Indonesia executes six drug convicts, five of them foreigners

Indonesia executes six drug convicts, five of them foreigners
Widodo has pledged to bring reform to Indonesia

Ban appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions

Ban appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pleaded to Indonesia to stop the execution of prisoners on death row for drug crimes. AFP PHOTO

Pope: 'Death penalty represents failure' – no 'humane' way to kill a person

Pope: 'Death penalty represents failure' – no 'humane' way to kill a person
The pope wrote that the principle of legitimate personal defense isn’t adequate justification to execute someone. Photograph: Zuma/Rex

Obama becomes first president to visit US prison (US Justice Systems / Human Rights)

Obama becomes first president to visit US prison   (US Justice Systems / Human Rights)
US President Barack Obama speaks as he tours the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution in El Reno, Oklahoma, July 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)

US Death Penalty (Justice Systems / Human Rights)

US Death Penalty (Justice Systems / Human Rights)
Woman who spent 23 years on US death row cleared (Photo: dpa)



.

.
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …

Friday, March 30, 2012

Toilets, Fanta, and Carrefour are Luxury Saved for the Haves

Jakarta Globe, by Candice Kitingan, March 29, 2012

In Prumpung, East Jakarta, a boy pumps water from a well for bathing
and cleaning. (Photo courtesy of Candice Kitingan).
  
Toilets! A place we visit frequently each day. A toilet can be a place where we find solitude, escaping from family, friends or work to sit and contemplate deep thoughts. For others, it is a place that we are happy to enter and exit as quickly as possible. For most of us, a toilet is an everyday household item which we cannot live without — but it’s certainly nothing marvelous.
 
I was a little taken aback when I attended my first event with some children from Sahabat Anak Kota Tua at the Mandarin hotel last December. When we arrived, the first thing I was asked is “Miss, miss, where is the toilet?” So I pointed them in the right direction, and a couple of the children happily trotted off together.

They spent an unusual amount of time in the bathroom, and when they re-emerged, their hair and faces were wet. In my mind I could not comprehend what odd things they had been up to. Maybe the toilet integrated bidet had gotten out of control. But wet hair? How did this happen?

Whenever we are on our way to an event my boss always says to me, “Oh, no. I worry about the children playing in the toilet. Don’t you know, this is their most favorite place, the toilet is so clean and modern and they find it fascinating because they don’t know how to use it.”

I must say the toilets at the Mandarin Hotel were lovely, even for me. But for the children at Sahabat Anak these toilets are incredible compared to what they are used to. In most of the communities we work in, families cannot afford to have their own bathroom, simply because they lack running water. Many of Jakarta’s marginalized communities are still using wells as their main water supply for washing and bathing.

Poor communities build communal toilets for everyone, which are make-shift boxes made from scrap pieces of wood and gyp rock built precariously over a drain, canal or river with a hole in the bottom. The children love hanging out in the toilets, be it the immaculate toilets at the Mandarin Hotel or port-a-loos at an event. They see it as an opportunity to play with all the taps and flushes while washing their face and hair. I am amazed that something which is so normal to me could be so fascinating to someone else.

A couple of months ago a team from Youth Expedition Project Singapore were visiting and helping to renovate the Mangga Dua building, while also spending some time with the children. One of the Singaporeans asked “What is your dream?” and one children responded with “My dream is that one day I will have enough money to visit Carrefour.” The volunteer broke down crying. She said to me “Every day I can visit Carrefour, and I think it’s nothing special. And for this little child it is one of their dreams to visit it.”

Another time, a friend was talking with one of the children at Prumpung and asked them, “What is something special you do during the school holidays?” The child answered “My father takes me to Indomaret (a small convenience store) to drink Fanta as a special treat.”

Working at Sahabat Anak and interacting with Jakarta’s marginalized communities has taught me to always be thankful for everything I have. The students at the school do not have a lot, yet they appreciate the things that most of us take for granted, even toilets, Carrefour and Fanta. They do not ask for a lot, just the opportunity to receive an education and reach for their dreams.

