|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 23rd, 2008 November 23, 2008 From: Jazz Promo Services PRESENTS FIRST TUESDAYS December 2, 2008, 3:00-5:00 P.M. http://www.jazzpromoservices.com/ Back by popular demand, Jim Eigo broadens his PR workshop to speak about the ins and outs of the music business, with an emphasis on artists who self-produce. He will discuss promotion, marketing, using the Internet, and making the transition from sideperson to bandleader. Seating is limited; reservations preferred. FIRST TUESDAYS is a joint project with Midtown Arts Common and Saint Peter’s Church. It is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Permalink | ### |
Printer Friendly
|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 7th, 2008 He’s not bananas, just first to grow them in a UK home.
By James Woodward
A plant enthusiast has shaken the horticultural world after successfully growing dozens of bananas in a British domestic property for what is believed to be the first time. Mike Hillard, 64, bought three musa japonica plants two years ago to provide shade at his energy-efficient home, Tranquility, in Stroud, Gloucestershire. But despite being told they would not bear fruit, the property development managing director can now gaze up at 16ft (five metres) of growth bearing more than 70 bananas. Mr Hillard, who has grown plants since he was 11, was surprised when the plants flowered and and stunned when they then produced four “hands” of fruit, each holding about 18 bananas. He called the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) who said the news was so rare he “should get down on the prayer mat”. The RHS has told him is the only person in Britain known to grow bananas in the home. The bananas bloomed in his hi-tech solar room, which stays between 10C and 16C above outside temperature all year, and is just warm enough for the east Asian crop to grow healthily. Now Mr Hillard intends to fry them up in a tasty curry. He said: “This has all been done by the English sunshine in my solar room, which provides my house with an oxygen-rich atmosphere. It has been called the most energy-efficient house in the world. I was surprised when they flowered because I was told, ‘Oh they’ll never grow fruit’. Now they are growing into a forest, and I’ve got seven babies. I asked the Royal Horticultural Society and they told me to get down on my prayer mat because they had been trying for years to get theirs to bear fruit. Mine have grown to four or five inches and they are edible. “Perhaps there is a Lord somewhere who has done it too but I don’t know where he is. It looks like a giant beehive and the trunk is full of water. You would call it a palm. The leaves grow about 5.5m up, nearly touching the roof.” He said that he would be cooking the bananas in a slap-up meal despite the RHS’s warnings that the fruit will taste odd. He said: “I love bananas and will probably cook them like a plantain; they will be very nice fried with rice.” Mr Hillard says he is “taking on” the scientific community’s findings about global warming, saying the problem is much more advanced than accepted wisdom suggests. Leigh Hunt, the Royal Horticultural Society’s principal horticultural adviser, confirmed that Mr Hillard was probably the first British grower to achieve the feat in a house. He said: “This is likely because he was growing musa basjoo [the Japanese banana], a species that wasn’t grown very often in the UK until the fashion for tropical gardens came in. “So while it has been perfectly possible to flower musa basjoo in tropical glasshouses, such as at Kew, but it has been unlikely for amateurs to grow it because they weren’t sold very often and gardeners had little interest in growing them because they required mollycoddling during the winter [they are not fully hardy]. “Unfortunately, the fruits that musa basjoo produce are unpalatable, mainly because they contain seed. Ripening may not happen as the low light levels of a British winter are not conducive for good growth. Commercial bananas don’t contain seeds because they are generally the seedless variety, dwarf Cavendish.” Mr Hillard, a pioneering environmental architect, designed Tranquility as a four-bedroom “eco-house” made of Cotswold stone, which has total annual energy costs of less than £150 a year. The former naval officer wrote his first environmental paper aged just 18 and has written several books addressing environmental issues, including climate change, food and poverty. Heating the house last year cost just £60 and he uses rainwater for showering and washing up. Last month, Graham and Daphne Bath, from Hampshire, revealed that a banana tree they had been growing in their garden for the past nine years had borne fruit for the first time. Permalink | ### |
|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 1st, 2008 Michael Moore: No More Socialism for the Rich! “McCain is going to make sure the wealthy get another incredible tax break while everybody else suffers.” He comes to us from Traverse City, Michigan. And I understand you have some friends with you tonight calling themselves Plumbers for Obama. You want to explain this? Where are you? Michael Moore: I’m in a senior citizens house here in Northern Michigan. These guys behind me, they don’t just call themselves Plumbers for Obama, they actually are Plumbers for Obama. And they they’re licensed plumbers and they’re going around helping out people who are in need of plumbing help, who maybe are of modest income, modest means. And so they want to show that real plumbers are for Obama. The average, you know, plumber makes maybe $40,000 to $60,000 a year, if he’s lucky. And they’re all going to benefit greatly from the Obama tax break that they’re going to get if Obama is elected. King: What do you make of the “Joe the Plumber” thing with McCain? Moore: Well, I think it’s part of the same illusion that the Republicans have been presenting for the last eight years. They say one thing, but the reality is, you know, something else, whether it’s weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or