Amalgamated Perspectives

Queen of Fado

2009-08-12T18:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a beautiful song about Lisbon by Portugal's greatest and most famous singer, Amália Rodrigues.

Born in Lisbon, Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (1920 - 1999) was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado") and was most influential in popularizing the fado worldwide. She was unquestionably the most important figure in the genre's development, by virtue of an innate interpretive talent carefully nurtured throughout a 40-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed Fado's boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female singer — or Fadista — should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards. Rodrigues also remains the sole truly international star to have ever come out of Portugal, with an extensive international career between the 1950's and the 1970's, although in an era where such efforts were not as easily quantified as today.

-:- Enjoy Amália Rodrigues' inimitable style -:-

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Romanian Poetry via Contemporary Literary Horizon Magazine

2009-08-10T14:51:00.001-07:00

Too few lovers of poetry are familiar with the work of Romanian lyric poet Ana Blandiana. She is one of Romania's most outstanding poets and is considered one of her generation's most significant literary voices. Her poems are both spiritual and patriotic. She writes verse of beauty and elegance. During Romania's communist period she was active as a prominent dissident and became a dedicated voice for freedom and democratic change.

AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES is pleased to present two of Ana Blandiana's poems which first appeared in the new Romanian literary journal CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON.

Childhood

A feeble being was watching me from the mirror
Its keyboard of ribs clear-cut,
The heart pressing hard against the keys
Trying to show itself in the mirror.

I've never seen her, but I sensed her obscure Presence,
as in a game of blind man's buff,
(Like the heart of the locust tree in the window
Turning the chest of branches into a leaf).

I wondered how she had learned it and if
Its everlasting song was real,
I would fear my drifting into sleep at night
Lest its song should die out in its sleep.

Copilărie

Din oglindă mă privea un trup firav
Cu claviatura coastelor distinctă,
Inima-apăsa pe clape grav
Şi-ncerca să-apară în oglindă.

N-am văzut-o niciodată, dar ştiam,
Ca-ntr-un joc de-a baba-oarba, că-i ascunsă
(Precum inima salcâmului din geam
Coşul pieptului de crengi o face frunză).

