Clipmarks | Deepti's 'culture' clips

"Living goddesses" have rights too

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:33:42 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to ensure basic health care and education for virgin girls worshipped as "living goddesses" in a centuries-old tradition in the Himalayan nation

A few children, some as young as three or four, in the Kathmandu valley are picked by Buddhist priests as kumaris, or "living goddesses". They are then confined to temples until puberty, visited by thousands of devotees

Critics say the tradition violates the children's rights and leaves them unprepared to face real life when they return to their families after reaching puberty

Many cultural traditions are being changed or challenged as modernity gradually arrives in one of the world's poorest countries

The court has ordered the government to submit a detailed report within one year about the reforms and facilities provided to former kumaris, as well as existing ones

Tags: nepal, culture, supreme court, children

Hairstyles in African Culture

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:18:42 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: nubianhairsupplies.homestead.com

Hairstyles in Africa and among African Americans are ever-changing, yet deeply rooted in a shared past.

Hairdressing in Africa is always the work of trusted friends or relatives. In addition to the amiable social aspects of the event, the hair, in the hands of an enemy, could become an ingredient in the production of a dangerous charm or "medicine" that would injury the owner.

Click to enlarge photos and for description:

Natives of Ugogo, east central Africa

Gogo

Source Title: Illustrated London news.

Publisher: London : Illustrated London News and Sketch Ltd., 1842

Serpa Pinto, Alexandre Alberto Da Rocha De, 1846-1900, artist

Source Title: History of Mankind, by Friedrich Ratzel, translated from the second German edition by A. J. Butler, with an introduction by E. B. Tylor, Publisher: New York: Macmillan, 1896-1898.

PhotoGallery / Wall Paintings in the Afghan Region of Bamiyan

Tue, 20 May 2008 06:08:15 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: The world was in shock when in 2001 the Taliban destroyed two ancient colossal Buddha statues in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Behind those statues, there are caves decorated with precious paintings from 5th to 9th century A.D. The caves also suffered from Taliban destruction, as well as from a severe natural environment, but today they have become the source of a major discovery. Scientists have proved, thanks to experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), that the paintings were made of oil, hundreds of years before the technique was “invented” in Europe.

Clip Source: www.artdaily.org

Wall paintings in the Afghan region of Bamiyan. Image: National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo (Japan)

Clip Source: www.artdaily.org

ESRF.

Tags: afghanistan, bamiyan, wall, paintings, photos, culture

Yemeni Girl Demands Divorce

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 05:03:01 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: According to Saba News, a 2006 study revealed that 52.1 percent of Yemeni girls are forced into child marriage

Clip Source: www.feminist.org

Eight-year-old Nojoud Muhammed Nasser filed a lawsuit in Yemen against her father who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man. Nasser arrived to court by herself because no one in her family defended her against her abusive husband and father

Nasser told the Yemen Times, "My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage. I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, 'We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.' So this is what I have done."

"There are hundreds of [cases like] Nujoud who have been subjected to sexual abuse by mature men. The problem is that there is no law to punish the father who marries off the child, the sheikh who allows the marriage, or the husband who takes the child home to serve him as wife."

Tags: culture, religion, girl, child, marriage, abuse, divorce, yemen

First Women to Conduct Marriages in Egypt

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:14:37 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.feminist.org

This week Amal Soliman became Egypt's first woman able to perform Muslim marriages. Soliman's appointment has generated controversy within Egypt's Muslim community, especially among Muslim men who insist that a woman should not hold the position of maazun, or marriage registrar. The BBC News reports that the court chose Solima over 10 male candidates due to her legal qualifications. Solima has a master's degree in law

Sheikh Fawsi Zafzaf, director of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, responded to Soliman's appointment stating, "There are no religious texts banning a Muslim woman from being a maazun. But when a woman is menstruating she must not enter a mosque or read Koranic verses and that will affect her job, so for that reason we say it is not advisable to have a woman maazun."

Solima focuses on the positive affects her gender can have on her job

Tags: egypt, woman, muslim, arab, islam, marriage, registrar, culture, religion

Eternal Egypt

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 07:54:08 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Neat!

Clip Source: www.eternalegypt.org

Welcome to Eternal Egypt, which brings to light over five thousand years of Egyptian civilization. Eternal Egypt is a living record of a land rich in art and history, people and places, myths and religions. The stories of Eternal Egypt are told using the latest interactive technologies, high-resolution imagery, animations, virtual environments, remote cameras, three-dimensional models and more.

There are many ways to begin your journey through Eternal Egypt. The guided tour is a quick way to experience the best that the site has to offer. You can also begin with one of the cultural highlights below, or make your own discoveries using one of the many other ways to explore.

Take a Guided Tour of Eternal Egypt

There are many ways to explore the artifacts, characters, and places that together comprise the wonder that is Eternal Egypt.

