• A Space Journey HD, 8.59 min: A small tribute to HUBBLE, the Hubble Space Telescope;
• The Majestic Beauty of the Cosmos (Hubble) HD Relaxing space music NASA, 4.20 min: Each of these sights of the far away corners of the cosmos was captured thanks to the lenses of the Hubble telescope conquering these amazing distances. My little tribute to Carl Sagan;
• Intergalactic Journey (HD), 5.59 min: A music video with some science content or a science video set to some excellent music;
• Amazing video footage of flying through space, 3.34 min: This is a wonderful video of what it is like to travel through space;
• Stunning video: NASA captures giant comet hitting sun, 0.21 min: SOHO (NASA-ESA Solar & Heliospheric Observatory) watched as a fairly bright comet dove towards the Sun in a white streak and was not seen again after its close encounter (May 10-11, 2011). The comet, probably part of the Kreutz family of comets, was discovered by amateur astronomer Sergey Shurpakov. In this coronagraph the Sun (represented by a white circle) is blocked by the red occulting disk so that the faint structures in the Sun’s corona can be discerned. Interestingly, a coronal mass ejection blasted out to the right just as the comet is approaching the Sun. Scientists, however, have yet to find a convincing physical connection between sun-grazing comets and coronal mass ejections. In fact, analysis of this CME using images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows that the CME erupted before the comet came close enough to the solar surface to interact with strong magnetic fields;
• Vídeo impactante: un agujero negro devora una estrella, 0.31 min: Courtesy: NASA – Científicos lograron observar por primera vez un fenómeno espacial extremadamente infrecuente que se produce una vez cada 100 millones de años. A finales de marzo el telescopio orbital Shift de la NASA registró un potente destello de rayos X desde la constelación de Draco, a 3,9 millones de años luz de la Tierra. El destello lo provocó un agujero negro al capturar y asimilar una estrella;
• Plains Milky Way – Watch in HD, 3.17: Most questions about this, are answered in the description here, on Dakotalapse. (Windows Media /Quicktime);
• Earth From Space (full HD), 2.54 min, by Cmexxs: Downloadlink for the movie in FULL HD;
• Earth from Space, 9.40 min, by denmlaZg: Earth from Space video clips.Sound:NASA Space Recordings-Voice of Earth.Music: SomaFM radio station-Mission Control-Haiku-Chrystal Bath-Live and historic NASA mission audio mixed with electronic ambient;
• All Alone in the Night – Time-lapse footage of the Earth as seen from the ISS, 2.30 min: Inspired by a version of the opening sequence of this clip called ‘What does it feel like to fly over planet Earth?’, I tracked down the original time-lapse sequence taken on the International Space Station (ISS) via NASA, added some extras, and found a soundtrack that almost matches the awe and wonder I feel when I see our home from above. To those brave men and women who fly alone in the night to take us to the stars, we salute you. Serving Suggestion: 1080p, lights off, volume up;
• City Lights From Space, 1.42 min: Amazing pictures of cities at night taken by astronauts;
• Milky Way Galaxy From Earth, 3.32 min: Crazy Chris shows you how to spot a part of the milky way galaxy on a dark clear night, & then explains how we are able to see it from with in.

A recent study estimates that more than 170 million Chinese suffer from a mental disorder. But very few are receiving care, with mental health desperately short of financing, practitioners and esteem.   

In 2010, several attacks near schoolyards left 21 people dead. According to news reports, half of the attackers had earlier appeared deranged or suicidal, but Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, said only that China needed to resolve “social tensions” underlying the attacks.

Only one in 12 Chinese needing psychiatric care ever see a professional. China has little insurance coverage for psychiatric care, almost no care in rural communities, too few inpatient beds and a weak government mental health bureaucracy.

Most Chinese psychiatrists lack a university degree in any subject, much less mental health, while chronic shortages of doctors and facilities is leading families to either lock up or abandon mentally ill relatives.

The government has pledged to invest more in mental healthcare, pouring billions of dollars into new and renovated psychiatric hospitals, many of which are old and purposely located far from cities … (full text and a video, 23.50 min).

• Scuba diving in paradise – in HD, 8.30 min;
• underwater paradise, 5.43 min;
• Diving with SOLO, part 1, 13.58 min;
• RAJA AMPAT PAPUA, 0.49 min.

Links for Informations:

Raja Ampat Islands on en.wikipedia;

Edi Frommenwiler’s website;

MV Pindito;

Join the Kalabia: Bird’s Head Seascape, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, 10.06 min;

Conservation International: Homepage, with it’s Blog, and it’s Posts Tagged Kalabia;

Pew Environment Group PEW: Homepage, About, Kalabia Floating Marine Conservation Education Program;

Images for Kalabia.

• Arrest and detenion of Alkarama executive director, Dr Mourad Dhina, on William’s Desk, by William Gomes, Date; 31 January 2012;
• et dans la Lique des droits de l’Homme LDH /Etrangers, par LDH, le 26 janvier 2012: RÉFUGIÉ POLITIQUE, Dr. Mourad Dhina: Des organisations de défense de droits de l’Homme appellent au rejet de la demande d’extradition du Dr. Mourad Dhina par les autorités algériennes:   
  Une coalition de 11 ONG nationales et internationales ont adressé une lettre ouverte au Premier ministre français M. François Fillon, l’appelant à refuser la demande d’extradition vers l’Algérie où le Dr. Mourad Dhina, directeur exécutif d’Alkarama, risque d’être torturé. C’est le Premier ministre qui en France est chargé de signer les décrets d’extradition … (le texte en entier).
• in arabic, french and english on YouTube.

Links:

Dr Mourad Dhina on en.wikipedia: … born 1961) is an Algerian physicist and activist living in Switzerland. He is a leading figure for a strategic and non violent change in Algeria[1]. Mourad is the executive director of the Alkarama NGO.

dans fr.wikipedia: Physicien algérien, opposant politique appartenant à la mouvance islamiste 1, mais partisan du changement non-violent, né à Blida en Algérie en 1961. Résidant en Suisse, marié et père de 6 enfants … // … Le 24 janvier 2012, une coalition de dix ONG de défense des droits de l’homme, parmi lesquelles la Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme FIDH, Amnesty International, la Ligue Algérienne Des Droits de l’Homme LADDH (et dans fr.wikipedia), a adressé au Premier ministre français François Fillon une lettre demandant à la France de ne pas extrader Mourad Dhina en Algérie, comme le réclament les autorités algériennes 12 …

• Un récital de mélodies françaises au bénéfice de l’association proPhilo.
• Entrée libre, collecte à la sortie;
• Irène Paoletta, soprane et membre de proPhilo, sera accompagnée par Alain Porchet au piano.   

