In a Second Life that is filled with hunts, there is one that is so grandeur and towers above the rest: the Peace On Earth (POE) hunt. Here, you’ll be able to find fabulous gifts of clothes, poses, skins, hair and accessories, all made specially for this hunt. These vendors worked extremely hard on their gifts, you can tell that they were lovingly made. Thank you, content creators for being so kind and letting us have these wonderful gifts!

First up are some cute decorations from a new-to-me store called FallnAngel Creations. It’s a new-to-me store, though it may not be new to you! That’s why I love the POE hunt because it exposes me (and others) to places we might otherwise never have discovered on our own! Anyhoo, FallnAngel Creations’ offerings are a beautifully decorated, glittering Christmas tree (it has lots of purple on it, so my friend Lola will be thrilled), a stunning Menorah for those of the Jewish faith, and a yuletide spiderweb complete with presents and sparklies wafting from the web.

On the clothes front, Nyte’N'Day gives us this heart-stoppingly cute mini dress in blue. It comes with the white belt, also. If you want to get a little bit more attention from the opposite sex, this dress should help you out nicely.

Last, I’d like to show you these cute, tartan shoes with a punk edge that once again, my dear friend Lola will absolutely love. As I said before, they’re cute and punky (dig the skulls in the middle of the bows and on the charm with hearts on the side of the shoes!) and they’re from Lutricia’s Luxuries.

Creds:
-Hair: Tiny Bird (not in the POE hunt)
-Shoes: Maitreya (pic#4 — not in the POE hunt)
-Skin: Belleza (not in the POE hunt)
-Earrings: Zeery (pic#4 — not in the POE hunt)

Is it not a wonderful outfit ??

The Pepita dress from B!Fashion comes complete, yes you well read, it means with the arms bands and necklace, then with the hair blonde or brunette !

A long ponytail will give you an harmonious silhouette.

The top is very well detailled and textured, the shirt semi transparent give it a special finish touch. It is exotic and elegant:)

Model and Photographer : Lilly25 Connolly

Location shop : http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISOLA%20DI%20GIOVE/152/210/22/

Just in time for cooler weather, get comfy with these awesome new sweaters from Miamai.  Combining comfort and style, they go beyond just being beautiful!

With long, striped sleeves, an oversize, layered cowl necked collar, and a floral pattern just under the chest, the sweater has style.

Add in these well sculpted fabric roses to the neckline at the shoulder and what you have is beyond style….it’s just right for the fashionista!

In addition to the gorgeously rich indigo, there is also a perfectly pleasing plum!

Warm up with these cozy sweaters.  TP over to Miamai and prepare your wardrobe for the cold!

Spotlighting yet another top designer today, we are featuring this stunning jewelry set from *ByKay*.

Stunning and sophisticated, the details of Roselyn is a complete set including perfect detailed necklace, earrings, bracelet and ring.

Intricately created and beautifully designed, this set is sleek and sophisticated enough for the most gorgeous of gowns.

These marvelous jewels are an inspiring piece of art.  They are only found at *ByKay*.

Featuring beautiful, fun, and fearless designs, B! Fashions is in on our spotlight for the week and today’s fashion is the marvelous and groovyFantasia!

The words I would use to describe this stunning piece of art is elegant hippie!  It’s classy and refined and yet has a touch of hippie fabric and grooviness that makes it far out to wear.

Topping off the fact that this is a beautiful design, it’s also a complete outfit!  It includes bracelets, shoes with matching fabric bows, and hair, both blonde and black, with a matching fabric ribbon wound throughout.  It’s definitely the something different you’ve been looking for.

The halterstyle top is met at the waist by a fabric band that is made up of peace signs and flowers.  Trailing off the back of the fabric band is the beautiful semi-transparent multi-layered train.

The top of the train has a layer of scultped silk flowers made from the same fabric.

I couldn’t resist traveling to some peaceful sites throughout SL and snapping a shot or two of me in my electric, modern, and wonderful hippie gown.

Did I mention you can pick this up at B! Fashions?  Stop by today and get this modern and twisted piece for your collection!  You’re sure to be a crowd stopper.

The great grid wide Peace On Earth Hunt commences soon.  Are you prepared to be stunned and amazed at the quality gifts that are  coming your way?  Well, brace yourselves, here comes a sneak preview of a jacket you just can’t live without.

