, when the angels proclaim ”Holy“ the intent is the very opposite: they do not know Him, for He is Holy — i.e., separate, and apart from them.
(This incidentally deflects another possible question: Since the angels are in a state of self-nullification, how is it conceivable that they ”proclaim and announce“? According to the above, however, this may be understood: They ”proclaim and announce“ that they are nullified to G‑d, that He is separate and apart from them, and that they have no conception of Him.)
2.
In the passages preceding the Shema.
3.
Yechezkel 3:12.

THE NORTH KOREAN ATTACK

2011-05-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

Tirone's coverage of the North Korean attack on South Korea in March 2010.

All relevant nation members of the UN reacted to condemn the attack and urge a diplomatic or non military solution to this threat to regional and world stability, and this is a standard commenable reaction. Is it feasible ? . Yes, and practical. Tensions have been growing since North Korea sunk the South Korea warship Cheonan . This incident is underexplained and probably involves the Noth Korean perception of danger of attack from the South engendering a preemptive act on their part. Diplomacy is probably perceived by the global community as a deterant necessary to the escalation of the conflict.North Korea has revealed plans for uranium enrichment to escalate their nuclear capbility and to initiate a nuclear ams race, so is my conclusion. A diplomatic solution is ideal,but nuclear disarmament by diplomatic means such as the non proliferation treaty of the past might be untenable. Many nations such as China,the US and Russia having nuclear capability might view a new nonproliferation treaty as a reluctant measure in that they would be concerned to be armed in the event of nuclear retaliation, and in the event of nuclear blackmail by North Korea as a necessary self defense measure. They would with justification be concerned with how to monitor compliance with such a treaty. These are ever present tensions of nuclear bearing nations preventng entry into a nuclear nonproliferation treaty.Also the role of the Security Council would be hampered by the nuclear black mail issue that emerges onto the world scene as stated in Techau's comment in the article. China's diplomatic role would be non essential, in my view, in that extracting concessions by blackmail by the North Koreans acknowledge the full advent of China into the equation despite their stance of blackmail which they are acting out in any event.The crux of the matter is the ever present tensions which might prevent and could conceivably prevent etry into a non proliferation treaty.

REFERENCE
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-11-23/north-korea-s-belligerent-bombing-of-south-rebuked.html

Don Morosini, Priest and hero of the Resistance

2011-05-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

The Christlike Communist Manfredi (Marcello Pagliero)being tortured by the Nazis in Open City .

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft709nb48d&chunk.id=d0e1343&toc.id=d0e9861&brand=ucpress

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft709nb48d&chunk.id=d0e1349&toc.id=d0e1343&toc.depth=1&brand=ucpress&anchor.id=bkd0e1869#X

The plot that the team of screenwriters came up with is relatively simple in outline, but at the same time delicately interwoven with many diverse strands. Giorgio Manfredi (Pagliero), one of the heads of the Italian Resistance, enlists the aid of the anti-Fascist priest Don Pietro (Fabrizi) and a partisan printer named Francesco (Francesco Grandjacquet) in keeping him hidden from the Germans. The next morning, Francesco's wedding day, he is captured by the Nazis and his pregnant fiancée, Pina (Magnani), is shot down by the Germans when she attempts to interfere. Manfredi is betrayed by his girlfriend Marina (Michi), a dancer and prostitute who has been corrupted by drugs by the Nazi lesbian, Ingrid, and he, Don Pietro, and an Australian deserter the priest has been sheltering, are arrested. The deserter hangs himself, and when Manfredi refuses to talk, he is tortured to death in the presence of Don Pietro; the next morning the priest himself is executed while the young boys of his parish, who have been waging their own war against the Germans, look on.[5]

Similarly, the script also manages to stay on the easy level of heroism and cowardice, and these simple notions, the staple of Hollwood Westerns, are never for a moment seriously interrogated. Thus, near the end of the film, when Manfredi the partisan, Don Pietro the priest, and the Austrian deserter find themselves in the same cell, the deserter acts cowardly, later even killing himself, and his cowardice is seen as a moral failure on his part. Manfredi claims that "we're not heroes," but every other element of this film conspires to contradict his assertion. (Though Rossellini does perhaps display a bit of self-awareness when he has the Nazi Bergmann say a bit later, "You Italians, whatever party you belong to, are all addicted to rhetoric."[7]

