tagged w/ Humanism
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If you have a child currently enrolled in public school be warned: a heavy dose of religion may accompany his or her studies.
According to Kimberly Winston of Religion News Service, a number of state legislators are now pushing some legislation that would introduce studying the Bible as a choice in their state's public schools, and other legislation that would teach creationism as valid.
Bible courses, offered as elective "literature" classes, are being considered by lawmakers in Arizona and have already been approved in South Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. Since these classes are not mandatory and are supposed to be taught with religious neutrality, there has not been a great deal of public opposition to them. Some school districts within the states where they are allowed still choose to not offer them at all.
To read the rest of this article by AHA Executive Director Roy Speckhardt, click here: http://hmn.st/xXKSCIIf you have a child currently enrolled in public school be warned: a heavy dose of... more
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CNN...
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THE CNN FREEDOM PROJECT ENDING MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
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January 19th, 2012
12:03 PM ET
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Child slavery and chocolate: All too easy to find
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In "Chocolate's Child Slaves," CNN's David McKenzie travels into the heart of the Ivory Coast to investigate children working in the cocoa fields.
(More information and air times on CNN International.)
By David McKenzie and Brent Swails, CNN
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CLICK ON CNN LINK (at top) TO VIEW THREE VIDEOS
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Daloa, Ivory Coast (CNN) - Chocolate’s billion-dollar industry starts with workers like Abdul. He squats with a gang of a dozen harvesters on an Ivory Coast farm.
Abdul holds the yellow cocoa pod lengthwise and gives it two quick cracks, snapping it open to reveal milky white cocoa beans. He dumps the beans on a growing pile.
Abdul is 10 years old, a three-year veteran of the job.
He has never tasted chocolate.
During the course of an investigation for CNN’s Freedom Project initiative - an investigation that went deep into the cocoa fields of Ivory Coast - a team of CNN journalists found that child labor, trafficking and slavery are rife in an industry that produces some of the world’s best-known brands.
It was not supposed to be this way.
After a series of news reports surfaced in 2001 about gross violations in the cocoa industry, lawmakers in the United States put immense pressure on the industry to change.
“We felt like the public ought to know about it, and we ought to take some action to try to stop it,” said Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who, together with Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, spearheaded the response. “How many people in America know that all this chocolate they are eating - candies and all of those wonderful chocolates - is being produced by terrible child labor?”
But after intense lobbying by the cocoa industry, lawmakers weren’t able to push through a law. What they got was a voluntary protocol, signed by the heads of the chocolate industry, to stop the worst forms of child labor “as a matter of urgency.” One of the key goals was to certify the cocoa trade as child-labor free.
“It was meant to achieve the end of child slave labor in cocoa fields,” Engel said.
It didn’t.
UNICEF estimates that nearly a half-million children work on farms across Ivory Coast, which produces nearly 40% of the world’s supply of cocoa. The agency says hundreds of thousands of children, many of them trafficked across borders, are engaged in the worst forms of child labor.
A recent study by Tulane University says the industry’s efforts to stop child labor are “uneven” and “incomplete” and that 97% of Ivory Coast’s farmers had not been reached. But the industry’s main representative in the country disagrees with the assessment.
“I think the situation has improved exponentially,” said Rabola Kagohi, country director for the International Cocoa Initiative, the chocolate industry’s answer to fighting child labor and trafficking. “Today, the message is physically getting through.”
Kagohi works out of a basement office with one other permanent employee.
“There are some results,” he said. “I wish that you had spoken to some planters.”
None of the farmers CNN spoke to in the heart of the cocoa production region said they had ever been reached by the International Cocoa Initiative, the government or chocolate companies about child trafficking.
Children such as Abdul don’t know anything about protocols or certification. All they know is work.
When Abdul’s mother died, a stranger brought him across the border to the farm. Abdul says all he’s given is a little food, the torn clothes on his back, and an occasional tip from the farmer. Abdul is a modern child slave.
And he is not the only youngster working in his group.
Yacou insisted he is 16, but his face looks far younger.
“My mother brought me from Burkina Faso when my father died,” he said.
Scars crisscross Yacou’s legs from a machete. He can’t clear grass in the cocoa fields without cutting himself. During harvest season, he works day after day hacking the cocoa pods.
The emotional scars run much deeper.
“I wish I could go to school. I want to read and write,” he said. But Yacou hasn’t spent a single day in school, and he has no idea how to leave the farm.
