James Cameron's Avatar delivers a powerful message of connectedness with Mother Nature

Saturday, December 26, 2009
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

(NaturalNews) If you see just one film this holiday season (or even this year), make it James Cameron's Avatar. It's a powerful, inspiring film that demonstrates movie-making at its best, and it delivers a crucial message for our time: That all living beings are connected and that those who seek to exploit nature rather than respect it will only destroy themselves.

Much of the press about Avatar has focused on the special effects, the motion capture and the 3-D presentation. These are modern filmmaking marvels, for certain, but the film succeeds for a far more important reason: Its story -- and its message. Others have reviewed the film in a more critical light; notably Alex Jones who sees it as more of a propaganda piece (http://www.infowars.com/alex-jones-...). But I see the film differently, and I think it carries a strong, positive message. (Spoiler alert: This article discusses some of the plot elements of the film.)

With Avatar, Cameron has delivered a fast-paced fantasy adventure that weaves together a stream of powerful themes that are so important to our modern world that they extend far beyond the world of fictional film: Issues like corporations destroying nature for profit, the lack of respect for living creatures, and the failed policies of "military diplomacy" that the USA continues to pursue. The themes in Avatar reflect the greatest challenges of our modern world, and the message of Avatar is both deeply moving and highly relevant to the future of human civilization.

Not many who view Avatar will understand all this, of course. To the younger crowd, Avatar is simply a cool action-adventure film with a compelling love story that makes it a great date flick. But to those who've been around on this planet a little longer, the story of Avatar is a far important story of good versus evil, war versus peace, destruction versus healing and isolationism versus interconnectedness. This depth of sensitivity to life is rare to find in any film these days, much less a blockbuster feature film, but that's what makes Avatar so truly remarkable: It speaks to viewers at many different levels, intertwining the core themes of human mythology in an extremely tight, fast-paced screenplay that doesn't let a second go to waste.

That's classic James Cameron, of course: Cutting scenes, dialog and seconds out of the film until it becomes a polished, tightly-presented story that transports you into the on-screen world and doesn't let go of you until the credits roll. It's an emotional story, too. Much like Titanic, Avatar convincingly pulls you into the minds and hearts of the key characters, delivering an authentic emotional connection with the on-screen characters even though their skin is blue.

Colonialism
The overriding theme of Avatar is one of western Colonialism, where western nations use their military might to invade lesser developed countries, terrorize their people and pillage their lands for valuable natural resources.

And yet these acts of military imperialism are always justified by the imperialists. As the top military commander says in the film in response to the natives resisting their lands being pillages, "We'll fight terror with terror!"

It remains the standard operating procedure of any military imperialist nation: Invade whatever country you wish, and if the locals fight back, condemn them as terrorists and use that as an excuse to turn up the heat with even more bombs and weapons.

Gaia and the interconnectedness of nature
One of the more interesting elements in Avatar is the neural connection fibers that each living creature is born with on the planet. Animals, humanoids and even the trees have these neural connection fibers, allowing all living creatures to "plug in" to each other's neural networks. Once connected, they can feel each other's emotions and thoughts. They are, in essence, operating as one single being with expanded sensory awareness.

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/027810_Avatar_James_Cameron.html.

Israel to build 700 apartments in east Jerusalem

By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM – Israel plans to build nearly 700 new apartments in east Jerusalem, the Housing Ministry said Monday, drawing tough criticism from both the Palestinians and the United States.

The dispute over east Jerusalem is the most intractable — and explosive — in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state and consider Jewish neighborhoods there to be settlements. Israel claims all of the city as its eternal capital.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a slowdown in West Bank settlement construction several weeks ago in hopes of bringing the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. But the order did not include construction in east Jerusalem.

"We make a distinction between the West Bank and Jerusalem. Jerusalem is our capital and remains such," said government spokesman Mark Regev.

The Housing Ministry said it had approved a total of 692 new apartments in three existing Jewish neighborhoods already inhabited by tens of thousands of people.

Israel does not consider its east Jerusalem neighborhoods to be settlements. It captured the city's eastern sector in the 1967 Mideast war and immediately annexed the area. The international community does not recognize the annexation.