Mă-ntrebam de unde l-a-nvăţat şi dacă
E aievea cântu-i uniform,
Şi ca nu cumva în somn să tacă,
Mi-era frică seara să adorm.

~~~~~

Journey

I wander in myself
As if in a foreign town
Where I don't know anyone.
The evening streets fill me with fear
And in rainy afternoons
I'm weary and I shiver.
No wish for an adventure,
When the mere walk on the road
Is a true venture,
No memory of another era
Answering the question
"Why have I been brought here?"

Călătorie

Umblu prin mine
Ca printr-un oraş străin
În care nu cunosc pe nimeni.
Seara mi-e teamă pe străzi
Şi-n după-amieze ploioase
Mi-e frig şi urât.
Nici o dorinţă de-a călători,
Când şi numai trecerea drumului
E aventură,
Nici o amintire din alte vieţi
Întrebării
"De ce-am fost adusă aici?"

[Published in CONTEMPORARY LITERARY HORIZON, June 2009]

- Click to learn about Ana Blandiana -

- Read "The Closed Eye" on the Contemporary Literary Horizon blog -

- We found two more poems by Ana Blandiana
in CROSS-CULTURAL OUTLINE:
click here -

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A Fitting Memorial

2008-10-26T16:31:00.001-07:00

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Proposition R on the San Francisco Ballot is titled:

Renaming the Oceanside Water Treatment Plant

Here are some excerpts from the Proponent's Argument in favor of
Prop R _____________________________________

"Just as France presented the Statue of Liberty as its gift to the nation, the citizens of San Francisco may now bestow their own special gift to the country by renaming our award winning waste water treatment plant in honor of outgoing President George W. Bush ... the world's first presidential sewage plant ..."

and, "Fellow citizens, Mr. Gallagher’s opposing argument does as good a job as any we've heard at highlighting why George W. Bush deserves this unique civic tribute. Since we can't say it better ourselves we'll share this haiku, submitted by one of the many supporters of this effort from San Francisco, around the country and abroad:

Need Bush memor'l?

Sewage plant available

How appropriate

Brian McConnell
Chairman, Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco

[Source: Consolidated General Election - City and County of San Francisco - November 4, 2008 - Voter Information Pamphlet, 38-CP200-EN-N08 and 38-CP201-EN-N08]

[URL: http://www.sfgov.org/elections]

And now: Looking forward

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AMY GOODMAN Arrested at RNC

2008-09-02T16:03:00.000-07:00

Award winning journalist and host of Democracy Now!, Amy Goodman, was arrested by Minneapolis police on Monday, Sept.1, 2008, in the afternoon, while covering an anti-war protest outside the Republican National Convention. Confronted and dragged away by police in riot gear, Goodman was accused of "obstruction of a legal process and interference with a peace officer." Two of her producers were also arrested for "suspicion of felony riot".

Eventually, Goodman and her producers were released without charges being filed against them.

Amy Goodman is one of the most well-known and well-respected journalists in the United States and has a distinguished reputation of bravery and courage.
Democracy Now! is a nationally syndicated public TV and radio program that airs on over 700 non commercial radio and TV stations across the US and the globe.

This story has been largely ignored by the mainstream press. The cable channels are providing extensive coverage of events related to the Republican National Convention, but there has been a virtual news blackout on the arrest of Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now! team.

Americans deserve to know that journalists are being apprehended for trying to do their jobs. Shame on CNN President Jonathan Klein and NBC News President Steve Capus (NBC News controls MSNBC) and their ilk for their failure to extend full and uncensored coverage of critical news events such as this!
_________________________________________
Find out about another important event that went un-reported!

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Shortages and Hunger on the rise

2008-05-07T17:57:00.000-07:00

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In the U.S. and in Europe, pastries and pasta may cost a bit more, an increase that is, so far, mostly absorbed by the consumers in these and similarly wealthy nations. But in Pakistan, Egypt and other countries with large segments of the population living near or below the poverty line, soaring wheat prices have caused shortages, resulting in food riots that may spark political unrest.

With black-marketing and illegal hoarding on the rise in the global wheat trade, the world's poorest people go even hungrier, and fall victim to malnutrition and starvation at an ever increasing rate.

The worldwide wheat crisis is caused by many factors, such as drought in Australia, failed harvests elsewhere due to global warming, steadily rising demand in Asia, unscrupulous market speculation, use of grain to feed cattle, and, most recently, the use of food crops to make biofuels.

Will this lead to what some world leaders call
"a silent tsunami of hunger"?

(Video via Link TV - Sources: ABC News, U.S.; Deutche Welle, Germany; Hechos, El Salvador; Teletrece, Chile; BBC, U.K.; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; South Asia Newsline, India; KBS, Korea.)

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After watching the video, read additional media coverage

(Technical note - Each of the following two links will open up separately in a new window. Close each new window to get back to this Amalgamated Perspectives page:)

(1) The Sunday Times:
Food shortages loom as wheat crop shrinks and prices rise
and
(2) BBC News: Why are wheat prices rising?

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untitled

2008-05-06T23:37:00.001-07:00

ClickOpen Player Window: mix 2 »

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All we got

2008-05-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

... is the finger!

Maintain the status quo,

whitewash the fallout from the 2004 elections

and thereby perpetuate the Bush legacy,

- say whaaaat

? ? ?

The anointed heir to the Bush regime is waiting in the wings:

John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936), 2008 Republican presidential candidate, ready to further tarnish U.S. history by fuelling the unjustifiable war on Iraq and set to continue bankrupting the nation morally and economically.

Four more years
of Republican rule
in the White House?

No, thank you!

High time for an alternative scenario!

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What it is REALLY like

2008-04-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

"I never wonder to see men wicked,
but I often wonder to see them not ashamed",

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), poet and prose satirist,
most famous for his novel 'Gulliver's Travels'

Ever since Americans learned that American soldiers and intelligence agents were torturing prisoners, there has been a disturbing question: How high up did the decision go to ignore United States law, international treaties, the Geneva Conventions and basic morality?

The answer, we have learned recently, is that — with President Bush’s clear knowledge and support — some of the very highest officials in the land not only approved the abuse of prisoners, but participated in the detailed planning of harsh interrogations and helped to create a legal structure to shield from justice those who followed the orders.

We have long known ... that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved a list of ways to abuse prisoners. But recent accounts by ABC News and The Associated Press said that all of the president’s top national security advisers at the time participated in creating the interrogation policy: Vice President Dick Cheney; Mr. Rumsfeld; Condoleezza Rice, the national security adviser; Colin Powell, the secretary of state; John Ashcroft, the attorney general; and George Tenet, the director of central intelligence.

"This is a monument to executive supremacy and the imperial presidency," said Eugene R. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School and the Washington College of Law at American University.

Only by fully understanding what Mr. Bush has done over eight years to distort the rule of law and violate civil liberties and human rights can Americans ever hope to repair the damage and ensure it does not happen again.
(via various editorials published by The New York Times on the topic: 'Torture')

[Read about Torture on Wikipedia]

[Watch a video montage from a film about the war crimes of the 'Einsatzgruppen', set in a 1943 German occupied village: Come and See]

[Related: Fernando Botero and Mark Twain]

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The Showdown

2008-04-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

La Nuit de la Vérité

- The Night Of Truth -

An AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Film Pick

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Director: Fanta Régina Nacro; Language: French, Mooré and Dioula, with English subtitles; Running time: 100 minutes

In a fictitious country in sub-saharan Africa, the leader of the ruling "Nayak" people and the leader of the opposition "Bonandés" along with their respective retinue of armed soldiers come together to finalize and celebrate a landmark truce between the two warring tribes. ...

... A huge feast and festive ceremony are prepared to commemorate this occasion. But on the night of this event the atmosphere of fear and mistrust is palpable. A decade of atrocities and slaughter between the enemy camps is hard to lay to rest, good intentions notwithstanding.

In the end, this is the story of a flawed hero tormented by his past crimes, and a mother driven to insanity by an unmitigated desire for revenge, a scenario mimicking the classic Shakespearean tragedies.
The denouement will shock and surprise the viewer.

Watch the trailer at Link TV

This is the award-winning feature debut by one of Africa's most talented female directors, Fanta Régina Nacro, who shaped this plot after the real and factual fate of her own uncle.

"I had long struggles with my cinematographer," Nacro says, "to get him not to look for the perfect shot, the perfect light, the beautifully composed image - because that was not what I needed. What I wanted was the reality of things, to capture the immediacy of things even if they weren't beautiful."

[Warning: This film contains extremely violent and macabre scenes]

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Seeing Red at Redroom.com

2008-02-16T13:45:00.001-08:00

Redroom.com is a new venture founded by entrepreneur and management consultant Ivory Madison. It made its debut on Dec. 21, 2007, as an encyclopedic global online community for writers and their readership. Redroom.com is a pragmatic response to the well-established fact that many authors whose primary focus is the printed word are strangers to self-promotion via the Internet.

The Red Room site provides a forum for viral marketing on the www. It is meant to appeal to readers, authors, booksellers and publishers as a kind of one-stop shop for biographical information, book reviews, video and audio content as well as authors' events calendars. Its goal is to showcase esteemed writers by way of creative social networking through original, author-generated content and comments.

The Red Room roster of authors is expanding at an explosive rate. The latest and most prestigious addition to the Red Room community is Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama.

See Barack Obama's Redroom page

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

Visit the Red Room corner of Poet Ana Elsner

[Related: "We are the ones"]

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December Dreaming

2007-12-08T14:08:00.001-08:00

For some, December is a time to throw themselves into a shopping frenzy, into a whirlwind of material excess and into consumerist greed and superficiality. Others, however, prefer to savor the long and quiet nights for more inward-directed pursuits.

Many stories and poems celebrate the season around the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza with insight and imagination.

Reading by electric- or maybe even candlelight can nourish the soul and uplift the spirit in ways that nothing else can.

In the true spirit of the season we present two poems, one by Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875-29 December 1926), one of the greatest and beloved 20th century poets writing in the German language. The other one is by contemporary poet Ana Elsner.

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Advent

Es treibt der Wind im Winterwalde
Die Flockenherde wie ein Hirt,
Und manche Tanne ahnt, wie balde
Sie fromm und lichterheilig wird,
Und lauscht hinaus. Den weißen Wegen
Streckt sie die Zweige hin - bereit,
Und wehrt dem Wind und wächst entgegen
Der einen Nacht der Herrlichkeit.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

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SNOWFLAKE

a single stray snowflake

gets tangled up in a song

and hitches a ride on the melody

for five beats, maybe six

until it gives itself up to the rainbow

that bridges the gap

of what we feel

© Ana Elsner, 2007
from 'Ciphers Of Uncommon Origin - Poems By Ana Elsner'
used by permission

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Hear This

2007-11-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

If you live in or visit the San Francisco Bay Area you will have an opportunity to hear the poet Ana Elsner read from her book CIPHERS OF UNCOMMON ORIGIN and from her new manuscript ALL POEMS ACTUAL SIZE. Philip Hakett will also be reading.

The San Francisco Public Library presents

An Evening of Poetry

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007

at the North Beach Branch,
Columbus Ave. at Mason

::

For a complete schedule

of Ana Elsner's featured readings

and upcoming public engagements

please go to her

Events page

::

[See also: 'P' is for Poetry]

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Do Something

2007-10-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

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AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Editor:

"I am marching in memory of Abdel Khaleq Nasser, Iraqi, male, civilian, husband and father, journalist, age 50, killed by mortar shell on 29 September 2007 in Bab Al Bedh, West Mosul. IBC database file #k7537."

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ImageBites -

- Snapshots borrowed from various photographers and taken on October 27, 2007 at nationwide demonstrations to End the War in Iraq.

(Unable to identify each one by name, AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES gives collective credit to all photographers whose work you see here.)

In Philadelphia:

In Salt Lake City:

In San Francisco:

In Chicago:

In Jonesborough TN:

In Orlando:

Everywhere:

Participants by City:

(Note: These are preliminary estimates pending verification. )

Boston 10,000
Chicago 30,000
Jonesborough 400
Los Angeles 18,000
New Orleans 300 (many Katrina survivors)
New York City 45,000
Orlando 3,000
Philadelphia 8,000
Salt Lake City 1,000
San Francisco 30,000
Seattle 7,000

Related article posted on CROSS-CULTURAL OUTLINE

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Potential

2007-10-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

WHO IS the Man

in the bowler hat...?

Watch the entire video
and the mystery will be unraveled.

Make friends with him.

He is a POWER-ful ally
now and for the future.

[See also: The Check List posted on CROSS-CULTURAL OUTLINE]

[Related: Who do you like and why?]

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Ship Shape Shoup

2007-10-14T01:27:00.000-07:00

*****

The USS SHOUP (DDG 86) is the 36th ship in the Arleigh Burke class of Aegis guided missile destroyers, commissioned in Seattle, WA in June 2002, and supports the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

The ship is named in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Gen. David M. Shoup (1904- 1983), a naval hero of World War II, a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in the Pacific in 1943, who later became the 22nd commandant of the Marine Corps. (See his image on the poster.)

She measures 509.5 feet and displaces 9,200 tons.

The SHOUP was built to conduct simultaneous warfare operations in multi-threat environments to include air, surface, and subsurface targets and accommodates two SH-60 (LAMPS 3) helicopters.

She has a crew of 304-380 officers and enlisted, all of whom work and live together in very close quarters.

The ship's motto is
Victoria Per Perserverantiam Venit
"Through Perseverance Comes Victory"

The USS SHOUP has, to this date, never been deployed in active combat operations.

Since her commissioning her deployments have been manifold.

The SHOUP is authorized to conduct 'Visit, Board, Search and Seizure' (VBSS) with the mission "to board and search vessels suspected of transporting drugs and contraband, trafficking in persons, or harboring suspected terrorists." The largest cargo of narcotics was intercepted and confiscated on one of her VBSS deployments.

