Associated Press reports:
Priests to purify site after Bush visit
JUAN CARLOS LLORCA
GUATEMALA CITY – Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate “bad spirits” after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties to the group said Thursday.
“That a person like (Bush), with the persecution of our migrant brothers in the United States, with the wars he has provoked, is going to walk in our sacred lands, is an offense for the Mayan people and their culture,” Juan Tiney, the director of a Mayan nongovernmental organization with close ties to Mayan religious and political leaders, said Thursday.
Bush’s seven-day tour of Latin America includes a stopover beginning late Sunday in Guatemala.
On Monday morning he is scheduled to visit the archaeological site Iximche on the high western plateau in a region of the Central American country populated mostly by Mayans.
Update: here.
Ancient Mayan discovery: here.
Dear Kitty. Some blog 
2007-03-09 11:09
Ancient South America in Sardinia
Over 300 indigenous works away from home for first time
CAGLIARI (ANSA) – A remarkable exhibition in Sardinia gives visitors the chance to encounter the civilizations that dominated South America before it was colonized by Europeans.
The show is on at the Museo del Territorio, near the south-western town of Villanovaforru.
It features some 300 objects produced by the continent’s ancient indigenous peoples between 7,000 BC and the 16th century AD.
“This exhibition enables us to discover the America that we have never seen before,” organisers said “These ancient peoples were architects, healers, warriors, priests, slaves and emperors. They were wise and poetic, yet bloodthirsty too.
“The created civilizations, worshipped their gods, fought battles and built empires. The show reveals how they were different to us and how they were similar. The show is unique as the pieces have never been brought together before and most have never been outside their homelands.
They range from statues and sculptures to pottery, religious items, jewellery, masks, embroidery, weapons and a variety of everyday objects. Visitors are greeted by one of the famous Moai heads of Easter Island in the South Pacific. These are thought to have been made by the Polynesian ancestors of the Rapanui inhabitants of the island – which today belongs to Chile – from the 12th century AD. Experts believe these huge, stern faces may have been regarded as the embodiment of powerful dead chiefs.
The show also features mummies and funeral objects of the ancient Chinchorro people, who lived in an area between the north of present-day Chile and the south of Peru. The first of these mummies are estimated to date to at least 5000 AD, some 2,000 years before the first Egyptian mummies.
Unlike the Egyptians, the Chinchorro mummified all their dead, including children and still-born babies, not just the upper echelons of society. There are also works representing the art and culture of the Selk’nam – or Ona – people of the Tierra del Fuego islands, the Aymara tribes of the Andes and the Mapuche people of central and southern Chile.
A traditional wooden Mapuche ‘ruka’ home has been recreated, alongside weapons and tools used by Mapuche hunters. At the show’s inauguration, experts pointed out how similar these rukas are to the traditional ‘capanna’ dwellings of the Sardinians.
There are also multimedia exhibits which enable visitors to see the different natural settings these people lived in and listen to indigenous South American music.
The exhibition, entitled ‘Arte e cultura precolombiana: 10.000 anni di civilita’ in America Latina (Pre-Columbus art and culture: 10,000 years of civilization in Latina America), runs until October 27.
LikeLike
FL Christian sentenced to prison…
Posted by: “Compañero” companyero@mindspring.com chocoano05
Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:57 pm (PST)
Sister Sheila Salmon
Sebastian, Florida
Sister Sheila Salmon, 70, is a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary, headquartered at Villa Maria, PA. Sister Sheila, a registered nurse, has ministered in the greater Cleveland, OH area, most recently with Hospice of the Western Reserve. She was also a missionary in Chile and worked with AIDS orphans in Kenya. She currently serves as an outreach worker with Mexican migrants, abused and neglected children and hospice patients in Sebastian, FL.
You can write Sheila at:
SHEILA T. SALMON #92953-020
FCI TALLAHASSEE
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
501 CAPITAL CIRCLE, NE
TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301*
*Sister Sheila’s Statement:*
My name is Sheila Salmon and I am a member of the Sisters of the Humility of Mary. With other members of my religious community I have participated in the peaceful protest at Fort Benning for the last nine years.
At this time I will not reiterate the innumerable human rights violations, torture, murders and massacres attributed to graduates of the School of Americas/WHINSEC. These activities are extensively documented and well known by the Court. Instead I will talk about faithfulness to the God of peace and justice.
Reflecting back to November 19th of last year, you may wonder why I crossed the line. Simply put, I did what I did because for me it was the right thing to do.
My act of non-violent resistance was done for the following reasons:
1. I am a Christian and have no choice but to follow in Jesus footsteps.
2. As a member of the Humility of Mary Community I want to live out our commitment to act in solidarity with women and children and those who are marginalized and to be non-violent in all of my relationships.
3. Speak out for those who have no voice – speaking truth to power no matter what it will cost me personally.
4. Make a bold public stance for peace and justice.
5. Raise up in prayerful memory the thousands of people killed by SOA/WHINSEC graduates especially remembering:
* the four church women ? two from my hometown of Cleveland, Jean Donovan and Dorothy Kazel.
* Rafael Giron, brother of a friend and * Fr. Wilfredo Alarcon, a friend and co-worker from Chile.
Friends and family members have asked, ?Do you really think your act of civil disobedience will influence the government enough to close the school?? I honestly do not know the answer to that question. But I do know that if my action hastens the closing of the school by even one day, this act of civil disobedience was worthwhile.
Judge Faircloth, I am willing to joyfully accept the sentence to federal prison which you will impose. It is a small price to pay for my action and beliefs.
LikeLike
Pingback: Mel Gibson insults Mayan studies professor | Dear Kitty. Some blog
Pingback: New Mark Fiore animation on death squad-government collusion in Colombia | Dear Kitty. Some blog