Savvy Thinker » Safety http://savvythinker.com thinking about life, playing with makeup Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:15:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Baby selling in China http://savvythinker.com/baby-selling-in-china/ http://savvythinker.com/baby-selling-in-china/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:18:36 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=2049

What a tragedy for all the babies and their birth families. While I was aware of baby selling in parts of the world when I adopted from China, 10 and 12 years ago, I didn't believe it happened in China at the time I adopted. Who knows how much of it went on in those days.

Where there is money to be made illicitly, there always seems to be some degree of greed/need. But there is no thought given to the innocents in this, to the babies. Will they reunite them with their families? will any families come forward?

Tragic that families feel the need to sell their children or are swindled into doing so.

Every child deserves a loving family, but in this world it doesn't always happen. Let us work and pray for a more equitable world, for the safety and health of children everywhere, so that no child is separated from their family, from necessity or neglect or scandal, and can grow into their selfhood unencumbered and in joy. So let it be.

Karin

Henan police break up alleged baby-trafficking ring

By Chen Qian | 2009-1-8 | ONLINE EDITION

HENAN Province railway police caught 11 suspects of an alleged baby-trafficking ring after finding seven infants less than one month old taken onto a train.

The seven infants were girls. They were saved by police at Zhengzhou Railway Station in Henan. The girls are now at a social welfare home in the city, Xinhua news agency reported today. Two more suspects are still at large, police said.

Police were suspicious of eight women with infants at the railway station on October 21, Xinhua said. Police couldn't understand their dialect so they stopped them for questioning.

They soon confessed the infants were not their babies and they were taking them to Shandong Province for sale. Four of the suspects are Guizhou Province natives and four are from Yunnan Province, the report said.

The alleged leader Long Fang confessed to police that she asked her in-law Liu Yongqiong to buy babies in October. Liu later contacted a man surnamed Huang and three other suspects to purchase infants in Yunnan.

Liu and Huang remain at large.

Long purchased five infants for 14,600 yuan (US$2,147) in mid October and organized five women to transport them to Shandong, where her accomplice Zhang Li was waiting for the babies, the report said.

Six suspects took a train from Guiyang in Guizhou Province and met two other accomplices half way. The pair had two babies they purchased for 8,000 yuan in Guizhou. They arrived at Zhengzhou Railway Station on October 21 and planned to take a bus to Shandong with the others, the report said.

After catching eight women in Zhengzhou, police caught five more suspects in Shandong, Yunnan and Guizhou in the following three weeks. Among them, 11 have been detained and two are still being investigated, according to the report.

Originally posted 2009-03-20 19:11:15.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/baby-selling-in-china/feed/ 0 A little crochet story from Italy’s earthquake http://savvythinker.com/a-little-crochet-story-from-italys-earthquake/ http://savvythinker.com/a-little-crochet-story-from-italys-earthquake/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:24:23 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=2897

Have you read the story of the 98 year old woman rescued under the rubble of her house after Italy's recent terrible earthquake?

When asked what she did alone in the dark for 30 hours? She crocheted! What a gal! I'd love to see what she crocheted.

I don't think it is possible to keep a woman like this down.

My dear grandmother was quite a crocheter but she stopped long before age 98. She made one beautiful bedspread out of the equivalent of string, the thread was so tiny.

Do you crochet?

I like to crochet, but lately I've been knitting.

Karin

Originally posted 2009-04-10 00:31:23.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/a-little-crochet-story-from-italys-earthquake/feed/ 0 The Third/or Fourth Man Factor http://savvythinker.com/the-thirdor-fourth-man-factor/ http://savvythinker.com/the-thirdor-fourth-man-factor/#comments Mon, 17 Oct 2011 02:20:29 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=5178

The Third Man Factor is an interesting concept. Evidently it should be The Fourth Man Factor, but

It was [Sir Ernest] Shackleton’s experience that inspired the term “Third Man factor” (although for his group it was actually a “fourth man” — T.S. Eliot misremembered the number when he wrote his poem The Waste Land, which popularized the idea). Geiger

The new book out by John Geiger sounds like a fascinating read.

Plus you can get this book for your Kindle.

