When you become a mum, so many things in your life change. With a brand new baby to love and take care of, naturally, your priorities change. You might hang out in different social circles, you might get your kicks and have your fun in different ways, but that's okay! You're still 'you', you're just 'you 2.0'. Your new life as a mum will be fulfilling in a totally different way to your child free life. And it will be brilliant!
Your baby's first smile, their first tooth, first words and their first steps... so many exciting milestones to look forward to and to reach together. In those beautiful moments, the tiredness from the sleepless nights will just melt away, and you'll think, 'this is so worth the exhaustion!'. It's an absolute privilege to be able to help shape their very own personality, likes and dislikes, to watch your little one grow into a tiny little human. Relish in it!
Like I mentioned, raising and caring for a little baby can be tiring work. Sleepless nights and long days, endless feeds and hormonal mayhem to boot. And then there'll be the first time that your baby will get sick. It might just be a little sniffle, or something a little scarier, but whatever it is, you will worry. You will anxiously self-diagnose to the point of panic. It's a right of passage for a new mom. If I can offer one piece of advice, it would be, don't Google it! You will always be brought to the worst possible diagnosis, and that will do nothing only worry you further. If you are concerned, talk to a doctor.
I heard that phrase repeatedly as a child and as a teenager and thought it was just something old people said, as I slowly and painfully waited for the school summer holidays to roll around. But no, it's very true! And as soon as you become a mum, the years go by even faster. One minute you're pairing tiny baby socks and delicately placing them in a drawer for your baby's impending arrival, the next you're tearfully standing at the school gate, waving goodbye to your brave little munchkin on their very first day of school. Treasure every moment!
There will be times in those first few years when you think, 'I can't do this!'. You will be pushed to breaking point by endless crying or toddler tantrums, and a mommy meltdown may ensue. That's ok! You will get through it. A couple of deep breaths, a chat with a friend, a large glass of wine... whatever works for you! But in all seriousness, we all have these moments. It really is ok. Where you can, try take a little break for yourself. Have a friend or family member watch your little one for an hour so you can reboot the batteries. Get away for a weekend with your partner. And most importantly, never feel guilty about taking time for yourself. It's so important for your own wellbeing.
There really is no job more fulfilling! You don't need a bachelor's degree, diploma or masters, heck, you don't even need any experience! All you need for this job, is a big heart, lots of love to share, and the patience of a saint! The hours may be long, and you may be required to pull an occasional all-nighter, but you will be paid in endless hugs, kisses, love, and adoration. And isn't that worth its weight in gold?
Is there anything you would like to add to the list? Let us know in the comments!


text:
Houston steakhouse selling 'Millionaire Fajitas' for $400
by: Kate Winkle
Posted: Nov 25, 2019 / 07:05 AM CST / Updated: Nov 25, 2019 / 07:33 AM CST
Chef Troy Guard (KTRK Photo)
HOUSTON, Texas (KXAN) — The section of the menu boasts "Everything is Bigger in Texas," and that includes the price of a fajita.
Guard and Grace, an originally Denver-based steakhouse opening a new restaurant in Houston, is selling "Millionaire Fajitas" for $400. Ingredients include "24 oz w black wagyu ribeye, oak charred peppers and onions, black garlic huitlacoche steak sauce, guacamole, green chile enchiladas, refried beans, rice, gold flake tortillas." The menu says diners should plan on waiting 45 minutes for the plate.
The fajitas are only on Guard and Grace's Houston menu. Most of its steaks cost less than $100, but it also offers a "Filet Flight" for $105.
CNN affiliate KTRK spoke to the restaurant's owner and chef, Troy Guard, who said the fajitas are "worth every penny."
Guard and Grace announced last year that it would start a second location in Houston's Allen Center. Originally, it was slated for a summer 2019 opening.
Guard said he worked 16-hour days, six days a week to get everything ready for the restaurant's opening Nov. 19. He also made trips to Houston for the past four years to get a feel for the city.
"What's special about Houston is the people," Guard said. "I mean, I know that sounds cliché, everywhere has great people in different cities, but we've really taken a liking."
More Texas Stories
Thousands hit state parks for First Day Hike on Jan. 1
by Kelly Lafargue / Jan 17, 2020
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Thousands of Texans helped to usher in the new decade with First Day Hike on January 1.
All-in-all, 5,242 people hiked, biked, and rode a total of 9,564 miles statewide on New Year's Day.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"Catalogue of What" was written by Heather Renken. The Lead Actors are Nichole Clarke and Christian Neuhaus and Stephanie Robey and the Delicious Ensemble as Sound Effects.
"Catalogue of What" was written and recorded with seven other audio plays starting with the theme "Tall Tales".
"Catalogue of What" was recorded on June 11th, 2017 in the community room at Rethke Terrace on Madison's east side with directors Autumn Shiley and Casem Abulughod, stage managers Malissa Petterson and Jenna Mitchell with audio recording and editing by Matt Haag of MattHaagMusic.com. The theme of that night's audio plays was "Tall Tales".
"Once Upon a Road Trip" was written by H.J. Farr. The Lead Actors are John Steeno and Gina Gomez and Kelly Maxwell as Sound Effects.
"Once Upon a Road Trip" was written and recorded with seven other audio plays starting with the theme "Tall Tales".
[TITLE OF PLAY] was recorded on June 11th, 2017 in the community room at Rethke Terrace on Madison's east side with directors Autumn Shiley and Casem Abulughod, stage managers Malissa Petterson and Jenna Mitchell with audio recording and editing by Matt Haag of MattHaagMusic.com. The theme of that night's audio plays was "Tall Tales".
"Shovels Are For Beheading" was written by Stephanie Robey. The Lead Actors are Heather Renken and Nichole Clarke and John Steeno as Sound Effects.
"Shovels Are For Beheading" was written and recorded with seven other audio plays starting with the theme "Tall Tales".
"Shovels Are For Beheading" was recorded on June 11th, 2017 in the community room at Rethke Terrace on Madison's east side with directors Autumn Shiley and Casem Abulughod, stage managers Malissa Petterson and Jenna Mitchell with audio recording and editing by Matt Haag of MattHaagMusic.com. The theme of that night's audio plays was "Tall Tales".


Foregoing unnecessary complications and abstract pretences, singer/songwriter Lára Rúnarsdóttir's sophomore release, is at times, an honest, pretenceless portrayal of heartbreak and longing; so honest, in fact, that one is somewhat confused as to why Lára would choose to sing in English on several of the tracks, losing any credibility she has as a lyricist. The music's quality wavers, in the best moments becoming a slow, stripped bare and slightly blues-inflected acoustic folk that refuses to be pinned solidly into a genre, while at other times sinking to depths of unfathomable jazz-ballad tackiness at other times. Aside from some shudderingly clichéd hooks from the guitar and keyboards, the band always gives Lára's gentle, steady voice centre stage, but even the production refuses to remain consistent and tends to rob the band of its integrity; swirling and wintry in Vetur and Lonely Eyes (easily the best songs on the album), it sits completely flat in Ókunnugi Maður and Vatnið. All in all, it's sort of like a teenager's diary: forthright and heartfelt, but boring and corny as hell.


Envelopes. Thursday , December 20th , 2018 - 12:11:10 PM.
Based on your event, and should you send your invitation in the mail, you might wish to consider including a reply card. Your invitation is a very first impression, so be certain everything is accurate. There are as many methods to word a Spanish anniversary invitation since there are couples celebrating anniversaries.


text:
Monsignor Vincent Foy: 1915 - 2017 ~ was a humble, holy priest and prophet
Mgr Foy on the occasion of his 75th Anniversary of his ordination to the
Sacred Priesthood with Thomas Cardinal Collins
On March 13, 2017, Monsignor Vincent Foy, at the age of 101, departed this earth to return to the House of the Father. Unlike so many bishops and priests, Monsignor Foy truly was a loyal Son of the Church. A "voice in the wilderness" in Canada, Monsignor Foy fought trenchantly against the baneful twin evils of contraception and abortion. Monsignor Foy was not listened to, and the result is that the heretical "Winnipeg Statement" that rejected Humanae Vitae was adopted and promoted by the Bishops in Canada. A whole generation of Catholics were either exposed to silence on issues of sexual morality, or told by these people that - though Church teaching was right and the ideal - nonetheless, they could hold the ideal as exactly an ideal and follow their personal conscience. It was all a sinister undertaking. The result was, in Monsignor Foy's own words, they were "complicit in mass murder".
There can be no doubt that Monsignor Foy was the most important Canadian of the past century. Yet, he was virtually unknown. We could expect the media and the secular elite to despise him. Sadly, even in the Church he was an isolated figure, held in contempt by the powerful modernist elites. Like Our Lord, he was an outcast and not recognized as a prophet. Like Our Lord, he too had only love and compassion for these poor deluded souls. Yet, he was not a dreamer, but a realist. Souls needed to be protected and he urged again and again the then Archbishop of Toronto, Philip Pocock, to suspend the notorious heretic, Gregory Baum.
Yet for Baum too - lauded and praised by the Catholic elite - Monsignor Foy, with his virtual last breath, showed true love and prayed for this man's conversion. On February 21, 2017, Monsignor Foy wrote these words:
Catholics should prepare for death and the Day of Judgment through repentance and the grace of sacramental Confession giving total absolution/forgiveness. We should pray for poor Gregory Baum's conversion.
There can be no doubt that from the Father's House, Monsignor Foy will pray the Bishops in Canada repent - and finally without any equivocation - reject the "Winnipeg Statement" and then preach with boldness the fullness of Christ's Truth about human sexuality and Life issues. For if the family is destroyed, all is lost.
Monsignor Foy also foresaw the collapse of the Church in Canada. He knew that to mock God has very serious consequences. He foresaw that if the Bishops became ashamed of Christ and His teachings; Christ would be ashamed of them before His Father. Canada's bishops have, for nearly fifty years, refused to proclaim the Gospel undiluted. They refuse the graces God gives them as bishops. Consequently, we have seen an unprecedented implosion of the Church in Canada. We must always remember that the Church is not bricks and mortar: the Church is the mystical Body of Christ, His Bride who remains faithful to Him.
Monsignor Foy was one humble, holy Catholic priest who remained faithful to the end. He was a true priest of Jesus Christ who kept his vow of fidelity to the Bride of Christ. May he now receive his reward and rest for eternity beholding the Beatific Vision of the Most Holy Trinity.
