The Pictures That Inspire Nations

A picture allows the taker and the viewer to capture a moment in time with all the emotion and passion of the moment whether good or bad. A continuation of the series “The Pictures Heard Around the World”, this page I hope will continue to help people see the world in all of its glory and all of its not so glorious moments. Lessons will be learned and messages will be spread through photos reaching farther and deeper than any written word. As the the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and I for one believe it as I am continuing to sculpt my own world the way I see it.

This Wednesday, March 13, 2013 photo shows a general view of Firdous Square at the site of an Associated Press photograph taken by Jerome Delay as the statue of Saddam Hussein is pulled down by U.S. forces and Iraqis on April 9, 2003. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

In this Feb. 21, 2013 photo, North Kroeans walk on a sidewalk under brightly lit apartment buildings on the new Changjon Street in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

The Islamic militant group that rules Gaza gained significant international credibility, with Arab and Turkish diplomats pouring into the Palestinian territory to show support. Though it has been branded a terror group by Israel and the United States, it was treated as an equal partner with Israel during indirect cease-fire talks in Egypt. In those talks, it secured a commitment for the freer movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza. Hamas also proved its ability to fire rockets as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem despite being battered with airstrikes. As the Arab Spring brings Islamists to power across the region, Hamas’ influence is on the rise. Caption: A Hamas militant talks during a press conference in Gaza City, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

A firefighter’s hat rests on names of firefighters at the south reflecting pool who died in the attacks at the World Trade Center, during the 11th anniversary observance at the World Trade Center Memorial, in New York, Tuesday Sept. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Justin Lane. Pool, EPA)

Captain John Lam rolls up an etching of his uncle Stuart Louis on the South Tower pool wall at the National September 11 Memorial, for his aunt during observances on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, Tuesday. Sept. 11, 2012 in New York. (AP Photo/Timothy A. Clary, Pool)

The owner of a fertilizer plant that exploded last week killing 14 people and destroying dozens of homes and an apartment complex in a tiny Texas town is being sued by a single mom and by several insurance companies.
A memorial was held for the firefighters and victims of the West Fertilizer Explosion. The cause of the explosion was negligence on the owners part for not reporting and fixing issues within the plant.

Both the Boston Marathon Blast and West Fertilizer plant explosion happened in the same week in the United States where people died and were injured. Both whether an act of terrorism or negligence, neither is more important than the other when lives are being taken.

Women carry portraits of missing relatives at the site of the garment factory building that collapsed Wednesday, in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Saturday, April 27, 2013. Police in Bangladesh took five people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building this week, as rescue workers pulled 19 survivors out of the rubble on Saturday and vowed to continue as long as necessary to find others despite fading hopes. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous)

Rescue workers carry a young victim’s body after an eight-story building housing several garment factories collapsed in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, April 24, 2013. Dozens were killed and many more are feared trapped in the rubble. (AP Photo/ A.M. Ahad)

The number of hunger strikers being tracked by the United States military at its Guantanamo Bay prison hit 100 on Saturday, two weeks after a raid forced detainees living in a communal facility into individual cells.
A Muslim cultural adviser in Guantanamo told reporters last week that one or more of the detainees would die before the hunger strike ended.

From left, First Lady Michelle Obama, former first lady Laura Bush, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former first lady Barbara Bush, former first lady Rosalynn Carter arrive for the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Dallas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

From left, President Barack Obama, former president George W. Bush, former president William J. Clinton former President George H.W. Bush and former president Jimmy Carter arrive for the dedication of the George W. Bush presidential library on Thursday, April 25, 2013, in Dallas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A parishioner receives communion during a Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston honoring victims of the Boston Marathon bombings and MIT Officer, Sean Collier on Sunday, April 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Boston Herald, Faith Ninivaggi)

Relatives of British World War One solider Lieutenant John Harold Pritchard are seen in front of the soldiers headstone after a ceremony at the H.A.C. cemetery in Ecoust-St-Mein, France on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
When Didier Guerle fulfilled his grandfather’s dying wish and had the fields of his farm searched, he set off a chain of events that brought people together across continents, and one family across generations.
On Tuesday, almost a century after his death in the trenches, Pritchard finally found a proper grave and a ceremonial reburial in neighboring Ecoust-St. Mein, attended by his family and England’s Prince Michael of Kent. Finally, he was no longer among the ranks of soldiers whose bodies were never found in the carnage of the Great War.
Pvt. Christopher Douglas Elphick and two unidentified men were buried in the same ceremony, which comes as nations prepare to mark World War I centenary commemorations next year.

Soldiers carry the casket of a World War One soldier during a ceremony at the H.A.C. cemetery in Ecoust-St-Mein, France on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Incidence rates of all cancers — and some in particular — were higher among World Trade Center rescue workers than expected, researchers reported.
In an ongoing registry study, incidence rates of all cancers combined were 15 percent higher than expected, Samara Solan, MD, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and colleagues reported in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Employees of the New England Patriots, New England Revolution and other Kraft Group entities stood on the Gillette Stadium turf and spelled out “1 Boston” following Monday’s moment of silence at 2:50 p.m. for the victims of last week’s tragedy.

