stop the slaughter....

in 2006 we protested against the israeli bombardment and invasion of lebanon....
.

israel vowed to destroy and root out hezbollah's power....


the american-backed arab regimes condemned hezbollah, while the people protestesd across the western world against israeli brutality....
.

history seems to repeat itself as the same arab leaders blame hamas (the only democratically elected leadership in the middle-east) for israel's murderous rampage, killing 100's of palestinians in gaza...


today israel vows to "flush out" hamas and give it the "knock-out blow", but just like hezbollah in 2006, they're bound to come out stronger and with more support.... for the sole reason of standing up against israel's brutality!

as the cliche goes, for every palestinian killed 10's will join the struggle!

the tsunami - as it happened.....

i took these photos as the waves came crashing into Lonuziyaaraiy Kolhu (SE corner of Male') on 26th December 2004.....

this was not the initial wall of water that caused much death and devastation in the islands, but smaller waves that immediately followed...

before that hardly anyone of us ever heard the word Tsunami... so we hit the shore fronts to find out what was going on and, of course, to take pics....

we mark the 4th anniversary today....

it is believed that these smaller waves could also have done enough damage, if not for the sea-wall that lined up the entire perimeter of Male'....

let us pray for the quick return to a permanent home for those who were displaced by the Tsunami.... most of whom still live in temporary shelters, in appalling conditions....

our newly sworn-in President vowed to provide housing to those who lost their homes, within one year....

how to catch an octopus....

in 2 minutes....

first you have to spot it and hope it sleeps while you're gone to get a spear from home...
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then you gotta hope it is still asleep as you slowly approach it, aim and attack...
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then you gotta hope it doesn't launch its water jets until after you've caught it...


for the amusement of curious passer-bys on an afternoon stroll...


our sticky beast tries some last gasp under-the-sea moves,
which proves no match against issey, who's all smiles over the day's catch...
.


disclaimer: i am not responsible to any injuries caused during following these instructions....

rendezvous... failed!

(a photo story in hdr)

are you sure a speedboat's coming to take us to the ship...?

aah told ya... there it comes....

here it is....

oi... where is it going?

it's gone... damn! now what?

my first HDR....

what i ended up with....

any suggestions on how to improve it are welcome.... especially on how to get rid of the Photomatix watermark... keke...

what i began with...


what i did...

i need to fish to feed my family....

i also need to feed my soul....


fisherman finds some time to perform one of his 5 daily prayers on the deck of a fishing boat, waiting to uload the day's catch for a better price in the capital...
.
.

snow in the tropics...

snowing reported under mysterious conditions in Male' atoll last night...


these observations can independently be verified by sightings of snow-capped mountains near male' yesterday and today... captured here on camera by flickr's mc_plutar....


and a few more shots by me...

bodumas parade....

no wonder they tried so hard creating these monsters, which they relied on to get their children to eat and study and even obey the parents... these kids even went to sleep out of fear of being devoured by these monsters otherwise...