For a full biography of his life, please visit Monsignor Foy's website.
Labels: Spiritual life
I watched a 4 minute documentary about him last year.
Never heard of him until 2016.
Defrauding the poor: Justin Trudeau's latest attac...
Basilian Superior, Fr. George Smith stages a "Pain...
Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association goe...
The Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association...
BREAKING NEWS: Our Lady of the Atonement has been ...
Solemn Latin Mass for the Feast of St. Joseph
St. Joseph, the Patron of Canada
Monsignor Vincent Foy: 1915 - 2017 ~ was a humble,...
Novalis claims Gregory Baum -an admitted practitio...
Deacon Adrian Martens of the Personal Ordinariate ...
BREAKING: Bishop Richard Williamson to consecrate ...
OECTA openly promoting "LGBTQ" propaganda on Twitt...
Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association fea...
Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association and...
"There is too much money tied up in bad church music"
The Poverty of Politicians: how an evil and corrup...
The Priest and the Tabernacle: not to face God whi...
Paul Ehrlich: A Talmudic Jew invited to Vatican Ci...


text:
Indonesia sharia stronghold bans New Year's festivities
Google – AFP, 31 December 2013
A mosque in Banda Aceh -- a Sharia stronghold that has banned New Year's
Eve celebrations -- pictured on February 25, 2013 (AFP, Chaideer Mahyuddin)
Banda Aceh — Islamic police in Indonesia's sharia stronghold seized thousands of firecrackers and cardboard trumpets after the city administration banned New Year's Eve celebrations for the first time, an official said Tuesday.
The Monday night raid on street stalls and shops selling the items followed a fatwa, or decree, by the clerical Ulema Consultative Assembly that said New Year's celebrations or wishing someone "Merry Christmas" was "haram" (forbidden) in the city of Banda Aceh.
The Banda Aceh government backed the fatwa by banning New Year's Eve celebrations in the city.
?This public-order operation ahead of New Year's Eve is to ensure residents are compliant with calls from the government and ulema," a senior Banda Aceh sharia police official Reza Kamilin told AFP.
"There should be no activity whatsoever to celebrate the turn of the year," Kamilin said.
The city ban is not technically legally binding but is being enforced by sharia police, whose role it is to "safeguard" morality.
Banda Aceh is the capital of Aceh province -- the only part of Indonesia that enforces Islamic law, or sharia -- where raids to enforce religious law are an everyday occurrence.
But this year is the first for any administration in the province to ban New Year's Eve celebrations, in a sign of growing draconianism that rights groups oppose.
Sharia police will also conduct raids on hotels and cafes, which have been warned not to celebrate the day, Kamilin said.
"We will dissolve any mass gatherings. If anyone is seen with firecrackers or trumpets, we will confiscate them," he said.
Other administrations in Aceh were reportedly also banning celebrations, saying Muslims should only celebrate the Islamic New Year.
Aceh began implementing sharia law after it was granted special autonomy in 2001. Authorities now regularly cane people caught gambling or drinking alcohol.
Indonesia is the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation, but most practise a moderate form of Islam, and New Year's Eve festivities are planned all over the country.
Despite Ban, Thousands Mark New Year in Banda Aceh
Posted by Cempaka at 4:55 PM 1 comments
Labels: Aceh, Islam, New Years Eve
Body washes up on Beckham's hideaway island in Maldives
A file picture dated on November 12, 2007 shows a luxury island resort
in the Maldives (AFP, Sanka Vidanagama)
Malé — A dead body has washed up at an exclusive island resort in the Maldives where English football star David Beckham is taking a hideaway Christmas holiday with his family, police said Monday.
Investigations were underway to establish the cause of death of the man, whose body was found floating near a jetty on Sunday at the One and Only Reethi Rah resort near the capital island Male, police said.
"The body was removed to a morgue and investigations are underway," police spokesman Hassan Haneef told AFP by telephone.
Maldives police stand guard during a
protest in Male, on October 19, 2013
(AFP, Ishara S.Kodikara)
In a second incident, a stock of fireworks brought in for New Year's Eve exploded on the island Sunday, shattering the calm for guests who pay up to $12,700 a night for a room.
Police said the dead man, identified as a Sri Lankan national, was not a guest or an employee of the upmarket resort where Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich was also reportedly staying.
Beckham, his wife Victoria and their four children remained at the de luxe resort despite the problems on Sunday, tourism sources said.
The couple visited the Maldives a year ago and stayed at the same resort, but that holiday was dampened by incessant rain.
Tourism Minister Ahmed Adeeb told reporters last week that several international celebrities were spending their Christmas holidays in the nation of more than 1,000 coral-fringed islands scattered across the equator.
The Maldives is known for its secluded resorts with pristine beaches and privacy and is also a popular destination for well-heeled honeymooners. It attracted nearly a million foreign holidaymakers last year.
Tourism has suffered setbacks in recent years due to political unrest following the resignation of former president Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012 in what he later alleged was a coup.
Posted by Cempaka at 11:12 PM 0 comments
Labels: Corel Reefs, Foreign Tourist, Island, Maldives, Sports
City's Former Dancing Monkeys Now Seeking Their Own Isle of Refuge
Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda, December 29, 2013
The Jakarta Animal Aid Network has an island where released macaques can
live freely. (Photo courtesy of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network)
In one cage, a pack of macaques screamed loudly, standing upright to make their bodies appear larger. They were taunting and provoking a rival group locked in the cage next to them and the two sides immediately engaged in a standoff.
Occasionally, the macaques stretched out their arms, trying to swipe those in the other cage.
One macaque observed the fight closely from his own cage, big enough to fit his body, but just barely. His face betrayed fear.
"We are trying to introduce this macaque to his new group," said Femke den Haas, the wild animal protection coordinator with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, as she pushed the lone macaque's cage closer to a bigger confinement hosting four macaques.
The lone macaque was shaking as the cage moved, instinctively grabbing hold of the metal bars tightly, turning its back on the pack as if trying to run away.
Femke said the lone macaque needed time to get used to seeing other primates after spending most of its life confined to small cages, dressed like a human, forced to wear suffocating plastic masks, performing tricks, begging for small change on the streets from passing motorists and pedestrians and getting beaten if it didn't do what it was told.
The macaques Femke showed me were all formerly topeng monyet performers, seized by the Jakarta administration in a series of raids that began in October in a bid to make the Indonesian capital free of the monkey sideshows by 2014.
More than a hundred macaques have been confiscated and are now in the custody of the city administration and cared for by JAAN. But Femke said there could be as many as 200 more that were still being kept in cages by their owners.
Animal rights groups like JAAN have lauded the move by the city, noting that 10 percent of the macaques tested positive for tuberculosis and all carried parasites that could spread to humans.
"By banning topeng monyet, Jokowi [Governor Joko Widodo] shows he cares also about the health of Jakarta's residents and cares about animal welfare at the same time," Femke said.
But JAAN is at odds with what the administration plans to do with the macaques. Joko has said the city plans to move the healthy macaques to Ragunan Zoo, adding that the city has prepared a one-hectare field just for them.
"Ragunan still copes with many welfare problems for animals under its care," Femke said, adding the zoo had a high number of deaths among its animals and poor welfare standards and facilities.
The zoo has also shut its doors to NGOs like JAAN and there is virtually no independent oversight of its operations.
"In Ragunan, orangutans still suffer in small cages. If orangutans are not cared for professionally, what about non-endangered macaques?" Femke said.
She added the best solution was to relocate the macaques to an island where they could live free in the wild, as JAAN did in 2006 for dozens of rescued former dancing macaques.
"The ones we released on the present monkey island are now totally independent. They fish and eat young leaves and fruits from the forests," she said adding that the chances of them being poached again was remote. "We have two caretakers checking the monkeys and providing extra food when needed."
JAAN is currently looking for a suitable island for the latest batch and believes it may have found one.
It is located in the Sunda Strait, which separates Java and Sumatra, and boasts 20 hectares of forest. Macaques are found on other islands in the strait but not on this particular one, Femke said, signaling that the macaques now in the custody of the Jakarta administration could survive all on their own there.
"The macaques can do no harm to the present fauna and flora there as the island has been thoroughly surveyed," she said.
"It's a perfect option for the rescued dancing macaques. All we want is for the macaques to live a happy monkey life in a safe environment where we can still observe, treat and feed them."
People can help
The island is privately owned, but the owner is willing to sell it for a relatively low price to help the monkeys. But JAAN has a deadline of June 2014 to buy the island, and the animal rights group is now calling for public support to help raise the money needed. For $30, people can buy a square meter of the island. JAAN will send a picture of their name on the island's information board.
"When the topeng monyet were still very much seen in Jakarta we received daily reports from people complaining about this, who felt sorry and asked us to do something about it," Femke said.
"Now we hope the many people that have complained will also help us to care for the monkeys and help ensure they get a good future. The future they deserve."
If JAAN fails to meet the June deadline, the animal rights group plans to lobby the city and Ragunan Zoo and use the money to construct a proper facility for the macaques.
"A beautiful outside enclosure can be developed in which the macaques can feel as if they are free. A small museum can be constructed there as well which can serve as an educational center for the public," Femke said.
Stop fueling the trade
Femke said it was important for people to stop giving money to the macaques' handlers as part of the topeng monyet performances.
Whether the macaques will be relocated to an island or end up in a zoo, it is important to construct the museum so that people can see pictures of the macaques while they were still dancing on the street, look at the equipment they used like wooden bikes and masks, and educate the public on why it was so bad for the macaques.
Macaques "are often seen in plantations or near human habitat and easily fall victim to poachers," Femke said. "The mother is often killed in the process as the babies are trapped."
The babies are brought to Jakarta and other major cities and are sold as pets or dancing monkeys.
Once in the hands of topeng monyet trainers, they undergo long training sessions and endure all sorts of torture and cruelty. "They are starved, beaten, hanged, and their teeth pulled out. Most of the monkeys we received and care for now have even had their tails broken," Femke said.
One macaque pounded the ground repeatedly for no apparent reason, almost like a person trying to shake off a traumatizing scene inside his head.
Femke said it was important for the public to know about this, adding that people could also be inspired to pressure other cities to adopt the same policy as in Jakarta, keeping their respective streets free of the barbaric topeng monyet.
