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• Two is Better than One
  by RedBubble

  We have gone from one Mosaic to two. Xavier has been very busy organizing all those tiny image…

  We have gone from one Mosaic to two. Xavier has been very busy organizing all those tiny images so that all your work looks great and can be traversed and zoomed with ease. We have also sped them up and they are singing for us here at central. So we now have PAX And Warm Iron (worth visiting just to read Onetonshadow intro. For all of you who use Stumbleupon, Digg, Reddit etc or write blogs do feel free to get out there and do your stuff to share across the web. Depending on reaction we will build more of them on different themes.

• Photographers - What are you paying for? (Part One)
  by Jo O'Brien

  ^Disclaimer: This is not legal advice or even professional advice. This is some stuff I’ve learned along this funny little thing called l…

  Disclaimer: This is not legal advice or even professional advice. This is some stuff I’ve learned along this funny little thing called life and may not apply in any way to your current situation. At worst, it’s my opinion, at best it’s some ideas for you to think about. If you need real proper advice, go see your solicitor. I’m of the opinion that photography should make me money, not cost me money. So far, I have been successful is making more from a photograph than it took me to create. Here is my list of not so secret tips and advice on covering your arse and saving your cash. When To Pay There are times where spending your hard earned money is the right choice. For example to obtain goods or services you can not find for less (or free) elsewhere. Or when you have done all the maths yourself and you feel you are buying into a good deal. But there are also some pit falls to watch out for. Art Direction, Ideas and Intellectual Property My rule of thumb, if I am paying to shoot, I should have full rights to everything I take. No ifs buts or maybes about it. If you shoot a commercial, the art direction team put together a shoot and then hire a photographer to take photos of what they and the crew have created. They pay for lighting design, they pay the models, they pay the hair stylist, they pay the guy who makes the coffees- and they pay the photographer. Some businesses operate under a similar model but suck money out of photographers in the process. As part of a ‘workshop’ or ‘event’, several photographers rock up with their cameras and take photos of a scene. Often they have little or no control of the setup, can’t communicate properly with the models and will walk out of it with similar images to everyone else who attended! In the worst cases they have restricted rights regarding how they use their images. So is essence, they have paid for something that out in the real world, would be making them money. Sorry if it sounds confusing, the concept completely baffles me. When you are shooting someone else’s ideas and have restricted publishing rights or have little influence over the set up, posing, lighting or set design, (in my opinion) you should be getting paid by them. After all, you are doing them a favor by taking images of their creative work. Classes or Tuition Wanting to improve you skills and knowledge is a great thing. And there are numerous classes, mentors and workshops available for you to choose from. If you are going to pay to attend these, make sure you are getting what you pay for. Before you hand over any cash there are a few details that you should have to help make your decision. Class Size: The more people attending, the cheaper the class should be. If there is a practical component, I usually wont accept a class bigger than 10-12 / Location & Time: no point signing up for an ‘on location’ workshop only to find it is out of your way. Also as a safety issue, you should always be able to tell a trusted person exactly where and when you will be shooting. / The Teacher: You should be able to find and contact the person facilitating the class to verify their experience and ask questions. It not always convenient for a facilitator to take calls from a whole class, but you should be able to send them an email and get a reply without going through a middle man. / Contracts: Ask if you will need to sign any contracts and insist upon receiving them before paying. / What do you get: do you get class notes to take home? Exactly what does the course entail? What can you hope to know and have learned at the end of the course? Contracts These are a great way to waste your money. They also happen to be very important. First and foremost contracts exists to make people money or stop people from making money. So before signing anything, read it a few times and make sure you are aware of what your actions are costing you. If you need to get images approved before sale or publication, you could be agreeing to never publishing or selling any images taken if none are ‘approved.’ It is completely reasonable to request changes to a contract or write your own and offer it instead. Don’t sign away potential income! You should always be able to take a contract away and show it to other people for advice before signing it, and especially before paying for anything. If you are not given this opportunity, my advice is to avoid it with a ten foot pole. And then there are the bazillion poorly written contracts that mean very little or nothing at all. It’s actually quite funny to me sometimes, what people will put on paper. Useful Links Australian Competition & Consumer Commission / Scam Watch Photographers – What are you paying for (part 2).

• Bonkers - 1650 views on one image!
  by Jeff Rayner

  Can’t believe I have had over 1650 views and 72+ Favs in the past couple of days on this image !http://images-2.redbubble.com/img/art/siz…

  Can’t believe I have had over 1650 views and 72+ Favs in the past couple of days on this image – Feel very honored that so many people have taken the time to view it – Thanks to all this is a great community – Now to sell one! / Cheers / Jeff

• One Year Five Hours
  by Faizan Qureshi

  Today, it has been exactly one year and five hours since I joined RedBubble. :) It has been quite a journey… it has changed drastically…

  Today, it has been exactly one year and five hours since I joined RedBubble. :) It has been quite a journey… it has changed drastically since and I’m glad to have been a part of it. Metropolitan was the first piece that I created for this site… it’s still my favourite, thus the t-shirt derived from it that has generated more sales than any other: / ...and within a couple of hours of joining, I created the following and they stayed. Even after many clean-ups in which many images (including my Seven Sins) have gone: Metropolitan Slick City Urban Legends Stepping Stones Birmingham City Wait for a sign Play | Pray Move It! String Time Travels Fast :) Good times!