This jacket is beautiful and full of awesome details.  From the buckles to the collar and even the sleeves, it’s very well made and high quality.

Available through the Peace On Earth Hunt, this jacket is something you’ll want to be sure to pick up from JD Boutique.  Happy hunting!

You won’t be able to sneak around too much in these sneakers!  That’s a surprise though!  Let’s just say, they will be able to find you wherever you may go.

There is amazing detail on the sneakers, the fabric used is, well, fab, and there is even a little hanging chain with charms on it!

One of the charms is a cute little star and the other one is, yes, a small globe!  The symbol for the Peace On Earth Hunt!  And yes, this gift is part of the hunt and is a fabulously free gift available through Absentia.

Don’t miss this spectacular grid wide hunt, the Peace On Earth Hunt is just around the corner!

Wow.  Amazing.  Awesome.  Gotta have it.  Don’t miss this.  These are the words and phrases that came to my mind as I donned the beautiful Let it Snow necklace and earrings set.  To top it off, it’s a FREE GIFT from Rhiamon’s Realm in the Peace On Earth Hunt.

My picture doesn’t do it justice and can’t!  There’s a special surprise with this set…it’s actually animated as if it were really snowing!  You just have to see it to believe how cute it is.  Even if you’re not a fan of winter, you’ll love these delicate snowflakes falling softly on this set.

Don’t miss the Peace On Earth hunt and look for this awesome gift only at Rhiamon’s Realm!

Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting next to GM Nikolaidis of spork at a fashion show…and one of the designs being presented had a striking resemblance with one of my favourite tops from spork:) It was then that I knew I would put something around it together and blog about it, and today is the perfect opportunity for me to introduce you to Janis, a super-stylish and sexy top showing lots of skin!

Janis, shown here in copper (one of several available colours),  is an eye-catching asymmetrical design, worn off the shoulder on one side and featuring a puffy sleeve on the other side. Prim attachments designed to be worn on both the shoulder and upper arm ensure that you will look great in just about any pose:)

The tight-fitting bodice flares out just above the waist into adorable prim ruffles with a black lace trim which adds an aura of girly cuteness to the overall look. As if that was not enough already, this versatile top includes a matching shawl worn around the neck, lovingly detailed with the same sequined texture that adorns the top as well. This is an amazing piece of clothing for mixing and matching, and could be worn with casual styles but also as part of an elegant and semi-formal dress:)

For today’s look of casual comfort and subdued elegance, I chose to combine the top with brown oilcloth pants from SSH (Style starts here) by Simone Stern. Prim attachments are an integral part of contemporary SL fashion and of course add greatly to its realism, but these impressively textured pants show that you can look great “the easy way” as well:) The recently released La Vivien boots in sepia from Courtisane, Leezu Baxter’s sister store, are the perfect complement to finish my look. I ended up with a colour scheme reminiscent of autumn leaves and cooling weather, but the overall look is perfect for a warm, summery theme – after all, in Second Life the sun always shines:)

——

Photography and modeling by Rhonda Pennell

Outfit: Janis top in copper by spork – Oilcloth pants in brown by SSH – Style Starts Here

Shoes: La Vivien in sepia by Courtisane

Skin: Sundust [Light] June Daylily 1 by Curio

Hair: Alex in blonde from 3636

Accessories: Flower Bracelets in brown by Bax Coen – Elegance long nails & ring in gold by CCD – Caithlin Carter Designs – Double Dangle diamond/gold earrings by Dex’s Jewelry

Join us as the ever enchanting Opium Models take the runway for a dazzling show any Fashionista would appreciate. The runway is as usual, immaculate and the atmosphere…chic. It will be our pleasure to seduce you.. This Sunday, Novemebr 29, 2009 at 10 am slt. We are featuring the designs of B!Fashion, SF Designs and *ByKay* jewels. See you there… and remember at Opium… It’s Addictive..

Taken from Opium Blog: http://opiumsim.wordpress.com/

Yves Saint Laurent released their new advert for Opium that features their redesigned flacon of Opium.

Model Karen Elson

image from The Scented Salamander

For all those latex lovers out there, Simply Seraph’s brings you a very Matrix-y full outfit for POE gift #2.

The set comes generously packed full of options/items, my favorite of which is the nicely textured latex jacket.  The jacket is provided in a light and dark version and also a light and dark version that includes a festive snow flake graphic.

