Stories of Chinese People Speaking up for Falun Gong Practitioners

By Qi Zhiping
 
(Clearwisdom.net) In the past few years, more and more people in China have learned the truth about Falun Gong and found that Falun Gong practitioners are good people. Many have protested and tried to stop the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. In some cases, an entire village, including the village cadres, signed a joint letter to ask for the release of a Falun Gong practitioner.

Here are some true stories:

On the afternoon of August 8, 2004, six police officers from Xishui County, Hubei Province broke into the home of Mr. Yao Wanglai, a Falun Gong practitioner residing in Jiuping Village, Zhudian Town, Sishui. When the police attempted to arrest him, his family argued with the police. The police began to use violence, which raised the attention of the villagers. Villagers rushed from their paddies and homes to Mr. Yao's home. Even the village mayor came to stop the police from arresting Mr. Yao, but the police officers refused to change their minds. More than 100 villagers at the scene became upset and spoke up for Mr. Yao, and the police had to finally abort their plan and left.

On the evening of September 17, 2006 while the Hongdao Police Station in Chengyang District, Qingdao City attempted to have Mr. Zhao Yuzun arrested from his home in Dayang Village, Hongdao, fellow villagers heard the news and arrived at the scene. They surrounded the police officers and gave Mr. Zhao a chance to flee. The villagers also stopped the police from arresting his wife in an attempt to lure Mr. Zhao back.

On December 21, 2010, Mr. Yuan Yulong, his son Yuan Shoujiang and his daughter-in-law Gong Jinfen from the Zhongsheng Village, Shangjieji Township, Fujin City, Heilongjiang Province, were arrested for practicing Falun Gong. Ninety five percent of the villagers, including the village cadres, signed a joint letter to endorse that the three arrested Falun Gong practitioners are kind and honorable people and demanded that they be released immediately. They not only signed the letter, but also put their fingerprints on it. They have shown their support for justice and their approval of the three Falun Gong practitioners' character.

The Villagers and the Village Government of Daqiao Village, Xian'an District, Xianning, Hubei Province Attested to the Character of Mr. Liu Shehong

Mr. Liu Shehong is a Falun Gong practitioner from Xianning City, Hubei Province. Before he practiced Falun Gong, he was a notoriously problematic youth. He was addicted to drugs and would do just about anything to get money for them, and everyone avoided him. He was repeatedly imprisoned for using drugs and fighting. He was once locked in the Shayang Forced Labor Camp for four years. His drug addiction emptied his family's bank account and ruined his health. As a young man, Mr. Liu had swollen legs and was very unhealthy, with a dark complexion. In fact, he nearly died because of his drug addiction.

At the end of 2006, Mr. Liu started practicing Falun Gong. In just four months, Mr. Liu quit using drugs, became healthy, and restored a healthy complexion. He followed Falun Gong's cultivation principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance and began treating people with kindness and respect. He also started to help with household chores. He abandoned all his bad habits and behavior and transformed into a new person. Everyone who knew about his past and was very impressed with his transformation.

When his relatives and fellow villagers heard that Mr. Liu was arrested for practicing Falun Gong, they signed a joint letter to recount the story of his transformation. The letter states: Mr. Liu followed Falun Gong's cultivation principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. After studying Falun Gong's books for a month, Mr. Liu stopped using drugs and quit smoking. They asked the police department to release him.

The joint letter was signed by Mr. Liu's fellow villagers:

Daqiao Village Committee also wrote to attest Mr. Liu's character:

“To the Relevant Government Agencies:

With this letter we are attesting the following facts:

Mr. Liu Shehong who was originally from my village, faced many prison terms due to drugs and fighting. After our investigations, we found that Mr. Liu has paid a lot more trips back to the village to visit his mother since February 2007. He no longer shows any signs of drug addiction, and he is perfectly healthy. In fact, he has eliminated all the bad habits of cursing or using violence. He appears to be an ordinary and peaceful man. He has never done anything that violates the law or disrupts the public order.

Truly,

Daqiao Village Committee in Xian'an Distrcit

May 12, 2008”

letter from the Daqiao Village Committee

Villagers from Ying'emen Town, Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province Signed a Joint Letter to Appeal for Mr. Xu Dawei

In February 2009, a joint letter from Fushun, Liaoning Province to appeal for a Falun Gong practitioner raised the attention of top CCP leaders, including Zhou Yongkang and Luo Gan.