• Nine T-shirts in one sale!!!!
  by Simon Sherry

  Just wanted to send out a massive MASSIVE thankyou to the person who purchased NINE of my Ace of Clubs...

  Just wanted to send out a massive MASSIVE thankyou to the person who purchased NINE of my Ace of Clubs shirts. If you happen to be part of the RB community and see this journal, I would love to hear what you’re planning on using them for. Hope you enjoy them!

• YOU ROCKKKK ONE GREAT SHOT!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO
  by Amber Elizabeth Fromm

  THANK YOU ONE GREAT SHOT!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO Thank you Thank You thank YOU!!!! ONE GREAT SHOT !!!! / For the Continued Feature Empty …

  THANK YOU ONE GREAT SHOT!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO Thank you Thank You thank YOU!!!! ONE GREAT SHOT !!!! / For the Continued Feature Empty Chair Earned Seat Acceptance / My collaboration with the lovely Mariarty… HERE / I am so Grateful to Her For Her Lovely Image She IS WONDERFUL !!!! / Features Especially Of this nature,,, Mean So Much To Me For I feel The Work Is Directed To Helping The Healing Process and I feel It will be Seen More and do just what the intention was… To Help Others Come to A Higher Understanding…This Piece Is About Enlightenment Acceptance Of Choice, Ownership Without Pity, Surrender and Healing Through God the Highest Power… IT READS …..Empty Chair Earned Seat Acceptance / Author: Amber Elizabeth Fromm / Empty Chair Earned Seat Acceptance / There…God , My Honesty / It Sits….My Empty Chair.. / In All Honesty, Acceptance / Must Come From Me / Yes God…There It Sits / MY Seat… / Walking Towards MY Problem… / Truth Beknownst…To Me / In Honesty…Yes Honesty … / Yes…With God… Is Where / We’ll Finally Meet / There It Sits / My Empty Chair..Truthful… / Place Of Honesty / Yes, There …Sits My Seat… / For Judgment Lies Around Me / Yes Look At What / They See / Must First Look To … / Where I’ve Bee / Look At My Darkness… / Gaze Deep…Inside / My SINs… / Strength Pray Oh God / To Accept … Myself Oh God / To Look Within / The 1st Step Upcoming / Pending Mercy.. Spirit Freed… / Yes Guide ME..My Surrender… / Your Forgiveness… / Forgiveness Never Seen / Admit I am Troubled / Unmanageable? / YES God My Life… / Has Been…With Prayer / My Chair Awaits.. Me / Awaits Me Honestly / God’s Love Patiently / Sits So Patiently / Await My Honesty / God Sits Yes..Waits / At My Seat Within / For Can’t Decieve / Myself Nor God / Cause God Knows …Just / Where I’ve Been / In Truth… My Deceptions / Living ..Lies… My Body / Where They Dwelled.. / That Even Lied to Me.. / Earned A Life A Life / Of Living Hell…. / Acceptance / Troubled… / Unmanageable… / My God …. My Cost / Life…Troubles …Sadness / Yes, My Spirit Lost…. / Yes Spirit SO Lost , Yes / So Lost Within… / Getting Hard / To Breath..Body Hard / Battled Conscience / Yes …That’s Just Where / Ive Been! / In Not Knowing Truth / from Fiction, / Or Knowing “LIES “ / From Fact / Must Pray / In True Surrender.. / Seek Relationship / God I Know I am the one.. / The One That Must Innact.. / There She Sits / My Honesty…Yes Truth / Empty Waits / My Seat.. / Honestly God…In Truth / God I Do Own / Have Earned / Yes, Earned … / My Empty Seat!! / Again so Grateful And / Thankful Thank You / Alan, Jane and ONE GREAT SHOT !!!!

• Karin's New Shoes EXCITEMENT IN THE AIR!!
  by Karin Taylor

  ...

