Friday, December 10, 2004
Wangari Maathai: Kenyans' Voice of Courage And Justice - AllAfrica.com
Kenya's and Africa's first woman Nobel Peace Prize winner ... was one of the first a group students of Kenyan students given scholarship to study in the United States. While in the US, she landed in the hands of Catholic nuns at a small Benedictine college in Atchison, Kansas, where her life was" touched profoundly" during her days as a student in the l960s. ...
[She was] a lively person who came with nothing but $50 dollars in her pocket, a cardboard suitcase and her brains -- a person who was sometime homesick for nduma or arrowroots back in her native country.
She never expressed a desire to stay in the US because of its greater possibility for financial success. She always wanted to go back. It was always her aim to help her people" said Sister Joachim Holthaus, a dorm director and music professor in l960.
...
... a bigger shock came on her visit to her family home on the foothills of the Kenya highlands. She had grown up there, one of five children of parents who could barely read and write, yet had pushed their children to excel at school. Now looking out from hilltop home, she realized that entire crest had been cleared of trees and planted with tea. Along with neat squares of green were ugly scars of erosion sharp gushes sliced into denuded hillsides that could no longer absorb heavy rain.
Walking briskly down the dusty road she knew so well, she headed for a 200-year-old fig tree she had played beneath, as a child. lt must still be there, she thought. She broke into a run and reached a rise near her old tin-roofed school. The tree was gone. In its place was swathe of green tea. As she trudged home, Wangari tried to reconcile herself to the fact that Kenya needed cash crops such as tea to earn foreign currency to pay for imports. But most people were no better off, especially the women, who had to walk further and further for the firewood for cooking.
[I'd also recommend reading about her acceptance speech, where she encouraged us all "to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder."
She also said, "In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other," said Maathai, who wore an orange dress with a matching headband. "That time is now."
You can see a photo of her and read more about the ceremony at
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=57131db8-9b71-4779-b803-041ca796f89d
The complete text of her Nobel Lecture is at
http://www.nobel.no/eng_lect_2004b.html]
Kenya's and Africa's first woman Nobel Peace Prize winner ... was one of the first a group students of Kenyan students given scholarship to study in the United States. While in the US, she landed in the hands of Catholic nuns at a small Benedictine college in Atchison, Kansas, where her life was" touched profoundly" during her days as a student in the l960s. ...
[She was] a lively person who came with nothing but $50 dollars in her pocket, a cardboard suitcase and her brains -- a person who was sometime homesick for nduma or arrowroots back in her native country.
She never expressed a desire to stay in the US because of its greater possibility for financial success. She always wanted to go back. It was always her aim to help her people" said Sister Joachim Holthaus, a dorm director and music professor in l960.
...
... a bigger shock came on her visit to her family home on the foothills of the Kenya highlands. She had grown up there, one of five children of parents who could barely read and write, yet had pushed their children to excel at school. Now looking out from hilltop home, she realized that entire crest had been cleared of trees and planted with tea. Along with neat squares of green were ugly scars of erosion sharp gushes sliced into denuded hillsides that could no longer absorb heavy rain.
Walking briskly down the dusty road she knew so well, she headed for a 200-year-old fig tree she had played beneath, as a child. lt must still be there, she thought. She broke into a run and reached a rise near her old tin-roofed school. The tree was gone. In its place was swathe of green tea. As she trudged home, Wangari tried to reconcile herself to the fact that Kenya needed cash crops such as tea to earn foreign currency to pay for imports. But most people were no better off, especially the women, who had to walk further and further for the firewood for cooking.
[I'd also recommend reading about her acceptance speech, where she encouraged us all "to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder."
She also said, "In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other," said Maathai, who wore an orange dress with a matching headband. "That time is now."