whether it’s now playing up “Joe the Plumber.” The Republicans, their whole tax plan is to punish the plumbers and everybody else who has a job like this in this country. And yet they somehow have taken this guy — I feel kind of sorry for this guy, too. He probably didn’t expect to be in the limelight like this. And but it’s not really about him as an individual. And I don’t think people should be getting down on him just because he isn’t a licensed plumber or his name isn’t Joe or anything else that’s come out. I just think that that’s kind of irrelevant. The only relevant thing is that McCain is going to make sure that the wealthy get another incredible tax break while everybody else suffers. And Obama is going to make sure that the guys like this who are working behind me tonight here in Northern Michigan, they’re going to get a tax break. They’re going to get relief. They’re going to get help. King: What do you make of this, Michael? Moore: It’s one of the tenets of John McCainism and George Bushism. I mean that’s exactly what they’ve done in the last month. I mean the complete irony of this, that they have spread the wealth around to more wealthy people. They have bailed out wealthy people who were playing a high stakes game of risk and failed. They were using money that didn’t exist, that wasn’t theirs, to try to make more money. Actually, when these guys behind me here if they were to ever write a check for money that they didn’t have in the bank and actually use that check to buy something with it, they’d be arrested. It’s called check kiting. But that isn’t what happens to Wall Street. That’s not what happens to the CEOs and the hedge fund people. They get away with this. It’s these people, McCain, his campaign, they stand for socialism for the rich. Obama and the Democrats stand for giving these guys and other people like them a break. King: Let’s say Obama promises tax cuts for 95 percent of the people. How do you do that and solve health care and all the other problems that need to be paid for? Moore: Are you asking me if I were drawing up the next budget? OK. Here’s what you do. You end the war in Iraq. That’s $10 billion a month that we’re spending that could be spent on repairing our roads, building bridges, building schools, increasing our workforce of nurses — all the things that we really need in this country. We could start by taking the money away from this war and the money away from crazy Pentagon ideas that haven’t done us any good and have only hurt us. That’s one really good place to begin to find the money that needs to happen. But the thing about health care, you bring that up. You don’t have to go and print money like they’re doing to pay off the rich in this big, you know, theft that’s going on right now in Wall Street. Health care actually will pay for itself, if the government ran it, if it was non-profit. Remember, so much of our health care problem is because the health insurance companies have to make a huge profit. And they build that profit in. And that’s why we pay more for health care than any other country on this planet. So if we actually did it the way that every other civilized country does it, it would not cost anywhere near what it costs right now. There actually would be a savings. King: Last Sunday, Colin Powell, on “Meet The Press,” a very strong endorsement for Obama. Conservatives have blasted — some of them have blasted Powell for it. [Including] Rush Limbaugh: Rush Limbaugh clip: “Well, let me say it louder. And let me say it even more plainly. It was totally about race. The Powell nomination or endorsement — total — totally about race.” King: Do you know how he would know that? Moore: Yes, because, I think it is totally about race for Rush Limbaugh and for the people who follow him. This is the sort of sad underbelly of this election. And I guess that there are millions of Americans out there — the majority of Americans, who are hoping against hope that this race won’t be about race and that those who keep trying to inject race in a negative way, in a way that will bring out the worst in some people — let’s hope that these last 11 days will be the last 11 days that we’ll have to listen to talk like that in this country. General Powell, I don’t think, really, has ever made any of his decisions based on race. I’m not a fan of his. That’s for certain. He has a lot a lot — a lot of repenting to do for leading this country into war. But I’m a strong believer in redemption. And the words that he spoke were so powerful, on “Meet The Press,” so powerful, what he said about what’s wrong with being a Muslim in this country? So what if Obama was? I mean that’s the that was like the key thing. And no one has really said that, Larry. And it was so powerful that he said it and talked about that young Muslim soldier who died in the service of this country. I’ve never seen seven minutes uninterrupted like that on national television since I got seven minutes with [CNN’s] Wolf Blitzer. King:The talk of Obama and terrorism has spilled over at McCain rallies. Here’s a clip of a McCain exchange with a confused older voter: Unidentified female voter: I can’t trust Obama. McCain: I got that. Unidentified female voter: I have read about him and he’s not — he’s not — he’s a — he’s an Arab. McCain: No, ma’am. No ma’am. He’s a — he’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues. And that’s what this campaign is all about. He’s not. Thank you. King: Did he not handle that well, Michael? Moore: I know his conscience was trying to handle it well, because I think at John McCain’s core, you know, he’s not a racist. He doesn’t believe this sort of thing. And he just chose the dark road to go down. But to say that no ma’am, he’s not an Arab, he’s decent, that was what Powell was saying. It’s like wait a minute, you’ve said the wrong thing again. One isn’t exclusive of the other. You know, when I saw that, I thought to myself you know what, Obama’s main opponent in this election on November 4th is not John McCain, it’s ignorance. It’s Obama