STOP RAZZISMO ROMA 4 OT 2008 by chukwubike

STOP RAZZISMO MANIFESTAZIONE A ROMA 04/10/2008

STOP RAZZISMO ROMA [ 04 OTT 2008]by chukbyke

GRUPPO MUSICALE MULTIETNICA

I HATE MY JOB.......

Thought this would put a smile on your face this monday morning

When you have an 'I Hate My Job day'
[Even if you're retired, you sometimes have those days]

Try this out On your way home from work, stop at your pharmacy and go to the thermometer section and purchase a rectal thermometer made by Johnson & Johnson

Be very sure you get this brand. When you get home, lock your doors, draw the curtains and disconnect the phone so you will not be disturbed.

Change into very comfortable clothing and sit in your favorite chair. Open the package and remove the thermometer. Now, carefully place it on a table or a surface so that it will not become chipped or broken.

Now the fun part begins.

Take out the literature from the box and read it carefully. You will notice that in small print there is a statement:
'Every Rectal Thermometer made by Johnson &Johnson is personally tested and then sanitized. '
Now, close your eyes and repeat out loud five times,'I am so glad I do not work in the thermometer quality control department at Johnson &Johnson.'

HAVE A NICE DAY; AND REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE WITH A JOB THAT IS MORE OF A PAIN IN THE ASS THAN YOURS!

.........Remember, if you haven't got a smile on your face and laughter in your heart...Then you are just an old sour fart; Maybe you should go and work for Johnson &Johnson!!!!!

BIGGER FISH TO FRY ON INDEPENDENCE

I think we should be trying to find ways to solve problems and not compound it. I am getting older and the older I get, the more I want real answers to some of the questions I have had since the 80s when I began to realize what was lacking in Nigerian towns.

I agree with the suggestion that we should talk about real issues facing our people. I think the biggest is lack of good medicine, the second is lack of infrastructure/technological advancement to compete in the global market place, and the third major one is the lack of love for other fellow Nigerians by those on top. If one really loves another as they love themselves, they will wish for that person to have what they have such as the good things in life. Jesus commanded us to do so. This is exclusive of tolerance for blatant sin or crime.

There are other problems but I will stay with the subject of medicine that I enjoy and because of my concern about health matters. I have heard of and seen several incidences that leave me wondering when a real solution is going to begin in medicine.

How do we begin to address the issues facing us and news we hear from home that are not always pleasant? Issues such as:
A relative died in a car crash. They said it was the work of witch craft. There was no ambulance to take her to the hospital. Why?
Another relative got involved in a car crash and broke his shoulder joint. They say it was the work of witch.

2 weeks ago, a nurse yanked off a new Born's arm from his shoulder during delivery, the mother thinks it is a broken scapula or shoulder blade, the husband is confused and thinks it could be both but they are both sure the arm is displaced from its socket. Up until now, 2 weeks later, in Lagos, the hospital has not called to checked on them. In the meanwhile, the child cries all day and night.

A cousin went to the hospital for stomach infection or something. The hospital refused him treatment because the mother could not come up with the money they were asking for at the time. He died.
4 of my male cousins were said to be sick of something at different times within the last 2-3 years. 3 from same parents and another from another, and they all died. The one that was in his teen years died earlier (a few years back), 2 were in their 20s and another in his 40s. The mother of the three boys sometimes wonders what really happened.
Another female cousin went to the hospital to deliver a baby and did not make it back. Similar situation was the case for my in law.

50% of the patients in the ward at Agbor, I hear, are amputees from Okada falls. They say bad luck followed them but I say it is from the bad roads and no means of transporting them quickly enough to the hospitals to salvage the limbs.

My uncle's wife tried to give birth to twins a few years ago and it was bye bye to her and the twins in the hopital.
One of my cousin went to fix a catarrach and came back with half past four eye. She was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl in my town until that happened. That led to low self esteem that led to other details I care not to give here.

There are several others like a woman with aids who gave birth t a child without AIDS but was allowed to breast feed her newborn until he got HIV and AIDS and died.
What can we do to provide better education for our doctors in Nigeria and medical technology with which they can work effectively?

People are afraid to visit Naija because most fo the people they know are dead. Can we change that for the junior ones coming up to make it possible to see their friends at age 70, 80, 90, and maybe 100?

