Michael Jackson: 1958-2009
"King of Pop" Was Entertainment World's Most Influential Performer - And Tabloid World's Most Disturbing Celebrity




Michael Jackson: 1958-2009

The "King Of Pop" had a life full of number one hits and personal scandals
Stories
NJ Promoter Sues King Of Pop
Jackson Recruits Old Pal For Tour
(CBS/ AP) Michael Jackson, the moonwalking former child star who became known the world over as the "King of Pop" before his life and career deteriorated in a freakish series of scandals, has died. He was 50.

A person with knowledge of the situation says Jackson died Thursday in a Los Angeles hospital. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

His death brought a tragic end to a long, bizarre, sometimes farcical decline from his peak in the 1980s, when he was popular music's premier all-around performer, a uniter of black and white music who shattered the race barrier on MTV, dominated the charts and dazzled even more on stage.
Jackson's 1982 album, "Thriller" still is the top-selling album of all time, and Michael Jackson was the top performer in the world through much of the 1980s. But somewhere along the way, Jackson went from the king of pop to wacko Jacko.

Some say it started with an accident during the filming of a TV commercial that burned his scalp severely and led to a dependence on prescription pain killers. He became an increasingly reclusive and odd figure.
He was married briefly to Elvis Presley's daughter, then to his skin doctor's assistant. Jackson was a father of three, despite ongoing speculation that they could not be his natural children. He sparked one of his many scandals when he dangled one of the children over a balcony, causing concern of his parenting skills.

All of those scandals paled to the ongoing suspicion of child abuse. He paid one boy more than $20 million to make his allegations go away, but it happened again one day in November 2003.

The charges stemmed from a documentary in which Jackson stated again his belief that having young boys in his bed was completely natural.

"It's very right. It's very loving. That's what the world needs now," Jackson said at the time.

Much of the world saw it differently. Jackson was arrested, handcuffed, booked and eventually stood trial. The court case was a surreal spectacle befitting Jackson's bizarre way of life, including dancing on top of SUVS, pajamas worn to court, and a string of celebrities walking in and out of the courthouse in Santa Maria, California.

"Please keep an open mind and let me have my day in court," Jackson said.

But the inconsistent testimony from the boy and his family members, including a truly bizarre five days on the stand from the boy's mother, convinced the jury Jackson was not guilty. Still, the acquittal never completely put to rest the questions surrounding Michael Jackson., a curious figure who leaves behind a legacy of staggering musical genius, and stunningly bad judgment.

Jackson has kept a largely low profile in recent years but in March, he announced he would perform a series of London concerts scheduled for July.

Jackson was a master of memorable performances and a man whose real life remains a mystery. Michael Jackson also leaves legions of fans with an ongoing fascination with the one-time and some would say forever king of pop

Collected by
M.S.A. Shobuz

I think I’ve figured it out. There’s something in public health called the “prevention paradox”: measures of disease prevention that offer great benefits to populations at large (such as fluoridation of water sources, wearing seatbelts, lifestyle changes, smallpox vaccinations, etc) offer little benefit or personal incentive to individuals.

But research shows that health education geared toward individuals (counseling on reducing salt intake for hypertension, exercise for diabetes, etc) are less effective when geared only toward individuals and/or used in a short-term approach. People are motivated to act for immediate gain and substantial personal benefits, but “the medical motivation for health education is inherently weak. Their health next year is not likely to be much better if they accept our advice or if they reject it. Much more powerful as motivators for health education are the social rewards of enhanced self-esteem and social approval.” (Geoffrey Rose, Sick Individuals and Sick Populations.)

Physicians also prefer individualized health education because with population interventions (such as anti-smoking campaigns), their success rates are low and results take a long time to achieve.

The US is such an individual-centric society that people have no cultural reason to care about population health as a whole. Most Americans do not see that universal access to healthcare means that problems are detected and treated early (which is less costly), and that sometimes preventive medicine can encourage life-saving behavior change. That the person going into the ER for stomach pain because s/he does not have health insurance is costing the taxpayer literally thousands more dollars than s/he would if s/he’d gone to a primary care physician.

Nor do they understand the concept of herd immunity- if a large proportion of a population is immune to or vaccinated against a particular disease, the likelihood that one individual will get that disease is far less.

