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Wallaman Falls
Wallaman Falls is just 50 km west of Lees Motel in Ingham, North Queensland Australia in the Girringun National Park.
Ingham is 110 kms north of Townsville and 240 kms south of Cairns along the Bruce Highway and is the commercial centre of the Hinchinbrook Shire.
360 degree Google Photospheres – click and drag to spin image around, click 4 little arrows button on top right of each image to enlarge up to stunning full screen view:
Views: View over Wallaman Falls, Ingham, Queensland Australia
About Wallaman Falls:
Wallaman Falls is Australia's longest single drop waterfall and is located in the Girringun National Park – the largest national park within the Heritage Listed Wet Tropics Rainforest of North Queensland and one of the oldest continual surviving rainforests on earth.
This spectacular scene with the grandeur of the surrounding rock formation and the plunging gorges, Wallaman Falls with water falling a staggering 275 metres into a large pool below, is a magnificent, breathtaking sight you really must see for yourself to truly appreciate just how impressive it is. If you are there early in the morning the falls can often be viewed through a rainbow-fringed cloud of mist.
Road to Wallaman Falls
It takes about one hour to drive. The road is mostly sealed with only 4km of the road unsealed.
Travel west from Ingham along Abergowrie Road to Trebonne. From here, the route is well signposted. Even though part of the road is unsealed, it can still be accessed in most cases using a conventional vehicle.
It's a good idea to call in to Lees Motel to check on road conditions.
Cassowaries and their chicks often wander on the rainforest road so care must be taken not to approach or harm these magnificent creatures.
Not suitable for Caravans and trailers.
Mobile phone coverage
May only be available on some services in this area.
At the Lookout
Beautiful grassed area with a cement path leading to the lookout, Covered area with table and chairs, Toilets.
Wheelchair accessibility:
Wheelchair access to the Lookout and Wheelchair-accessible toilets in the Lookout area.
Picnic and day-use areas
Picnic tables, toilets and water are provided at both day-use areas—near the camping area and near the falls lookout. A gas barbecue is available at the day-use area near the camping area.
No Generators allowed.
Please leave your pets at home—domestic animals are not permitted in Girringun National Park.
Fires are only permitted in the fire rings provided. (Except when fire bans apply). Campers need to bring firewood as it is not supplied and must not be collected.
A large number of bird species in this area.
The Victoria's Riflebird can be spotted in the rainforest August to December.
Banggurru walk—800m return (allow 45 mins)
Grade: easy
The Banggurru (pronounced 'Bun-gu-roo' and meaning turtle) walk provides an opportunity for the whole family to experience some of the beauty of the Wet Tropics World Heritage rainforest along the banks of Stony Creek. Be sure to spend a moment peering into the rock pools—you could be rewarded with a glimpse of a playtpus, or hear the plop of a water dragon seeking refuge in the creek. Saw-shelled turtles can also be seen basking on logs or peeking through the surface of the water.
Djyinda walk—3.2 km return (allow 2 hrs)
Grade: moderate
The Djyinda (pronounced 'Yin-da' and meaning falls) walk begins 300 m from Wallaman Falls lookout and ends at the base of the falls. The track weaves through open forest along the escarpment and offers amazing views of the Herbert River Valley. As the track goes into the gorge, open forest gives way to vine-thicket rainforest. At the base of the falls look up, the mist from the falls creates a rainbow of colour. Be prepared for a steep descent and ascent on unstable surfaces. A moderate level of fitness is required.
For the more adventurous, Wallaman Falls is the gateway to the Wet Tropics Great Walk.
For adventurous hikers and nature enthusiasts, a system of walks has been developed in the Herbert Valley hinterland, aimed at showcasing the areas rich natural diversity, unique landforms, flora and fauna. The 110km Wet Tropics Great Walk system takes hikers through rainforest, heathland, eucalypt forest and the woodlands of Giffungun National Park. It traverses Wet Tropics World Heritage Area from the spectacular Wallaman Falls all the way to Blencoe Falls. With an entire trek that can take up to eight days to complete and highlights including waterfalls, river gorges and the opportunity to spot fascinating and endangered wildlife, the Wet Tropics Great Walk is great for those walkers with a high level of fitness.
Fuel and supplies
Fuel and supplies are available from Ingham.
Wallaman Falls High Resolution Image Gallery
Click on the following thumbnails for the high resolution version, click your browser back button to return to the photo gallery.


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Check out our new projector section click here. You will find reviews on the latest LCD projectors and DLP projectors for business presentations.
Michael L. Stahl is a professional speaker, author and black belt martial
artist. His work has been published in numerous magazines including
Entrepreneurial Edge, Mortgage Originator and Marketplace. He is a popular
radio and television guest and has appeared on CNN Financial News discussing
how to avoid burnout and maximize productivity. Clients call his speeches
and seminars the perfect blend of enthusiasm, rich content and exciting
entertainment. You can contact Michael Stahl at www.michaelstahl.com
Enjoy the content on this site? Feel free to donate any denomination you would like. This site is paid for by our readers like you.

subset: commoncrawl


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To be a clutter buster you've got to be able to identify which items are truly clutter, and which are not. Clutter can be insidious, because it can be almost anything, from obvious trash to the most expensive antiques.
The same object that may be clutter for one person is most certainly not for another person.
Here are five guidelines to use to decide if something in your space could be CLUTTER.
1. Clutter Can Be Anything - Cheap Or Expensive, Sentimental Or Throw Away
Know what is, and is not, clutter. Many people's preconceived notion of clutter is true trash and cheap junk that we don't care about at all. But remember "One man's junk can be another man's treasure." Don't automatically overlook something because it cost a lot of money. Even the most expensive things can be clutter.
2. Too Many of a Thing - is Clutter
Too much of a "good thing" happens when you amass a large selection of one particular item. Collections can quickly turn from something that makes us happy into clutter if we're not careful. Determine if these items are truly worth the while, or just items using up precious space.
A few of a particular item, such as shoes, clothes, or kitchen gadgets can provide temporary choice and variety. However, when you start to accumulate too many of a particular item it just becomes an overwhelming pile of clutter.
3. Items That Used To Be Functional - are Clutter
It often happens that we use an item for quite a while, and then our circumstances change and it is no longer quite as useful to us anymore. That's when the item begins to collect dust in a corner - becoming clutter.
That's the thing about clutter - it may have been useful stuff in the past. Be ever vigilant and notice when an item is no longer of use.
4. If You Don't Have Room For It - It's Clutter
You could have some really awesome stuff but if it doesn't fit in your space, it's clutter. This one is tough for even the most seasoned clutter buster, because people experience this all the time when downsizing. If it sits out collecting dust or becomes a tripping hazard, it just doesn't belong there anymore.
Make sure you're not devoting storage space to real clutter but make room for the important items. You only have so much space available. If you can't make a home for something in your home, it unfortunately just doesn't belong there.
5. If You Don't Love or Use It - It's Clutter
Everything in your home or office should, ideally, serve a purpose so you can live clutter free. It either helps you with something in your life or makes you feel something positive each time you see it.
If you've got too much stuff you simply can't use all of it. After all, you can only wear so many clothes or shoes in a year!
You can only truly love so many things, and take the time to care for them, before you just don't feel that attachment to those things anymore. Keep what's important and ditch the rest!


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Tax Benefits of Small Business Loans in IndiaBusiness Tips, News, Others 0 Comments
When opting for any small business or institutional loan as a businessman, you enjoy different tax benefits. Apart from being used as working capital, small loans can also be used by you for different purposes such as buying equipment or inventory. So to ensure that there is no hassle or stress while serving the borrowed amount, you also have flexibility in repaying the loan, as per the cash flow of your company. The tax deduction is one less-known benefit of such small loans.
Is interest on business finance tax deductible?
It is very important to understand that the interest paid on any business loan by us for business is deductible. A tax authority in India allows certain tax benefits to any company that avail business finance in India. The interest on the small business loan amount is deductible from the gross income of your company. It helps to lower the taxes paid by you for your company in a financial year. So, before availing any business or commercial loan, it is very vital for you to know the interest rate, terms and conditions, and processing fees. You are advised by the tax authorities in India to maintain well-documented accounts of these payments as proof if such need arises in the future.
Also Read: Identifying The Best City To Bring Into Being Your Start-Up Business
Is principle loan amount tax deductible?
No; it is not! Here the important thing is to understand that only interest amount is tax deductible and not the principle repayment amount of the business loan. Because it is not earned by you, so the borrowed amount is not an income for your business. However, it is very important to understand that the loan must be paid during the fixed tenure. Failing to repay the principle amount in a punctual and timely manner may have severe consequences for you in the future. One of the consequences of failure to repay the principle amount by you is that it will affect your credit score. Low credit score means that it will be very difficult for you to get any kind of working capitals in the future. Before making the decision to avail a loan for business, it is important for you to know your business requirements and assess the situation of your business properly.
Knowing tax deductible expenses on your business loan
The business loan has several benefits such as long repayment turn and easy availability, but you need to understand that the loan has to be repaid at some point of time by you. The interest of a business loan is an additional amount that you have to pay to the online lending company for borrowing the money. In simple terms, the interest of the business loan is a fee paid to the lending company, for allowing you to use the loan amount. In order to generate any income or profit, there are several necessary and ordinary expenses that are beneficial for your business. Before arriving at the tax liability, the deductible expenditure may be subtracted from the total revenue generated by your company in a financial year.


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Take this society and shove it
Some authorities on the matter argue that future generations come into the world ready and equipped to make the change previous generations fail to make. I'm encouraged by the number of Millennials who are appreciating and getting involved in the work that is Copiosis. It seems to support these authorities' suppositions.


