Featured video of the third week in January 2009

Featured Video for the week of January 19th – 26th

Topic: SEXUAL EDUCATION
An informative and matter-of-fact way to look at the vagina, a off-misunderstood matter. Videos of the week will be voted on by the website users, so please cast your vote for next week’s Featured Video! Additionally, we at Channel 88 believe the best material out there comes from you, directly, the viewer. Send your video to the following e-mail address. You may remain anonymous, or you may tell us a bit about yourself so that we can include it in our piece, if your chosen. E-Mail To: maiteaarchuleta@yahoo.com

Eneko’s Personal Testimoney

Eneko’s Story about Being Basque

Basque Flag

Kaixo!

My name is Eneko and I was born in 1987. I’m descendant of Basques from Araba (Álava) and Galicians. However, I and all my family live in the Basque Country; me and my father’s family in Araba, and my mother’s family in Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa). So I am not a Basque living abroad but I am glad to tell you a little bit of my story.

Exactly, I live with my parents in a city called Vitoria-Gasteiz (the capital of the province of Alava and The Basque Autonomous Community (Euskadi), although the capital of The Basque Country (Euskal Herria) would be Iruña/Pamplona). In the 20th Century the Basque language in Araba was only spoken in the very northern part and in a small area, so I’m sure that my father’s nearest ancestors didn’t know it, but as I’ve got Basque surnames, maybe my ancestors knew it.

As a consequence of Franco’s dictatorship the Basque language was banned in Spain, so none of my family members knew it because it was not spoken and was not taught at school. After the dictatorship, the Basque language was allowed, so I have been educated in Basque at ikastola (Basque language school) as the same time that my father studied it, so I want to let you know that I speak it (if you need help you can ask me). Nowadays, my parents and almost all of my aunts and uncles know it. Furthermore my cousins are being educated in Basque at “ikastola” and one of them has Basque as his mother language. Therefore my generation in my family is Basque speaker.

Some Spanish, when I am asked where I am from and I tell them, sometimes their reaction is to ask me if I am nationalist or independentist, you know. That’s a question that angers me a lot because I feel as if I were being judged for my ideology or opinion. I think that this happens because of the lack of information.

Photo Montage of Basque Country

What is Burning Man?

The Man at Night, circa 2002

WHAT IS BURNING MAN?

(Excerpt from website; http://burningman.com )

Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind. In this section you will find the peripheral definitions of what the event is as a whole, but to truly understand this event, one must participate. This site serves to try to paint a picture of the Burning Man experience to those who are new to the project, as well as to give those participants looking to keep the fire burning in their daily lives an environment in which to connect to their fellow community members. For a brief yet eloquent overview of the entire event from the time of arrival to the time of exodus, please read “What is Burning Man?”, an essay written by participant and one-time web team member, Molly Steenson. Please see archived sections for each year to read more about the art themes, art installations and theme camps for each year.

Here you will find links that will take you on a trip through the past – through the history of Burning Man – from its early days on a small beach in San Francisco through its evolution into the bustling city of some 48,000+ people that the Burning Man event has become today. These people make the journey to the Black Rock Desert for one week out of the year to be part of an experimental community, which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in one’s day-to-day life. The result of this experiment is Black Rock City, home to the Burning Man event.

There are no rules about how one must behave or express oneself at this event (save the rules that serve to protect the health, safety, and experience of the community at large); rather, it is up to each participant to decide how they will contribute and what they will give to this community. The event takes place on an ancient lakebed, known as the playa. By the time the event is completed and the volunteers leave, sometimes nearly a month after the event has ended, there will be no trace of the city that was, for a short time, the most populous town in the entire county. Art is an unavoidable part of this experience, and in fact, is such a part of the experience that Larry Harvey, founder of the Burning Man project, gives a theme to each year, to encourage a common bond to help tie each individual’s contribution together in a meaningful way. Participants are encouraged to find a way to help make the theme come alive, whether it is through a large-scale art installation, a theme camp, gifts brought to be given to other individuals, costumes, or any other medium that one comes up with.

