Come out and support ACFW, get your tickets now before they're gone!!! The event will take place at the Pier Shops of Ceasars Casino. Thank you both, Jeana and Lamont for your expertise,professionalism and support. Also thanks to all of the models. #Shanti, #Paige #Salim #Tiara. Peace
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Catherine (left) and Herbert Schaible are third-generation members of a small Pentecostal community who believe in God's power to heal Continue reading the main storyRelated Stories A Pennsylvania couple said to reject medicine in favour of faith healing have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison in the second death of one of their children from illness. Herbert and Catherine Schaible were convicted of withholding medical care from seven-month-old Brandon, who died of pneumonia and dehydration in April. Another son, Kent, died under similar circumstances in 2009 at age two. The couple had been ordered to seek medical care for their sick children. 'Killed your children'The Schaibles were sentenced to three to seven years in prison in a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, court on Wednesday. "You've killed two of your children," Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Benjamin Lerner told the couple, the Associated Press reported. "Not God, not your church, not religious devotion... you." The Schaibles, third-generation members of a small Pentecostal community, had pleaded no contest to charges against them in Brandon's death. Both apologised for violating a previous court order to seek medical care for their children following son Kent's death. They were convicted of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in his death. Like Brandon, Kent died from bacterial pneumonia. His parents had prayed for him but did not call a doctor. The couple told police after Brandon's death they did not seek medical help because they believed in God's power to heal. The Schaibles' six surviving minor children have been placed in foster care. This is when devotion becomes absurd. The Creator of the Heavens,Earth and Universe has given man the knowledge to understand biology and medicine. Why should we give this up?
"Believe nothing, no matter where you have read it. Or who has said it. Not even if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own senses."- Buddha
If you haven't heard, America's favorite "Barbie" is under scrutiny for a photo she posted on instagram promoting her new single off her upcoming album.(pictured above) Is this someone that we want our daughters (and sons -its a long story,lol) looking up to? Is it cool for so-called entertainers to make a mockery of leaders who put their lives on the line for all Americans to have equal liberties and civil rights? In this photo, El hajj Malik Shabazz was protecting his family. This was taken a short time before his assasination. Why,why Ms.Minaj ? Don't you think that you've caused enough damage? Now I know that you're out to promote your new album. And I know that America is getting tired of your growling and your bi-polar behavior. But did you really have to go there? Did you really have to drag a deceased American icon into your ploy? Hopefully, the mini barbies and kens out there will wake up and see that this is no one to look up too. Learn how to march to the drum of your OWN beat !!! Think about it!! The image of the activist holding a gun was also posted on her Instagram page, promoting her new song.
After criticism on social media, Minaj posted an apology to the estate of Malcolm X. Known for his civil rights work with black communities in the US, the African-American minister was assassinated 49 years ago this month."That was never the official artwork nor is this an official single. This is a conversation. Not a single," she wrote. "I apologize to the Malcolm X estate if the meaning of the photo was misconstrued. I have nothing but respect [and] adoration for u." She added that the artwork was in no way meant to "undermine his efforts and legacy". I understand how my intent was overlooked and I definitely didn't want to offend his family or his legacy Nicki Minaj In a US radio interview Minaj said that she wrote the song to empower women because there are too many songs that attack women. "It was almost parallel in my opinion because he has this big gun ready to shoot,'' she said to Hot 97's Angie Martinez. "I looked at it as this is one of the most memorable people in our history, in black history, who voiced his opinion no matter what, and I understand how my intent was overlooked and I definitely didn't want to offend his family or his legacy." Re-posted from BBC News Kosal Khiev served a 14 year prison sentence for attempted murder
Continue reading the main storyRelated Stories Cambodian poet Kosal Khiev first discovered poetry in solitary confinement in a US prison, serving a sentence for attempted murder. Born in a refugee camp after his parents fled the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, Khiev grew up in the US after being granted asylum, and had joined a gang by the age of 13. At 16, Khiev was involved in a shoot-out in which two people were shot and injured. As a result, he was convicted of attempted murder and spent the next 14 years in jail. "I remember someone telling me it takes only a couple of seconds to make a mistake, but it takes a lifetime to correct it. I'm still paying for my mistakes now," Khiev said. Because he was not a US citizen, Khiev was deported to Cambodia, a country he had never visited before, on his release from prison. "There was happiness when I first came back [to Cambodia], but there was also confusion, anger, bitterness and a huge fear," Khiev said. "I've always wanted to come back to Cambodia - I just didn't think that it would be in this way." 