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Mobile Suit Gundam Seed - Evolutionary Confli (DVD 9 of 10)
Title: Mobile Suit Gundam Seed - Evolutionary Confli
Volume: DVD 9 / 10
Running time: 125
Distributor: Bandai Entertainment
Release date: 2005-03-22
Pre date: 2005-02-08
Suggested retail price: $29.98
Age rating: 13+
Athrun returns home to PLANTs to confront his father, who is enraged at his failure and has him arrested. Meanwhile, Lacus steals a new ZAFT warship and helps rescue Athrun along with the help of someone from Kira's past.
The Dominion is ordered to capture the Freedom and Justice Gundams as well as attacking the Archangel, but Murrue is shocked to learn who its Captain is.
When Mu's Strike Gundam is damaged, Kira shows up and destroys Rau's Mobile Suit. Rau proceeds to relate a story that involves himself, Kira and Mu.
The Archangel is once again attacked but this time Mu and Kira are no where to be seen!
(added on 2004-12-02, modified on 2004-12-02)
- Encyclopedia information about Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (TV)


text: JUst ordered a couple of sandisk 32 gig sd hc off ebay. One from China - $28 buy it now And one from oz $15 buy it now with adapter. Free postage. Go to Ebay AU (australia) type in 32 gig sd card and check 'em out. Australia is closer to china than anywhere else so we are used to dealing with them. No problems. I hope the Hc cards are compatable with the superpad 10". just have to chance it.


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If you are looking for piano lessons for your children in North Burnaby, BC., remember to visit CH Piano Studio. It is a busy and charming studio offering two types of music lessons to children from age 3.5 to teens.
The Studio
This quaint studio is located in a quiet neighbourhood in north Burnaby, about a 10 minute walk from Brentwood Mall. There is ample parking on the street.
Cras mattis consectetur purus sit amet fermentum. Morbi leo risus, porta ac consectetur ac, vestibulum at eros. Maecenas faucibus mollis interdum. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Curabitur blandit tempus porttitor. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Aenean lacinia bibendum nulla sed.
Christine Hsiung was born in Taipei, Taiwan, where she participated in both group class and one-on-one piano. She obtained her Associate of The Royal Conservatory (ARCT) diploma for Performers in 2003 and graduated with her Bachelor of Music in 2005 from Simon Fraser University.


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Don't let your knee pain stop you from staying active
Regardless of your age, activity level, or daily habits, you need your knees to function well and to live your days as you'd like to. But when pain arises—whether it's due to a traumatic injury like a strain or sprain, a condition that&
August 20, 2019[More]
Weight loss, improving strength, & flexibility help avoid knee pain
You may not realize how well your knees serve you until a problem arises. These large and complex joints play a major role in just about every movement that involves your legs, permitting you to sit, stand, walk, run, and jump on a regular basis. When p
August 13, 2019[More]
Bearing the weight of the body, the knees are a common source of pain
There are certain areas of the body that are simply more prone to pain than others, and the knee is one region that clearly falls into this category. Knee pain ranks just behind back pain as the second most common condition that affects the muscles and b
August 6, 2019[More]
PT & surgery lead to similar outcomes for patients with hip condition
Twelve months after patients were randomized to treatment, scores on the iHOT-33 improved in both groups. Scores increased from 35.6 to 49.7 points in the physical therapy group, and from 39.2 to 58.8 in the surgery group. Further calculations showed th
July 30, 2019[More]
Tending to mild injuries right after they occur can make a difference
While these simple remedies are best for mild injuries, more severe injuries require care from a trained professional. In these cases, it's best to see a physical therapist, who will perform a thorough evaluation of your condition and create a pers
July 16, 2019[More]
Prevent sports-related injuries with targeted training programs
In a perfect world, athletes would be able to participate in their respective sport at full tilt without having to worry about hurting themselves or dealing with the consequences of an injury. But alas, the world we live in is not perfect, and injuries r
July 9, 2019[More]
Regardless of what sport you play, injuries are an unavoidable part
From the perspective of both a participant and a spectator, sports can be a glorious, epic, and uplifting affair. But on the other side of the coin, they can also be devastating, gut-wrenching, and downright deflating. There are a number of different ty
July 2, 2019[More]
3 different types of exercise are effective for rotator cuff injuries
Shoulder pain affects approximately 16-21% of the population, and it's one of the most common reasons people seek out care from a doctor. There are many possible causes of shoulder pain, but a significant percentage of cases are due to a condition
June 27, 2019[More]
For shoulder pain relief, try these exercises and home remedies
Shoulder pain can be one of the most disabling problems to deal with. Whether you realize it or not, you use your shoulder pretty frequently throughout most days, as it permits practically any movement that involves your arms. This is why any issue that
June 18, 2019[More]
Prevent shoulder pain by avoiding too many overhead activities
If you've recently found yourself grabbing an item on a top shelf, reaching for something in the backseat of your car, or throwing an object of any sort, then you were also witnessing the grand capabilities of the shoulder joint. The shoulder is th
June 11, 2019[More]
Repetitive use of the shoulder and age-related changes can both lead
The shoulder is a rather incredible part of the human anatomy. As the most flexible and mobile joint in the body, the shoulder allows the arm to move in a wide range of directions, which is necessary for performing many of the dexterous tasks needed i
June 4, 2019[More]
After a broken wrist, PT will help ensure a safe & effective recovery
The wrist is a complex joint where 15 different bones meet, each of which performs its own specific function. All of these bones play an important role, and if a problem or injury occurs in any one of them, it can affect the way that the entire wrist mov
May 30, 2019[More]
Take action to relieve your hand or wrist pain right now
Hand or wrist pain can be a real nuisance. Because of the frequent use of these body parts, a significant portion of daily movements can result in pain and serve as a constant reminder of one's condition. This situation can be made even worse when
May 21, 2019[More]
Prevent hand and wrist pain with position changes & simple exercises
Most people don't realize just how much they rely on their hands and wrists until a problem arises. This is often the case for anyone with hand or wrist pain, which can turn many everyday activities into challenging tasks that require a strategy to
May 14, 2019[More]
Hand or wrist pain can strike at any age and complicate simple tasks
The hands and wrists are one of the main tools that we use to navigate the world around us. Whether it's driving to work, typing away on your computer, or picking up your child, the use of your hands and wrists is absolutely vital to your ability t
May 7, 2019[More]
Physical therapy is the best option knee and hip osteoarthritis
Orthopedic manual therapy interventions with exercise therapy compared with exercise therapy alone provide short term benefits in reducing pain, improving function, and stairs ascending-descending time in people with knee osteoarthritis.
April 25, 2019[More]
Take these steps to reduce arthritis symptoms in daily life
The term "arthritis" is used to describe more than 100 different conditions, all of which are defined by inflammation of one or more joints and a resulting set of bothersome symptoms. The exact cause in each case depends on what type of arthritis is pres
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Reduce chances of developing osteoarthritis with lifestyle changes
Few conditions are as well known to the general public as arthritis, which is probably because about 54 million Americans—or about 23% of the population—are currently affected by it. These figures could naturally be a bit alarming and lead so
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Arthritis can affect individuals of all ages
The term juvenile arthritis includes many different inflammatory and autoimmune disorders that, like rheumatoid arthritis, cause the immune system to attack its own healthy cells in joints. It's not clearly understood why this occurs, but both gene
April 2, 2019[More]
PT is a much safer and more effective alternative to opioids
Try as we might, it's nearly impossible to avoid all pain in our lives. Whether it's twisted ankle or a bad back, we all experience some pain at one point or another, which is why the presence of pain is by far the most common reason people s
March 28, 2019[More]


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Pictures of the 25-year-old lashing out appeared in several newspapers shortly after photos emerged of her shaving her head in a hair salon.
In a message on her website, she said: "I apologise to the pap for a stunt that was done four months ago."
She said she got "carried away" preparing for a film part but added that she did not get the role.
'Rock bottom'
In November last year Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline, the father of her two young children.
She entered into a Malibu treatment facility in February saying she had hit "rock bottom" after their separation but denied her stay was down to alcohol problems.
Spears is one of pop music's most successful artists, selling 31 million albums in the US alone.
In May she made her first stage appearance since her spell in rehab under the pseudonym The M&M's.
Most Popular Now | 56,514 people are reading stories on the site right now.";


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Why the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion?
The art form of cabaret was born in Paris in the 1880s, in small venues where performer and audience were in close proximity, interacting with song, story and poetry. Cabaret is distinguished by its directness, passion, and humor. But the hallmark of cabaret is its intimacy.
In 1997, Claudia Hommel gathered local performers to found Chicago Cabaret Professionals. CCP's mission supports the creation of a vibrant "cabaret scene" in Chicago and serves as a key network for cabaret performers and their public.
Twenty years later, one of the results of that networking is the coming together of Chicago cabaret artists interested in a cultural exchange with French artists. Holding their first conference in Paris in September 2017, the Chicago Paris Cabaret Connexion was born.A brief history of how it came about is on our Archives page here
Looking ahead, a French committee has formed to recruit singers and raise funds to attend the 2018 Cabaret Connexion in Chicago.
Correspondante à Paris
Mylène Launay : 06 71 83 70 65
Correspondent in Chicago
Claudia Hommel : 1-773-509-9360
Our newsletters are generated by MadMimi and you may unsubscribe at any time.
Working in Concert is the umbrella under which all of Claudia's collaborations take place.


text: On 12/07/07 13:10 +0200, Stefan Reinauer wrote: > * Jordan Crouse <jordan.crouse at amd.com> [070712 01:50]: > > -------------------------------------------- > > # MANIFEST > > # Filename pathname algorithm > > /root/my.payload normal/payload lzma > > ... > > bootblock bootblock - > > Do we really need to distinguish between filename and pathname? I don't > understand the difference here, unless it's a copy operation instead of > an archive. Back when we invented lar, we thought about making all > matches via the filename. So I think pathname is an idea to go away from > that fixed mapping again...? Actually - pathname *is* the fixed mapping. The filename:pathname scheme is to bridge the gap between a real world filename (like say, filo.elf), and the mapping within the LAR that LinuxBIOS understands (normal/payload). > I'd rather define file types rather than pathnames? > > Or is the pathname such a filetype, and the name is just ambiguous? Sure - we can use the term filetype if you want. Pathname is a little bit more descriptive, since the LAR can technically hold arbitrary blobs of data - what ever the loader needs ('vsa') comes to mind. But its just a term - I would be happy to use filetype if thats a better way to think about these things. Jordan -- Jordan Crouse Systems Software Development Engineer Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.


