NAMAorTHE DEVIL HAS TWO HORNSCormac ut dixit:Is do decraib in domainbúain mela a mecnaib ibairiscailp for conaib gerraiblongud i scellaib scibairWhere does one start ?On Sunday 25th of October the Sunday Business Post carried the most important revelation yet about the plans made by our Minister of Finance, Brian Lenihan, to keep control of the organisation NAMA in the event of any loss of the primary vote in the next elections; ie. that, not only would Fianna Fail keep control but they would also be able to keep complete secrecy about that control.The essence of this matter was revealed inadvertently as far as the Government is concerned who would certainly wish that we had not received this information - however someone was looking at the Eurostat Agency papers for Freedom of Information which released details of a Special Purpose Vehicle entirely separate from the Nama structure created in order to privately acquire the loans and issue government bonds which we all understood as the primary business of NAMA itself. The government will indeed guarantee the bonds for toxic loans but if NAMA fails to recoup expected finances to pay these IOUs the government (taxpayers), as we all previously understood, will have to find the money. However the new off-shoot is not to be connected in any way to a government and is to be privately controlled. The assets which this new organisation will control will then be off the Budget balance sheets - and also acquiring additional assets from financial institutions and private loans that will run this SVP, money that Lenihan hopes will be E50 million. This new group will be a separate legal entity from NAMA ,and government partakes of a minority 49% power therein and private entrepreneurs, be they banks or their investors will have 51% stake and control of this loan portfolio.The purpose here is to keep NAMA's borrowings off the National Debt; but if faulted the debt must be paid by the taxpayer...
Will the loans be brought in from the Banks (presumably from the ECB bonds they receive for loading the original NAMA structure with toxic loans) or from subsidiary investment managers?The new group will apparently need E100 million as a structural basic, half of which must initially be provided by the private investors. For other money, it is believed the Government is going to target pension funds to invest in this prong of the devil-horns of NAMA, or foreign asset managers. This group will be facilated with development connections to the assets behind the toxic debts in order to make money to pay a dividend, and possibly a 10% bonus to the investors, plus any money still owing on loans when the organisation is to be wound up in 10-20 years time.
Infact we see that this private SVP (NAMA) institution is the real driving organ of development for the present Government and that NAMA such as we have hitherto known it is a theatrical facade for public consumption.The SVP will have its own board of directors with autonomy of decision over day to day activity in development of assets, a majority of nominees determined by the 51% influence of the private investors and only a "government" veto " between these gamblers and ourselves the citizens to stave off any possible disaster..... From this information we must conclude that the majority stakeholders (to be held by bankers and Fianna Fail cronies) will infact be making decisions on the future of both landbanks and development construction - for what else does "day to day activity" mean? These people are being brought together to make decisions daily - on what exactly? These people will be the control staff of the visible NAMA which cannot be lobbied by either the construction firms concerned with these toxic debts, nor by any member of the public. Although transparency has been freely used in terms of explanation, infact secrecy is the name of this game.Remember, a SVP with 51% private monopoly over 49% government authority, a government that may hastily use a wee veto if something seems to be going "wrong", is now revealed as the driving force of Brian Lenihan's "plans". What is the measure of WRONG and indeed what is the measure of legality about this entire "solution" for Ireland's financial crisis?

Now that the government in Ireland has reached into the utter depravity of accepting "advice" or shall we clearly state "instruction" from Rothschild, Alan Ahearne (Federal Reserve) and Dr.Peter Bacon, what next?
The EU Lenihan said approves of NAMA - in fact in today's Irish Times it seems that the Commission do not approve and are disturbed by the arrangements and Irish government decisions.
Well Lenihan's Aunt Mary O'Rourke ruined the nest eggs of hundreds of Irish families with her Eircom Share sales and now her newphew is about to ruin the rest of us.
Mary Coughlan should go home to Donegal and look after her children and forget about politics which she is not mentally fit for - gaff after gaff each one worse than the other.
I have collected many interesting articles including the late contribution by Dermot Desmond.the contributions to the list of alternatives by himself and Brendan(?) Dowling should be seriously considered. George Lee should be given more room to comment. I would like a copy of his Dail speech.
Amusing for the myth brigade that the date and triangle of advisers 16.9.2009 give up 999 - the juice always like a cosy date when they make their mistakes......