I would like to remind you that it doesn’t take much for you to also get involved and help marginalized children — just a couple of hours a week volunteering and teaching kids to read and write.

Through friendship, Sahabat Anak aims to journey with street children, helping them to access education and basic services, and most of all inspiring them to dream big and achieve those dreams.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Women's Commission Critical of Indonesian Government's Plan to Ban Miniskirts

Jakarta Globe, Erwida Maulia, March 28, 2012

Masruchah, the deputy chairwoman of the National Commission
 on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) is pictured
 in this file photo. (Antara Photo)
               
Related articles

A proposed law regulating the length of women's skirts was blasted by the head of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan) on Wednesday.

Masruchah, deputy chairwoman of Komnas Perempuan, said the government should not tell women how to dress.

“There are already norms and ethics in each different community; people already know what they should wear where and when. The government must respect the diversity of our cultures and religions,” Masruchah said.

The proposal, the latest in a series of controversial moves by government officials meant to regulate sex and morality in Indonesia, was brought up by Religious Affairs Minister and anti-porn task force head Suryadharma Ali during a meeting with lawmakers in Jakarta on Wednesday.

“We think that there should be general criteria [on how women should dress], for example women’s skirts should pass their knees,” Suryadharma said.

Masruchah called the proposed legislation a violation of women's rights, adding that sexual harassment has nothing to do with the availability of pornography or how a woman dresses.

“Data on rapes show that they don’t correlate with how the women dresses," she said. "Many women [who were] raped happened to wear very concealing clothing. They were raped anyway."

“It’s in the mindset of the men,” she added.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono named Suryadharma as the head of Indonesia's first anti-pornography task force on March 2. The organization has been tasked with enforcing the nation's controversial 2008 banning pornography.



"Perceptions of God" – June 6, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Quantum TeachingThe Fear of God, Near-death ExperienceGod Becomes Mythology, Worship, Mastery, Intelligent Design, Benevolent CreatorGlobal Unity.... etc.(Text version)

“.. For centuries you haven't been able to think past that box of what God must be like. So you create a Human-like God with wars in heaven, angel strife, things that would explain the devil, fallen angels, pearly gates, lists of dos and don'ts, and many rules still based on cultures that are centuries old. You create golden streets and even sexual pleasures as rewards for men (of course) - all Human perspective, pasted upon God. I want to tell you that it's a lot different than that. I want to remind you that there are those who have seen it! Why don't you ask somebody who has had what you would call a near-death experience

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Indonesia-China explore possibilities for Komodo-Panda exchange

Antara news, Sat, March 24 2012

Related News

Beijing (ANTARA News) - The government of Indonesia and China have agreed to explore cooperation and possible exchanges of the Komodo dragon and Panda, said President Susilo Yudhoyono.

Komodo's
"The exchanges of Komodo dragons and pandas is now under further study," he said on the sidelines of his official state visit in Beijing on Saturday.

Stakeholders in Indonesia and China have agreed to come together for further discussions.

They are to conduct research and explore technical matters about the exchange concept, especially related to how the animals would respond to the weather in both countries.

"Hopefully the dragons will not be disturbed if they are put in a colder environment and the Panda's health would also not be disturbed during the Indonesian summer weather," he said.

Besides the Panda and Komodo dragon exchange, the President also mentioned about trade in swallow birds, electricity cooperation, natural gas cooperation, and plans for the establishment of Bank Mandiri`s office in Shanghai.

Earlier, the governments of Indonesia and China agreed to establish six areas of cooperation to improve the quality of friendship and prosperity in both countries.

The agreement was embodied in the signing of six memorandums of understanding which were witnessed by President Yudhoyono and President Hu Jintao at The Great House of the People in Beijing on Friday (March 23).

The sixth agreement covers cooperation in the maritime field, in Chinese citizens travelling to Indonesia, the development of a marine and climate centre, and for cooperation in the fields of combating narcotics, illicit substances and psychotropic substances.

