MY GOD IS BETTER THAN YOUR GOD - DEATH AND DESTRUCTION IN GOD'S NAME

 

If your God is the only true God

And better than my God,

All who believe as you believe

Should be healthy, wealthy and happy.

 

Why then do your people get sick and die?

Why are they killed

By earthquakes, fires, floods, disease -

Acts of God ?

Oh, yes. Because they are sinners.

 

If the God my people believe in

Is the only true God,

Why do we get sick and die?

Oh, yes. Because we are sinners.

 

And so the eternal Cop-Out continues.

 

In this way, a handful of powerful individuals 

Around the world - in cities and in jungles -

Maintain control over the minds and wealth

Of billions of not-so-smart people.

 

If you ask these questions, as I have,

You will be told, as I was, 

That you are a trouble-maker,

Sent by the devil.

 

Now, let us imagine what would happen

If one day,

Ordinary people started to wonder -

What if we did not spend our nation's wealth

On guns and planes and ships and bombs?

 

What if we just stopped killing

In God's name?

 

What if all those killed in battle

Were still alive ?

 

What would we do with all our wealth?

 

Trillions of dollars and billions of lives

Could be devoted

To health care and education,

To growing food,

Instead of building bombs.

 

We would have trillions of dollars

To repair roads and bridges.

Trillions of dollars to provide

Homes and schools and medicine

For all who need them.

 

And all those people

Who were slaughtered

In God's name ...

Imagine them home again,

Enjoying a good meal with their family.

 

If you dared to question -

If you dared to speak your mind;

If you dared to speak to your neighbour.

You might learn that your neighbour -

Feels the same way you do.

 

And the only true God -

Might breathe a sigh of relief.

 

 

 

JANET ROSENBERG JAGAN - ONE WOMAN CHANGED A NATION

 

Taking on the government and armies of Britain without any weapon but a love for justice, Janet Jagan and her husband, Cheddi Jagan, rescued a nation built on slavery.

Janet Rosenberg was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 20, 1920. After high school, she attended Wayne State University and the Cook County Nursing School. In 1942, she met Cheddi Jagan at a party hosted by a mutual friend. He was a Guyanese dentistry student at Northwestern University whose grandparents had immigrated to Guyana from India. Both were involved in radical politics, and they married the following year against the objections of her family.

After Cheddi's visa expired in 1943, he returned to Guyana (then British Guiana). Janet followed soon after. Cheddi set up a dental surgery practice, with Janet working as his assistant. The couple quickly became involved with local politics and the Guyanese labor struggle, and Janet became a member of Guyana's first union, working with labor leader Hubert Critchlow to organize domestic workers to strike for labor rights. Janet's early political work in Guyana also included co-founding the Women's Political and Economic Organization and the Political Affairs Committee in 1946. The couple's first child, Cheddi Jagan, Jr., was born in 1949.

In 1950, Janet co-founded the People's Progressive Party (PPP) with Cheddi and trade union leaders Ashton Chase and Jocelyn Hubbard. The PPP was Guyana's first multi-racial political party. In addition to serving as the party's general secretary, Janet was also the first woman to be elected to the Georgetown City Council. Three years later, Janet was elected to the House of Assembly as the deputy speaker. American newspapers dubbed her the "second Eva Peron." Janet sent a Western Union telegram to her parents that read, "Cheddi, myself and Party won overwhelming victory."

The 1953 elections in Guyana were the country's first under universal suffrage. Although voters elected Cheddi as their chief minister, the British, fearful of the first Marxist leaders in the Western Hemisphere, ousted the PPP from office after only 133 days. In 1955, following the birth of Cheddi and Janet's second child, Nadira, the couple was jailed as political prisoners.

The 1957 elections once again elected Cheddi as chief minister, and Janet as Guyana's minister of labor, health and housing. Among her accomplishments were establishing health centers, maternity and child welfare clinics and improving wage and work conditions. Although the PPP was in office during this time, the party's power was minimal, as the British still controlled the country's government. In 1963, Janet became minister of home affairs, a post she later quit out of frustration over British control.

The early 1960s were turbulent times in Guyana, both economically and politically. In 1962, rioters tried to force the PPP out of office, and the American government continued to instigate unrest that led to the 1964 "reign of terror," which uprooted, killed and injured thousands of Guyanese. When bombs were planted at PPP headquarters, Cheddi and Janet decided to send their daughter Nadira to live in the United States, and Janet was forced to keep a low profile. As she explained in THUNDER IN GUYANA, "In the '60s I could not be seen for years. I couldn't be seen or they would start attacking, burning, killing. I had to just lie low for a long time."

Guyana finally won independence from the British in 1966, but by this time the PPP's government had been replaced by the People's National Congress (PNC), led by Forbes Burnham, a former PPP chairman who had since split with Cheddi and Janet. During Burnham's 25-plus years in office, Guyana accumulated the worst foreign debt in the hemisphere and banned open elections. By the 1980s, half of Guyana's population had fled the country. Janet continued her political work, editing the PPP-backed newspaper the Mirror and writing several children's books about Guyana's struggle for independence, and was elected opposition member of Parliament in 1973, 1980 and 1985.

In 1992, Guyana held its first free and fair elections in almost three decades, and with her husband elected president, Janet became the country's first lady. In 1997, after Cheddi's death, she became Guyana's first woman president and commander-in-chief. After resigning for health reasons in 1999, she still continues to work in her office at party headquarters each day.

