Unfortunately, when in need, trans-people are commonly denied life's basic necessities. Therefore, in an attempt to inform the general public on such hardships, the author has thus provided this article.
Beginning on World Water Day, we are taking a week to celebrate the 200 million people who have gained access to safe water over the past 10 years. Watch this one-minute to see new water project celebrations around the globe.
How can you help?
To celebrate the progress made and call for continued action, Water.org has partnered with the ONE Campaign to launch oneWEEKforWATER.org. Now you can do your part and donate your voice on Facebook and Twitter in the name of clean water.
Other events
More than 21,000 women will gather to celebrate World Water Day on on March 22 in Kolakkudipatti village, India. People from hundreds of villages and slums will join elected officials, international organizations, and community leaders to recognize the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene. They gather to celebrate the improvements made in their villages and rally support for future efforts. Read about last year’s celebration here.
There are also several events planned for March 22 and 23 in Washington, DC. A collaborative of US-based organizations have joined to raise awareness and call for stronger commitments from governments, the private sector, and US citizens for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) initiatives in low-income countries.
About World Water Day
March 22 was first deemed World Water Day in 1993 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) as an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the role that freshwater plays in our world and lives. Today’s reality is that one in eight people in the world don’t have access to safe water, millions of women and children must still spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often polluted sources, and 2.5 billion people live without a toilet.Beginning on World Water Day, we are taking a week to celebrate the 200 million people... more
This documentary deals with solutions to plastic pollution. The film took three years to make crossing 12 countries and 5 continents, including the Great Pacific Gyre garbage patch. It also deals with the evolution of plastic over the last 100 years as well as providing solutions to recycling, toxicity, and alternatives to plastic.
This is a shameful epitaph of humanity.This documentary deals with solutions to plastic pollution. The film took three years... more
This is Part 2 of the Earth Care Group's posting of Tommic's essay on Climate Change Impacts. The first part was posted Sunday and regarded glaciers. This part and conclusion regards the Gulf Stream (the great ocean conveyor belt) slowing, water scarcity, and ocean temperatures and their effect on climate. These are all very important factors taken into account when determining the impacts of climate change trends and the human role in them. Trends and climate change involve more than just watching a weather report or having one winter with abnormal snowfall. Remember, snowfall is also precipitation.
Our hope in presenting these essays on our blog (which is open to anyone in our group who wishes to write an environmental essay and tag it Earth Care Group Blog) is that by presenting this information more people will become aware of the processes of our Earth and how those natural processes are now being effected by human behavior. We have a moral obligation to do all we can to preserve the climate balance of our only truly remarkable home.
Again, thank you to Tommic for contributing this entry.This is Part 2 of the Earth Care Group's posting of Tommic's essay on... more
Here, the author speaks on the similarities between the transgender and Indigenous communities and why it is imperative that they ally themselves and work together.
Unfortunately, most transgender/transsexual experience frequent trauma and human rights violations. In order to provide assistance, this essay gives hope to those in most dire need.
When it comes to trans-issues, the discussion of passing and not passing often comes up, as well as the difference in treatment trans-women endure upon assuming their true gender roles. This essay is especially useful for men, who often make the lives of transsexual women a nightmare! Read and please learn.
* More US weeds found resisting Monsanto Roundup
Herbicide resistance found in kochia weed
By Carey Gillam
Reuters, Febraury 26. 2010
Straight to the Source
Scientists said on Friday they have confirmed expanding weed resistance to a key ingredient in Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide, a troubling development for farmers and fresh fodder for Monsanto critics.
Kansas State University said scientists had found five kochia weed populations in western Kansas that have been confirmed to have become resistant to glyphosate.
Kochia, also called fireweed, is a drought-tolerant weed commonly found on land in the western United States and Canada where crops are grown and cattle are grazed.
"This complicates and may increase control costs for those growers who may have a resistance problem, but there are other herbicides," said Kansas State weed scientist Phil Stahlman.
Stahlman and other university researchers are recommending farmers use other herbicides to try to control the weeds.
Monsanto said it was working with university scientists on a multi-state effort to keep evaluating the problem and advise farmers how to respond.
The company declined to answer questions about how significant the resistance problems are to date, and if resistance is expected to expand further.
