Solar Eclipse Inspires Awe All Over Globe
Superstitions still greet the momentous event
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Alex Argote (alexphil)
In a fitting tribute to the ancient sun god, thousands of scientists, historians, tourists, as well as millions of people, have flocked to key spots of the planet where moon's blocking of the sun was visible or partially visible on Wednesday, March 29.This temporary disappearance of the sun, more popularly known as a solar eclipse, is one of the most anticipated and feared events on Earth from the time of the hominids and earliest recorded history. A solar eclipse happens when the moon comes in a rare position directly between the sun and earth. A moon's shadow is thus created, and it temporarily paints a black line on the bright side of the world.For a brief, but closely watched moment, day turns into twilight in the eclipse's path.The total eclipse started in Brazil and followed a northeast path, sweeping across the Atlantic, some parts of Central Africa, Turkey, near the Himalayas, and then to Mongolia.In preparation for the solar spectacle, authorities in superstition-ridden parts of the world scrambled to educate their people on the dangers of looking directly at the sun as it comes in a close encounter with the moon.The government of Togo in West Africa purchased hundreds of thousands of pairs of special eyeglasses that were sold out immediately in the capital city of Lome. For the poor villagers in the countrysides and the interior, they were warned to just stay indoors lest they be blinded by curiosity.According to reports, Togo's health minister broadcast a message on the state television telling the people without safety goggles not to go out and to keep their children indoors on the day of the eclipse.Along the route of the eclipse, day turned abruptly into darkness and a corona glowed brightly around the moon's edges as it came in the dead center between the sun and the only habitable planet in the solar system. Gazing at the corona with the naked eye is extremely dangerous.The University of Cape Coast broadcast the eclipse on the Internet as crowds converged in droves in prime viewing points of Accra, Ghana's capital, Turkey and India.NASA astronomers and those from Britain's Royal Institute of Astronomy went to an ancient Roman amphitheater in Turkey to observe the phenomenon, especially the corona where they hoped to gain more information on the sun's surface by observing it behind the moon.Solar eclipses have been part of human lore and history since the days of antiquity. It is know that each different culture developed a unique approach to this celestial phenomenon. But the Babylonians were said to have discovered the technique of long-range system of predicting occurrences that they called the "saros cycle." This method was also of great help to historians in fixing exact dates of past events.There is also quite a palpable reference to an eclipse in the Old Testament. "And on that day, saith the Lord God, 'I will make the Sun go down at noon, and darken the Earth in broad daylight'." (Amos 8:9). Evidently, that day was June 15, 763 B.C. This date is reportedly confirmed by an Assyrian historical record known as the "eponym canon." Each year in Assyria was thus named after a different ruling official and year's events were recorded under that name in the canon. On the year corresponding 763 B.C., a scribe at Nineveh wrote this eclipse and emphasized the importance of the day by drawing a line across the stone tablet. The historians were then able to improve the chronology of early Biblical epochs by referring to these ancient records. The earliest known account of a solar eclipse comes from ancient China. The date was October 22, 2134 B.C., but it is not certain. Historians know it was written sometime within a period of about two hundred years. The ancient Chinese were particularly superstitious about these solar occurrences. During the above eclipse, there was likely great noise and commotion with people beating their drums, archers shooting arrows into that "invisible dragon that had devoured the sun." According to some reports, the emperor was so enraged at having been caught unprepared that he peremptorily ordered the royal astronomers beheaded for failing to predict the solar eclipse. One such "devious and invisible dragon" is said to be the most famous in ancient times was known to have ended a five-year war between the Medes and the Lydians. One day the armies of the two Middle Eastern kingdoms were fighting a savage battle when suddenly, "the day was turned into night." The warriors of both warring lands were startled so much that everyone stopped fighting and took this as a message from the gods.Even today, in the age of Internet enabled computers, spaceships, and citizen participatory journalism, some queer beliefs and superstitions about eclipses still persist. Here in the Philippines, pregnant women are strongly dissuaded from going out of their houses when the moon swallows the sun, lest some misfortune befall their future babies.