Tags: egypt, info, africa, history, culture

Religious courts already in use in England

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:21:10 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Jewish litigation is more varied, but a typical dispute might relate to a partnership, a Jewish school, a Jewish charity or a transaction between two businessmen.

The court can hear cases concerning quite large companies, but they must always be privately owned, in that both parties must be Jewish in order to accept the authority of the Beth Din.

The service provided by the Beth Din is best described as binding civil arbitration, and they do not seek to replace the state's civil courts.

"If one side does not accept the authority of the Beth Din, concerning divorce or any dispute, we cannot act", David Frei clarifies.

"And in the case of divorce, the parties must still obtain a civil divorce alongside the religious one."

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

British Jews, particularly the orthodox, will frequently turn to their own religious courts, the Beth Din, to resolve civil disputes, covering issues as diverse as business and divorce

Both sides in a dispute must be Jewish, obviously, and must have agreed to have their case heard by the Beth Din. Once that has happened, its eventual decision is binding. English law states that any third party can be agreed by two sides to arbitrate in a dispute, and in this case the institutional third party is the Beth Din

The Beth Din also takes care of a multitude of Jewish community affairs, many of which never give rise to any dispute: the dates of the Sabbath, kosher certification of caterers and bakers, medical ethics for Jewish patients and religious conversions. But it is in the areas of divorce and litigation that the Beth Din acts as a court in the western sense

All criminal matters are reserved for the UK's state courts, and there is no appetite for change

Tags: religion, law, england, jews, religious, civil, courts, culture

Researchers find a 1791 time capsule atop Mexico City Cathedral tower

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:05:15 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Researchers spent the next three months opening the airtight box and preserving its contents.

Among them was a small case of wax blessed by the Pope that served to protect against mishaps, said Rev. Ruben Avila, rector of the cathedral.

Also inside was an engraving of Saint Barbara, a Roman Catholic martyr associated with lightning whose image served as "a religious lightening rod, to protect against damage," said archaeologist Xavier Cortes, director of historic buildings for the National Council of the Arts and Culture.

Clip Source: news.aol.com

A time capsule was found atop a bell tower at Mexico City's Metropolitan Cathedral, where it was placed in 1791 to protect the building from harm, researchers said Tuesday

The lead box - filled with religious artifacts, coins and parchments - was hidden in a hollow stone ball to mark the moment on May 14, 1791, when the building's topmost stone was laid, 218 years after construction had begun

That the box was "buried" at the highest point of the cathedral - rather than in a cornerstone, as was customary - may have been a way to specially commemorate the end of a very lengthy building process

A perfectly preserved parchment listed the time capsule's contents - including 23 medals, 5 coins, and five small crosses made of palm fronds - which it said were "for protection from the storms."

Workers restoring the church found the box in October, inside the stone ball base of a cross that sits atop the 60-meter-high (200-foot) southern bell tower

Tags: mexico, cathedral, time, capsule

Burmese women in Thai 'human zoo'

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:38:02 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

For years the prospect of visiting one of three "long-necked" Kayan villages in this remote corner of north-western Thailand, close to the Burmese border, has been a major lure for foreign tourists

In return, the visitors have helped to provide a very modest income for the Kayan women and their families, who are all refugees from Burma

But in a dramatic intervention, the United Nations is now talking of the need for a tourism boycott, amid allegations that the Kayan are being trapped in a "human zoo"

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) says that for the past two years, the Thai authorities have refused to allow a group of 20 Kayan to leave the country, despite firm offers to resettle them in Finland and New Zealand

The suspicion is that the women are being kept in Thailand because of the central role they play in the local tourism industry

Tags: thailand, culture, zoo, tourist, tourism, burma, refugee

5 Peculiar Musical Instruments

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:56:39 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: there's lots more details at source....

Clip Source: www.mentalfloss.com

Didgeridoo

A recent study put out by the British Medical Journal said that playing the didgeridoo helps reduce snoring and sleep apnea, because it helps strengthen muscles in the upper airway

Glass Armonica

Mozart loved the instrument so much, he wrote two compositions for it. You can hear an excerpt from one (the Adagio and Rondo for glass armonica, flute, oboe, viola and cello)

Bonang

Across the way in Bali, the Bonang has a cousin called the reong, which is almost identical

Tsabouna

Although it looks similar to bagpipes, the tsabouna lacks that extra pipe that creates the characteristic “Scottish drone.”

Hang

In Bernese German, Hang refers to the human hand, as in hand-drum, and is pronounced hung or hong.

Tags: culture, music, instruments, strange, rare

Pantyhose tea anyone?

