August 1, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Three jailed for India mother and daughter gang rape

a protester against rape in India — Image captionThe incident has caused outrage across the country, and raised questions about police efficiency

Three men suspected of participating in the gang rape of a woman and her teenage daughter have been sent to jail for 14 days as investigations continue.

The two were dragged out of a car by a group of men along a highway between Noida, a Delhi suburb, and Kanpur city on Friday, reports said.

Three male relatives travelling with them were assaulted and tied up.

The incident has caused outrage across the country and raised questions about police efficiency.

Some of the victims alleged that they got no response from the official helpline number.

One of the men who was attacked told the Hindustan Times newspaper that the line had been continually busy and that when they finally got through, the officer at the other end of the line had “repeatedly asked questions instead of rescuing the family”.

Family members also alleged that a police van had driven past the field in Bulandshahr area where the incident took place, but had not stopped.

Senior police officer Sujeet Pandey told BBC Hindi on Monday that the three men, who were arrested on Sunday, were remanded in prison after they were identified by their victims.

Three more men were detained today, he added.

The Uttar Pradesh state government has suspended seven policemen in connection with the incident and set up a 300-member taskforce to investigate the incident.

The family was also robbed of money, jewelry and their mobile phones.

Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has grown since the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.

However, brutal sexual attacks against women and children continue to be reported across the country.

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My heart aches for the fact that there has been another rape. Actually, there have been thousands world wide today, but this one was a mother and daughter. This just seems heinous to me. World leaders need to recognize that crimes against women are serious. Rape is a crime where a woman body in invaded, ravaged and desecrated. Rape should be almost as serious as murder. Rape kills a part of a woman and it can never be replaced.

The Pope says that the world is at war, not a religious war, but war. I say there is a war against women and minorities going on.I am anti war, but we have to punish people who attack events and groups of people severely. We need to punish rapists very severely because they can not stop their behavior. They feel no remorse and should be shut away for the rest of their lives.

There are too many people in prison for minor charges serving long sentences and rapists getting out in a couple of weeks. The is backwards. This needs to be straightened out. We need to protect citizens, especially women and children. We need to prevent an all out war.

“We regard our living together not as an unfortunate mishap

warranting endless competition among us

but as a deliberate act of God

to make us a community of brothers and sisters

jointly involved in the quest for a composite answer

to the varied problems of life.”

—Steven Biko

July 31, 2016 by IdealisticRebel

Muslims go to Catholic Mass in Solidarity

Muslims Go to Catholic Mass Across France, Italy to Show Solidarity

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROUEN, France — In a gesture of solidarity following the gruesome killing of a French priest, Muslims on Sunday attended Catholic Mass in churches and cathedrals across France and Italy.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said that a few dozen Muslims gathered at the towering Gothic cathedral in Rouen, near Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where the 85-year-old Rev. Jacques Hamel had his throat slit by two teenage Muslim fanatics on Tuesday.

“We are very moved by the presence of our Muslim friends and I believe it is a courageous act that they did by coming to us,” said Dominique Lebrun, the archbishop of Rouen, after the service.

Image: TOPSHOT-FRANCE-ATTACK-CHURCH-RELIGION — A catholic monk discusses with a muslim worshipper in front of the Saint-Pierre-de-lAriane church, prior a mass on July 31, 2016, in Nice, southeastern France.JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET / AFP – Getty Images

Some of the Muslims sat in the front row, across from the altar. Among the parishioners was one of the nuns who was briefly taken hostage at Hamel’s church after the priest was killed. She joined her fellow Catholics in turning to shake hands or embrace the Muslim churchgoers after the service.

Outside the church, a group of Muslims were applauded when they unfurled a banner: “Love for all. Hate for none.”

Churchgoer Jacqueline Prevot said that the attendance of Muslims was “a magnificent gesture.”

“Look at this whole Muslim community that attended Mass,” she said. “I find this very heartwarming; I am confident. I say to myself that this assassination won’t be lost, that it will maybe relaunch us better than politics can do; maybe we will react in a better way.”

Many of the Muslims who attended the service in Rouen — including those with the banner — were Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which differs from mainstream Islam in that it doesn’t regard Muhammad as the final prophet.