Diseases are leaving a lot of our nieces and nephews orphans, fatherless or motherless. What does the future hold for these kids? Are they dying because we have more bacteria than other parts of the world, more careless health habits, witches, poverty, no love from the politicians at the top, untrained doctors, less medical tools to work with, bad roads, infected or damaged foods from no preservation methods, lack of it, or inadequacy of it? Do our people not deserve to see great great great grand children?
I am praying for us and I wish more can be done.
Philo

STOP RAZZISMO 04/10/2008 ROMA

QUALCHE FOTO DELLA GIORNATA...STOP RAZZISMO DI ROMA
DOMANI UN CI SARA' UN LINK PER ACCEDERE ALL'ALBUM CON OLTRE 120 FOTO C RACCONTA LA GIORNATA. ...clicca sull'immagine per ingrandire....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(some pictures from the-- Stop Racism day in Rome. Tomorrow a link will lead
you to more than 120 news/story pictures .....click on the picture to enlarge)
Charles.

ANTI RAZZISMO

NIGERIA@48

French Muslims Find Haven in Catholic Schools Franco Zecchin for the International Herald Tribune Nadia Oualane, right, and Amina Zaidi may wear head scarves at St. Mauront, a Roman Catholic school in Marseille. The scarves are forbidden in state schools. By KATRIN BENNHOLD Published: September 29, 2008 MARSEILLE, France — The bright cafeteria of St. Mauront Catholic School is conspicuously quiet: It is Ramadan, and 80 percent of the students are Muslim. When the lunch bell rings, girls and boys stream out past the crucifixes and the large wooden cross in the corridor, heading for Muslim midday prayer. Enlarge This Image Franco Zecchin for The International Herald Tribune Amina at the blackboard. In a French magazine's recent ranking of high schools, 15 of the top 20 were Catholic schools. "There is respect for our religion here," said Nadia Oualane, 14, a student of Algerian descent who wears her hair hidden under a black head scarf. "In the public school," she added, gesturing at nearby buildings, "I would not be allowed to wear a veil." In France, which has only four Muslim schools, some of the country's 8,847 Roman Catholic schools have become refuges for Muslims seeking what an overburdened, secularist public sector often lacks: spirituality, an environment in which good manners count alongside mathematics, and higher academic standards. No national statistics are kept, but Muslim and Catholic educators estimate that Muslim students now make up more than 10 percent of the two million students in Catholic schools. In ethnically mixed neighborhoods in Marseille and the industrial north, the proportion can be more than half. The quiet migration of Muslims to private Catholic schools highlights how hard it has become for state schools, long France's tool for integration, to keep their promise of equal opportunity. Traditionally, the republican school, born of the French Revolution, was the breeding ground for citizens. The shift from these schools is another indication of the challenge facing the strict form of secularism known as "laïcité." Following centuries of religious wars and a long period of conflict between the nascent Republic and an assertive clergy, a 1905 law granted religious freedom in predominantly Roman Catholic France and withdrew financial support and formal recognition from all faiths. Religious education and symbols were banned from public schools. France is now home to around five million Muslims, Western Europe's largest such community, and new fault lines have emerged. In 2004, a ban on the head scarf in state schools prompted outcry and debate about loosening the interpretation of the 1905 law. "Laïcité has become the state's religion, and the republican school is its temple," said Imam Soheib Bencheikh, a former grand mufti in Marseille and founder of its Higher Institute of Islamic Studies. Imam Bencheikh's oldest daughter attends Catholic school. "It's ironic," he said, "but today the Catholic Church is more tolerant of — and knowledgeable about — Islam than the French state." For some, economics argue for Catholic schools, which tend to be smaller than public ones and much less expensive than private schools in other countries. In return for the schools' teaching the national curriculum and being open to students of all faiths, the government pays teachers' salaries and a per-student subsidy. Annual costs for parents average 1,400 euros (less than $2,050) for junior high school and 1,800 euros (about $2,630) for high school, according to the Roman Catholic educational authority. In France's highly centralized education system, the national curriculum proscribes religious instruction beyond general examination of religious tenets and faiths as it occurs in history lessons. Religious instruction, like Catholic catechism, is voluntary. And Catholic schools take steps to accommodate different faiths. One school in Dijon allows Muslim students to use the chapel for Ramadan prayers. Catholic schools are also free to allow girls to wear head scarves. Many honor the state ban, but several, like St. Mauront, tolerate a discreet covering. The school, tucked under an overpass in the city's northern housing projects, embodies tectonic shifts in French society over the past century. Founded in 1905 in a former soap factory, the school initially served mainly Catholic students whose parents were French, said the headmaster, Jean Chamoux. Before World War II, Italian and some Portuguese immigrants arrived; since the 1960s, Africans from former French colonies. Today there is barely a white face among the 117 students. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/world/europe/30schools.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

---

Scopri il Blog di Yahoo! Mail: trucchi, novità, consigli... e anche la tua opinione!

