As miracles continue to happen in Kathmandu, helplessness continues to be the main criteria on so many people’s minds
A young man of 28 years old was trapped for over 80 hours in a structure that collapsed around him
He watched his friends die in
the surrounding wreckage. He had to drink his own urine to stay alive
He had his leg amputated, as
it was crushed by the collapsed building
From his hospital bed he
feels his life is a miracle, yet fears for his future are constantly on his
mind
Today another miracle
occurred when a teenage boy was pulled out of the rubble alive after five days
of being trapped
He ate butter to keep himself
alive
People can survive for days
without eating. There are still people being found. More miracles are happening
It is however a slow pace by
the Nepalese Government relief operations that have promoted anger and
frustration amongst the residents
The Government has
acknowledged it has been overwhelmed by the devastation from Saturday’s 7.8
magnitude earthquake
More than 5,000 people have
been killed, the deadliest in 80 years
Lessons need to be learnt by
Governments, whose people live constantly under the threat of earthquakes
It is their main
responsibility to have contingency plans already for their people
The international aid is
there and is usually quick and co-ordinated, but it still needs the Government
to have the basics made available
This sadly has not happened
and that is why the relief operation has been so hampered
This country will take make
years to get back on its feet and it is always the poorest countries that
suffer the worst
This disaster has been huge
and unprecedented, yet it was still waiting to happen
Harsh lessons will have to be
learnt and a new generation of commanding people will emerge to take on the
tasks of long-term building
For all those who might have
forgotten, Haiti was struck by an earthquake five years ago
That quake claimed 220,000 lives
and 3,500,000 were affected
Work goes on today with the
help of agencies, who are still involved in relief and construction work
There is now an improved
water supply for 340,000 people, medicines for Cholera treatment and free
medical care
Tools and seeds are supplied
to help 23,000 in farming households
However Haiti is still
fighting the Cholera epidemic, which it did not have for decades, but was
brought in by Nepalese soldiers
They were a UN peacekeeping
camp that spilled their waste into a tributary of the Artibonite
Cholera has struck more than
720,000 Haitians and killed 9,000
The UN still refuse to
acknowledge their responsibility. Legal actions are underway to take the UN to
court
Nepal needs to also consider
diseases with their lack of water supplies and the exposure of people to these
unhealthy conditions
All have to learn from these
disasters and to put into place a more co-ordinated plan of action for people’s
safety
Not to deal with situations
after the event has already wiped out so many
That old adage, “God helps those who help themselves”
certainly always applies!
About 1% of all the tree
species in the Amazon account for half of the carbon locked in As miracles
continue to happen in Kathmandu, helplessness continues to be the main criteria
on so many people’s minds
A young man of 28 years old
was trapped for over 80 hours in a structure that collapsed around him
He watched his friends die in
the surrounding wreckage. He had to drink his own urine to stay alive
He had his leg amputated, as
it was crushed by the collapsed building
From his hospital bed he
feels his life is a miracle, yet fears for his future are constantly on his
mind
Today another miracle
occurred when a teenage boy was pulled out of the rubble alive after five days
of being trapped
He ate butter to keep himself
alive
People can survive for days
without eating. There are still people being found. More miracles are happening
It is however a slow pace by
the Nepalese Government relief operations that have promoted anger and
frustration amongst the residents
The Government has
acknowledged it has been overwhelmed by the devastation from Saturday’s 7.8
magnitude earthquake
More than 5,000 people have
been killed, the deadliest in 80 years
Lessons need to be learnt by
Governments, whose people live constantly under the threat of earthquakes
It is their main
responsibility to have contingency plans already for their people
The international aid is
there and is usually quick and co-ordinated, but it still needs the Government
to have the basics made available
This sadly has not happened
and that is why the relief operation has been so hampered
This country will take make
years to get back on its feet and it is always the poorest countries that
suffer the worst
This disaster has been huge
and unprecedented, yet it was still waiting to happen
Harsh lessons will have to be
learnt and a new generation of commanding people will emerge to take on the
tasks of long-term building
For all those who might have
forgotten, Haiti was struck by an earthquake five years ago
That quake claimed 220,000 lives
and 3,500,000 were affected
Work goes on today with the
help of agencies, who are still involved in relief and construction work
There is now an improved
water supply for 340,000 people, medicines for Cholera treatment and free
medical care
Tools and seeds are supplied
to help 23,000 in farming households
However Haiti is still
fighting the Cholera epidemic, which it did not have for decades, but was
brought in by Nepalese soldiers
They were a UN peacekeeping
camp that spilled their waste into a tributary of the Artibonite
Cholera has struck more than
720,000 Haitians and killed 9,000
The UN still refuse to
acknowledge their responsibility. Legal actions are underway to take the UN to
court
Nepal needs to also consider
diseases with their lack of water supplies and the exposure of people to these
unhealthy conditions
All have to learn from these
disasters and to put into place a more co-ordinated plan of action for people’s
safety
Not to deal with situations
after the event has already wiped out so many
That old adage, “God helps those who help themselves”
certainly always applies!
the vast South American
rainforest
The Amazon region is home to
16,000 tree species and researchers have found that just 182 species dominate
the carbon storage process
Amazonia is vital to the
Earth’s carbon cycle in storing more of the element than any other terrestrial
ecosystem
The Amazon is massively
important for the global carbon cycle, as it stores so much of the planet’s
biomass
Finding out how the carbon is
stored is very important
We will know what might
happen in the future in different environmental conditions
The tropical forest covers
5.3 million square km and holds 17% of the global vegetation carbon stock
Its large tree species store
and grow more biomass making them a dominant feature in the carbon cycle
It is important that trees
grow to a large size, because they contribute more to the carbon cycle
As these trees grow larger
they develop more biomass that contains carbon, which is locked in its wood
Trees are long-lived
organisms. The carbon they remove from the atmosphere is continuously being
absorbed for decades and even centuries
What is being done is a plan
to plant more trees to lock away more carbon from the atmosphere as it contributes
to global warming
Scientists are looking for
different species that will become important in the future
A good example is the
Brazilian nut tree, which can reach heights in excess of 160 feet
This nut tree thrives best in
dense undisturbed rainforests
Scientists have found that
the carbon storage capacity of protected forests in West Africa had increased
This is despite the region
suffering a 40 year drought
It was the forests’
carbon–storing biomass, which resulted in the shift in species composition
Trees are natural and need
carbon to store within their structure
They are able to accommodate
the ebb and flow within their own biodiversity
Mother Nature is a truly
remarkable thing and we can never afford to abuse or ignore her active help for
all of us who live on this planet
“Why has Baltimore failed
its black males?”
The worst public schools do
one thing very well and that is to teach poor black kids how to stay as
American underdogs
A black boy, who is in middle
school in Baltimore, should have more than one teacher
But they throw all troubled
kids in one class with a long-term substitute teacher all day
There they play cards, shoot
dice, tweet, Facebook, dance, stand on desks and basically do as they please
Their normal teacher is
absent and the children have been doing this for months
South Baltimore had multiple
shootings last year, right in front of the school buildings by disgruntled
youths
Going into school from the
outside it looks good, but going inside reporters found built-in metal
detectors cracked and unplugged
The stairwell smelt of used
rubbers and rat urine. Unidentified fluids and candy wrappers littered the
floors
Parents, who were sitting in
an inner room, were waiting to see what kind of quality education they were
going to get for their children
The school seemed like a jail
One floor looked like a
psychiatrist’s ward with students belting up and down the hallways with desks
flying in the air
Papers were scattered
everywhere and fights were being recorded on mobile phones
It is hard, if not
impossible, to get an education in this environment
The school had outdated
computers. Textbooks were decayed and the classroom was 15ºC
How can anyone learn in these
conditions? How can the US in 2015, in a major metropolitan city, not have
temperature controlled classrooms?