The focus on the individual and the apathy toward the well-being of communities and populations is by no means restricted to health alone. The same can be said about the current financial crisis. Individuals who borrowed more than they could pay back, and their unscrupulous lenders have created a global downward spiral of hundreds of economies, with the bottom billion hit the hardest.

I find it ironic and deeply saddening that 30 million more people have been pushed into starvation thus far due to the financial crisis while bankers are taking hefty bonuses and governments are bailing out businesses that were failing even before the crash (GM, Chrysler, etc…)

HelloAll.
Today in Port Harcourt inb Niger Delta Region of Nigeria young people came together to look at the way forward on the developmental issues affecting young people and the respones of young people to the developmental process of the Region.
The meeting had in attandance Hilda Dukubo, Exective Director Centre for Creative Rrts Education , Esther Agbarakwe, Earth Charter Youth Incitivites, Nigeria, and other young people from states in The Region.
The Detials will be sent in teh next few days.

maybe it will get published... here's hoping! :)


Sir,

I find it inaccurate to call President Obama's decision to end the Global Gag Rule, an "order... ending the prohibition on sending aid to international organisations that provide abortion." (Brief Encounter, January 31st). Obama's decision does not change the fact that US tax-payers' dollars cannot be used to provide abortions overseas. The
legislation, first enacted by Ronald Reagan, rejected by Clinton and reinstated by Bush, prohibited US family planning assistance to organizations that use non-US funds to perform abortions (even in countries where it is legal), provide counseling and referrals for abortion, and lobby to liberalize abortion laws.

None of these restrictions would be permitted within the United States, where abortion is legal. Yet US ideologues had no qualms about denying poor women the right to decide when and if to carry out a pregnancy. Each year there are 19 million unsafe abortions, most of which could be prevented if poor women had access to voluntary family
planning including contraception, sex education, and the ability to prevent unwanted pregnancies. In addition, women with fewer births are able to invest more in their children's nutrition and education-- resulting in healthier, more productive contributors to society.

Many of the organizations that lost their funding were unable to provide other life-saving services such as maternal and infant healthcare, poverty reduction, and HIV prevention. For example, the United Nations Population Fund lost its US contribution of $244 million over seven years, based on a spurious claim of collusion with the Chinese government in coerced sterilizations. This contributed to 74,000 deaths from unsafe abortion globally each year, even though Bush's own hand-picked State Department team visited China and found no evidence that UNFPA participated in such programs; and, indeed, that its programs were "a force for good." Obama's move to restore reproductive freedoms to women will surely reduce global demand for abortion and improve overall population health.



(PS- the picture of all the old white dudes is from bush's second day in office, when he signed the global gag rule back into its miserable existence.)

if yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55% of plepoe can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

There are many and various reasons for youth's corruption and his problems. Man, during the period of his youthfulness has a lot of physical, mental and intellectual developments. That period is an evolutionary one in which man experiences rapid development in his transformation. Hence the need for providing him with means of self-control and curbing of his self-defiance as well as wise leadership that can lead him to the straight path. Youth corruption can be attributed to many factors, prominent among them are:

1. Joblessness

Joblessness is a disease that kills mental, intellectual and physical capabilities. As a matter of fact, it is inevitable that human being should move and work and if he is deprived of work and movement, his brain becomes beset, his intellect becomes exhausted, and movement of the mind becomes weak and devilish insinuations and malicious thoughts take control of his heart. Evil and wicked intentions may occur to him as a result of the depression that befalls him out of his joblessness.

In order to be cured of this disease, the affected youth should get a vocation that suits him like reading, writing, trading or any other thing that can stand between him and his joblessness and which is capable of making him a sound and useful member of his community whether he does the work for himself or for others.

2. Estrangement between youths and elders

This problem appears in a situation where some elders see corruption in their youths and just stand aloof without making any effort to correct them having lost hope in their reform and consequently hating them or being scared of them and paying non-challenged attitude to their conditions whether they are good or bad.

These elders have already concluded that youths are all corrupted and therefore nurse psychological grudges against every youth, a situation that tears the society apart and causes both elders and youths to regard each other with contempt and disdain. This, indeed, is one of the dangers that encircle the society.