Mr. Xu Dawei is a Falun Gong practitioner from Ying'emen Town, Qingyuan County, Fushun City, Liaoning Province, who was imprisoned for eight years. He suffered from a litany of tortures in prison, including wearing handcuffs and foot shackles for long periods of time, brutal beatings, being suspended in the air, force-feeding, beaten up with a rubber tube, sticking needles in the skin, electric shocks, and injections of nerve-damaging drugs. When he was released from prison, his hair had turned gray and his body was skin and bones. There were marks of electric shocks on his body, and his arms and legs were swollen. There were scars on his right knee and ankle, and the skin on his hips were damaged and dark purple. His family sent him to the hospital, but he passed away 13 days later at the age of 36.

His fellow villagers were outraged. They organized two trucks of people to go to Dongling Prison to seek justice for him. When the prison refused to respond, 376 villagers from five different villages signed a joint letter to appeal for him.

The joint appeal letter from 376 villagers from five different villages

More People in China Are Speaking Up for Falun Gong Practitioners

In 2003, the “610 Office” in Hongshan District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province created a forced brainwashing center in Jiufeng Town. For each Falun Gong practitioner, the center would be given 6,000 yuan as a “brainwashing fund.” On the evening of April 10, 2003, the Huashan Town Police Station in Hongshan District and the “610 Office” arrested Ms. Li Jiulan, a local Falun Gong practitioner. Ms. Li tried to reason with the police and refused to be taken to the forced brainwashing center. Her husband, who is not a Falun Gong practitioner, sparred with the police. Her child held onto her legs, crying and screaming. The villagers arrived at the scene when they heard the commotion. They were outraged and condemned the police. Several villagers grabbed Ms. Li from the hands of the police, and struggled with them for 30 minutes.

In mid-March 2003, a Falun Gong practitioner from Jilin Province was arrested from his home. He was taken directly to a forced labor camp, but the camp refused to take him because he was tested to have hypertension. Somehow the police managed to have the camp take him on their second attempt. His son who is in his 20's told the story of his father among the villagers in order to rescue him. He visited more than 1,000 households and 668 villagers signed the letter. A villager commented, “I only signed the letter because he practices Falun Gong.”

In June 2009, Mr. Zheng Decai, a Falun Gong practitioner from Guangmingshan, Zhuanghe City, Dalian, Liaoning Province was arrested for practicing Falun Gong. In March 2010, more than 80 households in the village signed a joint letter to rescue Mr. Zheng. They expressed their support for the Falun Gong practitioner and asked the local authorities to release him immediately.

As more and more people learn the truth about Falun Gong, it is likely that more people in China will speak up for practitioners to stop the persecution.

Posting date: 10/11/2011
Category: Awakening to the Truth
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/10/3/民众帮助法轮功学员反迫害的故事-247438.html

Sweden: Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference Held in Stockholm (Photos)

By He Ping

(Clearwisdom.net) At 9 a.m. on October 1, 2011, Falun Dafa practitioners in Sweden commenced their annual cultivation experience sharing conference in Stockholm. Practitioners came from all over Sweden and shared their cultivation experiences.

The venue of Falun Dafa cultivation experience sharing conference 2011 in Sweden 

Twelve practitioners presented their experiences during the conference.Their experiences were from different aspects including upgrading the mind, putting down attachments, study the Fa, looking inward, clarifying the truth and saving sentient beings.

Promoting Shen Yun
 
Ms. Wang from Gothenburg and Ms. Zhang from Stockholm shared their experiences about how they had promoted the 2011 Shen Yun performances in Sweden. Ms. Wang paid great attention to removing the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) culture from her mind, learned western etiquette, and took every chance in daily life to make improvements. In order to promote Shen Yun and to better reach mainstream society, she always considered how to approach mainstream citizens with the heart to have all predestined individuals come to see the Shen Yun show.

Ms. Zhang had opportunities this year to introduce Shen Yun to over 800 influential people and achieved very good effects. She prepared each presentation carefully, and also cooperated well with a fellow practitioner. For example, every time she prepared well so that she could fulfill the task on her own, then she cooperated with her fellow practitioner according to that fellow practitioner’s situation during the presentation. She was very glad every time when she saw her fellow practitioner succeed. They not only introduced Shen Yun, but did so with compassion in their hearts. The audience was very warm and receptive. Every presentation brought her and her fellow practitioner indescribable joy and greater confidence.

