tagged w/ Social Issues
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http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16112805
The record suicide rate among farmers in India continues to rise and is threatening the country's stability and future development, according to campaigners.
They are blaming the government's policies for the agrarian crisis and are demanding it takes urgent action.
More than a quarter of a million farmers have killed themselves in the last 16 years in what is the largest recorded wave of suicides in history.
Kishore Tiwari, a campaigner with the Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti in Maharashtra state in central India, says cotton farmers have been particularly badly affected.
Many of them have only just moved to growing cash crops - like cotton - in the last few years.
He says the farmers have taken on large debts to buy hybrid seeds, which are often unsuited to the harsh and temperamental Indian climate.
"They are sold these modern seeds and modern chemicals and have to take on large debts to buy them.
"The problem is they need a lot of water which is in short supply and then when the crop is poor and they have to repay the money lenders, they despair and commit suicide."
Mr Tiwari says the suicides are a symptom of a wider crisis in the countryside.
India's has one of the fastest growing economies in the world but its roots are in the countryside and much of it is being left behind.
In a country with aspirations, moving away from a life of subsistence is attractive but it can also be deadly.
Vandana Moohorle is now bringing up her children alone after her husband killed himself by drinking pesticide.
Like many farmers, he had been persuaded to use genetically modified seeds by the possibility of a better harvest. What he wasn't told was that they needed more rain than the region provided.
His wife blames the government and the large agricultural companies for exploiting the rural poor who dream of a better life.
"He was always tense" she said. "He had borrowed a lot of money for pesticides and fertilizers and now I will have to pay back his debts. Debt is the reason for all the suicides around here and it's the people in charge who are responsible for it."
Across rural India there is now widespread despair. The fields are also filling up with widows.
Activists say it is the other side of India's economic success story.
Beyond the headlines of fast growth, most of the country is still poor and is being left behind by a corrupt political class who are preoccupied with their own greed.
They point to the alarming suicide numbers to prove their point.
More than 60% of India's population still depends on the countryside for survival but with unfettered globalisation and little support from the government, the rural classes are badly exposed.
In the face of rising inflation and with no safety net, the ultimate act of desperation is often their only answer to the new world they live in.
It is a sobering fact but on average one farmer now commits suicide in India every 30 minutes.
And campaigners say the problem will only get worse without direct intervention from the government in the form of subsidies and agricultural educational programmes.http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16112805
The record suicide rate among... more
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Watch this video and travel back in time to Liddonfield Housing Project's heyday, before the wrecking ball.Watch this video and travel back in time to Liddonfield Housing Project's heyday,... more
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Now that this is starting to draw media attention, I wonder if this will change their decision.Now that this is starting to draw media attention, I wonder if this will change their... more
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Nearly 19,000 questions were submitted on YouTube for Thursday's Google and Fox News Republican Primary debate in Florida. More than 100,000 votes were cast to help determine the questions...We took those 19,000 questions, which were asked among nine varying categories, and analyzed the words people used when expressing their perspectives
http://veracitystew.com/2011/09/23/gop-debate-word-clouds-speak-volumes-image/Nearly 19,000 questions were submitted on YouTube for Thursday's Google and Fox... more
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A simple video to share the song This Is The Hill by Matthew Ryan. Ryan has appeared on David Letterman and Conan O'Brien; and has had songs on shows like House, One Tree Hill and The Unit. On 'This is the Hill' Matthew Ryan implores people to engage and take an active role in democracy in these days when corporate interests and philosophical divides are arguably overlooking the citizenry that is the muscle and heart of its nation.
for more information please visit www.matthewryanonline.com
Here's the video for This is the Hill:
http://youtu.be/d90-rUq2gpo
Here are the lyrics….
This is the Hill
Just go about your business
Just go about your lives
In a fog of constant car chase
Under gray metal skies
While there's a bomb in the heartland
And then there's trouble on the coast
And there's a very clean boot
On everyone's throat
The banks, the cons, the pirates
The inconceivable greed
While workers fade and howl like phantoms
And farmland turns to dust and weed
I was born in Pennsylvania
By the gas fires and river bank
My grandfather died of emphysema
In World War Two, he drove a tank
And I remember how his blue eyes
Got narrow as he spoke
And he said, "I'll take the enemies we knew any day,
Over the enemies you'll know"
And I remember at one time thinking
That the hearts of men are good
And if we should be overcome by darkness
We'll do exactly what we should
But then there was 9/11
And then there was Shock and Awe
And that ruthless empire up on Wall Street
Made peasants of us all
But it was nothing new
It had been building for a while
Sometimes I just sit and wonder
What happened to the president's smile?
Yeah I'm militant about the future
And I'm militant about hope
And I'm militant about reason
But these things are endangered you know?
And I'm passionate about us
And I'm passionate about them
And I'm passionate about education
and the human rights of all men
And I believe in glowing cities
An open window in every room
And I believe in brotherhood
So I believe in you
Well there's a growing hum of chaos
People dying where they sleep
With a flash of light in the dead of night
That's no fair fight
You can try to rationalize
But that's not war
And it's certainly not peace
Huh? huh?
