Winnie Madikizela-Mandela understood to have given English- and Xhosa-language opera her blessing ahead of Pretoria debut The opening night of Winnie the Opera won a standing ovation, but the biggest cheer of the night was for Mrs Madikizela-Mandela herself, as she took to the stage saying the moment had “surpassed all previous accolades”. The 74-year-old sat among family and friends at the State Theatre in Pretoria to watch last night’s world premiere of the much-anticipated opera which tells the story of her life as the wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and her role in the country’s anti-apartheid struggle. As the curtain came down, she was escorted to the stage to beam at the audience, who broke into chants of “amandla” – power. “In all my career of fighting, I’ve never been short of words, but tonight I am,” she said. “This is the first time I have got such accolades from my country, this surpasses anything I have known.” Praising the young, all-South-African cast, Madikizela-Mandela said: “This reminds us as leaders what we fought for and sacrificed so much. I am glad and proud that this production had its world premiere in our nation’s capital.” She said it was the first time she had been inside the theatre, which had been a party bomb target long ago. Pulling the actor who played her, Soweto-born Tsakane Maswanganyi, out of the lineup, she joked that she wished she had been so slim herself. The former social worker has been the subject of a number of retrospectives in the past 18 months, both factual and fictional. She was played by the British actor Sophie Okonedo in the 2010 film Mrs Mandela. A Hollywood film reportedly starring Jennifer Hudson is said to be in the offing. The libretto was sung in English and Xhosa, one of the 11 official South African languages and the Mandelas’ Eastern Cape mother tongue. The story centres on Madikizela-Mandela’s appearance before the post-apartheid truth and reconciliation commission, and her implication in killing and torture carried out in Soweto in the late 1980s. Through flashbacks in court, a window is opened on her struggle as a wife and mother separated from her husband and children, and the political persecution she faced – which included internal exile, imprisonment, torture and 13 months of solitary confinement. “There has certainly been enough drama in her life to justify making her the subject of an opera,” said Brooks Spector, a former US diplomat and now acting head of Johannesburg’s Market Theatre. “You have the gap between heights of her successes and the depths of her tragedy, all taking place in the middle of a major historical moment.” Madikizela-Mandela’s lows include being sentenced to six years in prison for kidnap and accessory to assault over the 1989 murder of 14-year-old Stompie Moeketsi Seipei by her former bodyguard. This was later reduced to a fine and, despite being convicted of fraud in 2003, she has reascended the ranks of the ANC. In the 2009 election she was fifth on the party’s candidate list. In January she hit the headlines after allegedly driving 93mph in a 75mph zone, and her bodyguard reportedly accused the police officer who stopped her of victimisation. Spector added: “Much of South Africa’s history is so contested and works like this are helpful, because it helps people think about what has happened and to think for themselves what it all means. I, for one, am very interested to see how she reacts and also how her family and ANC colleagues react.” Winnie the Opera mixes classical and African music performed by the KwaZulu-Natal philharmonic orchestra. The South African-Canadian producer and librettist Warren Wilensky said: “This is such an important story to tell. Winnie is truly an icon of South Africa’s chequered past and her story is as compelling as it is relevant.” Winnie the Opera runs until 3 May at the State Theatre in Pretoria. An international tour is expected, although no details have been announced. South Africa Nelson Mandela Theatre guardian.co.uk
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Soldier now detained among medium-security inmates at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas as he awaits court martial Bradley Manning, the US soldier accused of leaking classified cables to WikiLeaks, is no longer being held in solitary confinement and is now being allowed to move among other military prisoners, according to the Pentagon. Reporters were allowed to view the kind of accommodation in which Manning is currently being detained, at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, after he was moved earlier this month from Quantico marine base in Virginia as he awaits court martial. His treatment in Virginia– which included 23 hours in his cell and being stripped down to a smock at night – was widely condemned by human rights groups including Amnesty International and the UN rapporteur on torture, who subsquently launched an investigation into conditions. Manning is now detained among other medium-security inmates also awaiting military trial, according to Associated Press, which took part in a media tour of his new accommodation. The move implies that Manning has been cleared as a suicide risk, as any detainee deemed a risk of suicide would be held on their own. It has long been a complaint of Manning’s lawyer, David Coombs, that the advice of psychiatrists at his old prison in Quantico was ignored. Records show that mental health professionals