  Earlier today I posted a link to a journal in Migaloomagic here about my new shoes, promising to let you know about the next lot of shoes which i now have for sale through my Zazzle Gallery…this is an extra bit of news, i will still continue post “Karin’s Weekly” with all the other news next Tuesday :D Visit my zazzle store, there will be more shoes uploaded soon…kids shoes are next…these ones are for women NEW LADIES LACE UP SHOES AND KIDS SLIP ONS with MATCHING TEES / Yummi Love Children’s Keds Shoe available at Zazzle I’M A LITTLE TEAPOT | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / I’m a little Teapot Children’s Slipon Shoe at Zazzle I CAN STAND ON MY HANDS | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / I can Stand on My Hands Ladies Lace Up Shoes now available at Zazzle / I can stand on my Hands Children’s Shoes Slipons at Zazzle ONE SPRING DAY | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / One Spring Day Ladies Lace Up Keds Shoe at Zazzle / One Spring Day Childrens Slip On Keds Shoe at Zazzle RAINBOW | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / lothing/1345405-1-mega-rainbow-tshirt / Rainbow Ladies Lace Up Keds Shoe at Zazzle / Rainbow Childrens Keds Shoe at Zazzle BUTTERFLY LOVE | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / Butterfly Love ladies Lace Up Keds Shoe at Zazzle !: / Butterfly Love Childrens Slipon Keds Shoe at Zazzle MIGALOOMAGIC SHOES AND MATCHING TEES / PINATA PONY HORSES | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / Pinata Pony Horses Ladies Lace Up Shoe @ Zazzle / Pinata Pony Horses Children’s Slip on Shoe @ Zazzle MOO | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / / Moo Cow Sunrise Ladies Lace Up Shoes at Zazzle / Moo Cow Sunrise Kids Keds Sneakers at Zazzle / Sugar Plum Childrens Keds Slip On Shoe available through Zazzle TROPICAL LOVEBIRDS | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / MOO | TSHIRT@REDBUBBLE | SHOES@ZAZZLE / Sugar Plums TShirt Just to let you know, my mark up on the shoes is just $10, Zazzle take the rest for the printing and manufacturing of the shoes, Keds are a good quality shoe. Please be aware that this is an american company and if you are in Australia, sizes may differ. / Here is the information you need to make sure you get the right size FAQ ZAZZLE KEDS SHOES AND SIZING

• One Photo Per Day : 16th August - 5th September
  by berndt2

  Continuing on from Part VII here is ano…

  Continuing on from Part VII here is another fairly big set of 20 days for Part VIII, encompassing a music festival, a movie premiere, a 10km run, a German capital, Will Ferrell and the absence of Keira Knightley. / August 16th, V Festival Chelmsford. Alanis Morissette was once thinner, and I once had more hair. Touche. / August 17th, V Festival Chelmsford. Saw Amy Winehouse, Sons of Albion, Gabriella Cilmi, the Young Knives… and Girls Aloud striking poses that will keep me warm on cold winter nights to come. But photo for the day for the best performance of the day goes to Lenny Kravitz. / August 18th, cool building sign, New Cavendish Street London. In other news… Great Britain are doing particularly well in the Olympic Medal Tally. Which, as somebody from Australia, concerns me somewhat. / August 19th. Actors/Comedians John C Reilley and Will Ferrell were at BBC1 this afternoon. The Paparazzi trailing the two were particularly aggresive with their pushing and jostling. “Chill, guys! it’s a sunny day and those two really aren’t THAT funny” I wanted to say. / August 20th. England is one of those places where if something is called “Elephant and Castle” you kind of think maybe that’s a metaphor. But then again… / August 21st. A sunset shot of London – it’s very rare that I’d still be in the city well after 9:00pm. In that sense I can’t wait ‘til winter, when I can start taking these kind of photos at 3:00pm or whenever it is that the sun sets around this latitude. / August 22nd. My point of view. (Looking out of my window). The long weekend awaits, and it’s all happening outside, so… time to head outside. / August 23rd. Brandenburg Gate. Berlin is a very cool city, especially architecturally given it has both old and new, restored and rundown, communist and capitalist….. basically pick any two opposites! / August 24th. Wonderfully ornate streetlamp and what I’m told are the asbestos filled shells of former buildings on Karl Liebknecht-Strasse, in Berlin. / August 25th. Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin. It might seem terrible to say this, but the extreme damage this church suffered in the war makes for an even more poignant and reverent experience. / August 26th. Berlin, day 4. I heartily recommend Berlin, as well as long weekends with an extra day added on. / August 27th. An exceedingly rare photo – an unedited one resized straight out of the camera!! Deliberately dreary after a 4 day long weekend in Berlin, I was back at work again… / August 28th. Rather wacky and unique street sign off Regent Street… the Help Desk kept their heads low and elected not to contact me. / August 29th. I’ve been wanting to take this shot for a while. So much so I’ve dispensed with standard composition like the rule of thirds. / August 30th. St Albans. Secret government installation? Major corporate headquarters? No… just a parking garage near a pub. Keep watching the skies, people…. / August 31st. Wembley Stadium. We were there to run the Nike 10km run, but before that we got to see a free concert featuring Pendulum and Moby. And Moby? He crazy. And that’s not some funky term meaning ‘cool’. It’s more like… ca-raaazy. / September 1st. ‘RockNRolla’ premiere, Leicester Square, London. Featured: director Guy Ritchie and wife Madonna. Insofar as celebrity photographs are concerned, I’m calling this one a home run. Boom! More photos here / September 2nd. The morning after the movie premeire the night before…. it was raining and I was going to the dentist. You can’t win them all, and especially not against Dentists. / This would almost certainly have been a photo of Keira Knightley, but I was in Hook for the worlds longest, most pointless and worst-scheduled team meeting of all time. I hate it when work intrudes on things that are much more important…. / September 4th. Frown harder, building facade! (I think I just failed the architectural equivalent of an inkblot test…) / September 5th. Rain. In London. Who knew? Next up : possibly another one or two movie premieres. However, sadly, I don’t think I’ll be going traveling anywhere in the next 20 days. Never mind…

• Second Sale of the Day!!
  by Karin Taylor

  omigosh!!! Sale number 2 today…..thanx to the kind and sweet person who just purchased my most special and dearest card from my ‘Frie…

  omigosh!!! Sale number 2 today…..thanx to the kind and sweet person who just purchased my most special and dearest card from my ‘Friends Series’ of cards and prints, One Spring Day:

• Another blast on my own trumpet.
  by Travis Easton

  After my last journal enquiry it seems to be unanimous, self promote and be proud, / (Sigh, weird to just come out and say it like that)....