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A featured short story from the Summer 2019 issue.
You've always wished your mother, who is so deft with the cards, would learn to read fortunes. You want her to tell your future, holding nothing back. You want all of it confirmed, your luck and your losses. You haven't asked her, though. You can imagine her shaking her head, incredulous again that you, superstitious girl, are her daughter. That you long to convert each game into a prophesy.
A featured short story from the Summer 2019 issue.
Mother had no shortage of repulsive qualities, but the most disturbing was her laugh. Otherworldly. Piercing. A stranger would fall on the ice or a double-crossing cop would get his comeuppance from a mobster on television and this wretched, menacing cackle would emerge as though she kept a raven on a choke-chain between her gargantuan breasts.
A featured short story from the Spring 2019 issue.
I understood that he had a crush on me, because there is no service that deserves a greater-than-one-hundred-percent gratuity, but the money seemed harmless when it came out of his wallet, like something he'd found and was simply leaving for me to deal with. And after a month of this, I realized that I was making fifty extra dollars a week because of this man. I wasn't attracted to him, but I was fond of him, I guess because he gave me fifty dollars a week for remembering that he liked Heinz 57.
An excerpt from Mesha Maren's new novel Sugar Run.
The woman leans forward, elbows on the table and black hair slicked back under a cap. She's been there for three days, winning more than half the hands she plays, and her presence carves a space in the room disproportionate to her size.
A featured short story from the Fall 2018 issue.
Our distant ancestor Harriett Moss made a living painting portraits of dead children. But before her career began in earnest, she sketched only cows. It was her husband, Thomas Moss, who painted from corpses, memorializing deceased sons and daughters for their families. People often said Thomas had the constitution for the work because he and Harriett had not been able to have children of their own. While Thomas traveled the countryside—following up with commissions, measuring cadavers that he would reanimate in two dimensions—Harriett was left alone at their farmhouse.
A short story from the Fall 2018 issue.He saw no need to damn a place just on the face of it; he figured there must be a flower blooming somewhere in West Memphis, though he had seen no sign of one, and that maybe East St. Louis had a park where children played tag-you're-it together while old men read newspapers from benches and spoke of last night's ballgame.
A short story from the Summer 2018 issue.
Instead of coming to my birthday party, Shelby decided to become a Mormon. Every year since I turned nine it was me, my Nan, and Shelby eating meringue and lighting off snakes and spinners. Then her new church threw her a potluck, and she picked deviled eggs and dip over me. I got so mad I wanted to tell her what I really thought. That she was only getting saved—converted, dunked, brought into the light, whatever—because her dad said he'd pay for BYU. She knew her tips would never cover West Virginia, so she was going along with the God stuff.
An excerpt from Silas House's new novel Southernmost.
The rain had been falling with a pounding meanness, without ceasing for two days, and then the water rose all at once in the middle of the night, a brutal rush so fast Asher thought at first a dam might have broken somewhere upstream.
A short story from the Summer 2018 issue.
What could you make of a world where two things were true at the same time? For instance: Ronnie was dead. But also, Ronnie was alive, and striding very quickly through the Atlanta airport.
A feature short story from the 100th issue.
Oh, Stephanie, this is not at all what you expected. You're confused. All of us are, thoroughly. You've landed on a new planet and lo and behold it's populated, incredibly, with other humans. What gives? What are the odds of traveling across the universe and finding people so eerily similar to yourself? Impossible, just about.
Welcome home, sister.


