News and Reviews
2010
News and reviews of publications relating to peaceful societies—and sometimes to related topics—are normally posted here on Thursday mornings (U.S. time) and are kept on this page for one week. Older news and reviews for 2010 are listed below, and ones from previous years are listed on the News and Reviews 2004-2005 page, the 2006 page, the 2007 page, the 2008 page and the 2009 page. All stories are also included in the News and Reviews Subject Listing. Recent ones are listed at the bottom of each society entry in the Encyclopedia of Selected Peaceful Societies, after the heading: Updates: News and Reviews. News and reviews about peacefulness in general are referred to from the bottom of the Facts page, while news stories about this website are linked from the About This Website page. News and Reviews can also be found with the Google search bar.
Current News and Reviews
March 4, 2010. Ladakhi Film Industry Portrayed in New Documentary
The Ladakhi film industry, which was described recently in a major newspaper article, has now been portrayed in an Indian documentary film called “Out of Thin Air.”
According to a review in The Hindu last week, the new documentary shows how the Ladakhi films portray “the landscape and its people in the harsh attractiveness of Ladakh … seeped in a visual language of immense feeling and a childish curiosity.” One of the most charming aspects of the films made in Ladakh is apparently the fact that the lead actors are native Ladakhis rather than professionals—ordinary people who want to depict the various personalities of their country.
One of the co-directors of the new documentary, Samreen Farooqui, commented at the screening that “the characters you see in the film are the backbone of the film industry in Ladakh.” She and her co-director, Shabani Hassanwalia, spent a year in Ladakh doing the filming in order to produce the 50 minute documentary.
The Hindu feels that the film industry in Ladakh provides a way for the Ladakhi people to value and preserve their own culture. The new documentary depicts the way the films mix the approaches of Bollywood with themes from the local society and culture. It shows the serene, rugged beauty of the land effectively, and, according to the review, it is enhanced by a lilting score.
The documentary includes such characters as a friendly young Buddhist monk, who writes love songs and scripts, and a taxi driver who portrays a villain in the locally-made films. Production of the documentary was supported by the India Foundation for the Arts. Unfortunately, a Google video search does not as yet turn up even a trailer for the documentary. But in the opinion of the reviewer, “the film may be short, but it works perfectly…” It was screened recently in Delhi.
March 4, 2010. Alberta Hutterites Solve Photo ID Problem
Drivers in a couple Hutterite colonies in Alberta may start driving illegally. Last July, the two colonies lost their appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court to be exempt from the provincial requirement that photos were required for their driver’s licenses. They believe that the requirement violates their religious freedom, and they feel strongly that they must obey the second commandment in the Bible, which prohibits graven images.
The manager of the Three Hills Colony, Sam Wurz, announced at the end of last week that, as the temporary licenses issued by the province run out, colony drivers will continue to refuse to violate their consciences and they will, of necessity, continue to drive their vehicles. He said that living according to God’s commands was more important to them then following the rules and regulations of men.
The colony, joined by the Wilson Colony near Lethbridge, had contested in the Canadian courts provincial regulations requiring photo IDs on all driver’s licenses. In May 2006, they won at the local court level, and, a year later, after the province appealed to the superior court, the Hutterites won again. But the province appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, where it finally triumphed last July.
The two sides have been negotiating since then, but the province refuses to back down on the essence of its ruling—that all driver’s licenses must have photos on them. Hutterites in the two colonies refuse to compromise their beliefs. Having some drivers is essential to the colonies.
Mr. Wurtz said that 20 members of his colony used to have valid driver’s license, but most of them have now expired. Many of them are already driving without legal licenses. The province has continued to reject compromise suggestions that other forms of identification might be used—fingerprints or special pouches that would hide the licenses. Cam Traynor, spokesperson for Service Alberta, said that the province is “still open to hearing ideas from the colony leaders on how to accommodate them, [but] none of the ideas they brought forward meet the requirements for an Alberta driver's license. Until there are any new ideas that come forward that would fit within the law, I don't think there's any more room for discussion at this point.”
Traynor added, pointedly, “Anyone who drives in the province with an expired driver's license or without a driver's license is subject to the penalties of the law.”
Wurz responds that the members of the two colonies face a difficult decision. “You're at the mercy of a government which will not reason with us and we have to obey the government,” he said. “We even pray for our government every evening in our church, but if the government puts a yoke on your neck and wants more than our religion will allow us to do, then we have to obey God more than man, and if they lock us up in jail I guess we'll be locked up in jail.”
He says it has been the government that has rejected their attempts to reach a compromise. He told the press that the Hutterites have a lengthy history of disobeying laws that contradict their beliefs. It is not clear if he added that they have obeyed their consciences for nearly 500 years—and ultimately, moved to avoid persecution.
February 25, 2010. Kadar Village To Be Spared
February 25, 2010. Protecting Zapotec Corn
February 18, 2010. Death of Last Bo Speaker Worries Birhor
February 18, 2010. Semai Celebrate the Year of the Tiger
February 11, 2010. Missionary to the Buid Honored Again
February 11, 2009. Nubian Elders Still Miss the Old Life
February 4, 2010. Nubian Connections to the Nile Remembered
February 4, 2010. Inuit Throat Singer Performs in Vancouver
January 28, 2010. Mbuti Seek Designation as Indigenous People
January 28, 2010. G/wi Take Case to International Court
January 21, 2010. Tristan Policeman Has Quiet Job
January 21, 2010. Amish Exempt from Health Care Insurance
January 14, 2010. Athirappilly Hydroelectric Proposal May Be Halted
January 14, 2010. Hutterites Cheer the Olympics
January 14, 2010. Major Threat to Semai Ecotourism
January 7, 2010. Semai Tourism Develops Sophisticated Outreach
January 7, 2010. Building Glaciers in Ladakh