The Practical Maxim

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We each possess the power to positively or adversely impact our fellow human beings. So, "beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again." ~ Og Mandino

This video was produced by the NGO, Mercy Corps, and it has been featured on the website because of its thought provoking imagery. On the Nahmias Report we strive to present balanced reporting on human rights issues around the globe. In keeping with this mission, inspirational posts are published to challenge our readers to look inward as they look outward, to temper judgment with understanding, and to use every encounter as an opportunity to sow peace instead of dissension.

"One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him." ~ Booker T. Washington

In His Mirror | Nick Vujicic

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 03:46 AM EDT, 15 February 2012

Nick Vujicic, Oman, Photo by Vigor Enterprises

Nick Vujicic, Oman, Photo by Vigor Enterprises

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, it is a cold but relatively mild day.  After months of financial difficulties I have finally started working but it seems as if it has been a little late. But, things never happen early or late but always right on time.  However, when one is in the midst of a crisis such as I and many other Americans are currently facing, we pull in and embrace fear.  It is a hard place to be, to trust in God when one is on the verge of loosing one's home.

When I originally wrote this post I was in a different frame of mind in terms of how I interacted with the universe.  I believed at that time that things happened to me versus my envisioning and creating the experiences that subsequently happen to me.  The idea of active creation does not negate God, in whom I am an ardent believer; however, we must do our part in order for Him to do His.

That is why Nick Vujicic story is so important and why it was selected to be featured on our site.  It is a basic human tendency to teach ourselves and our children to speak about those things that we don't want, to vent and talk about what ails us, and to view ourselves as a victim while others prosper. We have moved beyond the 'Me Gen' to simply "Ego Driven."  We make no pretense at caring about others feelings or needs unless they can further our goals and objectives or assuage a present pain or discomfort.

Vujicic story stops most people in mid-thought because of his physical condition, but then it is his words, his life in action that is what truly captivates and reflects back to us our utter lack of respect for the sanctity of human life and gratefulness for all that we have not been called to struggle with.

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I have so much to be grateful for - in an economy where more than 8% of American are unemployed, I have finally secured a job. I have a wonderfully supportive mother and sister.  My son is healthy, extremely intelligent and beautiful.  I have good friends and after years of struggle I like who I am.

So why was I complaining?  Because that is what we do.  We complain.  It is like a computer virus, one can go on vacation to disconnect from the daily grind and totally recover through the antibiotics of peace, tranquility and centering; but upon return, once we plug back in we are easily susceptible to reinfection.

Our office mates complain, our friends and family complain, the people on the elevator complain, the people commuting on the train complain, the news delivers a stream of complaints and bad news ad nausea; and because human beings are social creatures, it is easier to conform and so unconsciously we comply.

Only through a shock to the system can we return to consciousness. Vujicic is a man who is living life fully on his terms, but not just for his benefit but for the inspiration and improvement of the lives of so many other people. Instead of wishing for conditions other than what he has, he embraces what he has been given and leverages his gifts and abilities to their fullest potential.

His story is phenomenally inspirational and the impact of his life is transformational in a way that other stories of survival though impressive tend fade with time.  I am a big fan of the Discovery Channel series "I Shouldn't Be Alive" and the Biography series "I Survived" because both feature individuals who survive horrible situations and tragedies through sheer will and determination.  It is a feeling that I am intimately acquainted with because I am a survivor.

However, to overcome a challenge over a brief span of time, though laudable and miraculous, it does not equate to sustained accomplishment. Vujicic would appear to have so much less than many of us and yet he has and continues to achieve everything he sets his mind to do, while helping others achieve similar freedom.

Vujicic is a living proof that “everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity.” ~ Viktor Frankl

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My mother often speaks to me about my attitude because she is a firm believer in faith.  Thoughts create reality and what we constantly think about we become or it occurs.  She often chides me about "meeting trouble halfway" and counsels me against this because "it usually dies somewhere in between;" meaning that the solution to far out problems almost always manifest before trouble arrives at ones' door.

I appreciate the mirror that Nick Vujicic's life, presented to me. My reflection in his life has challenged me to continue to be the best, to think the best, and to interact with people and the universe by giving my best. I hope this post inspires you, to attempt "to get up each morning with the resolve to be happy... and to set your own conditions to the events of each day. To do this is to condition circumstances instead of being conditioned by them.” ~ Ralph Waldo Trine.