Similar interfaith gatherings were repeated elsewhere in France, as well as in neighboring Italy.

At Paris’ iconic Notre Dame cathedral, Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Mosque of Paris, said repeatedly that Muslims want to live in peace.

Image: FRANCE-ATTACK-CHURCH-RELIGION — A catholic monk welcomes muslim worshippers in the Saint-Pierre-de-lAriane church, prior to a mass on July 31, 2016, in Nice, southeastern France.JEAN CHRISTOPHE MAGNENET / AFP – Getty Images

“The situation is serious,” Boubakeur told BFMTV. “Time has come to come together so as not to be divided.”

In Italy, the secretary general of the country’s Islamic Confederation, Abdullah Cozzolino, spoke from the altar in the Treasure of St. Gennaro chapel next to Naples’ Duomo cathedral. Three imams also attended Mass at the St. Maria Church in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood, donning their traditional dress as they entered the sanctuary and sat down in the front row.

Mohammed ben Mohammed, a member of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy, said that he called on faithful in his sermon Friday “to report anyone who may be intent to damage society. I am sure that there are those among the faithful who are ready to speak up.”

Ahmed El Balzai, the imam of the Vobarno mosque in the Lombard province of Brescia, said he did not fear repercussions for speaking out.

“I am not afraid. … These people are tainting our religion and it is terrible to know that many people consider all Muslim terrorists. That is not the case,” El Balazi said. “Religion is one thing. Another is the behavior of Muslims who don’t represent us.”

Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni thanked Italian Muslims for their participation, saying they “are showing their communities the way of courage against fundamentalism.”

Like in France, Italy is increasing its supervision of mosques. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told the Senate this week that authorities were scrutinizing mosque financing and working with the Islamic community to ensure that imams study in Italy, preach in Italian and are aware of Italy’s legal structure.

Meanwhile the Paris prosecutor’s office said it has requested that a cousin of one of the two 19-year-olds who slit the priest’s throat should be charged with participating in “a terrorist association with the aim of harming others.”

In a statement it said it appeared 30-year-old Frenchman Farid K. “knew very well, if not of the exact place or time, of his cousin’s impending plans for violence.”

The office added that a Syrian refugee detained in the wake of the attack was released Saturday.

Image: Muslim call to go to Sunday Mass — Members of the congregation in Santa Maria Trastevere church in Rome, Italy, 31 July 2016, during a multi faith service organized by Italy’s Islamic Religious Community.MASSIMO PERCOSSI / EPA

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As you read this article, please remember that the Muslims who participated in interfaith day of worship are moderate Muslims. They are not Jihadists. They are not participating in a holy war. The Pope says the world is at war and I fear he is correct. We need to dust off the anti-war placards and be ready to stand up to the hawks who want to kill, kill, kill. There are three religions that are considered the people of the book. The Muslims, the Jews and the Christians. They honor Moses, Abraham and Elijah.

Remember that each of our actions have reactions and many of those reactions can not be changed. These moderate Muslims in France and Italy are making an effort to show that they are not a threat, I think we need to honor that and honor them. Muslims have the right to live in America and Jews have a right to live here. Americans can not look at everyone who is different and feel fear. Yes, there are some you and I should fear, but the majority of Muslims are just people like you and I.

NamasteBarbara

October 5, 2015 by IdealisticRebel

Save the Children with Books!

booksforSyria

Waterstones has launched an industry-wide campaign to raise £1m by urging people to “Buy Books for Syria”.

In an unprecedented step, the industry’s top publishers from Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster to indies such as Profile Books and Canongate are donating titles from big name authors such as David Walliams, Neil Gaiman, Victoria Hislop and Ali Smith for Waterstones to sell through their stores under the ‘Buy Books for Syria’ banner, with 100% of the retail price going towards Oxfam’s Syria Crisis Appeal.

The charity promotion will begin on Thursday (1st October) with titles displayed on tables front of store in Waterstones’ 280 shops, stickered with the ‘Buy Books for Syria’ name.

The offerings will include both frontlist and backlist titles from a vast array of authors including Mary Beard, Alan Bennett, Michael Bond, William Boyd, Bill Bryson, Tracy Chevalier, Lee Child and Julia Donaldson.