  After my last journal enquiry it seems to be unanimous, self promote and be proud, / (Sigh, weird to just come out and say it like that). Anyway Just had my pic Tidal River Reflection featured in ‘That one Great Shot’ group. Yeah Thanks as always for all the messages and encouragement, I try to reciprocate when I can but don’t always get time, four young kids tends to fills up life a bit. Cheers

• another one!!
  by navybrat

  nautical group / has featured my work boundaries...

  nautical group / has featured my work boundaries woooooo hoooooo!!! thank you so much nicholas and Lucindawind from the bottom of my heart!

• Today I feel nostalgic...
  by thickblackoutline

  So Kids, / Today/Tomorrow sees thickblackoutline being on The Bub for exactly one year!! / Wooooooooooooooo What a ride, what a place!! ...

  So Kids, / Today/Tomorrow sees thickblackoutline being on The Bub for exactly one year!! / Wooooooooooooooo What a ride, what a place!! I have watched The Bub go through so many changes, and I’m sure some of you are able to relate with me when I say that this place has changed SO MUCH! I remember what a tight little group we were, with Webgrrl, Resisto (when he was Resisto ;) ) Craig, FireRabbit, Kookylane, Shanghaiwu, Whirlygig, Georgie Girl, Kathleen, Cliff and Jien… to name a few – all us Aussie’s in this little creative town, it was really great! And now a year later, we have cards, tshirts, calendars, groups, forums, bMail… and an ever growing community from around the world. So much has happened to me personally, and to thickblackoutline herself in the past year, I’m so grateful “we” could share the creative goodness, and arty lessons we’ve learned here. I look forward to another year, and what the universe is going to bring to “us.” I’ve even met some of you fellow bubblers, and been able to get involved in some really cool projects. More recently I have found a lot of love in my life, which is such a beautiful thing. :) Today is very special! x So thank you to all of those who have purchased some TBO goodness, and have left such encouraging comments, and shown your support – you guys are so important to my work here, and to all that i do everywhere in internety-land. I can’t wait to see what The Bub will show us in the next year, and to watch it grow and blossom. I can’t thank The Bub enough for providing a platform for all artists, right across the world. Thank you Bub for keeping us ALL creative all the time, even when it becomes a bit addictive. Come on its ok, we’ve been saying that from the beginning ;) MUCH love, /

• This is a hard story to read and a tougher one to live...please read it anyway..It's the most important thing I've written on Red Bubble.
  by Melinda Kerr

  Many of you guys know my passion for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda after visiting there as a photojournalist …