Source

Profile of Janet Jagan

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/thunderinguyana/janet.html

 

VASILI ARKHIPOV - THE MAN WHO SAVED THE WORLD - HE SAID, "NO."

 

The man who saved the world: The Soviet submariner who single-handedly averted WWIII at height of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

U.S.S.R. and U.S. stood on brink of nuclear war during Cuban Missile Crisis Four Russian submarines secretly set sail to Cuba, with nuclear weapons Vasili Arkhipov, who died in 1998, used last veto against firing sub's torpedo The Russians instead surrendered and his action avoided World War Three.

 

By Leon Watson and Mark Duell

He was the man who saved the world by single-handedly averting World War Three five decades ago, yet he died humiliated, outcast and an unknown. Only now has his story has come to light.

A documentary shown tonight told how for 13 days during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the world held its breath as the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. stood on the brink of nuclear war.

At the height of the Cold War, when paranoia on both sides meant the slightest provocation could spark nuclear war, four submarines secretly set sail from Russia to communist Cuba.

Averted war: Vasili Arkhipoy (pictured left, and right aboard a submarine), saved the world by single-handedly averting World War Three with one decision 50 years ago, yet he died humiliated, outcast and an unknown.

Only a handful of the submariners on board knew that their ships carried nuclear weapons, each with the strength of the bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945.

Vasili Arkhipov, aboard the sub B59, was one of them. As his craft neared Cuba, U.S. helicopters, aeroplanes and battleships were scouring the ocean for Russian subs.

'At that period of time it was called "special weapon", not "nuclear torpedo",' said Viktor Mikhailov, junior navigator on Sub B-59. 'At that time we couldn't even imagine a nuclear torpedo.'

In a game of high stakes cat and mouse it wasn't long before the Russians were spotted. Arkhipov's sub was forced to make an emergency dive.

Remembered: Arkhipov is pictured left with his wife Olga in 1957, and right with his daughter Yelena, three years before he died in 1998

For 13 days during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the world held its breath as the USSR and the U.S. stood on the brink of nuclear war.

Tense: As the submariners tried to stay hidden from their US hunters, conditions in the sub deteriorated. For a week they stayed underwater, in sweltering 60C heat, rationed to just one glass of water a day.

'Basically what we were trying to do was apply passive torture. Frankly I don't think we felt any sympathy for them at all. They were the enemy'
Gary Slaughter, USS Cony signalman.

Above them, the U.S. navy were 'hunting by exhaustion' - trying to force the Soviet sub to come to the surface to recharge its batteries.

They had no idea that on board the submarines were weapons capable of destroying the entire American fleet.

Gary Slaughter, a signalman on board the USS Cony battleship, said: 'We knew they were probably having trouble breathing. It was hot as hell in there, they were miserable.

Mr President: John F. Kennedy was in office in the U.S. between 1961 and 1963, at the height of the crisis

Tense: The documentary recreated the dramatic moment when Soviet sailors decided not to fire the weapon.

'They were cramped together and they had been under great stress for a long time. Basically what we were trying to do was apply passive torture.

'They said that the person who prevented a nuclear war was the Russian submariner Vasili Arkhipov. I was proud and I am proud of my husband always'
Olga Arkipov, widow of Vasili Arkhipov

'Frankly I don't think we felt any sympathy for them at all. They were the enemy.'
The Americans decided to ratchet up the pressure, and dropped warning grenades into the sea. Inside the sub, the Soviet submariners thought they were under attack.

Valentin Savitsky, the captain of B59, was convinced the nuclear war had already started.

He demanded that the submariners launch their torpedo to save some of Russia's pride.

The programme on Channel 5 revealed how in any normal circumstances Savitsky's orders would have been followed, and World War Three would have been unleashed.

'Close friend': Ryurik Ketov, commander of Sub B-4, said Arkhipov was 'cool-headed' and 'in control'

Memories: Viktor Mikhailov, junior navigator on Sub B-59, said they had a 'special weapon' on board, which was not even referred to as a 'nuclear weapon'

Ryurik Ketov, commander of another sub, Sub B-4, said: 'Vasili Arkhipov was a submariner and a close friend of mine. He was a family friend. He stood out for being cool-headed. He was in control.'

'One of the Russian admirals told the submariners: "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship". Extraordinary'
Thomas Blanton, historian

Savitsky hadn't counted on Arkhipov. As commander of the fleet, Arkhipov had the last veto. And although his men were against him, he insisted that they must not fire - and instead surrender.

It was a humiliating move - but one that saved the world. The Soviet submariners were forced to return to their native Russia, where they were given the opposite of a hero's welcome.

Historian Thomas Blanton told the Sun: 'What heroism, what duty, they fulfilled to go halfway across the world and come back, and survive.

 

Covert mission: In a game of high stakes cat and mouse it wasn't long before the Russian's were spotted

Proud: Arkopov's widow Olga said: 'I was proud and I am proud of my husband, always'

'But in fact, one of the Russian admirals told the submariners; "It would have been better if you'd gone down with your ship." Extraordinary.'

Four decades passed before the story of what really happened on the B59 sub was discovered. It was after Arkipov had died in 1998 from radiation poisoning.