"We condemn this Israeli policy of continuing settlement activities, and we hope this will be an eye opener for the U.S. administration and other members" of the international community, said Palestinian official Saeb Erekat.

The Palestinians have refused to reopen peace talks, which broke down a year ago, until Netanyahu halts all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. For months, the United States has been trying to bring the sides together.

An Israeli official said the government had informed the Obama administration about the latest planned construction. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

However, a U.S. official said the construction was another blow to peace efforts.

"We feel that unilateral actions make it harder for people to get back together at the table, and that's what our goals are," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal reaction from Washington.

"We also have mentioned in the past, and Secretary Clinton has mentioned, that we consider all the Israeli settlements to be beyond the pale of what we wish to see going on, and are not helpful, again, to getting the two sides back to the table," he said.

Netanyahu announced the settlement slowdown last month in a bid to rekindle peace talks with the Palestinians. But the Palestinians have rebuffed that overture because the order does not affect east Jerusalem and or block construction that is already under way on 3,000 settlement apartments.

Settlement construction became the key sticking point in resuming negotiations after U.S. President Barack Obama demanded a total cessation shortly after taking office. He has since softened his stance, but the Palestinians have not.

China launches world's fastest train

Beijing - China launched the world's fastest train on the weekend, running from Wuhan to Guangzhou, local media reported. With an average speed of 350 kilometers per hour, the journey of 1,068.6 kilometers would take 3 hours, compared with the previous 10.5 hours, a Wuhan railway official told the government-run China Daily.

The new high-speed service uses technology developed in cooperation with foreign firms including Siemens, which provided technology for the railway's command center's signal system.

The new service is expected to impact on the number of passengers traveling between the two cities by air.

Some airlines, including China Southern, have already halved the price of tickets on the route, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301127,china-launches-worlds-fastest-train.html.

UAE awards 20-billion-dollar nuclear contract to S.Korea - Summary

Cairo - Abu Dhabi awarded a South Korean consortium on Sunday a 20-billion-dollar contract to build four nuclear power reactors in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), media reports said. South Korean President Lee Myung Bak, who was in the UAE capital emirate to support the bid to build the first nuclear power plant in the Gulf state, thanked UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan for the contract, the official UAE news agency WAM said.

The presidential visit also saw Seoul and Abu Dhabi pledge to increase economic cooperation and establish a high-level committee for cooperation on nuclear energy, renewable and sustainable energy, ship-building and human resources development.

Lee said his government would "exert effort towards moving the bilateral cooperation between our two countries to the next level," according to WAM.

Sheikh Khalifa was quoted in the report as saying bilateral relations had "entered a new stage of strategic partnership for the benefit of both countries."

The first of the four 1.4-kilowatt nuclear units, by the consortium - which includes the Korea Electric Power Corp., Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Samsung C&T Corp. and Doosan Heavy Industries - is scheduled to be completed by 2017, with the remaining three to be built by 2020.

Officials in the Gulf have speculated that as the region's need for energy increases, the number of reactors could also rise beyond the original four.

The Republic of Korea's first nuclear power reactor started operations in 1972 and the country now has 20 plants, generating 36 per cent of the nation's electricity.

Prior to the completion of the bilateral deal, analysts said that the UAE was highly concerned with issues of safety, and had estimated that South Korea's positive record would add to its appeal as a bidder.

The nuclear deal is considered an important element for the national economic and trade strategy of South Korea, and overall is one of the largest agreements of its kind in the world.

Over the 60 year initial lifetime of the plants, along with the initial contract, the agreement is expected to bring in a total of some 40 billion dollars for the South Korean companies in the consortium.

Initial estimates say the UAE project will also lead to the creation of 110,000 jobs.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, an economic and trade grouping of six states in the region, reached a deal at their last summit earlier this month on a 1.6-billion-dollar power grid linking the Kuwaiti, Saudi, Qatari and Bahraini networks.

Oman and the UAE are expected to join in 2011, a year ahead of the scheduled completion of the grid.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301134,uae-awards-20-billion-dollar-nuclear-contract-to-skorea--summary.html.

PROFILE: Dull but reliable Josipovic set to win Croatian presidency

Zagreb - Free from affairs, bereft of scandals, unburdened by any eccentricity, even the friends of Ivo Josipovic - the winner of the first round of the Croatian presidential elections on Sunday - call him "boring." But not even rivals try to deny the competence and reliability of the 52-year old Social Democrat - who is a holder of two university diplomas, in music and in law.