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Chairman McGovern, Chairman Pitts, and Members of the Commission:
Thank you for holding this important hearing. It comes at a critical time of increasing violence and abuses in a part of the world that has been in many ways forgotten.
The world is failing the people of Darfur. Right now Darfur is experiencing the highest levels of violence and displacement since the height of the genocide. Last year nearly half-a-million people were newly displaced by violence and in just the first weeks of 2015 the United Nations (UN) has confirmed at least 40,000 more people displaced – an average of 5,000 people a week.
Watch the Hearing
The government of Sudan is bombing civilians, blocking international aid to those in need, and preventing an investigation into credible charges of mass rape by its armed forces. In the midst of the sharpest increase in violence in years, Sudan's President Bashir is actually demanding the removal of UN peacekeepers.
Beyond Darfur, hundreds of thousands of other Sudanese civilians are suffering from aerial bombardments and blocking of international aid. Since 2012, over 3,700 bombs have been dropped in the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, a quarter of those in just the last three months in what President Bashir is calling a "Decisive Action". Hospitals and field crops have been targeted even as food and medical aid is denied, used by the Sudanese regime as a weapon of war.
The world, the UN, the United States are failing to act in the face of the massive increase in violence. The long list of severe human rights abuses and violations of UN Security Council resolutions are met only with tired messages of condemnation that are undermined by ambiguous diplomatic overtures. Just last month the United States allowed Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and welcomed a top advisor to Sudanese President Bashir to meet with White House and State Department officials.
For the sake of the more than 300,000 victims of Bashir's attacks and the millions suffering under his policies today, the current lack of accountability needs to change. It starts with the U.S. Congress today. We at United to End Genocide were disappointed that the Sudan Peace Security and Accountability Act was not passed into law during the last session of Congress. But we were grateful for the efforts of the leaders of this Commission in crafting and advancing the legislation, encouraged by the tens of thousands of activists who took action in support of the measure and pleased with the more than 100 Members of the House of Representatives who supported the bill as co-sponsors. We are also encouraged that there is a commitment to introduce a strengthened and updated bill. We are fully prepared to do everything possible to generate attention and support for this important initiative. I cannot emphasize enough how desperately this is needed.
Responding to a grass-roots movement of conscience, Congress played a crucial role in moving the United States and other nations to wake up in 2004 and take action in response to the brutal genocide in Darfur. Sanctions on the Sudanese government that Congress established a decade ago still stand. However, it is painfully clear today that this action was not enough. The suffering and systematic assaults on innocent people in Darfur and other parts of Sudan has returned to a level that has not been seen since Congress acted eleven years ago. New action is needed and needed now, including:
- A call for strong U.S. leadership in the UN Security Council to renew and strengthen the peacekeeping mission in Darfur. Even as the violence in Darfur increases, Sudan is demanding the removal of the peacekeeping mission there, and the UN seems prepared to oblige. This peacekeeping mission will end without UN Security Council action in the next three months. The clock is ticking. It is imperative that a fully accountable and effective peacekeeping mission -with the tools to complete its mandate of protecting civilians – be authorized and fully operational.
The establishment of a peacekeeping mission was one of the earliest demands and achievements of the Save Darfur movement from which United to End Genocide was formed. Just as many thousands of activists were mobilized then to demand action, so must we mobilize today to not just maintain but strengthen the last line of defense for hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur. To this end, United to End Genocide has launched a campaign to demand that UN peacekeepers remain in Sudan. We encourage you to join us in this urgent call and to support new legislation that would include the key elements I mention in my testimony.
- Strengthening the effectiveness of existing sanctions – The officials in the U.S. government tasked with tracking and enforcing sanctions on Sudan are grossly overtasked and under-resourced. Enhancing the ability to follow the money will lead to sanctions that truly bite.
- Expanding sanctions beyond Darfur – Existing sanctions apply only to severe human rights abuses committed in Darfur, but attacks have spread, particularly in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since 2011.
- Demanding accountability for those who support Bashir – Accountability has not been given appropriate priority as the United States fails to utilize leverage to encourage other governments and persons to end support of and assistance to the government of Sudan. This includes sanctions against countries that welcome Sudanese President Bashir despite arrest warrants on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. In 2014, President Bashir visited nine countries and just last week he was in the United Arab Emirates for an international arms bazaar.
- Ensuring a comprehensive U.S. strategy to end serious human rights violations and to reinvigorate peace efforts. Previous U.S. policy and legislation has focused on particular crises within Sudan whether in the South, Darfur, or other parts exclusively, allowing attacks and violence to flare up in other areas. U.S. strategy should advance a single, comprehensive approach for all of Sudan.
Specifically, there are three actions that Members of Congress can take to help change the status quo.
- Join thousands of United to End Genocide members in a call for the United States to play a leadership role in the UN to renew and strengthen the peacekeeping mission in Darfur. A letter from Members of Congress to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power would be very timely as the administration considers its options on the UN Security Council. We also urge you to join thousands of our members by signing our nationwide petition to save and protect the people of Darfur.
- Demand that Omar al-Bashir, and those governments who help keep him from justice as they welcome him to their capitals, be held accountable. Help end the deafening silence of apathy and acquiescence when Bashir, who is wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity, travels freely to other countries. Speak out on the floor, in Committee deliberations and through this Commission. Raise questions about U.S. relations with these offending countries and urge the Obama administration to also speak up and take action. Governments who aid and abet Bashir need to know that they will be held accountable. He belongs in the Hague, not on a red carpet.
- Work toward the introduction and passage of new legislation to strengthen the U.S. position on Sudan.
As was the case in 2004, when an administration stalls on taking meaningful actions, it is up to citizens of conscience and Members of the U.S. Congress to take the necessary steps to ensure the people of Sudan are not lost and forgotten.
A History of Abuses
The facts in Sudan are being ignored. This ignorance, and the inaction that follows, is lethal.
Fact: Last year alone, nearly half-a-million people were newly displaced in Darfur. The latest UN reports on displacement confirm at least 40,000 new displacements so far in 2015 with an additional 60,000 reported but not yet confirmed. This adds to the estimated 3 million people displaced in Darfur in the last decade and the last publicized UN estimates of deaths of 200,000-300,000 people.
Fact: The same perpetrators of violence at the start of the genocide in 2003-2004 are behind the escalating mass violence against innocent civilians today. Leading these systematic assaults is President Bashir who is wanted for seven counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes and three counts of genocide by the International Criminal Court. Bashir's Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein faces 21 counts of war crimes and 20 counts of crimes against humanity, including recruiting, arming, and funding the infamous Janjaweed militia. Many of the Janjaweed militia have been reconstituted into the new Rapid Support Forces cited for new attacks on civilians.
Fact: The government or government-allied forces are behind most of the attacks against innocent men, women and children in Sudan, according to the latest report of the UN Secretary General on Darfur. For the latest reporting period, the UN peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) recorded a total of 55 cases of violence and attacks against civilians of which 23 were allegedly perpetrated by government forces and 16 by allied Arab militias. Again, many of those committing these crimes are the former Janjaweed reconstituted as the Rapid Support Forces.
Fact: The latest report of the Panel of Experts established by the UN to monitor conditions in Darfur describes "now certain 'routine' violations" by Bashir and his forces of UN Security Council resolutions including Resolution 1591 that forbids offensive military flights over Sudan. In fact, some of the most devastating attacks come from the air, an area over which the Sudanese Armed Forces hold a monopoly. In January, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the aerial bombardments and destruction of villages in Darfur. What has been lacking is any meaningful accountability for Sudan's continued abuses and violations.
Fact: Bashir's regime has also wreaked havoc on the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile, also known as the Two Areas. Following initial attacks in the Two Areas in 2011, a report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the Government of Sudan's actions likely amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Nuba Reports, a group of citizen journalists bravely reporting from the front lines, has recorded over 3,700 bombs dropped in the two states since 2012, a quarter of those in just the last three months. Nuba Reports estimates that more than 500 bombs were dropped on civilian targets in January alone. Many of these bombs have fallen on markets, fields, schools, and hospitals.
Fact: The limited medical facilities in South Kordofan and Blue Nile have each been bombed at least once. That includes one run by Doctors Without Borders who have subsequently been forced to withdraw. The bombing of field crops has prevented planting and harvesting leading to grave levels of malnutrition. USAID's Famine Early Warning System estimates that tens of thousands of people will face crisis levels of food insecurity in the coming months.
In addition, there are credible allegations that Sudan is arming South Sudanese rebels. From a humanitarian standpoint, as the Two Areas border South Sudan, instability and violence on either side of the border has led to large refugee flows in both directions. From Sudan, refugees flee the dropping of bombs and denial of food. In South Sudan, continued fighting has led to a great risk of famine. As an observer recently noted, "It must be pretty bad in South Kordofan for people to be flowing to South Sudan!"
Recent Outrages
Among the ever growing list of atrocities attributable to the regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, one recent travesty stands out for particular outrage and absurdity. The Sudanese Armed Forces are accused of raping over 200 women in the town of Tabit in north Darfur in October 2014. In a report released last month, Human Rights Watch has documented evidence of individual cases from dozens of victims and witnesses. The Sudanese government, for its part, has blocked investigation into the mass rapes, allowing UN peacekeepers only brief access in an intimidating environment. Following initial reports of the rapes, President Bashir responded by shutting down the UN Human Rights office in Khartoum, kicking out two high-level UN officials, and calling for the removal of the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
Just months after the mass rapes in Tabit and days after Human Rights Watch's damning report confirming the evidence, Sudan is set to become a leading member of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. This harkens to the days when Rwanda sat on the UN Security Council as the Rwanda genocide unfolded and seems a repeat of history as Sudan sat on the UN Human Rights Commission at the start of the Darfur genocide in 2004.
Despite warrants for his arrest on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, Bashir continues to be welcomed by governments around the world, including allies and recipients of significant U.S. aid. He traveled to nine countries last year with hardly a whimper of condemnation (Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and South Sudan). For a comprehensive list of countries that Bashir has visited, as well as a summary of the crimes with which he is charged please see www.bashirwatch.org.
Ten years ago, the UN Security Council referred the case of Darfur to the International Criminal Court. In her latest report to the Security Council, Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda described horrific and deteriorating conditions – "not only does the situation in Darfur continue to deteriorate, the brutality with which crimes are being committed has become more pronounced."
But the lack of action by the United States and the UNSC has made the investigations and documentation of Bashir's crimes in by the Chief Prosecutor, futile. In her most recent report, she told the Security Council: "Given this Council's lack of foresight on what should happen in Darfur, I am left with no choice but to hibernate investigative activities in Darfur."
When pressure is applied, we know that it works. In 2012, recently retired U.S. Congressman and former Co-Chair of this Commission Frank Wolf led efforts to limit Millennium Challenge Corporation funds to Malawi citing that government's welcoming of Bashir among the reasons. The following year Malawi canceled its hosting of an African Union Summit to avoid having to invite Bashir. Civil society groups in Nigeria applied their own pressure taking legal action when Bashir came for a visit and causing him to leave earlier than planned.
And when Bashir threatened to come to New York for the UN General Assembly meetings in 2014 United to End Genocide and our partners led the way in making it clear he was not welcome both by exploring legal options and notifying the Hotel Association of New York City that mass protests would follow any member hotel that accommodated him. The United States cannot prevent Bashir from traveling everywhere, but where it does have leverage, it can make countries that would welcome him think twice. That should be a matter of policy.
All of these highlighted travesties point to a common problem of impunity. The United States and the UN may denounce Bashir's atrocities, but they erode their credibility with counterproductive actions. A few weeks ago, for example, the United States allowed Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti into the country to attend the National Prayer Breakfast. Bashir's top advisor, Ibrahim Ghandour, was then welcomed into the United States to meet with White House and State Department officials.
The United States has announced that it will relax some sanctions on communications technology. While this may be able to be useful for democratic opposition groups within Sudan, the timing of the announcements, coupled with the visits by Karti and Ghandour and a subsequent visit by U.S. deputy assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor Steven Feldstein to Sudan, suggest steps toward normalization of relations even as abuses grow worse.
The Sudanese government has stepped up repression of press freedoms ahead of Bashir's all but certain re-election as President and the desire to silence opposition appears to have extended beyond Sudan's borders with highly suspect cyberattacks on long time Sudan advocate Eric Reeves last week.
These mixed messages extend to the halls of the UN as well. While in New York Ghandour was greeted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with polite inquiries about how President Bashir was doing.
For far too long, the world has failed to act to address the atrocities in Darfur and across Sudan. By ignoring the violence and postponing justice, conditions have gotten much worse for the victims of the genocidal regime of Omar al-Bashir. Now, by laying out a welcome mat and taking steps to normalize relations, the U.S. administration is giving a green light for further atrocities.
There are actions that can be taken now – starting with the U.S. Congress – that will make a world of difference. They include demanding accountability, enhancing U.S. leverage, building international pressure, and prioritizing the protection of civilians.
Demanding accountability: The United States should be willing to hold those countries that aid and abet Bashir accountable including threatening sanctions on those that allow visits by Bashir. It should refuse entry to top-level Sudanese officials unless credible steps are taken to end attacks on civilians in Sudan. And the United States should press the UN Security Council to expand the mandate of the ICC beyond Darfur to include atrocities committed in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, and other parts of Sudan.
Enhancing U.S. leverage: Existing U.S. sanctions on Sudan need to be more targeted and better enforced. Adequate resources for tracking funding streams and assets to be blocked should be given to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Controls. Current sanctions should also be expanded to cover more than just crimes in Darfur even as the regime's crimes have spread to other parts of the country.
Building international pressure: The United States should play a leadership role in the international community by pushing the UN Security Council to denounce and demand that the Government of Sudan immediately cease attacks on civilians including offensive military flights over Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile. The United States should also push for UN measures such as sanctions for numerous Security Council resolution violations and should loudly condemn outrageous appointments such as Sudan's membership on the Committee on the Status of Women.
Prioritizing protection of civilians: The UN Peacekeeping Mission in Darfur needs to be not only renewed but held accountable and strengthened. On paper, the Council has given UNAMID a strong mandate, backed by the strongest authorizations under Chapter VII of the UN Charter including the use of force to protect civilians. But in reality, Sudan has been allowed to intimidate UNAMID and there has been little accountability from the international community when the mission fails to report or act to protect civilians.
The United States and the rest of the UN Security Council should support the mission so that it no longer cows to the Sudanese government's desires for it to withhold information and fail to act to fulfill its mandate of protecting civilians. The way to address these problems is not to play into the hands of the perpetrators and to remove the imperfect last line of defense for many civilians, but rather to reinforce the peacekeeping mission so that it can carry out the mission that has been set out for it. For all its problems, removal of the mission would be removal of the final bit of protection for civilians in Darfur and the final removal of international witnesses to the unfolding and rapidly increasing horrors.
The world has failed Darfur and the rest of Sudan. But it is not too late to mitigate the suffering and counter the mounting violence and impunity. Incorporating the steps I have outlined in my testimony into legislation will get the attention both of the U.S. administration and the regime in Sudan. It is equally important in the short term to raise awareness of the pending threat to the UN peacekeeping force in Darfur.
United to End Genocide has launched a campaign calling upon the United States to lead the UN in renewing and strengthening UNAMID. We look forward to the introduction of a bill that can address the broader points outlined in my testimony.
To reiterate – action is required and there are three distinct things that the U.S. Congress can do today.
- Send a letter to U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power and sign United to End Genocide's petition calling upon the United States to lead the UN in renewing and strengthening the peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
- Speak out when Sudanese President Bashir travels to other countries and hold those who welcome him accountable.
- Support new legislation that addresses the crises in Sudan that is modeled on the Sudan Peace, Security and Accountability Act.
Together we can show the world that Darfur, and the suffering of people throughout Sudan, have not been forgotten.
Thank you, again, for holding this important hearing. I am more than happy to answer any questions.
Download a printable PDF of the testimony.


