Christmas Giving I love~Robin Williams' Style

 With Memories of a Comic Comrade, Margaret Cho Helps the Homeless

SAN FRANCISCO — The comedian Margaret Cho has been busking around her hometown, singing, plinking on her guitar and nearly stripping to raise money for the homeless. San Francisco has pop-up restaurants, art galleries and shops, but Ms. Cho’s may be the first pop-up charity.

Through social media, she has notified fans, who brought coats, pants, shirts, shoes, blankets and lots of socks as well as cash, which she gave away at each event. Her ninth and final performance was on Tuesday.

The inspiration, Ms. Cho said, was her friend Robin Williams, who committed suicide in August at age 63. When she could not shake her sadness, another comedian friend said, “Don’t mourn Robin — be Robin.” Mr. Williams, who lived in the Bay Area, raised millions for the homeless. So Ms. Cho began what she calls “my mini-baby-weirdo version” of Mr. Williams’s charity routines.

She also did it because, she said pointedly, this city has become Dickensian, with the rich getting richer as they till the digital fields of Google and Facebook and the poor getting poorer and priced out of their apartments. Ms. Cho knows that she cannot change the economy, but she can lift spirits by doing what she knows best.

Michael Austin, who lives under a freeway in San Francisco, picking out a coat from donated items that fans brought to one of Margaret Cho's performances. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times

“San Francisco used to be a city of street performers,” Ms. Cho said at her final event. “Robin was a street performer — this is part of bringing that back.”

She has performed at Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall, and much of her comedy is so profanely unprintable that any attempt at paraphrasing would not do it justice. Starting in January, Ms. Cho will be a host of a show on the TLC channel called “All About Sex,” a title that conveys some of her brand of humor.

During her monthlong string of pop-ups, she took her act to a youth shelter and to neighborhoods where homeless people congregate. Ms. Cho said she had raised about $2,000 at most of the shows. She finished with an evening performance at SF Eagle, a gay bar with synthetic snowflakes and a mirrored ball twinkling from the ceiling.

Outside, drivers pulled up with armfuls of new sweaters, vests, jackets, pants, dental floss, soap and socks, stacking the donations on tables on the sidewalk. Homeless men and women, often unnoticed during the day, walked or biked to the tables and chose what they liked. Late into the night, the hills of clothing were replenished and the homeless kept coming.

Michael Austin, “eight years on the street,” rode his clunky gray bicycle from under a nearby freeway overpass, where he lives. “This is exciting,” he said, stuffing so much clothing into drooping plastic bags, marked “Personal Belongings Bag,” that when he pedaled away the bike tipped over. After being helped up, he said, “I’m coming back with my friends.”

There are more than a half-million homeless people in the United States, and 6,500 live in San Francisco. Many sleep on the sidewalks and under building overhangs.

The people who came for free clothing were mostly older. The donors were of all ages. “When prompted,” Ms. Cho said, “people are so generous.” And she excels at prompting: As she sang, she beckoned audience members to sail dollars into a bucket she held in her outstretched arm. Few could resist.

At her shows, she charges $5 for a cellphone picture taken with her — and $100 for a nude shot — with the money going to the homeless. Ms. Cho also is raising money at the website GoFundMe. Whenever she has enough cash, Ms. Cho goes to the bank, breaks $100 bills into singles and gives them away. 

“There is nothing better than making it rain dollar bills on a homeless man," she said. “It’s a beautiful thing, and why not?”

On stage she engaged her fans. “Is Kelly Clarkson going to hug a homeless person?” she joked. “I don’t think so.” Then she sang one of her gritty songs, with lyrics that included: “No more hugs till you give up drugs.”

Ms. Cho knew she was not solving the problem, but she said, “Maybe someone will get to sleep in a hotel room or maybe get a sleeping bag.”

She was trying to break through apathy about the homeless, an attitude that she admits she once shared. But Ms. Cho, 46, said her recent experiences had touched her heart. “I hugged a man who told me, ‘Don’t you know, I haven’t been touched in a year?’ ” she said.

When it rained and Ms. Cho could not perform, she went to a park and distributed waterproof ponchos. She has arranged for hairdressers and manicurists to tend to the homeless. Her constant inspiration, she said, is Mr. Williams, who raised millions through Comic Relief and also quietly looked after Bay Area comedians who struggled financially. On Twitter, Ms. Cho uses the hashtag #BeRobin when discussing charitable efforts.

“You’d go to him if you needed money,” Ms. Cho said. “If there was a foreclosure on your house, you asked Robin for help. He was the security blanket we all had.”

She said she could relate to the people she was helping in other ways. “I have issues with drugs and alcohol,” Ms. Cho said, “I’m not that far away from where they are.” If they spend the money she gives them on drugs and drink, she does not judge them. “Why not give people a party?” Ms. Cho said, “That’s what’s missing from the streets.”