Increasing sales to save more sentient beings
 
Another Ms. Zhang from Stockholm shared her experience on how she put down her ego to cooperate with others and did her best to increase sales for the Chinese newspaper, The Epoch Times, with the support and help of the local fellow practitioners. She felt that doing well the advertisement sales was the only way to keep the newspaper in Sweden. Thus she cooperated well with fellow practitioners to develop the market and look for new places to display the newspaper. Recently they established over 10 locations including Chinese food stores and restaurants as well as Swedish supermarkets in the town center and some areas where Chinese families and Chinese students live, and also covering some hotels where Chinese tourists usually stay. In order to secure places to display the paper, she and several other fellow practitioners had to meet those stores' managers three or four times before signing a contract. Moreover, they changed the method of distributing the newspaper. Previously practitioners manually distributed the newspaper to the Chinese customers in every Chinese restaurant. Now those Chinese have been informed of the distribution locations. The circulation of the newspaper is increasing gradually. Also some advertisers have started to compete to advertise in the newspaper, which is a good situation and reflects the positive development of the newspaper.

Following Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and becoming a good person
 
Munder, 30 years old, is a new practitioner from Borås (a town east of Gothenburg). Despite his Muslim upbringing, he did not believe in an afterlife or care about spiritual matters before he discovered Falun Gong. In 2008, he started reading the book Zhuan Falun which he borrowed from another practitioner who was his colleague. The only reason he read the book was to find out why Falun Gong practitioners were treated so badly in China. He read the preface and was intrigued. Reading the book gave him a sense of peace and he decided to buy the book. When he read the paragraph about the celestial eye, he felt he understood what was described in the paragraph before he read that part of the paragraph. He was surprised by this. After he read through Zhuan Falun for the first time, he stopped swearing. He started to change himself in his workplace. He tried to put down his attachments. He could understand what Master is doing is to save people. He has realized that Dafa is great and also serious. He said that he would continue to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and that was what he felt from his heart.

Cultivation story of a young practitioner
 

Mira, a young practitioner, shares her cultivation experience 

Mira Kleinert is 10 years old. She shared how she and her family traveled around in Sweden on a tour to raise awareness about Falun Gong two years ago. She and her sisters performed dances to demonstrate the beauty of Dafa. Her family traveled to many cities by car. Every day she would dance several rounds. In the beginning her family planned to travel to only three cities, but in the end they stayed on for the whole tour. She felt honored to have been a part of of it as a Dafa practitioner and thanked Master that she could participate in the event.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, the conference was successfully concluded. Many practitioners who attended the conference expressed that they would cherish this opportunity, study the Fa well, look inward, strengthen cooperation, upgrade together, and strive to save more sentient beings so as not to let down Master's compassionate salvation.

Posting date: 10/9/2011
Category: Experience Sharing Conferences
Chinese version available at  
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/10/2/瑞典法轮大法修炼心得交流会圆满结束（图）-247418.html

Australia: Gold Coast Multicultural Festival Feels the Energy of Falun Dafa

by Australian Dafa disciples

(Clearwisdom.net) On September 18, 2011, Falun Dafa practitioners in the Australian tourist city of the Gold Coast participated in the town’s Multicultural Festival.

The Falun Dafa Association of Queensland was invited to the annual celebration of international food, music and dance that drew more than 22,000 people to the Evandale Parklands. The Gold Coast City Council and Gold Coast Arts Centre buildings are nearby.

Practitioners set up their information booth in an event tent, pinning up vertical Falun flags to the rear and a photographic history of Dafa on the side. They also held exercise demonstrations under a tree.

Passersby showed great interest. Some said they could feel the power of the exercises while watching practitioners do the Falun Dafa exercises; the energy made them feel very peaceful.

One man said he saw Mainland Chinese practitioners protest on Tiananmen Square in Beijing; the practitioners were quickly surrounded by Communist police and taken away.

One couple spoke about the types of mystical things explained in Zhuan Falun, so practitioners encouraged them to read the Falun Dafa books.

A Mainland Chinese photography student came to the event and took photos for this experience sharing, even though he had to juggle his work commitments to do so.

Practitioners later performed traditional Chinese and lion dances with some live drumming. Many of the Chinese spectators were impressed by the authenticity of performances.