  Many of you guys know my passion for the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda after visiting there as a photojournalist in April and May this year. Much of our time was spent at HEAL Africa Hospital in Goma, in the eastern province known as South Kivu. South Kivu is considered ‘lawless’ as the various militias roam the countryside and villages quite literally raping and pillaging. I say various because there are many. One consists of the remnants of those who slaughtered their fellow Rwandans 13 years ago, another is from Robert Mugabe’s private army (think ‘Blood Diamond’ – that’s their style). Yet another is secretly supported by the Rwandan government who are lured by the promise of diamonds and more land. You see D.R. Congo has the most natural resources of any country in Africa. This should be a cause for celebration. But it brings heartbreak, despair and the most overwhelming cruelty you could imagine possible. You must wonder at my obsession with this cause. The thing is, it’s invaded my mind and kidnapped my heart. Following is an article about D.R. Congo. It was published in the New York Times in October this year. You remember October. It was less than 4 weeks ago. I hope you read it. It’s not meant to make you sad and turn away. It’s an unashamed attempt to get you involved. In prayers and you bet, in money. These guys don’t want your sympathy they want your help. This is written about another hospital apart from HEAL Africa. But the story is exactly the story of the HEAL Africa hospital. And the people you seein my photos. Take my word for it. I stood in the victims urine and feces. I touched their macheted limbs. And I played with kids who suffer diseases we fix with one of those pesky little things we call needles. Ladies this is a call to action. In February (14th lunch time) my sister here she is… she is hosting a lunch for Lyn Lusi the head of HEAL Africa. Yep she’s going to be in Melbourne. And I am getting a table together. It’s $55 a head and Lyn will tell you first hand what is happening in Congo. Much of it will be about the treatment of women. I’d love love love to have some Red Bubble chicks at my table. $55 for charity, a great meal and words that will change your life, from one of the rarest people you will ever meet. Please please please come. Anyway to the article. Read it please. Knowledge is power. The New York Times October 2007 BUKAVU, Congo — Denis Mukwege, a Congolese gynecologist, cannot bear to listen to the stories his patients tell him anymore. Every day, 10 new women and girls who have been raped show up at his hospital. Many have been so sadistically attacked from the inside out, butchered by bayonets and assaulted with chunks of wood, that their reproductive and digestive systems are beyond repair. “We don’t know why these rapes are happening, but one thing is clear,” said Dr. Mukwege, who works in South Kivu Province, the epicenter of Congo’s rape epidemic. “They are done to destroy women.” Eastern Congo is going through another one of its convulsions of violence, and this time it seems that women are being systematically attacked on a scale never before seen here. According to the United Nations, 27,000 sexual assaults were reported in 2006 in South Kivu Province alone, and that may be just a fraction of the total number across the country. “The sexual violence in Congo is the worst in the world,” said John Holmes, the United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. “The sheer numbers, the wholesale brutality, the culture of impunity — it’s appalling.” The days of chaos in Congo were supposed to be over. Last year, this country of 66 million people held a historic election that cost $500 million and was intended to end Congo’s various wars and rebellions and its tradition of epically bad government. But the elections have not unified the country or significantly strengthened the Congolese government’s hand to deal with renegade forces, many of them from outside the country. The justice system and the military still barely function, and United Nations officials say Congolese government troops are among the worst offenders when it comes to rape. Large swaths of the country, especially in the east, remain authority-free zones where civilians are at the mercy of heavily armed groups who have made warfare a livelihood and survive by raiding villages and abducting women for ransom. According to victims, one of the newest groups to emerge is called the Rastas, a mysterious gang of dreadlocked fugitives who live deep in the forest, wear shiny tracksuits and Los Angeles Lakers jerseys and are notorious for burning babies, kidnapping women and literally chopping up anybody who gets in their way. United Nations officials said the so-called Rastas were once part of the Hutu militias who fled Rwanda after committing genocide there in 1994, but now it seems they have split off on their own and specialize in freelance cruelty. Honorata Barinjibanwa, an 18-year-old woman with high cheekbones and downcast eyes, said she was kidnapped from a village that the Rastas raided in April and kept as a sex slave until August. Most of that time she was tied to a tree, and she still has rope marks ringing her delicate neck. The men would untie her for a few hours each day to gang-rape her, she said. “I’m weak, I’m angry, and I don’t know how to restart my life,” she said from Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where she was taken after her captors freed her. She is also pregnant. While rape has always been a weapon of war, researchers say they fear that Congo’s problem has metastasized into a wider social phenomenon. “It’s gone beyond the conflict,” said Alexandra Bilak, who has studied various armed groups around Bukavu, on the shores of Lake Kivu. She said that the number of women abused and even killed by their husbands seemed to be going up and that brutality toward women had become “almost normal.” Malteser International, a European aid organization that runs health clinics in eastern Congo, estimates that it will treat 8,000 sexual violence cases this year, compared with 6,338 last year. The organization said that in one town, Shabunda, 70 percent of the women reported being sexually brutalized. At Panzi Hospital, where Dr. Mukwege performs as many as six rape-related surgeries a day, bed after bed is filled with women lying on their backs, staring at the ceiling, with colostomy bags hanging next to them because of all the internal damage. “I still have pain and feel chills,” said Kasindi Wabulasa, a patient who was raped in February by five men. The men held an AK-47 rifle to her husband’s chest and made him watch, telling him that if he closed his eyes, they would shoot him. When they were finished, Ms. Wabulasa said, they shot him anyway. In almost all the reported cases, the culprits are described as young men with guns, and in the deceptively beautiful hills here, there is no shortage of them: poorly paid and often mutinous government soldiers; homegrown militias called the Mai-Mai who slick themselves with oil before marching into battle; members of paramilitary groups originally from Uganda and Rwanda who have destabilized this area over the past 10 years in a quest for gold and all the other riches that can be extracted from Congo’s exploited soil. The attacks go on despite the presence of the largest United Nations peacekeeping force in the world, with more than 17,000 troops. Few seem to be spared. Dr. Mukwege said his oldest patient was 75, his youngest 3. “Some of these girls whose insides have been destroyed are so young that they don’t understand what happened to them,” Dr. Mukwege said. “They ask me if they will ever be able to have children, and it’s hard to look into their eyes.” No one — doctors, aid workers, Congolese and Western researchers — can explain exactly why this is happening. “That is the question,” said André Bourque, a Canadian consultant who works with aid groups in eastern Congo. “Sexual violence in Congo reaches a level never reached anywhere else. It is even worse than in Rwanda during the genocide.” Impunity may be a contributing factor, Mr. Bourque added, saying that very few of the culprits are punished. Many Congolese aid workers denied that the problem was cultural and insisted that the widespread rapes were not the product of something ingrained in the way men treated women in Congolese society. “If that were the case, this would have showed up long ago,” said Wilhelmine Ntakebuka, who coordinates a sexual violence program in Bukavu. Instead, she said, the epidemic of rapes seems to have started in the mid-1990s. That coincides with the waves of Hutu militiamen who escaped into Congo’s forests after exterminating 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus during Rwanda’s genocide 13 years ago. Mr. Holmes said that while government troops might have raped thousands of women, the most vicious attacks had been carried out by Hutu militias. “These are people who were involved with the genocide and have been psychologically destroyed by it,” he said. Mr. Bourque called this phenomenon “reversed values” and said it could develop in heavily traumatized areas that had been steeped in conflict for many years, like eastern Congo. This place, one of the greenest, hilliest and most scenic slices of central Africa, continues to reverberate from the aftershocks of the genocide next door. Take the recent fighting near Bukavu between the Congolese Army and Laurent Nkunda, a dissident general who commands a formidable rebel force. Mr. Nkunda is a Congolese Tutsi who has accused the Congolese Army of supporting Hutu militias, which the army denies. Mr. Nkunda says his rebel force is simply protecting Tutsi civilians from being victimized again. But his men may be no better. Willermine Mulihano said she was raped twice — first by Hutu militiamen two years ago and then by Nkunda soldiers in July. Two soldiers held her legs apart, while three others took turns violating her. “When I think about what happened,” she said, “I feel anxious and brokenhearted.” She is also lonely. Her husband divorced her after the first rape, saying she was diseased. In some cases, the attacks are on civilians already caught in the cross-fire between warring groups. In one village near Bukavu where 27 women were raped and 18 civilians killed in May, the attackers left behind a note in broken Swahili telling the villagers that the violence would go on as long as government troops were in the area. The United Nations peacekeepers here seem to be stepping up efforts to protect women. Recently, they initiated what they call “night flashes,” in which three truckloads of peacekeepers drive into the bush and keep their headlights on all night as a signal to both civilians and armed groups that the peacekeepers are there. Sometimes, when morning comes, 3,000 villagers are curled up on the ground around them. But the problem seems bigger than the resources currently devoted to it. Panzi Hospital has 350 beds, and though a new ward is being built specifically for rape victims, the hospital sends women back to their villages before they have fully recovered because it needs space for the never-ending stream of new arrivals. Dr. Mukwege, 52, said he remembered the days when Bukavu was known for its stunning lake views and nearby national parks, like Kahuzi-Biega. “There used to be a lot of gorillas in there,” he said. “But now they’ve been replaced by much more savage beasts.”

