Orange Press Release: The Dutch Olympic Committee fears

TheColorOrange Press Release 13 May

The Dutch Olympic Committee fears that The Netherlands will be taken as Orange hostage in Beijing 2008. In a letter to the Dutch NOC, the initiator of TheColorOrange.net campaign Danish artist Jens Galschiot claims that the Dutch should be proud. As the only ones, they have the opportunity to support the human rights in China without risking being expelled from the stadium. So the artist emphasizes that his campaign by no means is an attack against the Dutch athletes.

Read more at:

http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/page172

http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/page171

Bad news about death penalty

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. executions are all but sure to resume soon after a nationwide halt, cleared Wednesday by a splintered Supreme Court that approved the most widely used method of lethal injection.
The Guardian; 17th of April


Executions in the USA have been suspended since late September 2007 as states waited for the Supreme Court's decision. A majority of the 36 death penalty states, and the federal government, use the same three-drug combination as Kentucky to anesthetize, paralyze and kill the condemned prisoner.
Amnesty International; 18th of April


At least 1,200 people were executed in 2007 and many more were killed by the state, in secret, in countries including China, Mongolia and Viet Nam.

The figures come from Amnesty International's yearly statistics, Death Sentences and Executions in 2007, issued on Tuesday, which say that at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries and at least 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries. Up to 27,500 people are estimated to be on death row across the world.

The figures also show an increase in executions in a number of countries. Iran executed at least 317 people, Saudi Arabia 143 and Pakistan 135 – in comparison to 177, 39 and 82 executions respectively in 2006.

Eighty-eight per cent of all known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA. Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions per capita, followed by Iran and Libya. Amnesty International has been able to confirm at least 470 executions by China – the highest overall figure. However, the organization has said that the true figure for China is undoubtedly much higher.

China, which the report refers to as the world's top executioner, classifies the death penalty as a state secret. As the world and Olympic guests are left guessing, only the Chinese authorities know exactly how many people have been killed with state authorization.
Ammnesty International; 15th of April

Abolish the Death Penalty
The death penalty is the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights. By working towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign looks to end the cycle of violence created by a system riddled with economic and racial bias and tainted by human error

Published here on the 19th of November 2007: GOOD NEWS AGAINST DEATH PENALTY!

Latest news: Orange group denied entrance to HK

Jens Galschiot and the Orange group have been denied entrance to Hong Kong. They are returning to Denmark and will arrive at the airport of Copenhagen Sunday 27th 9.55 am, BA812 from Heathrow. More detailed information about this at:

http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/page147

WashingtonPost: 3 human rights activists barred from Hong Kong


FOX NEWS (27/4): 3 human rights activists barred from Hong Kong

A survey on money, happiness and giving

Elizabeth Dunn (University of B.C. psychologist, Vancouver) together with Laura Aknin and Michael Norton (from Harvard Bussines School), designed and conducted a survey on money, happiness and giving. They found greater happiness among people who give money to charity and buy gifts for friends, regardless of income.

Money may not buy you love but it might buy you happiness if you spend it in the right way, US researchers say. In studies they found that the old adage "it's better to give than to receive" is correct: spending money on others or giving to charity puts a bigger smile on your face than buying things for yourself.
The Guardian

It doesn't surprise me at all that people find giving money away very rewarding," said Aaron Ahuvia, associate professor of marketing at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, who was not involved in the current study.
LiveScience

"It was a remarkably strong effect," said Ms. Dunn. "So strong that we had other people analyze the data again just to make sure."
NationalPost Canada

More secure but more fearful.

I came across with this article recently and I have considered interesting just to show you a couple of paragraphs and the link to the whole one. I hope you find it interesting too.

Humanity has never had it so good. Most people around the world are better off and will live longer than their ancestors. If we could hold on to that perspective, we would all be much more relaxed. But we aren't relaxed. We are anxious and stressed. We are scared that bad things will happen to us: nuclear war, cancer, child abduction. As for keeping things in perspective, Homo sapiens just isn't cut out for it, as Dan Gardner explains in Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear

Gardner elegantly summarises the results of psychological research proving that people's visceral 'fight-or-flight' reactions always elbow their rational calculations out of the way. Crucially, this happens even when the subjects are instructed to ignore their emotional responses. It happens to everyone, including psychology professors. So - clever clogs - if you think you don't believe everything you see on TV, it doesn't matter. Your Stone Age brain has processed the images and is using them to shape your opinions whether you like it or not.

Sunday March 9, 2008
The Observer

The ColorOrange News2

Press release Friday 28th March 17.20 pm

Greek police ban orange clothes
during Olympic Torch Relay

Danish activists stopped by the Greek police.

10 orange activists have been forbidden to follow the Olympic Torch in Greece. They were stopped already 70 kilometres from the city of Larissa, where they had planned to be a peaceful part of the Torch Relay.

BBC video: Greek police ban the colour orange

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T92fGP-SEVM

More information about the project on the website www.TheColorOrange.net

Aur Appeal in Greek: http://www.thecolororange.net/uk/page21_gr

Previous news announcements and photos about the Danish activists:
www.TheColorOrange.net/uk/page104

TheColorOrange

Dear all,

In January I received Jens Galschiot´s e-mail. He is, in my opinion, a true artist whom has acted both conscientiously and succesfully in numerous humane actions. He operates within the framwork of AIDOH (Art In Defense Of Humanization). For example:

- In 2001 AIDOH acted against certain pharmaceutical companies whose actions would have otherwise left some groups of people in South Africa without essential drugs. Link to that campaign

- In 2007 they also launched a strong campain against the fundamentalist branch of the Christian church that does not believe in contraception and sexual education. Link to that campaign

Inkeeping with this, in January of 2008, Jens Galschiot launched a world wide campaign that proposes people to bear/wear something orange during the Beijing Olympic Games 2008: “We will use the colour orange and make it a symbol of the protest against the human rights violations in China”

I hold the belief that this world wide campaign is an important chance for us to bring attention to one of the big irresposibilities in the world today.

Below you will find details of TheColorOrange appeal. I will leave it up to you to decide on whether to assist the campaign.