cry baby cry

You

have

to

be

crazy

to

live

in

an

insane

world.

---

A-bomb Drawings by Survivors

(原爆の絵ーヒロシマを伝える )

This is the second edition of the pictures drawn by atomic bomb survivors, published by the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in 2007.

In 2002, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial 

Museum supported by the NHK Hiroshima Studio, Chiugoku Press and other organization collected 1338 drawing from 484 persons for the second time and put them on special exhibition between 2002 to 2003 at the Museum and also on the website (www.pcf.city.hiroshima.co.jp).

The Museum edited and catalogued 1200 drawings for the book "原爆の絵ーヒロシマを伝える - A-bomb Drawings by Survivors" in Japanese and English and printed by the Iwanami Books (岩波書店 ) in 2007. The book is available at the Museum Bookstore in Hiroshima.

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Storm Over Nagasaki

(長崎原爆絵巻 崎陽のあらし)

The picture scroll dipiciting the Atomic Bombing of Nagasaki was drawn by Mr. Noritaka Fukami who was a soldier assigned to the Nagasaki Fortress Headquarters at the time of Atomic Bombing on August 9. 1945.

Mr. Fukami was born on September 20, 
1919 in Pyongyang, Korea, Empire of Japan. He inherited a talent of painting from his art teacher father. He won the Grand Prix Award for the All Japan Tourism Poster Contest while he was a student of the Kagoshima Commerce High School, and his work was exhibited at the Boston Museum of Arts in the United States in 1941 befor the War. 

In 1942 he was drafted into the Imperial 

Japanese Army and was assigned to the Nagasaki Fortress Headquarters, 3,500 meters from the Hypocenter at the time of the Atomic Bombing. When he entered the Ground Zero to survay the damage, he personally witnessed the davastation of the Atomic Bombing. After the War, he returned to his hometown and taught art at the junior high school and painted this scroll in summer of 1946. After suffering from radiation sickness, he killed himself on July 2, 1951 at age 31.

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Hunger Strike Los Alamos 2012

Hunger Strike Los Alamos 2012 - YouTube

Why do we still have nuclear weapons on high alert nearly 25 years after the end of the Cold War? Why are Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and seven other facilities in the nuclear weapons complex still engaged in research and production of nuclear weapons? Isn't it absurd? To protest our national investment in these genocidal weapons, Alaric Balibrera is staging a hunger strike beginning July 16th, (anniversary of the first detonation at Trinity site), through and beyond August 3-6, in concert with Hiroshima-Nagasaki commemorative events and direct action scheduled in Santa Fe in Los Alamos, New Mexico. For more info, go to www.nukefreenow.org . Also on FaceBook under "Hunger Strike Los Alamos August 2012".

HOW TO TELL A SIKH FROM A TALIBAN, ILLUSTRATED

(reprinted from may 7, 2009)

[NOTE: If anyone is interested, this is post #500 in the Globalove Think Tank!]


Before I start, let me say that in writing about the Taliban, I am not indicting the Muslim community, which has many good, upright adherents, some of whom I am honoured to include among my friends. Please do not construct anything I say about Taliban to apply to the millions of Muslims who are peaceful, constructive and valued citizens of countries all over the world.

Do to a certain shallow, outward physical resemblance to some Muslim extremists, our Sikh community has been under attack since the 9/11 terrorist attacks by those who don't know any better. Now events in Pakistan, where the Taliban has attacked the Sikhs of the SWAT Valley, forcing them out of their homes, make a comparison of the two groups mandatory for anyone who really wants to understand world events. (And to stop picking on innocent Sikhs, as well.)


First, what exactly happened in Pakistan? The government there has effectively turned over control of a region in the north of the country, the SWAT Valley, over to the Taliban. In a region of this valley called Orakzai live - or rather lived - a few Sikh families. These were poor Sikh farmers who had lived in peace with their neighbours for generations, who had chosen to stay in Pakistan when most Sikhs left to move to India in the Partition of 1948. These are people with few material resources who clearly love their homes and simple way of life.




