World Aids Day

Today, we are observing WORLD AIDS DAY, remembering the ones we lost, those who are suffering and those who are working to end it.

Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008 some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS.1 Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.2




The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

The theme for World AIDS Day 2009 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. Global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention and care, recognising these as fundamental human rights. Valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV and AIDS services, yet greater commitment is needed around the world if the goal of universal access is to be achieved. Millions of people continue to be infected with HIV every year. In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of antiretroviral therapy are receiving it, and too many do not have access to adequate care services.3

The protection of human rights is fundamental to combating the global HIV and AIDS epidemic. Violations against human rights fuel the spread of HIV, putting marginalised groups, such as injecting drug users and sex workers, at a higher risk of HIV infection. By promoting individual human rights, new infections can be prevented and people who have HIV can live free from discrimination.

World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for all of us - individuals, communities and political leaders - to take action and ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.

The red ribbon is an international symbol of AIDS awareness that is worn by people all year round and particularly around World AIDS Day to demonstrate care and concern about HIV and AIDS, and to remind others of the need for their support and commitment.

The red ribbon started as a "grass roots" effort; as a result there is no one official AIDS ribbon manufacturer, and many people make their own. It's easily done - just use some ordinary red ribbon and a safety pin!

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Source: www.worldaidsday.org

Nina Simone Memorial Project Sculpture Preview

Still photography video of Nina Simone sculpture model preview in Tryon, NC on Sunday, 11 October 2009 in Nina Simone Plaza. Sculpture commissioned by Nina Simone Project and sculpted by Zenos Frudakis. JET magazine nationally previewed Frudakis’s model for the public art sculpture of Simone in its 9 March issue. The over-life-size representation of a seated Nina Simone has evoked overwhelmingly positive response from viewers.

The Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project (www.ninasimoneproject.org) released photographs today of the model in progress for a memorial sculpture depicting the legendary chanteuse Nina Simone. The over-life-size bronze sculpture of Simone, by Philadelphia-based sculptor Zenos Frudakis, is planned as part of a public art installation in Tryon, NC, birthplace of the world-renown singer and human rights’ activist who came to be known as the High Priestess of Soul.

Crys Armbrust, Ph.D., founder and executive director of the Nina Simone Project (NSP), remarks that “we are extraordinarily gratified by the positive response to each of the NSP’s memorial efforts—scholarship, sculpture and music festival.” Regarding the sculpture and its sculptor, Armbrust continues, “we are fortunate, as well, to have assembled an excellent team to accomplish this important phase of our endeavor.”

Zenos Frudakis’s work appears in numerous art collections both in the US and abroad. Notable commissions include the Honor Guard at the National Air Force Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, Freedom at the GSK World Headquarters in Philadelphia, PA, and Martin Luther King at the US Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa.

Frudakis’s enthusiasm for this commission is evident in his comments following. “I am delighted to share in the creation of a lasting tribute to jazz legend Nina Simone. In addition to being a fan of her work, as an artist, it is especially pleasing for me to be given this opportunity to honor another artist.”

The highly-acclaimed sculptor Frudakis is joined in this effort by Nina Simone’s daughter Lisa Simone Kelly, known to many as a seasoned musical performer in her own right. Her credits include lead roles in such Broadway productions as Aida, Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Misérables. Kelly, who performs under the single name Simone, is now on tour to promote the release of her tribute CD “Simone on Simone.”

“Lisa Simone Kelly,” Armbrust reports, “has played an integral role in the creative process, and her participation has made our efforts all the more meaningful. Beyond her valuable commentary on earlier versions of the bust study, she graciously continued on to pose for Frudakis’s full scale study of her mother. So, what we have here is, in point of fact, indeed Simone on Simone—a legend and a legacy combined together in tribute to one who was and is a powerful musical force in a global theatre and an icon of human potential realized.”

For further information about the Nina Simone Project, see www.ninasimoneproject.org.

The Big Business of US prisons

Good Magazine featured video called "Jailbirds" incite interesting questions. I question the the impetus behind the significant spike in the prison population. I don't have answers only questions.


