When I was given the news, or as my wife worded it, reminded of what I supposedly already knew, I laughed, thinking it was all part of a practical joke. But Maxine’s crossed arms and cold stare quickly reminded me she was not exactly what one would call a “stand-up comic,” this being no exception. She swore that I agreed with the plan. No way! If I were told of such an event I would have nipped it in the bud before even hearing the details. “You probably had one too many drinks that night,” she retorted, “and forgot.” Normally that could have been a possibility. She had pulled that little trick on me more than once to get what she wanted. I’m sorry, my wife can be such a Jezebel! But not in this case. No amount of alcohol would have sugar-coated this form of agonized torture. We were…

This video is called ‘Gasoline kills West’s concern over abuses in Bahrain‘.

From República in Nepal:

Ex-migrant workers shudder at thought of Gulf predators

ANJALI SUBEDI

KATHMANDU, Jan 23: Nita Tamang from Sindhupalchowk district worked in Bahrain for two years. When she came back to Nepal three years ago, Rs 10,000 was all she had earned.

Apart from the amount, Tamang had brought back something else, too, with her – a harrowing experience of abuse and exploitation, which she, however, “treasures as it keeps inspiring her to work hard in her own land!”

“After returning home, I have started my own small business. I have not been able to really scale it up so far. Nonetheless, I will never think of leaving the country again for overseas job,” said Tamang, who owns a fancy stall at popular ‘Rudra Market’ in Kalanki chowk.

Her master and mistress…

The (Sochi)Firebird Olympic Torch

Olympic 2014 Flame lighting for XXII Olympic Winter Games in Russia.

The Sochi 2014 torch is designed to resemble a feather from the magical golden Firebird – the Russian version of the legendary Phoenix, a creature as mysterious as the mythology it is steeped in. Holding a sacred place throughout Russian myth and folklore, it symbolises many things and in Russian fairy tales the firebird’s feather is used to “light the way.”

The Firebird has also inspired many artists, including Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, who consequently wrote a ballet entitled “The Firebird” in 1910, effectively immortalising the legend of the Firebird.

The Olympic Torch – the “feather,” will be coloured a dramatic fiery red in respect to the traditional sporting colour of Russia. The Paralympic Torch, as with the Olympic Torch will be created out of cast aluminium alloy, and with a view to symbolising…

“When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.”

–       Shakespeare, Henry V

January 31^st is Chinese New Year, ushering in the Year of the Horse, and it is followed one month later by Losar, the Tibetan New Year. As I’ve done the last few years, over at BellaOnline I’ve offered an overview of some of the traditional interpretations of the Year of the Horse, drawn from Chinese astrology. Here at Mommy Mystic I’m doing my own take, based on the symbolism of the horse in various cultures and time periods. This is part intuitive read, and part symbolic play.

I hope you enjoy it and feel inspired by the energies available this year, because if there is one prominent theme in…