yannaki

Earth Is On The Cusp Of A Sixth Mass Extinction

By Lauren F Friedman July 25, 2014 6:05 PM

Adam Cohn / Flickr
Approximately 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs went extinct,  75% of […]

Here’s a little something special I felt like sharing as it carries a message that must be heard by the world…

The latest single from one of my favorite Sicilian musical groups, “Agricantus” – a group based from Palermo, Sicily that performs modern Sicilian music with World/Ethnic rhythms, including a strong North African influence that is well preserved in Sicily’s unique culture (especially in the West coast, which has a large North African [Tunisian] minority)

The song is entitled, “Nsunnai”, which means “I Dreamt” in the Sicilian language…and the song shares an inspirational story: about the burning desire for world peace and being free from the wrongful injustices and cruelties of humanity…a deep and powerfully inspirational song that speaks volumes – about the human condition. – *lyrics are translated below* –

Words from one of the band members:
“This is “Nsunnai”, last single published in spring, 2014 march 21. Dedicated to our dream for which we fight every day in the hope that they can achieve.” –

“Agricantus” – is a group that is comprised of musicians hailing from all places in the world and a project spanning across many years…promoting a message of love, world peace and humanity –

———————–

LYRICS:

Sicilian

“NSUNNAI”

Mani nuri
mani nuri nsunnai
mani nuri pi canziarimi ‘i guai
mani nuri
mani nuri nsunnai
pi fari li cosi p’un fari chjanciri mai

Peri nuri
peri nuri nsunnai
peri nuri pi ju curriri assai
peri nuri
peri nuri nsunnai
pi ghiri luntanu e nun firmarimi mai

CHORUS:

Mi nsunnai ri stari n paci
‘mmenzu a omini ca nun ghjettanu vuci
mi nsunnai a taci e maci
runni nuddu veni cchjù misu n cruci
e tuttu chistu mi ccunta
com’u rumani sara

R’ntra u sonnu veni ‘i stari
ca vivennu ‘a virità
funnu niuvuru a tuccari
sulu ‘a sorti pi campa’
si mi chiamanu cumpari
ma ‘u cutieddu m’azziccaru
sunnu genti ‘i malaffari
c’u surrisu marinaru
nascivi cu picca xelu
‘mmenzu a quarteri ‘i xittà
agghjuttuti r’u ximentu
rina, asfaittu, favusità
mi custrincinu a ammuttari
aria e fumu ch’i vastuni
mentri ‘u munnu sta a firriari
nenti c’è ca mi ‘nni veni

 

English translation

“I DREAMT”

Bare hands, I dreamt of bare hands.
Bare hands to keep me far from trouble.
Bare hands, I dreamt of bare hands
to get things done, never to make anyone cry.

Bare feet, I dreamt of bare feet.
Bare feet for running far.
Bare feet, I dreamt of bare feet
to travel far and never return.

CHORUS:

I dreamt of living in peace
in the midst of men who never cry out.
I dreamt privately,
of a place where no one is ever crucified,
and all of this speaks to me
of what tomorrow brings.

 
I want to stay in this dream,
because in the real world
the deepest black is always within reach
and I am left with only good fortune to survive.
He who calls me best friend
and then stabs me in the back
is a dishonest person
wearing an ambiguous smile.
I was born without seeing much of the sky,
in the quarters of the city
swallowed by concrete,
sand, asphalt, deceitfulness.
They force me to push away
air and smoke with my cane,
as the world continues to turn
and nothing comes to me.

————-

“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.”

By JC Sevcik   |   April 16, 2014 at 5:47 PM

The American Flag seen behind a sign for Wall Street near the New York Stock Exchange. UPI/John Angelillo
| License Photo

WASHINGTON, April 16 (UPI) — Oligarchy is a form of government in which power is vested in a dominant class and a small group exercises control over the general population.A new study from Princeton and Northwestern Universities concluded that the U.S. government represents not the interests of the majority of citizens but those of the rich and powerful.

“Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” analyzed extensive data, comparing nearly 1,800 U.S. policies enacted between 1981 and 2002 with the expressed preferences of average and affluent Americans as well as special interest groups.

The resulting data empirically verifies that U.S. policies are determined by the economic elite.

“The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on US government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence,” says the peer-reviewed study.

The 42-page study analyzes U.S. politics through the framework of four major theoretical traditions — Majoritarian Electoral Democracy, Economic Elite Domination, Majoritarian Pluralism and Biased Pluralism — concluding that U.S. political policies rarely align with the majority of citizens.

What do our findings say about democracy in America? They certainly constitute troubling news for advocates of “populistic” democracy, who want governments to respond primarily or exclusively to the policy preferences of their citizens. In the United States, our findings indicate, the majority does not rule — at least not in the causal sense of actually determining policy outcomes. When a majority of citizens disagrees with economic elites and/or with organized interests, they generally lose. Moreover, because of the strong status quo bias built into the U.S. political system, even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.

The report consoles that “Americans do enjoy many features
central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association” but goes on to warn that “we believe that if policymaking is dominated
by powerful business organizations and a small number of affluent Americans, then America’s claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened.”

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2014/04/16/The-US-is-not-a-democracy-but-an-oligarchy-study-concludes/2761397680051/#ixzz2zDse9tIq