Help Save the Macaques
To find out more on how to donate or other ways to lend support, go to:
Website: jakartaanimalaid.com
E-mail: info@jakartaanimalaid.com
Twitter: @jaan_indonesia
Jakarta Ramps-Up Efforts to End Masked Monkey Performances
Labels: Animal Rights, Animals, Cultural, Government, Joko Widodo, Traditions, Zoo
Bali Artists Resist Change
Jakarta Globe, December 29, 2013
The Bali Not For Sale art collective is concerned about the loss of the
island's unique culture and traditions. (JG Photos/Putri Fitria)
Day two in Denpasar, southern Bali, I had to share the remaining water in the bathtub with three friends just to wash ourselves. My best friend, Venusia Indah, whose place was where I had been staying, was not complaining so much. It was a normal thing for her. Twice a week, the water supply in their neighborhood was cut off by the authorities.
Tourists, though, have more than 45,000 rooms at upward of 700 hotels to choose from if they want a comfortable stay in Bali. The water flows all day long there, and there are swimming pools too.
The water crisis is only one of the impacts of the massive tourism industry development in the island. This is expanded to worsen as the land used for traditional rice fields are taken over for villas, hotels, restaurants and shops.
It is no wonder, then, that a group of concerned artists has been trying to raise awareness of the plight of the ordinary Balinese. "A rebel artist draw the line… A tribute to farmers, rice fields, children and memories of simple Bali," describes the group, Bali Not For Sale, on its Facebook page.
But Bali Not For Sale is not just making a statement in the virtual world. One of its expressions of protest can be seen in the middle of a rice terrace in Ubud — an installation art work that was originally created without any serious purposes in 2010. But it has turned into a must-see icon for visitors to Ubud.
One of the creators is Gede Suanda Sayur, 33, a native of Ubud and a graduate of the School of Fine Arts at the renowned Indonesian Institute of Arts in Yogyakarta. The eye-catching installation, surrounded by lush green rice plants, caused a buzz some time ago. Newspapers and magazines published pictures of it. One magazine even kicked off a quiz to find out who was behind this "crazy" work. It was an anonymous work at the beginning of its development.
"I don't compel people [who sell their rice fields] to change their mind-set; I'm just trying [to start the change] from my own self," Sayur says.
He is the owner of the rice field where the installation is located, and of an art space in front of it. Named Luden House, this art space is where a number of artists hang out, sharing the same concerns and creating art together.
These artists regularly hold some activities such as music concerts, art performances, lelakut (scarecrow) competitions, kite competitions, film screenings, and various art workshops for children and young people. They also designed a T-shirt, selling for Rp 100,000 ($8.10), and stickers (Rp 5,000) to raise money to help the few traditional farmers remaining in Ubud to hold on to their fields.
"To be a farmer now is very difficult. Their land is subject to class 1 tax, which is the same as the tax for villas, because they're situated in a tourist area," says I Wayan Gendo Suwardana, the head of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi).
"There's no market guarantee [for their rice], their harvests are declining, and much of what they earn goes toward paying the tax."
Gendo says that while the farmers have come in for criticism for selling their land to developers, a large portion of the blame should also go to the local authorities for their lax land-use policies. The concept of "selling out," he says, should not only refer to the sale of the farmland, but also the policies that allow the "carefree issuance" of building permits and rampant violations of zoning regulations.
Made Bayak, 33, a visual artist whose works center around the negative impacts of tourism on Bali, traces the problem back to the government's anti-communist purge of 1965-66, when anyone critical of the government was branded a communist sympathizer and either jailed or killed.
"Back then, almost 90 percent of Balinese intellectuals who were critical of government policies were wiped out. Bali then turned into a kind of toll road for foreign investment: everyone could get in, everyone was accepted by the tourism industry," he says.
Bayak acknowledges that taking on the island's all-powerful tourism industry is to tilt at windmills, but insists he has a duty to raise the issue through his art or risk watching Bali get exploited to the point that it has nothing left.
He vows not to stop producing works that are a slap in the face of everyone in the tourism industry. And indeed, people deserve a slap. That is, if they still have a heart for Bali.
Labels: Artists, Bali, Cultural, Foreign Tourist, Hotel - Resort, Protest, Tourism
Holland's Got Talent 2013 (Finale) - Amira
Amira receives the trophy from Holland's Got Talent.
(NOS / ANP Kippa)
Holland's Got Talent 2013 (LiveShow) - Amira
Holland's Got Talent 2013 - Amira Willighagen (9)
"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"... Question Three: Is there life on other planets?
... I will tell you, as long as you stay in 3D, you'll still be getting in little metal cans and air suits and going to planets. As soon as you begin the quantum age, however, you will simply wish yourself there, because you will be entangled with everything and can go with intent. If you don't believe this now, you will later, for what I give you is true. It may be lifetimes and lifetimes from now, but the group that is before me is the group that is going to come back over and over. The difference is that you're done coming back in an old energy. This is a new energy..
When you come back, dear one, everything you know will be in your DNA and be on top [available]. You're not going to have to go through what you did before. As soon as you decide to look around and open the door [metaphor for free choice to awaken], everything you've learned this time around will be right there.
This is the attribute of what you would call "a child of new consciousness," which you have labeled with a color - indigo. The child remembers who they are. They are conceptual, and you believe they have to be taught from scratch! Hardly! They remember! Do you understand what is taking place? We told you this last time, but we want to review something with you: The animal on the prairie drops its calf and within hours, the calf is up, running with the herd. Did you know that the calf instantly knows who its enemies are, what water to drink that doesn't smell right, and what berries to eat that are not poison? Where did that come from? How did that infant animal know these things? The answer is that this information was biologically inherited. You call it instinct. But when you have a Human baby - nothing! It doesn't know anything but that it's hungry. It requires 20 years of teaching! Aren't you tired of that? Did you ever think about why the animals have so much knowledge to begin with and you have so little? Does that seem correct for the top of the evolutionary ladder? It's time for that to change.
You're starting to see it, even with the indigos. They come in knowing. That's why they're so impatient. You're trying to teach them things they already know instinctively. Just like the calf on the prairie, they come in knowing. Some of them try to teach you. That doesn't always go well. That was question three...."
"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)
"..... DNA - A Quantum Force
Now we get to the core truth, don't we? So I will tell you. The ninety percent of DNA which is quantum, is filled with information, both esoteric and timeless. It is a quantum blueprint for everything you are and have been since you arrived on the planet the first time. DNA contains instruction sets for your life; everything from your full Akashic Record - every single lifetime you have had - to the benevolent creator's fingerprint within the seeds of creation itself. Every single talent you ever had is there, even if you don't have any of those today... the record is there. Every predisposition of weakness and strength are there. Biologically, every single instruction to every single stem cell is there. . ..."
"..... DNA is a Dynamic Molecule, not a static one.
Humanity is stuck in the 3D portion of their biological thinking. In your 3-D life, you simply accept the chemistry you're given. You act as though the three percent gene producing part is all there is. You believe it is a chemical protocol that is unchangeable and simply "you." You don't see it for the way it's designed. It's dynamic and always has been. It's not set, but will continue to simply repeat what it does unless there is another quantum influence on it.
Therefore you live with the 3 percent as though it were all there is, and since it just "came with your body" and seems to control everything, you never talk to it. Many of you come in with pre-dispositions based upon the karma which is put upon you from your past lives. You don't come in clean [without karmic energy]. Instead, you arrive with pre-dispositions, fears and phobias. Some are positive. Perhaps you come in as a prodigy continuing your last life... the 8-year-old who can paint like a master and do brushstrokes that take 30 years to develop. What does that tell you about what must be in the DNA?
Perhaps you come in as the composer, the pianist, the prodigy, the violinist, just waiting until your hands can go on the fingerboard or can reach up and fret the notes. Perhaps you come in knowing how to play the piano, just waiting for your hands to get big enough to do what you used to do... without any lessons. How do you explain that, dear ones? The answer is that all this is contained in the dynamic quantum instruction sets of your DNA... the part you never talk to it. .."
Kryon Q&A
Question: Dear Kryon, would you please tell me if Indigo Children and Star Children are the same? Can someone born in the 1960's be an Indigo?
Answer: Dear Human, don't get bogged within your linearity in these things. You wish to compartmentalize everything, and thereby feel more comfortable in your understanding. Know this: All children being born on the planet have strong potential to be of the Indigo consciousness. Within that group there are many parts and attributes. What you have called a "Star Child" is a type of Indigo. The same goes for the "Crystal Children."
Years ago we identified a new breed of Human that was slowly being introduced to earth. Now they are so plentiful that many are beginning to notice and categorize them. Our admonition is NOT to, but we know that sometimes make you feel better to do so. Another name for these "Star Children" are the Interdimensional or even the Interplanetary, if you wish.
As far as the potential of those born before or during the 1960's: The answer is yes, but with a qualification. The "pure" Indigo Children have really only been arriving slowly for the past 25 or 30 years, but there are many who have what we call an "Indigo overlay." This is Human who fits the generalizations, but without some of the absolutes that are buried in what you call the DNA that really qualify this new Human experience.
— Kryon
"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)
Is Boy His Own Grandfather? (+Video)
10 Amazing Things Kids Have Said About Past Lives
The reincarnated children: New book tells the extraordinary story of the children who believe they are a WWII pilot, star golfer and a Hollywood agent from a past life – and have this scientist utterly convinced
Posted by Cempaka at 5:07 AM 0 comments
Labels: Awards, Children, Consciousness, Cultural, Indigo, Music, Netherlands
SBY Pledges to Protect Pluralism at Christmas Celebration
Jakarta Globe, Robertus Wardhy, December 28, 2013
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono
leaving the national Christmas celebration in Jakarta on Dec. 27, 2013.
(AFP Photo/Adek Berry)
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday urged the public not to let religious extremism flourish in Indonesia.
"Morally and socially, every leader in the country must prevent and reject extreme and radical behavior," he said, during the annual official Christmas celebration at the Jakarta Convention Center. "Do not depend on state actions to overcome each obstacle against tolerance and the peacefulness of life in society."
He added that each part of society must prevent individuals, groups and movement from spreading radicalism.
The celebration was attended by Vice President Boediono, chairman of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) Ignatius Suharyo, interfaith activist Franz Magnis Suseno, cabinet ministers and around 4,000 Christians.
