Live Encounters Magazine February 2012

A Sacred Ritual – Mark Ulyseas performs a sacred ritual and makes an offering to the legendary Syrian Orthodox priest, Kadamattom Kathanar, in a small village near Kolenchery in the Indian State of Kerala. And strange things happen on the way!

Off the beaten track in Japan…Carmen Roberts, Fast Track BBC Our search led us to the western suburbs of Kichijoji, an area that was once reserved as an artists’ colony, but now it’s jam packed with funky, off-beat fashion boutiques, as well as, large department stores. The streets are littered with bars and music studios and this is the place where local bands perform when they are just starting out. But Kichijoji is perhaps most famous for its narrow, dimly-lit alleys, known as ‘Harmonica Yokocho’, filled with shops, bars and eateries. Apparently it used to be an underground flea market dating back to the 1940s.

Natalie Wood – Don’t blame our Arab neighbhours for everything! But I also remembered the prophetic words of founding Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. He said: “When Israel has prostitutes and thieves, we’ll be a state just like any other.” So I’m sharing the loveliest part of the Galilee with the darker shades and sunnier hues of Israel’s ‘rainbow nation’ and I get hopping mad when only our Arab neighbours are blamed for anything and everything that goes wrong.

Rundown Town - Terry McDonagh lays bare a world we often overlook.

My ongoing journey - Elham Alirezaei, is a painter from Iran, the land of blue tiles, Hafiz, Mawlana and Zoroaster. I’m a woman painter.This article is a glimpse of her experiences during 3 years of travel to/in India, which in some way is the beginning of another evolution in her life.

It was in a deep sleep I had the following dream…Robin Marchesi, pens a poem for Live Encounters!

Candess Campbell,Phd., guides us through the 7 steps to Intuitive Healing

Kalimero, a travelling minstrel speaks to Mark Ulyseas

John Chester Lewis’s Dust Devil, a poem from Ubud, Bali.

Odin on Trance. A meeting with the avatar of Odin, the Norse God of Wisdom. He calls himself Viking. A tattoed topless biker who visits Goa every year to “Trance”. He speaks candidly to Mark Ulyseas of life in foster homes and how Trance music changed his life from a sordid reality to sanguinity.

pic by mark ulyseas

Ten days ago a 15 year old girl walked into The All Institute of Medical Sciences, (New Delhi) which has a hospital. She was carrying a bloodied body of a 2 year old girl child. She told doctors that the child had fallen. The doctors called the police and immediately operated on the lifeless body. The 2 year old had been beaten and then had her head repeatedly smashed against a wall. She is fighting for her life. Doctors say that 100% recovery will not be possible. Apparently she is not out of danger, the next few days will determine whether she will live or die.

Police sources said the toddler could have been kidnapped and later abused. Infact the teen mother who took her to the hospital could be a victim of abuse as well.

“The tragic thing is that such cases are not rare and occur very often in our country. Child sexual abuse is all the worse because we have no social infrastructure to support a child in distress,” Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat said.

The doctors have named the 2 year old girl, Falak, which means heaven/sky.

NEWS REPORT

India’s leading Islamic theologian Maulana Wahiddudin Khan described calls for banning Rushdie or his book “alien to our secular constitution” and un-Islamic. “It’s against the Islamic spirit,” he wrote in his TOI’s Speaking Tree column. He quoted a verse from the Quran to make his point. “It reads: ‘If any of the non-believers seeks your protection, then let him come so that he may hear the words of God, then convey him to a place of safety’.” The Maulana wrote that Muslims should engage and put their points of view in a rational manner. “If Rushdie is not convinced, they should make ‘dua’ for him and, according to the Quranic teaching, see him off amicably, without rancour.”

Journalist Seema Mustafa said “the role of media and particularly TV” was “reprehensible” for they “strengthened the Muslim stereotype by bringing unidentifiable mullahs to say what they want to reinforce this stereotypes”. She echoed a growing number of Muslims who are sore about the tendency to present reactionaries as the sole spokespersons of the community while ignoring saner voices.