'Fractured skull'Khiev discovered poetry while in prison in the US. He has since established himself as a poet in Cambodia, representing his country at the Poetry Parnassus, a festival held as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Kosal Khiev's parents fled the Khmer Rouge Khiev, who describes himself as "a spoken word artist, an immigrant and an exile", says his story began in a refugee camp in Thailand. "My parents fled during the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge war," he said. "My mum saw her first husband executed in front of her, and the only thing she buried was a piece of his fractured skull." At the age of one, Khiev was accepted, along with his grandmother, mother and six siblings, to the US as refugees. However, they were separated from his father, who was not accepted to the US. "I always thought my father was dead, I didn't know he was alive until I was 25," Khiev said. Life in the US was difficult, and Khiev said his sense of isolation contributed to his joining a gang. "I remember we were living in this two-bedroom apartment, the nine of us, trying to make ends meet." Khiev (fourth from right) and his mother, grandmother and siblings were granted asylum in the US "I started hanging with guys that were coming from the same background as me, who felt like they were alone in the world." Khiev was sentenced to 16 years in prison for his involvement in a shoot-out. While Khiev says he regrets his actions, he is also unhappy about the way he was sentenced. "I'm not proud of hurting anyone. I wish I never did. But I got locked up at 16, and I got tried as an adult... why would you throw away the key? Then you're saying that this kid has no more redemption." The two people who were shot "didn't die, thank goodness, and they're well now", Khiev said. Prison performanceKhiev spent time in nine different prisons, and describes parts of his time in prison, where he witnessed violent riots, as "crazy" and "like a battleground". "When you're in an environment of monsters you almost become a monster in order to survive." Kosal Khiev credits poetry as the inspiration he needed to turn his life around He was eventually released after serving 14 years of his term. Although unhappy with much of his experience in prison, Khiev said one of his most transformative moments came when he was locked in solitary confinement for his involvement in a fight. "They kept me in the hole [solitary confinement] for one and a half years. I almost went crazy," he said. "You come to talk to yourself, and you're forced to confront yourself, all parts of yourself. It made me say - is this it? Is this all your life is going to amount to? Are you going to die in prison?" "I wrote everything out, fears, hopes, dreams and nightmares." "Whatever I was writing I would talk it out, and people [in the other solitary confinement cells] would hear me and say: 'Let us hear something man'". "In a sense it was my first performance - it was dudes just being lonely and bored." 'Return' to CambodiaOn his release from solitary confinement, he met other poets, and took part in poetry classes in an Arts in Corrections programme. "I discovered the power that poetry has to change a person's perspective and outlook," he said. Khiev took part in outreach programmes speaking to young people at risk of offending, and worked as a facilitator in The Prison Peace Project, a corrections programme. Khiev discovered poetry and tattoo art while in prison Khiev said he "felt his calling" during the outreach programmes. Following his release, finding out that he would be deported to Cambodia was difficult to accept. "I had all these dreams, all these plans [in the US]," he said. "When I first came to Cambodia I didn't know what I was going to do." "I worked in a cinema as a movie projectionist, and on my day off I wasteaching volunteering, trying to do creative stuff. It was hard, until I got mixed up with Studio Revolt [a local arts studio]." Khiev says he cried when he received the invitation to perform as part of the London 2012 Olympics. "I was homeless at that time - I had quit my projectionist job to do my art... I was sleeping on people's couches or staying up all night riding around. I was about to go back to the cinema, it was getting so hard." "And finally I got the letter of invitation, and I couldn't believe it. [Performing in London] was an amazing experience." Khiev dreams of being able to return to the US and reunite with his family one day, although for now, Khiev is working as an artist-in-residence at Studio Revolt, and running poetry workshops with young people. "Now I've come back, I just want to do good," he said. "I just want people, when they talk to me, to get the feeling that this guy is doing good. And just continue forward, you know?" And this is a prime example of mainstream paranoia!! (Recasts with jury selection starting, length of trial, sequestering of jury) By Susan Cooper Eastman JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Feb 3 (Reuters) - Jury selection began on Monday in the murder trial of a Florida man who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager during an argument over loud music, a racially-charged case that has revived debate over the state's gun control and self-defense laws. Michael Dunn, 47, faces first-degree murder charges in the death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis on Nov. 23, 2012. The white, middle-aged software engineer opened fire on a car with four black teenagers that was parked next to him outside a gas station and