There were also plans to establish cooperation in the field of external goods statistical data exchange, and archival cooperation between the Indonesian National Archives and State Archives Administration of China.

Editor: Ade Marboen

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

SBY Will Always Be a Blue Helmet, UN Chief Says

Jakarta Globe, Ismira Lutfia & Arientha Primanita, March 21, 2012

Related articles

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was all praise for Indonesia and its president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Indonesian Peace and Security Center in Sentul, Bogor, where soldiers train before being assigned to serve on UN peacekeeping missions, Ban said Yudhoyono was the only leader to have served in the blue helmet worn by members of the UN peacekeeping corps. He once served in Bosnia.

“President Yudhoyono, to us in the UN family, will always be a Blue Helmet,” Ban said.

Indonesia, through the Garuda Contingent, has participated in peacekeeping efforts since 1956. Nearly 2,000 Indonesians are currently deployed in seven UN peacekeeping operations.

Answering Ban’s call, Yudhoyono said the country will provide three helicopters to help  with mobility in an ongoing UN operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Speaking at a reception at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening, Ban said the Indonesian Blue Helmets had also made a substantial sacrifice, noting that 31 Indonesian members have lost their lives while serving.

Ban earlier met with Yudhoyono at the Bogor State Palace, where the two discussed the Middle East, including the conflict and violence in Syria, and the tension in the Strait of Hormuz.

In regards to Syria, he said, “the situation has reached an unacceptable, intolerable level.”

Ban also said that the priority for the United Nations was to find a way to stop the conflict and especially the killing of civilians.

He said that a diplomatic dialog would be the method of choice to settle the crisis in Syria, as well as easing tension in the Strait of Hormuz.

Having arrived on Monday evening, Ban is scheduled to spend three days in Indonesia.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Spiritual dance

The Jakarta Post, 18 March 2012

Spiritual dance: Balinese men perform the baris tombak dance during a
 Melasti prayer ceremony at Masceti Beach on Sunday. Melasti is a purification
 ritual held ahead of the Hindu Day of Silence. On the day, which falls on 
Friday, Hindus observe a day of reflection and must refrain from working, cooking, 
turning on the lights and participating in any activities. (JP/Agung Parameswara)
.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Indonesia’s Immigration Office Admits ‘Improper’ Treatment of Hollywood Actor

Jakarta Globe, Made Arya Kencana, March 07, 2012   

Related articles

Indonesia’s immigration office denied reports that one of its officers extorted Hollywood actor Taylor Kitsch during his recent visit to the country, but admitted that the officer’s treatment of the rising star was “improper.”

Taylor Kitsch showed a scene from
 "John Carter," pictured, to an Indonesian
 immigration officer to prove he was
an actor. (AP Photo/Disney)
     
  
The immigration office was under fire after Kitsch told a US talk show about his unpleasant encounter with an airport customs officer, describing how he had difficulties when he was trying to enter the country and how the officer asked for his iPhone as a bribe.

Indonesia’s immigration office spokesman Maryoto Sumadi said on Tuesday that Kitsch entered the country through Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport on Feb. 1, and that a special team from Jakarta had been dispatched to Bali to investigate the case.

On Wednesday, Bali's immigration office announced the team’s findings.

“The officer in question denied the claim of extortion, saying the actor still had the iPhone,” the head of Bali’s immigration office, Ida Bagus Komang Adnyana, said in Denpasar.

He identified the officer only as R.E., 29.

Kitsch’s passport pages were full, leaving no space for another stamp. So, R.E. took Kitsch to a room where the actor showed his visa and said that he was in Indonesia to shoot his latest movie, Oliver Stone’s “Savages,” in East Nusa Tenggara.

R.E. did not believe he was an actor, so Kitsch showed the trailer of “John Carter,” in which he starred, on his iPhone.

“It was then R.E. commented that the actor had a nice i-Phone. He didn’t go further by asking for the phone, let alone extort [Kitsch],” Ida said.

