In this special episode of Boing Boing tv (Direct MP4 link for download), Xeni interviews Tibetan sovereignty activists Lhadon Tethong and Tenzin "Tendor" Dorjee from Students for a Free Tibet, over a Skype video chat. They're in Dharamsala, India, the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government In Exile, and they're attending an historic week-long meeting taking place this week to determine the future of the Tibetan independence movement. Snip from a New York Times story by Edward Wong about the "Special Meeting": The conclave is the first of its kind since 1991. The Dalai Lama has called for hundreds of Tibetans to gather in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government in exile, to help decide on a new strategy for Tibet. In a statement released Monday, the government in exile sought to play down speculation that a significant shift in its approach to the issue of Tibetan independence might be near. “A change in policy need not come from this meeting,” the statement said, according to Reuters. “If a change in basic policy is considered necessary, there is a way that is democratic and which has the mandate of the Tibetan people.” Lhadon and Tendor are updating the SFT blog here, and they suggest that people interested in following the story check Phayul.com, and the High Peaks Pure Earth blog, with commentary from Tibetans inside Tibet and China. Here is a statement on the "Special Meeting" from the Dalai Lama, who is not personally attending. The Tibetan Government in Exile is producing video reports from the Special Meeting here. Tibetan poet Woeser has published her thoughts on the meeting here. (Special thanks to Laird Brown, and Phuntsok Dorjee)...br style="clear: both;"/ a href="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/ht.php?t=camp;i=bcb0a8bdf03bbe42cd66bd278eb92a6eamp;p=1"img style="border:0;" src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/ht.php?t=vamp;i=bcb0a8bdf03bbe42cd66bd278eb92a6eamp;p=1" border="0" //a

pimg src="http://www.gamasutra.com/db_area/images/news2001/21189/princeofpersia.jpg" align="left" hspace="5"/The visual look of Ubisoft's Prince of Persia franchise reboot is aimed at breaking away from what players have gotten used to in the series, while addressing what they now expect from next-gen art direction. It's perhaps more complex a mandate as it seems, and Gamasutra attended producer Ben Mattes' talk at the Montreal International Game Summit to learn more. According to Mattes, when the creative team met for the first time on the project, .../pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=T021N"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=T021N" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=q2azN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=q2azN" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?a=64RVN"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~f/GamasutraNews?i=64RVN" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GamasutraNews/~4/459574974" height="1" width="1"/

Coming up deadlines (Nov.20 - Dec. 1st) in callsandopps.com, the new website for artists going international, brought to you by a dedicated group of artists.br / We read the fine print, we boil the particulars down, we provide you the ability to search, sort and jump to those challenges that are meant for you, for us.br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / ZAGAROLO: THE TOY Art Prizebr / Deadline: November 20thbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: A collective exhibit of 50 contemporary art works on the theme “The Toy”, also to be interpreted in a wider sense, from 20th December 2008 to 6th January 2009, in Zagarolo (Italy).br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: First Prize (aquisition): 2,500 euros + a personal exhibition in 2009br / Submissions accepted by post or emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/220br / br / Art Fine Arts Paintingbr / Return to Departure Painting Exhibitionbr / Deadline: November 20thbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Kirkland Arts Center (Kirkland, Washington), international juried exhibition will examine contemporary painting, focusing on work that moves this traditional medium forward. br / Exhibition dates: July 9, 2009 - August 8, 2009br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: Best in Show: $1,000. Sales are encouraged. KAC charges a 40% commissionbr / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/91br / br / Art Photographybr / Photographer's Forum Magazine br / Deadline: November 20thbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The College Contest is open to all high school, college, and university students, as well as those who have graduated within the past six months.br / Selected works will be published in a book. First through Fourth Place winners will also be published one time in Photographer’s Forum magazine.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option:2,000$ + a Nikon camerabr / Submissions accepted online or by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/111br / br / Art Photographybr / Hyeres Photo Competitionbr / Deadline: November 20thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Every Spring (April) in Hyeres, in the South of France, the 'International Fashion and Photography Festival' spotlights young promising artists in the fields of fashion and photography. Only photographers/artists who have not had an important exhibition in a gallery, or cultural institution of international importance, may take part.