• Primetime Featured Artist
  by Jeff Burns

  Every week or two I am gonna start my own type of awards called the Primetime Featured Artist. / I will feature a Male and Female artist …

  Every week or two I am gonna start my own type of awards called the Primetime Featured Artist. / I will feature a Male and Female artist that I admire or just plain ROCK! / That way people who are watching me can see the people that inspire me. Please check out the portfolios of: / Stuart Chapman / / and / Rhana Griffin /

• New Shoes!! New Features!!! New Products!!! @ Migalooo
  by migaloomagic

  Hi Everyone, I have some news: / I have some shoes: YUMMI LOVE / !http://rlv.zazzle.com/isapi/designall.dll?action=view&pid=1677911…

  Hi Everyone, I have some news: / I have some shoes: YUMMI LOVE / / Yummi Love Children’s Keds Shoe available at Zazzle TROPICAL LOVE BIRDS / / Tropical Love Birds Children’s Slipon Shoe at Zazzle MOO NEWS!!! / Moo Cow Sunrise Shoes at Zazzle / Moo Cow Sunrise Kids Keds Sneakers at Zazzle / Moo Cow Sunrise Family / Little Moo Tshirt / Little Moo Baby Tshirt at Zazzle / Little Moo Apron at Zazzle PINATA PONY NEWS / Pinata Party Ponies was featured in Art & Stories Made for Children / Pinata Party Ponies Shoe available at Zazzle / Pinata Pony Horses Children’s Slip on Shoe @ Zazzle / Pinata Pony TShirts available here SUGAR PLUM BALLERINA NEWS / Sugar Plum Childrens Keds Slip On Shoe available through Zazzle / Sugar Plums TShirt BABY BLUEBIRD CLUB NEWS / Baby Blue Bird Club was featured by Art and Stories Made for Children / Baby Blue Club available as an Apron at Zazzle / Also available as a baby onesie at Zazzle Kameko Slipon Shoes / Little Angel Red Stripes Shoes /

• Super Secret Redbubble Profile Tip, Yes you must be sworn in for this one!!!!
  by Randy Monteith

  Hi everyone I got talking to a fellow Redbubbler whom shall rename nameless, cause they belong to a super secret sect of RB umm err …

  Hi everyone I got talking to a fellow Redbubbler whom shall rename nameless, cause they belong to a super secret sect of RB umm err not really I am just dragging this on for no good reason! Anyways by changing the order the image that show up on your profile , you will get more FAVS and COMMENTS on your work! If you have no t-shirts uploaded you will get a profile that contains 9 images shown as in the pic of my profile below. If you have T-shirts uploaded you will only see 6 image in your profile. By clicking on ART in your mybubble tabs you can rearrange the order of your image by clicking on the Blue arrows on the right hand side of the ART page. See the below image. Why this works I have no idea, maybe people don’t look past the first page of your profile? I have had people comment on images I did months ago that watch me all the time. Hope this helps you all

• WOW! I made two sales in one day!!!!!!!!!!!
  by Vonnie Murfin

  I can not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to whoever bought a card of “Anniversary Roses!!! / Thank you!! Thank you!! !http://images…

  I can not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you to whoever bought a card of “Anniversary Roses!!! / Thank you!! Thank you!!