Tout comme lors des ateliers de dialogue philosophique en communauté de recherche, Irène et Alain nous invitent à venir découvrir le dialogue entre la voix et le piano, le compositeur et le poète, et dans une même quête de sens, l’espace d’un instant, un temps d’écoute, à découvrir un monde de pensées et de sentiments.

Cette soirée est organisée au bénéfice de l’association proPhilo. Venez nombreux.
Bea Vanhove, Présidente proPhilo

• Deuter – Buddha Nature, 10.03 min;
• Deuter – Gaia Dreaming Herself Awake (Garden of the Gods), 7.45 min;
• DEUTER in autoplay … almost endless.

• 1. Philo pour adultes: Cycles de 6 rencontres du 1er semestre 2012 à Genève et Lausanne – Attention délai d’inscription à fin janvier!
• 2. Philo pour ados: Animations à thèmes aux Club 44, février à mai, à La Chaux-de-Fonds (10 – 18 ans);
• 3. Philo pour enfants: Animations “philo-action” avec Rousseau, février et mars à Genève (9 – 12 ans).

Retrouvez tous ces ateliers philo sur notre site proPhilo.ch.

4. Echange de pratique pour enseignants:  

Le premier jour “portes ouvertes” d’un cycle de rencontres spécialement destiné aux enseignants.

• Date: Mercredi 12 février 2012
• Heures: 10h00 – 16h00 (pique-nique “canadien” pendant la pause de midi)
• Lieu: Ecole communale de Celigny (dans le “foyer”), Route de Crans 7, 1298 Céligny village

Cinq rencontres seront planifiées entre février et avril 2012. La première rencontre du 12 février est ouverte à tous les enseignants, sans pré requis, gratuite et sans engagement. Les objectifs de ces rencontres seront multiples:

• offrir un espace, où chacun aura l’opportunité de réfléchir ensemble sur la pratique du dialogue philosophique, dans un cadre scolaire ou éducatif;
• exprimer ses réussites, ses doutes et ses interrogations;
• consolider et enrichir ses pratiques;
• constituer ensemble une banque de références et d’outils.

Organisation: Claire Descloux et Alexandra Soudan, enseignantes et membres du comité de proPhilo.

Merci d’envoyer un message à proPhilo.ch pour indiquer votre intérêt selon les choix suivants:

• [ ] Je suis intéressé(e) et je me joindrai à vous à la “portes ouvertes” du 8 février 2012
• [ ] Je suis intéressé(e) mais je ne pourrai pas venir le 8 février 2012
• [ ] Je souhaite être informé(e) des dates des prochaines rencontres

5. DVD “Des enfants philosophent”:

Ce double DVD de 351 mn contenant les 13 émissions de la série documentaire produite par l’Université Laval (Québec) n’était plus disponible depuis plus d’un an. L’association proPhilo en a de nouveau quelques exemplaires en stock au prix de 55.- plus frais de port. Pour toute commande, merci d’adresser un message à proPhilo.ch.

Cordialement votre, proPhilo, Case postale 6577, 1211 Genève 6, Suisse.

Watch this video, 2.07 min, published on Al Jazeera, January 21, 2012: In December, 22-year-old Habibur Rahman was tortured by eight Indian army soldiers for being caught illegally crossing into Bangladesh with cows he had purchased in India. Now, a month later, he is still shaking from the brutal, almost 24-hour-long beating he received. 

Cows are cheaper in India than Bangladesh, so Bangladeshis buy them across the border and smuggle them back inside to sell. But India has erected a 3,000-kilometre-long electrified and guarded fence between the two countries, purportedly to stop terrorism.

Every cow brought back earns around $20, but now Rahman must deal with the physical consequences of his trade and his fear that authorities will come looking for him again … (full text).

Occupy Portland calls for a national day of non-violent direct action to reclaim our voices and challenge our society’s obsession with profit and greed by shutting down the corporations.  We are rejecting a society that does not allow us control of our future. We will reclaim our ability to shape our world in a democratic, cooperative, just and sustainable direction.  

We call on the Occupy Movement and everyone seeking freedom and justice to join us in this day of action.

There has been a theft by the 1% of our democratic ability to shape and form the society in which we live and our society is steered toward the destructive pursuit of consumption, profit and greed at the expense of all else.

We call on people to target corporations that are part of the American Legislative Exchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations and not people. They used it to create the anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona among so many others. They use ALEC to spread these corporate laws around the country.

In doing this we begin to recreate our democracy. In doing this we begin to create a society that is organized to meet human needs and sustain life … (full text).

related Links:

Black pastors urge followers to join Occupy fold, on SF Gate, by Joe Garofoli, January 16, 2012: The Rev. Harold Mayberry stood before his First African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation Sunday morning in Oakland and outlined how it was time for members to connect with the Occupy Wall Street movement …

Occupy the Dream: The Mathematics of Racism, on Business Insider (first on Huffington Post), by Dylan Ratigan, Jan. 16, 2012.

Helden und Verbrechen im Kaffeeland Guatemala. Guatemala ist ein wunderschönes Land – und eines der gewalttätigsten der Welt. In diesen prekären Verhältnissen gelang dem Schweizer Ueli Gurtner, die indianischen Kleinbauern zu einer eigenständigen Kraft im Kaffeegeschäft zu machen – gegen massive Anfeindungen der Mächtigen, die ihre Monopole nicht verlieren wollen.