Instead Josipovic has turned his unremarkable appearance and cautious behavior into his strength and now, just six years after he entered politics, he stands on the threshold of the presidential office.

In the first round of the election, Jospiovic won more than 30 per cent of the votes cast, more than twice as much as his closest rival.

Josipovic has repeated the usual mantra of fighting corruption and for a better life of the average citizen.

He also said he can "no longer stand the injustice" stemming from the so-called "Fatherland War" of the 1990s, which destroyed many lives but allowed a corrupt few to become extremely rich and powerful.

Josipovic's motto of the "new justice" has appealed to the many Croats disappointed with the slow growth of their standard of living.

His musical education and talent - he is a former director of the Zagreb Musical Biennale and performs in public and even composes - also served his clean, warm and confidence-instilling image well.

Josipovic is married and has an 18-year-old daughter.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301143,profile-dull-but-reliable-josipovic-set-to-win-croatian-presidency.html.

Hamas marks one year since Israel's Gaza offensive

(WARNING): Article contains propaganda!

* * * * *

Gaza City - Under the slogan "victory and steadfastness," Gaza's ruling Hamas movement organized a series of activities Sunday, including rallies and ceremonies, to mark one year since Israel's three-week military offensive against militants in the salient. The commemorations kicked off with a one-minute siren, which wailed across the Gaza Strip while people froze in silent attention, and mosques in the enclave, controlled by Hamas, broadcast verses from the Koran.

Ahmed Bahar, deputy speaker of the Hamas-dominated parliament, unveiled a memorial to the Palestinians killed in the fighting - some 1,400, according to Gaza human rights groups.

He said Israel had failed to achieve its goals in the offensive, which he said was meant to topple Hamas' rule in the Gaza Strip, end the rocket fire on southern Israel from the Strip, and free Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier snatched during a June 25, 2006 cross- border raid and held in Gaza ever since.

"All the attempts to strike and end the resistance will fail," he said, and described the underground steel wall Egypt is constructing along its border with the Strip, to prevent smuggling,as "the last arrow in the international regime's quiver to wear out Gaza."

In Gaza City, hundreds of children aged between 6 and 12 years old marched through the main street of the city and headed towards the square of the Unknown Soldier in the city center.

Israel said it launched the offensive with airstrikes, and expanded it to include sending ground forces into the Strip, to end over seven years of incessant rock fire on its towns and villages adjacent to the salient.

The missile fire from the enclave has decreased dramatically since the offensive ended on January 18, but according to Israeli intelligence Hamas has test-fired at least two advanced, long-range missiles capable of hitting Israeli population centers previously out of range of the projectiles in the militants' arsenals.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301146,hamas-marks-one-year-since-israels-gaza-offensive.html.

Taiwan to seek world heritage status for complex Chinese characters

Sat, 26 Dec 2009

Taipei - Taiwan plans to apply for World Heritage status for the complex Chinese characters that China stopped using after 1949 but Taiwan continues to use today, President Ma Ying-jeou said Saturday. "In order to preserve the world's oldest and most beautiful language, I have entrusted minister without portfolio Ovid Tzeng to prepare for making the application," he told an international seminar on teaching Chinese, held in Taipei.

Ma said he has asked Tseng to "actively apply" for world heritage status for complex Chinese characters, but did not say when Taipei will make the application.

Ma reiterated his appeal to China that the Chinese mainland, while using the simplified Chinese characters, should still let people know how to read the complex characters.

He disapproved the name "complex characters," Ma said.

"They should not be called complex characters just because there are the simplified characters. They should be called standard characters," he argued.

Ma made his initial appeal to Beijing last June, but China's Education Ministry said that China would not revive the complete Chinese characters because that would cause confuse people.

As Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations or the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), it is not clear if UNESCO will accept Taipei's application and if Beijing will support the application.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee meets once a year to review applications for World Heritage status, which breaks down into cultural, natural and mixed properties.

The World Heritage List is reviewed every year, with some items removed and new items added.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301033,taiwan-to-seek-world-heritage-status-for-complex-chinese-characters.html.