You can see a photo of her and read more about the ceremony at
http://www.canada.com/news/world/story.html?id=57131db8-9b71-4779-b803-041ca796f89d
The complete text of her Nobel Lecture is at
http://www.nobel.no/eng_lect_2004b.html]
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Dolphins Saved Us from Shark, Lifeguards Say - New Zealand Herald
A pod of dolphins is being credited with saving a group of lifeguards from a circling great white shark. Lifeguard Rob Howes, his daughter Niccy, 15, Karina Cooper, 15, and Helen Slade, 16, were swimming 100m out to sea at Ocean Beach, near Whangarei, when seven bottlenose dolphins sped towards them and herded them together. ...
[A] 3m-long great white shark . . . glided around in an arc and headed for the other two girls. My heart went into my mouth, because one of them was my daughter. The dolphins were going ballistic." The 47-year-old said the dolphins herded the swimmers - who are all members of the Whangarei Heads Surf Lifesaving Club - back together and circled protectively around them for another 40 minutes, fending off the shark.
...
Dr Rochelle Constantine, from the Auckland University School of Biological Science, said it was a rare event, but she had heard of similar things happening overseas. [She said] dolphins are known for helping helpless things. It is an altruistic response and bottlenose dolphins in particular are known for it."...
A pod of dolphins is being credited with saving a group of lifeguards from a circling great white shark. Lifeguard Rob Howes, his daughter Niccy, 15, Karina Cooper, 15, and Helen Slade, 16, were swimming 100m out to sea at Ocean Beach, near Whangarei, when seven bottlenose dolphins sped towards them and herded them together. ...
[A] 3m-long great white shark . . . glided around in an arc and headed for the other two girls. My heart went into my mouth, because one of them was my daughter. The dolphins were going ballistic." The 47-year-old said the dolphins herded the swimmers - who are all members of the Whangarei Heads Surf Lifesaving Club - back together and circled protectively around them for another 40 minutes, fending off the shark.
...
Dr Rochelle Constantine, from the Auckland University School of Biological Science, said it was a rare event, but she had heard of similar things happening overseas. [She said] dolphins are known for helping helpless things. It is an altruistic response and bottlenose dolphins in particular are known for it."...
NEW FEATURE: Respond to a Story
At the bottom of each news item, next to "// posted by M @ [time]", there is a comments link.
Click the word "comments" to be taken to a new page, then click "Post a Comment" (you may need to scroll down a bit) to type in your thoughts. Click "Publish Your Comment" when you're done.
You will see all the comments together for each item, which also allows you to repond to other people's comments. Try it out!
At the bottom of each news item, next to "// posted by M @ [time]", there is a comments link.
Click the word "comments" to be taken to a new page, then click "Post a Comment" (you may need to scroll down a bit) to type in your thoughts. Click "Publish Your Comment" when you're done.
You will see all the comments together for each item, which also allows you to repond to other people's comments. Try it out!
Japan's Internet 'Suicide Clubs' - BBC News
[Related to "Another Mass Suicide Suspected in Japan" below, but from the point of view of potential suicides]
... "Last night I was up all night," said Naoki, smiling again, "talking online to this woman who really - I mean really - wants to die. She asked me to do it with her today, but I said I couldn't because I had this television crew coming to see me. So she said we can do it after they've gone."
...
The message boards are littered with personal ads like: "I have pills and charcoal briquettes - I'm looking for someone to die with," and "I'm 23 and want to die. I can travel anywhere."
...
"Well, I'm depressed - and that's a disease," he said. "But to be honest, I think I've always been interested in killing myself." ..."I'd never thought about doing it in a group before," he continued. "But then I visited a website and thought - ah, if I join this I won't have to go through with it on my own. It's like crossing the road when the traffic light is red... it's not so scary when you're with others." ...
"There are some vicious sites which really encourage people to die, and when you get in a group there's a momentum which makes it hard to stop - people become irrational. But my site is not like that. I started it because I had tried twice to kill myself. "I think it has saved my life - because it has enabled me to open up about things online. And I believe it can help others too." ...
[Related to "Another Mass Suicide Suspected in Japan" below, but from the point of view of potential suicides]
... "Last night I was up all night," said Naoki, smiling again, "talking online to this woman who really - I mean really - wants to die. She asked me to do it with her today, but I said I couldn't because I had this television crew coming to see me. So she said we can do it after they've gone."
