Today, September 21, is International Day of Peace. This blog has taught me that there will never be world peace. Man is a predator, always has been always will be. Survival of the fittest. God is physics. Physics is God. We tilt at windmills as world war looms. Check out recent updates Sudan Watch's sister sites:
Russia Watch
Syria Watch
Tehran Watch
North Korea Watch
Uganda Watch
Congo Watch
Ethiopia Watch
Niger Watch
Best of luck to Soldier of Africa blogger Werner and to all military personnel. Not forgetting the Gurkhas!
Photo source: Werner's Soldier of Africa blog. Werner is a South African soldier, currently at SA Army Combat Training Centre, Northern Cape, South Africa, following active service in DR Congo and Darfur, Western Sudan.
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The Gurkhas are just what is needed for the base of a UN force
The Gurkhas could be the heart of the world's first real police force.
Photo: Gurkhas (Courtesy of Harry's Place 'Fearless friends' September 12, 2008')
Excerpt from Sudan Watch June 16, 2006:
The highly respected Gurkhas, regarded as among the finest soldiers in the world, are making the news in an excellent opinion piece at Osceola News Gazette June 15, 2006. "Gurkhas could be the heart of the world's first real police force", writes former diplomat Menandro M. de Mesa, in the following piece:Note, Harry's Place tagged its 'Fearless friends' post re the Gurkhas with the keyword "Brownie do something". Heh. Quite right too. Hey Brownie Do Something! [Update: the keyword has now changed to "Do Something"]
The Gurkhas are just what is needed for the base of a U.N. force: Gurkhas could be the heart of the world's first real police force
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Hey Brownie do something!
Last week, I signed an e-petition at Number10.gov.uk, thanks to Harry's Place blog post re the Gurkhas Fearless friends (where I left a comment).
If any Brits are reading this, please sign the petition before the deadline of November 26, 2008.
Excerpt from the petition:
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to give all Ex Gurkha soldiers and their families who have served our country British citizenship on leaving the service.The total number of signatures, to date, is: 31,851
Submitted by Ross Pritchard – Deadline to sign up by: 26 November 2008 – Signatures: 27,855
You must be a British citizen or resident to sign the petition.
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Joanna Lumley goes into battle for Gurkha veterans
On September 17, 2008, The Scotsman reported that Joanna Lumley told the hundreds of supporters outside the courts: "I am so happy to be able to lend my support to your cause." Me too!
Source: Photo and report by MARTYN McLAUGHLIN published in The Scotsman September 17, 2008. Excerpts:
SHE is an icon of the small screen whose distinctive voice has added a certain gravitas to a host of campaigns and charities.Best of luck to all. And a special hi to Soldier of Africa Werner (Hi Werner, if you are reading this: have you received an African Union medal for your recent service in Darfur and DR Congo? If so, pics please!)
But yesterday Joanna Lumley sailed into battle in support of a cause close to her heart – Gurkha veterans fighting for the right to settle in Britain.
The actress brought a touch of glamour to the ordinarily austere surroundings of the High Court in London.
To the skirl of bagpipes playing Cock O' The North, she walked through a guard of honour of Gurkhas in their traditional hats to the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London's Strand.
The Absolutely Fabulous star, whose late father, Major James Rutherford Lumley, served with the 6th Gurkha Rifles, knelt before two veteran VC holders in wheelchairs to offer her best wishes for a test case being brought by five Gurkhas and a widow. [edit]
"I want to see justice done," she told Lachhiman Gurung, 91, and Tul Bahadur Pun, 86, who served with her father during the Second World War in Burma.
In 1944, Mr Pun saved the lives of several of his fellow soldiers, including Lumley's father, as they faced Japanese machine-gunners in Burma.
Lumley, 62, said: "Ever since I was a small child, this man has been my hero. I hope we will see justice." [edit]
More than 2,000 Gurkhas are challenging a tribunal ruling on their immigration status that means those who retired before 1997, when their base moved from Hong Kong to Kent, cannot automatically claim citizenship in the UK.
Those who retired before that date, and had their cases decided by visa officials in Kathmandu and Hong Kong, must apply for permission to stay and may be refused and deported.
Other foreign nationals in the British Army have a right to settle in Britain after four years of service anywhere in the world.
Speaking through a megaphone outside the High Court, Lumley addressed the crowd with the traditional Gurkha cry "Ayo Ghurkali!" which means "Here come the Gurkhas!"
She added: "My father would be absolutely overwhelmed with shame and fury that we behaved this way to our most loyal and constant friends.
"We have discriminated against them dreadfully and it is a stain on our relationship."
The hearing was adjourned until today.
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The more I learn about human beings the more I like my cat
Four or five years ago, I read a quote by Yoko Ono that went something like this: "the more I know about people the more I like my cat".
I know exactly what she means. After the last two years (the worst in my life) it has become my motto.
Photo: My darling cat Ophelia. I adopted her on 10 September 2001 when she was around one year old. She makes me laugh. I wonder if the Sudanese are cat lovers, like us Brits. Do their cats behave in the same way as ours? Must find out.
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Animal Kingdom 2004 by Samuel Ajok
This acrylic on canvas (Animal Kingdom 2004 by Samuel Ajok) is my favourite from a selection at www.brandeis.edu, donated to the Sudanese Education Fund and the Southern Sudan Cultural Documentation Center by The Metcalf/Mastoras Family in honour of their Sudanese friends in Boston.
The artist explains that this idyllic vision of African wildlife gathered at a waterhole is a parable for the hoped-for coming of peace: all manner of persons, including former violent enemies, will gather together amiably, in perfect safety.
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Notable Quotes
You cannot expect change to happen overnight. The process of change is slow and gradual. It is a work in progress all the time. It happens through legislation, it happens through social transformation, attitude change, and mindset change. So it is indeed a work in progress all the time. You have to keep working on it, without worrying too much to see the outcome in your lifetime - Kaifi Azmi
Change can come in either of two important ways: start behaving positively or stop behaving negatively - Dr. Phill
Freedom cannot exist without discipline, self-discipline, and rights cannot exist without duties. Those who do not observe their duties do not deserve their rights.-Oriana Fallaci
Source: Image and quotes courtesy of FAYAZ SOOMRO, Editor, Indus Asia Online Journal: International Day Of Peace September 21, 2008
PS Today I inserted a new 'subscribe to' button at top of sidebar here. It's Atom. I hope it hasn't cut off regular visitors to this site. I can't get the new feed into my NetNewsWire news reader. Whenever I press the button in the sidebar, my laptop crashes. And my feed to Soldier of Africa and Scaryduck and POTP has broken. Please let me know if you can't get a feed to Sudan Watch. Thanks.
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