Report from CNN (5:03):

THE SCOTTISH War Blind celebrated the start of work on their multimillion pound facility yesterday (Tues).

The new centre is backed by Iraq hero Ben Shaw, 26, who lost his eyesight in a roadside bombing near Basra in February 2007.

As the charity’s youngest user, it is hoped the new Linburn complex – which replaces the run-down 1940s building – will provide brave war veterans like Ben to get the vital help and support they need.

Costing £3 million, the services in the new centre will focus on teaching the ex-servicemen and women how to cope with modern life without their sight.

Rebuild lives

As well as those recently injured in the line of duty, the charity also assists older clients who are suffering from worsening or progressive blindness.

When the existing building first opened in 1944, the organisation provided vocational training for those returning from war with visual impairments.

But nowadays the focus has evolved towards helping soldiers rebuild their social and life skills, developing hobbies and providing a community for them.

Ben was on his second tour of Iraq when he was severely injured by a roadside bomb outside of Basra.

His vehicle was thrown into an oncoming petrol tanker and he was wounded by shrapnel.

“Flashes”

Ben’s comrades dragged him out of the wreckage and drove straight to the British Military Field Hospital.

The soldier can’t remember a lot of what happened to him at the time.

He said: “I have flashes of memory, although a lot of it has gone.

“I can remember arguing with one of the guys about batteries for equipment, and the last thing I remember seeing was a friend holding a towel to my head as we were on the way to the hospital.

“I still had sight in one eye at that point, and I was looking up at him as he told me I was going to be OK.”

“Essential”

One of Ben’s eyes was lost in the explosion and surgeons were unable to save the other as the optic nerve had been severed.

George Notman, facilities manager for Royal Blind and Scottish War Blinded, said men like Ben are now the charity’s main beneficiaries.

He said: “Since the 1940s, the needs and demographic of those we support have evolved and we are committed to ensuring our facilities are suitable for the generation in which we are operating.

“This new facility is essential in bringing our services up to date, providing effective support and skill development and ultimately delivering what our beneficiaries now need.”

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

There has been a 15-fold rise in birth defects and early childhood cancers in the war-ravaged enclave of Fallujah, the site of two major battles after the Iraq invasion, doctors say.

Dr. Ayman Qais said that before the war began in 2003, there were sporadic numbers of deformities in babies, but now the frequency of deformities “is increasing dramatically.”

“We are seeing a very significant increase in central nervous system anomalies,” Dr. Qais added.

Doctors of Fallujah’s over-stretched health system say they are unsure of what is behind the spike in birth defects, but suggest it may be linked to the toxic materials left over from the fighting.

The city was the site of some of the worst fighting of the war, including a battle in which the United States admitted to using white phosphorus in 2004.

There have also been unconfirmed reports that US troops used depleted uranium munitions in Fallujah.

Neurologists and obstetricians in the city interviewed by the British daily The Guardian say the rise in birth defects — which includes a baby born with two heads, babies with multiple tumors, and others with nervous system problems — is unprecedented and at present unexplainable.

Iraqi and British officials and doctors have petitioned the United Nations to set up an international committee to investigate the sharp rise in birth defects and to clean up toxic substances in Fallujah.

Clusters of congenital defects have also been found in Basra and Najaf, which began after the 2003 invasion.

Doctors say that detailed clinical records of all babies born are being compiled.

Universal Artists, Int'l. Supports Our Troops

As the United States comes close to the end of yet another year mired down in what appears for all purposes to be a fruitless and senseless pursuit of security and freedom without solid basis or foundation in Iraq, it must ask itself, how much longer to wander aimlessly down this road without without clear end in sight? Swept into a dream state, a nightmare of neither sleep nor rest, it wanders pointlessly throughout a hostile land which hasn’t changed in culture or resentment since the close of the second world war and the dismantling of the days of naked colonialism.

In America’s blind pursuit of economic latitude, and longevity of the securement of reasonably priced crude, it has inadvertently fallen pray to a foe it had once believed itself worthy of side stepping the second time around, entrenchment and siege, such as it had experienced on the level of Vietnam. In spite of the U.S.S.R.’s history of similar suffering and beleaguer in their occupation of the troublesome and perilous nation of Afghanistan, the US continues its drive into the region, threatening to ignite the ire of a people legendary in defiance of any power which fails to recall its opposed mindset in search of its own sovereignty and freedom since the days of the Khyber Pass.