Posting date: 10/17/2011
Category: Community Events

Chicago: Chinese People Enthusiastically Quit the CCP in Chinatown (Photos)

By a Falun Gong practitioner in Chicago
 
(Clearwisdom.net) On Oct. 3, 2011, in Chicago's Chinatown, practitioners introduced Falun Gong and exposed the brutal persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) over the past twelve years. Many Chinese people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

Falun Gong practitioners introduce Falun Gong and expose the persecution in Chicago's Chinatown

Young people learn the Falun Gong exercises

Passersby learn about Falun Gong

On a warm autumn day, Falun Gong practitioners set up display boards and banners stating “Falun Dafa” and “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” Their exercise demonstration attracted many people. Some asked, “What is Falun Gong” “Why does the CCP persecute such a great practice?” Some carefully read the displays and asked questions, while others learned the exercises on the spot.

The Chinese people learned that more than 100 million people have quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations. They chose to do the same thing for the benefit of their own future. Thirty-two Chinese people quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations within a few hours.

An American woman said she brought her daughter to Chinatown to experience Chinese culture. When she passed the Falun Gong practitioners' activity, she suddenly felt very comfortable. The gentleman who came with her had heard about the persecution before and asked a practitioner if the persecution was still going on. The practitioner told him about the on-going persecution and the CCP's crime of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners.

A group of young people stood in a row to learn the Falun Gong exercises. One of them felt strong energy and learned detailed information about Falun Gong and the persecution.

A young lady took pictures of the activity with great interest. She had been looking for a topic for her studies and finally found it. She said she would find more information from the Internet and study it in depth.

 

A young lady finds a great topic for her studies after she learns about Falun Gong

 

Chinese people learn facts about Falun Gong

The Chinese who passed by the activity included students, immigrants and tourists. They took introductory materials and read the display. Practitioner Ms. Jiang said, “I can tell clearly today that more and more Chinese are awakening, especially the young students. They learn the facts of the persecution proactively and quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations to be safe.”

A lady from Mainland China felt very close to Falun Gong practitioners as soon as she saw them. She had met a few practitioners somewhere before. She used to be very loyal to the CCP but was eventually imprisoned by the Party. She came to know Falun Gong practitioners in prison and found out they were good people. It was the CCP that was evil. She decided to leave China because the CCP was so bad. On hearing about quitting the CCP, she said immediately, “I quit!”

Another Chinese lady told Falun Gong practitioners, “What the Chinese people need is morality. I see the hope of China through you.”

Posting date: 10/16/2011
Category: Community Events
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/10/14/在芝加哥中国城讲真相-华人踊跃三退（图）-247879.html

Canada: Toronto Divine Land Marching Band a Big Hit at the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade (Photos)

By He Yu and Zhang Yun
 
(Clearwisdom.net) The 43^rd annual Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Thanksgiving Day Parade stepped off early in the morning of October 10, 2011. Established in 1969, the parade is now the largest Thanksgiving Day Parade in Canada and the Oktoberfest celebration is the largest Bavarian event in North America. With prizing-winning bands from the United States and Canada, as well as colorfully-decorated floats, the parade attracts 200,000 spectators from many areas of North America, who packed the 5-km-long route. Besides the spectators along the parade route, there was a large TV audience as CTV (Canadian TV) broadcast the parade live to the whole country.

The Divine Land Marching Band from Toronto, Canada

The Divine Land Marching Band of Toronto was the only Chinese-based marching band invited to the event. The band has participated in the event for four years and once again brought a sense of happiness and serenity to the parade.

Mark Kreller, Executive Director of the Oktoberfest, praised the band for its skill, style, discipline and uniforms. Mr. Kreller said that he is well aware that the members of the band are all Falun Gong practitioners, and he knows that Falun Gong is still being persecuted in China. He is happy that they can enjoy freedom of belief in the nation of Canada. “It is great to have them participate in the parade and become a part of the Oktoberfest,” he said.

Mark Kreller, Executive Director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest

Former Chair of the Oktoberfest, Mr. Paul Buttinger had been with the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest for 28 years. He used three words to describe the Toronto Divine Land Marching Band: “Entertaining, uplifting and terrific!” He said that he had seen the band many times at various events and was very happy to see them again at the festival.

Chinese People Enjoy and Support the Divine Land Marching Band

Ms. Meng is from Beijing. As the band was marching past the main platform, she waved to the reporter and grasped the reporter's hand. “I am a Christian. I respect Falun Gong. They are truly great and are making a big contribution to the world. They are of high virtue,” she exclaimed. “Please relay my congratulations to them. God bless them, and they will win in the end!”