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According to Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim the purpose of Gentiles is — to serve Jews:
|Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim (left), nominated to become IDF chief rabbi, sits next to his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz, on April 21, 2016 (Diana Khananashvili/Defense Ministry)
|Rabbi Dov Lior - Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arab settlement
According to Rabbi Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Hebron and the settler Yesha Council of Rabbis in the West Bank "There is no such thing as civilians in wartime… A thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail!" [How To Kill Goyim And Influence People: Leading Israeli Rabbis Defend Manual for For Killing Non-Jews]
It was only a few years ago when Torat HaMelech, (The King's Torah) was published by Rabbis Yitzhak Shapira and Josef Elitzur. It was described by one Israeli tabloid as '230 pages on the laws concerning the killing of non-Jews, a kind of guidebook for anyone who ponders the question of if and when it is permissible to take the life of a non-Jew." It was a book that justified the murder of non-Jewish children and infants: The authors wrote that 'There is justification for killing babies if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us, and in such a situation they may be harmed deliberately, and not only during combat with adults."
Because of the uproar, even in Israel, the Police briefly arrested both authors. However they were soon released' once the international attention had faded. The Attorney General refused to prosecute them. Investigations against rabbis who approve book also to be closed; Weinstein: Not enough evidence of intention to incite.
One of the reasons why any suggestion of a prosecution was dropped was that hundreds of rabbis and the Orthodox rallied to their defence. To have prosecuted Israel's genocidal rabbis would have brought a conflict between State and the Orthodox Rabbinate.
If they had been Arabs, then their feet wouldn't have touched the floor. Sheikh Raed Salah, who was alleged to have used the medieval blood libel in his criticism of Israel's attack on worshippers at the Al Aqsa Mosque, was gaoled for 11 months even though he denied having made any such reference. Islamist leader Raed Salah starts 9-month prison term But to publish a book advising how, according to Jewish religious law one may murder non-Jews – that is ok in the 'Jewish' state.
When you integrate the religious hierarchy into a settler colonial state and give those rabbis the right to define who is a member of the herrenvolk, a Jewish national, then religious chauvinism becomes transformed into virulent racism, backed by the power of the state.
Religion in a state legitimises that state. It gives it moral authority. In Iran and Saudi Arabia the function of religion is to reinforce and legitimise the state. After all the myth is that the state is itself a creation of god and endorsed by him. In Islamic states those who suffer from this are primarily Muslims, in the Jewish state it is Jews who benefit as they are privileged. In Israel religion has become a state ideology.
In Israel the Jewish religion is and has been transformed into an ideological justification of the most atavistic racism.
In the Pew research survey 'Israel's Divided Society' 48% of Israeli Jewish adults favoured expelling Israel's Palestinians and 46% were opposed. But among the Haredi (Ultra Orthodox) 59% agreed with expulsion and 32% were opposed. Among the central Orthodox, a full 72% agree with expelling Israel's Arabs and just 26% were opposed.
|Safed - on the original holy cities in Palestine
Israel's Orthodox rabbinate constitutes a human cesspool of racism. In 2010 Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, son of a Sephardic Chief Rabbi, issued an edict that Arabs were banned from renting rooms or flats in Safed. After coming in for criticism by the more secular section of Israeli society, hundreds of rabbis rallied to his defence. [Dozens of Israeli rabbis back call to forbid sale of property to Arabs Guardian, 7.12.10]. Netanyahu who had originally criticised Eliyahu, after coming under sustained pressure internationally, fell silent. Chief Rabbis in Israel are government officials, paid by the State. Eliyahu continues to be paid by the Israeli state.
Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim, the new Chief Military Rabbi, is therefore no exception to the rule. There is nothing out of the ordinary in his suggestion that 'in times of war it is permissible for soldiers to "have sex with comely gentile women against their will".
|Mordechai Kedar - Colonel in Army and Bar Ilan University lecturer advocates rape as deterrent to terrorism
The idea of rape as a weapon of war is not new to Zionism. Col Mordechai Kedar, a lecturer at the religious Bar Ilan university, spoke of how rape would act to deter the Palestinians from resisting their occupiers. This did not stop Kedar from being invited to Britain a year ago by the Zionist Federation. Kedar spoke at a number of Zionist meetings, including one hosted by Sussex Friends of Israel. [see Picket Meeting Of Israeli Professor Kedar Who Advocates Rape As A Deterrent.
Kedar told Israel's army radio that ''The only thing that deters a suicide bomber is the knowledge that if he pulls the trigger or blows himself up, his sister will be raped.' Israeli Professor's 'Rape as Terror Deterrent' Statement Draws Ire Ha'aretz 22.7.14.]
|Rabbi Ovadi Yosef, Sephardic Chief Rabbi with Eli Yishai, far-Right MK and Aryeh Deri MK of Shas
The late Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadi Yosef was a font of wisdom on matters to do with halacha (the oral Jewish law) and the interpretation of the Torah. The 6 million murdered in the holocaust were simply reincarnated souls sent to do repentance in the gas chambers. This is virtually identical with the anti-Semitic President of Christians United 4 Israel, Pastor John Hagee, for whom Hitler was simply god's agent.
On the place of non-Jews in the world he was even more explicit: "Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel."
What was that about anti-Semitism?
Tony Greenstein
Jonathan Ofir on July 12, 2016
Rabbi Col. Eyal Karim (left), nominated to become IDF chief rabbi, sits next to his predecessor, Brig. Gen. Rafi Peretz, on April 21, 2016 (Diana Khananashvili/Defense Ministry)
Just on my way to my flight from Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, I noticed this cover headline in the Yediot Aharonot newspaper front page:
"New IDF Chief Rabbi: It is permissible to rape during war". Under that: "Major Col. Eyal Qarim has declared in the past "draft of girls is totally forbidden" – and claimed that in times of war it is permissible for soldiers to "have sex with comely gentile women against their will".
I have followed the case of Qarim for quite a while. In fact, some three weeks ago I drafted an article covering the history of Qarim's violent advocacy since 2003. Though at that point the story seemed not to be current, just yesterday those fears concerning Qarim's possible influence were confirmed: Qarim was promoted from head of the IDF Rabbinate to IDF Chief Rabbi. Below is my drafted article.
The story of the IDF Chief Rabbi Col. Eyal Qarim and his opinions about rape in times of war is one that comes up occasionally in the media, as it again has done recently for example here, and cited on other sources. Lately, a contact asked me whether I could look at the Hebrew sources and confirm that there is no mistranslation.
|Front page of Yediot with Qarim appointment, controversy
I am familiar with this case, and not only is there no mistranslation as such – there is a continuation of the story which seems to have gained no local (Israeli) nor international scrutiny, till now, and I think it deserves it. In order to understand the seriousness of the whole story, a certain historical overview is necessary:
The story has mainly come to be noticed due to Yossi Gurvitz's article in March 2012 titled "IDF colonel-rabbi implies: Rape is permitted in war", where he notes an answer that Qarim, not in uniform at the point, gave to a concerned reader of a religious publication called Kipa asking about rape in times of war, opining that "prohibitions against immorality" are removed during war. Part of Qarim's answer:
"[W]ar removes some of the prohibitions on sexual relations, and even though fraternizing with a gentile woman is a very serious matter, it was permitted during wartime (under the specific terms) out of understanding for the hardship endured by the warriors. And since the success of the whole at war is our goal, the Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil urge, under the conditions mentioned, for the purpose of the success of the whole."
This was noticed in the Sheldon Adelson owned NRG and on Mondoweiss, both a day after Gurvitz's post.
Gurvitz was making the point that although Qarim posted his answer in 2003, when he was out of uniform (Qarim had served as a combat soldier and commander in an elite IDF unit), he was in 2012 a commander in the military rabbinate, and considered for the post of Chief Military Rabbi.
Gurvitz asked the IDF Spokesman the following questions:
1. Is the rape of women during wartime agreeable to the IDF Ethics Code?
2. If not, why does a prominent military rabbi promote it?
3. If not, does the IDF intend to end the service of Col. Qarim, or bring charges against him?
4. How does the IDF Spokesman intend to deal with the anticipated damage to its image in the international arena, resulting from Col. Qarim's ruling?
There was a response, as Gurvitz notes: "Frankly, I did not expect an answer, but surprisingly enough an enraged officer from IDF Spokesman New Media Unit called me. His official response was that Qarim was not an officer in active service when he wrote that ruling, and furthermore that my question 'disrespects the IDF, the State of Israel and the Jewish religion,' and hence his unit will no longer answer my questions."
Apparently this exposure became a PR nuisance for the IDF, so the day after Gurvitz's article came out, Qarim issued a "clarification" on the same religious website, Kipa (in Hebrew).
It is this clarification which is so interesting in terms of currency and as an addition to the story, because here is the military rabbi in uniform, and this is how he tries to backpedal. The response article is headlined:
"Rabbi Qarim clarifies: of course rape is not permitted in any situation – by halacha (religious ruling). Head of the Rabbinate Department answers activists from the left who have taken his words out of context. In clarification of the halachic (religious ruling) answer that he gave on Kipa [2003], Rabbi Qarim says "of course the Torah never allowed rape of a woman".
Let us scrutinize how exactly Qarim gets out of this one:
Of course the Torah never allowed rape of a woman. The ruling of "comely woman" [Deuteronomy 21] is meant to cause a soldier to retreat from his intention to take the [female] prisoner to be his wife, through a series of acts which moderate her beauty and accentuate her personality and her sorrow. If, after the whole process he still wishes to marry her, he must do this through Hupa [religious ceremony] and blessings…. In addition, the whole essence of the ruling was to refine the situation which was prevalent in the barbaric world of wars that was existent then, where any soldier was permitted to do as he pleased with the prisoner, and the purpose of the ruling is to prevent a soldier from taking the prisoner as wife in the heat of battle. It is clear that in our days, the world has advanced to a level of morality where prisoners are not taken to be married, of course this ruling is not to be carried out as written, as it is also in total opposition to the values and orders of the army.
Now it is necessary to scrutinize the original text and what was originally asked on the first Kipa article in 2003. The inquirer asked specifically: "How is it then, that it was told to me by a rabbi, that a comely woman can be [raped], according to some of the [Halachic] rulers, also before the whole process described in the Torah? That is, that [a man would] surrender to his desires, and have sex with her, and only later take her to her home etc.?"
Indeed, the text of the Torah is worrying in its formulation. Let us have a look at it. This is Deuteronomy 21:10-14:
"When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes".
Indeed, the section is somewhat confusing – because the first "take her as a wife" that appears, and even more so in Hebrew וְלָקַחְתָּ לְךָ לְאִשָּׁה , could well be translated as an act of rape, in that the literal translation can be "and you took her as your woman", in a "surrender to desires" as the inquirer puts it. Though the acts that follow are relating to the more formal question of marriage.
This is the very specific matter that the inquirer had asked about, and Qarim did not really answer it. Instead, he essentially explained how as the "success of the whole at war is our goal, the Torah permitted the individual to satisfy the evil urge". As NRG noted, Qarim did not say "no, it is not permitted".
But when pressed to backpedal, Qarim applied a novel technique. He addresses the rape issue in the Torah very lightly ("Of course the Torah never allowed rape of a woman"), but then goes to address another issue – the formal issue of the marriage – as if the two were one and the same. What he then regards as the "problem" that the Torah supposedly tries to tackle, is the actual ceremonial marriage – not the rape. So Qarim is saying that the problem is taking a decision to marry a prisoner "in the heat of battle". Thus he now tackles a whole other matter, saying "it is clear that in our days, the world has advanced to a level of morality where prisoners are not taken to be married. Of course this ruling is not to be carried out as written, as it is also in total opposition to the values and orders of the army".
But this is a straw man. The inquirer did not ask about marriage, but about rape, and noted that some rabbinical authorities have opined that the ruling could be about what to do after the "surrender to desires". In his 2003 answer, Qarim was focusing on the rape issue, justifying it in historical terms, and not answering the question specifically in address of our times, as was asked.
Qarim provides very ambiguous answers, which in their focus may leave the reader confused. In 2003 he seemed to imply that rape is permitted for Jews in times of war (he did not make the explicit distinction between biblical times and now), and in his "clarification" he addressed marriage, not rape.
This ambivalence, straw-man-argumentation and obfuscation are very worrying. In the darkness of ambivalence, one could indeed be worried that soldiers, particularly those heeding rabbinical opinions, would be confused. And who knows what a confused soldier "in the heat of battle" could come to do with a Palestinian woman.
NRG noted in its article that "it's now clear who Erez Efrati learned from". Erez Efrati is an IDF Officer, the bodyguard of the Chief in Staff, who was convicted of rape and who told the Supreme Court in 2011 that the reason he attacked the young woman was because "he acted as if she was a terrorist". NRG also notes the opinion of Tzfat chief rabbi Shmuel Eliayhu, also cited from the Kipa site:
"If IDF soldiers do not satisfy their evil lusts, they may lose the war, and then the enemy soldiers will rape our women. In other words, we are talking about rape as a protective measure".
Thus it seems that rape in times of war is a rather contentious issue amongst Rabbis, even IDF Rabbis. "No" doesn't necessarily mean "no", violent attack can be considered as "protective measure". One wonders whether the "barbaric world of wars" that Qarim refers to is actually distant history.
Postscript: In response to some outrage from a few politicians from the left and heads of women's rights organizations in Israel, the IDF Spokesman is quoted in Yediot Aharonot today stating:
"Major General Qarim seeks to clarify that his words were uttered only in regards to a Halachic interpretation question, but in no way as an answer to a practical question. Rabbi Qarim never wrote, said or even thought that an IDF soldier is permitted to sexually assault a woman during war – whoever interprets his words otherwise is mistaken and deceiving. Rabbi Qarim's moral attitude can be witnessed in his long service in the military in various command posts, in combat and as well as rabbinical functions, where he has demonstrated total loyalty to the values of the IDF and the spirit of the IDF, especially values of human dignity towards all."
But this is essentially the backpedaling that Qarim already attempted in 2012. As I have shown above, it is rather unconvincing.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef was Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi. He was the spiritual mentor of Shas, the religious sephardic party of government. He was also a noted racist. The article below is from The Times of Israel.
Late Sephardi spiritual leader made a range of inflammatory comments — involving snakes and sinners, gentiles and Blacks
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who died Monday at 93, was a revered halachic scholar whose rulings found solutions for Jews caught in complex situations, brought countless Jews back to Torah observance, and unified the diverse Sephardi community.
But Yosef was also known for some highly problematic statements about Jews, Arabs, Americans, and others.
Here are just five of the many comments that provoked outrage.
1) The 'guilt' of Jewish victims of the Holocaust:
"The six million Holocaust victims were reincarnations of the souls of sinners, people who transgressed and did all sorts of things which should not be done. They had been reincarnated in order to atone."
— Weekly Saturday night sermon in August 2000
2) Hurricane Katrina as divine punishment for godlessness and American support for the disengagement from Gaza:
"There was a tsunami and there are terrible natural disasters, because there isn't enough Torah study… Black people reside there [New Orleans]. Blacks will study the Torah? [God said] let's bring a tsunami and drown them."
"Hundreds of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thousands have been killed. All of this because they have no God."
"Bush was behind Gush Katif [the Gaza settlement bloc]. He encouraged Sharon to expel Gush Katif… We had 15,000 people expelled here, and there 150,000. It was God's retribution… God does not short-change anyone."
— Weekly Saturday night sermon in July 2005
3) The purpose of Gentiles — to serve Jews:
"Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel."
"In Israel, death has no dominion over them… With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one's donkey would die, they'd lose their money.
"This is his servant… That's why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew."
"Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat… That is why gentiles were created."
— Weekly Saturday night sermon in October 2010
4) On making peace with Arabs:
"How can you make peace with a snake?"
"Those evildoers, the Arabs — it says in the Gemara [Talmud] that God is sorry he ever created those sons of Ishmael."
— Weekly Saturday night sermon in August 2000
5) On Muslims:
"They're stupid. Their religion is as ugly as they are."
— Weekly Saturday night sermon in December 2009. (Yosef was discussing the law that a Jewish woman may remarry her husband after they divorced only if she has not slept another man in the interim. However, said Yosef, in Muslim religious law, the condition for a woman to remarry her husband is that she marry another man first.)


