tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356615982011-06-14T12:08:05.771-07:00Life as we know it.ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-38467402168399031162011-06-13T18:06:00.000-07:002011-06-13T18:06:52.950-07:002011-06-13T18:06:52.950-07:00The legal system in Kabul as of November, 2010<span style="font-size: 22pt;">15 years’ jail for fleeing from a cruel husband<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> </o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype><o:p></o:p></span><img alt="Prisoners in Kabul women prison" border="0" height="312" src="http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/data/upimages/women_prisoners.jpg" width="426" /></div><br />
<h2 style="margin: 0.83em 0in;">Exclusive: Inside the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Kabul</st1:city></st1:place> jail where a battered wife serves a longer term than a suicide bomber.</h2><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12pt;">This woman (above left) was a failed <span class="yshortcuts">suicide bomber</span>, sentenced to 4 years. Shahperai (above right) a 22-year-old woman sentenced to 15-years for fleeing from a cruel husband.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">By Oliver Englehart<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black;">NOVEMBER 16, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<div class="first" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.5pt;"><span style="color: black;">At the Badam Bagh women's prison in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Kabul</st1:city></st1:place>, home to 150 female inmates and 70 of their children, the chief warden, Lt Col Zarafshan, lowers her voice. "Because of my pain, my hurt and my sense of injustice, I am telling you this," she says. "If we had a good justice system only about ten of these women would be in prison."<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="color: black;">Although I see an occasional rat scuttling across the floor, and there is a somewhat putrid smell in the air, the conditions at Badam Bagh - it means 'The Almond Orchard' - are not as bad as I had expected. What is harrowing is the parody of justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Afghan women can still be imprisoned for "moral crimes". These include running away from home, defying family wishes regarding the choice of a spouse, adultery and elopement.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">A recent UN report stated that at least half of women imprisoned in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> are there for moral crimes. Zarafshan puts the proportion a lot higher.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">She summons into her office Gul-Khanum, a 44-year-old woman from a rural district. She has two ink spots on her forehead and chin: traditional markings tattooed on the most beautiful young girls. But now she has knife scars running down her neck, arms and face. Her thumb has been crudely sewn back on where a bullet went through her hand.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><em><span style="color: black;"> </span></em><span style="color: black;">Gul-Khanum's husband accused her of [cheating on] him with her own cousin. The husband shot dead the cousin then went about maiming his wife before the police arrived at the scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
<span style="color: black;">I ask if her husband's accusations were true. "How could I do something like that? My cousin was like my son," she replies through tears. Gul-Khanum has been in prison for three months with no charge brought against her. Her husband is in prison elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">The US Department of State's 2009 Human Rights Report for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Afghanistan</st1:place></st1:country-region> says that police and prosecutors detain suspects for an average of nine months without charge.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The report also explains that detention of women is often at the request of other family members, with the criminal act of 'Zina' - strictly, fornication or adultery - used to justify a broad spectrum of social offences.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">There are a number of women incarcerated for reporting crimes against them. Others are detained as "proxies" for their husbands or male relatives.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">"What is he doing here?" asks one of the inmates (<em>top left</em>), looking up at me with kohl-lined eyes as Zarafshan shows me round the cells. "He's come to increase your sentence!" jokes the warden.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">This woman was a failed suicide bomber. She was discovered at a police checkpoint wearing an explosive vest.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">"The big question for me," says Zarafshan, "is why someone doing a suicide attack gets three years and a woman who is plainly innocent and hasn't killed anyone can be sentenced to 20 years?"<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">There is an explanation. The warden tells me the suicide bomber belonged to a criminal gang who had paid a bribe to have her sentence commuted to three years. "Money decides trials and imprisonment," said Zarafshan, "There is no justice here, only money."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The warden has invited me to meet Shahperai (<em>top right</em>). She is a delicate and softly spoken 22-year-old, in the ninth month of a 15-year sentence.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Aged 12, she was married off to a 39-year-old man. She has four children already. "My husband was one of our neighbours on our street. I used to call him Uncle," Shahperai explains. "I didn't know that one day he would come and take me to marry him."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">She tells me her husband was a drug addict who systematically abused her, verbally and physically. Eventually she ran away with another man with whom she remarried and conceived another child. She was arrested after her first husband tracked her down in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Kabul</st1:place></st1:city>. Her new child was born behind bars in Badam Bagh.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">"I regret my crime a lot. I know now what I did was wrong," Shahperai tells me. "But from the moment I was born into this world, I have not had one good day. Not one piece of luck."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Human Rights Watch report that nearly 90 per cent of women in Afghanistan complain of domestic abuse, while 70 per cent of marriages are arranged and, according to the US Department of State, 60 per cent of brides are still under the age of 16.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">"My life is destroyed now," said Shahperai. "When they announced in court that I have 15 years I was happy, because I have nowhere to go. At least I am safe here."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Behind the razor-wired walls of Badam Bagh, she spends her days weaving jackets and socks to be sold on the outside in order to support her newborn child.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">"My dream would be to have a beautiful and peaceful life outside of prison," she says, "but this is not possible now."<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"> <br />
Read more: <a href="http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/71545,news-comment,news-politics,15-years-jail-for-fleeing-from-a-cruel-husband#ixzz1OtqwI41N"><span style="color: #003399;">http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/71545,news-comment,news-politics,15-years-jail-for-fleeing-from-a-cruel-husband#ixzz1OtqwI41N</span></a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-3846740216839903116?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-61191728764881095192011-06-11T19:22:00.000-07:002011-06-11T19:22:41.531-07:002011-06-11T19:22:41.531-07:00Saudi women take to their cars hoping for change<em>Driving is something I definately take for granted, i've been driving since I was 16 and couldn't imagine NOT being able to drive. It would be nice to see at least a few women driving because they are perfectly capable. What do you think?</em><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Saudi women take to their cars hoping for change</strong></span><br />
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<div class="relatedPhoto landscape" id="articleImage"><div class="rolloverCaption" id="captionContent" style="display: none;"><div class="rolloverBg"><div class="captionText">Cars travel along King Fahad main road in Riyadh February 21, 2011. <br />
<div class="credit">Credit: Reuters/Fahad Shadeed</div></div></div></div></div><img alt="Najla Hariri" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52800000/jpg/_52800071_womandriver2.jpg" width="464" /><br />
<div id="relatedInlineVideo"><script language="javascript" src="/resources_v2/js/widget-videoexpansion.js">
</script> </div>By Asma Alsharif and Jason Benham<br />
<div id="articleInfo"></div><span class="articleLocation">JEDDAH/RIYADH</span> (Reuters) - Fed up with having no driver to ferry her to hospital, Shaima Osama decided to take matters into her own hands and drive there herself, an act of defiance in a country where women are banned from sitting behind the wheel.<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span> <br />
Emboldened by the winds of change sweeping the Arab world, which has toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, women in the conservative kingdom see no better time to seek greater freedoms by demanding the right to drive, something they would not have dreamed of doing a year ago.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span> <br />
"I learned that there is no law banning women driving. I took the keys, took a deep breath and started the car," Osama described how she drove in Jeddah last month.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span> <br />
Saudi Arabia has no written ban on women driving but Saudi law requires citizens to use a locally issued license while in the country. Such licenses are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span> <br />
Thousands of Saudi men and women joined Facebook groups calling for women's right to drive and challenge the ban. But only a few, like Osama, turned those calls into action.<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span> <br />
Osama, 33, who has a severe vitamin D deficiency, drove herself to the hospital, received her vitamin injection but was stopped and arrested by police on her way home. She was released just hours later.<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span> <br />
She took to the wheel just days before Saudi authorities arrested another woman, Manal Alsharif, who posted a YouTube video of herself driving in the kingdom's Eastern Province and calling on other women to do the same.<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span> <br />
Alsharif has been released but faces charges of "besmirching the kingdom's reputation abroad and stirring up public opinion."<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span> <br />
Like Alsharif, Osama learned to drive in the United States.<br />
<span id="midArticle_9"></span> <br />
"The issue of women not being allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia has been in the public domain for more than 35 years," said Khaled al-Dakhil, a Saudi politics professor.<br />
<span id="midArticle_10"></span> <br />
