Monday, April 19, 2010

“Interview: Russian pavilion embodies traditional ... - Xinhua News Agency” plus 3 more

“Interview: Russian pavilion embodies traditional ... - Xinhua News Agency” plus 3 more

Interview: Russian pavilion embodies traditional ... - Xinhua News Agency

Posted: 19 Apr 2010 09:11 AM PDT

By Xinhua writers Nie Yunpeng and Zhang Dailei

MOSCOW, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The design of the Russian pavilion in Shanghai World Expo embodies traditional Chinese philosophies and could meet eastern people's aesthetics, Levon Airapetov, the chief designer of Russian pavilion told Xinhua.

"I have thrown myself into the designing of the Russian pavilion which I hope can better embody both Russian style and Chinese philosophy," Airapetov, an architect obsessed with Chinese culture and philosophy, said.

He said he tried to reflect in his design the philosophy of " different but not separate" which was raised by the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zi. For example, the 12 towers around the pavilion, with three different colors of white, golden and red, are designed to represent a multi-ethnic Russia.

The white represents pure hearts, golden symbolizes the color of wheat and rich, while the red stands for beauty, Airapetov explained. Meanwhile, the pictures and patterns on the tower bodies, also standing for different Russian ethics, are mixed but harmoniously matched.

Another philosophy Ariapetov wanted to show in the pavilion design is "changing," which was the essential of one of China's most well-known classics "The Book of Changes."

Ariapetov said the appearance of the Russian pavilion looks like the sun, which symbolizes a "tree of life," while the 12 towers surrounding it are the roots and the top of the towers look like unfinished, which means an ideal city should be always in changing and developing.

Referring to the future ideal city, Airapetov said an ideal city for human beings should consist of one third of its space for parks for nature, one third for culture and arts, and one third for buildings for living. In this sense, the Russian pavilion with three floors could be viewed as an ideal future city model which perfectly combines the elements of air, earth and mankind.

The first floor of the pavilion is decorated as a green and beautiful Flower City, in which all facilities are huge in size, so as to let visitors feel themselves small and be children again. The second floor, as the Solar City, will mainly exhibit the technological achievements by Russian youth. A Moon City is presented in the third floor to ignite visitors' boundless imagination about the future world.

"I really hope Chinese visitors can enjoy my design," he said in the end of the interview.

The Russian pavilion, with a total area of 6,000 square meters, is one of the biggest exhibition sites at the Shanghai Expo.

For the first time in 30 years, Russia is spending some 1.1 billion rubles (around 37 million U.S. dollars) to construct its Expo pavilion rather than renting one from the host country.

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Americans: Alright to Oppose Supreme Court Nominee Over ... - LifeNews.com

Posted: 19 Apr 2010 08:14 AM PDT

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll of American voters shows a majority believe it is alright for senators to oppose a Supreme Court nominee based on the potential jurist's judicial philosophy. The results of the new Rasmussen survey are important as President Barack Obama prepares to select a high court nominee.

The names of potential nominees considered to be on Obama's short list include people like Elena Kagan and Diane Wood -- two solid abortion advocates.

The new Rasmussen poll, out today, shows 56 percent of voters say it is fair for a senator to oppose a legally and professionally qualified nominee on the grounds of ideology or judicial philosophy while just 29 percent say otherwise and 15 percent are unsure.

While 65% of Republicans and 59% of voters not affiliated with either major party think ideology and judicial philosophy are legitimate grounds for opposition, Democrats are more closely divided as 45% agree, but 37% think it's not fair to oppose nominees on those grounds.

Voters believe Obama will select another liberal to replace retiring pro-abortion Justice John Paul Stevens -- with 45 percent saying that justices nominated by Obama will be too liberal, while 41% say the nominee will be fine. Very few Americans think Obama will nominate a conservative to the high court.

