The small farming town of Harrodsburg, Ky., is the home of Willow Glass, thin and flexible, soon to find it's way into the marketplace. It's made by Corning in the same plant that developed Gorilla Glass, the protective cover for Apple's iPhone, and now used by more than thirty other makers of personal devices.
Sam Berns is a 17-year old living with progeria, a rare genetic disease where symptoms resemble aspects of rapid aging. Sam's also a prolific Lego builder and the subject of HBO's award-winning documentary, Life According to Sam, which premieres tonight.
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Children play at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where more than 120,000 Syrian refugees live. Roughly two-thirds are kids, many of whom have been traumatized by the violence in their homeland.
Children play at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where more than 120,000 Syrian refugees live. Roughly two-thirds are kids, many of whom have been traumatized by the violence in their homeland.
Alexandra Chen, a specialist in childhood trauma, is on her way from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to the southern town of Nabatiyeh, where she's running a workshop for teachers, child psychologists and sports coaches who are dealing with the Syrian children scarred by war in their homeland.
"All of the children have experienced trauma to varying degree," explains Chen, who works for Mercy Corps and is training a dozen new hires for her aid group.
Her intense five-day workshop is based on skills and techniques developed in other conflict zones, used for the first time here.
"They need to know enough to understand exactly what's going on in the brain of the children they are working with," Chen says of her trainees. Her course stresses the science of severe trauma, which can be toxic for the brain.
"The human memory remembers negative memories almost four times more strongly than positive ones," she says.
Some 2 million Syrian children have been displaced by the war and more than 1 million of them are now refugees in neighboring countries. One of the biggest challenges for international aid agencies is healing the invisible scars of war in the youngest victims.
Mercy Corps organizes games and movies at the Zaatari camp to help children return to more normal activities and routines.
Mercy Corps organizes games and movies at the Zaatari camp to help children return to more normal activities and routines.
"These children have seen terrible things, like bombings and people screaming and people dying, and they've smelled blood and smoke," Chen says as she opens the course. "For them, to be connected to the world feels like a very dangerous thing."
PTSD In Children
Chen tells the trainees that long-term exposure to violence can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder, which is difficult to treat in adults and even harder to manage in kids. Children can remain hyper-alert, with an "inability to step out of survival mode," which is often expressed as anger or aggression.
This group has already seen signs of severe trauma in Syrian children who recently arrived. Chen teaches them key skills to build a sense of safety for children.
But these newly trained Mercy Corps outreach workers face an overwhelming task. More than 85,000 Syrian refugees have migrated to this part of southern Lebanon, living in the poorest neighborhoods. Aid programs are underfunded and basic needs often go unmet.
Still, international aid organizations are raising the alarm over the newest arrivals. They have lived under traumatic conditions for much longer, surviving continuous bombardments, witnessing deaths firsthand, and many need immediate help.
Chen moves between workshops in Lebanon and refugee camps in Jordan to tackle the same problem.
A Camp Where Most Refugees Are Children
We met again in Zaatari, the sprawling camp in Jordan's desert with more than 120,000 residents, 65 percent of them under 18. Here, children seem dangerously aggressive, punching, fighting or throwing rocks in the open spaces between the refugee tents and trailers.
"Acting aggressively, in many ways, is the mind's way of making sense of what happened before," says Chen, who adds that she has seen behavior change. Many have made progress in a program run by Mercy Corps in a place called Dream Land.
It's in the middle of Zaatari, where kids can feel secure. They play soccer or build sandcastles in soft sand under a large tent that protects them from the sun.
Here, kids hammer on Legos in nearby trailers, while others sit, quietly, watching Tom and Jerry cartoons.
"The fact that they can sit there for an hour of Tom and Jerry is quite remarkable" says Chen, calling it a sign of healing.
But for some, the terrible memories can still become a trigger in daily life.
"The misunderstanding about trauma is that it is an event we have been unable to deal with in the past," she explains. In severe cases of PTSD, she says, "it is the person's inability to engage with the present that is the problem."
There have been some children who sneak into Dream Land in the middle of the night, she says.
"There was a little boy who would come at 3 a.m.," she says. "He would hide in the corner of the tent and shake. The stress that he was expressing was too much in his own little mind. He was unable to sleep. So, this is where he came to find refuge."
And that was a small success, that he had found a safe place.
FILE -This June 4, 2013 file photo shows Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in court in Centennial, Colo. Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Colorado theater shooting case are battling over what evidence can be admitted during Holmes’ murder trial, all in an attempt to build up or tear down the case that he was insane. On Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013 they are scheduled to argue over statements Holmes made to police after he was arrested after the July 2012 shootings and taken to a police station. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Andy Cross, Pool, File)
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Attorneys in the Colorado theater shootings are debating whether defendant James Holmes' bank and phone records should be used as evidence in his trial.
The arguments at a pretrial hearing Monday were part of a larger battle over any evidence that might strengthen or weaken Holmes' claim that he was insane at the time of the shootings.