"This is not the first time women had driven cars but you could say that the revolutionary wave has added to momentum and added a new context."<br />
<span id="midArticle_11"></span> <br />
Women also drove cars in 1990, but the government cracked down, arresting and firing from their jobs, an indication of what the authorities may do if more women follow in Osama and Alsharif's footsteps.<br />
<span id="midArticle_12"></span> <br />
The issue has also been raised by King Abdullah, who in an interview in 2005 said it was only a matter of time before women drive in the kingdom but that people have to be ready for it.<br />
<span id="midArticle_13"></span> <br />
Some women already drive in rural areas in the kingdom.<br />
<span id="midArticle_14"></span> <br />
OPPOSITION<br />
<span id="midArticle_15"></span> <br />
The two women and Facebook book groups are provoking a backlash from conservatives who oppose the idea of women seeking greater freedoms in a country where they must have written approval from a designated male guardian -- a father, husband, brother, or son -- to work, travel abroad and even undergo certain forms of surgery.<br />
<span id="midArticle_0"></span> <br />
Conservatives have launched their own Facebook campaign calling on people to beat up any woman who tries to drive in the street. It has attracted more than 500 supporters.<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span> <br />
Some 1,000 women have submitted a petition to King Abdullah supporting the ban against women driving, local media reported.<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span> <br />
Saudi Sheikh Abdul Mohsen al-Obaikan, an adviser to the Royal Court, voiced his opposition while clerics have said that women driving would result in them being harassed in the street.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span> <br />
But the reasons appear to have more to do with religion.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span> <br />
"The religious establishment are trying to wrap the issue in the "sharia cloth" but they know that if women are allowed to drive it is a big change and a change in a direction they hate," Dakhil said. "The religious establishment are scared that society is changing faster that it should and that the revolutionary wave is driving this."<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span> <br />
Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, has not seen the protests that have rocked much of the Arab world and Abdullah ordered handouts exceeding $100 billion earlier this year to discourage dissent.<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span> <br />
"It was a good time for the regime to give concessions but they did not," said Mohammad al-Qahtani, head of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association.<br />
<span id="midArticle_7"></span> <br />
"They can either allow women to drive or there will be more public resentment and there could be public protests in the street if this continues."<br />
<span id="midArticle_8"></span> <br />
But allowing women to drive would also ease the financial burden on households and on the kingdom and would help reduce the kingdom's dependence on millions of foreigners who work as drivers.<br />
<span id="midArticle_9"></span> <br />
Many families in Saudi Arabia have at least one driver with an average salary of around 2,000 Saudi riyals ($533) per month. Those who cannot afford this have a male member of family to drive them, often making it a time-consuming burden.<br />
<span id="midArticle_10"></span> <br />
"I do agree with women driving. It would ease costs but there need to be some rules," said student Talal al-Hussain.<br />
<span id="midArticle_11"></span> <br />
"Women shouldn't drive from 18 years of age like we do, but from their early thirties when they can look after themselves better," he said.<br />
<span id="midArticle_12"></span> <br />
Whether protesting in the street or not, Alsharif has launched a campaign to challenge the ban aimed at teaching women to drive and encouraging them to start driving from June 17, using foreign-issued licenses.<br />
<span id="midArticle_13"></span> <br />
Some women activists say the government's tough stance on Alsharif will deter many women from acting that day.<br />
<span id="midArticle_14"></span> <br />
"What I project to happen is that these terrorizing tactics will minimize the bold activists to a manageable number so that the government is capable of dismantling any and all protests in the first 15 minutes," said female activist Lama Sadik.<br />
<span id="midArticle_15"></span> <br />
Mohammad al-Zulfa, a former member of the advisory shuran council said he hoped the government would react "wisely" and make an announcement allowing women to drive.<br />
<span id="midArticle_0"></span> <br />
"Maybe not now, but in one or two years time, allowing society to be ready for it," he said.<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-6119172876488109519?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-28789837355949182062011-06-07T17:25:00.000-07:002011-06-07T17:25:23.056-07:002011-06-07T17:25:23.056-07:00Afghanistan in the 60's and 70's... with or without burqas?Here are some pictures of Afghanistan in the 60's and 70's. I'm focusing mostly on women as you can see because what women wear in Afghanistan is a topic that really <em>matters</em>.<br />
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*disclaimer - these pictures do not represent the whole country. I'm guessing most of them were taken in large cities. I did not take any of these photos*<br />
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This picture is interesting because you can see 4 distinct styles of clothing. From a burqa - to a skirt and sweater. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ilePHEZsxiU/Te29-kSNqFI/AAAAAAAAAFE/QBgvb35rVJE/s1600/securedownload1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ilePHEZsxiU/Te29-kSNqFI/AAAAAAAAAFE/QBgvb35rVJE/s400/securedownload1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A classroom with women and men in it. Stylish women too, and head coverings optional. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fcTxTyBjEDo/Te2-BjBqszI/AAAAAAAAAFI/637TPWbBc4I/s1600/securedownload2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="451" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fcTxTyBjEDo/Te2-BjBqszI/AAAAAAAAAFI/637TPWbBc4I/s640/securedownload2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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This picture actually really touched me. A school arts & crafts show! Notice there is painting, calligraphy, sewing, embroidery, etc.... This young student, whoever she is, was in school and encouraged to not only learn but to create something beautiful for others to enjoy. I used to enjoy participating in the exact same types of shows when I was that age. I think this photo touched me so much because it shows real beauty and humanity being encouraged. (yes, i'm a little corny but i'm being honest)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yyG-HWDg35A/Te2-Dn9DJXI/AAAAAAAAAFM/CE4MeDi5lu4/s1600/securedownload3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="451" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yyG-HWDg35A/Te2-Dn9DJXI/AAAAAAAAAFM/CE4MeDi5lu4/s640/securedownload3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Students walking around enjoying life.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNy3-Nmdm3I/Te2-E2vcTtI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/f9cctoNThD4/s1600/securedownload4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="396" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UNy3-Nmdm3I/Te2-E2vcTtI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/f9cctoNThD4/s640/securedownload4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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Now this picture is very interesting. Paghman Gardens (which I don't know anything about) used to look like the left-hand photo. Those two women are tourists, by the way. Notice the trees, water, and flowers. Now see what 30 years of war does to a place like that on the righ-hand side. Not a tree in sight! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VuKM9RwvkyQ/Te2-G6LGkjI/AAAAAAAAAFU/rfOyG_TkSZs/s1600/securedownload5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VuKM9RwvkyQ/Te2-G6LGkjI/AAAAAAAAAFU/rfOyG_TkSZs/s1600/securedownload5.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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School girls in their uniforms.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oujyomMGr0E/Te2-Jes1csI/AAAAAAAAAFY/WxIOgfplNtw/s1600/securedownload6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oujyomMGr0E/Te2-Jes1csI/AAAAAAAAAFY/WxIOgfplNtw/s640/securedownload6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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And finally, a burqa. I mean..... a woman wearing a burqa. Sorry, but when you look at that outfit you don't think "a woman" you just think "a burqa". I guess that's the point of burqas in the first place! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eXR_g7ynNW8/Te663lhFk3I/AAAAAAAAAFc/7MfFjcRrE_0/s1600/1085906_A00238R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eXR_g7ynNW8/Te663lhFk3I/AAAAAAAAAFc/7MfFjcRrE_0/s640/1085906_A00238R.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> <span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"> <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"> <v:formulas> <v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"> <v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"> <v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"> <v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"> <v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"> <v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"> <v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"> </v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas> <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"> <o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"> </o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span></o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><span style="color: #1f497d; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-2878983735594918206?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-88428786112331922572011-06-04T10:51:00.000-07:002011-06-06T08:29:12.274-07:002011-06-06T08:29:12.274-07:00Once upon a time in AfghanistanI would like to share with you something that has interested me for a while now. A country that used to be so 'normal', is now so (partially) backwards, shattered, and destitute. <br />
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First watch this video: <a href="http://youtu.be/qolsZG-g9Ik"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Kabul - once upon a time</span></strong></a><br />
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Did you notice the scenes of people going about their daily lives, school, shopping, and normalcy? <br />
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Now watch this video: <a href="http://youtu.be/R4S4TxoZtEg"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">News Channel special on Afghanistan</span></strong></a><br />
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I realize that this is just a slice of life, and does not encompass the whole country. But still, see how <em>normal</em> everything is? Even out in the rural areas, there was relative peace and regular living.<br />