2006-03-29 20:56
2006-03-30 13:15 (KST)
©2006 OhmyNews
Other articles by reporter Alex Argote
Friday, March 31, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
death of a visionary
Peace Advocate Killed in Iraq
Tom Fox senselessly executed in the cradle of civilization
Email Article Print Article Alex Argote (alexphil)
A sad day dawned on March 9, Thursday when the remains of American peace activist Tom Fox was found dumped in a street in western Baghdad. Hogtied and wrapped in a blanket, the peacemaker's body bore the palpable signs of torture, according to Iraqi police operatives, who later called U.S. forces upon learning that the body belonged to a Westerner.
Tom Fox, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, was abducted on Nov. 26 along three other coworkers and peace activists. The three, two Canadians -- Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Jim Loney, 41, -- and a British national -- Norman Kember, 74 -- are still in captivity somewhere in Iraq.
Fox was added to the more than a dozen foreign hostages who have been executed in Iraq since kidnappings began in April 2004. The world has witnessed several horrific and depressing videotaped decapitations of innocent victims.
A U.S. diplomat in Baghdad said that at least 430 foreigners were abducted and taken hostage in Iraq since the U.S. invaded the country in 2003. There have been about 41 Americans and some Iraqi-Americans, as well. Fourteen are said to be still in captivity at the time of Fox's death.
On its Web site, the anti-war group Christian Peacemaker said that Fox's unfortunate death "pierces us with pain," and pleaded for the safe release of the other hostages.
The group mourned the loss of Fox, who "combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone."
Christian Peacemaker Teams urged all sides in the Iraq conflict not to vilify or demonize others in the aftermath of Fox's execution.
On March 7, Al Jareeza television showed a video broadcast footage of Fox's three companions, but none of him.
According to Claire Evans, a delegation coordinator of the Peacemaker Teams in Chicago, their group is now very worried about the condition of the three other peace activists.
Fox worked hard to contribute to the welfare of suffering Iraqis who have been caught in the bloody cycle of violence that has ripped apart the Iraqi nation since the 2003 U.S. invasion. He was there in the shell-scarred landscape and streets, helping to clean up the rubble-strewn city of Fallujah and doing everything he could to heal a nation and people brutally mangled by a senseless and destructive conflict.
Fox, a former Marine band member, fought all kinds of violence and war, and preached the love of God for all children of the earth.
In an article he wrote the day before he was seized by the kidnappers, Fox reflected on his group's presence in the war-torn country by offering his own question, "Why are we here?"
Fox outlined that they were adhering to the divine message to take part in the creation of the peaceable realm of God. He explained, "How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm."
He observed that dehumanization seems to be an operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are the result of this dehumanization. In this process, many innocent Iraqis -- men, women and children -- are also killed.
Fox finally added, "Why are we here? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."
His tragic death is a cruel message to all efforts to pursue all peaceful paths in trying to defuse possible conflicts and end on-going state-sanctioned conflagrations. Unfortunate people, who are caught in the wars between cold-hearted and profit oriented governments and entities, need the likes of Tom Fox and Christian Peacemaker Teams to ease their suffering.
But if those very selfless individuals who try to reason in an unreasonable world are threatened, then who will help and protect the weak and the unfortunate? For a government, at least, those individuals may be just statistics in legally sanctioned wars, which only fuel more hatred and enmity among different people.
2006-03-13 13:00 (KST)
©2006 OhmyNews
Tom Fox senselessly executed in the cradle of civilization
Email Article Print Article Alex Argote (alexphil)
A sad day dawned on March 9, Thursday when the remains of American peace activist Tom Fox was found dumped in a street in western Baghdad. Hogtied and wrapped in a blanket, the peacemaker's body bore the palpable signs of torture, according to Iraqi police operatives, who later called U.S. forces upon learning that the body belonged to a Westerner.
Tom Fox, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, was abducted on Nov. 26 along three other coworkers and peace activists. The three, two Canadians -- Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Jim Loney, 41, -- and a British national -- Norman Kember, 74 -- are still in captivity somewhere in Iraq.
Fox was added to the more than a dozen foreign hostages who have been executed in Iraq since kidnappings began in April 2004. The world has witnessed several horrific and depressing videotaped decapitations of innocent victims.
A U.S. diplomat in Baghdad said that at least 430 foreigners were abducted and taken hostage in Iraq since the U.S. invaded the country in 2003. There have been about 41 Americans and some Iraqi-Americans, as well. Fourteen are said to be still in captivity at the time of Fox's death.
