Napoleon (2002) Episode 1/4 (TOK film club - films to provoke critical thinking)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5nwB4dDDgk

I recommend this mainly for pleasure and general entertainment, perhaps in the long vacation. It is educational too, tracing how Napoleon emerged from the chaos of the French Revolution to impose his will on France and then Europe. Like so many 'great' leaders, his own hubris led to his downfall. While some battle scenes are violent, they are not as graphic as modern computer games or television crime dramas. The acting is generally excellent.On a note of irony, one of the actors and producers of the series is Frenchman Gerard Depardieu who has recently taken Russian citiizenship to protest French taxes on the rich. I own a copy of the DVD and post this link to youtube to encourage students and their families to sample the production and hopefully some of you will add this DVD to your collection.

BBC Andrew Marr History of the World episode 1

New History of the World (Paperback) Price: Rs.599 (FLIPKART)

Andrew Marr, author of two bestselling histories of Great Britain now turns his attention to the world as a whole. A History of the World takes readers from the Mayans to Mongolia, from the kingdom of Benin to the court of the Jagiellonian kings of Poland. Traditional histories of this kind have tended to be Euro-centric, telling mankind's story through tales of Greece and Rome and the crowned heads of Europe's oldest monarchies. Here, Marr widens the lens, concentrating as much, if not more on the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Instead of focusing on one episode of history taking place in one place, he draws surprising parallels and makes fascinating connections, focusing on a key incident or episode to tell a larger story: for instance, the liberation of the serfs in Russia, which took place at the same time as the American Civil War, which resulted in the abolition of slavery in the US. But he begins the account with an episode in the life of Tolstoy, who racked up huge gambling debts and had to sell land and slaves as a result.

 

I encourage students to purchase the DVD Box Set and the book 'tie-in' for the series.

BBC Seven Ages Of Starlight 2012

TIMES OF INDIA - INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

INDIA Women's Day is round the corners and our small screen actors are too excited to share their views on Women's Day. Here we go...

Soumya Seth: Women are the emblem of beauty, patience, love, passion every home, every heart, every feeling, every moment of happiness is incomplete without a woman. Only a woman is capable of completing the world. Often we leave our appreciation unspoken... but today I say Happy Women's Day.

Raqesh Vashisht: As such I don't believe on this day. But for Women's of India I salute them.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tv/Tv-stars-on-International-Womens-Day/articleshow/18849432.cms 

Some DNA ancestry services akin to 'genetic astrology'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21687013

By Pallab Ghosh Science correspondent, BBC News DNA cannot tell you that your ancestors were Viking, simply that your ancestry came from a part of the world common to the Vikings based on historic facts. It's important to talk to the company who provide the testing to make sure your expectations are realistic".
Prof Steve Jones, from University College London and author of some of the seminal books on genetics and evolution, said: "On a long trudge through history - two parents, four great-grandparents, and so on - very soon everyone runs out of ancestors and has to share them.
"As a result, almost every Briton is a descendant of Viking hordes, Roman legions, African migrants, Indian Brahmins, or anyone else they fancy."

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir 3, 'Water Night'

Another Bank Bailout...for Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Cronies

Günter Grass poem praises nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/01/gunter-grass-poem-praises-mordechai-vanunu

Germany's Nobel laureate describes Vanunu, who spent 18 years in prison for leaking details of Israel's nuclear programme, as a 'role model and hero of our time'

How to Recapture the Golden Age of Islam? - Karen Armstrong