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The last video I would like to show you is footage of Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan before the wars, then after the fall of the Taliban, and then today. Today is not all peaches and cream though. Yes, there are some high rises and development in the capital but the majority of the country is destitute and suffering. Here it is: <a href="http://youtu.be/mpy2rzMVQBQ"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Kabul - before and after</span></strong></a><br />
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The history of Afghanistan is so complicated, most people don't know a lot about it other than what they hear from the media and images of burkas and taliban. Here's a version i've heard that describes the recent history in a nutshell:<br />
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Up until the late 1970's Afghanistan was (relatively speaking) a thriving country with universities, tourism, a strong military, and some decent steps towards letting women take place in all spheres of life (politics, school, jobs, etc...) Then the Soviets invaded in 1979. All of the rich people, educated people, and people with connections fled as refugees into Pakistan. Millions of others were killed, and the US-backed Mujahideen fought the Soviets until they withdrew in 1989. Afghanistan then fell into a civil war between the Mujahideen and the Soviet-backed Party until 1996 when the Taliban took control of the country. During the civil war(1989-1996), and during the Taliban rule(1996-2001), millions of others fled as refugees all over the world, and millions more were killed. Also during this time there was no 'real' government, laws, etc.... <br />
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So! Afghanistan was in a constant state of war and/or non-government from 1979 until 2001. All that was left after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 was shattered buildings, women in burkas with no chance for education and public life for 22 years, no schools, no government, no infastructure, no laws, hardly any trees. <br />
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I enjoyed reading some stories about the day after the fall of the Taliban. Some men immediately shaved their beards (beards were mandatory under Taliban rule), people flew kites (not allowed by the Taliban), photographs came out, old cassette players came out and music was heard for the first time in more than 10 years, etc, etc, etc.... I could go on and on. <br />
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So, that's the recent history of Afghanistan in a nutshell. I KNOW I skipped a lot of details, so please understand. Thank you!<br />
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By the way, i'm still in the process of researching/investigating women's prisons in Afghanistan. I'll post more info soon - there is actually not a lot of academic/legal information out there. It is mostly news/journalism.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-8842878611233192257?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-23570139750593161182011-06-01T11:51:00.000-07:002011-06-06T15:01:52.229-07:002011-06-06T15:01:52.229-07:00Is it fair? Is it right? Afghan women in prison - part one.Imagine not being able to leave prison unless your husband or male relative will get you out. Now imagine if your husband & male relatives put you in prison! How will you get out? This is what happened to a woman named Maida Khal who is currently 22 years old. The picture isn't a very attractive one, but I think it is realistic. (In the picture she is reacting to another female prisoner being released) <br />
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According to the National Geographic blurb about her, <em>she was married off to a 70 year old paralyzed man when she was 12 years old</em>. UGH! She couldn't carry him around because she was so young, so the old man's brothers would beat her. She asked for a divorce when she was 18 and was put in prison. I guess for the past four years she has just been..... sitting there.....in prison...... waiting for what?<br />
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<strong>"I am in jail because I don't have a male guardian. I can't get a divorce and I can't leave prison without a man. I have had a difficult life."</strong> she says. <br />
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How will she get out? From what I can tell, she will NEVER get out of prison because the only people who can get her out are the people who put her there in the first place. I don't know much about how prisons are in Afghanistan but i'm going to try to find out some info to share, just so we can see what Maida does all day. <br />
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<img border="0" height="267px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ6EGz7WEm0/Td03v2LzfII/AAAAAAAAAFA/PXZ_3xr6ejA/s400/maida+khal.jpg" t8="true" width="400px" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-2357013975059316118?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-38046409200302840192011-05-24T17:34:00.000-07:002011-06-10T10:07:06.053-07:002011-06-10T10:07:06.053-07:00Precious gems of AfghanistanIn June of 2010 the United States Government 'discovered' vast amounts of minerals and precious gems in Afghanstan.<br />
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<em>"The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like <span style="color: black;">lithium</span> — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe."</em> (Quote from NYTimes article)<br />
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Here's a link to the full article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/asia/14minerals.html?ref=global-home">Article about gems in Afghanistan</a><br />
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Now let me introduce you to <a href="http://www.insideafghanistan.org/">Inside Afghanistan</a>. A woman named Bonita Chamberlain who spent time in Afghanistan under 5 different regimes, co-authored a book titled 'Gemstones of Afghanistan' in 1995. Here is a quote from Bonita:<br />
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<em>"Bonita Chamberlin has this rebuttal "I am quite surprised that the military is announcing this as some "new" and "surprising" discovery since we knew about it in 1982 and published the information in 1995. In “Gemstones of Afghanistan”, we identified 91 minerals, metals and gems at 1,407 potential mining sites. This included, among other minerals, copper, iron, lead, zinc, mercury, beryllium, lithium, rare earths and metals, plus oil and gas reserves. Our findings were reported by the Los Angeles Times in 2001. <strong>Since the 1980s we have been traveling around the country speaking about this. Proposals were sent to the UNDP, USAID and other NGOs that the gem and mineral mine development would be a crop substitution to poppies as Afghanistan is sitting on this enormous wealth.</strong> This is NOT new. Perhaps this also hints at the real reason why we would be so intent on this war...." (Quote from <a href="http://www.insideafghanistan.org/">www.insideafghanistan.org</a>)</em><br />
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Interesting, huh? Reminds me a story I heard on tv of a man who invented some sort of beauty product for bald men. He sent in proposals to all of the major companies and they all rejected his product for mass production. He deicded to create his own company and made a huge profit. His product was very popular, and then he received letters from the major companies asking to mass produce his product. <br />
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However, that didn't happen here. The US Government has been missin a big opportunity since the 80's that was being handed to them on a silver platter! <br />
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Here's the link again for Inside Afghanistan. <a href="http://www.insideafghanistan.org/">www.insideafghanistan.org</a> Please visit the site and learn about what they are doing. They sell jewelry made and mined by people in Nuristan. I bought a beautiful Blue Topaz necklace and love it. The money goes back to Afghanistan to help clear landmines and promote education, etc...<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-3804640920030284019?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-12393527446276862332011-05-24T08:47:00.000-07:002011-05-24T09:46:09.618-07:002011-05-24T09:46:09.618-07:00Afghansitan wants improvements, right?<h1 class="story-header"><span style="font-size: small;">Afghan blast 'kills 10' labourers in Kandahar p</span><span style="font-size: small;">rovince</span></h1><div class="caption body-narrow-width"><img alt="An Afghan man attends to his wounded brother at a hospital after a roadside bomb blast in Panjwai district of Kandahar May 24, 2011. " height="171" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52940000/jpg/_52940367_012057562-1.jpg" width="304" /> </div><div class="caption body-narrow-width"></div><div class="caption body-narrow-width"></div><div class="caption body-narrow-width"><span style="color: blue;">You know what I find incredibly annoying and stupid? I'd say the majority of Afghans want a normal life. That would make sense right? Normal people like infastructure, jobs, schools, trees, and having friends and family around. But not the Taliban! Their goal in life is to destroy infastructre, jobs, schools, trees, and families. Right? The Taliban seem to be ruining it for everyone else! The Afghani people are so beautiful and interesting and actually have a great culture and history (in general). Good thing they are preserving it in other countries. Reminds me of the Cubans in Florida..... preserving their culture outside the country. </span></div><div class="caption body-narrow-width"></div><div class="caption body-narrow-width"></div><div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">At least 10 road workers were killed and 28 injured in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar when their truck hit a roadside bomb, hospital officials say.</div>No group has said it carried out the attack. Last week gunmen shot dead 35 highway workers in Paktia province. <br />
Road workers are frequently targeted by Taliban militants. <br />
The Taliban recently declared a "spring offensive" of attacks. This is the fourth attack in as many days.<br />
The labourers, who worked for a local construction firm called Nisa, were on their way to work when the bomb went off in rural Panjwayi district of Kandahar province.<br />
According to the health director of Kandahar, Abdul Qayum Khan, 18 of the 28 injured are in critical condition. <br />
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says attack comes only weeks after Nato forces conducted operations in the district, allowing for the reconstruction of roads and much-needed irrigation canals. <br />
Only on Monday, our correspondent says, Nato commander Gen David Petraeus was in the district praising the reconstruction work and newfound security in the area.<br />
Kandahar is considered to be the spiritual homeland of the Taliban. Earlier this month the city effectively came under siege as insurgents attempted to seize control of several government buildings.<br />
There are also frequent attacks on security forces, both foreign and Afghan, operating across the province.<br />
Over the last week there has been a dramatic escalation in the frequency of attacks nationwide. <br />
On Saturday, a suicide blast at a hospital in Kabul killed six people and on Sunday gunmen stormed a government building in the city of Khost, also killing six. On Monday, a suicide blast killed four people in a crowded market place in eastern Laghman province.<br />
A spokesman for Afghanistan's NDS intelligence agency told reporters on Monday that several insurgents had been arrested in connection with Saturday's attack. <br />
