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The Nine Sins Of The Soul - The Lie by Daniel Arrhakis (2021)
The Nine Sins Of The Soul - The Lie
The Original Sin of our first ancestors Adam and Eve according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions - based on a terrible lie told to them by Satan.
So we understand that lying has been part of the human condition or nature since time immemorial. If we to begin by asking who among us has never told a lie, they will be no hands raised for sure. Those who refused to raise their hands would reveal what a lie is by their refusal to be honest. Various passages of the Bible feature excerpts that assert lying is immoral and wrong, most famously, in the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not bear false witness".
But let's be honest, speaking the truth at all times is practically (if not totally) impossible.
But if we lie a few times because we don't want to reveal details of our life or what we did, we can also lie for reasons of sociability, so as not to hurt the other. There was always a biunivocal reciprocal of "pious lies" between us and our interlocutors, which in a way also allows us to live in society without major conflicts. Thus, lies may serves a variety of instrumental, interpersonal, or psychological functions for the individuals who use them.
But unfortunately in many cases the lie has a more obscure and selfish objective, and it can be used as an instrument to subvert or attain power, to provoke divisions, separations and conflicts, to instigate revolutions or the fall of regimes; our history is full of conspiracies of power that cost many lives.
Lying means that a person is willfully making statements that are untrue, or half-truths, or falsehoods. The intention is clearly to deceive the other party. It implies that a person saying that lie is deceitful, or sneaky, being two-faced, or untrustworthy. He intends to mislead the other person, pull a fast one, entrap, dupe, betray, or delude the other person. Untruths or lies need not necessarily be in the oral form, they could also be in the written medium such as documents or letters, forgeries etc.
In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Devil as the father of lies (John 8:44) and Paul commands Christians "Do not lie to one another". In the Day of Judgment, unrepentant liars will be punished in the lake of fire.
Other passages feature descriptive exchanges where lying was committed in extreme circumstances involving life and death, however, most Christian philosophers would argue that lying is never acceptable, but that even those who are righteous in God's eyes sin sometimes.
St. Augustine about AD 395, divided lies into eight categories, listed in order of descending severity where the most serious are: Lies in religious teaching and Lies that harm others and help no one. And the less serious ones: Lies that harm no one and that help someone spiritually, lies that harm no one and that protect someone from "bodily defilement".
In Buddhism lying is not only to be avoided because it harms others, but also because it goes against the ideal Buddhist of finding the truth. They are four precepts that includes or involves falsehood spoken or committed to by action, avoidance of lying and harmful speech, insinuate, exaggerate, or speak abusively or deceitfully, malicious speech, harsh speech, and gossip.
In Zoroastrianism there are two powers in the universe; Asha, which is truth, order, and that which is real, and Druj, which is "the Lie". Later on, the Lie became personified as Angra Mainyu, a figure similar to the Christian Devil, who was portrayed as the eternal opponent of Ahura Mazda (God).
In the case of the Mystical World of Ion, lying is one of the sins of the soul, subverting the truth as well as our human values.
Lying is a source of uncertainty, delusion but also a promoter of deception and discord. But even more serious is that it can be a source of alienation and personal suffering because the person who lies often can not be able to distinguish reality from fiction and live in a virtual world that he has built with repercussions in the life of the person itself and of others who socializes.
Lying promotes doubt, deception and uncertainty in the hearts of men, which can lead to conflicts and to personal discredit of human values and institutions. Thus, in the mystical world of Ion, lying is the greatest obstacle in the discovery of truth and knowledge, but also a form of imprisonment of the soul or spirit, not allowing it to evolve to higher stages.
The lie is rarely able to hide because it tends to grow like a snowball that goes down the mountain; sometimes what started with a little lie can have dramatic consequences, so it should always be avoided.
Like the snake, insidious but without we realizing, it crush us, suffocates us slowly like the lianas or the branches of certain types of trees like the Banyan Tree.
The only way to not be surprised is to seek permanent knowledge, to seek the truth and to refrain from making false judgments until we are sure. Often we will have to use our deepest moral and spiritual values in the stillness and peace of moments of prayer, contemplation or introspection.
A pious lie will never be true, but a raw truth with no repair aim can do more harm than good. At every moment, we must consider our sense of justice.
In recent times the trivialization of lies has become one of the perversions of our contemporary society.
Social networks and false news have taken root in the daily life of humanity, weaving webs of conspiracies extolling fears and hatreds, dividing society and peoples.