The Third Man Factor is an extraordinary account of how people at the very edge of death experience the sense of an unseen presence beside them who encourages them to make one final effort to survive. This incorporeal being offered them a feeling of hope, protection, and guidance, and left the person convinced he or she was not alone. There is a name for this phenomenon: It's called the Third Man Factor.

If only a handful of people had ever encountered the Third Man, it might be dismissed as an unusual delusion shared by a few overstressed minds. But over the years, the experience has occurred again and again, to 9/11 survivors, mountaineers, divers, polar explorers, prisoners of war, sailors, shipwreck survivors, aviators, and astronauts. All have escaped traumatic events only to tell strikingly similar stories of having sensed the close presence of a helper or guardian. The force has been explained as everything from hallucination to divine intervention. Recent neurological research suggests something else. Amazon

You can read a long excerpt from his book here. One of the stories he relates is of Ron DiFrancesco who was the last person to make it out of the South Tower alive. He felt such a presence. It came to him as a voice, telling him what to do, encouraging him to survive, changing the direction in which he headed.

One of the interesting things to me was to learn this phenomena has existed in many places. I suppose I would prefer to think of the man as an angel or of Christ. It reminds me of the Biblical story of the three men thrown in the fiery furnace, but witnesses saw a fourth man walking.

He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Dan 3:25

Do you find this interesting?
Do you find it as interesting as I do to have a kind of substantiation of the Bible story by modern day experiences? I take things on faith, but it is good to have proofs of a sort anyway, not that all the proofs in the world would change someone's mind that is already made up.

I can't say I've ever felt a presence per se, but I have had words come to me as thoughts. I have never been in any extreme survival situation.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

Originally posted 2009-10-19 21:31:14.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/the-thirdor-fourth-man-factor/feed/ 2 Hand feeding hummingbirds (and finances) http://savvythinker.com/hand-feeding-hummingbirds-and-finances/ http://savvythinker.com/hand-feeding-hummingbirds-and-finances/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:10:57 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=1114

Just when it seems like a bit of good news would be exceedingly welcomed, comes this true story (I've checked it with Snopes) about a woman hand feeding hummingbirds.

Isn't it great that with the Internet we have a way to easily share these experiences that we might never hear about otherwise?!

Thanks to Cathy for sharing with me in the first place!

It's a reminder to me that "God's in his heaven; all's right with the world."

from "Pippa Passes"

The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearled
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in his Heaven -
All's right with the world!

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Is it possible that in these difficult times we could trust more deeply that God will feed and clothe us, as he does the birds and the lilies? Whether we are literally in need of food, shelter, clothing, water, health, employment or any of a myriad of other needs, the most basic need is for the ideas that will lead us in the right direction and out of limitation.

Ideas are always limitless! (This goes along with the short movie I posted earlier.)

Not too long ago while pondering how I should schedule my day, though my first inclination the night before had been to get on down the road and back home, I felt it was all right to meander a bit. In doing so, I had a number of interesting conversations with strangers, some welcome time with a friend, and a bit of fashion enjoyment, including some time with perfumes.

After I'd been back on the highway for a while, an electronic sign informed me of an accident 26 miles down the road. One lane was closed. (I learned later that it had only cleared about an hour before I got there.) If I had hurried my way home, I would have been stuck for hours while they cleared the road. I was able to get past it without any lost time.

Sometimes we do not know what we or others are protected from, but this time it was apparent. And it could have been far worse, but thankfully wasn't. On this busy stretch of road, many more could have been involved in this accident but were not.

That's just a small example of how ideas will clear our day for us. Expect ideas today and always that will help you!

Karin

Originally posted 2008-09-26 09:26:43.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/hand-feeding-hummingbirds-and-finances/feed/ 0 Conquering the mountain http://savvythinker.com/conquering-the-mountain/ http://savvythinker.com/conquering-the-mountain/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 08:07:59 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=5909

What an idiot! I'm laughing here, because obviously the guy knows what he is doing. My question is why.

It's not what you think. He isn't mountain climbing. He's descending the mountain at umpteen mph on roller blades and wheeled knee and arm pads. Alrighty then!

I suppose you'd call this an extreme sport, and maybe we have others like him to thank for setting aside limitations that the rest of us know would be foolhardy for us.