The company’s m.d, James Daunt, is committed to launching the appeal despite it being the industry’s most crucial time of the year in the run up to Christmas.

He said: “In desperate times like these, everyone feels the need to do something, to help in some way. We are doing what we do best: bookselling, and it only feels right that every single penny of each book sold will go straight to Oxfam. We are proud to be able transform the generosity of authors and publishers into such a substantial contribution to Oxfam’s work.”

He told The Bookseller that “some-perhaps most” of the sales would substitute “sales upon which otherwise we would be earning money” in the run up to Christmas but added that the company was “very fortunate to have an owner and board who have put this to one side and supported the initiative.” Waterstones is owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Mamut.

Tom Weldon, c.e.o of Penguin Random House UK, added: “We often speak as an industry about the power of books to change lives – our aim with this campaign is to use the power of books to save lives. I’m humbled by the way publishers and authors are collaborating to support Waterstones and Oxfam in this initiative. I hope that together we can make a difference.”

The original idea for the campaign came from Profile editor Mark Ellingham. The titles in the appeal include Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Profile), War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Egmont), Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (Vintage), One Day by David Nicholls (Hodder), The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury) and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Quercus/MacLehose), among others. Publishers have provided between 1,000 and 2,000 copies of all the titles to be sold for the appeal.

Support from UK publishers includes Atlantic Books, Bloomsbury, Canongate, Egmont, Faber, Granta, Hachette, HarperCollins, Pan Macmillan, Penguin Random House UK, Profile, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster and Usborne.

Other authors involved in the appeal include Mark Haddon, Matt Haig, Robert Harris, Khaled Hosseini, Max Hastings, Marian Keyes, Linda La Plante, Andrea Levy, Hilary Mantel, Peter May, Alexander McCall Smith, Caitlin Moran, Michael Morpugo, JoJo Moyes, David Nicholls, Ian Rankin, Tom Rob Smith, Salman Rushdie and Jacqueline Wilson.

Nicholls said: “This is a wonderful initiative, turning our passion for the written word into practical help at a time of terrible crisis.”

Smith added: “I support this initiative with heart, mind and soul.”

Mark Goldring, c.e.o of Oxfam, said the £1m of raised would help its program of delivering clean water to another 150,000 people in Syria, or providing support to tens of thousands of people in Jordan over the next year. “This help is urgently needed as the conflict in Syria shows no sign of ending,” he said.

Earlier in the month, authors and publishers lead by Patrick Ness helped to raise over £600,000 for Save the Children’s refugee appeal by pledging to match donations from members of the public.

Helping those in the refugee camps is important. There have not been this many refugees in Europe since WWII. Hey, Rock world, how about a benefit concert? Let’s all come up with ideas to help these poor people who have lost everything. They are our brothers and sisters. This is one world and we all share it.

Namaste

Barbara

September 18, 2015 by IdealisticRebel

The Divine in Me and the Divine in You

The Head of the year

The moon is dark tonight, a new

moon for a new year.

It is hollow and hungers to be full.

It is the black zero of beginning.

Now you must void yourself

of injuries, insults, incursions.

Go with empty hands to those

you have hurt and make amends.

It is not too late. It is early

and about to grow. Now

is the time to do what you

know you must and have feared

to begin. Your face is dark

too as you turn inward to face

yourself. the hidden twin of all you must grow to be.

Forgive the dead year.

Forgive yourself. What will be wants

to push through your fingers.

The light you seek hides

in your belly. The light you

crave longs to stream from

your eyes. You are the moon

that will wax in new goodness.

—Marge Piercy; novelist and poet

When I write to you, it is the Divinity within me singing to the Divinity within you.

We all have Divinity within us. We never lose it.

Life is Divine; my life and yours.

Divinity is the shimmer in the sky, it is the colors of the trees.

My Divinity bows to the Divinity in you. —Barbara Mattio

“We still don’t know how to put morality ahead of politics,

science and economics. We are still incapable of understanding

that the only genuine backbone of all our actions—if they are to

be moral—is responsibility. Responsibility to something higher

than my family, my country, my company, my success.

Responsibility to the order of Being, where all our actions are

indelibly recorded and where, and only where, they will be

properly judged.”