There are approximately 2.3 million inmates in state, federal and private prisons throughout the country. According to California Prison Focus, "no other society in human history has imprisoned so many of its own citizens." The figures show that the United States has locked up more people than any other country: a half million more than China, which has a population five times greater than the U.S. Statistics reveal that the United States holds 25% of the world's prison population, but only 5% of the world's people. From less than 300,000 inmates in 1972, the jail population grew to 2 million by the year 2000. In 1990 it was one million. Ten years ago there were only five private prisons in the country, with a population of 2,000 inmates; now, there are 100, with 62,000 inmates. It is expected that by the coming decade, the number will hit 360,000, according to reports.

Could it be "privatization of prisons, federal deregulation, state prison budgets, corporate prison industry lobby pushing policies like the "three strikes" to generate shareholder wealth driving the shocking spike in the prison population? Does the contracting prisoners for work create additional prison cash flows that violate labor laws? Do those contracts cannibalize the employment rates in states? Is the system self sustaining as long as the flow of prisoners continue? The system feeds itself," says a study by the Progressive Labor Party, which accuses the prison industry of being "an imitation of Nazi Germany with respect to forced slave labor and concentration camps." The prison industry complex is one of the fastest-growing industries in the United States. Is this systemic of where this country has been led; Bush/Chaney business of war and security? Or is this where this country is going? If so, how can we change the impact on society? How can we change this?

The Nina Simone Memorial Project (NSP)

The AMAZING Nina Simone will be forever immortilized through a memorial and scholorship. The Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project (NSP) exists to honor the remarkable life and legacy of a native Tryon, North Carolina daughter, who achieved international recognition for her unique talent and her formidable contribution to the musical arts.


The musical talent of Eunice Waymon, who was born in 1933, evidenced itself early on. By age 4 she had begun to play piano; by age 7, she had begun to play organ as well—each of which she did for St. Luke’s C.M.E. Church. Waymon’s formal musical training began shortly thereafter under the tutelage of Muriel Mazzanovich, wife of noted artist Lawrence Mazzanovich.


That Waymon possessed a prodigious talent was recognized by many, so much so, that enthusiastic Tryonites created ‘The Eunice Waymon Fund’ to help underwrite the costs of her future studies. Those studies continued with Carl Friedberg at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, and with Vladimer Sokoloff of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Waymon’s professional career, as Nina Simone, began in 1954. Her unique musical style merged a strong classical training with an exceptionally broad range of musical genres, which run the gamut from classical, gospel and jazz to pop, folk and spiritual. That Simone asserted a powerful artistic impact upon late-twentieth-century American popular culture is evident in her expansive discography, her musical arrangements and her original compositions. She was and is a powerful musical force in a global theatre.


Your participation in the Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project supports the recognition of an international musical legend and an icon of human potential realized.

VISION STATEMENT

The Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project (NSP) exists to honor the remarkable life and musical legacy of Nina Simone, and to inspire and support talented youth to reach their full potential.

MISSION STATEMENT

The Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project (NSP) purposes to establish and promote educational scholarship, to commission a Nina Simone sculpture, and to establish an international music festival in Tryon, North Carolina, with supplemental venues in the broader Western North Carolina region.

GOALS

The Eunice Waymon-Nina Simone Memorial Project undertakes to accomplish four related goals.

Support a broad-based education program, including:
the creation of an endowed Nina Simone scholarship,
the development of an educational jazz curriculum highlighting the musical contributions of prominent North Carolinians to the songbook of American popular music,
the archival preservation of Simone’s material record
the promotion of Simone as an important Tryon and Polk County, North Carolina cultural and heritage resource
Commission a life-sized, memorial, bronze sculpture for a public art installation
Develop a Trans-World Music Festival in the name of Nina Simone as a signature Tryon, Polk County, North Carolina event
Provide outreach partnering opportunities for Simone’s designated charities:
Cancer research in underserved communities, arts programming in public education, prevention of abuse against women, and AIDS research, education, & care.

