The violence in Iraq is overshadowing a humanitarian crisis, with eight million Iraqis - nearly one in three - in need of emergency aid, says a report released today by international agency Oxfam and NCCI, a network of aid organisations working in Iraq .
According to the report:
· Four million Iraqis - 15% - regularly cannot buy enough to eat.
· 70% are without adequate water supplies, compared to 50% in 2003.
· 28% of children are malnourished, compared to 19% before the 2003 invasion. · 92% of Iraqi children suffer learning problems, mostly due to the climate of fear.
· More than two million people - mostly women and children - have been displaced inside Iraq .
· A further two million Iraqis have become refugees, mainly in Syria and Jordan .
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30 July 2007
28 July 2007
27 July 2007
El-Ayoune – Western Sahara
The Moroccan authorities, in Guelmime (southern of Morocco), arrested, today Friday July 27, 2007, Mr. Sadik BOULLAHI, born in 1958 and father of two children, member of the executive committee of the ASVDH, and survivor of the secret prison of Kalaat Me Gounat where he spent 10 years in company of Mr. Brahim SABBAR. Mr. BOULLAHI committed himself, since his release in 1991,to defend human rights and to reveal the truth on the crimes against humanity that the Moroccan State committed in Western Sahara, as he is one of first founders of the movement of the human rights in the territories under the administration of Morocco, which made its first steps in 1994.
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Hillary is right, great success in Iraq.
The influx of 750,000 Iraqi refugees into Jordan has strained infrastructure and brought the threat of violence to the country, Jordanian Interior Ministry Secretary-General Mukheimar Abu-Jamous said on the opening day of a conference on the issue.
Besides the influx into Jordan, some 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria, while Egypt and Lebanon have more than 200,000 each. Under pressure to take in refugees, the United States has said it will accept some 7,000 Iraqis by the end of September.
Shafika Mattar
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Besides the influx into Jordan, some 1.5 million Iraqis have fled to Syria, while Egypt and Lebanon have more than 200,000 each. Under pressure to take in refugees, the United States has said it will accept some 7,000 Iraqis by the end of September.
Shafika Mattar
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25 July 2007
US spy chief insists CIA does not torture suspects.
The US spy chief would not identify what CIA interrogators are allowed to do in getting information from terror suspects, but tried to assure critics that torture is not condoned or used.
When asked if the permissible techniques would be troubling to the US people if the enemy used them against a US citizen, McConnell said: "I would not want a US citizen to go through the process. But it is not torture, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen."
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When asked if the permissible techniques would be troubling to the US people if the enemy used them against a US citizen, McConnell said: "I would not want a US citizen to go through the process. But it is not torture, and there would be no permanent damage to that citizen."
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Wherever the US is involved there is trouble.
The US was at the center of a new diplomatic row yesterday after refusing to rule out military action against al-Qaeda leaders sheltering inside Pakistan, one of its closest "war on terror" allies.
Asked if the US could take action inside Pakistan, Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend said: "There are no tools off the table and we use all our instruments of national power to be effective."
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Asked if the US could take action inside Pakistan, Homeland Security Adviser Frances Townsend said: "There are no tools off the table and we use all our instruments of national power to be effective."
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We are all one.
KABUL, Afghanistan - The bullet-riddled body of a South Korean hostage was found by police Wednesday in central Afghanistan after a purported Taliban spokesman said the militants had killed one of the captives.
The Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said earlier that the hostage was killed because Afghan authorities hadn't met their demands to release other militants from prison.
By Amir Shah
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The Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said earlier that the hostage was killed because Afghan authorities hadn't met their demands to release other militants from prison.
By Amir Shah
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Europe is less efficient now at delivering human well-being than it was 40 years ago.
Europe needs urgently to find a new development path where good lives don't cost the earth.
Reducing consumption overall and setting legally binding targets for carbon reduction: Every European government needs to set legally binding targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, setting carbon budgets for 3-5 year periods, to ensure each country does its part in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.
Reducing inequalities: Inequalities - not just of income, but also of education, health and social opportunity - have a damaging impact on well-being. Governments should aim to halt and reverse rises in inequality, and provide more support for local communities to thrive.
Support meaningful lives: It is time that European governments invested in and implemented national well-being accounts to inform policy making across government, ensuring that the impact of policy decisions on people's well-being is taken into account.
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Reducing consumption overall and setting legally binding targets for carbon reduction: Every European government needs to set legally binding targets for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, setting carbon budgets for 3-5 year periods, to ensure each country does its part in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.
Reducing inequalities: Inequalities - not just of income, but also of education, health and social opportunity - have a damaging impact on well-being. Governments should aim to halt and reverse rises in inequality, and provide more support for local communities to thrive.
Support meaningful lives: It is time that European governments invested in and implemented national well-being accounts to inform policy making across government, ensuring that the impact of policy decisions on people's well-being is taken into account.
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24 July 2007
Dear friends
23 South Korean aid workers, most of them young women, have just been taken hostage by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, who are threatening to execute them this week. Not only are these aid workers' lives at stake, but their execution could trigger a mass evacuation of life-giving humanitarian aid from all of Afghanistan.
The situation is desperate, but there is hope. The Taliban are all from the 'Pashtun' ethnic group, and observe a strict code called Pashtunwali – the "way of the Pashtuns". This code demands, above all else: "hospitality to all, especially guests and strangers". There are rumours of infighting among the Taliban over these kidnappings, because they clearly violate the code. A global outcry for the Taliban to follow their own code would certainly be covered by media in Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban are based – creating more local pressure on them to free their prisoners. But these hostages are living under a 24 hour death sentence. We have seconds not minutes to act.
Sign the petition below and let's report a truly powerful outcry to local journalists: http://www.avaaz.org/en/honour_the_afghan_code
Pashtunwali has real power among ordinary people in Afghanistan. In 2003 Bettina Goislard, 29, was shot by Taliban gunmen while she was working for the UN High Commission for Refugees in the town of Ghazni, near where the Korean aid workers were kidnapped. Incensed by her murder, local people chased down the gunmen and beat them before handing them over to the police -- then they gathered up her body and marched several hundred miles to Kabul to show their sorrow to the world. Recently, global pressure helped free BBC reporter Alan Johnston from his captivity in Gaza. It can be amazing what happens when we speak together around the world. So let's try our best, for these 23 young people and their families, and the millions of Afghans who need their aid --
With hope, Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Tom, Paul and the rest of the Avaaz Team
The situation is desperate, but there is hope. The Taliban are all from the 'Pashtun' ethnic group, and observe a strict code called Pashtunwali – the "way of the Pashtuns". This code demands, above all else: "hospitality to all, especially guests and strangers". There are rumours of infighting among the Taliban over these kidnappings, because they clearly violate the code. A global outcry for the Taliban to follow their own code would certainly be covered by media in Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban are based – creating more local pressure on them to free their prisoners. But these hostages are living under a 24 hour death sentence. We have seconds not minutes to act.
