Human life is lived in a middle position between our genetic determinants on the one hand and culture on the other. It's out of that that human freedom emerges. And artistic works, the plays of Shakespeare, the novels of Jane Austen, the works of Wagner and Beethoven, Rembrandt and Hokusai, are among the freest, most human acts ever accomplished. These creations are the ultimate expressions of freedom.
Perfectly said.
February 24, 2009
At What Cost? HIV and Human Rights Consequences of the Global "War on Drugs"
This OSI report examines the unintended consequences of aggressive antidrug policies on people who use drugs, their families, and the health care providers who work with them.
February 20, 2009
Manufacturing Guilt?
I urge you to get this into the hands of as many people as possible. AB.
Video Raises Serious Questions About Death Row Conviction. In 1993, 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux drowned in her bathtub in West Monroe, Louisiana. Bite mark identification and analysis performed by forensic experts Steven Hayne and Michael West tied Jimmie Duncan to Oliveaux’s death. Duncan was convicted of murdering the baby girl and sentenced to death. He has been on death row for 10 years. But an autopsy videotape obtained by Reason magazine’s Radley Balko shows the bite marks were not on Oliveaux’s body at the time of her death. You can see the video, and still photos from it, here. Balko asked Michael Bowers, a deputy medical examiner for Ventura County, California, and a past chairman of the American Board of Forensic Odontology’s Exam and Credentialing Committee, to review the tape. When asked how abrasions on Oliveaux's cheek that were not present when the video begins could later appear, Bowers said, "Because Dr. West created them. It was intentional. He's creating artificial abrasions in that video, and he's tampering with the evidence. It's criminal, regardless of what excuse he may come up with about his methods."
Balko's Reporting on Mississippi's Criminal Forensics System
Video Raises Serious Questions About Death Row Conviction. In 1993, 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux drowned in her bathtub in West Monroe, Louisiana. Bite mark identification and analysis performed by forensic experts Steven Hayne and Michael West tied Jimmie Duncan to Oliveaux’s death. Duncan was convicted of murdering the baby girl and sentenced to death. He has been on death row for 10 years. But an autopsy videotape obtained by Reason magazine’s Radley Balko shows the bite marks were not on Oliveaux’s body at the time of her death. You can see the video, and still photos from it, here. Balko asked Michael Bowers, a deputy medical examiner for Ventura County, California, and a past chairman of the American Board of Forensic Odontology’s Exam and Credentialing Committee, to review the tape. When asked how abrasions on Oliveaux's cheek that were not present when the video begins could later appear, Bowers said, "Because Dr. West created them. It was intentional. He's creating artificial abrasions in that video, and he's tampering with the evidence. It's criminal, regardless of what excuse he may come up with about his methods."
Balko's Reporting on Mississippi's Criminal Forensics System
February 11, 2009
New film clip from The Eyes of Van Gogh
Dr. Peyron (Roy Thinnes) tells Vincent (Alexander Barnett) that he will never be cured.
The official site of the film is http://www.theeyesofvangogh.com/.The Eyes of Van Gogh Film Clip
In this scene from the film Vincent (Alexander Barnett) and Gauguin (Lee Godart) battle for the last time.
January 20, 2009
Thoughts on directing Macbeth
Classic Theatre International, which I founded, was an American company dedicated to performing Shakespeare and contemporary classics throughout the world. One of those productions was Macbeth.
We interpreted Macbeth as an in-depth study of fear and tyranny and as one of Shakespeare’s most brutal and savage plays. Our Macbeth does not enter from battle as a finely-robed, unmarked general who has the sophisticated soul of a poet, but rather as a bloodied, scarred, intrepid, unsurpassed gladiator. Macbeth’s imagery expresses his subconscious mind but that in no way makes him a poet. Neither is he a victim of circumstances or a man whose fate is determined by supernatural influences or an overbearing wife. He is one of those people who would love to enjoy the fruits of treachery without having had to commit the treachery, thereby retaining a clean conscience even as he reaps the results of evil. Macbeth knows what he wants and what he must do to get it.
The idea of killing Duncan occurs to him before he is confronted by the three sisters. He tells his wife of his desires because he knows that she will give him the emotional and moral support he most desperately needs in order to achieve them. Macbeth has no predisposition to murder, merely an inordinate ambition and a lust for power that make murder itself seem a lesser evil than a failure to secure the crown. After he commits the murder it is fear, not guilt that infects Macbeth’s dreams and causes his intense paranoia.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are devoid of pathos and tenderness. They are not innocent sufferers but self-corrupted and guilty workers of horror. They do not command our affection or our sympathy, but we should be riveted, astounded and overwhelmed by their passion, brutality and determination. Above all they are human beings and not unreal monsters or evil incarnate. In Macbeth there are no neutral characters. Every person opposes, allows or encourages the tyranny unleashed by Macbeth. We do not treat the witches as supernatural beings but as the outward manifestation of Macbeth’s inner struggles and desires. Macbeth’s inner struggle and turmoil are expressed literally and theatrically.