• Thistlegorm, 4.48 min, by f64se on 6 Apr 2010: A dive at the wreck Thistlegorm in Egypt;
• Wrack Thistlegorm, 8.54 min;
• Wreck of the SS Thistlegorm, Red Sea, 5.35 min;
• Thistlegorm_0001.wmv, 6.06 min;
• THISTLEGORM 08, 10.43 min:
• WW2 british thistlegorm shipwreck trucks +bikes in hold, 5.06 min;
• Plongée sur Le Thistlegorm, 7.34 min;
• thistlegorm 2010.mkv, 10.00 min;
• Tauchen am Wrack der Thistlegorm, 9.56  min;
• Thistlegorm 2007 – Tauchen Diving Ägypten Wrack Red Sea DIR, 7.06 min;

Text-links about:

in english:

• on en.wikipedia: The SS Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship built in 1940 by Joseph Thompson & Son in Sunderland, England. She was sunk on 6 October 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea and is now a well known dive site … ;
• THE WRECK OF THE THISTLEGORM;

en français:

• SS Thistlegorm dans fr.wikipedia: Le SS Thistlegorm est un vraquier de la marine marchande britannique construit en 1940 par Joseph Thompson & Son à Sunderland. Il était armé d’un canon anti-aérien de 120 mm et d’une mitrailleuse …
• L’épave du Thistlegorm – Egypte;
• Le Thistlegorm, une épave magnifique de la Mer Rouge.

See also:   

• Inverted underwater ice skiing, 0.25 min: This is about as much fun as you can have with your drysuit on;
• Fishing under Ice, 3.45 min, 2 janv. 2012: Some under ice views from beautiful lake Saarijärvi in Vaala, Finland;
• More Freediving Under the Ice, 5.23 min: A large group of freedivers from the Freediving Club of Montreal came to enjoy a sunny day at Morrison’s Quarry … ;
• Human balloon, 2.52 min;
• Close Encounters of the Giant Kind, 1.06 min;
• Practice with the RB80 Rebreather at the Quarry, 4.47 min: A little dive under the ice today to get more experience on my Halcyon RB80. S-drills, valve drills, then surfaced to a blizzard.
• Wreck Diving Under Ice 2011, 5.33 min: We made this wreck diving under ice with rebreathers on the beginning of March 2011;
• Rebreather workshop 2008, 1.08 min: A swedish rebreather workshop held in 2008. Some machines that participants had brought: AP Evolution+, AP Inspiration, Rebreather Lab Pelagian, KISS, Mark-15, Interspiro IS MIX, CCR2000, Hunchback 6.0, Halcyon PCVR.

Barbara Panther, who describes her music as modern electronic baroque music was born in Rwanda. Her family moved to Belgium when she was three, and she and her siblings were adopted into seperate Belgium families. She now lives in Berlin. 

Her music is restless in character, like some kind of agitated electro warrior roaming a post drum’n'bass landscape, and her debut album was released on City Slang last May … (full text and 4 videos).

Links:

Barbara Panther – Empire (Official Video) and YouTube Mix, 3.43 min;

Barbara Panther – Moonlightpeople, 3.37 min;

Barbara Panther – Unchained, 3.28 min;

Barbara Panther ghost town, 4.47 min;

Barbara Panther, her Startpage, /News, /live;

Barbara Panther on Facebook.

Ten years ago this month, an English economist coined the term “BRICs” to describe four fast-growing, dynamic countries he believed would transform the global economy: Brazil, Russia, India and China. 

Since then, they’ve reshaped the world in a way even he never imagined. The four now comprise quarter of the world’s GDP from 11 per cent 10 years ago. And it’s not just the BRICs – emerging markets from Turkey to Indonesia, with booming populations and a growing middle class are turning old notions of wealth and power upside down.

What was economic theory a decade ago is now playing out in the most concrete of ways: altered migration patterns. Workers are voting with their feet to join these emerging economies, while traditional magnets for the world’s workers, such as the United States, are losing their lustre.

“The shifting balance of global economic growth is bring global migration flows with it,” says Madeleine Sumption, policy analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. “We’re seeing lower migration to crisis nations, whereas most of the growth is towards developing nations.”

People are still seeking work in traditional markets, like Germany or Canada. But new, surprising flows are taking place in this post-recession, rocky recovery era — Mexican Americans are returning home, for example, and Spanish graduates are emigrating to Chile and Chinese scientists in the U.K. are leaving to return home. The shift promises to create new types of diasporas, change remittance flows and alter labour markets

Here is the world that was, as told through key flows in labour migration: … (watch the chart … and read the full text).

Links:

Migration: Watch this video, published on YouTube, 7.38 min;

Forced Migration Online;

Migration Information Source;

Migration Watch;

Human migration on en.wikipedia;

Migration on en.wikipedia;

Migration on Internet Geography;

Active Record Migrations;

Google Images for migration.

(My comment:

• For me migration IS (should be) a natural human right. But since a far long time – since in old ages people begin to settle – we became used to have a personal space, instead of sharing all the spaces.
• The result: not only we POSSESS this space, but we began to belong to it … we became identified with. Today it is in our interest to belong to a country, if possible a family or clan – for our safety, our survival, and we forget now that we became also the property of this place … mainly women and children …
• how many small people are denied the right to leave a country? We not only developped possession, greed and war, we also became the possession of the owner of this space … may it be a dictatorial government prohibitting travel outside of its frontiers.
• we became submitted to a place, a clan, a family, a culture, a dogma … and now often we have to fight for our freedom, we struggle to escape all that …
• yes, I often dream the right to be a nomad. A nomad not only on this planet, but in the whole univers … oh yes, this is my dream!).

Egyptian security forces have stormed the offices of 17 human rights and pro-democracy groups. The ruling military said it is investigating how the groups are funded. At least two US rights groups – the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) – were targeted in the operation. The US expressed deep concern over the raids and urged Egyptian authorities to immediately halt harassment of non-governmental organisation staff …

… On the day of his death, we should look past the accounts of his life, the real and the imagined legend, and focus instead on those for whom the myth was created, and for whom the truth had, at all costs, to be kept. 

On my bookshelf sits a small collection of North Korean history and journalism. There are accounts of diplomats stationed in Pyongyang, trying to explain how North Korea formed the way it did, and how its decisions are made. There are books by photographers, who, knowing they are being allowed to photograph only the legend, try to reveal truths inside, or alongside, the propaganda they are forced to focus on.

Most of all, there are two books about the citizenry of the hermit kingdom, presented to us by their regime as participants in mass games, or loyal soldiers, or, as today, as true believers.

To us, those citizens might appear the backdrop to the bizarre life of Kim Jong-Il. In reality, their control was its entire purpose. Their displayed grief is intended to be his highest compliment. Their hidden pain is his ultimate indictment.