Throughout the sixties and early seventies, Generation X suffered the daily bombardment of images of the Vietnam War broadcast from pitch battle and directly piped into their living room’s television sets. The throngs of protestors, largely known today collectively as baby boomers, sought freedom from propaganda, secrecy, and war. They proceeded so loudly and defiantly, they unwittingly forced the proverbial powers behind the throne to take notice to the extent they would pay heed to such lessons and censor future generations of Americans.  Perhaps they’ve reverted to secrecy to stave the threat to national peace given the reality of polar extremes of political,  moral, and ethical thought, but their public reasoning seems veiled and questionable.

Again, as the year draws close to the end, we are left to ponder the question of an end to all of this. Do we truly believe this will draw to a close with any Congressional Act for withdrawal given the seeds we’ve planted throughout the region? Yes, for all purposes it will appear we’ve weathered the storm, but have we truly, and at what future cost? What does destiny hold for generations to come in a region notorious for religious, cultural, racial, and political conflict since the beginning of time.

Does the cradle of civilization reside within the borders of Iraq, or is it the bath of chaos, the source of churning conflict, and the slaughter mill of not only our youth but theirs?

In the sad, telling music video, “Johnny Get Your Gun,” written, directed, produced, and edited by Joe Stern-McGovern, and performed by A-Dub and Lil’ Chase, the story told is that of a youth of today swept abroad into the conflict in Iraq. The video shows the progression and doomed fate of Johnny as he transitions from fear, insecurity, despair, and then oddly boldness, only to find his end at the conclusion story’s end. Narrated by his grieving friend (Lil’ Chase), Johnny’s (A-Dub) sad letters home are read to his worried mother throughout the song’s chorus. It’s touching, heartfelt, and inevitable conclusion to a story thousands have come to realize in this tangible world.

Please join us now as Joe Stern-McGovern and Universal Artists, International, accompanied by Shaka Productions, present to you the beautiful and haunting music video, “Johnny Get Your Gun,”  a recurring theme which seems to trail America since the days of its inception. 

When will we, or anyone else, ever truly be free? How long will this violence continue? Where is end in sight? How many more of our brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and friends will continue to bear this senseless grief in a muddied and oft questioned conflict? Support our troops, but who in their right mind could support a concept so miserable as war, by definition a pall on the blighted soul of mankind? 

“Disconnected realities without proper analysis or sufficient information, blindly defended through violent means under questionable circumstances, and born on the backs and blood of our children in a distant land…Farewell Vietnam, hello Iraq, goodbye to our sons…and with a stroke of the brush, the world was painted red!”

Joe Stern-McGovern    

Support our troops, but think before you blindly support the cause. Ask yourselves, in a world with civilizations as advanced as ours, isn’t their any other means than war?

For more information, or to view the video, please visit us at www.myspace.com/universalartists or www.youtube.com/universalartistsintl.

Coming soon! The debut of the Black Flock Gang: BFG! For more information, please visit them at www.univeralartists.net under talent or at www.myspace.com/blackflockgang.

For more information regarding booking any of our acts, here or abroad, please write to universalartists@myspace.com or info@universalartists.net.

A-Dub & Lil' Chase

Alcohol sales and other activities contrary to Islam are banned in these cities. Mgr Sako, bishop of Kirkuk, says Iraq’s constitution is ambiguous because it respects religious freedom whilst banning laws contrary to the principles of Islam.

Baghdad (AsiaNews) –For the past ten days, no one has been able to drink or buy alcoholic beverages in Najaf because of a bylaw adopted by local authorities. The decision comes as the latest in a series, suggesting that Sharia is being slowly implemented in Iraq, and that it also applies to non-Muslims.

Najaf is considered a holy city for Shia Muslims because the first Shia imam and fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, is buried there. Because of the city’s special nature as a Shia holy city, the provincial council ruled unanimously that “drinking, selling or transporting alcohol of any kind in whatever quantity” was inappropriate since such activities are incompatible with Islam. Violators, even if they belong to another religion, face the possibility of being sued before a court. The ruling applies to the city of Najaf and its province and includes a ban on advertising.

It is a decision “against democracy, civil liberties and human rights,” said Mgr Louis Sako, Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk. “It will just encourage trade in bootleg alcohol because people will continue to drink, but in secret.”

More importantly, the new rule is a sign that Islamic law is creeping into some Iraqi cities, Mgr Sako warns.

Last August for example, the Basra Provincial Council, which rules over Iraq’s second largest city, banned the sale of alcoholic beverages following a request by Shia parties, which dominate this southern region.