...
The message boards are littered with personal ads like: "I have pills and charcoal briquettes - I'm looking for someone to die with," and "I'm 23 and want to die. I can travel anywhere."
...
"Well, I'm depressed - and that's a disease," he said. "But to be honest, I think I've always been interested in killing myself." ..."I'd never thought about doing it in a group before," he continued. "But then I visited a website and thought - ah, if I join this I won't have to go through with it on my own. It's like crossing the road when the traffic light is red... it's not so scary when you're with others." ...
"There are some vicious sites which really encourage people to die, and when you get in a group there's a momentum which makes it hard to stop - people become irrational. But my site is not like that. I started it because I had tried twice to kill myself. "I think it has saved my life - because it has enabled me to open up about things online. And I believe it can help others too." ...
The Unnecessary Death of Pat Tillman: Barrage of Bullets Drowned Out Cries of Comrades - Washington Post
[Pat Tillman, a professional football player,] turned away a $3.6 million contract after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to volunteer for the war on terrorism, ultimately giving his life in combat in Taliban-infested southeastern Afghanistan. Millions of stunned Americans mourned his death last April 22 and embraced his sacrifice as a rare example of courage and national service. But the full story of how Tillman ended up on that Afghan ridge and why he died at the hands of his own comrades has never been told.
... Tillman died unnecessarily after botched communications, a mistaken decision to split his platoon over the objections of its leader, and negligent shooting by pumped-up young Rangers -- some in their first firefight -- who failed to identify their targets as they blasted their way out of a frightening ambush. ...
Up on the ridge, Tillman and Rangers around him began to wave their arms and shout. But they only attracted more fire from Baker's vehicle. "I saw three to four arms pop up," one of the gunners with Baker recalled. "They did not look like the cease-fire hand-and-arm signal because they were waving side to side." When he and the other gunners spotted the waving arms, their "rate of fire increased." ... "We thought the battle was over, so we were relieved, getting up and stretching out, and talking with one another." Suddenly he saw the attacking Humvee move into "a better position to fire on us." He heard a new machine gun burst and hit the ground, praying, as Pat Tillman fell. ...
[Pat Tillman, a professional football player,] turned away a $3.6 million contract after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to volunteer for the war on terrorism, ultimately giving his life in combat in Taliban-infested southeastern Afghanistan. Millions of stunned Americans mourned his death last April 22 and embraced his sacrifice as a rare example of courage and national service. But the full story of how Tillman ended up on that Afghan ridge and why he died at the hands of his own comrades has never been told.
... Tillman died unnecessarily after botched communications, a mistaken decision to split his platoon over the objections of its leader, and negligent shooting by pumped-up young Rangers -- some in their first firefight -- who failed to identify their targets as they blasted their way out of a frightening ambush. ...
Up on the ridge, Tillman and Rangers around him began to wave their arms and shout. But they only attracted more fire from Baker's vehicle. "I saw three to four arms pop up," one of the gunners with Baker recalled. "They did not look like the cease-fire hand-and-arm signal because they were waving side to side." When he and the other gunners spotted the waving arms, their "rate of fire increased." ... "We thought the battle was over, so we were relieved, getting up and stretching out, and talking with one another." Suddenly he saw the attacking Humvee move into "a better position to fire on us." He heard a new machine gun burst and hit the ground, praying, as Pat Tillman fell. ...
Sunday, December 05, 2004
A Proud Soldier's Battle Back: "So This Is What It's Like to Get Blown up" - Seattle Times
[I'd recommend reading the whole article; here's the beginning and a couple excerpts.]
In a cramped little office near Madigan Army Medical Center's physical-therapy room, Spc. John West stares hard at a computer screen filled with an X-ray of his spine and pelvis.
It's the first time he's seen the image, dominated by the metal rods and 6-inch screws that shore up his fractured bones like girders and rebar. He is seeing his future.
