May 29, 2011
Piped
I should be afloat with considering the implications of indentation on my (novel) sentences instead I remain abuzzed from a documentary The Pipe I saw at today’s Projecting Change Film Festival at SFU Woodwards.
Here at Literature et Folie we’ve been supporting the Rossport 5 for many years with the link on the old sidebar, but The Pipe is quite an extraordinary documentation of the struggle the community of Rossport endured when they took on the govt- enabled – corporate- bully Shell. This film was particularly moving for me being of strong Mayo stock myself and it taking place in a very familiar landscape. Knowing that landscape is also to know the implications of what Shell proposed to inflict on it. As Pat ‘The Chief’ McDonnell said “You can’t trust the Bog”. I watched the documentary with several other women from rural Ireland and it was a staggering watch and emotional. We talked after of the incredible strength and courage of those who stood up and persisted in the quest of justice. Even though the community is irrevocably damaged by what took place over the 8 years and the divisiveness it inflicted amongst them — it’s still an incredible tribute to the plain person’s determination to speak up and resist the bullying tactics that are employed to put the fear of God into people and suppress their voices.
The most galling and appalling moment in the film is actually the shot of Bertie Ahern talking about people “breaking the law”. It almost sent me out of seat with fury, given what we now know of the damage to the country by successive Fianna Fail governments and the wanker bankers still on the loose and NAMA -itis that continues to closet them from facing the music for the mess they made.
The sheer audacity that the govt enabled corporate bully assumed they could plough in and plant their pipeline any old where that suited, with no regard for the livelihood and safety of the people living there. That those people had to go to the European court to get any sense at all and were thrown in jail and abused by the local Garda force. But still they rose again. And by the sounds of it their struggle continues and is far from over
Here is the trailer for the documentary, I’d highly recommend you try to see the film as its a great reminder of the need to speak up and refuse to be silenced regardless of the personal price & discomfort that comes from that stance. Justice is not a popularity contest, it’s a hard battle and in this case, the people prevailed momentarily at least. (Thanks to the divine intervention of mechanical failure, followed by the courts).
June 23, 2008
Hearts, Lungs and Minds: experimental radio documentary
In the category of groovy ideas that have nothing to do with the weather ..came across this interesting piece…hurry though you’ve only 7 days to hear it.
An experimental documentary by sound artist John Wynne, who spent a year as artist-in-residence with photographer Tim Wainwright at Harefield Hospital, one of the world’s leading centres for heart and lung transplants.
Using recordings of patients, the devices some of them were attached to, and the hospital itself, the piece weaves together intensely personal narratives with the sounds of the hospital environment, exploring the experiences of transplant patients and the important issues raised by this invasive, last-option medical procedure.
May 12, 2008
Iraqi cultural books article
Here’s a link to an article I wrote about Iraqi cultural books…
Given that Iraq is so topical, it’s remarkable we hear so little about Iraqi writers or aspects of Iraqi life beyond dictator, war, and occupation. We are becoming increasingly fluent on Iraq only in sectarian language and ideas. Words like Shia, Sunni, Moqtada, IED, roll off our tongues but we know little of Iraq’s rivers, soccer players, musicians, visual artists or food.
For those who protested or opposed the invasion of Iraq, a logical follow up could be to support some ongoing cultural life amidst the mayhem that prevails in Iraq. One way to do this is to actively purchase Iraqi books and thus create more publishing opportunities for Iraqi writers.
Click here for the rest.
February 25, 2008
A-wondering
I’ve often wondered about this and finally someone has publicly addressed it. Bravo Edward Mills
Rich Western countries, including Canada, are demolishing African medical systems and destroying African lives by continuing to lure away their health care workers, a group of international medical experts led by a Vancouver doctor said Thursday.
The problem is so bad future active recruitment should be considered a crime in international law, argue the doctors, pharmacists and researchers in a commentary released today by the Lancet.
January 11, 2008
Iraq healthcare botch up
Corp Watch piece on the woeful state of Iraq’s healthcare and the gangsters who’ve benefitted and botched it up while civilians continue to suffer.
October 22, 2007
More prosthetics: International Red Cross link
In my quest for information on prosthetics and Iraq I came across a whole bunch of articles on the International Red Cross website who continue to help civilians in Iraq.
You can also donate directly to their Iraq projects here you just have to select the area of the world that you want to donate to. So many NGO’s have been forced to withdraw from Iraq because of the violence that it’s critical we support the ones who remain.
$240 bucks will provide prosthetic materials so that four landmine victims can walk again, while $25 can provide first aid care for a war wounded assisted in a first aid post. If you’re lucky enough to be flush then donate $8,000 to provide surgery and hospital care for 100 war wounded patients until their discharge
Alternatively, if you wish to make an immediate difference to someone by tomorrow morning then support the Rapid Prototyping for Baghdad project (RP4Baghdad)
- Donate 250$ and help us treat a patient with a head injury.
- Donate 750$ and help us treat a patient in need of a leg prosthesis. This includes mould making, model making, transport and model fitting.
There’s full disclosure on their financials on the website, this extraordinary organisation have an annual budget of $32,000 dollars and I am very struck by the immediacy of the work they’re doing, as they can help a patient in a week from obtaining a three-dimensional CT scan of the patient in Baghdad then having models made elsewhere that are sent back to Baghdad swiftly and the patient is operated on.
This a very unique and intelligent project delivering essential humanitarian medical support Applaud it by helping finance it. It feels to me that only tangible form of protest against the unbelievable civilian suffering right now is to provide relief.
October 19, 2007
Raise
Now and again, usually infrequently, you come across something that’s so intelligent and progressive that it’s difficult not to slap your head repeatedly and wonder why oh why can’t governments come up with and support such promising and necessary possibilities.
I give you the Open Prosthetics Project. A gang of inventor/industrial designer dudes (Tackle Design) from North Carolina joined forces to collaborate and establish this. Bloody brilliant.
The Open Prosthetics Project is producing useful innovations in the field of prosthetics and giving the designs away for free.
Another interesting project is RP4 Baghdad
Rapid Prototyping for Baghdad supports severely injured people in Iraq by providing Iraqi surgeons with surgery equipment, prosthetic limb sockets and tangible 3D models.
The situation for amputees in Iraq from what I can gather is supremely shite. It’s very difficult to obtain information, so it must be ridiculously difficult for Iraqis to actually get access to prosthetics.
These assertions are supported by the following recent articles:
Interview and slides from photojournalist Farah Nosh: Iraq’s Brutally Wounded
Demand for prosthetic limbs by amputees outpaces supply in Baghdad
If anyone knows anything further about the prosthetics situation in Iraq please comment or email with more links or info.
We, outside Iraq, on central heated sofas, despite our vehement (and unsuccessful) anti war protests need to urgently take this kind of suffering a lot more personally.
September 30, 2007
A man at 4pm
At 4pm today a man, a former US Ambassador to the UN, opened his mouth and suggested bombing a country.
It would make you wonder if a man could not find something far better to think or say at 4pm.
The mighty sock in the cakehole never seemed so promising.
September 30, 2007
Baghdad doctor and MSF
How does the richest nation in the world allow that there is no anaesthetic and no x-ray for this six year old in the clip from the documentary Baghdad Doctor over on The Guardian
Iraq for sale showed and described trucks travelling the country empty.
In spite of their unfathomable suffering the Iraqi people still demonstrate spirit and resilience.
If those who can affect change would show some basic regard for this unnecessary human suffering one could be hopeful. What does anaesthetic weigh for God’s sake?
Medincin Sans Frontieres have a piece on the struggles of Iraqi health system to provide to victims of violence.