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: The festival covers the exhibition prints costsbr / Submissions accepted by emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/173br / br / Art Photographybr / "Caminos de Hierro" Competitionbr / Deadline: November 21stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The Spanish Railways Foundation is holding the 23nd "Caminos de Hierro" Photographic Competition. This Competition aims to encourage plastic creativity in all aspects of the railway (passengers, stations, trains, etc.) Selected works will be shown in a traveling exhibition.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: 1st prize (for aquisition): 6,000 Euro + invitation (including spouse) to the ceremony.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/202br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / Flux Factory Projectsbr / Deadline: November 26thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Flux Factory, an artist collective and artist-run center in NYC, is currently accepting proposals for collaborative art projects for their 2009 programming. Projects must be structured to accommodate an open call to local and international artists.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: US$ 4,000 budgetbr / Submissions accepted by emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/246br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / e v + a exhibitionbr / Deadline: November 28thbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The exhibition will open on 14th March, 2009, in Limerick, Ireland. It will run for 10 weeks, until 24th May, 2009. e v+ a encourages proposals that aim at siting work within the widespread fabric of a modern urban environment.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: 25% commission on any sale of work.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/194br / br / Art Photographybr / Fondation HSBC pour la Photographie Annual Contestbr / Deadline: November 28thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The contest is open to photographers who's work strives to capture the real world, with no restrictions as to approach or technique. The artist must not have previously published any monograph of their work. The Fondation HSBC supports the winning artists by co-editing a monographic book on each of the two winning artists, plus organising, over the 18 months following their selection, the collective exhibition of their works in Paris, other French regions and abroad.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: acquisition of at least six pieces (of the 2 winning artists) by HSBC France for a total of 5,000 eurosbr / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/211br / br / Art Installation/ Performancebr / La chambre blanche artist-in-residency program 2009-2010br / Deadline: November 28thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE (Quebec, Canada) is an artist-run centre with a mandate to promote installation and site-specific practices. During their residency, the selected artists are invited to create a unique, ephemeral work, in the context of an actual live laboratory. The residency lasts six weeks. br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: lodging, $ 1750 (CAN) artist fees, technical assistance, transportation from the North-East of America (the half for the others), a woodworking shop, a computer labbr / Submissions accepted by email or by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/84br / br / Art Photographybr / RAYMOND WEIL Club International Photography Prizebr / Deadline: November 29thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: RAYMOND WEIL Club is holding a competition for works on the theme of Independence.The winner will create an exclusive production for the exhibit in the RAYMOND WEIL booth in BASELWORLD 2009 - The World's Leading Watch Jewellery Show. br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: First prize (for acquisition of 5 works): 15,000$ + Exhibit in the Aperture Gallery, New York City + Exhibition during BASELWORLD 2009br / Submissions accepted online + emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/137br / br / Art Photographybr / Boutographies Festival of Photographybr / Deadline: November 29thbr / Submission Free, but artists need to cover the return postage of 10 euros (cheque or money order)br / Relevant to: Europeansbr / Briefly: The Festival of Photography, scheduled to take place in in Montpellier, France, May 2009, is open to all photographers, professionals or amateurs, living in Europe.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: Only accommodation and transport of the photos will be paid for.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/216br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / Limner Gallery emerging artists Exhibitionbr / Deadline: November 30thbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: An annual competition for group exhibition, and awards. This event is devoted to the discovery, introduction and promotion of emerging artists. A group exhibition of the artist winners will be held at the Limner Gallery, Hudson, New York, March 7 - 28, 2009. br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: A $1000 cash award + 30% commission on any sales made during the exhibition or off the web site during the one year promotion.