versus ignorance. And will ignorance and hatred and racism win or will whoever should be the next president, who the majority of the people want to be the president? Is that what’s going to happen? Everything that we have to deal with, it seems that we’re dealing with in the last few weeks. Instead of talking about the greatest robbery of all time on Wall Street by the top 5 percent of this country, we’re still talking about the ignorance and stupidity of some people and how that’s going to guide their vote. Moore: I’m going to believe that people are going to go into the polls, and I believe that many people will vote for John McCain and it’s because they’re ignorant, it’s because they really believe in what McCain believes in. But if a certain number of millions of people are going to vote out of ignorance I hope that they would educate themselves sometime in the [final days]. King: Do you think you’re controversial? Moore: Yes, I heard the promo to the show about, you know, the king of controversy is on tonight. And I’m thinking what is it about me that’s I’ve never understood this. What have I done to make myself controversial? I’m a filmmaker. So I made my first film almost 20 years ago. And I said that maybe we should look at General Motors and the auto industry. I think they’re going belly-up. I said that 20 years ago. There won’t be a General Motors next year, the way we know it. There won’t be a General Motors next year. But when I said that at the time — I remember, it was my first appearance on your show. And I remember there was a pro-G.M. person on the show with me. And, boy, it was like I was the devil incarnate for going after America’s most blessed corporation, General Motors. And all through my career, whether it’s “Bowling for Columbine” because I thought school shootings were a bad idea, or “Sicko” because I think it should be a right to be able to see a doctor in this country if you get sick, or “Fahrenheit 9/11″ where I just had the crazy notion that there probably aren’t going to be any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and we were being led down the wrong road there. I have just told you my resume. What about that is controversial? So why have I had to suffer through this onslaught from the right? King: Good point. Moore: I’ve never understood it. King: [Major Asian stock markets are tumbling.] Michael, what’s going on? Moore: Well, a lot of things are going on. I can’t really speak to Japan as much as I can to what I think is going on here. My feeling is that the wealthy that have, you know, been calling the shots here for so long, their party has been in power for 20 of the last 28 years, the Republican party. and I think they know they’re probably on their way out. And on their way out, they’re like thieves — actually, they’re like guests at a dinner trying to steal the silverware on the way out the door. They’re trying to pack as much money away as they can. I mean, everything that’s going on right now, all the hiring that the Treasury Department is doing, all the consultants they’re bringing in, all the million dollar contracts, these people are just going to get rich over and over and over again as they try to pull themselves out of a mess that they created, because it was one big check-kiting scheme, using money they didn’t have to buy other money to make more money. I mean, again, if an average person did that, they’d be in jail. But not these guys. And I think, in the end, as Americans, maybe we have to look at ourselves and think about this whole — this so-called ownership society. You know, the wealthy, you know, they convinced a lot of middle class people to put their savings and what little money they had into the stock market. And you know, that’s the rich man’s game. You know, if you’re sitting at the poker table and there’s two guys at the table with stacks of chips, and you’re sitting there with just a few, it is very hard to play in that game. It’s very hard to actually ever win that game. You can’t win it, in fact. I’m talking about not the Wall Street people, but the rest of the country, needs to look at a different way to invest money and to do it with the regulations that they have in other countries who are now really suffering because of what I think began in this country. And to put this off on people who tried to buy a home, buy their first home, the way that, again, John McCain and the Republicans have done this, to beat people up, you know, the very Joe the plumber he talks about, that he wants to be on the side on. And yet — when Joe the plumber wanted to buy a first house, he needed some help and so the government’s supposed to be there to offer helping hand. That is the way our grand parents, our parents, from FDR on, that’s what made this country strong. That’s why we have a great middle class. That’s why everything grew, because when you — when people have a good job and they’re paid a good wage, they spend that money, which then creates more jobs. We used to make money from our labor, from our ideas, from our inventiveness. Then it switched under a Reagan. Let’s start making money off money. Let’s just keep moving money around. That’s how we’ll get rich. King: Let me get a call in. Clovis, California, hello. Caller: : Hello. Michael, CNN released a poll stating that globally people four to one were in favor of an Obama presidency. Can you give me your perspective on what’s happening globally? Moore: Well, I think we all know that the rest of the world really loves this country. They actually do. They look up to us. They admire a lot of things about us. We have given the world a lot of great things. And I think that they wish that the old America would come back. And so, I think a good chunk of the rest of this planet, according to your statistic 75 percent of them, believe that they’ll live in a better, a more peaceful world when we remove these people who have been in power for eight years and elect Barack Obama. I think that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing for us. It’s a good thing for them. It’s