For more information please contact http://www.ninasimoneproject.org
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The Eunice Waymon—Nina Simone Memorial Project http://www.ninasimoneproject.org

Tantra Yoga for Transformation

One of my resolutions for 2009 is to transform my life into a more purpose drive existance. For a few years I have been stuck in a rut. I will focus abit of energy into Tantric Yoga for healing and rejuvinating purposes.

Dada Shiilabhadrananda wrote that Ananda Marga teaches Tantra Yoga as a transformational tool designed to give the practitioner deep happiness, a universal perspective on life, and spiritual awakening. Ananda Marga believes that such yoga is a resource to be used for the betterment of the individual and human society.

In this flux of change and unfamiliarity it would be easy to become confused and frightened. What is the best education for my kids? How do I meet my innate spiritual needs when traditional religions seem to fall short? How can I find kinship and community in an increasingly fast-paced, individualistic approach to survival?

The ancient holistic tradition of Tantra Yoga is making an increasing impact in the thinking of people everywhere interested in new ways of living in harmony with oneself and the world.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."

Albert Einstein

According to the philosophy of Tantra Yoga, the Universe is a resultant of the interplay between Consciousness and Its Creative Principle. The Cycle of Creation Cosmic Cycle) is seen to be manifested in two phases: from the very subtle (Supreme Consciousness) to the very crude (inert matter) and from the very crude to the very subtle again. Within this cosmic scheme of things, the human being may be found on the upper levels of this returning cycle, as he/she approaches the final stages of the cosmic evolution. As human beings we are the most consciously evolved beings, although it may sometimes appear otherwise. It is essential that humans assume full responsibility for their unique talents and abilities and utilize them for the advancement of all beings with which we co-inhabit the planet with.

Yogic philosophy states that the creation is the result of the crudification of invisible, unqualified consciousness by the creative principles inherent within itself.

These creative principles can be divided into three categories according to their degree of influence over the consciousness. They are sometimes referred to simply as "forces of nature", for they exist at all times in all things and all beings. They are:

• Sattvic (sentient) principle: This binding quality is the most subtle. It is associated with awareness, purity, happiness, sensitivity and lightness.

• Rajasic (mutative) principle: This binding quality is less subtle than the first. It is associated with change, growth, movement, restlessness and activity.

• Tamasic (static) principle: This binding quality is the crudest of the three. It is associated with decay, degeneration, ignorance, death and inertia.

A few examples will help us understand the interplay of these constantly interacting forces. Did you ever observe a flower? Its beauty, luster and shine are evidence of the dominance of the sentient force. Its growth and development from the seed are evidence of the mutative force. When it begins to decay, shed its petals and whither, this is the manifestation of the static force.

What about yourself? When you wake up in the morning, you fight hard to conquer the static waves that dominate your body and mind – you would just rather sleep more! During the height of the day, you don’t seem to be able to slow down – the mutative force is very manifested in you at that time. But when you retire to view a beautiful sunset or take a walk in the nature, you feel uplifted by the sentient force that dominates your mind at that time.

The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word yunj, which means "to unify". The unity envisioned in yoga is a mystical state of Oneness with all of Creation. It is a rare mental state realized by mystics, prophets and sages throughout history in many lands. For some it is considered the highest level of consciousness attainable. In different cultures it is known by different names: samadhi, nirvana, satori, salvation, enlightenment and so on.

But Yoga is also a path or methodology leading to the state of Oneness. Whether we believe we can ever attain those lofty heights, it is true that many people are benefiting from the many changes that they experience as a result of a systematic practice of the various components of the Yogic lifestyle. Some of those components include: observance of universal ethical principles, practice of asanas (yoga postures), deep breathing, sense withdrawal, concentration and meditation.

Although Yoga is more commonly understood today as being yoga postures (asanas), this is only one aspect of a whole spectrum of practices that gradually and subtly develop us physically, mentally, socially and spiritually.

Some people believe that the emerging relevance of Yoga practice and philosophy will assist humanity in bridging the gap between the old and new ways of looking at ourselves and our world.