On its Web site, the anti-war group Christian Peacemaker said that Fox's unfortunate death "pierces us with pain," and pleaded for the safe release of the other hostages.
The group mourned the loss of Fox, who "combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone."
Christian Peacemaker Teams urged all sides in the Iraq conflict not to vilify or demonize others in the aftermath of Fox's execution.
On March 7, Al Jareeza television showed a video broadcast footage of Fox's three companions, but none of him.
According to Claire Evans, a delegation coordinator of the Peacemaker Teams in Chicago, their group is now very worried about the condition of the three other peace activists.
Fox worked hard to contribute to the welfare of suffering Iraqis who have been caught in the bloody cycle of violence that has ripped apart the Iraqi nation since the 2003 U.S. invasion. He was there in the shell-scarred landscape and streets, helping to clean up the rubble-strewn city of Fallujah and doing everything he could to heal a nation and people brutally mangled by a senseless and destructive conflict.
Fox, a former Marine band member, fought all kinds of violence and war, and preached the love of God for all children of the earth.
In an article he wrote the day before he was seized by the kidnappers, Fox reflected on his group's presence in the war-torn country by offering his own question, "Why are we here?"
Fox outlined that they were adhering to the divine message to take part in the creation of the peaceable realm of God. He explained, "How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm."
He observed that dehumanization seems to be an operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are the result of this dehumanization. In this process, many innocent Iraqis -- men, women and children -- are also killed.
Fox finally added, "Why are we here? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."
His tragic death is a cruel message to all efforts to pursue all peaceful paths in trying to defuse possible conflicts and end on-going state-sanctioned conflagrations. Unfortunate people, who are caught in the wars between cold-hearted and profit oriented governments and entities, need the likes of Tom Fox and Christian Peacemaker Teams to ease their suffering.
But if those very selfless individuals who try to reason in an unreasonable world are threatened, then who will help and protect the weak and the unfortunate? For a government, at least, those individuals may be just statistics in legally sanctioned wars, which only fuel more hatred and enmity among different people.
2006-03-13 13:00 (KST)
©2006 OhmyNews
death of a visionary
Peace Advocate Killed in Iraq
Tom Fox senselessly executed in the cradle of civilization
Email Article Print Article Alex Argote (alexphil)
A sad day dawned on March 9, Thursday when the remains of American peace activist Tom Fox was found dumped in a street in western Baghdad. Hogtied and wrapped in a blanket, the peacemaker's body bore the palpable signs of torture, according to Iraqi police operatives, who later called U.S. forces upon learning that the body belonged to a Westerner.
Tom Fox, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, was abducted on Nov. 26 along three other coworkers and peace activists. The three, two Canadians -- Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Jim Loney, 41, -- and a British national -- Norman Kember, 74 -- are still in captivity somewhere in Iraq.
Fox was added to the more than a dozen foreign hostages who have been executed in Iraq since kidnappings began in April 2004. The world has witnessed several horrific and depressing videotaped decapitations of innocent victims.
A U.S. diplomat in Baghdad said that at least 430 foreigners were abducted and taken hostage in Iraq since the U.S. invaded the country in 2003. There have been about 41 Americans and some Iraqi-Americans, as well. Fourteen are said to be still in captivity at the time of Fox's death.
On its Web site, the anti-war group Christian Peacemaker said that Fox's unfortunate death "pierces us with pain," and pleaded for the safe release of the other hostages.
The group mourned the loss of Fox, who "combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone."
Christian Peacemaker Teams urged all sides in the Iraq conflict not to vilify or demonize others in the aftermath of Fox's execution.
On March 7, Al Jareeza television showed a video broadcast footage of Fox's three companions, but none of him.
According to Claire Evans, a delegation coordinator of the Peacemaker Teams in Chicago, their group is now very worried about the condition of the three other peace activists.
Fox worked hard to contribute to the welfare of suffering Iraqis who have been caught in the bloody cycle of violence that has ripped apart the Iraqi nation since the 2003 U.S. invasion. He was there in the shell-scarred landscape and streets, helping to clean up the rubble-strewn city of Fallujah and doing everything he could to heal a nation and people brutally mangled by a senseless and destructive conflict.
Fox, a former Marine band member, fought all kinds of violence and war, and preached the love of God for all children of the earth.
