Hong kong boy gives peace a chance

"Misunderstanding and contradictions can build walls around people, shrouding all of us in darkness," said Cheuk Tat Li, a 12-year-old student from Hong Kong. "People will then live in a place without peace, warmth and happiness."

With a vivid imagination and dreams of a harmonious world, Li created the grand prize-winning poster in the 2004-2005 Lions International Peace Poster Contest.

"Trying its best and overcoming all difficulties, the dove breaks the solid walls into pieces with its tiny beak to save the world which is trapped in the dark maze," Li said when describing his winning poster.

The contest provides children ages 11, 12 and 13 with a means to share their views on peace. An estimated 350,000 children participated in this year's program, "Give Peace a Chance."

Since its beginning in 1988, more than 3 million children in nearly 100 countries have participated in the contest. Lions Clubs International, the world's largest service club organization, sponsors the contest in local schools and organized youth groups.

At this year's final judging, members of the art, education, media, peace and youth communities gathered at The Peace Museum in Chicago to evaluate the 114 posters on creativity, artistic merit and expression of theme. The posters were previously narrowed down at several levels of judging before being sent to Lions Clubs International Headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill.

As this year's grand-prize winner, Li was presented with an award and $2,500 during a special ceremony at "Lions Day with the United Nations" in New York City. Li was a merit award winner in last year's contest.

Twenty-three merit award winners were each awarded $500 and a certificate of merit. This year's merit award winners are from Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Guam, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Peru, Poland, Thailand and the United States.

All 24 posters will appear in an exhibit that will travel to children's museums and various events throughout the United States.

Lions clubs encourage early childhood vision screenings

Health screenings are a traditional part of the back-to - school season throughout the country. Eye screenings in particular are important for children entering school for the first time, since vision and learning are inextricably linked.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, vision problems affect one in every 20 preschoolers and one in four school-aged children. Unfortunately, most children do not receive proper eye screenings prior to entering school. Studies show that only about 20 percent of preschool children have their vision screened through government or private programs.

Photoscreening is a screening method that uses a camera to photograph a child's eye. It can detect conditions such as lazy eye, farsightedness and nearsightedness, cataracts and misalignment of the eyes.

More than 430,000 pre-literate children in the U. S. between the ages of 6 months and 5 years have been photoscreened for such vision problems through their local Lions clubs. Nearly 26,500 of them have been referred for treatment.

These photoscreenings, which are done by trained volunteers, are a cost-effective way to identify vision problems in children and have been shown to be 85 percent to 90 percent accurate.

Vision disorders are the fourth most common disability among children in the U. S. The earlier children are screened, the better the chance of preventing permanent vision loss.

A child might be exhibiting signs of a vision problem if he or she:

* rubs his or her eyes often;

* has trouble focusing;

* blinks more than usual;

* squints when focusing on

distant objects;

* frowns excessively;

* stumbles over small objects;

* is sensitive to light;

* has inflamed or watery eyes.

If you notice any of these signs in your child, contact your doctor or check with your child's school or your local Lions club for screenings in your area.

Lions Clubs International - recognized worldwide for its service to the blind and visually impaired - also dedicates itself to helping those less fortunate in communities around the world.

Guide to terrorism and world markets

What worse could have happened to the US economy then the 9th September 2001? Some perverted religious fanatics demolished the embodiment of the world trade. Terrorism is a threat to all the nations of the world. The human loss due to these activities cannot be condemned with words. The ruthlessness of the terror traders has an impact on each and every segment of life. The extent of these activities is extending by the day and the generally silent Europe too is feeling the cramps.

The world markets face the wrath of the terrorist activities in their faces. There is an overall loss to the business in many ways. The people suddenly fear traveling through air. The airline companies themselves are more apprehensive about continuing with their normal work. Apart from the loss in passengers, the security too has to be made very tight and the loss has to be born by the companies.