Weed resistance to glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup herbicide, has been mounting across the United States in recent years as Monsanto's genetically modified "Roundup Ready" corn, soybeans and other crops have gained popularity with farmers.More Weeds Found Resisting Monsanto Roundup
* More US weeds found resisting... more
Margaret Flowers singing a song by David Swanson based on Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue." Protest John Yoo on March 19, 2010, in Charlottesville, VA
See http://hoosagainstyoo.orgMargaret Flowers singing a song by David Swanson based on Bob Dylan's... more
BRUSSELS - The European Commission on Tuesday approved the cultivation of genetically-modified potatoes, but environmentalists and some European ministers slammed the so-called "frankenfoods".
This file photo released by BASF shows Amflora potatoes. The European Commission has approved the cultivation of genetically modified potatoes, but environmentalists and some European ministers slammed the so-called "frankenfoods". (AFP/BASF/File) The first approval of genetically modified foods in Europe for 12 years was criticised by the Friends of the Earth group and others as a threat to human health, though the potatoes will not be for human consumption.
"This is a bad day for European citizens and the environment," Friends of the Earth said of the green light given for the Amflora potato to be developed by German chemical giant BASF.
The EU Commission also allowed three GM maize products to be placed on the European market, though not grown in Europe.
Modified vegetables and cereals have long been a matter of fierce debate in Europe and the commission stressed that the Amflora would only be for "industrial use" including animal feed.
"We are against the decision taken today by the European Commission," Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said in a statement.
Prior the potato, only MON 810, a strain of genetically modified maize made by Monsanto, has been authorised for cultivation in Europe since 1998.
The EU Commission said its latest decision was "based on a considerable volume of sound science".
"Responsible innovation will be my guiding principle when dealing with innovative technologies," EU Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli assured.
"After an extensive and thorough review of the five pending GM files, it became clear to me that there were no new scientific issues that merited further assessment," he added.
The EU's food safety agency has said the potato is safe for all uses. It is designed to produce industrial starch for use in areas such as paper making.
Amflora is also modified to produce pure amylopectin starch in technical applications.
Conventional potatoes produce a mixture of amylopectin and amylose starch.
But the potato also contains a marker gene resistant to antibiotics, fuelling environmentalists' fears over the risks of contamination for non GMO varieties.
Friends of the Earth said the Amflora potato "carries a controversial antibiotic resistant gene which it cannot be guaranteed will not enter the food chain."
"The new commissioner whose job is to protect consumers has in one of his first decisions ignored public opinion and safety concerns to please the worlds biggest chemical company," said Heike Moldenhauer, the group's GMO spokesperson.
The Greens party in the European parliament said they were "shocked."
Approval of the GMO potato "flies in the face of the 70 percent of consumers who are against GM food, as well as the anti-GM position of the European Parliament," said German Green MEP Martin Hausling.
EU health commissioner Dalli stressed that the GM potatoes would be cultivated at a distance from ordinary crops.
BASF, on its website, said it was "delighted" by the decision "after waiting for more than 13 years," for EU approval.
"We hope, that this decision is a milestone for further innovative products that will promote a competitive and sustainable agriculture in Europe," said board member Stefan Marcinowski.The insanity of humanity continues on:
BRUSSELS - The European Commission on... more
9/11 Memorials, America, occult symbolism, Boston Memorial, glass cube, humanity, connection to Sept. 11, American Airlines Flight 11, Keith Moskow, Terminal A, New Jersey, Twin Towers, Polish Plaque, eye of Lucifer, Teardrop Memorial, New Jersey, Crescent of Embrace ................... http://www.makeahistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=181:top-5-worst-911-memorials-&catid=38:recentnews&Itemid=559/11 Memorials, America, occult symbolism, Boston Memorial, glass cube, humanity,... more
A humanitarian is a person actively engaged in promoting human welfare and social reforms, sometimes known as a philanthropist. With the recent disaster in Haiti and the next looming around the corner, anyone interested in their fellow man can’t help but take time to think about their role in the world and what can be done to make things better.
A new book dares to attack the theory of evolution by using -- surprise! -- science.
At this point, the idea of somebody publishing an attack on Charles Darwin isn’t exactly surprising. The 19th-century naturalist, and the man behind the theory of evolution, has never been a particularly popular figure among conservative Christians, and, these days, the anti-Darwin movement is a cottage industry. In the last year, which marked the bicentennial of Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of "The Origin of the Species," the man was even subjected to the peculiar indignity of an assault by former "Growing Pains" star Kirk Cameron.