Later in the evening, Mr. Austin, whose haul of clothing had tipped over his bicycle, returned as promised with friends. He found a new Patagonia jacket and tangerine-colored Banana Republic shirt, which will go well with his new black corduroy pants. “This is wonderful, " Mr. Austin said. He has been given free clothes before, he said, “but not of this magnitude or quality.”

“It’s like Christmas,” he said, before pedaling back to his home under the freeway.

The pink font for references to the very sensitive late comedian Robin Williams, is my way of honoring the Love and Laughter that his Life brought us.

Chris Rock Pens Blistering Essay on Hollywood's Race Problem: "It's a White Industry"

 

Sit back for a big dose of truth from Chris Rock~one of the sharpest minds on the planet. Read the article first. Even though the Hollywood Reporter calls his essay 'blistering', I find it refreshing and inspiring. That's what Truth does. I read it as his intelligent perspective definitely declaring that we see through the BS of 'Hollywood', and in as much so, a new day has been called forth. In the midst of these dark and difficult times, brilliant light still shines through, illuminating a new path before us. 

And by the way, I really enjoyed "Top Five". For me, it ended too soon. I wanted more of the story. Rock is on to something as a film maker.
lovu,
Kendke

by Chris Rock

12/3/2014 9:00am PDT
This story first appeared in the Dec. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

I was probably 19 when I first came to Hollywood. Eddie Murphy brought me out to do Beverly Hills Cop II and he had a deal at Paramount, so I remember going through the gates of the Paramount lot. He's in a Rolls-Royce, and he's not just a star, he's the biggest star in the world. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer's office was in the same building as Eddie's office, and they would come to work every day with matching cars. Some days it would be the Porsches, and the next day it would be Ferraris. I was like the kid in A Bronx Tale. I got to just hang around when the biggest parts of show business were happening. I was only there a couple of weeks, but I remember every day Jeffrey Katzenberg would call Eddie Murphy — I don't even know if Eddie was calling him back — but it was like, "Jeffrey Katzenberg called again." "Janet Jackson just called." "Michael Jackson called." It was that crazy. I've still never seen anything like it. I had a small part in the movie, but my dream was bigger than that. I wanted to have a convertible Rolls-Royce with a fine girl driving down Melrose blasting Prince.

See more Chris Rock: Exclusive Photos of the 'Top Five' Filmmaker 

Now I'm not Murphy, but I've done fine. And I try to help young black guys coming up because those people took chances on me. Eddie didn't have to put me in Beverly Hills Cop II. Keenen Wayans didn't have to put me in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. Arsenio didn't have to let me on his show. I'd do the same for a young white guy, but here's the difference: Someone's going to help the white guy. Multiple people will. The people whom I've tried to help, I'm not sure anybody was going to help them.

And I have a decent batting average. I still remember people thinking I was crazy for hiring Wanda Sykes on my old HBO show. I recommended J.B. Smoove for Saturday Night Live, and I just helped Leslie Jones get on that show. She's about as funny as a human being can be, but she didn't go to Second City, she doesn't do stand-up at The Cellar and she's not in with Judd Apatow, so how the hell was she ever going to get through unless somebody like me says to Lorne Michaels, "Hey, look at this person"? I saw her at a comedy club four or five years ago, and I wrote her name down in my phone. I probably called four managers — the biggest managers in comedy — to manage her, and all of them said no. They didn't get it. They didn't get it until Lorne said yes a few years later, and then it was too late.

See more Chris Rock's Career in Pictures 

Some of these younger black guys just want me to see their act. Some come to me for advice. Hannibal Buress called the other day. They want to know about agents and managers and the business; this kind of deal and that kind of deal; dealing with the media and dealing with family; money crap and where they should live. It's big brother shit, and they ask because there aren't that many black people to turn to. Who do you hire? Where's the big black PR agency? Where are the big black agents? Where's the big black film producer? That's why I've been all over Steve McQueen. I put a microchip in Steve's pocket and track him like an Uber driver. Steve thinks we keep bumping into each other by accident. "Hey, Steve, my man!" I don't care if I have to play a whip, I'm going to be in a Steve McQueen movie. But I digress.

It's a white industry. Just as the NBA is a black industry. I'm not even saying it's a bad thing. It just is. And the black people they do hire tend to be the same person. That person tends to be female and that person tends to be Ivy League. And there's nothing wrong with that. As a matter of fact, that's what I want for my daughters. But something tells me that the life my privileged daughters are leading right now might not make them the best candidates to run the black division of anything. And the person who runs the black division of a studio should probably have worked with black people at some point in their life. Clint Culpepper [a white studio chief who specializes in black movies] does a good job at Screen Gems because he's the kind of guy who would actually go see Best Man Holiday. But how many black men have you met working in Hollywood? They don't really hire black men. A black man with bass in his voice and maybe a little hint of facial hair? Not going to happen. It is what it is. I'm a guy who's accepted it all.  

