Global Concert Tackles Climate Change

London 12/21/2005 2:25 PM GMT (TransWorldNews)

The Strokes, The Darkness and Super Furry Animals are the first three bands topping the bill at 2006’s gig of the year, to promote awareness of climate change and solutions to tackle humankind’s biggest problem. Millennium Stadium UK will host the much-anticipated ONE EARTH CONCERT whose line-up is expected to grow further in the next days. Influential supporters of the initiative include Brian Eno, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jacqueline McGlade, Executive Director of the European Environment Agency and many more.

Why? To engage the public in positive action to tackle climate change, and to encourage one million Europeans to switch to renewable energy sources by September 2006.

The Strokes will showcase tracks from their much-anticipated album and sold out tour First Impressions of Earth. The concert, hosted on 28th January 2006 will be broadcast to millions world wide, and hopes to kick-start positive public action towards climate change – starting with the simple step of switching to renewable energy. Hitting the one million target should cut carbon dioxide emissions from household energy by 2 million tonnes per year, enough to fill over 340 million cars.

By logging on to www.ClimateChangeNow.com and switching to renewable energy people can reduce their CO2 emissions from household energy by a third or more. It is FREE to make the switch and only takes 5 minutes.

"People are genuinely concerned about the effects of climate change, but don’t know how easy it is to make a huge difference. 2006 will be the year people tackle climate change individually and the concert will focus attention on the part we can all play in doing so." Said Michael Mathres, co-founder of Climate Change Now.

More details of the line-up for the One Earth Concert will be announced shortly as further globally-recognised artists, celebrities and dignitaries join this unique and necessary concert. The campaign and concert are supported by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), the European Commission, the Eden Project, The Big Issue, and are part of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Mikhail Gorbachev says, "We are guests and not masters of nature. We should elaborate a new paradigm for the resolution of conflicts surrounding the issues of development, security, and stability. Climate change is one of the realities of our time and we should address it with all seriousness."

Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency says, “The European Environment Agency gives its strong moral support to this initiative. Renewable energy sources are key to a low carbon future. Climate Change Now tells people that we are all part of the solution. We can all make a difference in the fight to limit global warming."

"Everyone now recognizes that climate change is real and that we need to respond urgently and cooperatively. Governments, businesses and individuals all have a role to play, and UNEP is committed to helping all actors to play their part." United Nations Environment Programme.

European Commissioner Stavros Dimas says, "People tend to believe that their personal choices do not make a difference for the greater good. In fact, they do. As much as we have been the source of climate change, we can help combat it. Each and everyone can contribute by making those choices that express respect for the environment."

More information and ticket details are available from www.oneearthconcert.com and Ticketmaster www.ticketmaster.co.uk / 08705 582 582.

CONTACT:Rob LoweFreud Communications rob.lowe@freud.com 020 7291 6413

Rights group Witness puts media tools to good use

(...)

Since its founding in 1992 by British musician Peter Gabriel, footage produced by the nonprofit group has aired on the BBC, CNN, Oxygen and ABC, and an available video archive is maintained at http://www.Witness.org. Witness also has attracted involvement from such celebrity activists as Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Angelina Jolie.

"It's an unprecedented opportunity," Gabriel said about how technology is affecting the media landscape, "with the average person able to record and distribute their own media, easily and affordably, with something as inconspicuous and convenient as a cellular telephone."

The inspiration came to Gabriel in 1988, he said, while he was on a world tour sponsored by Amnesty International. He met victims of human rights abuse and was appalled that the perpetrators went unpunished. Caldwell said the national outcry on race and police brutality ignited by the Rodney King video and Gabriel's acquisition of funding from the Reebok Human Rights Foundation were the final factors in establishing the nonprofit organization.

"Witness was really founded ahead of its time," Caldwell said, referring to the nonprofit's Internet-based nature. "But we're at a point now where digital, Internet and mobile technologies are converging. An example of that is what we saw during the bombing in the London tube. It's changing the whole face of the citizen-journalism landscape."

(...)