One of those arrested is an Afghan National Army soldier working at the hospital. The spokesman said the soldier had provided the attacker with a uniform and valid ID card to help him get into the hospital.<br />
Correspondents say that although Nato says it is making progress against the insurgents, the Taliban are still able to strike at will including at the heart of the Afghan government, often in its most heavily guarded bases.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-1239352744627686233?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-17977525342211068642011-05-23T09:38:00.000-07:002011-06-08T17:15:14.356-07:002011-06-08T17:15:14.356-07:00India's unwanted girls<div class="blq-clearfix" id="blq-main"><div class="south-asia has-no-ticker"><div id="header-wrapper"><h2 id="header"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">So..... this article is just sad. It happens in all countries, not just India. I think it happens more in India simply because India has one of the highest birth rates in the world. Children should be a blessing. God loves all children. </span></h2><br />
<h2><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/" rel="index"><img alt="BBC News" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/img/1_0_1/cream/hi/news/news-blocks.gif" /></a> <span class="section-title">South Asia</span> </h2><div class=" bbccom-advert bbccom_display_none bbccom_sponsor" id="bbccom_sponsor_section"><div class="bbccom_text"></div></div><div role="navigation"><span class="story-date"><span class="date">22 May 2011</span> </span></div><div role="navigation"><br />
</div><div role="navigation"><span class="story-date"></span>India's unwanted girls</div></div><div class="us" id="content-wrapper"><div class="story blq-clearfix" id="main-content"><div class="layout-block-a"><div class="story-body"><div class="hypertabs" id="hypertab"><div class="hypertab-container"></div></div><script type="text/javascript">
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<div __eventidglow106616699="65" class="has-icon-comment dna-comment-count-simple"></div><div class="caption body-width"><img alt="A baby's hand rests on a woman's hand" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52816000/jpg/_52816182_handthinkstock.jpg" width="464" /> </div><div class="story-feature related narrow"><br />
</div><div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1">India's 2011 census shows a serious decline in the number of girls under the age of seven - activists fear eight million female foetuses may have been aborted in the past decade. The BBC's Geeta Pandey in Delhi explores what has led to this crisis. Kulwant has three daughters aged 24, 23 and 20 and a son who is 16. </div>In the years between the birth of her third daughter and her son, Kulwant became pregnant three times. <br />
<div class="story-feature narrow">Each time, she says, she was forced to abort the foetus by her family after ultrasound tests confirmed that they were girls. "My mother-in-law taunted me for giving birth to girls. She said her son would divorce me if I didn't bear a son." Kulwant still has vivid memories of the first abortion. "The baby was nearly five months old. She was beautiful. I miss her, and the others we killed," she says, breaking down, wiping away her tears. </div>Until her son was born, Kulwant's daily life consisted of beatings and abuse from her husband, mother-in-law and brother-in-law. Once, she says, they even attempted to set her on fire. "They were angry. They didn't want girls in the family. They wanted boys so they could get fat dowries," she says. India outlawed dowries in 1961, but the practice remains rampant and the value of dowries is constantly growing, affecting rich and poor alike. Kulwant's husband died three years after the birth of their son. "It was the curse of the daughters we killed. That's why he died so young," she says.<br />
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<div class="story-feature wide ">How girls are valued varies widely across India. Over the years, most states in the south and north-east have been kind to their girls, and sex ratios are above the national average. In the matrilineal societies of Kerala and Karnataka in the south and Meghalaya in the north-east, women have enjoyed high status and commanded respect. But the latest census figures show the good news even in these areas could be turning bad. A minor decline in the number of girls has begun in the three states which, campaigners worry, might be indicative of a trend. What is seen as most distressing is the steep decline in the number of girls under seven in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh and in Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura in the north-east. Even though these states have registered numbers much higher than the national average, the decline is too substantial to ignore. But all is not lost. Some states, such as Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh - which saw the gap between numbers of boys and girls widen in 2001 - have shown an improvement. That is cause for some cheer, campaigners say. Her neighbour Rekha is mother of a chubby three-year-old girl. </div>Last September, when she became pregnant again, her mother-in-law forced her to undergo an abortion after an ultrasound showed that she was pregnant with twin girls. "I said there's no difference between girls and boys. But here they think differently. There's no happiness when a girl is born. They say the son will carry forward our lineage, but the daughter will get married and go off to another family." Kulwant and Rekha live in Sagarpur, a lower middle-class area in south-west Delhi. Here, narrow minds live in homes separated by narrow lanes. The women's story is common and repeated in millions of homes across India, and it has been getting worse. <br />
In 1961, for every 1,000 boys under the age of seven, there were 976 girls. Today, the figure has dropped to a dismal 914 girls. Although the number of women overall is improving (due to factors such as life expectancy), India's ratio of young girls to boys is one of the worst in the world after China. <br />
Many factors come into play to explain this: infanticide, abuse and neglect of girl children. <br />
But campaigners say the decline is largely due to the increased availability of antenatal sex screening, and they talk of a genocide. The government has been forced to admit that its strategy has failed to put an end to female foeticide. <span class="cross-head">'National shame'</span> "Whatever measures have been put in over the past 40 years have not had any impact on the child sex ratio," Home Secretary GK Pillai said when the census report was released.<br />
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described female foeticide and infanticide as a "national shame" and called for a "crusade" to save girl babies. But Sabu George, India's best-known campaigner on the issue, says the government has so far shown little determination to stop the practices. <br />
<div class="caption body-width"><img alt="File photo of schoolchildren at a rally against female foeticide in Delhi" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52457000/jpg/_52457110_52457109.jpg" width="464" /> <span style="width: 464px;">Campaigners say India's strategy to protect female babies is not working</span> </div>Until 30 years ago, he says, India's sex ratio was "reasonable". Then in 1974, Delhi's prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences came out with a study which said sex-determination tests were a boon for Indian women. It said they no longer needed to produce endless children to have the right number of sons, and it encouraged the determination and elimination of female foetuses as an effective tool of population control. "By late 80s, every newspaper in Delhi was advertising for ultrasound sex determination," said Mr George. "Clinics from Punjab were boasting that they had 10 years' experience in eliminating girl children and inviting parents to come to them." In 1994, the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act outlawed sex-selective abortion. In 2004, it was amended to include gender selection even at the pre-conception stage. Abortion is generally legal up to 12 weeks' gestation. Sex can be determined by a scan from about 14 weeks. "What is needed is a strict implementation of the law," says Varsha Joshi, director of census operations for Delhi. "I find there's absolutely no will on the part of the government to stop this."<br />
Today, there are 40,000 registered ultrasound clinics in the country, and many more exist without any record.<br />
<span class="cross-head">'Really sad'</span> Ms Joshi, a former district commissioner of south-west Delhi, says there are dozens of ultrasound clinics in the area. It has the worst child sex ratio in the capital - 836 girls under seven for every 1,000 boys. <br />
<div class="story-feature narrow"></div><div id="story_continues_4">Delhi's overall ratio is not much better at 866 girls under seven for every 1,000 boys.</div>"It's really sad. We are the capital of the country and we have such a poor ratio," Ms Joshi says.<br />
The south-west district shares its boundary with Punjab and Haryana, the two Indian states with the worst sex ratios. Since the last census, Punjab and Haryana have shown a slight improvement. But Delhi has registered a decline. "Something's really wrong here and something has to be done to put things right," Ms Joshi says. Almost all the ultrasound clinics in the area have the mandatory board outside, proclaiming that they do not carry out illegal sex-determination tests. But the women in Sagarpur say most people here know where to go when they need an ultrasound or an abortion. They say anyone who wants to get a foetal ultrasound done, gets it done. In the five-star clinics of south Delhi it costs 10,000-plus rupees ($222; £135), In the remote peripheral areas of Delhi's border, it costs a few hundred rupees. Similarly, the costs vary for those wanting an illegal abortion.<br />
Delhi is not alone in its anti-girl bias. Sex ratios have declined in 17 states in the past decade, with the biggest falls registered in Jammu and Kashmir. Ms Joshi says most offenders are members of the growing middle-class and affluent Indians - they are aware that the technology exists and have the means to pay to find out the sex of their baby and abort if they choose. "We have to take effective steps to control the promotion of sex determination by the medical community. And file cases against doctors who do it," Mr George says.<br />