Ms. Chen is from Wuhan and has been in Canada for four years. “I read the Epoch Times newspaper every week. I have learned a lot about Falun Gong. I am excited to see them here.”

Also from Beijing, Ms. Mu said that she has been in Canada for less than a year but has seen the band two times already. “Such a grand scale and exciting (band), ” she said, “You could only see this outside of China. I am happy that they have freedom in a foreign country.”

Another couple from Beijing brought their one-year-old twin daughters to the parade. They applauded excitedly and the wife pulled the reporter's hand close like a dear friend and said, “We are so happy to see them. I hope to see them every year. It is spectacular.”

Mr. Wang and Ms. Lu from Liaoning Province came with their friend Ms. Yang, who is from Xiamen City in Fujian Province. Ms. Lu said that this was her first encounter with the Divine Land Marching Band. “Very impressive and it is really great,” she said.

Their friend Ms. Yang had seen the band once before. “I saw the band last year in the parade,” she said. “I've seen them at other events too. Certainly, a good thing should be promoted everywhere!”

Mr. Wang said, “Seeing them [Falun Gong practitioners] live in freedom in a foreign country, I am truly happy for them. Such a beautiful thing. I don't understand why the Communist Party wants to persecute them. They are just being good people and doing their exercises. What's wrong with that?”

The Best Thanksgiving Gift

As the band arrived at the end of the parade, there was a Chinese lady watching them from a distance and it appeared that didn't want to leave. After she received a promise to keep her anonymity, the woman talked to a reporter. “Since 9 a.m. this morning, I have followed the band from the beginning of the parade to the end,” she said, her eyes brimming with tears. “I came to Canada a few months ago to study. You can't see Falun Gong practitioners in a parade like this in China. I saw them and was very excited. I had been longing for this because my mother is a Falun Dafa practitioner. She recovered from cancer after practicing the exercises. I believe in the miraculous power of Falun Gong. I want to find out about the local group practice site.”

When she received a slip of paper with the local Falun Gong contact, the woman said that it was the best Thanksgiving gift and she repeatedly expressed her thanks.

Praise for Falun Gong

Ms. Som is a Chinese-Laotian who brought her whole family to the parade. “I bring them to the parade every year to feel the happiness of the festival. Over these past years, I am always happy to see this Chinese band. The kids like them too. We are all Chinese,” she said.

Mr. Alai from Burma and his wife Jijan brought their two children to watch the parade. Alai said it was a beautiful experience and the band was impressive. “To me, this is a Thanksgiving gift too,” he said.

Maria is a resident of Waterloo, “I love it! The best was when they played 'The Maple Leaf Forever'! Many thanks to them and happy Thanksgiving!

Bill, a resident from Kitchener, said, “I like their ancient-style uniforms and beautiful music. Very enjoyable.” He added, “They performed very well. It's beautiful.”

Natalia and her friend and their families came to watch the parade. She was happy to see the cultural diversity among the various bands. “The kids love it, and we thank them,” she said.

Posting date: 10/16/2011
Category: Community Events
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/10/12/多伦多天国乐团参加感恩节游行-华人盛赞（图）-247808.html

Taiwan: Falun Gong Becomes Focus of Attention at International Flower Drum Parade (Photos)

By Clearwisdom correspondent Song Xinming
 
(Clearwisdom.net) To celebrate the National Day of the Republic of China, the Cultural Bureau of Hsinchu County, Taiwan held a Flower Drum Parade on Oct. 10, 2011. More than fifty groups participated in the parade, which attracted more than ten thousand spectators.

The Waist Drum Troupe of Falun Gong practitioners participated in the parade in high spirits. Dressed in golden-colored uniforms, the practitioners played their drums with bright smiles and uniform movements. They spread the message of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance, and won wave after wave of applause. Spectators took pictures of the troupe and gave them thumbs-up. “Come on!” “Falun Gong is the best!”

The waist drum troupe

The average age of the fifty waist drum troupe members was fifty, with the oldest in her seventies. However, they didn't feel tired after playing their drums in the hot weather for over an hour. As Falun Gong practitioners, they set a high standard for themselves. They performed every drum beat with their heads held high, their shoulders squared and bright smiles. Their demeanor spread the benefits and peaceful spirit of Falun Dafa.