This is the hill
This is the stand
This is the last hill
So never again
So never again
(copyright plastic violin BMI 2011)A simple video to share the song This Is The Hill by Matthew Ryan. Ryan has appeared... more
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On a lazy Sunday afternoon, when I looked back on my life in retrospection, I asked a question to thy self- what is the most precious thing that I’ve in my whole life? Without any hesitation, my inner voice echoed with the most important word of my life- “Education”. Yes, I've no doubt whatsoever that “Education” is the most important and reliable thing that I've gained in my whole life.
Today in the world of materialistic emotions I feel, I just can’t even rely on money because it can also come to an end one day, but I know I’m well educated to make money and it’s my education, which has made me self dependent. Deep inside I know I will only walk with huge confidence in the so called human jungle because I’m well educated to handle every situation and I’m equally equipped to survive here. It is because of my education today that I'm so certain that I just can’t be simply lost in this crowded world and that I’m good enough to tackle everything with ease.
I'm sure Darwin was right, it is all about the survival of the fittest, but things have changed since the Darwin's time and it is no more just the survival against the climatic catastrophe or the predator-pray dynamics rather a new taxonomy of survival has evolved with new words such as- Money, Education, Success etc. Though, at first all such words seem to be different, but they are very interdependent just as Darwin's theory of evolution has emphasized on the phenomena of interdependence. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about science, but I've something more important than it to discuss at the moment.
Read Complete post at the link-
http://www.iblog4acause.com/2011/06/awaaz-do-lets-raise-our-voices.htmlOn a lazy Sunday afternoon, when I looked back on my life in retrospection, I asked a... more
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Diary of a girl who lived in public housing. Part 10 - On the Road to Delinquency
http://www.publichousingstories.com/2011/06/liddonfielders-public-housing-diary_27.html
We lived only six blocks from the housing project where we once dwelled, but it may as well have been miles away. “Don’t go anywhere near that place,” Mom told me, “Nothing good can come of it.”
“Don’t you ever think about the people we left behind?” I asked her, “They used to be our friends.”Diary of a girl who lived in public housing. Part 10 - On the Road to Delinquency... more
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activism, Boys issues, hippies, Lauren Forcella, raising children, social issues, society, worldwide hippiesactivism, Boys issues, hippies, Lauren Forcella, raising children, social issues,... more
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Before it was called the "hood" there was drama in the projects. Learn about public housing from the inside on https://publichousingstories@gmail.com.Before it was called the "hood" there was drama in the projects. Learn... more
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Spiritual empowerment and upliftment for the impoverish soul by America's famous radio broadcaster on BlogTalkRadio, DJ Mona-Lisa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K-hsecMlokSpiritual empowerment and upliftment for the impoverish soul by America's famous... more
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Sarah Silverman is known for her acting, writing, comedy, music and singing. She was born on 1st December 1970. She is largely recognized with her nickname Big S. her comedy addresses the controversial topics of religion, sexism and racism. Her first performance was of a writer. She participated in Saturday Night Live. After this, she produced her own program, which was titled ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’.Sarah Silverman is known for her acting, writing, comedy, music and singing. She was... more
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James o Keefe was born on 28th June 1984. From political aspect, he is a conservative American activist. He garnered attention of media because of the hidden camera videos what he posted on Internet. He graduated from the University of Rutgers. He is a founder of conservative newspaper of students. He founded this newspaper in his graduation days of University. He also has an instrumental role in founding of many other student newspapers of conservative type.James o Keefe was born on 28th June 1984. From political aspect, he is a conservative... more
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The Senate of Arizona has approved implementation of a new business tax. This tax will help Apollo Group, which is parent group of University of Phoenix. The tax was issued in a corporate bill of The Arizona Senate.
The Senate Bill of Arizona will improve multistage sales of businesses and operations. It will implement different formulas for computation of taxes of Arizona’s income. This change will let Apollo/ University of Phoenix to decrease its expenditures on annual tax. So the tax bill will contribute a $30 million to $50 million decrease in taxes on students.The Senate of Arizona has approved implementation of a new business tax. This tax will... more
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Latest Complete News Updates Here are all the deals that start Sunday 2/27 at Kroger. Eight years ago, a child protection investigator and a deputy sheriff removed a 9-year-old Oregon girl from her classroom and questioned her at length as to whether her father had sexually abused her.Latest Complete News Updates Here are all the deals that start Sunday 2/27 at Kroger.... more
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The New York Times...
February 24, 2011
Gay Marriage Seems to Wane as Conservative Issue
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s decision to abandon his legal support for the Defense of Marriage Act has generated only mild rebukes from the Republicans hoping to succeed him in 2012, evidence of a shifting political climate in which social issues are being crowded out by economic concerns.
The Justice Department announced on Wednesday that after two years of defending the law — hailed by proponents in 1996 as an cornerstone in the protection of traditional values — the president and his attorney general have concluded it is unconstitutional.
In the hours that followed, Sarah Palin’s Facebook site was silent. Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, was close-mouthed. Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, released a Web video — on the labor union protests in Wisconsin — and waited a day before issuing a marriage statement saying he was “disappointed.”