National Minorities Commission chief Wajahat Habibullah echoed Seema Mustafa in part, saying, “The whole thing seems a publicity effort.” He said while serving under threat in J&K to say that Rushdie should have come. “While I was posted in J&K, I was told that I should not even move out of my house. But I had to do my job.”

Poet Manzar Bhopali mocked the mullahs, saying they were opposing Rushdie without even reading his books.

“The book describes the Holy Kaba and the Prophet in extremely derogatory terms.” Mumbai lawyer Yusuf Muchala said he had read ‘The Satanic Verses’ and found it “offensive”. But he insisted that Rushdie should not be banned from the fest where he was to discuss literature.

END OF REPORT

Further, the Rajasthan government should have protected the Jaipur Literary Festival participants, as well as, the visitors. But from media reports it appears that they have orchestrated this drama to appease the Muslim Voters in U.P.

Today we witness the death of free speech in India.

NEW REPORT

Controversial author Salman Rushdie’s video conference at the Jaipur Literature Festival in Jaipur has been called off finally after much flip flop over it in Jaipur. The much awaited video address by controversial author Salman Rushdie came under a cloud again following protests by

Earlier, producer of the festival Sanjoy Roy had said Rushdie’s address was on as scheduled.

Nearly 30 angry representatives of various Islamic organisations in Jaipur tried to enter the venue of the festival on Tuesday noon in protest against the video address by Rushdie, author of the banned book The Satanic Verses.

The protesters led by All India Milli Council leader, Paiker Farukh, a lawyer, who alleged that “the festival was trying to portray author Salman Rushdie as a hero”.

“We have every right to protest in a democratic manner and if the Muslim population of Jaipur comes out in protest, you cannot prevent us. You cannot take us for a ride… we are not fools,” Farukh told the media outside the venue at Diggi Palace.

The Muslim organisations had filed a petition at the court of an executive magistrate in Jaipur seeking a directive against Rushdie’s address following which the court had summoned four organisers of the festival. But the organisers failed to turn up, a representative of the Muslim delegation said.

Police were summoned to placate the protesters. The commissioner of police reassured the protesters that their interests would be taken into account.

“We don’t know about the fate of Rushdie’s video address,” a member of the core committee of the organisers then said.

Rushdie had called off his visit to Jaipur citing threats to his life from “paid assassins”. But later he accused Rajasthan Police of hatching a plot about hitmen to keep him away from the festival where he was expected to be the star attraction. Some Muslim groups had also protested his proposed visit. But then the festival organisers said he would address the festival through a video link.

At 12 noon Tuesday, Roy, the producer of the festival, had said, “We are going ahead with the link at 3.45 pm, it will be the session originally planned — Midnight’s Child — and his book’s adaptation and his life and works and the problems he has faced in the past years.

END OF REPORT

Shame on you India…Shame on you…And what is equally shameful is that all the other writers didn’t get together to defend these four authors because no one wanted the Festival to be stopped by the authorities!

News Report

The four authors – Ruchir Joshi, Jeet Thayil, Hari Kunzru and Amitava Kumar – left the city abruptly on Saturday and Sunday.

JLF producer Sanjoy Roy, while denying that he had asked the authors to leave, said the Jaipur police had sought the tapes of the session in which the four had read out the banned book. Roy said the organizers had met the authors on Saturday afternoon and again on Sunday to “apprise them of the issues”.

The Jaipur police, meanwhile, said they had not given any advice suggesting that any of the above authors should leave the festival. “There was a possibility of our arrest… so the organizers advised us to leave the festival,” Jeet Thayil told TOI while preparing to leave.

Hari Kunzru, who hurriedly left the festival on Saturday and took a flight out of the country on Sunday, said in a statement, “I risked arrest and might well find myself unable to return home to New York until any resulting cases had been resolved. The festival organizers later informed me that they had been advised that it was unsafe for me to stay in Jaipur, and my continued presence at the festival would only inflame an already volatile situation.”

Kunzru refused to blame the organizers for the turn of events. “I consider William Dalrymple and Sanjoy Roy close friends, and I feel that they acted honourably in difficult circumstances which were not of their making. I am relieved that the JLF was not shut down, which appeared to be a possibility on Friday night,” the statement said.

