Category Archives: English
Journalists Toll Of 2010
57 journalists killed (25% fewer than in 2009)
51 journalists kidnapped
535 journalists arrested
1374 physically attacked or threatened
504 media censored
127 journalists fled their country
152 bloggers and netizens arrested
52 physically attacked
62 countries affected by Internet censorship
Source: Reporters Sans Frontières – Journalists Without Borders
See the entire report here.
A PDF of the report is posted for download here.
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Yoi! – 良い
Merry Christmas
Christmas at my Great-Grandparents. I believe the girl with the braided hair is my grandmother to-be, which would establish the date somewhere around 1910. (Click to enlarge).
To all those celebrating Christmas near and far, have joyful and happy holidays. If you might indulge me and grant me a wish, then please consider finding ways to restore Christmas as a season of hope and promise for a better world; to be shared and enjoyed among friends and extended family — free from the impersonal tyranny of mindless consumerism, shallow commerce and kitsch.
Double Rainbow
This week, Southern California was drenched by record-breaking rainfalls, resulting in the usual traffic chaos, power outages, floodings, mudslides and other theatrics for which the area is notorious.
But there were also moments of beauty. I snapped these pictures from a moving car while traveling south on the 405 Freeway. The entire arch of the double rainbow was visible, but it didn’t fit into the frame.
Somehow I think John Lennon, who was killed 30 years ago, would have loved these images. (Click to enlarge).
Hello. My name is Richard.
R.I.P. Blake Edwards – Thanks For the Laughs
Facebook Friendships Around The Globe
Dear People of China (An Open Letter)
You are one of the oldest civilizations on Earth.
I am filled with deep respect for your many achievements over the course of thousands of years. Your accomplishments in science, language, mythology, philosophy, spirituality, architecture, literature, music, cuisine and so many other cultural and intellectual pursuits are astounding. You have given the world many of the greatest minds.
But out of ten ethnically Chinese Nobel Prize winners so far, only one — journalist and writer Liu Xiaobo — has done his work in his own homeland, where his intellect is wasted in prison.
No less than six (Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, Samual Chao Chung Ting, Steven Chu, Daniel Chee Tsui, Roger Yonchien Tsien) have left China to do their work in the United States of America.
One (Charles Kuen Kao) has done his research in England and Hong Kong, one (Yuan Tseh Lee) in Taiwan, and one (Gao Xingjian) has done his writings in France. One other (the Dalai Lama) is not ethnically Chinese. Although he is highly respected everywhere he goes in the world, he is loathed in the People’s Republic of China — and only there.
Dear Members of Government of the People’s Republic of China:
Does it not give you reason to ask yourselves why so many of your people’s best thinkers feel the need to leave the land of their ancestors?
Your artists, your philosophers and your scientists have so much to contribute to the entire world. They are your best ambassadors, your best assets. We want to hear from them. We all need them to make the world a better and more civilized place.
Wouldn’t it be time to let them do that? Wouldn’t it be better to give them all your support, so that they may earn even more respect for your culture, for the success of your country and for the countless virtues of the Chinese people?
Respectfully,
Reinhard Kargl :.
Last Interview With John Lennon
John Lennon was killed 30 years ago today. Recorded only hours before the murder, this is the very last interview with him and Yoko Ono.
The interview took place at Studio One at the Dakota building in New York, where Lennon and Ono lived and where the deadly shots were fired at the entrance.
Listening to this caused me to pause and remember how quickly and unexpectedly life can end, and how rapidly families and relationships can be shattered.
I have omitted Parts 1 – 3, on which one could hear Yoko Ono chatting with reporters while they are waiting for Lennon, who is running late and enters the room at about 3’40” of Part 4 (below).
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Thanks to Chris Simpson (who goes by the handle NeilFraudstong) for archiving and sharing this material.