But however we might want to chastise Rossellini for his embrace of conventional narrative in this film—if we do—it is clear that he does it very well indeed. There is no slack, no narrative fat. All of the characters are tightly intertwined for maximum efficiency, and the result is a complex and thickly populated fresco. Exposition is accomplished instantly, in bold, swift strokes, and we are plunged into the narrative at a gallop from the first minute of the film. As many critics have noticed, comic and tragic moods alternate throughout the film in an invigorating and emotionally involving way, each providing a counterpoint to the other. Individual scenes are also exquisitely accomplished. Thus,
― 45 ―
the sequence in which Pina is shot down as she runs after the truck carrying her fiancé Francesco is one of the most brilliantly affecting moments in all film. Pushed up against the wall with the other women, she seems out of harm's way, so her suicidal outburst is even more shocking when it comes. On one hand, the power of this moment seems to come from the placement of the camera inside the truck as it moves away. Pina runs after it, and when she is cut down, her movement forward in tandem with the camera's movement forward is abruptly halted and the distance between the camera in the truck and her dead body, lying in the middle of the street in a lump, multiplies at a dizzying rate. But the effect of this sequence is also achieved by an awareness of dramatic balance, for it immediately follows one of the most humorous moments in the film, mentioned earlier by Amidei, when the priest has to knock the grandfather over the head with a frying pan in order to keep him from attracting the attention of the Fascists. We instantly move, then, to Pina's death sequence, all of which lasts no more than a few seconds, and the emotional and dramatic buildup of which is astounding to watch.[8] Leo Braudy, in the introduction to his anthology Focus on Shoot the Piano Player , insightfully links this purposeful alternation of tone with later examples in Truffaut's film and Joseph Heller's tragicomic novel Catch 22 . An early French reviewer, Jean Desternes, likened the use of comic counterpoint to enhance the film's horror to earlier uses in Shakespeare.[9]

NAZI CORRUPTION IN ITS PHLOSOPHY

Nor is the teacher the only Nazi influence on Edmund, for these pernicious ideas have penetrated the entire society. Thus, the landlord Rademaker early in the film calls Edmund's father a "useless old man" and an "old mummy," who he threatens to "put . . . away if he doesn't kick the bucket soon" (pp. 361, 360). Later he asks Edmund "When's [your father] going to drop dead and give us a little peace?" (p. 415). Similarly Edmund's cowardly brother Karlheinz keeps insisting that life is hopeless and that he should commit suicide. Nazi philosophy has also been responsible for the corruption of the natural bonds found within the family as we learn in a passing comment of Enning's: "Remember, Edmund, your father once handed in a forged certificate so you wouldn't have to join the Hitler Jugend, but you told me right away it was forged, because you knew what your duty was. (He touches Edmund's cheek .) And I ought to have reported him to the Party . . . and the reason I didn't was because I'm fond of you" (p. 386). This contrast between natural affection and artificial Nazi values, already supercharged in the context of sexual perversion, is reinforced gesturally when Edmund visits his father in the hospital after seeing Enning. There, the father caresses Edmund's arms in the same way that Enning has, and kisses him, as if to stress that the greatest evil is the warping of that which is most natural and innocent. We are also meant to see Edmund's situation universalized. Thus, at one point while they are waiting in line, one woman tells another of a boy who is "only ten, and he makes more money on the black market than the whole family put together" (p. 377).In the deprivation caused by the war, Rossellini implies, humankind's natural inclination toward coralità is threatened. When the situation is further complicated by the infection of nazism, it becomes even less likely, and in this
― 80 ―
[Full Size] see above picture
Nazism as corruption, again: Edmund (Edmund Moeschke) watches as his father(Ernst Pittschau) drinks the poisoned milk he has preparedfor him in Germany, Year Zero (1947).
film any possibility of group solidarity is utterly destroyed. Eva at one point tries to convince her depressed brother Karlheinz to have hope—as we have seen, a key commodity for Rossellini—but later, and more convincingly, she asserts, "I don't believe in being helped by other people. Everybody has to help themselves these days" (p. 370). Edmund is continually rebuffed, for no apparent reason, by the other children he comes in contact with, and when he turns for community to a roving band of young thieves, their leader tricks him by selling him a fake bar of soap made from a block of wood. What surfaces is an existentialist vision of individual alienation, an emphasis Rossellini will maintain through the desolate period of the Bergman films, with the exception of the luminous coralità of the microcosmic society of Francesco .