"Otherwise by 2021, we are frightened to think what it will be like."</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-1797752534221106864?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-51301294836423961772011-05-21T09:37:00.000-07:002011-05-21T09:38:20.967-07:002011-05-21T09:38:20.967-07:00New Italian Boy Band!I think I just found the new Backstreet Boys, Italian style! I think they're pretty good! They're only about 17 years old and sound great. The only issue I have with this video is that the camera angle or shot changes every one or two seconds.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/lw3c5d3aBSE/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lw3c5d3aBSE&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lw3c5d3aBSE&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">OK. Now compare to the greatest opera singer who ever lived. (Yes I am biased) :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/d_mLFHLSULw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d_mLFHLSULw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d_mLFHLSULw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's like comparing apples and oranges, because both videos are good in their own way. But nothing beats Pavarotti! </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-5130129483642396177?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-47062986265317390082011-05-20T08:13:00.000-07:002011-05-20T08:13:05.813-07:002011-05-20T08:13:05.813-07:00US man charged with Chihuahua death faces life in jail<div class="story-body"><span class="story-date"><span class="date"><strong>20 May 2011</strong></span> </span><!-- Social media icons by Paul Annet | http://nicepaul.com/icons --></div><div class="share-help" id="page-bookmark-links-head"><div class="bbc-st bbc-st-slim bbc-st-colour bbc-st-dark bbc-st-force-flash-hide bbc-st-disable-facebook-panel" id="top-share-toolbar" style="display: block;"><div class="bbc-st-basic">A man in the US state of California faces a possible life sentence for allegedly killing his wife's Chihuahua.</div></div></div><div class="story-body">Bud Wally Ruiz, 53, gave the puppy to his wife as a Mother's Day gift, but now he is charged with animal cruelty. Ruiz has a criminal history stretching back 30 years, with four convictions for assault with a deadly weapon. Under California's "three strikes" law, the courts are bound to consider a 25-year sentence for criminals convicted of multiple violent felonies. However, they do have discretion to impose a lesser sentence if they decide the new offence is less serious. Police responded to a late night emergency call on 12 May, and arrived at the couple's home in Gilroy, south east of San Jose in Silicon Valley, to find the puppy dead and the suspect gone. Prosecutors allege an argument flared up after Ruiz got home drunk. </div><div class="story-body">When his wife, Marcella, asked him to leave, Ruiz threw a travel bag containing the dog across the room, say police. Marcella Ruiz accused her husband of assault, though she later retracted the allegation.</div><div class="story-body">She subsequently told the local newspaper, Mercury News: "He was devastated. He's not a monster." </div><div class="story-body">The Santa Clara County district attorney's office has charged Ruiz with two counts of cruelty to animals and one count of battery on a spouse. "The courts weigh animal cruelty as a very serious offence," said Sgt Justin Matsuhara of the Santa Clara police department. Ruiz is due to appear in court to enter a plea next week.</div><div class="story-body"><br />
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</div><div class="story-body"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow - on the one hand i'd say this is REDICULOUS! A life sentance for killing a dog?? Really? I know it is wrong to kill animals, but that's a little harsh. On the other hand, he has a history of being a felon for the past 30 years. Should that be taken into consideration? Let's see.... a man who has been a 'criminal' for the past 30 years comes home drunk, gets mad, and kills the dog by throwing it across the room. Yes, he should be punished or penalized, but I don't think this specific crime deserves a life sentance. </span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-4706298626531739008?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-43549178513314692132011-05-19T09:36:00.000-07:002011-05-19T09:36:29.626-07:002011-05-19T09:36:29.626-07:00My tomato soup recipePut a few Tablespoons of olive oil and 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic in a pan, let sit for a few minutes. Heat oil until garlic just begins to brown, then add chopped tomatoes. I used about 3 large tomatoes. Add two finely chopped orange, yellow, or red bell peppers. Add approx. 1 Teaspoon of chicken bullion. Turn heat up to medium-high and stir tomatoes & bell peppers occasionally for 5 minutes. Add one 8 oz can of regular tomato sauce. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low (high enough for it to simmer). Let the soup simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of chopped basil leaves and stir for 2 minutes. Puree soup with a hand blender, or in a regular blender. <br />
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Then serve and enjoy! <br />
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Not to be boastful, but it turned out to be a delicious and healthy soup.<br />
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My husband is on a 'no carb' diet, so he is practically refusing to eat most fruits and vegetables because they have carbs in them!! Supposedly tomatoes have carbs so he didn't want soup at first. argh. He eventually ate some and said it was good..... <br />
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Try out the recipe and let me know what you think!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-4354917851331469213?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-6940882892417986552011-05-18T08:23:00.000-07:002011-05-18T08:23:04.825-07:002011-05-18T08:23:04.825-07:00Saudi woman seeks to put women in the driving seat<h1 class="story-header">Saudi woman seeks to put women in the driving seat</h1><span class="byline"><span class="byline-name">By Michael Buchanan</span> <span class="byline-title">BBC News, Jeddah</span></span><br />
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<span class="byline"><span class="byline-title"><div class="story-body"><span class="story-date"><span class="date"><strong>18 May 2011</strong></span> <span class="time-text"><span style="color: #666666;">Last updated at </span></span><span class="time">04:07 ET</span> </span></div><div class="share-help" id="page-bookmark-links-head"><span class="byline"> </span></div><div class="caption body-width"><img alt="Najla Hariri" height="261" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52800000/jpg/_52800071_womandriver2.jpg" width="464" /> <span style="width: 464px;">Najla Hariri says there is no law against women driving, only society's convention</span> </div><div class="introduction" id="story_continues_1"><br />
</div><div class="introduction">A Saudi woman has taken to the road in a direct challenge to the country's ban on female drivers.</div><div class="story-body">Najla Hariri started driving around Jeddah last week. She is believed to be the only woman regularly driving in a Saudi city.</div><div class="story-body">The 45-year-old says she was inspired by the protests taking place elsewhere in the Middle East.</div><div class="story-body">"Enough is enough", she told the BBC as she drove around the city. "I have the right to [drive]."</div><div class="story-body">Ms Hariri holds a driving licence from both Egypt and Lebanon from her time living abroad, and also has an international licence that she uses when she drives in Europe.</div><div class="story-body" id="story_continues_2">"There is no law against women driving. It's society's [convention] that says women are not allowed to drive."</div><div class="story-body"><span class="cross-head">'Not scared'</span> </div><div class="story-body">The mother of five has the support of her husband and says her daughters and their friends are very proud of her.</div><div class="story-body">She knows, however, that she could be stopped at any moment by the police.</div><div class="story-body">"In this society I am a little bit brave. I am not scared," she says.</div><div class="caption"><img alt="Najla Hariri's driving licence" height="299" src="http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/52800000/jpg/_52800205_licence.jpg" width="224" /> <span style="width: 224px;">Najla Hariri says she was inspired by the Arab Spring protests</span> </div><div class="story-body">In some desert areas of Saudi Arabia, women are understood to drive occasionally, but it is virtually unheard of for a woman to take to the road in a major city.</div><div class="story-body">Opponents of women driving argue that it's safer for females to have a male in the car with them, and that they are honouring their women by sparing them the strain of driving.</div><div class="story-body">"They are lying to themselves," replies Ms Hariri forcefully. "It is safer for women to drive themselves. We have four million foreign drivers [in the country] and we'd like to get rid of them and drive ourselves."</div><div class="story-body">Ms Hariri admits she did not want to be at the vanguard of efforts to give women more freedoms.</div><div class="story-body">She returned to Saudi Arabia two years ago and was tempted to start driving immediately.</div><div class="story-body">She found herself stuck at home with two cars but no driver, as her husband and eldest son were both away. "But I waited for the right time; I waited for other ladies to [go first]," she says. As no one stepped forward, she has decidd that now is the moment. </div><div class="story-feature narrow">"Before in Saudi, you never heard about protests," she says.</div><div class="story-body">"[But] after what has happened in the Middle East, we started to accept a group of people going outside and saying what they want in a loud voice, and this has had an impact on me."</div><div class="story-body"><span class="cross-head">Facebook campaign</span> </div><div class="story-body">Najla Hariri's challenge to Saudi society is part of a wider effort for greater female participation in the whole of society.</div><div class="story-body">A Facebook page is encouraging women to come out and drive on 17 June.</div><div class="story-body">Other women are pushing for the right to vote in municipal elections scheduled for September, while there are also calls for women to get permission to sign legal documents.</div><div class="story-body">Aalia, a 19-year-old university student, is co-ordinating some of the online reform efforts.</div><div class="story-body">"We are focusing on spreading the word, raising public awareness," she says. "Women here don't know their rights."</div><div class="story-body"><br />
</div><div class="story-body"><br />
</div><div class="story-body" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Well - it's about time!!!</strong></span></div></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-694088289241798655?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-71269837665371043432011-05-17T17:36:00.000-07:002011-05-17T17:36:21.393-07:002011-05-17T17:36:21.393-07:00last day of Jazz class!I'm heading out the door in a few minutes to my last Jazz class! Tonight is the Final, so that means I just have to do some plie combinations, some piques, spins, fuete's, kicks, and then do the choreography that we've been learning. Jazz has NOT been my favorite class, so i'm actually really excited that it's going to be over. This is the first dance class that I haven't liked. I didn't exactly hate it, i'd say it's about 50% enjoyable, but at the same time most of the class is more advanced than I am so i'm one of the stragglers that doesn't know how to do the things everyone else already knows how to do! ugh! <br />
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My sister is getting married in a week and a half! Life is crazy!<br />
