So here we go. A week and a half since I got back from Africa and I’m still downloading shots. I am now in the process of trying to get s…
So here we go. A week and a half since I got back from Africa and I’m still downloading shots. I am now in the process of trying to get sponsorship to get an exhibition together so that the shots can be seen (complete with stories) and raise awareness. If anyone can help, any assistance would be greatly appreciated! Hey how about you red bubble guys! I can guarantee an arty audience! I will get some of the individual’s stories on line soon. Needless to say they are unbelievable. The blatent inhumanity of war and genocide is almost impossible for our minds to touch. When the stories are told to your face it is like a force 10 gale smacks you in the eye. Stories of HIV infection, horrific experience of murder performed in fornt of people and rape, rape, rape. It happened and it’s still happening and already I feel like a broken record.
Some ten years ago I worked in the mining industry whose dominant paradigm is that unless you work in the industry you are just a burden …
Some ten years ago I worked in the mining industry whose dominant paradigm is that unless you work in the industry you are just a burden on society. I was an on site biologist and my job during construction was to save what could be saved and to kill what must be killed, we called it euthanasia but I don’t think the animals concerned noticed the subtle difference in terminology. This was my war and it damn near separated me from sanity, it still haunts me… It is always July on the Plateau Rain comes / dripping through the Casuarinas / inheriting the last light / making the gum trees cold to look at Its low conductive voice muttering disappointment / each drop recalling diamond absolutes / flowing over granite, pinkly tinkling There is gold in this here monolith and I do not mean the suns explosive vector This bond of men found in doing, our broken tribute to downtime / Diesel chugs in metronome, intoning and entraining / ceaselessly oozing into pools of rainbow shock / fractals of the sky In this newly desolate place / the deepest contract is made insecure / Trust torn open / windborne voices roar across the muddy evisceration We who cut this scarless face see the shattered unborn and cry at such terrifying loss
Ok, ok first of all, everyone breath. Cool. Now let’s check. Melbourne experiencing four seasons in one day? Check. Shane War…
Ok, ok first of all, everyone breath. Cool. Now let’s check. Melbourne experiencing four seasons in one day? Check. Shane Warne caught out again? Check. Running my own business continuing to be challenging? Check. Darren Stones steering the good ship RB around icebergs with a confident if not somewhat alcohol induced flourish? Check. Some people on some distant journal thread arguing about freedom of speech as if RB is the most vital instrument for world peace on earth. Whilst slandering, vilifying and taunting each other with racial, overworked cliches from behind psuedo names? Check. So nothing new or unusual about today then? Un check. What the… Check this… Today in seperate orders people have bought… 1 canvas print of shoe woman plus 20 cards of shoe woman 150 cards of mother & child 25 cards of Possibility II 25 cards of the congo skipping kids & a further 26 of these 20 cards of this beauty 5 cards of these guys 5 cards of these little ones 2 cards of this chap 2 cards of this dude 2 cards of this princess 5 cards of this piece of possibility and 2 cards of this beautiful, precious boy I don’t know anything much about freedom of speech, flags, philosophy or anything like the stuff that’s been going on here this week. But I’ll tell you all ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING. These purchases will save lives. These people live on less than a dollar a day. They live in slums, gutters and sheds made of flattened alluminium cans. The love, they laugh, they dream – they dodge bullets, they run as fast as they can from rapists usually unsuccessfully, they starve and they cry. Every cent of revenue goes to them and the brave souls who live in a war zone to help them. They couldn’t give a rats about flags, and virtual slanging matches. They live on the real edge. I didn’t cry once in Africa. Right now I am sitting here drowning in tears. Maybe change is possible? Even the tiniest bit?? Thanks RB – thanks whoever. EDIT: SEEMS LIKE A GOOD TIME TO DEBUT THIS FELLA. Oh and thinking of turning some of these into Chrissy cards if anyone’s interested.
To the person who just bought a card of Arlington West !http://images-1.redbubble.com/img/art/backingcolor:black/product:greeting-card/vi…
To the person who just bought a card of Arlington West THANK YOU VERY MUCH I truly appreciate it. This sale and any other sale proceeds until the 30th, will help benefit conservation organizations. Please read this Journal
Well after much agonising I have finally put together a calendar of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda shots I most like. Man it…
Well after much agonising I have finally put together a calendar of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda shots I most like. Man it’s been hard. But for what it’s worth here’s Melly’s choice picks. If anyone would like to purchase one for $30 you can bubblemail me. The $10 profit will go straight, smack into the hands of HEAL Africa. Hold on a minute 13 Melinda Kerr’s for JUST $30!!!! THAT’S DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!!!!!!!!! Seriously if you’re making a charity purchase this year consider HEAL Africa. These guys are awesome and they’re living at the coal face for us as much as anyone else :) / / / / / / / / / / / /
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.”