As a matter of fact, all sectors are put to a stand still due to these terror strikes. The direct effect of these is seen in the sudden drop in the markets. The stock prices do drop down and the trading comes to a stand still, however the business seldom stops and the markets show their cushioning effect by regaining the vigor. But at times the loss of even trading day can be fatal to a country’s economy.

Such attacks also incur a direct burden on the defense budget. It goes without saying that the governments do take desperate measures to minimize the losses and cover the country against the future threats. The new areas of defense research open up and thus fresh jobs are created. This brighter side of the attacks is over-shadowed by the loss of lives and panic that is created with in the country. The government, under such circumstances, looses the track of their priorities and the developmental works are sidelined. This causes damage to civic society.

The worst hit by terrorist activities is the third world countries. The terrorists make these vulnerable counties their bases and from here carry out the destructive activities. Their influence in such countries shows and threatens the developed world of their power and dominance. Thus such countries make an appropriate guinea pig. If a terrorists strike a big country or a city, the whole world knows about it. The tragedy with these countries is that their miseries are not broadcasted because of their non connectivity with the rest of the world. They are thus the breeding grounds of terrorism and worst hit areas by this destructive activity.

A joint effort by all the countries of the world, taking along the third world countries, is required to curb the growing tentacles of terrorism. Many big nations have joined hands against terrorism after major attacks in the world. They also need to include the most vulnerable victims of terrorism, the developing countries. Support to them, both economic and military, should be provided to them by the capable nations. Bodies like UN must pass resolutions and work upon them to uproot the cannibalistic practice of terrorism. Unless we don’t join our hands it would be very difficult to face these destructive forces and our economies will be victims of their activities.

How to defeat terrorism

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Stopping terrorism is not like gambling, in poker there are different variables that can affect the outcome but it fighting terror the only way to win is to fight to the end.

Many people thing that the terrorist feel they have been wronged by something or someone and that giving them something will end the fight be it land or money, but history has repeatedly shown us that by appeasing the terrorists we are only giving them what they want, and prolonging the fight. They will continue to take everything they are given but they never stop wanting more.

An example of this is clear in the Israeli - Palestinian conflict. Israel allows the PLO to return to the west bank and Gaza and form the Palestinian Authority, Israel supplied weapons and the Americans provided training to the Palestinians so they could start a army to fight crime and terrorism.

Israel was repaid by the terrorists by suicide bombings in malls, restaurants, clubs and busses.

More recently Israel pulled all Jews from Gaza and gave all the land to the Palestinians. The Israelis left behind infrastructure and greenhouses, which could have been used for businesses by the Palestinians. The moment the last troops were out of Gaza the terrorists destroyed what the Israelis left behind and again repaid them with rockets on Sderot and Ashkelon, two Jewish cities bordering Gaza.

Many of you are thinking that these problems were brought on by the Israelis stealing Palestinians land, but what was it that the United States did that angered Al Qaeda?

Many will say it is because America has troops in Saudi Arabia where the two holiest locations to the Muslim people are, these people are wrong. This fight is not about the terrorists wanting America out of the Middle East.

This was is about the pride of one individual. Osama Bin Laden, and that’s all it is about.

In 1991 when Saddam Hussein Invaded Kuwait, Saudi Arabia was worried and was looking to get help to protect its oil fields. Osama Bin Laden offered his assistance to help protect his homeland with the help of his Mujahadim, who had helped protect Afghanistan from the Russians in the 80's.

But rather then gamble on Bin Laden's holey warriors, the Saudis asked for help from the United States, and this wounded Bin Laden's pride. Now Bin Laden is on a quest to show the world that he is the true protector of Islam, do not be fooled this is a war of religion.
The only thing that has ever worked is not to try to negotiate with these people but to fight them with force. You will find that with any military action against terrorists once you start to make some headway they will start to yell about a Hudna or temporary cease fire.

When you are in a poker tournament in Casinos Online or land based and your opponent is almost out of chips, do you back off and let your enemy regroup or go all in and force him out.

The Only way to defeat terrorism is to fight terrorism whenever and wherever it shows its head, and to never let up on those who would use terror to forward their goals.