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Well, that's all for now, don't forget to vote in my survey - it's a very important one. It's at the top left hand of my blog. :) <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-7126983766537104343?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-82091200356564666812011-05-16T08:17:00.000-07:002011-05-16T08:17:22.138-07:002011-05-16T08:17:22.138-07:00A funny video<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Listen to this with sound on. The first time I saw this I laughed so hard I cried. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://0.gvt0.com/vi/nGeKSiCQkPw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nGeKSiCQkPw&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nGeKSiCQkPw&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-8209120035656466681?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-46845096860124137222011-05-14T10:58:00.000-07:002011-05-14T10:58:09.127-07:002011-05-14T10:58:09.127-07:00My day off<div style="text-align: center;">I grew this.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P9_tHZdkLSs/Tc6_q5pS1-I/AAAAAAAAAEw/MjUT1xSVFDk/s1600/DSCN5113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P9_tHZdkLSs/Tc6_q5pS1-I/AAAAAAAAAEw/MjUT1xSVFDk/s320/DSCN5113.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Do you know how rediculously proud I am? I didn't kill it, it grew! And my first tomato is almost ripe! Yes, i'm about as proud as a little kid who accomplished something. :) </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BLP7LR-feQI/Tc6_yO7aeVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/KBnmkySzL14/s1600/DSCN5114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BLP7LR-feQI/Tc6_yO7aeVI/AAAAAAAAAE0/KBnmkySzL14/s320/DSCN5114.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And here's my basil, i've been pinching it, so i've gotten a few cups worth of leaves already. Nice, huh? I'm going to make pesto one of these days. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So yesterday was my day off. And i'm home today without a car. I'm going to make Baked Teryaki Chicken tonight, and find a good Stir-Fried Cabbag recipe. My husband decided that he is on a NO CARBS diet so.... I guess that's good for me too! Because of him, I just had one piece of toast this morning with my eggs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's how I make Baked Teryaki Chicken:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1 tablespoon cold water</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1 tablespoon flour</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1/2 cup white sugar</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1/2 cup soy sauce</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1/4 cup cider vinegar</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1 clove garlic, minced</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper</li><br />
<li class="plaincharacterwrap ingredient"> 12 skinless chicken thighs</li><br />
<h3 class="directions" style="margin-top: 10px;"> Directions</h3><div class="directions" style="margin-top: 10px;"><ol><li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break"> In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the flour, cold water, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger and ground black pepper. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and bubbles. </span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break"> Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). </span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break"> Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Brush chicken with the sauce. Turn pieces over, and brush again. </span></li>
<li><span class="plaincharacterwrap break"> Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn pieces over, and bake for another 30 minutes, until no longer pink and juices run clear. Brush with sauce every 10 minutes during cooking. </span></li>
</ol></div><br />
<span class="plaincharacterwrap break">I've made it twice already, it's pretty good! I guess i'm going to clean out more of my bedroom today too. I have too much stuff. It accumulates...... Sometimes I start in on it and I get overwhelmed but I CAN DO IT! It's hard for me to throw things away sometimes because either i'm lazy or it means something to me. </span><br />
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<span class="plaincharacterwrap break">But I threw some stuff away yesterday. Lots of old papers. Does anyone have any organization tips for me? </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-4684509686012413722?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-6547592392494100452011-05-13T18:20:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:20:42.507-07:002011-05-13T18:20:42.507-07:00dance classesWell, i'm a little annoyed. I've been waiting to take at Flamenco dance class at my local community college for a few years now, and I just found out that they aren't offering it next semester! I took Middle Eastern dance last fall and really liked it. I'm about to end my Jazz class, which I didn't really like that much. I don't think i'll be taking a dance class next semester.... That means my evenings will be free. hm.... <br />
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I have a few different options. I can go on walks more often, and I can use the little fitness room in my apartment complex. I'll probably do both. It's nice that there are so many places within walking distance from me. I can walk to: Vons, Target, hair salon, sears, world market, payless, ice cream, about 20 different restaurants & fast food places, sears, kohls, trader Joe's, my bank, 99cents store, my doctor, my work (45 minute walk) savers, the library, the post office, norms. I could list more but these are the places I go most often. I've never lived so close to so many stores! I really like it. <br />
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Oh, and I have a book series to recommend: <em>The Widow of Larkspur Lane, The Courship of the Vicar's Daughter,</em> and <em>The Dowry of Miss Lydia Clark</em>. They are set in 1800's England and are novels, and I really like them! <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-654759239249410045?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-84958280044744138042011-05-09T08:56:00.000-07:002011-05-09T08:56:44.124-07:002011-05-09T08:56:44.124-07:00i'm not normally political but.....<h2 class="entry-title" id="article-title"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You know, I normally like to completely avoid talking about politics, but I just feel like this is a stupid situation of Muslims bullying Christians and both groups are to blame, but I'd say the instigators (seeming to be Muslim) are MORE to blame. I'm going to highlight important phrases throughout the article. </span></h2><h2 class="entry-title">Church burning deepens tumult of Egypt transition</h2><div class="author vcard"><span class="fn"></span></div><div class="published updated dtstamp">Published May 08, 2011<span class="value-title" title="2010-05-1T11:02Z"></span></div><div class="source-org vcard"><span class="org fn">| Associated Press</span></div><div class="source-org vcard"><br />
</div><div class="source-org vcard"><span class="org fn"></span><span class="dateline">CAIRO – </span>Relations between Egypt's Muslims and Christians degenerated to a new low Sunday after riots overnight left <span style="background-color: yellow;">12 people dead and a church</span><span style="background-color: yellow;"> burned</span>, adding to the disorder of the country's post-revolution transition to democracy.</div><div id="introduction" jquery1304955461941="169" sizcache="24" sizset="0"><div class="entry-content KonaBody"><div jquery1304955461941="50" style="font-size: 14px;">The <span style="background-color: yellow;">attack on the church</span> was the latest sign of assertiveness by an extreme, ultraconservative movement of Muslims known as Salafis, whose <span style="background-color: yellow;">increasing hostility toward Egypt's Coptic Christians over the past few months has met with little interference from the country's military rulers.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="51" style="font-size: 14px;">Salafis have been blamed for other <span style="background-color: yellow;">recent attacks on Christians</span> and others they don't approve of. In one attack, a <span style="background-color: yellow;">Christian man had an ear cut off</span> for renting an apartment to a Muslim woman suspected of involvement in prostitution.</div><div jquery1304955461941="52" style="font-size: 14px;">The latest violence, which erupted in fresh <span style="background-color: yellow;">clashes Sunday between Muslims and Christians who pelted each other with stones</span> in another part of Cairo, also pointed to what many see as reluctance of the armed forces council to act. The council took temporary control of the country after President Hosni Mubarak was deposed on Feb. 11.</div><div jquery1304955461941="53" style="font-size: 14px;">After the overnight clashes in the slum of Imbaba, residents turned their anger toward the military. Some said they and the police did almost nothing to intervene in the five-hour frenzy of violence.</div><div jquery1304955461941="54" style="font-size: 14px;">Analysts warned of signs of <span style="background-color: yellow;">Coptic violence</span>, especially with reports that <span style="background-color: yellow;">some Christians have opened fire at Muslims.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="55" style="font-size: 14px;">"The Coptic volcano is exploding," Coptic expert Youssef Sedhom said. "How would Copts respond if they find their back to the wall facing guns? They would have no option but self defense," adding, "don't blame Copts for what they do."</div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Six Muslims were among the dead</span>, according to Egypt's state-run news agency. </div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><em> (How may Christians? Or do only Muslims matter?)</em></div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</div><div jquery1304955461941="57" style="font-size: 14px;">The bloodshed began Saturday around sundown when word spread around the neighborhood that a Christian woman who married a Muslim had been abducted and was being kept in the Virgin Mary Church against her will.</div><div jquery1304955461941="58" style="font-size: 14px;">Islamic extremists declared the crowded district a state within a state in 1990s, calling it "the Islamic Republic of Imbaba," one of the country's hottest spots of Islamic militancy.</div><div jquery1304955461941="59" style="font-size: 14px;">The report of the kidnapping, which was never confirmed by local religious figures, sent a <span style="background-color: yellow;">large mob of Muslims toward the </span><span style="background-color: yellow;">church. Christians created a human barricade around the building and clashes erupted. Gunfire sounded across the neighborhood, and witnesses said people on rooftops were firing into the crowd.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="60" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">The two sides accused each other of firing first.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="61" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Crowds of hundreds of Muslims from the neighborhood lobbed firebombs at homes, shops and the church. Residents say Christians were hiding inside. Muslims chanted: "With our blood and soul, we defend you, Islam."</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;">Rimon Girgis, a 24-year-old with a tattoo of a Coptic saint on his arm, was among the Christians who formed a human shield around the church.</div><div jquery1304955461941="63" style="font-size: 14px;">"They were around 40 bearded men chanting slogans like 'There is no God but Allah.' After rallying Muslim residents, they opened fire," he said. "We Copts had to respond, so we hurled stones and pieces of broken marble."</div><div jquery1304955461941="64" style="font-size: 14px;">Some of the wounded were carried to the nearby St. Menas Church, where floors were still stained with blood hours later.</div><div jquery1304955461941="65" style="font-size: 14px;">"Every five minutes, an injured person was rushed into the church," said Father Arshedis. "We couldn't reach ambulances by phone. We called and no one answered. We tried to treat the injured. We used the girls' hair clips to extract the bullets."