• The way my mind works is one of my most appealing features.
  by Gregoryno6

  No, really. / I was just having a look at Tania Donald’s latest t-shirt...

  No, really. / I was just having a look at Tania Donald’s latest t-shirt, and it reminded me of an old email link... It’s all in those splashes of white across the globe. Or maybe it’s just me.

• Critique of Jonathan Medina's "Party of one"
  by Lys •

  Party of one by Jonathan Medina...

  Party of one by Jonathan Medina / / / / / I was lucky enough to be able to see this photo before Jonathan posted it, and I fell in love with it the first time. Love at first sight, I guess you could say :) / / This image is so empty, yet so full. A great example of minimalism, the darkness enveloping everything almost seems to be hiding secrets for the little thumb-nail sliver of pale moon. There is a slight hint of an object, perhaps a pole, leading from the moon down to the letter “c” in the melting sign that may catch your eye, if you’re looking for something, which you should be. The thick black of the night is something that arouses my curiosity, shakes my imagination awake, invites me to explore its cool air. / / Before I can turn away, the gritty green and mellow yellow of the half-eaten “Welcome” sign grab my attention and yank me to the bottom of the photograph. I notice it’s uneven, lopsided in its night time post, and follow it into the dark. “Come” is all it asks of me, as though I might be interested in something hidden and secret, perhaps something dirty and reputation-ruining. But whose reputation? The light’s? The night’s? Are there stars out there somewhere? Is there an animal? What will I find? It’s not welcoming at first glance, just appealing and almost commanding. The few colours represented in this image are also symbolic to me. The green only reiterates that I am “welcome” to revel in the peace of the night, but the yellow seems to push me away, as though it wants to hog the green and light all to itself. The slight glare of the stingy yellow warns me to keep my guard up. I can’t trust that everything will be alright when I follow the instructions it has so diligently tried to keep from the prying fingers of the night, but I’m always up for an adventure, so I plan on diving in anyway. The underline only adds to the seriousness, while the crookedness softens the harsh orders written in a manipulation of electricity. Off to the right is the land of taboo. Unknown and unrevealed, I choose to hug the little warmth emanating from the left and center. Like a moth to the flame, I hang myself in the space between the moon and the unfinished lettering. The moon, she is so lonely up there by herself. I feel a certain obligation to visit her and hear what she has to say. I can do nothing but trust her in her infinite wisdom and control of the after-hours, as she is always there, always watching, always inviting me to search for the light. Even though this piece has obviously been stripped to its most fundamental features, there is still so much conflict. One last point I will make, so as not to write a novel on this excellent image, is that it almost seems like the moon is competing for attention against the harsh electric blast. Natural light versus man-made light. Nature versus man. At the same time, she knows she will never fade away, she is completely confident in her abilities to rule the night, no matter how many light bulbs we waste advertising a “welcome.” Then again, I may just be looking for something in all of the nothing…

• Hi Chris, did you know Vincent Van Gogh sold just one painting in his lifetime?
  by Chris White

  NSFW

• Let's Hope The Wild Horses Win This One
  by Gene Praag

  I copied this from KSL.COM Government considering euthanizing wild horses / June 30th, 2008 @ 6:24pm / By SANDRA CHEREB and SCOTT SONNE…

  I copied this from KSL.COM Government considering euthanizing wild horses / June 30th, 2008 @ 6:24pm / By SANDRA CHEREB and SCOTT SONNER / Associated Press Writer RENO, Nev. (AP) – Federal officials are considering euthanizing wild horses to deal with the growing population on the range and in holding facilities, authorities said Monday. Wild horses have overpopulated public lands and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management can’t afford to care for the number of mustangs that have been rounded up, said Henri Bisson, the agency’s deputy director. Also, fewer people are adopting the horses, he said. Monday’s announcement marks the first time the agency publicly has discussed the possibility of putting surplus animals to death. The agency is also considering whether to stop roundups of wild horses to save money, a move that would be criticized by and from sheep and cattle ranchers who see the mustangs as competition for feed on the open range. “Our goal is supposed to be about healthy horses on healthy ranges. But we are at the point we need to have a conversation with people about pragmatically what can we do given the financial constraints of our program to meet the goals we have,” Bisson said. There are an estimated 33,000 wild horses on the range in 10 Western states, Bisson told the organization’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. About half of those are in Nevada. The agency has set a target “appropriate management level” of horses at 27,000. About another 30,000 horses are in holding facilities, where most are made available for adoption. But those deemed too old or otherwise unadoptable are sent to long-term holding facilities to live out their lives _ some for 15 to 20 years. The board will consider the alternatives at its next meeting in September. Last year about $22 million of the entire horse program’s $39 million budget was spent on holding horses in agency pens. Next year the costs are projected to grow to $26 million with an overall budget that is being trimmed to $37 million, Bisson said. “We have a responsibility to balance the budget, so we are going to have to make some tough choices,” Bisson said. Bonnie Matton, president of the Wild Horse Preservation League, said she wasn’t surprised by the agency’s predicament. “They really do have a can of worms,” she said.