But to his widow Olga, he was always a hero. She said: 'He knew that it was madness to fire the nuclear torpedo. In Cuba, in honour of the 40th anniversary of the crisis, people gathered.

'They said that the person who prevented a nuclear war was the Russian submariner Vasili Arkhipov. I was proud and I am proud of my husband always.'

PUBLISHED: 25-26 September 2012  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208342/Soviet-submariner-single-handedly-averted-WWIII-height-Cuban-Missile-Crisis.html

 

 

MUSLIM PRAYER - IRSHAD MANJI - TAKING HER LIFE IN HER HANDS

 

 

FACEBOOK

October 27, 2012

 

Irshad Manji

Eid Mubarak... Bottoms Up... and Peace Out! (Photographer: Unknown)

 

 

 

Phyllis Carter - With honest respect for the religions of different people everywhere, I must say aloud what I have thought for a long time - How can people experience a sense of peace and reverence while facing another person's backside ? Is this custom designed to humble? This may also reflect why ladies are not permitted to pray with their male family members. From a scientific point of view, can it be that the odours of the men reinforce their bonds? The chemicals given off their bodies may also play a role in group aggression. This photo offers a lot to think about.

 

 

BULLY VICTIM SUICIDE IS CRAZY - YOU ARE YOUR OWN WORST ENEMY

 

Bully victim suicide is crazy.

You are giving the bullies exactly what they want -

To crush you, to destroy you, to humiliate you -

And to hurt your family.

You are handing them the victory.

You are showing the bullies that they are right,

That you are worthless. Your family is worthless.

 

You are showing the bullies that they are smarter than you.

 

You are erasing all the good

You could have done in your life,
And leaving everyone with the memory

That you didn't care about them enough to live.

 

You are telling the world that you did not deserve to live,

That everything that was ever done for you was a waste.

 

You and your loved ones lose forever,

And the bullies win.

If you help them destroy you.

 

As miserable and as afraid as you may be,

There is nothing you could do

That would be as cruel and stupid,

And cowardly, and selfish and wasteful,

As killing yourself because of bullies.

 

 

WHO AM I ?

 

             

 

 

If I am not for myself,

Then who will be for me?

And if I am only for myself,

Then what am I ?

And if not now, when ?

 

Rabbi Hillel Danziger (הלל)

 c.110 BCE - Babylon -

10 CE - Jerusalem

 

 

Truth is the most powerful weapon on earth,

and villains fear it.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

 

Justice, only justice shalt thou pursue

 

Deuteronomy 16:20

 

 

Expose the deeds of darkness

 

Ephesians 5:11

 

 

ROMNEY CAMPAIGN - MANIPULATION - HOW TO MAKE THE TRUTH LIE

 

Here is an example of how the truth

Can be turned into a lie.

 

You take a snippet out of a whole picture -

And run it as a campaign ad on TV,

over and over again.

 

President Obama is a gentleman.

 

In a great part of the world,

It is courtesy for a man to bow his head

When greeting another man,

Especially if the man is your senior,

Or your host.

 

But the Romney campaign

Picks a moment out of context,

And uses it to make the president

Appear subservient.

 

Remember the Republicans' stated goal -

To bring down President Obama.

 

The enemies of the American people

Are close at hand.

 

 

FAST TRACK TO PARADISE - TWO MAJOR PROBLEMS

 

There are two major problems in the world.

 

Both are caused by people seeking

A fast track to paradise.

 

Greed drives one group to grab for wealth,

So they might enjoy the fruits of this earth.

 

The other drives people to kill,

 So they might enjoy the fruits

They expect to find in the sky.

 

Both groups destroy life.

 

 

BOUNTY HUNTER WANTED - $5,000. REWARD - THE DAWN MCSWEENEY ROBBERY

 

I am offering a $5,000. reward for the safe return of everything stolen from me and from my family by Dawn McSweeney and those she calls her "partners in crime" on her own blog.

 

Dawn McSweeney stole seven pages of precious inventory from me at 4995 Prince of Wales, NDG, Montreal on October 7, 1996 with the help of a Montreal Police officer.

 

Because Montreal Police were involved in the crime, the police have refused repeatedly to take any action to recover my belongings or to bring Dawn McSweeney and her accomplices before a judge in criminal court.

 

I have been pleading for justice day and night for sixteen years, but the moment anyone hears that the police have been helping the thief, there is silence.

 

Marlene Jennings, Member of Parliament and former Quebec Police Ethics Commissioner stated at two public meetings in Montreal, "Mrs. Carter's rights were violated three times", but everyone says these crimes are not in their jurisdiction.

 

Therefore, I am left to seek justice on my own.

 

I am seeking a bounty hunter who will accept $5,000. upon the safe return of everything Dawn McSweeney and her "partners in crime" stole from me and from my family.

 

The reward will be handed to the bounty hunter in a public place as soon as all our belongings and property are safe and secure. All transactions will be open and public.

 

There must be no violence.

 

Details are open to the world at http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

CANADIAN MINING COMPANIES BRINGING DEATH TO PEOPLE OUT OF SIGHT

 

Out of sight, out of mind. We have so much to deal with at home. We are bombarded with conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East. Everyone is focused on the U.S. elections and all the talk about the economy. But who is looking at what Canadian Mining Companies are doing to people's lives abroad?