In an article he wrote the day before he was seized by the kidnappers, Fox reflected on his group's presence in the war-torn country by offering his own question, "Why are we here?"
Fox outlined that they were adhering to the divine message to take part in the creation of the peaceable realm of God. He explained, "How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm."
He observed that dehumanization seems to be an operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are the result of this dehumanization. In this process, many innocent Iraqis -- men, women and children -- are also killed.
Fox finally added, "Why are we here? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."
His tragic death is a cruel message to all efforts to pursue all peaceful paths in trying to defuse possible conflicts and end on-going state-sanctioned conflagrations. Unfortunate people, who are caught in the wars between cold-hearted and profit oriented governments and entities, need the likes of Tom Fox and Christian Peacemaker Teams to ease their suffering.
But if those very selfless individuals who try to reason in an unreasonable world are threatened, then who will help and protect the weak and the unfortunate? For a government, at least, those individuals may be just statistics in legally sanctioned wars, which only fuel more hatred and enmity among different people.
2006-03-13 13:00 (KST)
©2006 OhmyNews
Tom Fox senselessly executed in the cradle of civilization
Email Article Print Article Alex Argote (alexphil)
A sad day dawned on March 9, Thursday when the remains of American peace activist Tom Fox was found dumped in a street in western Baghdad. Hogtied and wrapped in a blanket, the peacemaker's body bore the palpable signs of torture, according to Iraqi police operatives, who later called U.S. forces upon learning that the body belonged to a Westerner.
Tom Fox, a member of the Christian Peacemaker Teams, was abducted on Nov. 26 along three other coworkers and peace activists. The three, two Canadians -- Harmeet Sooden, 32, and Jim Loney, 41, -- and a British national -- Norman Kember, 74 -- are still in captivity somewhere in Iraq.
Fox was added to the more than a dozen foreign hostages who have been executed in Iraq since kidnappings began in April 2004. The world has witnessed several horrific and depressing videotaped decapitations of innocent victims.
A U.S. diplomat in Baghdad said that at least 430 foreigners were abducted and taken hostage in Iraq since the U.S. invaded the country in 2003. There have been about 41 Americans and some Iraqi-Americans, as well. Fourteen are said to be still in captivity at the time of Fox's death.
On its Web site, the anti-war group Christian Peacemaker said that Fox's unfortunate death "pierces us with pain," and pleaded for the safe release of the other hostages.
The group mourned the loss of Fox, who "combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone."
Christian Peacemaker Teams urged all sides in the Iraq conflict not to vilify or demonize others in the aftermath of Fox's execution.
On March 7, Al Jareeza television showed a video broadcast footage of Fox's three companions, but none of him.
According to Claire Evans, a delegation coordinator of the Peacemaker Teams in Chicago, their group is now very worried about the condition of the three other peace activists.
Fox worked hard to contribute to the welfare of suffering Iraqis who have been caught in the bloody cycle of violence that has ripped apart the Iraqi nation since the 2003 U.S. invasion. He was there in the shell-scarred landscape and streets, helping to clean up the rubble-strewn city of Fallujah and doing everything he could to heal a nation and people brutally mangled by a senseless and destructive conflict.
Fox, a former Marine band member, fought all kinds of violence and war, and preached the love of God for all children of the earth.
In an article he wrote the day before he was seized by the kidnappers, Fox reflected on his group's presence in the war-torn country by offering his own question, "Why are we here?"
Fox outlined that they were adhering to the divine message to take part in the creation of the peaceable realm of God. He explained, "How we take part in the creation of this realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the realm."
He observed that dehumanization seems to be an operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to hunt down and kill "terrorists" are the result of this dehumanization. In this process, many innocent Iraqis -- men, women and children -- are also killed.
Fox finally added, "Why are we here? We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization that exists within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no matter how much they dehumanize their own souls."
His tragic death is a cruel message to all efforts to pursue all peaceful paths in trying to defuse possible conflicts and end on-going state-sanctioned conflagrations. Unfortunate people, who are caught in the wars between cold-hearted and profit oriented governments and entities, need the likes of Tom Fox and Christian Peacemaker Teams to ease their suffering.
But if those very selfless individuals who try to reason in an unreasonable world are threatened, then who will help and protect the weak and the unfortunate? For a government, at least, those individuals may be just statistics in legally sanctioned wars, which only fuel more hatred and enmity among different people.