USS SHOUP is an active participant in Multi-National Search and Rescue operation exercises on simulated vessels in distress. These joint Search and Rescue exercises are one example of how the U.S. Navy continues its efforts to build cooperation and understanding with other navies worldwide using both surface and aviation assets.

As part of Operation Unified Assistance, the USS SHOUP immediately provided tsunami relief off the coast of Sumatra for the victims of the December 26, 2004, earthquake and tsunami that struck 12 nations across the Indian Ocean region.

Navy doctors and corpsmen normally assigned to support their respective squadrons volunteered to fly into remote locations within the Aceh province of Sumatra, Indonesia, and set-up triage sites. They helped the victims that were evacuated from the coastal villages recover from wounds, infections and disease such as pneumonia and malaria.

Often, medical personnel shared cargo space with humanitarian aid shipments aboard the helicopters launched from the deck of the SHOUP, as vital food, fresh water and medicine supplies were ferried to the survivors.

"The military role is to provide its unique capabilities and significant capacity to provide immediate relief and save lives."
- Ralph A. Cossa, President of the Pacific Forum CSIS

The SHOUP is regularly tasked with goodwill diplomatic port visits throughout the year. These port visits are part of a dynamic program that reaches out to the civilian population on a national and international level.

USS SHOUP conducts training exercises off the Pacific Northwest coastline that involve the use of their AN/SQS-53C bow-mounted active search and attack sonar.

The SHOUP's sonar 'pings' are extremely powerful, at least 233 dB re: 1µPa repeated every 24 seconds at frequencies of 2.6 and 3.3 kHz, and have been implicated in whale stranding and other damage to marine wildlife.

[See also Taking a Tour of the Ship]

[Read about the long-standing conflict between Marine Mammal Protection

and the role of The Navy]

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Add Me

2007-09-27T16:03:00.000-07:00

Spotlight on

C h u m b a w a m b a

Chumbawamba is an English band, formed in 1982, that started out in Yorkshire playing punk rock and went on to play music in a wide range of styles. Over their 25-year career they have gained world-wide notoriety. Their varied repertoire includes songs influenced by dance music and world music, but mainly populist, topical agitprop.
Through the years and through their many transformations they always maintained their signature undercurrent of rebellion and anarchism, comming from the 'Devil's Advocate' point of view.

Chumbawamba's watchword is still: change. Keep moving, keep growing. It's how the band carry on enjoying themselves, and it's how the band carry on asking questions of their audience, themselves and the world at large.

Nowadays their output is "an amalgam of pop, folk, acapella, politics, humour, four-part harmony and five-part anger."

Add Me

I'm a loner alone with neurosis and hate
Anger is a permanent character trait
My letter bombs are primed and they're ready to send
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I'm a wound-up whiner with a fetish for guns
I'm almost fifty and I live with my mom
I hope my nude picture doesn't offend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus:
Add me, add me,
Me mother says she wish she never had me
Add me, add me,
Would you like to add me as a friend?
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I'm a recovering alcoholic; I rarely leave my room,
Peeping through the curtains in my dark costume,
The voices in my head gonna get me in the end
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I really like to mail you the picture that I drew,
It's Kylie's body, but the head is you
I've asked you fifty times before I'm asking you again
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus

Here's a picture of me in my Nazi uniform
Doing a trick with an egg that I like to perform
At a monster truck rally that my mom and me attend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

I've added Britney, and Paris, and you and Tom,
I'm gonna find your address so I can visit you at home,
I don't like people, but I like to pretend
Would you like to add me as a friend?

Chorus

© 2007 Chumbawamba

ADD ME is their most recently completed song.

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Good soap

2007-09-27T15:16:00.001-07:00

BE BOLD

Throw out the old petroleum based stuff and start using herbal dishwashing liquid with chamomile and marigold made by Ecover. We have switched and so have scores of our friends and friends' friends. Everyone agrees:

It is effective, natural and just plain good.

About

Ecover is an international company producing ecological, phosphate-free cleaning products. Known for their environmentally friendly, sustainable product development, they use only raw materials from vegetable and mineral (non-petroleum based) sources that are renewable, guarantee maximum biodegradability and leave no chemical residue.

(Available at Whole Foods stores nationwide)

Put the power of nature to work for you.
Say 'Good riddance' to petrochemicals.

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Desktop Insecurity

2007-09-25T19:30:00.001-07:00

:
Take a moment to assess exactly how much of your personal information is stored either on your own computer or on someone else's system. Do you use electronic banking, make online credit card purchases, submit your annual income tax forms electronically?

Along with these conveniences there are serious risks and dangers involved in relying heavily on the computer in your daily life. Among these dangers are viruses erasing your hard-drive, someone breaking into your system and altering files, someone using your computer to attack others, or someone stealing your credit card information and making unauthorized purchases.

At a minimum you should take these three important measures to protect your personal data and prevent attacks.

-1- Scan your computer regularly by running the most updated anti-virus software.

-2- Tweak weak passwords

Password "cracking" is a favorite activity of people who get their kicks breaking into hard drives and computer systems in order to perpetrate identity theft and other harmful pranks on the unsuspecting victim(s). The most effective tool to do it with are "Cracking dictionaries". This software can try not only every English dictionary word, but also names, phrases, slang words, substitutions (e.g., "time2go"), common abbreviations and a surprising number of other obscure sequences and strings. To protect yourself, tweak your weak passwords by using a combination of at least three of the following: UPPERCASE (A-Z), lowercase (a-z), digits (0-9), and special characters (@#$%&*, etc.).

-3- Trash-can suspicious e-mails

E-mail attachments can carry a variety of "malware", such as viruses, trojans, worms and "backdoor" programs, just waiting for you to set it loose by opening the attachment. Malware often comes with the filename extensions .exe, .pif, .scr or .vba (this is not a complete list, though). One of the favorite tricks of virus writers is to hide the virus in an attachment that, when run, produces a clever or entertaining animation on the screen that people like to forward on to all their friends thereby unknowingly spreading the 'disease' like wildfire...

Know thy enemy

Viruses - This type of malicious code requires you to actually do something before it infects your computer. This action could be opening an email attachment or going to a particular web page.

Worms - Worms propagate without user intervention. They typically start by exploiting a software vulnerability (a flaw that allows the software's intended security policy to be violated), then once the victim computer has been infected the worm will attempt to find and infect other computers. Similar to viruses, worms can propagate via email, web sites, or network-based software. The automated self-propagation of worms distinguishes them from viruses.

Trojan horses - A Trojan horse program is software that claims to be one thing while in fact doing something different behind the scenes. For example, a program that claims it will speed up your computer may actually be sending confidential information to a remote intruder.

Scary? - It certainly is.

So, don't delay: research, implement and install the most effective counter-measures to protect yourself before it's too late and the damage has been done.

[See also: Preying on the Un-informed]

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L'idée du jour

2007-09-25T19:20:00.000-07:00

:
"Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way."

Hosea Ballou (1771-1852), American Universalist and theological writer

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Chokehold

2007-09-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

Feasting on
the flesh and organs
of our fellow mammals?

Time to STOP and THINK

Mammals are warm-blooded, have hair (or fur) and possess a neocortex, a brain region that is involved in higher functions such as sensory perception, and is unique to mammals. Only mammals give birth to live young and have mammary glands to suckle their offspring.
Mammals encompass approximately 5,400 species.
This includes humans.

In nature larger mammals prey on smaller ones for survival.
Humans, however, do not depend on red meat, rare, medium or well-done, as a primary food source.

Swallow this

A disproportionate demand for meat has been instilled and carefully nurtured in the general population by the livestock and meat packing industry which, like the tobacco industry, is using every marketing ploy and behavior manipulation trick in the book to make us consume their products and by-products in ever greater quantities. In collusion with the powerful fast food industry they exert an inescapable dominance over all other producers of foodstuffs and have us in a literal chokehold, targeting especially children.

Do we really need a regular intake of prime rib, steak, hamburger, pork chops, bacon, leg of lamb, venison etc.?

The answer is a resounding "No!"

In fact, consumption of beef and pork carries with it a bombardment of artery-clogging grease, secondhand steroids and growth hormones (used to fatten the animals prior to slaughtering) and residual antibiotics (used to control the spread of disease in feedlots and pigpens).
These contaminants seriously compromise our health and well-being.

Anyone who has bothered to find out about the brutal efficiency of 'factory farms', slaughterhouses and meat processing plants will think twice before biting into that 'juicy' hamburger patty.

Just for argument's sakeAsk yourself:
Would you raise, fatten up, slaughter, butcher, roast and eat a dog? Of course not.
Turns out that in our society dogs are the 'holy cows' while cows are a strictly utilitarian commodity...

Mammalian Hybrids of the Future

Add genetic experimentation to the food chain equation and you arrive at a nightmarish visualization like the one depicted below. As we are herded down the perilous road of corporate greed spawning mad science the question of 'Who eats What' may soon turn into a

WHO eats WHO

[See also: Harvesting the corpses of human beings in the name of Science]

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Loaves and Fishes

2007-09-17T18:14:00.001-07:00

:
How many Fish in The Sea

As we are turning over a New Leaf,
here is a simple Receipe for a simply delicious
New Loaf.

Contributed by Chef Leo

SALMON LOAF

1/3 c. rounded wheat bran
3 tbsp. heaping flax seed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c. milk
3-7.5 oz. cans of salmon flaked (no bones or skin)
1 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. sage
2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. chopped parsley
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. paprika

Combine all ingredients except paprika in order given.
Pack firmly into buttered 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 x 3 inch loaf pan.
Sprinkle top with paprika. Bake in moderate 350 degree oven 40 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes.

Serves 6.

...And you get plenty of protein, fiber and Omega-3 in the bargain.

Try it: You'll like it!

(Note: Click on the 'Scroll Down To Read All Comments' line found below this article. This will open up a separate page of this post only. Then you can print out this wonderful recipe and make Chef Leo's Salmon Loaf for yourself.)

[And now for Desert...]

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:: Rate this receipe via COMMENTS. Of course you have to try it out first... ::
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Take a shot

2007-09-17T15:06:00.001-07:00

...

A sure fire way to get blotto

Bottoms up!
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Animating the Animator

2007-09-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

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Chris Landreth pays tribute to the life and legacy of Ryan Larkin in a brilliant visual masterpiece of animation art.

Chris Landreth (born 1961 in Hartford, CT), an American director, animator and writer working in Canada, uses standard CGI animation in his work. But well beyond that, he often puts his signature touch of surrealist styling into his animated shorts. He does so especially successfully in Ryan, a 2004 Oscar winning animated psychological documentary of Ryan Larkin (1943-2007), featuring actual taped interviews as voiceover.

Chris calls his stunning and unembellished visual portraiture 'Psychorealism'.

Ryan Larkin was a renowned animator in the 60s and 70s, who had gotten caught up in a downward spiral of excessive drinking, cocaine abuse, and homelessness which eventually lead to his death in February 2007 at age 64.

When asked how he came up with the idea for Ryan, Landreth said,

"I met Ryan Larkin in the summer of 2000. I hung out with him for one week and thought, "What a life story this guy has". It has all the elements of drama. It's got tragedy, comedy, absurdity, [and] this redemptive element. And there are some other themes as a result of it that are about Ryan, but also about alcoholism, addiction, mental illness and fear of failure."

[Must see: Hollow Man on CROSS-CULTURAL OUTLINE]

[For a different kind of animation: click here]

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Deliciously Dysfunctional Tryst

2007-09-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

If a love story is called for, Angel Eyes delivers romance and drama wrapped up in mystery and suspense.

A Film Critique by The Commentator

The 2001 drama/romance Angel Eyes, directed by Mexican-born Luis Mandoki and starring Jennifer Lopez and James Caviezel, exhibits the finer side of main-stream "commercial" movie making by resisting the sell-out of shallowness and predictability . The main characters are well crafted and well developed in the course of the film and reveal depth of emotion and convincing inner conflict. The subtle plot clues are achieved by using points of view and camera angles and nothing is given away until the final denouement.

For a script that relies heavily on an undercurrent of mysterious off-screen events and early psychological trauma as the foundation and validation of the plot, Angel Eyes is exceptionally well laid out and right on target.

About the actress

Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born to Puerto Rican parents in 1969 in the Bronx, N.Y.), is a Hispanic American actress, singer, songwriter and business entrepreneur.
Lopez's childhood friends nicknamed her "The Supernova," and her first husband, Cuban Ojani Noa, called her "La Guitarra". This first marriage lasted barely a year. In 2001 she married actor and choreographer Cris Judd (divorced in 2003) and is currently married to the popular Salsa and Latin pop star Marc Anthony (2004–present).

[For details about plot and cast go to Angel Eyes]

[Read a review of a film from a completely different genre]

:: Have you seen this movie? Please comment ::

Follow your Bliss

2007-09-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music -
the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people,"

Henry Miller (1891 - 1980), American writer, perhaps best know for his novel Tropic of Cancer, published in 1934

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Following his bliss:

Myron Michael Hardy aka Money the Mystro
29 year-old poet, emcee and hip hop artist

-:- TAKE -:-
A
.......L I S T E N.......

(Instructions: Clicking on the link 'LISTEN 'will start up a music player in a new window. Click on a track. To stop the music, close player window.)

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[See related: The reason for Poetry]

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Lawrence Ferlinghetti at 88

2007-09-08T20:23:00.000-07:00

:

By The Commentator

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born 1919 in Yonkers, New York), is a prominent and internationally renowned American poet, artist, publisher and recipient of various honors and awards.

After earing a master's degree from Columbia University and studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, Ferlinghetti followed the urging of fellow American poet Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982) to go to San Francisco, one of the strongholds of the burgeoning counter-culture dubbed 'The Beat Generation'. Shortly after his arrival, Ferlinghetti started a bookstore and publishing house in 1953, named after the Charlie Chaplin film, City Lights, and specializing in poetry. Its most famous publication was 'Howl', the controversial and legendary book by Allen Ginsberg.