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:59:24 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Amid wisps of steam and the aroma of freshly baked egg tarts, the tea masters at Hong Kong's Golden Phoenix Cafe brew large pots of the city's famed milk tea, using "pantyhose" stuffed with tea leaves

The drink, a Chinese take on English tea-drinking traditions, is brewed in a long cotton "sock" or filter resembling a beige pantyhose, rather than a female undergarment itself

The blend of Indian and Sri Lankan tea leaves, strained repeatedly over 10 to 20 minutes, makes it difficult to prepare oneself

"Some say Hong Kong's pantyhose milk tea origins probably arose from areas near British army barracks, where the tradition of having afternoon tea spread to local villagers, and then to the community at large," said Au Yeung, the food writer

Despite the global rise of coffee culture as propagated by the likes of Starbucks, Hong Kong's milk tea tradition and tea diners remain an integral part the throbbing city's urban fabric

Tags: hong kong, tea, beverage, popular

Feuding Korean clans end 400-year fight over graves

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 05:57:49 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

After nearly 400 years, a few killings and scorned pleas from a king, two powerful clans have settled one of the longest-standing feuds in Korean history, over ancestral burial grounds

It will finally be sorted out in March 2008 under a settlement deal reached a few days ago. The Yoon family will give about 8,300 square meters (89,340 sq ft) of land to the Shim family, which will use it as a new burial ground for 19 of its ancient clan members

The disputed grave site near the border with North Korea and about 40 km (25 miles) north of Seoul is the resting spot for famed members of the two clans. The graves of the best known members of each clan are just a few meters (yards) apart and separated by a high wall

The feud began when a prime minister from the Shim family destroyed part of a burial mound of a respected general from the Yoon family and buried several family members there

About 150 years later, Yoon family members damaged part of the Shim burial mounds in return

Tags: culture, korea, clans, feud

Obscure But Kickass Counter Culture Quotes - Wisdom Nuggets

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:43:59 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: "A terrorist is someone who has a bomb but can’t afford an air force."
~ William Blum

Clip Source: vagabox.com

When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist.
~ Archbishop Helder Camara

I never would have agreed to the formulation of the Central Intelligence Agency back in forty-seven, if I had known it would become the American Gestapo.
~ Harry S Truman, 1961

Man is certainly stark mad: he cannot make a worm, yet he will make gods by the dozen.
~ Michel de Montaigne

Which is it, is man one of God's blunders or is God one of man's?
~ Nietzsche

Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
~ Denis Diderot

Civil disobedience, that’s not our problem. Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem.
~ Howard Zinn

Tags: quotes, wisdom

DNA uniting factor in Lebanon

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:53:48 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Geneticist Pierre Zalloua has charted the spread of the Phoenicians out of the eastern Mediterranean by identifying an ancient type of DNA which some Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians share with Maltese, Spaniards and Tunisians
A seafaring civilization which reached its zenith between 1200 and 800 BC, the Phoenicians' earliest cities included Byblos, Tyre and Sidon on Lebanon's coast. Their link to Lebanon, has long been a subject of controversy in a country split between an array of religious communities. "Negotiating these waters is a very delicate job," Zalloua said.
Seeking to set themselves apart from their Muslim compatriots, some Lebanese Christians have drawn on the Phoenician past to try to forge an identity separate from the prevailing Arab culture.
"Whenever I use the word 'Phoenician', people say 'this guy is trying to say we are not Arabs'," said Zalloua, himself a Christian. After five years of research, his work has shown what Lebanese have in common.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

A Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy about identity in his country

The genetic marker which identifies descendants of the ancient Levantines is found among members of all of Lebanon's religious communities, he said. "It's a story that can actually unite Lebanon much more than anything else."

The marker, known as the J2 haplogroup, was found in an unusually high proportion among Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians tested by Zalloua during more than five years of research. He tested 1,000 people in the region

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The same marker was found in unusually high proportions on other parts of the Mediterranean coast where the Phoenicians are known to have established colonies, such as Carthage in today's Tunisia

Many Lebanese were keen to take part in the research, giving either a blood sample or a cheek swab so DNA could be extracted from their cells

Tags: lebanon, dna, lebanese, people, history, phoenicians, research

Yazidis: a secretive sect

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 05:29:02 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

Yazidis are predominantly ethnic Kurds whose religion blends elements of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Small communities of Yazidis can be found in Syria, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia, but the majority of the estimated 100,000 believers live in Iraq

Yazidis worship an angel figure, Malak Ta'us, or Peacock Angel, who is considered to be the devil by some Muslims and Christians. Yazidis - who don't believe in hell or evil - deny that

Many Yazidi rituals center on Sheik Adi, a Sufi Arab who lived in northern Iraq in the 12th century and is considered the religion's chief saint. Pilgrims hold festivals near his tomb, north of Mosul

Many Yazidi traditions are shrouded in such secrecy that most have never been witnessed by outsiders

Yazidis regard marriage outside their faith as a sin punishable by ostracism or even death to restore lost honor

Tags: yazidis, secretive, sect, religion, culture, rituals