Search blog.co.uk

Archives for: May 2006

Europe-wide child trafficking gang

by tealady @ 29 May. 2006 - 10:44:13 pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5026920.stm

It's difficult to believe that there are some parents in Europe that still "hire/ sell" their children. Are they faced with starvation otherwise as they were/are in other places/times?
basic survivial is one reason it is done sometimes in other countries

Lots of other links on that page..
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/4514279.stm

It is hard to find a real lot of cheerful happy positive politics isn't it?

I guess contented, blissful, even peaceful don't go with politics... more an absence of politics

Documentaries, Current Affairs ;- TV and Movies

by tealady @ 27 May. 2006 - 01:34:50 pm

Some of the TV shows worth watching (IMO)
Dateline
has sound recordings/videos of latest shows(On the transcript page).

*************
UPDATES After you listen to the dateline shows, this page contains latest updates on Dateline stories..
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=dev

Good to see that letting the world hear/see, does produce some change.
*************

These are worth listening to I think.

http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive
Click on video
click on The Worst Ramadan (22 November, 2006).. Gaza Strip

so... what's the probablility the the person who helped Dateline in the Gaza strip gets hit by error.
Come to that..what's the probablility of error  by more than a few metres in  the military weapons used if care is taken( and I assume it is or else your own country make be hit?)
so.. what's the probablilty he was targetted?

On IRAQ

Haifa Zangana Interview  
- its good to hear an opinion of someone who has lived there

Cuba : Health system better than the US?
I was pleased to see that one tiny country in the world has managed to stand up for itself; despite US sanctions; although maybe communist support and the security backup offered during the Cold War era was needed to do so? perhaps the "balance of power" did have its positives.
(no, I'm not a communist)

Its good they are providing free education for doctors in the world too(even some form the US), a worthy accomplishment IMO, Cuba seems rightly proud of!

Before and after the US : from the BBC :
The Battle for Babylon Part 1
Babylon Part 2

WARNING: The content of this group is not exactly pretty and could even offend (For the soldiers involved it may possibly be similar to what the the soldiers involved in the holocaust faced, in kind, if not in extent)
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&artmon=10&fyear=2005#
Psych War in Afghanistan

(sound recording/videos within transcripts)
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&artmon=03&fyear=2006#
Abu Ghraib - A Torturer's Tale
February 15 2006 Feature:Abu Ghraib - The Sequel (video also)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Vanuatu
Vanuatu Land Grab   (transcript)
http://www20.sbs.com.au/video/?channel=This+Week  Video(if still available called  "Vanuatu Land boom"
my comments at
http://jantea.blog.co.uk/2006/11/23/vanuatu_the_tradegy_of_our_help~1359537

(sound recording video/ within transcript)
http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/index.php?page=archive&artmon=08&fyear=2005#
Aug10th: Vanuatu 2005
Vanuatu is close to Australia

------------------------------------------

As It Happened
is another of my favourites , again on SBS, but I can't find any transcripts or videos of...
here's one of the last one's I watched
As It Happened - The Armenian Genocide (60 mins )
Genre: Documentary ( Sat. 22/04/2006)

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire carried out one of the largest genocides in the world's history, killing huge portions of its minority Armenian population. In the end, more than a million Armenians had been put to death by execution or by deliberate exposure and starvation. This film, made by Emmy Award-winning producer Andrew Goldberg, is the complete story of the Armenian genocide. It describes what happened before, during and since World War I and features interviews with acclaimed scholars such as Peter Balakian, Samantha Power, Ron Suny, Taner Akcam, Halil Berktay and Israel Charney. It is narrated by Julianna Margulies and includes historical narrations by Ed Harris, Natalie Portman, Laura Linney and Orlando Bloom.
-----------------------------------------------

Global Village often has something worth watching..the series is from France (In English though:-)
http://www.sbs.com.au/globalvillage/

example
THURSDAY 20 APRIL 2006

Butrint

The ancient port of Butrint in southern Albania was situated on the important shipping route of the Straits of Corfu. Traditionally the town was a prized possession, for whoever held power in Butrint also controlled the straits. In the third century BC the Greeks ruled Butrint and built temples, fountains and theatres. Roman rule began in Butrint in the second century BC and lasted for 500 years. The Romans built gymnasiums, luxury villas and bathhouses, and aqueducts supplied the city with water. It was now a centre of wealth and prosperity. Once the Roman Empire had collapsed and the Christian community had grown, they built special buildings on top of the old Roman pools and called them baptisteries. Butrint came under Byzantine rule in the tenth century, and for many centuries it was ruled by the Turks. By the twentieth century, the ancient town was buried and forgotten. But as excavations went on, archaeologists discovered that Butrint was an Albanian Pompeii. The mud and vegetation that covered Butrint had protected it from the ravages of time. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1992.

Upstairs Downstairs

In the north of Guinea the geography of the land reflects the social order of the community. At the bottom of the mountain lives the great-grandchildren of slaves; at the top of the mountain, on the plateau, live the descendants of their masters. There is no road linking the two communities only a steep wall which can be scaled only by hanging on to two ladders fixed on the rock face. Every week the people who live at the bottom haul their wares up the ladders to sell them in the market at the top. They take the same dangerous route that their parents and grandparents have taken before them.