Romanian archeologists excavating a graveyard in Cluj-Napoca have discovered the skeletons of a man and woman buried hand in hand, seemingly bound in a endless embrace of love.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge of auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son holds a letter from Wallace Hartley, the band leader of the Titanic written aboard the doomed liner, which is being auctioned this week, on the 101st anniversary of the sinking of the ship on April 15, 2013 in Devizes, England. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

A duck swims a window, viewed from inside Anderson Eye Care at the Riverfront Plaza Building in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., as The Grand River crests on Monday, April 22, 2013, at an all time high of 21.85 feet, a full 2.2 feet above the record set in 1985, in downtown Grand Rapids. Previous water levels can be seen marked on the wall.

A second suspect was arrested Monday in the rape of a 5-year-old girl who New Delhi police say was left for dead in a locked room, a case that has brought a new wave of protests against how Indian authorities handle sex crimes.
The men are accused of abducting, raping and attempting to murder the 5-year-old, who went missing April 15 and was found two days later by neighbors who heard her crying in a locked room in the same New Delhi building where she lives with her family. The girl was alone when she was found, having been left for dead by her attackers, police say.

December 2012: 60,000 people killed
Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in the northern city of Aleppo on December 1, 2012 as fighting continues through the night. (Javier Manzano/AFP/Getty Images)

An estimated 7,000 people jam a quadrangle at the Independence Mall in Philadelphia, during Earth Week activities celebrating the eve of Earth Day, April 22, 1970.

Members of Surfers Against Sewage hold a “toilet protest” August 8, 2001 on Brighton Beach on the south coast of England. The protest was designed to highlight the fact that Britain”s coastline is one of the most contaminated in Europe, with raw sewage being pumped onto public beaches.

Activists from the environmental organization Greenpeace rappel from a statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Sep. 5, 2002. Activists were protesting results of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, or Rio + 10, in Johannesburg. Banner reads: “Rio + 10 = Second Chance.”

Japanese crew members from whaling ship Kyo Maru 1 use water cannons to disperse Greenpeace activists during an anti-whaling demonstration in the frezzing water of the Southern Ocean, Dec. 16, 2001. The activists repeatedly used their inflatable boats to slow the transfer of a freshly harpooned minke whale.

German riot police watch over some 150 anti-nuclear demonstrators blocking railway tracks near Rohstorf, Nov. 11, 2003, in a bid to stop a train transporting radioactive waste material to a storage facility in Gorleben. The 12 containers are coming from the French nuclear treating facility of La Hague.

This aerial photograph taken Sept. 30, 2006 by Greenpeace shows a huge circle made by local farmers and Greenpeace volunteers on a corn farm planted with a genetically-modified Bt corn in Isabela province, 300 kilometers north of Manila. The crop circle, with a slash over the letter “M” symbolizes farmer rejection of genetically-modified Bt corn crops from the Monsanto corporation. The protest coincides with a Global Day of Action to protect corn, one of the world’s most important staple foods, against contamination from genetically-engineered varieties.

In this Thursday, April 18, 2013 photo, students at the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, in Pyongyang, North Korea sit under portraits of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il. The school is run by the military and school administrators say it was originally set up in 1947 for children who had lost their parents during Korea’s fight for liberation from its Japanese occupiers. (AP Photo)

Isrealis look at fireworks in the Mediterranean coastal city of Netanya, on April 15, 2013 during Israel’s 65th Independence Day celebrations. Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion declared the existence of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv in 1948, ending the British mandate. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Young Buddhist monks pray for the speedy recovery of a 5-year-old girl who was raped and tortured in Delhi, in Bodhgaya, India, Saturday, April 20, 2013. Officials say the child is in serious condition after being raped and tortured by a man who held her in a locked room in India’s capital for two days. Police say the girl went missing Monday and was found Wednesday by neighbors who heard her crying in a room in the same New Delhi building where she lives with her parents. (AP Photo/Manish Bhandari)

This citizen journalism image provided by Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows anti-Syrian regime protesters holding a placard, during a demonstration, in the town of Kafr Nabil, Idlib province, northern Syria, Friday, March. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)

In this Monday March 25, 2013, citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, anti-Syrian regime protesters burn a portrait for Syrian President Bashar Assad during a protest, in Aleppo, Syria. The Arabic on the poster reads, the dog of Iran.” (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center, AMC)

Gunfire erupted at a Denver pot celebration Saturday, injuring two people and scattering a crowd of thousands who had gathered for the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since the state legalized marijuana.
The man and woman who were shot were expected to survive, and police were looking for one or two suspects, said Denver Police spokesman Sonny Jackson. Police asked festival attendees for possible photo or video of the shootings, and had no immediate motive.

A moment of silence at the London Marathon Sunday April 21, 2013. Many people wore Boston t-shirts, carried “For Boston” signs and wore black armbands for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing that took place on Monday.