Read more Who Is the New Denzel? Hollywood Struggles to Launch Next Black Stars 

We cut it out in Top Five, but there had been a scene where Kevin Hart, who plays my character's agent, is in his office talking to me, and he finds out that "Zoolander" (Ben Stiller) is down the hall and he's mad because none of the agents called him. He's the only black agent at the agency, and there was a line in the movie like, "I'm the only black agent here. They never invite me to anything, and these people are liberals. This isn't the Klan."

But forget whether Hollywood is black enough. A better question is: Is Hollywood Mexican enough? You're in L.A, you've got to try not to hire Mexicans. It's the most liberal town in the world, and there's a part of it that's kind of racist — not racist like "F— you, nigger" racist, but just an acceptance that there's a slave state in L.A. There's this acceptance that Mexicans are going to take care of white people in L.A. that doesn't exist anywhere else. I remember I was renting a house in Beverly Park while doing some movie, and you just see all of the Mexican people at 8 o'clock in the morning in a line driving into Beverly Park like it's General Motors. It's this weird town.

You're telling me no Mexicans are qualified to do anything at a studio? Really? Nothing but mop up? What are the odds that that's true? The odds are, because people are people, that there's probably a Mexican David Geffen mopping up for somebody's company right now. The odds are that there's probably a Mexican who's that smart who's never going to be given a shot. And it's not about being given a shot to greenlight a movie because nobody is going to give you that — you've got to take that. The shot is that a Mexican guy or a black guy is qualified to go and give his opinion about how loud the boings are in Dodgeball or whether it's the right shit sound you hear when Jeff Daniels is on the toilet in Dumb and Dumber. It's like, "We only let white people do that." This is a system where only white people can chime in on that. There would be a little naivete to sitting around and going, "Oh, no black person has ever greenlighted a movie," but those other jobs? You're kidding me, right? They don't even require education. When you're on the lower levels, they're just about taste, nothing else. And you don't have to go to Harvard to have taste.

Read more Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx in Talks to Star in Screen Gems' 'Black Phantom'

Fifteen years ago, I tried to create an equivalent to The Harvard Lampoon at Howard University, to give young black comedy writers the same opportunity that white comedy writers have. I wish we could've made it work. The reason it worked at Harvard and not at Howard is that the kids at Howard need money. It's that simple. Kids at Harvard come from money — even the broke ones come from money. They can afford to work at a newspaper and make no money. The kids at Howard are like, "Dude, I love comedy, but I've got a f—ing tuition that I've got to pay for here." But that was 15 years ago; it might be easier to do it now because of the Internet. I don't know.

I really don't think there's any difference between what black audiences find funny and what white audiences find funny, but everyone likes to see themselves onscreen, so there are some instances where there's a black audience laughing at something that a white audience wouldn't laugh at because a black audience is really just happy to see itself. Things that would be problems in a world where there were a lot of black movies get overlooked. The same thing happened with those Sex and the City movies. You don't really see that level of female movie that much, so women were like, "We're only going to get this every whatever, so f— you, f— the reviews, we're going, we like it."

Read more Ferguson Documentary About "Black Male Crisis" in the Works from Amy Berg

And you should at least be able to count on your people, and then it grows from there. If someone's people don't love them, that's a problem. No one crosses over without a base. But if we're going to just be honest and count dollars and seats and not look at skin color, Kevin Hart is the biggest comedian in the world. If Kevin Hart is playing 40,000 seats in a night and Jon Stewart is playing 3,000, the fact that Jon Stewart's 3,000 are white means Kevin has to cross over? That makes no sense. If anybody needs to cross over, it's the guy who's selling 3,000 seats.

 But here's one thing I've noticed in the last five to seven years, and I didn't think I'd live to see this day. There used to be black film and Eddie Murphy, and the two had nothing to do with each other. Literally nothing. And in the world of black film, everything was judged on a relative basis — almost the same curve that indie films get judged on. It was, "Hey, House Party made a lot of money relative to its budget," or "Oh, we only paid $7 million for New Jack City and it made $50 million." Now, not only are black movies making money, they're expected to make money — and they're expected to make money on the same scale as everything else.

Read more Writer Roundtable: Chris Rock, Gillian Flynn on Their "Perfect Movies," 'Gone Girl' Backlash and Unhappy Endings 

I think they've been better in the last few years, too — a little more daring, a little funnier. But look, most movies suck. Absolutely suck. They just do. Most TV shows suck. Most books suck. If most things were good, I'd make $15 an hour. I don't live the way I live because most things are even remotely good. But when you have a system where you probably only see three movies with African-American leads in them a year, they're going to be judged more harshly, and you're really rooting for them to be good a little more so than the 140 movies starring white people every year.


