December 2009
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Happy New Year!
And thanks so much for following! I’m off for the evening, so I’ll see you guys in 2010.
Say Anything
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A Year in Amnesty International USA Success... →
I post a lot of depressing stuff, I know. So since it’s New Year’s Eve and we’re all celebrating, let’s celebrate the human rights victories 2009 has brought. Below is a list of human rights cases that Amnesty International USA was directly involved with during 2009, all of which have become success stories. You can read more about each case here.
Remember, Amnesty...
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At least 12,220 dead from H1N1 according to the... →
From Reuters Alertnet, in its entirety:
GENEVA, Dec 30 (Reuters) - At least 12,220 deaths from H1N1 flu have been formally confirmed around the globe but the pandemic appears to be declining, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.
The death figure, set as of Dec. 27, was around 700 up on the toll a week previously. The week before that registered a rise of about 1500 deaths.
...
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100 Journalists lost their lives this year, up... →
From the Toronto Star, excerpts:
An increasing number of journalists around the world were killed in 2009, a chilling situation that is getting worse instead of better, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression said Wednesday.
This year, 100 journalists were killed in the line of duty because of their reporting, up from 87 in 2008.
An astounding 31 of the journalists killed in 2009 were slain...
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“We heard versions of this again and again during the Aughts. Terrorists deserved...”
– The Jack Bauer Decade by John McQuaid for the Huffington Post
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Nigeria Shell oil spills to be tried at Dutch... →
From the BBC, in its entirety:
A Dutch court has ruled it has the authority to hear a case brought by a group of Nigerian farmers against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell.
The four farmers claim a subsidiary of Shell is responsible for contaminating their land in the Niger Delta.
They are seeking compensation and assurances that Shell will clean up the land polluted by alleged oil spills.
Shell...
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22 dead from measles in Zimbabwe →
From CNN, in its entirety:
Harare, Zimbabwe — Twenty-two people, mainly children below the age of 5, have died of measles in Zimbabwe, the country’s state media reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said two weeks ago it was “deeply frustrated” by the measles outbreak, which came after it sponsored a vaccination program in the African nation.
WHO’s head...
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Fighting Iran's government -- online from Toronto →
From CNN, excerpt:
From a small apartment in Toronto, Iranian exile Saeed Valadbaygi is trying to bring news from his country to the world.
Using a network of Iranian journalists and eager volunteers back in Tehran, the 27-year-old former student collates reports, pictures and video for his Web site astreetjournalist.com.
Having fled Iran following the June demonstrations, Valadbaygi set...
Leave me randomness! →
I’m off for the night. Au revoir!
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Violence Against Girls in Schools: key facts
sexismandthecity:
• A study in the USA found that 83 per cent of girls in grades 8 to 11 (aged around 12 to 16) in public schools experienced some form of sexual harassment. • According to a 2006 study of schoolgirls in Malawi, 50 per cent of the girls said they had been touched in a sexual manner “without permission, by either their teachers or fellow schoolboys”. • In Latin America,...
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“You can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people. You...”
– Cornel West, made of awesome
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Hillary Clinton Voted "Most Admired Woman" →
From Jezebel, exerpt:
For the 14th time, Americans have voted Hillary Clinton the most admired woman.
But guess who’s number two? You betcha - it’s Miss Going Rogue herself, Sarah Palin. While Clinton received 16% of the 1,025 votes, Palin was disturbingly close behind with 15%. And Palin has risen in the ranks since 2008, when she also came in behind Hillary with 11%.
Also in...
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“Young men need to be taught that it isn’t rape only when a girl screams and...”
– Emilia di Girolamo
The Guardian
(via sexismandthecity)
OMFG, this is horrifying.
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formspring.me
What do you want to do, be a teacher?
At the university level, yes. Or work for an NGO, non-profit, or think tank.
Basically, my interest is in health care as a basic human right and how to effectively provide care to civilians in the most vulnerable situations (war, famine, natural disaster, etc). If I end up in a teaching position while also doing research at a university,...
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Israel/Gaza: One Year After Hostilities, Abuses... →
From Human Rights Watch, excerpt:
(Jerusalem) - One year after the start of major hostilities in Gaza, both Israel and Hamas have failed to punish members of their own forces for laws-of-war violations during the fighting, Human Rights Watch said today. Israel’s ongoing blockade of Gaza has also created massive humanitarian need and prevented the reconstruction of schools, homes, and...
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formspring.me
Are you a politician? What do you do for a living?
Ha! No, I’m not a politician. Not even close. I don’t know that I have the stomach for it. Or that anyone would vote for me.
I’m actually unemployed (I hate having to say this, it makes me feel so incredibly lazy). Or you could call me a “housewife” or “homemaker”, though I find both of...
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“Mwamirindi was held as a sex slave and pieces of her flesh were cut every few...”
– The Four Months Since Hillary by Eve Ensler for the Huffington Post, chronicling the lack of progress made to protect women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape is systematically used as a weapon of war.
Read more in my previous posts about the DRC and rape as a weapon of war.
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“A woman in the military is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than...”
– Representative Jane Harman, a Democrat from California, said at a Congressional hearing this year, repeating an assertion she has made a refrain in a campaign of hers to force the military to do more to address abuses.
A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I.’s from the NY Times
(via...
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“I’m worried that students will take their obedient place in society and...”
– Howard Zinn, historian and author
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EDUCATE YOURSELF: Amnesty International's Tutorial... →
Online Training: Counter Terror with Justice
In the name of the “war on terror,” the U.S. government has subjected people who have not been charged with or convicted of any crime to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. Amnesty International believes that the new US administration and Congress must hold all perpetrators accountable in order to...
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“When I was 19 years old, I was raped. I was working at a shoe store in...”
– Actress Gabrielle Union Blogs About Her Rape (via sexismandthecity) (via linzo)
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Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading... →
From Amnesty International, in its entirety:
The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as “…the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information or a confession, or punishing, intimidating or coercing someone.” Torture is always illegal. “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a...
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“The United Nations World Food Programme (UN-WFP) reported that nearly 50,000...”
– World Food Programme
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“In the United States, in 2006, the FBI reported 156 incidents and 191 offenses...”
– Human Rights First 2008 Hate Crime Survey: Muslims
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Questions were answered, Google Wave invites were...
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
I answered all the formspring comments/questions, so check back there if you wanna see them.
I also sent out all the requested Google Wave invites, but I still have a ton left, so leave your e-mail address if you want one.
And I have a ton of stuff queued up today, so I’m not actually going to be around too much today. I’ll be back to like/reblog the crap...
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Read me!
I sent out the Google Wave invites to those of you that requested them. I still have 22 left, so if you want one, leave me your e-mail address (it won’t be published online, I promise).
Also, if there are any American college undergrad or graduate students 18 years or older that want to WIN A TRIP TO AFRICA WITH PULITZER PRIZE WINNING NY TIMES JOURNALIST NICK KRISTOF*, check out my post...