</div><div jquery1304955461941="66" style="font-size: 14px;">"The army is responsible because they took no action," he said.</div><div jquery1304955461941="67" style="font-size: 14px;">Later the same night, <span style="background-color: yellow;">the Muslim crowd moved to a Christian-owned apartment building nearby and set it on fire</span>. Piles of charred furniture, garbage and wood were mixed with remains of clothes, food and shoes. Shops on the ground floor of the buildings were destroyed.</div><div jquery1304955461941="68" style="font-size: 14px;">Some soldiers and police did fire tear gas, but failed to clear the streets for hours.</div><div jquery1304955461941="69" style="font-size: 14px;">By daybreak, the military had deployed armored vehicles and dozens of troop carriers to cordon off a main street leading to the area. They stopped traffic and turned away pedestrians. Men, women and children watching from balconies took photos with mobile phones and cheered the troops.</div><div jquery1304955461941="70" style="font-size: 14px;">Across the Nile river, in downtown Cairo, clashes broke out on Sunday afternoon. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Muslim youths attacked Coptic Christian protesters</span>, said Christian activist Bishoy Tamri.</div><div jquery1304955461941="71" style="font-size: 14px;">TV images showed <span style="background-color: yellow;">both sides furiously throwing stones, including one Christian who held a large wooden cross in one hand while flinging rocks with the other.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="72" style="font-size: 14px;">Scores were injured, but an army unit securing the TV building did nothing to stop the violence, Tamri said.</div><div jquery1304955461941="73" style="font-size: 14px;">Late Sunday thousands of Copts decided to camp out in front of the TV building overnight to press demands to bring the arsonists to justice and to make religious instigation a criminal offense.</div><div jquery1304955461941="74" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Islamic clerics denounced the violence</span>, sounding alarm bells at the escalating tension during the transitional period following Mubarak's Feb. 11 ouster by a popular uprising.</div><div jquery1304955461941="75" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: red;">"These events do not benefit either Muslim or Copts</span>," Ahmed al-Tayyeb, the sheik of al-Azhar, told the daily Al-Ahram.</div><div jquery1304955461941="76" style="font-size: 14px;">During the 18-day uprising that ousted Mubarak, there was a <span style="background-color: yellow;">rare spirit of brotherhood between Muslims and Christians</span>. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Each group protected the other during prayer sessions in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="77" style="font-size: 14px;">But in the months that followed, there has been a sharp rise in sectarian tensions, as the once quiescent Salafis have become more forceful in trying to spread their version of an Islamic way of life. In particular, they have focused their wrath on Egypt's Christians, who make up 10 percent of the country's 80 million people.</div><div jquery1304955461941="78" style="font-size: 14px;">On Friday, a few hundred Salafis marched through Cairo to praise al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and condemning the U.S. operation that killed him.</div><div jquery1304955461941="79" style="font-size: 14px;">Critics say Egyptian military authorities have done too little to stem the religious violence. But authorities arrested 190 people after the church attack, sending them to military prosecutions and threatening the maximum penalty against anyone attacking houses of worship.</div><div jquery1304955461941="80" style="font-size: 14px;">Copts complain of widespread discrimination, including tight restrictions on building or repairing churches, while Muslim places of worship do not face such limits.</div><div jquery1304955461941="81" style="font-size: 14px;">In one of the worst attacks against them, <span style="background-color: yellow;">a suicide bomber killed 21 people outside a church in the port city of Alexandria on Jan. 1</span>, setting off days of protests. Egypt made some arrests but never charged anyone with the attack.</div><div jquery1304955461941="82" style="font-size: 14px;">Tensions have been building for the past year as Salafis protested the alleged abduction by the Coptic Church of a priest's wife, Camilla Shehata. The Salafis claim she converted to Islam to escape an unhappy marriage — a phenomenon they maintain is common.</div><div jquery1304955461941="83" style="font-size: 14px;">Because divorce is banned in the Coptic Church, with rare exceptions such as conversion, some Christian women resort to conversion to Islam or another Christian denomination to get out of a marriage.</div><div jquery1304955461941="84" style="font-size: 14px;">Shehata's case was even used by Iraq's branch of al-Qaida as a justification for an attack on a Baghdad church that killed 68 people and other threats by the group against Christians.</div><div jquery1304955461941="85" style="font-size: 14px;">On Saturday just before the violence erupted in Imbaba, Shehata appeared with her husband and child on a Christian TV station broadcast from outside of Egypt and asserted that she was still a Christian and had never converted.</div><div jquery1304955461941="86" style="font-size: 14px;">"Let the protesters leave the Church alone and turn their attention to Egypt's future," she said from an undisclosed location.</div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;">In the Egyptian Sinai desert, hundreds of Bedouins forced authorities to set free a prisoner after laying siege to the main courthouse, firing gunshots in the air and burning tires, witnesses said.</div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;">Here' a summary of what i've highlighted:</div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;"><br />
</div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">12 people dead and a </span><span style="background-color: lime;">church burned</span>, </div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">attack on the church </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="87" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">increasing hostility toward Egypt's Coptic Christians over the past few months has met with little interference from the country's military rulers.</span></div><div id="introduction" jquery1304955461941="169" sizcache="24" sizset="0"><div class="entry-content KonaBody"><div jquery1304955461941="51" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">recent attacks on Christians </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="51" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">Christian man had an ear cut off </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="52" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">clashes Sunday between Muslims and Christians who pelted each other with stones</span> </div><div jquery1304955461941="52" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Coptic violence</span>, <span style="background-color: yellow;">some Christians have opened fire at Muslims.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Six Muslims were among the dead</span>, </div><div jquery1304955461941="56" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;"> large mob of Muslims toward the church. Christians created a human barricade around the building and clashes erupted. Gunfire sounded across the neighborhood, and witnesses said people on rooftops were firing into the crowd.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="60" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">The two sides accused each other of firing first.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="61" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">Crowds of hundreds of Muslims from the neighborhood lobbed firebombs at homes, shops and the church. Residents say Christians were hiding inside. Muslims chanted: "With our blood and soul, we defend you, Islam."</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">the Muslim crowd moved to a Christian-owned apartment building nearby and set it on fire. </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">Muslim youths attacked Coptic Christian protesters, </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">both sides furiously throwing stones, including one Christian who held a large wooden cross in one hand while flinging rocks with the other.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: red;">Islamic clerics denounced the violence, "These events do not benefit either Muslim or Copts," </span></div><div jquery1304955461941="62" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">rare spirit of brotherhood between Muslims and Christians</span>. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Each group protected the other during prayer sessions in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution.</span></div><div jquery1304955461941="77" style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: lime;">a suicide bomber killed 21 people outside a church in the port city of Alexandria on Jan. 1, </span></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-8495828004474413804?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-64407291369683128052011-05-07T16:35:00.000-07:002011-05-07T16:35:01.999-07:002011-05-07T16:35:01.999-07:00sweet potato fries!!Last night I did something i've never done before. I figured out how to turn on the grill, then I grilled some diesmillo steak, and turned off the grill. Sounds simple, right? I have NEVER in 26 years grilled my own meat! It was always my parents, or friends, or husband. I'm so proud of myself! Now a whole new world of grilling has opened up for me. I'm going to try grilling chicken next. yummmm....<br />
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So I made steak, then I made sweet potato fries. You cut up yams into french fry "wedge" size. Then you put them in a bowl you drizzel a little olive oil over them. Next you season them with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Mix the fries in the bowl so they are covered in the olive oil & spices. Then spread them out on a baking sheet so that they aren't touching each other. Season with a little bit more salt, pepper, and chili powder. Place the baking sheet in a preheated 425 degree oven and let them bake for approximately 20 minutes. Maybe more or less depending on the oven and the baking sheet. Once they are lightly browned, turn them over and bake for approximately 15 more minutes. <br />
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End result: DELICIOUS!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! <br />
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Then I chopped and grilled an onion. That was our dinner! My husband really liked it. For dessert he fried some plantains and made a special dipping sauce out of plain yogurt, cinnamon, sugar, and other random stuff he puts in there.....<br />
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So I ate pretty well last night!<br />