They’re here!!
They’re here!!
How shall I go in peace and without sorrow? Nay, not without a wound in the spirit shall I leave this city. / Long were the days of pain I have spent within its walls, and long were the nights of aloneness; and who can depart from his pain and aloneness without regret? / Too many fragments of the spirit have I scattered in these streets, and too many are the children of my longing that walk naked among these hills, and I cannot withdraw from them without a burden and an ache. / It is not a garment I cast off this day, bit a skin that I tear with my own hands. / Nor is it a thought I leave behind me, but a heart made sweet with hunger and with thirst… ...These things he said in words. But much in his heart remained unsaid. For he himself could not speak his deeper secret. “The Prophet” / Kahlil Gibran / 1883-1931 This is in the artist profile in the portfolio of cbarker – Chris. At this time of year it would serve all of us well to remember that yet another year of war and conflict in so many parts of this globe rage on with godless and cruel intent. Chris Barker has a bachelor degree in photojournalism and is a returned American serviceman with more to share than this interview allows… but a little window of light into the heart of a soldier and documentarian can be read below. 1. You have some pretty extreme images on Redbubble, there are photos of high emotions in protests, arrests and to me the irony is the passive feeling ones are of the men at war in Iraq. How would you describe the diversity of your folio given your experiences to capture such moments? The diversity of my portfolio seems to stem from that instant moment, that blink that becomes etched in stone. I cannot, and will not, ever take credit for what others do, because I feel that I am a storyteller and nothing more. Photographs are a solution, so to speak, based on certain mixtures, all dependent on that given situation and your influence upon it. I believe the irony felt between the violent images of protest compared to the passive images of war is derived from my specific involvement as a soldier. When I photographed the protests, I was not there as a demonstrator, I was there as an unbiased historian. The war is a different beast all together. I was in Iraq as a soldier, as unbiased as I could manage, and the images you see appear to capture those few peaceful moments that are so difficult to hold onto because of the incessant violence and death that we were enveloped by day in and day out. I won’t argue with the irony in it, but that is the most concise way I can describe my intentions, portraying things that most people do not picture when they think of “war.” 2. You have a bachelor degree in Photojournalism, what scenes from Iraq did you want to report on but just could not use the camera? I can honestly say, as a trained Photojournalist, it is more than incredibly paining and frustrating when something of significant importance happens in a combat zone and your instinct is to pick up your camera and shoot, but you’re more recent military experience tells you that a camera is not what you should be shooting should you choose to go home by any other means than a flag draped casket. It is a gamble and when fight or flight takes hold, you fight for what little you have. I wish I could have reported on many of my experiences in Iraq, but my safety and the safety of my men, who depended on me completely, prevented such. There is so much more going on in Iraq then anyone state-side, or even abroad, realizes; good and bad. I lost a couple of good rolls of film that I wish would have made it home and I always wonder what images that acetate held, but will never know. 3. If there was one thing that you could photograph for the rest of your life (without fear of starving to death) for the fascination of it, what would it be and why? I would probably continue to travel across Africa and try to capture those fleeting moments of joy and happiness amid the great overwhelming despair that Africa has endured over the centuries. Africa is an amazing place, that has captivated my soul, filled with incredible people that can teach us important lessons in life, family and perseverance. My heart goes out to all soldiers of all nationalities (and the suits and dollars that drive these conflicts), no matter your cause… please find a way to stop killing each other! Make it this year’s Christmas wish AND New Year’s Resolution… I am praying for Peace. Thanks for the interview Chris, hope we cross internet paths again. Kathleen
AFGHANISTAN LIFE Revised 2008 05 16 CLICK PHOTO if you want view !http://images-1.redbubble.com/img/art/cropped/size:small/v…
AFGHANISTAN LIFE Revised 2008 05 16 CLICK PHOTO if you want view
(can’t sleep) Kawhia Mafia / Kawhia, New Zealand / !http…
(can’t sleep) Kawhia Mafia / Kawhia, New Zealand / Freaky Perv Boy Darth / For all ages / Throw that batch out / Bubbles / Darth having a moment / Green Light Bedroom / Brokeback Darth – I wish I could quit you / Brokeback Mansion / Darth in Thaburbia / Dusk in Suburbia / Darth looking for Dorothy / Looking for Dorothy / Surfer Darth / ... 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi… / Looking for Superman / Not even here / Walking the Darth / Walking the Dad /
