Indonesia executes six drug convicts, five of them foreigners

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Widodo has pledged to bring reform to Indonesia

Ban appeals to Indonesia to stop death row executions

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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

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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)

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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. …

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Wayang with a Touch of Dutch

Indah Setiawati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sun, 03/13/2011

There was no Arjuna in sight. The puppet characters appeared in classic European clothing from the 16th century. And the shadow puppet story was not based on the classic epic Mahabharata or Ramayana — but rather the heroic epic of Prince William of Orange.

That particular evening, the audience was given a rare treat — a wayang shadow puppet show with a fresh, contemporary twist.

Painted in classic European clothing from the 16th century, the puppet characters became alive as young puppet master Ananto Wicaksono told the heroic epic story of Prince William of Orange to a packed hall at the Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta.

Closing scene showcases the puppet characters of Prince
 William van Orange (left), his wife Louise de Coligny (right)
 and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Delft. JP/ Wendra
Ajistyatama
The Nusantara Museum in Holland had ordered the puppet of William of Orange — or Willem Van Oranje in Dutch — from Javanese puppet maker Ledjar Subroto, Ananto’s grandfather.

The puppet show was performed in Jakarta and Yogyakarta before being launched in the Nusantara Museum over the weekend.

The story revolves around the battles of Prince William, the proponent of freedom of religion against the Spanish army. The Spanish King, Philip II, declared William an outlaw and promised a reward for his assassination.

The show’s last scene depicted the assassination of the Dutch hero. Balthasar Gerard, a supporter of Phillip II, shot William to death at the prince’s home in Delft.

The contemporary shadow puppet show did not only present a series of serious political banters and war scenes, but also entertained and humored with creative and amusing scenes.

The hundreds of audience members burst into laughter when an old puppet character Jan Klaasen appeared on stage as an intermezzo in the middle of a war.

Jan Klaasen’s funny voice, humorous chat and silly movements became an instant ice-breaker. A Spaniard soldier tried to attack his head to no avail because it was so flexible — it could rotate, turning forward and even backward.

Ledjar said Jan Klaasen was an additional character that was comparable to Punokawan — four royal jokers in the regular puppet shows.

“I inserted the Jan Klaasen character so the audience did not only have to stick to the story, but be entertained by the humor as well,” he said.

Known as the innovator of wayang kancil — leather puppets in animal forms, the 73-year-old Ledjar was internationally known for his novel pieces of the wayang art.

His creations include Wayang Sultan Agung in 1987, a puppet made to depict the struggle of Sultan Agung against the Dutch troops under Jan Pieter Zoon Coen. The puppet was collected by the Westfreis Museum.

Later, he made Wayang Revolusi for the Bronbeek Museum in Arnhem, representing the Indonesian revolutionary figures of 1945. He also created a wayang cartoon based on the Japanese Samurai X comic for the performance of Japanese puppeteer Ryoh Matsumoto in 2002.

Ananto, a student of the Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta, said the Nusantara Museum planned to introduce Dutch history to school children through Wayang William.

“The problem [faced by Indonesia and the Netherlands] is the same. Children are reluctant to study history,” he said, adding that wayang was chosen because both countries shared a strong cultural relationship.

The idea to wrap the Dutch history in a wayang story came after officials from the Nusantara Museum watched Ledjar’s Sultan Agung puppet show performance at the Pasar Tong Tong fair back in 2008.

The officials, who saw a Jan Pieter Zoon Coen puppet, were inspired to order the puppet character of William. They were happy to see Ledjar’s creation of the William puppet a year later, saying that the puppet’s image matched the prince’s portraits. Ananto said he researched on the Internet to study the history of William of Orange and watched an original classic movie about him.

“At first, I was thinking of full gamelan for the music, but then I changed my mind because this was a European puppet show. I don’t want to make it an ordinary wayang purwa [traditional puppetry],” he said.

His effort paid off. The Willem puppet show performed in the Erasmus Huis was far from boring.

The music was a collaboration between pop orchestra and traditional gamelan. Some of the conversations in the show, which included an English translation, were even set to opera-esque music, such as during a romantic chat between William and his fourth wife Louise de Coligny.

Ananto, who has been a wayang puppeter since he was four years old, said the Nusantara Museum’s visitors could also watch his 15-minute animated film of the William puppet show in addition to enjoying the real puppet performance.

The museum also plans to tour the puppet show around several cities. Ledjar said the marriage of modern and traditional genres could attract young people.

The most important thing, he added, was to preserve the traditional nuance.

However, nowadays the majority of appreciation for wayang comes from foreign countries like the Netherlands, and little attention is paid to the art form in Indonesia.

Ledjar said no order to make a wayang show about Indonesia’s modern history had come from his his own country.

“You know, there is no interest here in Indonesia. I am concerned about how to encourage our children and young generation to love wayang.”

Puppet master Ananto performs a battle scene during the shadow puppet show at Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta.

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