All of us live surrounded by trauma, and some of us might have experienced it first hand in different shape or form. Trauma has a very deep and wide ranging effect on the psyche of an individual, but not only that: its effect spreads in the society, and across generations. There are many reasons for it, but one that stands out in my mind is based on my firm belief that we are all interconnected. This belief is backed by some research. When we communicate, our body language mirrors one another; similarly, we tune to one another’s emotions. Others’ emotions have an effect of us – cheerfulness of happy people may rub off on us, and sadness of grieving ones may also leave us sad, there’s even a term for it: “emotional contagion” (Myers, 2008).

Post 9/11, research was done studying the effect of the tragedies on the general population in the United States, and the findings showed, that people who did not directly experience the events, but were exposed to their horrifying images via the media exhibited some signs of post traumatic stress (Psychology Beyond Borders). A report by Psychology Beyond Borders talks about effects of secondary trauma on therapists, social workers, and others in human services. Research has been done in this area. Pearlman & Saakvitne noted that “All those who engage empathically with survivors of trauma are vulnerable to vicarious traumatization.”

Human rights activists are no exceptions: we absorb countless stories of suffering and torture, view images and videos showing their effects. Whereas in the past it may have been possible to become numb to impersonal reports from the mass media, giving the count of the dead, and location of catastrophes, in the age of social media, the personal stories of the victims, their faces, their lives become more alive for all of us, and somehow the involvement becomes more personal. And when the involvement is personal, the risk of trauma is higher.

The diagnostic and statistical manual used widely in the United States for diagnosis of psychological disorders (DSM IV) states that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can be developed by people who witnessed a sudden horrifying death, or whose loved one suffered it. Even though most of us do not know the victims and survivors personally, the social networks bring us much closer to them. We know their faces, we know their stories, we see their mothers cry at their funerals. As we all become closer to one another, as we watch the media, we need to be aware that all of this has an effect on us.

The effect may be sadness, nightmares, insomnia, lack of appetite, tiredness. If prolonged, they can lead to depression. This is something we should take seriously, and take steps towards self care. Feeling bad, or taking time for rest and relaxation is not something to feel guilty about. We humans like to compare, and say things like – my life is so easy in comparison to so and so. We try to apply reason and logic to ignore or minimize our pain, but the thing is, pain is pain, and there is no logic to it. Of course relative where we are we need to be grateful for whatever we have: freedom of speech, health – but that’s not to discount the pain that we may feel. Because this pain can lead to burn out, or to the condition of secondary traumatic stress.

I am saying all of this because I would like to encourage the human rights activist friends to make sure they take steps toward proper self-care. You know, all those good things your mom would probably tell you too: exercise, get rest, eat healthy, and make sure to take time out with your loved ones. Creativity has been shown to help increase resilience of people working in trauma. Rituals help, so attending vigils or prayer gatherings can be a good way of honoring the memory and lives of the ones who suffer.

Above all, remember that self care is not a selfish deed. It prevents development of mental or physical illness and helps you to maintain and increase your energy level for all the amazing things that you do.

Suppose you invite her to your place, she accepts and after awhile you can’t stop yourselves. You go further and further and can’t imagine how much she is also into you and accepts everything. So you do a try and you find her receptive but this finding costs you 30 seconds of unprotected sex. After passing about one minute you discover you should have used protection! You use the protections then after.

Moment passes by and after one week you wake up in your room and feel that your neck lymphatics are swollen. Oh god, what the hell is with me? What should I do? You know that one of the primary symptoms of AIDS is swelling of lymphatics. And you know you can’t do anything till at least one month to see if you are infected or not. And about that girl, you ask if she had any intercourses before and she denies. You have no cues to figure it out.

That’s the matter of Life and Death and you can’t get your mind off it. Damn AIDS. You can’t imagine how easily one can be infected with AIDS.

Circumcision, in its different forms, is practised in a big part of the world. The Jews were the first to adapt it as a sign of religiosity; it is mentioned in the Old Testament as a religious ritual and preserved its practice into our times. Circumcision was banned by the ancient Romans and Greeks considering it as an act of barbarity. Also the early Christians took a strong stand against it.