Sign the petition below and let's report a truly powerful outcry to local journalists: http://www.avaaz.org/en/honour_the_afghan_code
Pashtunwali has real power among ordinary people in Afghanistan. In 2003 Bettina Goislard, 29, was shot by Taliban gunmen while she was working for the UN High Commission for Refugees in the town of Ghazni, near where the Korean aid workers were kidnapped. Incensed by her murder, local people chased down the gunmen and beat them before handing them over to the police -- then they gathered up her body and marched several hundred miles to Kabul to show their sorrow to the world. Recently, global pressure helped free BBC reporter Alan Johnston from his captivity in Gaza. It can be amazing what happens when we speak together around the world. So let's try our best, for these 23 young people and their families, and the millions of Afghans who need their aid --
With hope, Ricken, Iain, Graziela, Tom, Paul and the rest of the Avaaz Team
23 July 2007
Rwanda: Country Angry With Belgium Over Genocide Suspect
THE Rwandan government has reacted angrily on Belgium's move to allow a genocide suspect enter its territory freely. Mr Emmanuel Bagambiki, who was acquitted of genocide related charges by the International Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda in February 2006, was on Thursday allowed to re-join his family in Brussels, the Belgian capital.
Robert Mukombozi
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Robert Mukombozi
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Why Campaign?
The last thing any of us wants is to have our holiday plans interrupted by the thought that there are serious problems for people living in the destinations we’re going to visit.
The fact is, however, that in far too many places, things are going horribly wrong. Often these things aren’t visible to the traveller, but often they are. When we get harassed by locals in poor countries, it’s usually because they aren’t accessing any real benefit from our holidays. It’s demeaning to them and uncomfortably demanding on us.
By campaigning we raise awareness of the issues and make the case for change.
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The fact is, however, that in far too many places, things are going horribly wrong. Often these things aren’t visible to the traveller, but often they are. When we get harassed by locals in poor countries, it’s usually because they aren’t accessing any real benefit from our holidays. It’s demeaning to them and uncomfortably demanding on us.
By campaigning we raise awareness of the issues and make the case for change.
Read more:
Employer expectations high in the voluntary sector
With only 9% of voluntary group organisations operating a "structured graduate recruitment programme", ethical jobseekers need to be able to show evidence that they are committed to the sector.
By Trina Wallace
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By Trina Wallace
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Help or holiday
Taking time out from education was practically unheard of in the 1980s. Today, it’s a phenomenon.
Adrian Sandiford
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Adrian Sandiford
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22 July 2007
UN criticises Afghan insurgents
More than 6,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in the past 18 months.
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In outsourced U.S. wars, contractor deaths top 1,000
"There are more applicants than there are jobs," said Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association, a trade group for more than 30 private security companies. "That's been the case from the beginning and it is still true, even though pay has gone down because there is a lot of competition."
By Bernd Debusmann
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By Bernd Debusmann
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21 July 2007
20 July 2007
Man was made for Learning
A camel is stronger than a man; an elephant is larger; a lion has greater valour; cattle can eat more than man; birds are more virile. Man was made for the purpose of learning.
El-Ghazali
El-Ghazali
18 July 2007
Gibt es einen Ausweg ?
Vor allem eines müssen wir erkennen: Die Menschheit ist eine Einheit, und nur gemeinsam kann sie ihre Probleme lösen. Es wäre jetzt ganz verkehrt, die islamische Welt als böse und feindlich zu denunzieren. Der youth bulge stellt zunächst einmal für die von ihm betroffenen Staaten selbst ein riesiges Problem dar. Wie können sie diese Millionen von Jugendlichen zu sozial angepassten Menschen machen ? Wenn sich ein Mensch an die sozialen Spielregeln halten soll, dann muß das sich für ihn auch auszahlen. Er muß eine Existenz und Aufstiegschancen bekommen. Hier einen Weg zu finden ist Aufgabe der Weltgemeinschaft. Das wird sehr viel Geld und Arbeit kosten. Wo können wir die einsparen ? für mich ist es klar: Bei der Rüstung.
Gunnar Heinsohn
Gunnar Heinsohn
Youth and war, a deadly duo
According to Gunnar Heinsohn, when 15 to 29-year-olds make up more than 30 per cent of the population, violence tends to happen; when large percentages are under 15, violence is often imminent. The "causes" in the name of which that violence is committed can be immaterial. There are 67 countries in the world with such "youth bulges" now and 60 of them are undergoing some kind of civil war or mass killing.
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"a well-being manifesto"
Policies can’t make us happy or more engaged with life, but they can shape the culture and society in which we live. Many policies tend to focus on enhancing people’s income by growing the economy. This has only a small effect on well-being, however, and may be achieved at the expense of our time with others, the environment in which we live, or the vibrancy of local communities. This well-being manifesto suggests eight areas where government could act to promote well-being:
1. Measure what matters: A detailed set of national well-being accounts would allow us to understand well-being better and track changes over time. Local government could carry out well-being audits of their communities in order to help integrate their services and allocate their funds more effectively and efficiently.
2. Create a well-being economy: Growing the economy does not necessarily result in higher levels of well-being. So what directions should the economy take to promote well-being? High-quality work can profoundly affect our well-being by providing us with purpose, challenge, and opportunities for social relationships. It can constitute a meaningful part of our identity. There are many models of good workplaces whose lessons need to be drawn out and disseminated to employers. Well-being research provides many insights into what makes for good work. Unemployment has terrible effects on the well-being of the unemployed, but also lowers the well-being of the employed. Hidden unemployment in the UK is high, with many incapacity-benefit claimants able and willing to work but not counted in the unemployment figures. The Government needs to help these often hard-to-reach groups to find meaningful work. The well-being of future generations depends on not destroying our environment. We need to start moving towards a system of taxing environmental bad’s, such as fossil fuels, and reducing the tax burden on good’s, such as work. This could pay a double dividend of protecting the environment and improving people’s well-being.