But more serious is that the "Permanent Doubt" was installed, which makes us question everything and put everything in doubt, which has increased our state of anxiety and discouragement in our own future.
This "Permanent Doubt" is maintained by a network of dark thoughts that seek the division of peoples and permanent conflict in order to reign and enslave the World by fear. And a society that permanently doubts everything, it is a society without direction and without a future !
We are now facing a battle for our consciences, for our souls ... for the Truth!
The dark shrouded figure placed his hand on the vault door. Closing his eyes, he felt every gear and spring in the mechanism. He paused, remembering a time when he had been a hero. When he had fought against what he had become. He banished that thought and continued with his work. The people he had dedicated his life to protect had repaid him with alienation, calling him a monster, freak, and mutant. They were fools. Now it was time to get what he deserved!
Suddenly there was a tremendous crash as glass flew across the room. The figure that stood in the shattered remains of the window was his old friend, whom he betrayed and left for dead. The only one who could spoil the criminal's plan.
The newcomer smiled, brushing glass shards off his cape.
"Expecting me?"
Bouts.
المزاجات المتقلبة الشديدة ، الجنون الفني ، المزاج الرائع الرائع ، الاضطرابات المتناوبة ، الهوس ، المرض ، الاكتئاب ، الشياطين الهائلة,
hypomanie continue blikken constante observaties vreselijke werken ernstige obsessies verachtelijke extravaganties ervaren verschrikkingen frequente pijnen,
crises d'aliénation mentale phobies instables images diagnostiques schémas de mélange natures confondues analyse des symptômes poésie excentrique compulsive,
Halluzinationen Wahnvorstellungen, die wahnsinnige Erregungen verschlimmern, rasende Energien, psychiatrische Grandiosität, alljährlicher Wahnsinn, leidende Gemüter,
προοδευτική ψύχωση καχυποψία που περιγράφει δυστυχίες ευερεθιστότητα παράνοια ομιλία οράματα δυνατά πάθη ανήσυχα συναισθήματα,
複雑な無気力病的思考長期にわたる障害著名な嵐臨床構造笑う泣く作曲家能力の交互の言葉存在画家詩人影振動するリズム満月.
Steve.D.Hammond.
Is that you in there Luv?
So who is the masked man in in Rory’s Bedroom ?
This would be a good time to dust off Rod Serling…
In Rod Serlings Voice:
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
You are about to meet… ,
Rory a young wealthy aristocrat , just returning from a rather mundane high society affair that did not see fit to include her husband..
She comes home to a darkened manor, heading upstairs she hears a noise, rather peculiar, coming from her dressing room.
She stops just before the cracked door, seeing a thin arrow of light coming from within.. She timidly calls out, hoping….
Now please regard the Case in point
The shadowy masked figure lurking beyond that arrow could be one of two quite very distinct possibilities…
Specimen A
Rory’s Husband Christian, a Roman Catholic ex priest not finding welcome with his wife’s WASPish crowd, shunned, disregarded ,and a pawn of alienation… may have gone out drinking to wash down, covering his taints.. or did he stay behind to plan a purposeful bit of role play for when Rory returned…
Specimen B
A scoundrel, rapscallion, Gentleman Jewel thief, who paid his 30 pieces of silver for and received, a wax copy of a wealthy Lady’s manor’s key from the valet at the very same mundane high society affair, but which valet? The one who parked Rory’s Rolls Royce.. or the one who parked the limo of a Sr. Ministers trophy 2nd wife?
Ahem…
“They say a dream takes only a second or so, and yet in that second a Lady can live a lifetime.
She can suffer and be distressed, either taken up into piercing heavenly desires or discarded into a burning, soul tearing hades.. and who's to say which is the greater reality: the one she will know or the one in her dreams, between heaven, and hades, the reality and the play..
Welcome, and tread lightly into the enticing shadows of …….the Twilight Zone.”
Roll the Devils Dice :
Pick one story and decide
Rory’s fate
Double ones
flic.kr/p/ZwmvjQ
Double Six's
flic.kr/p/CB5peU
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Outlining a Theory of General Creativity . .
. . on a 'Pataphysical projectory
Entropy ≥ Memory ● Creativity ²
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Study of the day:
. . "(...) L'objet en quoi s'inscrivent les pouvoirs, de toute éternité humaine, c'est le langage. Ou pour être plus précis, son expression obligée : la langue. Le langage est une législation, la langue en est le code. Nous ne voyons pas le pouvoir qui est dans la langue parce que nous oublions que toute langue est un classement, et que tout classement est oppressif.