COLLABORATORS HAVE OUR SYMPATHY
The Nazis' obvious hatred of the Italians is itself thematized, and conveniently serves as one more example of Nazi evil. The occupation of Rome by the Germans has given Rossellini, the quintessential outraged Roman, a clear-cut, one-to-one replacement for the Communist villains of L'uomo dalla croce , and Italian guilt never has to be addressed. At the end of Open City , when Don Pietro is to be executed, the Italian firing squad, respecting the cloth—unlike the barbarian Nazis—wavers and ends up shooting harmlessly into the ground. By a curious reversal, cowardice and bumbling inefficiency become moral values, and it is the Nazi officer who finally has to kill the priest. Throughout the film the Italian collaborators, portrayed as having managed to retain their deepest human values in spite of everything, themselves come to be seen as much the Nazis' victims as any other group, and therefore have our sympathy.

COMMUNISTS UNITED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Clearly, the most important—and most complicated—theme of Open City concerns the nature of the partnership formed (if not in historical actuality, at least in Rossellini's mind) to combat Nazi corruption, that between the communists and the Catholic church. This was no mean trick for Rossellini, considering that his previous picture had posed them as natural, bitter enemies. But he does manage, in a remarkable balancing act, to portray them both favorably, primarily because of the handy presence of a common enemy whose horribleness everyone could agree on. For one thing, the director is acknowledging the historical fact that no matter what one personally felt concerning its politics, in effect, the Communist party was the Resistance. The flavor of Rossellini's accommodation can be gathered in the initial meeting between atheist Manfredi and believer Pina:
MANFREDI: So you're having a church wedding. . . .
PINA: Yes. Actually, Francesco didn't want to, but I told him: better for Don Pietro to marry us, at least he's on the right side, rather than go to City Hall and be married by a Fascist. Don't you think so?
MANFREDI: In a way, you're right.

PINA: Yes; the truth is that I . . . really believe in God (p. 32).

NEW RATIONALE FOR ACCEPTING THE COMMUNISTS

Bergmann's obsessive questioning of the priest at the end of the film provides the chance to offer a new rationale for accepting the Communists. Bergmann shouts that Manfredi is "a subversive, an atheist, an enemy of yours!" and Don Pietro calmly, if rather vaguely, replies: "I am a Catholic priest and I believe that a man who fights for justice and liberty walks in the pathways of the Lord—and the pathways of the Lord are infinite" (p. 130). Hardly a ringing endorsement, as not a few Marxist critics have pointed out, but in terms of the emotion projected at that moment on the screen, certainly convincing.

