Monthly Archives: January 2013

Entertainment

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: “SEXUAL COMING OF AGE”

1 Comment

This year’s Sundance Film Festival will showcase a number of movies about the porn, addiction and sex industry. Insiders are dubbing the festival theme this year as the “sexual coming of age”.

Speaking to Reuters, the Sundance Director of Programming Trevor Groth said the films indicate a new audience ‘hungry for the taboo of sexuality and sexual relationships’.

More than a dozen of the movies featured in this years festival will deal with sexual relationships in all their various forms. The number of films of a sexual nature are “part circumstance, part coincidence,” says festival director John Cooper.

​”The themes and stories in films we show can be challenging to some, but ultimately, our mission is to show excellent and original work,” says Cooper.

“The times are changing, and relationships are changing,” adds Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford. “It would be a mistake to say this is sex for sex’s sake. The films are looking into sexual relations.”

Read More
USA Today

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

FATAL HELICOPTER CRASH IN THE CENTRE OF LONDON, UK


View London Helicopter Crash in a larger map
Two people were killed and 12 injured after a helicopter crashed into a crane on the top of  The Tower, One St George Wharf, beside the Thames.

Passers by at first thought the incident was a terrorist attack. After hearing the loud crash and seeing fire.

The pilot Capt Peter Barns, was amongst the fatalities. Mr Barns was a highly experienced pilot who had piloted helicopters for Hollywood blockbusters like “Die Another Day” and “Saving Private Ryan”.

Police say it is a miracle not more people were killed in the incident. The crane operator escaped death, after sleeping in that morning, otherwise he would have been in his cab when the crash occurred.

Police say lack of visibility could have played a role in the crash.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

2 DEAD IN SHOOTING AT HAZARD COLLEGE, KENTUCKY

Two people were killed and a third person was injured in a shooting in Hazard Tuesday evening.

The shooting happened in a parking lot on the campus of Hazard Community and Technical College.

Hazard police said two people have turned themselves in, but their role, if any, in the shooting is still unclear.

Police said the scene is secure, but the campus is still on lockdown.

more at  2 dead in shooting at Hazard college | Kentucky News – WLKY Home.

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

LAWYERS IN UK WARN CHRISTIANS COULD FACE “LAWFUL EXCLUSION” FROM JOBS.

2 Comments


View European Court Human Rights Strasbourg in a larger map

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled concerning three Christians and their rights to express their faith.

The first case involved Nadia Eweida, a British Airways clerk, who won her case to wear a cross at work. Mrs Eweida had faced disciplinary action from British Airways for refusing to stop wearing the cross. Although wearing a cross is not a basic tenant of the Christian faith, the court ruled she had a right to manifest her faith through wearing it.

However the court rejected a similar case from nurse, Shirley Chaplin, on the grounds that wearing a cross was a breach of health and safety regulations.

The ruling means a persons right to manifest their faith can be overridden on grounds of health and safety.

The other two cases brought to the Human Rights Court are of particular concern to Christians and Muslims. They involved Gary McFarlane, a relationships councillor; and Lillian Ladele, a marriage registrar. Mr McFarlane was dismissed after saying he would be unable to provide relationship counselling to same-sex couples on the grounds that it compromised his Christian values.

Miss Ladele was disciplined for asking her employer to be excluded from conducting civil partnerships for same-sex couples on grounds of her faith.

The court in Strasbourg rejected both cases. Paul Lambdin, partner in the employment department at Stevens & Bolton, said, “It appears that those Christians, Muslims and others who disagree with same sex marriage and/or civil partnerships will be excluded from certain jobs.

He added: “These cases demonstrate the difficulty of divorcing a belief from its practice. “The practical effect is that Ms Ladele, Mr McFarlane and others with similar religious convictions may be lawfully excluded from certain jobs.”

Mike Judge, spokesman for The Christian Institute, which supported Miss Ladele, said: “What this case shows is that Christians with traditional beliefs about marriage are at risk of being left out in the cold.

“If the Government steamrollers ahead with its plans to redefine marriage, then hundreds of thousands of people could be thrown out of their jobs unless they agree to endorse gay marriage.”