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Afghan Girl's Nose Cut Off By Abusive Husband

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 11:37 AM EDT, 13 February 2012

AFGHANISTAN - Most often, we in the West are exposed to and challenged by an increased number of news stories of the heinous, misogynistic treatment of women and young girls all in other parts of the world.

Thankfully, there are a cadre of people and organizations dedicated to bringing greater public awareness to these gross injustices and when possible physically intervening in the lives of these women to improve their conditions or alleviate their suffering.

In an earlier post Nujood Ali a young Yemeni girl speaks of her ordeal as a child bride and the abuse she suffered. Now, we are privy to the suffering of another young teenager; an Afghan girl who was horribly mutilated by her husband under Taliban rule. Last year Bibi Aisha was horribly disfigured by her husband who cut off her nose.  Last week, there was report of another Afghan girl who was beaten for refusing to submit to prostitution.

Unfortunately, these stories are becoming more common, but Aisha, 19, has become the face of this heinous behavior.  In the summer of 2010, she shocked the world when she appeared on the cover of Time Magazine vividly displaying her severed nose. When Aisha was 12, her father promised her in marriage to a Taliban fighter to pay a debt. She was handed over to his family who abused her and forced her to sleep in the stable with the animals.

When she tried to run away, she was caught by her husband who brutally hacked off her nose and both ears, before leaving her for dead in the mountains. Subsequent to her return to consciousness, she crawled down the mountain to her grandfather's house. Later, her father arranged to have her treated at an American medical facility where she remained for the next 10 weeks.

Once she was stable, she was transported to a secret shelter in Kabul and in August she was flown to the U.S. by the Grossman Burn Foundation to stay with a host family. Last week she returned to the public stage wearing a new prosthetic nose - one that gives her some idea of how she will look after having reconstructive surgery.

Aisha received the Enduring Heart award at a benefit for the Grossman Burn Foundation - the Los Angeles-based organisation that paid for her surgery. She was given the award by California first lady Maria Shriver. Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife told the audience: 'This is the first Enduring Heart award given to a woman whose heart endures and who shows us all what it means to have love and to be the enduring heart.'

This month after extensive counseling for her traumatic experience, she finally received a prosthetic nose fitted at the non-profit humanitarian Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital in California as part of her eight-month rehabilitation. Dr Peter H. Grossman said they hoped to reconstruct Aisha's nose and ears using bone, tissue and cartilage from other parts of her body.

Dr Grossman's wife Rebecca, the chair of the Grossman Burn Foundation, said Aisha was just one of the thousands of women who are treated with appalling harshness. She said: 'Aisha is reminded of that enslavement every time she looks in the mirror. But there are still times she can laugh. And at that moment you see her teenage spirit escaping a body that has seen a lifetime of injustice.'

The UN estimates that nearly 90 per cent of Afghanistan's women suffer from some sort of domestic abuse.

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First War, Now Elephantiasis

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 23:55 PM EDT, 30 January 2012

UGANDA - When I was a child I first encountered a person afflicted with Elephantiasis when we moved to Nigeria. I wrote about this encounter in my post The Road to Naijiriya which details my arrival in Lagos as we embarked on our new life in Ile Ife.

Now, this disease is once again in the media as health services in Southern Africa have alerted the region to the need for increased preventative measures and prophylactic treatment options.

The 20-year civil war in Uganda has left severe scars on the economy, infrastructure, health and human services, and most of all on a populace that no longer has access to basic necessities such as potable water, food and medical treatment.

Lymphatic filariasis, commonly known as Elephantiasis, "afflicts over 25 million men with genital disease and over 15 million people with lymphoedema. Currently, more than 1.3 billion people in 72 countries are at risk. Approximately 65% of those infected live in the WHO South-East Asia Region, 30% in the African Region, and the remainder in other tropical areas." (Source: World Health Organization)

With proper medical treatment, the condition, which is caused by a parasite that is part of the roundworms family, can be cured. The parasite is usually transmitted to its human host through a mosquito bite. It subsequently invades and proliferates throughout the lymphatic system where it blocks and disrupts the immune system. "The adult parasites live for 6-8 years and, during their life time, produce millions of microfilariae (small larvae) that circulate in the blood." (Source: WHO)

Although, quite disturbing, this condition is easily treatable for patients with access to proper health care. However, in countries like Uganda, which has a long history of civil unrest and unstable governments; this disease remains unchecked in its transmission and infection. In addition to the excruciating physical pain caused by the disease, there is the accompanying psychological and sociological impact.