Patrick Healy

Patrick Healy

FW:

 

 

From: jocelyn braddell [mailto:jocelynbraddell@gmail.com]
Sent: 13 July 2009 20:39
To: 'joslamont.post@blogger.com'
Subject:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**************************************************

 

 

Yes, Jocelyn, your fine letter reached me.  I am impressed with what you can bring to your writing.  I'm not so adept at bringing data into my thinking as you do.  I have heard of Coelho's The Alchemist, but haven't read it.  Your reference causes me to want to obtain a copy now and give it a reading.  Thanks. 

   You have tied many things together which I believe have indeed contributed to this maniacal rush to destruction we are witnessing.  Following a dream is of vital importance here, and I see how I had been sidetracked from my interests.  A local fundy pastor took me through the "born again" experience at age 9, then sent me to a fundy college in NY, and ordained me in 1963.  However my doubts and questions, combined with my experiences in trying to teach and shepherd a couple of congregations, led me to abandon that field by 1967!!!  To think I had turned down a fully-paid college scholarship for his suggestions angers me to this day. 

   Music was heavy in my family and I had learned to play the violin, piano, saxophone, and baritone horn before high school graduation.  Had I accepted that free college program, barring unforeseen circumstances, of course, who knows what direction my musical life would have taken.  As it was I have spent my life playing in symphonies, ensembles, singing, holding singalongs, teaching private students, recitals, now in a community band near here, etc.  That has really kept me sane and with less frustration than I could have experienced.

   Unless there is a national uprising, fronted by adept leadership, with thousands invading government centers in towns and cities across America, making citizen arrests, I see no stopping the traitors entrenched in CorpWashDC.  Just recently a loner, Hal Turner, was arrested by Hoover's FBI, for speaking out against Chicago's gun confiscation group.  So it goes. 

   Best wishes to you in your work.

Regards, Bob

 

 

 

************************************************

 

Hi Dr. Bob,

Thanks for your e-mail. I will try to frame a reply, but as I am of a similar age group to your own …..?

I think that the occurrence of W.Wars 1&2 melded an incredible breakdown in respect for life.  Everywhere, just to deliver a minor detail of the present, in our newspapers we read large articles on murders – a fascination with death that is like an empty flagon. During the 60’s there seemed to be a rush toward relationships, unprecedented trust between men and women, but who broke it down – the entrepreneurs of the drug trade. There followed hot after this “feminism” which from the early 1900 had sought wage and education equality, suddenly distorted as a deep hatred of men. In the 70’s I remember Rolling Stone running articles from homosexuals that to be a man all had to have that “man’s” experience. The lesbians who had developed as a “sister”(ironic) cult also pushing on into consciousness.

I speak of all this as a “push into consciousness” as this is what I believe occurred and just like the consumer world that was nourished on new approaches to mass advertising, it was watched by some elements within the human race almost avidly. The psychiatrists had by then (70’s) worked out that the absolutely initial stages of sexual experience among boys and girls had/has some kind of control thereafter on their hormones ruling the kind of satisfaction that it taught – through fear in all its many dimensions from conventional morality to the sins perpetrated by those whom the young were taught to obey… and this began to riddle its way into family life; into many world’s from prisons to private perversions.

As for religion – I remember meeting a young man just out of Harvard whose first job as a psychiatrist was at the invitation of the Catholic Church to advise them on every aspect of human weakness….

The avid elements within the human race? Those who could make money? One fears that corruption is cannibalism.