And maybe it is safer than risking one's life to actually help someone in danger. But the latter seems like a 'better' way to risk life and limb, if there is such a thing. Or maybe, the sheer joy of this makes it completely worthy of doing. Yikes!

I kept thinking of the motorcyclist being overtaken and passed by this guy. Seems like it would be startling to see something out of James Bond hurtle towards and around you. Or one of the drivers coming up the mountain.

Does it endanger anyone else? Do we need to take other people's fears and attitudes into account?

At any rate, it is exhilarating to watch. I, frankly, would be an idiot to even contemplate it.

I think this could be used for a movie stunt!

What do you think?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-12-02 08:55:18.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/conquering-the-mountain/feed/ 2 Nicholas Winton, an admirable man http://savvythinker.com/nicholas-winton-an-admirable-man/ http://savvythinker.com/nicholas-winton-an-admirable-man/#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 03:38:05 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=4681

In the presence of good

Nicholas Winton, now 100 years old, was a 29 year old London stockbroker who traveled to Czechoslovakia in 1938, where he rescued hundreds of Jewish children from likely or certain death. Winton's parents were of German Jewish descent.

Even his wife didn't know about it until 40 years after they were married, he remarked in 1999.

Everything that happened before the war actually didn't feel important in the light of the war itself.

Winton, alarmed at the time -- and rightly -- that Czechoslovakia would be invaded by the Nazis and Jewish residents sent to concentration camps, persuaded British officials to accept the children as long as foster homes were found and a 50 pound guarantee was paid for each child. He set about raising funds and organizing passage.

Eight trains carried the children to Britain in the months before the war. A few went to Sweden. Many never saw their parents again, because of the Holocaust.

To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the rescue, a vintage train carrying about two dozen survivors and their families pulled into London's Liverpool Street Station this past Friday after three days journey by rail and ferry from Prague. They greeted Nicholas, frail though he was.

It's wonderful to see you all after 70 years. Don't leave it quite so long until we meet here again. Nicholas Winton

I never heard about him until today when the story of the kindertransports was retold in our paper.

It's quite remarkable that someone in the heat of confusing times would be led to act decisively in a timely fashion without regard to himself to save others and give them life. It looks easy in retrospect, but I bet we don't know the half of it or the persuading that needed to take place. And I don't suppose that 50 pounds each was a small sum in those days, not to mention the cost of passage.

To me, he is a righteous man. The world would have been poorer without him. He's another man I'd like to know. I was glad he lived long enough to be recognized for his part. And not to forget the part of all those who aided in giving funds, some of whom might have been their own families. May their memories be for a blessing.

Had you heard of him before?

Don't be prepared in your life only to do no wrong; Be prepared every day to try to do some good. Sir Nicholas Winton

Karin
www.savvythinker.com
don't steal my posts -- you know who you are!

Originally posted 2009-09-05 11:23:59.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/nicholas-winton-an-admirable-man/feed/ 2 Review: have a little faith by Mitch Albom http://savvythinker.com/review-have-a-little-faith-by-mitch-albom/ http://savvythinker.com/review-have-a-little-faith-by-mitch-albom/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:55:55 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=7151

I thoroughly enjoyed have a little faith ... a true story. A friend loaned me her copy yesterday, saying I would love it. She was right.

Albom also wrote Tuesdays with Morrie and other books.

Albom was raised in the Jewish faith. But he had drifted away, making more and more time for work and less and less for any sense of religion, except he would go back home and sit with his parents in his seat in the synagogue for High Holy days. He never joined a temple where he lived.

During one of his visits, the only rabbi he ever knew as his rabbi, the one from his childhood, asks him if he would write the eulogy for his funeral, not that he is dying, but he is in his 80s.

And so begins the true story of a return to faith.

Albom feels he must get to know the rabbi better, so he begins to fly in on weekends and ask him questions, the large questions of faith, interviewing him. Do you believe? Why do you believe? How did you survive the loss of your 5 year old daughter? How did you reconcile it to your faith? Do you believe in heaven? What about forgiveness? What comes after this life? Will we meet again?