...
"He is very much a glass-is-half-full person," Travers said. "He has been very positive every step of the way. It's very impressive that his enthusiasm is always there."
Much of that attitude, West said, stems from [his wife] Rebecca's rock-steady support. She sympathizes, prods and teases him. She brings him his favorite peppermint soap. She doesn't let him feel too sorry for himself.
"You're just old," she told him when he complained of fatigue. And when he complained about his trouble bending over, she said, as West laughed, "You'll have to go around saying to people, 'Will you tie my shoes, please?' "
"I have every advantage to get better quickly," he said. "She is definitely my soul mate."
...
The wounds to West's psyche emerged early.
Dr. Suzette Peng, the internal-medicine specialist who treated him at Walter Reed, well remembers West's battles ..."He thought he was in the field, even while he was awake," Peng said. "He would ask the nurses to turn off the lights so the snipers wouldn't see him." ...
[I'd recommend reading the whole article; here's the beginning and a couple excerpts.]
In a cramped little office near Madigan Army Medical Center's physical-therapy room, Spc. John West stares hard at a computer screen filled with an X-ray of his spine and pelvis.
It's the first time he's seen the image, dominated by the metal rods and 6-inch screws that shore up his fractured bones like girders and rebar. He is seeing his future.
...
"He is very much a glass-is-half-full person," Travers said. "He has been very positive every step of the way. It's very impressive that his enthusiasm is always there."
Much of that attitude, West said, stems from [his wife] Rebecca's rock-steady support. She sympathizes, prods and teases him. She brings him his favorite peppermint soap. She doesn't let him feel too sorry for himself.
"You're just old," she told him when he complained of fatigue. And when he complained about his trouble bending over, she said, as West laughed, "You'll have to go around saying to people, 'Will you tie my shoes, please?' "
"I have every advantage to get better quickly," he said. "She is definitely my soul mate."
...
The wounds to West's psyche emerged early.
Dr. Suzette Peng, the internal-medicine specialist who treated him at Walter Reed, well remembers West's battles ..."He thought he was in the field, even while he was awake," Peng said. "He would ask the nurses to turn off the lights so the snipers wouldn't see him." ...
Friday, December 03, 2004
Italian Doctor Who Fooled Nazis - BBC News
A retired Italian doctor has revealed for the first time how he invented a fictitious disease which ... terrified the Nazis and saved 45 Roman Jews. ...
As other Jews were being rounded up, Dr Sacerdoti admitted anyone who could reach the hospital as patients - and diagnosed them with a dangerous disease.
"We would write on their medical forms that the patient was suffering from K Syndrome," he said. "We called it K after the German commander Kesserling - the Nazis thought it was cancer or tuberculosis, and they fled like rabbits." ...
A retired Italian doctor has revealed for the first time how he invented a fictitious disease which ... terrified the Nazis and saved 45 Roman Jews. ...
As other Jews were being rounded up, Dr Sacerdoti admitted anyone who could reach the hospital as patients - and diagnosed them with a dangerous disease.
"We would write on their medical forms that the patient was suffering from K Syndrome," he said. "We called it K after the German commander Kesserling - the Nazis thought it was cancer or tuberculosis, and they fled like rabbits." ...
In Pictures: Bhopal 20 Years on - BBC News
Lovers' rendezvous: The chemical factory site is easy to get into, despite the frequent warnings from environmentalists that it is highly toxic. The graffitti shows this is a popular meeting place for lovers. ...
Lovers' rendezvous: The chemical factory site is easy to get into, despite the frequent warnings from environmentalists that it is highly toxic. The graffitti shows this is a popular meeting place for lovers. ...
A Look Back: By Saving Woman, Rescuers Saved Themselves
The six firefighters would have moved faster if they hadn't stopped to help a weary woman trying to flee. They would have moved slower if they hadn't been able to coax her along, telling her that if she wanted to see her children and grandchildren again, she had to keep moving down the stairs.