3. Reclaim our time: We systematically over-estimate the amount of happiness extra income will bring us and work too many hours to get it. We fail to account for the fact that our expectations also rise with our incomes. Spending more time with our children, families, friends, and communities would bring us more happiness. We should start taking our productivity gains in the form of time. We should end individual opt-outs to the EU Working Time Directive and thus institute a maximum 48-hour working week. We could then reduce this maximum working week until we reach a maximum 35-hour week. This could be achieved whilst maintaining our present standards of living within around 15 years if accompanied by appropriate pension reform and a managed migration policy. We should accompany this with increased flexible working provisions and more bank holidays.
4. Create an education system that promotes flourishing: The purpose of the education system should be to create capable and emotionally well-rounded young people who are happy and motivated. At its heart, education policy must acknowledge that the best way of enabling people to realise their potential is to value them for who they are rather than their performance against targets. All schools should have a strategy to promote emotional, social and physical well-being. The curriculum needs to be broadened to include more opportunities around sports, arts, creativity, and other engaging activities. Early on in their lives, young people should be exposed to evidence about the kinds of satisfaction derived from different sorts of life choices, perhaps through broader study of what makes a ‘good life’. An education system which promotes flourishing will lead to higher productivity, a more entrepreneurial society, and greater active citizenship.
5. Refocus the health system to promote complete health: There are important links between health and well-being. The scale of the effect of psychological well-being on health is of the same order as traditionally identified risks such as body mass, lack of exercise, and smoking. The National Health Service (NHS) and other health institutions need to continue to broaden their focus to promote complete health, which is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". To do this, we need to accelerate the move towards a preventative health system. We also need to tackle mental health far more systematically. Treating people holistically means that health professionals need to go beyond just curing the biomedical causes of disease to thinking about the social and psychological aspects of how patients are treated. All health institutions should have some system in place to involve patients as partners in the business of delivering health; there needs to be investment in training frontline staff on good practice around this. Local authorities could promote healthier communities through encouraging local organisations, such as healthy living centres, to take the well-being agenda forward.
6. Invest in the very early years and parenting: Children need a lot of responsive individual attention in their first years, preferably from their parents. Cost-benefit analyses show that investment in the age group ‘zero to three’ will repay itself many times over, due to reduced health, education and social costs in the future.Parental leave should be extended to cover at least the first two years of a child’s life. This could be taken by either parent, or potentially shared between them. High-quality childcare should be subsidised for those parents who need, or wish, to work. Parents should also be actively supported to be the best parents they can be. This will require a mixture of community support, good local facilities, and education.
7. Discourage materialism and promote authentic advertising: We don’t become sexier and more attractive by switching brands of shampoo or buying a new car. So the media generally, and adverts specifically, should stop using imagery that suggests we do. Young children lack the critical capacity to distinguish between facts and selling messages. Materialism is not only bad for the environment, it also undermines our well-being. We should ban commercial advertising aimed at the under-eight’s, and have a strong code of conduct for such advertising for the under-16’s. A society more engaged in meaningful pastimes is likely to be less focused on the illusion that material goods will bring it happiness. We should endeavour to make the well-being choice the easy choice, to wean us off our national pastimes of shopping and TV watching. We need to increase support for cheap and local leisure provision, such as sports centres and arts venues, as well as informal open spaces and parks.
8. Strengthen civil society, social well-being and active citizenship: Being actively engaged with communities has been shown not only to give us a personal sense of well-being but also to have positive knock-on effects for others. This bolsters the case for government to support different sorts of community engagement and civil society organisations and spaces through, for example, a Citizen’s Service, a participation income, and mutual solutions such as reward cards and time banks. There is a link between well-being and democratic involvement that has implications for public-service delivery. We need to go beyond giving a choice of provider in public-service delivery to involving people in the design and delivery of the services they receive. We should also drop the swathes of central-government targets that service providers face and replace them with a process of stakeholder engagement and accountability which places the user in the centre.
Download the full manifesto:
1. Measure what matters: A detailed set of national well-being accounts would allow us to understand well-being better and track changes over time. Local government could carry out well-being audits of their communities in order to help integrate their services and allocate their funds more effectively and efficiently.
2. Create a well-being economy: Growing the economy does not necessarily result in higher levels of well-being. So what directions should the economy take to promote well-being? High-quality work can profoundly affect our well-being by providing us with purpose, challenge, and opportunities for social relationships. It can constitute a meaningful part of our identity. There are many models of good workplaces whose lessons need to be drawn out and disseminated to employers. Well-being research provides many insights into what makes for good work. Unemployment has terrible effects on the well-being of the unemployed, but also lowers the well-being of the employed. Hidden unemployment in the UK is high, with many incapacity-benefit claimants able and willing to work but not counted in the unemployment figures. The Government needs to help these often hard-to-reach groups to find meaningful work. The well-being of future generations depends on not destroying our environment. We need to start moving towards a system of taxing environmental bad’s, such as fossil fuels, and reducing the tax burden on good’s, such as work. This could pay a double dividend of protecting the environment and improving people’s well-being.
3. Reclaim our time: We systematically over-estimate the amount of happiness extra income will bring us and work too many hours to get it. We fail to account for the fact that our expectations also rise with our incomes. Spending more time with our children, families, friends, and communities would bring us more happiness. We should start taking our productivity gains in the form of time. We should end individual opt-outs to the EU Working Time Directive and thus institute a maximum 48-hour working week. We could then reduce this maximum working week until we reach a maximum 35-hour week. This could be achieved whilst maintaining our present standards of living within around 15 years if accompanied by appropriate pension reform and a managed migration policy. We should accompany this with increased flexible working provisions and more bank holidays.
4. Create an education system that promotes flourishing: The purpose of the education system should be to create capable and emotionally well-rounded young people who are happy and motivated. At its heart, education policy must acknowledge that the best way of enabling people to realise their potential is to value them for who they are rather than their performance against targets. All schools should have a strategy to promote emotional, social and physical well-being. The curriculum needs to be broadened to include more opportunities around sports, arts, creativity, and other engaging activities. Early on in their lives, young people should be exposed to evidence about the kinds of satisfaction derived from different sorts of life choices, perhaps through broader study of what makes a ‘good life’. An education system which promotes flourishing will lead to higher productivity, a more entrepreneurial society, and greater active citizenship.