The "Beats" were a loosely defined group of young and struggling American writers, students, anti-conformists, bohemians, hustlers, and drug addicts who emerged in the late 1950 - early 1960s and spawned such groundbreaking novels as Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' (1957) and William S. Burroughs's 'Naked Lunch' (1959).
Ironically, these works, formerly labelled as 'progressive and provocative', have now become pseudo-classics, time-stamped, stereotyped and pidgeonholed.

While most of his notorious compatriots have come and gone, Ferlinghetti has weathered the changing times and tides with remarkable resilience. Over the years he smoothly transitioned from pacifist, to anarchist, to teacher, to businessman, to Poet Laureate, to feted celebrity - all in a life's work.

Ferlinghetti is the author of more than thirty books of poetry and eight plays as well as fiction, art criticism, and essays. His poems are simple and speak plainly.

Settled down in the tranquil and beautiful surroundings of the Marin County seashore and somewhat reclusive, Ferlinghetti, now 88, still continues to paint, exhibit and sell his artwork. He can be spotted at his art show openings as well as at the occasional literary event here and abroad.

"It seemed to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
and all humanity
as a kind of artwork,"

Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
'Instructions to Painters and Poets'

Watch a 7 minute film clip of the KQED documentary interview of Ferlinghetti in his studio

(opens in RealPlayer window)

: Please note: To stream this video you must have RealPlayer installed. If you don't have it, the media link above will not work. Get the player free at real.com :

[See also: Lawrence Ferlinghetti about the poet Ana Elsner]

[Related: Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Ana Elsner - Two Poets, Two Artists]

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Wouldn't you like to know

2007-09-01T16:06:00.001-07:00

...when
your number is up.

Could it be in 10 years, 30 years or next year?

Consulting a psychic is hardly a reliable way to find out.
Instead, here is a statistics-based way of predicting your longevity and of making you aware of the factors that enter into the equation.

And, most importantly, you will find out about the kind of behavior modification options you have, to extend your stay on our beautiful planet,
should you so desire.

On your mark, get set, live longer!

(Your adjusted age count appears in the upper right framed box on each progressive page.)

[On a somber note: An undesirable circumstance]

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On Wellness

2007-09-01T14:53:00.000-07:00

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"The concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought, word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being.

And we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally
but also physically and spiritually."

Greg Anderson, Author and 'Cancer Conqueror': long-term lung cancer survivor

[Related: Doctors' Dilema]

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Freudian and Machiavellian

2007-08-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

The theories established by Sigmund Freud (1858-1939), the 'Father of Psychoanalysis', opened a chanel to understanding the power of the unconscious mind as being the (secret) seat of all human fear and desire. This fear and desire, residing in the unconscious and often repressed, governs human behavior. Ergo, exploiting these hidden feelings enabled the manipulation of behavior.

Edward Bernays (1891-1995), the grand-daddy of mass manipulation and propaganda and Freud's nephew, most successfully applied Freud's theories. He did so on a large scale and mostly for the benefit of the large corporations and of the politicians who consulted him, including president Eisenhower.

This video documents such mass manipulation accomplished by tapping into human fear. It also extends to the justification of interference in the affairs of foreign nations, all under the guise of preserving American values. In actuality, however, the motives for such interventions were anchored in the safe-guarding of American corporate interests and profiteering.

Brainwashing a Nation by fabricating the 'Communist Threat', the 'Terrorist Threat' and so on

A very recent example of exploiting deep-seated human fear in order to justify political repression, military aggression and outright lies was demonstrated by the "Department of Homeland Security", a creation of president George W. Bush and his henchmen. In and around 2003-2004 the American People were kept in a constant state of fear fuelled by the regular issuance of various levels of "Terror Alerts".

[Also see Unmasking contemporary propaganda]

[More about Bernays' unethical activities: Engineering demand]

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Headlines - All the News shock-a-block

2007-08-16T18:59:00.001-07:00

:

....all the news that's fit to post on the Internet.

Are you a visual person AND a news-junkie?

If so, you will appreciate this unique news aggregator that displays up-to-the-minute headlines in colour-coded blocks that are sorted by time and topic.

It lets you select the specific subjects that you are concerned about among a huge choice of headlines.

Each graded colour block will take you to the site-of-origin at a double-click. The sources for the articles range from Reuters, Market Watch, CNN, Earth Times and the Guardian (U.K.) to lesser known online news services like iAfrica.

: : Play hop-skip-and-jump on The Newsmap : :

Note: The link above takes time to load/refresh. If you have a slow connect speed, such as dial-up, you might not be able to capture this URL...:-(

[Loosely related and topical: Choose your candidate]

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What is Sauna

2007-08-05T19:58:00.001-07:00

For anyone not afraid to strip naked and in overall good health, i.e. no history of stroke or hypertension, there is nothing quite as beneficial to body and mind as taking a sauna bath. If you have never experienced it, it is a treat, and treatment, not to be missed. (Sauna is not recommended for children.)

A modern Sauna is a small to medium sized room, made entirely from wood, accommodating from four to eight people. It generally has two levels of benches, a lower one that would correspond to the height of an average chair and one that is double that height and therefore closer to the ceiling where the heat is strongest.

The heat elevates your body temperature, akin to having a fever, which destroys toxins in your system and eliminates them through intense perspiration. Sauna temperatures around 180 degrees Fahrenheit ("dry heat")or slightly higher are achieved by a specialized electric stove with a top layer of hot stones through which the heat escapes into the room. When water is poured on the stones to raise the level of humidity, the temperature is greatly increased and could reach a danger-point for the body, causing heat stroke. If high humidity levels are desired ("wet heat"), the temperature setting must be lowered proportionately, i.e., for 100% humidity, temperature should be around 100 degrees.

Sauna baths are generally taken in the nude, sitting or laying on a towel to absorb sweat.

The concept of sauna as a purification of the body has been practiced in various cultures, since the ancient times of Roman baths, for ceremonial as well as therapeutic purposes.

SAUNA: De-tox Body and Mind

2007-08-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

In our contemporary moral climate, which can be characterized as downright prudish, we have been brainwashed into thinking that nudity equals lasciviousness and that it is a certain prelude to sexual activity. This cannot be further from the truth. The human body in its natural state is one of the wonders of creation and certainly nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to be debased by negative and judgmental connotations.

The Sauna is perhaps the only remaining setting where nudity is accepted, even called for. The simple act of ridding yourself of all clothing and stepping into an environment unfettered, is a liberating act. Settle yourself on a bench in the sauna room, close your eyes and let the heat permeate your body and open the pores of your skin. As the ensuring perspiration purges the toxins from your system, so will all tension and anguish be released from your mind as you give yourself over to complete relaxation. Contained in this chamber of ultimate warmth you experience the process of purification and renewal.

Sauna etiquette prescribes silence in the sauna room for a reason. Free from auditory distractions you can focus on letting go, both physically and mentally, of all the pollutants that have weighed you down. You emerge cleansed and light-footed in body and in mind.

The aftermath of a sauna bath gives new meaning to the concept of
being "born-again" ...

Ana Elsner pays tribute to the Oboe

2007-07-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

OBOE

The unhurried echo

of an oboe,

attuned femaleness

of sound,

contains me.

Chromosomes of Woman,

bestowed on me

in my wombed beginning,

make me

a sounding reed,

like the oboe.

Chromosomes of Woman,

my manifest prerogative,

make me

subject to no restrictions

of scale.

Like the oboe

I am the unhurried echo

of female sovereignty

trailing

the wind.

© Ana Elsner

From 'CIPHERS OF UNCOMMON ORIGIN -Poems by Ana Elsner'.

Reprinted by permission

[Read another poem by Ana Elsner: Forgetting Eyes, published in Crossing Boundaries]

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

:: If you like her poems, please buy Ana Elsner's Book ::

A Path to Serenity

2007-07-21T14:41:00.000-07:00

AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES visits The Buddha

A Buddha is a being who has become fully awakened and has freed himself from mind-contaminants such as lust, anger, craving and the psychological conditioning (sankhara) of the fickleness of human existence. He recognizes that all such things are impermanent, forever arising and passing away, and that acknowledging this truth is wisdom and enlightenment. All passions and emotions are transcended and pacified so that one is completely at peace and no longer subject to human suffering (dukkha). The buddha has reached pure consciousness and bliss through asceticism and purification. He exists in an eternal state of Nirvāṇa, literally "deathlessness", the highest form of spiritual attainment.

Often misunderstood to be the Buddhist equivalent of 'God', the Buddha is, instead, a teacher to his followers and points the way to nirvana.

There are many different types of Buddha, characterized by and adapted to the regional history and geography of Southeast Asia, East Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Tibet, as well as Western Countries.

It is a statistical fact that Buddhism continues to attract followers around the world. It is the fifth-largest religion behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and traditional Chinese religion.

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[See also The Baptists]

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HIV & My Partner - An anonymous Letter

2007-07-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

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"...My partner and best friend of 10 years died May 19, 2006 at the age of 47. He was about 27 years old when he was diagnosed with HIV.

I want people to know how courageous he was, how he lived for almost half his life with the stigma of HIV/AIDS, with copious medications and all their complications and side-effects, sometimes with the unkind judgment of small minds, with the ever present prospect of death.

He was courageous because he refused to be defined or defeated by a diagnosis. He was courageous because he insisted on life. He was vital, honest, passionate, loving, funny, angry, opinionated, impulsive, articulate, compassionate, charming and damned good looking. It's how he lived his life. He was a wonderfully strong person, whom I was glad and proud to have in my life. ..."

Killer Virus invades all Continents

2007-07-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

(The stats in the graphic above are outdated but serve to illustrate the geography. The current statistics are as follows:)

In the quarter century since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 65 million people worldwide have become infected, including more than 25 million who have already died.

In the U.S., there are now more than one million people currently estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is on track to be one of the worst epidemics in history, with millions more estimated to become infected by the end of this decade alone, if more is not done.

Multiple needs remain to be addressed globally in the areas of prevention, care and treatment, research, and funding. As such, the HIV/AIDS epidemic presents numerous political, economic, social, and scientific challenges to the United States and nations throughout the world.

The vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, tours worldwide, teaching about their homeland and its culture. Their music genre of a-cappella style singing originated from the South African Zulus. In this video they perform the popular song "(We are) Homeless", by Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala, a fusion of native dialect and English lyrics.

Here they deliver a fundamentally sad message in the softest and gentlest musical hues.

Emaweni webaba
Silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni ...

Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be you ...

And we are homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake ...

: World - Citizens :

We must show compassion NOW!

Kuluman
Kulumani, kulumani sizwe
Singenze njani
Baya jabula abasi thanda yo
Ho

[See also Losing a partner and best friend and "Goodbye Jim!"]

Russian Lacquer Miniature Painting from famous Mstera artist

2007-07-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

Mstyora 'People's Artist of Russia', Lev Alexandrovich Fomichov...

...was born in 1932 in the village of Mstera (Mstiora, Mstyora, Мстёра) situated in the Vladimir region. Fomichyov is one of the leading third-generation master artists of Mstera. His grandfather was an icon painter and his father A.Ya. Fomichov was a manager of the artel 'Proletarian Art' in Mstyora (A.Ya. Fomichov studied under the famous Russian icon painter Feodor Modorov).

This example of Fine Russian Lacquer Art is part of the Ana Elsner Collection.

One of Fomichyov's favorite themes to paint are historical subjects and bylinas, or Russian folk epics. This piece shows several scenes from the ancient Russian legend 'Dobrynya the Matchmaker'. Dobrynya Nikitich comes from a long line of heroes who fought for the pride and defense of Russia's lands. One of the deeds Dobrynya is known for is his assistance in the marriage of Prince Vladimir and Rogneda, the Princess of Polotsk. This legend is based on actual historical events.

The paints he uses for his palette are all homemade by Fomichev himself and reflect strong earth tones. In addition, gold paints are used to detail the scene, especially to create the lustrous chain armor of warriors.

The box measures 12x3.75x2.5 inches and is made out of papier-mâché. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. Gold ornamentation frames the composition, while another pattern accented with red and blue flowers runs along the sides of the box. The artist signed his name, the title of the work and 'Mstera 2005' at the bottom of the scene.

Be All That You Can Be - A Guide

2007-07-18T02:50:00.000-07:00

How to Prepare for Deployment to Iraq

: Sleep on a cot in the garage.

: Replace the garage door with a curtain.

: Renovate your bathroom. Hang a green plastic sheet down from the middle of your bathtub and move the showerhead down to chest level. Keep four inches of soapy cold water on the floor. Stop cleaning the toilet and pee everywhere but in the toilet itself.

: Leave a lawnmower running in your living room 24 hours a day for proper noise level.

: Shoot a few bullet holes in the walls of your home for proper ambiance.

: Invite at least 185 people you don't really like because of their strange hygiene habits to come and visit for a couple of months. Exchange clothes with them.

: Raise the thresholds and lower the top sills of your front and back doors so that you either trip over the threshold or hit your head on the sill every time you pass through one of them.

: Go to the worst crime-infested place you can find, go heavily armed, wearing a flak jacket and a Kevlar helmet. Set up shop in a tent in a vacant lot. Announce to the residents that you are there to help them.

: Fire off 50 cherry bombs simultaneously in your driveway at 3:00 a.m. When startled neighbors appear, tell them all is well, you are just registering mortars. Tell them plastic will make an acceptable substitute for their shattered windows.

: And just when you think you're ready to resume a normal life, order yourself to repeat this process for another six months to simulate the next deployment you've been ordered to support.