Drum beats to the songs “Falun Dafa Is Good” and “Joy” spread the message of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yang said, “Thanks to every member's selfless contribution and cooperation, the performance today was perfect!”

Falun Gong practitioners also distributed introduction materials and paper lotuses to spectators. Many people became interested in learning Falun Gong and asked for exercise site information.

Posting date: 10/16/2011
Category: Community Events
Chinese version available at  
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/10/13/国际花鼓节踩街-法轮功队伍受注目（图）-247841.html

Introducing Falun Gong at a Polish Multicultural Festival (Photos)

By a practitioner in Poland
 
(Clearwisdom.net) The multicultural festival in Warsaw, Poland was held on August 28, 2011. At 1 p.m., spectators stood along the float parade path from bank square downtown to old town. On the eye-catching Falun Dafa float, practitioners demonstrated the exercises, while many spectators waved their hands and shouted: popierram (support)!

Falun Gong practitioners participate in parade at the Warsaw Multicultural Festival

Watching Falun Gong practitioners’ float in front of the Presidential Office

Polish people watch the Falun Gong exercise demonstration

After the parade ended, the practitioners’ float was parked across from the practitioners’ stand. Many spectators came to have a photo taken with the float. Some people followed the hand gestures of the practitioners demonstrating the exercises. Many of them picked up flyers and asked where they could learn Falun Gong and the website of Falun Dafa in polish.

When viewing the poster boards with information exposing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution of Falun Gong, people were shocked and asked the Falun Gong practitioners on site, “Why? Why has this happened?” The practitioners explained the facts about Falun Gong again and again, and exposed the CCP’s lies and violence. Many people saw the signature collection form on the table and signed it without hesitation. Many people lined up to wait for signing the form.

People learn about Falun Gong

Viewing Falun Gong poster boards

Polish people sign the petition protesting the CCP’s brutal persecution of Falun Gong

One Chinese person viewed the posters and renounced the CCP and its affiliated organizations on the spot. Several groups of Chinese passed by and stopped to learn the facts.

When it became dark, many people were still learning the Falun Gong exercises in front of the float. Many others learned about folding paper lotus flowers and writing Chinese words inside the tent. People left slowly after the event concluded at 9 p.m.

Posting date: 9/4/2011
Category: Community Events
Chinese version available at  
http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2011/9/3/华沙多元文化节上介绍法轮功（图）-246213.html

Earth's Auroras Viewed From Space-SCIENCE VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Discovery Sees Aurora Borealis (NASA)

The space shuttle Discovery captured these awe-inspiring images of Earth, featuring the Aurora Borealis or Northern lights at our planet's North Pole, while docked at the International Space Station (ISS) last year.

Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun are attracted to Earth's magnetic field and strike the atmosphere, causing air molecules to glow.

They appear as green and red flickering lights, and are most often seen on Earth following solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) from the sun.

This time-lapse video also shows city night lights, the transition from night to day when the auroras disappear, and a beam of daylight illuminating the globe, as its surface revolves beneath the view of the space shuttle.

A Soyuz docked module and a solar panel from the ISS are visible in the foreground.

The footage was captured during mission STS-131, which ran for 15 days in April 2010. It was the 33rd shuttle mission to the ISS.

Discovery retired after its last trip to the space station in March as NASA's 30-year-long space shuttle program drew to a close. Atlantis made the final mission, STS-135, in July, and the program formally ended on Aug. 31.

An Artist's Response to 9/11 Tragedy

Flint Gennari: A CITY BURNING: Flint Gennari's "City Burning," photograph appears in the collection "9.11...NYC...The Days After." (Courtesy of Art for Healing NYC) 

 

NEW YORK—“I was angry, I wasdepressed. I didn't want to call anybody. I didn't know who to call or what to do. I just buried myself in my studio for like a week, and I wrote poetry and I did art,” recalled Loren Ellis, as she sat in her Upper West Side gallery nearly 10 years after the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Ellis founded a nonprofit organization called Art for Healing NYC. One of the organization's projects has been to compile art created by New Yorkers from all five boroughs, all walks of life, and all skill levels into an intimate little package—a book called “9.11...NYC...The Days After.”

One piece that struck Ellis as particularly powerful, and which is featured as a photograph in the book, is a bronze sculpture by Meredith Bergmann from Manhattan.

A woman stands nude, her hands held up in front of her face, her eyes closed—an airplane penetrates each of her hands.