Black African Americans have
a long history of wanting education
The South had laws against
teaching slaves to read and people risked beatings and death trying to learn to
read
The Lincoln Administration
made a conscious effort to right wrongs in education and social injustice up to
his death in 1865
Andrew Jackson, the next
President, reversed Lincoln’s promises
Jackson confiscated land
African American’s had acquired in the South and gave it back to the white
Americans
Some free slave schools
emerged
At least 8,000 former slaves
attended schools in Georgia. Eight years later those same black schools
struggled to contain 20,000 students
Scores of children piled into
these shacks, trying to learn while dealing with broken or no desks, leaking
ceilings and limited utensils
In 1951, thirteen families
from Topeka, Kansas filed a law suit against the Board of Education
They wanted quality education
for their children, similar to what white children in the US received
The case became known as
Brown v. the Board of Education and was a major victory for the education of
African American students
White education is held back
from blacks. The prison doors are wide open and welcome them with open arms
The pipelines from school to
prison has been a hot topic in the US and debated frequently
Black schools are a part of
the prison industrial complex. Grade schools are supposed to prepare students
for college or a trade
Yet there are bars on the
windows, prison like guards and metal detectors. Everything is industrialised
like a jail
In Baltimore City schools,
57% of the black males graduate compared to 81% of white males
The streets of Baltimore
provide an education in everything, where many schools don’t
There are no courses on
survival, kinship, moneymaking opportunities or love
Love is absent from the cold
hallways of these schools, where millions of African Americans attend
More and more schools are
closing in Baltimore with a $35 million cut from Baltimore Public Schools
This means that classes are
getting bigger and the issues get worse
The cry comes out, “Our schools are broken.” But are they?
Schools are funded by
property taxes from neighbourhoods full of housing projects and boarded up
homes
Here the poor pay to
perpetuate their own misery. As with law enforcement, it all makes a pipeline
from public school to prison a reality
The US needs to deal with
black Americans and they need to fix the schools!
Black Americans were born
into permanent recession, where making $20 last week is not a miracle – it is a
way of life
African Americans want to
learn and be inspired like everyone else
All Americans must be
responsible for challenging this failed system and forcing it to create a fair
learning experience for all students
We are dealing with more than
just a failed schooling system and a failed racist law enforced system
We are dealing with millions
of broken homes. The failure is on an historic scale, spanning hundreds of
years
Acknowledging that we face
this kind of epic failure is the first step in bringing about real change
That is the big challenge in
the US, where accepting failure has never been their strength!
No one can do everything, but
perhaps they should follow the Ethiopian proverb, “When spiders unite they can
tie down a lion.”
All must work together to
solve their issues to make a fairer society, where dreams really can come true!
Twelve years ago a lady
called Bernarda Gallardo from Chile had a life changing moment
She read about a new born
baby, who had been found dead and dumped on a rubbish heap
The baby girl had been put in
a black rubbish bag and thrown on the local dump
Bernarda decided to give the
child a proper burial
For this to happen she had to
go through a lengthy process to adopt the child
She gave it a name legally
and then applied for her to be properly buried
If a baby dies one gets a
coffin and gives the baby a decent burial
Those that are dumped on
rubbish tips do not get a decent burial
Many babies are dumped,
especially when women have been raped and where incest has been performed and
poverty is also another major factor
Bernarda’s desire was to do
something for the baby in Puerto Montt in Chile
She called the baby Aurora
after the Roman Goddess of Dawn – in fact the baby did bring light into the
darkness
In order for a baby not to be
disposed of as human or surgical waste, Bernarda Gallardo took steps to get a
doctor…
…to prove that the baby had
lived in order to register it as a human being, so allowing for a proper burial
Then she had to adopt Aurora
in order to bury her, even though the child was dead
The judge involved in all of
this told Bernarda it was the strangest case he had ever come across
No one in Chile had ever
adopted a dead baby before
He did however believe she
was doing the right thing
Because of the media coverage
and interest in this story, five hundred people came to the funeral
There were children, doctors,
nurses, local people and the judge
Bernarda Gallardo had
highlighted the plight of these unwanted babies
She states, “Why are babies being left to die on rubbish
tips when there are families ready and waiting to adopt them?”
Bernarda is Chile’s modern
day Mother Theresa
A living saint, whose
compassion and sensitivity shines out for a cause that nobody wanted to know!
Jumby Bay is the site of the
world’s longest running research programme for the critically endangered
Hawksbill Turtles
The turtles have been there
longer than humans
It is one of the only places
in the world where Hawksbill Turtles are increasing
In the last three decades
researchers have tagged 450 Hawksbills for monitoring purposes and the number
is increasing three-fold
Every single turtle laying
eggs on the island’s Pasture Beach is identified thanks to the meticulous
hourly patrols by researchers
They also have volunteers,
who every night look after the turtles for the duration of the five and a half
month annual nesting season
Dr Seth Stapleton from the University
of Minnesota has been overseeing the work
Stapleton said that 2014 was
a record year for nearly 90 Hawksbills were spotted
What is even more remarkable
is that they are now seeing the same turtles first tagged in the late 1980s
returning to nest in this bay
Those that were originally
tagged were only 15-20 years old and they are still reproducing decades later
The cooperative research
shows that the Hawksbills worldwide have declined by 80% in the last 200 years
They were critically
endangered since 1996. Now they have managed to survive and are starting to
make a comeback
It is right to mention their
hazardous journey, where only 1:1000 hatchlings make it to adulthood due to the
omnipresent marine predators
Nature can come back where
the right application is given and where turtles are no longer killed for their
beautiful brown and gold shells
These shells were used in
sunglasses and jewellery
Man is now recognising that
the planets’ creatures are just as valued for being on this planet as ourselves
All creatures deserve equal
consideration
One man’s dream is about to
become a reality. It is called ‘The Syrian Airlift Project’
Mark Jacobsen flies C-17s for
the US Air Force and he and others have risked their lives in bringing in much
needed humanitarian aid
He has seen the pain and
suffering of the Syrian people first hand
While seeing these suffering
people he had a life changing experience
Mark Jacobsen wishes to end
the starvation and medical deprivation used as weapons of war
How to deal with this problem
gave him sleepless nights until the answer came to him
To build tiny drones that
will deliver necessary supplies at one kg or two kg at a time
These drones will be able to
fly from Turkey into Syria under cover of darkness
They will parachute small
boxes of aid to GPS co-ordinates agreed with contacts on the ground
The drones would then return
to do it all over again
One cannot risk a C-17 plane
being shot down by anti-aircraft fire, so tiny drones are the answer
They can be produced cheaply,
but would carry a lifesaving supply of continuous aid for all those in need
Hence ‘The Syrian Airlift
Project’ is born
Where there is a will, there
is always a way and so the people can be saved
We are remembering the
Armenians now after their brutal experiences of being nearly extinguished from
this earth
The Ottoman rulers were
Muslim. They permitted religious minorities like Armenians to live amongst them
In spite of this they viewed
the Christian Armenians as infidels, so they were given unequal and unjust
treatment
They had to pay higher taxes
than the Muslims and had few political rights, but yet they thrived
In 1908, a new Government
came to power in Turkey
The ‘Young Turks’ wanted to
have another Turkish Empire and the non-Turks were a threat to their new state
When Turkey entered the war
on Germany’s side, the Armenians sided with the Allies, which included Russia
and were viewed as traitors
This was the excuse to get
rid of the Armenians on the pretext that they might support the Allied invasion
Their extermination began in
April 1915, where the rounding up of intellectuals and community leaders lead
to their disappearance
The Special Organisation,
known as killing squads, were used to liquidate the Christian element
They drowned people in
rivers, threw them off cliffs, crucified them and burned them alive
The Turkish countryside was
littered with Armenian corpses
This crime against humanity,
committed by the Ottoman Turks, was the killing of the major part of this
ancient Christian race
Turkey now needs to face up
to their atrocities and own up to the barbaric way they had treated these
people
‘Young Turks’ massacred the
men and sent women, children and the elderly on death marches through the
desert, where there was no return
The people died where they
dropped, hundreds of thousands of them from starvation or attack
The Treaty of Sevres was
designed to punish the ‘Young Turks’ for this colossal crime, now being called
genocide, but it was not implemented
In Turkey today one can go to
jail for saying there was genocide in 1915
It counts as a crime
insulting Turkishness, such is their
fear of their own past
Britain in the 1915 was
determined then to expose and punish the Turks for this crime against humanity
However in recent years the
British have called the situation a tragedy and now refuse to use the word
genocide
The facts are that they
cannot be denied
The Dardanelles landings on
24th April 1915 in World War I was the trigger for the start of the
genocide
The evidence of the Turkish
Government’s genocidal intent is overwhelming
Even the ‘Young Turkish’
leaders have admitted that they were going to eliminate the Armenian problem by
eliminating the Armenians
There can be no justification
for genocide. This crime includes the destruction of part of a racial or
religious group
One and a half million
Armenians were killed and when the war ended 388,000 were left
The Armenians were inflicted
with life-threatening conditions and so the verdict is guilty beyond reasonable
doubt
Reparation now needs to be
given and seen to be given to the Armenian people, which includes an apology
Today Turkey is an important
ally of the US and other Western nations with NATO bases already there
They also allow their borders
to be open for refugees, therefore Western nations are reluctant to condemn the
long ago killings
No country can ever go
forward with the stain of such a horror still embedded in their history
The people of the world won’t
forget and neither will they let Turkey forget
In March 2010 a US
Congressional panel voted to recognise the Armenian genocide!
