one step to hell

I made one step to hell yesterday. Now I am pondering whether there's a way back, or only way forward?

Ahava: Stolen Beauty

ISM Czech campaign on boycott of Ahava products.



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Al Jazeera: The Secret Iraq Files (WikiLeaks)

The Secret Iraq Files

After the biggest leak of military secrets ever this special programme reveals the truth about the war in Iraq.

Al Jazeera: The Rageh Omaar Report on Lebanon

Lebanon: What lies beneath

Why is the fate of thousands who disappeared during the Lebanese civil war still unsolved?

British Unions BDS - boycotting settlement goods

Badil - Rights in Principle, Rights in Practice

I am putting this up mainly as a storage for this pic which I will then put to the ISM Czech website. :-)

You can read more about Badil here.

Baaria (film)

A beautiful Sicilian movie about 3 generations living in town Bagheria (Baaria in Sicilian slang) where the director, Giuseppe Tornatore, was born. I saw it in the cinema and before going, I watched the trailer and from what I saw there, I expected almost a kitch romanticized image of Italian life - simply only nice views made in Italian comedy-style.
I almost declined going, but then changed my mind but did not expect much.
The film was great - slow camera work at times, yes - the images were great and beautiful, but the story was narrated with such sensitivity and sensuality that I completely fell for it. Fragile characters full of humanity, childhood innocence, light and at times ironic humor, symbolism and just hints at a much deeper symbolism involved in that region. It left deep emotions in me, one of rare films I saw, very sensitive and intelligent.

en.wiki / Giuseppe Tornatore / cz.review / febiofest.review

The Informers (film, 2009)

I watched it at home recently. It's based on a book by the author of American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis, directed by Gregor Jordan. It shows young spoiled teenagers living in the 80's Holywood - sex, drogs and rock-and-roll sort of thing, carelessness, not knowing the difference between right and wrong, lost and uprooted in the same way as their parents are. An artistic critique of the superficial shallow American culture. The film is dedicated to the actor Brad Renfro who died of drug abuse, he excelled in the role of Jack (hotel doorman). I found the dedication quite symbolic of the whole plot.



The Informers (2009 film)
Bret Easton Ellis (writer)
Gregor Jordan (director)
Brad Renfro (actor)
Mickey Rourke (actor)

Brno: Květy & Petr Hegyi

Listening to a few songs by Květy, again, I noticed Petr Hegyi mentioned there: photos/videos.
His photos are good, original, different, sensual. I kind of like thinking of Brno and the time when I used to bump into him occasionally through a friend.












Květy / Petr Hegyi / video

Survival Song (film)

Today, when I was watching AlJazeera's news on China's plans to build twelve new hydroelectric dams along the Yangtze river and about how inhabitants are evicted and their life gets worse, I remembered a beautifully made film by a Chinese director, Survival Song - by Yu Guangyi. I saw this film at the Czech Jihlava Film Fest in 2009.

In Survival Song, a hunter/trapper and his wife take an unemployed drifter named Xiao Lizi into their home. When their house is demolished to make way for a nearby dam, the family scatters: the wife goes back to her hometown, Xiao Lizi finds temporary work on a construction site, and the hunter/trapper - who is wanted for poaching - flees to escape the law.

Survival Song - (Xiao Lizi) - 2008
Independent Chinese Documentaries
AlJazeera
Jihlava Film Fest

What time is it in Caracas?

Argentina: VideoDanza 09

el vinculo
el blog
otro vinculo
movimiento.org

La Habana: Festival International del Nuevo Cine

Del 3 al 13 diciembre de 2009, La Habana, Cuba

El Festival de La Habana expresa su apoyo a los cineastas de Honduras





festival
diario del festival

Documental: De Bolivar a Chavez

Un documental histórico político sobre los últimos 200 años de lucha en Venezuela y en todo el continente. La resistencia de los pueblos al intervencionismo yanqui y los nuevos desafíos del siglo XXI.


siese - manuel ugarte
un blog

Anti War Posters

Flickr

Code Pink against Afghanistan Escalation!

CodePink Sign Petition
Women Say No to War
Michael Moore - An Open Letter To President Obama On Afghanistan

Shut Down the School of the Americas 2

Protest
DN!

What's happening in Honduras?

Key words: Coup, military, SOA, June 2009, Zelaya, coup president and coup regime, democratic president out

Tegucigalpa, Honduras - On June 28, 2009, graduates of the School of the Americas overthrew the democratically-elected government of Honduras.

In a well-planned operation, 200 masked soldiers under the command of General Romeo Vásquez Velásquez stormed the presidential palace in the middle of the night. The soldiers grabbed President Zelaya from his bed, forced him onto an airplane and flew him into exile. The state television was taken off the air. Electricity to the capital, Tegucigalpa, was cut, as were telephone lines and cell phone service.

Source
RealNews
Zelaya

Shut Down the School of the Americas

SOA (School of the Americas) - an infamous institution training Latin American military to then support the US policies in the region. There is a campaign to shut down the school, as reported on DN!:

....annual protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly known as the School of the Americas, frequently dubbed the “School of the Assassins.” Critics say the school’s graduates are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. The group School of Americas Watch says the role of US-trained generals in the recent Honduras military coup underscores the need for the school’s closure.

DN!
SOA Watch
en.wiki

Watch Latin America: TeleSUR

A pan-Latin American terrestrial and satellite television network headquartered in Caracas, Venezuela. TeleSUR was launched with the objective of providing information to promote the integration of Latin America and as a counterweight to large international medias such as CNN, Univision, BBC, TVE and Deutsche Welle.

teleSUR / en.wiki
venezuelan state tv / en.wiki
canal 7 argentina / en.wiki