“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.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Kenyan roses underwhelm Chinese customers on Valentine's Day

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-02-14

"A rose is a rose", but does it convey a higher romantic ideal if it has come all the way from Africa?

Zhang is a white-collar worker from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. She was a little disappointed when she received her flowers from the courier. "They looked OK but not as fresh as I expected," she said. "I guess it's understandable, since they have been on such a long journey."

Zhang ordered the roses on Chinese e-commerce website Tmall. The bouquet cost her 99 yuan (US$16).

"I enjoy decorating my house with flowers. Usually I buy them at the store near my home. I just wanted something different on Valentine's Day, so I tried these Kenyan roses," she said.

"They are not very expensive compared to ordinary Chinese roses, the price of which has doubled recently from 5 yuan (US$0.80) to 10 yuan (US$1.60) each," she added.

Wang Licheng, director of promotions at Tmall, said Chinese consumers are increasingly interested in foreign flowers. Tmall has sold tulips from the Netherlands and roses from Ecuador. In conjunction with iishang, a flower delivery network, this is the first year they have brought roses from Africa.

Zhan Guang, vice president of iishang, said the company ordered 400,000 roses from Kenya and all were sold within a few days.

The Kenyan roses are grown beside Lake Naivasha. Nourished by volcanic ash and the abundant equatorial sunshine, they have vibrant colors and a long flowering period. When they land in China, they are sent to be packed in Beijing, Shanghai or Kunming and from there go all over the country.

"It only takes a matter of hours for the flowers to be flown from Kenyan gardens to Chinese customers," said Zhan. "The price is generally three to five times of that of the Chinese alternatives."

Kenyan roses can be found at many other online flower sellers at various prices.

Wang Yin is the owner of an online flower store in Hangzhou. The store has three special Valentine deals–small Kenyan roses, large Ecuadorian roses and Dutch tulips.

"The Kenyan roses were the most popular and all 100 bouquets were sold soon after arriving," she said. "They are spray roses. Each stem is clustered with several blooms and buds, so the bouquets seem especially full and festive, making them perfect holiday presents."

Trade between China and Kenya has been growing for decades. In 2013, China became Kenya's largest source of foreign direct investment and second largest trading partner.

Eliud Njenga, executive director of Pigeon Blooms in Kenya, said the company has built partnerships with Chinese companies and exported roses to China in large quantities for a few years.

Tmall's Wang said, "Kenya is a major flower grower and China still has a large potential market for Kenyan flowers. We plan to introduce more of them to Chinese customers in the future."

Workers prepare roses for export at a farm in Nemocon, 
Cundinamarca department, Colombia on February 2, 2015
(AFP Photo/Eitan Abramovich)

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