Welcome to Friday Foto Flogging, a place to share your photos and photography news. We were inspired by the folks at European Tribune who post a regular Friday Photoblog series to try the same on this side of the virtual Atlantic. We also thought foto folks would enjoy seeing some other websites so each week we'll introduce a different photo website.

This week's theme is: In the Frame. Using human or natural structures or a combination of both to create an opening through which one views the focus of the photograph.

Welcome to Friday Foto Flogging, a place to share your photos and photography news. We were inspired by the folks at European Tribune who post a regular Friday Photoblog series to try the same on this side of the virtual Atlantic. We also thought foto folks would enjoy seeing some other websites so each week we'll introduce a different photo website.

This week's theme is Silhouettes and Shadows - show us a story etched in light and dark, contrasts and outlines, presence and absence.*

Welcome to Friday Foto Flogging, a place to share your photos and photography news. We were inspired by the folks at European Tribune who post a regular Friday Photoblog series to try the same on this side of the virtual Atlantic. We also thought foto folks would enjoy seeing some other websites so each week we'll introduce a different photo website.

Thanks for all the great photos last week. As mentioned in the comments section, we're introducing themes. This week the theme is red ... post anything that comes to mind. (And if you don't have anything red, that's okay too!) If you have a suggestion for next week's theme, leave a comment.

During the protest at Montebello, three masked men carrying rocks attempted to disrupt the peaceful line of protest to instigate a confrontation w/ the riot police.

The peaceful and legitimate protesters told these men to move away from their line -- they weren't interested in any violence. The masked men looked very out of place, wouldn't state who they were, refused to take off their masks when asked, pushed one of the peaceful protesters, and eventually forced their way through the line where they were handcuffed by the riot police.

LIBERIA: Development challenges top agenda as the nation recovers from years of civil strife

CONTEXT

With a GDP per capita of US$140, Liberia emerges from 14 years of conflict as one of the poorest countries in the world. More than 80% of the population lives on less than $1 per day and 52% live in extreme poverty. Unemployment stands at 85%. One in six Liberians depends on international food assistance. (ref: WHO-Liberia--Health action in crises)

Liberia's 14 years of civil warfare left tens of thousands of men, women and children dead and half a million of Liberia's 3 million population fled for their lives. Many have spent the last decade and a half living as refugees in camps in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea or Sierra Leone. (ref: UN refugee agency short of funds to help Liberians home)

Since December 2003, close to 100,000 ex-combatants have been disarmed and demobilized. The deployment of the UN peace-keeping forces has increased access to vulnerable groups, but new challenges are emerging with the imminent return of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons, ex-combatants and refugees. (ref: WHO-Liberia--Health action in crises)

(Globe from: United Nations Mission in Liberia)

It is these challenges --- reconstruction, reintregration, and rehabilitation --- that make Liberia a country the world needs to know more about.

::

Today I had a little time at work, so I leafed through the pages until I hit the article -- 6 pages worth. I read the opening paragraphs which described "just another day in the life of the world's last superpower under the leadership of President George W. Bush" which included the deaths of American soldiers in Iraq, the US Senate vote to increase the ceiling on national debt (to $9 trillion), the House of Representatives approving $92 billion in spending to support the war, and the Gallup opinion poll registering 37% approval of Bush's performance.

I scanned the photos: one of Bush of course, another of soldiers and a flag-draped coffin, another was a homeless person begging for money, one of SUVs rolling out of a car assembly plant, and one of Jakarta protesters burning an effigy of Bush. Just under that photo I read the following pull quote:

"There is an old weakness in our foreign policy. We make the mistake of believing that inside every foreigner there is an American just waiting to emerge. It's just not true."

So I went back to the beginning and started reading.

::

The bodies of 8 men were found this morning by a farmer during morning rounds of his fields. The bodies were found lying in and near three cars, one of which was still hooked up to a tow-truck.

The quiet village of 800 about 30 kilometres southwest of London near St. Thomas is known as Ontario's rhubarb capital, but also has a history of biker activity, raising speculation among some that the grisly scene had links to the underworld. [link]

::

IRAQ: WHEN IS ENOUGH ENOUGH?

One Thousand A Month Tortured To Death In Iraq:

Dr. John Pace drops a bombshell that translates as a whisper through obscure Maltese paper

Proving that Abu Ghraib and Gitmo are the tip of the iceberg, the outgoing UN human rights chief dropped a bombshell when he told an obscure Maltese newspaper that as many as a thousand detainees a month are being tortured to death in Iraq.

::

In light of all the negative, violent protests we are hearing about, I thought these positive stories deserved some attention.

::more below the fold::

::More below the fold::

Jim Connaughton, chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, has told Canadian Ambassador Frank McKenna that Martin's comments are the worst slight against President George W. Bush since Germany's Gerhard Schroeder suggested Bush's stance against the Kyoto Protocol was responsible for hurricane Katrina. (link) (emphasis mine)

(More after the fold)

(More after the fold)