5. Refocus the health system to promote complete health: There are important links between health and well-being. The scale of the effect of psychological well-being on health is of the same order as traditionally identified risks such as body mass, lack of exercise, and smoking. The National Health Service (NHS) and other health institutions need to continue to broaden their focus to promote complete health, which is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". To do this, we need to accelerate the move towards a preventative health system. We also need to tackle mental health far more systematically. Treating people holistically means that health professionals need to go beyond just curing the biomedical causes of disease to thinking about the social and psychological aspects of how patients are treated. All health institutions should have some system in place to involve patients as partners in the business of delivering health; there needs to be investment in training frontline staff on good practice around this. Local authorities could promote healthier communities through encouraging local organisations, such as healthy living centres, to take the well-being agenda forward.
6. Invest in the very early years and parenting: Children need a lot of responsive individual attention in their first years, preferably from their parents. Cost-benefit analyses show that investment in the age group ‘zero to three’ will repay itself many times over, due to reduced health, education and social costs in the future.Parental leave should be extended to cover at least the first two years of a child’s life. This could be taken by either parent, or potentially shared between them. High-quality childcare should be subsidised for those parents who need, or wish, to work. Parents should also be actively supported to be the best parents they can be. This will require a mixture of community support, good local facilities, and education.
7. Discourage materialism and promote authentic advertising: We don’t become sexier and more attractive by switching brands of shampoo or buying a new car. So the media generally, and adverts specifically, should stop using imagery that suggests we do. Young children lack the critical capacity to distinguish between facts and selling messages. Materialism is not only bad for the environment, it also undermines our well-being. We should ban commercial advertising aimed at the under-eight’s, and have a strong code of conduct for such advertising for the under-16’s. A society more engaged in meaningful pastimes is likely to be less focused on the illusion that material goods will bring it happiness. We should endeavour to make the well-being choice the easy choice, to wean us off our national pastimes of shopping and TV watching. We need to increase support for cheap and local leisure provision, such as sports centres and arts venues, as well as informal open spaces and parks.
8. Strengthen civil society, social well-being and active citizenship: Being actively engaged with communities has been shown not only to give us a personal sense of well-being but also to have positive knock-on effects for others. This bolsters the case for government to support different sorts of community engagement and civil society organisations and spaces through, for example, a Citizen’s Service, a participation income, and mutual solutions such as reward cards and time banks. There is a link between well-being and democratic involvement that has implications for public-service delivery. We need to go beyond giving a choice of provider in public-service delivery to involving people in the design and delivery of the services they receive. We should also drop the swathes of central-government targets that service providers face and replace them with a process of stakeholder engagement and accountability which places the user in the centre.
Download the full manifesto:
ICC Marks Five Years since Entry into Force of Rome Statute
Five years ago the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court ("ICC") entered into force, ushering in a new era of accountability for international crimes. As expressed in its preamble, the aims of the Rome Statute are to put an end to impunity, to contribute to the prevention of the most serious international crimes and to guarantee lasting respect for and enforcement of international justice.
Our experience has clearly demonstrated that the success of the ICC depends critically on the cooperation received. The continued strong support of states, international organizations and civil society will be essential to maintaining and building on the momentum of the past five years.
Philippe Kirsch
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Our experience has clearly demonstrated that the success of the ICC depends critically on the cooperation received. The continued strong support of states, international organizations and civil society will be essential to maintaining and building on the momentum of the past five years.
Philippe Kirsch
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17 July 2007
Sierra Leone: Children mine alongside parents at Kono
Concord Times (Freetown)
July 16, 2007
Isatu Kamara looks on as her three young children navigate muddy pathways at Zone 3/7 Congo Bridge Mine in Kono, carrying shovels and lugging heavy loads of gravel to be sifted for diamonds.
"It's an issue of poverty. The people are so poor after the war that they cannot actually afford to send their kids to school." "There are thousands of children working in mines across the country, many of whom don't go to school - a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that even in wartime, all children have the right to receive an education."
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July 16, 2007
Isatu Kamara looks on as her three young children navigate muddy pathways at Zone 3/7 Congo Bridge Mine in Kono, carrying shovels and lugging heavy loads of gravel to be sifted for diamonds.
"It's an issue of poverty. The people are so poor after the war that they cannot actually afford to send their kids to school." "There are thousands of children working in mines across the country, many of whom don't go to school - a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that even in wartime, all children have the right to receive an education."
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15 July 2007
Is humanity suicidal?.
In the midst of uncertainty, opinions on the human prospect have tended to fall loosely into two schools. The first, exemptionalism, holds that since humankind is transcendent in intelligence and spirit, so must our species have been released from the iron laws of ecology that bind all other species. No matter how serious the problem, civilized human beings, by ingenuity, force of will and -- who knows -- divine dispensation, will find a solution.
Edward O. Wilson
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Edward O. Wilson
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Denial and demise
...capitalism is an obscene failure. We have a world in which 40,000 people die every day for lack of basic needs although surplus exists; our habitat and countless species are being destroyed at an alarming rate by commercial exploitation; wars are fought over the desire to control natural resources. Capitalism makes lethal weaponry available to all, tears down our rainforests and deprives the thirsty of their water rights - all for profit. Furthermore, a recent survey showed us that six out of every ten people who work within the capitalist system are miserable. Yes; let's face it, capitalism is a failure, a miserable failure.
John Whitmore
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John Whitmore
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In the name of development
Development in its real meaning, derived from biology, refers to self-organised evolution, not imposed change. Development must therefore be based on the economic and political space for self-determination.
Vandana Shiva
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Vandana Shiva
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14 July 2007
War on Human Rights
US interventionism has been a consistent pattern in American history.
“Since World War II, the US government has given more than $200 billion in military aid to build up the internal security forces in more than eighty countries”.