We are tempted to focus on the life of Kim Jong-Il. His palaces. His private train, his kidnapping of Japanese actresses and film directors. His taste for fine food, and cognac.

The danger is that we ignore Yodok Concentration camp, where Kang Hwol-Chan was sent, aged nine, because his grandfather had been accused of disloyalty. The danger is we forget the public executions he witnessed as a child.

The danger is that we forget Bukchang, or Kaechon, or Camp 22, where tens of thousands of those the regime deems unreliable are sent, and where thousands of them die.

The danger is that we forget that North Korea is a country where a quarter of the population is  officially classed as ‘hostile’, and that those in this class are not allowed more than basic education, nor allowed to travel, and, when rations are available, get the least of them.

The danger is that we skate over the Kwanliso prison camps, the kyohwaso labour camps and the so called ‘9/27’ camps for kotjebi (‘swallows’, street children orphaned by the breakdown of families caused by extreme famine), detention camps where Amnesty international reported meals of ‘80 kernels of corn for every meal, or of three to four spoons of corn meal mixed with hot water.’

We know so little of all of these lives, they are so carefully hidden from us, that they fade from view behind the grossness of the dictator.

We do know enough, however, to piece together a populace suffering in a way that few have ever suffered.  A police state, repression, public execution, famine, starvation, labour camps, a system of ranking loyalty that dictates every aspect of your life.  It is hard to even catalogue the deaths from famine, though we know the numbers who died are in the hundreds of thousands … //

… In the meantime, we should mark the death of a man who was not real to us by trying one more time to focus on those who his life dominated, and whose sufferings he obscured. We should mark the death of the unreal Kim Jong-Il by remembering those for whom he was all too real. (full text).

(Hopi Sen is a Labour blogger … his cat on twitter).

(My comment: we all have seen the pictures with hungry orphans looking for food in market’s garbage buckets, and all grown ups around ignoring them … letting them go to death …
… now this same people is crying and weeping in our evening TV … why had they not cried their own people’s children before? … and what if the few having not cried will be persecuted later by their peers, their neighbors for lack of community spirit? … I guess we even not imagine what is real dictatorship … I mean, brainwashed people’s real dictatorship … could it be that THE BIG EVIL can be created? Realy created by a lost, brainwashed humanity forgetting its neighbor’s children? … )

Links:

Kim Jong-il’s funeral was a lesson in epic film-making, on The Guardian, by David Cohen, December 28, 2011;

Media Disinformation: Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong Il: Two Icons, Two Deaths, Two Worlds, on Global Research.ca, by Danny Schechter, December 25, 2011.

… Hart writes: In this bizarre re-telling, Saddam Hussein’s support for Hamas and a plot to kill George H. W. Bush seem to matter more than the bogus stories about Iraq’s WMDs.

Notice the sleight of hand? There was no evidence at the time in 1993 that Saddam actually tried to assassinate Bush, Sr. and there’s no evidence now, after we invaded the country and seized all their government officials and files. 

Yet this doesn’t stop Peter “Goebbels” Hart from “overlooking” the Washington Post’s falsehood and oh-so-coincidentally repeating it as unquestioned fact…all the while posing as an opponent of the media’s deceit! If the Soviet Union had had paid liars as sophisticated as Mr. Hart, they’d still be in business today.

BUT SERIOUSLY: It really goes to show how deep the propaganda goes in the U.S. that even FAIR missed this one. I’m sure I myself miss ten things like it every day. God only knows how much of the “history” we all have in our heads is fabricated. (full text).

MEA est un projet extraordinaire avec une approche novatrice au problème des mutilations génitales féminines dans les communautés de Masanga et environ en Sierra Leone. En particulier, MEA parraine les cérémonies Bondo pendant lesquelles tous les rituels sont respectés sauf l’’excision. 

Avec ce modèle très simple, MEA propose un choix aux filles et à leurs familles: l’éducation contre l’excision. Si les filles ne sont pas excisées, elles obtiendront des bourses d’études jusqu’à la fin de la scolarité obligatoire et, si possible, pour la durée de leur éducation supérieure.

De 2007 à ce jour, plus de 200 jeunes filles n’ont pas été excisées et reçoivent une éducation grâce MEA.
Afin de soutenir MEA, le Project Circle de MEA tient à partager avec les membres et les amies de Giving Women les besoins du projet et vous invite à contribuer ou à vous engager comme bénévoles.

MEA est à la recherche de:

• 1 – dons jusqu’à CHF 5′000 pour parrainer une cérémonie Bondo sans excision pour 50/60 filles. Le coût pour parrainer la cérémonie pour une fille est d’env. CHF 100.
• 2 – dons jusqu’à CHF 5′000 pour parrainer la construction d’un nouveau bâtiment pour accueillir les cérémonies Bondo sans excision. Le bâtiment sera réalisé avec des matériaux locaux et sera utilisé pour les cérémonies Bondo (au moins 3 cérémonies par an).
• 3 – parrainages de bourses d’études. Le coût pour soutenir l’éducation d’une fille est CHF 30 par mois payable mensuellement, semestriellement ou annuellement.
• 4 – bénévoles qui peuvent se joindre au Project Circle pour soutenir MEA (seulement pour les membres GW – si vous êtes intéressées, nous vous prions d’écrire à valentina.difelice@gmail.com)

Nous tenons à vous rappeler que depuis le 25 Novembre (Journée internationale contre la violence contre les femmes) au 10 Décembre (Journée internationale des droits de l’homme), les organisations de femmes à travers le monde mènent une campagne internationale pour combattre la violence contre les femmes … (le texte en entier).

… MEA is an extraordinary project with an innovative approach to the problem of female genital mutilations in the Masanga communities of Sierra Leone. In particular it sponsors Bondo ceremonies during which all rituals are respected with the exception of the excision. 

With a very simple model, MEA proposes a choice to girls and their families: education against excision. If girls are not excised, they will get scholarships till the end of compulsory education and, if possible, throughout higher education.

Since 2007, over 200 girls were not excised and receive an education thanks to the project.

