El Sistema is a network of childrens and youth orchestras, music centres and workshops in Venezuela, in which more than 250,000 children and young people are currently learning to play an instrument. It was set up over thirty years ago by José Antonio Abreu, who was driven by the utopian vision of a better future. In the dangerous and poverty-stricken shanty towns of Caracas, Abreu lifts children out of poverty through music, changing both people and structures. The story, which has all the makings of a fairytale, is the extraordinary account of a vision that has become reality. Several of...

From Wikipedia Gandhi is a 1982 epic biographical film which dramatises the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, an Indian lawyer and activist who was a leader of the nation's non-violent, non-cooperative independence movement against the United Kingdom's rule of the country during the 20th century. Gandhi was a collaboration of British and Indian production companies and was written by John Briley and produced and directed by Richard Attenborough. It stars Ben Kingsley in the titular role. The film covers Gandhi's life from a defining moment in 1893, as he is thrown off a South African train for being in a...

From Wikipedia   Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods. The film centres around the real-life events involving black activist Steve Biko and his friend Donald Woods, who initially finds him destructive, and attempts to understand his way of life. Denzel Washington stars as Biko, while actor Kevin Kline portrays Woods. Cry Freedom delves into the ideas of discrimination, political corruption, and the repercussions...

From Wikipedia: King Leopold's Ghost (1998) is a best-selling popular history book by Adam Hochschild that explores the exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium between 1885 and 1908, as well as the atrocities that were committed during that period. The book aims to increase public awareness of crimes committed by European colonial rulers in Africa. It was refused by nine of the ten U.S. publishing houses to which an outline was submitted, but became an unexpected bestseller and won the prestigious Mark Lynton History Prize for literary style. It also won the 1999 Duff...

In THE SHOCK DOCTRINE, Naomi Klein explodes the myth that the global free market triumphed democratically. Exposing the thinking, the money trail and the puppet strings behind the world-changing crises and wars of the last four decades, The Shock Doctrine is the gripping story of how America’s “free market” policies have come to dominate the world-- through the exploitation of disaster-shocked people and countries. At the most chaotic juncture in Iraq’s civil war, a new law is unveiled that would allow Shell and BP to claim the country’s vast oil reserves…. Immediately following September 11, the Bush Administration quietly out-sources...

John Pilger is a very unusual journalist. He writes about people on the receiving end of grisly western policies - whether bombs or economic "advice" - and then exposes the motivations of those who are responsible. One might think Pilger is just doing his job. In fact, it is an indictment of western journalism that this way of working is rather unusual and Pilger unique. He opens by writing: "This book is about empire, its facades and the enduring struggle of people for their freedom. It offers an antidote to authorised versions of contemporary history that censor by omission and...

From Wikipedia   Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is a book written by John Perkins and published in 2004. It provides Perkins' account of his career with consulting firm Chas. T. Main in Boston. Before employment with the firm, he interviewed for a job with the National Security Agency (NSA). Perkins claims that this interview effectively constituted an independent screening which led to his subsequent hiring by Einar Greve, a member of the firm (and alleged NSA liaison) to become a self-described "economic hit man". According to Perkins, he began writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in the...

In this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, James Lovelock deftly explains his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for the non-scientist, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically different model of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter-air, ocean, and land surfaces-forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit...

In this powerful book, journalist and film maker John Pilger strips away the layers of deception, dissembling language and omission that prevent us from understanding how the world really works. From the invisible corners of Tony Blair's Britain to Burma, Vietnam, Australia, South Africa and the illusions of the 'media age', power, he argues, has its own agenda. Unchallenged, it operates to protect its interests with a cynical disregard for people - shaping, and often devastating, millions of lives. By unravelling the hidden histories of contemporary events, Pilger allows us to read between the lines. He also celebrates the eloquent...

It is possible to believe that the many problems that Africa faces - war, genocide, poverty, famine - are the faults either of Western governments and financial institutions and/or the result of natural disasters. How is that an entire continent, pretty much, can be in such dire straights? Why is it that it is afflicted with so many deep-rooted and intractable problems? Martin Meredith's 'The State of Africa' seeks to explore the recent history of the continent, throwing much light on the answers to these difficult questions. Meredith's work has an enormous scope, covering as it does the entire continent,...