“While claiming to be motivated by a dedication to human rights and democracy, US governments have supported rightwing autocrats (…) that have tortured, killed or otherwise maltreated large numbers of citizens because of their dissenting political views”, as in Turkey, Zaire, Chad, Pakistan, Morocco, Indonesia, Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, the Philippines, Cuba (under Fulgencio Batista), Nicaragua (under Somoza), and Portugal (under Salazar). It has participated in “covert actions or proxy mercenary wars against reformist or revolutionary governments in Cuba, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Portugal, Nicaragua, Cambodia, East Timor, Western Sahara, Egypt, Lebanon, Peru, Iran, Syria, Jamaica, South Yemen and the Fiji Islands, among others”.
Michael Parenti
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“Since World War II, the US government has given more than $200 billion in military aid to build up the internal security forces in more than eighty countries”.
“While claiming to be motivated by a dedication to human rights and democracy, US governments have supported rightwing autocrats (…) that have tortured, killed or otherwise maltreated large numbers of citizens because of their dissenting political views”, as in Turkey, Zaire, Chad, Pakistan, Morocco, Indonesia, Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, the Philippines, Cuba (under Fulgencio Batista), Nicaragua (under Somoza), and Portugal (under Salazar). It has participated in “covert actions or proxy mercenary wars against reformist or revolutionary governments in Cuba, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Portugal, Nicaragua, Cambodia, East Timor, Western Sahara, Egypt, Lebanon, Peru, Iran, Syria, Jamaica, South Yemen and the Fiji Islands, among others”.
Michael Parenti
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How much power is left to the IMF?
Jul 05 2007
This July marks the 10th anniversary of East Asia's financial crisis. In July 1997, the Thai baht plummeted. Soon after, financial panic spread to Indonesia and Korea, then to Malaysia. In a little more than a year, the Asian financial crisis became a global financial crisis, with the crash of Russia's ruble and Brazil's real. This marked the first wave of departures of middle income countries from the IMF sphere of influence. In a second stage, other countries like Russia decisively abandoned their programmes with the institution.
Adolfo Acevedo
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This July marks the 10th anniversary of East Asia's financial crisis. In July 1997, the Thai baht plummeted. Soon after, financial panic spread to Indonesia and Korea, then to Malaysia. In a little more than a year, the Asian financial crisis became a global financial crisis, with the crash of Russia's ruble and Brazil's real. This marked the first wave of departures of middle income countries from the IMF sphere of influence. In a second stage, other countries like Russia decisively abandoned their programmes with the institution.
Adolfo Acevedo
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Social unrest and 10% growth
In 2005 there were 84,000 public protests in China, 230 a day, one every six minutes. Also noticeable is the trend towards larger and larger protests, with more recent ones involving thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of people. Many observers of Chinese affairs believe that, astonishing as it is, even the figure of 84,000 is probably a gross underestimate, given that media censorship would have blocked reportage of many others.
InfoChange
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InfoChange
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Survival
The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode of western Paraguay are the last uncontacted Indians south of the Amazon basin. They are now being hemmed in from all sides by ranchers, colonists and loggers. With their last refuge gradually being overrun, they have nowhere left to hide. Unless the government fulfils its constitutional obligations to title the land to the Indians quickly, their territory will be invaded and logged, and there is likely to be a violent and disastrous encounter.
Sign the petition:
Sign the petition:
13 July 2007
Butterflies fast forward evolution
A population of butterflies has evolved in a flash on a South Pacific island to fend off a deadly parasite.
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Stress-free tuna for finer dining
TOKYO - Japanese researchers are looking for ways to reduce stress levels in tuna caught in nearby waters, so they taste better when they hit the plate.
Read the full story:
Read the full story:
Why is the universe so amazingly hospitable to human life?
if the universe didn’t have imagination, neither would we.. there is nothing we call human that isn’t transcendent.. Rationality is creating new methods of mechanised death every year.. So where is evolution going to go?
When Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, Bertrand Russell famously said that he was one of three people in the world who understood it. Now a bright high-school student can grasp Einstein’s principles, if not his mathematics..
We have created a vision without wisdom. Survival of the wisest means a shift in consciousness. Consciousness develops through self-awareness.
Deepak Chopra
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When Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, Bertrand Russell famously said that he was one of three people in the world who understood it. Now a bright high-school student can grasp Einstein’s principles, if not his mathematics..
We have created a vision without wisdom. Survival of the wisest means a shift in consciousness. Consciousness develops through self-awareness.
Deepak Chopra
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Sacred trees
In the myth Odin climbed into a sacred tree and stayed in the tree for nine days and nights with no food and water. Under these conditions of intense focus he entered states of consciousness in which the tree changed into an enormous white, eight-legged horse, on which Odin rode through the sky.
Brian Bates
Read the full article here:
Brian Bates
Read the full article here:
12 July 2007
Philosophy and Social Science: an Introduction
24th of October 2006
A list of problems humanity faces now would include:
1. The destruction of the biosphere.
2. Ethnic violence.
3. Poverty, including homelessness.
4. Water shortages.
5. Air pollution.
6. Exhaustion of fossil fuels.
7. State terrorism.
8. Alienated youth.
9. Unemployment, precarious employment, and low wages.
10. War, which at this point in history is usually civil war, and which usually involves terrorism.
11. Crime.
12. Drugs.
13. Sexism, racism, homophobia and other forms of illegitimate discrimination.
14. Inflation and economic instability generally.
15. Sexual violence
…. and others.
...But the bottleneck questions are not about what must be done. They are about whether human beings will actually do what must be done.
Howard Richards
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On ending war
When so many people are making their living by participating in the war system, it is not likely that a majority will hunger and thirst after a peace system. As it is now, the constitutive rules of the system determine that keeping down the rebels is one of the main ways to bring home a paycheck.
For Tolstoy the first and indispensable means for making the message of peace practical was sincerity, as for his follower Gandhi the indispensable means to peace was truth. Tolstoy’s revolution began by setting a good example.
Read Howard Richard's full article:
For Tolstoy the first and indispensable means for making the message of peace practical was sincerity, as for his follower Gandhi the indispensable means to peace was truth. Tolstoy’s revolution began by setting a good example.
Read Howard Richard's full article:
Hillary Clinton
"The American military has done its job. Look what they accomplished. They got rid of Saddam Hussein. They gave the Iraqis a chance for free and fair elections. They gave the Iraqi government the chance to begin to demonstrate that it understood its responsibilities to make the hard political decisions necessary to give the people of Iraq a better future. So the American military has succeeded. It is the Iraqi government which has failed to make the tough decisions which are important for their own people." [1]
[1] Speaking at the "Take Back America" conference, organized by the Campaign for America's Future, June 20, 2007, Washington, DC; this excerpt can be heard at democracynow.org/ - June 21.