People afflicted by this disease remain ostracized by society and their communities much like lepers in previous centuries. They are also unable to earn a living because of the crippling disfigurement caused by the symptoms of this disease. The adult worms can be successfully killed usually with one treatment, however, the disfigurement suffered by the individual remains unless they can arrange to have surgery to remove the tumors.

It is sad that the Ugandan people who have been victimized by a series wars instigated by despotic rulers, the most egregious being Idi Amin, must now face a new marauder in the form of this parasite.

To learn more about the disease watch the Voice of America video below.

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Inspiration for Compassionate Living

Inspiration for Compassionate Living

"There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man." Alan Paton. In an effort to bring balance to our reporting for every post that we write about bad behavior, we will post another story about the good that man possesses and the manifestation of this kindness. These inspirational posts will hopefully help us to own ourselves and our actions.

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The Story of the Butterfly

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A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, as if it couldn't go further. So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bits of cocoon. The butterfly emerged easily but it had a swollen body and shriveled wings. The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body, Neither happened! In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around.

It was never able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand: The restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight once that was achieved.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us. We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly.

The Paradox of Our Times

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Today we have bigger houses and smaller families

More conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees, but less common sense,

More knowledge, but less judgment,

We have more experts, and more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We spend too recklessly, laugh too little,

Drive too fast, get angry far too quickly,

Stay up late, get up too tired,

Read too little, watch T.V. too often,

And pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but have reduced our values,

We talk too much, love too little, and lie too often.

We have learned how to make a living, but not a life.

We have added years to life,

Not life to years.

We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers.

Wider freeways, but narrow viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less; we buy more, and enjoy less.

We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,

But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor.

We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space,

We have split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less.

Plan more, but accomplish less.

We’ve learned to rush, but not to want,

We have higher incomes, but lower morals.

We build more computers to hold more information,

To produce more copies, but communicate less,

We are long on quantity, but short on quality.

These are the times of fast food, and slow digestion,

Tall men, and short character,

Steep profits and shallow relationships,

More leisure and less fun.

More kinds of food, but less nutrition,

Two incomes, but more divorce,

Fancier houses, but more broken homes.

That’s why I propose, that as of today,

You do not keep anything for a special occasion,

Because everyday that you live is a special occasion.

Search for knowledge, read more,

Sit on the porch and admire the view,

Without paying attention to your needs.

Spend more time with your family and friends,

Eat your favorite foods and,

Visit the places you love.

Enjoyment is life as a chain of moments,

Not long drawn out survival,

Remove from your vocabulary phrases like,

” One of these days” and “Someday.”

Let’s tell our families and friends how much we love them.

Do not delay anything that adds laughter and joy to your life.

Everyday, every hour, and every minute is special.

And you do it knowing that it could be your last…

Just think… one of these days you may not be here to do any of the above!

Author: Dr. Bob Moorehead, Pastor

Malice Aforethought

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 00:16 AM EDT, 3 January 2012

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” ~ Sir Walter Scott

In the world of predator and prey, the predator's desire to satiate their hunger leads them inexorable to kill. Unlike humans, the wild predator's desire to cull the weakest from the pack is purely instinctual.

By contrast, people who possess a desire to abuse others as a means to meet their own emotional inadequacies, seek out the weakest members of society to exploit. Their chosen prey can be children, the elderly, men or women who have been emotionally or physically abused.

This type of abuse is a human rights issue, but because the individuals seem to be willing participants, they are not traditionally viewed as victims. Often men and women who find themselves in adulterous or other inappropriate relationships play the role of victim or victimizer. When the two first meet, each tell lies which are sown in a garden of deceit with the hope of a relationship. The predator lies to his prey, and the prey lies to themselves by believing the lamb can lay unharmed with the lion.

Though abusive relationships affect people from all walks of life, this post shall focus on women. As a person who has suffered abuse during my formative years, I was often perceived as prey. Once I reached adulthood I engaged in unhealthy relationships until I received help. However, in all that time I never crossed the line with married or committed men nor did I tolerate physical abuse.