CATHOLIC/ CHRISTIAN TERMS STANDARDS OF THE FILM
Nevertheless, while the Catholic and Communist are, ostensibly, on the same footing, at least in terms of their moral rectitude, the entire film is seen in Catholic, or Christian, terms. Don Pietro is the moral lens through which we are meant to regard the various forms of iniquity on display. Manfredi, in other words, is not really given any thematically important dialogue, and the heavily dramatic form of the story insists that his encounter with the Nazi, Bergmann, take place not on the level of ideas, but rather on the level of action-film machismo—not is he right, but can he withstand torture? The only character who does get to express the presumably Communist version of things is Francesco, in his wistful and captivating talk about the future as he sits with Pina on the
― 49 ―
stairs in front of his apartment. Here again, however, his desire for freedom and hope in the future are expressed in lovely, but vague and utterly unrealizable terms.
NAZI OCCUPATION SEEN IN CHRISTIAN AHISTORICAL TERMS
Early Marxist views, like that of the important film theoretician Umberto Barbaro, held that the film had "such a wise and balanced political evaluation that it undoubtedly merits the applause of all honest men."[11] Most early critics, both leftists and nonleftists, agreed primarily in seeing the film as above all "historical" in a way that no other Italian film had ever been. But more recent Marxist critics like Pio Baldelli have complained, with some justice, that Rossellini's film actually forgets history. For one thing, the blame for Nazi occupation is seen clearly in Christian—that is, ahistorical—terms. This is evident in the scene between Pina and Don Pietro, when, overloaded by misery, she plaintively asks him, "Doesn't Christ see us?" The priest replies:
A lot of people ask me that, Pina. . . . Doesn't Christ see us? But are we sure we didn't deserve this plague? Are we sure we've always lived according to the Lord's laws? And nobody thinks of changing their lives, of examining their lives. Then, when the piper has to be paid . . . everybody despairs, everybody asks: Doesn't the Lord see us? Doesn't the Lord pity us? . . . Yes, the Lord will take pity on us. But we have so much to be forgiven, and so we must pray, and forgive much (p. 53).
Similarly, Armando Borrelli complains that in this film Rossellini is only interested in stressing the tragic destiny of his characters, and makes no attempt to see the Resistance as a critique of the past. Nor do we ever learn what they are fighting for , beyond getting rid of the Nazis.[12] Yet, as Mario Cannella has pointed out in an important essay translated some years ago in Screen , it is now clear that the Italian Communist party had itself given up all class analysis during this period in favor of a Stalin-inspired anti-fascist "unity" that was thoroughly uncritical and un-Marxist. Interest, in other words, had shifted imperceptibly from protecting the workers to protecting the "fatherland," and any party member who disagreed was disciplined. In Cannella's view, it was this that led to the reestablishment of bourgeois democracy and the defeat of the party.[13] Thus it seems beside the point to blame Rossellini for not portraying the revolutionary potential of the Resistance. But the Marxists are right when they say that despite appearances, Rossellini is not really interested in history in Open City . As the non-Marxist Mino Argentieri has pointed out, the "historic conjunction" of the Church and the Communist party leads, in Rossellini, to an "ahistorical meaning, a spiritual propensity, the nth degree of the tragedy of existence and life together."[14] Rossellini is not, strictly speaking, historical precisely because he is looking for what, in human beings, transcends history.
CORALITA
The positive side of the film's depiction of the masses concerns Rossellini's much-praised (by Marxist and non-Marxist alike) sense of coralità , that concern for the group above the individual, which we saw in operation in the earlier films. Thus, the warm-hearted working-class jokes and the good-natured kidding begin almost immediately. Pina gives some of the bread she has obtained by staging a riot on the baker's to the policeman whose family is just as hungry as everyone else's. A delightful Renoirean forgiveness pervades the film; human error and petty wrongdoing, seen in the context of the massive brutality of the Nazis, is treated indulgently and largely regarded as an unavoidable product of the times. Thus, the sexton crosses himself before he, too, plunges into the crowd assaulting the bakery, and the embarrassing fact of Pina's prewedding pregnancy is tacitly forgiven by all, including the priest. Again, however, despite Marxist approval, it is clear that this coralità is not motivated in Rossellini's mind by any class solidarity; instead, he sees it in terms of Christian love for one's neighbor.
Most conflicting interpretations of the film's basic theme center visually around its final images. As Don Pietro is about to be executed, he hears the young boys whistling as a signal of their support. He is shot, and the last image of the film shows the boys, weary, but supporting each other, trudging down a hill back toward the center of town. The Roman skyline, dominated by the dome of Saint Peter's, forms the background of the shot as the film ends. The sequence is clearly symbolic, but of what? Some have chosen to emphasize the dome, insisting that only in the Church is there hope for the future of Italy. But the dome is seen firmly in its context of the entire city of Rome, just as the Church is an important part of Italian society, but hardly everything. Some have
― 51 ―
chosen to see the ending as utterly pessimistic, full of death and destruction,[17] while others have emphasized the fact that the boys, symbols of Italy's future even though crippled and depressed, are at least supporting one another down the hill.
ROME THWE CHIEF PROTAGONIST
In any case, the film appropriately ends with this evocative long shot of Rome, for in many ways, Rome is its chief protagonist, standing synecdochically for the rest of Italy. It is the first word of the film's Italian title, and is before us at all times throughout the film, either directly, as visual background, or indirectly suggested through its particular social relations reenacted in the interiors. The film opens, as well, with vibrant location shots that set us firmly in the midst of the ancient city, and we recognize the antlike Germans we see running about from our bird's-eye perspective as the interlopers they are. We first meet the German officer Bergmann after the camera pulls back from a map of Rome in his office, suggesting that his contact with the city, and by extension that of the other Germans as well, can only be of an abstract, second-order level. The point is further underlined when we learn that all of Bergmann's dealings with the city are through photographs of its inhabitants. When the Italian police commissioner asks how Manfredi was tracked down, Bergmann replies: "I met him right here, on this desk. Every afternoon I take a long walk through the streets of Rome, but without stepping out of my office" (p. 13). Again, the Germans are associated with all that is artificial, second-hand, cut off from the organic life of the people. Rome is eternal, the Nazis are temporary.