Ahmad al Sulaiti, deputy governor of the province and a religious leader elected with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (previously known as the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq or SCIRI), motivated the ban on alcoholic beverages on the ground that Iraq’s constitution “bans everything that violates the principles of Islam.”

The problem lies with constitution itself. When the new charter was adopted, religious minorities, especially Christians, had pointed out its ambiguities.

“It guarantees respect for religious freedoms, but at the same time in Article 6 establishes that no law can be adopted that is contrary to the Muslim religion,” Mgr Sako said. “It was clear from the start that this would create serious problems for minorities.”

For historical reasons, the sale of alcoholic beverages is in the hands of the Christian community and represents an important source of income for Christians. However, terrorism and attacks by Muslim fundamentalists against stores selling alcoholic products have forced many businesses to close. Now, many of those who still sell such products expect the new bylaw to hit their already half-empty pockets even harder.

According to Mgr Sako, Iraq needs leaders who are “more realistic, open and truly willing to help people mature.” The constitution, for example, “does not envisage in any concrete way how to guarantee equality between men and women, regulate polygamy or the right to convert, something which is banned by Islam but which pertains to the realm of freedom of conscience.”

For the prelate, there is a risk that “Iraq will fall back a few centuries, when Sharia was imposed on the entire population.”

England und Frankreich verlangen von Israel, eine unabhaengige, transparente Untersuchung der Vorgaenge im Gazastreifen.

British Premier Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent a letter to Netanyahu, expressing their support of Israel’s right to defend itself against terror, and urging him to order an “independent, transparent investigation of Gaza events.”

Goldstone sollte sich zur Verfuegung stellen: die Rolle der Briten im Irak, im besonderen in Basra muss untersucht werden. Bisher weigert sich die britische Regierung jedoch, das in transparenter Weise zu tun und der Vorsitzende dieser Untersuchung, Sir John Chilcot, laesst sich das gefallen.

Im Herbst 2004 haben franzoesische Truppen in der Elfenbeinkueste auf Demonstranten scharf geschossen und sieben bis elf Menschen getoetet. Dazu hat es nun gar keine Untersuchung gegeben. Die Franzosen gaben den Vorfall zu, als sie mit einem vom Schweizer Sender TSR gedrehten Film konfrontiert wurden, und rechtfertigten ihn als Selbstverteidigung. Aber solche Aussagen einer betroffenen Partei koennen nicht fuer bare Muenze genommen werden. Wo bleibt die unabhaengige, transparente Untersuchung? Herr Goldstone, bitte uebernehmen Sie!

Hicretten Şehadete; Sözleriyle İmam Hüseyin

Muhammed Sadık Necmi

Kevser Yayınları

Bu kitap adından da anlaşıldığı gibi Hz. İmam Hüseyin’in (a.s), Medine’den hareket  edip Kerbela’ya varıncaya dek kendisinden nakledilen sözlerini içermektedir.

Hz. Hüseyin (a.s) ve 72 yaverinin tarihi kıyamlarının hedef ve mahiyetini ortaya koyan bu nurlu sözler. Aynı zamanda dine sadık her Müslüman’ın bilmesi gereken tarihi, ilmi ve akıdevi konulara da ışık tutmaktadır.

İçindekiler:

- İmam Hüseyin’in Medine’den Mekke’ye kadar buyurduğu sözler.

- İmam Hüseyin’in Resulullah’ın (s.a.a.) kabrinin kenarında buyurduğu söz.

- İmam Hüseyin’in Basra halkına mektubu.

- İmam Hüseyin Kufe (Irak) yolunda

- İmam Hüseyin’in Kerbela yolundaki sözleri.

- İmam Hüseyin’in Kerbela’ya vardığında buyurduğu sözler.

- İmam Hüseyin’in Aşura günündeki ilk konuşması.

- Kerbela kıyamının sebebini açıklaması.

]]> http://flickrfanstan.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/flickrfan-final-respects/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:19:08 +0000 sgarrett6 http://flickrfanstan.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/flickrfan-final-respects/

Photographed by The U.S. Army

U.S. Army Soldiers pay final respects during a memorial service July 20, 2009, honoring three fallen comrades killed in action from a rocket attack on Contingency Operating Base Basra, Iraq, July 16, 2009. The Soldiers are assigned to the 34th Infantry Division’s 34th Military Police Company, Special Troops Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Tyler Maulding

See more at www.army.mil

– License