Headline November 28, 2018/ '' ' HUMANITY? IN....HUMANITY? ' ''

'' ' HUMANITY? IN....HUMANITY? ' ''

*HUMANITY IN AN INHUMANE TIME*........................

OKSANA Ostapenko was 12 years old and facing death from hunger when a stranger saved her life by taking the girl into his family and sharing the last of the food.

Today, aged 97, the Ukrainian's voice trembles when she recalls the terrible famine that hit her country on the 1930s due to policies enforced by Joseph Stalin's police. ''They came and took away all our grain,'' Ostapemnko told AFP

Officers also took away her father, who was sentenced to five years in northern Russian prison camp because he was a landowner. Ostapenko's mother was left to raise five children as authorities confiscated all supplies to meet centralised targets.

Her mother saw no option but to send Pstapenko to live with a family in a village near their native Kozliv, some 60 kilometres [40 miles] southeast of Kiev.

They hoped that the daughter would return once the famine was over. But weeks after the girl left her mother and youngest brother died of pure starvation. 

Her mother ''came to see how I was........then returned to her village, and later I was told she had passed away,'' Ostapenko remembers as she sits in Kiev flat that she now shares with own daughter.

'Genocide' : The death toll of the famine - known as the ''Holodomor'' in Ukrainian remains debated among historians. But Kiev authorities estimate the number of those who died at around four million, or 13 percent of the total population at the time.

Kiev has recognised this as a genocide against the Ukrainian people by Stalin's regime, specifically aimed at eradicating the country's peasantry. More than 15 countries recognise that view of events.

Now dozens of stories like Ostapenko's have been gathered in a book published to coincide with the  85th anniversary of Holodomor. The national day of remembrance of the famine was on Saturday.

The book, 'Humanity in an Inhumane Time,'' focuses on the people who saved others from dying of hunger. It bring together testimonies from teachers, collective farm chairmen and ordinary villages who used sparse resources to help others survive.

Jailed for feeding children : Ostapenko's saviour was Yegor Kryvenko, whose work as a mechanic at a local allowed him to to secure some extra flour for his family, ''I just met kind people,'' Ostapenko said of the father-of-two who offered to take her in when her own mother could no longer support her.

''He divided everything that was stored equally, down to the last gramme,'' she said.

''It has to be shared,'' she recalled Kryvenko saying as he divided up a a few dozen small potatoes between her and his own children, This would be almost all the food they would see for several weeks.

''And when the [requisitioned] grain was being loaded onto the wagons, it would scatter and I'd go pick it up to bring it home,'' she said. ''There were very difficult years. Let them no longer return to our people.''

Volodymyr Tylischak, one of the authors of the book to mark the anniversary, said many of those who helped others were sentenced to long jail terms. Some of them dared to gather crops and hand them out to peasants, while others secretly organised meals for children in schools.

''Even in the most dire conditions there were those who had the courage to resist,'' Tylischak said. ''They saved lives. One, several or the whole community - depending on what opportunities they had,'' said Viktoriya Yaremenko, a historian who also worked on the book.

''Each story is a feat, and you understand that only after immersing yourself in those terrible years,''

With respectful dedication to the Leaders, Grandparents, Parents, Students, Professors and Teachers of the world.

See Ya all prepare for Global Elections and ''register'' on : wssciw.blogspot.com - The World Students Society - for every subject in the world and Twitter-!E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011 :

''' Fame & Famine '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless

AUSTRALIA COME SPRINGS

DUST storms, raging bushfires, gale-force winds, heatwaves, thunder and snow, flash flooding and driving rain - Australia is enduring a bout of wild weather that's hit all parts of the vast continent in recent days.

Varied weather is not uncommon during spring in the southern hemisphere nation as summer beckons.

But rare and dramatic scenes of red dust storms shrouding towns thundersnow  -lightning strikes in thunderstorms that produce snow - in the alpine region have left some scratching their heads.

The culprit is a slow moving low pressure and stronger system  that is deeper and stronger than usual, Bureau of Meteorology expert Dean Narramore told AFP.

''Ahead of the low,'' it's warm, it's hot, its windy, and then behind the low, it's cold, it's wet, it's windy,'' the meteorologist said.

''And then the longer the air spends over the land, it dries out and goes back into the low - there's a lot happening.''

The wild weather has seen flights delayed by strong winds in the country and busiest airport in Sydney on the southeastern coast, and a major storm leaving tens of thousands of homes in South Australia state without power.

Meanwhile, in the northeast, Queenlanders are sweltering through a days-long heatwave, with the popular tourist town of Cairns set to reach temperatures of up to 37 degrees Celsius  [98.6 degrees Fahrenheit].

In the high country of New South Wales and Victoria states, a cold snap is bringing freezing temperatures and snowfall just a week before the summer season officially starts in December.

''It's a particularly strong system. We do get a couple of these a year, but normally in winter or early autumn. It's a little bit more unusual, but it does happen from time to time in Australia,''  Narramore said.