Maybe available in the UK?
---------------------------------
Cutting Edge often has something interesting on
http://www.sbs.com.au/cuttingedge/index.html?id=1350

but again except for the latest, there is no descriptions.. no transcripts or videos either?

It's from the UK,I think? so maybe something over there?

Russian Godfathers is a three part documentary that investigates the fierce battle between President Putin and seven of the world's richest men for control of their nation. This is the inside story of the world's highest-stakes poker game, upon which the fate of the entire nation of Russia hangs in the balance. On one side is the President, with the support of a people disgusted to find that seven men effectively owned their country, and on the other are the billionaires who are deploying all their power and wealth to try to wrestle back control. With the active involvement of the Russian government, these so-called 'oligarchs' ran perhaps 70% of the entire economy: from oil and gas to rare metals and retail services, textiles and food processing to real estate and the media. They rose to power via a mixture of bribery, influence-peddling, insider-dealing, intimidation and sheer ruthlessness. Now, their story is told via archive material and interviews with the prime players themselves, as well as journalists, politicians, bankers, economists, police investigators and the men and women whom the 'godfathers' pushed aside, employed or discarded on their way to the top. (Part 1)
--------------------------

MOVIE - DRAMA - THE MAGDALENE SISTERS

Set in Dublin County in 1964, four women are given into the custody of the Magdalene sisterhood to correct their more or less sinful behaviour. At a family wedding, Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff, Shameless) is raped by her cousin. Margaret is packed off next morning without explanation. A sassy, good-looking girl, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) attracts attention from local boys who hang around the fence of her orphanage home, branding her a temptress and a bad influence. Unmarried Rose (Dorothy Duffy) gives birth to a son and a manipulative priest persuades her to offer the child a better life. The girl's entry into the convent begins with the introduction of Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan), a malevolent force convinced she is performing God's work. She brutally intimidates and belittles the girls while outlining the life of work and prayer ahead. As the harshness of their situation sinks in, Margaret and Bernadette ponder escape. They are discouraged initially when one runaway (Mary Murray) is dragged back and savagely beaten by her unforgiving father. While some inmates become indoctrinated with the religious dogma, Bernadette is hardened by the experience and becomes even more determined to escape her miserable situation. Written and directed by Peter Mullan, The Magdalene Sisters was nominated for the 2003 BAFTA Award, received the 2003 British Film Award and The Golden Lion Award at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. Also stars Mary Murray, Britta Smith, Frances Healy and Eithne McGuinness. (From Ireland, in English) (2002) MA (V,L,A) CC WS

My grandmother(from England originally, mother from Ireland) spoke to me of the workhouse harshness with which the churches were treating girls who went to them for help to have someone to stay so they could have their baby, but I thought it was ages and ages before.. like in the 1920's or something.
I found it a very moving movie and shows how "controlling" affects people differently.
They "broke" most the girls so there just stay and don't leave even when the escape chance is there?.. some stayed until death, one cracked and ended in an asylum.
They have almost noone to talk to, they arent allowed to talk amongst themselves, and no cuddles or love etc.
Just reminded me of how no support from others and constant running down (belittling) affects people.

-------------------

Pls feel free to add a comment with the links to good TV documentaries you know of elsewhere in the world? like the UK?..especially if you have links to videos!! like some bbc series maybe?

I'll add to this list as I recall the shows

Saddam writes books?

by tealady @ 21 May. 2006 - 08:31:52 pm

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060519/od_nm/japan_saddam_dc_1
Saddam Hussein novel hits stores in Japan
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese readers looking for a slightly different tale can now curl up with "Get Out of Here, Curse You" -- a novel by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein
The book, believed to have been written on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and titled "Devil's Dance" in its Japanese translation, hit stores around the nation Friday.

Jordan banned the book on the grounds it could damage ties with Iraq, but pirated copies of the tale of an Arab tribesman who defeats foreign invaders became a bestseller in Amman.

The original manuscript was smuggled out of Iraq by one of Saddam Hussein's daughters, Raghad, and a copy given to Japanese journalist and translator Itsuko Hirata.

"The novel is dated to the times of ancient tribal society but the tribal warfare depicted in the novel is strikingly similar to what happened and is happening in the Iraqi war -- totally," Hirata told Reuters before the book's release.

"He (Saddam) knew he was heading into a war he couldn't win, so I think with this book he was trying to make his position clear and send a message to the Iraqi people."

Among the chapters are those titled "The Foreigner Who Sold the Tribes," "Retaliatory Tactics"
...

People

by tealady @ 15 May. 2006 - 04:26:51 pm

Some people come into our lives and quickly pass thru;
Some people become friends and stay awhile,
leaving beautiful footprints on our hearts,
and we are changed for the better in some small way as we have met someone special.

Footer

The content of this website belongs to a private person, blog.co.uk is not responsible for the content of this website.