Support the Libyan People

Tonight the people of Libya are in a state of revolution in an effort to rid themselves of the Gaddafi regime. Please take action on behalf of the people of Libya and be counted among those concerned with the dignity and human rights of those protesting. ACT NOW!

Save Rapanui

 I have recieved the following urgent email in regards to the Hitorangi clan of Easter Island.

"At 8 AM this morning  Carabineros, armed police evicted the Hitorangi Clan from their land by force.  

It is utterly irregular and illegal. 

Arriving in Scheiss corporate vehicles the armed police took Marisol Hito and Angela Tuki  who tied 

themselves in the lobby to jail. 
Trini Ferrada who was trying to take pictures was beaten and forcibly 

removed, she is the mother of 2 year old twin girls.

The police threatened at gunpoint  that anyone else if they took pictures would be taken down.

The Hitorangi’s defense attorney, Oscar Vargas was roughed up by the Carabineros while he was 

trying to see and talk to his clients.  He was not allowed to see them.

The Carabineros asked the Judge Maria Cristina Cabello twice for the orders to dislodge the Hitorangi Clan. Twice the Judge who is still in Valparaiso, rejected the requests.  Now the Carabineros say they do not need a

judges order to act,  that they act autonomously and  went ahead with this grossly illegal and 

violent eviction.

Oscar Vargas who as the Fiscal for 5 years on the island, said,    “This is unprecedented,  

unheard of, and outside of the legal framework”.   It is unheard to use private, unlicensed buses 

and vehicle for a police operation.

Attorney Rodrigo Gomez wrote,  “ They knew we were going to win in court on Tuesday.  This is 

desperate move by the Schiess, who pressured the Home Office Ministry, and they in turn 

pressured the  local Fiscalia,    I am sure about that.”

Chilean  Senator Carlos Cantero went to the prison to try to get Marisol Hito released."

Please show your support for the Hitorangi clan. 

Contact:   Santi Hitorangi             (845) 596-5403
Trini Ferrada                  011 56 997 158080
Rodrigo Gomez  (legal)      011 56 994 960475

Tell Halaf Fragments

 In 2009 the story of the bomb damaged sculptures collected from Tell Halaf, Syria in the early years of the twentieth century and destroyed by bombing in the second world war was my number one news article of that year, a very encouraging turn of events for the destroyed collection.

Here we have an article with lots of pictures of the sculptures during excavation and  the progress of  the restoration. Very heartening to see this collection coming back together.

The people doing the restoration are cultural heroes!

Photo: 1913 © Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung, Cologne