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[1] Speaking at the "Take Back America" conference, organized by the Campaign for America's Future, June 20, 2007, Washington, DC; this excerpt can be heard at democracynow.org/ - June 21.
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Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and the Politics of Naming
"I read about all sorts of violence against civilians," "and there are two places that I read about - one is Iraq, and one is Darfur ... And I'm struck by the fact that the largest political movement against mass violence on US campuses is on Darfur and not on Iraq."
Mahmoud Mandani
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Mahmoud Mandani
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Fidel Castro Calls to Deepen Knowledge to Create Conscience
Cuban President Fidel Castro stated that we have to make the brain cells work if we want to build consciences, so necessary in today"s complex world.
"What the people in our country need most is knowledge, if what we want to do is to create conscience," said the Revolution leader in his article entitled "Cuba"s Self-Criticism,"
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"What the people in our country need most is knowledge, if what we want to do is to create conscience," said the Revolution leader in his article entitled "Cuba"s Self-Criticism,"
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10 July 2007
Six billion voices
Poverty is the worst form of violence.
Mahatma Gandhi
Suppose for a moment that we can get information and communications technology (ICT) to work for the poor. This would mean that remote villages in the developing world – with no electric power, telephone cables or money – would get low-cost computers and broadband wireless internet, plus internet telephony (VoIP), enabling in turn sustainable economic growth, education, good health care, access to government and jobs. Suppose that all of this works everywhere, and that over time it breaks the cycle of dependence on government aid and NGO charity, replacing it with self-reliance. What else would happen?
Edward Cherlin
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Mahatma Gandhi
Suppose for a moment that we can get information and communications technology (ICT) to work for the poor. This would mean that remote villages in the developing world – with no electric power, telephone cables or money – would get low-cost computers and broadband wireless internet, plus internet telephony (VoIP), enabling in turn sustainable economic growth, education, good health care, access to government and jobs. Suppose that all of this works everywhere, and that over time it breaks the cycle of dependence on government aid and NGO charity, replacing it with self-reliance. What else would happen?
Edward Cherlin
Read the full story:
The root of slave labour in China
26 - 06 - 2007
Another shocking news story broke in China in June 2007. It was discovered that in Hongtong county, Shanxi province, people kidnapped from rural areas were being forced to work as slaves in a brick kiln. Horrifying television footage showed them after their chance rescue - they were filthy and emaciated, with their clothes in tatters and blank expressions on their faces. It was impossible not to think of the images of holocaust survivors rescued from concentration camps at the end of the Second World War.
Li Datong
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Another shocking news story broke in China in June 2007. It was discovered that in Hongtong county, Shanxi province, people kidnapped from rural areas were being forced to work as slaves in a brick kiln. Horrifying television footage showed them after their chance rescue - they were filthy and emaciated, with their clothes in tatters and blank expressions on their faces. It was impossible not to think of the images of holocaust survivors rescued from concentration camps at the end of the Second World War.
Li Datong
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The world's World Bank problem
The crisis that led to Paul Wolfowitz's forced resignation from the World Bank raises the longer-term question of the global institution's domination by the United States, says Robert Wade.
The bank can and should shift more of its activity into genuinely global problems, where private-capital markets are less likely to lend, especially for global-problem-reducing investments in low-income countries. For example, it can and should take a much bigger role in tackling one of the biggest questions of our time: how to decouple economic growth from carbon emissions.
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The bank can and should shift more of its activity into genuinely global problems, where private-capital markets are less likely to lend, especially for global-problem-reducing investments in low-income countries. For example, it can and should take a much bigger role in tackling one of the biggest questions of our time: how to decouple economic growth from carbon emissions.
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Morning star
This story depicts the first death in the Dreamtime. It is the beginning of Mardiyhin - the life/death cycle.
Watch it:
Watch it:
China overtakes US in carbon emissions
Figures compiled by Dutch government scientists show China produced 6.2 billion tonnes in 2006, compared to nearly 5.8 billion tonnes for the US. But China says its has less of a responsibility than the developed world.
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Too poor to drink
There is more than enough water in the world for domestic purposes, for agriculture and for industry. The problem is that some people -- notably the poor -- are systematically excluded from access by their poverty, by their limited legal rights or by public policies.
Himanshu Thakkar
The full story:
Himanshu Thakkar
The full story:
Children as chattel
Ashikul Islam and Sahiful Mondal are child labourers who today live at Muktaneer, a home for destitute boys in Kolkata. They are the lucky ones who found a refuge and rehabilitation, and went on to make an award-winning film. There are over 44 million child labourers in India.
Shelley Seale
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Shelley Seale
Read the full story:
Medical tourists
By 2010, India aims to have 1 million medical tourists a year in its five-star hospitals. Are we headed towards a system that mobilises incredible resources to protect the lives of the privileged, while abdicating its responsibility towards the poor, asks a doctor who spent a year in the HIV ward of a Chennai hospital
Ramnath Subbaraman
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Ramnath Subbaraman
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in South Central LA there is an intersection where around 380 people are killed each year, drive-by shootings. The windows of the MC Donald replaced with concrete and bullet holes, the graffiti on the walls an obituary, no trees, 18th street gang.
My clandestine Guinean friends in the Gambia could not pay for the light to shine from the single light-bulb in the ceiling. On the lookout for immigration police. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, playing music, somtimes for no money and no audience in luxury hotels, I consider them lucky.
Working in front of a mosque in Saint Louise, my Senegalese artisan college lost his shipmates in an attempt to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Only eight survived. I didn’t ask any questions.
In one of Hong Kong’s street markets a man with no legs and hardly any arms left was crawling with a cup in his mouth. At least no one stepped on him.
Some say it’s because of previous actions, most don’t care.
My clandestine Guinean friends in the Gambia could not pay for the light to shine from the single light-bulb in the ceiling. On the lookout for immigration police. Sleeping on a mattress on the floor, playing music, somtimes for no money and no audience in luxury hotels, I consider them lucky.
Working in front of a mosque in Saint Louise, my Senegalese artisan college lost his shipmates in an attempt to reach the Canary Islands by boat. Only eight survived. I didn’t ask any questions.