This problem however can be solved if elders and youths endeavour to remove the estrangement and alienation that exist between them. Both should bear it in mind that society- with its youths and elders - is like a single body, and if a part of it decays, the decadence will affect the whole body. Elders also are requested to feel the sense of responsibility rested on their shoulders towards their youths and eliminate the hopelessness of youths' piety in their minds because Allah is capable of doing everything.

For, how often a person straying far has been guided by Allah who thereafter became a torch of guidance and a reformer.
Youths on their part, should hold their elders in high esteem. They should respect their views and accept their directives because they have achieved degrees of experience and reality of life which youths have not achieved. Therefore when elders' wisdom are added to youths' energy the society becomes prosperous by the will of Allah.

3. Getting in contact with corrupted people and keeping their companies

This situation has a lot of psychological, mental and moral influence on the youth. That is why the Prophet (ًٍٍٍِSAWS) said: "Man is on the religion of his intimate friend, so let every one of you look critically for whom to befriend."

Solution to this problem is that the youth should choose a righteous, good and intelligent person as his companion in order to benefit from his goodness, righteousness and intelligence. He should consider people very well before befriending them by studying their conditions and reputations. If they happen to be people of noble character, upright, religious and of good reputation, they are his object of long cherished wish and his acquired booty. He should therefore stick to them.

If on the other hand they happen to be people of opposite characters, he must be cautious of them, keep away from them and should not be carried away by their sweet-talk and fine outward appearance.

4. Reading of destructive books, magazines, newspapers, etc

This type of literature makes one skeptical about his religion and faith and drags one from excellent morality to the abyss of degeneration which naturally leads to kufr (disbelief) and depravity if the youth does not have a strong resistance power in terms of deep Islamic education and mental acuteness and sagacity that can enable him differentiate between truth and falsehood and between what is useful and what is harmful.

Also, reading of this kind of literature turns the youth upside down because it meets fertile ground in his mind and thinking without any hindrance and get its roots strengthened and its stem solidified. It also reflects in his rationality and life.

The solution to this problem is to immediately shift from reading such literature to books that inculcate the love of Allah and His Prophet (SAWS) in one's heart and those books that help in actualizing faith and virtuous deeds. He should patiently endure reading of those books because his soul will put up a strong fight against him in order to coerce him into reading what he was used to before and will make him feel bored and irritated at reading useful books.

Example of him is like a person who wrestles with his soul so as to force it obeys Allah and the soul instead insists on wallowing in falsehood and distraction.

There are many useful books that help in this situation, most important of which is the Noble Qur'an and its Tafseer (explanation) written by scholars who based their exegesis on authentically transmitted ahadeeth [Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (SAWS)] and unequivocal common sense. Equally important and useful are books on ahadeeth and writings of scholars that are deduced and inferred from the two above mentioned sources.

[Summarized from: Youth's Problems in the Light of the Qur'an and Sunnah]



Collected By
SB

http://causes.com/stopwar

TRASMETTA UN EMAIL A TUTTI I PAESI ED ASSOCIAZIONI

see this photo album first

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=34277&l=48791&id=1034000441

Please send an email to all the international organizations, associations and country leaders to save the childrens in gaza and israel

TRASMETTA UN EMAIL A TUTTI I PAESI ED ASSOCIAZIONI

Send to all the email addressess of international org and country leaders

Please STOP GENOCIDE IN GAZA, STOP INFENTICIDE IN GAZA.

United Permanent Missions
Please place this plea to your concerned country-authority, its people, politicians.
Stop triggering humans.


"Quanti bambini, quante donne, quanti innocenti dovranno essere ancora uccisi prima che qualcuno decida di intervenire e di fermare questo massacro?
ROMA - Tantissime, e continuano ad arrivare, le adesioni all'appello promosso da Acli, Arci e Legambiente insieme ad altre organizzazioni nazionali, gruppi locali, personalita', famiglie, cittadini e cittadine. Un appello rinnovato per raccogliere l'invito lanciato oggi dalla Tavola della Pace per incontrarsi ad Assisi sabato 17 gennaio (ore 10) e continuare a chiedere il cessate il fuoco nella Striscia di Gaza.

