Bill and Melinda Gates announced plans Friday to invest $10 billion in the fight against a number of illnesses including AIDS and said the record donation could save nearly nine million lives.
…………..you realise that you have nothing until you share
(ps. I LOVE Windows 7)
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Oh, and don't forget little 7 year old Charlie…who has now raised £230,000 to help in Haiti. From the 'largest' to the 'smallest' the message of sharing and caring is the same.
.Iran has executed two men arrested during the period of widespread unrest that erupted after June's disputed presidential election, reports say.
They had been convicted of being "enemies of God", members of armed groups and trying to topple the Islamic establishment, Isna news agency said.
So the question is – is this a political or religious execution? Either way it is an indication of what happens if you resist Islam. I wonder how that squares with the words of the Prophet
"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error" Qur'an 2:256
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I was not aware that an all-powerful, ever-present,all-loving God could have enemies. Why, even Abe Lincoln declared "the best way to 'kill' your enemy is to make friends with them".
Oh, Islam, what wrongs are done in your name and without protest from those who truly love Islam
Well, 7 year old Charlie has now topped £166,000 (including Gift Aid) and it's still coming in! (that's around $270,00).
Charlie is reaching people in Thailand, USA, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, in fact…all over the place his willing heart is touching others.
If children are the future….what a wonderful world this is going to be
As at 02-45 CET today, 26th Jan, CNN is reporting almost $2 billion raised for the Haiti Earthquake appeal worldwide – and it's still pouring in.This,remember, for a tragedy that occurred 13 days ago!
Very detailed information of progress and fundings can be seen at reliefweb.int
The amounts above represent the figures so far for both private and government donations/pledges.
Sometimes some people get cynical or discouraged about the state of the world………………but when we witness actions such as these, there can be little doubt about the kind-heartedness that is deep in the human spirit.Charlie said he had hoped to raise £500
A seven-year-old boy from west London has raised more than £65,000 £69,000 (+17K in Gift Aid) for the Haiti earthquake relief effort by organising a charity cycle ride.
Charlie Simpson, from Fulham, cycled five miles (8km) around South Park near his home to raise funds for Unicef's earthquake appeal.
The fundraising total outstripped his initial £500 goal, after he put an appeal on the JustGiving website.
Unicef thanked him "on behalf of the many children in Haiti".
One of the things I love and admire about my chosen country of residence, Sweden, is a profound sense of fairness in the society – and an almost touchable sense of 'helping those less fortunate'.
Today in Sweden countless numbers gave an hour of their pay to help Haiti.
Some newspapers charged 1 krone extra - and donated 2 kroner each paper to Haiti.
This in addition to all the monies that are flowing in to aid agencies, Unicef, Bankgiro and Postgiro donations.
You only have to look at Sweden's record of assisting refugees and re-settling them in Sweden to see just how amazingly generous Swedish people are.
I know this is also happening all around the world, in many countries. People are putting their money where their mouth is……and sharing what they have with others less fortunate.
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I wanted to use a quote (Lead,follow or get out of the way) and to refer to it's source, which I did not know. Thanks to the wonder of search engines, I was able in seconds to access quotations from Thomas Paine – the source of the quote I wished to use.
As so often happens in life, the words I found on THIS WEBPAGE of Thomas Paine quotations seemed eerily appropriate to today and especially the situation in the greatly distressed country of Haiti.
.The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent citizens are "absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext"
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.There are times in our lives when – even against our better judgement – we simply cannot resist helping others.
"The injuries we saw were too grave for the few bottles of antiseptic, gauze and waterproof tape we had: skulls shattered, bones and tendons protruding from skin, chunks of bodies missing. Some will die in the coming days, but for the most part they are the lucky ones"
Let us save the sermonising, politicking, judgementalism for later…..
For NOW, let us help in whatever way we can with a thought of gratitude in our heart that this did not happen to us and our families and friends.
gg"Words are the tools with which we demonstrate our interest.
Actions are the tools with which we demonstrate our LOVE"
gg.
There is no better time than now to show we care enough to be more than we normally are, yet always have the potential to be.