The best ones are made outside of the studio system because they're not made with that many white people — maybe one or two, but not a whole system of white people. I couldn't have made Top Five at a studio. First of all, no one's going to make a movie with a premise so little and artsy: a star putting out a movie and getting interviewed by a woman from The New York Times. I would have had to have three two-hour meetings explaining that black people also read The New York Times. A studio would've made it like Malibu's Most Wanted. And never in a million years would they have allowed a scene where the rich guy comes back to the projects and actually gets along with everybody. No way. In most black movies — and in most black TV shows and even in most black plays — anyone with money or an education is evil, even movies made by black directors. They have to be saved by the poor people. This goes back to Good Times and What's Happening!!

Now, when it comes to casting, Hollywood pretty much decides to cast a black guy or they don't. We're never on the "short list." We're never "in the mix." When there's a hot part in town and the guys are reading for it, that's just what happens. It was never like, "Is it going to be Ryan Gosling or Chiwetel Ejiofor for Fifty Shades of Grey?" And you know, black people f—, too. White women actually want to f— black guys, sometimes more than white guys. More women want to f— Tyrese than Jamie Dornan, and it's not even close. It's not a contest. Even Jamie would go, "OK, you got it."

Watch more 'Top Five' Trailer 2 

Or how about True Detective? I never heard anyone go, "Is it going to be Amy Adams or Gabrielle Union?" for that show. I didn't hear one black girl's name on those lists. Not one. Literally everyone in town was up for that part, unless you were black. And I haven't read the script, but something tells me if Gabrielle Union were Colin Farrell's wife, it wouldn't change a thing. And there are almost no black women in film. You can go to whole movies and not see one black woman. They'll throw a black guy a bone. OK, here's a black guy. But is there a single black woman in Interstellar? Or Gone Girl? Birdman? The Purge? Neighbors? I'm not sure there are. I don't remember them. I go to the movies almost every week, and I can go a month and not see a black woman having an actual speaking part in a movie. That's the truth.

But there's been progress. When I was on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago, we did a sketch where I was Sasheer Zamata's dad and she had an Internet show. Twenty years ago when I was on Saturday Night Live, anything with black people on the show had to deal with race, and that sketch we did didn't have anything to do with race. That was the beauty: The sketch is funny because it's funny, and that's the progress. And there are black guys who are making it: Whatever Kevin Hart wants to do right now, he can do; I think Chiwetel is a really respected actor who is getting a lot of great shots just because he's really good; if Steve McQueen wants to direct a Marvel movie, they would salivate to get him. Change just takes time. The Triborough Bridge has been the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge for almost 20 years now, but we still call it the Triborough Bridge. That's how long it takes shit to change. We're not going to be calling it the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge for another 10, 15 years. People will have to die for it actually to be the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge.  

See more 'Saturday Night Live': 10 Most Controversial Moments

I don't think the world expected things to change overnight because Obama got elected president. Of course it's changed, though, it's just changed with kids. And when you're a kid, you're not thinking of any of this shit. Black kids watch The Lord of the Rings and they want to be the Lord of the Rings. I remember when they were doing Starsky & Hutch, and my manager was like, "We might be able to get you the part of Huggy Bear," which eventually went to Snoop Dogg. I was like: "Do you understand that when my brother and I watched Starsky & Hutch growing up, I would play Starsky and he would play Hutch? I don't want to play f—ing Huggy Bear. This is not a historical drama. This is not Thomas Jefferson. It's a movie based on a shitty TV show, it can be anybody. Who cares. If they want me to play Starsky or Hutch, or even the bad guy, I'm down. But Huggy Bear?"

I wouldn't be here if I thought I couldn't play those parts. I never limited myself. And that's the beauty of Obama. It might be a generational thing, because the difference between Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson was that Jesse Jackson never actually ran for president. He ran to disrupt the presidency. If he actually ran for president, he probably could have been president. Jesse Jackson won a bunch of primaries in Southern states, but not for five seconds did he think he could be president, whereas Obama was like, "Yeah, I could be president," and nobody stopped him. Literally, nobody stopped him.

15 Funniest & Cutest Animal Videos To Brighten Your Day

So Much Sorrow, Pain and Anger in the World....that "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray"

 Wiley College Acapella Choir "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray"

I'm heartbroken over the massacre of 131 school children today in Pakistan. Killed by mentally ill criminals, and murderers.

And the lives lost in a chocolate cafe in Australia yesterday. Held hostage by a mentally ill criminal and murderer.

And those thousands arrested and beaten nationwide for marching against the unending police and vigilante murders of Black youth.

And the death of 12 year old Tamar Rice. Shot by police.

And the death of 18 year old Michael Brown. Shot by police.

And 17 year old Trayvon Martin, murdered in Florida. Shot by deluded George Zimmerman who wanted to be a policeman.

And the 43 young students training to be teachers in Mexico that were kidnapped, shot, burned and buried. Shot by police. 

And the kidnapped and enslaved young female students in Nigeria. Taken by mentally ill criminals, rapists and murderers.