The rest of the set includes a great pair of patent leather boots, two pair of jeans (one with snowflake graphic, one without), and a latex look belted skirt.

The grid wide Peace on Earth hunt runs now through January 2, so get out there, spread some love, and hunt your hearts out!!

Obama Allies Want New Tax To Pay For Cost Of Protecting Afghan Opium Fields, Bribing Taliban

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet.com
November 20, 2009

Any war surtax will merely go straight to maintaining the agenda that Obama inherited from Bush, the continued looting of Afghanistan under the pretext of a “war on terror” that, as revelations about bribing the Taliban prove, doesn’t even exist.

More on the Ahmed Karzai story CIA Promotes Narcotics Trade and more proof that if it wasn’t for the US and the CIA there wouldn’t be a bogus war on terror.

———

Afghan president’s brother is lightning rod

By KATHY GANNON (AP) – 1 day ago

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — He calls himself a wheeler dealer — an old-style power broker who maneuvers through a murky, dangerous world of intelligence, tribal intrigue and, some critics allege, guns and drugs.

Ahmed Wali Karzai is also a half brother of Afghanistan’s embattled president, whose international partners believe removing him from the country’s political mix is essential if the newly elected administration is to prove its commitment to good governance.

So far, President Hamid Karzai has refused to push aside his brother without convincing proof he’s done anything wrong.

Regardless of whether allegations against him are true, the 48-year-old brother has become a symbol of cronyism and a lightning rod for criticism of all that is wrong with Karzai’s administration.

Although the only official post he holds is member of the Kandahar provincial council, Ahmed Wali Karzai is one of the most powerful men in Afghanistan — and one of the most controversial. At least six of his longtime friends refused to share childhood memories of him with The Associated Press, fearing critical recollections might get them in trouble with him.

The New York Times, citing current and former American officials, reported last month that the CIA pays Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA’s direction in and around Kandahar.

Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, has said the younger Karzai should leave Afghanistan for the good of the country.

Inside his gilded home in southern Afghanistan where Taliban insurgents are staging a violent comeback, the president’s brother bristled at the litany of allegations against him. He blamed his political and tribal enemies for tarnishing his reputation.

He characterized claims that he’s on the CIA payroll as “ridiculous.” At the same time, he freely acknowledges that he works with the Americans, the Canadians and the British, providing information to “anyone who asks for my help.”

On the streets of Kandahar, Afghans who are too afraid to be quoted by name say that Karzai’s bodyguards are often called on to settle disputes, sometimes violently. He’s accused of protecting local businesses with whom he shares tribal links or friendship, of controlling the police and giving orders to the mayor of Kandahar.

Speaking at his home, Karzai again denied involvement in the drug trade. He offered to take a polygraph test and said he was taking some of his accusers to court.

The president and his brother are among seven sons born to Abdul Ahad Karzai, tribal leader of the half million strong Popalzai tribe. The father was gunned down in Quetta, Pakistan. Although the culprits were never arrested, Ahmed Wali Karzai blamed the Taliban for his father’s killing.

The president has been told by his international critics of the unsavory characters who knock on his younger brother’s door in Kandahar, said one of two president’s confidantes, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared crossing Karzai.

But the president is unmoved, telling them that tribal custom, not collusion, prevents his younger brother from turning away a fellow tribesman or a tribesman of any clan who comes to see him. Says the president: “Criminals and thieves knocked on my father’s door but that didn’t make him a criminal. This is our tribal custom. The tribal leader has to meet everyone.’”

A few decades ago, Ahmed Wali Karzai was just another obscure Afghan who left his country after the 1979 Soviet invasion. He and much of his family ended up in the U.S., where they owned restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore.

He managed the Chicago restaurant which closed in 1992. His rise to prominence began when Hamid Karzai was appointed head of a transitional government after the Taliban fell in 2001.

The younger Karzai might be guilty only of wheeling and dealing Afghan-style, lining up his allies with favors, flexing his tribal muscles with late night visits by his henchmen — who double as his bodyguards — and turning over his Taliban enemies to U.S. forces.

Like a king, he holds court in his home, doling out favors, punishing critics and rewarding friends. He readily acknowledges that his power comes from his brother’s name.

“Yes, I am powerful because I am the president’s brother,” he said. “This is a country ruled by kings. The king’s brothers, cousins, sons are all powerful. This is Afghanistan. It will change but it will not change overnight.”

