“Jasmine Revolution”
Symbol of peace: Flowers placed on the barrel of a tank
in very much calmer protests than in recent days in Tunisia

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011

'The Protester' - Time Person of the Year 2011
Mannoubia Bouazizi, the mother of Tunisian street vendor Mohammed Bouazizi. "Mohammed suffered a lot. He worked hard. but when he set fire to himself, it wasn’t about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." (Peter Hapak for TIME)

1 - TUNISIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


How eyepatches became a symbol of Egypt's revolution - Graffiti depicting a high ranking army officer with an eye patch Photograph: Nasser Nasser/ASSOCIATED PRESS

2 - EGYPT Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)


''17 February Revolution"

3 - LIBYA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

5 - SYRIA Democratic Change / Freedom of Speech (In Transition)

"25 January Youth Revolution"
Muslim and Christian shoulder-to-shoulder in Tahrir Square
"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
(Subjects: Egypt Uprising, Iran/Persia Uprising, Peace in Middle East without Israel actively involved, Muhammad, "Conceptual" Youth Revolution, "Conceptual" (without a manager hierarchy) managed Businesses, Internet, Social Media, News Media, Google, Bankers, Global Unity,..... etc.)
"The End of History" – Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)
(Subjects:Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Muhammad, Jesus, God, Jews, Arabs, EU, US, Israel, Iran, Russia, Africa, South America, Global Unity,..... etc.) (Text version)

"If an Arab and a Jew can look at one another and see the Akashic lineage and see the one family, there is hope. If they can see that their differences no longer require that they kill one another, then there is a beginning of a change in history. And that's what is happening now. All of humanity, no matter what the spiritual belief, has been guilty of falling into the historic trap of separating instead of unifying. Now it's starting to change. There's a shift happening."


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."



African Union (AU)

African Union (AU)
African Heads of State pose for a group photo ahead of the start of the 28th African Union summit in Addis Ababa on January 30, 2017 (AFP Photo/ Zacharias ABUBEKER)

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela
Few words can describe Nelson Mandela, so we let him speak for himself. Happy birthday, Madiba.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Philippines first in Asia to destroy ivory tusks

Google – AFP, Karl Malakunas (AFP), 21 June 2013

Personnel of Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau use a vice to support a
confiscated elephant tusk, on June 20, 2013 (AFP, Noel Celis)

MANILA — The Philippines began destroying five tonnes of elephant tusks on Friday in a landmark event aimed at shedding its image as one of the world's worst hotspots for illegal African ivory trading.

The backhoe of a bulldozer began crushing hundreds of tusks in a wildlife bureau carpark, as the nation became the first in Asia to eliminate its multi-million-dollar stockpile.

"This act is a strong statement to the rest of the world that the Philippines will not tolerate the illegal wildlife trade," Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said.

The five tonnes of ivory came from a total of about 13 tonnes seized by customs officers since the mid 1990s, with the two biggest hauls at Manila's seaport and international airport in 2005 and 2009.

The rest of the ivory, worth many millions of dollars on the black market, was stolen over the years.

Most of it went missing while being kept by the customs bureau, a notoriously corrupt organisation in the Philippines, and a wildlife bureau officer is on the run after being charged with stealing about 700 kilograms.

The Philippines was in March named by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) as one of eight nations that was failing to do enough to tackle the illegal trade in elephant ivory.

The others were Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malaysia, Vietnam, China and Thailand, and they were warned they could face international sanctions on wildlife trading if they failed to take action.

Keeping track of the underground trade in raw ivory (AFP Graphic)

The United Nations and conservations groups have warned the demand for ivory is leading to the slaughter of thousands of African elephants each year, and could eventually lead to their extinction.

The Philippines was named because of its role as a transport hub for African ivory being smuggled into countries such as China, Vietnam and Thailand, where demand has skyrocketed in recent years.

The ivory is highly sought after for statues, trinkets and other items to showcase wealth.

Demand is also high in the Catholic Philippines, with the ivory used for religious icons.

Paje said the destruction of the ivory was one part of the government's action plan submitted to CITES since March to show it was trying to curb the trade.

Another was the launch on Friday of a multi-government-agency taskforce focused solely on the ivory trade.

"The Philippines will not be a party to this massacre (of African elephants) and a conduit for the cycle of killing," Paje said.

The executive director of the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency, Mary Rice, praised the Philippines for taking the lead in destroying its stockpiles.

"This is a really significant event. It is the first time a consuming country and an Asian country has decided to dispose of its seized stockpiles," Rice, who was in Manila to witness the event, told AFP.

Rice said thousands of kilograms of seized ivory were sitting in storehouses in other cities around Asia and other parts of the world.

Some African nations have previously burnt ivory stockpiles, most recently Gabon last year.

Confiscated elephant tusks are seen in
Manila, on June 20, 2013 (AFP, Noel Celis)
The UN and conservation groups warned in a major report in March that African elephants faced the worst crisis since global trade in ivory was banned almost a quarter-century ago.

Illicit trade in ivory has doubled since 2007 and more than tripled over the past 15 years, according to the report, which estimated that only about 420,000 to 650,000 elephants remain in Africa.

About 25,000 African elephants were estimated to have been killed for their ivory in 2011, the report said, and conservationists believe last year was even worse.

The Philippine efforts to destroy the tusks were complicated as the government backtracked on an initial plan to burn the tusks due to protests from environment groups about open-air fires.

A second plan to crush them with a roller was also cancelled after it emerged the tusks were too tough.

The third plan of crushing them with a backhoe, one-by-one, was expected to last at least a day. The government said the remnants of the tusks would then be burnt at an animal crematorium.

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