Cosa tocca fare per poter mettere il velo!

Francia, le musulmane nelle scuole cattoliche per indossare il velo
Migliaia i giovani di fede islamica che frequentano istituti cattolici per aggirare la legge sulla laicità
Le ragazze nel collegio di St. Mauront, a Marsiglia (foto dal New York Times) MARSIGLIA (Francia) – Frequentare una scuola cattolica per indossare il velo islamico. In Francia sono ormai decine di migliaia le ragazze musulmane che studiano in istituti cattolici privati per aggirare la legge sulla laicità dello Stato che vieta di ostentare simboli religiosi nelle scuole pubbliche francesi. Il New York Times dedica un ampio reportage a questo crescente fenomeno e sottolinea che le giovani musulmane scelgono gli istituti cattolici proprio perché qui sono tollerati tutti i simboli religiosi, anche quelli appartenenti a religioni diverse da quella cattolica romana.
CIFRE - La maggior parte degli studenti, in alcuni istituti privati cattolici, è di religione musulmana. Addirittura nel collegio di St. Mauront, a Marsiglia, la presenza di alunni di fede islamica raggiunge la percentuale record dell'80%. Gli istituti musulmani in Francia sono solo quattro e per questo le 8.847 scuole cattoliche sono diventate l'ultimo rifugio per quei tanti musulmani che considerano la legge sulla laicità dello Stato qualcosa di ingiusto e liberticida. Secondo le statistiche diffuse dagli insegnanti francesi oggi le scuole cattoliche transalpine sono frequentate da circa due milioni di ragazzi: oltre il 10% degli studenti sono di religione musulmana.
TOLLERANZA - Gli alunni di origine musulmana che frequentano la scuola cattolica di St. Mauront si dichiarano felici di non studiare in un istituto pubblico: «Qui almeno c'è rispetto per la nostra religione» taglia corto Nadia, studentessa di 14 anni di origine algerina. «Nelle scuole pubbliche non potrei mai indossare il velo». Anche gli esponenti del mondo religioso musulmano fanno notare le contraddizioni insite nella scuola francese. «La laicità è diventata la religione di Stato e la scuola repubblicana il suo tempio» afferma Imam Soheib Bencheikh, ex Gran Muftì di Marsiglia e oggi fondatore dell'Istituto di Alti Studi Islamici. «È ironico, ma oggi la Chiesa Cattolica è molto più tollerante dello Stato francese quando si parla di Islam» conclude Bencheikh che ha una figlia che frequenta una scuola cattolica. Gli istituti cattolici in Francia hanno un costo relativamente basso rispetto ai collegi privati delle altre nazioni: in media i genitori spendono 1400 euro per le scuole medie inferiori e 1800 euro per quelle superiori.
LIBERTÀ RELIGIOSA - Jean Chamoux, direttore dell'istituto di St. Mauront, lavora in questa scuola da circa 20 anni: «A differenza della scuola pubblica noi crediamo nella libertà religiosa» afferma il preside. «Se proibissi alle ragazze di portare il velo, la metà degli studenti che oggi sono in queste classi non andrebbe a scuola. Preferisco averli qui, parlare con loro e spiegare che esse sono ragazze fortunate perché possono scegliere». Naturalmente anche nel collegio di St. Mauront non regna sempre l'armonia. È lo stesso preside Chamoux a confessare che probabilmente una minoranza delle studentesse è costretta dai genitori a portare il velo. Inoltre quando vi sono le lezioni di nuoto, tanti familiari fanno rimanere a casa le proprie figlie per evitare che mostrino parti del corpo o che nuotino in piscina con dei ragazzi. Infine Chamoux sottolinea che anche le libertà religiose hanno un limite: quando gli studenti musulmani gli hanno chiesto di togliere dalla classe il crocifisso per poter pregare «liberamente» durante i giorni del Ramadan, egli non ha voluto sentire ragioni e non ha mosso dalla parete il simbolo cristiano.
CRITICHE – Le considerazioni dei fautori del secolarismo sono totalmente diverse da quelle del preside Chamoux. Secondo costoro bisognerebbe rafforzare ulteriormente lo spirito laico dello Stato affinché alcuni dei valori occidentali quali il rispetto della donna e le libertà personali continuino ad essere principi inviolabili: «Il velo è un simbolo sessista e attesta la sottomissione della donna all'uomo» afferma Xavier Darcos, ministro dell'educazione francese. «Nella nostra scuola repubblicana non vi può essere posto per la discriminazione sessuale».
Francesco Tortora
Dal Corriere della Sera on line

HOLOCAUST FOR ........THE STORY

HOLOCAUST FOR NIGERIAN GAYS? 2

As I was saying… I really did not know much of homosexuals and homosexuality in Nigeria except those ........’it happens in the north ……….girls do it in the dormitories and call it SUPE or SHUPE…’ and other naive stuff like that .