Narramore said he did not see long-term weather trends, such as climate change behind the current phenomena. [Agencies]

GREENPEACE'S WAKE UP CALL! : *WORLD AND CHINA*

GLACIER melt at major sites in western China is accelerating fast, Greenpeace said on Tuesday, prompting thousands to evacuate in recent months  underscoring the vulnerability to climate change in a ''wake up call'' for the world.

Satellite analysis showed that the rate of retreat at glaciers in China's remote western regions had more than doubled,  Greenpeace said, with the annual rate at  Tianshan Glacier  No. 1 in Xinjang rising from an average of  5,000  square metres between 1962 and 1986 to  10,600 square metres between 1986 and this year.

''This is a wake up call for China and the world,'' said Greenpeace's climate and energy campaigner Liu Junyan.

''Glaciers in China supply water to 1.8 billion people, and they are melting, fast. In just the last few months, thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes due to threats of flooding.''  [Agencies].

SWEDEN'S : 'DISGUSTING FOOD MUSEUM'

MAGGOTS, LICORICE and Cobra hearts at *Sweden's Disgusting Food Museum*.

CHEESE teeming with squirming maggots, sheep's eye juice and mouse wine: the ''Disgusting Food Museum'' explores why dish seems delicious to some, but for others is stomach-churning.

On show for three months at an old slaughterhouse in the southern Swedish city of Malmo, the exhibit created by Samuel West, who previously served up the Museum of Failure - promises to shock the senses.

''Disgust is always subjective because it comes with what we grew up with. It's a kind of an indoctrination,'' says museum director Andreas Ahrens.

''If we grew up with something, we don't find it disgusting,'' he says.

To highlight the point, the exhibition puts foods from around the world on an equal footing, so lobster and fole gras are are presented in the same way as chewy kiddie sweets and rabbits heads.

Gastronomic explorers are warned on entry, the exhibit is not for the squeamish. But, conveniently, the entry ticket is - a sickness bag.

Bag in hand then, visitors venture off on a world tour of specialties, some of which may seem to a Western palate like ingredients in a witch's brew but are considered delicacies.

''The Disgusting Food Museum exists to let people explore the world for food and see both their own food and [other food] from the lens of another culture,'' says Ahrens.

Its founder ''began by thinking of other museums that don't exist that he would like to visit, and that led to the Disgusting Food Museum,'' he adds cheerfully.
[Agencies]

The honor and serving of the latest operational research on disgusting ideas continues.

*NO MONEY. NO ENGLISH* : US WELCOME

ONE of the things I'am grateful for this Thanksgiving weekend is the warm welcome that America extends to a man born 100 years ago in what is now Ukraine.

WIadyslaw Krzystofowicz was born into an Armenian family in a dangerous region : you might think of it as the Honduras of its day.
During World War II, some family members were murdered by the Nazis; afterward some survivors were killed by the Soviet ''liberators.''

WIadyslaw escaped by swimming across the Danube river from Romania to Yugoslavia, was almost executed, made his way to France - and began to dream of coming to America.

My father, for that's who he was, explored illegal options, including a fake marriage with a U.S. citizen, but in the end the  First Presbyterian Church in Portland, Ore sponsored him - even though he was Catholic, spoke no English and originated in a Communist country that was then our enemy.

There ere many reasons not to take him : The sponsors had to pay his transportation to America, cover his expenses and find him a job that didn't require English. They did all this with tremendous generosity; Im still trying to pay it forward.

So in 1952, my father was on the deck of the ship Marseille as it approached New York Harbor. A white-haired Bostonian woman tried to chat with him, but my did couldn't understand her.

The woman took out a piece of paper and wrote down the famous lines on the  Statue of Liberty in front of them : ''Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.........''

''Keep this as a souvenir, young man.'' she told him. Then she corrected herself : ''Young American''.

My father was moved that he should be welcomed as a ''young American'' before he had even set foot on American soil. He kept that piece in his wallet for years as a momento of the values of his new homeland.

There were difficulties, of course. No one could pronounce a first name bristling with consonants or a surname with thee Z's, so he shortened his name to Ladis Kristof.

He learned English, and Reed College and then the University of Chicago admitted him on scholarships.

Eventually, he became a university professor.

The World Students Society honors writer, author and researcher : Nicholas Kristof.

'THE LION - THE KING'

WALT Disney Studios Motion Pictures on Friday released the first teaser trailer for director Jon Favreau's The Lion King, which roars into theaters on July 19, 2019.

The computer-animated remake of the 1994 classic features an all star voice cast, which includes-

Eric Anfre as Azizi, Beyonce as Nala, Billy Eichner as Timon, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Donald Glover as Simba, James Earl Jones Mufasa-

John Kani as Rafiki, Florence Kasumba as Shenzi, Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari, John Oliver as Zazu, Seth Rogers as Pumbas, JD McCrary as young Simba, Shahadi Wright as Joseph as young Nala and and Alfre Woodward as Sarabi.

The teaser trailer shows the animal kingdom with Mufasa telling his son Simba,

''Everything the light touches is our Kingdom. But the king's time as rule rises and falls like the sun. One day, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king.''

As Circle of Life plays, the trailer shows every animal arriving to welcome the little lion.

