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5th Annual Artivist Film Festival & Awards Announces Opening Night Film Progra...
ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM - Sequel to the Most-Downloaded Video in Internet History Selected as Opening Night Film; 2008 Festival to Screen 40 Films From 40 Countries
Last update: 3:43 p.m. EDT Sept. 28, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CA, Sep 28, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- The 5th Annual Artivist Film Festival & Awards today announced its opening night film along with an overview of the official 2008 program lineup. Artivist is the first international film festival and awards dedicated to addressing human rights, children's advocacy, environmental preservation and animal advocacy. It runs from October 2-5 at the historic Egyptian Theatre, in the heart of Hollywood. This year's festival is hosted by our Community Partner, Petrobras, one of the largest distributors of ethanol fuel in the world.
"Artivist is the premiere venue for advocate filmmakers to screen their cause related films," said Diaky Diaz, President and Cofounder. "It's an opportunity to raise awareness for the interdependence between Humanity, Animals, and the Environment." ZEITGEIST ADDENDUM - Sequel to the Most-Downloaded Video in Internet History Selected as Opening Night Film; 2008 Festival to Screen 4... more -
Zeitgeist sequel focuses on monetary system
By: Mike Cantelon
The feature-length documentary Zeitgeist was released for free on the Web in 2007. It served as a mesmerizing critique of western society, attacking the military industrial complex and the myths used to maintain the established order.
Its creator, Peter Joseph, has recently released a sequel, Zeitgeist: Addendum, also available on-line, which draws from libertarian, environmental, and New Age ideas in its analysis of the world's present political, economic, and environmental challenges.
The documentary starts by focusing on the monetary system, detailing how it employs debt as an instrument of control and the fundamental role this system plays in corporate globalization.
Addendum then proposes that the development of progressive technologies is the mostly likely way to create a successful alternative to the scarcity created by the monetary system.
In conclusion, Addendum stresses the need for belief systems to embrace the ideas of emergence and interdependence and outlines concrete steps that can be taken to weaken the monetary system.
Addendum is not without flaws. It spends a lot of time treading the same ground as documentaries like The Money Masters and Money as Debt and spends too much time on specific technical solutions. Despite that, it's an inspiring documentary and well worth the time for anyone interested in fresh perspectives on how to achieve progressive change. By: Mike Cantelon ... more -
Zeitgeist Addendum: Steps toward a sustainable future
"Zeitgeist was created in the hope that it will inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective, and to relay the understanding that very often things are not what the population at large think they are. The true understanding of events, both historical and modern, are crucial to the development, awareness and spirituality of the human condition." "Zeitgeist was created in the hope that it will inspire people to start looking at the world from a more critical perspective, an... more
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Starbucks Stores Waste Millions Of Gallons Of Water A Day
STARBUCKS was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain at its coffee shops.
The giant coffee chain has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.4 MILLION litres a day.
That would provide enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa or fill an Olympic pool every 83 minutes! STARBUCKS was blasted by environmental experts last night after The Sun discovered it pours millions of litres of precious water down ... more -
CHILDREN'S OBESITY PSA
This is a music-driven animation about the big picture and problem of obesity in children in the United States. What is unique about it is the delivary in which the information is given, through the use of animation and music. It serves as a more entertaining means of conveying information and educating people while providing an entertaining narrative at the same time. For all of those adults who enjoyed School House Rock as a child, and who seek a more adult and current version of their approach this is for you.
THIS IS A PROTOTYPE FOR A GRADUATE THESIS PROJECT- ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE
REALLY HELPFUL! This is a music-driven animation about the big picture and problem of obesity in children in the United States. What is unique about ... more -
Humanitarian Day Detroit 2008
Discusses homelessness in Detroit, a very major issue not talked about or dealt with nearly enough. It also documents the annual Day of Dignity, formerly known as Humanitarian, which is one of the largest events held in MIchigan to help the homeless. Discusses homelessness in Detroit, a very major issue not talked about or dealt with nearly enough. It also documents the annual Day o... more
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Church makes ‘ludicrous’ apology to Charles Darwin - 126 years after his death
The Church of England is set to officially apologise to Charles Darwin for misunderstanding his theory of evolution.
In a bizarre step, the Church will address its contrition directly to the Victorian scientist himself, even though he died 126 years ago. The Church of England is set to officially apologise to Charles Darwin for misunderstanding his theory of evolution. ... more -
Sarah Palin's record on the brutal practice of aerial hunting exposed
Stop that murderess!
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Israeli soldier sentenced to 14 DAYS for killing a BABY!
An Israeli soldier was sentenced to only 14 days for detaining a pregnant Palestinian woman at a military roadblock resulting in her losing the child.
The Israeli army said the woman and her husband were rushing to a local hospital in Nablus in the northern part of the West Bank and were stopped at a military roadblock. She was barred from crossing the checkpoint even though she had gone into labor.