: ... !

The Second Quarter Of 2007

2007-07-17T21:07:00.000-07:00

by our Editor

We'll always have Paris... or so it seems. Between the relentless news coverage of Paris Hilton's incarceration and subsequent release from jail and the hype about Apple's much anticipated iPhone launch, one might reach the conclusion that nothing else of great concern was going on in the world.

We need to remind ourselves that long after Paris' peccadilloes have been forgotten, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and other parts of the world will still be there and will still matter. Not to mention the tragic and needless war in Iraq, now in its fourth year, which weighs heavy on our budget and our conscience (or at least on the conscience of those who still have one.) Incredibly, the Cost-of-Iraq-War-Calculator has reached a stunning $378 billion, halfway through fiscal year 2007.

However, global economic growth in general is strong and will continue to expand, fuelled by emerging and developing markets in China and elsewhere. But this is a force that cuts both ways, creating new demand for goods and services, but also creating strong competition for precious raw materials and human resources. This growth explosion is sure to present an additional strain on our already compromised eco-system.

Now more than ever, we must put in place stringent measures to halt global warming worldwide.
The challenges are many as we look down the road.

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[See also article about global warming on Wikipedia]

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[Read Check List on CROSS CULTURAL OUTLINE]

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CIPHERS By Ana Elsner - First Publication

2007-06-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

InstaPLANET Press is proud to announce the release of

"CIPHERS Of Uncommon Origin -
Poems by Ana Elsner", Volume I

First Edition June
2007.

28p.; 22cm; full color semi-gloss cover.

Author-signed
and numbered copies are available.

- : -

Ana Elsner's CIPHERS is the first title
in the InstaPLANET Press
Language Maker Poetry Series

"My work is seasoned by a life lived in a great diversity of cultural contexts, which enables me to transcend the limits of one-dimensionality. ... Although often provocative and (self) critical in tone, and neologistic in language, I consider my poems to be ageless and intellectually and emotionally accessible to a broad and diverse readership,"
Ana Elsner, 2006

"To create true poetry requires hunger and passion, and Ana Elsner has it, in spades,"

Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
Poet; Artist; Publisher,
City Lights Books,
San Francisco;
Recipient of the 2005 Literarian Award

Attention Bookstores, Libraries and Individuals:
_____________________________________
To order copies of 'CIPHERS' please send an email to

Poetry[a t ]press.instaplanet[d o t ]com

_____________________________________

For individual and small quantity purchases, please send

$6.95 plus $1.50 shipping/handling per regular copy
- or -
$8.95 plus $1.50 shipping/handling per signed and numbered copy to:

InstaPLANET Press
PO Box 31063
San Francisco, California 94131-0063

Please allow ten days for processing your order.
Thank you.
.

[See also The Moku and

The Intervention Rhapsody In Three Movements by Ana Elsner]

- Click to read Ana Elsner's powerful poem
THE VAULT

Ana Elsner speaks about The Arts

2007-05-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

In a recent interview about the arts,
poet Ana Elsner said,

"It seems to be part of human nature to be single-minded. Art lovers go to exhibitions, music lovers go to concerts and poetry lovers go to readings. There is not enough cross-traffic.

I wanted to change that, if only for one night. So I choreographed a dialogue between a musical instrument and my poetry. I chose the oboe as my preferred partner and was most grateful when principal oboist Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra agreed to participate.

It was very exciting to design a program where my poems alternate with the oboe, in order to demonstrate the connection between the two. I called this project "The Sounding Reed", with a double meaning of (a) the actual reed of the instrument and (b) the 'reeds' of the human vocal chords. My concept was very well received by Robert Carlson of the San Francisco Public Library. He hosted it on June 12, 2007.

Having set the stage, I read in front of a combined audience of both music and poetry lovers and thereby made this cross-traffic happen. The evening was a big success and garnered excellent reviews."
Click to see Ana Elsner's event listing at The Academy of American Poets

"Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature's monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed... There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity...,"

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) was a poet, writer, and art critic. The foremost French poet of the early 20th century, he is credited with coining the word surrealism and writing one of the earliest works described as surrealist, the play Les Mamelles de Tirsias (1917).

[Related topic: Why Poetry? ]

[See also German Language Poetry with translations by Ana Elsner]

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Applause for the Oboe

2007-05-08T19:25:00.000-07:00

When asked about her favorite musical instrument, poet and classical music aficionado Ana Elsner said,

"Without a doubt, the instrument that speaks to me most is the oboe. Although sometimes overshadowed by other woodwinds, not to mention the testosterone-laden brass, I perceive the oboe as being a full-bodied female voice. Perhaps this is due to its mezzo-soprano to soprano range. In fact, I have written a poem titled 'Oboe' which defines how I feel about it."

Later on in the conversation, Ana Elsner added,

"My favorite oboist, these days, is Ms. Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Her lyrical tone quality and masterful vibrato distinguish her among the woodwinds, indeed, among the entire orchestra. Her soli simply shine. It is a treat to hear her play."

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[See also The Laughing Squid for event details.]

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Side-by-side: Laura Griffiths and Ana Elsner

2007-05-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

The
Sounding
Reed
(borrowed from a poem by Ana Elsner)

Born out of her affection for the oboe, Ana Elsner conceived of and choreographed a special evening of dialogue between the spoken word as represented by Elsner's poems and the voice of the oboe as presented by Laura Griffiths, acting principal oboist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra.

This unique event, headlined 'The Sounding Reed', will take place on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 7p.m. at the North Beach Branch of the San Francisco Public Library, located at 2000 Mason Street, corner of Columbus Avenue, (415) 355-5626.

The sponsor of this exciting program is 'The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library'. Admission is free.

Lovers of Poetry and Lovers of Classical Music: unite!

[Read OBOE, the signature poem for this event]

When? On June 6, 2007

2007-05-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Author and wordsmith Ana Elsner

is the Featured Poet

on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 7p.m.

at Sacred Grounds, 2095 Hayes Street, San Francisco.

(If you need more information please call the host

at 415-346-0347)

Ana Elsner will read from her most recent work in this convivial coffeehouse setting.

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[See also The power of poetry]

[Ana Elsner speaks Words that are Poems]

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HAIKU versus MOKU

2007-04-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

'Moku' is a brand-new term in the world of poetry. This term was first coined by poet and writer Ana Elsner.

'Moku' is short for 'Modified haiku'. It was originally used to describe Ana Elsner's own characteristic 3 liners which are based on haiku but do not conform to the traditional 17 syllable format.

Contemporary poet Ana Elsner further breaks with haiku tradition in that her imagery is not necessarily based on nature. Instead, her Moku often treat with urban situations, or shine the spotlight on a specific character or state-of-mind.

MOKU NUMBER TEN

this baleful time of keening

ghostly alchemy of our deferred grief

glaciers weep

© Ana Elsner
(reprinted by permission)

[Read another one of Ana Elsner's Moku]

[By contrast, read examples of Haiku by Ana Elsner]

[See also 'CIPHERS Of Uncommon Origin - Poems By Ana Elsner' Volume I, published by InstaPLANET Press, 2007.]

April 2007 Featured Poet: Ana Elsner

2007-04-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Public Library presents,

Ana Elsner, Poet, Author and Translator

In honor of National Poetry Month Ana Elsner will read from her poems on the state of affairs in contemporary America

Parks Branch, 1833 Page Street, SF on Tuesday, April 10, 2007, at 7 PM.

"The poet Ana Elsner contributes a unique new voice of personal insight and of literary significance to modern American poetry." - Nina Feday, Librarian,retired

After the reading there will be a poetry open mic.

- Click to see Ana Elsner's event listing at Poets.org, The Academy of American Poets -

All programs at the Library are free.

[Related: Ana Elsner - reading and book signing]

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Ein Gedicht von Ana Elsner

2007-03-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

Die Rettung

von Ana Elsner, 2007

fast

schon

sanft

eingeschläfert

von den wiegenden Wogen

der Tiefe

und doch

wieder

hervorgebracht,

im Regenbogen

geborgen,

ans Licht

des Lebens

wieder

zu atmen

dessen

Kostbarkeit

-:-

© Ana Elsner

[Siehe auch: "Der Gerechte Weg" von Ana Elsner
aus Der Dreischneuß, Zeitschrift für Literatur,
Marien-Blatt Verlag, Lübeck]

["Tony Vaughan" by Ana Elsner, ein Gedicht in englisch,
gefunden bei CROSS CULTURAL OUTLINE]
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[Friedrich Hölderlin : "Die Heimath" und "Überzeugung" und zwei Gedichte von Rainer Maria Rilke mit Übersetzungen von Ana Elsner]

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PRESS RELEASE - March 2007

2007-02-26T19:18:00.000-08:00

"Chewy Words and Soft-spoken Confections,

A Special Evening of Poetry"

Poets Ana Elsner and Stephen Kopel invite you to a joint reading from their works at 5:30pm on Wednesday, March 28, in the library of the historic Monticello Inn, 129 Ellis St. near Powell St. in downtown San Francisco.
(See map below.)

After the reading there will be an informal conversation with the audience about poetry.

This is a free event. Seating is limited.

"Come hear our poetry and have a glass of wine with us,"
your hosts Ana and Stephen

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Location of Event:

- Click to check if there are any upcoming events for Ana Elsner -

[Related info: - In addition to writing her own poems Ana Elsner is engaged in translating the poems of Paul Celan into English in an ongoing project.]

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It happened in November

2006-11-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

JIM BRIGHTWOLF

Visual Artist, Playwright, Art Activist, Writer, longtime Theater Director, Human Rights Advocate, Visionary, World-Citizen

1936 - 2006

"The arts and the Internet are the last free forms of media left for public power to express itself," - Jim Brightwolf

James Peter Brightwolf passed away in the early hours of Sunday, November 12, 2006, at St. Rose Hospital in Hayward, California. He was undergoing treatment for esophageal cancer and died of a sudden unexpected heart attack.

Jim spearheaded the theater of public controversy. His passion for reclaiming the arts, both for social justice and for uncensored artistic expression, inspired people around the globe. In Stockholm, Copenhagen, London and Aachen, Germany, he protested the Viet Nam War through theater. In Johannesburg and Nairobi he worked against apartheid and assisted black South African actors to leave the country and join a world tour. He aided California Farm Workers and the Sanctuary movement, and put his Direct Action Theater techniques to the test in Sydney, Australia, with a commitment to free art from corporate and government control. Jim was always excited by the potential of San Francisco which he considered a world hub of freedom of expression.

"Jim, in his quiet but intense and dedicated way, was one of the most compassionate persons I ever knew and one who backed up his convictions with actions," - Ana Elsner

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[See also: Remember Abu Ghraib (with related links).]

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[Another tragic loss to the artistic community: poet, artist and musician Tony Vaughan]

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(Photo Credit: Marsha Bellavance)
(Special thanks to: Mia Stageberg)

Ruskin on Industry

2005-11-30T22:00:00.000-08:00

:

"Life without industry is guilt, and industry without art is brutality."

- John Ruskin, British poet, artist and social revolutionary of the Victorian age (1819-1900)

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[Discover the unique art of Kholui]
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Winter in Fedoskino - Russian Lacquer Art

2005-11-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

We welcome winter for all the special joys it brings:

... skiing, sledding, snowman-building, not to mention the cozy evenings by the fireplace, the hot mulled wine, the rosy-cheeked faces and the storytelling ... (Never mind about the icy roads, the endless snow-shoveling and the astronomical heating bills, we will not speak of those).

In anticipation of the first snow, we are proud to exhibit this dynamic and joyful Russian winter scene on a large oval black Russian Lacquer Plaque, celebrating the famous RUSSIAN TROIKA. It was painted in 1992 by master artist Tatyana Tipyakova of Fedoskino.

Please visit click here and read more about Russian folklore and the symbolism of the troika.

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[Related article: Russian Lacquer Painting]

The Power of Poetry

2005-11-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

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"Let us remember ... that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both."

- Christian Wiman, poet, essayist and editor

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[See also: The Power of Art]

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Autumn descends

2005-11-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

: : Lyn Lifshin captures the Season in Words : :

Mid November

When the black ducks come,
Winter opens, a kick pleat
in darkness

Eyelash fringe of ferns on shore.
Late fall thunder
after a long
Indian summer.

Branches creak. A muskrat slithers into
the pond, a stone the tide covers
in the glow of a stranger's
flashlight.

[Another poet: George Tsongas]

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Combat Influenza: Get a Flu Shot

2005-11-30T18:06:00.000-08:00

Along with basketball games, Thanksgiving turkey and night frost comes the annual flu epidemic. We are talking about fever, sore throat, headaches, respiratory problems and general body aches and pains: Enough to put you out-of-commission and under a warm blanket, riding out this most serious of all seasonal afflictions.

Influenza is caused by rapidly mutating viral strains. The flu virus is abundantly present in schools, offices, busses and planes, and any public areas where people crowd together. Unless you are a housebound shut-in or a monk in his solitary cell your body's immune system will be put to a rigorous test and most likely will be defeated by this aggressive and omnipresent virus. Time to get the proverbial 'shot-in-the-arm', the flu vaccination. See your doctor, go to a clinic or consult your local (public) health-care resources. Don't delay!
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Important Note :: The Flu shot will not protect you against the Common Cold. It is up to you to take precautionary measures to avoid catching it. Here are some important tips:

* Because cold germs on your hands can easily enter through your eyes and nose, keep your hands away from those areas of your body.
* If possible, avoid being close to people who have colds.
* Wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use alcohol-based anti-bacterial hand gels several times a day.

[See also: The Common Cold]

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Frick and Frack: Google and GoogleWatch

2005-11-10T14:52:00.000-08:00

Although disputed by some, the fact is, that corporate giant Google.com is among the highest ranking, if not the #1, search and services modality on the Web.

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Amalgamated Perspectives makes frequent use of the many special features offered by Google. They are helpful and time-saving resources for webmasters and for the general web-surfing public alike.

Speaking in Tongues :: We are multi-lingual as is our Webzine readership. Now we can launch our Google searches from the language specific homepage of our choice.
