Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Wyclef Jean to announce he's running for Haiti presidency
Wyclef Jean is set to announce he is running for the Haiti presidency tomorrow (August 5).
The former Fugees man is primed to make the announcement on CNN's Larry King Live show, which airs at 9pm (ET).
An election is scheduled for November 28. Rene Preval, the country's current president, cannot seek re-election under the country's laws.
To run, Jean would have to prove he has lived in Haiti for five years in a row and has not been a citizen of any other country. He was born on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, but was raised in Brooklyn in the US.
The musician has been a long-term political aid figure in Haiti, and organised benefit concerts to help the victims of the earthquake that struck the country in January.
The former Fugees man is primed to make the announcement on CNN's Larry King Live show, which airs at 9pm (ET).
An election is scheduled for November 28. Rene Preval, the country's current president, cannot seek re-election under the country's laws.
To run, Jean would have to prove he has lived in Haiti for five years in a row and has not been a citizen of any other country. He was born on the outskirts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, but was raised in Brooklyn in the US.
The musician has been a long-term political aid figure in Haiti, and organised benefit concerts to help the victims of the earthquake that struck the country in January.
After the scandals of his Yele Charity would he really be a good choice?
But if it stops him making music he has my vote...
But if it stops him making music he has my vote...
King Midas Sound - Outta Space (alternative mix)
Israel Takes Another Step Away from Democracy
According to the BNC(Boycott National Committee) Statement published on the 9th of July “after five years of BDS, the movement has proven, indisputably, to be the most effective and morally consistent form of solidarity with the people of Palestine in our struggle to end Israel’s occupation, apartheid, and persistent denial of the UN-sanctioned right of return for the Palestinian refugees.” With academic and trade Unions (including UNISON), cultural figures including Dustin Hoffman and Elvis Costello and large supermarket chains including Marks and Spencers on board, the BDS campaign is gaining momentum. Furthermore it is beginning to have an economic impact: settlements have been reporting cuts in production as a result of the boycotts.
Israel is showing signs of distress. The non-violent boycott campaign has now joined the ranks of all other forms of Palestinian resistance, being awarded the label of ‘economic terrorism’ by Israeli officials. As is the standard response, alongside the highly effective (though no longer very novel) use of the T-word, Israel is remedying its anxiety with legal force: The prohibition on imposing a boycott bill, is the third in recent months which sets out to criminalise criticism of Israel.
The bill passed the first of three votes almost unanimously, with even so-called centrist parties supporting the bill within the Knesset. However it has also raised concern. Coordinator of the BNC, Ingrid Gardner tells Palestine Monitor “[the bill]’s blatant disregard for even symbolic democracy has triggered criticism among not less racist veteran parliamentarians such as Rubi Rivlin (Kadima) and the former editor in chief of Haaretz David Landau, who has called for a boycott of the Knesset.”
The bill states: “[It] is prohibited to initiate a boycott against the state of Israel, to encourage participation in a boycott, or to provide assistance or information with the intention of promoting a boycott.” It has three targets in mind: Israeli citizens, foreign citizens and foreign political entities. How this will be applied remains to be seen, but there is little doubt that it will be used zealously and with impressive creativity.
Since the bill was put forward in direct response to the Palestinian Authority’s adoption and legal enforcement of the BDS campaign the likelihood is that it will hit them hard. The Israeli government will prevent the transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority which they are obliged to do under international law. However the specific impacts are unknown at present: the BNC told Palestine Monitor that it was too early to make any comment, but that “the BNC is currently arranging for consultation with lawyers, in order to obtain advice about how to relate to this particular law bill”.
Palestinians are unlikely to be directly impacted: according to Ayala Shani of ‘Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from within’:“Palestinians from the West Bank were exempt from the version of the law that passed the preliminary vote last week.”
The boycott bill will be targeting Israeli individuals and organisations however. Though slow to catch on, support for the boycott inside Israel has also been growing. ‘Boycott! Supporting the BDS Call from within’ started last year and has a growing list of signatories from Israel. A wide range of human rights and advocacy organisations based in Israel have also issued statements in support of the BDS movement. Even Israel’s mainstream media is beginning to express understanding rather than blind indignation regarding the cultural boycott: “The Pixies and Elvis Costello are right – we are the problem” was the title of an article published in Ha’ir Tel Aviv recently. However the state will be able to silence such pro-boycott statements, should the new bill come into place...
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Insanely Intricate Eggshell Art by Franc Grom
It’s all too easy to accidentally poke a hole into an eggshell – but few people can do it in such a controlled way that it can be called art. Slovenian artist Franc Grom turns these incredibly delicate objects into diminutive, stunningly precise and detailed eggshell sculptures with a steady hand, a sharp eye and a tiny electric drill.
Grom can spend months on a single egg, patiently poking thousands upon thousands of holes into the fragile shell. Grom has created more than three hundred of these masterpieces, many of which have – of course – an Easter egg theme.
Inspired by traditional Slovenian designs, Grom’s work ranges from asymmetrical botanical motifs to cutouts that glow brilliantly when illuminated from the inside. In some works, the remaining bits of eggshell that connect one part of a design to another are little more than a millimeter wide.
Growing up in a small village in Slovenia, Grom never considered turning his interest in art into a career. It wasn’t until he retired that he began a new life as a respected craftsman, discovering an unusual skill which has gained him no small amount of attention, putting the tiny town of Vrhinka on the map. You can’t find art like this anywhere else in the world, and Grom even has a thank-you letter on official White House stationary from pleased collector Bill Clinton.
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