The couple were forced to remain at the roadblock for approximately 50 minutes and when a Palestinian ambulance arrived, the medics declared the baby dead.
The husband said that after he and his wife realized she needed to get to a hospital as quickly as possible, they decided not to wait for an ambulance and used a relative's car to drive to the facility.
The car is licensed by the Civil Administration Office to travel between the village and the Jordan Valley, but the army ignored the license and decided to force the couple to wait.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) published its weekly report on Israeli violations in the Palestinians territories in the period between September 4 and September 10, 2008.
During the period, Israeli soldiers undertook 55 acts of aggression in the occupied territories, killed one Palestinian, wounded 11 including five children and kidnapped 29 residents, among them seven children.
A total of 1,909 Palestinian civilians have been kidnapped by the army since the beginning of this year. An Israeli soldier was sentenced to only 14 days for detaining a pregnant Palestinian woman at a military roadblock resulting in her l... more -
The Truth Behind Animal Circuses
Not to be Debby Downer, but animal circuses totally suck!! I know, I know, what could be better than loading the kids up on a bunch of over processed junk food and watching a cast of abused animals perform silly little tricks? AWESOME!
The reality is that most people have no idea what really goes on behind the scenes at most animal circuses, but Lena Headey, star of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is trying to change all of that. That’s why Lena’s teamed up with PETA to appear in a new anti-circus public service announcement exposing all the gritty details of circus life. Not to be Debby Downer, but animal circuses totally suck!! I know, I know, what could be better than loading the kids up on a bunch of... more -
6 Magnificent but Endangered Primates
Primates are amazingly varied, coming in all shapes, sizes and species ranging from one ounce to hundreds of pounds. Many primates have amazingly complex social structures, long evolutionary histories and, unfortunately, many also have harrowing tales of near-extinction in their various microhabitats around the world - often at the hands of the most infamous and far-spread primates: humans. Primates are amazingly varied, coming in all shapes, sizes and species ranging from one ounce to hundreds of pounds. Many primates hav... more
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Bicycle makers get a welcome push from polls
Good article on the variants of the industry, politcs, economy and international affairs all surrounding the power of the two wheels. Pedal Power indeed, go India!
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Progress is happens one step at a time.
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(image) Pedal power: A file photo of activists at a BJP rally. Political parties have begun to distribute bicycles for free to pull in votes.
Commuting concerns
A significant proportion of the working population even in cities—postmen, newspaper deliverers, snack sellers, construction workers and so on— cycle to work every day.
Their cause hasn’t been helped by roads that have no clearly marked lanes for bicycles, making their daily commute a hazardous affair.
In recent terrorist attacks in Bangalore and Jaipur, bombs were found planted in bicycles. That could crimp demand if more cities and states ask buyers of new bicycles for proof of identity as New Delhi already does.
“This will create a problem because a majority of the people who need a cycle, say in a village, do not have any such proof,” says Ishwar Chugh, director, Atlas Cycles, which produced 250,000 cycles last year.
Still, those who have to, and those who want to, use bicycles, even in cities.
Postman Brahmanand Maji in New Delhi prefers to commute on a cycle. “It’s easier to distribute mail on a cycle.”
The children’s bicycles segment of the market is growing by around 18% a year. Several foreign companies such as Sri Lanka’s Lumala and the US’ Firefox Bikes Pvt. Ltd and Trek Bicycle Corp. are present in this market. At around Rs1.9 lakh, Trek’s high-end bicycle costs as much as the least expensive car currently available in the market, the Maruti 800.
“We are saved by the children, and now the government programme,” says Omkar Pahwa, managing director of the Rs325 crore Avon Cycles Ltd, which produces 1.5 million bicycles a month. The company saw its export m argins drop by 3% last year, but domestic sales grew three times “because of government buying”.
Still, India doesn’t have a cycling culture, says Ludhiana-based Avtar Bhogal, who exports axle hubs to Europe. “In Europe, you can expect a chief executive of a company to ride to office. In India, a politician rides for publicity for one day and the media is all over about it. Then, everyone forgets.”
In June, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party pledged to ride a cycle to work once a week to protest a hike in fuel prices announced by the Union government.
He stopped his pedal-pushing protest last week. Good article on the variants of the industry, politcs, economy and international affairs all surrounding the power of the two wheels. ... more -
Police Report Bicycle Thefts at UCSF
SF is pretty common for many stolen bike cases. With slim chances to get it back, we can still at least try to prevent it. Here are some important phone# (for UCSF students) and also smoe tips for everyone, that can always come in handy (like storing/writing down your bike serial#)
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During the month of August, UCSF Police have received reports of a number of bicycle thefts committed on or around the Mission Bay and Parnassus campuses.
In all but one of the thefts, the bicycles were locked, and in some cases had the additional security of being parked in the Parnassus campus bicycle cage.