The Burning Man project has grown from a small group of people gathering spontaneously to a community of over 48,000 people. It is impossible to truly understand the event as it is now without understanding how it has evolved. See the first years page and Burning Man 1986 – 1996 for the legendary story of Burning Man’s beginnings and to understand how the event has come to become what it is today. The timeline gives a short overview of what each year looked like. Please also check out the detailed archives for years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. Within each of these years are descriptions each year’s art theme, theme camps, large art installations, as well as maps, journals of our city being built, the newsletters to the community for each year, issues of the Black Rock Gazette (a daily news publication produced and printed on the playa), and clean up reports for each year, including a list of those sites that failed to “leave no trace”. These pages help understand the larger scope of the entire experience, from the planning that happens year-round to make each event possible, to the clean-up efforts which take place for sometimes months after the city has disappeared.

The impact of the Burning Man experience has been so profound that a culture has formed around it. This culture pushes the limits of Burning Man and has led to people banding together nation-wide, and putting on their own events, in attempt to rekindle that magic feeling that only being part of this community can provide. The Black Rock Arts Foundation promotes interactive art by supporting public art that exists outside the event, and has a special interest in supporting art at regional events. Additionally, Burning Man has over two thousand volunteers who work before, during and after the event (many who work year-round) to make the event a reality.

Photos Courtesy of Maitea Archuleta:

For more information on Burning Man, the annual event, please go the the following links: there is a wealth of information, photographs, videos, testimonials of attendees, etc. This is by no means a comprehensive list of websites.

“Official” and unofficial Sites:
http://burningman.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Man
http://bm.tribe.net
http://www.sfgate.com/burningman/