I had a long conversation with a completely articulate Brazilian guy the other day who has taken up with a completely childish cult – Hari Krishna – but whose mind flirts with the idea of the wizard, the witch. Thus we discussed fear as you can expect…. Some days later he brought me a book, a novel by Paulo Coelho The Alchemist . Have you read it by any chance? I found it very interesting, a very good story teller who has realized that his readers do not have any desire for  Literature so he just forges ahead in plain language that can be read very quickly. He has apparently sold millions of this book INTERNATIONALLY whose purpose might be – find out what you want to do and do it before this humdrum life fixes you in place and you can only look back on your dreams. I  imagine that it influences a lot of those millions as it poses the problem that everyone encounters whose stability in childhood has given them some confidence. Everyone else may throw it aside….. It does concern God, belief and the resolution of instinctive occurrences – that will INDEED occur to anyone who tries to achieve the desires of his/her dream. i.e I could see how close to the poet Coelho is – except of course the poet is a vehicle for others and not a person pressing forward into his/her concept of life.

That is rather a long letter now – so I will sign off and maybe you will have a ready reply!

I hope this reaches you - Jocelyn

 

 

 

***********************************************************

 

Hi, Jocelyn:

   Peter Myers relayed your message among his daily feeds to me.  I commend you on your stalwart remarks on the modern dilemma.  This is part of what has unraveled the moral fiber of Western Civilization till we are about to sink under the slime pit into oblivion.

   I don't believe morality nor civilization can be restored to this nation or the world.  Once the hoards of secret operatives gain footholds in the nations, they seem unstoppable.  Why evil should have such power over good is quite a mystery.  We are capable of producing such virtual wonders in scientific advances, but so weak when it comes to enforcing law and order on peoples.  Self-government seems nonexistent. 

   Here is where I parted company with the religionists about 1967 (a pastor put me through the "born again" experience when I was about 9, sent me to a fundy college in New York, then ordained me in 1963).  I reasoned that if we could call on a god in "Jesus' name," he would do anything we asked.  This has proven untrue in my experience.  Why a perfect creator would have created an evil being more powerful than himself makes no sense to me.  Then why permit it to continue after the fact, is even worse and unbelievable.  If this "Jesus" failed so miserably with his first try, why have any hope that a second visit to earth would make any difference?

   Have you come in contact with Tony Bushby's well-researched books, The Bible Fraud & The Crucifixion of Truth?  Purchase through www.joshuabooks.com .  These answered my many questions and doubts which I carried through my college and seminary experiences.  When there is so much deception in the religious realm, how can we expect people in general to act morally and in a civil manner?  And evil peddaled by Google and others certainly keeps the momentum going.

   Do you see any hope in all this?  I've about given up on it, realizing that our years on earth are a living hell, from which we have found no escape.  My youth on our small western Pennsylvania farm in the 30s-50s last was the nearest thing to peace and happiness for me (even remembering the hard work and poverty we endured).  Family, friends, and music have been the bright spots in my 71, soon to be 72, years. That experience can never be recaptured in the world we have now. 

   I hope your life is fulfilling and best wishes in your work and writing.

Kind regards,

Dr. Bob (ret.)

Georgia, America

 

 

 

************************************

 

Good on you Peter, it is such a difficult problem and rules life to such an extent it has become pitifully stupid.The problem has perhaps always ruled life and humans have given up generation after generation on what to do about it. The fact that one of two men found they could make money out of it never seemed to penetrate human minds that they were being made fools out of this "trade".  But the fact that it then became a torture for small children then projected the entire scenario into criminal events. How "love" can ever be regenerated as a human norm as it was among working class people or among the middle class provoked by novels is now an overwhelming problem - that is now in serious denial by all those inoculated (shall we say) by the prevailing standards of action, garish "modesty" of female dress etc etc.  We see that mothers and fathers have yet the most tender love for the new born child, which progressively becomes mired in dumb boredom by women who hand their children into crèches without a thought for the fact that life is an entire model of millions of moments and that innocence that strengthens into maturity cannot occur when change and excitement,torment, is the name of the game. The western civilization lacks mature decision making and that is very evident, the farce of community and team is played out under the banner or fistful of money. I think that a lot of young people probably experience enough family love to endure as consolidated "characters" but thousands do not..? It would be a good idea maybe for you to start a discussion thread more rewarding than holocaust on the subject of human relationships.

Best regards, Jocelyn Braddell.

 

 

**************************************

 

 

From

Peter Myers, 381 Goodwood Rd, Childers 4660, Australia ph +61 7 41262296 http://mailstar.net/index.html

 

China is right.