In order to support MEA, GW Project Circle on MEA would like to share with Giving Women members and friends the needs of the project and invite you to give your contribution or to engage as volunteers.
MEA is looking for:

• 1 – Donations up to CHF 5’000 to sponsor a Bondo ceremony without excision for 50/60 girls. The cost to sponsor the ceremony for a girl is roughly CHF 100.
• 2 – Donations up to CHF 5’000 to sponsor the construction of a new small building to host these ceremonies. The building will be realized with local materials and will be used for the futures Bondo ceremonies (at least 3 per year).
• 3 – Sponsors of scholarships. The cost to support the education of a girl is CHF 30 per month and it is payable monthly; every six months or annually.
• 4 – Volunteers to join the Giving Women Project Circle’s in support of MEA (only for GW Members – if interested please write to valentina.difelice@gmail.com).

We would like to remind you that from November 25 (International Day Against Violence Against Women) to December 10 (International Human Rights Day), women organizations around the world lead an international campaign to fight violence against women … (full text).

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Within the collection of abandoned houses haunting the region stand some unpolished gems, sturdy structures that lack only a caring family to again become a home. Where will those families come from? They’re already here. 

That’s what the International Services Center told leaders of the Cuyahoga County land bank, sparking a novel program that will attack blight with immigrant might. On Wednesday, the new partners will announce an effort to match vacant houses with refugees who agree to fix them up and make them homes.

By offering struggling immigrants a fresh start in an empty space, organizers hope to inject new life and economic vitality into distressed neighborhoods. The strategy, believed to be one of the first of its kind in the nation, attacks an obvious problem with a little-known strength … (full text).

Links:

SourceDocWatch: CIC operational bulletin on full and partial face coverings at citizenship ceremonies, by Kady O’Malley, December 12, 2011;

Refugee Council Online: Thank you for donating towards the Colin Firth Appeal;

Refugee builds new life in Canada: HIV-positive man became disillusioned by life as a police officer in Zimbabwe, on Vancouver Sun, by Tara Carman, December 13, 2011.

Religionsfreie Werbung in Deutschland nicht möglich! Auch wenn ein Drittel der Deutschen gar nicht mehr gläubisch ist. Die gesamte Chronologie der Buskampagne.de in 33 kurzweiligen Minuten.

Links:

Warum wir alle die Kirchen finanzieren, 10.05 Minuten, aufgeladen am 8. Oktober 2010: Wissen sie wie vieles an kirchlichen Einrichtungen aus Steuergeldern von uns allen, also auch von Ihnen, finanziert wird? Die kirchlichen Kitas, Schulen, der Religionsunterricht, die Ausbildung des Nachwuchses, Denkmalpflege, Kirchentage etc., Steuerbefreiungen und die schönen alten Rechtstitel, angeblich seit 1803. Dr. Carsten Frerk, Sozialwissenschaftler, Autor und Publizist, hat 2002 das inzwischen als Standardwerk geltende Sachbuch Finanzen und Vermögen der Kirchen in Deutschland veröffentlicht …

Die arabische Revolution, Bericht vom 22. November 2011;

dazu podcast: Philipp Moeller im Gespräch mit Hamed Abdel-Samad;

Newsletter bei der Giordano Bruno Stiftung bestellen.

Archeologists have discovered previously unknown fragments of a figurine known as the “Lion Man,” and are piecing it back together. Could the 35,000-year-old statue actually represent a female shaman? Scientists hope to resolve a decades-long debate. 

Archeologists have discovered previously unknown fragments of a figurine known as the “Lion Man,” and are piecing it back together. Could the 35,000-year-old statue actually represent a female shaman? Scientists hope to resolve a decades-long debate.

Using a hand hoe and working in dim light, geologist Otto Völzing burrowed into the earth deep inside the Stadel cave in the Schwäbische Alb mountains of southwestern Germany. His finds were interesting to be sure, but nothing world-shaking: flints and the remnants of food eaten by prehistoric human beings.

Suddenly he struck a hard object — and splintered a small statuette … //

… Studies about primitive peoples in Siberia suggest how these rites might have proceeded. Even into the modern age, their shamans wore antlers on their heads. There are similar accounts involving the Blackfeet Indians in North America. Their healers hopped around under bearskins to the sound of drums.

The Lion Man is standing on tiptoes. He, too, seems to be dancing.

But who is hidden underneath the robe? From time immemorial, the lion has been viewed as a symbol of the masculine virtues of courage and strength. Shamans still exist today in the Amazon region and Australia. Most are men.

On the other hand, the statuette has some perplexing features. The navel, a symbol of childbirth, is especially pronounced. A horizontal crease runs across the lower abdomen, a feature that is typically female.

Paleontologist Schmid believes that the figure once had breasts, which eventually broke off. According to Schmid, the transition from the thighs to the buttocks is also indicative of a female body. She made a model out of modeling clay, which is now in a safe in Ulm. It depicts the Lion Man with an ample bosom.

Many scholars dismissed the jarring replica as nonsense at the time. Nevertheless, there is at least one piece of evidence to support Schmid’s theory. An image of a 14,000-year-old human body with an animal head discovered in the Las Caldas cave in Spain is obviously female. The head looks like that of an ibex, while the lower part of the body features female genitalia.

Does this mean that female shamans did exist? Were women in charge of the religion of our ancestors? The new finds could solve the mystery once and for all. Hundreds of tiny ivory fragments will have to be pieced together to create a statue that experts estimate will contain 20 percent more of its original material.

According to one of the excavators, there is also sufficient fragmentary material to reconstruct the genitalia. “We’ll figure out the gender,” he says. (full text).

• Plongée-Diving MAYOTTE – Tombant de Choisil.avi, 5.33 min;
• dauphins à Mayotte, 5.24 min;
• Plage de N’Gouya, Mayotte, 5.34 min;
• Plongée Mayotte Mars 2011 – 02, 3.54 min;
• Plongée – Diving MAYOTTE – Le Vivier de la Passe en S.avi, 6.17 min;
• Les passes Sud de Mayotte, 3.25 min;
• CENTRE DE PLONGEE A MAYOTTE, 2.13 min;
• plongée à Mayotte, 3.46 min;
• Mayotte Expl’eau – Ecole de sports subaquatiques – Plongée sous marine à Mayotte, 4.07 min.

Flames erupt from an exploding hydrogen balloon. Don’t panic! This is part of Chimiscope, an attempt by Geneva University to attract people to careers in chemistry.  