“It makes me angry,” Engel said. As far as he’s concerned, the chocolate companies haven't done enough.
“They are working with us, and we are glad that they are working with us. But they could do better.”
One of the major players in the Ivory Coast cocoa trade is, not surprisingly, the Ivorian government. Although the country has cornered a vast chunk of a lucrative market, it is considered one of the world’s poorest by any measure.
But the government leadership blames politics and war for the problems in the cocoa industry.
“Thirty years of political instability caused a lot of damage to our economy generally, and to the agricultural sector particularly, and more specifically to the cocoa industry,” said Ivory Coast’s minister of agriculture, Sangafowa Coulibaly. “Unfortunately, these years have been lost.”
After an attempted coup in 2002, the country was split in half and kept from all-out civil war by the United Nations. There was protracted violence after the last disputed presidential elections, when then-President Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede.
With the new government of Alassane Ouattara in charge, the government says it can now put much-needed reforms in place.
“Things can only get better,” Coulibaly said. “The main reason is that today, the political crisis is behind us, the armed conflict is behind us.”
But many observers believe that a new government won’t make it a priority to stop slavery in the cocoa fields.
And with peace, traffickers are free to do their work again. U.N. officials told CNN that the Ivory Coast conflict actually helped slow down trafficking because people were too afraid to move across borders.
Contrary to the promises of action, CNN’s investigation could only find promises. And those promises are empty to children like Abdul and Yacou.
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Post by: CNN's Brent Swails, CNN's David McKenzie
.CNN...
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THE CNN FREEDOM PROJECT ENDING MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
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January 19th,... more
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Huff Post...
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Jessica Ahlquist, Teenage Atheist, Wins Case To Remove Prayer Banner From Cranston High School
First Posted: 1/14/12 08:47 AM ET Updated: 1/14/12 04:55 PM ET
By Kimberly Winston
Religion News Service
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(RNS) A federal judge ruled Wednesday (Jan. 11) in favor of a teenage atheist who sought the removal of a prayer banner from her Rhode Island high school.
Attorneys for Jessica Ahlquist, 16, argued that a banner on display in Cranston High School West's auditorium titled "School Prayer" and addressing "Our Heavenly Father" is a violation of the Constitution and the Supreme Court's 1962 decision banning state-mandated prayer in school.
Lawyers for the school district argued that the banner had hung in the school since the 1960s and was more secular than sacred.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux disagreed and ruled that the banner should be removed immediately. He also upbraided school officials for holding community meetings about the mural that "at times resembled a religious revival." At one meeting, several school officials read from the Bible or declared their faith. Ahlquist needed a police escort to leave one meeting.
"I am hopeful that this case can be looked back on in the future and encourage others to stand up for their rights as well," Ahlquist said from the Providence office of the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented her.
Ahlquist had to leave Cranston High School West due to threats, but said she is considering a return.
Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State hailed the ruling as "a 40-page slam dunk."
Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association, praised Ahlquist. "She fought for the rights of nonbelievers and religious minorities and is an example for everyone."
.Huff Post...
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Jessica Ahlquist, Teenage Atheist, Wins Case To Remove Prayer... more
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The 20th day of October 2011 was one of the darkest days in Chinese society. The whole country witnessed, with our heart full of tears, the death of a little 2 years old girl, named Yue Yue. She was the victim of the most horrible incident anyone could ever experience. This innocent little girl was run over by a truck twice, then ignored by 18 bystanders while laying on the floor, and run over again by another passing truck.
People are afraid to help a fellow citizen in trouble because by getting involved, they take the risk of it costing them money. It is also not uncommon for some people in China to rob a good samaritan trying to help.
It is terrifying to see how all aspects of life and society, in China, revolve around money. Making money, getting money from others, and saving money.
In a society with no religious values, poor social training, and an even poorer sense of community or civic values, how irresponsible pursuit of wealth is turning people's compassion, humanity, morals and values into materialism, selfishness, and lack of values to the point of criminality. Which matters most? Is one the result of the other?
I must warn you, the video is very disturbing.
http://www.chinasmack.com/2011/videos/2-year-old-chinese-girl-ran-over-by-van-ignored-by-18-bystanders.htmlThe 20th day of October 2011 was one of the darkest days in Chinese society. The whole... more
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Being labeled an “anti-Semite” is an honor these days. All it means is someone who is against the Jewish criminal gang that dominates the global power structure. In our Orwellian world, “anti-Semite” and “American patriot” are actually synonymous. Simply accurately describing the most influential faction of the crime gang that sits atop the global power structure, which controls the United States government, media, and banking system, is anti-Semitic according to a lot of people, and that’s fine with me. We need to continue to point out that these are the same people who did 9/11, and if that’s anti-Semitic, so be it.