• Featured Update
  by GailD

  Looking over the last week I see I have been featured 3 times. / First in the Freedom to Shine Group with Abandoned...

  Looking over the last week I see I have been featured 3 times. / First in the Freedom to Shine Group with Abandoned . It also featured in the New South Wales Photography Group overnight. / Also to feature in the New South Wales Photography Group was One Sunday / To me, being featured is an important part of the RB community.

• Your Mother...For One More Day
  by Michael J Armijo

  My mother passed away on January 24, 2000. Perhaps I am writing this now because it is January and that ‘shocking’ event is being refres…

  My mother passed away on January 24, 2000. Perhaps I am writing this now because it is January and that ‘shocking’ event is being refreshed in my mind. In 2006, I saw a book at a Starbucks in Napa Valley called FOR ONE MORE DAY by Mitch Albom. I had read his previous book TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE and my mom read it and loved it as well. This new book was about a grief-stricken young man who goes into an alcoholic tailspin when his always-attentive mother, dies. So, of course, I had to read it. I certainly did not go into an alcoholic tailspin after my mother passed away but I thought I would get something out of it. I was also intrigued because I really did want my mother “FOR ONE MORE DAY”...and I thought this book might do the trick. Fast forward a month and I was impressed by a few lines from the book. I wasn’t over the TOP thrilled. It was a different story. It was not like my relationship with my mom. I underlined the words that impacted me and planned to go back to re-read them. A year would pass and this book remained at my bedside table until… Enter Christmas Day 2007 when my cousin, Linda Tafoya-Korenke, sent me two books. Can you guess what one of the books was that I received as a gift? Yes, the same book FOR ONE MORE DAY. The fact that the book entered my life once again I re-read the sentences that impacted me from the book when I read it in 2006. Now I’m so thrilled that I re-read the recent excerpts that I underlined as they help me NOW during this January month. They are all so significant. I share these lines with you now: For One More Day / by Mitch Albom These are the words/sentences that impacted me from that book. By Michael J. Armijo Every family is a ghost story. The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone. When you’re rotten about yourself, you become rotten to everyone else, even those you love. I think what you notice most when you haven’t been home in a while is how much the trees have grown around your memories. When death takes your mother it steals that word forever (“MOM”). In time I came to view that event the way you view a faded vacation photo. It’s just someplace you went a long time ago. I don’t know what it is about food your mother makes for you…but it carries a certain taste of memory. Reading is like talking, so picture me talking to you there: I love you every day. Sometimes, kids want you to hurt the way they hurt. “I did what mattered to me.” …believe in…memories, they will pull you back together. / I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes. / / Did my old man slide back into foggy absentia, the occasional phone call, the Christmas card. “When someone is in your heart, they’re never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times.” She was called back to people by their memories of her. “It’s still nice to be thought about, you know.” “It’s such a shame to waste time. We always think we have so much of it.” Do you ever think while something is happening, about what’s happening someplace else? “Your mom. She died.” : They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears. They belong to some strange, heavy, powerful language that pounds away at the side of your head, a wrecking ball coming at you again and again, until finally, the words crack a hole large enough to fit inside your brain. And in so doing, they split you apart. I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know. “Have a plan. Have a plan.” “Secrets…they’ll tear you apart.” You need to keep people close. You need to give them access to your heart. But there’s a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, and sometimes they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins. Sharing tales of those we’ve lost is how we keep from really losing them. One day spent with someone you love can change everything.

• Birthday Sales
  by Karin Taylor

  There’s been a funny thing going on over in my bubble…. / I woke up this morning to showers of beautiful birthday wishes / from my gorgeo…

  There’s been a funny thing going on over in my bubble…. / I woke up this morning to showers of beautiful birthday wishes / from my gorgeous friends here on Red Bubble… / thank you my friends I’m on the top of the world lookin- / down on creation and the / only explanation i can find…. / is the love that i’ve found…. / ever since you’ve been around… / your love’s put me on the top / of the world! A huge big enormous THANK YOU to my wonderful friend Frozenfa who today purchased FOUR cards from me…!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Fa :)))))))) Fa chose the following cards to begin her Karin Taylor Collection – hehe lol…just kidding fa :) / Chinese Red Fan Girl / Geisha Girl / Daisy Chains / One Spring Day Thank YOU FA Thank you everyone, all of my friends here on Red Bubble Thank you REd Bubble for being there and making it all possible :)