Countries to choose from are FRANCE, GERMANY, UK, RUSSIA, CHINA, SPAIN and several others.
These country-specific homepages contain directories, news headlines and weather forecasts for their respective geographical regions.

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On the other side of the coin, and for the sake of establishing balance and critical perspective:
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We highly recommend Google-watch.org (or "goowatch").
It is best to sample their numerous exposés with the proverbial grain of salt.
You might find, however, that many of their articles and arguments ring true!

For webmasters who are concerned with SEO (search engine optimization) there is a nifty web page ranking tool which cross-links into Yahoo.
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[See also: Bloggers v Online News Services, an Editorial]

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[Reprised: Blogging Reviewed]

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Never Forgotten

2005-11-07T18:23:00.000-08:00

:

The atrocities committed in 2003 at Abu Ghraib, where prisoners were abused and tortured, are far from being forgiven and forgotten:

Artists and Poets world-wide have created an enduring record of the shameful and outrageous human rights violations that will live on not just in history books, but also in the annals of art, culture and literature.

One such artist is the famous Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero (born 1932), who exhibited a series of 50 interpretive works on the subject at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome in 2005.

When asked why he painted such horror, he replied (in his own words):

"Por la ira que sentí y que sintió el mundo entero por este crimen cometido por el país que se presenta como modelo de compasión, de justicia y de civilización."

"La injusticia me hace hervir la sangre" - Fernando Botero

All of Botero's paintings in his Abu Ghraib series, numbered 1 through 50, are based not on photographic evidence alone, but mainly on transcripts of actual testimony from the investigation into the prison scandal.

Botero made the paintings so that 'this crime against human dignity will be forever etched upon the collective consciousness of mankind'.

- Photo: The Artist in front of his canvas expressing in no uncertain terms his contempt for the perpetrators and their superiors, and his profound moral outrage.-

Having previously called himself an admirer of the United States (one of his sons lives in Miami), Mr. Botero said he became incensed because he "expected better of the American government".

Throughout Europe, where sentiment against the Iraq war is strong, news of the paintings and sketches has already generated interest. In 2006, museums in Hanover and Baden Baden, Germany, plan to hold special exhibitions of Mr. Botero's Abu Ghraib series.

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[Remember Theodore Roosevelt's words on criticizing the president.]
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[See also: Jack Hirschman speaks out against suppression of political art]

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Meet The Baptists

2005-11-07T17:29:00.000-08:00

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...... A PROFILE ......

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The Baptist Church is a member of the Protestant Evangelical Christian movement. Believers are baptized by full immersion and accept the Bible as being the only authority on God's truth. Salvation can be achieved solely by repentance of sins and by strict adherence to chapter and verse of the Bible.

Individual Baptist congregations are completely autonomous and do not report to any central governing administrative body.
Baptists are predominant in the southern United States, an area known for strong support of the military.

- The photograph is authentic and self-explanatory -

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[A Satirical Take: Which Jesus?]
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Quote-of-the-Month: November 2005

2005-11-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

:

"Of all religions, Christianity is without a doubt the one that should inspire tolerance most, although, up to now, the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men."

Voltaire, French Philosopher and Writer (1694-1778)

Amalgamated Perspectives Editorial Comment: This assessment is as true in the 21st century as it was in Voltaire's time.

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[On a Lighter Note: Windows Operating System Alert]
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Cartoon Lampoon

2005-11-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

BRA, short for Brassiere: An undergarment that supports and covers (and sometimes deceptively augments the appearance of) the female breasts.

Factoid: The average American woman today owns six bras.

A comment found in Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book:

"...wearing a bra ...has no medical necessity whatsoever... Except for the women who find bras especially comfortable or uncomfortable, the decision to
wear or not wear one is purely aesthetic or emotional ... If you don't enjoy it, and job or social pressures don't force you into it, don't bother."
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Lock out Link Spammers and throw away their Key

2005-11-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

: Attention All Blogspot Bloggers:

Ever click open your blog, quick-scan the 'Comments' numbers and notice that several new ones have been posted? Oh, the glee, oh, the anticipation of resonance, of popularity, of meaningful dialog!
You click the permalink only to discover that your comments page is cluttered up with imbecilic one-liners, thinly veiled advertisements containing hyperlinks to this commercial site and that. - Yep, you have been link-spammed!

Do not fret, the clever folks at Google/Blogger have come up with a feature that lets you SCREEN each comment before it goes live on your blog. Works just like your trusted friend, the telephone answering machine: You choose who you talk to - you choose which comments get posted and which ones deleted. See how to activate this new feature.

We sure hope that other blog-hosts will follow suit and implement comment-spam screening tools, if they have not as yet done so.

[Find more details on blocking spam links on the googleblog.]

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[Related reading: "So, now you are a blogger..."]

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On the Verge of Obsolescence: Graphology - Handschrift Deutung

2005-11-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

With the invention, in the 1870s, of the first 'typewriter machines' came the slow but steady decline of the age-old practice of handwriting.

As the mechanical and later digital means of producing text took hold, pen and ink were relegated to being mere artifacts, rather than essential communication tools.
Winnowed down to the singlemost and only application of handwriting, that of rendering a signature onto a legal document, writing by hand all but vanished from our daily lives.
Even this last vestige of exercising one's own hand on paper is fast being replaced, outside a legal context, by the signature stamp and the digitized signature imprint.

We are of the opinion that this modern-age development represents a tragic loss of a uniquely personal form of self-expression. Even as we avail ourselves to the immediacy and convenience of digital Word processing, we are nonetheless deeply devoted to keeping alive the elegant and meaningful tradition of cursive script, in the true sense of the 'MANUscript', i.e., 'Written by HAND'.

Borrowing the words of Swiss poet, writer and philosopher Max Pulver (1889-1952):

"The feeling for and love of handwriting are
spontaneous happenings. At a precise moment of our life, their written form falls suddenly under the light of consciousness."

The handwriting movement as such is directed by neurophysiological mechanisms which are governed by the writer's behavioral and personality traits. The brain generates the impulse which is executed in a biomechanical dynamic mode. The resulting script is as unique as a person's fingerprint and gives, in turn, significant insight into the writer's psychological make-up and personality profile. The analysis of this data is called Graphology. It is by no means an exact science, relies on empirical evidence and remains highly controversial.

Findings and Conclusions on Graphology - Having subjected one of our staff members to undergoing a graphological analysis, AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES has found some basic indices and interpretations to be accurate and valid.
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For those of you who still engage in handwriting, and are fluent in the German language, you can try out a self-guided handwriting analysis (complete with interpretation) directly online at Graphologies.de.
(Unforunately, we have not been able to find a site that offers online handwriting analysis in the English language. If you locate such a site, please let us know by way of the 'Comment' feature. )
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[Look at a sample of Leonard Cohen's handwriting]
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[See also: The Wikipedia page on Graphology]

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Phishing: Preying on the Un-informed

2005-11-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

You brush your teeth, you comb your hair, you pay
attention to
personal hygiene.
Well, just as important, if not more so, is
practicing proper E-mail Hygiene.

Plain späm is easy to recognize in your inbox. The subject line is a dead giveaway with phrases such as "get Viagra", "Special Offer", "You have been selected" etc.). But when it comes to the so-called phishing scams that invade mailboxes web-wide it gets a bit trickier.

These emails are disguised as coming from major websites that you are familiar with, such as EBay, PayPal or even your own ISP (Internet Service Provider). When you open them you will be urged to click on a given link in order to 'update your account information'.
Maybe you are tired or distracted and automatically click on the link. You land on an official looking website prompting you to type sensitive personal information, passwords and credit card numbers into the boxes conveniently provided. STOP right then and there! Chances are that you are about to fall victim to a phishing scam leading up to identity theft and other disastrous consequences.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: We strongly recommend that you adopt good email hygiene: sort out and DELETE each and every item which you do not immediately recognize as stemming from, or being related to, your prior correspondences. If you have the slightest doubt, resist your curiosity and hit the 'Delete Button' (that is what it's for).

If you accidentally delete a legitimate message from a service provider with whom you do business, do not panic: You will get the message when you sign on to the password-protected control panel of your established accounts.

Perpetrators of phishing scams often work in gangs of 5 or 6 members and are hard to track down and prosecute. In a recent case, however, a 29-year old British man was picked up and sentenced to four years in jail for stealing identities and bank details from over 100 Ebay users and defrauding them of a grand total of $360,000.

Until the offenders are caught and brought to justice, which may or may not happen, it falls to each individual net-citizen to stay informed and alert and to exercise caution when conducting any kind of financial transaction online.

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[Read more about 'phishing' here.]

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[See also: The impact of online fraud schemes on e-Commerce]

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UP IN ARMS

2005-10-31T15:17:00.000-08:00

Forbes v Bloggers

An Amalgamated Perspectives Editorial

"You might be aware of the pissing match currently going on between the mainstream media, i.e., the corporate 'News' moguls, and the Blogger community. Confronted with the fact that the not-so-new phenomenon of blogging is taking up more and more bandwidth in cyberspace, the media giants take a stand.

Whereas Business Week and Fortune Magazine came out in support and praise of the ever expanding blogosphere, Forbes, while initially positive, published an article by Daniel Lyons accusing Web logs of "spewing lies, libel and invective". Predictably, this affront hit like the proverbial match in a powder keg: Acerbic volleys have been flying ever since.

We cannot help but notice, that BOTH sides are guilty of hyperbole and slander. The very practices that each side condemns, each side also engages in. What does this scenario remind you of? Yes, it is suspiciously reminiscent of the infantile squabbles in kindergarten! Whoa, is it not time that we put these childish rivalries behind us?
Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing except when it is (ab)used for petty and inflammatory obfuscation.

C’m on, guys, enough already: it is high time to kiss and make up. Let us rise above all this self-defeating anger mongering and come together in TOLERANCE and Peaceful Coexistence.

After all: The World Wide Web is big enough for all of us."

[See also: a Post by Jason Goldman]
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[Related Article: The Phenomenon of Blogging REVIEWED]
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[About us: The AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Platform]

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Quote-of-the-Month: October 2005

2005-10-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

PAUL CELAN, Eastern European Poet and Holocaust Survivor (1920-1970) said,

: :

" Poetry is a sort of Homecoming."

[Artwork by Jassy Lupa]

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[Further Reading: Learn about Celan's tragic fate that shaped his work, read his poetry in the original German or in the English translation by Ana Elsner, and see his photograph.]

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[See also Argos]

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Hola a todos, bienvenidos a: 'AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Espacio de la Poesía'

2005-10-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

NO ES MÁS
por selva oscura...

de Eliseo Julio de Jesús de Diego Fernández (1920-1994)

Un poema no es más
que una conversación en la penumbra
del horno viejo, cuando ya
todos se han ido, y cruje
afuera el hondo bosque; un poema

no es más que unas palabras
que uno ha querido, y cambian
de sitio con el tiempo, y ya
no son más que una mancha, una esperanza indecible;

un poema no es más
que la felicidad, que una conversación
en la penumbra, que todo
cuanto se ha ido, y ya
es silencio.

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[See also: Poet George Tsongas]
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Smooth Jazz: the Alto Sax rules

2005-10-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

Listen to the Sound-of-the-Month-Pick :

Bliss out on Jazz Master Paul Desmond's bluesy rendition of "Where is Love?"

[Courtesy of Steve Khan]

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[Please note: This is a .mp3 audio clip that might take a while to load if you have a slow connect speed. Click the PLAY Button on the player panel above to initiate buffering and playing. Make sure you have 'sound' enabled and your Volume Control isn't set too low. - When you navigate away from this page the music will stop. In order to listen to the entire clip, please leave THIS Window OPEN. Enjoy!]
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The Phenomenon of Blogging REVIEWED

2005-10-28T00:43:00.000-07:00

An editorial by Ana Elsner

You have signed on with a blog host. You have designed the layout of your pages.
Welcome to the Blogosphere! ... So, what next?

Obviously you feel the urge to communicate. The question is: What do you wish to say, and to whom are you addressing yourself ? - Answering this question will define your blog's platform, i.e., its basic theme and content. It will also determine your blog's readership and popularity.

Weblogs seem to fall into at least five general categories:

- The primary motivation for the blogger novice is to keep an online DIARY of his or her personal life, and share with the world-at-large their innermost hopes, fears and other private matters, concerns, events and affairs. This type of blogging seems to be born out of a sense of isolation and can be understood as an attempt to 'reach out'. These blogs, while often fascinating, can also be too recondite and boring to those of us, not enrolled in PSYCH 101.

- Another type of blog is the 'insider' SPECIAL INTEREST BLOG where all content and links center on a specific hobby, profession, pursuit or mission (such as photography, singers or bands, cooking, pets, to name just a few). These blogs have a devoted and highly interactive online 'tribe' of followers who, depending on geographic proximity to each other, will also meet in person or come together in support of a cause related to their common interest. Such blogs are self-limiting in that they appeal only to an exclusive group.

