Crafts and Hobbies

THE CREATIVE CIRCLE STRETCHER BARS ONE SET OF FOUR BARS 12X16 UNUSED $14.39 Time Remaining: 5d 2m Buy It Now for only: $14.39

Cross Stitch Quilted Pocket Baby Bib by Charles Craft Animals Set of 2 $3.99 Time Remaining: 1h 56m

Set of 2 Color Charts Bing Chans Emperor Empress Cross Stitch Patterns $3.95 Time Remaining: 1h 57m

Authentic DMC Cotton Floss one yard set all 447 solid colors ideal color card $45.99 Time Remaining: 9d 9h 57m Buy It Now for only: $45.99

Cross Stitch Quilted Pocket Baby Bib by Charles Craft White Set of 2 $3.99 Time Remaining: 2h

DMC Stitch Pink Accessory Set Embroidery Scissors Needle Threader bobbins gift $14.99 Time Remaining: 7d 17h 48m Buy It Now for only: $14.99

Vintage 9 Piece Luncheon Set Linen to Embroider $7.95 Time Remaining: 2h 8m

Bucilla Merry Bows Counted Cross Stitch Kit Set Of Six Christmas Ornaments NIP $25.00 Time Remaining: 2h 11m Buy It Now for only: $27.50

Jack Dempsey Stamped Cross Stitch kit Scarf Doilies Set AMERICANA 448 366 $8.48 Time Remaining: 22d 1h 14m Buy It Now for only: $8.48

SET OF 2 DALE BURDETT COUNTED CROSS STITCH HOME THEMED WREATHS NEW IN PACKAGE $8.99 Time Remaining: 2h 38m

2011 Mill Hill CHRISTMAS JEWELS CHARMED ORNAMENTS Set of all 6 designs MH16 1301 $36.99 Time Remaining: 14d 21h 55m Buy It Now for only: $36.99

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 2h 50m

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 3h 6m

Set of 4 Baby Bibs With Aida Set3 $7.99 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.99

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 3h 6m

Cross Stitch Kit Gold Collection Set of 6 Christmas Village Ornaments 8785 $21.99 Time Remaining: 28d 16h 47m Buy It Now for only: $21.99

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 3h 15m

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 3h 15m

Set of 4 Baby Bibs With AidaSet4 $7.99 Time Remaining: 17d 4h 47m Buy It Now for only: $7.99

LIZZIE KATE YEAR OF BITS COMPLETE SET OF 12 CHARTS $45.00 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $50.00

NEW Cross Stitch Kitswhite tiger set foot in spoon $10.70 Time Remaining: 4d 11h 50m Buy It Now for only: $10.70

LIZZIE KATE Monthly Stamps FLIP ITS COMPLETE SET OF12 $49.00 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $54.00

LIZZIE KATE YEAR OF ORNAMENT BLESSINGS COMPLETE SET OF 12 CHARTS $45.00 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $50.00

SET OF 3 Crafters Pride MAGNETIC Bookmarks with 18 count White Aida Fabric $5.99 Time Remaining: 15d 21h 4m Buy It Now for only: $5.99

Little House Needleworks 2011 Christmas Ornaments complete set of 12 charts $64.00 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $72.00

Set of 4 Baby Bibs With Aida Set2 $7.99 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.99

LIZZIE KATE YEAR OF BLOCKS COMPLETE SET OF 12 CHARTS $45.00 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $50.00

LIZZIE KATE Merry Christmas By the Letter DOUBLE FLIPS COMPLETE SET OF 4 $22.00 Time Remaining: 4h 31m Buy It Now for only: $25.00

Set of 4 Baby Bibs With Aida $7.99 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.99

Needlepoint Cross Stitch MultiSize Scroll Frame Set New $29.99 Time Remaining: 4h 33m Buy It Now for only: $32.99

447 Huge Lot DMC COMPLETE SET Floss Skeins Threads NEW $157.99 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 29m Buy It Now for only: $157.99

Christmas Gift Basket Cross Stitch Kit Set of 2 w baskets New Unopened $9.99 Time Remaining: 4h 44m

Columbia Minerva Felt Stitchery Rocking Reindeer Ornaments Set of 2 New Unopened $9.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 4h 45m

NEW Cross Stitch Kits white tiger set foot in spoon $11.66 Time Remaining: 14d 14h 12m Buy It Now for only: $11.66