(...) Jakobson l'a montré, un idiome se définit moins par ce qu'il permet de dire que par ce qu'il oblige à dire. (...) Ainsi, par sa structure même, la langue implique une relation fatale d'aliénation. Parler, et à plus forte raison discourir, ce n'est pas communiquer, comme on le répète trop souvent, c'est assujettir. (...)
La langue est tout simplement fasciste ; car le fascisme, ce n'est pas d'empêcher de dire, c'est d'obliger à dire. Dès qu'elle est proférée, fût-ce dans l'intimité la plus profonde du sujet, la langue entre au service d'un pouvoir. En elle, immanquablement, deux rubriques se dessinent : l'autorité de l'assertion et la grégarité de la répétition. D'une part la langue est immédiatement assertive. (...) Ce que les linguistes appellent la modalité n'est jamais que le supplément de la langue, ce par quoi, telle une supplique, j'essaye de fléchir son pouvoir implacable de constatation. D'autre part, les signes dont la langue est faite, les signes n'existent que pour autant qu'ils sont reconnus, c'est à dire pour autant qu'ils se répètent ; le signe est suiviste, grégaire ; en chaque signe dort ce monstre : un stéréotype. (...)
A nous qui ne sommes ni des chevaliers de la foi, ni des surhommes, il ne reste qu'à tricher avec la langue, qu'à tricher la langue ; tricherie salutaire, esquive, leurre magnifique qui permet d'entendre la langue hors-pouvoir, dans la splendeur d'une révolution permanente du langage. (...)
The purpose in which the powers of any human eternity are inscribed, is the language. Languages are legislations, each language is a code. We do not see the power that is in the language because we forget that any language is a classification, and that any classification is oppressive.
(...) Jakobson has shown it, an idiom is defined less by what he can say than by what he forces to say. (...) Thus, by its very structure, the language implies a fatal relationship of alienation. Talking, and so even more discoursing, it is not "to communicate", as repeated too often, it is "to subdue". (...)
The language is quite simply fascist ; for fascism does not prevent speech, it compels speech. As soon as it is uttered, even in the intimacy of the deepest respect of the subject, the language enters the service of a Power. In it, inevitably, two topics are emerging : the authority of the assertion and the gregariousness of repetition. On the one hand, the language is immediately assertive. (...) What linguists call the mood, is nothing but additionals of the language, by which, such a petition, we try to flex its power of its implacable determinations. On the other hand, signs of which language is made, signs exist unless "they are recognized", that is to say "they are repeated". The sign is a follower, gregarious, in each sign sleeps this monster: a stereotype. (...)
To us who are neither knights of faith, nor supermen, it only remains to cheat with the language, to cheat the language. Healthy cheating, wonderful lure which can hear the language out of power, in the splendour of a permanent language revolution.
( Roland Barthes - Extrait de la Leçon inaugurale au Collège de France, le 7 janvier 1977 )
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rectO-persO | E ≥ m.C² | co~errAnce | TiLt
I imagine the story of a lonely woman fleeing in the middle of an urban kaleidoscope. Maybe she is being chased by someone coming from far away, climbing stairs. Citizen of a lonely city that isolates people. Maybe she is just a passenger of her own loneliness immersed in dreams of a better world. Around her, the reflections of colored glass converge on her silhouette as if materializing the colors of the dreams she carries within.
Are we already living in a dystopic world? My picture tends to depict (or suggest) alienation, solitude, identity and social dissonance. Shadows and reflections as I feel paradoxically they convey a richer impression of 'reality.
Lisbon, Portugal.
28.9.2017, Herr L, 21x30 cm, Tusche, Wasserfarben, Farbstifte auf Papier, Detail.
28.9.2017, Mr. L., 21x30 cm, ink, watercolors, colored pencils on paper, Detail.
Momentan zeige ich Zeichnungen von 2013, die ich kürzlich übermalt habe - erst fast normal, aber als drittes Bild eine Verfremdung, die ich mir ausgedacht habe mit surrealistischem Charakter als eine Überraschung.
At the moment, I'm showing drawings from 2013, which I recently painted - almost normal, but as a third picture an alienation, which I devised with surrealistic character as a surprise.