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Identity, Politics & Social Justice
Health & Human Sciences
Ingestive Behavior Research Center
Agriculture/Veterinary Medicine
Myrdene Anderson, Associate Professor
Dr. Anderson is best known for the research among Saami reindeer-breeders in Norwegian Lapland that commenced in 1971 and continues to date. She also pursues ethnography in a variety of settings, from community gardening to the transdisciplinary artificial life movement in biology. Her publications include edited volumes on human-alloanimal ethology, on ethnicity and identity, on semiotic modeling, on the cultural construction of trash, on mathematics education, on violence, and on the Peircean concept of "habit".
Sherylyn Briller, Associate Professor
Dr. Sherylyn Briller is a cultural medical anthropologist specializing in aging, disability, end-of-life issues, and global health. She has conducted research in Mongolia and the United States. She is a Faculty Associate in the Center on Aging and the Life Course. Her professional interests also extend to anthropologists' education, career development, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She has taken a leading role in developing the new Master's track in Applied and Practicing Anthropology at Purdue.
Michele Buzon, Professor
Dr. Buzon is a bioarchaeologist whose research focuses on the excavation and analysis of burials in the ancient Nile Valley (Egypt and Nubia). Dr. Buzon has an active field site at Tombos, Sudan. Through the examination of human skeletal remains and mortuary practices, she examines the effects of Nubian-Egyptian contact on identity and health during the New Kingdom and Napatan periods.
H. Kory Cooper, Associate Professor
Dr. Cooper uses a Behavioral Archaeology framework to examine technological innovation and culture change past and present. One of his primary research foci has been the archaeometallurgical investigation of Pre-Contact copper innovation in the North American Arctic, Subarctic and Northwest Coast. Related to this topic, Cooper's research also examines the Post-Contact adoption of trade metals and metallurgy in these culture areas. He is also currently participating in interdisciplinary research on the consumption and discard of electronics (e-waste). He has conducted fieldwork in Alaska, California, Jordan, and Sudan. Additional research interests include materials analysis, experimental archaeology, hunter-gatherers, the fur trade, historical metallurgy, public archaeology, and education.
Andrew Flachs, Assistant Professor
Dr. Flachs researches food and agriculture systems, exploring the spread of genetically modified crops, heirloom seeds and local ecologies, alternative agriculture, and small-scale food security including fermentation and seed-saving. His work among farmers in North America, the Balkans, and South India investigates ecological knowledge and technological change in agricultural systems spanning Cleveland urban gardens, Bosnian kitchens, and Indian GM cotton fields. At Purdue, he is a member of the Advanced Methodologies Cluster and teaches graduate courses on qualitative social science and environmental anthropology.
Ellen Gruenbaum, Professor
Dr. Gruenbaum is a cultural medical anthropologist with research on female genital cutting in Sudan and Sierra Leone, focused on the process of change to this culturally and religiously embedded practice, including the role of feminist activism, witchcraft and secret societies, and the Islamist movement. She is also interested in other women's health issues in Africa and the Middle East, including sexuality and reproduction, HIV/ AIDS, and beauty pageants as a health education tool.
Jennifer Johnson, Assistant Professor
Dr. Johnson's research is historically rooted, ethnographically engaged, and focused at the confluence of gender, vernacular practice, and the politics of contemporary economic and environmental sustainability along African and North American littorals, or shorelines. By foregrounding African women's work with diverse species and forms of fish – both indigenous and introduced – alongside the development of global markets for African fish products, Dr. Johnson's current research retheorizes the intersection of gender, history, and sustainability in and around Africa's largest body of water.
Ian Lindsay, Associate Professor
Dr. Lindsay has conducted research in northwestern Armenia since 2000 investigating the origins of political complexity, landscapes as media for political authority, and households and community formation in the Late Bronze Age. Analytical methods of interest include chemical characterization techniques to examine the flow of goods in and out of the Tsaghkahovit Plain, and he has recently initiated a geophysical survey of fortress settlements to gauge the intensity of occupation during the LBA.
Stacy Lindshield, Assistant Professor
Dr. Lindshield's research investigates how and why foraging behavior reflects the sociopolitical strategies of female chimpanzees in savanna-woodland environments. Professor Lindshield has active research projects in Senegal at Mount Assirik in Niokolo-Koba National Park and Fongoli. Her current work addresses nutritional facets of hunting, meat eating, and meat sharing behaviors. In addition, Lindshield assesses the impact of gold mining on biological corridors and chimpanzee health in Senegal, and evaluates biological corridor networks for the conservation and management of Costa Rican primates.
Riall Nolan, Professor
Dr. Nolan's interests include international development; cross-cultural learning and adjustment; and anthropological practice. Trained in Britain, Nolan worked first as a development practitioner in West and North Africa, South Asia, and the Pacific. Later, as a university administrator, he led international programs for several large US research universities. In his present capacity as a faculty member, Nolan's teaching and writing centers on non-academic practice in anthropology, and how to improve training programs for our students in that regard.
Zoe Nyssa, Assistant Professor
Dr. Nyssa is a cultural/environmental anthropologist studying the relationships between knowledge practices, governance, and distributive questions of risk and justice. Using mixed method and multi-sited approaches, her current work tracks the emergence and contemporary practices of conservation science in order to evaluate their impact globally on human and non-human life. She has conducted research at leading conservation projects in the U.S., Europe, and Ecuador.
Erik Otárola-Castillo, Assistant Professor
Dr. Otárola-Castillo is an archaeologist, human evolutionary biologist, and biometrician. His research revolves around the question: "What do people eat and why?" To answer it, Dr. Otárola-Castillo studies the diversity, ecology, evolution, and co-evolution of behavioral phenotypes in prehistoric and modern foraging populations. Currently, Dr. Otárola-Castillo is interested in evaluating the effects that climatic change, the variation of food-availability and-distribution had on the diet of some of the first forager populations across the North American Great Plains.
As a biometrician and computational anthropologist, he develops quantitative tools to answer questions in the context of the major dimensions of archaeological research: space, time and form. To this end, Dr. Otárola-Castillo develops and implements optimal foraging models, 3D-morphometrics software, and statistical software for human evolutionary biologists and zooarchaeologists, spatio-temporal statistical models, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)."
Melissa Remis, Professor and Head
Dr. Remis' research in the Central African Republic focuses on integrated biological, cultural and environmental anthropological approaches to human-animal relationships, nutrition and health among BaAka foragers, and conservation. She is currently studying multispecies entanglements and interdependence in Congo Basin forests. She has also conducted research on the feeding ecology of western gorillas and designed experimental zoo-based research on the evolution of feeding strategies among African apes.
Amanda Veile, Assistant Professor
Dr. Veile is a biological anthropologist who studies human reproductive and developmental biology using an evolutionary perspective. Since 2000, she has worked as a scientist on indigenous health projects in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Mexico. Her ongoing research projects include 1) Documentation of birthing practices, breastfeeding patterns, and mother-child interactions; 2) Studies of growth and immuno-nutritional development of indigenous infants and children; and 3) Monitoring community health profiles in geographically isolated populations, to identify novel health challenges associated with globalization and modernization.
Laura Zanotti, Associate Professor
Dr. Zanotti is an environmental anthropologist and interdisciplinary social scientist who partners with communities to examine how local, mostly rural, livelihoods and well-being can be sustained and to identify the pathways that shape just futures. Dr. Zanotti joined the Purdue Faculty in 2009 and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology. In all of her work, she stitches together insights from engaged anthropology and visual anthropology to create collaborative and meaningful projects. She has partnered with the Kayapó, an indigenous community in Brazil, for over ten years and is currently working on projects around the United States, in Latin America, and throughout the globe on "media sovereignty" and digital landscapes, environmental justice and valuing nature, and community resilience and healing.