The fight for finding the
solution for the Ebola virus continues
A new treatment known as
TKM-Ebola-Guinea, targets the Mokona strain of the virus
It is the Mokona strain virus
that was the cause of the current deadly outbreak to occur in West Africa
The experimental drug was
tried on Ebola infected monkeys in the US
All three of the monkeys
receiving the treatment became healthy after 28 days on the trial
Three untreated monkeys died
within nine days
US scientists have been
cautious of the drug’s efficacy as it has not been proven on humans
At present there are no
treatments or vaccines for Ebola that have been proven to work on humans
Scientist Thomas Geisbert is
the senior author of the study published in the journal Nature
He has stated that this new
study is showing a post-exposure protection against the new Makona strain of
Ebola virus
The treatment works by
blocking particular genes, so stopping the virus replicating itself
It can be manufactured in
about eight weeks as opposed to the ZMapp experimental drug, which takes
several months to produce
The solution, as far as a
remedy is concerned, will be found in plants, which will be able to eliminate
the disease completely
The plant is water soluble
and when the residue is drunk it will give the antidote to this conspicuous
virus
Man has yet to find this cure
as scientists continue to look for artificial solutions
Instead they should look to
natural products, which God has already given
One day that solution will be
found and another deadly virus will have been cured
Since March 2014, more than
10,602 people have been reported as having died from this disease in six
countries
These countries are Liberia,
Guinea, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the US and Mali
So far the reported number of
cases is more than 25,556
It has proved to be the
deadliest occurrence of Ebola since its discovery in 1976
The cure is out there and a
leading scientist will find it and so be able to tackle once and for all this
deadly disease
We know the time is coming.
It is just a period of waiting and having faith in its discovery
Although the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia has officially announced the end of its “Decisive Storm” operation in
Yemen, it has started up again
This brings in renewed
anxiety and disruption for the entire country
The Saudi attacks cannot win
on the ground politically, as there are too many unmanageable factions to deal
with
There needs to be structured
talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia to bring back a political solution
It must incorporate all
factions, not just the chosen few
Saudi Arabia nor Iran nor the
US can be responsible for putting their agenda on the table
It has to be a Yemeni
decision for Yemeni concerns and welfare
The entire country, made up
of all united tribal group representatives, must discuss Yemeni matters
All must honour what has to
be a collective decision for trade & commerce to flourish unilaterally
throughout all of Yemen & its people
It is high time that this
expansive coalition of ideas and agenda was put forward
All must benefit and prosper
and not just the chosen few
The power struggle has
brought in a very weak Government
They were in no position to
advise or dictate policy to all that matter, hence its collapse
It is time that the Saudi
administration realised that President Hadi is not man enough for the job
To reintroduce him back into
power will only see the various factions start vying for control again –
nothing can be achieved this way
A solution from outside, with
only balanced views to be discussed with the Yemeni people, will be the only
salvation for this country
After all, the Yemeni people
all want peace
All want security, but all
also need reassurances that their wishes are honoured throughout the country
It has to be a nation as a
whole or nothing can ever be achieved
Violence will only produce hardship
as has been clearly seen
Political stability, with
financial long-term help, is the only solution with an overseer, so that all
remains running properly
This nation needs and
deserves to be brought back from the brink of death and into a viable trading
country for its entire people
Kenyan’s environmental
activist Phyllis Omido has won the prestigious Goldman Prize
She has seen it as her
mission in life to clear up the poisonous mess left by a battery smelting plant
As an employee of the plant she
was inspired to act after her baby son was diagnosed with lead poisoning
The plant was melting down
batteries to extract the lead
Her young son became very ill
after she had been working at the plant for three months
Various tests proved that he
was suffering from lead poisoning that was being passed through his mother’s
breast milk
Miss Omido then quit her job
in 2009 and she was encouraged to talk to the community members to see if they
also suffered any ill effects
She found that many people were
complaining of health problems including miscarriages, still births and high
fevers
Chickens were dying after
drinking infected lead water that was coming out of the smelter
At the same time researchers
discovered unusually high levels of lead in the soil
It was Miss Omido who began
campaigning for the removal and cleaning up of the smelting plant
Her efforts to talk to the
owners were rebuffed
Letters were sent to all
levels of Government in Kenya and many people went on marches, but those
campaigns were ignored
Phyllis Omido was told she
was a nuisance and that the community was lazy
It was when Miss Omido
involved the United Nations and international campaign groups that the plant
was shut down in 2014
The Goldman award offers
prize money of $175,000, which Miss Omido will use to take the Government to
court
This is to ensure the area is
cleaned up in line with constitutional commitment to provide a safe environment
for the citizens of Kenya
Who says that one voice
cannot bring down an institution – never mind even a Government?
It is upsetting that the
Kenyan Government are not interested in their own people and to do what is
right for them
It has to take a bigger
organisation to come to the rescue over those whose responsibility it is to look
after their own people
At the end of the day nobody
is too great or too rich to be pulled down when they break the law
At the end of the day
Spiritual Law always wins and will use any person who is willing to stand up
for what is right and just
There are more people needed
around the world to stand up and voice their opinion
Spiritual Law will no longer
allow for injustice to take hold
Ethiopia’s Tigray province
was stricken by a famine that shocked the world
Today the local people are
using ancient techniques to turn this part of the desert green
Thirty years ago, a BBC
reporter alerted the world to a biblical famine
Michael Buerk described it as
“the closest thing to hell on earth”
These devoutly Christian
people, the Tigrayans, were depicted as exemplars of passive suffering
They were dependant on the
good will of the rest of the planet to get them through the day without dying
In the village of Abr’ha
Weatsbaha, a very different version is happening
People come from every
direction, many chatting excitedly or singing hymns. Joy is in the air
These souls are summoned
before dawn by horns to the call of a compulsory 20 day community labour
programme to tame the desert
Some 3,000 people all over
the age of eighteen are armed with shovels, picks and bare hands go to work
They turn treacherous slopes
into rock-walled terraces to trap the annual rains
This is how the Axumite Kings
got things done 2,000 years ago
The rain water pours into the
soil rather than running off in devastating floods
A 58 year old famer called
Aba Hawi is the chief organiser. His leadership has miraculously transformed
this sun-blasted land
In just one decade, entire
mountains have been terraced
Families are now reaping
three harvests a year from fields of corn, chillies, onions and potatoes
New forests of eucalyptus and
acacias have also taken root
The Tigrayan people have
created 85 hand-built dams
These mini reservoirs fill up
during the rains and are fed by ground water in times of drought. Every farmer
now has a well
There are even Malachite
Kingfishers living in the desert
Aba Hawi said, “The people are now wanting electricity!”