From Wikipedia   Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet is a non-fiction book by author Mark Lynas about global warming. The book looks and attempts to summarize results from scientific papers on climate change. The first chapter describes the expected effects of climate change with one degree (°C) increase in average global temperature since pre-industrial times. The second chapter describes the effects of two degrees average temperature and so forth until Chapter 6 which shows the expected effects of six degrees (°) average global temperature. The effects are also compare to paleoclimatic studies, with six degrees of warming...

  I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.  And I water'd it in fears, Night and morning with my tears: And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.  And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.  And into my garden stole, When the night had veil'd the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath...

I'm Explaining a Few Things. You are going to ask: and where are the lilacs? and the poppy-petalled metaphysics? and the rain repeatedly spattering its words and drilling them full of apertures and birds? I'll tell you all the news. I lived in a suburb, a suburb of Madrid, with bells, and clocks, and trees. >From there you could look out over Castille's dry face: a leather ocean. My house was called the house of flowers, because in every cranny geraniums burst: it was a good-looking house with its dogs and children. Remember, Raul? Eh, Rafel? Federico, do you remember...

A city in Brazil recruited local farmers to help do something U.S. cities have yet to do: end hunger. By Frances Moore Lappé , posted Feb 13, 2009 in Yes!Magazine “To search for solutions to hunger means to act within the principle that the status of a citizen surpasses that of a mere consumer.” CITY OF BELO HORIZONTE, BRAZIL In writing Diet for a Small Planet, I learned one simple truth: Hunger is not caused by a scarcity of food but a scarcity of democracy. But that realization was only the beginning, for then I had to ask: What does...

Example from India - one farmer every 30 minutes commits suicide.... During the 1990-s, the World Bank and IMF encouraged the Indian governements to adopt new economic policies such as "structural adjustment" and privatisation. Indias markets were opened to global trade and multinational corporations. The Indian government removed government support for farmers, and promoted heavily the change from subsistence farming to to cash crops, especially cotton. These changes made the Indian farmers very vulnerable - to international competition, to price falls...and without the safety net of government support. The rights of the farmers to a decent life, where they could...

W ho will teach? The programmes at CICD demand out-of-the ordinary teachers. The school’s teachers have a wide range of experiences and knowledge from travelling and working in many different countries. They are a diverse bunch, of different ages and nationalities. The teachers at CICD have as their biggest passion to create a life changing and high quality programme, teaching and training adults to make a difference in the world. You will find the teachers living at the college and engaged in every aspect of the school and the programme. You will find them active in their teaching and leadership...

O n teaching and learning The school’s learning and teaching is a rare bird and definite¬ly out of the ordinary. It has each student and the student body in the middle of everything and playing the leading part. This is deepened through a collectively based organisation of the school’s programme. The content and methods used within teach¬ing and learning demand that all, students and teachers alike, act together both theoretically and practically within the programme topics and their elements of life and learning, as well as within all matters of running the school and its everyday. A sprightly programme and...

A few weeks ago this very encouraging little greeting from Michael Moore arrived with his newsletter                                                                                       - and hear! He is not only a award-winning film-maker but also a talented singer! Michael Moore writes: "Friends, Here's a free song for you: http://soundcloud.com/occupy-this-album/01-michael-moore-the-times It's my contribution to "Occupy This Album", a compilation CD (99 songs!) featuring David Crosby & Graham Nash, Steve Earle, Tom Morello, Willie Nelson, Ani DiFranco, Third Eye Blind, Immortal Technique and Jackson Browne to be released Tuesday, May 15th. All proceeds from this album will go to fund the Occupy Wall Street movement (all the musicians...

Til Ungdommen  by Nordahl Grieg   Norwegian: Til ungdommen[a] Kringsatt av fiender, gå inn i din tid! Under en blodig storm – vi deg til strid! Kanskje du spør i angst, udekket, åpen: hva skal jeg kjempe med, hva er mitt våpen? Her er ditt vern mot vold, her er ditt sverd: troen på livet vårt, menneskets verd. For all vår fremtids skyld, søk det og dyrk det, dø om du må – men: øk det og styrk det! Stilt går granatenes glidende bånd. Stans deres drift mot død, stans dem med ånd! Krig er forakt for liv. Fred er...

Some history... The Tvind windmill, "Tvindkraft" was created during the years 1975-78, at the initiative of and financed by the teacher group of the schools at Tvind. The time was the time of the oil crisis, and the debate was for or against nuclear power - for or against wind power - nuclear power or wind power. The price of energy had multiplied, and something had to be done. The Danish industry was pressing on to introduce nuclear power as a cheap alternative to the expensive oil. A majority in the Danish Parliament was building up. At Tvind people were...