Why are fireworks blue, green, yellow and red? How on earth can a double-wall coffee mug warm up when shaken? By what miracle are the insides of Christmas baubles covered in silver? This is what Chimiscope aims to explain and demonstrate … //

… Practical examples:

But Chimiscope is not reserved exclusively for young people. In fact it says it’s for anyone aged “seven to 107” and warmly welcomes groups of adults, for example on a company outing.

Whatever the demonstration , the chemists never forget to give practical examples of what’s going on inside the test tubes.

So fuming coloured cocktails demonstrate the ability of elements to absorb a fraction of white light and to reflect only certain wavelengths: blue for copper, green for barium, yellow for sodium and red for strontium – all components of fireworks.

What’s more, one learns how dipping two plates of copper and zinc in a glass of orange juice can provide enough electrical current to power a watch. The principle behind this is the basis of the battery, discovered at the beginning of the 19th century by Alessandro Volta.

Solutions:

At present, Chimiscope presents two shows: on energy and colours. Four more will be added: chemistry and the environment, chemistry in everyday life, the chemistry of life and chemistry and chirality, which deals with asymmetric molecules and can explain why a molecule will smell of lemon if turned one way but orange if turned another.

Geneva University is expecting Chimiscope to attract an average of 4,000 people a year.

It is supported by the Geneva Industry Association of Life Sciences and aims to show all the possibilities of a discipline which is responsible for finding, in the words of Didier Perret, “solutions to several problems in today’s world, in the areas of health, energy, materials and the environment”. (full text).

… Mais, la position de la France si innovante qu’elle soit, ne doit pas faire oublier les sévices faits aux femmes dans les autres pays occidentaux, voire dans le reste du monde. D’ailleurs, d’après le rapport du Fonds des Nations Unies pour la population (FNUAP) de 2010, au moins une femme sur trois dans le monde a été maltraitée, battue ou contrainte à des rapports sexuels dans sa vie… Deux millions de filles âgées de 5 à 15 ans se retrouvent sur le marché du sexe chaque année.  

Qu’en est-il des sévices à l’égard des femmes en Afrique?

Bien que la clitoridectomie ne soit pas un phénomène typiquement africain – la médecine européenne l’utilisait aux 18ème et 19ème siècles pour soigner les cas d’hystérie de migraine et d’épilepsie – , lorsqu’on aborde cette problématique, les regards se tournent d’emblée vers l’Afrique sub-saharienne, qui a le triste et honteux privilège de partager avec le Proche-Orient et l’Asie, ce rite ancestral qui provoque chaque année plus de 3 millions de victimes selon l’Organisation Mondiale de la Santé qui observe également que l’Afrique est la plus touchée par les mutilations génitales féminines (MGF) sur 130 millions de femmes excisées dans le monde. Il faudra toutefois préciser que l’excision ne touche pas toutes les ethnies africaines. L’exemple sénégalais, de ce point de vue, est  assez révélateur : les Wolofs et les Sérères, les deux groupes ethniques dominants du Sénégal, ne s’adonnent pas à cette pratique qui demeure toutefois l’apanage des minorités telles que les Peuls, les Dioulas, les Toucouleurs et les Mandé. Quant à l’infibulation pharaonique, forme la plus douloureuse des MGF, elle concerne surtout la quasi-totalité de la Corne de l’Afrique (Somalie, Ethiopie, Erythrée, Djibouti, Soudan).

Aux sources pharaoniques de l’excision, la sauvegarde des coutumes ancestrales africaines:

Excision, infibulation, désensibilisation… Les mystères sont légion autour des origines précises et le sens profond de ces coutumes ancestrales, considérées par leurs défenseurs comme relevant des rites de passage à sauvegarder coûte que coûte, au nom du respect de certaines valeurs culturelles.

Aussi, tout récemment, un projet de loi gouvernemental prévoyant l’interdiction de l’excision en Ouganda a été vigoureusement combattu par les tenants de la tradition qui y voyaient une certaine « violation de leurs droits traditionnels » en vigueur depuis la nuit des temps. Ils s’appuient sur quelques recherches qui font remonter ce rituel aux origines pharaoniques, il y a trois mille ans, à une époque où il était associé à la fertilité, et où les parties excisées des femmes étaient offertes au Nil sacré. Dans son excellent ouvrage, La face cachée d’Eve  (Zed Press, Londres, 1980) l’anthropologue et historien Nawal El Saadawi observe que dès 700 av. J.C. Hérodote mentionnait déjà l’excision pharaonique. Quant aux mythes cosmologiques des pays de la Corne de l’Afrique, ils rapportent que l’infibulation pharaonique était pratiquée sur les femmes pour éviter qu’elles ne soient violées par les arabes lors des razzias. Les anthropologues qui tentent encore de nos jours d’élucider la diffusion de l’excision des bords du Nil en Afrique sub-saharienne avancent de plus en plus l’hypothèse de l’héritage des Ethiopiens ayant séjourné longtemps en Egypte. Par ailleurs, il est aujourd’hui attesté que ce phénomène est loin d’être originellement lié à l’Islam comme certains ont pu le penser pendant longtemps, se fondant, à tort ou à raison, sur ces paroles assez ambigües du prophète Mahomet s’adressant à l’exciseuse Um ATIYA : « […] N’opère pas de façon radicale…c’est préférable pour la femme ». Cependant, l’imputation des origines de l’excision à l’Islam est démentie par de nombreuses études, et parmi les ethnies qui s’y adonnent, on trouve aussi bien des musulmans, des chrétiens et des animistes. Les autorités religieuses n’affirment-elles pas elles-mêmes que ce rite va à l’encontre des préceptes du Coran et de la Bible ? L’Iman sénégalais des Oulémas, N’DIAYE, cherchant à rétablir la vérité sur cette tradition, précisait : « le prophète a dit que s’il fallait exciser les filles, il faut faire attention. Mais lui-même n’a jamais fait exciser ses filles. Il n’y a rien dans le Coran qui impose l’excision ». Dès lors, c’est vers les mythes cosmologiques, communs à la plupart des ethnies africaines que l’on pourrait se tourner pour expliquer l’origine de l’excision. En effet, d’après un mythe partagé par les Bena Lulua (Congo), les Bambara (Mali) les Peuls (Guinée), les Ejagam et les Eboki (Cameroun et Tchad), les Bandas (Centrafrique), le clitoris figurerait à la fois le sexe féminin et masculin. Aussi, pratiquer l’excision reviendrait à supprimer l’élément masculin du clitoris associé à un dard qui pourrait blesser le sexe de l’homme durant les relations sexuelles, voire causer la mort de ce dernier. Ce mythe est connu dans presque toute l’Afrique de l’Ouest sous le nom de « mythe des vagins dentés » qui pose que « le clitoris serait la dernière dent à supprimer ».