The
― 52 ―
condemnation of Open City was far from universal, however. For example, Carlo Lizzani, writing in Film d'oggi in November 1945, shortly after the film's first appearance, exclaimed in the opening line of his review: "Finally I've seen an Italian film! By this I mean a film which tells a story about us, about the experiences of our country, about facts that concern us." Lizzani also grasped the immense historical importance of the film as well:
An Italian director can offer our cinema those gifts of communication and a wide and popular persuasiveness which it has been lacking up to this time, even in the works of the best directors, and which alone can guarantee it a national and especially international success. The people today don't want an empty and sloppy cinema, but neither do they want a cinema for aesthetes. Rossellini's essential merit is to have found the rhythm and the movement best suited to make accessible to the vast public the new contents of which the film is messenger, to relate them to the most diverse sensibilities. . . . I would say that this film could be just the thing to start off our new rebirth.[18]18. Carlo Lizzani, Film d'oggi (November 3, 1945). It is certainly true that Lizzani expressed reservations about what he regarded as the amateurishness of the scenes in the gestapo headquarters, but it is a serious distortion to try to make out his review as negative, as some have
ALBERTO MORAVIA THE NOVELIST
The novelist Alberto Moravia, writing his film column in the September 30, 1945, issue of the anti-Fascist journal La nuova Europa , praised the film's intense realism.[19] Alessandro Blasetti, by that time a kind of elder statesman of Italian cinema and one of its most respected practitioners, says that after the first press screening of Open City , "I felt the need to go meet Rossellini who was waiting outside with 'indifferent' trepidation and I hugged him for all of us; the gesture was really emotional and grateful."[20] Rossellini later complained that the film was barely noticed when it came out, but Mario Gromo, the veteran reviewer for the powerful Turin newspaper La Stampa , wrote of it very favorably and suggested later that it was little mentioned (and thus little seen) because of a simple lack of space in the newspapers, pointing out that in 1945, newspapers came out in only two pages. In the introduction to his collected reviews written some years later, Gromo remembers with frustration "the breath I had to spend one evening in November 1945 to be able to devote thirty-six lines to Open City instead of just twenty."[21]
JAMES AGEE AND TRHE REALISM OF THE FILM
The most dramatic American reaction to the film was surely that of James Agee, at that time the film critic for the Nation . His March 23, 1946, review opened with this remarkable statement: "Recently I saw a moving picture so much worth talking about that I am still unable to review it. . . . I will probably be unable to report on the film in detail for the next three or four weeks."[26] When Agee did finally feel up to writing about the film for the April 13 issue, he praised its immediacy and its avoidance of the phony populist sentimentality of Works Progress Administration murals. But what struck Agee above all, and critics of all nationalities ever since, was the film's startling realism. This is a notoriously difficult concept to deal with, of course, but our thinking about Rossellini, especially during this period, is so tied up with it that we must now consider it more abstractly and in some depth.
ACTUAL EXTERIORS ANTI HOLLYWOOD
Because most of the filming was done in the midst of actual exteriors, and not those recreated in a studio or on the back lot, the film quite naturally has a look that makes it utterly different from the conventional film of the time; in this sense, then, "realistic" means "different from Hollywood." The anti-Hollywood bias is also evident in the choice of individual actors for their similarity to the mix of people one finds on the street, rather than for their good looks. Thus, makeup, favorable lighting and soft focus are eschewed in favor of something closer to the way we encounter people in real life. But something happens to "real life" when it is translated to the screen, and what we call realism actually consists of a set of expectations that is related to reality, of course, but in conventional rather than natural ways. Thus, for example, it would obviously be more "real," more like real life, for people being photographed to look at the camera, but then, paradoxically, the film would no longer seem realistic to us at all.
28. Lotman, p. 69. Georges Sadoul said something similar, using a different frame of reference, many years ago in connection with Paisan: "Rossellini's method excluded neither research nor elaboration. Paisan was the most expensive Italian film made in 1946. Its poverty was only apparent, and it would be ridiculous to explain the birth of neorealism by the hardships that reigned in the country at that time. The distrust of beautiful 'photography' was in fact a supreme refinement, the creation of a new style, soon to be imitated everywhere" ( Histoire du cinéma mondial , p. 330). "Things are there. Why manipulate them?"[29] The underlying assumption, of course, is that when these "things" have been transferred to the screen, they will somehow still be "there." At one point, Bazin even makes the translation process almost quantifiable: "We shall call realist any system of expression, any narrative procedure which tends to make more reality appear on the screen."[30] His most gnomic statement specifically concerning Rossellini is that he "directs facts"[31] —not, of course, cinematic facts, but the facts that are seen as inhering in external reality (and available to us), rather than as constituted in a system of signification.