a good thing for the planet. And I think that’s the world we all want to live in. King: We have a blog question from another Michael. “What is your take on the likelihood of having a Democrat majority in the House and the Senate, as well as an Obama presidency? Wouldn’t that be too much of a good thing?” Moore: Yes, it would. King: Well, isn’t there some danger in unanimity? Moore: Yes. Yes, there is. But we’re going to need unanimity now to undo all the damage that’s been done. We are going to need an FDR-style era, where we have a president and a Congress that will work together to enact legislation and things that we need to pull the country out of the mess that it’s in. If we had a Republican Congress and a Democratic president, and Obama comes in there and says we have to start withdrawing from Iraq and stop spending 10 billion dollars a month, and we have Republicans stopping that, we would be in the same stalemate that we have been in. So, no, we need a strong, Democratic Congress. We need Democrats elected to Congress throughout the country. And I think people need to send a message to the people who did this for the last eight years, to the people who ran our economy into the ground, to the people who took us to this war; they need to be spanked. And the nation needs to show up and elect Democrats to the Congress, to Senate and to the White House. And I’ll tell you, that will send a clear message to Democrats and Republicans to never try that again. . King: Are you surprised that neither Bush or Cheney have made any appearances? Moore: It’s shocking, isn’t it? Where are they? Of course not. I mean, they know they’re the least popular president and vice president ever. They’ll go out that way. History will not treat them well. And so it should be. And frankly, I hope when they’re gone, there’s a commission that looks into the lies that were told, the crimes that were committed. These are serious, serious crimes. I can’t think of a worse crime than to lie to a country in order to take it to war, so that the friends in your industries that you’re from get their pockets lined with our American tax dollars. Permalink | ### |
|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 22nd, 2008 Some of the Jewish American Community will be having a vigil outside the UN building in New York, Monday, September 22, 2008, to protest the fact that the UN will be allowing Iran’s prime Minister Ahmedi-Nejad (Ahmedinejad), a self declared enemy of the Jewish people of Israel, and Holocaust denier, to come again to New York, this for the third time, in order to spew his venom and be feted by some that probably are like-minded, even though less expressive. By coincidence, September 18th, the Center for Jewish History in New York City and the Yeshiva University Museum (YUM), had the unveiling reception of several exhibits that tie into one larger scope that deals with the resilience of the Jewish people. Though having had to move around, persecuted in many places, the Jews enriched every place where they landed. In effect they graced every host, and Germany and Austria of today are not afraid to recognize the fact that the Jews were a very strong component of their culture, and are trying to make amends for what their country-people did to the Jews during the Holocaust years, and well ahead in historic times. One of the exhibits deals with the German town Erfurt. In 1349, because of the Plague - The Black Death - the ignorant locals, that had no inkling about needs of hygiene, accused the Jews living among them as the cause for the Plague - this is clearly not much different from Ahmedi-Nejad’s hammering on the Jews of Israel as a reason for the backwardness of Muslim populations in the Middle East - that got stuck in a Medieval frame of mind and made not much real progress since. One of the local rich Jews hid a treasure that was found recently and these unique objects of art have been brought for display in New York before getting a permanent home in a new Museum in Erfurt. Such museums exist in many old towns in Germany, and I was privileged visiting the city of Emden where the city library displays an important collection of works by Jewish philosopher Rabbi Jacob Ben-Zwi (Emden) - who originated the Jawetz family name, and brought fame to the city of Embden. It is the Germans of today in Emden, who care for that collection and are proud of that heritage, similarly with the Erfurt of today. The opening of the shows on September 18th had many speakers. Considering the mix of artists and the Medieval artifacts from Erfurt, the speakers also represented Germany, Austria, Israel, and the New York museum. Obviously, there were cultural representatives from the various nationalities. But most interesting, and to the point, I found Dr. Andreas Stadler, the new Director of the Austrian Cultural Institute in New York, who said that what makes him feel most at home in New York is the Jewish culture that he was familiar with back in his home in Vienna. Mind you, Andreas, to the best of my knowledge is not of Jewish heritage, but he was brought up seemingly with the understanding that it is hard to see Viennese culture without its Jewish elements. So Hitler did not succeed after all. Andreas Stadler came because of the painter Soshana and explained her life as a struggle of her position of a woman painter. 50 years of painting she fought for this recognition, and her son, Amos Schueller pointed out that she does this still, even though she cannot travel anymore. Sylvia Herschkowitz, the Director of the Museum said about Soshana that she wandered the World searching for her Jewish soul. ———–
———- Another exhibit Was “The Suitcase Man” - Sculptures by Uri Dushi. He lives in Israel and his family are Holocaust survivors. He is now a very interesting exponent of creative Israel, and having looked over his career - I was glad seeing that among the many places he exhibited also in Graz - Austria, Bad Kissingen - Germany, Lodz - Poland, Hag - The Netherlands. and at my favorite place in Moscow - at the Helicon Opera.