These were destroyed when the Taliban demanded that they pay a tax on non
Muslims, called a Jaziya. I have read that jaziya was originally paid by nonMuslims in lieu of military service. I have also read that it was originally a financial inducement to convert to Islam. Whatever the original purpose, in this instance, it is clearly simple extortion, not unlike "protection money" paid by business owners to organised crime to insure that the Mob will leave their businesses alone.

The amount demanded by the Taliban, was beyond the means of the community and when it was not paid, the houses of the Sikhs were razed and Sikh businesses were occupied. The Sikhs, seeing yet another massacre looming, fled with little more than the clothes on their backs and a few meager possessions.

In summary:

Lahore: The Taliban has expelled at least 50 Sikh families from the
Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) after
they failed to pay 'Jazia'. The Taliban had demanded 12 million rupees ($242,840, GBP 161,271)
as protection money from the Sikhs, who have living in the region from
hundred of years, but they could arrange only 6.7 million rupees.($135,586, GBP 87,355)

Later, it was reported that the extremists occupied houses and shops
of the Sikhs in Qasim Khel and Feroz Khel areas of the Agency and
auctioned their valuables for 0.8 million rupees ( $16,190, GBP 10,750), The Daily Times
reports. Earlier, the Taliban had also demolished houses belonging to
the Sikh community in the region.

The Taliban's Orakzai Agency chief Hakeemullah Mehsud ordered the
demolition of the houses after the Sikhs failed to meet a deadline
fixed for payment.

Having established, I hope, that Sikhs are not Muslim extremists, who then are Sikhs? Briefly, a Sikh is a follower of Sikhi or Sikhism, a panentheistic (look it up!), monotheistic religion that originated in Punjab, in what is now northeastern India and southwestern Pakistan. Rather than summarise the beliefs, which is really beyond the scope of this article, I suggest you go to about.Sikhism and look around. It's interesting and educational.

The religion sprung up and developed at a time when Mughals (Muslims) had imposed a brutal dictatorship on the people of part of what is now called "the Asian subcontinent," that is India and Pakistan. I will now compare some aspects of Taliban and Sikhs.

Since people are generally more visual than verbal, I have included a picture gallery of major differences between the two groups below.

There is a certain superficial physical resemblance. The men of both groups grow beards and wear turbans. The majority of members of both groups are brown. The Taliban, however, are by and large Arabs, with Middle Eastern origins. Although there is a growing number of Sikhs of European and African descent, most Sikhs today are still either Punjabis or descendants of Punjabis.

Taliban discriminate against women in many ways: imposing Muslim dress which completely covers her, denies her education, restricts her movements so she is not allowed to go outside unless accompanied by a male relative. (I wonder what happens to a woman who has no male relatives?)

Sikhi teaches that men and women are equals. In fact, the Sikh Rehat Maryada - the Sikh Code of Conduct - forbids a woman to cover her face.

Here is an example of Sikh music, a sort of hymn called a kirtan. Notice that it has a happy sound and is a joy to hear! Also notice that it is sung by a woman!

I cannot give an example of Taliban music, since the Taliban ban music entirely, even to the point of killing songbirds when they controlled Afghanistan.

I cannot give a current example of Sikh government, since the Sikh Empire (1799-1849) governed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh is no longer around. However, two big differences between Sikh rule at that time and Taliban rule now are that capital punishment did not exist in the Sikh Empire, while it is common among the Taliban. And a huge difference, different religions were not only tolerated in the Sikh Empire but were actually respected, while the Taliban not only lack respect or tolerance for other religions, but also condemn all other forms of Islam, their own religion.

But enough of words. I have written enough to tell about the differences, now a few pictures to show the differences.