Despite many modern anti-circumcision movements especially for the female one, circumcision for both sexes is practised worldwide in the Islamic societies, in some old tribes in Africa, in some native tribes of Australia and since 19th century, occasionally, in the US.

Benefits of circumcision are believed to maintain genital organs in hygienic conditions for male whereas it is practised to reduce the sexual lust for female. Removal of a functional, sensitive, healthy, and normal foreskin or clitoris with many nerve fibres, nerve endings, strictly speaking is a genital mutilation. Medically speaking, it has no relevant healthy benefits that can objectively be used to justify its practice. And as such, this heritage of passed rituals violates the principles of modern morality and the very principles of sciences.

Our universal law respects parent’s “ownership rights” over their children to protect them, namely to the extent where all their decisions should normally be in the child’s benefits. The contrast to this however appears when they have no right by abusing constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion to inculcate a particular religion or ritual practice into their children. A child’s right to maintain the integrity of his / her healthy body should not be violated by any religion.

Some businesslike or religious doctors, as modern circumcisers, cut off a functional healthy and normal part of human body, a business or religious treatment which is in contradiction to their professional morality. This is akin to remove an eyelid which protects the eye or to cut off a finger of a child as a pseudo-healthy treatment.

Circumcision would have died out long ago, along with leeching, skull-drilling, and castration if it were frankly motivated by purely medical reasons. The fact is that the “reasons” were later invented and stereotyped to justify the ritual act of circumcision. Pseudo- intellectuals of religious industry have been long brainwashing innocent people to blindly practise such rituals.

Religious mission is to avoid rising general awareness about the scientific, reasonable, and beneficial reasons, and in this light, much has been cooked up about the nonessential ritual of circumcision. The advisability given about circumcision, contrary to immunisation, is merely rooted in cultural customs, religious and social myths, but not in therapeutic treatments.

The foreskin protects the glands of sexual organs. Thus the foreskin is an essential part of human sexual anatomy. The foreskin is a sensitive and functional organ with a rich concentration of blood vessels and nerve endings to keep the glands soft, moist, and sensitive.

The psychological studies have proved that all individuals, regardless religion or gender, who have genital cutting imposed upon them as non-consenting children, bear different degrees of physical, sexual, and emotional wounding. The cutting is mostly the first painful and bloody trauma for a child. Many people from circumcising cultures can attest to the harm this practice inflicted on them. Religious and cultural influence reinforces denial of these consequences and makes it, with all means, taboo for people to dare talking openly about their harm. The fact that religious pressure forces people to adapt to and cope with this wounding or to remain silent, does not justify the wounding anymore.

No medical evidence about the effectiveness of this wounding in reducing the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS or considerable effectiveness of penile cancer or genital diseases has been really proved. Only periodical speculations, which are mostly loaded with religiosity, justify this practice.

No health organisation in the world currently accepts circumcision as a preventive procedure and advocates its practice for both sexes; even if female circumcision is in some areas absent, it is immorally perverse to excuse one cruelty by invoking a worse one. The genitals of both sexes, as the products of evolution, should be left intact.

Since 1996 female circumcision has been considered violence against women in the US and thus has become illegal, but the “civilised world” ignores the practice of it in many circumcising cultures. In Egypt, a US alley, more than 90% of women are victims of female circumcision.

The legitimisation of this painful and barbaric act, which can rarely be imagined without shuddering or being sick, is mentioned in a Hadith reported by Umm’Atiyya:

“A female circumciser in Madineh was told by the Prophet of Islam, “When you circumcise, do not cut a big part of clitoris as that is better for a woman and more desirable for her husband.” The narration, ignoring the image of pain and sufferance, is one of the fundamental religious sources, allowing not only circumcision of boys (Khitan), but also circumcision of girls (Khafd) in Islam.

For less conservative Islamic scholars, the narration is a “modest” reason that only the outer part of the clitoris should be cut off and not as is done in some other African Muslim countries cutting off all the clitoris. Cutting away a part or a young girl’s entire clitoris is a ritual practice in parts of Islamic Africa. However, even the “modest” image of such a removal of the prepuce of a young girl’s clitoris seems still odious enough to call it a barbaric maiming of innocent girls. It practically is to inflict a despoiling of ability to enjoy sexuality. It means that sex for women is not so much more than procreative act.