I trained the company not to treat poetry as a strange, peculiar or awkward form of speech but as an absolutely natural and necessary way of expressing the highest and most profound thoughts in the most precise and perfect way possible. We tried to combine the perfect blending of the cerebral and the emotional; the thinking heart as Victor Hugo called it. This, plus a reverence for clarity and form, overcame much of the language barrier we encountered.
Our goal was not to perform only once in a city but to return year after year with the purpose of enriching all our lives. I firmly believe that there is a universal language that can be expressed through the correct combination and execution of text, mind, voice and body.
We interpreted Macbeth as an in-depth study of fear and tyranny and as one of Shakespeare’s most brutal and savage plays. Our Macbeth does not enter from battle as a finely-robed, unmarked general who has the sophisticated soul of a poet, but rather as a bloodied, scarred, intrepid, unsurpassed gladiator. Macbeth’s imagery expresses his subconscious mind but that in no way makes him a poet. Neither is he a victim of circumstances or a man whose fate is determined by supernatural influences or an overbearing wife. He is one of those people who would love to enjoy the fruits of treachery without having had to commit the treachery, thereby retaining a clean conscience even as he reaps the results of evil. Macbeth knows what he wants and what he must do to get it.
The idea of killing Duncan occurs to him before he is confronted by the three sisters. He tells his wife of his desires because he knows that she will give him the emotional and moral support he most desperately needs in order to achieve them. Macbeth has no predisposition to murder, merely an inordinate ambition and a lust for power that make murder itself seem a lesser evil than a failure to secure the crown. After he commits the murder it is fear, not guilt that infects Macbeth’s dreams and causes his intense paranoia.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are devoid of pathos and tenderness. They are not innocent sufferers but self-corrupted and guilty workers of horror. They do not command our affection or our sympathy, but we should be riveted, astounded and overwhelmed by their passion, brutality and determination. Above all they are human beings and not unreal monsters or evil incarnate. In Macbeth there are no neutral characters. Every person opposes, allows or encourages the tyranny unleashed by Macbeth. We do not treat the witches as supernatural beings but as the outward manifestation of Macbeth’s inner struggles and desires. Macbeth’s inner struggle and turmoil are expressed literally and theatrically.
I trained the company not to treat poetry as a strange, peculiar or awkward form of speech but as an absolutely natural and necessary way of expressing the highest and most profound thoughts in the most precise and perfect way possible. We tried to combine the perfect blending of the cerebral and the emotional; the thinking heart as Victor Hugo called it. This, plus a reverence for clarity and form, overcame much of the language barrier we encountered.
Our goal was not to perform only once in a city but to return year after year with the purpose of enriching all our lives. I firmly believe that there is a universal language that can be expressed through the correct combination and execution of text, mind, voice and body.
Thematic Structure of my Production of Othello
The production of Othello that I directed for Classic Theatre International was stark, brutal and
unsentimental. We interpret it as a sixteenth century horror story that, tragically, is incredibly more than applicable in our modern world. In this production the tragedy is not in the downfall of a great man but rather in the cold-blooded murder of two marvelous and heroic women, Desdemona and Emilia. We view the production from a woman’s as well as a man’s point of view. We show the results of a male-dominated society where vanity, ego and appearance dominate rational and logical considerations and where women are treated as property and second-class citizens. It is a stinging indictment of the warrior mentality of Othello and the analytical yet maniacal and inhuman mentality of Iago.
We see Othello not as great man but rather as a very flawed individual who happens to be an outstanding warrior. Self-delusion is at the core of his character. His greatest flaws are his refusal to face the reality of his nature and his firm belief that he has the right to be judge, jury and executioner. Watching him we learn the importance of humility, of constantly questioning our motives, of knowing and admitting our weaknesses and failures and of constantly striving to improve ourselves. We are also reminded that no one except a legally appointed person, operating within the framework of a humanistic and ethical code, has the right to pass sentence on another human being. 
unsentimental. We interpret it as a sixteenth century horror story that, tragically, is incredibly more than applicable in our modern world. In this production the tragedy is not in the downfall of a great man but rather in the cold-blooded murder of two marvelous and heroic women, Desdemona and Emilia. We view the production from a woman’s as well as a man’s point of view. We show the results of a male-dominated society where vanity, ego and appearance dominate rational and logical considerations and where women are treated as property and second-class citizens. It is a stinging indictment of the warrior mentality of Othello and the analytical yet maniacal and inhuman mentality of Iago.
We see Othello not as great man but rather as a very flawed individual who happens to be an outstanding warrior. Self-delusion is at the core of his character. His greatest flaws are his refusal to face the reality of his nature and his firm belief that he has the right to be judge, jury and executioner. Watching him we learn the importance of humility, of constantly questioning our motives, of knowing and admitting our weaknesses and failures and of constantly striving to improve ourselves. We are also reminded that no one except a legally appointed person, operating within the framework of a humanistic and ethical code, has the right to pass sentence on another human being. 
In regard to Iago - unlike the standard portrayal of a dispassionate, unmotivated and coldly objective creature we see an obsessive, irrational, subjective, compulsive, reckless, maniacal paranoid who is overwhelmed with hatred and yet has the incredible ability to present to the world an entirely different personality. He literally thrives on danger and excitement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix9ZEy-ndvE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ix9ZEy-ndvE
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