All relationships begin with chance or intentional meetings, followed by polite conversation during which people get to know each other. By contrast, the predator uses these interludes as a fact finding mission. During these 'chats' abuse victims unconsciously reveal the source of their pain because venting provides temporary relief from constant self-recrimination.

Predatory men exploit the information they glean by assuring women that they are not like the other men who have abused them in the past. They then proceed to fabricate a reality which leads them both down a slippery slope. If the man is married, the oft said and well known lies soon follow. "I am leaving my wife. We are getting a divorce. I am only staying for the children."

Once the woman is thoroughly invested, the man begins to make overtures toward a sexual relationship. When consummated it becomes nearly impossible for the women to extricate herself from the adulterous affair.  In addition to the mental subjugation, the woman becomes physically bonded to the man by a combination of two powerful hormones called oxytocin and vasopressin, also know as 'love hormones.'

An adulturous couple are much like the characters from the medieval tale Tristan and Isolde, who accidentally consumed a love potion and are turned into hopeless addicts. Even though they realized that Isolde's husband, the king, would punish their adultery with death, they had to have their love fix. It also stands to reason that humans are conditioned by their experiences, which may be the reason some people tend to date the same “type" of partner over and over again.

“Some of our sexuality has evolved to stimulate that same oxytocin system to create female-male bonds,” according to neuroscientist Dr. Larry Young.  He posits that sexual foreplay and intercourse stimulate the same parts of a woman’s body that are involved in giving birth and nursing."

This hormonal hypothesis, is by no means proven fact, but this “cocktail of ancient neuropeptides,” like the oxytocin released during foreplay or orgasm," would help explain females’ desire to have sex even when they are not fertile." Being Human: Love: Neuroscience reveals all:  (Nature 457, 148 (8 January 2009)

In Western societies where polygamy is not an acceptable norm, the women who find themselves in the position of mistress remain quiet for fear of reprisal from the wives, and judgment from people who would blame them for their plight. Thus, many women spend years with married men who father their children and build parallel lives with them without fully committing. In the case of a friend, she only discovered her father's duplicity at his funeral when his other family arrived.

This post does not seek to absolve either adulterer of responsibility, but in the case of a man who preys upon the emotional weakness of a damaged woman, he is nothing short of a predator. His indifference to the collateral damage his actions cause to his primary family, to the extramarital children he fathers, and to the woman he is exploiting, is nothing short of malice aforethought.

2011 in Review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Looking Back in TimeHere's an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 70,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 3 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Industrial Grade Silicone Threatens Women's Health

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 17:14 PM EDT, 26 December 2011

Nearly 300,000 women worldwide may be adversely impacted by the improper manufacture of breast implants by the now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

The malfeasance came to light when the French company which went bankrupt in 2010 was subsequently sold to a Dutch company which continued to sell the implants rebranded as “M-Implants.”

Dutch health authority spokeswoman Diane Bouhuiss estimates that some 1,000 women in the Netherlands have the implants and have been advised to contact their physicians or have them removed.  The name of the Dutch company has not been revealed, but the rebranding of the implants produced by PIP, once the third-largest manufacturer of breast implants in the world, is a serious health concern.

The company stands accused of using industrial-grade instead of medical-grade silicone in some of its prostheses. These implants were sold in a number of European and Latin America countries. The use of non-medical grade silicone enabled the company to undercut the market thereby increasing its global market share.  Defenders of the PIP implant have issued statements claiming that the scare was "more psychological than scientific" and that no concrete link had been made between PIP implants and cancer.

No one has been charged in the case, though an investigation into involuntary homicide is going on, following the death from cancer in 2010 of a woman who had PIP implants. Reuters reported that as many as four to six former PIP employees could be charged. Non-medical grade silicone is only used in aquarium joints, automotive, coatings, cookware, defoaming, dry cleaning, electronics and fire stops. With regard to the health hazards of medical grade silicone, extensive studies have been conducted and no connection to cancer has been found.

According to the MedScape reference website “the modern silicone breast implant has been available since 1963 and has gone through an evolution of change and improvement. Basic to all implants is a silicone rubber (elastomer) shell, which can be single or double, smooth or textured, barrier-coated, or covered with polyurethane foam. The foam-covered devices have not been available in the United States since 1990 but are still marketed in Europe.