Beside the idea of reducing all of the female extra-marital affairs, another dominant idea of female circumcision has been claimed to diminish the risk of rape. As such, the entire clitoris is cut off. The tissue are then sewn together, leaving a narrow hole for the flow of urine or menstrual blood (a second procedure is necessary to allow the sexual intercourse). This typical patriarchal and misogynous idea does not consider the male rapist as the main culprit, but implicitly the female uncircumcised victim!

Degree of brutality of female circumcision brought some of the Islamic scholars to modify their judgement about performance of its practice, arguing that female circumcision has been regarded by the Prophet as an act of merit, not as an obligation. This is the why that female circumcision is less practised than male circumcision in the Islamic societies.

Circumcision however is not mentioned in the Koran and has been initially inspired as an act of purification (Taharah / Taharat) for both sexes. This has been referred by a narration from the Prophet who classifies circumcision as one of the five acts of Fitrah (purification), namely shaving the public hair, trimming the moustaches, clipping the nails, plucking the armpit hairs.

Circumcision was imposed on Iranians through the Islamic invasion in 7th century. (The pre-Islamic Iranians, Zoroastrians, were not circumcised). Circumcision for both sexes, along with female infanticide, was old tribal traditions practised by the primitive patriarchal pagans in Arabian; the advanced culture of Persians did not adopt such atrocious rituals. Islam adopted the circumcision and changed its status into an Islamic ritual. And as such, it was imposed upon the conquered territories, including Iran.

Female circumcision, apart from some cases in southern areas and Kurdistan, is not practised in Iran, but the Shiite sect considers male circumcision obligatory and tends to lean the extreme side on the issue. Associated with a typical ceremony (Khatneh Soorun), a reminder of a sacrificial ceremony, the Islamic circumcision is in perfect harmony with the feast of the sacrifice in Islam.

Circumcision in Sharia is an order to cut the skin that covers the male genital and /or to cut the upper end of the skin that covers the clitoris on the female genital part. It has been considered by Islamic scholars that circumcision is compulsory act on both males and females.

Sacrifice like cannibalism and infanticide is older than all the main monotheist religions. It has been an act of worship. Human / animal sacrifice was a routine ritual ceremony, in which young human victims were killed to please their gods or spirits. In exchange for the wanton sacrifice, the human victims were baptised martyrs and were promised holly rewards like the paradise in the next world. The human victim was not only offered to satisfy the gods and consequently the group, but as a martyr, became a promoted status of sacred. This concept of divine victim is very similar to the concept of martyrdom in Shiite traditions.

At the early ancient cultures human /animal sacrifice was a routine ritual in times of natural disaster; even for the rise of the sun a person would be sacrificed. Human sacrifice or mutilation still happens today as in underground practice in some traditional religions in some cultures in South Africa.

The occasions of human sacrifice and human mutilations are associated with some ritual ceremonies. In ancient Egypt, as brutal as widow-burial, the ceremonial and sacrificial circumcision, for both sexes, was practised to please their god of fertility. In ancient Mesopotamian there were festivities in which the genital organ of a young boy was brutally cut off and was offered to the goddess of fertility.

Some scholars believe that all of the monotheists Prophets were born circumcised, while some others claim that Prophet Abraham was the first to practise (self) circumcision to please God.” No need to mention that today’s judgement about such an act of “pleasing” can be reduced to the rank of pathology.

Another aspect of circumcision besides the purification and the sacrificial character, can be regarded as an act of punishment (a means of humiliating to mark captured enemies and slaves, or as a patriarchal means was in its origin an injury to the mother reducing her authority over her child).

The punishment which religiously often means a ritual purification is attributed to tone down sexual pleasure. Human sexuality has been seen in many primitive cultures as immoral and impure and thus needs ritual purification. Circumcision, in this case, was the obvious way to “purify” the believers. In this light, sex with an uncircumcised man is not allowed for a Muslim woman.