regularly assessed him and found him to be no risk to himself, but Manning was kept on a “prevention of injury” order, which required him to be segregated from other inmates. Reporters were told that Manning will, in future, be housed alongside another 10 or so prisoners, all of whom are awaiting trial. AP said he will have his own cell, wear standard prison clothing and have open access to a communal area except overnight. With concern receding about the way Manning is being treated, the focus is now likely to swing towards the trial. No date has yet been sent for the court martial, though it is understood that the first subpoenas have been sent out for acquaintances of Manning to appear before a grand jury investigating the charges. Manning faces multiple counts relating to the leaking of hundreds of thousands of documents and videos to WikiLeaks, which include the Iraq and Afghan war logs, and the US embassy cables disclosing secret diplomatic intelligence from around the world. Last week President Obama was accosted by Manning supporters at a fundraising event in San Francisco. The president spoke to one supporter and reportedly said: “He broke the law.” The supporters interpreted Obama’s words as referring to Manning, and have complained that by declaring the suspect guilty the president has destroyed the chance of a fair trial. Bradley Manning WikiLeaks Kansas United States Ed Pilkington guardian.co.uk
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Police arrest three anti-royal wedding protesters who had been planning a mock execution of Prince Andrew Three anti-capitalist activists who were planning a mock execution of Prince Andrew with a guillotine to mark the royal wedding have been arrested and detained at Lewisham police station. Officers arrested Professor Chris Knight, a leading member of the G20 Meltdown group, outside his home in Brockley, south east London at around 6.15pm, according to an eyewitness. Also arrested were Knight’s partner Camilla Power and Patrick Macroidan, who was dressed as an executioner, said fellow activist Mike Raddie, of north London, who was with them. The three activists were preparing to drive their theatrical props, including a home-made guillotine and effigies, into central London when three police cars and two police vans drew up near Knight’s home in Brockley, said Raddie. “Chris was arrested first. He lay down on the pavement opposite his house to make the arrest difficult,” said Raddie. “He was pulled up by four police officers and two bundled him into the back of a van. “Camilla was put in the back of one of the police cars. Patrick was dressed up as an executioner when he was arrested.” Raddie said the police also seized a van containing the group’s props, which included a wooden guillotine. “It’s a working guillotine but it doesn’t have a blade – just wood painted silver,” he added. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “This evening, 28 April, officers arrested three people – two males aged 68 and 45, and a 60-year-old woman – in Wickham Road, SE4 on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance and breach of the peace. “They are currently in custody at Lewisham police station.” The group has advertised the Zombie Wedding on its website and via Facebook . The event was billed as a “right royal orgy” with “rumpy pumpy and guillotines.” It also states: “PS govt of the DEAD disclaimer: this is a totally non-terrorist event and bears absolutely no resemblance to the Jacobin Terror of 1793-94.” The website said the event would start with a Zombie Wedding Breakfast in Soho Square at around 9.30-10am, after which participants would head to Westminster for mock executions. Knight was sacked by the University of East London in 2009 over claims he incited violence at the G20 protests. Raddie said the event was peaceful and the organisers did not expect to get near Westminster Abbey, where William and Kate are getting married. The plan was to join Republic’s Not the Royal Wedding Street Party in Red Lion Square, Holborn, central London. Also with the protesters at the time of their arrest was a Channel 4 film crew, filming for the Unofficial Royal Wedding , due to air at 7.10pm on Monday. Some of their equipment, which was in the activists’ van, was also confiscated. Royal wedding Protest Monarchy Crime Weddings Police Channel 4 Television industry David Batty guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Allen West, as Susie suggests, has a bit of a problem. For as much as he likes to appear on Fox News and talk about what a good guy he is, he’s really just a shyster pulling the wool over his constituents’ eyes. The so-called town halls he’s holding? They’re on private property rather than public property (churches, specifically), and all the questions are pre-screened in advance, despite his protestations to the contrary. Watch the video above, where West’s chief of staff says the index cards with questions are given to a “3rd party” (that would be church staff), who then sorts the questions before they are asked. Nothing random there, nor is there any sincere effort to answer real questions from real constituents. It’s sort of like a Fox News interview. It gives the appearance of sincerity, but it’s just more scripted nonsense. Here it is in action, at the town hall where Nicole Sandler was tossed out: After Sandler was tossed into jail, she was held for 17 hours and says she was maced while there.