Aba Hawi also says “God was here when the land was bad. He is
still here, but God will only help those who help themselves”
Let us all see what the
future can further bring this now fertile land and how else can these people
benefit?
At the end of the day it must
be the people themselves who take up the mantle and work it out for themselves
With God’s help much has
already been achieved. They believe in him and so it will happen!
France is now taking a more
active role in pushing forward a European policy
The destabilisation of the
Middle East will have a direct effect on Europe
This is already happening
with huge amounts of migrants reaching the northern shores of the Mediterranean
The increase of European
involvement in the Middle East is largely due to the US influence being pulled
back
The US pull back was already
predicted by us some time ago and is now being witnessed throughout the Middle
East
President Obama has largely
ended the US military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan
While the US is trying to
regain some influence, they have been hampered by IS and other radical groups
American power is now contracting
Europe is the home to the
biggest trading partners of most of the countries in the region and Middle East
It now has to be seen how it
translates from a financial role into political influence
There is much scope for
expansion and open dialogue
American influence has always
had strings attached to the Middle East
Europe’s stance will be
completely different. It will assert its influence on political stability
before any major trade deals are signed
Conditions will be thin on
the ground. However there will be hard facts and talks
This enables stepping stones
for a greater autonomy for these countries
There will be a steadfast
assurance of trade and peace is at the heart of stabilisation
France will attempt to pass a
Security Council resolution on the Palestine situation
It will be the greatest test
yet for a new France-led European role
France will get the agreement
for the Palestinian and Israeli situation as well as avoiding the US veto
It will indicate the
French/European push is working
Washington is symbolically
washing its hands of being Israel’s political shield, but it will remain its
military ally
It is noticeable that Obama
supports Israel’s military
It is also noticeable his
reserved attitude to Israel’s refusal to implement the two state solution
A stepped up European role in
the Middle East, with France taking the lead to attempt to revitalise a
Palestinian–Israeli peace process
This of course would be on
the understanding of recognising the Palestinian state
This solution would be
welcomed in many capitals, not just in the region, but around the world
Now a shift in policy and a
diplomatic solution can be placed on the table of the Security Council
Concrete action can be
implemented instead of allowing the status
quo to remain
By allowing the Higher Power
to introduce these new methods, all can gain
For Israel to turn their back
on this positive solution will show contempt gaining against them
Their voice will be drowned
out by the majority
The Moringa Tree or Miracle
Tree as it is often called is the life saver against malnutrition in Africa and
all around the world
Steven Putter was taken so
much by this plant’s potential that he abandoned a corporate career in South
Africa and moved to Zambia
He has now set up a project
to grow these trees and sees the Moringa supplements as revolutionising Zambia
Zambia has one of the highest
malnutrition rates in the world
“About 45% of Zambian children under the age of five suffer stunted
growth,” says World Health Organisations
UNICEF says that thousands of
children and women suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition
This includes low birth
weight and multiple vitamin deficiencies
Steven Putter sees the
Moringa Tree as a very good cornerstone to relieve these problems that exist
very quickly
A farm foreman, who joined
this project a year ago, feeds his children Moringa three times a day
He has noticed a difference
in his family’s health. His children don’t get sick. They seem brighter and
have more energy
In Zambia, the people rely on
a diet of maize staple Nshima, which grows easily but has little nutritional
value
Steven Putter is trying to
educate the Zambian people
He says that maize might give
you the food security, but what is needed is nutritional security
Moringa is rich in minerals
and vitamins A, B and C and when given to cattle they increase their growth
size by 15%
Moringa is a small sized
tree, approximately 5-10 meters in height
Every part of the Moringa is
used for certain nutritional or medical purposes
It is a good source of
protein, vitamin oils, fatty acids and it is also anti-inflammatory and is an
antioxidant
It is an energy food with
high nutritional value
Moringa is a plant that is
native to sub-Himalayan areas of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan
The Moringa leaves, bark,
flowers, fruits, seeds and roots are all used to make medicine as it boosts the
immune system
It can also be used directly
on cuts of the skin as a germ killer
Moringa is an important food
source in some parts of the world, because it can be grown cheaply and easily
Its leaves retain lots of
vitamins and minerals
The seed cake remaining after
the oil has been extracted is used as a fertilizer
It will also purify well
water and will remove salt from seawater
Moringa is used in India and
Africa in feeding programmes in the fight against malnutrition
Moringa can become a
multi-million dollar export product for Zambia, as it’s got the water, the soil
and the people
All that is needed is the
will and perseverance
This world is the most
amazing place as God’s garden
Nature through its plants
& resources are given freely to benefit all in this world naturally
This is without the harsh
formulas from pharmaceuticals
We all can benefit from this
Miracle Tree and we are sure Zambia will be able to benefit also!
Hundreds of Yazidis gather to
mark the year 6765 in their calendar at their holiest shrine in Lalish, as they
pray for better circumstances
In the temple of Lalish are
hundreds of Yazidis waiting for sundown, so they can celebrate the advent to
their New Year
The disaster brought upon the
Yazidi community since the summer of last year was by the IS fighters, who
attacked this religious minority
Along with Christians, there
were also Sunni Arabs and Kurds attacked, all in the north of Iraq
Sadly that disaster has left
them with little reason to engage in any joyous celebrations
The Yazidi people have
decided this year not to paint eggs or hang red tulips on their doors
Nor are they able to give
their children any sweets
In spite of this they have
managed to go to their holiest site in the world – Lalish
Many have come to pray to God
and to the Yazidi saint Sheikh Adi to end their misery and to bring back their
stolen women and children
Usually the New Year’s
festive is their biggest celebration in the Yazidi community
Every year in the past,
thousands of Yazidis from across Iraq and the world would head to Lalish to
celebrate this occasion
This year the numbers are
noticeably lower, which is hardly surprising with the extent of the tragedy and
hardship they have endured
For those who could attend
the temple, they come to pray and drink from a spring of holy water
They pray to Sheikh Adi by
kissing the cloth that surrounds his tomb. It is well worth it
The Yazidis believe Lalish is
the centre of the universe and they say it was the only spot on this earth
saved during the biblical floods
Lalish is nestled in a valley
surrounded by mountains covered with oak trees
The temple complex is dotted
with twelve cone-shaped domes marking the shrines of the Yazidi saints
In a room at the back of the
temple, young Yazidis throw a piece of green cloth on a protruding part of a
wall and make their wishes
If the cloth falls on the
bulge, it means that their wish will come true
Many now are wishing and
praying for their women to be freed from IS
It is believed that IS have
abducted as many as 3,000 Yazidi women and girls forcing many into marriage or
sex slavery
As the sun sets over Lalish,
the Yazidis set off to light their candles and chant their religious verses
The catastrophe that IS has
unleashed on this peaceful race has instilled in them a strong sense of Yazidi
identity
But also it holds a deep
sense of helplessness
The turnaround for these
people has not yet happened, but it will!