The Rasmussen poll also showed 52% of voters believe that, in picking someone to serve on the Supreme Court, a nominee's legal background is more important than ensuring a court that is as diverse as American society. But 36% think ensuring a diverse court is more important.

Two-thirds of GOP voters (67%) and a plurality (49%) of unaffiliated voters say a nominee's legal background is more important.

The poll also found 39 percent of voters believe the Supreme Court is already too liberal with 25 percent saying it is too conservative and 27 percent saying it is just right.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen commented on the results: "Voters have consistently and overwhelmingly said in national surveys that justices should make their decisions based on what's written in the U.S. Constitution and on legal precedents rather than on a sense of fairness and justice. But voters also tend to think Obama believes the court should rule on the basis of fairness and justice."

Obama said he would seek a nominee with "an independent mind, a record of excellence and integrity, a fierce dedication to the rule of law and a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people."

Leading candidates to replace Stevens include pro-abortion Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49, and federal appellate judges Merrick Garland, 57, in Washington and pro-abortion Diane Wood, 59, in Chicago.

Others who might be considered include two Democratic governors, Jennifer Granholm of Michigan and Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, and State Department legal adviser Harold Koh. All three are ardent abortion advocates.


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Green growth increasing behind bars - KING-5

Posted: 19 Apr 2010 02:33 PM PDT

by GARY CHITTIM / KING5 News

Posted on April 19, 2010 at 2:40 PM

MONROE, Wash. - . Inmates at The Monroe Correctional Complex are earning their keep and learning new skills they hope to take with them when their time is done. They're growing their own food, they recycle household materials, they even train troubled dogs, and they're doing it all inside the walls.

They are tapping the built in workforce and creating trained employees at the same time.

It's a new philosophy that prison leaders and the inmates say is working. Rather than sitting around in the cell or watching television, inmates can learn how to grow tomatoes, or recycle a mattress.

It's part of a sustainable philosophy slowing seeping through prison walls and paying off big.

Last year inmates in King County recycled 36,000 mattresses and their business partner, Correctional Industries, hopes to double that next year.

Since beginning the program in 2004, prison officials say they have cut water usage and waste water by 50%. Power usage is also down. And according to both guards and inmates, all that fresh air and hard work is making for a more peaceful prison population.

One guard explained before the new programs, gang bosses divided up the prison population, now he says they are sitting down together and discussing jobs and projects.

 

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Lorenzo di Bonaventura on Transformers 3 - Coming Soon!

Posted: 19 Apr 2010 12:24 PM PDT

ComingSoon.net recently chatted with "Transformers" producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura about what is going on with Transformers 3, scheduled for a July 1, 2011 release.

Q: On a film like "Transformers 3," do you find yourself having to explain a lot about what you're doing to the director and studio or are you given free reign?
Lorenzo di Bonaventura: Not with Bay, you know? With Bay, no not too much there either. Bay is such a general that it moves at his pace. The first movie we had to explain a lot of why we wanted to spend this, what was going on dah dah dah, but most movies in my experience and in most studios they're all running in a difficult time right now and they're concerned about their careers and concerned about the results. I grew up in the Warner Brothers system and our philosophy was once we made our bet, which meant it's up to the filmmakers to deliver it. So it wasn't a particularly intrusive system after once it made its bet. You had to pass a lot of hurdles to get to the go, but once you got there it was like, alright we're here. We've placed our bet and our philosophy at Warner's was you can't direct the movie if you're an executive and you can't write the movie and you can't act the movie, so you know, unless they're going sideways what can you do? It's up to them to elevate it.

Q: Are any of these actors you're working with now, are they going to be in any of your future films?
Di Bonaventura: Actually [John] Malkovich is in "Transformers 3."

Q: And what is his role in that?
Di Bonaventura: You know we don't talk a lot about that script, but he's going to have a lot of interaction with Shia in that movie. And he's got a really fun character. And he's going to bring a really interesting spin to that franchise so it's going to be great.

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