"Our nation must strengthen awareness and goodwill to build harmonious and peaceful living conditions," Yudhoyono said. "We must develop all this in toddlers and continue it until school-age. Parents, teachers and religious leaders have a duty and a big responsibility. Religious leaders ought to sow the seeds of good deeds and grow them among their own people."
Yudhoyono's comments came in the wake of reports of religious intolerance in the archipelago, including the continued closure of the embattled GKI Yasmin congregation's church in Bogor, which remains shuttered by the municipal government in defiance of two rulings by the Supreme Court.
"Let's use our hearts and minds, not our emotion and violence," Yudhoyono said. "Principally, the state will intervene if there is no other way and prevention fails to work. Law enforcement is the last option if persuasive approaches cannot succeed."
The event was held after the actual holiday so that more guests would be able to attend.
"Since nine years ago, prior to and during Christmas celebrations across Indonesia, I have personally looked on hour by hour to ensure that Christmas security and services are going well so that such an important celebration proceed safely," he said.
Labels: Christmas, Churches, Religion, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Snake kills security guard at Bali luxury hotel
Police have warned tourists in Bali to be alert after the security guard died
(AFP/File, Mohd Rasfan)
Denpasar — Police on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali warned tourists to be on guard Friday after a huge python killed a security guard at a luxury beachfront hotel.
The four-metre (13-foot) snake is still on the loose after the attack early Thursday at the Bali Hyatt, which is in the popular Sanur area but currently closed for renovation.
The security guard, Ambar Arianto Mulyo, spotted the serpent and succeeded in catching it, a police official said.
Mulyo, 59, gripped its head with his right hand and its tail with his left -- but the snake proved too strong, managing to wrap itself around his neck and strangle him.
He was accompanied by friends but they were too terrified to step in and help, Gusti Ngurah Yudistira, the head of the police criminal investigations unit covering the Sanur area, told AFP.
"The victim died on the spot as his neck was crushed and he could not breath," he said.
The snake is still on the loose after a police search of the hotel and its extensive grounds failed to track down the animal, he warned.
"We urge residents and tourists to stay on the alert," Yudistira said, adding the snake may have slithered into a nearby area of thick foliage opposite the hotel.
The deadly attack came at a busy time on Bali, as foreign tourists pack out the island's palm-fringed beaches for the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Labels: Animals, Bali, Hotel - Resort, Tourism
Nine Years After Tsunami, Wounds Still Fresh in Aceh
Jakarta Globe, Nurdin Hasan, December 26, 2013
Acehnese women gaze at photos of the damage caused by the 2004 tsunami
displayed at the Ulee Lheue mass cemetery in Banda Aceh on Dec. 26, 2013.
(JG Photo/Nurdin Hasan)
Banda Aceh. The people of Aceh on Thursday paid their respects to the more than 170,000 people who perished nine years ago today when a 9.3 magnitude earthquake caused a massive tsunami to sweep through the region, leaving a path of devastation in its wake and turning the eyes of the world upon the province.
The provincial government, flying their flags at half-mast, held the nine-year commemoration event at Ratu Safiatuddin park, where thousands of locals, government officials and students took part.
Arie Ginanjar Agustian, a well-known Indonesian motivational speaker, led prayers and gave a speech, while Illiza Sa'aduddin Djamal, the mayor of Aceh, also spoke, as did Aceh Deputy Governor Muzakir Manaf and Administrative Reform Minister Azwar Abubakar. Azwar was the acting governor when the disaster took place on Dec 26, 2004.
Hundreds of people also prayed at the Ulee Lheue mass cemetery, where 14,264 victims were buried.
Hera Fazra, 20, a college student at Ar-Raniry State Islamic University, said she came to the cemetery to pray for three of her relatives killed in the disaster.
"Their bodies were never found," she said.
Her immediate family, though, was able to survive the tsunami since their house was far from the ocean.
"We ran to the mountains when the disaster struck," she said. "Now, when there are big earthquakes, my family and I always retreat to areas far away from the sea, because we are still traumatized by the tsunami."
Assessing the province's present condition, Hera said she appreciated how much Aceh has improved since 2004. Life is better nowadays, she said, since the main roads are in good shape, especially the 145 kilometer road from Banda Aceh to Calang, the capital city of Aceh Jaya district, built with the support of USAID.
Nanda Suhada, 29, a contract worker with the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, said that when the disaster struck, he was on his way to his college campus. He returned to his house in Peukan Bada sub-district, Aceh Besar, at 3 p.m. to find his father, brother and grandmother killed by the wave. His brother and mother managed to save themselves by fleeing to the Fle Geunteng mountains.
"The tsunami is something that I can never forget because it was so extraordinary," he said, "I always recall the disaster. If there are big quakes, every villager runs to the mountains to save themselves because they are worried about another tsunami occurring."
Nanda has since become a tour guide for the PLTD Apung, an electric generator ship owned by state electric company PLN that has become a monument to the tragedy in Banda Aceh. Although the ship weighed 2,600 tons, the tsunami forced it two to three kilometers inland. It now sits in the capital city, a constant reminder of the tsunami's power, and attracts several hundred visitors per year.
Prayers were held next to the PLTD Apung, and thousands of people in white shed tears in remembrance of their love ones taken by the tsunami.
Mariana, 40, said she could not contain her emotions during the memorial.
"I remember my family who died during the tsunami," she said, adding that she lost 14 members of her family that day.
Acehnese fishermen abstained from taking to the seas today in honor of the dead and joined the masses to pray for the province's fallen.
"It was a historical day, because it will never be forgotten when Allah issued a warning to humans," Tabrani, an Acehnese sea commander with Panglima Laot (a traditional organization of fishermen in Aceh) in Lhok Krueng, said. "Most of the tsunami victims were fishermen and their families. Let us perform dhikr [the recitation of God's name] and pray for all of our loved ones.
On Dec. 26, 2004, the massive 9.3-magnitude earthquake hit the Indian Ocean just west of the northern tip of Aceh.
The epicenter of the quake was located some 160 kilometers west of Aceh. The tremor sent devastating tsunami waves across the region, reaching as far as Africa's eastern coast.
The tsunami killed some 230,000 people in 14 countries along the rim of the Indian Ocean.
Phuket lights up for Asian tsunami victims
Labels: Aceh, Earthquake, Fishermen, Natural Disaster
Christmas Sentence Cut for Australian Drug Mule
Jakarta Globe – AFP, December 26, 2013
This file photo shows Australian Schapelle Corby talks to women prisoner (unseen)
inside Kerobokan prison during a press visit, in Denpasar on March 11, 2008. (AFP Photo)
Australian drug trafficker Schapelle Corby has had her sentence in an Indonesian prison cut by two months as part of an annual Christmas remission program, an official said Thursday.
Ika Yusanti, the justice ministry prisons spokeswoman, said she was receiving the reduction for "good behavior."
However the official was tight-lipped about the 36-year-old's prospects for parole amid speculation she may be released from jail on the resort island of Bali in the near future.
The island's corrections board in August recommended Corby for early release from the notorious Kerobokan jail but the process has been bogged down by bureaucratic wrangling.
Corby was sentenced to 20 years in jail in 2005 for smuggling 4.1 kilos (nine pounds) of marijuana into Bali the previous year.
But she has received several remissions and a sentence cut of five years from the president after she filed an appeal for clemency.
If granted parole, Corby would still be bound to the island and obliged to report regularly to authorities. She would live with her sister on Bali under the terms of the parole agreement.
If she continues to receive the usual sentence reductions during her parole period, she could be free to return home to Australia by mid-2015.
Renae Lawrence — part of a group of Australian drug traffickers known as the Bali Nine jailed at Kerobokan — also had her sentence cut by two months. She was originally jailed for 20 years.
Under the Christmas program, the justice ministry granted 8,429 prisoners across the country sentence cuts.
Sentences are routinely cut in Indonesia to mark major religious celebrations and the country's independence day on August 17.
Labels: Australia, Bali, Christmas, Government, Narcotics
Indonesian Christians stage Christmas protest at palace
Indonesian congregations from two churches attend a mass prayer outside
the presidential palace in Jakarta on December 25, 2013 (AFP, Adek Berry)
Jakarta — Hundreds of Indonesian Christians held a Christmas service Wednesday in front of the presidential palace in Jakarta to protest at the closure of their churches due to pressure by Muslim hardliners.
Some 200 people from two churches near the capital sang hymns, recited prayers and lit candles by a busy road alongside three "Christmas trees" constructed out of plywood and bamboo.
The service, involving people of all ages from toddlers to the elderly, began under the scorching sun and continued for hours even after the weather changed abruptly and heavy rain fell.
Christians are coming under increasing pressure from extremists in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority country, and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been criticised for failing to tackle the growing intolerance.
"We want to remind our president once again that he has not yet resolved the issue of religious intolerance in this country," Bona Sigalingging, a spokesman for one of the churches, told AFP.
The churches, in the cities of Bekasi and Bogor, were closed in 2010 by local authorities who had come under pressure from Muslim hardliners.
Authorities said it was because the buildings lacked proper building permits, although rights groups say local governments are simply bowing to extremist pressure and using the permit issue as an excuse.
As well as Christians, hardliners in Sunni-majority Indonesia have targeted Muslim minorities. Ahmadis have seen their places of worship closed and Shiites have been subjected to violent attacks.
Ninety percent of Indonesia's 250 million people identify themselves as Muslim although the constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
Christians increasingly under threat
"THE RECALIBRATION OF BELIEF"– Aug 18, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
Labels: Christian, Christmas, Muslim, Protest, Religion
Classical Musicians, Singers Cross Faith Divide for Christmas
Jakarta Globe, Lisa Siregar, December 25, 2013
Aditya Pradana Setiadi on piano. (Photo courtesy of Aditya Pradana
Setiadi and Elizabeth Dwi Purna)
Christmas is a busy time for musicians. Not only is the end of the year nearing, which often means the budget can be a little loose, but more importantly, music plays a huge part in the festive celebrations.
Beginning in the last days of November up until mid-December, people gather with colleagues and friends in a build-up to a merry Christmas before they eventually get too busy shopping and taking off for holidays with their family.
However, Christmas festivities do not always have to offer a set list of Christmas songs. In essence, it is usually about the birth and the resurrection of Christ, which could be embodied in certain themes.