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/74br / br / Art Photographybr / Sturt Craft Centre Professional Residencybr / Deadline: November 30thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Sturt Craft Centre (Mittagong, Australia) invites applications from experienced craft practitioners to a 2 to 3 months residence program. Residencies occur in the disciplines of ceramics, jewellery, textiles, wood, photography and writing. br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: A stipend of AUD$2000 + AUD$500 material expenses, Studio space, Accommodationbr / Submissions accepted by post or by emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/50br / br / Art Photographybr / Nikon Photo Contestbr / Deadline: November 30thbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Entries to Nikon's on-line competition are invited in two categories: The first category is free subject and the second is entitled "My Planet" (Works that express your feelings about your world). Winning entries will be exhibited on the competition's website.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: Grand Prize: Nikon Digital SLR Camera D3 + AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm F2.8G ED + AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm F2.8G EDbr / Submissions accepted online or by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/136br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / The Skylark Prizebr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The Skylark Prize will be awarded to an artist whose work has proven to be innovative, while consistent in quality.br / Winning works will be exhibited at thr Skylark Fine Art Gallery in Los Angeles (Date To be announced).br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: An exclusive 6 week fully paid Fellowship at the Sias University, in Zhengzhou, China + Cash prize of $2,000 + A solo exhibition at Skylark Gallery in Los Angeles + Catalog + Editorial in Fabrik Magazine. Sales optional (30% commission) br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/60br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / apexart - The Franchisebr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: apexart are franchising a one-time exhibition opportunity where apexart will come to your city and appoint you the director of your own temporary non-profit exhibition space.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: up to $10,000 USD in funding + a trip to NYC + 2,000$ curator's feebr / Submissions accepted onlinebr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/73br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / Johns Hopkins Evergreen Museums Residencybr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Every year, Evergreen Museum Library (in Baltimore, Maryland) offers a two-month summer residency for visual artists living outside of Maryland.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: housing, individual studio and a stipend (amount not specified in the call)br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/248br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / The Linden Postcard showbr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The Linden Postcard show (St Kilda, Victoria, Australia) is an open entry award exhibition featuring small format (up to 30cm in any direction) contemporary work. 6 works will be selected to be reproduced and sold as Linden Postcards. br / Exhibition dates: 7 February – 27 March 2009br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: commission on sales: 27.5%. 1st Prize: $5,000 + Postcard winners receive $250 for reproduction rights.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/197br / br / Art - various/all mediabr / Sandnes Artist in Residence Programmebr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Sandnes Town Council (in Norway) and Rogaland County Council, offer a residency to professional artists.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: rent-free studio with accommodation + a grant of 1,000 Euro per month.br / Submissions accepted by post or emailbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/233br / br / Art Fine Artsbr / Conceptos artisticos Residency competitionbr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: The winners of the competition will be awarded a 6 weeks all expenses paid residency in San Carlos, Costa Rica, during February - March 2009.br / Entries welcome from established or emerging artists – with a record of solid achievement, working in Sculpture, painting, drawing, or mixed media.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: airfare, housing and meals + other servicesbr / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/196br / br / Art Fine Artsbr / "Free Art Tomorrow" Emerging Artist Competitionbr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Ico Gallery in Tribeca, NYC, is calling artists to submit 2 or 3 dimensional works.br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: Winners will be featured at Ico Gallery in prime Tribeca, NYC. The gallery retains a 50% commission.br / Submissions accepted onlinebr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/247br / br / Art Fine Arts Paintingbr / The Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation Visual Arts Competitionbr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Feebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: JDAF in