Note: Should anyone wish to reproduce this post, I will be happy to send you the html to make it easy for you. Just leave your e-mail in a comment or e-mail me at simayanan [at] gmail [dot] com. MHK

who am i ?

true detective

i love you

guillotine

The guillotine is a device used for carrying out executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope, and the condemned's neck is positioned beneath it. The blade then falls rapidly, severing the head from the body. The device is noted for long being the main method of execution in France and, more particularly, for its use during the French Revolution, when it "became a part of popular culture, celebrated as the people's avenger by supporters of the Revolution and vilified as the pre-eminent symbol of the Reign of Terror by opponents." In spite of being primarily associated with the French Revolution, the guillotine continued to be used long after the French Revolution in several countries, including France, where it was the standard method of execution until the abolition of capital punishment by President François Mitterrand in 1981. In Germany, it saw rapid and prolific use during the Third Reich and was used as late as 1966 (in the German Democratic Republic) and in France in 1977, for the execution of Hamida Djandoubi.
The following report was written by a Dr. Beaurieux, who experimented with the head of a condemned prisoner by the name of Henri Languille, on 28 June 1905:

    Here, then, is what I was able to note immediately after the decapitation: the eyelids and lips of the guillotined man worked in irregularly rhythmic contractions for about five or six seconds. This phenomenon has been remarked by all those finding themselves in the same conditions as myself for observing what happens after the severing of the neck ...

    I waited for several seconds. The spasmodic movements ceased. It was then that I called in a strong, sharp voice: "Languille!" I saw the eyelids slowly lift up, without any spasmodic contractions – I insist advisedly on this peculiarity – but with an even movement, quite distinct and normal, such as happens in everyday life, with people awakened or torn from their thoughts.

    Next Languille's eyes very definitely fixed themselves on mine and the pupils focused themselves. I was not, then, dealing with the sort of vague dull look without any expression, that can be observed any day in dying people to whom one speaks: I was dealing with undeniably living eyes which were looking at me. After several seconds, the eyelids closed again.

    It was at that point that I called out again and, once more, without any spasm, slowly, the eyelids lifted and undeniably living eyes fixed themselves on mine with perhaps even more penetration than the first time. Then there was a further closing of the eyelids, but now less complete. I attempted the effect of a third call; there was no further movement – and the eyes took on the glazed look which they have in the dead. (read more)

race to oblivion

Join #OccupyNukes National Day of Action Against U.S. Nuclear Weapons Arsenal! | Occupy New Mexico

August 6: Join #OccupyNukes National Day of Action Against U.S. Nuclear Weapons Arsenal! | Occupy New Mexico

therein lies the battle

Warrior for peace

"The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to compete and better one another are making a terrible mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to prevent such slaughter - it is the Art of Peace, the power of love." Morihei Ueshiba.

UFO WebCam New York City, Boston, Auckland

placid death

Detail of the Guanajuato mummies, Mexico.

Photo taken at Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato.

execution

cowboyz

Children Playing Cowboys with Guns

Henri Cartier-Bresson - Rome, Italy

look to the future

problems of peace

"War

is a cowardly escape

from the problems of peace"


Thomas Mann

for your consideration

Huffington Post

David with the head of Goliath

Caravaggio

Gar Alperovitz’s Green Party Keynote: We Are Laying Groundwork for the "Next Great Revolution"

At the Green Party’s 2012 National Convention in Baltimore over the weekend, Massachusetts physician Jill Stein and anti-poverty campaigner Cheri Honkala were nominated the party’s presidential and vice-presidential contenders. We air the convention’s keynote address delivered by Gar Alperovitz, a professor of political economy at the University of Maryland and co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative. Alperovitz is the author of "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy." In his remarks, Alperovitz stressed the importance of third-party politics to challenge a corporate-run society. "Systems, in history, are defined, above all, by who controls the wealth," Alperovitz says. "The top 400 people — not percent, people, 400 — own more wealth now than the bottom 185 million Americans taken together. That is a medieval structure." [includes rush transcript]

Gar Alperovitz’s Green Party Keynote: We Are Laying Groundwork for the "Next Great Revolution"

atisha

The greatest effort is not concerned with results

The greatest medicine is the emptiness of everything

The greatest patience is humility

The greatest action is not conforming with the worlds ways

The greatest magic is transmuting the passions

The greatest generosity is non-attachment

The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go

The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances

The greatest worth is self-mastery

The greatest precept is continual awareness

The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind

The greatest achievement is selflessness

The greatest quality is seeking to serve others

...Atisha...