Considering the case of the Abraham’s self-circumcision, to be believed or not, reflexes that a very important combined factor of circumcision is to be self-injury. This is a pathological practice to relieve overwhelming emotional tension. It can be practised from a little common cut of skin to the collective practice of self-flagellation or self-stabbing in the Shiite mourning rituals. As witnessed in the period of mourning month of “Moharam”, self-injury in Shiite is widely practised. In this case, the practice is usually a symbolic act to connect the individual to the group of believers.

Some practices like piercing and tattoos, or in this case circumcision, are also socially preconditioned. These practices are done to identify with a particular group, religion, and collective identity. So, the social respect of collective practice can turn into a practice of self-injury like circumcision, and its harm is socially justified for the members of that society.

The self-injury in its ritual practice often focuses on the sexual organs and can be regarded as a copy mechanism for the origin of circumcision.

To conclude my article and my purpose, I point out the following traits:

- Circumcision, an old practice, has no clear references concerning its history, motive and origin.
- Circumcision is a ritual practice of primitive cultures and can be rooted in the factors of sexual punishment, ritual sacrifice and self-injury.
- Circumcision has no preventive or medical benefits.
- Circumcision, as an act of genital mutilation for both sexes, cannot morally be permitted.

Yesterday was celebrated as Iran’s Clean Air, Blue Sky Day. Air pollution is a major issue in mega cities like Tehran. Most days, Tehran is clouded by a thick layer of smog making it difficult to breath especially for children and elderly.

Every year on January 19, they celebrate Clean Air day, encouraging people to use public transportation or bicycles instead of their personal cars so that it will reduce the polution of the mega city.

This year, in a symbolic act, President Ahmadinejad first rode a bicycle for a short distance and then joined a group of hiking athletes affiliated with the Federation of Sport and some of the ministers and officials. He seemed cheery, happy and skilled in riding bicycle!

They called on officials and the nation to increase the public interest in physical exercise for having fit and healthy society.

I hope they continue this way, through the year.Iranians are interested in sports but most of them seem to be too busy with their daily affairs to include exercising in their schedule. Many Iranian women attend gyms and clubs to remain fit and healthy, though it’s not yet a national habit.

I wish they would make it easy for women as well and encourage them to use bicycle in Iran. Though it’s not banned for them and some women ride bicycle in public, but still it seems more like a taboo in some areas.

2009 was a chaotic year. The Gaza war just ended on January 18, 2009 , leaving many people around the world in grief and concerned about the result: Around 1500 Palestinians murdered-many of them women and children- , more than 400’000 Gazans were left without running water, 4000 homes were distroyed or badly damaged and the siege which has not been ended up to now.

Around the time, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the US. The first black american who was entitled to the position.

Despite Obama’s promises of change, US and NATO troops remained in Afghanistan and Iraq and were also increased in number. Obama also got a noble prize which most believe it was for ‘nothing’!

Let’s not forget Iran’s nuclear disputes, the famous presidential election in Iran and pre-post election events which more or less still warm up the western media.

There was also the epidemic of H1N1 (wrongly named as swine flu),the Yemen war, the death of famous Micheal Jackson and the economic crisis.

Well, now that 2010 is coming (has come already), i’m not going to drag on explaining all the sadden events that took place in 2009.

2010 was proclaimed by the United Nations as The International Year of Biodiversity (IYB). Humans as a part of nature and its diversity have the power to protect it. However human activity is heavily causing so much damage to the life in a great part of nature. 2010 will actually be a year-long celebration of biological diversity and its value for life on Earth.

Now that 2009, the International year of astronomy ended already, i wish you all a very happy 2010. I wish for a much better year to live in. A year of prosperity, LoVe, Peace and justice all over the world. A year in which as to protecting the nature, we will also protect the human values all together.

Now that we watched the sky enough during 2009, let’s look after The Earth!

Please read:

1) 1955- The Salk Polio Vaccine used in the U.S. for cases of polio sky rocket! It was reported that doctors on the staff of the National Institutes for Health are avoiding vaccination of their children with the Salk vaccine, and that after experimenting with 1200 monkeys , they declared the Salk vaccine worthless as a prevantative and a danger to take.

2) Early 1956- 17 states in the U.S. reject the government supplied Salk polio vaccine. BUT THEN, late 1956- US governments appropriates $53.6 million to ‘aid states in providing FREE VACCINE to people UNDER 20 YEARS OF AGE”– then eventually, at the end of that year, The American Public Health Service announces 168 cases of polio and 6 deaths among those vaccinated. Censorship is only THEN imposed on the reporting of the reactions to Salk vaccine.