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jz_HQl4ku9iFGpzredHvaMdSkgyAD9C1PHPG0

Enligt Jan Björklund Folkpartiet är vi så illa tvugna att trippa mer åt höger och han har dessutom rätt. Jag som säger det är Socialist. Låt mig förklara varför han har rätt och sedan titta på alternativen.

1. Sänk skatterna

Helt rätt. Det betyder givetvis att man samtidigt ska minska anslagen till skola vård och omsorg eller öka budgetunderskottet ännu mer och det är ju inget bra alternativ. Budgetunderskottet har redan nått den gräns vi kan acceptera.

2. “modernisera” arbetsrätten

Ja. Om vi ska konkurrera på en globaliserad marknad så ska vi konkurrera med Kina och Indien. Då kan man inte dalta med arbetskraften. Vill inte du jobba 12 timmar om dagen utan semester? Ja. Det är logiskt. Om vi vill värna jobben, som Socialdemokraterna pratar om, så ska vi väl se till att vi får mer jobb, eller? T.o.m. Mona Sahlin tycker att ”Vi äldre kan jobba längre” En uppluckring av turordningsreglerna kommer få folk att skärpa till sig och inse att anställningstrygghet är övervärderat. Man måste vara flexibel i framtiden. Ryggsäck och fler vandrarhem kommer förenkla det hela för arbetarklass och gravida kvinnor. Ja`det handlar faktiskt maximalt om två gravida kvinnor per företag som ska bli “flexibla”.

3. Mer kärnkraft

Ja. Om vi ska konkurrera på en globaliserad marknad som fokuserar på att producera mer och mer grejer billigare och billigare har vi helt enkelt inte råd att satsa på miljövänlig kostsammare el. Vad ska vi annars leva av? Potatis, älggryta och äppelpaj? Utan en acceleration av tillväxten får vi ju inte tillgång till alla prylar vi vill ha. Kärnkraftsavfallet är ett senare problem som vi kan titta på senare.

4. In med Euron och ut med den svenska kronan.

Ja. Om vi nu ska vara med i EU kan vi lika gärna gå in fullt ut. Att folket röstade Nej till EMU beror nog mest på att de inte gillar politiken sedan EU-medlemskapet, men folket har ju inte en aning vad som är bäst för små- och medlestora företag. Undrar varför vi har rösträtt? Hade vi alla vetat vad som egentligen var bäst för oss hade vi röstat “Ja” till mer EU d.v.s. EMU som vi blev tillsagda. T.o.m. Socialdemokraternas politikeradel och deras samarbetspartner verkar ju gilla EU, eftersom de inte tänker fälla en Socialdemokratisk regering på den frågan.

5. Mer krig

Sverige ska fortsätta invasionen av Afghanistan under USAs ledarskap. Det är ett bra sätt att hålla industrin igång. Att “skydda unga flickors rätt att gå i skolan” är ju dessutom ett bra argument som går hem i TV-sofforna. Jan, är säkert med på fler krig. En attack av den “intellektuella kulturvänstern” är helt på sin plats. Att USA störtat demokratier och stöttat diktaturer efter 1945 är en liten skitsak i sammanhanget. Dessutom får vi mer opium ur Afghanistan nu.

6. Skydda inte Sverige

Ja. Miljöpartiets idé om att livsmedel ska framställas ekologiskt, närodlat och småskaligt och på så vis se till att det finns närodlad bra mat inom räckhåll är helt enkelt fel. Att transportera besprutad mat, gärna genmanipulerad, långa sträckor, är bra för tillväxten och transportindustrin. Lite skit ränsar magen, som man säger.

7. Slopa värnskatten.

Ja. Att beskatta de med mest inkomst är helt enkelt fel. Man har ju skaffat sig hög inkomst för att man gillar pengar. Beskatta de som har lägre inkomster. De gillar ju inte pengar ändå för då hade de sett till att ha högre löner. De nya moderaterna har blivit mjukisar och blir ett sossealternativ.

Liberala Ungdomsförbundet verkar vara på samma hårdföra linje i det mesta.

Och nu till alternativen…

Alternativ 1: Sossar med anhang.