 

As Firm as a Tree: Portraits of Diodora

On July 7, 2010, Diodora Hernandez, a staunch anti-mining activist, was shot point-blank on the right eye outside her home in the small community of San José Nueva Esperanza – only a few meters from a fence that delimits Goldcorp's Marlin Mine. One year after her miraculous recuperation, Diodora's anti-mining stance and activism remains as steadfast as ever.

A flurry of events in mid-2010 brought international attention once again to the controversial Canadian-owned Marlin gold mine:

May 24: the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) calls on the government of Guatemala to "suspend mining activity at the Marlin mine and take steps to protect the health of the surrounding indigenous communities." (1)

June 16: James Anaya, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, visits San Miguel Ixtahuacán and eventually issues a report concluding that "Guatemala is currently experiencing a high degree of social unrest in connection with the natural resource extraction activities taking place in the traditional territories of indigenous peoples, which has serious impacts on indigenous peoples' rights, and threatens governance and economic development." (2)

July 7: Three weeks after Anaya's visit, Diodora Hernández is shot point blank in the face.

Exactly one year after the shooting, Diodora expresses her thoughts on the local radio station The Voice of the People: "They tried to kill me because I do not want to sell my plot of land!"

Diodora, who lost her right eye as a result of the attack, lives with her daughter María and granddaughter Olga in what now seems the ghost town of San José Nueva Esperanza.

"I am sad because most of my neighbors have sold out and left. But me, hmmm, don't you worry, I will continue on with the struggle! I am firm as a tree. Standing I am, and standing I will remain."

During 2011, two Goldcorp shareholders have presented a resolution asking the company to suspend operations at the Marlin mine. (3)
Meanwhile, on September 19, 2011, Goldcorp was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index due to "ongoing allegations of human rights violations and evidence of environmental contamination in communities affected by Goldcorp's mining activities." (4)

"Goldcorp's removal from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index will not make a difference in the daily lives of communities in Guatemala, Honduras and elsewhere who are living with long-term impacts from this company's operations," says Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator for MiningWatch Canada, "but this is another indication that the company can't just paper over the damage that it's doing." (5)

http://www.mimundo.org/2011/10/25/2011-10-as-firm-as-a-tree-portraits-of-diodora/          

2010-12. Legal Case. Choc v. HudBay Minerals.

December 2nd, 2010

On September 27th, 2009, Adolfo Ich Chamán, a respected indigenous Q'eqchi' Mayan community leader and an outspoken critic of harms and rights violations caused by Canadian mining activities in his community, was hacked and shot to death by security forces employed at HudBay Minerals' Fenix Mining Project near the town of El Estor, Guatemala.

December 1st, 2010, Guatemala City: Angelica Choc, Adolfo Ich Chamán's widow, announces lawsuit brought in Canadian courts against HudBay Minerals Inc. to seek accountability for the murder of her husband.

http://www.mimundo.org/2010/12/02/2010-dec-legal-case-choc-v-hudbay-minerals/

2008-08. Lake Izabal: Majestic Life Source Flowing Towards its Death

Canadian Nickel mining company threatens to contaminate Guatemala's lake Izabal.

http://www.mimundo.org/tag/mining/

 

CAN GEORGE MCGOVERN SAVE US NOW ?

 

 

GEORGE MCGOVERN,

TAKEN FROM US AT AGE 90.

 

Looking back, we might wonder what the world might be like today if the American electorate had chosen George McGovern instead of Richard Nixon. Think about it.

 

The People have made terrible choices again and again.

 

How many wars might we have been spared?

 

How many lives might have continued instead of ending under tombstones?

 

All the voters think about is money. And the people pay in blood.

 

Might we rethink our current circumstances by listening to what George McGovern said decades ago?

 

Perhaps in death, he might achieve what he was prevented from achieving in his lifetime.

 

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE - BUT

 

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

William  Shakespeare

As You Like It -Act 11 - Scene V11

BUT -

We are more than merely "players".

We are also directors -

We can decide

If we will play

The villains,

The heroes -

Or - as most do -

The extras.

Phyllis Carter

 

AFGHAN WOMAN BEHEADS DAUGHTER-IN-LAW FOR REFUSING PROSTITUTION

 

October 18th, 2012 - 12:16 PM ET

 

Afghan woman beheads daughter-in-law for refusing prostitution, police say

 

A young woman had her head chopped off for refusing to prostitute herself - and one of the killers was her mother-in-law, police say.

 

The other was the mother-in-law's cousin. And both admit it, according to Afghan police.

 

To most people, the slaying of 20-year-old Mah Gul is unimaginable.But it's just "one more incident that highlights the violent atmosphere that women and girls face in Afghanistan and the region," Suzanne Nossel, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said Thursday.

 

The killing happened Sunday in Herat province, in southwest Afghanistan along the Iranian border.

 

Gul's husband is a baker. When he left home for work, his mother and her cousin tried to force the young wife into prostitution, said Noorthan Mikvad, spokesman for Herat police.

 

When she wouldn't do it, they beheaded her, he said.

 

In a statement, Nossel said women and girls in the region "are raped, killed, forced into marriage in childhood, prevented from obtaining an education and denied their sexual and reproductive rights. Until basic human rights are guaranteed these horrible abuses will continue to be committed."