Lodovico Cardi, known as Cigoli (Cigoli, San Miniato 1559 - Rome 1613) - Ecce Homo (1607) - oil on canvas size 175 x 135 cm. - Pitti Palace, Florence
Il dipinto, forse il più noto di Ludovico Cigoli e considerato uno dei suoi capolavori, fu commissionato dal nobiluomo romano Massimo Massimi. La biografia del Cigoli, redatta dal nipote nel 1628, tramanda la notizia – un vero e proprio topos – della competizione promossa da Massimi che avrebbe messo a gara tre pittori, Caravaggio, Domenico Passignano e il Cigoli, chiamandoli a misurarsi su una tematica cristologica. Il Cigoli superò i suoi avversari con questo dipinto, in cui la preziosità della materia pittorica, dei damaschi, dei rasi e dei velluti, i ricercati effetti cromatici alla veneziana, si fondono con l’intenso naturalismo dei volti, ritratti dal vero. L'illusionismo prospettico creato dal parapetto marmoreo in primo piano imprime invece una forte teatralità alla scena, frutto dello scambio continuo tra pittura e scenografia nella Firenze del '600. La fama del dipinto è anche legata a questa storia, alla grande risonanza che l’opera ebbe come termine di confronto con il realismo caravaggesco, tanto nel contesto artistico romano che fiorentino. Già prima del 1630 l'opera era registrata nella collezione fiorentina di don Lorenzo de' Medici, per passare di lì a poco (1638 c.) nella raccolta del Granduca di Toscana Ferdinando II de' Medici. Da allora, salvo una breve parentesi spagnola e la temporanea alienazione a seguito delle requisizioni napoleoniche (1799-1815), la tela è rimasta sempre a Palazzo Pitti.
The painting, perhaps Ludovico Cigoli's best known and considered one of his masterpieces, was commissioned by the Roman nobleman Massimo Massimi. Cigoli's biography, written by his nephew in 1628, passes on the news-a veritable topos-of the competition promoted by Massimi, who allegedly put three painters, Caravaggio, Domenico Passignano and Cigoli, in competition, calling on them to measure themselves on a Christological theme. Cigoli surpassed his opponents with this painting, in which the preciousness of the pictorial material, of the damasks, satins and velvets, and the sought-after Venetian-style chromatic effects, blend with the intense naturalism of the faces, portrayed from life. The perspective illusionism created by the marble parapet in the foreground, on the other hand, imparts a strong theatricality to the scene, the result of the continuous exchange between painting and set design in 17th-century Florence. The painting's fame is also linked to this history, to the great resonance the work had as a term of comparison with Caravaggio's realism, both in the Roman and Florentine artistic context. Even before 1630 the work was already registered in the Florentine collection of Don Lorenzo de' Medici, to pass shortly thereafter (c. 1638) into the collection of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand II de' Medici. Since then, except for a brief Spanish interlude and temporary alienation following the Napoleonic requisitions (1799-1815), the canvas has always remained in the Pitti Palace.
I don't care much for the work of artist Sarah Morris, but I dug this shot of her from her short film "Beijing", so I decided to use it as the basis of a montage.
Montage created 24/03/10.
Running out of ideas for your 365 project? Join We're Here!
Strobist: AB1600 with gridded 60X30 softbox overhead. Triggered by Cybersync.
AKIBA scenario
AKIHABARA (秋葉原) also known as Electric Town or AKIBA in short. Its best-known as one of the largest shopping areas on Earth for electronic, computer, anime, and otaku goods. The character of Akihabara has constantly changed over the decades and continues to do so. A recent development is the emergence of Akihabara as a center of Japanese animation culture.
OTAKU culture in Akihabara has become increasingly famous in the recent years. Many people there have unique lifestyles, centered on technological enterprises and a love for Anime/Manga, that have made them outsiders in other sections of Japanese society. Otaku are afforded the chance to gather here and avoid alienation imposed by others who do not share their specific interests. The presence of such prolific "GEEKY" behavior has led to Akihabara being seen as a mecca of sorts for otaku, as well as to the term Akiba-kei, or Akiba-type.
In addition to conventional stores, various other animation related establishments have appeared in the area, such as cosplay ("costume play") cafes, where waitresses are dressed up like anime characters, and manga kissaten ("comics cafes"), where customers can read comics, watch DVDs and surf the internet.
Maid-kissa are coffee shops where the waitresses where fantasy like maid costumes. They dress up to look like characters from famous anime or Japanese comics. Since Akihabara caters not only to electronic enthusiasts but also young Japanese otaku which translates roughly to NERDS in English.
Every Sundays at Chuo-Dori, the main street in Akihabara you can find the "MAIDS" passing out pamphlets to their shops to passers by.