There will be renewed
strength and a vision given to them to take up the mantle of righteousness for
their fellow men and women
From extreme hardship &
injustice, new life is born & for those who have been lost many will be
found & reunited with their loved ones
Their belief systems are
strong and where there appears to be impossible odds, new circumstances are
born out of the ashes of despair
Many Yazidis will find their
way home, as the light of God will steer them on
A rebirth will be allowed for
them and they will rise up against their captives and learn to live another
day!
There is an unusual slant of
a Christian Taliban’s crusade on Ukraine’s front lines
Vitaly Chornly was a former
molecular biologist. He is now the ideological officer of St Mary’s Battalion,
a pro-Ukrainian militia group
St Mary’s are on the front
lines fighting against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine
St Mary’s is the de facto fighting wing of the
extreme-right Ukrainian political party Bratsvo
They have become heavily
involved in the war in the Donbas region. They are self-styled modern-day
crusaders
Chornly claims his battalion
is the Christian equivalent of the Taliban and its fighters, who are holy
warriors
Their main ideology is faith
and it is used to great advantage
The enemy – the forces of
darkness – have all the weapons. They have greater numbers. They have money
It is St Mary’s soldiers, who
bring European traditions and the Christian mind-set of the 13th century
To them they represent the
side of light against the dark side of Putin and his supporters, who represent
to them the devil
Chornly is mindful to say he
does not support certain tactics used by the Taliban
These are suicide bombings,
targeting of civilians and the lack of religious tolerance
St Mary’s do admire how the
Taliban face their powerful enemies, despite having smaller numbers and
resources
Chornly also admires the
Taliban of their devotion to their religion and the way they are able to
channel it into their fight
St Mary’s have a constant
faith in God. Faith is much stronger to fight with than political ideas
“It is because we have faith, we are able to fight and win against
stronger enemies”
St Mary’s commander is
Borgese ‘Alex’ Serediuk
He believes he can contain
violence and that his religion is not just of the cross, but also of the sword
Serediuk believes their successes
come from their faith and character, not their equipment. They do not answer to
anyone but God
St Mary’s will continue to
fight until the Kremlin is in ruins
These militia formations have
the ability & the desire to break down the current shaky ceasefires &
continue to a full-fledge civil war
While they do not have the
amount in arms, they have the strong motivation to fight, which is much
stronger
The Ukrainian Government is
scared of the militia Serediuk commands
Serediuk has stated that he
remains adamant his men would not honour any lasting ceasefire
The men of St Mary’s are holy
warriors and will not lie down to anyone
They have strong ideological
roots and a desire to fight compared with a conscripted Ukrainian army they can
go further
Serediuk said that people
have the image of a Christian as a peaceful abbot. We are the sword instead of
the cross
It will be interesting to see
how they progress. Faith has always given the underdog the edge
We must not forget how Joan
of Arc saved France against the English and against all the odds in 1429
God spoke to her and Joan,
although being but a maid, rallied the troops to win France back for the
Dauphin
A little village in Italy is
attracting attention, where a figure of what is described as the Virgin Mary
has appeared on a rock face
Hundreds of visitors have
been drawn to Casaletto Spartano to see this statue for themselves
The figure began to emerge
last summer when a chunk of rock broke off a cliff during a minor landslide
It was a small landslide that
left this shape in the rock
One can easily see the shape
of the hands and how the cloak hangs down
It is said the more people
who look at it, the more it looks like the real Madonna
The rock, on which the statue
stands, is just below a path, which is used by the local people during their
religious processions
Geologists have said these
things happen elsewhere, such as the famous Bear Rock on the island of Sardinia
with spectacular effect
The message given is that it
is a reminder to love and adequately protect and value this immense natural
heritage site in this area
God moves in mysterious ways
and is a constant reminder of his love that is all around us
Sometimes we need something
physical that we can see to reinforce our belief in God
The Virgin Mary is so special
to all Christians and she holds a deep emotional motherly feeling that we all
need from time to time
When the need arises
Spiritual things always happen and we are all better for it
It is the support and
direction given that never fails us
We only fail ourselves if we
do not listen!
It does not matter how rich
you are, those who cheat the system through abject greed will always get found
out
The heir to the Nina Ricci
perfume empire has been convicted of tax fraud by a Paris court
Ricci has also been given a
three year suspended prison sentence by the court
Arlette Ricci 73 was ordered
to pay one million euros and the court has confiscated two properties worth
four million euros
If that wasn’t enough she
also felt her daughter could get away with her own tax evasion
Margot Vignat 51 was also
convicted and given a suspended sentence
It has been found out that
Arlette Ricci was hiding 18.7 million euros from the French Authorities
It is the audacity of the
situation because these women knew they were doing wrong & were blasé about
thinking they would get away with it
The court declared she had
shown a particularly determined willingness to hide money for over 20 years in
Swiss bank accounts
This money was left to her by
her father
Her tax advisor was also
convicted & given a suspended prison sentence & a fine of 10,000 euros
for his attempts to organise her insolvency
One might say that these are
harsh sentences, but you have a person who deliberately cheats the system when
she does not need the money
It is because of the sheer
greed of it that Spiritual Law comes into effect and brings that person down
It was the BBC’s Panorama
programme that brought the bank’s tax evasion practices to light
Otherwise these greedy people
would have got away with it – or so they thought!
The Geneva based branch of
HSBC is accused of hiding five billion euros for nearly 9,000 wealthy French
customers
This bank is facing charges
of fraud and money laundering in Belgium after they proved the bank knowingly
promoted fiscal fraud
HSBC made offshore companies
for their privileged clients
One can only imagine the size
of their backhanders
They all need to be made an
example of for others who are even now trying to dodge the system – their turn
will come!
The upsetting reality of the
lack of money promised to rebuild Gaza after its devastating war last year has
not been forth coming
With an amount of $3.5bn
pledged only 26.8% has been realised
This is an absolute disgrace
and reconstruction and recovery has barely started in this besieged prison camp
Association of International
Development Agencies has found the money pledged by donors at the Cairo
Conference has turned into empty words
As if these people in Gaza
have not suffered enough
Now a further betrayal by
those pledging to give construction money, have reneged on their promises
Winnie Byanyima, the
Executive Director of Oxfam, was among the report’s signatories
She says there have been
little building, no permanent ceasefire agreement and no plan to end the
blockade
So what has changed for these
people? More devastation and 2,132 Palestinian lives lost
More than 10,000 homes were
destroyed and thousands more were severely damaged
It is now estimated that
17,500 families remain homeless with no permanent housing being built
Some international donors
have been hesitant to disburse their pledges due to tense relationships between
Hamas & the Palestinian Authority
By refraining from releasing
funds, due to the fear of political instability, will only fuel additional
hostility
A further uprising could
occur
The people in Gaza need basic
requirements in both humanitarian and reconstruction assistance
Food, shelter, medical
attention and water are in constant short supply
For those people who venture
out to get at the truth of what it is like to live in Gaza & see those
lives first hand, it can be disturbing
Gaza is filled with
contradictions of tragedy, joy, laughter, tears, beauty and devastation
It has been found not
surprisingly that the Gazan Palestinians are the most loving, accepting, best
educated & peaceful people in the world
This is something that the
US, Israel and Egypt work so hard to conceal
If this information got out
it would make it harder for Israel to slaughter and terrorize them with the
US’s full throated support
These people are not
terrorists!