Silicone is probably the most studied implantable material available today. After over 35 well-conducted studies from many countries, it seems certain that this material does not cause disease. The results of more than 7 long-term follow-up studies show that women with implants have a reduced incidence of breast cancer than is otherwise expected in the general population. No hard evidence reveals that a broken implant is harmful. Almost all of the problems that can occur with breast implants, such as infection, hardening, extrusion, and malposition are related to the surgical procedure or the patient's own biology, not the device."

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Malaria Vaccine | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 22:08 p.m. EDT, 22 October 2011

I narrowly survived an infection of cerebral malaria when I was 10 years old.  We lived just outside of Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and because my father did not believe in Western medicine, he forbade my mother from seeking treatment for me when I fell ill.  If treated at the immediate onset of symptoms the chances of recovery are quite high.

However, by the time she took me into Dar to the hospital, I beyond the threshold of medical intervention. The doctors told my mother to take me home and prepare for my death.  My mother did take me home where I lapsed into a coma while she tried everything she knew to break the fever and bring me back.

Through her valiant caring and prayer I awoke from my coma I remained critically ill for many months afterward.  I was one of the lucky few who survive cerebral malaria in which mortality rates for patients is as high as 50%.  This particularly pernicious disease  is the number one killer in the world today with a 90% percent of malaria-related deaths occurring in sub-Saharan Africa.

The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) was funded in large part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and conducted trials on 6,000 children at 11 sites across sub-Saharan Africa.  The trials  showed that three doses of the RTS,S vaccine reduced the risk of children experiencing clinical malaria and severe malaria by 56 percent and 47 percent respectively.

Research is continuing, and efficacy and safety results in 6 to 12 week-old babies are expected by the end of 2012. Information about the longer-term protective effects of the vaccine, 30 months after the third dose, should be available by the end of 2014.

"A vaccine is the simplest, most cost-effective way to save lives," says Gates.

"These results demonstrate the power of working with partners to create a malaria vaccine that has the potential to protect millions of children from this devastating disease."

"These results confirm findings from previous Phase II studies and support ongoing efforts to advance the development of this malaria vaccine candidate," says Tsiri Agbenyega, a principal investigator of the trial and Chair of the Clinical Trials Partnership Committee.

"Having worked in malaria research for more than 25 years, I can attest to how difficult making progress against this disease has been. Sadly, many have resigned themselves to malaria being a fact of life in Africa. This need not be the case."

The team is now working towards approval by regulatory authorities. If the Phase III trials go well, the World Health Organization (WHO) has indicated that it could recommend the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate as early as 2015, allowing African nations to include the vaccine in their national immunization programs.

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Fistula: The Scourge of Child Brides

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 22:40 PM EDT, 6 September 2011

Child Bride Streets of Calcutta by BrajeshwarIn many countries around the world, young girls are being forced into marriage by their families or society. These marriages are less about religious practices than the economic needs of the families into which these girls are born.

Across the continent of Africa, Middle East and Europe, marrying off young girls is a common practice and in the Amhara region of Ethiopia some girls are married as young as five years old. It is reported that close to half Amharan girls are married before their 15th birthday.

On November 2, 2010, Anna Nicholas reported in the Telegraph about a 10-year old Romanian girl who had given birth to a healthy baby in a hospital in Jerez de La Frontera in southwest Spain.  According to a 2010 poll conducted by Unicef over 64 million women around the world between the ages of 20-24 were married before the age of 18, and in the next ten years over 100 million girls who are under the age of 18 will be married.

Among the many adverse consequences of underage girls being married are a lack of education as most are forced to leave school if they were lucky enough to have had the opportunity to attend, decreased autonomy and ability to make decisions for themselves and their children. Additionally, girls aged 15-19 are twice as likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women aged 20-24, according to the United Nations.

According to the Mayo Clinic,  rectovaginal fistula are a form of injury caused during childbirth.  This type of injury include tears in the perineum that extend to the bowel and anal sphincter, the rings of muscle at the end of the rectum that helps hold in stool.  Complete pelvic bone development occurs around 21, so when girls whose hips are too small for the baby's head to pass through, it presses down on her pelvic bone, cutting off blood supply and causing the tissue to die. The resulting hole causes urinal or fecal incontinence.

Fistula affects 2 million women around the world, mostly in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.  In the West this embarrassing and unhealthy condition was virtually eradicated in the 19th century with the discovery of Caesarean sections.  Although, this procedure also has its opponents and risks, the quality of life for women who for medical reasons cannot deliver vaginally is greatly improved.

