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)



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"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. …

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Danarsih Santosa: Batik is more than just fabric

Jakarta Post, Ganug Nugroho Adi, Contributor, Surakarta, Central Java | Sat, 06/12/2010 9:00 AM

The ink used in batik must run through Danarsih Santosa’s blood. She was born into a batik-making family, spent her childhood working for her parent’s batik company, and now runs her own batik business, employing no less than 10,000 employees.

JP/GANUG NUGROHO ADI

When she was still at elementary school in the 1950s, she joined the ranks of batik workers at her parent’s business immediately after school. Danarsih prepared the wax herself and the equipment for making batik.

On other occasions, young Danarsih sold batik clothes, hawking them from home to home. And when she entered junior high school, Danarsih began studying batik design, product management and sales administration.

“My childhood up to my teenager years was spent in the batik workroom. I seldom had time to play like other kids of my age. Anyway my interest was batik, batik, and batik,” recalled the mother of four children.

Danarsih’s batik family hails from Surakarta, Central Java. Her parents were batik entrepreneurs even though they only ran a humble business.

Apparently the fruit did not fall far from the tree. After she graduated from State Senior High School 1 Margoyudan at Solo, Danarsih continued studying at the School of Chemical Engineering at Gajah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta.

In between her studies, the woman who was born in Solo on September 26, 1946, would return to Solo on weekends to pursue her childhood hobby, namely selling batik cloth. Then on Monday she would head back to Yogyakarta where she brought merchandise.

“A lot of college friends teased me, calling me a bakul [merchant]. I just ignored them. Gradually they even became my clients. Many lecturers also ordered batik from me.”

But the September 30 Movement (Gestapu) coup d’etat in 1965 forced Danarsih to go back to Surakarta and interrupt her studies. Her parents didn’t want her to live in other towns during those uncertain political times.

Danarsih studied for the two years at the School of Law at the University of Saraswati, Surakarta, before she finally met Santosa Doellah and married him. Her marriage to Santosa marked the beginnings of her career in the batik business.

In 1968, she and her husband started their batik business, which was later called Batik Danar Hadi.

Their pioneering product was the manufacturing of Batik Wonogiren, recreating the classic motif of the palace (Pura Mangkunagaran).

However the wheels of the Danar Hadi batik business did not always run smoothly. Danarsih experienced tough times when Chinese batik using printing technology penetrated the Indonesian market, particularly in Surakarta, during the early 1980s.

Many Indonesian consumers turned to printed batik, mass produced and cheap. Danar Hadi wasn’t the only business to feel the pinch. Other batik entrepreneurs in Surakarta (Kauman Batik Kampong and Laweyan Batik Kampong) were also shaken, with some choosing to shut down their businesses because they were unable to compete with mass-produced products.

“Once I had to get rid of employees because the market for local batik had been killed. But we thought hard about finding the trick to break the market,” said Danarsih.

It was lucky the government responded immediately, she went on, by banning Chinese batik imports.

The damage was nevertheless done, and the local batik industry found it difficult to recover.

“The 1980 to 2000 period was a difficult time for the batik industry here, especially for small to medium businesses [SME],” said the woman whose collection of batik includes over 10,000 ancient pieces, some of which are hundreds of years old.

In 1975, Danarsih enlarged her business by opening a small shop in Jakarta. She worked with fashion consultants including Harry Darsono and Prayudi. Later she opened outlets in Bandung, Medan, Surabaya, Yogyakarta and Semarang.

Danarsih successfully developed her upstream business in 1981 by establishing a weaving and finishing business. She then opened a garment business, the Kusuma Putri Company, in 1989.

After running her Danar Hadi businesses for more than 40 years, Danarsih succeeded in creating a batik empire: One of the largest batik companies in the country with 20 outlets spread across major cities in Indonesia.

She rejoiced when the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in October 2009 classified Indonesia’s batik as part of the world’s cultural heritage.

“Batik-making was my childhood dream. It must not only be preserved, but must also be developed. Batik is part of the nation’s cultural identity,” she said.

And it seems she is not worried about Chinese batik flooding Indonesia now that the China-ASEAN free trade agreement has come into being.

“What is being imported from China is not batik, but textile. So we shouldn’t be worried. Our society is smart enough and knows how to distinguish good batik from copies,” she said.

Now that her businesses are thriving, Danarsih is more involved in social activities. If she has to deal with batik, she focuses on creating designs and motifs.

At the moment, Danarsih and her husband are getting help from their children. Diana Santosa, their second daughter, is now managing director of the Danar Hadi Company. Meanwhile one of their other children, Dewanto Santosa, handles the company’s Finances.

In her social activities, Danarsih has joined the Women’s International Club (WIC) in Surakarta

as well as the Rotary Club. She is partakes in pengajian (joint recitation of the Koran) with women

and the Amal Sahabat Surakarta Foundation.

Danarsih has been appointed as head of the Ratna Clothing Association in Surakarta, an organization concerned about women in Solo being able to dress in a traditional way.

“When we grow older, we tend to shift our focus towards more socially oriented activities. Many people around us need help. I want to help them. Our lives will benefit if we can help other people,” she said at the Sogo Resto n ‘ Lounge at Slamet Riyadi Street, Surakarta.

In her spare time, Danarsih and her husband continue to manage the Danar Hadi Batik Museum, which holds around 10,000 samples of ancient batik cloth. Danarsih has been collecting samples of ancient and rare batik for more than 30 years.

As many as 1,500 samples of batik were sourced from the private collection of Troupen Museum’s curator in the Netherlands. These batik were made between 1840-1910.

Other collections come directly from the four palaces in Surakarta and Yogyakarta, namely the Kasunanan Surakarta Palace, Kasultanan Yogyakarta Palace, Pura Mangkunegaran, and Pura Pakualaman. Her most precious pieces include the liris breast cloth from the collection of the Queen Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono VII, and the Lereng Huk batik from the Pura Pakualaman.

“This museum was established because batik is not just a sheet of cloth. Every batik cloth is a repository of culture with historical values, tradition and philosophy. That’s why batik should be preserved,” said the elegant woman.

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