Stating these obvious facts is not the most politically correct thing to do, but it needs to be said if we are ever going to regain control of our country and our future. I get e-mail updates from the Anti-Defamation League, and in the latest e-mail I came across this article entitled, “Decade of Deceit: Anti-Semitic 9/11 Conspiracy Theories 10 Years Later.”
Being the raging anti-Semite that I am, I was really interested in this article. In the introduction, the ADL laments the fact that people actually know who pulled off the FALSE FLAG/INSIDE JOB on 9/11:
In the ten years since the September 11 terrorist attacks on America, conspiracy theories surrounding the attacks have become an entrenched propaganda industry. These assaults on memory and history attempt to place blame for the attacks on sources other than Al Qaeda, such as the U.S. government. Prominent among such 9/11 conspiracy theories are those that make the anti-Semitic claim that Jews—whether Israeli, American, or both– were involved in planning and executing the attacks. This anti-Semitic faction is only a part of the so-called “9/11 truth movement,” yet it is vocal and pervasive, particularly on the Internet.
That’s right, it’s anti-Semitic to state the fact that the only people actually arrested on 9/11 were Jewish spies and military operatives directly from Israel. It’s now common knowledge that federal agencies of the United States government actually uncovered an elaborate, sophisticated, and state sponsored espionage operation involving Israeli intelligence and military operatives posing as art students as a cover for engaging in espionage at numerous federal facilities, buildings, and military bases.
I’d like to present the Detailed Summary (beginning on page 49) of the Gerald Shea Memo, which was prepared for the National Commission On Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission), the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence in September of 2004 shortly after the 9/11 Commission released it’s report coverup:
ContBeing labeled an “anti-Semite” is an honor these days. All it means is... more
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My friend Barbara travels and blogs about it she's come a long way but I think you'll enjoy her world travel musings and insights-this is her
Barbara Weibel "After years of working 70 hours a week at jobs I detested, I felt like the proverbial "hole in the donut" - solid on the outside, but empty on the inside. Searching for meaning in my life, I abandoned my successful but unsatisfying career and set out on a six-month solo backpacking trip around the world to pursue my true passions of travel, writing, and photography. My blog features intensely personal stories about the destinations I visit, people I meet, the crazy (and often humourous...)... (always fun and enlightening i highly recommend her travel site hole in the Donut more on Luang Prabang at link too)My friend Barbara travels and blogs about it she's come a long way but I think... more
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CNN...
Town near nuclear plant rejects Japanese utility's 'token' offer
From Whitney Hurst, CNN
April 5, 2011 12:31 p.m. EDT
TEPCO's offer: $12 per person
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: "Everything we've built is gone," the mayor of Namie says
Tokyo Electric offers 20 million yen to residents of 10 communities near the plant
The utility company says more money to those affected will likely come in the future
One estimate is that Tokyo Electric will pay $12 billion to $121 billion in compensation
Tokyo (CNN) -- Acknowledging the toll the unrelenting nuclear crisis has had on people's lives and livelihoods, the owner of Japan's stricken nuclear plant has offered money to some of those in the radiation's reach -- an offer that one city decided to refuse.
An official with Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, said Tuesday that the utility made a "token" offer to residents in 10 communities near the plant.
Starting March 31, money began going out to those in nine of them. But the town of Namie rejected Tokyo Electric's offer, with a local official calling it too meager an attempt to make up for a drastically reduced quality of life and income.
"Our people are suffering, and unfortunately, everything we've built is gone," Mayor Tamotsu Baba told CNN.
"Where is our direct apology?" Baba asked. "Because the cash certainly doesn't amount to much."
Tokyo Electric says the amount is an initial token payment, not compensation for losses sustained as a result of the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi. They promise that will come later -- after they have assessed the damage from the accident, which has spread radioactive contamination across much of the surrounding area.
The company called the initial offer "payment for their troubles," and would not detail how much money is being offered to each community. But Kousei Negishi, who is the manager of general affairs for Namie, said that it was 20 million yen -- about $12 for each of Namie's roughly 20,000 residents.
