August 2012
77 posts
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“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisioned by the...”
– J.R.R. Tolkien (via magiquotes)
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Cartoon censorship: Itchy & Scratchy to be cut out...
The Itchy & Scratchy show is to be cut from The Simpsons animated series during TV screenings in Russia. The censorship is dictated by the new law on protecting children from information which could cause damage to their health and development.
Based on Tom and Jerry animated cartoons, Itchy & Scratchy revolves around an anthropomorphic duo of a blue mouse and a black cat repeatedly...
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Artist Depicts Grim Reality of Uzbek Jails to...
The art of Sergei Ignatyev
NBCentralAsia: How do you come up with the unusual images in your paintings?
Ignatyev: One letter from an inmate describes a superintendent calling prisoners “walking meat”. A former political prisoner described how jail transforms a person into an animal whose only aim is survival.
If you are lucky enough to escape from this hell, you can never go back to the way...
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The NY Times on falsehoods at the Republican...
Conventions are always full of cheap applause lines and over-the-top attacks, but it was startling to hear how many speakers in Tampa considered it acceptable to make points that had no basis in reality.
Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, for example, boasted of the booming economy in his state, never mentioning that he and Mr. Romney opposed the auto bailout that has played an outsized role in the...
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PEN President Peter Godwin to new Ethiopian Prime...
penamerican:
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose assault on press freedom led to the jailing of a number of journalists—and the exodus of many more—died last week in Brussels. Now Hailemariam Desalegn takes the helm as acting prime minister. Will he reverse the course that his predecessor led against free expression?
PEN has sent the following letter, urging Hailemariam to release...
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American Indian Tribes Make Offer on Black Hills...
The sacred site of Pe’ Sla, which is on part of the land that was recently pulled off the auction block for unknown reasons could be sold to tribes in South Dakota according to tribal member and District 5 Council Representative for the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe in Eagle Butte, South Dakota Robin LeBeau Tatanka Agliwin (Woman Who Brings back the Buffalo)…
…“To me, it is the...
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PEN Presents: Stand up for Freedom!
penamerican:
photo © Beowulf Sheehan
with
Baratunde Thurston
Katie Halper
John Fugelsang
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
7:00pm until 10:00pm in EDT
PEN will treat Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend crowds to an unexpected evening of literature and laughs. Enjoy a night of political comedy and commentary, as New York’s top progressive performers joke, jab, rant, vent, prod, provoke and revel in...
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Happy Birthday A.S. Byatt!
photo by National Historisch Museum
I am a huge fan of A.S. Byatt. Her prose is unbelievable, her vocabulary, particularly when describing a setting, is unparalleled, and her psychological insight is so nuanced. What a talent!
penamerican:
“At first he had thought that he could write a plain, exact verse with no figurative language, in which a yellow chair was the thing itself, a yellow...
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Winner of Amnesty's freedom of expression award at...
Amnesty International today announced the winner of its prestigious Freedom of Expression Award at the Edinburgh Fringe: Bravo 22 Company’s The Two Worlds of Charlie F, written by Owen Sheers and directed by Stephen Rayne.
The award, given to an outstanding Fringe production carrying a human rights message, in association with FEST magazine, was presented by Amnesty International’s Programme...
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Amnesty Freedom of Expression Award at the...
photo by ℓαurα suαrez
Posted: 21 August 2012
Amnesty International today announced the shortlist for its annual Freedom of Expression Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, now in its ninth year, is presented in association with FEST magazine. This year saw a record number of entries, with 112 productions nominated.
The award, given to an...
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Watchexplore-blog:
Depressed? Anxious? Literate? Bibliotherapy, a new “service” by School of Life founder and How Proust Can Change Your Life author Alain de Botton, will match you with a book to alleviate your specific psychoemotional anguish.
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UN Pulse from U.N. Dag Hammarskjöld Library: 19... →
un-library:
Every year on August 19th, World Humanitarian Day recognizes those who face danger and adversity to help others. August 19th is the anniversary of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, Iraq, which killed 22 people.
We honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and…
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“I don’t watch TV. I did not watch the Olympics last time; I am not very...”
– Ai Weiwei
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PEN International letter to Secretary Clinton on...
penamerican:
photo by Sara Hassan / Al Jazeera
Today, Marian Botsford Fraser, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee at PEN International, sent a letter to Secretary Hillary Clinton on the deteriorating climate for free expression and human rights in Bahrain.
Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520
14 August...
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Ai Weiwei: NeverSorry: In Theaters Now
aiweiweineversorry:
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“When I was a student at Cambridge I remember an anthropology professor holding...”
– Sandi Toksvig (via presidentjonesco, learninglog) (via the-cinnamon-peelers-wife) (via storyqdayx5d) (via mariyayefremova)
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: Do major sporting events promote or hurt human... →
penamerican:
photo by Mike Licht notionscapital.com
It’s not often these days that we identify freedom with international sports. Indeed, the federations that set the rules for various global athletic competitions have emerged as enablers for the world’s certified authoritarians and aspiring…
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Ekh Lyuli Lyuli: The Night of the Murdered Poets →
sovietjewry:
I weep for you with all the letters of the alphabet that made your hopeful songs. — from Chaim Grade’s “Elegy for the Soviet Yiddish Writers”
60 years ago on August 12, 1952, Stalin ordered the execution of 13 Soviet Jews, many of them Yiddish writers, poets, critics, and thinkers, on…
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“What keeps the miracle train rolling smoothly is the fuel of a timeless...”
–
Tarun J Tejpal, on Indian democracy
image by Nagesh Kamath
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“I write a new Facebook status, hoping that it will soak up a drop of someone’s...”
– Manhal al-Sarraj, on Syria, writing, and human rights
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“The people of Bahrain cannot understand the silence of the international...”
– family of Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab
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