The Bomb

The Population Bomb was a best-selling book written by Stanford University Professor Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich (who was uncredited), in 1968. It warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth. Fears of a "population explosion" were widespread in the 1950s and 60s, but the book and its charismatic author brought the idea to an even wider audience. The book has been criticized in recent decades for its alarmist tone and inaccurate predictions. The Ehrlichs stand by the basic ideas in the book, stating in 2009 that "perhaps the most serious flaw in The Bomb was that it was much too optimistic about the future" and believe that it achieved their goals because "it alerted people to the importance of environmental issues and brought human numbers into the debate on the human future."

In answer to the question, "what needs to be done?" he wrote, "We must rapidly bring the world population under control, reducing the growth rate to zero or making it negative. Conscious regulation of human numbers must be achieved. Simultaneously we must, at least temporarily, greatly increase our food production." Ehrlich described a number of "ideas on how these goals might be reached." He believed that the United States should take a leading role in population control, both because it was already consuming much more than the rest of the world, and therefore had a moral duty to reduce its impact, and because the US would have to lead international efforts due to its prominence in the world. In order to avoid charges of hypocrisy or racism it would have to take the lead in population reduction efforts. Ehrlich floats the idea of adding "temporary sterilants" to the water supply or staple foods. However, he rejects the idea as unpractical due to "criminal inadequacy of biomedical research in this area." He suggests a tax scheme in which additional children would add to a family's tax burden at increasing rates for more children, as well as luxury taxes on childcare goods. He suggests incentives for men who agree to permanent sterilization before they have two children, as well as a variety of other monetary incentives. He proposes a powerful Department of Population and Environment which "should be set up with the power to take whatever steps are necessary to establish a reasonable population size in the United States and to put an end to the steady deterioration of our environment." The department should support research into population control, such as better contraceptives, mass sterilizing agents, and prenatal sex discernment (because families often continue to have children until a male is born. Ehrlich suggested that if they could choose a male child this would reduce the birthrate). Legislation should be enacted guaranteeing the right to an abortion, and sex education should be expanded.

The Population Bomb has been characterized by critics as primarily a repetition of the Malthusian catastrophe argument that population growth will outpace agricultural growth unless controlled. Ehrlich observed that since about 1930 the population of the world had doubled within a single generation, from 2 billion to nearly 4 billion, and was on track to do so again. He assumed that available resources on the other hand, and in particular food, were nearly at their limits. Some critics compare Ehrlich unfavorably to Malthus, saying that although Thomas Malthus did not make a firm prediction of imminent catastrophe, Ehrlich warned of a potential massive disaster within the next decade or two. In addition, critics state that unlike Malthus, Ehrlich did not see any means of avoiding the disaster entirely (although some mitigation was possible), and proposed solutions that were much more radical than those discussed by Malthus, such as starving whole countries that refused to implement population control measures.

Ehrlich was certainly not unique in his neo-Malthusian predictions, and there was a wide spread belief in the 1960s and 70s that increasingly catastrophic famines were on their way. (read more)

encounter

watch full movie

brotherhood of the snake

Behold A Pale Horse

wip3out

Compensation, Too - NYTimes.com

Compensation, Too - NYTimes.com:

"I see from some of the comments that there’s a widespread belief that the wage stagnation we’ve experienced under “modern capitalism” is some kind of illusion, that it would go away if we took benefits into account."

'via Blog this'

greetings programs

quantum

Homer 3D

size