Akihabara is 5 minutes ride from (central) Tokyo Station
SOURCE:
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
japan-guide.com
tokyoessentials.com
BEST VIEW LARGE
Is that you in there Luv?
So who is the masked man in in Rory’s Bedroom ?
This would be a good time to dust off Rod Serling…
In Rod Serlings Voice:
You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.
You are about to meet… ,
Rory a young wealthy aristocrat , just returning from a rather mundane high society affair that did not see fit to include her husband..
She comes home to a darkened manor, heading upstairs she hears a noise, rather peculiar, coming from her dressing room.
She stops just before the cracked door, seeing a thin arrow of light coming from within.. She timidly calls out, hoping….
Now please regard the Case in point
The shadowy masked figure lurking beyond that arrow could be one of two quite very distinct possibilities…
Specimen A
Rory’s Husband Christian, a Roman Catholic ex priest not finding welcome with his wife’s WASPish crowd, shunned, disregarded ,and a pawn of alienation… may have gone out drinking to wash down, covering his taints.. or did he stay behind to plan a purposeful bit of role play for when Rory returned…
Specimen B
A scoundrel, rapscallion, Gentleman Jewel thief, who paid his 30 pieces of silver for and received, a wax copy of a wealthy Lady’s manor’s key from the valet at the very same mundane high society affair, but which valet? The one who parked Rory’s Rolls Royce.. or the one who parked the limo of a Sr. Ministers trophy 2nd wife?
Ahem…
“They say a dream takes only a second or so, and yet in that second a Lady can live a lifetime.
She can suffer and be distressed, either taken up into piercing heavenly desires or discarded into a burning, soul tearing hades.. and who's to say which is the greater reality: the one she will know or the one in her dreams, between heaven, and hades, the reality and the play..
Welcome, and tread lightly into the enticing shadows of …….the Twilight Zone.”
Roll the Devils Dice :
Pick one story and decide
Rory’s fate
Double ones
Double Six's
I often get a question about how long it takes me to paint a painting️People would usually like an answer in hours⏳
The answer is I don't know, it depends
It depends on the subject, motivation, or the format of the image
There are paintings that I put on the shelf and come back to them after six months, and there are paintings that I paint very quickly and can't tear myself away from them until late at night.
Besides, oil paintings are created in layers, which need time to dry. So my dears I don't know how much time, I never check it 😁
🎨Alienation - oil on canvas, 17×20cm, 2022
A fish farm prior to the disaster the buildings were re-used as a radiological laboratory up until 1996. Located alongside the picturesque shoreline of one of the man-made cooling lakes a number of rusting fish pens still remain in place along its banks.
The animal traps are situated in an outbuilding next to the laboratries.
Hyper Transformation
A digital alteration from my photograph of a completely different subject.
Included in the gallery Die Kunst der Verfremdung - The Art of Alienation: www.flickr.com/photos/barefoot-images/galleries/721576330...
An abandoned cot lies next to the isolation ward in Pripyat hospital. Everything is isolated and alone in the Zone of Alienation.....nothing is safe....
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Your comments and favs are appreciated more than you know and do not go unnoticed
Not many living organisms around to photograph this time a year for macro so the 75-300 comes out to play when I need to escape.
Things are not great for me atm. Ive been hurt too many times I think. I grabbed milk in woolworths shopping centre the other day and the expiry date had my child CJ's Birth day as the expiry. I lost it. I had to get out of there in a big hurry as i could not hold my emotions or tears back. Police corruption and corruption in other areas needs to stop. And laws seriously need to be changed. It is too easy for a nasty Mother to alienate and defame a Loving Dad.
📷 Olympus EM1 Mkii
🔎 OM System 75-300mm II f/4.8-6.7
Topaz Labs Denoise A.I
Adobe PS
Hope you have a nice day
© All rights to these photos and descriptions are reserved and protected by international copyright laws. Any use of this work requires my prior written permission.
A Dani war chief passes through the oval courtyard of a traditional fortress-like compound as he prepares for a ritualized mock battle that is about to take place high in a remote corner of West Papua's central highlands, 1600m/5200ft above sea level - Grand Valley of the Balim River, Irian Jaya, Indonesia. Digital film scan, shot with a Pentax point-and-shoot pocket camera directly under the noonday sun, circa 1996.