Continue reading …It’s not about sex. There’s something about yourself you have to come to terms with, says Pamela Stephenson Connolly Last night I had a sexual dream about my father. I don’t often have sex dreams but when I do, my dad features in them quite a lot. In the dream it is never taboo or unpleasant, but I wake up feeling disturbed and disgusted with my subconscious. In real life I have a good relationship with him and I’ve never been abused. I’ve had a couple of satisfying sexual relationships with guys my own age (I’m in my mid-20s) and am not aware of any issues relating to this topic except that my dad came out when I was a young teenager, and for a while I was worried anyone I ended up with would also turn out to be gay. Could the dreams be confronting that fear? Or is it fairly normal to have taboo dreams? It is certainly common to have dreams depicting taboo acts, but their meanings are usually more complex. Your recurring dreams are not really about having sex with your father. Dreams give an insight into the unconscious mind. If your father in your dream represents a part of you, which part would it be? Perhaps it’s a part of you with which you have a strong, unconscious desire to connect – but of which you’re afraid. The feeling of the dreams is pleasant, so if there is something about yourself you have yet to come to terms with (whatever your father in your dream represents) it’s something you’ll eventually welcome on a conscious level. • Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. •Send your problem to private.lives@guardian.co.uk Sex Relationships Pamela Stephenson Connolly guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …It’s not about sex. There’s something about yourself you have to come to terms with, says Pamela Stephenson Connolly Last night I had a sexual dream about my father. I don’t often have sex dreams but when I do, my dad features in them quite a lot. In the dream it is never taboo or unpleasant, but I wake up feeling disturbed and disgusted with my subconscious. In real life I have a good relationship with him and I’ve never been abused. I’ve had a couple of satisfying sexual relationships with guys my own age (I’m in my mid-20s) and am not aware of any issues relating to this topic except that my dad came out when I was a young teenager, and for a while I was worried anyone I ended up with would also turn out to be gay. Could the dreams be confronting that fear? Or is it fairly normal to have taboo dreams? It is certainly common to have dreams depicting taboo acts, but their meanings are usually more complex. Your recurring dreams are not really about having sex with your father. Dreams give an insight into the unconscious mind. If your father in your dream represents a part of you, which part would it be? Perhaps it’s a part of you with which you have a strong, unconscious desire to connect – but of which you’re afraid. The feeling of the dreams is pleasant, so if there is something about yourself you have yet to come to terms with (whatever your father in your dream represents) it’s something you’ll eventually welcome on a conscious level. • Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. •Send your problem to private.lives@guardian.co.uk Sex Relationships Pamela Stephenson Connolly guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Chris Matthews Smears: ‘Haters’ ‘Have a Party to Call All Their Own, the GOP’
April 28, 2011 No Comment
MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews on Thursday continued to obsess over his favorite issue, the birthers. He excoriated the Republican Party, smearing that the “haters” now “have a party to call all their own, the GOP.” Painting with a broad brush, Matthews mocked, “How did the right-wing fringe manage to take over the Republican Party?” He later repeated the talking point, wondering, “Coming up, the party with the fringe on top? How did the right-wing fringe get control of a major political party?” Of course, a 2006 Scripps Howard poll found that 50.8 percent of Democrats believed it was “somewhat” or “very” likely that George W. Bush knew in advance of the plot to murder 3000 Americans on 9/11. That would seem to indicate that there are a significant number of “haters” in the Democratic Party.
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
Continue reading …4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo . Massive natural disasters like this are only one reason why it’s a really immoral idea to have a national spending cap, or to cut government services. The federal government will step in (as it should) with all kinds of aid to help the victims of this huge disaster, and it’s going to cost money — which, as tea lovers like to point out, doesn’t grow on trees. This is why we don’t cut FEMA, or aid to first responders, or highway crews, or any of the hundreds of necessary services that are on the chopping block right this minute — because when you need them, you really need them: PLEASANT GROVE, Ala. — More than 200 people died after more than 100 different tornadoes ripped through the South, leaving behind a trail of flattened homes and buildings in an region already battered by storms. Tornado watches were issued Thursday by the National Weather Service along nearly the entire East Coast — from Georgia to the Boston area — a designation that carries with it the possibility of severe storms and winds in excess of 100 miles per hour. “We expect an eruption of tornadic activity and thunder storms along a boundary moving along the Eastern seaboard,” said Mike Mach, a National Weather Service meteorologist. States of emergency had been declared from Alabama to Virginia. Alabama appears to have been hit the hardest, with at least 131 people killed and more than 300 injured by storms that descended on the northern and central parts of the state Wednesday evening, said Yasamie August, information manager of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency. President Obama, who is scheduled to visit Alabama on Friday, said at the White House on Thursday that “the loss of life has been heartbreaking, especially in Alabama.” He said the federal government “will do everything we can to help you and we will stand with you as you rebuild.”
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