Uri Dushi’s initial entrance into the world of plastic art was with his photomontage works. About 15 years ago Dushy, who was up until then engaged in the field of music, began creating sizable, brightly colored paintings into which he incorporated dozens of personal photographs’ fragments. The works were overwhelming in their direct, forceful and dynamic execution, as well as the straightforward naivete that seemed to burst from the heart of the artist. Dushy was imbued with the artistic courage to combine photographs of industrial sites that remained vacant and mute prior to their demolition, which he decided to document in his drawings, with dozens of apocalyptic industrial landscapes photographed by him. He then sank the photos in reservoirs of oil paint, combining and assimilating the one into the other, finally forming one artistic entity, amazing in its visual effect. His work has somewhat baffled the viewers, leading to more than one vague response from professionals in the field, who could not precisely categorize this new art. The first exhibit was displayed in a commercial industrial space in southern Tel Aviv. Mobile bulbs positioned on lighting poles illuminated the works. The event itself, this ‘other’ and different gallery marked a breakthrough in a career that was predefined by ‘other’ criteria, directed towards the attention of the widest range of audiences possible, seeking to bedisplayed to all people, not solely for those who are ‘professionally qualified’ to understand art. Hanna Arendt, in Herbert Reed’s ‘The History of Modern Painting’ comments on this matter in the above mentioned book: ‘The artist’s substantial worldliness might not change even if “objectless art” replaces the description of things. The artist, be he a painter, a poet or a musician, creates worldly objects and this realization has nothing in common with the expressionistic activity, which is dubious and at any rate certainly isn’t art. The term “expressionist art” consists of two contradicting words, which can not be said regarding the term “abstract art”.’ This may be the place to note the liberty that Uri Dushy has taken upon himself to individually represent the meaning of his art, to invent the genres in which he desires to create, and through his creative eyeglasses to project outwards to us the viewers his impression, created anew in the process of building his works. Curator Doron Polak writes: “Few are the practicing artists possessing the broad and varied talents, ranging over manifold fields both different and complementary, such as Uri Dushy. It is difficult to find artists having such a command of painting and photography, music and composition, video art and massive industrial sculpturing. His unreserved mastery of these art forms, and moreover, his original capability of integrating them into a complete unit – result in a creative path that is both different and unique. Uri Dushy’s work does not confine itself to the limits of his private studio, but rather exits into the public realm – into open sites frequented by bypassers, and members of the community, who are not necessarily familiar with museums and galleries. His art is favorably accepted both in official art institutes such as galleries and art centers in which he is active, as well as in business and industrial sites, through dozens of public locations where his works are permanently displayed. The combination of styles which characterize his works, usually merging and thus naturally constructing his work process, mark his exceptional course in the labyrinth of his highly personal art.” As we have a particular idea in mind for this article, we will not delve further - but please look up - http://www.du-art.com/about.html
SOSHANA is the artist’ name of Susanne Schuller-Afroyim. Born August 25, 1927 in Vienna, to a solid middle-class Jewish family, Susanne Schuller had all the traumatic experiences of the Vienna of the 1930s. After the Nazi “Anschluss, her family escaped to London where she started to study painting, then in 1941 the family ended up in new York - a direct and somewhat fortunate example of the Suit-Case People. Eventually she went to study with the Jewish painter Beys Afroim (the name meaning in Jidish “the house of Ephraim) in Chicago and they married in 1945. Her only son, called Amos Shueller, was born in Chicago and he is the one who takes care now of her rich oeuvre. Amos Schueller was the one to chaperone her collection of paintings to the New York exhibition, and spoke at the opening, as Soshana, who lives now in Vienna, does not travel anymore.
The artists name Soshana is the Hebrew form of Susanne, and it means the flower lily-of-the-valley which from Hebrew is usually transliterated as Shoshana - so her spelling is actually a transliteration from Jidish - the language closer to her native German. Soshana says about her work that “it is suffering that helps you grow and develop, the struggle and conflict in life. Even the plants seem to struggle for light and space …I believe in a greater spirit of nature, from which each person is a part, here to play his role in life.” Shoshana, rather then Susanne, pushed her personality through life by going many places - and all this reflects in her paintings. After her first major exhibition in 1948 in Havana, she moved to Paris, the avant-garde art center at that time. She and Beys Afroim lived in Israel at the beginning of the 50s, in India and places in Japan and China later 50s - where she studied abstract art and calligraphy as well as Eastern philosophy and religion. She then traveled to South America and Africa in 1958-59, where among others she met and painted Dr. Albert Schweitzer. She and Afroim painted many well known personalities including Arnold Schoenberg, Thomas Mann, Franz Werfel, Leon Feuchtwanger, Hans Eisler, Otto Klamperer, Pablo Picasso. Also, she was painted by Picasso and Giacometti - Picasso actually made her the special compliment that she had unusual talent. She used in Paris the old studio where Gauguin used to work. Others in whose company they were in Paris included Brancusi, Chagall, and Sartre - then in 1953 she exhibited in the well known gallery of Max Bollag in Zurich. When the modern art scene relocated from Paris to New York, they went first to Mexico, back to Israel, and eventually back to New York in 1974. She was called the “Cassandra of the Canvas.” A Melancholic introvert that created a large body of work that reflects her reaction to traumatic events she experienced. Her paintings, among othr things, deal with subjects of war - the 9/11 event in New York, the two wars in Iraq, the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, Gandhi’s death, and the Holocaust. Soshana returned to Vienna in 1985 and she was honored by the Austrian Government with a Special Postal Stamp.