And about the same time he meets a Detroit pastor, ministering to the poorest of the poor, who himself had been a convict, drug user and who-knows-what-all-else. For a long time Albom doesn't trust that the man is real. His before-story seems so beyond belief, to come from that into this.

The book is written not quite in alternating chapters, but close. One chapter will be the story of the rabbi (Albert Lewis) as it unfolds. Then a chapter will be of Henry Covington. And occasionally there will be excerpts from Lewis' sermons.

I felt it was a privilege to walk the path of faith with these three men. After all, each of our faith walks is different, but all of value to God.

Have you read this book?
I give it 4 stars out of 4 stars.

It is also available for Kindle:

Karin

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Originally posted 2010-08-25 15:24:56.

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-have-a-little-faith-by-mitch-albom/feed/ 0 Review Thor (no spoiler) http://savvythinker.com/review-thor-no-spoiler/ http://savvythinker.com/review-thor-no-spoiler/#comments Sun, 29 May 2011 23:35:33 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=7818

I thoroughly enjoyed Thor when I went to see it. It is a guy's movie that gals will appreciate too. (Chris Hemsworth!) (actually the storyline too.) It got a good review in our paper, but I wasn't sure if I would necessarily like it or not.

It pretty much had a winning combo with Kenneth Branagh directing Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman, not to mention Chris Hemsworth playing Thor (whoo hooo.) I was pleasantly surprised that Hemsworth's acting was not one-dimensional like so many comic characters might be and have been. Tom Hiddleston plays Loki, Thor's brother. I loved Idris Elba as Heimdall, the keeper of the pathway.

The story
Thor and his hammer can win most any war, but war is not always the wisest course of action. He feels he is invincible and leads his friends into a situation that could have tipped the balance of power against his father and his reign. Thor is set to be crowned the next king, but his father realizes he is not ready. Surprise! (for Thor.)

In the background is a traitor whose identity will be revealed and his motivation and his background which isn't as it seems. If you've read the comic book, you probably know who this is. Otherwise, no spoiler.

As a result of the near fiasco, Thor's father, played by Hopkins, banishes him to earth along with his hammer, which has been separated from him. Only the person worthy of the hammer will be able to use it.

Of course, then the hammer is investigated (and protected) by certain US agents. And Thor must find his way back to it and be able to use it.

How this is accomplished, which you know it will be, is the essence of the movie. Portman helps him in this endeavor, as does her colleague (Stellan Skarsgård) (I always like him.) And his friends stick with him, against the traitor, even as he sticks with them. Through the process, Thor learns to lead and to protect.

There is a good moral, or more than one, in the story. It is a kind of parable. Among them: Watch your back! Protect yourself. Don't go into situations unwisely.

Do not leave before the end of the credits!
If you do, you will miss an important scene/preview -- and the credits roll and roll and roll, but do not give up! It is worth it.

Have you seen it?
I give it 3*** out of 4****, as did our paper.

In Norse mythology, Thor (from Old Norse Þórr) is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, destruction, fertility, healing, and the protection of mankind. wikipedia

I love the Trollbead Thor's Hammer bead -- there may be a link to it lower on the page.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com


Kindle 3 Kindle 3 Paypal US $75.00 6d 21h 2m

Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-thor-no-spoiler/feed/ 0 Review Voyage of the Dawn Treader http://savvythinker.com/review-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader/ http://savvythinker.com/review-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:17:05 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=7434

The whole family went to see this over the Christmas break.

This movie returns us to the magic and wonder of C.S. Lewis` beloved world of Narnia. It is simply a good story, one with elements of spirituality, if you are not interested in the Christian metaphors, such as Aslan the Lion, who represents Christ.

It opens with a brief vignette concerning World War II and the differences in the lives of the children who are left in England, compared to their older sister who is not.

For me, it was fun to see how the children have grown up.

In this latest movie from `The Chronicles of Narnia` motion picture franchise, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their insufferable cousin Eustace (who learns his own lessons) are magically transported into Narnia through a painting of a ship on the sea -- the special effects of that are well done.

Once on the ship, the Dawn Treader, they are reunited with their royal friend King Caspian, and a warrior mouse (that I think looks like a clothed rat.)