Pianist Aditya Pradana Setiadi, 28, is one of those musicians that recently have been very busy performing classical concerts. Earlier this month, he was the conceiver, narrator and pianist at "La Serata Verdiana" ("The Evening of Verdi"), a commemoration of Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, at the Italian Cultural Center in Menteng, Central Jakarta. This year marks the 200th anniversary of Verdi's birth.
Aditya, who also teaches musicology and music history at the University of Indonesia, said that Verdi's opera music goes back to the era of Risorgimento ("Resurgence" — Italian unification) where it fueled the spirit to win back occupied areas from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and unite the Italian peninsula.
For Italians in Jakarta, Aditya said, this spirit of Italian patriotism in the Resurgence era also echoes their Christmas mood.
For classical musicians like himself, it is quite common to perform a Christian-themed repertoire. Classical works from European civilization are known to have a strong root in Christian values.
Aditya, who is a Muslim, has been familiar with this understanding and has no worries performing them.
"A lot of classical composers, like Verdi, were atheists, but they still made contributions to music that became part of the Catholic tapestry," Aditya said. "One of his most famous works, 'Requiem Mass,' for example, is commonly used in Catholic funerals."
Aditya noted that Indonesian conductors such as Avip Priatna and Aning Katamsi were Muslims who regularly participated in Christmas concerts.
Aditya said his favorite evenings were those that not only went well in terms of professionalism, but also showed a sense of interfaith tolerance.
"It was quite something to see Aning, who wears a hijab, present the 'Messiah' by Handel, with verses from the Bible," he said. "I also once played piano for soprano Clarentia Prameta, who is a Catholic, in an evening to celebrate Ramadan."
Other than classical musicians, singers also often get more jobs during Christmas, be it for spiritual or entertainment purposes.
Singer Teza Sumendra, 24, is a Muslim, but it is common for him to get more job offers for Christmas than Idul Fitri.
"A lot of people mistake me for a Christian, maybe because I don't look like a Muslim," Teza said with a laugh. "They usually end up asking which church I belong to."
Teza, who was recently involved in the Wonderful Christmas concert at Aula Simfonia Jakarta in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, with conductor Avip, said he preferred to perform in a casual concert rather than singing service at churches.
"I don't mind, but I would prefer for Christian singers to perform at churches, as it's their time to celebrate," he said. "I think it would make it more sacred."
This year, apart from the Wonderful Christmas show, he will be singing during a gathering at a private residence on Christmas Day.
For casual celebrations, Teza likes to listen to jazz from the 1940s to prepare himself, such as Nina Simone and Billie Holiday. He also mixed the set list with cover songs, usually from the rhythm and blues genre.
"I usually take offers to perform at Christmas festivities because I am familiar with those songs," he said.
"I am also a little bit obsessed about New York, so I always imagine myself singing at the Rockefeller Center."
Like Aditya, he does not feel restricted when performing for Christmas events.
Meanwhile, for singer Elisabeth Dwi Purna, known as Lisa, who is Catholic, Christmas is a time to make sure she keeps a healthy balance between entertainment and church service.
Last year, she was involved in two musical productions, including traveling all the way to Papua to join a service at a church there. She said singers usually received a lot of offers to sing in churches in remote places.
When she still lived in Malang, East Java, the priest at her church would usually encourage the choir to sing in various cities, from Java to Kalimantan, over the holiday season.
They would receive money from the church, but it is considered " persembahan kasih ," or a reward, and not a fee. Lisa does not even like to refer to offers from churches as a "job," as it would imply a very worldly meaning.
This year, she was asked to perform in churches in cities near her hometown of Malang. Lisa, who just joined a band called "The Extra Large" and thus cannot travel far too far away this year, will be performing alongside Teza on Christmas Day.
By taking offers to sing in church services, Lisa likes to test her own emotional capability.
"If I sing for a service, I have to mean it," the 31-year-old said. "I can't sing when I'm angry, because it will affect a lot of people, so if I wasn't quite tuned, I would say no to the job."
Lisa and Teza — both of whom were finalists for the popular reality TV competition "Indonesian Idol" in 2006 — said that a lot of offers to sing for services usually came for participants of shows like "The X Factor," "The Voice," "Indonesian Idol" or "Akademi Fantasi Indosiar." For casual shows, they are usually asked to perform light and entertaining Christmas classics, such as "Silent Night" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."
"It usually depends on how the organizers see Christmas. For some people it's festive, for others, it would be serene and it depends on the influence of their own church," she said.
Lisa acknowledged that she faced her own dilemma as a singer. As a Catholic, she personally prefers a silent night way from loud festivities. But to be able to stay a part of the industry, she feels the need to switch her mind-set when performing at a service.
Either way, Christmas is a time to give praise and thanks. Due to her busy schedule, Lisa said she hadn't had the chance to spend Christmas at home for the last couple of years.
This forces her to explore new ways to celebrate Christmas. Last year, she ventured to a new church and absorbed the spirit of Christmas on her own.
Labels: Catholic, Christian, Christmas, Churches, Cultural, Music, Muslim, Performances, Religion
Cashing in on Christmas without Christianity
Deutsche Welle, 24 December 2013
Even predominantly Hindu and Muslim countries deck the halls and department store windows during the traditional Christian holiday. For retailers, especially, this makes the season's profits all the more merry.
Students in China parade, dressed as Santa Claus
Bratwurst sizzles as the spicy aroma of mulled wine wafts between the vendors' wooden stalls. Santa parts the crowd, dispersing candy to a swarm of children. He's come a long way from the North Pole to face the blazing Indian sun, but he couldn't pass up the German Christmas market in Delhi - even if the country is overwhelmingly Hindu.
Move over, baby Jesus. For many non-Christian countries like India and China, Christmas has become a seasonal necessity, spiking retail sales, spreading secular cheer and prompting festive store-window displays intent on luring big spenders.
But back to the Christmas market. The Indo-German Chamber of commerce has been sponsoring the event in Delhi for 16 years now. Here, religion takes a back seat.
The Christmas market in Delhi was such
a success that Mumbai launched its own
"It is a totally commercial event meaning to promote Indo-German trade and culture in the joyful setting of a Christmas market, which is so famous in Germany," said Navina Choudhury, project director of the event where Indian and German vendors peddle their wares. "It's popular for everybody who's fun-loving and wants to buy Christmas goodies or just do shopping in a fun atmosphere."
Aside from the social aspect, Choudhury says it's a platform for businesses to garner recognition. Big German corporations like Audi, for example, help sponsor the event.
"A lot of companies get good branding and exposure in this format," she said, adding that the event tends to draw 10,000 - 12,000 visitors annually. Beyond the Christmas market, however, Choudhury said the holiday cheer extends into Delhi's public sphere. "Hotels, markets, everything gets decorated in a Christmas fashion. Nobody would do without it."
Deck the New Year's tree?
Against the soundscape of minaret calls in Istanbul, Christmas decorations dangle from the streetlamps. Department stores tout trimmed trees. But don't go calling them Christmas trees. In Turkey these pines are marketed as "New Year's Trees."
Christmas decorations dangle from street lamps on Istanbul's shopping
street Istikal Caddesi
Even if it's not exactly called Christmas, Muslim-majority Turkey also profits from the holiday spirit. Fancy hotels, retail chains and fancy restaurants deck the halls.
Pelin Cakar heads the upscale "Luca" restaurant in Istanbul's classy Bebek district. Christmas trees - or New Year's trees, rather, dot the dining room. A string of lights lines the outdoor terrace.
"For us, they aren't decorations for Christmas, but rather, for the New Year," Cakar said. "We decorate because it's a festive month, and because the decoration fits accordingly."
Despite the alluring decorations, Cakar says that cashing in on the holidays isn't her priority. "For us the financial aspect isn't our foremost focus, the social aspect is. But of course, the decoration is beautiful and inviting for the guests. We also have a lot of international guests who like it."
Santa speaks Chinese, too
Across the globe in China, pine trees are illuminated and red-suited Santas pose for portraits. "With more and more Western influence in Chinese cities, Christmas as an event, much more commercial than religious, has become common in China," said Shanghai-based media producer Jose Qian.
Although rural communities may be exempt, big cities like Shanghai and Beijing go all out.
"Christmas trees and similar decorations appear in most office buildings and shopping malls. Merry Christmas signs and Santa Claus costumes are popular in many commercial venues," Qian said, adding that classic Christmas carols can often be heard in public."
Since Christmas falls near the traditional Chinese New Year between January and February, the Christmas season gives retailers a reason to launch major sales already in December. Qian said most sales are in the clothing and dining sector.
"The sales season lasts for one and half months, during which time shopping volume goes up," Qian said. "All kinds of promotions are organized and retailers obviously benefit from this."
According to Professor Kent Deng of the London School of Economics, the Christmas boom provides a lifeline to some Chinese manufacturers.
"From the producers' point of view, a lot of small and medium companies depend on Christmas for their livelihood," Deng said. In addition to producers of trinkets, the manufacturers of gadgets or popular tech gifts also pin their success on the commercialization of holidays.
Shopping malls erect massive trees, speckled with colorful baubles. Santa enthusiasts can even get their photo taken with jolly old Saint Nick. Even if the public isn't entirely clear on who the potbellied fellow is, they know that he helps make wishes come true.
"This comes from Hollywood movies," Deng said. "Here, Santa speaks Chinese, of course. But if someone looked at the photo, you wouldn't recognize that this is a non-Christian country."
Santa poses Marilyn Monroe-style in Taiyuan, Shanxi province of China
In China, Christmas is celebrated not necessarily by giving gifts, says the economist, but rather, by splurging on a good meal. And this is where French, Italian and German restaurants profit. Deng says Western restaurants are some of the greatest financial beneficiaries of the Christmas season in China.
"The Chinese have a very strange reinterpretation of the Christmas celebration," Deng said. "You must go to a posh restaurant and have some foreign wine and some fine food. You are for that day, a European person." He laughs, adding, "You can appreciate they have such a romantic view about Christmas. You spend all your disposable income. You eat the best food of the year."
Multi-purpose merry wishes
And the interpretation of the Western holiday doesn't end there. "As a social norm, Chinese do send Christmas cards that say 'Merry Christmas,'" Deng said, estimating that about 100 million families will be sending cards this year. "This is a social formality. Often they link this to the New Year since it's only five days apart, so they'll copy the European style."