But unlike most of these attacks, "What Darwin Got Wrong," a new book by Jerry Fodor, a professor of philosophy and cognitive sciences at Rutgers University, and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini, a professor of cognitive science at the University of Arizona, comes not from the religious right, but from two atheist academics with -- surprise -- a nuanced argument about the shortcomings of Darwin’s theories. Their book details (in very technical language) how recent discoveries in genetics have thrown into question many of our perceived truths about natural selection, and why these have the potential to undermine much of what we know about evolution and biology.
Salon spoke to Fodor over the phone from his home, about the problems with Darwin’s ideas, bloggers’ "obscene" comments on his work, and why Darwinism might be as unreliable as creationism.
more at link...
Adaptation, mutation and evolution exist, but Darwin was a eugenicist with an agenda. Science isn't dogma; it should be challenged and debated ad infinitum. I prefer Velikovsky.A new book dares to attack the theory of evolution by using -- surprise! -- science.... more
Women all over the world are living in slavery. They are slaves to the backbreaking often dangerous job of providing water for their families daily. In countries whose governments are corrupt, the environment is devastated, and the water is not fresh and in many instances in scarce supply. In households where traditions preclude them from education, economic opportunity, and equality in any form. And they are the missing link in regards to the economic success they and many of these countries could have if only this tragedy were given the attention it deserves.
The typical day of a woman living in one of these countries begins at about 2AM every morning. She awakens to make a trek to a water source with her five gallon Gerry can in order to collect water for the family for the day. It won’t go far depending on the number of children she has, and she may even have to forfeit using any of it in order to provide for their needs first. She treks along rocky terrain with her can sometimes with others, sometimes alone, or with her daughter who doesn’t attend school in order to help with this task. The trek can be dangerous, with them taking a chance on being raped, robbed or worse. Once she reaches the water source she must stand in line waiting for her turn to fill her can of what is many times polluted water that may well give her children dysentery. But it is all they have.
Once she fills her can she must then make the backbreaking trek back to her village once again. Her trip can take her anywhere from six to nine hours a day not including her other chores in bringing up her children, providing for them, many times harvesting any crops grown, feeding them whatever they have, and providing spiritual guidance. This then takes time away from her and her daughter having opportunity in education or in pursuing any sort of life where they can contribute to advancing their own lot in life.
And this is their life, every day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, every year.
It is hard for many in this world of plenty to relate to the lives of women who must struggle for all they have and who are denied their identity and their dreams. For us, getting up in the morning and turning on our showers or our taps is something we don’t even think about because the water is always there. We don’t think of the water used for cooking or bathing, or washing, or doing other tasks that people in these countries wouldn’t ever have a chance to do. While we waste water on golf courses, in pools, and to build desert resorts, water is gold to those who live in countries where there isn’t even enough for the basic necessities of life.
cont.Women all over the world are living in slavery. They are slaves to the backbreaking... more
New Delhi, India (CNN) -- The last member of an ancient tribe that has inhabited an Indian island chain for around 65,000 years has died, a group that campaigns for the protection of indigenous peoples has said.
Boa Sr, who was around 85 years of age, died last week in the Andaman islands, about 750 miles off India's eastern coast, Survival International said in a statement.
The London-based group, which works to protect indigenous peoples, said she was the last member of one of ten distinct Great Andamanese tribes, the Bo.
"The Bo are thought to have lived in the Andaman islands for as long as 65,000 years, making them the descendants of one of the oldest human cultures on earth," it noted.
With her passing at a hospital, India also lost one of its most endangered languages, also called Bo, linguists say.
"She was the last speaker of (the) Bo language. It pains to see how one by one we are losing speakers of Great Andamanese and (their) language is getting extinct. (It is) A very fast erosion of (the) indigenous knowledge base, that we all are helplessly witnessing," read an obituary in Boa Sr's honor posted on the Web site of the Vanishing Voices of the Great Andamanese (VOGA) project.
"Boa Sr was the only speaker of Bo and had no one to converse with in that language.
--Anvita Abbi
Project director Anvita Abbi, a professor at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, met with Boa as recently as last year. "She was the only member who remembered the old songs," Abbi recounted in her obituary.
"Boa Sr was the only speaker of Bo and had no one to converse with in that language," Abbi told CNN. Her husband and children had already died, the linguist said.
Other than Bo, she also knew local Andaman languages, which she would use to converse, according to Abbi.