3) 1957- the CIA plays McGill University Department of Psychiatry founder Dr. D. Ewen Cameron $69,000 to perform LSD studeis and potentially LETHAL experiments on Canadians being treated for minor disorders like post-partum depression and anxiety– this happened at the Allan Memorial Institute, which houses Psychiatry Department of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. The CIA ENCOURAGED Dr. Cameron to fully explore his “psychic driving” concept of correcting madness through completely erasing one’s memory! and re-writing the psyche! These “Driving” experiments involve: PUTTING HUMAN TEST SUBJECTS INTO DRUG, ELECTROSHOCK AND SENSORY DEPRIVATION-INDUCED VEGETATIVE STATES FOR UP TO 3 MONTHS, AND THEN PLAYING TAPE LOOPS OF NOISE OR SIMPLE REPETITIVE STATEMENTS FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS, IN ORDER TO “REWRITE” THE “ERASED” PSYCHE. Dr. Cameron also gives human test subject paralytic drugs and electroconvulsive therapy 30 to 40 times, as part of his experiments! Most of Dr. Cameron’s test subjects suffer PERMANENT damage as a result of his work… when they only started off with minor problems.

There has to be a limit to the following!

4) In order to study how blood flows through children’s brains, researchers at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia perform the following experiment on healthy children, ranging in age from 3-11: THEY INSERT NEEDLES INTO EACH CHILD’S FEMORAL ARTERY (THIGH) AND JUGULAR VEIN (NECK), BRINGING THE BLOOD DOWN FROM THE BRAIN. THEN, THEY FORCE EACH CHILD TO INHALE A SPECIAL GAS THROUGH A FACE MASK. In their subsequent journal: Journal of Clinical Investigation, the article existent in this study, the researcher’s note that, in order to perform the experiment, they had to restrain some of the child subjects by bandaging them to boards.

Sound pessimistically inhumane yet?

5) 1962: Researchers at Laurel Children’s Center in Maryland test experimental acne antiobiotics on children, continuing their tests after half of the young test subjects develop SEVERE liver damage because the experimental medication. 6) 1963: The FDA begins requiring that a new pharmaceutical undergo 3 human clinical trials before it will approve it. From 1962 to 1980, pharmaceutical companies satisfied that requirement by running phase I trials, which determine a drug’s toxicity, on prison inmates, giving them small amounts of cash for compensation- look at the results though:

1963- Chester M. Southam, who injected Ohio State Prison inmates with live cancer cells in 1952, performs the same procedure on 22 senile, African-American female patients at the Brooklyn Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital in order to watch their immunological response. Southam tells the patients that they are receiving “some cells”, but leaves out the fact they are CANCER CELLS!! he claims he doesn’t obtain informed consent from the patients because he does not want to frighten them by telling them what he is doing, but he nevertheless TEMPORARILY loses his medical license because of it. Ironically, he EVENTUALLY BECOMES PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY…!

1963-1966: for 3 years New York University researcher Saul Krugman promises parents with mentally disabled children definite enrollment into the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, N.Y., a resident mental institution for mentally retarded children, in exchange for their signatures on a consent form for procedures presented as “vaccinations”. In reality, the procedures involve deliberately infecting children with viral hepatitis by feeding them an extract made from the feces of infected patients!! just so that Krugman can study the course of viral hepatitis as well as the effectiveness of a hepatitis vaccine. 1978- The CDC begins experimental hepatitis B vaccine trials in NY. Its ads for research subjects specifically ask for promiscuous homosexual men. Professor Wolf Szmuness of the Columbia University School of Public Health had made the vaccine’s infective serum from the pooled blood serum of hepatitis-infected homosexuals and then developed it in chimpanzees! The only animal susceptible to hepatitis B. Leading to the theory that HIV originated in Chimpanzees before being transferred over to humans via this vaccine! Only a few MONTHS after, 1,083 homosexual men receive the vaccine, NY physicians begin noticing cases of Kaposis Sarcoma, “Mycoplasma Penetrans” and a new strain of herpes virus among New York’s homosexual community — diseases not usually seem among young, American men, but that would later be known as common opportunistic diseases associated with AIDS (Golizesk).