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By Valerie Lawrence
Credit: David Houston
Like a number of great writers, O'Henry died young at age 47 from alcohol related illnesses, but he packed a lot of living into his short life. He started, at age nineteen, with a career as a licensed pharmacist and talented sketch artist. Because of a persistent cough though, he moved to Texas where he worked as a ranch hand, journalist and bank teller, all the while writing short stories and developing character lines. In 1897, he was found guilty of embezzlement from a bank where he had been employed. Although he vehemently denied the charges, he was sentenced to five years in jail.
Credit: The Haunted Library
While in jail he worked as a pharmacist and was given his own private room. With little else to do he produced fourteen short stories under the pseudonym O'Henry.
Credit: Book Rags
By the time William Sydney Porter was released from jail (early, for good behavior), he had secured a writing career under the name O'Henry. He moved to New York where he wrote 381 short stories. Among his most famous works, Full House and The Gift of the Magi were made into feature length films. The Ransom of Red Chief is a story about two men who kidnap a ten year-old boy who makes their life so miserable that they end up paying the kid's father to take him back. It's the subject of numerous plays, a movie and a newly released as a graphic novel:
Credit: Graphic Classics
Credit: Fox Free Movies
In Heart of the West he relied heavily on his early cowboy experiences in Texas. Here is a sample of O'Henry quotes that reveal why he is so popular then and now:
"I don't amount to a knot in a stake rope."
"He swayed on his horse; had he been on foot, the earth would have risen and conquered him; but in the saddle he was a master of equilibrium, and laughed at whisky, and despised the centre of gravity."
"That man was a spectacle. Yes; he was worse; he was a spyglass; he was the great telescope in the Lick Observatory."
"She blushed, and then looked at me cool, like I was the snow scene from the 'Two Orphans.'"
"…prancing around anvidiously like an irremediable turkey gobbler…"
"He's all ventilated with oldness and rectitude and decay."
"I think he's as dry as a lava bed."
"Do you think you could get it into that Hubbard squash you call your head that you are nix cum rous in this business."
"…we drifted down to this little town…to rest up, and get some human grub, and have our whiskers harvested."
"…he's a plain incumbent of the mountains, with asperities and the usual failing of a spendthrift and a liar, but I never on the most momentous occasion had the heart to deny that he was a gentleman."
"I have found him impervious to the lower grades of crime and obesity."
"My object is purely a gastronomical one."


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Tobi Lütke, is the founder and CEO of Shopify, the leading cloud-based, multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses, headquartered in Ottawa. Tobi has served on the core team of Ruby on Rails (open source software that facilitates the development of new web applications) and has created many popular open source libraries such as Active Merchant.
Tobi grew up in Germany and moved to Canada in 2002 at age 22. In 2004, he launched Snowdevil, an online snowboard shop, which he built the ecommerce platform for. Soon after, Tobi and his Snowdevil partners decided to shift from snowboards to ecommerce and officially launched Shopify in 2006.
With Shopify, merchants can design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including web, mobile, social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. The platform also provides merchants with a powerful back-office and a single view of their business. Shopify currently powers over 500,000 merchants in approximately 175 countries. Shopify had its initial public offering in May 2015. It is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges as SHOP.


