Yobaba I like this

- About Us

Nov 17, 10:07am    (1 review)  africa, human-rights, children  http://www.icmec.org/missingkids/servlet...

"The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), founded in 1998 and launched by the U.S.-based National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, works to identify and coordinate a global network of organizations fighting child-sexual exploitation and abduction." Drill down in to the website for information on how to make a donation to this most important project.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Vimeo

Oct 3, 1:40pm    (8 reviews)  human-rights  http://vimeo.com/1823335

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights video by Seth Brau Wonderfully done. But. While I personally agree with the premise of this video, we of western persuasion must remember that no matter how noble our cause, no matter how sincere our motives, we must respect the fact that other cultures also have a right to their own identity and beliefs, both religious and political. We cannot force others to change who they are to fit into the mold we have made for them. What is intolerable to some is cultural literacy to others. Those we label the 'oppressors' will very likely never change; those we label the 'oppressed' must then be provided political sanctuary - where?

For The People Of Tibet

Aug 11, 10:49am    (64 reviews)  human-rights, tibet  http://www.for-the-people-of-tibet.net/

The world must not look away when people are robbed of their religion, their country and their lives. In the name of all innocent and defenseless people of Tibet, we sign with our names. Add your name to the petition.

Why the market for mud cakes is booming in Haiti | Mail Online

Aug 11, 10:33am    (3 reviews)  human-rights, famine  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnew...

Visitors to the shanty towns of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, will find something unusual in the markets. It's a dry, yellow, round food product, about the size of a digestive biscuit. They're mud cakes, made from clay, salt, oil and water. Eat one, and you'll keep hunger at bay for a few hours. In Haiti, the market for mud cakes is booming. With the price of food soaring, but with wages static or falling, the poor are forced into desperation. Haiti finds itself at the whip end of a food crisis that stretches around the world. While President George W. Bush puts the contribution of biofuels to the increasing food prices at no more than four per cent, and the World Bank claims it could be as high as 75 per cent, most analysts put the figure at about 25 per cent. So, a quarter of the world food-price crisis is because we think it's a better idea to burn food than eat it. This is criminal. ~~~~ Thank you, David, for the post. http://vidchi.stumbleupon.com/

StumbleUpon - knitterrs web site reviews and blog

Aug 10, 11:49am    (3 reviews)  stumblers, capitalism, human-rights  http://knitterr.stumbleupon.com/

The following per Knitter's blog. I couldn't say it any better: "This is an "easy" beginner job...you try squatting in the blazing sun for 12 hours every day, using handfuls of mercury to aggregate the gold flecks, for less than $2/day. This is why we stopped buying anything with gold in it several years ago. This year-long AP investigative report DOCUMENTS by witnessing and interviewing many, many people: buyers at the mines, in the towns, all the way to Switzerland in the posh offices of gold market-makers. From the page "...dangerous jobs in hundreds of primitive mines scattered through the West African bush. Some are as young as 4 years old. In a yearlong investigation, The Associated Press visited six of these bush mines in three West African countries and interviewed more than 150 child miners. AP journalists watched as child-mined gold was bought by itinerant traders. And, through interviews and customs documents, The AP tracked gold from these mines on a 3,000-mile journey to Mali's capital city and then on to Switzerland, where it enters the world market. Most bush mines are little more than holes in the ground, but there are thousands of them in Africa, South America and Asia. Together, they produce a fifth of the world's gold, according to United Nations reports. And wherever you find bush mines, these reports and mine experts say, you also find child labor. If you wear a gold ring on your finger, write with a gold-tipped fountain pen or have gold in your investment portfolio, chances are good your life is connected to these children. One of them is Saliou Diallo. He's 12 years old and less than 4 feet tall. ..."

Out of Poverty

Jun 14, 5:22pm    (1 review)  poverty, human-rights  http://www.paulpolak.com/html/about.html

From the page: "...top-down efforts contrast sharply with the grassroots approach Polak and International Development Enterprises have championed: helping the dollar-a-day poor earn more money through their own efforts. Amazingly enough, unexploited market opportunities do exist for the desperately poor. Polak describes how he and others have identified these opportunities and have developed innovative, low-cost tools that have helped impoverished rural farmers use the market to improve their lives."

globeandmail.com: Mothers breast milk thrown into garbage

Jun 5, 6:59pm    (10 reviews)  human-rights  http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/s...

From the page: "Canadian Air Transport Security Authority spokesman Mathieu Larocque said breast milk is subject to the same regulations as any other liquids, gels or aerosols. The restrictions have been in place since August, 2006, in the wake of the failed bombing attempts at Heathrow Airport in London, where 24 people were arrested in a plot to detonate liquid explosives on passenger aircraft. In Canada, passengers can bring containers of 100 millilitres or less as long as all the containers fit in a one-litre, resealable plastic bag. Baby food, formula, milk, water and juice are exempt from the restrictions if the passenger is traveling with a baby two years old or younger." Something is really, really fucking wrong with all of us.

The New York Times & Log In

Jun 3, 10:37pm    (1 review)  politics, human-rights, hipocracy  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/opinio...

A nation of immigrants is holding another nation of immigrants in bondage, exploiting its labor while ignoring its suffering, condemning its lawlessness while sealing off a path to living lawfully. The evidence is all around that something pragmatic and welcoming at the American core has been eclipsed, or is slipping away. Every time this country has singled out a group of newly arrived immigrants for unjust punishment, the shame has echoed through history. Think of the Chinese and Irish, Catholics and Americans of Japanese ancestry. Children someday will study the Great Immigration Panic of the early 2000s, which harmed countless lives, wasted billions of dollars and mocked the nation's most deeply held values.

MLive.com: AP Photo

May 13, 2:28pm  human-rights  http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/photo/ind...

Myanmar regime accused of hoarding cyclone aid - NewsFlash - mlive.com

May 13, 12:51pm    (1 review)  politics, human-rights  http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf...

"The United Nations said Tuesday that only a tiny portion of international aid needed for Myanmar's cyclone victims is making it into the country, amid reports that the military regime is hoarding good-quality foreign aid for itself and doling out rotten food. The country's isolated military regime has agreed to accept relief shipments from the U.N. and foreign countries, but has largely refused entry to aidworkers who might distribute the aid. Two U.S. planes have already delivered aid to the country, and, in an apparent broadening of the initial agreement, the government seemed willing to allow future shipments."