Néanmoins, si la mythologie tente de fournir des éléments explicatifs aux mutilations génitales en Afrique, les fonctions dévolues à ces pratiques varient selon les cultures et les ethnies. D’abord, en tant que rite de passage, la quasi-totalité des ethnies africaines pensent que l’excision, comme la circoncision chez les jeunes garçons, permet aux jeunes filles de changer de statut social et sexuel, passant de celui de « jeune fille » à l’enviable statut de « vraie femme », comme disent les Bambara qui suggèrent qu’ « asseoir une fille sur le couteau » (traduction littérale : exciser une fille) l’aidera plus tard à trouver un mari digne de ce nom. Aussi, un père n’encouragera pas outre mesure son fils à prendre pour femme une fille non excisée, au risque de voir cette dernière continuellement hantée par l’esprit des ancêtres, comme chez les Massaï et les Kisii du Kénya. Quant aux Soninké du Mali, ils estiment que ce rite permet aux jeunes filles de rester vierges et aux femmes éloignées de leur mari, de contrôler, à l’instar de l’infibulation (fréquente chez les tribus guerrières), leurs velléités sexuelles, et de réfréner leurs sensations libidinales. En somme, pour ses pratiquants, l’excision et l’infibulation feraient partie intégrante d’un processus à la fois culturel et éducatif, reposant sur un savoir-faire exclusif transmis de générations en générations. On insiste également sur sa fonction aussi bien socialisante que thérapeutique : elle permettrait aux femmes de rester fidèles à leur mari, « en leur garantissant un avenir sans problèmes », et réduirait le nombre de fausses couches, d’après certaines exciseuses maliennes et guinéennes.

L’excision en accusation : des points de vue contrastés chez les Africains: … (le long texte en entier).

Mon commentaire: je m’étonne que les colons blanc d’autrefois n’ont pas insisté assez pour éliminer ce fléau! Ils ont bien réussi à éliminer d’autres coutumes de leurs missionnés. Mais comme cette pratique est un des facteurs le plus puissant de soumettre, de rendre esclave la fillette d’une peur sournoise qui doit s’installer pendant cette procédure, les colons ont dû etre satisfait que le travail de soumission à déjà été fait par les noirs eux-mêmes. Tout le monde sait (ou devrait avoir compris): soumets les femmes et tu as quasiment soumis le peuple tout entier.

Eating saturated fat can cause blood cholesterol levels to rise. This fact, as well as the belief that cholesterol causes heart disease, is at the basis of the advice we’re often given to avoid saturated fat … (full text and free newsletter).  

My comment: my personally experienced reality lets me go now only to natural medecine. Look, life is dangerous, as we can die of it, but:  nature brought us to life, nature is what our bodies lived in since thousands of ears … and: pharmaceutical industries are not our friends – they need us, but we do not need them … that’s it.

Yes, one day we will die, but why should I destroy the relation between my body and nature, just for a small longer time at the end, full of disease, with fear to die, being cut from my source, this nature which is our mother …

My doctor, a really nice and lovely women, wanted fill me up with medics, because of the beginning of diabetics and too much cholesterol. Instead I turned away to green stuff and complements etc. etc., and most important: eat 1/4 – yes, eat only the half is not enough … but then, 74 years old, I was able to go twice 6 weeks to enjoy diving vacations in Thailand.

The difficulty surges when you come back from divings. Then your body is used to work hard every day and has learned to accept again more food. When back we move lesser than 3-4 divings per day – in any way, despite we make sports – and thus we have to reduce again quickly our food amount. THEN occurs a hard moment, because even we have no more diabetes, when again we eat too much in relation to our movement, diabetes may come back … so we have to watch us again. Ok, that’s life … but we can make best of it. Isn’t it?

Links:

The Cholesterol Truth: Interview with Suzy Cohen about new book Diabetes Without Drugs, Watch this video, published on Natural News.TV, 9.43 min., Uploaded May 21, 2010: Interview with Suzy Cohen (RPh), a pharmacist and holistic health author, who has a new book “Diabetes Without Drugs.” It explains how to overcome diabetes using natural, non-pharmaceutical remedies; and: Suzy Cohen talks about Diabetes Without Drugs, in video and by text, April 20, 2010;

NaturalPedia.com Delivers New Encyclopedia of Natural Health Knowledge to the World;

Diabetic Diet & Meals, Free Diabetic Recipes, Breakfast, Lunch – Snack – Dinner – Dessert;

Reduce Cholesterol Fast, 3 Secret Natural Ways To Lower Cholesterol. Plus Free Report;

Coffee consumption linked with reduced diabetes risk (but watch out for added fat and sugar);

Diabetes: Tap Your Way to Lower Blood Sugar? New Drug-free Procedure Helps Control, Reverse Diabetes (press release).

Eine ETH-Studie bei 600 Winterthurer Primarschülern zeigt: Kinder aus Südosteuropa sind im Durchschnitt weniger geschickt und weniger beweglich als ihre Schweizer Schulkollegen … //

… Dabei schnitten die Kinder aus Südosteuropa markant schlechter ab als ihre Schweizer Kolleginnen und Kollegen. Noch ausgeprägter ist das Gefälle, wenn die Testresultate nach Muttersprache ausgewertet werden. Deutschsprachige Kinder weisen die viel besseren Resultate aus als fremdsprachige. Auch bei der Analyse nach Religionszugehörigkeit haben mitteleuropäische Kinder, die in der Regel reformiert, katholisch oder konfessionslos sind, die Nase vorn. Islamische Kinder sind im Durchschnitt weit weniger sportlich. Besonders ausgeprägt ist dies bei den Muslim-Mädchen. Ihre Resultate verschlechterten sich über vier Jahre sogar, während die Knaben eher besser abschnitten.