The images range from a woodcut print of a rescue dog, to a photograph of tourists wearing masks that protect their lungs from the harmful dust, to a still shot from a film showing a Native American in front of the burning buildings.

Sarah Yuster of Staten Island painted a portrait of a firefighter. It was inspired by the words of her brother, who survived the attack on 2 World Trade Center.

“The firefighters kept everyone calm, guiding and assuring us that we would be fine. I tried to remember the face of each one as he passed us going up; they had to know they might never come down, even if you couldn't see it in their eyes. ... I felt that someone should look at their faces because it might be the last time anyone did," he told her.

Yuster chose battalion chief Ed Ellison because “he is seasoned, intelligent, and has a face that reflects experience and pathos.”

Staten Island has a proportionately high number of firefighters among its inhabitants, losing 80 first responders in the calamity. Yuster remembers the bagpipe funeral airs that played a constant soundtrack in her neighborhood for nearly a year.

THE DAYS AFTER: Artist and Director of Art for Healing NYC Loren Ellis sits in her gallery, holding a book she helped compile of art produced in reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. (Tara MacIsaac/The Epoch Times)

While the buildings were “newly smoldering” says Yuster, she received requests en masse for reproductions of her landscape painting from 1985, “Victory Blvd. At Dawn.” The scene captures a happier time; looking out from the Staten Island vantage point onto a peaceful, quiet dawn and the twin towers standing tall on the horizon.

Her most recent work, “Staten Island, September,” will be on display at The National Lighthouse Museum on Staten Island in a multimedia exhibit commemorating the 10th anniversary of 9/11 Sept. 10 and 11, and Sept. 17 and 18.

It shows the blue towers of light that beam up from the World Trade Center site as a tribute each year on the anniversary 9/11. In the foreground is the Postcards Memorial on the shore of Staten Island, which pays tribute to the hundreds of men and women who never returned to the borough.

The bagpipes that haunted Yuster's days also reached the home of her fellow islander, poet Marguerite Rivas, who will curate the exhibit at the Light House Museum. She lived near a church at the time and would hear the pipers tuning their instruments to “Amazing Grace” as she wrote in her poem Witness.

“Amazing Grace bagpipes make everyone wince.
Empty firefighters’ helmets are placed
beside the Easter candle,
and borrowed coffins, flag-draped,
are borne upon brave shoulders,”

FACE OF COURAGE: Portrait of Battalion Chief Ed Ellison painted by Sarah Yuster. (Courtesy of Sarah Yuster)

Rivas pointed to the “omnipresent skyline” on Aug. 22 from the esplanade along Staten Island's shore. New structures now rise from the gaping holes left by the fall of the twin towers.

She cited the poet Ezra Pound, saying her role as a poet is to “tell the tale” of her “tribe.”

Rivas describes in her work the sorrow of the islanders who returned on the ferry from the wreckage, who watched the destruction from the shoreline, and who “carried upon their shoulders the yoke of a pulverized city: ash made of concrete, paper, and life.”

“I don’t remember writing much of anything right after 9/11 except for an e-mail to my best friend,” said Rivas. “She kept my e-mail for me, and sent it back to me when I recovered a bit, because that was basically all I wrote then.”

Her poem “Witness” was born of this exchange.

Rivas wrote another poem, “Aquehonga Night Chant,” on the ferry, surrounded by mourners returning from a firefighter's funeral.

She attended a reading of “Aquehonga Night Chant” and saw the reader choke on the words, heard sobs from the audience, and shed tears herself. Rivas felt the power of her words that night.

John Coburn of Toronto, Canada, did not tell the story of his “tribe” when he came to the city amid its hardship, but he had always had a love for New York City and depicted in his drawings a sorrow that crossed all geographical boundaries. 

Preserving memories

John Coburn began drawing New York City when he was a child. He had already published a book of Central Park drawings, and one of New York City hotels by the time the towers fell. Coburn says he “needed to do my own little journey there and feel the sadness in my own way.”

He slipped into the WTC site through a door left open on the periphery and began to draw.

Over the course of his time in the city, he drew rescue workers, chaplains, St. Paul's Chapel at Trinity Church—symbols of hope and unity in suffering as well as vestiges of a past that lay in ruins.

“Usually sitting down to draw is a beautiful and inspiring thing to do. This was just full of sadness and confusion,” said Coburn in a phone interview.