In the early ‘80s as young African students in Rome we noticed that in the public urinary at the Stazione Termini some men used to ‘crane or giraffe ‘ their neck as to see your p.. while urinating. Oh Dio !! we did not understand anything; The first day we wondered all through the 30 minutes ride on metropolitan to Ostia Lido what and why a man should be interested in seeing the p….. of another male. The last day we used that urinary was the day one of us was touched on the buttocks by a vulgar homosexual fellow. This poor newly arrived African boy thought in his anger that the best revenge was to urinate on the man, but he was disappointed when the man instead enjoyed the mess…... ..We ran out in disgust and fear. That was the last such public urinary saw us for a very long time. In the second year we took some lessons in psychology and sociology where we had refs on homosexuality etc.

While doing my NYSC in the North and a period I worked as a guidance counsellor in girls schools in the south , I observed some ambiguous relationship between teenage girls very few cases were unequivocal though. I was particularly careful because I knew many parents would not understand if they learnt you handled a report of ‘SUPE’ relationship of their daughter. You might even be blamed for that even if they understood. It wasn’t easy for me as a young graduate and the first guidance councillor in that female school. However, we regarded such as ‘behaviour that will pass with the time’. We believed some did pass with time - did they?

Back in Europe at the beginning of the 90’s I lost my job and had to hang on a job with a Stylist and high fashion designer… (a world name). I was shuttling cities- Rome, Milan, Paris etc on fashion exhibitions with our models and other staff. I was at the back stage and kept records of the dresses and accessories so it was imperative I had to be in the dressing rooms always; a great embarrassment to me in the first days. Imagine a ‘poor Christ’ landing from Enugu directly into a hall full of nude, half nude and uninhibited girls I only see in magazines and televisions. It was a mental torture I must say, even physical also..… hahahahah. Wetin man pikin no go bear for money? I felt dehumanized or ‘demanized’, no matter most of them were like sticks and lacked most of the elements in my fantasies. About 80% of them were underfed, underweight, unmannered, uneducated ; The only thing most of them had more or over were doses of things that did not do them any good rather the cause of their depreciation. I am not a cannibal but do not like bones. I respect peoples tastes but still wonder what a man would do with a mass of bones?

However I was encouraged and brushed up to face the job and the girls by a nice designer from the Rome arts academy weighing more than two of our models put together and had size 4+ of the brassier: we became friends immediately because we were among the few that ate what human beings ate. We became a pair in everything ,yes everything. She saved me from confusion.

During the coffee break the first day , I went with two gentlemen in our team and they also booked seats for the lunch. They were in charge of the cosmetics, hair and general body beauty of these models . They were very easy, funny and well-mannered but were always critical of any girl I proposed I would check out after work that evening :Rome is nice in the evening. I initially thought they were as people already in the sector protecting me; then I later became suspicious of their changing topics whenever I went to conclude how to end my evening.

My real problem was not with the models and their behaviour but with the make up fellows. Almost all the high profile make-up specialists, hairdressers in the high fashion biz are males. Those in our team then were all rich professionals and the girls liked and wanted them, I was not rich but liked and wanted most of the girls that liked the make-up men ,my designer girl informed me that all the make-up men liked and may want me. (I hope one can still understand this mathematics of ‘liking and wanting’). Dio mio!! I rushed into the toilet to throw up but didn’t because I bumped on two models (females) in ‘funny behaviour’ there, I remembered the Holy bible-Sodom and Gomorrah.

After the rehearsals I made sure I passed the evening with the designer to make sure ‘everything still functioned ‘ correctly with me. She was happy I was afraid and inwardly wanted me to be frightened every evening for her to reassure me always……. Or reciprocal reassurance I would say.
I left the job later for another job after a lot of 'reassurances that things still functioned' the way I wanted them .
The next job was still more challenging.
Charles Okey C.