Twelve people died and 70 were injured in the 2012 attack on a suburban Denver theater.
Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, want to use any evidence they can find that might show Holmes planned the attack and knew it was a crime.
The defense argues the bank and phone records were obtained with flawed warrants.
In an extensive joint interview with the Financial Times, HTC CEO Peter Chou and Chairwoman Cher Wang offered some fresh insight into the troubled smartphone maker's future plans — including hints at entries into new product categories.
The pair confirmed that Wang would be stepping up her day-to-day duties at the company, and taking on some of Chou's "sales, marketing and supplier relationships" duties, allowing him to focus on "innovation" and the product portfolio. The move will see the HTC chairwoman working six days a week at the company, as opposed to two previously, the FT reports, as HTC aims to work its way out of its current slump.
As far as future products are concerned, the HTC bosses hinted at a return to the tablet market, as well as a possible foray into the world of wearables. Chou reportedly mentions that HTC worked on a smartwatch-type device with Microsoft "several years ago," but dismissed the current crop of wearables: “It has to meet a need, otherwise if it’s just a gimmick or concept, it’s not for people’s day-to-day lives. That is an opportunity for us.” Nevertheless, he describes wearables as "a critical segment for us," adding “it matches what we do today as a mobile experience overall. That is one area we are excited about.”
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By Kirsti Knolle
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Brazilian author Luiz Ruffato grew up penniless, slept on the floor of a bus station for a month and shocks his fellow countrymen when he says that's still the way it is despite Brazil becoming an economic powerhouse.
"When you walk through the streets of Brazil, you will see what you read in my books," Ruffato, the son of an illiterate washerwoman and a popcorn seller, told Reuters in an interview at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Ruffato gave the fair's opening speech last week which instead of praising Brazil and its achievements dwelt upon many of the themes that the 52-year-old addresses in his novels.
His themes are the consequences of rapid industrialization, social deprivation and the problems faced by women and homosexuals in his country.
In his early and still most famous work "There Were Many Horses", published in 2001, he describes the chaos, violence, misery and decadence of mega-city Sao Paulo.
"We are still a country in which not everyone has the right to homes, education, healthcare and recreation. They are rather privileges for only a few," he said in his keynote speech that shocked even some of his supporters.
"We are a paradox country," he said.
Ruffato's words were in sharp contrast to the Brazilian government's official message of rapid economic development and opportunity for all. His work scarcely dwells on the clichés of modern Brazil - its beach culture, carnivals and caipirinha cocktails. His reality is different.
"Brazilian society raises a number of perspectives and mine is one of them," he told Reuters following his keynote address, which earned him a standing ovation.
"Normally I don't drink but tonight I have to," he said with a smile, surrounded by people and visibly trying to shake off his nervousness.
Ruffato knows all too well what he is talking about. Coming from a small town in the state of Minas Gerais in eastern Brazil, he was lucky to receive an education.
That only happened when the director of a private school noticed Ruffato selling popcorn with his father and took him under his wing.
Later, Ruffato moved to Sao Paulo and slept at a bus station for about a month until he received his first pay check and could afford to pay for a bed in a boarding house.
OUTRAGE
Ruffato said he does not believe Brazilians' outrage at their government has subsided yet following a wave of nationwide protests that rocked Brazil in June, because the inciting factors remain.
Just as Brazil hosted the Confederations Cup, a dry run for next year's World Cup soccer tournament, more than a million people took to the streets.
They were livid about corruption, poor public services and billions of dollars of public money being spent on the World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, which are also to be held in Brazil.
Their patience ran out when the government raised the cost of tickets for public buses. The protests that followed were the biggest in Brazil since the end of military dictatorship during the late 80s.
"The outrage is still there, but it hasn't yet developed into a real movement," Ruffato said. "The potential that everything starts from scratch is there."
According to Ruffato, 10 percent of Brazil's white population controls 75 percent of its wealth. About 46,000 of Brazil's 200 million people own half the land. And a third of adults are illiterate or nearly so.
"The American phenomenon that you can achieve anything if you only work hard doesn't exist in Brazil," Ruffato said. "I am a big exception."
(Editing by Michael Roddy and Tom Pfeiffer)
A feel-good drama anchored by Eugene Domingo's starring turn and a narrative which advocates women's triumph against chauvinist odds.
Tokyo International Film Festival
Jun Robles Lana
2013 marks the 30th anniversary of an event which heralds the beginning of the end of the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines: the assassination of the tyrant's most vocal opponent, Benigno Aquino, on the tarmac of Manila's airport on Aug. 21, 1983 would eventually snowball into a massive political movement which led to Marcos' ouster in 1986 and the return of democracy to the Southeast Asian nation.
In this context, Jun Robles Lana's latest film could be seen as a metaphor for this episode in Philippine history: by speaking of the political emancipation of a meek widow, Barber's Tales – which was set in 1975, with Marcos' political sway very much present in the village the story unfolds in – could be seen as mirroring the rise of Corazon Aquino, who would transform from being Benigno Aquino's "plain housewife" into the leading figure of the anti-Marcos movement, before finally succeeding the tyrant as president.
