OVO

Look at the faces of these people as the facts are revealed. Listen to the silence.

BBC News, Danish Police Shoot Intruder at Cartoonist’s Home:

The man had entered Mr [Kurt] Westergaard’s house armed with a knife and axe and had shouted in broken English that he wanted to kill him. Mr Westergaard ran to a specially designed panic room where he raised the alarm.

KR News, Charity cartoon rejected over terror fears:

TV2’s morning lifestyle programme Go’morgen Danmark was the latest in a long line of those trying to help the victims of the Haitian earthquake. The show organised an auction through auctioneers, Lauritz.com, and asked well known politicians and personalities to donate personal items for the charity fundraiser. A signed copy of Bill Clinton’s book dedicated to the head of the Social Democrats, concert and sports events tickets and a porcelain doll owned by Pia Kjærsgaard, head of the Danish People’s Party, are already listed in the auction. However, when cartoonist Kurt Westergaard – forever to be associated with the Mohammed cartoons and terror threats – was asked to submit a new drawing for the auction, the auctioneers refused to accept it. According to Mette Jessen of Lauritz, the decision was taken because of the latest attempt on Westergaard’s life when an alleged assassin broke into his house on New Year’s Day. ‘We must recognise that the terror threat is still of such a character that we can’t predict the consequences of a sale. We value the safety of our employees quite highly, which is why an eventual risk assessment was used in our consideration,’ she said. Westergaard was disappointed in Lauritz’s decision, saying it was just another example of how his name creates fear. ‘The drawing was in no way controversial, but it seems my name is. I’m sorry for the fear it causes people. When even my hairdresser, who is Muslim, told me with sadness that she didn’t dare keep me on as a customer for fear of reprisals, then there’s reason to be sad about this development,’ he said.

VOA News, Death of Gay Activist Brings Turkey’s Attitude Toward Gays Into Focus:

For 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz, the choice to live openly as a gay man in Turkey proved deadly. Prosecutors say his father, charged with allegedly killing his son in what is being dubbed as the first gay honor killing, traveled more than 900 kilometers from his hometown to shoot his son in an old neighborhood of Istanbul.

FOXNews.com, Saudi Teen Sentenced to 90 Lashes for Cell Phone in School:

Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading country in the use of torture-by-flogging, and religious police keep a close watch over public behavior.

RFI, Playwright Petrol Attack Handed to Terrorist Police:

The 45-year-old was attacked on Tuesday night outside the theatre in Paris where her play is showing. Two men insulted her in Arabic and poured petrol over her. They then threw a cigarette at her, which failed to ignite.

MetaFilter, Malaysian Churches Attacked Over “Allah”:

Malaysian Catholic newspaper Herald was recently involved in a major lawsuit against the Malaysian government, stating that their constitutional rights were violated when they were stripped of their license to publish in East Malaysian indigenous language Kadazandusun. The ruling was overturned, amidst support by state ministers and protests by the Government, the Islamic Opposition party, and Muslim activists – some of whom have spent the past week attacking churches and convents through firebombs, Molotov cocktails, paint, and bricks thrown at glass.

MetaFilter, The Women of Afghanistan:

87 percent are illiterate. 44 years is their average life expectancy. 70 to 80 percent face forced marriages.

Sam Harris, Liberals Have More to Fear than Cheney (circa 30 January 2008):

Liberals need to realize that there are people in the Muslim world far scarier than Dick Cheney.

NYPOST.com, Art Therapy for Terrorists:

“There is no criteria for evaluation,” John Horgan, a Department of Homeland Security consultant, told the New York Post.

Times Online, Iranian Dancer Afshin Ghaffarian Describes Ordeal at the Hands of Basij:

Ghaffarian is a dancer – an activity banned by Iran’s Islamic rulers and punishable by long prison terms. “If he had known that he would have beaten me even harder,” Ghaffarian said.

Robert Scheer, Bush’s Faustian Deal with the Taliban (22 May 2001 via archive.org):

Enslave your girls and women, harbor anti-U.S. terrorists, destroy every vestige of civilization in your homeland, and the Bush administration will embrace you. All that matters is that you line up as an ally in the drug war, the only international cause that this nation still takes seriously. That’s the message sent with the recent gift of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan, the most virulent anti-American violators of human rights in the world today.

All articles continue at links.  Part of a series that never ends… [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and etc.  “They’re making the last film… “

“What would it look like to travel across the known universe? To help humanity visualize this, the American Museum of Natural History has produced a modern movie featuring many visual highlights of such a trip.” – Astronomy Picture of the Day for 20 January 2010.

Please note that your problems and mine are insignificant. – Trevor Blake

Trevor Blake: Snow. Portland, Oregon USA. 29 December 2009.

A preview clip of my animated and interactive application based on the poster by Fritz Kahn: Der Mensch als Industriepalast [Man as Industrial Palace] from 1926.  For more information about the project go to: industriepalast.com

Wikipedia, Theo van Gogh:

Theodoor “Theo” van Gogh was a Dutch film director, film producer, columnist, author and actor. He was the great-grandson of Theo van Gogh, who was the brother of artist Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh worked with writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali to produce the film Submission, which analyzed the treatment of women in Islam. Some claimed the film was critical of Islam. On 2 November 2004 he was murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri, a Dutch Muslim. The last film he completed before his death, 06/05, is a fictional version of the assassination of politician Pim Fortuyn.

Wikipedia, Pim Fortuyn:

Wilhelmus Simon Petrus “Pim” Fortuyn was a charismatic Dutch politician, author, columnist, public servant, sociologist and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List (Lijst Pim Fortuyn or LPF). He was assassinated during the 2002 Dutch national election campaign by militant animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf, who claimed in court he had murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as “scapegoats” and targeting “the weak parts of society to score points” in seeking political power.