And 19 year old Renisha McBride of Detroit, shot in the head while knocking on a door seeking help, after being in an auto accident. 

And unarmed Oscar Grant murdered in Oakland. Shot by BART transportation police.

And 19 year old Tyisha Miller, who was shot while sitting dazed in her car. Shot by police in Riverside, CA.

The list just goes on~ so I'll stop here.
Forgive me Beloved for sharing my pain, but I'm pulling myself together after breaking down this morning. The sorrow, pain and anger is just too much. Only an injection of the power and Truth that a Heart feels can restore my right knowing and lift me back up.  So I turn to the music created out of the African experience to give my Soul a break from the world's madness. 

My people are from Marshall,Texas, the same town where Wiley College and Bishop College are located. Deeply involved in Marshall's community of two Black colleges, my grandparents owned the house and property across the street from Bishop College. I sure could use one of Grandma's hugs right now....

Just have to go to Bob, to 'lively up meself' 

 lovu, Kendke

Thought I was through with you? I did too, but No way... everyday all the time, a living Spirit animates me and centers me again and again in my own Wholeness. 

I was directed to play with this song "I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray" a bit more.  So to feed your Soul like it's feeding mine, here are two more goodies~ 

The Womack Brothers, featuring yes, Bobby, give us a more modern take on the song. You can really make out the words, that you might have missed in the Wiley College version. I love how Wiley's Acapella Choir spoke as African slaves might have.  In the Womack Brothers version you can also definitely hear the melody that Bobby later transformed into his popular Soul hit, "I'm Looking for a Love".

Now when you're ready to go to 'choich', enjoy this version by the Fairfield Four, with an introduction by the late great Lou Rawls.    


Don't know 'bout you, but I'm healed. 
I'm ready to go out and smile at the world,
and as Bob said, "Give a good vibe".    

"....And a little child shall Lead Them."

 

Nobel Peace Prize winners Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan, center left, 

and Kailash Satyarthi of India arrive for the Nobel Peace Prize

 award ceremony in Oslo, Norway, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014.
 The Nobel Peace Prize is being shared between Malala Yousafzai, 
the 17-year-old Taliban attack survivor, and the youngest Nobel Prize winner ever, and Indian children's rights activist Kailash Satyarthi 
in a ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday. 

 (AP Photo/Cornelius Poppe, Scanpix)

Congratulations to Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, a bright light in our world. She is the youngest person to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.

OSLO, Norway (AP) — The Pakistani teenager stood on the stage of Oslo City Hall as the youngest Nobel Peace laureate, smiling as she listened to the thunderous ovation.

Now, everybody knows: She is Malala.

Shot in the head by the Taliban two years ago for speaking out on education, 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai on Wednesday beamed as she received the Nobel Peace Prize and taught a lesson in courage.

"I had two options. One was to remain silent and wait to be killed. And the second was to speak up and then be killed. I chose the second one. I decided to speak up," Malala said.

And with that, Malala proved that teenagers could tell the elders a thing or two. Anyone who hadn't read her memoir, "I am Malala," was about to get an education.

She adjusted her coral pink headscarf and made no effort to hide any scars that might remain from the attack. She thanked her parents for unconditional love and then humbly suggested that she was somehow not all that special — just a girl who fights with her brothers who wanted to learn above all else.

"As far as I know, I am just a committed and even stubborn person who wants to see every child getting quality education, who wants to see women having equal rights and who wants peace in every corner of the world," she said. 

"Education is one of the blessings of life, and one of its necessities."

Malala shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi of India. Both have campaigned for the rights of children and young people, particularly education.

The two laureates bonded immediately. They share a hard-won understanding among those activists who have suffered much, but there is also warmth and commitment to the future. Satyarthi looked on approvingly as she spoke, and has volunteered to be her second father.

(AP) Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, from Pakistan, waves during her address... Full Image

But in so many ways, it was Malala's moment. Even an asylum seeker from Mexico rushing on stage left her unperturbed.

She has used her time in the spotlight to offer hope that her prize will inspire young girls all over the world to fight for their rights — and to step forward to lead.
 
In an interview with The Associated Press, she played on the theme of a global sisterhood of sorts, with women gathering the strength to fight for education, the key to a future.
 
Malala herself often has expressed her wish to lead — setting sights on one day becoming Pakistani prime minister and following in the steps of the late Benazir Bhutto.
 
And it was in talking about Pakistan that she melted — if but a bit. It was as if all the excitement about the Nobels, all the interviews, all the banquets — all of it — just faded for a moment as she described her pride in being Pakistani and what the award would mean for people back home.


"There was a time this region of the world was called a terrorist place, and many people get scared of it. No one even tried to say the name of this country," she told the AP. "So I am really proud to tell people that the people of Pakistan are peaceful, they have harmony, they love each other, they believe in brotherhood.