Det innebär visserligen ett EU-medlemskap och kanske ett EMU-medlemskap eftersom sosseadeln verkar helt med på den linjen, vilket Folkpartiet gillar. T.o.m. fortsatt krig i Afghanistan verkar intressant, verkar det, kanske t.o.m. sänkta skatter för att klara sig i den globala konkurrensen. Kärnkraft verkar ju sossarna vara med på. Ja, Jan, om du inte gillar FP så har du alltid Socialdemokraterna som ett mycket likt alternativ. Det är väl bara värnskatten det handlar om och med de löner som sosseadeln har kan vi nog lätt övertala dem om den saken. De gillar ju pengar. Vi kan skylla på EU-anpassning eller något liknande.

Alternativ 2: Extremvänstern. Kommunisterna. Socialistslynglarna och det gröna flummet i en skön förening.

UT ur EU. Upp med tullmurar, skydd för företag mot utländska storföretag. Höga skatter och bortkastade pengar på skola vård och omsorg. En ny berlinmur mellan EU och Sverige. Fred. Inga invasioner, sänkt tillväxt för företagen. Ekologiskt obesprutat trams och närproducerat och massvis med löjliga vindkraftverk.

Alternativ 3: Extremhögern. Bruna gossarna.

Sverigedemokraterna kan visa sin rätta sida. Denna gång ger vi oss på muslimerna istället för judarna. Kommunister, zigenare och socialistslynglar internerar vi. Mer krig, blondhet, blåa ögon, framavling av folk som lyder blint och springer mot fienden som de blivit tillsagda. Jimmie Åkesson blir rikskansler efter en rungande seger i vanligt representativt val.

Alternativ 4: Direktdemokrati i balans med representativitet

Alla går med i www.aktivdemokrati.se och diskuterar saken balanserat och tar de direktdemokratiska beslut som folket verkligen vill ha i absolut liberalism, d.v.s. frihet. Socialliberaler och Kapitalliberaler i balans.

Läs även andra bloggares intressanta åsikter om saker som är värda att ges en knuff upp i bloggportalerna!

SVD – Moderatledaren Fredrik Reinfeldt försöker identifiera sig med Tage Erlander

DN – FP öppnar för mer kärnkraft

jj.n – Politik och feltänk

hd kb smp exp smp hd sds

/ Homo Obstinatus Observans – Balans!

A stylish twist on the use of a tartan pattern, this beauty by Nyte’N'Day is a refreshing and splendid way to add a new piece to one’s wardrobe.

The top, with a clever design that goes over one shoulder is trimmed in the same knit like material that the skirt is made of.  The top is made of a classy black and white tartan style fabric with a pattern that crisses and crosses at just the right spots.

Where can you find it?  Nyte’N'Day!  Another hit for this awesome designer, the tartan is an outstanding mini skirt and unique top that you’re gonna love!

According to Wickipedia, A dirndl is a type of traditional dress worn in southern Germany, Liechtenstein and Austria, based on the historical costume of Alpine peasants. Dresses that are loosely based on the dirndl are known as Landhausmode.

This is a very well done maidservant dirndl.  Notice the stains and mending on the apron of the dress.

Even the back of it is finely detailed as though one has been set to scrubbing floors for hours on end and made to wear the same tattered and worn clothing over and over.

The top is very nicely detailed and the bow worn with this dress is for a married woman.

The dirndl isn’t just for the working class though.  The dress pictured below shows a shorter version of the dirndl, for a married woman, with a red apron and jewels included.

It also comes with an option for a white apron.

This package is loaded as it also comes with red and white aprons for unmarried women, the bow being on the left side instead of the right.

Where can you find this awesome, unique, and original style of dress?  The dirndl can be found at Bublee Bing, of course!

Bublee Bing Main Store

Awesome and cute, warm and ready for winter, yet still fashionable, are these minis from Nyte’N'Day.  they are just what I needed to complete my wardrobe for the colder seasons and yet, still stylish – not frumpy.

The first, Lijn cherry, is a deliciously striped mini sweater style dress with a sculpted neckline and a nice wide belt.

The second sweater like dress is an olive color with an off the shoulder neck line and a black belt.

They are both beautiful and fashionable and will work wonderfully for the winter season.

Be sure to visit Nyte’N'Day for this and other fashionable styles for your Second Life!

Paul Joseph Watson

Friday, November 20, 2009

Not content with savaging American taxpayers with two huge new financial burdens during an economic recession, in the form of health care reform and cap and trade, close allies of Barack Obama have proposed a new war surtax that will force Americans to foot the bill for the cost of protecting opium fields in Afghanistan, paying off drug lords, and bribing the Taliban.