—Vaclav Havel

” All celestial harmony is

a mirror of Divinity

and

man

is a mirror of all

the miracles of God.”

—St. Hildegard of Bingen

Kwan Yin is a Buddhist goddess. She is the goddess of compassion. She is only one of

the images of the Divine in our world. We all have our favorites. She is one of mine because

compassion is so important and needed in our world. Namaste, Barbara

kwan_yin_guanyin_ii_by_phaedris-d46fbp9

August 24, 2015 by IdealisticRebel

Rebel Girls: 95 Photos of Feminists around the World

I found these images posted by Carmen at AutoStraddle.com — 95 images of women protesting against their poor treatment, against their subjection and for their right to be equal.

Here in America we call it the Equal Rights Amendment. Across the world it is called Human Rights, and it is the most universal right of all — the right to self-determination, regardless of sex or economic class.

We are not alone in our struggle, the struggle exists across the globe, wherever women are seen as objects and possessions, instead of equals and partners.

Could you look these women in the eye and say: you are not as good as a man?

Namaste,

Barbara

August 1, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

A Thought on Comedy

I believe that we all can say that the world is stressed. Both in the sense of hatred, violence, and bigotry and in the sense of the wars going on. It causes a sense of negative energy and anxiety for many people. If we add in the outbreak of Ebola, there is much pain in the world. There is a War on women started by the GOP. It is not limited to America. I don’t want to belabor these facts.

My father always said that laughter was healing. It is very good at balancing negativity and allowing our bodies and souls to exhale. I have decided that I wanted to give my readers something to make them laugh and laugh hard before going back to reality. It is important to detach and allow our bodies to destress. I hope you enjoy these videos.

The first video was one of my father’s favorite skits. It is very funny and I am sure many will remember it. The second video is one of my favorites. It is from the Carol Burnett show. From left to right you will see Tim Conway, Carol Burnett, Vicky Laurence and Dick Van Dyke. I hope you have a few minutes of stressless bliss. Feedback would be appreciated so I know if this is something that you feel is helpful.

BorderCal

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July 30, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Reality Check

Welcome to the real world.

The Milky Way. If we destroy ourselves, what happens to the universe?

Dolphins living free until we completely destroy our planet

Twilight on boat launch at Avon. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2014

California Poppies. Another gift from Mother Nature.

Upper Waterfall in Letchworth State Park. The Genesee River has formed a gorge. We must take care of the gifts from Mother Earth.

We have to take care of our planet. It is more important than oil, money, arms, greed, jealously, bigotry, injustice, hatred and war. We must take care of Mother Earth. Our planet has changed greatly during just my lifetime. There is a supervolcano under Yellowstone National Park. If it blows, it will destroy most of America. Yet we continue fracking, mining, polluting the earth and the air. We must stop. To choose not to stop is to commit suicide.

Great Spirit

Great Spirit,

give us hearts to understand;

never to take

from creation’s beauty more than we give;

never to destroy wantonly for the furtherance of greed,

never to deny to give our hands for the building of earth’s beauty;

never to take from her what we cannot use.

Give us hearts to understand that to destroy earth’s

music is to create confusion,

that to wreck her appearance is to blind us to beauty;

that to callously pollute her fragrance is to make a house of stench;

that as we care for her she will care for us. Amen —U.N. Environmental Sabbath Program

Praying for Mother Earth.

Only a self-destructive species would do to our planet, what we have done.

April 25, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

Song of the Open Road

Song of the Open Road

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,

Health, free, the world before me,

The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,

Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms,

Strong and content I travel the open road.

The earth, that is sufficient,

I do not want the constellations any nearer,

I know they are very well where they are,

I know they suffice for those who belong to them.

(Still here I carry my old delicious burdens,

I carry them, men and women, I carry them with me wherever I go,

I swear it is impossible for me to get rid of them,

I am fill’d with them, and I will fill them in return.)

You air that serves me with breath to speak!

You objects that call from diffusion my meanings

and give them shape!

You light that wraps me and all things in delicate equable showers!

You paths worn in the irregular hollows by the roadsides!

I believe you are latent with unseen existences, you are so dear to me.