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They said to me
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"GET A LIFE"
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so I got one.
But it was faulty
so I took it back!
I was told
'The only thing that is faulty
is your perception....
Be who you are
not who everyone else wants you to be".
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A rose is a rose, an oak tree an oak tree,
all have their unique place.
So do you
existence is incomplete
without YOU
being the special you that you are.
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You can read the full article HERE
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"In Thantirayankuppam, a man named K. Manipalan told me he had wondered right after the tsunami if the village would recover. Now, he said, he had concluded that in a strange way the tsunami was a good thing.
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To mark the fifth anniversary of the disaster, he said, villagers would stand on the East Coast Road and light candles. The candles were as much to give thanks to the world as to remember the dead."
.Tick.Tock sounds the clock.
Clang.Cling does the bell ring.
With such symbols we mark our journey
Through this walk of relativity
We have named living.
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Yet deep within us sounds the rhythm
Of a profounder pattern called infinity:
For in each life has been shown
The formula of lovingness
By which we have grown
Into a self-fulfilling awareness.
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Behold the first time love
Embraced our walk
Toned our talk,
Honed our all too clumsy actions
Into an eternity-filled fraction
Of compassioned caring
And suddenly we awoke to sharing.
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Behold that time when love
Encompassed our humanity
And the urges of the body
Surged into moments of ethereal ecstasy.
And where was time then?
Did the tick,the tock
The bell-ringing of the clock
Restrict the outward blossoming of our love.
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Ah yes, the hours we mark
And in our secret silences
Know the truth of time’s remark
That all are special experiences
All are symbiotic melodies
That conspire to create a symphony
Of the lovingness that we are…
And always have been…
And always will be
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So,come New Year
You hold no tears
For those whose love will shine.
So,come New Year
For you are but another sphere
In which we happily recline.
So,come New Year
And we with joyful hearts
Welcome all these special moments
When we may be truly who we are.
copyright Geoff Groom 2001Reinhold Niebuhr declared: “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
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.Today is a wonderful day. A day for all thinking,believing people to celebrate. Today the following happened:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Vatican said the Pontiff shared the shame felt by so many in Ireland
He said he shared the betrayal and shame felt by Irish Catholics after meeting senior bishops in Rome.
He now plans to write a letter to the Catholics of Ireland.
In a statement issued by the Vatican, Pope Benedict said he discussed the harrowing detail and cover-up of allegations against priests in the Dublin Archdiocese as detailed in the inquiry report with Cardinal Sean Brady and Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
"The Holy Father was deeply disturbed and distressed by its contents," it said.
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Which appears, at least appears, to indicate a total change of heart and purpose on behalf of the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger.
Readers of this blog will remember that many times we have referred to the document
issued by this Prefect on 24th January 2001, in which persons reporting child abuse to civil authorities faced ex-communication.
Regrettably, this present PR exercise is not exactly a meaningful 'mea culpe'. I do not read how Cardinal Ratzinger himself accepts the responsibility he has – if only by the document named above – in the 'cover-up' that is by far the worst aspect of the Church's role in all of this.
But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe 'the light has shone'. But I am mindful that doctrine states a relationship between forgiveness and repentance……
gg"So let us reach for the world that ought to be - that spark of the divine that still stirs within each of our souls. Somewhere today, in the here and now, a soldier sees he's outgunned but stands firm to keep the peace. Somewhere today, in this world, a young protestor awaits the brutality of her government, but has the courage to march on. Somewhere today, a mother facing punishing poverty still takes the time to teach her child, who believes that a cruel world still has a place for his dreams.
Let us live by their example. We can acknowledge that oppression will always be with us, and still strive for justice. We can admit the intractability of depravation, and still strive for dignity. We can understand that there will be war, and still strive for peace. We can do that - for that is the story of human progress; that is the hope of all the world; and at this moment of challenge, that must be our work here on Earth".
President Barack Obama: Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, 10 December 2009The problem with so many who claim to speak for God is simply that.
It has been my life experience that those who 'talk with God' in actual fact spend most of the time….listening.
gg