Workers in a New York Sweatshop (1944), Oil on Canvas, 40 cm X 48 cm, 15.79″ X 16.72″
The Burning Bush.
Mauthausen (1988) - (A Nazi Labor and Extermination Camp in Austria) - Oil on Canvas, 70cm X 90 cm, 27.30″ X 35.10″ ————
His paintings hang in many museums around the world, including the Metropolitan museum of Art in New York. Interestingly - also in the US Embassy in Vienna. He returned many times to Germany to show his work. In 2010, Essen will be the EU cultural capital, in recognition of the tremendous changes of the region from its original industrial, steel and coal, nature. and David Stern will surely be represented there as well.
——————————— ========
The Yeshiva University Museum was started 35 years ago. The Center in its location on West 16th Street in Manhattan, is a later creation.
Further works by Soshana - our selection here deals with horrors of war - New York 9/11, Iraq (the first Gulf War), Kosovo and Vietnam:
———-
Permalink | ### |
|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 2nd, 2008
Kinky Friedman, The Jewboys Band and guest - doing “I am only an ass—- from El Paso.”
*** It turns out that we already wrote about Kinky back in 2006. See please: Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on October 23rd, 2006 *** Richard S. Friedman: Born: November 1, 1944 (age 64) Chicago, Illinois Residence Medina, Texas Nationality American Other names Kinky Occupation Singer Known for Music, Texas gubernatorial election Political party - Independent Religious beliefs - Judaism Parents: Thomas (Tom) Friedman as a child worked for a pedlar who sold potatoes (”Kartoffel”) to the immigrants on West Chicago. Then, before Kinky was born, he was drafted and piloted a bomber in WWII. Eventually he took his family to Texas to live on a farm, and turned into a teacher of speech - eventually as Dr. S. Thomas Friedman he became Professor at the Austin University. That is what brought Kinky to Texas. Kinky is a member of the Jewish Tau Delta Phi fraternity. After graduation from the University of Austin, Friedman served two years with the Peace Corps on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. He has been featured in the news including 60 Minutes on CBS and made an appearance as one of Jay Leno’s guests. Friedman lives at Echo Hill Ranch, the family’s summer camp near Kerrville, Texas that was built by his father Tom. He also founded “Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch,” the mission of which is to care for stray, abused and aging animals; more than 1,000 dogs have been saved there from animal euthanasia. *** See also: Texas gubernatorial election, 2006
In 2004, Friedman began a serious, though colorful, campaign to become the Governor of Texas in 2006. One of his stated goals is the “dewussification” of Texas. Among his campaign slogans are “How Hard Could It Be?”, “Why The Hell Not?”, “My Governor is a Jewish Cowboy” and “He ain’t Kinky, he’s my Governor”. Friedman had hoped to follow in the footsteps of other entertainers-turned-governors, including Jimmie Davis, Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Ronald Reagan. When the campaign finance reports came out after the second quarter had ended, Friedman had raised more funds than the Democratic nominee, former Congressman Chris Bell. On election day, November 7, Friedman was defeated by a wide margin, having received less than 13% of the state’s votes in the five-candidate match-up. *** Issues and positions:
Friedman is opposed to the Trans-Texas Corridor since it relies on toll road construction. He feels that the TTC is a land grab of the ugliest kind, with land being taken from hard-working ranchers and farmers in little towns and villages all over Texas. On capital punishment, he previously summed up his position, “I am not anti-death penalty, but I’m damn sure anti-the-wrong-guy-getting-executed”. More recently, he has clarified his position: “The system is not perfect. Until it’s perfect, let’s do away with the death penalty”. On illegal immigration, Kinky wants to increase the number of Texas National Guard troops on the border (from the current 1,500 to 10,000), impose $25,000 and $50,000 fines on companies that hire illegal immigrants and require foreign nationals seeking employment to purchase a foreign taxpayer ID card once they have passed a criminal background check. “Texas can no longer wait for our federal government to solve our illegal immigration problem,” Friedman said. “These are steps that Texas can immediately take to help stem the tide of illegal immigrants penetrating our border.” Had he been elected, he had promised to meet regularly with Governors Bill Richardson (New Mexico) and Janet Napolitano (Arizona) to develop a coordinated border state plan to supplement federal efforts to curb illegal immigration. Previously, Kinky put forth the “Five Mexican Generals” Plan, to pay Mexican officials to halt immigration on their side of the border. Although he originally stated “When I talk about the five Mexican generals, people think I’m joking but I’m dead serious”, Friedman later told the Dallas Morning News that the plan, never meant to be carried out, was a joke with an element of seriousness. According to his official Web site - http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/issues/faq…. - Friedman’s answer to the question “How does Kinky feel about abortion?” is “Kinky believes in a woman’s right to choose.” In person, he hedges his bet, saying “I’m not pro-life, and I’m not