Sometimes, as we were reminded with the Miners in the Chile Mining disaster – Sometimes There is Good News. Today the announcement and images of the release of the Pro-Democracy campaigner in Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi was one such piece of good news.
Whatever the reasons may be – an exercise in Public Relations etc it is still very encouraging news to see.
Today was the 70th Anniversary of John Lennon – it would have been his 70th birthday and a monument to John Lennon was unveiled in Liverpool by his first wife Cynthia (married to him from 1962 – 68) and his son Julian.
Designed as a monument to peace and a shrine for fans visiting Lennon’s home city of Liverpool where he was born in 1940. It consists of a globe to symbolise oneness and the earth, surrounded with various musical imagery in addition to a peace sign – guitar, keyboard, sax, musical notes flowing around the globe and a pair of hands releasing doves of peace into the air above it. It was commissioned by the California based Global Peace Initiative and created by 19 year-old American artist Lauren Voiers.
Julian said: “We come here with our hearts to honour dad and pray for peace and say thank you to each and every one of you and everybody involved in the celebrations today,”and Cynthia added: “I think the mourning is over for John. I think it’s time to celebrate, which is what we’re doing. Think about [anything in] his life that was positive and just enjoy that. Enjoy the joy that he had and that we all have from his music.”
New York fans gathered in Central Park in the area known as “Strawberry Fields” close to the spot where Lennon was shot dead in December 1980.
Above: Google’s logo included an animated tribute to John Lennon on their search pages today
By Forests.org Forest Protection Portal
a project of Ecological Internet
July 13, 2010
Vedanta Resources, a British mining company, is set to destroy the forests, wildlife and way of life of the Dongria Kondh people. The Dongria Kondh have been struggling with all their might to protect their mountain but are being overpowered by the financial and political might of this multi-billion dollar company.
They have been protesting locally for years, and have appealed for international support for their campaign to keep their sacred Niyamgiri Mountain ecologically and culturally intact.
Follow the link below for updated information and for a chance to make a difference.
It is time for all our voices to be heard.
Don’t let them steal Our Earth.
Some of the responses in the South African Mail and Guardian Newspaper make very enlightening reading:
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” LAND must be a NATIONAL ASSET!!!!! ”
Pan Africanist on March 15, 2010, 10:22 am
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“Land is power,money,bread and life, any liberated nation without land is the lost nation of poverty,exploitation and economic exclusion.
The so called property clause in the constitution protect the rights of the agressors,opressors and exploiters who took our land through the barrel of the guns,our parents work through their blood and sweats to maximise profits of this imperialists on farms and they got nothing in return.
It is about time that the ANC government realised that they have misled the poor of the poorest are still in cesspool of poverty while whites are owning more farms.
Aubrew Ngwatle ”
Aubrew Ngwatle on March 15, 2010, 12:15 pm
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“Id just like to point out, that the ANC government, in the past year or so, have sold prime property to foreign companies.
A few areas have been sold to Australian platinum mine companies. And prime industrial/commercial waterfront properties have been sold to middle-eastern countries. All by the ANC.
This land issue is merely diversionary tactics, to make you believe that our country burning, is the fault of the white man, and not the ANC.”
Sinudeity @gmail.com on March 15, 2010, 2:07 pm
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“Its pointless for whites (farmers) to make noise about the land. This land belongs to blacks and its in our interests to have it nationalised not to be owned by a minority.
As you may know, the clause will pass in Parliament since ANC has the majority and they are being mentored by the man himself who had the balls to kick the white farmers from the Zimbabwean land (Bob). Surely you claim to own the farms, did you pay for them? You think Malema’s utterances are ill advised?
Finally there shall be sanity South of Limpopo and the land shall be returned to its rightful owners whether these white farmers like it or not”
Honourable Marshall Makoni on March 16, 2010, 10:32 am
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On a lighter note, I did have a good chuckle at an email that arrived today:
Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell.
While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for. The devil
tells them it is for calling back to Earth. Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes.
When he was finished the devil informs him that the
cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a cheque.
Next Queen Elizabeth calls England and talks for 30 minutes.When she was finished the devil informs her that cost is 6 million dollars, so Queen Elizabeth writes him a cheque.
Finally Nelson Mandela gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he was finished the devil informed him that there would be no charge for the call and feel free to call South Africa anytime.
When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Nelson Mandela got to call South Africa free.
The devil replied, “Since Jacob Zuma became president of South Africa, the country has gone to hell, so it’s a local call.”