Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness around the world.

April 15, 2008

 Today’s Announcement

Call for submissions:  Storytime Tapestry is in need of more stories, please keep them coming in.

Help support the continued running of Storytime Tapestry join me on mylot and get paid while we talk to each other and others all over the world:  http://www.mylot.com/?ref=winterose  if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste

From my son Steven Roach:

I was thinking you should advertise the link regularly in your newsletter if the link doesn’t work just cut and paste

 
http://greenhorse.com/join_now.ghc?r=177952857
 
tell them it would help support the newsletter and they can earn money from it. They need to sign up and install it but they don't need to do anything else. They just do what they normally would anyways on the net and they earn money while it’s on. In other words they just keep it running while they are online. It’s small doesn't take up much system resources and they can earn more if they advertise their own link and get people under them as well. Let them know some people make 5-10$ a day on it and its been open since 2002. 

Don’t forget to order your copy of Angels Watching Over Me, the story of an ordinary woman facing less than ordinary challenges.  Angels Watching Over Me is a story of family love, sacrifices, poverty and an undying faith that makes heroes out of all of us. Here is the link in case you have forgotten it: http://www.lulu.com/content/964306

Important notice: Storytime Tapestry is a free e-zine, however donations are always needed to help with the operating expenses of running the newsletter and to keep Storytime Tapestry the quality newsletter you are so accustomed to.   You can make your donations to paypal at: winterose@videotron.ca, or if you would prefer to use the mail system contact the publisher at the same email address: winterose@videotron.ca

 ~**~**~

   ~**~**~

 AFGHANI OPIUM CHILD BRIDES

Duane Bates

Our opium poppy eradication program in Afghanistan is an excellent example of the law of unintended consequences.  While the goal of substituting other crops for opium poppy production in Afghanistan will benefit the entire world since it now supplies the vast majority of opium for the illegal heroin drug trade, the way in which it is being implemented is causing thousands of young girls to be forced in marriages that will essentially consign them to a life of slavery.  A link to the full Newsweek article is posted below.

Here is the way it works.  A poor Afghani farmer decides that his only choice to make enough money to feed his family is to grow opium poppies for the drug trade.  He receives a loan from a drug dealer to buy the seed and care for his family until the crop is ready for harvesting.  He will pay the loan back with part of the harvest and is paid for the remainder of the harvest.  However, the US has installed a poppy eradication program where the military goes into poppy growing areas and destroys the crop prior to harvesting.  The farmer still has the debt, but no harvest to pay off the loan or money to support his family.  The farmer has two choices; pay back the debt or face death.  In many cases he is forced to give up one of his daughters to an unwanted marriage as payment for the loan.

Here is how our drug eradication program should work.  First of all, the eradication should only take places in areas where the Afghan government and we have total control on the ground to protect the population. As of now that is only in the capital city, Kabul. An Afghani farmer would agree to stop raising opium poppies and accept a substitute crop to support him and his family.  The crop substitution program is financed by USAID and has already resulted in the planting of 1.3 million nut and fruit trees in just one province.  New crops like these take a number of years to reach maturity and start producing income.  The farmers should receive income or work opportunities to produce the income their families need until their new crops start producing a steady income for their families.  No opium poppies should be destroyed without the farmer receiving just and adequate compensation for the loss.

We always seem to forget that people eat in the short term and, in the absence of a living income, will take any chance to stave off starvation.  The Taliban, which prohibited the cultivation of opium poppies when they were in control of Afghanistan, have now joined with the drug smugglers and take a percentage of the income to finance their terrorist’s activities. Every time we destroy the only source of income for a poor Afghani family and force them to give up one of their daughters we make another enemy. In spite of all our efforts, the vast majority of opium produced in for the international illegal heroin trade being gown in Afghanistan, and seems to increase every year.

I am sure that the same type of errors are being made, with similar negative outcomes for the poor, in South America where we are trying to eradicate the coca crops that feeds the illegal trade in cocaine. The other poor areas of the world it is not uncommon for poor families to sell their daughters into prostitution to survive.  The young girls of many countries are paying the price for the gross income inequality that is common in the Third World.  It’s time for American drug eradication program, a necessary program for the future for Afghanis, to be modified to recognize the harsh realities of life in Afghanistan and install a program that works to provide the needs of the people while they are switching to crops that will provide a living income in the future and prevent the need to for them to sacrifice the lives of their daughters to survive.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/129577?from=rss

Duane Bates

batesduane@yahoo.com

Poetry Corner

~**~**~

Angelina

Conrad S. cardinal

There are times when one is uniquely

blessed.

Someone comes into your life, different

than the rest.

You know they really care.

A heart full of love they wish to share.

Each one they meet, blessed in a special

way.

Most often it's what you feel, not what

they say.

 Angelina sensed the needs of those she

chose to love.

Sharing their joy and sorrow, a gift from

God above.

Even when sad, she was at peace, much

wiser than her years.

Always ready to support and wipe away

your tears.

It has been a privilege to know this precious

soul.

This child of God, who left us, perhaps she

reached her goal.

Heavenly Father has taken her, His work

to perform.

Perhaps a guardian angel helping us to

fight life's storm.

Where ever God has placed you, you'll be

one of His best.

I know this in my heart because you were

different than the rest.

PS

My grand daughter was hit by a

car while in a crosswalk. She was

in coma four days and passed

away on Monday 3/31/08. She

had just turned 13.

Conrad
                   cconseth@aol.com

~**~**~

Shame
 
        Conrad S. Cardinal

Life, as fragile as a  humming birds
wing.
A careless moment can bring about
deaths evil sting.

Made up of choices, we must make.
Each day , a day of discovery, was
our choice a mistake?

So preoccupied with foolish things.
Often we miss blessings life brings.

How could we have drifted so far
into the abyss?
There is so much more to life, that
we simply dismiss.

The loss of a loved one often causes
us to pray.
An awfully  steep price to pay.

What  a sad commentary on  the human
race.
At times our choices must even cause
God to turn His face.

Conrad
                   cconseth@aol.com

  Mailbox

  As always Joe Mazzella  it was ssoooo good  Keep writing and sharing hugs Leona

Very good writing Joe Walker  keep on sharing  Hugs and God bless Leona

Here is our Storytime Tapestry Angels: Also, I would like to thank those of you who chose to be a silent angel and gave an anonymous donation to keep Storytime Tapestry up and running.

Clara Westerfer, Mark Crider, Rosanne Catalano, Paula Booher, Kay Seefeldt, Mariane Holbrook, Mary Ellen Grisham, Louise Nomani, Sharon Bryant, Angela Walker, Hart and Helen Dowd, Keith Ready, Ginger Morgenstern, Ellie Braun-Haley, Surinder Jandu, Bob Shaw, Carol Meeks, Charlotte Hilliard, Marilyn Sink, Victor Buhagiar, Clarice Hinson, Conrad