European or not. Christian or not, back in India, Navina Choudhury says religion isn't necessary to appreciate the holiday.
"I'm not a Christian, but my daughter has always had a Christmas tree. Santa brings gifts. It is a very important festival in India, even for non-Christians. We all celebrate it."
With additional reporting by Senada Sokullu in Istanbul.
Labels: China, Christian, Christmas, Cultural, Germany, Globalization, Hinduism, India, Muslim, New Years Eve, Religion, Turkey, US
Indonesia sharia stronghold bans New Year's festiv...
Body washes up on Beckham's hideaway island in Mal...
City's Former Dancing Monkeys Now Seeking Their Ow...
SBY Pledges to Protect Pluralism at Christmas Cele...
Indonesian Christians stage Christmas protest at p...
Classical Musicians, Singers Cross Faith Divide fo...
OPM Fighters 'Tired of Living in the Jungle,' Read...
New Soekarno Film Keeps History Alive
Independence War Propaganda Uncovered
LGBT Campaigners Stand Up in Central Java
SBY Orders Police to Guard Christmas Celebrations ...
Former E. Timor President Fumes Over Australia Spy...
US attempts to halt Paris auction of sacred Native...
Indonesia 'In No Rush' to Restore Australia Ties O...
Iran's Rouhani seen on casual hike in the hills
WTO Salvages Bali Trade Deal
Free Healthcare Overwhelms Papua
Obama defends Iran deal at Hanukkah celebration
Chinese abacus named UNESCO intangible cultural he...
Discovering The Roots of Balinese Art In Jakarta
Unilever Slammed for 'Poverty-Exploitation' Advert
SBY Set to Open WTO Conference in Bali
President Mahama To Lead Process Towards ECOWAS Cu...


text:
Crimea: Persecution of Crimean Tatars Intensifies
Arbitrary Detentions; Separatism, Terrorism Charges
Law enforcement officials during a search in Bakhchysarai, Crimea on January 26, 2017
@ 2017 Anton Naumlyik RFE/RL
(Berlin) – Russian authorities in Crimea have intensified persecution of Crimean Tatars, under various pretexts and with the apparent goal of completely silencing dissent on the peninsula, Human Rights Watch said today. Crimean Tatars are a Muslim ethnic minority indigenous to the Crimean Peninsula. Many openly oppose Russia's occupation, which began in 2014.
"Russian authorities in Crimea have relentlessly persecuted Crimean Tatars for their vocal opposition to Russia's occupation since it began in 2014," said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "They have portrayed politically active Crimean Tatars as extremists and terrorists, forced many into exile, and ensured that those who choose to stay never feel safe to speak their mind."
Since Russia's occupation began, Russian authorities and their proxies have subjected members of Crimean Tatar community and their supporters, including journalists, bloggers, activists, and others to harassment, intimidation, threats, intrusive and unlawful searches of their homes, physical attacks, and enforced disappearances. Complaints lodged with authorities are not investigated effectively. Russia has banned Crimean Tatar media and organizations that criticized Russia's actions in Crimea, including disbanding and proscribing the Mejlis, the Crimean Tatar self-governing highest executive body.
In October 2017, Human Rights Watch researchers in Crimea documented criminal prosecutions for separatism against Crimean Tatars who had criticized Russia's actions in Crimea, as well as new and ongoing baseless terrorism-related prosecutions. Researchers also documented detention and fines for Crimean Tatars who peacefully staged single-person pickets to protest the arrest and prosecution of other Tatars. Under Russian law people who want to picket individually are not required to seek official permission.
Since 2015, Russian authorities have arrested at least 26 people on charges of involvement with the Islamist movement Hizb ut-Tahrir, banned as a terrorist organization in Russia since 2003 but not proscribed in Ukraine, nor in most of Europe. They were arrested on charges of participating in or organizing a terrorist group, solely for acts – often in private – of expression, assembly, opinion, or religious and political belief that the Russian authorities claim constitute affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir. They face from five years to life in prison. The arrests are consistent with Russia's practice of cracking down on Muslims who preach and study Islam outside official guidelines.
In several cases, Russian police and security services ill-treated people suspected or accused of separatist, extremist, or terrorist activities and denied them due process. In one case, a former detainee said security agents beat him and gave him electric shocks to coerce him to become an informant.
In October, Russian authorities brought separatism charges against Suleiman Kadyrov, a Crimean Tatar activist, for posting a comment on social media criticizing the occupation of Crimea. The charges came several weeks after a Russian court convicted a Crimean Tatar leader, Ilmi Umerov, on separatism charges stemming from a media interview in which he criticized Russian actions in Crimea, and sentenced him to two years in prison.
In September, a Russian court in Crimea sentenced another prominent Crimean Tatar leader, Akhtem Chiygoz, to eight years in prison on bogus charges of organizing "mass riots."
On October 25, after negotiations between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Russian authorities allowed Chiygoz and Umerov to leave Crimea for Turkey. On October 27, they arrived in Kyiv.
Under international law, the Russian Federation is an occupying power in Crimea as it exercises effective control without the consent of the government of Ukraine, and there has been no legally recognized transfer of sovereignty to Russia.
On September 25, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine released its first report on the human rights situation in Crimea, concluding that it "has significantly deteriorated under Russian occupation."
Russian authorities, and their proxies, should immediately stop persecution of Crimean Tatars including under the pretext of combating terrorism and extremism, cease all unjustified interference with freedom of association and assembly in Crimea, and ensure prompt, effective, and impartial investigations into all allegations of abuses perpetrated by law-enforcement against Crimean Tatars. Russian and Ukrainian authorities should ensure unfettered access to Crimea for independent human rights groups as well as humanitarian and intergovernmental organizations.
The UN Human Rights Office, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe should continue to document and publicly report on the human rights situation in Crimea and urge Russian authorities to address both ongoing and past abuses. Russia's international partners, including the European Union and its member states, Turkey, and the US should continue to call for the release of detained Crimean Tatar activists and for an end to the harassment and arbitrary actions against the Crimean Tatar community.
"It is good news that Chiygoz and Umerov are no longer at risk, but it's also outrageous that they have had to go into exile to bring their ordeal to an end, and that others in Crimea remain incarcerated," Williamson said. "Russia's international partners need to press the Kremlin and Crimean authorities end the persecution of the Crimean Tatar community."
Human Rights Watch researchers spoke with Crimean Tatar leaders and family members, lawyers, journalists, and others in Crimea in late October in the cities of Simferopol, Krasnogvardeyskoe, Belogorsk, and Yalta. Interviewees received no compensation and were fully informed of the purpose of the interview and on how Human Rights Watch would use the information they provided.
Prosecutions for Alleged Involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir
Since 2015, Russian authorities in Crimea have charged at least 26 people, most of them Crimean Tatars, with participating in or organizing a terrorist group because of their alleged involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Hizb ut-Tahrir, established in 1953, is an international Islamist movement that seeks to establish a worldwide caliphate based on Sharia, but publicly denounces violence as a means to achieve its goal. In 2003, Russia banned Hizb ut-Tahrir as a terrorist organization. Hizb ut-Tahrir is not banned in Ukraine or in most of Europe, but is in Germany, and several former Soviet republics, including Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as China, Egypt, and most Arab countries. The European Court of Human Rights has held that bans on Hizb ut-Tahrir in Germany and Russia do not violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
According to Sova Center, a prominent Russian think tank, as of February, 47 people were serving prison terms in Russia for alleged involvement in the movement. In its 2016 report, Sova Center highlighted Russian authorities' and courts' practice of charging and convicting people solely for studying, distributing religious literature, or participating in discussions on religious topics linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir.
In the past several years, Memorial Human Rights Center has designated 40 people sentenced for involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir in Russia as political prisoners.
Prior to the occupation, although Ukrainian authorities did not ban Hizb ut Tahrir, in Crimea they kept lists of suspected followers. Some of those Human Rights Watch interviewed believed the Russian authorities used these lists to identify and prosecute Crimean Tatars for involvement in the organization.
Law enforcement search the house of a Crimean Tatar activist in Stroganovka, Crimea, May 2017.
2017 RFE/RL
In 25 of the cases of arrests documented, the terrorism-related charges were based solely on the suspects' alleged association with Hizb ut-Tahrir. In no case was the suspect accused of involvement in planning, carrying out, or otherwise being an accessory to, any act of violence.
Some of the detainees do not deny some level of affiliation with Hizb-ut-Tahrir, but all deny any involvement in a terrorist organization. Under Russian law, participation in a terrorist group (article 205.5, part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code) is punishable by a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years. Punishment for organizing the activities of a terrorist group (part 1 of article 205.5) ranges from 15 years to life.
In all the cases documented, law enforcement agents searched suspects' homes, confiscating computer equipment, telephones, flash drives, and other data storage, and Islamic literature, then detained them allegedly on suspicion of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Activists and lawyers working on behalf of those detained told Human Rights Watch that most of the evidence investigators presented consists of video or audio recordings of meetings in people's apartments at which people discussed interpretations of the Quran or their disagreements with Russia's actions in Crimea; possession of religious literature; and meetings, conversations, and other actions allegedly aimed at recruiting new members.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that it had identified and eliminated Hizb ut-Tahrir cells in Yalta, Bakhchisarai, Simferopol, and Sevastopol. In each town, authorities detained on average four to six people, charging one person as a leader of a cell and the others as members.
In addition to the cases documented, in August 2016, a citizen of Kyrgyzstan, Akhmatzhon Abdulaev, was arrested in Crimea. According to Crimea SOS, a Ukrainian rights group monitoring the human rights situation in Crimea, authorities charged him with abetting terrorist activity and participation in Hizb ut-Tahrir and he is in pretrial detention in Simferopol.
Bakhchysarai- October 11, 2017
On October 11, 2017, at about 6 a.m., FSB agents searched the homes of six Crimean Tatars in Bakhchysarai, a city in central Crimea. They did not present a warrant.
After the searches, the authorities arrested Timur Ibragimov, Memet Belyalov, Server Zekeryayev, Seyran Saliyev, Ernest Ametov, and Marlen (Suleyman) Asanov, all of whom a court sent to pretrial custody for two months pending the investigation. Crimea SOS reported that Asanov was eventually charged with allegedly organizing a Hizb-ut-Tahrir "terrorist" cell, and the other five men, with alleged involvement in it. All deny the charges.