pro-choice. I’m pro-football”. On social issues he has supported gay marriage, answering an Associated Press reporter’s question on the subject on Feb. 3, 2005, “I support gay marriage. I believe they have a right to be as miserable as the rest of us” (Friedman himself is not married). According to Cigar Aficionado magazine, Friedman plans to roll back “any and all smoking bans” if elected. One of his favorite quotes comes from Mark Twain: “If smoking is not allowed in heaven, I shall not go”. Friedman supports the decriminalization of marijuana, though he doesn’t advocate making its sale legal. “I’m not talking about like Amsterdam,” he noted, “We’ve got to clear some of the room out of the prisons so we can put the bad guys in there, like the pedophiles and the politicians”. Further, Kinky Friedman is in the cigar business - Hand Made KINKY FRIEDMAN CIGARS. It turns out that one of the members of his musical group, Little Jewford, is also CEO of the company. Future political plans: In an August 23, 2007 interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Friedman stated that if he did run in 2010, he would run as a Democrat, citing that “God probably couldn’t have won as an independent”. *** At the BBKing performance, “Kinky Friedman and The Jewboys” said and sung - some of the following: Hear O Israel - yes indeed - I am glad God is a Texan - I am a Texan Jew. Late one night in a labor town I got to chose - here’s to you my rambling boy. I am 63 years old - too young for medicare, and too old for women care. I wanted to be a politician - Governor of Texas. I was not even indicted yet. I had been given ideas by Molly Ivens - a slogan - “Why in Hell Not I?” - “Why the Hell Not I?” Coming to politics he made a remark worthy of that day: “Gustav” was not a hit - a disappointment to most cable viewers in America. About himself: “I would sign anything, but bad legislation.” About Governor Perry’s election: “When nobody votes you get a ribbon-cutter Governor like Governor Perry - He has done nothing yet.” Then he told a story about someone remarking outdoors - “See - That is a beautiful statue of Governor Perry” - I looked at him and said -” But This Is Governor Perry.” The Southern Willie Nelson told Kinky - Criticize them as much as you want - but don’t circumcise them anymore.” About the the Texas folks he had a nice story about a visit to a mission in San Antonio and a large crucifix where people come to pray. He saw there someone who seemed to be a very well to-do fellow. He addressed Jesus for help. “Jesus please, help me, the oil wells are running low, the cattle are thin, the grass does not grow, the IRS is after me.” Then a little Mexican comes by and says - Jesus help me - “I have eight children, my wife is pregnant and sick, I work hard and do not make ends meet.” The First fellow pulls out a $100 bill and gives it to the Mexican - “take this little fellow and don’t bother Jesus much.” Texas is #50 in health coverage. He also said that a pastor told him - “if you don’t love Jesus go to hell. In Glasgow and Scotland they know us better then we do. They see in us the Indians and cowboys. We live to close to the Pyramids to see ourselves right. The last time everything was ALL RIGHT was August 14, 1945 - that was the day Japan surrendered. His band - “The Jewboys” included one Jew and one Lebanese and he said on his long cooperation with the Lebanese - “we are probably the only two who still speak in the Middle East.” There was also a guest performer who sang one single song about El Paso. Permalink | ### |
|
Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 16th, 2008 WIP on our website means WORK (WRITING) IN PROGRESS - or simply unfinished article. When finished the WIP will be taken off but the article will stay in place without the UPDATED designation. Nevertheless, theses introductory lines will remain as a reminder that the article had a long birth. *** The meeting, August 15, 2008 was chaired by the Ambassador For Palau. Present were also the Ambassadors from Nauru and from Fiji. Many other Missions were represented - some of these missions have representatives on the working committee. Involved are also some of the active NGOs. At present the sponsors of a resolution to be brought before the UN General Assembly are 11 from among the 14 Pacific Small Island Developing States - Fiji, Marshall Islands, The Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu; the Maldives and Seychelles from non-Pacific SIDS; Canada, the Philippines from among larger States. But these 15 States will pick up many more co-sponsors. Mentioned were Turkey, the EU, Austria and Iceland that have expressed their eagerness to join. There is no opposition we were told - but only some hesitation because it is seen as a new approach to the problem of the humanitarian impact of climate change that goes on already - this while in major UN institutions the debate has not led yet to action. The inhabitants of the small islands of the Pacific are the first to lose their habitat - and what we see is the eradication of UN Member States by this predictable catastrophe. On our website we announced this encounter between the proponents of the resolution and the NGOs: Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 15th, 2008