The only way to change the
continuous bias by Americans towards these people is to bring back information,
stories and videos
All this is being done by
those who have no axe to grind, but have wanted to witness these people’s
plight with their own eyes
People need to put names to
faces and for the world to see their dire living conditions
Like a family of eight
children, who go to University in Gaza and come home to study
Their room is 10 x 10 feet,
where eleven people have to sleep
A US Federal Prison cell is 8
x 10 feet
All Gazan’s want to live in
peace
They do not agree with their
Governments. They have no choice but to live the life that is given to them
America’s poor live like
kings compared to those who live in Gaza
Gazan people keep going in
spite of them being shunned by an unjust world
It is time now that those
pledges by donors were given to these people
They have suffered more than
any person could be expected to endure
Let the light of God shine
down and release them from the burdens of injustice enforced by those whose
agendas are criminal
Malala Yousafzai gets her own
asteroid
Malala is a teenage activist,
who campaigns globally for the right for girls around the world to be educated
She was shot in the head by
the Pakistani Taliban while boarding her school bus. They left her for dead
After emergency treatment in
the UK, she became a worldwide sensation speaking in front of the UN and
elsewhere for the right to education
She was also awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts
The asteroid, which is a full
four kilometres wide, is situated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and
Jupiter
It orbits the sun every five
and a half years
Under International
Astronomical Union rules, they have the right to name an asteroid
They decided to honour 17
year old Malala
The world desperately needs
young brainpower and clever young people to help solve humanity’s difficult problems
Malala’s bravery and
dedication is in helping all girls to get an education and to highlight their
cause where the sky’s the limit
Malala has the endurance and
willpower to reach the height of her mission
This asteroid, named after
Malala, will be an inspiration to all those who wish to save humanity against
those who wish to destroy it!
There needs to be an Arab,
Iranian and Turkish summit, where diplomacy is given a chance
The Iran-Arab conflict
through the Yemeni situation is only getting worse, dragging in other countries
who do not wish to enter in
As the Iranian-Arab
escalation continues more countries will live Syria’s nightmare of continued
suffering, mayhem and destruction
Nobody can win these sets of
conflicts. All become a form of self-destruction with the cost in human lives
incalculable
No country or community will
escape these wars, which includes Iran and Saudi Arabia
Violence continues unabated
in Yemen, Syria and Iraq together with global rivalries
They are slowly causing an
implosion of entire nations
It is now time for all
factions, such as Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, to sit down and talk to see
where there is common ground
They must be mindful of the
outside forces and interests, which want to continue this unrest in the Middle
East as it serves their purposes
Divide and rule is the object
of the game, where the US, Israel and Russia all have a vested interests in
keeping the pot boiling
Now the Arab world needs to
get wise and to see that these conflicts will never resolve matters, but only
add to increased hardships
While Israel rejects the
US-Iran deal, Saudi Arabia supports it, in the hope that the US will support
its military action in Yemen
This the US has now done
The US has now warmed to Iran
with the ice completely broken
The two sides are
co-ordinating military actions against IS in Iraq and also in Syria
This shows that the US are
once again playing both sides to their advantage
It is now time for all the
sides to come together and to meet face to face and address their differences
There was a Turkish-Saudi
summit that in spite of major disagreements all went well
This week there has been a
Turkish-Iranian summit and with massive disagreements the two sides recognised
the importance of moving forward
It is now vitally important
that Iran and the Arab world meet up together and vent their displeasures and
equally find common ground
Where there is a will and
where there is wisdom, there is always a way
These important summits
should involve all national leaders with meetings starting in Mecca
Another should follow in
Istanbul and the next finishing in Tehran
There can be no military
solution to solve these wars
It is now up to the political
dialogue to face up to their numerous problems and one by one start to settle
them together
Hundreds of thousands have
already died over the past dozen years since the US invaded Iraq
How many more children must
die before considering the rational alternative to war?
We are all God’s children and
must answer to a Higher Power – there is no getting away from that
With everybody already having
blood on their hands and with nothing having been achieved, now is the time to
give diplomacy a chance!
On a lighter note we wish
much happiness and joy to Andy Murray and Kim Sears, who are getting married
today in his home town of Dunblane
World leaders have promised
that all children globally would receive a primary education by 2015, but
officially this had not been achieved
UNESCO has stated that 58
million children are without access to a primary school
A 100 million children do not
even complete primary education
Only a quarter of countries
have achieved the goal of halving adult illiteracy, even so UNESCO’s boss said
this is tremendous progress
This marks a milestone for
six global pledges signed by 164 countries in April 2000 that they intended to
improve education over 15 years
In spite of none of these
countries have fully achieved the prescribed targets by the 2015 deadline…
…there are millions more
children in school than ever before
At this time there is a $22bn
funding gap if these targets for primary school children are to be reached
There are of course many
barriers to the creation of primary places in the world due to conflict,
poverty and discrimination
In addition to these barriers
are poor governance, corruption and the rising population
The UK is the most successful
country in the world, which has reached the six ‘Education for All’ targets
according to UNESCO
These targets involve the
expansion of early childhood care and education
There are two thirds more
children in early education then there were in 1999
The use of Universal primary
education has been achieved by 52% of all countries
Equal access to learning is
needed especially where there is low income in families and the enrolment in
lower secondary schools for all
Regarding adult illiteracy,
this has now been cut by 50%. It means that in sub-Saharan Africa half of the
women still remain illiterate
Improving the quality of
pupil-teacher ratio has improved in more than three out of four countries
It still means an extra four
million teachers are needed to meet the required objective
The next set of education
goals is set for 2030, which is to be agreed on next month by the World
Education Forum in South Korea
It is for a greater emphasis
on the quality of education rather than the amount of children in schools
There were 204 million
children and adolescents without access to schools in 2000
This has fallen by 121
million
This in world terms is
amazing and it shows the interest is there for countries to make a difference
for their citizens
Education is the prime
objective to getting people out of poverty
With innovation skills one is
more able to motivate oneself to achieve better in one’s life
Education gives people the
freedom to act for themselves and releases the burden on the State
It allows people to
contribute to the State instead of being dependant
UNESCO is doing a fine job
They are very much aware there
needs to be more done, but success in this field takes time
But the rewards to Mankind
are huge indeed
On Thursday, 25th March 1965
Martin Luther King led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators to the steps of
the capital in Montgomery, Alabama
This was after a five day 54
mile march from Selma and it had been said that it couldn’t be done
Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) & Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLC) had been campaigning for voting rights
King told the crowd, “There never was a moment in American
history more honourable and more inspiring…
…than the pilgrimage of clergymen & laymen of every race &
faith pouring into Selma to face danger at the side of its embattled Negroes”
At that time the brutal law
enforcement under Sheriff Jim Clark was well known
Previously black people were
awarded the vote…
…but they had to endure harsh
brutality from police attacks on a nonviolent demonstrating crowd
In a previous incident in
Marion, a 26 year old church deacon, who tried to protect his mother, was shot
by a state trooper
It took eight days for this
man called Jimmie Lee Jackson to die
The carnage inflicted on that
peaceful crowd by police and state troopers was filmed by journalists and went
all around the world
It became known as Bloody
Sunday and triggered a national outrage
After that King called on all
the religious leaders from the nation to join them on another peaceful march
for freedom
This ended peacefully with
the police standing down
On 6th August, President
Johnson in the presence of King and other civil rights leaders, signed the
Voting Rights Act of 1965
What is now going on in
Ferguson, Missouri and again in North Charleston, South Carolina is a similar
brutality
This is of white police
against the black people
It is of injustice on a
massive scale where overzealous white police are killing unarmed black youths
in cold blood
There still is massive racial
bias in the Ferguson police department and it is widespread
In the latest shooting of a
black man by a white police officer, a video showed him firing at Walter Scott
Scott was running away. He was shot in the back several times
State investigators said the
officer Michael Slager would be charged
In the case of the shooting
in Ferguson, the white officer was not charged for his murder
It really is high time that
the black community took up the stance in a national way to bring about justice
There are so many injustices
that have taken place
We are fifty years on since
the Selma situation on the vote and the black people’s human rights
How far forward have they
progressed? Very little
It is high time that all
America deals with its coloured population and especially where the law is
concerned and its continued injustices
As the First Nations were so
brutally massacred, almost to extinction, the other races will not be such an
easy push over
They have as much right to be
citizens to this country as any whites have
Remember it is not the
original country of the white man
They stole it from the First
Nations, who would have preferred to have lived in peace
It was the white man’s greed
to want it all for themselves
The American Nation is for
everybody and it must now learn to live in a multicultural society
They must learn to benefit
from all its people and not to give to the whites only
America is now reaping what it
has sown
It is time that all
Americans, not just the blacks, need to march once again for the injustices
done
The laws must be changed so
that all are treated equally under the Constitution
Chagas is a parasitic disease
and is spread by the ‘vinchuca bug’s’ bite
In rural Argentina, villagers
speak of the ‘rapid death’ caused by Chagas
This disease eats away at
cardiac muscle until the patient dies
It can also devour the
intestinal wall leading to toxicity and massive internal bleeding
The dreaded ‘vinchuca’ is the
insect that transmits the disease & is a master of hiding, concealing
itself in the cracks of walls & ceilings
It is dormant during the day
and comes out at night to bite and infect people
Chagas affects more than 15
million people worldwide
Most of them are located in
Latin America where as many as 50,000 die each year
With more people migrating,
this disease is also migrating
While the disease is easy to
diagnose with blood tests, it presents few obvious symptoms
Doctors in Argentina dedicate
their lives to fighting Chagas. It was Doctor Carlos Chagas who discovered the
disease in 1909
Doctor Chagas stated that
once you speak out about this disease then you have all the Governments against
you
Chagas is a manifestation of
the level of abandonment & carelessness that Governments around the world
show those who are poor
Films today are being made to
bring the world’s attention to this disease with the hope that awareness will
make something happen
Health workers &
researchers are supporting awareness and ultimately this will help Chagas
sufferers around the world
Treatment for this disease is
focussed on killing the parasite in the acute infection stages
Benznidazole given to the
patient, is 100% effective in curing this disease
The spraying of houses and
surrounding areas is also needed
All houses should have bed
nets and good hygiene practices in food preparation helps to eliminate the
risks
That is where Governments
must do their bit in helping those communities to overcome this disease and
prevent more people being infected
Until we start taking
responsibility for our fellow human beings, what does that say of us as a
species?