convenience store in Florida's northeast city of Jacksonville. Dunn has said he feared for his life, drawing comparisons to George Zimmerman, the former central Florida neighborhood watch guard who was acquitted of murder last year after saying he shot Trayvon Martin, another black 17-year-old, in self-defense. Dunn said he had asked the teenagers to turn down their music. From the back passenger seat, Davis refused and the two exchanged words. Dunn says he opened fire because he thought he saw the barrel of a shotgun pointed out the back window at him, though police found no weapon. Duval county Judge Russell Healey told lawyers in court on Monday the trial will likely last as long as two weeks, including jury selection taking two to three days. Once impaneled, the jury will be sequestered during the course of the trial, he added. The case has garnered national and international media attention because of its racial overtones and self-defense claims. Like Zimmerman, Dunn said he feared a black teenager who was unarmed. Media credentials have been issued to 178 journalists and 24 media outlets seeking to cover the case. If found guilty, Dunn faces life in prison. Prosecutors say they won't seek the death penalty. Dunn's attorney, Cory Strolla, has filed motions asking the judge not to allow references in the trial to comments Dunn made in jailhouse letters or phone calls where he referred to Davis and to some inmates as "thugs", and made other "alleged racial comments," according to court documents. In a letter that Dunn sent to a local television reporter, he described Davis as a thug. "This case has never been about loud music," Dunn wrote to news anchor Heather Crawford in October. "This case is about a local thug threatening to kill me because I dared to ask him to turn the music down." Strolla also asked that the judge bar the prosecution from referring to Davis as a "victim." The media attention will also thrust back into the spotlight Jacksonville's state attorney Angela Corey, the special prosecutor who was chosen by Florida Governor Rick Scott to handle the Zimmerman case. She is also the prosecutor in the case of Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing what she said was a warning shot at her abusive husband. Jordan's parents, Ron Davis and Lucia McBath, said they plan to be in the courtroom throughout the trial. "I need to experience what happened to my son that day," Ron Davis told Reuters. "As a parent you want to know, 'What happened to my son? Why did you do this to my son?'" Since their son's death, Davis and McBath have become advocates for gun control and for changing Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which allows people in fear of serious injury to use deadly force to defend themselves rather than retreat. They have testified before the Florida state legislature and Congress. Both have appeared on national television, talking about the case and about their son. (Editing by David Adams and Tom Brown) Here we go again. Listening to my local radio station, a song came on that I had heard many times before. Now I'm not one to degrade an artist, or any individual for that matter. And I certainly don't believe in casting judgement on one's creative expression. Art is life. Life is art. Art is beautiful. We should respect everyone's individual liberty. But on the other hand,(Gemini see two perspectives on almost any subject. Sorry, lol ) I must comment on this song by the rap artist Future, entitled Shit. That's right, you read right- Shit is the title. In the intro of the song, he talks about or let's say ,down people who have guns but have so carelessly failed to kill someone. In the political climate of America right now, do we really need songs like this? Just less than a week ago in Northern New Jersey, some depressed guy opened fire in the mall, shooting at patrons. Ultimately, killing himself, thankfully not harming anyone else. And then in Maryland, also in a mall, a 19 year old killed two people before killing himself. Young men and women all across America are being gunned down because they appear scary ie...Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride. We're angry when people make these notions about urbanites. Understandable, I myself have felt and continue to feel the pains of the suffering youth. I understand that because someone wears a hoodie, doesn't mean that they're out to rob me. Or because a defenseless 19 year old woman knocks on my door, doesn't mean that she wants to break into my house. I'm writing this for the youth. We must think about who we support. We must think about who reps us. We must think about the energy being brought from this wicked music. Yeah, Future may be cool and all, he may have hot beats, but at the end of the day, it's you who has to walk the streets. It's you who has to deal with mainstream paranoia brought on by the imagery as seen on MTV Jams. Meanwhile, your favorite rapper goes home, takes off his fake dreads,fake tattoos,costume and laughs all the way to the bank while wearing a three thousand dollar suit, paid for by you!!!!
I've posted the video below,listen for yourself. Peace |
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January 2021
"I'm an avid student of life, love, and spirit. My blog isn't about external beauty per se, clothes, fashion, make-up,or even politics. No none of these things!! The articles that I write come from my heart and are about something simple yet complex, rugged yet fragile, dark yet light. Something beautiful yet at times can be ugly. I write about something that all reading this shouldn't take for granted. Life!! Something everlasting yet fleeting." - Shakira Z. Ch'i Peace Always |