Battle Dress
He is adorned with a large decorated bib of nassa (snail) shells, an upturned boar’s tusk nose piece, rare bird-of-paradise plumes and other feathers, a bailer shell chest piece (with smaller shell pieces attached to a tightly woven bush-twine neck band of cowrie shells), an ornamental wristband of finely woven pandanus fibres, arm bands of dog fur, and the iconic long koteka or penis gourd – all part of traditional Dani ornamentation and battle dress. His forehead is smeared with a thick layer of charcoal-blackened pig grease.
Ritualized Warfare
Many Dani elders in the valley today were once engaged in an elaborate system of ritualized warfare, organized around changing political alliances and large shifting confederations across the Grand Valley. War was embedded in Dani culture as a constant and immediate part of everyday life. Brawls, feuds, and wars would begin with conflicts between individuals that would escalate to prolonged intergroup fighting.
Much of the fighting ended in the 1960's under an enforced Indonesian government pacification programme, although it is likely that certain forms of traditional fighting still occurred in isolated pockets of the region up to the late 1990's. Most fighting is now expressed through mock combat rituals that includes women and children in some of the ritualized running patterns.
Trembling on the Edge of Change
The Grand Valley Dani are accomplished gardeners and pig farmers with a sophisticated neolithic (late Stone Age) culture and technology that anthropologists see as "trembling on the edge of change.” Accelerated contact with the outside world is inevitable. The road up from the coast up to the highlands and beyond has been under construction for more than two decades and is near completion. Little has been done to prepare indigenous Papuans for the inundation of permanent Asian migrants from other over-populated islands (especially Java) under Indonesia’s official state-sponsored transmigration resettlement programme.
Alienation of the land to foreign mining interests, organized tourism, the advent of cash and alcohol, and expanding state intrusion into indigenous Papuan affairs - all pose a serious challenge to the traditional Papuan way of life and very survival as an independent and culturally distinct indigenous nation.
Repression and Resistance
Indonesian state control in West Papua is particularly reminiscent of earlier times in the Americas and elsewhere when aboriginal peoples were contained through a colonization strategy of political subjugation and cultural assimilation. Indigenous Papuan resistance in the highlands has taken several forms, ranging from mass protests and sporadic hostage-taking to low-level guerrilla warfare and a loosely organized yet persistent political movement for separation and the creation of an independent Papuan state within Indonesia.
At the time of this photoshoot (February 1976), indigenous insurgents of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) had abducted 12 European and Indonesian nationals on a biodiversity research expedition to the highlands in an adjoining tribal region just 70 kilometres away, roughly five days by foot. They were held as hostages in the mountainous forests, moving across rugged ridges and deep river valleys from one makeshift prison camp to another as members of the International Red Cross tried unsuccessfully to mediate the crisis.
Papuan insurgents conducted the raid with bows and arrows and a handful of guns. Indonesian Army Special Forces ultimately launched a militarized hostage rescue operation with helicopter gunships and crack counter-insurgency troops with limited success. The controversial South African mercenary group, Executive Outcomes, provided both training and operational advice. Two of the hostages were executed during the struggle. Organized Papuan resistance continues to this day.
First Contact
The indigenous peoples of West Papua migrated from southeast Asia and the Australian continent about 30,000 to 50,000 years ago during the Ice Age when sea levels were lower and distances between islands were shorter. Western "first contact” with West Papua's Grand Valley Dani was established in 1938 during American-led botanical and zoological expeditions to the central highlands, less than sixty years before this photograph was taken.
About 50,000 Dani now live in small compound clusters or settlements scattered across the fertile and densely-populated "Grand Valley" of the Balim River (about 40 miles long by 10 miles wide) in West Papua's central highlands.
~~~
Ethnographic efforts at demystifying Dani Neolithic cultural practices and ritualized warfare in the region are associated with the early ground-breaking 1961 Harvard-Peabody Expedition. They include anthropologist Karl Heider’s accounts in “The Dugum Dani: A Papuan Culture in the Highlands of West New Guinea,” Aldine Publishing (1970) and “Grand Valley Dani: Peaceful Warriors” (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology), Wadsworth Publishing (1996); also filmmaker Robert Gardner’s classic ethnographic documentary, “Dead Birds” (1965); Peter Matthiessen’s “Under the Mountain Wall: A Chronicle of Two Seasons in Stone Age New Guinea,” Viking Press (1962.
Reactor No 4 at Chernobyl, is the scene of the worst nuclear accident in history (maybe after Fukushima...).
The new Strucrure covers the reactor and the unstable “sarcophagus”, which was hastily built around it by Soviet authorities in the immediate aftermath of the disaster 31 years ago. The shelter is said to be the largest land-based movable object ever constructed