29. Interview with Fereydoun Hoveyda and Jacques Rivette, Cahiers du cinéma , no. 94 (April 1959), 6. [BACK]
30. André Bazin, What Is Cinema? (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976), vol. 2, p. 27. [BACK]
31. Ibid., p. 100.
AETHETIC ILLUSION FILTERING PROCESS MORE REAL MIMETIC THEORY OF ART
Bazin was, of course, always aware that screen reality was only an "aesthetic illusion." What else could it be? Furthermore, the most epistemologically sophisticated of these directors and critics knew and freely admitted that this raw reality must be "filtered" through the consciousness of the director, because otherwise what one ended up with was an arbitrary surface depiction that barely pierced the skin of the real. But the purpose and result of this authorial intervention, this mediation, in effect, was always to get to a cinematic representation of reality that was somehow more "real" than reality itself. The appeal is made to a truth that exists beyond, though not so far beyond as to be uncapturable, of course. Associated with this cinematic pursuit of truth is a concomitant theory of essences, of a "truer," "higher" reality, that has always been linked with the notion of aesthetic realism since the advent of the mimetic theory of art
35. Maurice Merleau-Ponty, "What Is Phenomenology?" in European Literary Theory and Practice , ed. Vernon W. Gras (New York: Dell Publishing, 1973), p. 80.

Reality, in other words, is not constituted by an uncomplicated "out there" to which we can have direct, unmediated access. We cannot help but process everything through our own particular culture, which exists beyond our individual control and not only filters what we experience, but actually produces it. Harold Brown, a philosopher of science, has argued in his book Perception, Theory, and Commitment that, far from perception providing us with pure facts, "the knowledge, beliefs and theories we already hold play a fundamental role in determining what we perceive." In his felicitous, and disarmingly simple phrase, we actually "perceive meanings."[36] We continuously make representations to ourselves, mostly as metaphors, as Nietzsche saw, that mediate reality for us.

Jean-Paul Fargier has suggested some of the ideological implications of this fact:
People used to say about statues and portraits, "He looks as though he might open his mouth any minute and say something." or "He looks as though he might burst into movement." But the "as though" gives the game away; despite the appearance, something was lacking , and everybody knew it. Whereas in the cinema, there is no "as though." People say "The leaves are moving." But there are no leaves. The first thing people do is deny the existence of the screen: it opens like a window , it is "transparent." This illusion is the very substance of the specific ideology secreted by the cinema.[37] 37. Quoted in Realism and the Cinema , ed. Christopher Williams (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980), p. 177

Seeing a film, then, presupposes first an ongoing, unconscious daily operation that consists of systematizing an inchoate reality and "reading" it in terms of the codes that we both put and find there. This already represented reality is then represented again in film by means of a certain labor on the part of the filmmaker. It does not simply happen "naturally." Much avant-garde cinema in fact deliberately foregrounds the notion of production, thus helping us to see that the reality depicted, as well as the film, is a made, constructed, and thus historical reality

This very sense of wholeness I have been outlining above, which seems to be produced by most films, is seen by Bazin as the distinguishing characteristic of neorealism. In his remarkable essay entitled "In Defense of Rossellini," he approvingly maintains that neorealism's main feature is "its claim that there is a certain 'wholeness' to reality. . . . To put it still another way, neorealism by definition rejects analysis, whether political, moral, psychological, logical, or social, of the characters and their actions. It looks on reality as a whole, not incomprehensible, certainly, but inseparably one."[39] Bazin praises Rossellini's Europa '51 because in it he "strips the appearances of all that is not essential, in order to get at the totality in its simplicity."[40]
39. Bazin, What Is Cinema? , vol. 2, p. 97.