For women suffering from fistulas, the uncontrolled leakage of feces and urine often results in abandonment by their husbands and the inability to find another protector because they are deemed unclean.  A Kenyan woman was recently interviewed about the negative impact her fistula has had on her life.

She said "people would ask who is making that bad smell, coughing and covering their noses. So I was always isolating myself."  Since she was too poor to buy sanitary pads, she stuffed her underwear with rags but the feces still leaked onto her clothes, forcing her to wash them several times a day. She often doused herself in perfume to hide the smell and endured painful attempts by a midwife who tried to suture the hole four times without success.

After years of suffering shame and isolation, she was fortunate enough to receive an operation at Kenyatta National Hospital's 15-day "fistula camp" which resulted in her complete recovery and the reclamation of her life.

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The Freudian Origins of Surrealism

Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 23:53 p.m. EDT, 15 August 2011

Sigmund Freud, Photo in LIFE Magazine

The surrealist movement is in part based on the groundbreaking work of psychologist Dr. Sigmund Freud's theories on free association, dream analysis, and the unconscious.

By tapping into the unconscious and portraying it unfettered through painting and photography, the viewer is afforded the opportunity to live vicariously in the waking dreams.

In the Nahmias Report we have featured the works of the painters Rene Margritte, Frida Kahlo, Francis Picabia, Salvador Dali, and Max Ernst, and encourage you to learn more about these artists and view their works by following the links above.

Some may look at the work of surrealists and conclude that these people must have been mentally unstable. Quite the contrary, most of these artists refused to subvert their inner realities to the conventions of the epoch in which they were born.

They chose instead to push further into the frontiers of the unconscious by translating the ethereal mysteries of their minds on to canvassed landscapes which continue to fascinate, repulse, and intrigue viewers.

Salvador Dalí said it best, "there is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad."

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With Extreme Prejudice | Castration

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Ayanna Nahmias, Editor-in-ChiefLast Modified: 21:03 PM EDT, 13 July 2011

Bloody KnifeCALIFORNIA - Catherine Kieu Becker who lives in Grove Garden, California, called 911 Emergency Services after she cut off her husband's penis and mangled it in a garbage disposal.  This is not the first time that an American wife has cut off her husband's penis.

In 1984, Lorena Bobbitt severed the penis of her husband, John Bobbitt after he returned home and raped her following a night of heavy drinking.  Unlike Catherine who mangled her husband's penis in the garbage disposal, Lorena left with the severed penis, drove a short while, then rolled down the car window and threw the penis into a field.

She subsequently stopped and called 911 and after an exhaustive search, the penis was located, packed in ice, and taken to the hospital where John Bobbitt was being treated. The penis was re-attached by Drs. James T. Sehn and David Berman during a nine-and-a-half-hour operation.[Wikipedia]

At this time, the reason for Catherine's assault are unknown. By contrast, Lorena Bobbitt revealed during her trial the volatile nature of her relationship with her husband. She told a packed courtroom that her husband sexually, physically, and emotionally abused her during their marriage and that John Bobbitt flaunted his infidelities, and had forced her to have an abortion. [Wikipedia]

What makes the cases against Catherine and Lorena so sensational is the visceral response men have to this crime.  Their penises are a potent symbol of their manhood, are the instrument by which they can procreate or rape, and one of the most sensitive areas of their bodies.  Because the perpetrators of these crimes are women, who in most societies are by and large viewed as passive victims, the only explanation offered is that they must be 'crazy.'

When a woman castrates a man, the action is tantamount to an insurrection by the 'weaker sex' and in any other country but America the offender would have been summarily executed. This was the case with a woman, known as Zarmina, executed by the Taliban at the Ghazi Sports Stadium, Kabul, November 16, 1999. She was a mother of seven children who killed her husband after he severely beat her.

Castration has been used as an instrument of war for thousands of years.  After battles in some cases, winners castrated their captives or the corpses of the defeated to symbolize their victory and "seize" their power.  The amount of media attention devoted to the rare incidents of male castration by females is inordinate compared to the global scourge of female genital mutilation.

Female Genital Mutilation (FMG) also known as Female Genital Cutting (FCC) or Female Circumcision has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as all non-surgically necessary procedures performed on girls and women to mutilate their genitalia.  The damage wrought to these women's vaginas is heinous and equivalent to male castration but media attention to these crimes pale by comparison.