Riverdale, New York, is sponsoring a competition in the visual arts, open to categories: Oil, Acrylic, Mixed Mediabr / Selected artists will have their work exhibited and offered for sale at an exhibition, opening in June 7, 2009, in HOLLIS TAGGART GALLERIES, New York City br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: Awards up to $5,000. Commission on sales: 15% Donation to Foundationbr / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/219br / br / Art Fine Arts Sculpturebr / Sculpture Space Residencybr / Deadline: December 1stbr / Submission Freebr / Relevant to: worldwidebr / Briefly: Sculpture Space in North America invites sculptors to come to Utica, NY, for 2 months, to make new work. br / Awards/Artist fee/ sales option: $2000 stipend toward residency expenses. br / Free housing and $100 transportation stipend are available for New York State artists only.br / Submissions accepted by postbr / http://www.callsandopps.com/index.php?item/198img src="http://rhizome.org/syndicate/nothing.gif?f=announce" border="0"img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/rhizome-announce/~4/458966064" height="1" width="1"/

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/39850?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Britain+to+lead+fleet+of+EU+warships+to+tackle+piratesch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Piracy+at+sea+%28News%29%2CSomalia+%28News%29%2CEuropean+Union+%28News%29%2CUK+news%2CNato+%28News%29%2CRussia+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CMiddle+East+Travel%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Richard+Norton-Taylorc7=2008_11_19c8=1120685c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Piracy+at+seac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FPiracy+at+sea" width="1" height="1" //divpBritain is to lead an armada of EU warships to the Gulf of Aden next month to tackle the escalating problem of a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/piracy"piracy/a in a mission expected to last 12 months./ppThe naval fleet, under UK command, would "disrupt and to tackle the scourge of piracy", foreign secretary David Miliband said today on a visit to Beirut. Piracy threatens trade and prosperity, he added./ppEU military planners this week drew up a detailed mandate, including rules of engagement for the use of force, for the mission at a meeting at Northwood, Britain's joint operations centre in north-west London. Plans for the EU fleet, led by HMS Northumberland and known as Operation Atalanta, are due to formally agreed early next month, European defence officials said today./ppThe EU fleet, originally proposed to escort boats carrying food aid to Somalia, should include ships from ten countries./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a military chiefs, meeting in Brussels today, indicated that a coordinated worldwide response was required to deal with piracy amid a plethora of proposals about how to deal with the problem./ppRussia today came up with its own proposal - land operations against the bases of Somali pirates./ppDmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to Nato, said the view of Russian experts was that naval action alone, even involving a large fleet of a powerful nation, would not be enough to defeat the pirates, given Somalia's geo-strategic position. /pp"So it is up to Nato, the EU and other major stakeholders to conduct not a sea operation, but in fact a land coastal operation to eradicate the bases of pirates on the ground," he said. "Because we all know... they have their bases on the ground and of course those actions should be coordinated with Russia," Rogozin said, without making clear whether he envisaged Russian involvement in any operation. /ppAllied chiefs of staff, meeting in Nato's military committee which devoted most of its time to the conflict in Pakistan, said piracy must be tackled as a long-term problem involving other international, organisations, including the UN, a Nato military spokesman told the Guardian./ppMost European countries take the view that piracy is intrinsically linked to the economic and political crisis in Somalia, a failed state. They do not, however, believe that al-Qaida is involved in any of the piracy incidents. /ppNato has four ships on patrol in the waters off Somalia, with two protecting UN food aid convoys. That mission, Nato's first against pirates, ends next month when the EU operation, called Atalanta, starts./pp"The EU presence will be bigger and more designed for the mission," James Appathurai, the chief Nato spokesman, was reported as saying today./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/piracy"Piracy at sea/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/somalia"Somalia/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/eu"European Union/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia"Russia/a/li/ul/divdiv class="guRssAdvert"a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227127069493111920462439258"img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yessite=Newscountry=(none)spacedesc=rsssystem=rsstransactionID=1227127069493111920462439258" border="0" //a/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The health insurance industry said Wednesday it will support a national health care overhaul that requires them to accept all customers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, but in return it wants lawmakers to mandate that everyone buy coverage....