 

There's too much Pornography on the internet, and unsolicited Sexualized Ads are proliferating.

 

Our leaders should be condemning it and putting the perpetrators out of business.

 

(1) Google's pornography. Pornographic Ads and Websites proliferating on the Internet

(2) China delays mandatory installation of "Green Dam" porn-filtering software

(3) Apple confirms it banned iPhone porn app

(4) Apple: iPhone app store is a porn-free zone

(5) Jews started the American porn industry. Pornography as a way of defiling Christian culture - Nathan Abrams

(6) Porn OK for Goy kids - but now it's infecting Jewish kids too

(7) Israeli Army broadcast porn on Palestinian TV

(8) Israeli army girls depicted in Israeli porn movies - including one about the capture of Mordecai Vanunu

(9) Hackers Put Pornography on Hamas Web Site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**************************************************

 

 

Yes, Jocelyn, your fine letter reached me.  I am impressed with what you can bring to your writing.  I'm not so adept at bringing data into my thinking as you do.  I have heard of Coelho's The Alchemist, but haven't read it.  Your reference causes me to want to obtain a copy now and give it a reading.  Thanks. 

   You have tied many things together which I believe have indeed contributed to this maniacal rush to destruction we are witnessing.  Following a dream is of vital importance here, and I see how I had been sidetracked from my interests.  A local fundy pastor took me through the "born again" experience at age 9, then sent me to a fundy college in NY, and ordained me in 1963.  However my doubts and questions, combined with my experiences in trying to teach and shepherd a couple of congregations, led me to abandon that field by 1967!!!  To think I had turned down a fully-paid college scholarship for his suggestions angers me to this day. 

   Music was heavy in my family and I had learned to play the violin, piano, saxophone, and baritone horn before high school graduation.  Had I accepted that free college program, barring unforeseen circumstances, of course, who knows what direction my musical life would have taken.  As it was I have spent my life playing in symphonies, ensembles, singing, holding singalongs, teaching private students, recitals, now in a community band near here, etc.  That has really kept me sane and with less frustration than I could have experienced.

   Unless there is a national uprising, fronted by adept leadership, with thousands invading government centers in towns and cities across America, making citizen arrests, I see no stopping the traitors entrenched in CorpWashDC.  Just recently a loner, Hal Turner, was arrested by Hoover's FBI, for speaking out against Chicago's gun confiscation group.  So it goes. 

   Best wishes to you in your work.

Regards, Bob

 

 

 

************************************************

 

Hi Dr. Bob,

Thanks for your e-mail. I will try to frame a reply, but as I am of a similar age group to your own …..?

I think that the occurrence of W.Wars 1&2 melded an incredible breakdown in respect for life.  Everywhere, just to deliver a minor detail of the present, in our newspapers we read large articles on murders – a fascination with death that is like an empty flagon. During the 60’s there seemed to be a rush toward relationships, unprecedented trust between men and women, but who broke it down – the entrepreneurs of the drug trade. There followed hot after this “feminism” which from the early 1900 had sought wage and education equality, suddenly distorted as a deep hatred of men. In the 70’s I remember Rolling Stone running articles from homosexuals that to be a man all had to have that “man’s” experience. The lesbians who had developed as a “sister”(ironic) cult also pushing on into consciousness.

I speak of all this as a “push into consciousness” as this is what I believe occurred and just like the consumer world that was nourished on new approaches to mass advertising, it was watched by some elements within the human race almost avidly. The psychiatrists had by then (70’s) worked out that the absolutely initial stages of sexual experience among boys and girls had/has some kind of control thereafter on their hormones ruling the kind of satisfaction that it taught – through fear in all its many dimensions from conventional morality to the sins perpetrated by those whom the young were taught to obey… and this began to riddle its way into family life; into many world’s from prisons to private perversions.

As for religion – I remember meeting a young man just out of Harvard whose first job as a psychiatrist was at the invitation of the Catholic Church to advise them on every aspect of human weakness….

The avid elements within the human race? Those who could make money? One fears that corruption is cannibalism.