Unless there is money for
somebody to gain, nothing gets done
We should all be trying to
help one another, as this is our duty upon this earth
Oysters have an incredible
ability to filter and remove pollutants from our waterways
They pump water through their
shells and take out the algae, sediment and bacteria and excess nitrogen as
they feed
Many of our waterways are
dead, lifeless underneath & because we can’t see the damage that is being
caused we don’t realise it is happening
Oyster reefs provide a
habitat for hundreds of species of plants and invertebrates and they enhance
the environment
It is these species that need
clean water to survive and even thrive
Oysters are the panacea for
healthy oxygenated waterways, instead of lifeless polluted ones
Sadly for us 85% of oyster
reefs have been lost worldwide through over farming, as the demand for their
consumption increases
Now a team of marine
conservationists are trying to get these vital habitats flourishing again
They are working with local
restaurants to give them back the much needed shells
Then, in the laboratories,
baby oysters can attach themselves to the adult shell in order to secure their
growing base
This of course is done
naturally in oyster beds and so the cycle continues with new oysters
reproducing all the time
Baby oysters, when mature
enough, are then returned to the areas where they once were and are able to
flourish again
Everything can be done
successfully when we allow nature to take its course and multiply
What needs to be addressed is
Man’s insatiable greed and never putting anything back, which is why the world
suffers so badly today
The abuse of children is
worldwide, but in a country like China it seems there are no laws in place for
child abuse
This is a typical example of
where boarding schools are used and parents live a long way off
Access to their children is
often difficult as parents have to work
In villages in China there
are boarding schools & they are recommended to be good schools with military-style
discipline & good teachers
The parents take on board
what is given and send their children there
For years a man by the name
of Li Jian has been forcing students back to his home, where he abuses them
He binds, gages, tortures and
rapes them. He then threatens them with death if they tell anyone what he does
in his apartment
Finally a student couldn’t
stand it anymore and told his parents
This teacher, who was in
charge of discipline at the school, would pick on the students who made mistakes
and later took them to his home
Li Jian has received a prison
sentence of only two years and ten months, as China has no laws banning male
rape over the age of fourteen
So the teacher was only found
guilty of detaining his students
Frustrated with China’s
piecemeal child abuse laws, the victim’s families are appealing for a harsher
punishment
They are also pushing Li Jian
to pay compensation, so that their boys can receive psychological counselling
Families feel that other
parts of the Chinese system have failed their sons
When they went to the police
to report these offences the police said “that
creep is doing it again”
So although known to the
police, nothing is ever done about it
School officials refused to
answer allegations from victim’s families, with several teachers turning a
blind eye to these abuses
With thirty million children
across the mainland of China, who attend schools far away from home, there is a
high risk of abuse
Save the Children say that
China’s boarding schools have no proper safeguards in place
They have children as young
as five years old
There are no teacher
background checks and no means of reporting sexual or physical violence
With no redress the families
are deciding to move away and put their children into schools where they keep
an eye on them
The system does not keep
their children safe and it can’t even deliver justice
China’s director for Save the
Children says that research shows the outcome of sexual abuse continues well
into adult life
Many victims suffer mental
health issues and have difficulties with learning and problems with building
healthy relationships
Social media is highlighting
these problems and is playing a critical role to bring the attention of abuses
to the authority’s attention
As with all things on human
rights situations, China is very slow in dealing with these atrocities if at
all
Social media and continued
pressure to highlight these offences will gradually change the mind-sets
Then this awful practice by
perverts is brought to the surface
It has to be shown it is
unacceptable in today’s world
In the UK alone according to
figures disclosed by leading children’s charities there are 100,000 children
abused every day
Our Government needs to do
more and reports of abuses voiced loudly
There needs to be a policy of
naming paedophiles that come from all works of society for the safety of the
public & for children especially
There are dreadful conditions
on today’s school children, where poverty holds back so many in their schooling
Teachers are admitting that
many of their pupils are arriving at school hungry & not even wearing the
right clothes in wintery conditions
Teachers have also reported
they are bringing in their own food, so that their pupils can eat
Some schools are now offering
free meals for all infant children
Poverty wreaks havoc in a
child’s life and is detrimental to their learning when there is nothing in
their stomachs
The NASUWT teachers' union
asked their members for their own experiences and received 2,500 responses
Not only are children coming
to school without food, they come to school without socks or coats in bad
weather
In addition more and more
children are being sent home with letters of unpaid school meals
For those pupils who are
sick, they are being sent to school because parents cannot afford to take time
off work to look after them
The lasting effects on child
poverty means pupils get lower grades at GCSE levels compared to their
wealthier peers
This then translates into
fewer qualifications and then into lower earnings over their working life
We have in the UK 3.5 million
children, who live in poverty. That is more than one child to every four
children
The Government has said it
has reduced adult overall poverty by 300,000 under the coalition Government
But it is the children’s
poverty that under present policies will rise to 600,000 by 2015/2016
If these trends continue it
will mean that by 2020 there will be 4.7 million children in poverty
These situations are
unforgiveable!
The UK is one of the top
economies in the world, yet has so many children in poverty
It is an absolute disgrace
and cannot be ignored
The UK gives billions in aid
around the world that is commendable, but at the expense of our own future
generations
This will incur a greater
burden on society. It is crass stupidity
It is already estimated that
child poverty costs this society £29 billion a year
This is with various handouts
given by the Government, which do not curb the problem, but continues with devastating
lives
The Government of this
country should all be ashamed of themselves
We, as a country, are in
effect killing our own future generations
It is high time that this
situation was at the forefront of new and improved policies
We must completely bring
children out of poverty because we care
There is the money there if
we chose to distribute it wisely and charity at the end of the day must start
at home
We owe it to our children!