In one of Hong Kong’s street markets a man with no legs and hardly any arms left was crawling with a cup in his mouth. At least no one stepped on him.
Some say it’s because of previous actions, most don’t care.
09 July 2007
Changing fashion
THE CLOTHES THAT we choose to wear each season often depend more on fashion than on ethics. However, if we want to make a positive impact on the world around us, we need to start considering more than whether the clothes suit our shape or are in fashion. Instead, we should be asking ourselves a number of different questions. Where has this been made? What sort of conditions are those producing the clothes working under? Are they getting paid enough? We should also ask ourselves what impacts the production of our clothes has on the environment.
Ruth Rosselson
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Ruth Rosselson
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Travel to be transformed
Today’s ‘trailblazers’ – the ones reaching for the new frontier – are the ones who appreciate their power and travel in a manner that respects – even benefits – local communities, and that limits environmental impact. This attitude need not contract horizons: we can continue to be transformed by the foreign. In our discovered and fragile world, travel can still be an adventure.
Roddy Finnegan
For more inspiration:
Roddy Finnegan
For more inspiration:
All that is good
PICTURE A COUNTRY in which women have no vote and in which few are employed outside the home. A country in which, through conviction or social pressure, most people attend religious gatherings once a week; in which the state religion and the law ban homosexuality; where there are powerful religious movements urging abstinence from alcohol; where it is normal for women over thirty to wear black, and where they only appear in public if their bodies are completely covered; in which married women have only recently acquired property rights; and in which there is a strong social stigma against divorce, illegitimacy, and any form of sexual activity outside marriage.
Saudi Arabia? Pakistan? Iran? No - this is a picture of Britain in 1900. (In modern Iran and Pakistan at least, many of the above are not true.)
Michael Axworthy
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Saudi Arabia? Pakistan? Iran? No - this is a picture of Britain in 1900. (In modern Iran and Pakistan at least, many of the above are not true.)
Michael Axworthy
Read the full story:
Live Earth's limits
No matter how much we do to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, the world is pretty well committed to a temperature rise of 2C by 2100 thanks to all the emissions already in the atmosphere and the time-lags built into the climate system. This will involve some major impacts including substantial sea-level rise, glacial melting, widespread drought and frequent extremes of weather - and the countries set to suffer the most are the poor countries who have contributed least to the problem. So we need to raise the money to help those poor countries adapt - and the bill will amount to some hundreds of billions of dollars, every year. More: we need to bring tropical (and for that matter temperate) deforestation to a halt. And then reverse it.
Oliver Tickell
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Oliver Tickell
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Tackling terrorism is women's work
Dekha Ibrahim Abdi is a Muslim woman from the borders of Kenya and Somalia. In 1992 she managed to stop a clan war that had cost 1,500 lives, by getting together with women from the opposing clan. This was not sewing circle stuff. She said, "If a member of my clan kills a member of your family, will you still work with me for peace? If you can't say yes, don't join." They were so successful in solving disputes that the Kenyan President gave her an office in Nairobi and she now teaches her methods in other parts of Africa.
Scilla Elworthy
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Scilla Elworthy
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China and Bhutan: crushing dissent
The tiny mountain kingdom of Bhutan and the enormous state of China share the dubious distinction of representing dominant ethnic and linguistic majorities that would prefer to erase minority cultures.
Bhutan, even as it boasted of its high "gross national happiness", has violated international laws protecting political freedom and those shielding against discrimination based on religion or ethnicity, attempting to create a homogenous culture.
Meenakshi Ganguly
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Bhutan, even as it boasted of its high "gross national happiness", has violated international laws protecting political freedom and those shielding against discrimination based on religion or ethnicity, attempting to create a homogenous culture.
Meenakshi Ganguly
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Daode jing
Let there be a small country with few people...
Let there be a small country with few people,
Who, even having much machinery, don't use it.
Who take death seriously and don't wander far away.
Even though they have boats and carriages, they never ride in them.
Having armor and weapons, they never go to war.
Let them return to measurement by tying knots in rope.
Sweeten their food, give them nice clothes, a peaceful abode and a relaxed life.
Even though the next country can be seen and its doges and chickens can be heard,
The people will grow old and die without visiting each others land.
Read the whole translation here:
Let there be a small country with few people,
Who, even having much machinery, don't use it.
Who take death seriously and don't wander far away.
Even though they have boats and carriages, they never ride in them.
Having armor and weapons, they never go to war.
Let them return to measurement by tying knots in rope.
Sweeten their food, give them nice clothes, a peaceful abode and a relaxed life.
Even though the next country can be seen and its doges and chickens can be heard,
The people will grow old and die without visiting each others land.
Read the whole translation here:
Past actions
WHEN PEOPLE are happy and contented, they tend to take life for granted. It is when they suffer, when they find life difficult, that they begin to search for a reason and a way out of their difficulty. They may ask why some are born in poverty and suffering, while others are born in fortunate circumstances..
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The 14th Dalai Lama
Today, we are truly a global family. What happens in one part of the world may affect us all. This, of course, is not only true of the negative things that happen, but is equally valid for the positive developments. We not only know what happens elsewhere, thanks to the extraordinary modern communications technology. We are also directly affected by events that occur far away. We feel a sense of sadness when children are starving in Eastern Africa. Similarly, we feel a sense of joy when a family is reunited after decades of separation by the Berlin Wall. Our crops and livestock are contaminated and our health and livelihood threatened when a nuclear accident happens miles away in another country. Our own security is enhanced when peace breaks out between warring parties in other continents.
Read the full Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989
Read the full Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1989
A certain Chinese Encyclopedia
In a certain Chinese Encyclopedia, the Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge, it is written that animals are divided into:
- those that belong to the Emperor,
- embalmed ones,
- those that are trained,
- suckling pigs,
- mermaids,
- fabulous ones,
- stray dogs,
- those included in the present classification,
- those that tremble as if they were mad,
- innumerable ones,
- those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush,
- others,
- those that have just broken a flower vase,
- those that from a long way off look like flies.