Amazing night. You can now see flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air on the first visible range in Cachagua, from the hill in fron…
Amazing night. You can now see flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air on the first visible range in Cachagua, from the hill in front of the post office. That’s about 25 miles from town. Worry about the skillful jump ability of flame. / The sun was setting, a massive cloud of smoke over the valley lit bright pink, totally astounding. It’s getting closer. / We now have a full tent camp for the firefighters set up in the old Carmel Valley airstrip, 500 tents, men, equipment, kitchens, engines. Awesome. They’re great guys. Signs are appearing on fences “Thank you Fire Fighters!” / I went up at sunset. As it grew dark, lights on the camp grounds popped on illuminating the field. Neighbors drove and walked up with their dogs and kids. We looked at maps and got updates. People pointed, talked old stories, asked over and over if the guys needed anything. The community response universally so far is WE ARE SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!! Zero sense of invasion or imposition. We may be getting national guard or army here too. It’s pretty intense. / So much of Big Sur burned, you just want to cry and cry. And so much saved too, very few houses went considering the size and ferocity of the fires. It sounds like all the resorts and beautiful places in Big Sur got saved, like Ventana, Nepenthe, Esalen, Deetjens, H Miller. Mostly from people refusing to leave and stamping out cinders falling from the sky with their feet! I know it’s going to be hard to look at again. They’ve let people go back to their homes and land, lifted the evacuations from there and Palo Colorado, which did not get burnt after all from what I understand. It’s a bit like hearing gossip and fiction with a bit of truth. All of it drama, some of it actually happening. / Regina and Pat on Tassajara Road have not evacuated yet. They watch the flames shooting off the ridges from their bed at night. Ty is holding firm in Trampa Canyon. Mike’s posting wonderful blogs on his Cachagua Store site with pretty much daily updates, news of crews coming in, feeding the fire guys, songs and beer and attaboys. We’re apparently getting about fifty volunteers from Australia and New Zealand. THANK YOU!! Guys here from Minnesota and New York and Oregon. It’s a thoroughly remarkable experience on every level. / Zero sense so far we’ll get evacuated from the Village, it’s still far from us. Depending on wind direction, you’re scared one day and calm the next. / Late afternoon and into the evening yesterday a huge wet fog moved in from the coast, and by nightfall had covered Carmel Valley. Good news, we were all glad to see it. The weathermen are all fucked up. Predicting heat waves and cooling spells simultaneously, reigning hysteria. Middays out here are hot, in the 100’s. / There’s a kind of stimulated kinship when you meet folks, everybody on a high of adrenalin and emotion, nobody knowing where this damn thing is going to move. Some said the shooting ridge flames last night were from the backfires being lit. They talk about our mountains as the place to hold the line, that ridge is where we make our stand, this canyon may go, that point is in danger, using names unfamiliar to locals….it’s like being in a general’s tent with warfare plotted out on maps. As Mike Jones said in one of his blogs, you get an intimacy and new respect for the land with the google terrain maps you haven’t had from living here. / We’re all in pretty good spirits it seems to me. While it’s frightening to think of the damn thing raging out of control and sweeping the whole central coast, it seems unlikely. I think they’re getting a handle on it, figuring out how to fight it. It’s rough terrain. But we’re strong. And, of course, you knew that. / Best to you all, and heartfelt thanks for your good wishes. / Barbara
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; / Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. / At the going down of the sun an…
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; / Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. / At the going down of the sun and in the morning / We will remember them.
Look here to the song… Read also: “How to add s…
Look here to the song… Read also: How to add small pictures of mounted prints, posters, matted prints, canvas prints, shirts, cards…. to RB or What about a new artistic blog…........ or About fairy tale princes and the normal life that comes in between…
This today from fellow bubbler Sorina Williams / / *It was so exciting to see this image on the…
This today from fellow bubbler Sorina Williams / / It was so exciting to see this image on the cover of a book today in the ABC Shop!! Looked inside and found your name. My husband thought I was a freak to get so excited about someone else’s work on the cover of a book. I thought it was very cool!! :) / / It didn’t know that the below publication went national!! / / / / Thanks Sorina, you’ve made my day!