When the bicycles were reported stolen to the UCSF Police Department, the serial numbers were not available, making it impossible for the Police Department to enter the stolen bicycle’s information into the nationwide theft recovery system. SF is pretty common for many stolen bike cases. With slim chances to get it back, we can still at least try to prevent it. Here are so... more -
Pedestrian / Bike Memorial
URBANVELO.COM //A short documentary about how the Ghost Bike project in New York City has spread to include pedestrian fatalities in their efforts as well. Raising general awareness that other road users are not just obstacles but human beings is an important part of the fight for safe access to our cities by all user groups. URBANVELO.COM //A short documentary about how the Ghost Bike project in New York City has spread to include pedestrian fatalities in t... more
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Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria
Marijuana may be something of a wonder drug — though perhaps not in the way you might think.
Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.
It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.
The current research, by Giovanni Appendino of the University of the Eastern Piedmont and colleagues and published in The Journal of Natural Products, looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were found effective against several common multi-resistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.
The researchers say they don’t know how the cannabinoids work, and whether they would be effective as systemic antibiotics would require much more research and trials. But the compounds may prove useful sooner as a topical agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, to prevent the microbes from colonizing on the skin. Marijuana may be something of a wonder drug — though perhaps not in the way you might think. ... more -
Ingushetia website owner killed
The owner of an internet site critical of the Russian authorities in the volatile region of Ingushetia has been shot dead after police detained him.
Magomed Yevloyev, owner of the Ingushetiya.ru site, was a vocal critic of the region's Kremlin-backed administration.
The Russian prosecutor's office said an investigation into the death had been launched, Interfax reported.
A post on Yevloyev's site said he was detained at Ingushetia's airport.
The website owner was taken to hospital but died from his injuries.
Reports quoting local police said Yevloyev tried to seize a policeman's gun when he was being led to a vehicle. A shot was fired and Yevloyev was injured in the head.
Human rights concerns
The predominantly Muslim province borders Chechnya and has suffered from overflowing unrest.
There is a low-level insurgency, with regular small-scale ambushes against police and soldiers.
In June 2008, the Human Rights Watch group accused Russian security forces there of carrying out widespread human rights abuses.
HRW said it had documented dozens of arbitrary detentions, disappearances, acts of torture and extra-judicial executions. The owner of an internet site critical of the Russian authorities in the volatile region of Ingushetia has been shot dead after police... more -
The heartbreaking picture of the polar bears with 400 miles to swim to the nearest...
Struggling against the waves, this polar bear faces almost certain death after becoming lost at sea in the Arctic.
It is one of a group of nine to have plunged into the ocean after the ice float they lived on melted.
The bears were spotted miles from their normal hunting ground by U.S. government oil survey scientists flying over Alaska's Chukchi Sea.
They said the creatures' homing instinct has sent them north towards the edge of the polar cap instead of 60 miles south towards the nearest land.
However, because of global warming, the ice cap has melted so much that it is around 400 miles away - too far for the bears to reach.
Although one group of polar bears is known to have swum 100 miles, they arrived at their destination exhausted, with several drowning along the way.
Animal charity, the World Wide Fund for Nature, said it was considering asking the U.S. government to send a ship, like a modern Noah’s Ark, to rescue some of the bears.
Yesterday, researchers also warned they feared the annual ice-melt has passed its 'tipping point', where not enough freezes each winter to make up for the previous summer's melt.
Senior scientist Dr Mark Serreze said: ‘The summer melting used to slow down by the beginning of September.
'We thought it was slowing this year, but it’s suddenly sped up instead.'
Professor Richard Steiner, of the University of Alaska, said: 'Polar bears need sea ice, sea ice is decaying, and the bears are in very serious trouble.'
Experts with WWF, the World Wide Fund for Nature, fear the bears can’t make it.
Polar bears are strong swimmers but would not be able to make it that far.
In May, the US Department of the Interior listed polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act because the Arctic ice they hunt on is melting so quickly.
Margaret Williams, Director of WWF’s Alaska office, said: ‘The Arctic is a vast ocean and to find nine bears swimming in one area is extremely worrying because it means that dozens more are probably in the same predicament.’
Her colleague, WWF polar bear biologist Geoff York, said: ‘As climate change continues to dramatically disrupt the Arctic, polar bears and their cubs are being forced to swim longer distances to find food and habitat.’
The Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast is home to one of two populations of Alaska polar bears. Struggling against the waves, this polar bear faces almost certain death after becoming lost at sea in the Arctic. ... more -
Marlboro Sponsors Children’s School Uniforms
Students in Asia are required to wear school uniforms and it was obviously an opportunity companies like Vodafone, Shell, Ferrari, and even cigarette company Marlboro, just couldn’t pass on.
The parents were shocked to see that their children now looked like they were part of a Formula One pit crew, but in China there is little the parents can say or do about the situation. Students in Asia are required to wear school uniforms and it was obviously an opportunity companies like Vodafone, Shell, Ferrari, and... more
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