Ida admitted, however, that R.E.’s treatment of the actor was improper.

“The dialogue shouldn’t have happened. It is not allowed under the code of ethics, especially considering the impact,” he said.

Ida added R.E. was on leave for investigative purposes. R.E. will probably receive a sanction within the next few days, although it has yet to be decided what the sanction will be.

Ida said Kitsch arrived in Bali on board a Singapore Airlines flight, and was in Indonesia from Feb. 1 to 11.

Kitsch, 30, is best known for his portrayal of American football star Tim Riggins in the television series “Friday Night Lights.”


Related Article:


Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Meet ‘Evie’ — Obama's Transgender Ex-Nanny in Indonesia

The Blaze, March 5, 2012       

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, Evie, also known as Turdi, 
the former nanny of U.S. President Barack Obama, shows a picture
of herself, left,  dressed as a woman with an unidentified friend in
a pageant, in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)     


JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Once, long ago, Evie looked after “Barry” Obama, the kid who would grow up to become the world’s most powerful man. Now, his transgender former nanny has given up her tight, flowery dresses, her brocade vest and her bras, and is living in fear on Indonesia’s streets.

The Obama statue will be relocated from
Menteng Park to  the US president's former
elementary school. (JG Photo/ Afriadi Hikmal)
Evie, who was born a man but believes she is really a woman, has endured a lifetime of taunts and beatings because of her identity. She describes how soldiers once shaved her long, black hair to the scalp and smashed out glowing cigarettes onto her hands and arms. 

The turning point came when she found a transgender friend’s bloated body floating in a backed-up sewage canal two decades ago. She grabbed all her girlie clothes in her arms and stuffed them into two big boxes. Half-used lipstick, powder, eye makeup — she gave them all away.

“I knew in my heart I was a woman, but I didn’t want to die like that,” says Evie, now 66, her lips trembling slightly as the memories flood back. “So I decided to just accept it. … I’ve been living like this, a man, ever since.”

Indonesia’s attitude toward transgenders is complex.

Nobody knows how many of them live in the sprawling archipelagic nation of 240 million, but activists estimate 7 million. Because Indonesia is home to more Muslims than any other country in the world, the pervasiveness of men who live as women and vice versa often catches newcomers by surprise. They hold the occasional pageant, work as singers or at salons and include well-known celebrity talk show host Dorce Gamalama.

However, societal disdain still runs deep – when transgenders act in TV comedies, they are invariably the brunt of the joke. They have taken a much lower profile in recent years, following a series of attacks by Muslim hard-liners. And the country’s highest Islamic body has decreed that they are required to live as they were born because each gender has obligations to fulfill, such as reproduction.

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, Evie, also known as
Turdi, the former nanny of U.S. President Barack Obama,
stands  at the doorway of her room at a boarding house
in a slum in Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo: Dita
Alangkara/AP)
“They must learn to accept their nature,” says Ichwan Syam, a prominent Muslim cleric at the influential Indonesian Ulema Council. “If they are not willing to cure themselves medically and religiously” they have “to accept their fate to be ridiculed and harassed.”

Many transgenders turn to prostitution because jobs are hard to find and because they want to live according to what they believe is their true gender. In doing so, they put themselves at risk of contracting AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Some, like Evie, have decided it’s better to hide their feelings. Others are pushing back. Last month, a 50-year-old Indonesian transvestite applied to be the next leader of the national human rights commission, showing up in a borrowed luxury vehicle with paparazzi cameras flashing as she stepped out.

“I’m too ugly to be a prostitute,” Yuli Retoblaut said, chuckling. “But I can be their bodyguard.”

The threat of violence is very real: Indonesia’s National Commission for Human Rights receives about 1,000 reports of abuses per year, ranging from murder and rape to the disruption to group activities. Worldwide, at least one person is killed every other day, according to the Trans Murder Monitoring Project, which collects homicide reports. 