That amount of cash, said Negishi, is "not enough." And it is logistically difficult to force local governments to distribute the money, which he said should be Tokyo Electric's responsibility.
Several officials from Fukushima, the prefecture that includes the crippled plant, took their complaints about the company and the evacuation zone to Prime Minister Naoto Kan's Tokyo office Tuesday afternoon.
"We don't know if TEPCO understands what we're going through," said Katsuya Endo, the mayor of Tomioka, one of the towns that has been evacuated since the accident.
The company said Tuesday that would be worked out between the power company and the Japanese government, which has pledged to support Japan's largest utility in the crisis.
One week ago, a report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch estimated Tokyo Electric will face compensation claims of 1 trillion Japanese yen (about $12.13 billion) if the recovery effort takes two months, the financial company's Tokyo spokesman Takayuki Inoue told CNN. That figure would rise to 2.4 trillion to 3 trillion yen if the process takes six months, and up to 10 trillion yen if the recovery takes two years, according to the report.
Most likely, tens of thousands of people will have a legitimate claim to this cash. They'll include those who haven't been able to work, who have been forced out of their homes or who otherwise have had their lives turned upside down in the problem-plagued, complicated struggle to contain the emission of radiation into the air, ground and water from the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The government ordered about 78,000 people who lived within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the plant to evacuate, due to high air and ground radiation readings in those locales.
Another 62,000 lived within 20 to 30 kilometers (12 to 19 miles) -- the so-called exclusion zone, where people have been told to stay indoors -- an official from Kan's office said. Namie is located just outside this 30-kilometer radius.
Thousands of others have been affected by the crisis. They include fishermen, who have been told not to go within 20 kilometers of the plant and are facing consumers skeptical about the safety of local seafood, especially after authorities announced plans to dump 11,500 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Farmers, too, have been hit hard by restrictions on the sale and distribution of certain crops because of radiation readings exceeding government limits.
Tokyo Electric itself has suffered as well. The company has admitted it's been inundated by 40,000 public complaints daily coming into its offices, its stock has plummeted and its faced several protests, including one Sunday in downtown Tokyo that drew about 250 people.
Last week, Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata acknowledged the financial difficulties and reports that Japan's government is considering nationalizing the company.
"(But) we want to make every effort to stay a private company," he said.CNN...
Town near nuclear plant rejects Japanese utility's 'token'... more
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March 9th, 2011
07:41 AM ET
The challenges of counting a 'hidden population'
By Manav Tanneeru, CNN
Slavery still exists. Of that there isn’t much dispute, if any. But how widespread is what many experts call modern-day slavery?
Estimates range from about 10 million to 30 million, according to policymakers, activists, journalists and scholars.
The International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations that focuses on, among other things, labor rights, put the number at a “minimum estimate” of 12.3 million in a 2005 report.
Kevin Bales, a sociologist who serves as a consultant to the United Nations and has authored several books about modern-day slavery, estimated the number was 27 million people in his book “Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy.” The book was published in 1999.
There is yet another estimate. Siddharth Kara, a fellow on trafficking at Harvard University and also an author, recently told CNN that his calculations put the range between 24 million and 32 million. That number was current as of the end of 2006, he said.
There are several reasons behind the variance in numbers, said Ben Skinner, who published a book about modern-day slavery – “A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-day Slavery.”
“There are two big problems with the count,” Skinner, a Senior Fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, said during a telephone interview. “The first is that the people we are counting are, by definition, a hidden population.
“The second problem is more of a theoretical one where the definitions are not in place. We don’t have a common definition still as to what slavery is.”
‘A hidden population’
Slave labor has been a part of civilization for much of history. It was practiced openly and its legality wasn’t much of a question. During the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, its scale was carefully documented.
Today, slavery is illegal in every country. Yet it persists, in secret, exploiting the poor and the marginalized – which poses immense challenges for legal authorities, activists and experts working to track the problem.
Skinner recounted a conversation he had with John Miller – the former State Department ambassador at large on modern slavery from 2002 through 2006 during the George W. Bush administration – about the inherent difficulty of counting a population that is difficult to find.
“These are not people that stand in line, raise their hands and wait for the census to be taken,” Miller told Skinner.
And, even when found, they may not want to be identified, Skinner said. “They are victims of a crime and that is still oftentimes missed as a crime,” he said.
The enslaved may be involved in prostitution or might be in a country illegally as a result of trafficking – activities that could land them in trouble with the law. So, they’d rather keep quiet about their condition, Skinner said.