 

The U.S. State Department says some "Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution, forced marriages – including through forced marriages in which husbands force their wives into prostitution, and where they are given by their families to settle debts or disputes."

 

Some families even knowingly sell their children into forced prostitution, the State Department said, "including for bacha baazi – where wealthy men use groups of young boys for social and sexual entertainment."

Herat police say their investigation found that Gul's husband and father-in-law were not involved in her killing.

 

CNN has extensively reported on the abuse of girls and women in Afghanistan, a nation where under Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, women were banned from classrooms, politics or employment. Women who wanted to leave home had to be escorted by a male relative and were forced to wear burqas. Those who disobeyed were publicly beaten. In some parts of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, locals were encouraged to blacken the windows on their homes so women inside could not be seen.

 

The Afghan government, including a woman running for the presidency of the country, has tried to make it relatively easier for young women to go school.

 

In 2004, girls were formally guaranteed a right to an education under the Afghan constitution.

 

Yet major problems persist and girls are in extraordinary danger in part of the country. They are terrorized walking to school. In 2009 in Peshawar,

 

Pakistan, near Afghanistan, the Taliban issued an official edict mandating that no more girls should be able to go to school. That was after the Taliban had regained their stake in the control in the region after the 2001 invasion.
Girls and women's families sometimes abuse and kill them. In July, the Taliban executed a woman in public, justifying the killing by saying she had committed adultery.

 

In 2011, people around the world were appalled to learn about a then-13-year-old named Sahar Gul who had been married off to a member of the Afghan Army. Sahar said her husband raped her, and enraged that she didn't immediately conceive, her in-laws locked her in a basement for months. They tortured Sahar with hot pokers and ripped out her nails. Ultimately, she said, they wanted to force her into prostitution as punishment for failing her obligation as a woman.

 

Her face made famous on Time's cover, young Aesha had her nose and ears hacked off for running away from her husband's house. Aesha was brought to the United States. Her life continues to be hugely challenging as she's forever emotionally scared by the abuse she suffered.

 

Afghan girl 'beheaded for refusing prostitution' - Telegraph

www.telegraph.co.uk/.../afghanistan/.../Afghan-girl-beheaded-for-refusing-prostitution.html

Afghan woman beheads daughter-in-law for refusing prostitution, police say

CNN (blog) - A young woman had her head chopped off for refusing to prostitute herself -- and one of the killers was her mother-in-law, police say.

 

ARROGANT FANATICS CONTINUE TO DESTROY THE LIVES OF OTHERS IN GOD'S NAME

 

 

 

An ancient shrine in Timbuktu is destroyed in this photo taken on July 1, 2012.
 
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

 

Residents say 3 mausolea were destroyed
They were all U.N. World Heritage sites
Islamist militants regard such shrines as idolatrous

 

(CNN) -- Al Qaeda-linked rebels in northern Mali destroyed historic and religious landmarks in Timbuktu on Thursday, claiming the relics are idolatrous, residents told CNN.

 

Three four-wheel-drive trucks carrying at least 30 armed fighters arrived Thursday morning at three mausolea -- all U.N. World Heritage sites -- in the southern Timbuktu neighborhood of Kabara, two residents told CNN by phone.
"They started destroying the first mausoleum's wooden door with their axes," said Ibrahim Ag Mohamed, a guide. "Then they went inside and burned the cloth covering the grave before destroying the building with picks and axes."
Opinion: Attack on Timbuktu tomb is an attack on our humanity

 

The mausolea, one of which held the remains of a religious leader and the founder of the neighborhood, were destroyed within an hour, Ag Mohamed said.
"The local Islamists were reinforced by between 30-40 men carrying Kalashnikovs and axes," said Sankoum Sissoko, another resident. "They started destroying the mausolea and didn't finish until they had turned the tomb into rubble," he said.

 

Area residents, too afraid to try to stop the destruction, simply watched, he said. "After the attack, the Islamists told the people that worshiping saints is not right, according to their form of Islam, and the destruction was necessary," he continued.

 

Thursday's attack was at least the fourth this year on Timbukto's historic tombs, said Osmane Halle, the former mayor of Timbuktu.

 

Read more: Militant Islamist groups destroy shrines in Mali

 

International outrage has been growing over the destruction of the West African nation's shrines.

 

The United States and a number of other nations have condemned previous attacks on Mali's historic tombs.

 

Chaos has rocked the country since March, when a military ruler overthrew the democratically elected president, shaking what had been one of West Africa's most stable democracies.

 

The coup leader stepped down in May and transferred power to a civilian transitional government, but uncertainty looms.

 

Ethnic Tuareg rebels and other Islamist militants have taken advantage of the uncertainty to seize control of the northern portion of the country, including Timbuktu.

 

Read more: Mali hunger crisis deepens

 

Ansar Dine, an al Qaeda-linked group claiming control of the city, is blamed for the attacks on historical landmarks.

 

The picturesque city, considered an important destination for Islamic scholars, features a number of ancient and prominent burial sites.

 

Islamist militants regard such shrines as idolatrous and thus prohibited by their religion. They have targeted Sufi shrines, which they say they are sacrilegious. Sufism is a mystical dimension of Islam considered offbeat by Islamic hardliners, who frown upon it. The Sufis, who took Islam to much of sub-Saharan Africa, dance, pray and preach using drama and humor.