Zair Smedlyaev, a Crimean Tatar leader and a member of Kurultai, the elected council of the Crimean Tatar community, who monitored the developments around the searches, told Human Rights Watch that some of those subjected to the searches are devout Muslims and that all are also outspoken critics of Russia's occupation of Crimea.
Emil Kurbedinov, a lawyer representing Asanov, told Human Rights Watch that during Asanov's initial interrogation, the authorities claimed that he was involved in "anti-Russian" activities. On October 25, the authorities formally charged him with organizing a "terrorist cell" in Bakhchysarai.
Authorities committed several procedural violations in the arrests and searches. Two lawyers told Human Rights Watch that they were unable to observe the searches because security services and riot police blocked off the area and denied them entry, even after they said they were there to represent their clients. Kurbedinov said the authorities failed to present the necessary arrest and other procedural documents in a timely manner.
Alexey Ladin, another lawyer representing one of the detainees, told media that during interrogations, the security officials claimed the criminal charges were based on two audio recordings of conversations between those arrested. He said the conversations concerned various interpretations of the Quran and other religious topics, but none related to violence or any other criminal activity.
Kurbedinov said that Asanov is a successful businessman and an active supporter of a group called Crimea Solidarity. Created in 2016, the group includes Crimean Tatar activists, family members, lawyers, and human rights defenders and supports Crimean Tatars persecuted by the authorities. Kurbedinov said that Asanov on several occasions provided a venue for the group's meetings.
Nizhnegorskiy
Renat Paralamov is a Crimean Tatar who worked as a trader at a local market in Nizhnegorskiy. In September, security services detained him on suspicion of involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir and allegedly tortured him to coerce him into becoming an informant. On September 13, 2017, a group of masked men in Nizhnegorskiy searched the house where he lived with his family. They said that they needed to search for "weapons and drugs." During the search, they seized Paralamov's laptop and tablet, as well as his mother-in-law's book on Islam.
After the search, the men put Paralamov in a van and drove off.
For more than 24 hours, his family and lawyer had no contact with him or information about his whereabouts. Paralamov's lawyer and a group of activists called and visited police and FSB departments in Nizhnegorskiy and Simferopol asking about him, but got no answers as to his whereabouts or even a confirmation of his arrest. On the morning of September 14, a policeman told Paralamov's family and friends, who had gathered outside a Nizhnegorskiy police station, that the local FSB department had released Paralamov the day before, but that he "voluntarily" went back to "provide further answers" to the authorities' questions.
At around about 12:30 pm on September 14, Paralamov called his family from a bus station in Simferopol. He said he had been badly beaten, and was shaken and unable to walk. Paralamov's family took him to a hospital in Simferopol to document his injuries, which included multiple hematomas and bruises.
At the end of September, Paralamov managed to leave Crimea with his family. After he arrived in Kyiv, he spent 15 days in a hospital to get treatment for his injuries.
During a news conference in Kyiv in early November, Paralamov described his detention and torture. He said that after the FSB took him to the station, they put a bag over his head, put tape over his mouth, and tortured him with electric shocks. They also punched him in the chest and hit him on the back of his head. When he asked for a lawyer, an FSB agent punched him in the chest and told him, "I'm your lawyer."
Paralamov said the FSB agents asked him about his involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir and demanded that he become an informant, attend Crimean Tatars' gatherings, collect information, and pass it on to the authorities. They also forced him to sign a document claiming that he left the FSB station in Simferopol on September 13 and voluntarily returned to confess to involvement with Hizb ut-Tahrir and that he voluntarily agreed to "cooperate" with the FSB.
Paralamov said that the next day, the authorities took him to a forest, where they made him repeat his confession on camera. The authorities told Paralamov that if he cooperated, he would get a three-year conditional sentence rather than real prison time and told him to not use a Crimean lawyer but the lawyer that they would provide.
On February 11, 2016, the FSB searched 11 homes of Crimean Tatars in Yalta and surrounding towns. Edem Semedlyaev, a lawyer representing one of the suspects, said that law-enforcement officials knocked down doors and broke windows in several houses.
Following house searches, the FSB detained 14 people. Ten were released the next day and four were arrested: Emir-Usein Kuku, Enver Bekirov, and Vadim Siruk on suspicion of participating in Hizb ut-Tahrir, and Muslim Aliev for allegedly organizing a local Hizb ut-Tahrir cell. All are also charged under article 278 of the Russian Criminal Code for actions directed at the "violent takeover of power". Two months later, police in Yalta arrested two other men, Refat Alimov and Arsen Dzhepparov, for alleged participation as well. All six have been in custody awaiting trial since their arrest.
In October 2016, prison doctors, saying they were assessing the six detainees' mental health condition, questioned them about their religious practices and political views. Because all six refused to answer, they were forcibly placed in a psychiatric hospital in November 2016 for three to four weeks for evaluation. The authorities said they found no problems with the men's mental health and that they were therefore accountable for their actions.
Family members of one of those in custody, Aliev, told Human Rights Watch that at about 7 a.m. on February 11, about 10 heavily armed and masked men came to search the house. The men did not present a search warrant or any identification and refused Aliev's request for a lawyer. They forced Aliev, who did not resist, to lie on the floor face down in front of his wife and children and told the family that they were looking for weapons and prohibited literature. They brought two witnesses for the search. When Aliev's wife asked if they could invite neighbors to witness the search instead, the armed men refused.
The men behaved aggressively toward Aliev's wife and children. One asked Aliev's 12-year-old son: "Who do you want to be when you grow up? Do you want to be like us and take down people like your father?" One of the men picked up the Quran from the table and threw it on the floor. When Aliev's wife attempted to pick it up, the man kicked it away.
During the search, the authorities seized three bags of books, including children's books, as well as Aliev's computer and cell phone. They eventually returned the books and the computer.
Emir-Usein Kuku, another of those in custody, is a human rights activist and a member of the Contact Human Rights Group, founded in October 2014 to pressure Russian authorities in Crimea to investigate abuses. Authorities briefly detained him in April 2015, questioned him in November 2015, and repeatedly attempted to recruit him as an informant, an offer which he refused and spoke about publicly.
In September 2016, the prosecutor's office in Crimea launched an investigation alleging that Kuku was neglecting his parental duties. In October 2016, a local police inspector made several attempts to meet with Kuku's children, 5 and 9, while they were at school without adults present, and on one occasion when he was able to, he asked Kuku's 9-year-old son questions that implied his father was neglecting his parental duties while in detention.
Dzhemil Temishev, a lawyer representing Dzhepparov, another of the six detainees, told Human Rights Watch that between April and May 2016, prison administration refused to provide him with necessary medical assistance for an ongoing health problem requiring surgery. After Temishev repeatedly complained, Dzhepparov was eventually hospitalized and underwent surgery. In May 2017, Dzhepparov's health deteriorated again but the authorities again refused to provide him with needed medical treatment, Temishev said. Temishev also said that prison authorities placed Dzepparov in solitary confinement twice for a total of 16 days under arbitrary pretexts, such as refusing to shave his beard or not opening the cell door fast enough.
Bakhchysarai – May 2016
Four residents of Bakhchysarai were arrested on May 12, 2016, and charged with membership in Hizb ut-Tahrir. They are Rustem Abiltarov, Zevri Abseitov, Remzi Memtov, and Enver Mamutov.
Police arrested all four following searches of five houses and a café in Bakhchysarai. Mamutov is accused of organizing and leading a cell, and the rest, with involvement in it. A former Russian prosecutor in Crimea stated that the detained men allegedly carried out "unconstitutional activity in the form of the propaganda work among the population." All four remain in custody, pending the investigation.
In October 2016, police arrested Aider Saleidinov, Rustem Ismailov, Uzair Abdullayev, Teimur Abdullaev, and Emil Dzhemadenov, after a wave of house searches in the city of Simferopol. Abullayev was accused of organizing a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell, and the four others of participation in it. All five have remained in custody, pending the investigation.
In December 2016, Saledinov, Ismailov, and Uzair Abdullaev said, FSB officers beat them while in transit to investigative facilities. In February 2017, Saledinov and Ismailov were sent for psychiatric evaluations at a hospital to determine the state of their mental health at the time of their alleged criminal acts. Kurbedinov, the lawyer, said that Teimur Abdullaev was placed in an isolation ward in March 2017 for writing a letter in Crimean Tatar language.
In January 2015, police in Sevastopol arrested Ruslan Zeitullayev, Ferat Saifulaeyev, Rustem Vaitov, and Nuri Primov. Zeitullayev was charged with organizing a Hizb ut-Tahrir cell, and the others with participation.
On September 7, 2016, a military court in Rostov-on-Don in Russia, convicted all four men on charges of participation in a terrorist organization and sentenced Vaitov, Primov, and Saifulayev to five years in prison, and Zeitullayev to seven.
Following the prosecutor's appeal that Zeitullayev should have been convicted for "organizing" not just "participation in" a terrorist group, on December 27, Russia's Supreme Court sent his case for retrial. The prosecution asked for a more severe charge and sentence because it considered Zeitullayev the leader of the Hizb ut-Tahrir group in Sevastopol.
At retrial, in April 2017, the court sentenced Zeitullayev to 12 years in a maximum-security prison for organizing a terrorist group. The prosecutor's office again appealed the verdict, demanding an 18-year sentence. In July, Russia's Supreme Court changed Zeitullayev's prison sentence to 15 years. The verdict, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, said that the case against him was built on testimony by a secret witness; conversations with others about prosecutions against Hizb ut-Tahrir members and criticism of the media; and the alleged possession of brochures, leaflets, and other Hizb ut-Tahrir publications.
In September 2017, all four men were transferred to various regions of Russia to serve their prison terms. Memorial Human Rights Center recognized them as political prisoners.
Separatism Prosecutions
On October 18, 2017, following a year-long investigation, Russia's security services charged Crimean Tatar activist Suleyman Kadyrov, 55, with separatism (article 280.1, part 2, of Russia's criminal code). Kadyrov is a former Mejlis member.
One of Kadyrov's lawyers, Alexey Ladin, told Human Rights Watch that in April, Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service included him in its official list of "active terrorists and extremists."