Borges
08 July 2007
1908 speech
Now my friends, I am opposed to the system of society in which we live today, not because I lack the natural equipment to do for myself but because I am not satisfied to make myself comfortable knowing that there are thousands of my fellow men who suffer for the barest necessities of life. We were taught under the old ethic that man's business on this earth was to look out for himself. That was the ethic of the jungle; the ethic of the wild beast. Take care of yourself, no matter what may become of your fellow man. Thousands of years ago the question was asked; ''Am I my brother's keeper?'' That question has never yet been answered in a way that is satisfactory to civilized society.
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death.
Eugene V. Debs
Yes, I am my brother's keeper. I am under a moral obligation to him that is inspired, not by any maudlin sentimentality but by the higher duty I owe myself. What would you think me if I were capable of seating myself at a table and gorging myself with food and saw about me the children of my fellow beings starving to death.
Eugene V. Debs
Adapted
Three passions have governed my life: The longings for love, the search for knowledge, And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness. In the union of love I have seen In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of [people]. I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens, But always pity brought me back to earth; Cries of pain reverberated in my heart Of children in famine, of victims tortured And of old people left helpless. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.
Bertrand Russell
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness. In the union of love I have seen In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of [people]. I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens, But always pity brought me back to earth; Cries of pain reverberated in my heart Of children in famine, of victims tortured And of old people left helpless. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.
Bertrand Russell
Peacekeeping
"Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?"
Blaise Pascal
The United States is maneuvering to introduce a UN peacekeeping force into Darfur, as a first step to securing control of the region's vast supply of oil. Will Sudan — the first country south of the Sahara to gain independence — be the first country to be re-colonized.?
The full article here:
Blaise Pascal
The United States is maneuvering to introduce a UN peacekeeping force into Darfur, as a first step to securing control of the region's vast supply of oil. Will Sudan — the first country south of the Sahara to gain independence — be the first country to be re-colonized.?
The full article here:
07 July 2007
Government
When a whole nation accepts and maintains a government in existence, it means that the nation recognizes that government.
There is always something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Wicked people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting emotions - they lead to defeat.
Haile Selassie
Read more here:
There is always something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Wicked people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting emotions - they lead to defeat.
Haile Selassie
Read more here:
Livestock’s long shadow
Summary: This report aims to assess the full impact of the livestock sector on environmental problems, along with potential technical and policy approaches to mitigation. The assessment is based on the most recent and complete data available, taking into account direct impacts, along with the impacts of feed crop agriculture required for livestock production.The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global. The findings of this report suggest that it should be a major policy focus when dealing with problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale and its potential contribution to their solution is equally large. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency. Major reductions in impact could be achieved at reasonable cost.
By: H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, C. de Haan - 2006, 390 pp
By: H. Steinfeld, P. Gerber, T. Wassenaar, V. Castel, M. Rosales, C. de Haan - 2006, 390 pp
Download the full document here:
The forgotten occupation
“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained... now everywhere is war.”
Haile Selassie I
28 June 2007
Secretary general of the Saharawi Union of Journalists and Writers (UPES) Malainin Lakhal talking about about the human rights situation in Western Sahara.
“The Moroccan government has lately passed an anti-terrorism law that allows the security services to arrest, detain and interrogate anyone they like, without even excuses or reasons”. “They didn’t need that to commit human rights abuses in the occupied territory - they’ve been doing it since ’75 - but the situation is getting worse, not only for the Saharawi but also for the Moroccans.”
“Governments are tending to be dictatorships, even those governments that are the result of a democratic process are tending to make use of the same practices that they used to criticise, which are used by dictators in the Third world. I personally think that the international citizen - we the people - need to think about what our governments are doing and find a way to say no to them and stop them from abusing our rights.”
See the full post here:
Haile Selassie I
28 June 2007
Secretary general of the Saharawi Union of Journalists and Writers (UPES) Malainin Lakhal talking about about the human rights situation in Western Sahara.
“The Moroccan government has lately passed an anti-terrorism law that allows the security services to arrest, detain and interrogate anyone they like, without even excuses or reasons”. “They didn’t need that to commit human rights abuses in the occupied territory - they’ve been doing it since ’75 - but the situation is getting worse, not only for the Saharawi but also for the Moroccans.”
“Governments are tending to be dictatorships, even those governments that are the result of a democratic process are tending to make use of the same practices that they used to criticise, which are used by dictators in the Third world. I personally think that the international citizen - we the people - need to think about what our governments are doing and find a way to say no to them and stop them from abusing our rights.”
See the full post here:
05 July 2007
Accountability Charter
International NGOs play an increasingly influential role. Global public opinion surveys show higher trust in NGOs than in government and business. In addition to an internal desire of the signatories to be transparent and accountable, the Accountability Charter also seeks to demonstrate that NGOs deeply value public trust, do not take it for granted and are committed to sustaining and deepening that trust. This initiative comes at a time when the non-profit sector is coming under closer scrutiny, both from those who want it to flourish and those who seek to curtail NGO activities.
Read the charter
Read the charter
04 July 2007
Development without hurting
“Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.”
Allen Ginsberg
"The presently dominant economic system, capitalism based on growth, industrialisation, profit, etc. has been severed from values. It has often become senseless and although it is remarkably efficient, it is also often destructive in terms of social justice, environment and cultural identity. It may, therefore be more vulnerable a system than present-day triumphalism leads us to think. The crisis of capitalism may be close to us, in the form of a crisis of meaning, of values, of civilisation. "
See the full text here:
Allen Ginsberg
"The presently dominant economic system, capitalism based on growth, industrialisation, profit, etc. has been severed from values. It has often become senseless and although it is remarkably efficient, it is also often destructive in terms of social justice, environment and cultural identity. It may, therefore be more vulnerable a system than present-day triumphalism leads us to think. The crisis of capitalism may be close to us, in the form of a crisis of meaning, of values, of civilisation. "
See the full text here:
03 July 2007
Vegetarianism and the climate crisis
"In order to have sacred thoughts, give up the vices like consumption of non-vegetarian food, smoking and drinking intoxicants.”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the global environment ever faced in human history. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organizations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. As a result, they are neglecting what might be the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes: advocating a vegetarian diet.
Read the full report here:
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the global environment ever faced in human history. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organizations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. As a result, they are neglecting what might be the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes: advocating a vegetarian diet.
Read the full report here:
Meat worse than cars for the environment.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”
Mahatma Gandhi
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
Henning Steinfeld
Mahatma Gandhi
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation.
“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems. Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”
Henning Steinfeld
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