Changing the World, One Moving Image at A Time

12/22/2005: Press Release from Witness

Changing the World, One Moving Image at A Time

A New Book Shows how to Harness the Power of Video for Social Change Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism (CSRwire) (New York) Tiananmen Square. The Rodney King incident. Omarska Detention Camp. Abu Ghraib. Visual images of these events captured crucial moments in human rights history.

For well over a decade, WITNESS, the nonprofit organization founded by musician and activist Peter Gabriel has been supporting human rights defenders to harness the power of visual images like these and testimony about human rights to make meaningful and lasting change. Finally, a comprehensive guide to their tips and strategies is available publicly for the first time in the newly published book Video for Change: A Guide for Advocacy and Activism (Pluto Press, UK/University of Michigan, USA). Written by leading video activists and WITNESS staff, this practical handbook will appeal to experienced, as well as aspiring video advocates.

Readers are shown how to plan, film, edit and distribute their video, as well as offered guidance on how to develop an effective strategy for using video as a catalyst for change. The book is unique in that it also covers the practical ethics and responsibilities of social justice video-work, as well as advice on using storytelling as a tactical tool in advocacy, and offers a global range of real-life stories to learn from.

"WITNESS has pioneered the use of video as an accessible and effective tool for human rights activists worldwide" said Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus. "This new book shares the stories of WITNESS' global partners and others who are using video to secure social justice. I hope it will inspire a new generation of activists to incorporate these powerful new tools into their work."

Editors and contributors include Peter Gabriel, (co-founder of WITNESS and celebrated musician and activist), Thomas Harding (author of The Video Activist Handbook, co-founder of Undercurrents), Gillian Caldwell (Executive Director of WITNESS), Katerina Cizek (co-director of Seeing is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News), Sam Gregory (Program Manager of WITNESS) and Ronit Avni (founder and director of Just Vision). For more information and to purchase copies of the book go to www.witness.org.

WITNESS (http://www.witness.org/) uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. Over the past decade, WITNESS has partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to public attention —catalyzing grassroots activism, political engagement and lasting change.

BOSTA Afrocelt Sound System au Liban

"Bosta", premier film musical libanais d'après-guerre

"BOSTA" (l'Autobus) a été filmé au Liban avec certains des acteurs libanais les plus populaires.

C’est le premier film musical libanais d'après-guerre avec des rythmes orientaux et un cachet contemporain, tels que la danse de Dabké, qui est du folklore national libanais, mixée avec un peu de techno occidental.

Ceci représente une nouveauté de production, parce que les films libanais, se fondent principalement sur les fonds culturels orientaux et arabes.

La musique de Bosta a également été un grand défi, elle a permis de joindre des efforts entre les compositeurs locaux (EL Khatib Ali) et le système d' Afro Celt, et un groupe britannique "vrai monde" de Peter Gabriel.

Une telle collaboration est la première dans la scène locale de production de cinéma libanais.
Ce film donne des perspectives positives de l'image stéréotypée de la guerre et du terrorisme...

December Will Be Magic Again

Kate Bush: December Will Be Magic Again - the great lost Kate Bush single, released at her commercial peak in 1980. Bush name-checks Oscar Wilde and Bing Crosby in a swooping seasonal shrieker. It was aired during her 1979 BBC Christmas special, Kate, in which she also sang with Peter Gabriel and Roy Harper. The studio version was released the following Christmas, when it lodged in the charts at No 29. It has never been reissued.

Find it on This Woman's Work: The Kate Bush Anthology.

About Herman Kullar and TrichoGenesis

Current Technology Reports UK Subsidiary Commences Operations

http://www.current-technology.com/

(...)

ABOUT MR. HERMAN KULLAR

Mr. Kullar is the Chief Financial Officer and Secretary of the Subsidiary; Mr. Kramer is CEO. Both the Director of Sales and Director of Marketing have been identified, but are not yet revealed as they are presently employed elsewhere.

The Subsidiary's Business Plan is virtually complete and formal meetings with prospective investors will commence in January 2006. While the Financing is in process, Mr. Kullar will introduce the patented TrichoGenesis platform to spas/salons/health clubs in the UK and other areas in Europe and the Middle East.