With the UK government pushing to redefine marriage within the UK, it is likely there will be an increase in cases like those of Mr McFarlane and Miss Ladele.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

MASS PROTEST IN PARIS AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE

1 Comment


View Champ de Mars in a larger map

Yesterday, thousands of protesters as a part of three marches, converged on the Champs de Mars in Paris, France, to show their opposition to the Marriage Equality Bill.  The bill would give the right of marriage and adoption to gay individuals. Extending the rights of same-sex couples was a part of Francois Hollande’s presidential election campaign. Police estimate the number of protesters was around 340,000 while the organizers, the Catholic Church and the right-wing opposition, estimate it was around 800,000.

Read More

Connecting The Dots

MONKS CREATE A “WHEEL OF LIFE” SAND MANDALA AT UNITARIAN SOCIETY, SANTA BARBARA


View Unitarian Society Santa Barbara in a larger map

Santa Barbara, CA

Unitarian Society

Jan. 14, 2013

Monks create the wheel of life sand mandala at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.

In the center of this sand mandala is a symbol of “the three poisons”. The snake, the rooster and the boar, representing anger, greed and ignorance, respectively.

 

News

MALI BASED ISLAMIST REBELS VOW ATTACKS ON FRENCH SOIL


The north western African country of Mali has seen intense fighting in recent months. As armed Islamist rebels, backed by al-Qaeda, have taken much of northern Mali, the French President Francois Hollande has provided troops and heavy air support to help the ill equipped Malian army regain ground taken by the rebels.

Now the Islamist rebels have pledged to attack France on French soil.

“France has attacked Islam. We will strike at the heart of France,” Abou Dardar, a leader of Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), one of the Mali-based groups with ties to al Qaeda, told the AFP news agency.

Mali is awaiting more support from other African nations, with America and Britain providing logistical support to the offensive.

There are currently around 550 French troops in the country helping the Malian army.

Read More- France 24

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

SAND MANDALA AT UNIVERSITY IN AUSTIN, TEXAS


View Blanton Museum of Art in a larger map

The Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta sent 10 monks to create a Sand Mandala Project in the Rapaport Atriun at Blanton Museum of Art on Texas University, at Austin’s campus. This is to be the culminating event of the exhibit of  “Into the Sacred City: Tibetan Buddhist Deities from the Theos Bernard Collection.”

The display included eight rare Tibetan works, which have never been exhibited publicly before, from the University of California, Berkley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA). There are five mandalas and three thangkas from the 15th to 20th centuries exploring the art and religion of Tibet.

Today marked the end to the exhibit as well as the work of the monks on the Sand Mandala Project as they performed the dissolution ceremony showing the impermanence of all that exists. Upon its conclusion, half of the sand was given out to those in attendance, followed by a procession to Waller Creek at about 3:30 pm where the other half of the sand mandala was dispersed in the water. The mandala was created for the healing of living beings and the environment.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

ROBBERY AND RAPE AT WESTCHESTER NORDSTROM RACK, LA

January 12, 2013

View

Thursday night, 3 armed men took 14 employees as hostages during a robbery at Nordstrom Rack at about 11 pm. Of those, 3 were forced to strip naked, one female worker was stabbed in the neck and another was sexually assaulted. The male suspects had fled the store before SWAT rescued the workers Friday morning. As of today, 5 suspects are in custody including 2 women that are being charged as accessories after the fact.

Read More

News

TARANTINO’S RANT OVER VIOLENCE IN NEW MOVIE DJANGO UNCHAINED

In an interview to promote his latest movie Djano Unchained, with the UK program Channel 4 News, director Quentin Tarantino, launched a furious rant on journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy. Guru-Murthy was asking Tarantino about links between violence in movies and violence in real life. Tarantino refused to answer his questions, becoming increasingly angered by the line of questioning.

Tarantino replied with “It’s none of your damn business what I think about that.”

“I’m saying no, and I’m shutting you down… I don’t have any responsibility to you to explain anything I don’t want to…”

“I’ve explained this many times in 20 years but I just refuse to repeat myself over and over again because you want me to – for you and your show and your ratings.”

The main part in the movie is played by Jamie Foxx, who has been criticised for taking violent roles like, Django, whilst being part of the Hollywood campaign, Demand a Plan, to end gun violence.