END OF REPORT

Intelligence Note Prepared by the
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

January 20, 2012

JOINT FBI AND DHS PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: BEST PRACTICES FOR RECOVERY FROM THE MALICIOUS ERASURE OF FILES

Cyber criminals can damage their victim’s computer systems and data by changing or deleting files, wiping hard drives, or erasing backups to hide some or all of their malicious activity and tradecraft. By wiping, or “zeroing out,” the hard disk drives, which overwrites good data with zeros or other characters, the criminals effectively erase or alter all existing data, greatly impeding restoration. This sort of criminal activity makes it difficult to determine whether criminals merely accessed the network, stole information, or altered network access and configuration files. Completing network restoration efforts and business damage assessments may also be hampered.

The FBI and DHS encourage businesses and individuals to employ mitigation strategies and best practices such as:

– Implement a data back-up and recovery plan to maintain copies of sensitive or proprietary data in a separate and secure location. Backup copies of sensitive data should not be readily accessible from local networks.
– Regularly mirror and maintain an image of critical system files.
– Encrypt and secure sensitive information.
– Use strong passwords, implement a schedule for changing passwords frequently, and do not reuse passwords for multiple accounts.
– Enable network monitoring and logging where feasible.
– Be aware of social engineering tactics aimed at obtaining sensitive information.
– Securely eliminate sensitive files and data from hard drives when no longer needed or required.

The US-CERT Web page at www.us-cert.gov hosts a wide range of tips, best practices, and threat information for business and home users.

To receive the latest information about cyber schemes, please visit the FBI Web site and sign up for e-mail alerts by clicking on one of the red envelopes.

If you have been a victim of cyber crime, please file a report with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.IC3.gov.

Human Trafficking Prevention
Help Us Identify Potential Victims 

01/20/12

For the young Ukrainians, it was a dream come true—the promise of well-paying jobs and free room and board in the United States. Once they arrived, however, it quickly turned into a nightmare. They were forced to endure 16-plus hour workdays, usually with no pay. Their living conditions were wretched, with up to 10 workers in often-unfurnished apartments or row houses. And they faced intimidation, threats of physical harm, or actual violence to keep them in line.

Human Trafficking Myths Be aware of these enduring myths about human trafficking: Myth: Trafficking must involve the crossing of borders. Fact: Despite the use of the word “trafficking,” victims can actually be held within their own country—anti-trafficking laws don’t require that victims must have traveled from somewhere else. Myth: U.S. citizens can’t be trafficked. Fact: They can and they are. Myth: Victims know what they are getting into or have chances to escape. Fact: They’re actually duped into it and may not even think of escaping because of threats against them or ignorance of the law. Myth: Victims are never paid. Fact: Sometimes they are paid, but not very much. Myth: Victims never have freedom of movement. Fact: Some victims can move about, but are coerced into always returning, perhaps with a threat against their families back home. One last note: human trafficking is often confused with alien smuggling, which includes those who consent to smuggling to get across a border illegally.

Members of the organized criminal enterprise responsible for these workers’ misery were ultimately identified and charged in a conspiracy to operate a human trafficking scheme. But, as we observe National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we’re reminded that there are still thousands of victims in the U.S.—and millions worldwide—being forced into both legal and illegal activities.

Human trafficking generates billions of dollars of profit each year, making it one of the world’s fastest growing criminal activities. The FBI investigates it as a priority under our civil rights program, but we see human trafficking activities in other investigative areas as well, including organized crime, crimes against children, and gangs.

To address the threat, we work cases with our local, state, federal, and international partners and participate in approximately 70 multi-agency human trafficking task forces. We also offer our counterparts—as well as non-governmental organizations, including non-profits—human trafficking awareness training. And to help get a better handle on human trafficking within the U.S., the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program plans to start collecting human trafficking data from law enforcement in 2013.

Many of our human trafficking cases are based on information from our partners and from criminal sources, but we also can and do receive tips from the public.