In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 photo, Indonesian transvestites
 perform a dance for small change in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Indonesia's attitude toward transgenders is complex (AP)
Evie says she chose her current name because she thought it sounded sweet. But she adds, as she pulls out her national identification card, her official name is Turdi and gender male. Several longtime residents of Obama’s old Menteng neighborhood confirmed that Turdi had worked there as his nanny for two years, also caring for his baby sister Maya. When asked about the nanny, the White House had no comment.

Evie, who like many Indonesians goes by a single name, now lives in a closet-sized hovel in a tightly packed slum in an eastern corner of Jakarta, collecting and scrubbing dirty laundry to pay for food. She wears baggy blue jeans and a white T-shirt advertising a tranquil beach resort far away in a place she’s never been. She speaks softly, politely, and a deep worry line is etched between her eyes.

As a child, Evie was often beaten by a father who couldn’t stand having such a “sissy” for a son.

“He wanted me to act like a boy, even though I didn’t feel it in my soul,” she says.

Teased and bullied, she dropped out of school after the third grade and decided to learn how to cook. 

Evie
As it turned out, she was pretty good at it, making her way into the kitchens of several high-ranking officials by the time she was a teenager, she recalls with a smile and a wink. And so it was, at a cocktail party in 1969, that she met Ann Dunham, Barack Obama’s mother, who had arrived in the country two years earlier after marrying her second husband, Indonesian Lolo Soetoro.

Dunham was so impressed by Evie’s beef steak and fried rice that she offered her a job in the family home. It didn’t take long before Evie also was 8-year-old Barry’s caretaker, playing with him and bringing him to and from school.

Neighbors recalled that they often saw Evie leave the house in the evening fully made up and dressed in drag. But she says it’s doubtful Barry ever knew.

“He was so young,” says Evie. “And I never let him see me wearing women’s clothes. But he did see me trying on his mother’s lipstick, sometimes. That used to really crack him up.”

When the family left in the early 1970s, things started going downhill. She moved in with a boyfriend. That relationship ended three years later, and she became a sex worker.

“I tried to get a job as a maid, but no one would hire me,” says Evie. “I needed money to buy food, get a place to stay.” 

U.S. President Barack Obama
It was a cat-and-mouse game with security guards and — because the country was still under the dictatorship of Gen. Suharto — soldiers. They often rounded up “banshees” or “warias,” as they are known locally, loaded them into trucks, and brought them to a field where they were kicked, hit and otherwise abused.

The raid that changed everything came in 1985. She and her friends scattered into dark alleys to escape the swinging batons. One particularly beautiful girl, Susi, jumped into a canal strewn with garbage.

When things quieted, those who ran went back to look for her.

“We searched all night,” says Evie, who is still haunted by the memory of her friend’s face. “Finally … we found her. It was horrible. Her body swollen, face bashed in.”

Today Evie seeks solace in religion, going regularly to the mosque and praying five times a day. She says she’s just waiting to die.

“I don’t have a future anymore.”

She says she didn’t know the boy she helped raise won the 2008 U.S. presidential election until she saw a picture of the family in local newspapers and on TV. She blurted out that she knew him.

U.S. President Barack Obama
“I couldn’t believe my eyes,” she says, breaking into a huge grin. 

Her friends at first laughed and thought she was crazy, but those who live in the family‘s old neighborhood say it’s true.

“Many neighbors would remember Turdi … she was popular here at that time,” says Rudy Yara, who still lives across the street from Obama’s former house. “She was a nice person and was always patient and caring in keeping young Barry.”

Evie hopes her former charge will use his power to fight for people like her. Obama named Amanda Simpson, the first openly transgender appointee, as a senior technical adviser in the Commerce Department in 2010.

For Evie, who‘s now just trying to earn enough to survive each day on Jakarta’s streets, the election victory itself was enough to give her a reason – for the first time in a long time – to feel proud.

“Now when people call me scum,” she says, “I can just say: ‘But I was the nanny for the President of the United States!’”