I had a long conversation with a completely articulate Brazilian guy the other day who has taken up with a completely childish cult – Hari Krishna – but whose mind flirts with the idea of the wizard, the witch. Thus we discussed fear as you can expect…. Some days later he brought me a book, a novel by Paulo Coelho The Alchemist . Have you read it by any chance? I found it very interesting, a very good story teller who has realized that his readers do not have any desire for  Literature so he just forges ahead in plain language that can be read very quickly. He has apparently sold millions of this book INTERNATIONALLY whose purpose might be – find out what you want to do and do it before this humdrum life fixes you in place and you can only look back on your dreams. I  imagine that it influences a lot of those millions as it poses the problem that everyone encounters whose stability in childhood has given them some confidence. Everyone else may throw it aside….. It does concern God, belief and the resolution of instinctive occurrences – that will INDEED occur to anyone who tries to achieve the desires of his/her dream. i.e I could see how close to the poet Coelho is – except of course the poet is a vehicle for others and not a person pressing forward into his/her concept of life.

That is rather a long letter now – so I will sign off and maybe you will have a ready reply!

I hope this reaches you - Jocelyn

 

 

 

***********************************************************

 

Hi, Jocelyn:

   Peter Myers relayed your message among his daily feeds to me.  I commend you on your stalwart remarks on the modern dilemma.  This is part of what has unraveled the moral fiber of Western Civilization till we are about to sink under the slime pit into oblivion.

   I don't believe morality nor civilization can be restored to this nation or the world.  Once the hoards of secret operatives gain footholds in the nations, they seem unstoppable.  Why evil should have such power over good is quite a mystery.  We are capable of producing such virtual wonders in scientific advances, but so weak when it comes to enforcing law and order on peoples.  Self-government seems nonexistent. 

   Here is where I parted company with the religionists about 1967 (a pastor put me through the "born again" experience when I was about 9, sent me to a fundy college in New York, then ordained me in 1963).  I reasoned that if we could call on a god in "Jesus' name," he would do anything we asked.  This has proven untrue in my experience.  Why a perfect creator would have created an evil being more powerful than himself makes no sense to me.  Then why permit it to continue after the fact, is even worse and unbelievable.  If this "Jesus" failed so miserably with his first try, why have any hope that a second visit to earth would make any difference?

   Have you come in contact with Tony Bushby's well-researched books, The Bible Fraud & The Crucifixion of Truth?  Purchase through www.joshuabooks.com .  These answered my many questions and doubts which I carried through my college and seminary experiences.  When there is so much deception in the religious realm, how can we expect people in general to act morally and in a civil manner?  And evil peddaled by Google and others certainly keeps the momentum going.

   Do you see any hope in all this?  I've about given up on it, realizing that our years on earth are a living hell, from which we have found no escape.  My youth on our small western Pennsylvania farm in the 30s-50s last was the nearest thing to peace and happiness for me (even remembering the hard work and poverty we endured).  Family, friends, and music have been the bright spots in my 71, soon to be 72, years. That experience can never be recaptured in the world we have now. 

   I hope your life is fulfilling and best wishes in your work and writing.

Kind regards,

Dr. Bob (ret.)

Georgia, America

 

 

 

************************************

 

Good on you Peter, it is such a difficult problem and rules life to such an extent it has become pitifully stupid.The problem has perhaps always ruled life and humans have given up generation after generation on what to do about it. The fact that one of two men found they could make money out of it never seemed to penetrate human minds that they were being made fools out of this "trade".  But the fact that it then became a torture for small children then projected the entire scenario into criminal events. How "love" can ever be regenerated as a human norm as it was among working class people or among the middle class provoked by novels is now an overwhelming problem - that is now in serious denial by all those inoculated (shall we say) by the prevailing standards of action, garish "modesty" of female dress etc etc.  We see that mothers and fathers have yet the most tender love for the new born child, which progressively becomes mired in dumb boredom by women who hand their children into crèches without a thought for the fact that life is an entire model of millions of moments and that innocence that strengthens into maturity cannot occur when change and excitement,torment, is the name of the game. The western civilization lacks mature decision making and that is very evident, the farce of community and team is played out under the banner or fistful of money. I think that a lot of young people probably experience enough family love to endure as consolidated "characters" but thousands do not..? It would be a good idea maybe for you to start a discussion thread more rewarding than holocaust on the subject of human relationships.