by Pincas Jawetz (PJ@SustainabiliTank.com)We also pointed out the topically relevant event at the Lincoln Center’s “Mostly Mozart Festival” when Lemi Ponifasio’s REQUIEM had its two evenings before a New York audience.The history of this special effort by the Pacific SIDS started on February 15, 2008, in a speech by Ambassador Stuart Beck of Palau, before the UN General Assembly:http://www.palauun.org/news_archive.cfm?news_id=189 NEW YORK, NY, www.islandsfirst.org February 15, 2008 — Addressing the General Assembly of the United Nations at the High Level Debate on Climate Change, H.E. Stuart Beck, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Palau, citing the “life or death” nature of sea-level rise for the world’s island nations, urged the Security Council to utilize its powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to address this threat to member states by imposing mandatory greenhouse gas emission standards on all member states, and utilizing the power to sanction, if necessary, to encourage compliance with such standards. He said:
The full text of Ambassador Beck’s remarks at the UN Climate Change debate is as follows: “Mr. President, esteemed colleagues, friends: The waters continue to rise in Palau, and everywhere else. Salinization of fresh water and formerly productive lands continues apace. The reefs, the foundation of our food chain, experience periodic bleaching and death. Throughout the Pacific, sea level rise has not only generated plans for the relocation of populations, but such relocations are actually in progress. Though this litany of disasters has become well known in these halls, no action with remedial consequences has been taken. Larger countries can build dikes, and move to higher ground. This is not feasible for the small island states who must simply stand by and watch their cultures vanish. Is the United Nations simply powerless to act in the face of this threat to the very existence of many of its member states? We suggest that it is not. Last April, under the Presidency of the United Kingdom, the Security Council took up the issue of climate change. At that time, while there were some expressions of discomfort with the venue of the debate, a discomfort which we decidedly did not share, there was general agreement with the notion expressed by the President of the Security Council, UK Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett that climate change is a threat to “our collective security in a fragile and increasingly interdependent world”. Islands are not the only countries whose existence is threatened. Ambassador Kaire Mbuende of Namibia characterized climate change as a “ a matter of life or death” for his country, observing that “ the developing countries in particular, have been subjected to what could be described as low-intensity biological or chemical warfare. Greenhouse gases are slowly destroying plants, animals and human beings.” Speaking on behalf of the Pacific Island Forum at last years Security Council debate Ambassador Robert Aisi, of Papua New Guinea observed that climate change is no less a threat to small island states than the dangers of guns and bombs to larger countries. Pacific Island countries are likely to face massive dislocations of people, similar to flows sparked by conflict, and such circumstances will generate as much resentment, hatred and alienation as any refugee crisis. Ambassador Aisi observed then, and we reiterate now, that it is the Security Council which is charged with protecting human rights and the integrity and security of States. The Security Council is empowered to make decisions on behalf of all States to take action on threats to international peace and security. While we applaud the efforts of the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary General to shine a light on this awful problem, we take this opportunity to respectfully call upon the Security Council to react to the threat which we describe. Would any nation facing an invading army not do the same? Under Article 39 of the Charter, the Security Council “shall determine the existence of any threat to peace…and shall make recommendations…to maintain or restore international peace or security”. We call upon the Security Council to do this in the context of climate change. Under Articles 40 and 41 of the Charter, it is the obligation of the Security Council to “prevent an aggravation of the situation” and to devise appropriate measures to be carried out by all States to do this. While we Small Island states do not have all the answers, we are not unmindful of the scientific certainty that excessive greenhouse gas emissions by states are the cause of this threat to international security and the existence of our countries. We therefore suggest that the Security Council should consider the imposition of mandatory emission caps on all states and use its power to sanction in order to encourage compliance. We further propose that under Article 11 of the Charter, the General Assembly is empowered to call to the attention of the Security Council “situations which are likely to endanger international peace and security” and, at the appropriate time, we will call upon this body to do so. In the event that the General Assembly chooses not to avail itself of this right, then we will call upon the countries whose very existence is threatened to utilize Article 34 of the Charter, which empowers each Member State to bring to the attention of the Security Council any issue which “might lead to international friction”. Our Charter provides a way forward. Our Security Council has the wisdom and the tools to address this situation. And while we debate, the waters are rising. Thank you.” Permalink | |