In this photo released by China’s Xinhua news agency, rescuers save an injured woman after an earthquake hit Baosheng Township in Lushan County, Ya’an City, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Saturday, April 20, 2013. The powerful earthquake struck the steep hills of Sichuan province Saturday, nearly five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Jiang Hongjing)

Brenna’s parents knew from the moment their little girl smiled through her grim diagnosis that she was a superhero. But it was a mom in Seattle who let the world in on their secret.
That mom is Robyn Rosenbergerwho sews superhero capes for children living with disabilities or serious illnesses. She then posts their stories to her website, TinySuperheroes, to empower the kids and highlight just how strong they are.

Star Models, a modeling agency based in Brazil, released new ads that use just two images each: a picture of a model in a fashion design sketch and a picture of a “real” model. Each sketched model is drawn with the exaggerated proportions and long lines typical of fashion illustration. The “real” models to their right are depicted with the exact same proportions.
The staggering visual affect is underscored by the tagline, “You are not a sketch. Say no to anorexia.” And while the models have been airbrushed to mimic the unrealistic sketches, it’s scary how closely they resemble actual runway models seen every season at Fashion Week

In this Feb. 28, 2013 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, and former NBA star Dennis Rodman watch North Korean and U.S. players in an exhibition basketball game at an arena in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/VICE Media, Jason Mojica, File)

North Korea’s next leader, Kim Jong Un, front center, salutes beside the hearse carrying the body of his late father and North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during the funeral procession in Pyongyang, North Korea Wednesday Dec. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

In this Oct. 10, 2010 file photo Kim Jong Un, right, along with his father and North Korea leader Kim Jong Il, left, attends a massive military parade marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File)

In the wake of the Boston Marathon tragedy just a few days before, the West Fertilizer Plant in West, TX not too far from Waco, TX suffered several explosions inside the plant sending a shock wave of destruction several miles out. Rescuers searched the smoking remnants of a Texas farm town Thursday for survivors of a thunderous fertilizer plant explosion, gingerly checking smashed houses and apartments for anyone still trapped in debris or bodies of the dead.
Initial reports put the number of fatalities as high as 15, but later in the day, authorities backed away from any estimate and refused to elaborate. More than 160 people were hurt. A breathtaking band of destruction extended for blocks around the West Fertilizer Co. in the small community of West. The blast shook the ground with the strength of a small earthquake and leveled dozens of homes, an apartment complex, a school and a nursing home. Its dull boom could be heard dozens of miles away from the town about 20 miles north of Waco.

The other features Kinder Surprise eggs, chocolate candies with toys inside that are banned under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 and by the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
In a press release, the organization (formerly One Million Moms for Gun Control) also announced that founder Shannon Watts would join Vice President Joe Biden on a Monday afternoon conference call about gun safety that is open to the American public. All week long, a series of “Stroller Jam” demonstrations are set to take place at senators’ offices across the country, including one in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that will be followed by planned meetings in the Senate.

Later this week, the organization will formally launch two more PSAs that take a similar approach. One of them compares assault weapons to dodgeball — which was recently banned in a New Hampshire school district due to concerns over violence and bullying and is not considered an “appropriate” P.E. activity by the National Association For Sport and Physical Education.

A striking new series of PSAs produced by the organization Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America seeks to illustrate what the organization’s founder calls “the absurdity of our country’s current lax laws and weak regulation of guns.”
The first ad, released today, contrasts Trina Schart Hyman’s illustrated version of Little Red Riding Hood with an assault weapon, asking viewers to guess which has been banned in the name of children’s safety. Two school districts in California, Culver City and Empire, banned that version of Little Red Riding Hood in 1990 because its protagonist brings her grandmother a bottle of wine.

The heartwarming story of Wojtek the soldier bear, pictured above, has been documented in museums, through art and in a BBC documentary. Wojtek, a Syrian bear that was adopted as a cub by Polish soldiers during World War II, famously became an essential part of the Polish army between 1942 and 1947.
As a cub, soldiers fed Wojtek milk before graduating him to beer and cigarettes. At the Battle of Monte Cassino, he carried artillery shells for the soldiers, according to the BBC. Though Wojtek’s story goes against today’s standards for how to treat animals, the bear served as a major morale booster for soldiers.

4:09:44- The moment that the first bomb went off at the Boston Marathon Monday April 15, 2013.

The second half of the billboard put up in the wake of the Boston Marathon blast and subsequent tragedy. The FBI working with local authorities have confirmed two bombs went off next to the or near the finish line. As the investigation continues the police are asking the public for help through photos and videos of the event. There is also a third confirmed bomb found near the library.

Less than 10 miles from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, where three people were killed and more than 170 injured in dual blasts on Monday, lies a billboard with a one-word message: “Cowards.”
The billboard, located off the I-93 expressway that crosses the city, belongs to the local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union. The chapter, Local 103, usually uses the billboard for union-related and community messages but that changed Tuesday morning, less than 24 hours after the two bombs exploded.Since then, the electronic billboard had rotated every 10 seconds between the “Cowards” sign and another that reads, “Pray for Boston.” “It was Local 103′s way of shouting out our feelings of anger: Cowards,” business manager Michael P. Monahan told ABCNews.com.

People around the country were shocked to learn of Monday’s tragedy at the Boston Marathon 2013. Our hearts and prayers go out to those affected especially the city of Boston. Several Interfaith Vigils are being held around the city.