Opinions

In Hong Kong the High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city. The case was brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, a resident of Hong Kong since 1986. The ruling follows a landmark judicial review of what has been the long term practice ever since the British ruled Hong Kong.

The crisis in the economic system has been well anticipated by those who noticed the complex and esoteric way in which modern Monetarism creates scarcity through taking money out of a hat to lend it, but not making enough to repay with interests. Speculation then concentrates it. Challenges to such bizarre and poverty creating system are not tolerated. Oct 15th Wake Up Day.

The US Air Force is standing down its plan to launch a nuclear-capable missile on the United Nations International Day of Peace. It’s a very small step, but it is a step in the right direction. It’s possible that the Air Force planners didn’t know about the International Day of Peace or even that there is such a day.

There are sufficient indicators to interpret that we have entered a new moment in international matters. What started in Tunisia and Egypt with the “Arab Spring” has extended to numerous countries on different continents: from the Outraged of Spain and Greece, to Chile where students are demanding free and good quality education through massive, non-violent demonstrations.

It is a year now that Silo left us in his physical body, bequeathing us and everyone a valuable message of the way of active non-violence to take mankind into a benign and adventurous yet non-harming future. We give thanks to Silo this day and carry on the good work. We watch as the protagonists of an open future take to the streets.

Article written by Nathan Schneider

It’s a foregone conclusion that revenge ties itself in a logical knot. It’s a cycle that churns until everyone bound up in it is dead. With the 10th anniversary of 9/11 in mind, philosopher Simon Critchley rehearses this fact eloquently in his latest at his New York Times forum, The Stone.

Werner Herzog allows us to learn about one of the major archaeological discoveries in humankind. The Chauvet-Pont d’Arc grotto contained in its depths hundreds of prehistoric animals’ skeletons that permit to reveal the constitution of the European wildlife 35 thousand years ago. Jean-Marie Chauvet, Eliette Brunel-Deschamps and Christian Hikkaire found it in 1994.

As the ten year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, an intense media blitz is in motion. To be honest, I find most of the coverage offensive in that it imposes and manipulates assumed feelings about the event without the least reflection on the
real meaning and consequences of that day. I get the feeling that a particular response
is expected. But my response is different.

“As Bev and I sat down on the precipice in solemn meditation, I prayed that God would come into our hearts. I prayed for understanding and love. I prayed for Alicia’s soul and the souls of the others who had died with her earlier in the day. I prayed for our world.” These are words of John Titus, father and author of “Losing Alicia”, whose daughter was flight attendant on 9/11.

The world lives in the era of knowledge and information sharing. With satellite TV, mobile phones and the internet, the word “distance” has lost its meaning as there is hardly a place today that is too’ remote’ for information access. The uprisings in the Arab World are a striking example of the rapid dissemination of information.