Tabitha+K

[] Febuary 19, 2010 Haiti missionary: We had 'good intentions' Author: N/A Politics “We were just there to help,” said Jim Allen, one of the 10 American missionaries arrested January 29 in Haiti on child kidnapping charges. Jim and 7 others were released this week from jail. The other two members remained in Haitian custody to undergo some more questioning. Silsby, the team leader and one of the members who is still in Haitian custody said she hoped the legal process would be completed as soon as possible. Allen said he went to Haiti because he “knew that [he] had some skills that [he] could use.” He said he has experience in the construction industry. The 10 missionaries were charged with kidnapping and criminal association for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti. Allen said the group had been approached by a man at an orphanage who claimed to have a group of children with no parents or access to care. Allen claimed that the group intended to bring the children to a temporary orphanage set up at a hotel in the Dominican Republic. “Being in jail was hard,” he said, but the Haitian police “treated us as well as they could with what they had. The missionaries slept on a concrete floor while in jail but “had a roof over our head” and a hot meal once a day, he said. When it rained, water would drip into his cell, but outside, 'millions' of people in the street “were getting poured on,” he said. The missionaries were “legitimately interested” in helping the children, he said. They had “good intentions.” He said he had “no ill feelings toward anybody.” Allen, along with the seven other released missionaries, arrived at Miami International Airport late Wednesday night. * Let me ask you something, how would you like to be accused of something that you have not done? How would you like it if you were trying to help someone or someones and you end up getting in trouble for it? I don't think it was fair for those missionaries to have been arrested in the first place, but I kind of do understand why the officials of Haiti would do what they did. Haiti is in a wreck right now, and the goverment is trying to set things straight; the people are worried about their children being in the streets, so to see non-natives in their country taking their children to a different country is kind of scary. It's understandable of what the officials did, but at the same time I think it is kind of wrong.

[] Febuary 11, 2010 Kenya rounds up zebras for starving lions Author: N/A Africa *** My Power was out on Friday, so I saved this article. I copy pated it here. I'm sorry it was late. Please understand. Thank you**

Kenyan wildlife officials are ferrying thousands of zebras and wildebeest to a park in the country's south to feed starving lions and hyenas, and prevent a conflict with humans. The animals will be taken from four locations to restock Amboseli National Park's population, which had lost 80 percent of its herbivores in a recent drought. “It was the worst drought in 26 years,” a wildlife spokeswoman for Kenyan Wildlife Service said. “The Amboseli ecosystem was severely affected. ... Lots of herbivores died, carnivores don't have anything to feed on, and have been attacking neighboring livestock.” Maasai villagers are now beginning to say that the will kill of the hyenas and lions if something isn't done soon. “There are only 2,000 lions left nationwide, and we are concerned because the numbers are dropping,” the spokeswoman said. “Maasais are getting angry and threatening to spear them, the human versus wildlife conflict is getting out of hand, and our carnivores are already greatly endangered.” About 4,000 zebras and 3,000 wildebeest will be transferred to Amboseli. The zebras will go first. The wildebeest will follow, after calving season. Once at Amboseli, they're expected to breed and sustain the lions over the long term. Shipping the animals from Soysambu Conservancy in the Rift Valley and three other nearby locations will cost about $ 1.4 million. The animals are herded into a funnel-shape enclosure using helicopters and loaded into trucks to Amboseli. From there, they are released into the wild. Tourism is the second-largest source of foreign exchange in the east African nation. About 20 percent of the income comes from tourism, with Amboseli as the second -highest earner. Lions are among the big five; the list of top wildlife tourist attractions in the nation. Others are elephants, leopards, rhinos and buffalo.

*To us Kenyans, wildlife is very important to us. I traveled out of Kenya alot when I was young, but when I returned, I made sure to go and travel to this place in Kenya called GilGil. GilGil is filled with so much wildlife just like everywhere in Kenya. I miss my home and I would love to go back when I get the money just to see the wildlife. To some people, taking the herbivores directly to the lions may seem like a crazy idea, but I think it is a good idea. I don't want to go back home and see all the wildlife gone. I want to go and see the abundant life of Kenya again. Life filled with animals that don't starve because we won't help them. I can not wait to go back home and see Kenya in its pride and glory.

[] Febuary 5, 2010 'GI Janes' train to protect Iraq Author:Diana Magnay Middle East

Fingers painted with nail polish gripped a rifle. Women wearing lipstick, mascara and camouflage uniforms stood at attention. A new breed of soldiers were training in Iraq. These women, wearing military hats over head scarves, are Baghdad's “GI Janes.” “If the new recruits pass training, they will join just 66 other women now serving in Iraq's army,” a military official said. This group of women, at an Iraqi army facility in Baghdad this week, is the third class of women to train since the program started in summer 2009. Iraqi army General Samir Mehdi said he expects his recruits to be confident with a gun and to understand the basics of combat in 45 days. “A lot of them will work in administrative jobs, but a number of them will be searching women at checkpoints,” Mehdi said. That could be dangerous work. In 2008, the number of female suicide bombers spiked when extremists realized suicide vests could easily be hidden under women's flowing robes. The number of female suicide bombers more than tripled in 2008. Most of the trainees said the risks don't concern them, as long as their paychecks put food on the table. Um Omar, one of the recruits, said her husband and only son had been killed and she had found it hard to support her family. “It used to be my son and three daughters,” she said. “And now also my mother who's elderly and needs support, too. My husband is a martyr and then I lost my son to the bombings, and so I have to support my family somehow.” Though the women marched, drilled and learned the basics of handling a gun, they asked that a news crew obscure their faces on television and otherwise not reveal their identities. “The goal down the road is total integration of the female soldier in the Iraqi army,” said Otis Brown II, a senior adviser with the U.S. Army. “We are encouraged by the tremendous progress that we've seen thus far and we look forward to seeing the next steps the Iraqi army will take.”