All seems beautiful to me,

I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me

I can repeat over to men and women,

I will recruit for myself and you as I go,

I will scatter myself among men and women as I go,

I will toss a new gladness and roughness among them,

Whoever denies me it shall not trouble me,

Whoever accepts me he or she shall be blessed and shall bless me. —excerpted from Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Acrylic painting of courtyard in the French Quarter. Painted and copyrighted 2009 by Barbara Mattio

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The Bahamas. Photograph taken and copyrighted 2013

guarda5

October 28, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Our Journey in Life

Autumn color

Presque Isle, Pa.

The present moment, the here and now moment is the most important moment. Each moment is fleeting and passes us by very quickly. When we are children the present moment is their entire world. As adults, we know that each fleeting moment will be followed by another moment and another and another. The present moment of time in the history of the universe because it is the only time we have any control over. This is why it is important to teach our children what is important, which values really count, and hope we have given them what they need to carry on after we are gone.

This means walking our path and traveling our journey. A major part of our journey in life is figuring out what our purpose is. Just what is the reason we are put here? If our lives have not been enchanted, we wonder what is wrong. If we have experienced violence and abuse. Even though we are almost at the end of October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Abuse can and will happen at any time during the year. You may not hear as much or read as much about it as you have been this month but those of us who do work or did work in DV are still here and caring for your safety. Once again, I have to say you are never alone. If attempts are being made to isolate you, we are here. The hotlines will still work, the shelters will still be there and nothing will ever change this fact.

Purple ribbons signify that we do not accept Domestic Violence

Be assured you were not put on a path of slavery, abuse and other forms of violence. The strength and determination to get yourself out and to a safe place is inside you. God wants none of us to suffer. You must not listen to the abuser who is telling you how stupid, and ugly you are. Emotional abuse will include that no one else will want you, you are a terrible parent, no one cares about what happens to you. If you are hearing lies like this know that they are not true. The Divine One is within you and you are strong, you are beautiul, you are intelligent.

So what is the reason we are here? Where is our journey taking us and what are we to discover? Some people find their answer with work, others with their avocation. Some form a link between the two. To change the world for the better you don’t need to be a king, a prince, president or a prophet. God’s plan is that it only takes one human being, doing good right in the present moment.

Inside of yourself are seeds for you to sow. Seeds of hope in your own heart and in the hearts of people around you. This is how you build bonds by the ties of hope and trust. When you put yourself into a place of hope and trust it builds not only within ourselves but also for the world. A positive, hopeful countenance to the world, then the small world that we call our everyday life can become richer with meaning and filled with the positive presence of hope.

Truly Magestic Tree that come from a seed someone sowed to make their world a better place to be.

Truly Majestic Tree that come from a seed someone sowed to make their world a better place to be.

December 1, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

The Prognosis for Mother Earth

“More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” —-Alfred Lord Tennyson

Invoking the powers of the Universe or bestowing our blessing on the Earth or other beings is neither a simple benevolent wish nor an act of hubris.. It is an act of creative consciousness. .As we shake off all other desires, we can proceed on our relationship with the whole Universe.

Peace be to earth and to airy space!
Peace be to heaven, peace to the waters,
Peace to the plant and peace to the trees!
May all the powers grant me peace!
By this invocation of peace may peace be diffused!
By this invocation of peace may peace bring peace!
With this peace the dreadful I now appease,
With this peace the cruel I now appease,
With this peace all evil I now appease,
So that peace may prevail, happiness prevail
May everything for us to be peaceful.”
——–Atharva Veda XIX

Prayers and blessings bring us into alignment with the rest of creation. They directly express our intentions and and utter wishes we hope to be achieved. We offer an invocation or blessings and we become mindful co-creators in this unfolding Universe.

“This is what I want to happen,
That our Earth Mother may not be closed in ground corn four times over…
In order that the country may be this way
I have made my prayer sticks into something alive.”
——–Zuni prayer

There is some magic to some prayers. Not the superstitious sort we usually think of, but rather in the ecological sense of the creative flux of all things. Through our blessings and superstitions we acknowledge this network of forces that flows through the world. This awakens the deeper levels, of our consciousness to affect these patterns of change.

It is an act of creative confidence, these invocations and prayers. It empties us of the needs of our personality, our ego, or the demands of our society, we free ourselves to come into a dynamic relationship with the whole Universe.