Eye of the storm

The cover story of Time magazine indicated that Malaysia, not Indonesia or the Phillipines, is the hub, financial and planning centre for the Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network.

Shocking news? Read part of the article here and you can read more in MT here.

……………….Very few suspected peaceful, relatively prosperous Malaysia, where Muslims make up two-thirds of the population but seemed to have bought into the consumerist, essentially pro-Western views espoused by their leaders.

But after months of investigation and hundreds of hours interrogating detained terrorist suspects, even government officials in Kuala Lumpur can no longer deny that Malaysia was the financial and planning center for the region’s main al-Qaeda-linked terrorist network, the place Osama bin Laden’s proselytizers chose to recruit a core of loyal followers, launch new groups into neighboring countries, and coordinate with Southeast Asia’s existing Islamic radicals. Increasingly, it seems clear Malaysia was one of a number of hubs used in the worldwide preparations for the carnage of Sept. 11 in the U.S.

The von Trapp family, remember?

For those of us in our fifties, a show that all of us must have watched during our childhood is the “Sound of Music”. Even if you did not have the opportunity to watch that show, you must have heard of the song “Do, Re , Mi” or  the theme song “SOund of music”, or “my favourite things”.

For those who have seen the show, the image of Julie Andrews running and hopping and singing with her guitar will forever be imprinted in our minds.

And we will always remember how the family risked their lives escaping from the rule of tyranny, the Nazis which annexed Austria just before the start of the Second World War.

And of course, the Von Trapp family of 7 children. DO you ever wonder where are the children now?

I received some photos via email on their reunion after 40 years.I thought some of you might want to see how they are now :

These were the Von Trapp Family in the show.

They must be my age now.

And,

The who is who :

The show was based on an autobiography by Maria Von Trapp, with many alterations apparently from the real life happenings. For those who are interested in the real story of the Von Trapp,  you can read it  here.