2006-03-13 13:00 (KST)
©2006 OhmyNews
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
new dictatorship
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| As the smoke of the latest round of power struggle settles in the ground, an obnoxios new order takes form in the ever-chaotic arena that is Philippine society and politics. Inspite of the lifting of the presidential proclamation 1017(national emergency) and General Order (GO) 5, a state of fear exist in the minds of Filipinos who dare not speak out or march in the streets agaisnt abuses and excesses of those in power lest the boot of the government stamp down on them. The full force and efforts of the Arroyo regime is now focused solely on maintaining the status quo and throwing all the main oppositionists off-balance while consolidating its power base firmly on political ground. The static and divisive debate on the legality of Mrs. Arroyo's presidency that was ignited with the alleged 2004 election cheating scandal and other anomalies concerning her administration had greatly undermined the government. With most Filipinos frustrated over bureaucratic corruption and the endless controversies that maligned government agencies and institutions, it seemed to be just a matter of time before the ravenous wolves that are lurking in the political periphery jump at the center and impose their own rule on the people. But in the last week of February, sensing the palpable scent of domestic trouble, President Arroyo unleashed her Gestapo guards and locked-up in cages those who were incessantly barking at her administration. Armed with the recently exhumed "State of National Emergency", her allies quickly stomped on and extinguished the growing fires of discontent at Arroyo's flagging presidency. The blitskrieg tactics paid off, soon, most key opposition leaders were aprehended and neutralized, and the president once more triumphantly beat her chest in a savage cry of victory. To keep the "destabilizers" in the leash as the government consolidates power, the Philippine authorities started weeding out military officers and officials that are critical of the Arroyo leadership. The top brass, acting on orders from Malacanang, sacked one reformist and untainted general of the elite Army Scout Rangers, Danilo Lim and placed him on an indefinite detention. When another straight and career-oriented and progressive military exec, Col. Ariel Quirobin protested and questioned the legality of the general's dismissal, he too, was cashiered. Because it is highly politicized and fractious, the Philippine military now is suffering from its lowest morale in years as model and exemplary soldiers and officers get jailed for blowing the whistle on graft and corruption in the uniformed services. The whole military outfit of the country now is geared mainly on serving and protecting one over-ambitious and power-hungry individual-President Arroyo. Advancement and promotion is now based not on loyalty to country and people but to loyalty to one egotistical person that claimed to be the best leader the Philippines had in order to advance to economic prosperity and greatness. But the very best act that Arroyo had performed so far is to summon the ghosts that have plagued the Filipinos for decades. Whatever gains of her self-serving supplications aimed at calming down the growing clamor for her to step down were swept away by the uneasy silence that grips the land. The Philippines seemed to have been hurled back in the dark, stone ages. Although, the state of national emergency had been rescinded under pressure from Washington, still the Arroyo government had clamped down on free speech and press so as to prevent further attacts on her tenure in Malacanang. Almost reminiscent of the Marcos era, authorities now banned rallies, demontrations, and any public gathering that might reach the "critical force" that the Arroyo regime now fears greatly. It must be remembered that in 2001, a huge crowd of the urban poor who were protesting the incarceration of their champion, former Pres. Joseph Ejercito Estrada, suddenly turned ugly and surged on the gates of the palace. Now, officials took the lessons of the past to heart. Believing that the media played a crucial part in the ousting of corrupt Filipino executives in the past. Arroyo's political technicians have every reason to fear a free and westernized press. The major television stations now dominating the local airspace and national broadsheets were told to edit their reports according to governmnent standards and official lines. All but one, the Daily Tribune, have been intimidated(or paid) by the present despots now holding sway over the Philippines, into keeping their stony silence and turning a blind eye on the various crimes being committed on the people and the host of anomalies that fatten the pockets of those in lucrative positions in the bureaucracy. For comitting themselves to duty by fearlessly reporting all that is happening in the country, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Tribune-Belinda Cacho Olivares and two other gallant columnists were charged with sedition for having alledgedly incited the latest "coup" against the president. But the more that Arroyo keeps the lid shut on press freedom, the more that the pressure for the search for truth will grow. When that pressure grows to uncontrollable level, it may explode and and finaly blow her to political oblivion. | ||||||||||||
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