oh, and check this out!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99838343
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I should have posted a month ago, but Olives' posts were so cool that I took it easy for awhile. Anyway, I'm back now to write about what's been on my mind lately.
Today I read in the news that the Pope has decided to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, a holocaust denier. Well, a holocaust half-denier I guess, who believes that "two to three hundred thousand Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers." The article doesn't make it clear exactly why he was excommunicated and is now being reinstated, but I get the sense neither one has to do with his beliefs regarding the holocaust. Of course commentators and spokespeople from Israel have already spoken out about the damage this will do to the Catholic church's relationship with Israel and the Jewish community. So, um, why did the church do this? I don't fucking know. But if we don't start respecting each other soon (not just Catholics and Jews, but everyone) what is going to happen? Hundreds and hundreds of kids died in Gaza this month. But actually, 5,000 kids die of preventable diseases every day. We're in a really weird place and beyond even caring about each other or loving each other, we don't even respect one another's lives. And how do we heal from that?
There is another interesting news story today. 700 immigrants held in detention on the Italian island, Lampedusa have escaped and are holding a protest chanting "Freedom" and "Help us!" They were in a detention center built for 850 that is currently holding 1,800 people. It is so overcrowded that detaineed were being forced to sleep outside in the cold at night. The island is in between Africa and Italy and gets a lot of immigrants from Somalia and Eritrea fleeing wars and poverty. They used to allow the immigrants to go to mainland Italy, but have now stopped that program despite the fact that this tiny island got nearly 40,000 immigrants coming to its shores in 2008. Luckily local residents are opposing the building of a new facility that they worry would be more like a prison. Anyway, best luck to the escaped detainees! Freedom!
Today I read in the news that the Pope has decided to lift the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, a holocaust denier. Well, a holocaust half-denier I guess, who believes that "two to three hundred thousand Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps but none of them by gas chambers." The article doesn't make it clear exactly why he was excommunicated and is now being reinstated, but I get the sense neither one has to do with his beliefs regarding the holocaust. Of course commentators and spokespeople from Israel have already spoken out about the damage this will do to the Catholic church's relationship with Israel and the Jewish community. So, um, why did the church do this? I don't fucking know. But if we don't start respecting each other soon (not just Catholics and Jews, but everyone) what is going to happen? Hundreds and hundreds of kids died in Gaza this month. But actually, 5,000 kids die of preventable diseases every day. We're in a really weird place and beyond even caring about each other or loving each other, we don't even respect one another's lives. And how do we heal from that?
There is another interesting news story today. 700 immigrants held in detention on the Italian island, Lampedusa have escaped and are holding a protest chanting "Freedom" and "Help us!" They were in a detention center built for 850 that is currently holding 1,800 people. It is so overcrowded that detaineed were being forced to sleep outside in the cold at night. The island is in between Africa and Italy and gets a lot of immigrants from Somalia and Eritrea fleeing wars and poverty. They used to allow the immigrants to go to mainland Italy, but have now stopped that program despite the fact that this tiny island got nearly 40,000 immigrants coming to its shores in 2008. Luckily local residents are opposing the building of a new facility that they worry would be more like a prison. Anyway, best luck to the escaped detainees! Freedom!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Years!
Good-bye 2008! As we welcome the New Year I attempted to give our page a fresh new look but failed miserably. I don't know why the banner isn't positioned where it's supposed to be. Maybe it's just too big? Hopefully when Etheline returns from her travels and begins to blog again she won't be too upset that in an attempt to make our page look less "plain," it now just looks... I don't even know how to explain it. Hopefully it'll look a littler better by the end of the day but I doubt it.
So, to make up for our blog's lack of "freshness" for the new year I will post something fresh and cool. When I first heard Solange's music it didn't really stick with me too much, but her music videos are something else. Her music videos, well at least the two of them that I've seen, are visually incredibly creative crossing lines of imagination with bold and bright colors.
I feel like it’s always interesting to see how an artist chooses to visualize their music in their music videos. For example lots of main stream hip hop artists don't have much of a creative stretch beyond half naked girls shaking their booty around, so it's refreshing to see something different.
Sandcastle Disco - Solange
"I Decided" Official Music Video - Solange
So, to make up for our blog's lack of "freshness" for the new year I will post something fresh and cool. When I first heard Solange's music it didn't really stick with me too much, but her music videos are something else. Her music videos, well at least the two of them that I've seen, are visually incredibly creative crossing lines of imagination with bold and bright colors.
I feel like it’s always interesting to see how an artist chooses to visualize their music in their music videos. For example lots of main stream hip hop artists don't have much of a creative stretch beyond half naked girls shaking their booty around, so it's refreshing to see something different.
Sandcastle Disco - Solange
"I Decided" Official Music Video - Solange
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