 

Read more: Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unmarried mothers

 

"If the Islamists continue in this way, there will be nothing left of Timbuktu's sacred heritage that made it famous all over the world," Halle said. "I ask the international community to help Mali find a solution to the country's problem, no matter if it's a military intervention or negotiations, this has to end."

 

Last week, the U.N. Security Council approved a resolution that gave regional leaders until November 19 to provide plans for an international military intervention that would oust rebels from northern Mali.

 

The resolution, which passed by a unanimous vote, calls for retaking the region from al-Qaeda-linked rebels.

 

In a similar attack in 2001, the Taliban destroyed ancient Buddhist relics in Afghanistan.

 

Opinion: Is Mali al Qaeda's last chance for a country?

 

Journalist Katarina Hoije in Bamako, Mali, contributed to this report

 

STANDING BEAR OF THE PONCA NATION - IF YOU PRICK US, DO WE NOT BLEED ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ponca Chiefs L to R - Big Elk, Standing Buffalo, White Eagle, Standing Bear.

http://www.ponca.com/

Through the ages, wise individuals have dared to stand up and reach out to the powers of their time with the question that must expose the obvious truth. In the 1500's, in England, Shakespeare asked, "If you prick us, do we not bleed?" In the 1870's, in America, Standing Bear extended his hand toward the judge and asked the same question.

Standing Bear's Footsteps tells the story of the Ponca Nation's exile from Nebraska to the malaria-infested plains of Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. After the banishment, to honor his dying son's last wish to be buried in his homeland, Chief Standing Bear and his small clan set-off on a frigid, six-hundred-mile journey back to their former home. En-route, they were arrested and imprisoned at Fort Omaha for leaving the Reservation. Standing Bear and his starving band were about to be sent back to "death country" when a remarkable series of events unfolded.

A reporter from the Omaha Daily Herald * broke the story and Standing Bear was suddenly at the center of a storm of controversy. Though he spoke no English, the Chief's eloquence attracted powerful allies—including the famous army general who had arrested him. If he could prove he was a person in the eyes of the law, Standing Bear could return to his Nebraska homeland. In May of 1879, Standing Bear sued the U.S. government for his freedom. His courtroom trial ended with a plea directly to the judge: "My hand is not the same color as yours. If I pierce it, I shall feel pain. If you pierce your hand, you too will feel pain. The blood that flows will be the same color. I am a man. The same God made us both." 

The trial of Standing Bear sparked a national debate that also posed questions such as: Who were the Indians? Were they savages or human beings? Did they have the same rights as any immigrant? "This story turns the classic western upside down," said Joe Starita, author of I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bear's Journey for Justice. "This is a man who personifies courage, perseverance, fortitude, love of family and love of homeland. The irony is not only was he not considered an American, he wasn't even considered a person."

This documentary interweaves storytellers, re-creations and present-day scenes to explore a little-known chapter in American history. "The film has much to say about present-day issues of human rights and what it means to be an American," NET Television Producer and Director Christine Lesiak said. "I was amazed to learn that the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted citizenship to anyone born in the United States—except the Indians. And it wasn't until 1924 that Native Americans were actually granted citizenship. This whole debate started with a father who wanted only to keep a promise."

"Today we are using the legal process to define who we are," said Judi gaiashkibos, who served as the principal consultant on the film and is the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. "The law defines who we are as human beings, especially for Indians. People have to be empowered with the knowledge of themselves. We have to beat them at their own game. And Standing Bear was one of the first to do just that!"

* Timothy Henry Tibbles, reporter for the Omaha Daily Herald

http://www.pbs.org/programs/standing-bears-footsteps/

 

MELTING GLACIERS ? PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ATOMIC BOMBS BETTER

 

FACEBOOK

October 14, 2012

 

Bill Moyers

If you think the consequences of climate change can't be seen in action, think again. This week, photographer James Balog talks about the erosion of glaciers in Switzerland, Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska; his transformation from climate change skeptic to true believer; and what his amazing footage tells us about the state of our planet.

Phyllis Carter

 

What is really shocking is the fact that, although most people with a basic education are aware that the glaciers are melting and our earth is in peril, most people still choose to say nothing and do nothing.

Most people won't get excited unless they think the danger is immediate. They expect someone else to do something.

In October, 1962, when we realized there were atomic bombs ready to strike us from Cuba, many people got serious. In the office in Montreal, Canada,  where I was working at the time, men were signing up with the American Armed Forces for immediate action. We were all terrified. It was real and it was immediate. We didn't really fathom how real and how immediate. But we got the message. We felt the fear. 

With melting glaciers far away, people just do not relate. They have to be hit with a bomb to get real.

 

 

THE GREATEST PROBLEM ON EARTH TODAY

 

 

WE ACCEPT LIES

 

AND SUPPORT LIARS

 

 

LAWYERS AT THE ROOT OF CORRUPTION IN MONTREAL, QUEBEC AND CANADA

 

 

 

Lawyers are at the root of corruption in Canada.

 

Politicians are lawyers;

Judges are lawyers;

Movers and shakers of corporations are lawyers.

 

Property owners, landlords, are lawyers.

Those who hold the purse strings at banks,

And insurance companies are lawyers.

Trustees of great hospitals are lawyers.

Those we depend on for jobs are lawyers.