Wikipedia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Dutch intellectual, feminist activist, writer, and politician. She is the estranged daughter of the Somali scholar, politician, and revolutionary opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse. She is a prominent critic of Islam, and her screenplay for Theo Van Gogh’s movie Submission led to death threats. Since van Gogh’s assassination by a Muslim extremist in 2004, she has lived in seclusion under the protection of Dutch authorities. When she was eight, her family left Somalia for Saudi Arabia, then Ethiopia, and eventually settled in Kenya. She sought and obtained political asylum in the Netherlands in 1992, under circumstances that later became the center of a political controversy. In 2003 she was elected a member of the House of Representatives (the lower house of the Dutch parliament), representing the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). A political crisis surrounding the potential stripping of her Dutch citizenship led to her resignation from the parliament, and led indirectly to the fall of the second Balkenende cabinet. Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born in Somalia. Her father, Hirsi Magan Isse, was a prominent member of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front and a leading figure in the Somalian Revolution. Shortly after she was born, her father was imprisoned due to his opposition to Somalia’s Siad Barre government. Hirsi Ali’s father had studied abroad and was opposed to female genital cutting, but while he was imprisoned, Hirsi Ali’s grandmother had the traditional procedure performed on five-year-old Hirsi Ali.

Wikipedia, Religious Views on Female Genital Cutting:

Muslim scholars have often been divided on whether it should be considered as a non-religious traditional custom, or whether it should be specifically condemned by religious authorities.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Theo van Gogh, who was murdered for a film written by Ayaan Ali and who had just finished a film on Pim Fortyun.  Two ways of problem solving are on display here.  In one, people write scripts, make films and are elected to public office.  In the other, you kill people.  One is the way of the West, and one is the way of the Muslim world.  Which way do you favor?  If you’re having trouble deciding, look at the primary evidence.  Start by watching the film Submission.  Then look at this photograph of Theo van Gogh’s body, shot multiple times, head nearly cut off, stabbed repeatedly, with Muslim prayers pinned to his chest by his murderer’s knives.  Consider whether you think scholars should have nuanced debates on the merits of forced clitoridectomies for girls or… not.  I hope these comparisons brings you mental and moral clarity.

Jesús Colina, Pope Cannot Exchange Vatican Treasure for Food (16 March 2009):

The proposal of a member of the social networking Web site Facebook suggesting that the Vatican should exchange its treasures for food in Africa is an impossibility due to international law, says Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes. The president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum said this Friday to ZENIT at a press conference Friday in which he commented on the online petition titled “Exchange the Vatican’s Treasures for Food for Africa. Do You Want to Sign a Petition?” The cardinal noted that, apart from the ideological aspect of the proposal, the Pope cannot consider it because he is prevented from doing so by international law. This Pontifical council is responsible for the direction and coordination among the charitable organizations and activities promoted by the Catholic Church. Alberto Juesas Escudero of Spain launched the initiative, which now has more than 40,000 supporters. Escudero claims “it is a shameful to see the Vatican’s riches and then watch the news.”

Wikipedia: “Radetzky March, Op. 228 is a march composed by Johann Strauss Sr. in 1848. It was dedicated to the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, and became quite a popular march among soldiers.”

Oh, but for some of us this song means something else entirely [4:30].

“If you want, you can have this future.”

Japan, the world’s second largest economy, is facing a demographic crisis that will shrink the population dramatically. The Japanese aren’t having babies, and the country won’t accept immigrants to help bolster the population. But Japan may have a unique solution – Robots!

If you are someone who thinks or writes about race, immigration, labor, technology, population or culture in the USA this video of how things are done in another country might be of interest.

The guy who slagged the football team? Those yobs were not for him.
He turns into a real estate agent who believes in discipline.

The guy who’s first to use cocaine, the wild boy breaking free?
He’ll end up in a court of law as the prosecuting Q.C.

Remember the School Captain? Success was a matter of time.
I can hear her now, as she screams “Greg! You missed the stop sign!”

Forget Snoop Doggy Dog, forget old Ice Tea.
The true word out on the streets is produced by the TAC.

What’s the use of striving? Life’s road in front unravels.
We get to do the driving, don’t choose the direction we travel.

Do your homework or wag for weeks, graffiti the Dandenong line.
It don’t matter much when you hear that scream “Greg! You missed the stop sign!”

Sometime in the next 10,000 years a comet’s gonna wipe out all trace of man.
I’m banking on it coming before my end of year exam.

The rich kid becomes a junkie, the poor kid an advertiser.
What a tragic waste of potential (being a junkie’s not so good either).

Your folks worked hard for what you got, you are the fruit of their vine.
Who cares what you sow and what you reap? ’cause Greg! You missed the stop sign!

Bought a car just the other day. Man! could that baby run.
But you know what they always say: there’s always a better one.

Got a tumor in my brain, it’s creeping to my lungs.
And I’ve searched around in vain, can’t find me a better one.

Hardwired into everyone’s head is the person they’re gonna be.
Growin’ up’s not a matter of choice, it’s a matter of wait & see.

So kids, yeah, you can do it! You can be your best!
Girls can do anything! You can pass the test!

I’m OK, you’re OK, we’re OK, we’re fine!
I thought I heard a semi-trailer… “Greg! You missed the stop sign!“

This blog will be videos of people treating me bizarrely. My video camera is mounted to my wheelchair (very discreetly) and I basically just press record whenever I go out and then edit the good stuff for you!

The Deal with Disability

Swarm Bots: Now W/Solar Power, Complex Behaviors! | Boing Boing Gadgets