Although surgeons can reattach a man's penis there may be reduced performance, a female victim of FMG suffers life-long health issues.  These include urinary and reproductive tract infections, caused by obstructed flow of urine and menstrual blood, various forms of scarring and infertility.

This is not an argument in support of what Catherine Kieu Becker and Lorena Bobbitt did to their husbands, but rather an indictment of societies that continue to support misogynistic practices that go unnoticed and unpunished around the world and in many North African countries explicitly required to preserve the 'sanctity' of a woman's chastity.

In the American justice system we are judged by a jury of our peers.  In 1984 this judicial system declared Lorena not guilty due to insanity.  The verdict is still out on Catherine Kieu Becker  but it will be interesting to follow her case.

Follow Nahmias Cipher Report on Twitter Twitter: @nahmias_report Editor-in-Chief: @ayannanahmias

Weyni Mengesha | Ethiopian Film Director

Weyni Mengesha | Ethiopian Film Director

Weyni Mengesha, is an award winning director who has produced and directed performances of her work all across Canada, as well as in New York and London. This young and dynamic Habesha Nesh has big dreams some of which have been realized and others that are even now materializing because of her inner confidence, courage and dedication to following her truth. Mengesha is one of the founding artists of Sound the Horn (STH). In addition to serving the local community the organization also chose to focus on raising awareness about the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa. The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS has been most severe in sub-Saharan countries. "At the end of 2009, there were 9 countries in Africa where more than one tenth of the adult population aged 15-49 was infected with HIV.

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State of the World's Mothers | The Mother Index

Today, 03 May 2011, the organization Save the Children released its annual report 'State of the World's Mothers,' also referred to as the Mother's Index, it ranks countries by the care each country provides for its most precious resources - mothers and children. I was sad to learn that America continues to decline in ranking as it embraces corporatism at the sacrifice of family. Many mothers, including myself, often find ourselves on the loosing side of the battle to balance work and motherhood. A battle in which we are required on a daily basis to choose work over our welfare or that of our children. It is true that many in the world could accuse us of being soft and spoiled and I would have to agree on whole because the quality of life in America far out strips that of most mothers and children in many other countries. However, this fact does not diminish the struggles that American mothers are increasingly facing, and which is evidenced by America's decreased standing among developed nations.

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2010 in Review | Nahmias Cipher Report

happy-new-year-20101.jpg

Healthy blog!The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow!!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here's a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 100,000 times in 2010. If it were an exhibit at The Louvre Museum, it would take 4 days for that many people to see it.

In 2010, there were 89 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 146 posts. There were 261 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 24mb. That's about 5 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was September 10th with 888 views. The most popular post that day was Happy Ethiopian New Year | Melkam Addis Amet!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were Google Ad Words, Facebook, Networked Blogs, EN Wordpress, and Radio Netherlands Worldwide.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for henna, gele, wife, ethiopian, and ethiopian new year.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Happy Ethiopian New Year | Melkam Addis Amet! September 2010 2 comments

2

Who We Are August 2009 36 comments

3

NCR in the News! August 2010 10 comments

4

Force Feeding Girls for Marriage April 2010 2 comments

UNAIDS & OAFLA Work Together for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

UNAIDS & OAFLA Work Together for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV

“As African women and First Ladies, we have a tendency to downplay our strengths and achievements,” she said. “HIV in Africa is an African problem and we, as Africans, will work together to find the solution. This does not mean that we do not appreciate the generous support of our friends across the globe. It means that we will provide the leadership necessary to fight this epidemic.” ~ Mrs. Azeb Mesfin

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First Ladies of Africa | Fight HIV/AIDS

On 2 August 2010, the Organisation of First Ladies of Africa (OAFLA) met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. OAFLA decided to make its permanent office in Addis Ababa at its 7th January 2010 meeting. At the meeting they discussed the improvement of the lives of women in Africa through the management and eventual eradication of HIV/AIDS. These remarkable women are also committed to poverty alleviation and gender equality. OAFLA was instituted to fight against the spread of the deadly virus across the continent through education and the implementation of preventive measures among their country's populations. OAFLA also convened on 20 September 2010 in New York to participate in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Summit, on the issue of women and children malnutrition.

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