Why has Easter lost its
meaning for so many?
The Churches are usually
pretty full around the Easter period, but not as full as at Christmas time
Jesus Christ, the world’s
greatest healer, died on the cross to show us one thing and one thing only,
that he would survive bodily death
That was his initial message
to us all
Jesus, who rose from the
dead, was born again into the light and love of the Spirit, the Universal
Creator
The Church and religion in
general have largely shown pomp and ceremony
They have failed in so many
ways to share the truth about God and the afterlife, simply because they do not
understand it themselves
They have not found out what
happens to those who pass on
They equally have failed to
go out to show healing, compassion and direction to their flock
The Church’s priests only
talk to those who are already converted to their speeches and dictates
They have lost the art of
going out to the public as a whole and giving active help to their communities
Not to gain converts to their
religion, but to demonstrate love and commitment by example of basic help and
understanding
There is so much suffering in
this world
People can’t get to see their
doctors who are too busy to deal with their issues, prescribing
anti-depressants & sending them on their way
This is where the Church
should come in and take a more pro-active role in visiting citizens and helping
them in their times of need
The Church needs to listen to
the people’s concerns and give hands on help where they can
The Master Jesus taught us to
go out and help ones fellow man, show love and compassion
That means everybody,
atheists as well. After all we are all God’s children, not just the so called
chosen few
By actively doing what Jesus
taught, there would be a show of divine love demonstrated
Then a healthy discussion
about Jesus and God can come in later if appropriate
It has to be the divine love
and help that must be at the forefront of all priests and clergy
It is not about how many
people they can get into their church
Understand that God is
within, not without and even if one is stranded on a desert island, God will be
with that person at all times
Churches have lost the
teachings of Jesus, who went out and demonstrated his healing ministry to this
entire world
It should not remain closeted
in the walls of a church building
That is why religion has
failed its people and it is no wonder that people no longer look for advice and
guidance from God
People do not understand what
Jesus really did for them, which is to show that life is eternal
It is created out of love and
taken with love at the appointed time
That full meaning has been
forgotten, the Church has lost its way
It has not followed the
teachings of Christ, but wishes to remain safe in its closeted existence
Is it any wonder that people
would prefer the comfort of a Chocolate Egg?
Where is the comfort
demonstrated by the Churchmen, who are only interested in themselves
anyway?
An Iranian nuclear bomb would
not happen, as it would be closely overseen by security policies and continued
sanctions
It would not constitute a
threat to Israel or the US
The threat has never been
from Iran, but from Israel
A document has been recently
released from 1987 on Israel’s nuclear weapons capabilities by the US Pentagon
It stated Israel was
experimenting with coding, “which enabled them to make Hydrogen bombs”
These are a thousand times
more powerful than an atom bomb
Now one can understand why
President Obama was not fooled by Netanyahu’s absurd accounts
Netanyahu wants to destroy
Iran’s policies, behaviour and influence, which are growing in the area
Netanyahu is also concerned
about a widening dispute between Israel and the US administration
The Iran/US deal will give a
win/win situation with a diplomatic partnership to resolving other regional
conflicts
They are all focussed on the
future
Should Iran be threatened in
any way, they would then wish to create a nuclear bomb
Iran with a bomb would be a
threat to Israel, who has established themselves as the unrivalled military
power in the Middle East
Israel wishes to maintain the
status quo, so they can threaten
large states like Iran into submission and contain them militarily
Israel wants to stop Iran’s
influence beyond their borders
Never forget Israel’s
monopoly on nuclear arms
It is an arsenal of 200
warheads, which are unmonitored by the international community
Iraq, Iran’s neighbour, had a
nuclear reactor near Baghdad, which Israeli forces destroyed
Israel is also involved in
playing off forces vying for power in Syria to keep them fighting and exhausted
Israelis killed a dozen
senior Hezbollah and Iranian commanders
All this would have been
unthinkable had Tehran had the bomb. Israel would fear their own annihilation!
It is interesting that
Israel’s nuclear weapons were developed in the late 1960’s over the White
House’s opposition
They have forcefully burrowed
into the very heart of US security
They use the threat of
nuclear annihilation to justify access to US intelligence, aid and their arms
programme
This has always provided
Israel with a military edge
Were Iran to become a nuclear
state, it would give Iran control over much of the Gulf’s oil
It would cement Tehran’s
position as Washington’s most privileged partner in the region
It would transform the White
House and the Pentagon’s assessment for US strategic interests in the region
This would allow Iran to
intensify its support for the Palestinian resistance group and Israel would
have limited options for a response
With Israel being squeezed by
Iran, Lebanon and Palestinian resistance, this would escalate in a nuclear
standoff
The US would then be able to
force Israel to solve the conflict with the Palestinians
Something they are opposed to
do!
The nuclear talks in Lausanne
continue down their lengthy road of discovery and diplomacy
A deal will be struck, even
if it appears tongue in cheek to most of the delegates, who are still there
President Obama and Hassan
Rouhani have lots at stake in these negotiations
Therefore it is of paramount
importance that they reach a deal in the interim
By reaching a deal without
resorting to force is what Obama wishes to do
He wants his foreign policy
to stick to something, which will be his legacy before he leaves office
As least Washington is
supporting President Obama at this stage
The Iranians, the Americans
and the other delegates have underlined the importance of a comprehensive deal
Iran is a regional power and
is not an occupied nation like the Palestinians
They are stronger and will
not be the easy push over that everybody wants
Concessions on both sides
need to come together much more and that will is certainly there on both sides
to achieve it
Once a deal has been struck,
which it will be, it will then be enshrined in a UN Security Council resolution
This will make it tougher for
the US Congress to walk away from the deal, no matter who the next President is
IS has seized control of
large parts of the Yarmouk district in Southern Damascus
This area is a refugee camp
inhabited by Palestinians who have fled from Palestine
IS has taken over the
majority of the camp after fighting with Palestinian groups, who are also
opposed to Bashar al-Assad
Yarmouk was once a thriving
area and home to 160,000 Palestinian refugees as well as Syrians, who have been
caught up in the fighting
They have all been besieged
by regime forces for over a year now!
At this time there are 18,000
residents remaining in this camp after many have already fled due to the
fighting
With Iraqi forces battling IS
in Tikrit, where they have now been forced out, IS is being squeezed out on
several fronts
Tikrit is now 95% liberated
with municipal teams going in to clear the debris and restore power
Alert is always high, as many
of the buildings have been booby trapped, but they are now being made safe
After Tikrit the next advance
will be Mosul, where IS will be surrounded from all sides
The Iraqi forces will be on
one side and the Kurdish fighters on the other three
It is because IS is now being
squeezed out that they are forcing their way through to areas, which show the
least resistance
Their forces are being
depleted, even though the call for jihad is universal and continuous
They will not get enough
fighters to give them the control that they need
They have lost more fighters
than they can recruit and are feeling the pressure on them to survive more than
they had imagined before
They are not worried about
living as the cause is their prime objective
If they are all dispensed
with, the caliphate they wish to create will have no one to run it
The fight is now on and the
opposition is growing in strength against them
Even those, who were too
afraid to fight, are taking whatever tool is at their disposal to repel this
savage regime
The turning point is
gathering momentum and IS will see their strategy being systematically cut off
and they will be trapped
There is a lesson here that
needs to be learnt throughout the world
If you have a weak Government
in power and situations for all the people are not met, you automatically will
see savage groups rise up
Governments can no longer sit
on their hands and do nothing
They have to incorporate all
the people under their ministry and not just the chosen few
