“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.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Indonesian Fishermen Stranded in South Africa After Horror Story at Sea

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Stuart Graham, December 2, 2013

Two of the 75 Indonesian fishermen living on seven rusted Taiwanese-registered
fishing boats sit at Cape Town Harbor on Nov. 28, 2013. (AFP Photo/Rodger Bosch)

Cape Town. Dozens of Indonesian fishermen who spent months stranded in Cape Town’s harbor, sleeping in cramped and suffocating quarters, have been taken ashore to a repatriation center after being stuck at sea for years without pay.

The group of 75 fishermen tell of slavery-like working conditions aboard seven Taiwanese-owned vessels — an ordeal that only grew worse when South African authorities impounded their trawlers for illegal fishing.

The crew spent three months stranded in Cape Town’s Table Bay, sleeping crowded together in dirty, airless quarters that reeked of diesel, until they were moved to a repatriation center in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The captain has been arrested, but the men lacked the legal papers to go ashore, and had been living like prisoners on the trawlers, dependent on the compassion of locals for food.

Some of the men say they were recruited by agents in Jakarta with promises of earning up to $200 a day fishing tuna.

But once on board they were forced to work round-the-clock with little food and no pay.

“You can start at two o’clock in the morning and work all the way to 10 at night. And then two o’clock in the morning you start again,” one dejected worker told AFP.

Many of the fishermen did not want to give their names for fear of repercussions from the recruitment agents back home who lived near their families.

After local media began covering the men’s story, immigration officials took them ashore, said Miriam Augustus, who had been providing them with food and water.

“I asked the policeman why they are moving the fishermen,” Augustus said. ”He said, ‘This is what happens when you go to newspapers and say bad things about the country.’”

South Africa’s fisheries department did not respond to requests for information on the men.

The men said despite their horror story, they are determined to wait for payment, saying they cannot afford to go back home penniless.

“I have a wife and three children at home,” said one man. ”After all this time how can I return without even one cent to my name?”

Laundry hangs on seven rusted Taiwanese-registered fishing boats where 75 stranded
 Indonesian fishermen have been living at Cape Town Harbor, on Nov. 28, 2013
(AFP, Rodger Bosch)

‘Floating shanties’

A 44-year-old man said he had worked on various vessels for 37 months without pay, often transferred to other boats when his contract expired.

The men also claim that at times they were ordered to repaint the name of their vessel at least five times a day, in an attempt to evade fishing authorities.

Tuna was not the only fish caught during their lengthy stay at sea. Other catch included swordfish, dolphins and sharks, in contravention of local marine laws.

A fishing log from one boat showed a catch of 70 tones.

Cassiem Augustus, a ship inspector for the International Transport Workers’ Federation, said the trawlers were like “floating shanties.”

“This is a blatant case of abuse and human trafficking,” he said. ”They have been abandoned by their agents and no one knows who the owners of these vessels are.”

He said inside the vessel there was one toilet for 12 men and that they had been drinking out of a tap used to pump oil one day and water the next.

“The conditions were inhumane. None of these men have been paid a cent, despite working 20 hour days. It’s slavery at sea.”

A spokeswoman for the Indonesian consulate in Cape Town said the fishermen were mostly uneducated and were from rural areas.

“They have no jobs and when they are offered one they become excited,” she said.

Maritime lawyer Alan Goldberg, who has applied for the vessels to be auctioned on behalf of the crew, suspect that the trawlers were owned by fishing cartels.

“These tales of abuse are the ordinary course of business in the longline fishing industry,” he said.

He said he doubted the run-down fiberglass boats would fetch a high price.

Agence France-Presse


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