Warning that the cost of occupying Afghanistan is a threat to the Democrats’ plan to overhaul health care, lawmakers have announced their plan to make Americans pay an additional war tax that will be taken directly from their income, never mind the fact that around 36 per cent of federal taxes already go to paying for national defense.

“Regardless of whether one favors the war or not, if it is to be fought, it ought to be paid for,” the lawmakers, all prominent Democratic allies of Obama, said in a joint statement on the “Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010 (PDF),” reports AFP.

The move is being led by the appropriately named House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, Representative John Murtha, who chairs that panel’s defense subcommittee; and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank.

The tax would apply to anyone earning as little as $22,600 per year in 2011.

The proposal is described as “heavily symbolic” with little chance of passing, but it once again illustrates the hypocrisy of an administration that swept to power on the promise of “change” to the Neo-Con imperial agenda and a resolve to reduce U.S. military involvement overseas. In reality, there are more troops in Iraq and Afghanistan now under Obama that at any time during the Bush administration.

At the height of the Bush administration’s 2007 “surge” in Iraq, there were 26,000 US troops in Afghanistan and 160,000 in Iraq, a total of 186,000.

According to DoD figures cited by The Washington Post last month, there are now around 189,000 and rising deployed in total. There are now 68,000 troops in Afghanistan, over double the amount deployed there when Bush left office.

What precisely would this extra tax be used to pay for? Namely, bribing the Taliban, paying off CIA drug lords, and protecting heroin-producing opium fields.

Numerous reports over the past two weeks have confirmed that the U.S. military is paying off the Taliban with bags of gold to prevent them from attacking vehicle convoys, proving that there is no real “war” in Afghanistan, merely a business agreement that allows the occupiers to continue their lucrative control of record opium exports while they finalize construction of dozens of new military bases from which to launch new wars.

The Afghan opium trade has exploded since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, following a lull after the Taliban had imposed a crackdown. According to the U.N., the drug trade is now worth $65 billion. Afghanistan produces 92 per cent of the world’s opium, with the equivalent of at least 3,500 tonnes leaving the country each year.

This racket is secured by drug kingpins like the brother of disputed president Hamid Karzai. As a New York Times report revealed last month, Ahmed Wali Karzai, a Mafia-like figure who expanded his influence over the drug trade with the aid of U.S. efforts to eliminate his competitors, is on the CIA payroll.

As Professor Michel Chossudovsky has highlighted in a series of essays, the explosion of opium production after the invasion was about the CIA’s drive to restore the lucrative Golden Crescent opium trade that was in place during the time when the Agency were funding the Mujahideen rebels to fight the Soviets, and flood the streets of America and Britain with cheap heroin, destroying lives while making obscene profits.

Any war surtax will merely go straight to maintaining the agenda that Obama inherited from Bush, the continued looting of Afghanistan under the pretext of a “war on terror” that, as revelations about bribing the Taliban prove, doesn’t even exist.

Source

Afghanistan opium poppy cultivation 1994-2007

The Taliban has almost eradicated the poppy fields. No sooner did the war begin and the poppy fields wee reborn.

Children work the poppy fields young as 8 or 9

Narco-Nation Building

By Paul L. Williams, Ph.D

July 7 2009

Hey, guys, don’t pick the poppies.

That’s the order from the Obama Administration to the 4,000 Marines presently engaged in Operation Khanjar or “Strike of the Sword,” an invasion of the Taliban infested Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan.

The Marines of Bravo’s Company 1^st Platoon sleep beside groves of poppies Troops of the 2^nd Platoon walk through the fields on strict orders not to swat the heavy opium bulbs. The Afghan farmers and laborers, who are engaged in scraping the resin from the bulbs, smile and wave at the passing soldiers.

The Helmand province is the world’s largest cultivator of opium poppies – the crop used to make heroin.

Afghanistan grew 93 percent of the world’s poppy crop last year, with Helmand alone responsible for more than half of the opium production in the country, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Heroin, as it turns out, represents the only staple of the Afghan economy. The country manufactures no domestic products for exportation and the rocky terrain yields no cash crops – – except, of course, the poppies.

The poppies fuel the great jihad against the United States and the Western world. More than 3,500 tons of raw opium is gleaned from the poppy crops every year, producing annual revenues for the Taliban and al Qaeda that range from $5 billion to $16 billion.

