Ira

http://www.iranpresswatch.org/post/1936

This is an extraordinarily compelling documentary on the relationship, history and diplomatic struggles between Iran and the “Western” countries – stunning interviews and revelations (particularly in part 3), and so much information that never got into the news (such as how much help Iran gave the US in Afghanistan). (Faustus, if you watch this, let me know what you think? :) ) I don’t like that they glossed over the 1953 coup d’état by the British and American governments, and wonder why they chose to skip over Iran-Contra – but it still presents an incredible amount of information that adds so much to the story of Iran told in much of the Western media.

http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2009/07/children-full-of-life-a-moving-documentary-about-kids-sharing-emotions-in-school.html

http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyemonday/feature_270904.html

“In the award-winning documentary Children Full of Life, a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokyo, learn lessons about compassion from their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori. He instructs each to write their true inner feelings in a letter, and read it aloud in front of the class. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates.

Capturing the intimate moments of the students’ laughter and tears, the film explores one teacher’s approach to allowing children the opportunity to discover the value of sharing powerful emotions. Classroom discussions include difficult issues such as the death of a parent or being the victim of bullying. In this “school of life,” the simple message is learning to look after one another.”

This is a documentary really worth watching. If our world is going to change for the better, ultimately it all starts from the children – and the teaching of empathy and emotional intelligence.

You may want to watch it before someone takes it off Youtube – and as the Metafilter post I got this from says, you may want to keep tissues handy.

Probably what the world needs more than anything: good parents and good teachers.

I said in entry 14: “I’d like to believe that the universe gives us nudges (and occasionally, shoves) towards things that would make our lives better. This is not so much a belief as an idea (as Chris Rock says in Dogma), but I look back on my life so far and for all the difficulties and detours, it really looks like I’m being led towards something.”

I no longer believe this. Believing this is an insult to people who have been less fortunate than me – people whose lives are full of pain without apparent purpose.

I don’t think if there is something there, that that something would be angry with me for thinking based on available evidence. But most of all, there is far too much senseless suffering in the world for me to think that I‘m being led towards something. My life has taken some major twists and turns – but I’ll just be thankful for what luck I get, and try to do my best with it.