40. Ibid., p. 101.

One immediate effect of this privileging of the essence of reality over mere appearance and the accompanying insistence on film's ability to re-present this essence on the screen is to place the practice of neorealist filmmaking firmly within the Western metaphysical tradition of presence , most recently and powerfully critiqued by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida.

For Bazin and the other phenomenological critics, the project is at base a religious one, and the finding of fullness in a cinema that embodies the fullness of reality itself is a way to find (or to constitute) what Derrida has called the transcendental signified, or, in a more familiar formulation, God.

Top 3000 films of all time the first 600 films -samples

2011-05-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

http://wondersinthedark.wordpress.com/2011/05/12/top-3000-films-of-all-time-600-1/

Top 3,000 Films of All-Time – 600 – 1
May 12, 2011 by wondersinthedark
by Allan Fish
And we’re there. I’ll just hold back on the top 10 till sometime later today…
600 Aniki Bóbó (Portugal 1942…Manoel de Oliveira)599 Hotel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (France 1988…Marcel Ophuls)598 Heimat 3 (Germany-TV 2004…Edgar Reitz)597 Edvard Munch (TV version) (Norway/Sweden-TV 1974…Peter Watkins)596 The Lady from Shanghai (US 1947…Orson Welles)595 Johann Mouse (US 1952…William Hanna, Joseph Barbera)594 The Sacrifice (Sweden/France 1986…Andrei Tarkovsky)593 The Cranes are Flying (USSR 1957…Mikhail Kalatozov)592 Miller’s Crossing (US 1990…Joel Coen)591 The Life of Oharu (Japan 1952…Kenji Mizoguchi)590 Closer (US/UK 2004…Mike Nichols)589 Mädchen in Uniform (Germany 1931…Leontine Sagan)588 La Ronde (France 1950…Max Ophuls)587 Le Diable au Corps (France 1947…Claude Autant-Lara)586 Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ (US 1925…Fred Niblo)585 E.T: the extra terrestrial (US 1982…Steven Spielberg)584 Johnny Guitar (US 1954…Nicholas Ray)583 Repulsion (UK 1965…Roman Polanski)582 Amadeus: the director’s cut (US 1984/2001…Milos Forman)581 Ossessione (Italy 1942…Luchino Visconti)580 Fight Club (US 1999…David Fincher)579 Les Croix de Bois (France 1932…Raymond Bernard)578 Strike (USSR 1924…Sergei M.Eisenstein)577 La Dolce Vita (Italy 1960…Federico Fellini)576 Tabu (US 1931…Friedrich W.Murnau)575 Au Revoir les Enfants (France 1987…Louis Malle)574 Arsenal (USSR 1928…Alexander P.Dovzhenko)573 Le Corbeau (France 1943…Henri-Georges Clouzot)572 After Life (Japan 1998…Hirokazu Kore-Eda)571 Memento (US 2000…Christopher Nolan)570 1900 (Italy 1976…Bernardo Bertolucci)569 Easy Living (US 1937…Mitchell Leisen)568 Annie Hall (US 1977…Woody Allen)567 Mr Deeds Goes to Town (US 1936…Frank Capra)566 Nixon: the director’s cut (US 1995/2010…Oliver Stone)565 Providence (France/UK 1977…Alain Resnais)564 Far from Heaven (US 2002…Todd Haynes)563 The Girl on the Bridge (France 1999…Patrice Leconte)562 Kings of the Road (West Germany 1976…Wim Wenders)561 Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture! (Japan 1977…Noboru Tanaka)560 The Big Lebowski (US 1998…Joel Coen)559 Of Time and the City (UK 