"But there are some extremist-minded people who misuse the name of Islam and who give a bad name of our country," she said. "But that's not true. Many people are standing up for children's rights, woman's rights and for human rights."

In her hometown of Mingora, Pakistan, roughly 200 people gathered at the Khpal Kore Model High School in the Swat Valley where a large screen had been set up to show the ceremony.

"We feel honored today," said 17-year-old Naveed Ali, who was delighted to see a fellow student and hometown girl win such a big prize.


But not everyone was thrilled. Some in Pakistan feel she has become a tool of the West and question whether her shooting was staged or made up to make her a hero.

(AP) Pakistani students display pictures of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai... Full Image

Naveed Ahsan, 25, a university student in Islamabad, said Malala was selected for the Nobel prize by those who wanted to use her to "create hate against the Taliban."


The persistence of such divisions make Malala's example that much more potent.

Sarah Cardey, a lecturer in international development at the University of Reading in Britain, said Malala stands for the indomitable courage of the human spirit.

"Her quiet example will achieve more than 1,000 drone strikes in efforts to defeat the Taliban," she said.

Malala herself left a memento behind in Oslo to show she hasn't forgotten how she got there: the bloodied school uniform she was wearing the day she was shot. It will form part of the Nobel Peace Center exhibition opening Thursday.


It's a stark reminder of how the world came to know Malala, of the time a Taliban gunman climbed into the back of a small pick-up truck used to transport Swat Valley children home from school.

"Who is Malala?" he shouted.

She attempts to answer that in her book, written with British journalist Christina Lamb. She understands she's known as the girl shot by the Taliban, the girl who survived. But she's other things too.

And she is just 17.

"I'm pretty certain I'm also the first recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize who still fights with her younger brothers," she said as her family burst into grins. "I want there to be peace everywhere, but my brothers and I are still working on that."
----

And as Oprah likes to do, I too wondered, what ever happened to the men and boys responsible for the attack. Here's what I found:

Men involved in Malala Yousafzai shooting arrested in Pakistan

Jon Boone in Islamabad

Friday 12 September 2014 

A gang of 10 Taliban fighters who tried to kill the teenage education activist Malala Yousafzai two years ago have been arrested, the Pakistan army claimed on Friday.
The military said a top commander of the Pakistani Taliban had told the men to kill the schoolgirl and 22 high-profile figures in Swat, the picturesque region where Yousafzai lived before being shot in the head by a gunman in October 2012, when she was 15.
The attack on a girl who had risen to prominence after campaigning against the efforts of the Taliban to violently stop girls attending school drew global condemnation. Despite serious head injuries Malala survived thanks to emergency care at Pakistani army facilities and subsequent surgery and rehabilitation at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
"The entire gang involved in the murder attempt … has been busted," said army spokesman General Asim Bajwa.
The army said 10 members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), led by a local furniture shop owner called Zafar Iqbal, had been told to kill Malala and other "significant members" of the local community, including members of an anti-Taliban "peace committee".
The killing spree was ordered by Mullah Fazlullah, who became the overall leader of the TTP last year after his predecessor was killed by a US drone strike.
Nicknamed "Mullah Radio" for his fiery broadcasts at the time, Fazlullah was credited with spearheading the Taliban takeover of Swat in 2007-8. The valley, just a few hours drive from the capital Islamabad, was only reclaimed after a major military operation was launched in 2009.
On Friday the army said the initial arrest of a suspect called Israr ur Rehman revealed information that led to the capture of the other men in a series of intelligence led operations.
The full network was apprehended more than six months ago, an intelligence official said, although the news was kept under wraps for operational reasons.
He said the men had provided useful information for ongoing campaign launched in June against the TTP and other groups based in North Waziristan, a militant sanctuary bordering Afghanistan.
"These men received their orders from Fazlullah so of course they had ties to the militant hideouts in North Waziristan," the official said.
Commenting on the arrests, Malala's father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, said: "This is good news for our family and most importantly, for the people of Pakistan and the civilised world.
"This first step of apprehending Malala's attackers signifies the beginning of real hope for the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been affected by terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Swat and the whole country.
"We greatly appreciate the efforts of the security forces and police in bringing these men to justice and fighting for the re-establishment of peace.
"This is the beginning of the real restoration of the writ of the government, where the rule of law and justice prevails for all."
It was not clear whether the arrested men had been charged since their arrest and what legal basis they had been held.
Under the controversial Pakistan Protection Ordinance, recently introduced as a terrorism fighting measure, suspects can be held without charge for up to 90 days.
"Soon they will be brought in front of law and booked according to the law of the land," the official said.
Shortly after the announcement, a former TTP spokesman issued a statement sayingsaid the army's claims were based on "thoughts and fantasies".
Ehsan Ehsanullah, who has since joined a Taliban splinter group, said the initiative to kill Yousafzai had been taken by junior fighters and that the leadership was only informed later. In Swat the news that Yousafzai's alleged attackers had been arrested was welcomed, although many people say the army has still not fully removed the Taliban threat from an area once regarded as a tourist destination.
"I do not trust the army claims of the arrest of those who attacked Malala," said an academic in Swat who did not want to be named because of his anti-Taliban views. "The army always used to claim that they were just about to arrest Fazlullah, but now he is living safely in Afghanistan."
The young girl has made a remarkable recovery since a gunmen leaned into the back of a converted van she was sitting in to ask which of the girls waiting to be driven home after school was Malala. The schoolgirl had first defied militants by writing an anonymous BBC blog about life under the Taliban.
Two of her classmates, Shazia Ramzan and Kainat Riaz, were also injured in the attack.
Despite world-wide admiration for a teenage girl who subsequently wrote a book, won the European Union's human rights award and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, many of her fellow Pakistanis are deeply suspicious of the global interest in her story.
Conspiracy theories abound, including that the entire incident was concocted by foreign spies to defame the TTP, even though the banned group enthusiastically took credit for the attack and threatened Pakistani journalists who criticized them for it.