Best regards, Jocelyn Braddell.

 

 

**************************************

 

 

From

Peter Myers, 381 Goodwood Rd, Childers 4660, Australia ph +61 7 41262296 http://mailstar.net/index.html

 

China is right.

 

There's too much Pornography on the internet, and unsolicited Sexualized Ads are proliferating.

 

Our leaders should be condemning it and putting the perpetrators out of business.

 

(1) Google's pornography. Pornographic Ads and Websites proliferating on the Internet

(2) China delays mandatory installation of "Green Dam" porn-filtering software

(3) Apple confirms it banned iPhone porn app

(4) Apple: iPhone app store is a porn-free zone

(5) Jews started the American porn industry. Pornography as a way of defiling Christian culture - Nathan Abrams

(6) Porn OK for Goy kids - but now it's infecting Jewish kids too

(7) Israeli Army broadcast porn on Palestinian TV

(8) Israeli army girls depicted in Israeli porn movies - including one about the capture of Mordecai Vanunu

(9) Hackers Put Pornography on Hamas Web Site

 

 

africa

Bamako: A Different take on Africa

By John Burl Smith

thedishlist@localhost.ctinetworks.com

Movies are powerful propaganda tools.  They create visual images and psychological stereotypes that take on a life of their own.  Africa and Africans are classic examples.  Through "Tarzan" and other fictional portrayals, the world was sold a false image of the "dark continent" that lingers on today.  That image has become the filter through which the world views Africa, consequently justifying its exploitation by Eurocentric socioeconomic and political policies.

 

With Tarzan still playing in their heads, film-makers exploit the agony of Africa in high-profile documentaries and fictional features, like God Grew Tired of Us, Blood Diamond, Catch a Fire and The Constant Gardener.  These films feed into the image of a continent where salvages run amok, everybody and everything is corrupt, all leaders are gangster warlords, and the hopeless outcome of trying to help such wretched souls.

 

Rising above propagandizing, Abderrahmane Sissako, a Malian movie director, trained in Russia, has sought to use subtlety to tell Africa's story through his latest movie Bamako.  Looking at the continent, like a cop on the beat, he goes after the big bosses, rather than the neighborhood thugs that work for them.   Sissako points the guilty finger at Washington, London, Paris, Brussels and institutions like the World Bank and IMF, the culprits behind Africa and her people's misery. 

 

Reducing the international pea and shell game down to the hustle it is, Sissako returns to  the house of his late father in Bamako, the capital of Mali, where he puts the World Bank on trial for its role in the rape of Africa.  Now occupied by a young singer named Melé (Aïssa Maïga); her husband, Chaka (Tiécoura Traoré); and their young daughter, the house serves as a backdrop for a courtroom drama.  A table becomes the bar of justice, set in a picturesque courtyard surrounded by the day to day procession of life.   Unfolding over several days, the courtyard represents the heart and soul of Africa, ravaged and embattled after decades of World Bank policies, which are sucking the continent dry with privatization and the rape of its natural resources, while burying many African nations under mountains of debt. 

 

Bamako's central question is – has the ostensible good intentions of the West, in particular the World Bank and similar institutions, contributed to the impoverishment and demoralization of the continent?  Sissako uses real judges, lawyers, and activists plus ordinary people as participants in the mock hearing where Africa -- the Plaintiff -- is presented like a young innocent girl assaulted by the World Bank -- a proxy for the Western world.  The prosecution's premise is that as a result of the bank's actions -- 50 million African children will die in the next five years; 3 million Africans will die of malaria in the next 12 months; and Africa's debt --which stood at $220 billion in 2003 -- has brought the continent to her knees.

 

One eloquent witness after another testifies that Africa's countries are poorer than they were 20 years ago, with life expectancy declining, infant mortality rising and literacy rates dropping.  Ordinary Africans through their patient, angry speeches lament the cruel consequences of debt servicing and privatization, emigration, loss of control over infrastructure and natural resources, rampant political corruption and a precipitously declining standard of living.  Sissako  declared, "If we take into account the total capital flow and wealth transfer, African countries have more than repaid their debts to rich countries." 

