el cielo

This hefty piece of nonfiction is in the works.

It's stretching my mind more than it has been stretched in a long time. Some of it is hard to take in.

The concept of eternity when you really think about it, is difficult to comprehend. Driving to school today, I thought about how hard it is to think that the life we live in eternity will last forever. Time won't affect it like it does here. I wont grow old. I'll remain where I am always. That in itself is tearing the sides of the boxes in my head.

and then ... there's so much more

Cautiva

Imagine finding out you aren't who you've been told you are. You were actually adopted, your mother was blind-folded and beaten up when she had you. Your parents, those people you thought you were born to, have lied your whole life. And your real parents have been missing, and are proposed dead.

This is what Christina is told one day at school.

Her best friend turns against her and her godfather is partly to blame for sending her real parents to a concentration camp that existed in downtown Buenos Aires during the 1978 World Cup era when Argentina won.

This tale, although one of fiction, is based on true events and real stories from those who lived under the leadership of President Jorge Videla.

At the end of the film, viewers are told that nearly 30,000 people are said to have disappeared during the Dirty War of Argetina. Many political dissidents where drugged and then pushed out of airplanes flying over the Rio de Plata which runs into the Atlantic Ocean. Some dissidents were sent to torture camps in the hands of the country's naval mechanic school in B.A.


Anyone who has listened to Mana (their version of the original by Rubén Blades) or U2 might have heard the story of the "desaparecidos" or the disappeared. U2's song is about the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a still-active human rights group of mothers of the victims of the dictatorship.

The after-effects still linger, and the story of Sofia (turned Christina) reminds the viewers the old, scientific equation that every action has an equal and opposite reaction.



*The following is from Wikipedia*

Many women gave birth in captivity; they were then killed and their children given illegally in adoption to families and friends of military or police personnel. The task of locating these children and restoring their lost identity has been going on since the restoration of democracy in 1983. Legal proceedings were taken against those involved in these actions even while amnesties were in place for other crimes by the military since appropriating children from their mothers is a crime that lies outside the scope of military procedures, and thus also outside any kind of amnesty law or pardon that implies orders in a military context.

MLK Jr. Day in St. Pauls

ST. PAULS — Thirty-degree weather wasn't going to stop Annie Pearson from marching the two-mile walk in remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr. – she showed up at St. Pauls Elementary School. But the rest of the St. Pauls Bladen County Chapter of Las Amigas never arrived at school.

"I guess they thought it was too cold," Pearson said with a smile on her face. The Las Amigas president got back in her car. "Just come to the church at six – I'll see you there."

Pearson walked into the church and sat on one of the 56 bright blue-cushioned pews. As more and more people escaped the wind-chilling cold and entered the small brick building. Pearson moved from the left row of pews to the middle. She sat alone. Her black jacket that she draped over the back of the wooden pew coordinated with her shoes, her nylons and the color of her skin.

The choir began singing. The crowd was clapping and tapping; Pearson didn't move. Her right hand grasped her thin gold-framed glasses.

She walked up to the podium after the singing stopped. "You know the reason for us being here … remembering the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.," Pearson said, serving her role as the organizer of the 11th annual event. "We hope you will be blessed, we are blessed to have you here."

She took her seat, put on her glasses and scrutinized the night's agenda like a professor would a textbook.

The singing started again. She stood up. Her voice rose above the other 40 people in the crowd. But that distinct sound was only heard on certain words. The glasses had moved to her left hand and a tissue was scrunched up in her right hand.

The preacher, Rev. Curtis Barginere, stood up to speak. Pearson crossed her arms on her lap and kept her abnormally good posture.

"Like Moses in his day, God used King mightily to pave a better way," Barginere said with his voice maintaining one noise level – loud. "Let us remember the marches. Let us remember the jail time. Let us remember the water. Let us remember the dogs."

When Barginere referred to King with the phrases "by peaceful means" and "full of love for mankind," Pearson strongly nodded her head.

"King stepped out of that fear only on the foundation of Jesus Christ," Barginere said.

The crowd was no longer an audience, but a part of the show with shouts of "Amen" and hands raised – some people stood up.

Barginere spiced up scripture.

"You are my friends if you do, if you do, if you do what I command you," he said raising his voice to a level that made the microphone buzz. His hands remained in the air waving and shaking, as if they automatically did that when his voice reached a certain level.

He continued: "We are about something. We are about peace and love and happiness, not this violence state. Not drugs and crime … not breaking into houses … ."

After the service, Pearson said she thought Barginere did well.

"It was different from what we've heard," she said. "I liked when he tied Martin Luther King into biblical characters."

Pearson was a college student during the 1963 March on Washington. She said King's ideals are still alive.

"He set the floor for civil and economic justice," she said.

My Flesh and Blood

coming soon...
a little splurb about this intriguing documentary

The Glass Castle

Despite having a selfish mother and an alcoholic father, Jeanette Walls and her three siblings stay afloat amidst an almost-homeless lifestyle.

Walls has a knack for writing well as she tells a fascinating memoir of what it was like to live in a condemned house with no plumbing, no food, and no refrigerator.

Her father uses her beauty to get a few bucks, her mother wont wake up to go to work every day. Walls and her brother go "hunting" for food on a daily basis, sometimes sitting in the bathrooms at school to wait for other children to throw away their leftovers at lunch.

To read a real account of the different effects an impoverished lifestyle can have on American people in recent times from a page-turner of a book, pick this one up.

Brothels and cameras

The seed of hope was a 35mm camera. The tree that grew -- an education.