Others, like Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, and Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, took their time weighing in, and then did so only in the most tepid terms. “The Justice Department is supposed to defend our laws,” Mr. Barbour said.
Asked if Mitch Daniels, the Republican governor of Indiana and a possible presidential candidate, had commented on the marriage decision, a spokeswoman said that he “hasn’t, and with other things we have going on here right now, he has no plans.”
The sharpest reaction came from Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, in an interview here during a stop to promote his new book, who called the administration’s decision “utterly inexplicable.”
A few years ago, the president’s decision might have set off an intense national debate about gay rights. But the Republicans’ reserved response this week suggests that Mr. Obama may suffer little political damage as he evolves from what many gay rights leaders saw as a lackluster defender of their causes into a far more aggressive advocate.
“The wedge has lost its edge,” said Mark McKinnon, a Republican strategist who worked for President George W. Bush during his 2004 campaign, when gay marriage ballot measures in a dozen states helped turn out conservative voters.
Mr. Obama’s move provoked some outrage, especially among evangelical Christians and conservative groups like the Family Research Council. In a statement Wednesday, Tony Perkins, president of the council, condemned the president’s decision as pandering.
But Republican strategists and gay rights activists said on Thursday that the issue’s power as a political tool for Republican candidates is diminishing. While surveys suggest that Americans are evenly divided on whether the federal government should recognize gay marriages, opposition has fallen from nearly 70 percent in 1996.
Prominent Republicans like Dick Cheney, the former vice president, and Barbara Bush, daughter of the former president, have defended the right of gays to marry. And Mr. Obama has been emboldened by the largely positive response to his recent, and successful, push for Congress to repeal “don’t ask, don’t tell,” the military’s ban on gays serving openly.
At the same time, the rise of the Tea Party movement, and the success that Republicans had last year in attacking Democratic candidates on economic issues, has pushed the debate over abortion and gay rights to the back burner.
“I don’t think this is the issue that it once was,” said John Feehery, a Republican strategist. “I think that the economic issues are so big that this one pales in comparison.”
In his first two years in office, Mr. Obama drew criticism from gay rights advocates who thought he was dragging his feet on their issues. Those same advocates see the shift as evidence that with an eye on the 2012 campaign, the president has calculated that the benefits of responding to his base outweigh the risks of upsetting conservatives who wouldn’t be voting for him anyway.
Among them is John Aravosis, the founder of Americablog.com, who in a 2009 blog post called the administration’s first legal brief in a Defense of Marriage Act case “despicable” and “homophobic.” Mr. Aravosis said on Thursday he is “much happier” with Mr. Obama, adding: “I think the gay community got to him. I’m not convinced we got to his heart, but I think we got to his political head.”
Others, like Kerry Eleveld, editor of EqualityMatters.org, a new Web site, say Mr. Obama appears to be evaluating the politics of gay rights issues differently since the positive response to the don’t ask, don’t tell repeal from people on the political left, many of whom have criticized him over issues like health care, climate change and immigration.
“He got this big bump from it in terms of the progressive base, and didn’t get a whole lot of heat, and I think that has given him a little more heart in feeling like L.G.B.T. issues aren’t as toxic as a lot of people have been painting them for the past 20 years,” she said.
While Mr. Obama has changed his legal position on the Defense of Marriage Act, his personal views on same-sex marriage — he opposes it, but favors civil unions — have not changed, the White House says.
A big question is whether they will. Mr. Obama has said his views are “evolving,” and some expect he will announce his support for same-sex marriage as he campaigns for re-election. But that could complicate Mr. Obama’s efforts to appeal beyond his liberal base.
“It’s still part of Obama’s record now,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist, who has advised Mr. Romney. “It’s one where it looks like he’s changing his position.”
Ashley Parker contributed reporting.
Photo: Mike Huckabee called the administration's new position “utterly inexplicable.”The New York Times...
February 24, 2011
Gay Marriage Seems to Wane as... more
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This small group of dedicated Egyptians was introduced to our readers a week ago when they began their campaign to clean up the city of Alexandria. Since that report, they've had an esthetic change on their Facebook page and have clarified their purpose. Their last organized clean up effort took place less than 24 hours ago, which included their Shentat el Heer (translated loosely as a goody bag, or a bag of happiness) where volunteers were stuffing bags with foodstuffs for the needy.
They refer to themselves as a charity group, not affiliated to any political party or NGO.
Our mission is to move our country into a new era of prosperity and progress, and improvement of social affairs at all levels and segments of society, especially for those who are below average living standards.
What they've accomplished thus far is remove approximately 38 million tons of rubbish from these neighborhoods in Alexandria: Gilliam, Camp Caesar, Moharam Bey, Miami, Manshia and Atarin
Continue reading on Examiner.com: In photos: Be positive and join the change continue the clean up of Alexandria - National Foreign Policy | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/foreign-policy-in-national/in-photos-be-positive-and-join-the-change-continue-the-clean-up-of-alexandria#ixzz1EcDW7hMMThis small group of dedicated Egyptians was introduced to our readers a week ago when... more
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