civilization VS nature – eternal war or just hopeless mimicry and all around only mimicry complex … ??? so there is short essay abo…
civilization VS nature – eternal war or just hopeless mimicry and all around only mimicry complex … ??? so there is short essay about complicated Aesthetics of clouds and electric cables …
My Friends, / I recently Purchased an old WW2 Relic from a well known internet Auction site. / It was an M-1905/ M1 Garand Bayonet. / It was…
My Friends, / I recently Purchased an old WW2 Relic from a well known internet Auction site. / It was an M-1905/ M1 Garand Bayonet. / It was recovered from a unearthed Foxhole a little over 2 months ago, on the Border of Belgium and Germany… in a place called Wahlerscheid. Information on the Battle can be found here There is a name on the Scabbard, But it is quite hard to make out. / It is my hope to one day track down the previous owners family… / and return this Relic to them… / When I recieved the Bayonet, it was fused to its scabbard by rust. No attempt was made by the man who unearthed it to unsheath it. It has taken me a considerable amount of time to painstakingly clean away the accumulated rust and debris. And tonight… I finally cracked the bayonet and its scabbard apart… / This Bayonet had been buried in Belgian soil for 65 years… and It was presumably dropped there by its previous owner. / Now, for the first time since that fateful day… / this M-1905 Bayonet will be drawn again.. I ask you to join with me as that happens… The Following images were taken this evening, and are the of the actual moment when the bayonet was drawn from its scabbard, for the first time since The Winter of 1944. What gets me the most is….That after all these years…It still has a sharp edge! / I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did!
I can’t stand this anymore, this waiting that life puts you through.. im tired of watching others do all the things that i wish to do! Bu…
I can’t stand this anymore, this waiting that life puts you through.. im tired of watching others do all the things that i wish to do! But then life gets in the way and it stops me, just dropping me beneath my dream! School is one big and clear example.. i know iv only got two months left of it but seriously! the emas and things that i need to get out my way before i can do what i want to do! / And then of course i still have to study and get a profession before i can just be… well at least i am aiming for something thats active! Journalism… with photography! You see, i want to help (save) the world.. i see so many things everyday on television in newspapers, on the radio that just break my heart… it breaks my heart that there are children out me who don’t get food for they don’t have parents or an income.. there are children who have to carry around guns for stupid people commiting actions that are somthing of nightmares. Ther are children who don’t have homes or families and only one change of clothing and here i sit with more shoes than there entire communty put together and i don’t even have that many! Its heartwrenching! The future needs to hurry up so i can do something and not just watch on the side lines and like Jack Johnson says, sitting, waiting wishing for something to come along…. I have already started a charity (well sorta, it will be finalised in a couple of months) called K.I.D which stands for Kids In Distress and helps children who have been affected by war and natural disasters and need help getting back their lives. But i havnt been able to complete it for school has prevented me from doing so but then again, my wonderful school Penryn College has given me grounding for this as we are the largest outreach school in Africa and help educate teachers in poor areas on good teaching. But i want to do something more! I watched a documentary tv programme called Carte Blanch tonight and it covers stories we should know about. They covered a story about an organistation called Invisible Children and they are helping children who have been forced into being child soldiers in Uganda.. please support them, its needed! If anyone has any recommended charities that help children that have been hurt by disasters or war, please say so we can support! Thank you
Just wanted to share some exciting news! I entered my first photography competion recently, a small local competition for the local ener…
Just wanted to share some exciting news! I entered my first photography competion recently, a small local competition for the local energy company for their 2010 calendar. I was notified on Friday that my photo stormy memorial was chosen as one of the 12 winners!!! I am just a little bit excited right now and feeling just a little bit proud of myself!!
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I was just wanted to send out a quick thank you to all of the fellow Veterans out there, no matter which branch of service, or which na…
I was just wanted to send out a quick thank you to all of the fellow Veterans out there, no matter which branch of service, or which nation they served/are serving for. Thank you so much for the continued sacrifices you and your families have to endure. Please be sure to thank a fellow veteran today – they really do deserve it! My visual tribute to all Veterans: THANK YOU !!!