 

Bamako is a trumpeting wake-up call for the world to recognize that the continent's socioeconomic and political problems are inextricably linked to its colonial past and the debt heaped upon it by the West.  Sissako uses this project as a  delicate provocation to move the discussion of Africa away from terms dictated by Washington, London, Paris and Brussels to needs voiced by Africans, not the wealthy African elite, which Sissako believes through complicity with the World Bank, bears responsibility for their nations' ills.

 

The courtyard scene, as life goes on around it, dramatizes the fact that these are not Hollywood caricatures.  Their daily existence remains largely in the background as witnesses pour into this space to give evidence on behalf of ‘Africa,' while everyday life goes on around the edges. People work, read, chat or doze.  Women dye fabric and nurse babies; a bedridden young man suffers without access to medical care; a wedding procession passes through, a counterpoint to Melé and her despairing, unemployed husband Chaka's disintegrating marriage.  While these people's destinies are linked to the themes being argued in the trial, these real live characters serve to remind viewers that this chasm of inequality was created by the neo-colonial policies of the World Bank, similar institutions and the governments that support them.

 

Bamako is a must see by anyone desiring to make sense of what they read and view about Africa

 

 

Abderrahmane Sissako: In His Words

 

If I try to explain the decision I made one day to become a filmmaker, I must go back to that period in my life where I felt at a loss, having gone to Nouakchott to be with my mother. I had lost my bearings. Bambara — my language gone; no more Malian childhood friends. So, I became more observant, more aware of what surrounded me; I developed a keener sense of the importance of gestures and body language. And I wanted to tell that story. I am aware that one can be totally destitute, and yet it is in that state of destitution that one finds human dignity -- fundamental values........ 

 

Someone leaves because someone else has to stay. The one who leaves is not better or worse than those he leaves behind. So, that the one who leaves comes back to share what he has found. I come back and help my younger brothers and sisters, as my elder brothers have helped me. And that always brings me back to my roots and basic education.

 

When I go to Europe, I learn things that are enriching, that add to my life, but I never forget where I come from. I must not sever those links because I only exist through them. I must stay close to what I am and what I know best. So, that is why I seek to do a cinema where narration is not placid. Cinema for me is not a show, but a quest. I look for what I have in me. Something hidden gets uncovered with my characters.

 

So, my story is also the story of many other people. A feeling which is very hard to express is the sense of rejection, it is beyond racism — this disregard for other people. It's a very strong and typical trait of Western culture.  I am often asked whether Russians are really racist. Europeans prefer to think that it is others who are the racists. But my point was not to talk about racism, it was more about rejection, about the disregard for others that paradoxically one finds in societies where you also find the most beautiful books, the most beautiful paintings, the best music, societies who have the monopoly over everything that is valued today. And yet this does not create universality. Those who are profoundly universal are from societies where knowledge is not a matter of quantifying data, where knowledge belongs with the oral tradition, with things immaterial and imperceptible. This open-mindedness was paradoxically given to me by my culture and not by those cultures  which despised me precisely for my tolerance.

 

Anonymous said...
the problem is - How are we going to get into a world of differences and away from a polarised world. A commentator on Niqnaq said that the Egyptians did not even polarise Life and Death as they thought each was only a different version of the same thing - and thus he said well isn't hot and cold water? However in my opinion as habit dies hard difference is and might be displayed as the ultimate goal for an individual to regain understanding of this world, cease to destroy nature and become the human creature that was our potential from the start.??
June 28, 2009 8:57 PM

polarity - are you interested to explore a possible difference to polarity. the guy on niqnaq suggests that it is really only hot and cold water - the same thing................?

hi everybody - here is the l;ast gasp blog? What is the use of these blogs if one cannot use them how one requires? I wish to run two blogs, this omne and another called Houlighan.Okay now?

this is, I hope the new logo for Treblin Times which I use simultaneously with Houlighan