In the wake on massacres like Sandy Hook and the Aurora Batman shooting, there is a debate about the effect violent movies have upon vulnerable minds.

Read More
Channel 4 News Interview

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

STUDENT SHOT AT CALIFORNIA SCHOOL


View Taft High School California in a larger map

At 9am local time a student was shot at Taft High School, Taft, California. The suspected gunman is in custody.

A spokesman for the Kern County Sheriff’s department said: “We have had a shooting at Taft High School in Taft, California. A student was shot on campus. That student has been airlifted to hospital in Bakersfield. A suspect, also a student, is in custody. We have recovered a firearm: a shotgun.

“At this point we are still in the process of securing and vacating the school.”

This latest shooting comes as America is gripped by the debate surrounding gun laws in the nation.

Read More

Random Events, Free Will or Something Darker?

GLOBAL WARMING HAS STALLED SINCE 1998: MET OFFICE ADMITS EARTH’S TEMPERATURE IS RISING SLOWER THAN FIRST THOUGHT

Earlier forecasts predicted a much steeper rise in global temperatures
But latest figures from Met Office show slower rise than previously warned
Figures raise questions about the true danger posed by greenhouse gasses
By NICK MCDERMOTT

PUBLISHED: 18:26 GMT, 8 January 2013 | UPDATED: 22:55 GMT, 8 January 2013

The Met Office has admitted that global warming has stalled.

Officials say that by 2017, temperatures will not have risen significantly for nearly 20 years.

They concede that previous forecasts were inaccurate – and have come under fire for attempting to ‘bury bad news’ by publishing the revised data on Christmas Eve.

Now a press release, published yesterday, has confirmed that over the next five years temperatures will be 0.43 degrees above the 1971-2000 average, instead of the previously forecast 0.54 degrees – a 20 per cent reduction.

This rise would be only slightly higher than the 0.4-degree rise recorded in 1998, an increase which is itself attributed by forecasters to an exceptional weather phenomenon.

With all but 0.03 degrees of the increase having occurred by 1998, the revision means that no further significant increases to the planet’s temperature are expected over the next few years.

COMPLETE ARTICLE:

News

GERMANS UNVEIL ‘STAR WARS’ LASER THAN CAN SHOOT A DRONE OUT OF THE SKY FROM TWO MILES AWAY AND CUT THROUGH A STEEL GIRDER AT 700 YARDS


High powered laser is powerful enough to cut through a steel girder from 1km away
System is so accurate it could track and destroy an 82mm ball bearing designed to replicate a mortar round
German firm hopes to create a portable version that could be used on the battlefield
By MARK PRIGG

PUBLISHED: 15:45 GMT, 9 January 2013 | UPDATED: 16:55 GMT, 9 January 2013
One of the most powerful laser weapons ever fired has successfully shot drones out of the sky from two miles away.

The groundbreaking weapon uses a high powered 50kW laser, and is powerful enough to cut through a steel girder from 1km away, yet accurate enough to hit a target the size of a mortar round.

Rheinmetall Defence, the firm who developed it, say it could eventually become commonplace on the battlefield, and are developing a smaller version that could be taken to the front line to protect troops.

The latest test was conducted at Rheinmetall’s Ochsenboden Proving Groud (EZO) in Switzerland, in snowy conditions and blinding sunlight, and engineers are already drawing up plans to double the power of the laser before its next test.

‘The demonstration delivered compelling evidence for the 50kW weapon technology,’ a spokesman said.

‘A massive, 15mm-thick steel girder was cut through at a distance of 1,000 metres, and the successful shooting down of several nose-diving target drones at a range of two kilometres formed the second major highlight.’


The team were also able to use the system to track and blow up a ball bearing the size of a mortar round.

‘A steel ball measuring 82 mm in diameter and travelling at approximately 50 m/sec, the target replicated a mortar round, the firm said.

‘The Skyguard fire control unit immediately detected the target, followed by mechanical tracking with the 30kW laser weapon station.

‘At this point, the BFU of the laser weapon module took over, optically tracking the target, which was then engaged and destroyed in flight, leaving no doubt as to the tactical viability of using laser weapons.’