// *** Women are finally starting to come out these days in Iraq. It's a good thing that they finally can see that they can do the same job as a man, and maybe even better. They are citizens of Iraq, so they should be given the same chances men are given. Now that it is hard for men to be bombers, they are now beginning to use women, and women who are against this have joined the military to help stop those women. When I was reading this article I literally want to scream “FINALLY!!!!!” I know its weird, but I am so glad that women are finally being taken seriously. Thanks to the women who are risking their lives to help others.** //

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/travel/31praccarryon.html?ref=travel January 31, 2010 Gaming the Luggage System Author: Michelle Higgins Travel


 * I wrote this CE on January 28, but the article had a completly different date*

As airlines continue to raise fees for checked luggage, more travelers are coming up with creative ways to dodge them. For example, stuffing coat pockets with items they’d normally put in a bag, or by hanging back and boarding last so they can check their bags at the gate for free. The higher fees come at a time of stepped-up security, when carry-on luggage is undergoing a second and sometimes a third bag check. So having a bag in hand can mean delays and added aggravation. In addition, efforts to fill each flight to capacity have kept passengers, and their luggage, tightly packed on planes. The carry-on crunch has pitted passenger against passenger as the race for space continues. Some experienced travelers know the system well enough that they have figured out which rows board first, and are booking seats accordingly just to get a spot for their bags. Though people have found loopholes, the check-in personnel have been told to watch out for oversized bags, and many people are being told to take there bags to the checked bags area.

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==* I find it really funny how people always find loopholes to things that they find hard to work with. The airlines baggage prices have risen, and people don't like it what so ever, and since people think it is so expensive, they have found ways so that they do not have to pay for there bags. I my self would find a way to travel so that I would have to pay for my baggage. In these hard times, it's easier to find ways around the hard things, even though they might have there consequences. It's a good thing that the article was written, and I think my brother is probably going to use some of these ideas since he travels so much, so thanks Michelle Higgins. (Just kidding) ==

_[] January 21, 2010 __New York woman says hundreds of kin missing in Haiti__ Author: Ashley Fantz Environment Widline Germain list of relatives that she has not heard from since Haiti's earthquake seems like a town population in itself. “When you count our extended family the dozens of cousins and aunts and uncles there's several hundred of us in Haiti, and we don't know where most of them are,” Widline said from her home in Binghamton, New York. On January 11, the day before the earthquake hit, the 25 year-old returned to New York from an extended New Year's holiday in Haiti. After the earthquake had hit, Widline said, “It's like I'm stuck in a horrible dream. The bed I was sleeping in the day before the earthquake is dust.” On Thursday, Germain went through the names of about 400 relatives in Haiti whom she and her parents are searching for and whom they know are gone. “I lost a cousin on my father's side. My mother lost her sister and all four kids,” she said. “There are 10 missing on my mother's side and eight missing on father's side.” She described a mentally disabled uncle who had been attacked by thugs in Port-au-Prince. Many of her family members live in Jérémie, a river town of about 31,000 that is largely isolated from the rest of the country. “The ones in Jeremie, I don't think most rescuers are getting to the smaller towns,” she said. “All my little cousins like ages 2 to 7 how are they ever going to be able to get over walking over dead bodies in the street? They were telling us on their cell phones that they don't have water. They have nothing,” Germain said. “We are here, and we can't do anything for them. My family is there starving and thirsty, sleeping on the street. Elderly people sleeping on the street, and I'm here with water and food. I can't stand this. It's wrong.” She and her father and their extended family in New York are prepared to take everyone in. “It's going to be hard, but we have college degrees, jobs, a big house,” she said. “We're going to manage, because they're family, and that's what you do.”


 * First of I would like to say that I am praying for all my brothers and sisters in Haiti. This earthquake has brought on so much destruction and pain to everyone. The whole world has been affected by the earthquake, but the families, like Widline Germain's family,that have been torn apart in Haiti are the ones who are experencing the most pain. Haitian familes are large, but very close together. The fact that so many families have been torn apart is painful. To me it would be like a stab to my heart to know that most of my family has died and I am left alone to fend for my self on the streets filled with dead bodies everywhere. Children have lost there families and are all left alone to struggle for their lives. I hope that we can save as many lives as possible. It is hard to no that mother nature can be so cruel at times. Even though there is so much pain going on, we should all come together and help one another. Let us all come together and make each other stronger. Please donate what you can. There are many waysyou can help, and if you can send a text message to these places to donate.

Thank you everyone. Let us all do what we can to help our brothers and sisters.**
 * Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
 * Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
 * Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
 * Text YELE to 501501 to donation $5 to Yele
 * Text RELIEF to 30644 to get automatically connected to Catholic Relief Services and donate money with your credit card
 * Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
 * Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
 * Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International
 * Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross
 * Text HAITI to 25383 to donate $5 to International Rescue Committee
 * Text HAITI to 45678 to donate $5 to the Salvation Army in Canada
 * Text YELE to 501501 to donation $5 to Yele
 * Text RELIEF to 30644 to get automatically connected to Catholic Relief Services and donate money with your credit card
 * Text HAITI to 864833 to donate $5 to The United Way
 * Text CERF to 90999 to donate $5 to The United Nations Foundation
 * Text DISASTER to 90999 to donate $10 to Compassion International