I am at work and part of me has such a difficult time with the idea of war. Both my mother and father were Marines in WW2. and I had utmo…
I am at work and part of me has such a difficult time with the idea of war. Both my mother and father were Marines in WW2. and I had utmost respect for their service. Neither my brother nor I had any inclination to join a military service. / . / Part of me begs that I get into the frey and push against this machine that indeed employs so many Americans from service itself to the making of the war machines. My fear runs like this. If they ever really got a cure for cancer absolutely, what would happen to all the jobs that are involved in ‘fighting cancer’ like we are talking millions of jobs throughout the world. That is my fear side. / . / War seems to be a part of our contrast and where we are now in our evolution. I do honor those who are in the military as I do believe they are following their hearts. Many believe that we are at deep risk and they are doing something about this by joining the military. I know that WW2 for me is a perfect example of what seemed to be the ‘only solution’ at the time to resolve a horrible world situation. / . / My hope was when I caste my vote for Obama that we would be well on our way out of Iraq and that there would be a ‘plan’ in Afghanistan to provide housing and prosperity as my Afgan friends here in San Francisco say that is what they desire for their families at home. Do you know that since the Russians invaded Afghanistan in December 24, 1979 to this time 2009 there have been over 2 million deaths of the Afgan people? Not to mention all the one legged men and women suffer from all the land mines. A wonderful statement by author from America how many of those are suffering from this atrocity? According to the United Nations, 10 million landmines litter the Afghan countryside, the lingering effects of a prolonged civil war and occupation by Soviet troops and A new report reveals that 750,000 civilian males have been victimized by landmines in Afghanistan this is close to a million people and this does not include the females and children that are bringing this stat close to a million or more. top that with 2 million dead. / The war they never talk about in Afghanistan is the poppy war…heroin. And as we found out in Vietnam, so much money is involved in the drug trade we can’t take out the factor that money, big money can buy off some of the nicest and well meaning people. / . / I honor the fallen in our country. If we did not have a strong military in this belief system we may not fair well. On the other hand a part of me feels guilty that I am not out in the streets of America saying, we have hunger and we have a broken infrastructure ie. education, health, and well being here in America. Please send our troops home and lets educate our people so we can learn how to believe in Peace by finding PEACE AT HOME. Gandhi Ji said it best: You must be the change you want to see in the world. Yes he did fight it seems a ‘good fight’ but his war that created the most profound change was the war of how he perceived his world at large. He constantly went deep into meditation and he made mistakes sure. But his love for his people and his belief that other nations did not belong in his country won a small victory. The English Left. We Need to Go. I feel if we have a strong military at home and a prosperous nation, others will be drawn once again to asking for our help when the time of their own efforts cannot sustain. We then go a welcome relief to nations that are WILLING to be lead by a great people who are humbled upon entering countries that do not sustain our wonderous health standards, wealth and well being. / . / I Honor this day for all who have fallen in service of our country. I also honor all those people who have lost loved ones in countries my country is occupying. / . / Linaji 2009
I want to thank my brothers Rick and Clyde who both served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm; my Uncle Bill who serve…
I want to thank my brothers Rick and Clyde who both served in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm; my Uncle Bill who served in World War I; Uncle Teddy who served in World War II; my Uncle Frank who served in World War II and the Korean Conflict; my (now deceased) brother- in- law John who served in Vietnam. I want to thank my husband, Jay, who served in the United States Army as a foreign national. They all served because they believe in freedom. Whether we support the wars or not, each and every one of our veterans deserve our gratitude. We can oppose war and still support the troops. Bring our troops home, President Obama. Bring them home and let’s embark on the road to peace.
The Andrew Olle Lecture – Nov, 2009 Hilarious, cutting and so very relevant This i…
The Andrew Olle Lecture – Nov, 2009 Hilarious, cutting and so very relevant This is viral marketing, I’m proud to say….lol! from a link on @LeighSales blog there are a few swear words in the text…...just sayin…
Well for starters, I don’t write many journals, so bare with me and thanks for taking the time to actually read this. I promise you won’t…
Well for starters, I don’t write many journals, so bare with me and thanks for taking the time to actually read this. I promise you won’t regret it. My good friend from college and I both joined the military almost right out of school. Whether or not for the patriotic spin or the fact that neither of us could find jobs in our respective fields, or the realization that now we had to begin making student loan payments, we joined nonetheless. He took a round about route to becoming an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) technician, which in civilian terms basically means he diffused bombs. He has taken over 23, 000 images during his three odd deployments that spanned 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is an amazing photographer and has captured both the mundane day-to-day aspects of a war and the awesomeness of what war is capable of. If you are the least bit interested in what the media and our news outlets don’t show on the news or have ever even captured in still images, then you have to check out his work. It is a must see. Here is a taste. If you want to see more, check out his Flickr account. If you are as captivated by his work as I am, please forward this along to others, to showcase what really took place in Iraq for hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In his own words, “I think what separates this from most of what you’ll see from war, especially Iraq, is that I am one with my subject. There is absolutely no disconnection. There may be a certain detachment within the soldier and the war he is fighting but not in the case of providing an honest portrait of the experience. Couldn’t you say the same about putting the life you live into images that communicate to others?”
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