 

Those who design and enact the laws are lawyers;

Those who administer the laws are lawyers.

 

In short, all the powers that govern our lives are lawyers.

 

When we cast our ballots to elect a candidate or a party,

We hope this person, this party, will help bring us justice.

 

We are deceived.

 

The sad and awful reality is,

Our fate is determined,

Not by an authentic quest for justice,

But by the desires and goals

Of those who control Big Bucks

And special  connections:

 

The Lawyers.

 

Wink, Wink,

Special Handshake.

See you at the club.

 

Truth is the most powerful weapon on earth,

And villains fear it.

 

Tell the truth without ceasing,

No matter what anyone else may say or do.

 

Even the meekest person can tell the truth,

And thus exercise the greatest power.

 

Truth is our only hope.

 

 

JUSTICE FOR CRIME VICTIMS? NDP'S ISABELLE MORIN SAYS, ASK KATHLEEN WEIL

 

Thursday, February 9, 2012

 

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE NDP ?
http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2012/02/what-can-we-expect-from-ndp-here-is_06.html

 

NDP Member of Parliament, Isabelle Morin advised me to ask Member of the Quebec Legislature, Kathleen Weil to act on my behalf in the Dawn McSweeney robbery case.

 

http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com/2012/02/5000-reward-i-saved-her-life-she-stole.html

 

Sent to Kathleen Weil, MNA,

 

February 7, 2012

 

cabinet@micc.gouv.qc.ca - Kathleen Weil - Conseil des ministres du gouvernement du Québec -www.micc.gouv.qc.ca. Chief of staff: Luc Archambault Press attaché: Marie-Ève Labranche. Phone: 418 644-2128. Fax: 418 528-0829 -cabinet@micc.gouv.qc.ca ...www.premier-ministre.gouv.qc.ca/equipe/conseil-ministres/weil-kathleen-en.....

 

Excerpt:

 

It is now January, 2012. I am still working night and day to try to find someone in authority who cares enough about justice to act in this case.
I have reported all the details at http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

In a message dated 26/01/2012 12:21:37 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
Isabelle.Morin@parl.gc.ca writes:

 

Hello,

 

Thank you very much for providing me with more details. However, I have some questions:

 

1. How did the police help the thief?

 

2. Why did they put you out on the street and why did they told you never come back home?

 

Thank you very much
Mme Isabelle Morin, députée/MP
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Lachine
De : Carter
Envoyé : 19 janvier 2012 12:48
À : Morin, Isabelle - Députée

 

Objet : Re: WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THE NDP ?

 

Hello Isabelle,

 

I appreciate your taking the time to respond to my message. I have been fighting for justice day and night for fifteen years. I wrote to Kathleen Weil about this years ago. She just ignored me. I am a veteran at this now. It is the same story all the time. I have stacks of files of letters and information going back over the years from the moment I called 911 and the police came and helped the thief.

 

After they put me out in the street and warned me never to return to my home, they just drove away leaving me alone out in front of my home without as much as a coat in October - and they never filed a report. I reported to the police station on Mariette myself, and I was told that I should just be patient and everything would be returned to me.

 

I have reported all the details of the case on my blog. No one is responsible and my case is in nobody's jurisdiction. Mostly my appeals are just ignored. And so I have lost all my life's precious belongings, years with my parents, my siblings, and my health. I am fighting day and night for justice, my belongings, the estate that belongs to my father's own heirs, and my health - my life. I spend my life at the computer and in hospital. Justice is my jurisdiction and I will fight to my last breath.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

In a message dated 19/01/2012 12:01:16 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
Isabelle.Morin@parl.gc.ca writes:

 

Hello

 

Thank you providing me more information regarding your case. I can't believe everything that has happened to you and your family over the years. It's always frustrating when we feel police didn't do their work. It makes us feel powerless.

 

I can understand how frustrating it can be to hear from Marlene Jennings that this case is not in her jurisdiction. I'm afraid she's right. Any problem that has to do with police is a provincial matter. That's not to say that as a federal MP there's nothing I can do. However, I can impose myself on provincial matters.

What I suggest you do is contact your local MNA. For NDG that would be Kathleen Weil. Her office is located at 5252 de Maisonneuve boul. And her telephone number is 514-489-7581. For sure she can't say that this is not her jurisdiction. In the event that your MNA doesn't respect you or doesn't hear your cause, that is when maybe your MP could do something about it like calling your MNA to better understand her position.

 

Although I imagine my answer to be somewhat disappointing, I hope that the information I give you can lead you to some answer. By no means do I not care for your case, I just have to respect the order of our system. Please, keep me inform of your situation.

 

Good luck and have a nice day

 

Mme Isabelle Morin, députée/MP
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Lachine
In a message dated 06/02/2012 4:19:31 P.M. Eastern Standard
Time,

 

Isabelle.Morin@parl.gc.ca writes:

 

Hello,

 

Thank you for providing me with all this information. It helps me better understand your situation. If the police has closed the case without returning your jewelry, perhaps suing Dawn McSweeney for stealing items is a possibility. For this I suggest you seek the services of a lawyer. Also, at the time you were attacked, were you under age? If, so, I need your birth date to see what possibilities are out here for abused minors who are willing to come forward as adults. Finally, do you know how Marlene Jennings was planning on helping you? Perhaps we can pick up from there. Again thank you for writing.