2 years later, 1980- According to blood samples tested years later for HIV, 20% of all NY homosexual men who PARTICIPATED in the 1978 hepatitis B vaccine experiment are HIV-positive by this point (Golizesk)—-> The first AIDS case appears in San Francisco. The CDC ACKNOWLEDGES that a disease known as AIDS exists and confirms 26 cases of the disease- all in previously healthy homosexuals living in NY, San Francisco and L.A.– again supporting the speculation that aids originated from the hepatitis B experiments from 1978-1980. 1984: CDC ACKNOWLEDGES THAT 60% OF THOSE RECEIVING HEPATITIS VACCINE ARE HIV +CCC

(1988-2001): The New York City Administration for Children’s Services begins allowing foster care children living about 2 DOZEN CHILDREN’S HOMES TO BE USED IN NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH-SPONSORED (NIH) EXPERIMENTAL AIDS DRUG TRIALS. These children– totalling 465 by the program’s end– experience serious side effects, including inability to walk, diarrhea, vomiting, swollen joints and cramps. Children’s home employees are UNAWARE that they are giving the HIV-infected children experimental drugs! Rather than standard AIDS treatments (New York City ACS, Doran)

1990: The U.S. sends 1.7 million members of the armed forces, 22% of whom are african-american, to the Persian Gulf for the Gulf War “Desert Storm”. MORE THAN 400,000 OF THESE SOLDIERS ARE ORDERED TO TAKE AN EXPERIMENTAL NERVE AGENT MEDICATION CALLED PYRIDOSTIGMINE, WHICH IS LATER BELIEVED TO BE THE CAUSE OF THE GULF WAR SYNDROME- symptoms ranging from skin disorders, neurological disorders, incontinence, uncontrollable drooling and vision problems- affecting Gulf War veterans (Golizesk)

1992: Columbia University’s New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine give 100 males- mostly African-American and Hispanic, all between the ages of 6 and 10 and all the younger brothers of juvenile delinquents– 10 milligrams of fefluramine (fen-fen) per kilogram of body weight! in order to test the theory that low serotonin levels are linked to violent or aggressive behavior…..!!!!! Parents of the participants received $125 each, including a $25 Toys’R’ Us gift certificate. 1993: Clinton administration announces plans for a National Childhood Vaccination Program. 103rd Congress introduces $732,s733,HR1460, legislation that would attempt to vaccine allll children in the U.S., WHILE SEVERELY LIMITING EXEMPTIONS PARENTS COULD CLAIM: THE BILLS ALSO SEEK TO SET UP A NATIONAL VACCINE REGISTRY TO TRACK DOWN PARENTS WHO RESIST!!!! This is going on EVEN THOUGH THE SEATTLE TIME AT THE SAME TIME REPORTS THAT ALL POLIO IN THE US IS CAUSED BY VACCINES!!!! (6/10/93). 1995 (what a year!!)

March 15th President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE), former human subjects, including those who were used in experiments as children, give SWORN TESTIMONIES STATING THAT THEY WERE SUBJECTED TO RADIATION EXPERIMENTS AND/OR BRAINWASHED, HYPNOTIZED, DRUGGED, PSYCHOLOGICALLY TORTURED, THREATENED AND RAPED DURING CIA EXPERIMENTS. If you need to check: Christina DiNicola from (1966-1976) in Tucson, Arizona, Claudia Mullen’s experience with Dr. Sidney Gottlieb (of MKULTRA fame) and Suzanne Starr in Colorado. President Clinton publicly apologizes to the thousands of people who were victims of MKULTRA and other mind-control experimental programs.

Want to know more? Write to me…..

First, can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?
I studied art and visual communications but wasn’t satisfied, I felt I needed expression with my senses a little bit more. Then through my yoga practice I was able to accept and be more aware of my love for herbs, and gave them my attention, even though they seemed like a distraction to my family and friends. I was attracted to plants and what they offer, fragrance, flavor and therapy.