The criminal charges stem from comments Kadyrov made in March 2016 when he re-posted another user's Crimea-related video on his Facebook page. The comment said: "Suleyman Kadyrov agrees! Crimea is Ukraine. Always has been, always will be. Many thanks to the author of the video! I support it!"
Kadyrov is at liberty, awaiting trial.
Arrests for Single-Person Pickets
The Crimean authorities refuse Crimean Tatars' requests to hold peaceful gatherings under arbitrary pretexts and crack down on spontaneous protests. Between August and October 2017, authorities detained dozens and fined at least 10 Crimean Tatars for exercising their right to protest peacefully. They included people who held single-person pickets, including to protest the trials of Crimean Tatar leaders and security service searches of Crimean Tatars' homes.
On August 8, Simferopol police detained 76-year-old Sever Karametov, who was picketing in front of the Crimea Supreme Court building in Simferopol to protest the trial of Akhtem Chiygoz. Three police officers approached Karametov and ordered him to follow them. When he insisted on remaining, they grabbed him and forcibly led him away. Karametov's lawyer said he had been diagnosed with advanced Parkinson's disease. On August 9, a judge refused to order a medical exam for Karametov, swiftly found him guilty of resisting police orders, and sentenced him to 10 days in prison, which he served. The court also fined Karametov 10,000 rubles (approximately US$165.)
On October 11, authorities in Bakhchysarai detained nine activists who were recording the searches of the homes of those suspected of involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir and live streaming them on social media. Authorities charged them with participating in an unauthorized public gathering that led to disrupting public order, a misdemeanor. A lawyer present when the men were detained told the media that police struck several of the activists while transporting them to the police station.
In court hearings the same day, all nine were found guilty and fined for various amounts of up to 15,000 rubles (approximately US$261), for a total amount of 135,000 rubles (approximately US$2,350).
Human Rights Watch researcher Tanya Cooper interviewing Zair Smedlyaev, Crimean Tatar leader in Krasnogvardeyskoe, Crimea on October 24, 2017
2017 Yulia Gorbunova/Human Rights Watch
On October 14, more than 100 Crimean Tatars participated in single-person pickets at different locations around Crimea, protesting the October 11 arrests. The protesters stood along Crimea's highways, holding up signs demanding an end to the persecution of Crimean Tatars. According to media reports, the police detained at least 49 people for conducting single-person pickets. In a video statement uploaded to his Facebook page, Rustem Kyamilev, a Crimean lawyer who monitored the arrests, said that the police pressured those detained to be fingerprinted and denied them access to a lawyer. All were released the same day without charge.
In the following days, most of the activists detained on October 14 were summoned to their local police stations, Zair Smedlyaev told Human Rights Watch. The activists told Smedlyaev that during questioning the police pressed them for details about those organizing the October 14 protests, including asking who told them to participate in the protests and who prepared the signs for them.
As an occupying power, Russia should respect, unless absolutely prevented from doing so, Ukrainian laws that were in force in Crimea when it commenced its occupation. However, Russia rejects its status as an occupying power and applies its federal laws to Crimea, including criminalizing activity not previously criminalized on the peninsula. This notwithstanding, all relevant human rights treaties, including the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against Torture, apply in Crimea and all authorities, whether they are Russian or Crimean acting under Russian authority are bound by these treaties.
Russia is bound to respect the rights of Crimean residents, including those of freedom of opinion, expression, assembly and association, and religion, freedom from arbitrary detention and ill-treatment including torture, and rights to fair trial, due process, and privacy. The Russian actions against Crimean Tatars that Human Rights Watch documented violate these rights and in total may be considered to amount to a policy of persecution against Crimean Tatars.
While it may fall within Russia's discretion to proscribe Hizb ut-Tahrir and designate it as a terrorist organization, that does not give Russian authorities carte blanche to use the criminal law as a tool to suppress non-violent opposition, criticism or protest. Any and all application of the criminal law must comport with international standards on due process and focus on criminal conduct, not be used to punish exercise of basic rights such as free speech, assembly, and opinion.
The evidence against the Crimean Tatars prosecuted is not that they engaged in, advocated, or aided and abetted acts of violence. Rather the evidence presented against those accused of involvement in a terrorist organization is primarily discussions during meetings, often in private apartments, on interpretations of the Quran or Russia's actions in Crimea, or possession of religious literature. The prosecution on terrorism charges of Crimean Tatars for non-violent speech and, in particular, the equating of speech with acts of terrorism or extremism, is an unjustified interference with freedom of opinion, expression and religion.
Russia's use of the ban on Hizb ut-Tahrir to go after and lock up Crimean Tatars who have not engaged in criminal behavior, but who may oppose Russian occupation or are discussing their religious and political beliefs, is not only a violation of freedom of association but is a misuse of the criminal justice system for political ends. These actions are further compounded when the Russian authorities deny people the right to peacefully protest rights violations, whether in a collective or as individuals, and punish them for peaceful exercise of their right to protest.
Europe/Central Asia
Terrorism / Counterterrorism
September 27, 2017 News Release
Crimea: Crimean Tatar Leader Convicted on Spurious Charges
Crimea: Baseless Conviction of Crimean Tatar Leader
Russia: Escalating Persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses
Arrests, Prison, Harassment for Peaceful Religious Practice
Greece: Unaccompanied Children at Risk
Arriving Alone in Island Camp, They Face Insecurity, Neglect
Qatar: End of Abusive Exit Permits for Migrant Workers
June 21, 2017 Report
"Just Let Us Be"


Silverman's work in Hudson County goes far beyond innovative projects and quality construction. Supporting the community is just as important as developing great buildings. Currently, we are involved with many civic and non-profit organizations including Art House Productions, Hamilton Park Conservancy, Historic Downtown Special Improvement District, Hudson County Community College Foundation, Jersey Cares, Jersey City Children's Theater, Liberty Science Center, New City Kids, New Jersey City University Foundation, New Jersey Needs You, Nimbus Dance Works, Rising Tide Capital, and WomenRising, to name a few.
Our dedication to local arts, music, and theatre is apparent in the events we host, sponsor, and support in kind. A series of six art exhibits takes place in the lobby-gallery spaces of Hamilton Square and Majestic Theatre Condominiums curated by Brendan Carroll. The art shows, ribbon cuttings, fundraisers, and activities for the community, including the Annual Cinco de Mayo Parade and Fiesta and the Annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival provide energy and enthusiasm to the neighborhoods.


Cameroon Football Development Program (CameroonFDP) is a nonprofit organization based in Pittsburgh, PA and Kumba, Cameroon with the mission to improve the lives of African youth with the game of soccer. CameroonFDP works to promote education, gender equity, health, leadership and life skills through community sports by training local coaches and creating opportunities for youth to play the game they love. With support from FIFA Football Hope in 2016-2017, we operate educational youth soccer leagues in 5 communities, impacting hundreds of children in the Central African nation. In the U.S., supporters help to create awareness, collect equipment, raise funds and even travel to Cameroon to support our life-changing work.


Hundreds of medical staff will once again be on hand at this year's Notting Hill Carnival.
The London Ambulance Service is appealing for the return of two cycle response pushbikes after they were stolen from outside the home of a patient in Finsbury.
The London Ambulance Service is calling for greater respect for staff after a Battersea ambulance crew was attacked on Edgware Road.
A video showing the work of the Service's bicycle response unit is now available on the BBC website.


Gold sequins and black leather dance in a dingy corridor lit by green tinged fluorescent tubes. She is a gilded diva, he is a bad boy and rocker, and right here, in the grittiness of it all, they have eyes only for each other. Stylistically unconventional, this is a couple who is not afraid to live life with passion and verve. A huge shout out to 50nfifty Productions for sending along such a unique set of photos!
Some insight from the photographer: "When Alfredo and Tracy first approached us, they clearly did not want typical bridal portraits, with flowers and fairy lights in a picturesque location filled with lush greenery and bathed in sunlight. They were an adventurous couple with attitude and edgy wardrobes to match. They wanted a photoshoot that spoke of their lifestyles and who they are, both as a couple and as individuals.


Upon written complaint will be responded to within 15 days of receipt of the same .
All complaints shall be maintained for at least one year of receiving the complaint.
All images and videos used in this website are for use in a PRIVATE use only and not for any commercial purposes. They belong to their own owners and are used in this website for a pure cultural educative NON commercial purposes ONLY.


Many national dishes have humble origins and are unlikely to grace any fancy recipe book next to gastronomic courses with noble products.
With water, potato and this cabbage the northern Portuguese made Caldo Verde, green broth, and Portuguese all over the world still eat it with pleasure and as an antidote against homesickness.
Most people are poor and have been poor over the centuries and these people did their best with what was available.
The Dutch, for instance, eat kale and endive as vegetables while elsewhere these greens are only good to feed cattle.
Kale is getting a comeback due to a U.S. originated trend for its healthy nutrients while endive "andijvie" mainly exists as a word in English but not as an ingredient.
The same applies to Portuguese cabbage, the Gallician cabbage or Braganza.
On the outdoor market here in Saint-Germain-en-Laye there is a green grocer with Portuguese cabbage. In fact, there is a large Portuguese population around here. Many were political refugees during the military dictatorship (1926-1974) and scores worked in the vegetable growing industry on the fertile grounds around the Seine River, at a short distance from the markets of Paris.
I added some chorizo ("chourizo" in Portuguese) to the soup, others also use onion, cilantro or other ingredients but this one stays close to the original and tastes good.
You need to wash the cabbage and remove the tough stems, then cut the leaves as fine as possible. I did it by hand with a long knife which rendered slightly wide strips of cabbage, and used a hand blender towards the end to cut up the greens a bit more. It also minced the chorizo slices.
Put water in a pan, add salt and bring to the boil.
Peel and cut the potatoes, remove the skin from the garlic cloves.
Wash, drain, prepare and cut the cabbage leaves into thin strips.
When the water boils, add the potatoes and garlic and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
After that, use a slotted spoon to remove the potatoes and garlic into a bowl and use a fork or a masher to mash the mixture.
Add the mixture back to the quietly boiling water; add the olive oil and stir.
Put the cabbage strips into the water and stir.
Add the chorizo and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Taste and add pepper and salt.
Serve hot, or let it cool for a later serving.