- Gaining in popularity are TUMBLELOGS. They are a type of modified 'remaindered links' style Linklog with minimal commentary, a maximum of eye-catching visuals, sparse text, little cross-blog chatter and the barest whiff of a finished article. They serve as a sort of 'switchboard' for the trigger-happy blog browser flitting about at break-neck speed, never stopping long enough to investigate any topic in depth.

- A fourth type of blog is pure and flagrant SOLICITATION in the weblog format. It serves no other purpose than to push products or services, which are often of dubious legality. Such blogs are stuffed with popular keywords in order to lure the searchbots to index their pages and thereby drive traffic to their site(s). Should you accidentally land on one of these, your screen will instantly light up with flashing banners, pop-ups and other annoying, if not harmful little programs. In addition to sending out cookies, many of these 'pseudo' blogs run sophisticated listbots on your harddrive that harvest additional data and send it back to their server. Blogsurfer beware!

- By contrast, there are the INTELLIGENT and INFORMATIVE BLOGS that aspire to meet the highest of journalistic standards. They are dedicated to bringing their readership a wide array of well written, well researched and thought provoking articles and news items. They are de facto Online Magazines rivaling those you pick up at the local newsstand. Their content delivery is made with conviction as well as with humor and promotes further reading. Rather than merely compiling a long list of links and condensing each post to the proverbial soundbite, these WEBZINES feature comprehensive articles that develop a topic from start to conclusion. Such blogs are made by writers for writers. They will not, however, appeal to the 'on-the-fly' websurfer with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

Being a blogger means that you are the captain of your own ship in cyberspace. You map your course by the content you choose to present. Blog on!

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[See also: "On Cruising the Blog-Scene" ]

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[Related Post: "What type of blog is this?"]

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Halloween Interpretation

2005-10-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

Six year old Yorkshire Terrier bitch 'Coco' from Long Island, NY, all decked out in her witch costume, is ready to go TRICK or TREAT -ing in hopes of being rewarded with some yummy dog biscuits.

In keeping up with human seasonal traditions she proves the point that

"Dogs are people too"...

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Halloween (Def.): - The evening of October 31; the eve of All Saints' Day; Allhallows Eve; observed in the USA by children [and sometimes by dogs...!] in costumes who solicit treats, often by threatening minor pranks -
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[Coco guest-stars on AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES courtesy of dogster.com - For the Love of DOG]
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Microsoft Windows

2005-10-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

! Operating System Alert !

- - -

[See also: The Jesus-of-the-Week Post]

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Whois Craig

2005-10-21T14:08:00.000-07:00

We are not entirely sure just who Craig is (successful entrepreneur? media maven? corporate heavyweight? PR hound?), but what we do know is that he has a LIST.

Whenever we jet around among major metropolitan areas in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia we like to prepare ourselves by checking the Local Events Calendar in the Community Section for each city on craigslist.org.

Who knows, there could be a concert scheduled, a festival or fair going on, a poetry reading, gallery opening or book release party planned, an illuminating lecture scheduled, or a public campaign or civic action slated, that we would not want to miss for lack of forethought.
No need to pick up the local news rag upon arrival: all pertinent information is easily accessible ahead of time in this comprehensive online directory ... well before your bags are packed for the trip.

Thank you, Craig, whoever you are!

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[See also: "Do you know what time it is? ]

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Are YOU a craigslist.User? : Tell us! : Click on the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

Licensing eBay Vendors: Say whaaaat

2005-10-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

The Public Service Commission of the State of North Dakota has hatched a real doozie of a plot to trip up and tap private individuals who make a buck or two by selling their trinkets on eBay.

Turning the growing popularity of online auctions into a new source of state revenue, the commission seeks to regulate and restrict eBay selling by imposing a licensing requirement and charging a fee to get a "North Dakota Auctioneer's License". Two preconditions apply: each applicant must undergo special training at a state-approved auction school and must obtain a $5,000 surety bond. Other states are eager to jump on the bandwagon.

AMALGANATED PERSPECTIVES Editorial Comment: This is a textbook case of the government insinuating itself into yet another venue of individual enterprise by exerting control and financial leverage.
We say "NO!" to all legislative attempts to impose licensing requirements on online auction sellers. If you are a North Dakotan, please lobby your state government to back away from any such intention, and help prevent this precedent from being established. -

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[See also: Our Picture-of-the-Month Pick for September ]

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The New Chancellor

2005-10-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

The wait is over: Germany has a new Chancellor who will soon be turning the "executive men's-room" into the "executive powder-room" ...

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After weeks of negotiations following the German Federal Election of September 18, 2005 the two main opposing parties, SPD and CDU/CSU, entered into a Grand Coalition in order to make up the required majority of seats in the Bundestag. The two parties reached an agreement whereby the CDU/CSU candidate, Angela Merkel, will succeed Gerhard Schröder in the office of Chancellor and the SPD will fill 8 of a total of 16 ministerial posts. Merkel is the first woman ever to hold the position of German Chancellor.

Angela Dorothea Merkel (born July 17, 1954) grew up in the communist GDR (the former East Germany). She graduated with a doctorate in physics. In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, she entered the political arena, aided by her mentor Helmut Kohl. Her political career culminated, 13 years later, in her election to chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and leader of the conservative opposition in the lower house of the German Parliament (Bundestag) under former Chancellor Schröder.

It remains to be seen, over the coming months, what course she will steer in German national and international policy and, by extension, in the future of the EU (European Union), of which Germany is a powerful and influential member.

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We want to hear YOUR Opinion : Please click on the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

Picture-of-the-Month: October 2005

2005-10-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

" Le Roi s'amuse "

Fragment of an original Russian Lacquer miniature painting in egg-tempera created by MSTERA (Mstiora, Мстера) Master Artist Yuri Ikonnikov in 2001, signed and titled
"In no particular Kingdom".

You can see the entire composition of the Dancing King and his Entourage and read a description of the art work by clicking on the picture above or by visiting the Russian Lacquer Fine Art Gallery at Catalog.instaplanet.com.

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[See also: About RUSSIAN LACQUER BOX ART, an Introduction to a unique Art Form from Russia ]

[Related Article: The reasons why many people collect art]

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Agamemnon Flinched

2005-10-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

"Senior poet and author George Tsongas blends his Greek ancestry, his world travels, his tenure as a San Francisco resident and habitué of Café Trieste, and his personal observations on the human condition into a rich tapestry of compact word art," - Ana Elsner, author

the mask
(argos)

agamemnon
stares at me, and
when i stare back
he flinches, as
though i've given
him the look
that narrows
the centuries
to what we feel

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[Read more Poetry: The haunting verse of Paul Celan]

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15 Jahre Deutsche Einheit - German Reunification

2005-10-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

October 3, 1990: - After more than 40 years, East and West Germany, which had been separated by different political systems in the aftermath of World War II, were peacefully reunited. The fall of the Berlin Wall was the symbol of the reunification of the two countries under a democratic system. On October 3, 1990, East Germany was dissolved and its citizens became citizens of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Excerpts from 'A Message from the President of the Federal Republic of Germany on the Day of German Unity 2005':

"On 3 October the Germans are celebrating the 15th anniversary of national unity in freedom. ... One and a half decades have passed and we have achieved much thanks to the drive and solidarity of Germans in east and west. ... There are new roads, railway lines and modern telecommunication networks. ... Internationally acclaimed centres for science and technology have sprung up. ... But we also know that many problems still remain to be solved. The most pressing is the problem of the millions of unemployed – in the new Länder but also all across . At the same time, we have to deal with the aging of our society. These are major tasks for policy-makers yet these tasks have been identified and the process of renewal has begun. ..."
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AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES Editorial Comment: - October 3, 2005. - Even after 15 years of efforts toward economic integration Germany has a long road to travel in mending the social polarization between East and West. To this day, the East is still unable to survive without government subsidies amounting to some €70 to €80 billion a year. Major long-term structural reforms are needed to bring about social, political and economic equalization. The concept of 'One Germany' is still far from having been made a reality in the lives of its population. -

: Unabashed Blasphemy :

2005-10-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

Preface: - AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES respects each individual's personal faith, expression of spiritual devotion and code of religious conduct.
We do not wish to offend anybody.

Caution: - If you are a conservative Christian without a sense of humor, please do NOT click on the link below.

To all others, get ready to peruse the Jesus-of-the-Week inventory:

"Looking for the Love of Christ in all the Wrong Places?"

"These Shoes Are Made For Walking..."

2005-10-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

... to paraphrase Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit (except, of course, Nancy was singing about boots).

The other day, a member of AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES brought us this bi-lingual manufacturer's tag found inside a new pair of shoes.
Talk about "going the extra mile" on a sales pitch ... (see below).
We were so impressed that we decided to post it here exactly as printed on the tag in the German and English version :

"Die Schöpfung hat den Menschen ohne Schuhe vorgesehen. Ohne Schuhe sind unsere Füsse jedoch ohne Schutz. Ein bequemer Schuh ermöglicht es, wie barfuß zu gehen.
Unsere Schuhe wurden von den besten Designern entworfen. Sie sind aus bestem Leder und Materialien gefertigt die dem neusten Stand der Technik entsprechen.
Da wir uns der Qualität und dem Komfort verpflichtet haben, wünschen wir Ihnen ein bequemes Leben in unseren Schuhen."
"Nature intended us to be barefoot. But we need shoes to protect our feet. The next best thing to being barefoot is a good, comfortable shoe.
Our shoes are studied by a highly qualified team and are made out of the best leathers. The most advanced techniques are employed.
As our commitment is to quality, fit and comfort, we would like to wish you a comfortable life in our shoes."

As you can imagine, our entire staff is mobbing a particular shoe-store in order to get their feet into a pair of these wonders and to thereby assure themselves of the promise of a comfortable life...

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How many pairs of shoes are in YOUR closet? Go ahead and 'confess' by clicking on the 'COMMENT'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

- The Solution according to Brecht

2005-09-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Berlin, 1953. - In the month of June, a strike by East Berlin construction workers escalated into a general political uprising with thousands of protesters calling for the resignation of the East German government. On June 17, the protesters were brutally subdued by the Volkspolizei with the help of several Soviet T-34 tanks (an eerie foreshadowing of the incident in Tiananmen Square in 1989).

In the aftermath of the 1953 event, Bertolt Brecht (1998-1956) writes:

"Die Lösung" - The Solution

After the uprising of June 17th
The Secretary of the Writers' Union
Had leaflets distributed all along Stalinallee
Proclaiming that the people had squandered away and lost
The government's confidence in them
And could gain it back only
Through redoubled efforts.

"Would it not be easier, then, for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?"
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[See also: The History, Politics and Culture of the former GDR]
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[Current topic September/Oktober: The 2005 Elections in Germany]

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[Related Post : - A Theodore Roosevelt Quote -]

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[Also check out "DEMOCRACY"]

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Do you read Brecht? Tell us which of his works you like best - click on the 'COMMENT' / "Post a Comment" Link below:

"Let them eat Cake"

2005-09-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

-:- Heart-friendly Pound Cake -:-

2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup margarine
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ingredients should be at room temperature. Sift flour before measuring, then sift together with baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Combine sugar and margarine. Stir until creamy. Add vanilla.
Separate eggs. Whip egg whites until stiff. Beat yolks and add to sugar and margarine. Add sifted ingredients to this mixture, a third at a time, alternating with adding the buttermilk.
Fold in egg whites and pour into two well-greased small loaf pans, or into one large one.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes and enjoy the aroma wafting through your kitchen.
Let your pound cake cool before serving.

Tip: - Forget the frosting, serve slices topped with plenty of fresh fruit and/or yogurt instead. - ENJOY!
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PS: - No, we do not run a Cooking Show. The food you find here is primarily Brain Food. Please read on. -
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- Bundestagswahl 2005 - Elections in Germany

2005-09-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

On September 18, 2005, the 16th Bundestags (federal) election (since 1949) was held in Germany in order to establish the Bundeskanzler (Chancellor) and his or her Cabinet, who will be directing the course of national and international German politics and policies for a term of 4 years. In this special election, which was called by the Bundespräsident to be held 17 months prior to the end of the regular four year cycle, seven distinctive political parties were on the ballot and 77.7 percent of all eligible voters participated.

In a bitter fight of rhetoric and ideology the two major rival parties, the SPD as embodied by Gerhard Schröder, and the opposition party CDU as represented by Angela Merkel, had vied for the mandate of the German voter. The outcome, in percent of votes cast, is as follows:
The Social Democratic Party SPD 34.3% - the right-of-center Christian Party CDU 27.8% - the CDU-affiliated CSU 7.4% - the Green Party 8.1% - the classical liberal FDP 9.8% - The Leftists 8.7% - and miscellaneous fringe parties 3.8%.