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Carl Icahn: Time to break up eBay
FORTUNE — Carl Icahn has his sights set on a Silicon Valley giant, and it isn't Apple (AAPL).
eBay Inc. (EBAY) this afternoon announced that Icahn has nominated two of his employees to its board of directors, and submitted a non-binding proposal to spin PayPal out into a separate business.
Icahn earlier this month acquired a 0.82% stake in eBay, as part of what appears to be his heightened interest in the tech sector (Apple, Dell, etc.). eBay suggested that it has previously considered, and rejected, a PayPal spinout. It also expressed support for its current directors. The company is expected to further address the matter during its previously-scheduled Q4 earnings call today at 5pm ET.
Below is eBay's statement regarding Icahn's proposal:
eBay Inc. announced today that it has received a notice from Carl Icahn indicating that he has nominated two of his employees to its Board of Directors and submitted a non-binding proposal for a spinoff of its PayPal business into a separate company. The notice stated that companies controlled by Mr. Icahn had, earlier this month, acquired shares and derivative securities that give him an economic interest of approximately 0.82% in the company.
eBay welcomes the opportunity to listen to the perspective of all of its shareholders, including Mr. Icahn. His Board nominations will be passed on to the Board's Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, which will consider them in the ordinary course of business. We would note that eBay has a world-class board of directors with directors who have significant experience in technology and financial services.
Regarding Mr. Icahn's separation proposal, eBay's Board of Directors routinely assesses the company's strategic direction and has explored in depth a spinoff or separation of PayPal. eBay's Board of Directors has concluded that the company and its shareholders are best served by the current strategic direction of the company and does not believe that breaking up the company is the best way to maximize shareholder value. As part of eBay Inc., PayPal is able to leverage the company's technology capabilities, commerce platforms and relationships with retailers, brands and large merchants worldwide. Payment is part of commerce, and as part of eBay, PayPal drives commerce innovation in payments at global scale, creating value for consumers, merchants and shareholders.
eBay shares are up more than 7% in aftermarket trading. With 0.82% of eBay's outstanding stock, Icahn would be the company's 25th largest outside shareholder.
Update: eBay reported fourth quarter earnings for 2013, with company revenues up 13% for the period to $4.5 billion. Of the company's three business divisions – Marketplaces, Enterprises and Payments – the Payments division, or PayPal, remains the fastest-growing, with revenues climbing 19% to $1.8 billion. (Indeed, CEO John Donahoe has repeatedly said in the past he expects PayPal to surpass Marketplaces, or auction site, within the next three to five years.)
During the earnings call this afternoon, Donahoe spent a significant chunk of time addressing Icahn's non-binding proposal to spin off PayPal. "You won't be surprised that this is not a new idea," Donahoe said. He continued to explain why keeping eBay and PayPal together remains the best strategy. As examples, he pointed out that eBay is directly contributing to PayPal's rapid user growth at no cost – one-third of PayPal's 5.2 million new active accounts for the fourth quarter — thanks to increasing integration of PayPal in eBay's web and mobile services. And roughly 50% of eBay's profits are being utilized to help fund PayPal's rapid, continued expansion. Donahoe explained the board remains unified behind keeping the company intact until "these synergies run their course."
Additional reporting by JP Mangalindan


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Abby Johnson featured on Cradle My Heart Radio May 2016
Podcast playback. Listen now:
She spent eight years not only working at and directing a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic, but advocating for their policies, including abortion rights.
But then Abby Johnson witnessed the reality of the unborn child's experience of abortion and everything changed.
Her decision to speak out, as told in the bestselling book Unplanned, triggered legal action from Planned Parenthood, who sought to silence her with a gag order in 2009, claiming that client privacy was at stake. But the courts sided with Abby, and she has been changing the conversation about abortion ever since. Among her many revelations is the fact that Planned Parenthood's business model is built on abortion quotas.
Now she's released The Walls are Talking, a chronicle of the harrowing yet inspiring stories of others whom Abby has helped to walk away from providing abortion services. The challenges are many, from financial pressures to the needs of future employment and spiritual healing.
Don't miss Abby Johnson sharing these stories which challenge us to model mercy and praise God for the truth: no one is beyond his redemptive love.
From her bio:
Abby Johnson holds a B.S. in psychology from Texas A&M University and an M.A. in counseling from Sam Houston State University. She was hired by Planned Parenthood and eventually became a clinic manager in Texas, where she ran both the family planning and abortion programs. She was Planned Parenthood's 2008 Employee of the Year. In 2009 she left Planned Parenthood and has since been an international pro-life advocate. She told the story of her dramatic conversion in her best-selling book, Unplanned. Abby founded the organization And Then There Were None, which helps abortion clinic workers leave the industry.
Join us for Cradle My Heart Radio with Kim Ketola Live on Sundays 9-10 pm ET, and Wednesdays at 8:30 pm ET on NewLife FM
Cradle My Heart, Finding God's Love After Abortion provides affirmation and hope after abortion from the Scriptures. Here are more resources for help and healing. If you are pregnant and need free, confidential help call 1-800-712-HELP. If you've had an abortion and need immediate help call 1-866-482-LIFE. Join us on Cradle My Heart Radio! Call 1-800-811-3003 LIVE from 9:30-10 pm ET Sundays on Faith Radio or voicemail 24/7. Ask a question at kim @ kimketola. For a list of radio stations or for live streaming, go here. Podcast on iTunes and archived here.


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Mondays, amirite?
They're pretty much consistently trash. You know what's good for that? Stop whatever you're working on and play NBA Jam in your browser.
We've seen both Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog get a ported version of their original titles to the browser, so why not one of the greatest basketball games ever made? You can head over to Let's Play SNES.com to play the Midway classic straight from your browser.
It's not like you're going to get anything done with the rest of your day anyway.
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The Milestones play Motown, Disco, Funk, Soul and modern chart hits. They authentically replicate the hits the way they were meant to be played. Book the band for all weddings, parties and corporate events...
Collectively the members of The Milestones have live and recorded credits with some of the worlds most revered artists including Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Eurythmics, Terence Trent D'Arby, Seal, Everything But the Girl, The Pretenders, The Temptations, Beverley Knight, Herbie Hancock and Roy Ayers.
The band's vocals are catered for by two exceptional talents. Eno Uffort and Marcus Malone have experiences totalling 30 years plus between them. Marcus is regarded as one of the foremost soul and blues voices on the London and UK scene. He hails from the home of Motown, Detroit Michigan. He was signed to the legendary music mogul, Al Teller's label United Artists (now EMI Capitol) back in 2000. He has appeared at the Albert Hall with BB King, opened for Walter Trout and headlined numerous festivals in the US, UK and Europe.
Eno has been privileged to use her God given talent to wow audiences around the world. She started out singing in her local church choir where she gained invaluable experience of feeling and getting the emotion of a song across as she lead the choir at various events, Including the opening Of The Millennium Dome, Festival of Life UK and Europe.
She first starred in the touring production of FAME the Musical as "Mabel Washington, and then The Apollo singer in "The Story Of Buddy". Her TV appearances Include, Channel 4 Gospel Singers, Stars In Their Eyes, As Alicia Keys, where she won her own show in the series!
Her most remarkable achievement was winning The Title Of VH1 London Diva on the widely televised Series on VH1 (Born To Diva) which aired in Europe and America She was flown to New York where she represented the UK, working with some industry greats and recording at the hit factory and performing at the VH1 divas Show In New York.
She has also worked extensively as a backing singer for various artist's from Lionel Ritchie at the Princes trust concert, Mica Paris, Lemar and Will Young to mention a few.
As we move into the rhythm section the band again excels in quality. From Julian Burdock on guitar to John McKenzie on bass to Jose Joyette on drums their experience is exemplary. Julian has live credits with The Stylistics, Beverly Knight, Rose Royce and Jocelyn Brown. John has earned his tag as a legend amongst musicians by recording and performing with the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Tina Turner and Terence Trent D'arby to name just a few. Although one of the band's youngest members, Jose on drums is already a veteran of the London scene. As Craig David goes from strength to strength you'll see Jose banging the drums.
Sorry, The Milestones doesn't have any photos right now Send us an enquiry and we'll get back to you, or check out the rest of the act profile.
I just wanted to say how absolutely AMAZING The Milestones were at our wedding!!! It was the best decision ever to book them...Kate & Alistair - Wedding at Hill Farm, Bury St Edmunds
They capture the heart and soul of Motown but somehow manage to make it current and relevant for a modern crowd - AMAZING! I was concerned that picking a band of quite a specific genre, we might be limiting some of the guests who may not be familiar with the tunes...However, the opposite was the case.Sara & Max's Wedding - Leigh Court, Bristol
You were extremely professional - ringing prior to the event to check a few details, setting up quickly and quietly on the day. Your performance was brilliant and had everyone up dancing. We loved the range of music especially our first dance.Hayley Wood - Wedding at Brooksby Hall, Melton, Leicestershire
"Just wanted to say a huge thank you to the band for playing at our wedding on Saturday, they were amazing!"Hannah & Dan, Bride & Groom
"I just wanted to express our gratitude to the Milestones for the amazing set that they played on our wedding."Gareth & Joanna, Bride & Groom
"We wanted to say a massive thanks for organising the band.....they were AMAZING!!!!!Amelia & David, Bride & Groom
"Superb music - please put the date in the diary again for next year"St. Georges Hill Lawn Tennis Club Weybridge
"One of our most popular bands"Cafe Royal
"You'll always be our first call for any special event"Fraser Bell
"The best band we've had over from the UK"Credit Suisse
"Our most memorable Christmas party by far" EasyJet
"Very professional outfit" BT
"Our of our regular acts, always do a great job"Four Seasons Hotel
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Alexandria recently graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio with a Visual Communication degree in Photojournalism and a specialization in Environmental Studies and Food and Society. Alexandria is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She knows she will always work to inform and inspire as a visual storyteller and will remain true to what she is passionate about.
She loves meeting new people, traveling to new places and eating/growing/sharing good food.
Alexandria is currently a freelance photographer and videographer in Southeast Ohio and the Greater Pittsburgh Area.