[373TH] U.S. regrets photos in Afghanistan/Italian museum burning artworks in anti-cuts protest/co-evolution between Intelligence and worrying

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U.S. regrets photos with corpses in Afghanistan

2012-04-19 09:40

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta apologized Wednesday for newly published photographs that purport to show U.S. soldiers posing with the bloodied remains of dead insurgents in Afghanistan, and without excusing their ``very foolish'' action the Pentagon chief suggested that it could be explained by the rigors of war.

The White House also expressed regret for the latest in a string of embarrassing missteps by the U.S. military in a decade-old war whose strategy is built upon efforts to earn the trust and confidence of ordinary Afghans. In recent months American troops have been caught up in controversies over the burning of Muslim holy books, urinating on Afghan corpses, an alleged massacre of 17 Afghan villagers and other misdeeds.

The photos were published in Wednesday's Los Angeles Times. One shows members of the 82nd Airborne Division posing in 2010 with Afghan police and the severed legs of a suicide bomber. The same platoon a few months later was sent to investigate the remains of three insurgents reported to have accidentally blown themselves up _ and soldiers again posed and mugged for photo with the remains, the newspaper said.

``The incident depicted in the LA Times' photographs represents a serious error in judgment by several soldiers who have acted out of ignorance and unfamiliarity with U.S. Army values,'' Allen said, adding that commanders ``will collaborate with Afghan authorities and carefully examine the facts and circumstances shown in these photos.''

President Barack Obama's chief spokesman, Jay Carney, called the early February 2010 incident was ``reprehensible.'' Carney said the picture-taking incident does not represent the standards of the U.S. military and said that Obama believes the situation needs to be investigated and those responsible held accountable.

Panetta said he condemned the behavior, but said, ``This is war. I know that war is ugly and it's violent, and I know that young people sometimes caught up in the moment sometimes make very foolish decisions.''

A statement by U.S. Ambassador,Jay Carney also condemned the behavior.

``Such actions are morally repugnant, dishonor the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers and civilians who have served with distinction in Afghanistan, and do not represent the core values of the United States or our military,'' Crocker said.

Little said the military had asked the Los Angeles Times not to publish the photographs. ``The danger is that this material could be used by the enemy to incite violence against U.S. and Afghan service members in Afghanistan,'' he said.

In its story, the newspaper quoted editor Davan Maharaj saying: ``After careful consideration, we decided that publishing a small but representative selection of the photos would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. troops.''

Many troops take photos _ and some take these `trophy' photos _ of their tours of duty on the battlefield. And the practice has harmed war efforts in both recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The most notorious case was that of Abu Ghraib, an Iraq prison photographed themselves physically and sexually abusing detainees. Photos showed them holding one prisoner on a dog leash, another with a prisoner hooded and wires attached to him in a mock electrocution, another with naked prisoners stacked in a pyramid.

Release of the photos in 2004 fostered international condemnation. It complicated international relations for the U.S. and provoked debate about whether harsh interrogation techniques approved by the Pentagon amounted to torture. In all, eleven U.S. soldiers were tried and convicted of crimes and five others were punished administratively. Punishments for the 16 included reprimands, hard labor, demotions, fines and up to 10 years in prison for one soldier.

QUESTION.

1.As per the article, U.S. Government had insisted that photo should have not been published since this could incite violence against U.S and Afgan servie members in Afganistan. On the contrary, LA Times decided to publish photo in order to fulfill their obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission. In this regard, which side do you support?

2. Stationing U.S. soldiers in Korea has been making lots of issues in our country. Do you think that we need their existence as a safeguard? If yes, how can we decrease crime rate caused?

Italian museum starts burning artworks in anti-cuts protest

2012-04-18 09:34

An Italian museum on Tuesday began burning its collection of contemporary artworks in a singular protest against harsh budget cuts that have left many cultural institutions out of pocket.

The Casoria Contemporary Art Museum near Naples held a bonfire in its grounds for the first torching of a painting by French artist Severine Bourguignon, who was in favour of the protest and followed it on Skype.

Museum director Antonio Manfredi said: "Our 1,000 artworks are headed for destruction anyway because of the indifference of the government."

He plans to burn three art works a week in an initiative dubbed "Art War."

Manfredi last year announced he had written a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel asking for asylum, saying he was fed up with mafia threats and the government's failure to protect Italy's rich cultural heritage.

He said he would take his entire museum with him if the asylum was granted.

Manfredi never received a reply from German authorities but the famous Tacheles squat in Berlin offered "artistic asylum" to the museum and hosted an exhibition in May 2011 of some of the museum's works against the mafia.

"If a government allows Pompeii to fall then what hope does my museum have," Manfredi told AFP at the time, following a number of incidents at the world-famous ancient Roman city buried by a volcanic explosion in 79 AD.

The museum has become known for daring exhibitions against the power of the Naples-based Camorra organised crime group and has suffered intimidation.

In a sign of the times, the culture ministry last week said it was launching an emergency procedure to put the Maxxi museum of contemporary art in Rome under external administration because of the institution's ballooning debts.

Maxxi said its funding had been cut 43 percent last year compared to 2010. (AFP)

QUESTION

1. Are you interested in ART? What kind of art are you interested in and how do you enjoy your art life? (ex. museum, concert, movie, etc.).

2. Do you thinks it is acceptable to destroy these wokrs of art as a tool for showing their opinion? (those works of art are kinds of public goods as a symbol of one's country, not a one's property.)

3. Making a budget arouse citizen's interest and it is difficult to balance the budget.

If you are drawing up a budget for coming fiscal year, how much importance do you have for cultual budget? And which division do you emphasize more?

Intelligence and worrying may have co-evolved: study

2012-04-15 18:10

A recent study by U.S. researchers suggests that intelligence may have co-evolved with worrying, Science Daily reported Thursday.

Brain activity during the intellectual process involves depletion of the nutrient choline in the sub-cortical white matter, which is also true of the process of worrying, Dr. Jeremy Coplan from SUNY Downstate Medical center and his colleagues found.

This suggests that excessive worrying, which is generally viewed as a negative trait may actually be a beneficial trait in survival of humans.

“Worry may cause our species to avoid dangerous situations regardless of how remote a possibility they may be,” said Coplan.

Researchers conducted an experiment where patients with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD were compared with healthy control group to analyze the correlation between worrying and IQ.

They found that in healthy people high IQ was associated with lower degree of worrying, but for GAD group “smarter” people tend to worry more.

Coplan explained that worrying causes people to “take no chances” and may result in higher chance of survival of the species.

Qusetion

1.What are the things that make you worried and frustrated these days?

2. What do you think is the your best way to relieve stress?

3. Are you a challenging person? Let's share what you've challenged most in your life.

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[그나[Alice]]

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[지훈 [St. Paul Phoenix]]

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