Destroying the fields could very well put an end to terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But the Obama Administration remains intent upon protecting the poppies so that the Afghan farmers and local drug lords can reap the benefits of what purports to be a bumper crop.

Many Marines in the field are scratching their heads over the situation.

Jason Striuszko a journalist embedded with the U.S. Marines in Garmser, reports that many of the leathernecks are scratching their heads at the apparent contradictions — calling in airstrikes and artillery on the elusive Taliban while assuring farmers and drug lords that they will protect the poppies.

“Of course,” Striuszko says, “those fields will be harvested and some money likely used to help fuel the Taliban, and the Marines are thinking, essentially, ‘huh?’”

“It’s kind of weird. We’re coming over here to fight the Taliban. We see this. We know it’s bad. But at the same time we know it’s the only way locals can make money,” said 1st Lt. Adam Lynch, 27, of Barnstable, Mass.

Richard Holbrooke, the Obama Administration’s top envoy in Afghanistan, says that poppy eradication – for years a cornerstone of U.S. and U.N. anti-drug efforts in the country – has only resulted in driving Afghan farmers into the hands of the Taliban.

The new approach, Holbrooke maintains, will try to wean the farmers of the lucrative cash crop by giving them help to grow other produce, like wheat, corn and pomegranates.

Most of the 33,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan operate in the east, where the poppy problem is not as great. But the 2,400-strong 24th Marines, have taken the field in this southern growing region during harvest season.

An expert on Afghanistan’s drug trade, Barnett Rubin, complained that the Marines are being put in such a situation by a “one-dimensional” military policy that fails to integrate political and economic considerations into long-range planning.

“All we hear is, not enough troops, send more troops,” said Rubin, a professor at New York University. “Then you send in troops with no capacity for assistance, no capacity for development, no capacity for aid, no capacity for governance.”

Staff Sgt. Jeremy Stover, whose platoon is sleeping beside a poppy crop planted in the interior courtyard of a mud-walled compound, said the Marines’ mission is to get rid of the “bad guys,” and “the locals aren’t the bad guys.”

“Poppy fields in Afghanistan are the cornfields of Ohio,” said Stover, 28, of Marion, Ohio. “When we got here they were asking us if it’s OK to harvest poppy and we said, ‘Yeah, just don’t use an AK-47.’”

Source

U.S. soldiers inspect a cache of opium that was seized at a border police station on the outskirts of Herat,  October 23 2007. Afghan border police in the western Afghan city have seized 644 kilograms of opium. Afghanistan accounts for over 93 percent of the world’s supply of opium, the main ingredient in heroin, a lucrative trade whose proceeds in part fund some of the Taliban-led insurgency.    AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

They don’t tell you about this, about Afghanistan’s growing domestic drug problem – an estimated 1.5 million addicts, including 120,000 women, according to the Ministry of Narcotics – all those advocates of legalizing the country’s robust opium crop – a yield that provides some 93 per cent of the world’s heroin. This heroin, which is refined opium, ends up on streets across the globe but also is destroying families here. Source

They also fail to mention the problem now in Iran , Iraq,
Russia, Europe and North America.

There are millions of new heroin addicts around the world.

Karima leaned to one side and rubbed her temples with half-painted pink fingernails. The smile that was wide and infectious for her visitors had now surrendered to the internal darkness that ruled her addiction.

The day had started like most in her life: With an opium tea that she drinks to “feel happy.” On bad days, she needs it three or four times.

Karima is 13.

She is bright, and confident, but left school during fourth grade. From the two narrow rooms they call home in an otherwise abandoned building, she cannot see a future that is either clean or normal — a hard assessment for a girl who is barely a teenager.

“There is no one but me to support the family and we have nothing to live easily,” she said. “I feel sad most of the time and the tea makes me feel better.”

Her mother, Najiba, raised five children on a steady diet of narcotics to ease their hunger pains and winter chills and her own grief from losing a son. The whole family has been through drug treatment — twice — and Najiba claims to be healthy.

Karima is still addicted. She buys the drugs herself with money from her father and boils the opium tea the way her mother long did for her.

Her wild-eyed youngest sister, Raisa, is three years old and clicks her tongue while fidgeting with a red patent purse. Raisa had opium in her veins before she was born. Najiba cut her off months ago, but Raisa remembers the “dizzy” tea and craves it. I asked her why.