2008…Terence Davies)558 Reservoir Dogs (US 1992…Quentin Tarantino)557 The Time to Live and the Time to Die (Taiwan 1985…Hou Hsiao-Hsien)556 Carlos (France-TV 2010…Olivier Assayas)555 L’Argent (France 1983…Robert Bresson)554 Network (US 1976…Sidney Lumet)553 Street of Shame (Japan 1956…Kenji Mizoguchi)552 Rouge (Hong Kong 1987…Stanley Kwan)551 Les Parents Terribles (France 1948…Jean Cocteau)550 The Kid (US 1921…Charles Chaplin)549 La Femme du Boulanger (France 1938…Marcel Pagnol)548 Das Boot: TV version (West Germany-TV 1981…Wolfgang Petersen)
547 Black God, White Devil (Brazil 1964…Glauber Rocha)546 Lonesome (US 1928…Pal Fejos)545 Les Dames de Bois de Boulogne (France 1945…Robert Bresson)544 Police, Adjective (Romania 2009…Corneliu Porumboiu)543 Weekend (France 1967…Jean-Luc Godard)542 The Age of Cosimo de Medici (Italy-TV 1972…Roberto Rossellini)541 Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Italy 1975…Pier Paolo Pasolini)540 Mildred Pierce (US 1945…Michael Curtiz)539 The Testament of Dr Mabuse (Germany 1932…Fritz Lang)538 I, Claudius (UK-TV 1976…Herbert Wise)537 Unforgiven (US 1992…Clint Eastwood)536 You, the Living (Sweden 2007…Roy Andersson)535 Never Weaken (US 1921…Hal Roach)534 Sisters of the Gion (Japan 1936…Kenji Mizoguchi)533 Portrait of Jennie (US 1948…William Dieterle)532 Paprika (Japan 2006…Satoshi Kon)531 Aguirre, Wrath of God (West Germany 1972…Werner Herzog)530 Un Prophète (France 2009…Jacques Audiard)529 The South (Spain 1983…Victor Erice)528 Los Olvidados (Mexico 1950…Luis Buñuel)527 The Day the Earth Stood Still (US 1951…Robert Wise)526 Nights of Cabiria (Italy 1956…Federico Fellini)525 The Way to the Stars (UK 1945…Anthony Asquith)524 Berlin, Symphony of a Great City (Germany 1927…Walter Ruttmann)523 Yojimbo (Japan 1961…Akira Kurosawa)522 Werckmeister Harmonies (Hungary/Germany 2000…Béla Tarr)521 Freaks (US 1932…Tod Browning)520 Ordet (Denmark 1954…Carl T.Dreyer)519 An Age of Kings (UK-TV 1960…Peter Dews, Michael Hayes)518 Out 1 (France 1971…Jacques Rivette)517 Smiles of a Summer Night (Sweden 1955…Ingmar Bergman)516 Kameradschaft (Germany 1931…G.W.Pabst)515 The Public Enemy (US 1931…William A.Wellman)514 Harakiri (Japan 1962…Masaki Kobayashi)513 Horse Feathers (US 1932…Norman Z.McLeod)512 Kes (UK 1969…Ken Loach)511 The Passenger (Italy/US 1975…Michelangelo Antonioni)510 Caché (France 2005…Michael Haneke)509 Little Toys (China 1933…Sun Yu)
508 Ivan’s Childhood (USSR 1962…Andrei Tarkovsky)507 Our Mutual Friend (UK-TV1998…Julian Faring)506 Edna the Inebriate Woman (UK-TV 1971…Ted Kotcheff)505 A One and a Two (Taiwan 2000…Edward Yang)504 An Autumn Afternoon (Japan 1962…Yasujiro Ozu)503 Amores Perros (Mexico 2000…Aléjandro González Iñarritu)502 Ditte, Child of Man (Denmark 1946…Bjarne Henning-Jansen)501 Raise the Red Lantern (China 1991…Zhang Yimou)500 The Smiling Lieutenant (US 1931…Ernst Lubitsch)499 The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (France 1972…Luis Buñuel)

Top 3000 films of all time the first 600 films -samples

2011-05-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

Top 3000 films of all time the first 600 films -samples

2011-05-17T12:44:00.000-07:00