BUCILLA STAMPED CROSS STITCH SAMPLERS SET OF 4 SAMPLERS CUTE $4.95 Time Remaining: 5h 13m

COMPLETE SET 447 DMC Cross Stitch Embroidery Floss NEW $159.95 Time Remaining: 5d 15h 26m Buy It Now for only: $159.95

JANLYNN TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS ORNANMENTS KIT SET OF 12 $24.99 Time Remaining: 5h 35m

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 12h 10m

Prairie Schooler Mini Set C $8.98 Time Remaining: 15d 4h 15m Buy It Now for only: $8.98

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $4.99 Time Remaining: 12h 10m

447 DMC Cross Stitch Skeins Floss Threads Complete Set $154.99 Time Remaining: 11d 19h 35m Buy It Now for only: $154.99

BEADIN HANDY BOBBIN SCISSORS HOLDER SET NEW DESIGN FLOWER SERIES FUCHSIAS $17.39 Time Remaining: 13h 22m

BUCILLA TINY VICTORIAN STOCKINGS CROSS STITCH KIT SET OF 10 $14.99 Time Remaining: 14h 37m

2007 Mill Hill APPALACHIAN SANTAS Set of 3 designs ALLEGHENY BLUE RIDGE SMOKY $20.99 Time Remaining: 20d 10h 51m Buy It Now for only: $20.99

NEW 2 SETS LOONEY TUNES Cross Stitch KIT $19.95 Time Remaining: 17h 26m

MIP Bucilla Stamped Cross Stitch Kit Autumn Harvest Set of 8 Napkins 82871 SEE $12.99 Time Remaining: 23d 2h 10m Buy It Now for only: $12.99

NEW 3 SETS COUPLE WEDDING Cross Stitch KIT $19.95 Time Remaining: 17h 26m

NEW 5 SETS CHRISTMAS SANTA SNOWMAN Cross Stitch KIT $45.00 Time Remaining: 17h 26m

Complete Set of 472 DMC Embroidery Cross Stitch Floss $224.99 Time Remaining: 4d 5h 35m Buy It Now for only: $224.99

5 cross stitch magazines Cross Stitch Magazine FREE SHIPPING Set 2 $16.99 Time Remaining: 19h 1m

Bucilla Counted Cross Stitch Kit 12 x 12 RED TEA SET Sale 45575 $23.78 Time Remaining: 21d 23h 1m Buy It Now for only: $23.78

TEXTILE HERITAGE Cross Stitch Kit Set of 2 English Castle Fair Isle $9.99 Time Remaining: 20h 33m

Bucilla Cross Stitch Needlepoint Kit Set 6 Stockingettes Mini Stockings SEALED $5.00 Time Remaining: 22h 1m

Jumbo Pack 105 Skeins DMC Prism Embroidery Cross Stitch Floss Set 127306 $13.99 Time Remaining: 15d 20h 1m Buy It Now for only: $13.99

Cross Stitch Collectibles Fingertip Towel w 14 ct Border Set of 2 Ivory $5.50 (5 Bids) Time Remaining: 23h 9m

SET OF MERRY CHRISTMAS BY THE LETTER LIZZIE KATE Neat Christmas Project $30.00 Time Remaining: 24d 22h 54m Buy It Now for only: $30.00

Cross Stitch Collectibles Fingertip Towel w 14 ct Border Set of 2 Seafoam Grn $1.04 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 23h 11m

Cross Stitch Collectibles Fingertip Towel w 14 ct Border Set of 2 Pink $1.30 (3 Bids) Time Remaining: 23h 14m

Set of 3 Needleform Cross Stitch Kits Carousel Cat Doll $9.95 Time Remaining: 22d 16h 25m Buy It Now for only: $9.95

Disney TINKER BELL Art Kit Set of 4 Mini Totes $9.99 Time Remaining: 1d 9m

DMC cross stitch floss set f EVENING PRIMROSE Pixie Collection Nora Corbett $7.99 Time Remaining: 18d 21h 45m Buy It Now for only: $7.99

Creative Expressions Butterfly Napkin Rings Counted Cross Stitch Kits Set of 4 $5.00 Time Remaining: 1d 47m

Prairie Schooler Mini Set A $6.98 Time Remaining: 1d 1h 41m Buy It Now for only: $8.98

