The first film I was able to catch at this year’s One World Human Rights Film Festival was A Place Without People documenting the expulsion of the Maasai from the Serengeti in Tanzania. “Can’t at least we preserve the Serengeti for the animals and the people who come after us,” exclaimed Bernhard Grzimek, a German conservationist/zooligist famous for inspiring the creation of the Serengeti National Park. By this statement I presume he meant preserve it for other colonialists and not the Maasai, the parks original inhabitants. From British rule up to the country’s present day independent government, those in power have failed to recognize the tribe’s place in the park’s ecosystem and their role in preserving its balance for centuries.
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Leslie Dreyer
Protesters against the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the West Bank barrier wall take a more theatrical approach in Bil’in. On February 12, 5 Israeli, Palestinian and international demonstrators dressed as James Cameron-style Avatars marched towards the barrier, which has absorbed approximately 60% of this Palestinian village’s farmland, and were, per usual, met with tear gas and sound bombs. Though sporting blue painted bodies, pointy ears and long tails didn’t seem to faze the Israeli Defense Force, the tactics generated more media attention than usual for this weekly action.
In 2004, the International Court of Justice declared the barrier a violation of international law, and the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that sections of it imposed “undue hardships on Palestinians and should be re-routed.” 3 weeks ago Israel began reconstruction of the wall returning 30% of the land it previously confiscated. Though this sparked celebration, demonstrators and maybe even occasional ‘Avatars’ will continue their weekly action demanding justice and the return of all illegally confiscated West Bank lands as they’ve done for the past 5 years.
In solidarity with the detainees currently on hunger strike to protest inhumane conditions at the Los Fresnos immigration jail (Port Isabel, TX), I’m highlighting Homeland Guantanamos. Much more than an educational online game, this project documents actual detainees’ stories and the abuses they endured while in detention. Approximately 300,000 immigrants both legal and illegal are being detained in the U.S., many without conviction of any crime. This non-linear storytelling/investigative project invites players to discover what’s really happening on the inside.
The game’s assignment: go undercover by working as a prison guard and find the truth about what happened to Boubacar Bah, an immigrant from Ghinea who died while in ICE custody May 30, 2007. Free Range Studios built the virtual facility to match the Elizabeth Detention Center (run by the private company Corrections Corporation of America) where Bah was detained and designed the story around the actual events and people involved. While exploring each room, I found clues to help solve the case including embedded video interviews with Bah’s friends and family, his fellow detainees and their families. The video and written evidence reveal human rights abuses that mimic those committed at Guantanamo and other U.S. secret prisons.
“Now you can be the protagonist of the petroleum era: explore and drill around the world, corrupt politicians, stop alternative energies and increase the oil addiction. Be sure to have fun before the resources begin to deplete.”
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to head Exxon/Mobil, Shell, BP or any other black gold giant? Playing Oiligarchy will give you a glimpse of life through their goggles. To succeed at Mollenindustria’s newest online game you need to expand business as any die hard capitalist would, save money to lobby parties at the elections, and increase the economy’s oil dependence. Oh… and do all that you can to ensure the “virus of environmentalism” doesn’t reach your paid off representatives.
Given a map of Texas, Alaska, Venezuela, Iraq, Nigeria, and D.C. and the ability to teleport yourself to each place at the click of a button, you are free to demolish structures, explore land and drill baby drill. However, remember to keep an eye on the company bank account, price per barrel, % of addiction, GDP, and historic events to maneuver through the game and maintain healthy profits, or shareholders will most definitely fire you. You must also be receptive to updates on the green revolution and info on local uprisings to avoid potential human empowered obstacles.
The game starts after WWII. If you are able to keep profit at the forefront of your mind and maintain total disregard for human/civil rights and the environment, you will most likely get much further than me. It seems like I’m not cut out to be an oiligarch. I was fired after a mere 5 minutes of playing (years 1946-61) for refusing to participate in politics and not paying attention to supply and demand.
Thanks to neural.it for the scoop on Oiligarchy. To play this and additional games challenging dogma, capitalism, and other aspects of our society, visit Molleindustria’s site. If you happen to be in Barcelona before January 24th, you can view their work in the Crisis. Against Appearances show at ángels barcelona.
Banksy, the prolific, British, graffiti-artist-prankster declares, “New Yorkers don’t care about art, they care about pets. So I’m exhibiting them instead.” Last week this master of satire opened The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City to display peculiar breeds and brands of creatures in humorous, yet disturbing, scenarios. The precise animatronics of these mutants are extending the gazes of onlookers and raising more than an eyebrow or two.
The show is visible to the public both day and night through the store front windows. You can see McNuggets dipping themselves in (or sipping) barbecue sauce, a rabbit putting on makeup, baby cctv cameras staring lovingly at a larger “mother” camera, and a wildcat (convincingly folded leopard print coat) sleeping and curling it’s tail. Inside, a monkey obsessively watches itself on National Geographic TV, a haggard Tweety Bird sadly swings in its cage, breaded fish sticks swim around in their bowls, a bologna sausage wiggles in the sand, and hot dogs bask under heat lamps or fornicate in tanks fitted with French’s mustard feeding bottles.
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