Disney announced Favreau would making reimagining  The Lion King in 2016, following the success of his Jungle Book  remake : the latter film, starring Neel Sethi and featuring the voice talents of Idris Elba, Giancarlo Exposito, Scarlett Johnsson, Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong'o-

Gary Shandling and Christopher Walken, earned $966 million of the box office.

Needless to say, everyone involved in the is treating reboot with the utmost care.

A year ago, E! News talked to Eichner about his role The Lion King:

''I was freaking out,'' the actor admitted. I mean, the cast is amazing. Me and Seth Rogen and Timon and Pumbaa, so we do Hakuna Matata and then we also sing  Can You Feel The Love  Tonight  with Simba and Nala, ' who are going to be voiced by Donald Glover  and someone who is named Beyonce ,''

Eichner doubted that  he'd even meet Beyonce, asking ''Why would she want to be in the studio with me?!!''

The Lion King will be Disney's third remake of an animated film coming to theaters next year. First up will be Tim Burton's Dumbo March 29, followed by Guy Ritchie's Aladdin on May 24. [Daily Times Monitor].

NUST'S STUDENTS NEEDY

PAKISTAN: NUST to give out Rs 12.5 million to benefit needy students....

In a ceremony held at the National University of Science & Technology [NUST] earlier this week, Bestway Foundation and NUST Trust Fund [NTF] signed an agreement to-

To establish Bestway Scholarship Endowment Fund of Rs 12.5 million for the benefit of financially challenged students enrolled in the university's undergraduate programmes.

These scholarships will given to five student beneficiaries, primarily covering their fee expenses every year.

Speaking on the occasion, Bestway Cement Limited Chief Financial Officer said :

''Higher education is essential for building a strong and vibrant society, whereas many talented and well deserving youth is unable to continue their education due to lack of sufficient  financial resources.

Bestway Foundation, in keeping with its resolve to support the deserving students, decided to set up an endowment fund with NUST to provide financial assistance to the students applying:

In undergraduate degree programme in either of the disciplines of Environmental Engineering, Metallurgy & Materials Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering,'' 

THE PARIS OPERA

BACK STAGE. Paris Opera keeps venerable crafts alive.................
AT the Paris Opera, people often say that for the curtain to rise on its stars, the talents of 100  different tracks are needed behind the scenes.

Thanks to an academy, founded in 2015, to preserve some of those specialised crafts, Brazilian Tulio Morais will finally release his dream of leaning to make ballet tutus.

Every year, 40 students like Morais train in skills such as costume making, wig design and tapestry, as well as lyrical singing and music, at the heart of the open company, which celebrates its 350th anniversary next year.

While other opera houses have workshops in singing and sewing, Paris Opera, the largest in Europe, is the ''only one in the world that teaches such a large number of arts,'' Myriam Mazouri the academy director told AFP.

The concept is to pass on the knowledge of those crafts at risk of disappearing to already experienced professionals who can sage-guard the know-how.

''In some sectors it was a real struggle to recruit people,'' the director said. In the female costume department at the opera's historic  Palais Gamier site in central Paris, tutor and workshop head  Anne-Anne-Marie Legend promises Morais that he will soon put together the first tutu for ''Sweet Lake'' in January.

She runs him through the process, from costume design to fitting and adjusting the volumes.

''I always dreamed of  of  making timeless clothes,'' says Morais, who is discovering new stitching and finishing techniques.

With  ready-to-wear  collections, ''it lasts six months, a costume on stage, it's for life.''

Bygone Hairstyles
Nearby, dozens of white tutus are hanging up in a historic room known as ''central''.

''There are very few people in the world who know''  how to make the emblematic  ballet skirt, which was first created at Paris Opera in the 19th, Legrand said.

''There is no real school for this,'' she added. [Agencies]

EL SALVADOR'S ''MAYAN POMPEII''

HUMAN remains have been discovered for the first time in EI Salvador's Joya de Ceren, a city buried by a volcanic eruption more than 1,400 years ago and sometimes dubbed the ''Mayan Pompeii'' the ministry of culture said Thursday.

A skeleton, which was in poor condition, was discovered at the beginning of November, buried with an obsidian knife at the UNESCO World Heritage archaeological site located about 20 miles [35 kilometers] north of the capital San Salvador.

The person ''probably lived in the city but was not killed by the eruption'' of the Loma Caldera volcano, archaeologist Michelle Toeldo said.

Toledo added that researchers believed  the  remains date of the Late Classic period of Mesoamerica because of the presence of fine white tephra, known as the  ''Tierra Blanca Joven''  [young white earth] resulting from the volcanic eruption around 535 AD.

The cataclysmic eruption of the  Loma Caldera volcano destroyed numerous Mayan sites and was responsible for the formation of Lake Hopango, with an area of 7727.8 square miles [ 72 square kilometers].

The remains are the first to be discovered in more than 40 years of excavations.

Like Pompeii and Herculaneum in Italy, the remains of Joya de ceren were discovered in exceptional condition, providing a rare insight into the Mayan way of life including rituals, agriculture, trade, governance and eating habits. [Agencies].