25 Most Beautiful DMC Embroidery Floss colors gift set $9.95 Time Remaining: 21d 11m Buy It Now for only: $9.95

Set of 5 HOMESPUN PATHES Kitty Korner Designs FABRIC BLOCKS Christmas Country $9.99 Time Remaining: 1d 2h 27m

Rachels Of Greenfield Warm Hands Felt Mitten Ornament Kit Set Of Six $14.99 Time Remaining: 6d 21h 26m Buy It Now for only: $14.99

SET OF 4 STITCH N FRAME COMES COMPLETE WITH FRAME 16 VALUE $2.24 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 2h 39m

SET OF 4 STITCH N FRAME COMES COMPLETE WITH FRAME 8 VALUE $1.04 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 2h 44m

Complete Set Sneak Peek HALLOWEEN the Trilogy $14.27 Time Remaining: 13d 22h 30m Buy It Now for only: $14.27

SET OF 4 STITCH N FRAME COMES COMPLETE WITH FRAME 730 VALUE $0.99 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 1d 3h 5m

Crosssed Wing Collection cross stitch chartsset of 3 $9.99 Time Remaining: 25d 12h 25m Buy It Now for only: $9.99

FineLines Magazine Set of 33 Sum 1996 to Fall 2004 19 Originals 14 Copies $99.95 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 7m

Rachels Of Greenfield Warm Hands Felt Mitten Ornament Kit Set Of Six $14.99 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 14m

RIOLIS Cross stitch Kit Egyptian Pharaon Kreuzstich Set $14.99 Time Remaining: 8d 23h 34m Buy It Now for only: $14.99

SET OF5 STITCH N FRAME COMES COMPLETE WITH FRAME 1000 VALUE $0.99 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 16m

Monalisa 3 sets Clock mechanism +clock hands 33cm 62cm 72cm 10cm 15cm $13.91 Time Remaining: 16d 2h 34m Buy It Now for only: $13.91

Works Mat Mates set of 2 Counted Cross Stitch Kit w Frames Mats $2.95 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 22m

SET OF 6 STITCH A CARD COMES COMPLETE WITH ENVELOPE 12VALUE $3.25 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 3h 32m

2005 Mill Hill POLAR SANTAS Set of 3 designs SNOW DRIFT ICE CAP AND GLACIER $20.99 Time Remaining: 20d 21h 18m Buy It Now for only: $20.99

FineLines Magazine Set of 4 In a Nutshell Issues 8 1 8 2 8 3 8 4 $24.00 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 34m

Caught In The Cross Fire

CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE 

Twenty Four hours have passed and I don’t feel any better. I thought a good nights sleep would soothe some of the trauma of what I saw, calm my nerves, even take away the horror I witnessed. Alas, I feel perhaps even more disturbed by the images on my television and I don’t know quite what to do with these emotions. Beside me as I write, sitting in this trendy café sit two very handsome human beings and one, with long blonde hair and refined speech talks about her role in a new Australian drama, while the other sits facing her with full attention, both impressed and attracted. A thought darts through my mind that creating fictional dramas on television is wholly unnecessary when we only need to step outside and see that our world is full of very real dramas, occurring on mass scale. It makes me sad that this society misses the point entirely as though we’re running in the wrong direction, feeding what isn’t real and making it real in order to keep fear at bay, to avoid the pain of what is really going on.

Twenty four hours ago I was tuned to Dateline on SBS, hosted by the Investigative Journalist George Negus who had sent one of his reporters into a remote village on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, to report on the effect that the Taliban, The Pakistan Army and the American Government are having on this region. What I witnessed on this program seemed to blow my world apart in one instant. As the scenes and story moved from barren lands to officers in uniform to refugee camps, I watched in horror as a child, no more than five years old, faced the camera screaming, imploring, begging for the pain to stop. This was a scream that reached in and grabbed my soul, shook every cell in my body and I sat crying, disbelieving, horrified as men in white coats held her down and stitched her small head together after a mortar attack had blown it apart, as well as her home village. She clearly had no pain relief for this procedure. I can still hear her cries of the deepest anguish and her face distorted and desperate. I didn’t know what to do with the pain I felt. What are any of us supposed to do with images and realities like this one? How is it possible, that the most important people in the world, the true innocent, our future generation, are subjected to a daily, hourly and even moment to moment nightmare?

