By EDITH M. LEDERER, The Associated Press Wednesday, April 29, 2009; 4:49 PM
UNITED NATIONS -- A young woman abducted and repeatedly raped by the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda told the Security Council on Wednesday how she became a rifle-toting child soldier. She urged the U.N.'s most powerful body to stop the suffering of children in wars.
"I still wait for some of my friends to return," Grace Akallo said, "and I hope that everyone here will be committed to bring people like my friends home."
Council members responded to the plea from the former child soldier _ now a graduate student in the United States _ with rare sustained applause. Many, including U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, assured her that her message had been heard.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly supported Akallo's appeal, telling the council: "You must respond to her courage and resilience with action."
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Untold Stories of Partition
India's Survivors of Partition Begin to Break Long Silence
A news item by By Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post Foreign Service
March 12, 2008
ccording to conservative estimates, about half a million Hindus and Muslims were slaughtered and 14 million displaced, and about 70,000 women were abducted and raped, leaving both countries with deep psychological and political scars. Riots convulsed the newly independent nations for months as centuries-old communities split apart.
"Partition is the unwritten epic of our times," said Ashis Nandy, a social psychologist at India's Center for the Study of Developing Societies. "Now there is an urgency to capture the stories of a generation whose voices will fade away soon."
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Another literary link: http://www.hawaii.edu/mjournal/text/issues/descriptions/india-pakistan07.html (CROSSING OVER: PARTITION LITERATURE FROM INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BANGLADESH)
A news item by By Rama Lakshmi, Washington Post Foreign Service
March 12, 2008
ccording to conservative estimates, about half a million Hindus and Muslims were slaughtered and 14 million displaced, and about 70,000 women were abducted and raped, leaving both countries with deep psychological and political scars. Riots convulsed the newly independent nations for months as centuries-old communities split apart.
"Partition is the unwritten epic of our times," said Ashis Nandy, a social psychologist at India's Center for the Study of Developing Societies. "Now there is an urgency to capture the stories of a generation whose voices will fade away soon."
-----------------
Another literary link: http://www.hawaii.edu/mjournal/text/issues/descriptions/india-pakistan07.html (CROSSING OVER: PARTITION LITERATURE FROM INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND BANGLADESH)
Friday, April 03, 2009
Blind man bowls a perfect game
On the evening of May 3, 2008, A 78-year-old man nicknamed “The Hammer” has bowled a perfect game. Dale Davis of Alta, Iowa, nailed 12 consecutive strikes and reached 300 on Saturday night during league play. What's more astonishing is that Davis is also legally blind! Davis has suffered from macular degeneration, a chronic eye disease, for the past decade. He can’t see out of his left eye and has limited peripheral vision in his right eye.
Top 27 unbelievable facts that people don't know
Top 27 unbelievable facts that people don't know - July 10th, 2006
27. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
26. The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.
25. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
24. Its impossible to smoke oneself to death with weed. You won't be able to retain enough motor control and consciousness to do so after such a large amount. (Common Sense)
23. Uncle Phil, from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, did the voice of Shredder in the TMNT cartoon.
22. Every drop of seawater contains approximately 1 billion gold atoms.
21. The US national anthem actually has three verses, but everyone just knows the first one.
20. During World War II, IBM built the computers the Nazis used to manage their death/concentration camps.
19. The total combined weight of the worlds ant population is heavier than the weight of the human population.
18. The deadliest war in history excluding World War II was a civil war in China in the 1850s in which the rebels were led by a man who thought he was the brother of Jesus Christ.
17. Just about 3 people are born every second, and about 1.3333 people die every second. The result is about a 2 and 2/3 net increase of people every second. Almost 10 people more live on this Earth now, than before you finished reading this.
16. Happy Birthday (the song) is copyrighted.
15. The number of people alive on earth right now is higher than the number of all the people that have died. Ever.
14. The average American consumes 1.2 pounds of spider eggs a year and eat 2.5 pounds of insect parts a year.
13. The Kamp Krusty episode of the Simpson's was originally meant to be made as the Simpsons movie.
12. Men can breastfeed babies.
11. There is a rare condition called Exploding Head Syndrome which you've probably never heard of.
10. Scientists have determined that fungi are more closely related to human beings and animals than to other plants.
9. In some (maybe all) Asian countries, the family name is written first and the individual name written second (opposite of the America method). That's why Asian athletes like Yao Ming and Ichiro Suzuki have Yao and Ichiro written on their jerseys. Those are their family names and in America their names are written Ming Yao and Suzuki Ichiro.
8. Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860
7. A German World War II submarine was sunk due to malfunction of the toilet.
6. Washington State has the longest single beach in the United States. Long Beach, WA.
5. The largest living thing on the face of the Earth is a mushroom underground in Oregon, it measures three and a half miles in diameter.
4. The town of Los Angeles, California, was originally named El Pueblo la Nuestra Senora de Reina de los Angeles de la Porciuncula.
3. 9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. This isn't true; Joseph Swan did.
2. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
1. The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas.
27. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
26. The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.
25. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
24. Its impossible to smoke oneself to death with weed. You won't be able to retain enough motor control and consciousness to do so after such a large amount. (Common Sense)
23. Uncle Phil, from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, did the voice of Shredder in the TMNT cartoon.
22. Every drop of seawater contains approximately 1 billion gold atoms.
21. The US national anthem actually has three verses, but everyone just knows the first one.
20. During World War II, IBM built the computers the Nazis used to manage their death/concentration camps.
19. The total combined weight of the worlds ant population is heavier than the weight of the human population.
18. The deadliest war in history excluding World War II was a civil war in China in the 1850s in which the rebels were led by a man who thought he was the brother of Jesus Christ.
17. Just about 3 people are born every second, and about 1.3333 people die every second. The result is about a 2 and 2/3 net increase of people every second. Almost 10 people more live on this Earth now, than before you finished reading this.
16. Happy Birthday (the song) is copyrighted.
15. The number of people alive on earth right now is higher than the number of all the people that have died. Ever.
14. The average American consumes 1.2 pounds of spider eggs a year and eat 2.5 pounds of insect parts a year.
13. The Kamp Krusty episode of the Simpson's was originally meant to be made as the Simpsons movie.
12. Men can breastfeed babies.
11. There is a rare condition called Exploding Head Syndrome which you've probably never heard of.
10. Scientists have determined that fungi are more closely related to human beings and animals than to other plants.
9. In some (maybe all) Asian countries, the family name is written first and the individual name written second (opposite of the America method). That's why Asian athletes like Yao Ming and Ichiro Suzuki have Yao and Ichiro written on their jerseys. Those are their family names and in America their names are written Ming Yao and Suzuki Ichiro.
8. Abe Lincoln bought 50 cents worth of cocaine in 1860
7. A German World War II submarine was sunk due to malfunction of the toilet.
6. Washington State has the longest single beach in the United States. Long Beach, WA.
5. The largest living thing on the face of the Earth is a mushroom underground in Oregon, it measures three and a half miles in diameter.
4. The town of Los Angeles, California, was originally named El Pueblo la Nuestra Senora de Reina de los Angeles de la Porciuncula.
3. 9 out of 10 people believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. This isn't true; Joseph Swan did.
2. Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.
1. The Population of the world can live within the state boundaries of Texas.
Capt. Negi, Netaji's Azad Hind compatriot passes away
Here's a report from samaylive, April01, 2009
Nataji's close aid passes away
Dehra Dun: Captain Narayan Singh Negi, a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, died of a heart attack at his residence here.He was 85, family sources said today.The mortal remains of Negi, who breathed his last yesterday, were consigned to flames with full state honour at Lakkhibagh area here in the presence of a large number of politicians and state government officials, they said.Expressing grief over the demise of Capt Negi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri described him as a great soldier.Chairman of the state media advisory committee Devendra Bhasin also laid a wreath on the body of Capt Negi on behalf of the ailing Chief Minister.Capt Negi came in contact with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 1943 when he joined his Azad Hind Fauj. Later Netaji appointed him as his body guard commander.
Nataji's close aid passes away
Dehra Dun: Captain Narayan Singh Negi, a close associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, died of a heart attack at his residence here.He was 85, family sources said today.The mortal remains of Negi, who breathed his last yesterday, were consigned to flames with full state honour at Lakkhibagh area here in the presence of a large number of politicians and state government officials, they said.Expressing grief over the demise of Capt Negi, Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri described him as a great soldier.Chairman of the state media advisory committee Devendra Bhasin also laid a wreath on the body of Capt Negi on behalf of the ailing Chief Minister.Capt Negi came in contact with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose in 1943 when he joined his Azad Hind Fauj. Later Netaji appointed him as his body guard commander.
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