Category Archives: Viva!

Mimi Writes…….: Stuck In The Snow With You

SATURDAY, JANUARY 23, 2016

Stuck In The Snow With YouIn memory of Glenn Frey (1948-2016)  Saturday 9 meme. Play here! 1) In this song (The One You Love, 1982) Glenn explores one of the great romantic conundrums. This week, Saturday 9 is confronting it, too. If you had to choose, would you prefer to be loved, or to be in love? The perfect storm is both. So I’ll go with both … at the same time. Sorry. I can’t choose. 2) The song describes an awkward moment: an old boyfriend calls when a woman is on a date with someone new. To whom did you last say, “I can’t talk now?”  Not in the sense implied here, but I said that to my mother on Thursday LOL. It had nothing to do with boyfriend(s) but I’ll tell the tale anyway. I am trying to prep for the “historic” ice storm (ho humm) wandering around with a million shoppers trying to find water and bread. She kept calling to remind me to get home and be safe.  Here’s a snippet of our eternal conversation.”You really should get off the roads now.””I’m not on the roads. I’m in WalMart.””What are you doing?””I’m shopping.””What do you need?””Supplies.””What if your power goes out?””I’ll build a fire.””Do you have wood?””Yes.””Do you know the fireplace safety rules?””Yes.””How am I supposed to get off the roads if you keep calling me in the store??!!”Click

My driveway. It’s worse now. 3) The lyrics talk about heart vs head. When you find yourself in that predicament, which usually wins — heart or head? Heart. Always. That’s a no-brainer…so to speak. 4) This song was from Glenn Frey’s solo album, No Fun Aloud. What fun stuff are you looking forward to this weekend? I’m cleaning out my blog posts and all things Internet. Drinking coffee. Yesterday I organized two out of three bathrooms from top to bottom. Oh, you didn’t ask that… Every day is fun in the Palace of Bloggingham. Just ask Homer.   My actual car the day I bought it. I miss that new car smell…5) Glenn Frey was born in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. The Motor City is known for car manufacturing. Is your car domestic or foreign?My car is a royal Toyota. Look it up.6) The popular 1990s sitcom Home Improvement was set in Royal Oak. Are you handy around the house?   Only when I break things….It’s a curse.7) Glenn Frey co-founded The Eagles in 1970. What’s your favorite Eagles song?  “Desperado” 8) The Eagles helped define “California Rock,” but in recent years Glenn and his wife lived in Tribeca. Have you ever been to New York? If so, did you like it? Yes. I love New York and all the beautiful sights you can see and especially the energy in the city. I do not love New York traffic however. They don’t like me either. The last time I was in New York I had a nice little conversation with a tollbooth operator in the Holland Tunnel just after she took my $15.00 to drive 8,558 feet.  “How do I get to this exit?” I asked (**imagine a million honks and curses behind me**) “You’re in the WRONG lane, ma’am. Cross four over to the right and stay on the wall.” “In the dark??!! NOW???!!” I just blew my horn and took my chances. Somehow we all survived.9) Glenn wrote “Smuggler’s Blues” and “You Belong to the City” for the iconic 1980s TV show, Miami Vice. What else comes to mind when you think of the 80s?Teased hair. It was not pretty. Trust me. TV shows would be The Cosby Show which now makes me sad to even think about. Seriously sad. The Dukes of Hazzard was my son’s favorite show as a kid. I saw many many episodes while he sat in the living room eating mac ‘n cheese and SpaghettiOs on his little blue Smurf tray. (I hope he’s not reading this today…)I have a pic of him sitting on the hood of a replica Dukes car at the beach when he was about four.  He loved that car! A happy boy.Knight Rider… because I was a little in love with David Hasselhoff. Alas, it was not reciprocated. See question #1Hey Homer!Let’s watch reruns of Mork and Mindy today!  Be safe today. If you’re stuck in the snowstorm/blizzard somewhere I hope you are safe and warm!

Source: Mimi Writes…….: Stuck In The Snow With You

Times Square Cams – EarthCam

EarthCam presents an extensive collection of live webcams, featuring the most exciting views of New York City’s famous Times Square. For the past century, Times Square has been a mecca for music and the arts and has truly become a must-see for millions of tourists every year. Our webcams are the perfect way to see all the action and bright lights of this iconic location!