Pakistan official: Boys involved in Malala attack

By Ashley Fantz, CNN

Tue October 30, 2012

  CNN) -- Pakistani police say they suspect two boys of nearly killing a Pakistani teenage girl internationally famous for campaigning for girls' education.

On October 9, Malala Yousufzai was on her school van in the Taliban-held Swat Valley when armed thugs stopped the vehicle and jumped on board. They demanded that other girls riding identify 15-year-old Malala. Then they shot two girls and fired at Malala, striking her in the head and neck.

Profile: Global symbol, but still just a kid

At the time, Malala was well-known in Pakistan, and her profile was growing internationally. She had been campaigning since she was 11, encouraging her fellow Pakistanis to stand up to the Taliban who were trying to push girls from classrooms.

Pakistani authorities believe that one of the boys distracted the van driver, while the other asked someone to point out Malala, Pakistan's interior minister told CNN.

Photos: Supporters rally behind Malala

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Minister: Malala is 'pride of Pakistan'

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The history of the Pakistani Taliban

"Obviously they had done their homework," Rehman Malik said. "They had seen the vehicle of Malala going up and down, and accordingly they acted on that."

Read more: In rebuke to Taliban, Pakistan college named for Malala

On Monday, police told CNN they were searching for two boys and a man they say drove the youths to the van.

Malik identified the adult suspect as Attah Ullah Khan, 23, but he did not name the boys.

Police said last week that they had arrested six men in connection with the shooting but were searching for Khan.

Khan is a masters' chemistry student, police said.

A 'miracle for us'

Malala is recovering in Great Britain, where a team of international doctors are caring for her. She's made some progress, but her caregivers have said she has a long, hard road ahead.

Her father, Ziauddin Yousufzai, has described her survival as a "miracle for us."

Malik, the Pakistani interior minister, visited Malala's hospital in Birmingham, England, on Monday. He later met with foreign ministers from Britain and the United Arab Emirates. The UAE provided the air ambulance that flew Malala from Pakistan, where she was treated in the initial days after the attack, to the United Kingdom.

"The people of the UAE were appalled by what happened to Malala, which is why we helped to bring her for medical care in the UK," Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed said, adding the emirates believe girls should be educated. Malala is in "our prayers," he said, according to a release from British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Hague said he personally thanked the team of doctors helping Malala.

Hague said officials are "determined to do all we can to champion education for women and girls in Pakistan."

In his interview with CNN, Malik was asked about the progress of the investigation.

He replied by saying, "Within 24 hours we were in a position to identify almost everybody."

He said Pakistan should not involve the military in finding Malala's attackers.

"A military solution is not the solution," he said.

'Pride of Pakistan'

When Malala was 11, she worked with the BBC and published a blog in 2009 detailing her struggles to attend school in Swat.

In January of that year, the Taliban issued an edict ordering that no school should educate girls.

As Malala breathed on a ventilator and the world grew increasingly outraged about her shooting, thousands in Pakistan rallied. Many were aghast that the Taliban would attack a teenage girl.

The Taliban issued a statement online saying that if Malala lived, they'd come after her again.

In his interview with CNN, Malik called the teenager "the pride of Pakistan."

He said that the country "would love her to come back."

If Malala were to return to Pakistan, guards would protect her family, with a female contingent surrounding Malala.

The government would pay to provide the service, he said.

Malik told CNN that he knew Malala is doing well in the hospital because she has asked for her schoolbooks so she can study.

He said that if she comes back to Pakistan, they'll find her old books and give them to her.

Adding to The Conversation about Animals~ Pope Francis

Pope Francis asserts that "Paradise is open to all creatures". So how about ensuring them a full and decent life in this world?