Related Articles:



"The Akashic System" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.)

About the Challenges of Being a Gay Man – Oct 23, 2010 (Saint Germain channelled by Alexandra Mahlimay and Dan Bennack) - “ ... You see, your Soul and Creator are not concerned with any perspective you have that contradicts the reality of your Divinity – whether this be your gender, your sexual preference, your nationality – or your race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or anything else.The only identity that has any fundamental or lasting relevance to your Soul is your Divinity. Any other way you may label or identify yourself is transitory. It changes from one incarnation to the next. ..."

Friday, March 2, 2012

After Success of ‘A Separation,’ Iran to Host Cultural Festival

Jakarta Globe, Ade Mardiyati, March 02, 2012

The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Indonesia is set to host
 Cultural Week from March 7 to 13 in Jakarta. It will feature film screenings,
 workshops on Iranian arts, photography exhibitions and traditional music
performances. (Agency Photo)
               
The Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Indonesia is set to host Cultural Week from March 7 to 13 in Jakarta. It will feature film screenings, workshops on Iranian arts, photography exhibitions and traditional music performances.

As part of the festivities, the embassy will also host a film festival at Pusat Perfilman Usmar Ismail in Kuningan, South Jakarta, from March 9 to 12. There will be discussions with Iranian directors and actors.

“Through this Cultural Week event, we are trying to introduce the culture and people of the Republic of Iran to the Indonesian people,” said Mahmoud Farazandeh, the Iranian ambassador, during a recent news conference at his residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta.

“There are plenty of Indonesian people I met who have expressed interest in Iranian films, so we decided to run this event.”

Among the films to be screened are “A Span of Heaven,” “The Third Day,” “The Sun Shines on All Equally” and “Eighth Sky.”

Iranian cinema has recently been thrust onto the international stage with the success of “A Separation,” which won Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, among some 45 film award wins for the drama.

While most modern movies portray violence, romance and unique relationships, the message of Iranian films, according to Farazandeh, is to show the world the problems that exist in the country. Some of these problems are unique to Iran, while some problems, such as “A Separation’s” portrayal of a couple struggling to care for their children and an ailing parent, are universal to all cultures.

“We don’t present merely entertainment. There is always a message we want to deliver,” he said. “It is how to say something without using violence or sexual scenes.”

The film industry, Farazandeh said, was one way to voice revolution in Iran.

“We don’t believe that violence can help reach revolution. Instead, it is the values of humanity that can,” he said. “Our revolution is a cultural one.” 

Cultural Week of the Islamic Republic of Iran
March 7-13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Museum Nasional, Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat No. 12, Central Jakarta

20 kg of plastic found in dead giraffe’s stomach

The Jakarta PostWahyoe Boediwardhana, Surabaya, Fri, 03/02/2012

Kliwon: A dead giraffe in Surabaya zoo. Antara/M Risyal Hidayat

Up to 20 kilograms of plastic was found in the stomach of a giraffe named Kliwon, who died in his stall in the Surabaya Zoo on Thursday evening.

“The plastic was apparently contained in the food he’d been eating for years and accumulated in his stomach,” Surabaya Zoo management team chief Tony Sumampaw said Friday.

Tony said that according to the zoo medical team, the plastic had clogged Kliwon’s digestive system.

The 21-year-old giraffe collapsed in his stall a day before his death. The giraffe keeper said that Kliwon had lost his appetite over the past few days.

Tony said that the zoo could not afford to get another giraffe to replace Kliwon due to financial constraints.

The 15-hectare zoo, which is one of the city’s tourism icons, houses 2,025 animals from 249 species. Many have said that the zoo is overpopulated. According to the zoo, 2,204 animals in the zoo died during the 2006–2011 period. (swd)



The last remaining giraffe at Surabaya Zoo died on
 Thursday night after collapsing in its pen earlier in the day,
adding to the long list of suspicious animal deaths and
disappearances at the facility.
(JG Photo/Amir Tejo)