“They are individuals who will be seen as perpetrators of a crime against the state rather than victims of a crime against humanity,” he said. “They are aware of that so they don’t self-identify.”
It also isn’t the easiest thing for observers to get data from countries about how big of a problem slavery is within their borders.
For example, South Asian countries will acknowledge problems with sex trafficking because of a perception that it’s not just a South Asian issue, Skinner said, echoing a theory from John Miller.
However, they may not be as forthcoming about their problems with debt bondage – when someone has to pay off a loan through work and may be trapped in the situation because the amount earned is too little to pay off the amount of money borrowed.
“There’s a self-perception that debt bondage is a rather embarrassing part of the continuing underdevelopment in parts of their countries,” Skinner said.
Definitions and divisions
Before you can count something, you have to define it, and a broadly accepted definition of what modern slavery encompasses has been elusive.
In 1926, a treaty signed in Geneva under the auspices of the League of Nations, the precursor to the U.N., defined slavery as “the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.”
The ILO, in 1930, used the terms "forced or compulsory labor" to describe “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”
Roger Plant, who worked at the ILO from 2002 through 2009, said during a telephone conversation that forced labor is “when you get into work or service without the freedom of choice and you can’t get out of it without punishment or the threat of punishment."
Kevin Bales offered this description: “To me slavery means one person who is completely under the control of another person, that they use violence to maintain that control, they exploit them, make money out of them, and that the person just can’t walk away.”
There is, then, the term “human trafficking,” which is sometimes used interchangeably with the word “slavery.” According to the U.S. State Department, “human trafficking” describes “activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person in compelled service.”
The State Department says the term includes sex trafficking, forced labor and bonded labor. It also includes, among other things, the use of child soldiers and forced child labor.
The terms and their meanings seem straightforward, but the divisions come to light when legislators try to reconcile the definitions with their country’s situation.
“Within the trafficking community, there really isn’t a consensus on what slavery means,” Skinner said. “That’s harmful, that’s detrimental.”
The biggest consequence of incorrect data, not knowing the full scope of the problem or where it’s concentrated can lead to poor decisions on where to focus resources and how best to solve the problem, Skinner said.
“Slavery, on its face, is monstrous,” he said. “I think it’s important to be motivated by emotion but to, very quickly, come to the point of getting to the cold, hard business of figuring how best to free as many slaves as possible.
“Part of that is understanding how many slaves there are and understanding where they are."March 9th, 2011
07:41 AM ET
The challenges of counting a 'hidden... more
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The true goal is to destroy the New Deal, standing together we can make this a real political issue. Privatizing Social Security has been Wall Streets wet dream, and if they get their hands on those funds imagine the next financial meltdown and what it would do to those of us counting on what little they get from Social Security!
By Susie Madrak
ENLARGE
Matt Yglesias says if there are going to be cuts to Social Security, they should happen right away to everyone, including current recipients. And I have to admit, he has a point.
Because the "of course we'll exempt everyone 55 and older" from getting their promised benefits is just how the politicians on both sides of the aisle are covering their asses as they toil away for the banker class, and maybe it's time those shiny pink butts should be exposed to the light.
Not to mention, this is classic "divide and conquer" strategy. We should stick together. We should present a united front. You want to cut Social Security? Then you need to face the universal wrath of the voters in the next election, instead of putting some of us in a protected class. (Of course, it's a rather desirable side effect that if we do present a united front, the chances of actual Social Security cuts drop precipitously.)
This could be our Egypt moment. Just as Christians surrounded the Muslims at prayer, we should surround the younger generation with our promise that if they try to take their future Social Security, they'll have to go through us first.
You cut one, you cut us all. How about it?The true goal is to destroy the New Deal, standing together we can make this a real... more
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A well written piece by Paul Krugman appeared in the NY Times yesterday that gives a truthful view on the current protests we are seeing in relation to food prices and world weather events and the effects of climate change. I have been reporting and writing about sustainable agriculture here for a couple of years now primarily in regards to the effects of climate, speculation, world policy regarding loans and food grown for export, types of sustainable agricultural practices, seed patents and the effects of monoculture GMOs on the world's economy, health, environment and food sovereignty.