It was that precise intersection of rescuers and rescued, that destined bit of timing, not a few seconds less or more, that let them all survive inside a twisted stairwell of the World Trade Center when the north tower crashed down on them. The woman and the firefighters, in the actions they took, saved one another. ...
The six firefighters would have moved faster if they hadn't stopped to help a weary woman trying to flee. They would have moved slower if they hadn't been able to coax her along, telling her that if she wanted to see her children and grandchildren again, she had to keep moving down the stairs.
It was that precise intersection of rescuers and rescued, that destined bit of timing, not a few seconds less or more, that let them all survive inside a twisted stairwell of the World Trade Center when the north tower crashed down on them. The woman and the firefighters, in the actions they took, saved one another. ...
Quick-acting Son Is an 'Everyday Hero' - Seattle P-I
..."I got custody of Carl when he was very young, and I thought I was his protector," Charles Shaw said at the Ninth Annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast yesterday in Seattle. "It turned out he was the one who protected me."
...
The son lifted his 6-foot-4-inch, 260-pound father out of a recliner and laid him flat on the floor. He began CPR and was doing such a good job that when the paramedics arrived several minutes later they had him keep at it while they set up their equipment.
...
Charles said he was having serious heartburn, and Nancy wanted him to go in. But Charles was hesitant because he had recently changed jobs, and his new insurance didn't take effect for two more days.
"I said, actually, if I do keel over, push me into the corner and call someone on Sunday because that's when my insurance kicks in," Charles said in an interview. ...
..."I got custody of Carl when he was very young, and I thought I was his protector," Charles Shaw said at the Ninth Annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast yesterday in Seattle. "It turned out he was the one who protected me."
...
The son lifted his 6-foot-4-inch, 260-pound father out of a recliner and laid him flat on the floor. He began CPR and was doing such a good job that when the paramedics arrived several minutes later they had him keep at it while they set up their equipment.
...
Charles said he was having serious heartburn, and Nancy wanted him to go in. But Charles was hesitant because he had recently changed jobs, and his new insurance didn't take effect for two more days.
"I said, actually, if I do keel over, push me into the corner and call someone on Sunday because that's when my insurance kicks in," Charles said in an interview. ...
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Military Doctor is on His Own Mission of Mercy - Seattle P-I
Sometimes the ways in which American soldiers serve on foreign soil makes us proudest when they are actually out of uniform and on their own time and dime.
Tomorrow Lt. Col. Jeffrey Clemons deploys himself to Niger for service in a cause that many of us would find it tough to talk about much less endure.
An Army doc and chief of urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery ..., the father of two scraped together the cost of an airplane ticket with a little help from sponsors. He'll use another $2,000 of his own to cover expenses. And he has gathered enough "expired" but still-good supplies such as gauze and surgical gloves to burst the hinges on two suitcases.
By week's end his non-combat boots will hit the ground running on a mission the Army would not give him time off to accomplish -- so he's using his own vacation.
What Clemons will do in Niger is have the kind of instant impact on lives of misery that most doctors only dream of. Unarmed, he will enter a nightmare world from which young, doomed and desolate mothers will awaken thanks to his hands....
Sometimes the ways in which American soldiers serve on foreign soil makes us proudest when they are actually out of uniform and on their own time and dime.
Tomorrow Lt. Col. Jeffrey Clemons deploys himself to Niger for service in a cause that many of us would find it tough to talk about much less endure.
An Army doc and chief of urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery ..., the father of two scraped together the cost of an airplane ticket with a little help from sponsors. He'll use another $2,000 of his own to cover expenses. And he has gathered enough "expired" but still-good supplies such as gauze and surgical gloves to burst the hinges on two suitcases.
By week's end his non-combat boots will hit the ground running on a mission the Army would not give him time off to accomplish -- so he's using his own vacation.
What Clemons will do in Niger is have the kind of instant impact on lives of misery that most doctors only dream of. Unarmed, he will enter a nightmare world from which young, doomed and desolate mothers will awaken thanks to his hands....
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