When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

A message every adult should read because children
are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my
first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately
wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a
stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be
kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my
favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little
things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a
prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always
talk to, and I learned to trust in Him.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a
meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I
learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care
of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have
to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you
handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't
feel good, and I learned that I would have
to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come
from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things
hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you
cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of
life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and
productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and
wanted to say,' Thanks for all the things I saw when
you thought I wasn't looking.'


 
Each of us
(parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, teacher, nurse, friend)
influences the life of a child.

How will you touch the life of someone today?
Just by sending this to someone else,
you will probably make them at least think
about their influence on others.
Live simply. Love generously.
Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God

Sugar is 'addictive and the most dangerous drug of the times'

Soft drinks should carry tobacco-style warnings that sugar is highly addictive and dangerous, a senior Dutch health official has warned. 

 

 

Paul van der Velpen, the head of Amsterdam's health service, wants soft drinks to carry tobacco-style warnings about sugar Photo: ALAMY

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/netherlands/10314705/Sugar-is-addictive-and-the-most-dangerous-drug-of-the-times.html

 

Paul van der Velpen, the head of Amsterdam's health service, the Dutch capital city where the sale of cannabis is legalised, wants to see sugar tightly regulated.

"Just like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is actually a drug. There is an important role for government. The use of sugar should be discouraged. And users should be made aware of the dangers," he wrote on an official public health website.

"This may seem exaggerated and far-fetched, but sugar is the most dangerous drug of the times and can still be easily acquired everywhere."

Mr Van der Velpen cites research claiming that sugar, unlike fat or other foods, interferes with the body's appetite creating an insatiable desire to carry on eating, an effect he accuses the food industry of using to increase consumption of their products.

"Sugar upsets that mechanism. Whoever uses sugar wants more and more, even when they are no longer hungry. Give someone eggs and he'll stop eating at any given time. Give him cookies and he eats on even though his stomach is painful," he argued.

"Sugar is actually a form of addiction. It's just as hard to get rid of the urge for sweet foods as of smoking. Thereby diets only work temporarily. Addiction therapy is better."

The senior health official wants to see sugar taxes and legal limits set on the amount that can be added to processed food.
He also wants cigarette-style warnings on sweets and soft drinks telling consumers that "sugar is addictive and bad for the health".
"Health insurers should have to finance addiction therapy for their obese clients. Schools would no longer be allowed to sell sweets and soft drinks. Producers of sports drinks that are bursting with sugar should be sued over misleading advertising and so on," he said.
The number of obese people in the Netherlands has doubled over the last two decades meaning that more than half of Dutch adults and one in seven children are overweight in a country famed for its deep fried croquettes.

Afghanistan women 'still suffering horrific abuse'

Thousands of Afghan women are being failed by the country’s justice system, according to a new United Nations report, which found limited progress despite legal reforms and 11 years of Western intervention. 

 By Rob Crilly, Kabul

12:56PM GMT 11 Dec 2012

The assessment follows a spate of high-profile attacks on women and comes a day after a senior women’s rights official was shot dead.

It found that many violent attacks went unreported or unprosecuted, but concluded there had some progress in the three years since laws were introduced banning a slew of offences including rape, forced self-immolation and giving away women to settle disputes.

“Incidents of violence against women still remained largely under-reported due to cultural restraints, social norms and taboos, customary practices and religious beliefs, discrimination against women that leads to wider acceptance of violence against them, fear of social stigma and exclusion, and, at times threat to life,” said the report, titled “Still a Long Way to Go.” Billions of dollars in aid have been poured into Afghanistan since the Taliban was ousted, and progress in women’s rights is frequently touted as an indicator of improving peace and democracy.

Yet the reality suggests many women still live with the daily fear of violence.

Last month police said they arrested two men in Kunduz for allegedly beheading a teenage girl after her father rejected a marriage proposal.

It came soon after four policemen were sentenced for raping an 18-year-old.
The new report describes a married 15-year-old girl who complained of being beaten but was told by prosecutors she faced prison if she did not drop the case. She was later forced to set fire to herself and died.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission recorded 4010 cases of violence against women between March and October this year, nearly twice as many as in the previous 12 months, the report said, suggesting the new Elimination of Violence against Women (EAVW) law had made it easier for cases to be reported.
Yet only a fraction of those were reported to police and in 16 provinces, where the UN was able to gather data, just 21% of 470 reports of violence against women resulted in convictions.
Jan Kubis, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, said the law could provide a firm foundation for empowering women.
“Progress in implementing the EVAW law can contribute to deterring harmful practices and violence against women in Afghanistan that have long prevented women from participating in public life and blocked their voices from being heard in decision-making and peace and reconciliation processes,” he said.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/afghanistan/9736427/Afghanistan-women-still-suffering-horrific-abuse.html

Israel’s Line in the Sand

Israel’s Line in the Sand

By  David Pryce-Jones

November 15, 2012 7:49 AM

The late Ahmed Jaabari was the leader of the military wing of Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood movement that took power after a coup in Gaza. The several thousand men under his command served as a kind of secret police force, far more powerful than the other Islamist or tribal armed groups in Gaza. More powerful too than political leaders like Ismail Haniya or Khalid Mashaal, who in effect are civilians.
Over the last few days the Hamas military wing has fired 115 missiles and rockets out of Gaza into Israel. A number like that reflects the state of politics. In the usual run of things only a few rockets are fired, not enough to do more than prove that Hamas is active, and certainly not enough to warrant an armed Israeli response. 115 in a few days is a very different matter. Hamas leaders can only have wanted to test out the balance of power after the American election.  They may well have concluded that Israel would not dare respond for fear of President Obama’s condemnation. In which case, they could fire off another 115. They have a fail-safe option as well. They are confident of the support of the parent Muslim Brotherhood group now in power in Egypt. The Egyptian leadership is bound to condemn Israel in public, for otherwise it will be exposed as hypocritical — talking enmity with Israel but in practice inactive.
Taking out Jaabari, Israel has drawn a line. Token rockets, yes perhaps, a barrage, no. Jaabari lived underground out of precaution. To have identified his whereabouts accurately and to have struck the car he was in is a feat requiring the highest levels of intelligence and technical skills.  The pity of it is that previous Hamas leaders have deceived themselves that this strategy of violence will eliminate Israel, only to pay for such folly with their lives. Each time a master terrorist like Jaabari is killed, they swear they will open the gates of hell on Israel, only to find that they are herding themselves through those very gates.

 http://www.nationalreview.com/david-pryce-jones/333438/israels-line-sand