Coburn's studio burned down in 2006, and miraculously, the only surviving work was a portfolio of his 9/11 drawings. From Sept.1 to 15, he will display his work at Sciame Construction at 14 Wall Street to commemorate 10 years of sorrow and hope. Visitors can register for the free exhibit at rsvp@thehealingheartsproject.com.

Coburn printed 2,900 copies of his book, “Healing Hearts” to give to the families of those who perished on 9/11. He was able to do so for free with the help of many volunteers and donations. The mother of a 35-year-old firefighter who died at the WTC site told Coburn, “If your little book can help four people remember my son, George, I think it would be worthwhile sending the book out.”

Excellent Cast in Remake of Israeli Film

MOSSAD AGENTS: (L-R) Marton Csokas, Sam Worthington, and Jessica Chastain, star in "The Debt," a film about Mossad Nazi Hunters. (Laurie Sparham/Focus Features)

The Debt

Director: John Madden
Cast: Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds, Marton Csokas, Jessica Chastain

Running Time: 114 minutes
Rating: R

Rachel Singer understands the dark side of human nature. Her ex-husband Stephan Gold is a high-ranking cabinet official, and her daughter Sarah Gold is a journalist. In fact, Gold’s new book has reopened a number of old wounds for her parents.

Singer and Gold were part of a three-agent Mossad team charged with capturing “The Surgeon of Birkenau,” a National Socialist war criminal clearly modeled on Josef Mengele. Though they were supposedly forced to kill the doctor when he attempted to escape, we quickly discover that there is something wrong with the official story in John Madden’s restructured “The Debt.”

Based on Assaf Bernstein’s Israeli film of the same title, “The Debt” first presents the account of the fateful mission that made Singer a national icon in Israel. It is that story Sarah Gold told in her bestselling book, which Singer dutifully agrees to help publicize.

Yet, when press reports surface of a senile patient in a Ukrainian nursing home claiming to be the notorious surgeon, Dieter Vogel, she and her ex take it deadly seriously. So does David Peretz, the third member of the team, who was always too troubled by the events that transpired in 1965 East Berlin to enjoy their heroic celebrity.

Now a wheelchair-bound senior intelligence official, Gold’s field-operations days are behind him. Though the conscience-plagued Peretz has recently reappeared, he will be in no condition to deal with The Surgeon. It is up to Singer to covertly enter Ukraine and finish the job. While she cases the sanatorium, “The Debt” flashes back to East Berlin, showing how it all really went down.

As adapted by screenwriters Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan, Madden’s film closely hews to the plot and structure of the original. However, the new version plays up the three Mossad agents’ romantic triangle and also adds a bit of a moralizing “truth is important” spin to the ending.

However, like the source film, “The Debt” never suggests Singer’s team had the wrong man, only faulting their execution, the result of stress exacerbated by generational guilt. Indeed, The Surgeon is presented as evil incarnate, played with icy menace by Jesper Christensen.

When casting an actress of a certain age for a somewhat action-oriented film, Helen Mirren is pretty much the extent of the short list. Though she brings the appropriate presence and credibility to the 1997 Singer, the heart and guts of the film remain in 1965 (as was the case with its predecessor).

Madden cranks up the claustrophobic tension in their “safe” flat quite effectively, while making it vividly clear how the legacy of the Holocaust weighed on the team as first-generation children of survivors.

Frankly, Sam Worthington is compelling as the young but already too tightly wound Peretz, who just had the mixed luck to be in utterly terrible but hugely successful films, like “Avatar” and “Clash of the Titans.”

Yet, perhaps the greatest surprise is Jessica Chastain, who rises to the challenge of playing the same character as Dame Helen, in the same film. In fact, she might even get the better of her, investing the younger Gold with equal measures of strength and vulnerability.

Though it still has not fixed the problematic third-act showdown, “The Debt” remains a leanly muscular morality play-thriller. While the English-language version might be a bit more inclined to cast the Mossad in an unfavorable light, there is never any ambiguity as to The Surgeon’s truly malevolent nature.

A surprisingly faithful and well-executed remake, “The Debt” should definitely satisfy those who enjoy a John Le Carrré-esque story, who do not already know the twists and turns of the original. It opened on Wednesday (8/31) in New York at the Angelika Film Center.


Joe Bendel writes about independent film and jazz and lives in New York. To read his most recent articles, please visit http://jbspins.blogspot.com.