At Peshawar, a UNHCR refugee camp (UN Refugee agency) on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the ordinary men and women talk to the camera. They tell the story of their reality, their lives, fraught with uncertainty, upheaval and serious misfortune while simultaneously, in far off air conditioned comfort, men in white shirts and black suits debate and discuss strategies to deal with the Taliban. The Taliban; who publicly whip their own countrymen who dare to defy them, like a ritual humiliation they relish – so much a part of who they’ve come to be that they cannot help themselves. The Taliban, who publicly behead these men ~ men who dare to be different and rally for freedom, these same men that have small children and leave them behind in their quest for human rights.

The people of Peshawar, like this young girl, are ordinary humans with no way of defending themselves. Yet they are targets, hapless victims in the cross-fire between the Pakistani Army and the Taliban and even the American military. The Taliban are growing, constantly recruiting more to their cause, the Afghan Taliban are uniting to become the Pakistan Taliban, and the Pakistani Army are getting nowhere in fighting their offensive. Yet, says Faratullah Barbar, the spokesmen for the Pakistani President claims that America’s involvement is futile, and if anything, is fuelling the fire and providing sympathy to the Taliban cause. The US military are instructed to perform “Drone Attacks”, which fire missiles at ‘high-value’ targets inside Pakistan. This has been going on for some time, yet although the Pakistani president has pleaded with the current administration under the leadership of Barack Obama, to cease these air strikes, and in fact remove themselves from this area, Obama has refused, and continues to attack in the hope of bombing the Taliban. The horrific reality is that these attacks are doing nothing more than landing on civilian soil, and innocent lives are continuously lost or maimed, and the Taliban grow ever stronger. The Pakistani Government are outraged that these US military attacks continue and so am I. They want to handle this problem within their own nation, with their own government and in their own way and they believe they can. It begs the questions, which have been on my mind since Obama took office: “Is Barack Obama as intelligent as he appears, when he continues the age old rhetoric, loudly and emotionally about fighting terrorism across the globe? Does he really know what he is talking about or is he merely singing the same song of all the others gone before him? When will the killing of innocent lives matter? When all oil has been sucked dry from that continent? Why is it that each president has continued the fruitless hunt for “terrorists” in this region? Is it oil? Because there IS no doubt about it: Pakistan and Afghanistan will run out of oil, so the West will have to find another solution If oil is not his agenda, then why is he refusing to listen to the pleas of the Pakistani president? Or at the very least, why can’t the US and Pakistan Governments come to an agreement to change tactics against the Taliban?

My question to the people at large is “What the hell is going on here?”

As George Negus stated so succinctly in an interview with Tony Blair (who is the new Middle East Envoy) “When the humanity of a situation is as powerful as this, politics becomes almost irrelevant”. Yes indeed. Has bombing the life out of any nation ever led to peace, to unity, to success? No, so why should it in the future? Perhaps there is a time coming when the egoism of politics will become obsolete, if it is not already.

For Christmas 2008 I was given a small book entitled ‘The Declaration of Human Rights’. These are a set of 30 statements, or declarations designed to protect the rights and dignity of human beings worldwide and were acknowledged in 1948. While they are not legally binding, they are a standard by which all humans should be able to live their lives. Article 5 states:

“No-one shall be subjected to torture, to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

Then why are millions experiencing such a fate? And when, when are mere words on a document going to be transformed into a vast reality for our planet and its people? Should those who care really hold onto hope when there are men who form organisations like that Taliban, men who care not for the suffering of others and if anything, delight in practices of torture?

I am so disgusted with the world I live in. I seem to be living on an intelligent planet run largely by an insane community who have no real ability to empathise with the misfortune of others.

These words are dedicated solely to this one child, this child whose name I wish I knew, who reached in and grabbed my soul. I wanted  to reach out and take her, hold her, tell her that there would be no more pain, that she was safe to stop crying and to run outside and play, and that all the bad men with guns had gone. I can only hope that as a child she will bounce back, forget her horror on that day, and grow up having no more uncertainty or trouble. It is no doubt a vain hope, nevertheless, I am called to act, and this one child showed me the way. There is little else I can do for her than to write how I feel and what I witnessed.

Article 1 of the declaration states:

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They’re endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards each other in a spirit of brotherhood.”

Therefore, it is my greatest wish, for all the Christmas’ to come, and all those that have been, that this planet comes alive with this very spirit of brotherhood, sisterhood, absolute unity. While our planet suffers as it does, I shall never give up on this wish.

About the Author

Rebecca Jackson