Zana Briski, a professional photographer, started a photography class to children who lived in Calcutta's Red Light district. The class, not only produced talented child photographers, but provoked Briski to find an education for the lowest of India's low.

"I used to want to be a doctor," said one of Briski's students, after his mother was burned to death by her pimp. "Then I wanted to be an artist. There is nothing called hope in my future."

But fortunately for Avijit, 11, Briski found a way to give him an education, amidst the hierarchy of political red tape.

Watch the eight children go to the beach for the first time in their lives ... and more stories on the DVD. Check out the nonprofit Kids with Cameras
http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/home/
and possibly even buy some of their prints at
http://www.kids-with-cameras.org/kidsgallery/

Wal-Mart and crime stats

Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 19 of this year, there were 627
incidents at Wal-Mart reported to police — an average of 2.28 a day —
with the majority being larcenies, but also complaints of shoplifting,
fraud, harassment and vandalism.

City wants Wal-Mart
to get tough on crime

Gena Smith
Staff writer
LUMBERTON — Wal-Mart, the nation's No. 1 retailer, is known for its
low prices and variety of items, which range from HD televisions, to
DVDs, to Budweiser and rib-eye steaks.
But the store in Lumberton is gaining another reputation — one that
could keep shoppers away, or at least make them wary. Since 2002,
there have been about 3,000 calls for help because of incidents at
Wal-Mart.
Bruce Davis, on the brink of leaving the City Council after 20 years
of serving as the Precinct 1 councilman, investigated when a Lumberton
woman who had been assaulted in broad daylight complained. He ended up
with an inch-thick collection of police reports on incidents from both
inside the Wal-Mart and outside, in its parking lot, that were filed
between Jan. 1 and Oct. 19 of this year. There were 627 incidents
reported during that time — an average of 2.28 a day — with the
majority being larcenies, but also complaints of shoplifting, fraud,
harassment and vandalism.
"What prompted this effort on my part is a friend of mine's wife was
mugged at Wal-Mart 3:30 on a Sunday afternoon," Davis said. "She
parked three spaces from the front door in the handicap section, and
that's what got me involved ... I had no idea — and I suspect the
public does not — that there are this many incidents at Wal-Mart."
Davis suggested that incidents are increasing as Christmas approaches,
saying he was told by a police officer that there were seven reported
recently during a single day.
Davis' bundle didn't include Kathy Boudreau's reported incident, which
happened on Nov. 19. The mother of five said her purse, which
contained her wallet, checkbook and cell phone, was taken by force as
she walked in the parking lot.
Boudreau is frustrated by police and Wal-Mart. She said the store's
security camera did not adequately identify the assailant's vehicle.
"I feel like something is just not right there," said Boudreau, who
lives in St. Pauls. "I just don't get it ... I just feel like (the
police) really didn't do their job because they weren't wanting to
deal with it ... people are being deceived."
Boudreau said police did nothing even after her service provider gave
them phone numbers made from her cell phone.
She also complained about inadequate security.
"Never do I ever see security people in the parking lot at Wal-Mart,"
Boudreau said. "I don't even want to go there anymore ... ."

Wal-Mart's plea

In April, John Hendren, the manager at Wal-Mart, acknowledged a
problem publicly when he asked the City Council to allow off-duty
police officers to provide weekend security, from 7 p.m. Friday to 7
a.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Sunday. Hendren proposed
that Wal-Mart pay the officers, but wanted the city to cover health
insurance, disability compensation and liability insurance.
The City Council said no, citing liability concerns related to putting
a police officer on private property.
Lumberton police do patrol the parking lot, but Chief Police Mike
McNeill could not give specifics on how often an officer drives
through the parking lot.
According to the 911 records, from June 2002 to June 2007, there were
2,935 calls made from Wal-Mart.
"We were concerned with it, but not until a lawsuit came up did we
start generating the report — we didn't realize there were this many,"
Communications Chief Mitchell Pate said.
The number of incidents is expected to increase as Christmas shoppers
seek bargains at the store. They will be carrying cash and gifts.
"We are going to beef up patrol a little bit more during the holiday
season," said McNeill, who seemed reluctant to classify Wal-Mart as a
high-crime area.
"It's just like all over the city — it's not just one place that's a
real high crime area," he said. "You would think that with as many
people are going in and out of Wal-Mart it wouldn't be an easy prey
for targeting people there."
McNeill said he has recommended that Wal-Mart increase the lighting in
the parking lot and hire security officers to patrol the parking lot.
Local Wal-Mart officials referred questions to their corporate office
in Bentonville, Ark. A corporate spokesperson there, Jami Lamontagne,
asked that The Robesonian provide a list of questions and she e-mailed
the responses.
The questions were specific, including the number of security cameras
and security guards, but Lamontagne's response was vague: "We've
recently added additional cameras throughout the store. Also, we're in
the process of installing additional lighting in the parking lot. We
have full-time security associates employed by Wal-Mart. Also, we have
a third party security group that works in the store on a regular
basis."
Davis is adamant that the problem is Wal-Mart's to fix, not the city's.
"We've had a number of businesses approach the city about providing
security for them," Davis said. "The city does not provide security
for private businesses ... because you would be operating on private
property which creates a lot of legal issues for the city and it also
puts us in a situation of immense liability."
City officials worry about the snowball effect of helping one private
business and not others.
"If you look around town, you'll see businesses with security and they
provide that by hiring part-time police officers off duty ..., Davis
said. "I should think that Wal-Mart would provide some parking lot
security as grocery stores do."
Davis believes broadcasting the problem could force Wal-Mart's hand.
"I think that the only action I can take is to bring it to The
Robesonian and let the public know," he said. "If the public
understands, there will be more action taken."