 

Cordially
Mme Isabelle Morin, députée/MP
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce-Lachine

 

February 6, 2012

 

Thank you for taking the time to write, Isabelle,

 

I do not want ever to hear another person tell me to get a lawyer. This is not a civil case. It is a criminal case. Period.

 

I do not want money. I want justice. I want what is my own. I am fighting for my life every day, and still I demand justice.

 

I was not a child when I was attacked. As I have reported many times, I was a widow and fighting cancer.

 

What was Marlene Jennings planning to do? She filled out some papers. Then she was re-elected and disappeared. I have reported this on my blogs. I was "not in her jurisdiction"

 

So I fight on day and night to my last breath.

 

Phyllis Carter

 

Posted by Phyllis Carter

 

 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

 

I am a 75 year old journalist, widow, cancer patient, and - thanks to the Montreal Police - I am a crime victim.

I am fighting for my life and for justice day and night.

 

But Quebec Liberal MNA Kathleen Weil says crime is not in her jurisdiction.

Read the details world and weep for justice. In Canada, criminals are protected.

 

Montreal Police have told me - "Crime victims have no rights."

 

WILL THIS CRIME VICTIM LIVE TO SEE JUSTICE IN QUEBEC ?http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com/2012/02/will-this-crime-victim-live-to-see_29.html

 

Posted by Phyllis Carter at 3:03 AM

 

Detailed reports at
DAWN MCSWEENEY, YOGA GURU THIEF
http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com

 

and at

 

PHYLLIS CARTER'S JOURNAL
It is all about Justice
http://phylliscartersjournal.blogspot.com.

 

KATHLEEN WEIL, ISABELLE MORIN - NO HELP FOR CRIME VICTIMS IN MONTREAL, QUEBEC

 

In the October, 2012 of The Senior Times newspaper in Montreal, the headline on page 3, reads -

 

" Weil gears up to fight for diversity and individual rights."

 

A perfect example of politico-speak.

 

I am a crime victim. I have been pleading for justice day and night since October 7, 1996, when I was attacked and robbed in my home at 4995 Prince of Wales, NDG, Montreal, Quebec  - with the help of the Montreal Police.

 

I have personal experience with Quebec Liberal, Kathleen  Weil - if you can call it "personal" since she has never spoken with me - and with Isabelle Morin of the NDP.

 

Both women have done absolutely nothing to help bring me justice. 

 

I am that "individual" citizen that Kathleen Weil claims to be fighting for. You can read for yourself here what Kathleen Weil and Isabelle Morin have offered me by way of "justice."

 

"Sorry. Help yourself. "

 

The commercial newspapers report the glories of politicians. I am telling the world the true experience of a crime victim and her family in Montreal. Quebec, Canada.

 

Read these detailed reports idealists and dreamers, and weep for justice. There is justice only for the rich in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

 

February 29, 2012

 

After all these years, finally an answer from Quebec member of Quebec's Legislative Assembly, Kathleen Weil.

 

I believe Kathleen Weil had her secretary send this message today because Isabelle Morin, Member of Canada's Parliament, wrote to me saying these crimes are in Kathleen Weil's jurisdiction.

 

After I have pleaded for justice for fifteen years, (Update October, 2012 - Sixteen years this month - this is the response from Quebec MNA, Kathleen Weil.

 

Read it world, and weep. This is Justice, Quebec style.

 

The message is simple - In Quebec, it is survival of the fittest and the richest. We, your government, make it as difficult as possible for crime victims to see justice done.

 

Furthermore, you are now old and sick and living on your old age pensions. You will probably not live long enough to see the case tried in criminal court. Don't waste our time. Get a lawyer. (See originals on this blog.)

 

But I will fight on, day and night to my last breath. I will never pay a lawyer to do what the State, the Crown, is supposed to do when a person is attacked and robbed - with the help of the Montreal Police.

 

Phyllis Carter,
Crime Victim,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

 

February 29, 2012

 

Mrs. Carter,

 

On behalf of Mrs. Kathleen Weil, MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Minister of Immigration and Cultural Communities, I acknowledge receipt of your February 21st email concerning the robbery you experienced in 1996.

 

As Ms. Morin said in her letter to you, this is an issue that should be pursued with a lawyer and, if necessary, in court. Government representatives cannot get involved in legal and criminal disputes, not least those that may go to court. That said, I have spoken to a lawyer and gave her the basic details of your case. She responded that, especially given the fact that it happened over 15 years ago now, the viability of your case depends largely on what hard evidence you have gathered. Unless you have very strong evidence - for example, eyewitness accounts or paper trails - it is unlikely your case will make it far in court. That said, if you feel you have substantial and incriminating evidence, I invite you to contact the Quebec Bar at 514-866-2490; they may be able to direct you to a lawyer willing to handle your case.

 

Best wishes,

 

Christian Arseneault
Attaché politique / Political attaché
Bureau de la députée de Notre-Dame-de-Grâce / Office of the MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce
5252 de Maisonneuve Ouest, bureau 210
Montréal (QC) H4A 3S5
(514) 489-7581 

 

Read the detailed reports of these crimes at
DAWN MCSWEENEY AND HER PARTNERS IN CRIME
http://dawnmcweeney.blogspot.com