Source: Times Square Cams – EarthCam

Storm slams into Eastern US with wet snow, strong gales

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A storm that arrived postcard-pretty in the nation’s capital Friday was morphing into a painful, even paralyzing blizzard with gale-force winds pushing heavy snow and coastal flooding. One in seven Americans could get at least half a foot of snow by Sunday, and Washington could see snowdrifts more than 4 feet high….

Can Our Children Be Safe? Pakistanis Ask After University Attack

Members of Civil Society protesting in Karachi, Pakistan against the attack on Bacha Khan University of Charsadda. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (21/1/2016)

Members of civil society protesting in Karachi, Pakistan, against the attack on Bacha Khan University of Charsadda. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (21/1/2016)

Heavily armed militants stormed Bacha Khan University in Charsadda on 20 January, 2016, and opened fire on students and staff members, killing 21 people and many more injured. The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the four attackers were killed by security forces.

Charsadda, is about 50 kilometres from Peshawar, where in December 2014 Taliban gunmen killed 141 people, including 132 schoolchildren, at a branch of the Army Public School (APS).

The sheer scale and brutal violence in that attack spun the government to close all schools across Pakistan for a month, and the provincial government made it mandatory for all educational institutions to go through a security audit, train and arm their watchmen, install metal detectors, and increase their boundary walls to eight-feet, topping them with two-feet high razor wire. Bacha Khan University fell under this audit too and had 54 security guards on campus when the attack took place. More than 3,000 students are enrolled at Bacha Khan University.

Even though there hasn’t been a fatal attack targeting an educational institute in Pakistan since the 2014 violence at APS, the wounds of that bloodshed are still raw.

Element of surprise is what would have resulted in maximum casualties & fatalities. No Institute can respond to such an attack w/out losses

— norbalm (@norbalm) January 20, 2016

‘Stop using adjectives such as resilient,brave,heroes & courageous.They were students. (The Nation) #BachaKhanUniv http://pic.twitter.com/X6TE4iLzSK

— Abdul Majeed Khan (@koolkopper) January 21, 2016

The teachers and students at Bacha Khan University were attending a poetic symposium in the school to commemorate the 28th death anniversary of renowned Pakhtoon leader and proponent of non-violence Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as ‘Bacha Khan’. Khan opposed the partition of India and Pakistan after independence in 1947, and he toured India in an effort to quell inter-communal violence. Bacha Khan University was built by his own party, Awami National Party, in 2012 at Charsadda, his birth place.

#BachaKhan‘s ideology still pricks peoples’ conscience.An apprehension among radicals-resulted #BachaKhanUniAttack. http://pic.twitter.com/PwptWhx0PL

— Pirah Mangi (@pirahmangi) January 20, 2016

The Bacha Khan University has come under attack by terrorists on the day when his death anniversary is being observed. Such is the irony.

— Iftikhar Firdous (@IftikharFirdous) January 20, 2016

Pakistanis were not only outraged at the perpetrators of the attack, but also directed their displeasure at authorities. A year ago, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced a comprehensive roadmap to counter the threat of these armed groups in his National Action Plan, the effectiveness of which has been much criticised.

This is going to be a test.. a harsh one.. comparisons will be drawn.. you can’t have winners when children have been snatched from parents

— norbalm (@norbalm) January 20, 2016

Under the plan, the government quickly passed a constitutional amendment relinquishing justice to “speedy military courts” to sentence “hardcore terrorists”, and arrested dozens of suspected “hate preachers”, launched more than 28,000 “terrorist” sweep operations across the country, arresting more than 100,000 people and lifted a seven-year-old moratorium of the death penalty executing more than 300 people, who were on death row, in 2015.

In a biting editorial, Dawn, Pakistan’s oldest English-language daily says:

The death penalty does not deter terrorism. In fact, it can act as a propaganda tool for the militants as a contested claim of the responsibility for the Charsadda attack attests. Finally, the Bacha Khan University and the day of the attack do not appear to have been selected randomly.