As much as I disliked their cousin, I loved the mouse. He provides humor, courage, friendship and more. He is very well done.

I especially liked the lesson Lucy learns that it is best to be oneself, not to wish one were someone else. The consequences of becoming someone else are far reaching and involve the actual loss of oneself -- and even of the knowledge of Narnia. In that respect, the lesson is similar to the one learned in It's a Wonderful Life.

If you like a good yarn, go see the movie. I give it 3* out of 4. It is beautifully filmed and nicely acted.

Have you seen it?

Karin
www.savvythinker.com




Online Stores ]]> http://savvythinker.com/review-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader/feed/ 0 An admirable man: Ex-Jaguar Richard Collier http://savvythinker.com/an-admirable-man-ex-jaguar-richard-collier/ http://savvythinker.com/an-admirable-man-ex-jaguar-richard-collier/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 14:00:38 +0000 Karin http://savvythinker.com/?p=7328

Sometimes we don't have to look far for inspiration or people that inspire us. This morning a story about Ex-Jaguar Richard Collier came across my email box. He stood at his wedding.

For most people this would not be an accomplishment, but for Collier who was paralyzed from the waist down by multiple bullets after leaving a club, standing for 45 minutes was outside the vocabulary for those who do not know him.

His fiance heard a thunderous ovation before their wedding and knew he likely had done what he said he would. He had said he would stand to remove her veil and to kiss her, but there might have been few who thought he would be able to do it. He had undergone 15 surgeries. At times his life hung in the balance. Not only that, but one leg has been amputated. He stood in an intricate brace strapped to the outside of his body at the hips, extending around his legs. That seems hardly worth mentioning, does it!

His doctors have told him (they think) he never will walk again. He disagrees, and I'm betting on him.

I will never let people tell me what I can't do. I plan on walking again. I really do. I don't doubt myself, I don't put limits on myself. I wake up every day and I smile and I laugh because I'm alive. I have a chance to be a better person in life in every aspect. I have the chance to take advantage of every second in life instead of wasting it for something that doesn't matter. I try to do that every day now. Sure, I still get sad, but that's life, that's normal, and I quickly snap out of it. I hate being down. I want to be positive. I am not going to let you see me down. Don't look at me as a helpless guy. I just feel the sky is the limit. I want to help change the world, want to show people who have disabilities can do whatever they want.

Collier has replaced what if with what's next, writes Jim Henry.

Chandra says her husband is her hero and she never contemplated leaving him during their courtship when he was shot. Children are in their future plans, too.

"It never crossed my mind," she explained. "I always wanted to be the one by his side, and it was an easy decision for me to stay. I honestly don't think he even realizes how many lives he has impacted because he is such an inspiration." Jim Henry

He credits his faith and hard work. He has forgiven the man who shot him and prays for him. (He is now convicted.)

I look at it as that was a chapter of my life and it's over now. I don't dwell on the past. Just like with my injuries now being hurt, I know what happened and I know what's going on. I remember I couldn't even say the word paralyzed. I didn't want to say it because I couldn't grasp it, but I've grown so much since then. I've gotten a lot stronger physically, mentally and I've moved forward. Like I said, I believe I will walk again.

I get mad now when people take their bodies for granted. They may say, 'Oh, my foot hurts and I don't want to walk.' Man, I'd kill for my foot to hurt. I know people who don't take care of their bodies. You are up walking and you should take care of what you are given. I hate to see people waste their lives. It's the easy stuff, too, like going to the bathroom or getting into the car. I mean, everything is an adventure for me.

I know there are times when I battle for keeping my thoughts afloat. I can't say that I have pity parties, but if I were tempted to, it puts my battles (and maybe the battles you are facing) into perspective, doesn't it! I expect to see an article that he is walking. He certainly is working towards it! And never discount the prayers of a righteous man (and his friends and family.) I think his life was saved for a reason.

I love that he sees himself and his future as unlimited and that he is working to that end. I love that he has joy in the midst of it all. Can we say that about our lives? Can we work toward that end, if we aren't feeling it?

Do you believe in the power of prayer? Have you seen instances where it changed circumstances?

If you'd like to read a fuller story and see pictures, go here.

Karin
www.savvythinker.com

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