Boa Sr was believed to be the oldest of the Great Andamanese, members of ten distinct tribes. Survival International estimates there are now just 52 Great Andamanese left.
There were believed to be 5,000 of them when the British colonized the archipelago in 1858. Most of those tribal communities were subsequently killed or died of diseases, says Survival International.
The British also held the indigenous tribes people captive in what was called an Andaman Home, but none of the 150 children born there survived beyond two years of age, according to the group.
Boa Sr also survived the killer Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.
She recorded in Bo what she saw when the giant waves arrived. "While we were all asleep, the water rose and filled all around. We did not get up before the water rose. Water filled where we were and as the morning broke the water started to recede," reads a translation of her tsunami narrative posted on the VOGA Web site.
Activists are expressing alarm over her death.
"Boa's loss is a bleak reminder that we must not allow this to happen to the other tribes of the Andaman islands," Survival director Stephen Corry said in the statement. Andaman and Nicobar Islands authorities put at least five tribes in their list of vulnerable indigenous communities.
According to Corry's group, the surviving Great Andamanese depend largely on the Indian government for food and shelter and abuse of alcohol is rife.
Among the tribes are the Sentinelese, who inhabit a 60-square-kilometer island.
Officials believe the group is probably the world's only surviving Paleolithic people without contact with any other community. They said the Sentinelese are very hostile and never leave their Island. Very little is known about them.New Delhi, India (CNN) -- The last member of an ancient tribe that has inhabited an... more
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Relief workers began handing out women-only food coupons, launching a new phase of what they hope will be less cutthroat aid distribution to ensure that families and the weak get supplies following Haiti's devastating earthquake.
Young men often force their way to the front of aid delivery lines or steal from it from others, meaning aid doesn't reach the neediest at rough-and-tumble distribution centers, according to aid groups.
The World Food Program coupons can be turned in by women at 16 sites in the capital starting Sunday, and entitle each family to 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of rice.
U.N. officials say they are still far short of reaching all 2 million quake victims estimated to need food aid.
Meanwhile, federal agencies scrambled to explain the U.S. military's suspension of medical evacuations of critically ill Haitians to the United States in a dispute over where the victims should be treated.
"We have 100 critically ill patients who will die in the next day or two if we don't Medevac them," said Dr. Barth Green, chairman of the University of Miami's Global Institute for Community Health and Development. That included 5-year-old Betina Joseph, who developed tetanus from a small cut in her thigh. Doctors said Saturday that she had just 24 hours to live if not provided with respirator care.
White House officials said they were working to increase hospital capacity in Haiti and aboard the USNS Comfort hospital ship as well as in the United States. U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten said about 435 earthquake victims had been evacuated before the suspension, and that he was "sure the Department of Defense wants to do the right thing."
Relief officials were facing a growing sanitation crisis that could spread malaria, cholera and other deadly diseases throughout the chaotic camps.
Shortages of food, clean water, adequate shelter and latrines are creating a potential spawning ground for epidemics in a country with an estimated 1 million people made homeless by the Jan. 12 quake.
In one camp, a single portable toilet served about 2,000 people, forcing most to use a gutter that runs next to an area where vendors cook food and mothers struggle to bathe their children.
Survivors have erected flimsy shelters of cloth, cardboard or plastic in nearly every open space left in the capital.
Women wait until night to bathe out of buckets, shielding their bodies behind damaged cars and trucks. Water is recycled — used first for brushing teeth, then for washing food, then for bathing.
"My 1-year-old has had diarrhea for a week now, probably because of the water," said Bernadel Perkington, 40. "When the earthquake happened I had 500 gourdes (about 15 U.S. dollars), which I was using for clean water for her. The money for that ran out yesterday."
The crowding and puddles of filthy water that breed mosquitoes have begun to spread diseases such as dengue and malaria, which were already endemic in Haiti. Some hospitals report that half the children they treat have malaria, though the rainy season — the peak time for mosquitoes — won't start until April.
Tight quarters also expose people to cholera, dysentery, tetanus and other diseases.
The U.N., Oxfam and other aid organizations have started to dig latrines for 20,000 people, said Silvia Gaya, UNICEF's coordinator for water and sanitation, even if that's a small fraction of the 700,000 people that officials said were living in the camps last week.
"In some parks, there is no physical space" even to dig latrines, Gaya said.PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Relief workers began handing out women-only food... more