It is no overstatement to state that we are in a climate/food crisis. Recent events in Australia, Russia, China, Africa and Latin America for example have not only been a part of rising prices but also in giving us a glimpse of what life will be like in a warming world. Agriculture, its cultivation, its very existence is under threat by an ongoing assault of erratic and intensifiying weather/climate events, pesticides, expansive and destructive industrial agricultural policies and practices that see more land going to growing non food items, lack of food access and the effects of GMOs and the transgenic contamination they bring which has already affected not only the traditional corn varieties of Mexico's culture and livelihood, but crops around the world which works against what we must now be doing to save our agriculture.
As we look to the future our ability to provide for our needs is being made much harder by our own actions. As we see our population approaching a projected 9 billion within the next several decades we must begin to seriously understand the role our actions play in the world we see before us, and the world we will leave successive generations. The ability to feed ourselves and plant seeds that preserve our global biodiversity is being attacked by those who would profit from both their ownership and their demise.
In this century there will be no greater challenge to our species than working to preserve the planet that provides our food, our water, and our lives. What Mr. Krugman states here is not to be taken lightly. Climate change is indeed upon us, and its reach goes far beyond the political differences that have kept this urgent crisis from being faced as it must be now. The protests in Egypt and around the world are warning signs as well as hopeful signs. If we do not deal with the root causes of this crisis including and most importantly climate change, the world of our making will not be one we will be able to inhabit. This does come down to the very seeds we plant in our soils, and in our consciences.
http://water-is-life.blogspot.com/2011/02/droughts-floods-and-food.html
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Excerpt by Mr, Krugman:
"While several factors have contributed to soaring food prices, what really stands out is the extent to which severe weather events have disrupted agricultural production. And these severe weather events are exactly the kind of thing we’d expect to see as rising concentrations of greenhouse gases change our climate — which means that the current food price surge may be just the beginning."A well written piece by Paul Krugman appeared in the NY Times yesterday that gives a... more
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According to the national survey commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences:
Only 53% of adults know how long it takes for the Earth to revolve around the Sun.
Only 59% of adults know that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.
Only 47% of adults can roughly approximate the percent of the Earth's surface that is covered with water.*
Only 21% of adults answered all three questions correctly.
Despite the fact that access to fresh water is likely to be one of the most pressing environmental issues over the coming years, less than 1% of U.S. adults know what percent of the planet's water is fresh (the correct answer is 3%).
Nearly half didn't even hazard a guess.
Additionally, 40% of U.S. adults say they are "not at all knowledgeable" about sustainability.
About 4 in 5 adults think science education is "absolutely essential" or "very important" to the U.S. healthcare system (86%), the U.S. global reputation (79%), and the U.S. economy (77%).According to the national survey commissioned by the California Academy of Sciences:... more
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"OPERATION DREAM" An organization that is dedicated to feeding POOR ORPHAN CHILDREN in the Dominican Republic,But one of the Megalithic inspirations behind "Operation_Dream" is an Intelligent Kind Hearted 14 year old Teen named,KARIN OLIVO, Who In my heart & in the heart of these little dreamer's,is very much a real life SUPERHERO That combats hunger & provides lots of HELP to NEEDY CHILDREN who really appreciates the HELP,Plus I'm proud to say she is my little cousin as well,KARIN OLIVO,A big contributer of HAPPINESS,HOPE & LITTLE DREAMER SMILES,Well Here she is in her television premier on a local Southern Californian News Station called ABC7, Explaining what "Operation Dream" is all about & how like her,you can provide HELP & DONATE Food,Smiles & Happiness to these little DREAMER'S..For More Information on how you can become a Hero to these Little Dreamers just like KARIN...Just go to...http://allaboutthedream.org & donate,you can also Tweet them @ http://www.Twitter.com/Operation_Dream,SO PLEASE DONATE & HELP US Combat the evil nightmare called Hunger...GOD BLESS & Thank you.."OPERATION DREAM" An organization that is dedicated to feeding POOR ORPHAN... more
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In response to the shooting of a Congresswoman and other civilians on January 8th in Arizona, Rep. Robert Brady, D-Pennsylvania, said he will introduce legislation making it a federal crime for a person to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a Member of Congress or federal official.
"The rhetoric is just ramped up so negatively, so high, that we have got to shut this down," Brady said, noting that "I've had my share of death threats" over his many years in politics.
This will most likely bring up a debate about the "screaming fire in a movie theatre" and what not. But when freedom of speech was amended to the Constitution, I believe they intended for people's peers to be the judge of ones bad words. Perhaps, instead of legislation, the politicians start attacking the media and other politicians that do this?