The tolerant, compassionate, inclusive politics of Abdul Ghaffar Khan is what Pakistan ought to embody, and what the militant extremists are seeking to destroy. They must not win. Essential as it is to physically eliminate militancy, the very idea of the Taliban needs to be defeated too by making Pakistan a peaceful, democratic and constitutional land.

Writer Umer Ali also doubted the efficacy of the National Action Plan in an oped at The Nation:

Whatever the military demanded, civilian government gave – from military courts to foreign policy, everything has been under control of Army. But what are the results beyond photo-ops and extensive PR gains?

Members of Civil Society are protesting against the attack on Bacha Khan University of Charsadda. Image by piiimages. Copyright Demotix (21/01/2016)

Members of Civil Society are protesting against the attack on Bacha Khan University of Charsadda. Image by piiimages. Copyright Demotix (21/01/2016)

According to a report released in 2014 by the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA), about 30 schoolchildren and 20 teachers lost their lives, in attacks on education institutions in Pakistan between 2009 and 2012. Perhaps one of the most famous victims of this violence targeting education is Nobel prize-winner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the face and neck on her school bus for “promoting secular and anti-Taliban values” by campaigning for girls’ schooling.

According to one timeline, 229 people were killed in attacks of all kinds in 2015 in Pakistan. In 2014, 280 died, and 429 lost their lives in 2013. A day before the horror at Bacha Khan University, 10 people were killed in suicide attack targeting security forces vehicle in the Khyber region of Peshawar, for which Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility.

And rumors of security threats to educational institutions forced closure of several educational institutions in the same region earlier in the week. A recent video message the Taliban faction behind the Bacha Khan University massacre in Charsadda vowed to target schools throughout the country, calling them “nurseries” for people who challenge the group’s interpretation of holy law.

Columnist and activist Ali Salman Alvi argued in an oped in NDTV.com that even though the National Action Plan “looked good on paper, the situation on the ground remains disturbingly awful and unchanged”:

While it is obvious that it’ll take significant amount of time to eliminate terror from Pakistan, the more worrying part is that the state of Pakistan has shown no clear intent or political will to counter the mindset that has been a major hurdle in developing a counter-terrorism narrative in the country.

The question is whether Pakistan will be able to stem the flow of expanding militancy in the country. An editorial in The News asks “How many children are we to sacrifice before history and politics teach us which way salvation lies?”

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UK doctors call for removal of Israel from World Medical Association

PNN/Bethlehem

British doctors have called for the removal of Israel from the World Medical Association (WMA) over claims of “medical torture” on Palestinians seeking treatment, Israeli media reported.

Dr. Zeev Feldman, chairman of the Israeli Medical Association World Fellowship and president of the Israeli Neurosurgical Society, revealed at a Knesset Science and Technology Committee discussion on boycotts of Israeli academic institutions and researchers that the latest boycott call came from this group of 71 British doctors.

Dr. Zeev FeldmanDr. Zeev Feldman

Dr. Feldman stated that the British doctors issued a letter to pressure the WMA to revoke the membership of the Israel Medical Association, over claims that Israeli doctors perform medical torture on Palestinian patients.

Also, according to Dr. Feldman, this letter was just one effort in a consistent and organized campaign against Israeli institutions and scientists.

“We are in a struggle, everyone must understand that there is an organized struggle – a fight against academia, doctors, and other Israeli bodies. Our stance is that these accusations are lies, and we are engaged in a dialogue with the World Medical Association and we will bring forth the facts, and I hope that it will be enough to [persuade the association to] reject this request,” Dr. Feldman said.

If the British doctors succeed, the Israeli medics will be banned from taking part in international medical conferences and publishing in journals.

The move follows similar measures launched by scholars around the world over the past few months to boycott Israeli institutions.

This week, 200 Brazilian academics  endorsed the academic boycott of Israeli institutions, including former U.N.’s Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar diplomat Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.

Worried with the fast growing of the BDS movement and its impact on the Israeli economy, Israeli MK Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism) called on the Israeli government to establish a central body responsible for coordinating the efforts to counter boycotts of Israeli academic institutions and researchers.

“The boycott [campaign] harms the strength of the State of Israel. The government must allocate appropriate funds for the good of the struggle in this hour of national emergency,” he said.