Why....

WHY IS IT A CRIME TO HAVE A DIFFERENT COLOUR OF SKIN???

PUBLICIDAD DE UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON 2006.

OBAMA BRINGS HOPE!

GUANTANAMO WILL BE CLOSED.

At least that is what President Obama confirmed, after signing three executive orders. He also stablished a group of professionals that will help him by developing the end to this jail, even if some experts afirm that this might even take one year long.

But...What is the Guantanamo Bay??

Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp, also known as Gitmo or GTMO, is a group of high security prisons or detainee centers, run by the US Military and located in Cuba at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The base was first used in the early 70s to hold refugees of Haiti and Cuba who were discovered trying to enter the US via the waters around Florida. In 1993, the US Supreme Court declared that the base couldn’t legally hold Haitian refugees in this manner, and for a time, any holding facilities were abandoned.

After 9/11 and the attacks on America, the government reestablished Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp as a holding facility for people deemed “ enemy combatants.” This could include US citizens or residents, and was primarily meant to hold anyone suspected of terrorism, and the various prison camps, of which there are several, have also held people from Afghanistan and other countries who are supposed to have links to al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other Islamic terrorist organizations.

Since the establishment of Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp for this purpose, the US and the camp has come under fire from some US citizens, from a number of human rights organizations, and from other countries. Most detainees are held without the right to legal counsel, and since they are considered enemy combatants rather than prisoners of war, rules on the safe and humane treatment of prisoners do not have to conform to the Geneva Code. Detainees are investigated through a number of practices, which some may define as torture. This includes the practice of water-boarding, other aggressive interrogation techniques, and some denial of basic rights accorded to most US prisoners, such as allowing people to continue to live in accordance with their religious beliefs.
There have been a number of media reports of abuse of prisoners at Guantánamo, and this abuse includes chaining prisoners to beds for longer than 24 hour periods, not allowing prisoners who have been cleared of suspicion of being enemy combatants to leave, and sexual abuse of prisoners. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that detainees should be allowed to pursue their cases in federal courts and be heard on the subject of their detention. This access has long been denied to detainees, who were only able to plead their cases in the past before military tribunals.

The debate on Guantánamo Bay has become a very politically and emotionally charged subject, and many American politicians, private citizens, leaders of foreign countries and world organizations have called for its closure. The future of the facility is dependent upon the current administration's priorities, and if they deem it necessary for national security.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-guantnamo-bay-detention-camp.htm

Picture taken from: http://www.lacoctelera.com/myfiles/lafullpicture/guantanamo1.jpg

Conflict in Gaza and Southern Israel

This is an interesting video, in order to undertsand what is happening in Gaza right now.

Peace!

A role model: Leni Riefenstahl

I would like to share the biography of an OUTSTANDING and AMAZING WOMAN: Leni Riefenstahl.

Yesterday, I finally finished reading Riefebstahl's biography, and I found myself trully inspired by her. I believe that she was an important part of the "femenine empowerment puzzle". But...must of you might not have heard abou this german lady... Here's some important data of her life (as a movie star, as a director, as an artist, as a WOMAN)
LENI RIEFENSTAHL was born in Berlin, Germany in 1902. She studied painting and started her artistic career as a dancer. Her mom would always suppoert her and take her into the art's world. She became already famous after her first dance hat Max Reinhardt engaged her for the »Deutsches Theater«.

After a small accident she had with her knees, her acting career in 'mountain movies' that glorified rural german life. Riefenstahl gave up dancing all together (she had a small accident and dedicated herself to the acting only. After acting, she realized she loved editing movies. Her greatest success she made with the documentary film »Triumph des Willens« named after the Reich Party Congress 1934 in Nuremberg which got the highest awards: The gold medal in Venice in 1935 and the gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937. However, at the end of the war this film destroyed Leni Riefenstahl's career, for now it had no longer been recognized as a piece of art but been condemned as a National Socialist propaganda because of Hitler's masacre. Some people accussed her, because she was related to the Nazi party, but the truth is that she only filmed those documentaries from the beautiful, estetic point of view.

She also dedicated herself to the photography, and she had the chance to travel to Africa and take pictures of the Nubas, a tribu in Kenya that had no contact with occidental life.At the age of 71, Leni Riefenstahl fulfilled a dream to herself, she had cherished for long: She attended a diving course to be able to also work as an underwater photographer in the future. Soon she became a master in this profession too. With her two illustrated books, »The coral gardens« and »The wonders under water« she had caused a worldwide sensation and got further honours and awards for them. ublished her Memoirs.
Leni Riefenstahl died on Monday 8 September 2003, in Poecking, Germany. She died a few weeks after her 101st birthday.






Information and pictures taken from:

http://www.leni-riefenstahl.de/eng/bio.html
http://www.designboom.com/portrait/leni2.html

Photos: Archives Riefenstahl

NEW YEAR! NEW GOALS!

I'd ike to share some goals that I have for myself for this 2009. I think it would be nice if we could all post our different goals, and in that way, inspire others!!!

1. Be grateful everyday with my surroundings and people I love.
2. Admire and take care of nature.
3. Write more! Keep on making time for reading what I like.
4. Smiling more than once a day!
5. Try to eat less meat and more organic food.
6. Willing to do everything I can to help people.
7. Meditate more and relax.
8. Become a better person everyday
9. Keep on with my projects with indigenous people.