That’s where you come in. Please keep your eyes out for the following indicators that suggest the possibility of human trafficking:

Individuals who have no contact with friends or family and no access to identification documents, bank accounts, or cash;

• Workplaces where psychological manipulation and control are used;
• Homes or apartments with inhumane living conditions;
• People whose communications and movements are always monitored or who have moved or rotated through multiple locations in a short amount of time;
• Places where locks and fences are positioned to confine occupants; and
• Workers who have excessively long and unusual hours, are unpaid or paid very little, are unable take breaks or days off and have unusual work restrictions, and/or have unexplained work injuries or signs of untreated illness or disease.

Bear in mind: human trafficking victims can be found in many job locations and industries—including factories, restaurants, elder care facilities, hotels, housekeeping, child-rearing, agriculture, construction and landscaping, food processing, meat-packing, cleaning services…as well as the commercial sex industry.

And here’s one more thing to consider: while the majority of human trafficking victims in our investigations are from other countries and may speak little or no English, approximately 33 percent of victims are Americans. They come from a variety of groups that are vulnerable to coercive tactics—like minors, certain immigrant populations, the homeless, substance abusers, the mentally challenged and/or minimally educated, and those who come from cultures that historically distrust law enforcement or who have little or no experience with the legal system.

If you suspect human trafficking activities, do us and the victims a big favor: call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 or contact the FBI through our Tips webpage.

Resource:

- More on the FBI’s human trafficking efforts

Anyone who has seen any of these unholy, murderous gentlemen kindly inform the FBI

MUHAMMAD AHMED AL-MUNAWAR

HUSAYN MUHAMMAD AL-UMARI

ANAS AL-LIBY

DANIEL ANDREAS SAN DIEGO

RAMADAN ABDULLAH MOHAMMAD SHALLAH

ISNILON TOTONI HAPILON

MOHAMMED ALI HAMADEI

ADAM YAHIYE GADAHN

ABDELKARIM HUSSEIN MOHAMED AL-NASSER

ALI ATWA

ADNAN G. EL SHUKRIJUMAH

IBRAHIM SALIH MOHAMMED AL-YACOUB

ABD AL AZIZ AWDA

FAHD MOHAMMED AHMED AL-QUSO

ALI SAED BIN ALI EL-HOORIE

JAMEL AHMED MOHAMMED ALI AL-BADAWI

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI

JABER A. ELBANEH

AHMAD IBRAHIM AL-MUGHASSIL

AHMED MOHAMMED HAMED ALI

WADOUD MUHAMMAD HAFIZ AL-TURKI

ABDUL RAHMAN YASIN

MUHAMMAD ABDULLAH KHALIL HUSSAIN AR-RAHAYYAL

SAIF AL-ADEL

HASAN IZZ-AL-DIN

ABDULLAH AHMED ABDULLAH

JAMAL SAEED ABDUL RAHIM

ZULKIFLI ABDHIR

FAOUZI MOHAMAD AYOUB

JEHAD SERWAN MOSTAFA

HAKIMULLAH MEHSUD

Trapped in the Web

– China today has announced that it will begin “real name” registration online. Free speech advocates generally condemn the move, saying that the weibos’ freewheeling debate and frequent criticism of official misconduct will be neutered if the government knows the identity of everyone who posts a comment. Real-name use also would allow security officers to target weibo users who consistently post comments about sensitive issues, even if their individual remarks do not attract large numbers of readers.

– An Indian Court has directed the CEOs of Google, Facebook, Yahoo and a number of other social media sites to appear in person and explain as to why criminal action should not be taken against them for permitting “objectionable” material on their sites (apparently offending the cultural/religious sensibilities of India.) The criminal complaint was filed Vinay Rai, a journalist who runs a Hindi and Urdu daily called Akbari from Noida

– USA is at the forefront of monitoring social sites.Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om

WORDPRESS.ORG PROTESTS THE PROTECT IP ACT

Many websites are blacked out today to protest proposed U.S. legislation that threatens internet freedom: the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). From personal blogs to Wikipedia, sites all over the web — including this one — are asking you to help stop this dangerous legislation from being passed. Please watch the video below to learn how this legislation will affect internet freedom, then scroll down to take action.

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