Spain, France and Basque Country

Trescientos policías armados tomaron en la madrugada de ayer varios puntos de Euskal Herria para proceder a la detención de ocho personas y efectuar casi una veintena de registros de domicilios particulares y otros locales, con el fin -según afirmó el juez Baltasar Garzón- de encontrar elementos que permitan a la Audiencia Nacional impedir que la izquierda abertzale pueda presentarse a las elecciones. GARA | GASTEIZ El Ministerio del Interior español y Baltasar Garzón volvieron a protagonizar en la madrugada de ayer otra de sus espectaculares operaciones. Trescientos policías a sus órdenes procedieron a la detención de Amparo Lasheras, Agurtzane Solaberrieta, Hodei Egaña, Eli Zubiaga, Iker Rodrigo, Imanol Nieto, Iñaki Olalde y Arantza Urkaregi. Además registraron, también de madrugada, los domicilios particulares de varios conocidos militantes independentistas, procediendo a llevarse documentación y ordenadores. Todos los detenidos se encuentran incomunicados y, según fuentes de la Audiencia Nacional, el juez no les tomará declaración hasta el domingo. El Ministerio de Interior intentó presentar la operación policial como un intento de «impedir que Batasuna se repro- duzca». El titular de la cartera, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, calificó a los detenidos de «colaboradores de ETA» y subrayó que son los sustitutos de la Mesa Nacional de Batasuna desarticulada el año pasado en Segura. Sin embargo, la abogada Arantza Zulueta, que estuvo presente en uno de los registros acompañando a Baltasar Garzón, aseguró a la emisora Info7 que el juez le había manifestado que la operación pretendía buscar elementos para que D3M no pueda concurrir a las próximas elecciones autonómicas. Diversos medios de información habían señalado en días anteriores que ésta podía ser una de las opciones del Gobierno español. E incluso el candidato del PSE a lehendakari, Patxi López, no tuvo empacho en afirmar ante los medios que la actuación policial buscaría evitar «que haya en las próximas elecciones una tapadera de una banda terrorista». La identidad de las personas detenidas y de las que padecieron los registros nocturnos llevan a pensar, sin lugar a dudas, que la Policía perseguía la búsqueda de información relacionada con D3M y Askatasuna. Horas y horas de registros En Bizkaia fueron detenidas la profesora de la UPV-EHU Arantza Urkaregi (Bilbo), Eli Zubiaga (Algorta), Iker Rodrigo (Erromo, pero arrestado en Lekeitio) e Imanol Nieto (Sestao). En Araba, la Policía se llevo a la representante de la plataforma D3M Amparo Lasheras, en Gasteiz, y al veterano militante independentista Iñaki Olalde, en Agurain. Hodei Egaña y Agurtzane Solaberrieta fueron detenidos en Gipuzkoa, en las localidades de Donostia y Usurbil, respectivamente, según confirmó el movimiento pro-amnistía. En todos los casos las detenciones se produjeron a partir de las 2.00 de la madrugada y la Policía registró sus domicilios durante varias horas. Además, también inspeccionaron las viviendas de Tasio Erkizia y Joxerra Etxebarria, en Bizkaia, la de la concejala de Hondarribia Miren Legorburu y dos casas del promotor de D3M en Araba Fernando Antia, al que le echaron la puerta abajo en una de ellas. En Nafarroa, la Policía irrumpió además en los domicilios de la concejala independentista de Iruñea Mariné Pueyo y del también edil en Uharte Xanti Kiroga. El operativo incluyó también los registros de la sede de Gasteiz Izan, donde trasladaron como testigo a Amparo Lasheras, y la sede y un almacén de Herria Aurrera, en Bilbo, donde estuvo Arantza Urkaregi. En Usurbil la Policía entró en un local utilizado por diversos grupos del municipio y que el Ministerio atribuyó a AEK. Allí llevaron a Ho- dei Egaña. carga policial La Policía española cargó a porrazos y lanzando pelotas de goma contra las personas que se concentraron en Erromo, mientras se registraba el piso de Iker Rodrigo. Asimismo, informaron a GARA de que algún vecino resultó contusionado. COMPARECENCIA HOY Varios de los afectados por esta redada comparecerán hoy en rueda de prensa para denunciar la operación policial. Está previsto que intervengan Miren Legorburu, Tasio Erkizia, Joxerra Etxebarria o Aitor Bezares. EHUko errektoreak kezka agertu du atxiloketen aurrean EHU-UPVko errektore berria den Iñaki Goirizelaiak operazio polizial honen aurrean bere «kezka» plazaratu du, bereziki bertako irakaslea den Arantza Urkaregiren atxiloketa dela-eta. Komunikabideei igorritako adierazpenean, errektoreak galdegiten du Zientzia fakultateko irakaslea den Urkaregi «lehenbailehen Unibertsitatean betetzen dituen zeregin akademikoetara itzul dadin». Oharrean, gainera, nabarmentzen du Urkaregik erakunde honetan «ibilbide eredugarria» egin duela, bai ardura akademikoei dagokionez, eta bai azken hamabost urteetan EHUko kudeaketa organoetan egindako lanari dagokionez. Zehazki, Urkaregik Unibertsitateko Gobernu Kontseiluan edo Klaustroan «gogotik lan egin duela» adierazten du Goirizelaiak; «errektorego-talde desberdinei kritika eraikitzailea eskainiz, eta betiere gure erakundearekiko leialtasun erabatekoaz jokatuz», azaltzen du. Bestalde, STEE-EILAS hezkuntza arloko sindikatuak ere Urkaregi eta gainontzeko atxilotuak askatzeko exijitzen du komunikabideei bidalitako ohar baten bidez. Era berean, gatibu hartutako pertsonak komisarian dirauten bitartean, «beren segurtasuna bermatzeko baldintza guztiak bete daitezela» aldarrikatzen du; eta, horren harira, zehazki eskatzen du atxiloketa aldian inkomunikazio egoera bertan behera uzteko eta konfiantzazko.