Dogs in Heaven? Pope Leaves Pearly Gate Open

By RICK GLADSTONEDEC. 11, 2014

Pope Francis leaving St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday. In a recent public appearance, he tried to comfort a little boy whose dog had died by saying that “paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” 

  Credit Alberto Pizzoli/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Pope Francis has given hope to gays, unmarried couples and advocates of the Big Bang theory. Now, he has endeared himself to dog lovers, animal-rights activists and vegans.

Trying to console a distraught little boy whose dog had died, Francis told him in a recent public appearance on St. Peter’s Square that “paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.” While it is unclear whether the pope’s remarks helped soothe the child, they were welcomed by groups like the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who saw them as a repudiation of conservative Catholic theology that says animals cannot go to heaven because they have no souls.

“My inbox got flooded,” said Christine Gutleben, senior director of faith outreach at the Humane Society, the largest animal protection group in the United States. “Almost immediately, everybody was talking about it.”

Charles Camosy, an author and professor of Christian ethics at Fordham University, said it was difficult to know precisely what Francis meant, since he spoke “in pastoral language that is not really meant to be dissected by academics.” But asked if the remarks had caused a new debate on whether animals have souls, suffer and go to heaven, Mr. Camosy said, “In a word: Absolutely.”

In his relatively short tenure as leader of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics since taking over from Benedict XVI, Francis, 77, has repeatedly caused a stir among conservatives in the church. He has suggested more lenient positions than his predecessor on issues like homosexuality, single motherhood and unwed couples. So to some extent, it was not a surprise that Francis, an Argentine Jesuit who took his papal name from St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, would suggest to a saddened child that his lost pet had a place in the afterlife.

Citing biblical passages that assert that animals not only go to heaven, but get along with one another when they get there, Francis was quoted by the Italian news media as saying: “One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ. Paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”

Theologians cautioned that Francis had spoken casually, not made a doctrinal statement.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and editor at large of America, the Catholic magazine, said he believed that Francis was at least asserting that “God loves and Christ redeems all of creation,” even though conservative theologians have said paradise is not for animals.

“He said paradise is open to all creatures,” Father Martin said. “That sounds pretty clear to me.”

The question of whether animals go to heaven has been debated for much of the church’s history. Pope Pius IX, who led the church from 1846 to 1878, longer than any other pope, strongly supported the doctrine that dogs and other animals have no consciousness. He even sought to thwart the founding of an Italian chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Pope John Paul II appeared to reverse Pius in 1990 when he proclaimed that animals do have souls and are “as near to God as men are.” But the Vatican did not widely publicize his assertion, perhaps because it so directly contradicted Pius, who was the first to declare the doctrine of papal infallibility in 1854.

John Paul’s successor, Benedict, seemed to emphatically reject his view in a 2008 sermon in which he asserted that when an animal dies, it “just means the end of existence on earth.”

Ms. Gutleben of the Humane Society said Francis’ apparent reversal of Benedict’s view could be enormous. “If the pope did mean that all animals go to heaven, then the implication is that animals have a soul,” she said. “And if that’s true, then we ought to seriously consider how we treat them. We have to admit that these are sentient beings, and they mean something to God.”

Sarah Withrow King, director of Christian outreach and engagement at PETA, one of the most activist anti-slaughterhouse groups, said the pope’s remarks vindicated the biblical portrayal of heaven as peaceful and loving, and could influence eating habits, moving Catholics away from consuming meat — which she asserted had already been happening anyway. “It’s a vegan world, life over death and peace between species,” she said. “I’m not a Catholic historian, but PETA’s motto is that animals aren’t ours, and Christians agree. Animals aren’t ours, they’re God’s.”

Whether the pope’s remarks will prove to be a persuasive new reason not to eat meat, a potentially worrisome development to the multibillion-dollar beef, pork, poultry and seafood industries, remains unclear at best. But they did cause discussion.

“As on quite a few other things Pope Francis has said, his recent comments on all animals going to heaven have been misinterpreted,” Dave Warner, a spokesman for the National Pork Producers Council, said in an email. “They certainly do not mean that slaughtering and eating animals is a sin.” Mr. Warner quoted passages from Genesis that say man is given “dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on earth.”

“While that ‘dominion’ means use for human benefit, it also requires stewardship — humane care and feeding — something all farmers who raise animals practice every day of every year,” Mr. Warner said.

 Father Martin said he did not believe the pope’s remarks could be construed as a comment on vegetarianism. But, he said, “he’s reminding us that all creation is holy and that in his mind, paradise is open to all creatures, and frankly, I agree with him.” 

Laura Hobgood-Oster, professor of religion and environmental studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Tex., and an expert on the history of dog-human interaction, said she believed that there would be a backlash from religious conservatives, but that it would take time.

“The Catholic Church has never been clear on this question; it’s all over the place, because it begs so many other questions,” she said. “Where do mosquitoes go, for God’s sake?”

A version of this article appears in print on December 12, 2014, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Dogs in Heaven? Pope Leaves Pearly Gate Open.