“Because I miss it,” she said in the tiniest voice. “I like it.” Source

Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the Afghan president and a suspected player in the country’s booming illegal opium trade, gets regular payments from the Central Intelligence Agency, and has for much of the past eight years, according to current and former American officials. Source

Opium production is one of the chief sources of revenue for the warlords that occupy the Afghan parliament and is one of the main reasons why the government is seen as corrupt by the Afghan people. As long as NATO continues to bomb civilians in an effort to extend the control of those warlords, the Afghan people will continue to join the resistance to the foreign occupation.

This reality led to the recent resignation of Matthew Hoh, a former US army captain and Foreign Service official in Zabul province. Hoh resigned because he said that the presence of the foreign troops was the main reason why the resistance was growing and he believed that the war needed to end.  Source

They have never connected Bin Laden to 9/11

Bin Laden has been dead since December of 2001

9/11 was just an excuse to go to war in Afghanistan nothing more.

The results of the invasion of Afghanistan is devastating to say the least.

The radiation will have a very devastating impact on Afghans. The testing proved the use of radioactive weapons. Source

The end result will be as it is in Iraq and other countries Nato and the US have invaded.

Doctors report “unprecedented” rise in deformities, cancers in Iraq

Kosovo

Since its dealings with the Meo tribesmen in Laos during the Vietnam era, the CIA has protected narcotics traffic in key locations in order partly to finance its covert operations. The scale of international narcotics traffic today is such that major US banks such as Citigroup are reported to derive a significant share of their profits from laundering the proceeds. Source

CIA Drug  Operations a little history

Bush – Cheney and drugs

 

Pipelines in the Middle East Afghanistan included/ Maps as well

“Femme Fatale” is the name of a very special fashion show presented by Jenna Coppola Studios and Drac Designs (also featuring jewelry by J & W Jewelers), which will take place on Saturday, 21 November, at 4pm SL time. (That is tomorrow!) The show is being organised to raise awareness for the important issue of domestic violence, and donations will be used to allow real life psychologists into Second Life and assist those in need. Today, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Delicate, a lovely ballgown in classic red from Drac Designs:

This beautiful gown comes with a sleeveless, form-fitting bodice with a deep cut for sexy cleavage in the front and detailed embroidery going all the way down to the navel. Gold-encrusted clips connect the top to the shoulder straps, which meet in the middle of the back and branch out in more embroidery, textured with loving detail and showing lots of bare skin on your back. Gorgeous!

Little things often set a design apart from the rest, and in this case, a delicate lace scarf wraps around the neck and covers your back, gently waving in the breeze and playing with the bare skin on your back…and as an added touch of elegance, a stunning beaded bracelet is included. I for one feel absolutely glamourous wearing it, and I am not certain that I ever want to take it off again *giggles;)

The full-length prim skirt is beautifully textured as well, with realistic shades that lend an elegant, silken look to it, and it moves gracefully with every step you take…perfect for a romantic dance with your loved one!

Be sure to visit Drac Designs today to discover this and more fabulous designs for yourself, and do not miss the Femme Fatale show tomorrow. You can be a delicate femme fatale, too:)

——

Photography and modeling by Rhonda Pennell

Outfit: Delicate from Drac Designs

Skin: Alexxia natural skin 03 from Beauty Avatar

Hair: Winter in cinnamon by Tiny Bird

Prim nails: Elegance long nails and ring in bordeaux by CCD

Chinatown Likka = Hallucinatory Dragon Joyride

Woah dudes! Have you heard of this wicked cool new liquor called “Chinatown”?! It’s insaaane! Now, before you go all: “this low-alcohol content thing is lame!”  — lemme call to your attention the perks, bro!

Number 1: Since it’s only 6.0%, it’s totally kosher to get behind the wheel, AND wear your wraparound shades at night. I dunno about you, but the whole motor skills impairment thing really cramps my style when I’m tryin to tool around town and shout at babes after a night of clubbing.

Number secondly: What “Chinatown” lacks in alcohol content, it makes up for with its special added ingredient: Opium. Hence the rad dragon sidekick that pops up and will float around your delirium-addled head all night just like in those Disney movies, singing merry jingles in a funny Asian/Chris Tucker accent and serving as an excellent wingman for chasing Chinese skirt. That little fucker really comes in handy when you’re tripping balls and can’t tell the difference between a chick and a telephone pole.

Those crazy Orientals! They really know how to bring the party hardy.

via Gawker