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In other news..... here's how my plants are coming along. I have about 10 tomatoes growing, and my basil seems to be thriving too. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W4YHKjFarAA/TcXW1griRoI/AAAAAAAAAEo/o5dqERO-h1I/s1600/DSCN5111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W4YHKjFarAA/TcXW1griRoI/AAAAAAAAAEo/o5dqERO-h1I/s320/DSCN5111.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JpI2zPGOmAs/TcXW5xGM1KI/AAAAAAAAAEs/VWLi9dzipy0/s1600/DSCN5112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JpI2zPGOmAs/TcXW5xGM1KI/AAAAAAAAAEs/VWLi9dzipy0/s320/DSCN5112.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-6440729136968312805?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-12565757833951536782011-05-04T21:01:00.000-07:002011-05-04T21:03:59.919-07:002011-05-04T21:03:59.919-07:00like my photos?<span id="goog_244667754"></span><span id="goog_244667760"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Shepherd and his flock</a><span id="goog_244667761"></span><span id="goog_244667755"></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-5996282/stock-photo-bridge-over-a-waterfall">Bridge over a waterfall</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-6040137/stock-photo-palm-tree-silhouettes">Palm tree silhouettes</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-5945270/stock-photo-mughal-architecture">Mughal architecture</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-5945272/stock-photo-mughal-architecture">Mughal architecture 2</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-5945273/stock-photo-indian-woman">Indian woman</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-6034296/stock-photo-the-napali-coast">Napali coast</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-7335904/stock-photo-pink-flamingos">Pink flamingos</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-18191651/stock-photo-a-kauaian-rooster">Kauaian rooster</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-18191372/stock-photo-field-of-taro-plants">Field of taro plants</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-1256575783395153678?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-516794581501850602011-04-30T13:21:00.000-07:002011-04-30T13:21:10.333-07:002011-04-30T13:21:10.333-07:00enjoy the beauty of Kaua'i<div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #073763; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #073763;">It's amazing the variety and beauty that God can create in the world. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MTcP0BVV-Kc/TbxtjuHJdBI/AAAAAAAAAD4/f6VLMU9vEDQ/s1600/DSCN3768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MTcP0BVV-Kc/TbxtjuHJdBI/AAAAAAAAAD4/f6VLMU9vEDQ/s320/DSCN3768.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Banyan Tree</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_4-XVzs61Y8/Tbxtn1iCd8I/AAAAAAAAAD8/Lc5wFNx6nvs/s1600/DSCN3779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_4-XVzs61Y8/Tbxtn1iCd8I/AAAAAAAAAD8/Lc5wFNx6nvs/s320/DSCN3779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tropical flowers grow everywhere!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-As-MgR-bGpE/TbxtqzbVz_I/AAAAAAAAAEA/dOexzQ_BiYM/s1600/DSCN3794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-As-MgR-bGpE/TbxtqzbVz_I/AAAAAAAAAEA/dOexzQ_BiYM/s320/DSCN3794.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-beZ9jzznQbw/TbxtwvuN6VI/AAAAAAAAAEE/Rzau1W95Zps/s1600/DSCN3792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-beZ9jzznQbw/TbxtwvuN6VI/AAAAAAAAAEE/Rzau1W95Zps/s320/DSCN3792.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cN3cl_3b8JE/Tbxt0bHaa7I/AAAAAAAAAEI/jBAEpHe6BpU/s1600/DSCN3804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cN3cl_3b8JE/Tbxt0bHaa7I/AAAAAAAAAEI/jBAEpHe6BpU/s320/DSCN3804.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H-wtOndYRhU/Tbxt8Jq1nDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/rSntq5Lgqr8/s1600/DSCN3891.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H-wtOndYRhU/Tbxt8Jq1nDI/AAAAAAAAAEM/rSntq5Lgqr8/s320/DSCN3891.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMBRO2TE77o/TbxuAfYGc8I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/kYLohv7C_xw/s1600/DSCN3905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cMBRO2TE77o/TbxuAfYGc8I/AAAAAAAAAEQ/kYLohv7C_xw/s320/DSCN3905.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">These are taro plants.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XE-JScRVQYw/TbxuEmbts_I/AAAAAAAAAEU/vE5cV5D7ooQ/s1600/DSCN3930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XE-JScRVQYw/TbxuEmbts_I/AAAAAAAAAEU/vE5cV5D7ooQ/s320/DSCN3930.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ev9ZRQFRsqw/TbxuITxY5gI/AAAAAAAAAEY/yUhHlB0X_IA/s1600/DSCN3962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ev9ZRQFRsqw/TbxuITxY5gI/AAAAAAAAAEY/yUhHlB0X_IA/s320/DSCN3962.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xjEJap5rWlM/TbxuMu2h1BI/AAAAAAAAAEc/kNClGi5MXvo/s1600/DSCN3986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xjEJap5rWlM/TbxuMu2h1BI/AAAAAAAAAEc/kNClGi5MXvo/s320/DSCN3986.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5zFpjiqKtS4/TbxuTcytS8I/AAAAAAAAAEg/CVaK0MVzIME/s1600/DSCN4060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5zFpjiqKtS4/TbxuTcytS8I/AAAAAAAAAEg/CVaK0MVzIME/s320/DSCN4060.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rhFa7rdznlE/TbxuXzlecUI/AAAAAAAAAEk/45xspNcZtco/s1600/DSCN4088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rhFa7rdznlE/TbxuXzlecUI/AAAAAAAAAEk/45xspNcZtco/s320/DSCN4088.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-51679458150185060?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-13351495081442227562011-04-29T15:51:00.000-07:002011-04-29T15:51:26.940-07:002011-04-29T15:51:26.940-07:00what's up?The basil is thriving, the tomatoes are growing....<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bni7S26Nzg/Tbs_JjIZ8vI/AAAAAAAAADo/7OSL6XYpuSM/s1600/DSCN5108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2bni7S26Nzg/Tbs_JjIZ8vI/AAAAAAAAADo/7OSL6XYpuSM/s320/DSCN5108.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzfp9p8wfWI/Tbs_f7-QrkI/AAAAAAAAADs/-pv5zpUK6e8/s1600/DSCN5110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mzfp9p8wfWI/Tbs_f7-QrkI/AAAAAAAAADs/-pv5zpUK6e8/s320/DSCN5110.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Love is in the air... My sister is getting married next month. My cousin is getting married in June, as well as one of my other friends (in June).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0S6yQDwo9kY/TbtAt2HfnzI/AAAAAAAAAD0/RkUof2OiutI/s1600/weddingall.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0S6yQDwo9kY/TbtAt2HfnzI/AAAAAAAAAD0/RkUof2OiutI/s320/weddingall.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is my wedding party. Good times....</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-1335149508144222756?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-58769255513608068382011-04-10T15:40:00.000-07:002011-04-10T15:40:29.816-07:002011-04-10T15:40:29.816-07:00update on my basil and tomato plantIt's been 9 days since I planted my basil plant and tomato plant. I put them in direct sunlight a few days ago so hopefully that helps their growth. I pinched the basil a few days ago and i'm waiting to see if branches form - they haven't yet!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8MhG-eYDrU/TaIxciIBXiI/AAAAAAAAADk/eZ5x0q6mqUk/s1600/DSCN5105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M8MhG-eYDrU/TaIxciIBXiI/AAAAAAAAADk/eZ5x0q6mqUk/s320/DSCN5105.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-5876925551360806838?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-65121975643152655012011-04-08T08:21:00.000-07:002011-04-08T08:21:10.502-07:002011-04-08T08:21:10.502-07:00The view from my officeI get a great view from my office! First, let me tell you about the building. It looks normal from the outside, but it hasn't been upgraded since the 70's and has some quirks. There is no elevator, for one. They were not required in the 70's and FEBC has had no need for one yet. The hallways turn at random places so for the first few days I worked here I would turn a corner and not really know where I was. After lunch on my first day, I was trying to find the stairs and I walked into a janitor's closet. ........<br />
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So my office is upstairs. There are 4 large cubicles but only 2 people working in the room. I need to decorate, I only have my wedding picture and a carved wooden camel. <br />
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The view from my office: there are buildings across the street but also lots of trees. Then the Whittier Hills are showing between and above the buildings and trees. Then on a clear day you can see a lot of mountains and in the winter they are covered in snow. I just love it! <br />
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My office looks directly over an intersecion on a major street that doesn't have a light. Because of that, people are honking all the time and once or twice a year there is a big accident. A few days ago a lady fishtailed and crashed into the other side of the street because someone cut in front of her while she was probably going......40-50 mph. <br />
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So enough about my office. Let's talk about the perks. I get <em>free coffe</em>, every day. All day. And if I don't want coffee I could make tea or hot chocolate. My typical routine is to get to work at 8, check my work e-mail, get my desk and current tasks ready to work on, and then go down to the kitchen and have my 1/2 cup of coffee. I swear, that's what gets me through the morning because I am <em>not</em> a morning person. <br />
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What do I do here at FEBC? My main job is 'entering the batches.' People mail in donatons, which get processed by the Finance department. Then the source pieces get organized into a daily batch, which I take up to my office and enter into a computer system. Basically, I make sure each donation gets matched to the right donor, with the right amount of money, going to the correct fund, etc.... Then my coworker prints out reciepts, I stuff them, and voila! That is a daily process. We also mail out prayer targets, for people who want to pray for FEBC. There are other things that we do but I can talk about those later. <br />
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Well, it's 8:20am and i'm ready for my coffee. The sun is shining! It's Friday! Ciao fro now!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-6512197564315265501?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-31563849592350335972011-04-05T13:28:00.000-07:002011-04-05T13:29:02.521-07:002011-04-05T13:29:02.521-07:00I'm allergic to dustI made a discovery today. Yesterday, I dusted my desk, and everything on my desk. Ever since then my allergies have completely disappeared! Months of sneezing, and congestion.... gone! <br />
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Apparently i'm allergic to dust. I never had any allergies until 2006 when I graduated from college and moved into a house with some girls. I bet there was lots of dust there, or whatever allergins are in dust. <br />
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Tata for now!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-3156384959235033597?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35661598.post-54908769782031526152011-04-03T16:53:00.000-07:002011-04-06T16:44:15.363-07:002011-04-06T16:44:15.363-07:00Tomato and Basil has been planted!I just bought a basil and tomato plant and here they are!<br />
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So far so goo, i'll let you know how it's going. I'm planning on pinching the basil to make it last longer and hoping the tomatoes grow well.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/35661598-5490876978203152615?l=ruthriv.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>ruthrivhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01200737563959944998noreply@blogger.com0