Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry trailer - Winner Sundance 2012 Special Jury Prize

http://www.filmcomment.com/article/review-ai-weiwei-never-sorry

REVIEW: AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY
(ALISON KLAYMAN, USA, 2012)
WRITTEN BY CHRIS CHANG

Either you know the name Ai Weiwei or you are, to some degree, clueless. The Chinese government would prefer the latter. Unfortunately for them, the reputation of the man Time magazine short-listed for 2011’s Person of the Year cover story just seems to grow. That was the same year security forces detained Ai at the Beijing Capital Airport. He “disappeared” for three months. Hillary Clinton, among others, was furious. Ai resurfaced unharmed but clearly shaken. His homecoming, i.e., his not-so-triumphant return to the studio/fortress he designed himself, is one of the numerous eye-opening incidents woven into Alison Klayman’s intriguing documentary. The world may think it knows who this man is, but it has never had the chance—until now—to really see him in action.

The film begins with a quasi-parable and ends with a call to arms: “Never Retreat, Retweet!” When the artist is first seen in his massive lair, the compound is revealed to be equal parts sanctuary, self-imposed prison, and animal shelter. One especially clever feline (out of 40) has taught itself how to open a door. The sage-like Ai pontificates: “The biggest difference between people and cats is that cats will open the door but they will never close it behind them.” He doesn’t elaborate but, clearly, there’s a lesson to be learned. By film’s end, Ai will have closed a few allegorical doors himself.

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http://storyhunter.tv/blog/ai_wei_wei_never_sorry

AI WEI WEI: NEVER SORRY
Written by Jaron Gilinsky on Mar. 19, 2012

This documentary ( http://aiweiweineversorry.com ) takes us inside the life of Chinese artist and dissident Ai Wei Wei.

We first meet him in his Beijing compound, talking about a cat. He lives with more than 50 cats, but has a special affinity towards one of them. "Only one cat has the ability to open doors," recounts Ai Wei Wei (Cut to a broll shot of the special cat jumping 5 feet off the ground and on the way clipping the doorknob, landing on four paws, and sleekly sliding through the open door). "If I didn't have this cat, I would never have known that cats could open doors."

That cat, of course, symbolizes Ai Wei Wei. There are many Chinese people, but not many who dare to challenge the regime the way he has. There is definitely only one Chinese person with the courage to create an internet meme called, "Fuck You Motherland."

In his gigantic, fortress like art/living compound with surveillance cameras honed in on him and government agents lurking constantly, Ai Wei Wei seems as happy as can be. He mocks the authorities by making fake surveillance cameras as pieces of art. He drops ancient and priceless pieces of pottery or spray paints the Coca Cola symbol on them. He makes documentaries that travel beyond the "Great Firewall of China" to report what is actually happening there. He is a rebel after my own heart.

His mother worries about his safety and in one candid scene she breaks down and weeps for her son, imploring him to subdue his antics. Yet, Wei Wei possesses the same quality that all freedom fighters and truth tellers seem to possess. A sublime calmness and confidence in what he does and how he lives. He is well aware that he could lose his life and/or freedom at a moment's notice. But why would that get in the way of pursuing a righteous cause?

Ai Wei Wei is a superhero among men, one of the greatest human rights heroes of our generation, and a brilliant communications professional. His rabble-rousing and rebellious artworks are broadcast to his loyal legion of social media followers on Twitter and elsewhere. He knows just how and when to use the medium to promote his cause, get messages out, or just to say "Fuck You" to the Chinese government.

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http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2013-rst/7543.html

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans Take Prescription Drugs, Mayo Clinic, Olmsted Medical Center Find

Germ fighters, antidepressants, opioids top list; women, elderly likelier to have prescriptions
Wednesday, June 19, 2013

CORRECTION: Corrects fourth most commonly prescribed drugs to drugs used to lower lipids rather than drugs to control blood pressure, and adds Olmsted Medical Center as study co-author.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug, and more than half take two, Mayo Clinic and Olmsted Medical Center researchers say. Antibiotics, antidepressants and painkilling opioids are most commonly prescribed, their study found. Twenty percent of patients are on five or more prescription medications, according to the findings, published online in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

MULTIMEDIA ALERT: For audio and video of Dr. Jennifer St. Sauver talking about the study, visit the Mayo Clinic News Network: http://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org

The findings offer insight into prescribing practices. The statistics from the Rochester Epidemiology Project in Olmsted County, Minn. are comparable to those elsewhere in the United States, says study author Jennifer St. Sauver, Ph.D., a member of the Mayo Clinic Population Health Program in the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

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Prescription drug use has increased steadily in the U.S. for the past decade. The percentage of people who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent in 1999-2000 to 48 percent in 2007-08. Spending on prescription drugs reached $250 billion in 2009 the year studied, and accounted for 12 percent of total personal health care expenditures. Drug-related spending is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, the researchers say.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Aging and the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

"...Sticking your head in the sand might make you feel safer, but it’s not going to protect you from the coming storm. And ultimately, we will be judged as a people, and as a society, and as a country on where we go from here."

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/25/full-transcript-of-obamas-remarks-on-climate-change/

June 25, 2013, 4:14 PM

Full Transcript of Obama’s Remarks on Climate Change

...Americans are not a people who look backwards; we’re a people who look forward. We’re not a people who fear what the future holds; we shape it. What we need in this fight are citizens who will stand up, and speak up, and compel us to do what this moment demands.

Understand this is not just a job for politicians. So I’m going to need all of you to educate your classmates, your colleagues, your parents, your friends. Tell them what’s at stake. Speak up at town halls, church groups, PTA meetings. Push back on misinformation. Speak up for the facts. Broaden the circle of those who are willing to stand up for our future. (Applause.)

Convince those in power to reduce our carbon pollution. Push your own communities to adopt smarter practices. Invest. Divest. (Applause.) Remind folks there’s no contradiction between a sound environment and strong economic growth. And remind everyone who represents you at every level of government that sheltering future generations against the ravages of climate change is a prerequisite for your vote. Make yourself heard on this issue. (Applause.)

I understand the politics will be tough. The challenge we must accept will not reward us with a clear moment of victory. There’s no gathering army to defeat. There’s no peace treaty to sign. When President Kennedy said we’d go to the moon within the decade, we knew we’d build a spaceship and we’d meet the goal. Our progress here will be measured differently — in crises averted, in a planet preserved. But can we imagine a more worthy goal? For while we may not live to see the full realization of our ambition, we will have the satisfaction of knowing that the world we leave to our children will be better off for what we did.

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