What is Green Bar?
Green Bar is my plant essence bar where I make my natural perfumes. I believed in oils for a very long time, but thought it ridiculous… and forgot about it because I was too lazy to look for proof. Then through my personal studies on Ayurveda which is the Indian health/medical compliment to yoga, I realized that yes oils are used for healing and my investigation started from there.

Green Bar oils

What made you think about creating this line of products?
It was because of my passion to upgrade life in the simplest form with the most authentic and pleasant ingredients.

Why did you decide to use regional ingredients?
We have very beautiful exotic ingredients that no one is celebrating. Just a little creativity and improvisation can go a long way. They are a form of my expression to celebrate the island.

What has been the reaction of people to this initiative, particularly in Bahrain?
Very positive. People have been very supportive, and also very curious about the oils.

Do you plan on expanding beyond Bahrain? Will this product be available region-wide? And where do you currently ship to?
It is available in retail stores in Bahrain, and available through the Internet worldwide.

What makes Green Bar products different than other herbal oils and moisturizers?
What makes it different is that I don’t approach it to treat you. I think everyone is just fine, all they need is a little lightheartedness, so even though it’s like a fragrant pharmacy with a lot of healing potential, I like to approach it for the beauty of each fragrance.

Do you feel that Bahrain has a friendly business environment for young entrepreneurs?
Yes it does. But one cant slack off on the follow-up. Everyone I have found is pretty happy to help. However, being an island follow up is very essential.

Finally, do you have anything else you wish to add?
Fixation leads to the best exploration. Follow your curiosities; the reason why a cat has 7 lives is because she gets many chances for having such a virtue… that’s what I believe at least. Everyone else just has one life.

الذين اذا أصابتهم مصيبة قالوا انا لله وانا أليه راجعون

who say, when afflicted with calamity: “to allah we belong, and to him is our return” (2:156)

In memory of 168 victims of tragic Tehran-Yerevan plane crash including members of Iran’s national junior Judo team..
My condolence to all felllow Iranians and those who lost their family and friends. May Allah bless their souls…

The situation has gotten so bad that many stores either ran out of chicken or had to turn people away without honoring the coupon.

Why America’s most popular female talk show host would offer such a deal is beyond the comprehension of most sane people, including those who are against the killing of millions of innocent fowl to satisfy the hunger of these people. The following piece, taken from a website, called www.Kentuckyfriedcruelty.com sums it up well: KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs.

At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water — often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these ways.

In addition, it’s now becoming evident that many of these factory farms feed their chickens arsenic, mixed in with chicken feed, as both a growth stimulant as well as to kill parasites.

Fast food chicken establishments are now open in many parts of the Middle East, including: Bahrain. Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the UAE. The arsenic issue is not limited solely the USA, as it has been revealed that small quantities of arsenic were fed as a growth stimulant to chickens in Israel from 2003 to 2006.

Although officially discontinued in 2006, the damage done by three years of eating chickens laced with arsenic has most likely left arsenic residues in many people, which one day could cause cancers and other health problems.

Israel has a very large and well developed poultry industry, with more than 700 poultry farms producing more then 400,000 tons of chicken meat a year.

Chicken is one of the country’s main sources of animal protein; and Israelis are the second largest world chicken consumers, averaging 36 kg per person per year. Much Israeli poultry is also raised on large farms, which also supplies eggs to large supermarket chains.

Due to Jewish Kashrut dietary laws, chickens have to be ritually slaughtered, which many say is much more humane than the American example noted above. That still doesn’t eliminate the problem of feeding hormones and other growth supplements to chickens that between 2003 and 2006 included arsenic as well.

Arsenic was also fed to pigs being raised in Israel, also as a growth stimulant. Free-range chicken, under the Teva Off brand are now available in Israel it’s doubtful but KFC franchises will use them, due to their smaller size and higher costs.

One reader of her site wrote: “I found it interesting that Oprah would promote KFC after doing a show about the horrors of factory farming.”

::free KFC at Oprah Winfrey

This post was first written by freelance journalist and blogger Maurice Picow at the world’s only Middle East focused environment news site and blog Green Prophet - www.greenprophet.com.

Here’s a post on Techabia which will link you to the article on HealthMap, who supply the info.

techabia.com