"I am both pleased and extremely excited to be part of this tremendous opportunity," states Subsidiary CFO Herman Kullar. "I believe our revenue sharing model will allow us to grow at an aggressive pace and I am looking forward to help introduce the TrichoGenesis platform to the UK, Europe and Middle East markets."

"ACP is very keen to begin marketing the private equity capital raise, and will do so aggressively in the beginning of January 2006," states ACP Managing Director Thomas R. Byrne. "We believe the Company's strategy is sound and the management on board is extremely capable, making for a winning combination. In the past two months we have seen a number of opportunities present themselves to this new subsidiary, which we are eager to exploit."

Mr. Kullar has an extensive background as a Financial Officer in small technology driven companies, where it was also necessary to act as a business development coordinator. Mr. Kullar's broad background includes eight (8) years (1995-2003) as Financial & Commercial Director of Peter Gabriel, Ltd. / Real World Group, the music publishing and recording company. He was responsible for creating, coordinating and implementing the Group's financial strategy; daily operations of the accounting function; prepared budgets; dealt with all aspects of taxation, insurance, health/safety and monitored the Chairman's personal financial affairs.

Mr. Kullar took direct control for the global marketing of a new multimedia product where he generated 2 million plus Pounds Sterling in revenue in the first nine months and a total of 6 million Pounds Sterling over four years, turning the company into profitability. Mr. Kullar's CV also includes CFO of Very Small Technologies Inc., a MEMS/Nano- technology company based in New York and as Managing Director and Chief Accountant for General Instrument Corp; Semitron Industries, Ltd., located in the U.K. (1990-1995).

The Year of Charitainment

Celebrity do-gooderism was in fashion. But do we need stars to be our guides?

By JAMES PONIEWOZIK

At Manhattan's Supper Club, Angelina Jolie--humanitarian, Oscar winner, erstwhile wearer of a vial of Billy Bob Thornton's blood--is scheduled to speak about Sierra Leone. It's a benefit dinner for Witness, a group that has been chronicling abuses in the war-torn African country--slaughter, rape, the drafting of child soldiers. So, naturally, a swarm of cameras are there to get her take on the big issue of the day: Isn't she, like, totally excited that Brad Pitt has decided to adopt her two kids?

Jolie ducks questions from the reporters, who instead corner actor Tim Robbins and singer and Witness co-founder Peter Gabriel, among other high-profile guests. The event is covered by Entertainment Tonight, Extra and The Insider, TV shows that do not generally report on internecine bloodshed in sub-Saharan Africa when it is not connected to the woman who hooked up with her married co-star in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Jolie's notoriety is now a charitable asset. If you could place a dollar value on a broken marriage, Jennifer Aniston could claim a monster tax deduction.

It's fitting that Jolie should be hounded by cameras at an event for Witness, a group that supplies human-rights workers with video equipment to record atrocities. Its slogan: See It, Film It, Change It. Cofounded by a celebrity, the organization harnesses what celebrities know best: that in this world, nothing matters that does not have a camera pointed at it. When I ask Gabriel why it's useful to have Jolie as a spokeswoman, he is blunt. "Number one, you're here talking to me," he says. "Also, when she went to Sierra Leone with us, straightaway we got into the President's office, which would have been very hard without her." Ignore Kofi Annan all you want, but blow off Lara Croft at your peril...

U2 Show

"U2 Show," by Diana Scrimgeour: Subtitled "The Art of Touring," its 300-plus large-format pages offer a multilayered look at the concept, design and execution of the rock concert, as presented by U2. There's loads of dazzling photography (especially of the extravagant ZooTV and PopMart tours), but the meat of the book is the interviews -- with agents, video directors, sound technicians, stage managers, graphic artists, promoters, record execs, even stars such as Peter Gabriel and Steven Van Zandt -- which offer multiple perspectives on the business of touring, the growth of the rock stage spectacle, and U2's commitment to doing as much of it as possible with integrity and heart.