Philippine audiences would certainly be able to detect the parallels between history and Lana's story – the power of funereal and religious parades, for example, or how those in power would frame their opponents with deaths they caused, as Marcos tried to finger communist rebels as masterminding Benigno Aquino's killing. But just as Lav Diaz's recent festival hit North, the End of History, Lana's film – which premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival, where Diaz's film would also be shown – goes beyond the lone historic event with an audacious attempt in actually exposing the commonly-shared traits which has led to the tragedy and calamity that follows.
While Diaz's film explores the conservative ideology that could give rise to cynical power-grabbers, Lana's Barber's Tales uses the spiritual awakening of a village barber's subservient spouse to condemn patriarchy – a way of thinking which props up the behavior of corrupted politicians and thuggish husbands, but also well-meaning revolutionaries fighting for a good cause. It's a universal theme which would engage with audiences beyond the Philippines, and Lana's linear and conventional spin to the story – driven by melodrama of co-incidences, and the showing of women's solidarity through mainstream humor, complete with quite a few jokes about the male genitalia – would certainly give Barber's Tales as much festival traction as Lana's previous film Bwakaw.
And Lana could very well thank his lead actress Eugene Domingo for all that, as the veteran's poised performance is what anchors the film just as it sometimes veers dangerously close to comic-soap territory. Rather than drawing out the transformation of her character, Marilou, with broad strokes, her delivery is very controlled and somewhat internal.
She began the film living completely as the shadow and slave of her barber husband Jose, attending to his every whim – making him food, ironing his shirts, heating his bath water – and also forced to tolerate his patronizing bullying attitude and his nocturnal ventures in town. Even as she takes over the business when he dies – a task encouraged by the local pastor Arturo (Eddie Garcia, the actor-director who flourished in Bwakaw)and grows into her work as a better haircutter than his spouse, the change is slight and so incremental, even as she has to contend with the mayhem around her, as she plays the matriarch who cares for the other troubled women in the village – such as Susan (Gladys Reyes), who was pressurized into sex and continuous childbirth – while also beginning to care for the young rebel fighters in the area.
Domingo's performance subtle turn as Marilou has a reason, as her docile veneer could serve to jolt the audience with the one explosive act at the film's finale when she finally gets to confront the local corrupted mayor (and Marcos flunky) Alberto Bartolome (Nonie Buencamino) for one last time for all the hurt and grief he brought to everyone in his realm, from his own long-suffering wife Cecilia (Iza Cazaldo) – whom Marilou has befriended – to all the people he ruled with much duress.
Barber's Tales is a story about sisterhood; Domingo's turn is suitably supported by engaging performances from, for example, Shamaine Buencamino – who plays Tess, the single middle-aged woman whose role as a sage among confused wives is thrown into disarray when her nephew decided to join the anti-government insurrection. Their resilience against the odds speaks volumes about the chauvinistic universe they were placed under – not just from Alberto and his cronies, but even in a milder way from the rebels to which Marilou and Tess could only care for (serving food to them while they plot their ambushes) and fret about.
Given the period nature of the film – it was set in the countryside in the 1970s, as far away from Bwakaw's contemporary, urban settings as it can be – the production design could somehow be found a bit wanting, with the sets resembling something more out of a TV series than the cinematic epic Lana might need for the story. And while audacious in content, Barber's Tales is certainly mainstream in style, with a plot heavy on coincidences (Jose's husband's favourite prostitute also happens to be the sister of the rebel fighter Marilou saved – an event which brought about a reconciliation between wife and mistress) and camerawork and editing which relies on conventional close-ups and shots/countershots.
Still, Barber's Tales provides enough of a harbinger of things to come: as the film ends, Susan's voiceover relays the rumors surrounding Marilou's fate after she has left town: these takes on her life – she might have gone on to become a maid; she might have gone insane – relays the many realities facing Filipino women in decades to come. Lana's "real" ending for her character is much more optimistic – but perhaps it's in this that Barber's Tales will thrive, as Marilou and sisters continue their struggle to find the light in their lives.
Competition, Tokyo International Film Festival
Production Company: Apt Entertainment and Octobert Fain Films
Director: Jun Robles Lana
Producer: Ferdinand Lapuz
Executive Producers: Michael B. Tuviera, Joselito C Oconer, Ramel L. David, Perci Intalan and Jun Robles Lana
Cast: Eugene Domingo, Eddie Garcia, Iza Cazaldo, Gladys Reyes
Screenwriter: Jun Robles Lana, on a story by Peter Ong Lim, Elmer Gatchalian, Benedict Mique and Jun Robles Lana
Director of Cinematography: Carlo Mendoza
Production Designer: Chito Sumera
Editor: Lawrence Ang
Music: Ryan Cayabyab
International Sales: Ignatius Films Canada
In Tagalog
120 minutes