In accordance with German Parliamentary law, in cases where no single party has a majority on its own, a coalition government must be formed. At present rumors abound as to which party the CDU/CSU will choose for their coalition partner. This choice will affect the appointments to all government posts, and will dictate the political platform of German national and international policy. As of now, this momentous decision has not been made.

Germany, along with Great Britain and France, is a powerful member of the EU (European Union) and, by extension, the German heads of government will exert significant influence on global issues. The formation of the new German government will be a strong indicator of the future role Germany will play on the World Stage.

Meanwhile, AMALGAMATED PERSPECTIVES encourages you to seek out European and International media resources in order to stay informed on global issues, as we find the American media coverage of international events to be minimal, simplistic and all too often biased.
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[See also: Bundesrepublik Deutschland - a Federal Representative Democracy]
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[Read the Follow-up Article: "Whois the German Chancellor?"]

^^On Cruising the Blog-Scene^^ (OP-ED)

2005-09-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

EDITORIAL by Ana Elsner

"Crank up your espresso machine, you’ll need all the caffeine you can stomach, as the hours go by while you click your way through an endless labyrinth of diaries and diatribes.
Pull up your emotional bootstraps and be prepared to wade through a vast pool of heart-wrenching exposés on the minutiae of a million private lives.
This journey is not for the faint-hearted.

As you deftly maneuver around the spam sites, the porn sites, the 404s,
as you dodge the incoming barrage of pop-ups,
as you turn down the volume so you don't get blasted out of your chair by various midi, wav and other sudden sound effects,
you find yourself getting snagged by this blog, sucked into another, turned off by the third, turned on by the next ... and, sooner or later, depending on your stamina, utterly exhausted.
You have just embarked on a Kafkaesque rollercoaster ride minus the pink cotton candy.

Yes, it is all in there, right there in the digital box in front of you, coming alive at a mouse-click.
The entire panoply of human caricature is mirrored in these web-logs:
There is the recluse, the addict, the whiner, the cynic, the former hippie, the former inmate, the fallen angel, the pollyanna, the eternal optimist, the borderline illiterate, the borderline schizophrenic, the self-proclaimed genius, the frustrated poet, the con-artist, the babe-in-the-woods, the narcissist, the tattler, the prowler, the punster, the pundit, the proselytizer, the producer and the prosecutor - the sexy, the nasty, the desperate.
All of them are busily pouring their hearts out to no-one-in-particular: Sigmund Freud would have a field day in the blog-o-sphere.

To paraphrase Shakespeare, 'All the Web's a Stage'. The curtain goes up each time you go blog-surfing. The players strut their stuff, many of them stripped of all restraint and modesty.
Their voices echo eerily in cyberspace. No audience steps forward in applause. Their pages are devoid of comments. Their hit-counters stalled out at 106, their email boxes empty. No dialog ensues.

And here you sit, the anonymous voyager, unbeknownst to those whose posts you just read, whose lives you looked in on. You've had all that you can take. Your head's still spinning. Time to log out of blog-o-rama."

Are you a blog surfer or a blog owner? Give us some feedback via the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

: In his own Voice :

2005-09-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

In his notes on his song "The Partisan" Leonard Cohen says, "I developed the curious notion that the Nazis were overthrown by music".

DEMOCRACY -
Excerpts from a Song by Leonard Cohen, written in 1992

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on

Quote-of-the-Month: September 2005

2005-09-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public." - Theodore Roosevelt

Picture-of-the-Month

2005-09-14T04:07:00.000-07:00

:: A Picture is worth a thousand words: Lady Liberty looks down in dismay at what has become of these United States ::

MISSION STATEMENT

2005-09-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Amalgamated Perspectives is a public forum. Its focus is and shall remain on you, our Fellow Web-Citizens. Our platform is multinational and independent. We strive to present material that is cutting-edge, informative, well-researched and of journalistic merit. The links which we build into our posts will take you to sites that explore our topics in greater detail. They do not constitute our endorsement of those site-holder's opinions, products or services. We rely on your good judgment when following a link trail that extends beyond our original referral.

The Amalgamated Perspectives site is always safe and free of advertising. The selection of topics presented here is designed to promote continuing education and critical thinking. We aim to induce discussion either with us by way of the comment feature below each posting, or among you, our readers. In some cases we provide our email address to enable direct correspondence."

Please bookmark this site and keep checking-in for updates.

[A similar site: CROSS CULTURAL OUTLINE]

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Film-of-the-Month: September 2005

2005-09-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

THE CORPORATION

Directors: Mark Achbar, Jennifer Abbott
Writers: Joel Bakan, Harold Crooks, Mark Achbar
Year: 2003

This documentary film examines the historical development of the 'corporate entity' over the 150 year span from its inception to its present-day manifestation and worldwide impact. Reaching back to the early days of the republic, when corporations were consortiums sanctioned and limited by the government to perform a specific task (such as building roads) it points to the fateful event that occurred in the latter part of the 19th century when, in a series of bizarre decisions, the Supreme Court ruled that corporations were legally defined as persons and therefore subject to equal-protection provisions under the 14th Amendment.

This momentous Supreme Court ruling opened the floodgates of uncensored corporate avarice and shameless exploitation on a global level. Based on hard-hitting interviews and graphic factual research the film demonstrates how this newly defined 'person' perfectly matches the profile of a psychopath in its ruthless pursuit of power and profit coupled with callous indifference to the harm it causes to individuals, to the community, to the environment, to animals, to the oceans and to the global eco-sytem. -

Seen this film? Hit the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

? Who profits from Destruction ?

2005-09-12T17:01:00.000-07:00

People worldwide who watch the tragic events unfolding on the hurricane-stricken Golf Coast of America will form their own opinions based on media coverage. Yet, who is more qualified to speak the truth than one of the residents directly affected by this disaster and its aftermath? - Michael Tisserand is one such resident who escaped the flood waters that destroyed his city. He currently lives in exile 200 miles away. Let us hear what he has to say:

"New Orleans is gone. The exotic destination where tourists could carouse Bourbon Street and act the fool, gone. The troubled and cherished home where we worked and raised our children, gone. The birthplace of Louis Armstrong, the muse of Tennessee Williams, the wellspring of the rhythms of the Neville Brothers, gone."

"Thousands of my neighbors are now dying in the streets due to bad policy and official neglect."

"In one long week, my city has become a national disgrace and a symbol of a shameful presidency."

Thank you, Michael Tisserand, for your powerful testimony.

Our own Editorial Commentary:

Realistically speaking, the rebuilding of New Orleans will require a massive public sector, federally funded effort. The preliminary estimate of the reconstruction cost lies at $100 billion for that city alone:

---> Lucrative no-bid contracts have already been awarded to Bechtel and to a subsidiary of industry giant Halliburton, both closely aligned with the Republican Party.

"How very un-surprising is it, that - once again - the LOSS suffered by the 'poor huddled masses' is about to be transformed into the PROFIT made by a select few..."

Let us know your point of view on this issue - Please click on 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' below

: Bloggers-of-the-World: UNITE and HELP

2005-09-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

When everything that can be said has been said, when blame has been shifted around and the political finger-pointing has stopped, one fact still remains:
that of human SUFFERING and LOSS.

Amalgamated Perspectives asks you to join us in reaching out to the victims of Hurricane Katrina: Please reach into your wallets and donate generously to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund or to a Charity of your choice. Do it now.-

We thank you.

[Photo credit: John Makely/Sun]

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KATRINA: THE FLOODING OF IMAGES OF POVERTY IN AMERICA

An EDITORIAL by our French Correspondent, the Renaissance Man

"Hurricane Katrina has shattered the levees in New Orleans, and flooded that centuries-old city which was started by the French. Tens of thousands are displaced, homeless. Thousands are dead, floating in the muddy waters of the lake.

I won't comment or repeat the news which have been seen on the globe. But I would like to point out that a levee has also been breached in the American psyche; a levee that was keeping our society to forget, or avoiding us to see that poverty is alive and well in America in 2005.

Yes, the people who did not leave are black and poor. No, they could not afford to leave: with no car, or, for that matter, no future elsewhere, why bother?

The hurricane Katrina has shattered more than the walls and the levees of New Orleans. It has shattered the bold and egotistical "self-assurance" of a red, Republican America by showing to, and reminding all that tens of millions of people live in poverty.

In individual psychology like in the egos of Nations, it is when you become vulnerable - and admit that you are - that you open yourself up to being healed.

I hope that the U.S. will learn to pause for a second, and ask itself: how do we want to address poverty, which is the real question - instead of pointing fingers at why rescuers were late to arrive.

Ultimately, the voice of the Left has to make this question clear - and propose solutions. Maybe that now, the millions of poor or disadvantaged people who voted for the Right at the last elections (and thus against their own economic interest) will choose to see the real challenge: fixing poverty and the social and economic divide in America - instead of focusing on impeaching gay marriages and the crumbling of moral values in America.

With the levees crumbling in New Orleans, I hope that prejudice will also crumble, and help us focus on the real questions."

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[Discover WHO it is that PROFITS from Destruction and Loss]

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9 - 11 - 2001, A Day Which Will Live In Infamy

2005-09-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

Four years ago today, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by militant Islamic terrorists who hijacked two commercial flights and crashed them into each tower of the World Trade Center in NYC shortly before 9:00 AM at the start of a workday, causing both towers to collapse and kill a total of 2,595 unsuspecting people plus 157 passengers onboard the two aircraft.

Please observe with us FIVE MINUTES OF SILENCE in Memory of all those who perished, and in Honor of those who gave their lives so that others may live.

- Not "Art for Art's Sake", but "Art for OUR Sake"

2005-09-10T12:07:00.000-07:00

Everybody knows at least one person who collects art. Perhaps you yourself have bought a picture that caught your fancy, and have hung it on your wall, and then another, and then a third…

Far from being a necessity of life, art can nonetheless lift us up from our daily grind. Looking at it can make us smile, or think, or day dream. Art has a very personal and often magical effect on us. It can even give a certain sense of wellness and healing to the battered soul and to the malnourished human spirit. We recognize its benefit intuitively and that is why we bring art objects into our homes and work-spaces.

The visual arts span a wide range of media: photography, sculpture, drawing, oil on canvas, just to name a few. We want to shine the spotlight on one as yet little known art form: that of Russian Lacquer Miniature Painting on papier-mâché.

- Follow the Quiet Collectors - Discover Russian Lacquer Art

2005-09-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

This winter village scene was painted in egg-tempera on a papier-mâché surface of 14 x 4 cm (5 ½ x 1 ½ inches) using special single-haired brushes to accomplish the finest of details. The artist who created this superb Russian Lacquer box is Vladimir Kiselyov (Kiselev) of Kholui (Kholuy, Kholuj, Holui - Холуй), a Master Russian Lacquer miniature painter.

Like Palekh (Palech - Палех) and Mstera (Mstyora, Mstiora - Мстера), the Village and School of Kholui is located in the Ivanovo Region in Central Russia and uses egg-tempera in their miniature painting. Compositions show a boldness of execution and a more realistic style than the other two tempera villages, which is perhaps influenced by Revolutionary (propaganda) prints and images and by other non-iconographic sources. Subjects range from 'bylini' (popular Russian heroic sagas), 'skazki' (Folk-lore and fairytales) and epic historical events to architectural and nature scenes (see illustration above).

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[See also : Russian Lacquer Miniature painting by a Master Artist from MSTERA]

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:: About RUSSIAN LACQUER MINIATURE Painting ::

2005-09-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Russian Lacquer Fine Art Catalog site has a good summary of the historical background of this art form. We reprint it here by special permission from catalog.instaplanet.com and with our thanks to the author.

"The art of Russian lacquer box miniature painting is a unique aspect of decorative and applied art and one that is closely linked with national history and tradition. In Russia the first lacquer work dates to the early 18th century when (in 1716) a chamber in Montplaisir Palace at Peterhof was richly decorated with lacquered panels, the work of early Russian masters. The practice of applying detailed painting skills to objects made from papier-mâché started in the late 18th century in the village of Danilkovo, which later became Fedoskino(Федоскино). After the Revolution the three former icon-painting villages of Palekh (Palech - Палех), Kholui (Kholuy - Холуй) and Mstera (Mstiora - Мстера) also adopted this practice as a means of survival for their resident artists. All four villages, while easily distinguished in style, soon excelled in miniature painting technique and creative execution and achieved world-wide recognition. Formal art schools were established in each village to give bright young talent the proper training, tools and discipline. Throughout the political and social turbulence in 20th century Russia (from monarchy, to socialism, to capitalism) the art of miniature painting has not only survived but has flourished. Fine Art enthusiasts are taking notice and have begun to assemble important Russian Lacquer Art Collections of their own. As the demand for exquisite Russian Miniatures increases, the artists are continually encouraged in the inspired process of free and individual creation, which lends each finished work its unique quality."

? Curious about this special art form? - Ask any question via the 'COMMENTS'/'Post a Comment' Link below:

- Das Rheingold : Wagner, anyone?

2005-09-09T18:02:00.000-07:00

Attention OPERA Lovers:

After enjoying countless opera performances on several world-class stages, even the Veteran Opera Enthusiast might find himself/herself at a loss to cite chapter and verse of each piece in a vast repertoire of operatic works.

...What was the name of the Georges Bizet opera we saw in Paris in the late 80s? - Oh yes, it was "Les Pecheurs de Perles", of course!...

Amalgamated Perspectives encourages those who appreciate music and theatre to explore the World of Opera and to read about the composers, librettos and premieres.

[Illustration above: 'Rhinemaidens' from Wagner's Ring Cycle]

? Do you know what time it is?

2005-09-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

When Natalia Leonova in Fedoskino, Russia, clicks on our site in the morning, Dave Christensen in Minneapolis, USA, is ready to log off the Internet and go to bed.

- So, at what time did this happen? You find the answer when you consult The World Clock.

: Quotes of Introduction and Contemplation :

2005-09-09T12:42:00.000-07:00

"IMAGINE A BETTER WORLD - Then HELP MAKE IT COME TRUE !" - Webcaster

"One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams." - Salvator Dali (1904-1989)