Andere Schönheitsideale: … //

… Mehr Bewegung für weniger privilegierte Kinder:

Zusätzlich zur Längsschnittstudie mit den 600 Primarschülern führen die ETH-Fachleute in Winterthur jedes Jahr mit den neuen Erstklässlern die gleiche Testreihe durch. Dabei zeigt sich, dass im Durchschnitt knapp 16 Prozent der Kinder übergewichtig sind. Ein Viertel von ihnen gelten als adipös, also stark bis sehr stark übergewichtig. Die Quote blieb über die vergangenen vier Jahre stabil. Doch zeigte sich, dass die ohnehin übergewichtigen Kinder über die Jahre am meisten von allen zunehmen.

Stadtrat Stefan Fritschi will erreichen, dass sich übergewichtige, weniger privilegierte Kinder und vor allem Mädchen mehr bewegen. Dabei setzt er schon früh an. Bereits beteiligt sich rund ein Drittel der Winterthurer Kindergärten am Bewegungsförderungsprojekt Purzelbaum. Sie haben Sportgeräte installiert und animieren die Kinder zur körperlichen Aktivität – auch in der Freizeit.

Auch soziale Aspekte im Zentrum: … (ganzer Text).

Link: Institut für Bewegungswissenschaften und Sport inspo, Universität Stuttgart.

Le projet de la caravane Halte à l’excision et aux violences faites aux femmes est un concept artistique original qui met en interactivité le public, les artistes et les spécialistes des Mutilations Génitales Féminines (MGF) et des violences faites aux femmes … //

… L’APPEL DE KAYA:  

Les mutilations génitales féminines sont une grave violation des droits fondamentaux garantis par la Constitution. La suppression de cette pratique odieuse et discriminatoire est un impératif pour l’amélioration de la santé maternelle, la promotion de l’égalité des sexes et la réduction de la mortalité infantile. J’invite les populations du Burkina Faso à opérer de véritables changements de mentalités et à se libérer des pesanteurs et des traditions avilissantes pour la femme.

Les mutilations génitales féminines compromettent l’avenir de la femme et hypothèquent du même coup, notre marche vers un développement humain durable. Les raisons évoquées pour cette pratique traditionnelle néfaste sont infondées au regard des résultats des recherches scientifiques, et de l’absence de sa prescription dans les Saintes écritures. Il apparait urgent de nous mobiliser afin d’agir pour conférer à la femme toute sa dignité (…).

A cet effet, je lance un appel à la mobilisation de tous afin de parvenir à la Tolérance Zéro aux mutilations génitales féminines d’ici à 2015. J’invite particulièrement le Gouvernement, l’ensemble des institutions républicaines, les collectivités locales, les ONG, la classe politique, la société civile, les opérateurs économiques, les producteurs et productrices du monde rural, les artistes, les hommes de culture, les associations de jeunes, de femmes, les militaires et paramilitaires, les communautés religieuses et coutumières, bref, le peuple burkinabè tout entier à s’impliquer activement dans cette lutte en vue d’enrayer la pratique de l’excision dans notre pays.

Les mesures et objectifs suivants s’inscrivent comme des priorités:

• 1 – L’adoption et la mise en œuvre d’un Plan d’Action National 2009-2013 de promotion de l’élimination des mutilations génitales féminines. A ce titre, l’organisation et l’appropriation de la lutte contre ce phénomène par l’ensemble des populations burkinabè sont une exigence.
• 2 – La réactivation de la coopération transfrontalière en matière de lutte contre les mutilations génitales féminines.
• 3 – La commémoration de la journée du 18 mai comme journée nationale de lutte contre la pratique de l’excision. (…).

Je compte sur l’ensemble des citoyens et le soutien des amis du Burkina Faso pour débarrasser notre pays de toutes les formes de violences faites aux femmes, notamment les mutilations génitales féminines qui constituent un véritable frein au développement harmonieux de notre société. Il est temps d’agir et chacun peut faire quelque chose.

LE PORTEUR DU PROJET: … (le long texte en entier).

Lien:

Fleur du désert, le combat de Waris Dirie contre l’excision au cinéma, publié dans France TV/culturebox, le 6 mars 2010: Riki “Garfunkel” Lindhome and Kate “Oates” Micucci sing about the Occupy Wall Street movement. Shot by Raul Fernandez.

According to the anti-poverty group The ONE Campaign, the Group of Eight (G8) and other rich nations have donated only a fifth of the US$22 billion promised to impoverished countries in July 2009. This reflects a larger trend of the decrease of foreign aid for agricultural development. Aid was at a high point in the mid-1980s, reaching US$20 billion, but has since declined. In the early 2000s, the number was around only US$3 billion. By 2009, it had crawled back up to around US$9 billion.  

Two years ago, the world’s wealthiest nations gathered at the G8 plus meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, where they committed to “take decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty through improving food security, nutrition, and sustainable agriculture”. It was an important move in support of smallholder agriculture, with money going to categories like transportation and storage, food security assistance, and rural development. The L’Aquila Food Security Initiative, as it was named, was backed by 27 countries and 14 international agencies … //

… Meanwhile, ONE has set up an Agricultural Accountability website, which allows viewers to use an interactive “pledge tracker” by scrolling across a world map and clicking on any of the L’Aquila participant nations. Each country’s profile includes statistics of donations, both disbursed and outstanding, and eight categories of non-financial progress. These include comprehensive approach, environmental sustainability, and transparency. The possible grades in the eight categories are On Track, Somewhat On Track, and Needs Improvement.

According to ONE, Canada and Italy are both close to completing their disbursements, with 89 percent and 82 percent given, respectively. The U.S., though significantly behind in donations, has been frank about its shortfall—onee of its three on track grades is for transparency.

There is still a year remaining for the donations to be completed, and the famine in East Africa and pressure for accountability from organizations like ONE will ensure that the much-needed funds are given in full. (full text).

(Kamaria Greenfield is a research intern with the Nourishing the Planet project. To purchase your own copy of State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet, please click HERE. And to watch the one minute book trailer, click HERE).

Links:

France failing to meet overseas aid target;

Minister denies putting security concerns ahead of aid priorities;

Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network FANRPAN;

Two Years On: Is the G8 Delivering on its L’Aquila Hunger Pledge? March 2011.