They are walking a very thin line on this one. They need to be careful and not let fear overtake them.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - FDR .
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/09/shooting-prompts-legislation-to-protect-lawmakers-officials/In response to the shooting of a Congresswoman and other civilians on January 8th in... more
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This video is part of a longer presentation at the Humanist Institute in New York in 1989, and it demonstrates yet again that the broad outlines of the climate change story have been understood for decades by, well, intelligent men who are guided by science.
It's been a recurring theme in this series - that the science was essentially complete long before Al Gore, long before the IPCC, long before the Hockey Stick.This video is part of a longer presentation at the Humanist Institute in New York in... more
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The results of the recent mid-term elections put me, if not in a funk, in a state of Catatonia. During this mind-numbing week-long lull following the elections, all sorts of nasty, spiteful, or simply selfish things came to mind:The results of the recent mid-term elections put me, if not in a funk, in a state of... more
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The BBC post reports on the 7th November the Large Hadron Collider successfully re created a mini big bang within a controlled environment. It is stated the experiment which smashed lead ions created temperatures hotter than the centre of the sun and is hoped will reveal more data about plasma.
"At these temperatures even protons and neutrons, which make up the nuclei of atoms, melt resulting in a hot dense soup of quarks and gluons known as a quark-gluon plasma."
Quarks and gluons are sub-atomic particles - some of the building blocks of matter. In the state known as quark-gluon plasma, they are freed of their attraction to one another. This plasma is believed to have existed just after the Big Bang."-BBC
The next step after this collision is to smash protons.The BBC post reports on the 7th November the Large Hadron Collider successfully re... more
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Something all powerful and delicious has hit the streets of Baltimore. The Flying Spaghetti Monster is here! For anyone not familiar with the almighty Italian entrée, He is the central figure and deity of the Pastafarian religion.Something all powerful and delicious has hit the streets of Baltimore. The Flying... more
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Realizing that you are an atheist is a profound, personal experience. This video records the stories (in their own words) of some people who came to the realization that they are atheists.Realizing that you are an atheist is a profound, personal experience. This video... more
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"Meet Devin & Glenn--two gents who met, fell in love, got married, and then had to deal with the consequences of that decision. From obnoxious in-laws (Tom Arnold) to passive aggressive fights over dinner, Devin & Glenn have the same problems that most married couples deal with--and that's the point. The folks behind this video wanted to show that marriage is marriage regardless of the sexuality of its inhabitants. Their campaign, "Make Homosexuals Marry," was created to "keep the 'No on 8' debate active in hopes that, through humor, a dialogue continues," said writers/directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon. The small group behind this video worked entirely for free--everyone from actors to craft service donated their efforts." -- The Huffington Post
Is this effective? What do you think?
http://FunnyOrDie.com/m/40fc"Meet Devin & Glenn--two gents who met, fell in love, got married, and then... more
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A Historic Look-
Arizona's new immigration law may have stunned the nation, but for Arizona it's just the latest step in a decade-long battle over illegal immigration.
Over the past 10 years, the public has expressed growing frustration with a lack of action from the federal government, concern over reports of violence committed by illegal immigrants in Arizona, and support for efforts that attempt to solve the problem.
Voters have strongly endorsed state immigration laws such as requiring ID at the polls and denying public benefits to people who can't prove they are in the U.S. legally. And they increasingly have backed conservative state political candidates, many of whom vowed to take a tough stance on illegal immigration. Those politicians, led by Mesa Sen. Russell Pearce, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, have responded by passing and enforcing more laws targeting illegal immigrants.
This year, those factors - along with a new Republican governor, the murder of a rancher in southern Arizona and the promise of heavy conservative competition in upcoming elections - combined to open the door for the next step in immigration enforcement: Senate Bill 1070.
The new law, sponsored by Pearce and signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, goes into effect July 29. It makes it a state crime to be in the country illegally and requires law enforcement to question an individual's legal status if an officer has reasonable suspicion the person may be in the country illegally.
Kris Kobach, the immigration attorney for the Immigration Reform Law Institute who helped Pearce craft the law and worked with him on previous efforts, said SB 1070 is just the latest piece in a larger effort.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/05/09/20100509immigration-law-momentum.html#ixzz0nSeo0qNG
http://www.surveyusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/fence.jpgA Historic Look-
Arizona's new immigration law may have stunned the nation,... more
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