"Iniziamo a costruire nelle nostre citta', nelle nostre comunita', nelle scuole, nei luoghi di lavoro, una grande partecipazione- affermano gli organizzatori- per essere in tanti e tante ad Assisi e gridare: 'C'e' un modo per evitare il massacro di civili. C'e' un modo per salvare il popolo palestinese. C'e' un modo per garantire la sicurezza di Israele e del suo popolo. C'e' un modo per dare una possibilita' alla pace in Medio Oriente. C'e' un modo per non arrendersi alla legge del piu' forte e affermare il diritto internazionale'.

Cessate il fuoco in tutta l'area; ritiro immediato delle truppe israeliane; fine dell'assedio di Gaza; protezione umanitaria internazionale".

Nell'appello, la Tavola della Pace afferma: "Quanti bambini, quante donne, quanti innocenti dovranno essere ancora uccisi prima che qualcuno decida di intervenire e di fermare questo massacro? Quanti morti ci dovranno essere ancora prima che qualcuno abbia il coraggio di dire basta? La guerra deve essere fermata ora. Non c'e' piu' tempo per la vecchia politica, per la retorica, per gli appelli vuoti e inconcludenti- continua il testo-. E' venuto il tempo di un impegno forte, autorevole e coraggioso dell'Italia, della comunita' internazionale e di tutti i costruttori di pace per mettere definitivamente fine a questa e a tutte le altre guerre del Medio Oriente. Senza dimenticare il resto del mondo. Giovani, donne, uomini, gruppi, associazioni, sindacati, enti locali, media, scuole, parrocchie, chiese, forze politiche: a ciascuno si chiede "di fare qualcosa". (Dires - Redattore Sociale)

Send this letter to all the email addressess of international org and country leaders

Please STOP GENOCIDE IN GAZA, STOP INFENTICIDE IN GAZA.
You are meant to maintain peace. Ask nations to mount pressure, send peace keeping force to Gaza, if it needs. Explel itruders from Gaza.
We can not tolerate more, stop the barbarism

United Permanent Missions
Please place this plea to your concerned country-authority, its people, politicians.
Stop triggering humans.

TO- UNITED NATIONS
inquiries@un.org ,

afgwatan@aol.com , albania@un.int , algeria@un.int , andorra@un.int , themission@angolaun.org , argentina@un.int , armenia@un.int , australia@un.int , azerbaijan@un.int , bangladesh@un.int , bahrain@un.int , info@bruneimission-ny.org , prun@foreign.gov.bb , belarus@un.int , blzun@aol.com , bihnyun@aol.com , botswana@un.int , bulgaria@un.int , bfapm@un.int , burundi@un.int , cambodia@un.int , canada@un.int , capeverde@un.int , caf@un.int , chile@un.int , colombia@colombiaun.org , congo@un.int , costarica@un.int , cuba@un.int , pmccyprus.un@verizon.net , un.newyork@embassy.mzv.cz , dpr.korea@verizon.net , drcongo@un.int , nycmis@um.dk , djibouti@nyct.net , domun@onecommonwealth.org , drun@un.int , egypt@un.int , elsalvador@un.int , mission.newyork@mfa.ee , fiji@un.int , france@un.int , gambia@un.int , germany@un.int , ghanaperm@aol.com , grenada@un.int , guatemala@un.int , missionofguinea@aol.com , guyana@un.int , haiti@un.int , hungary@un.int , unmission@mfa.is , iran@un.int , ireland@un.int , italy@un.int , jamaica@un.int , mission@un-japan.org , missionun@jordanmissionun.com , kazakhstan@un.int , kenya@un.int , lesotho@un.int , libya@un.int , lithuania@un.int , repermad@verizon.net , malawinewyork@aol.com , malaysia@un.int , maldives@un.int , nicaragua@un.int , sknmission@aol.com , rusun@un.int , misiune@romaniaun.org , unmoldova@aol.com , korea@un.int , portugal@un.int , misunphil@aol.com , onuper@aol.com , paraguay@un.int , pngmission@pngun.org , emb@panama-un.org , mission@palauun.org , malionu@aol.com , oman@un.int , samoa@un.int , netherlands@un.int , nepal@un.int , nauru@un.int , namibia@un.int , myanmar@un.int , mozambique@un.int , mongolia@un.int , monaco@un.int , fsmun@fsmgov.org , mexico@un.int , mauritius@un.int , mauritania@un.int , marshallislands@un.int , pakistan@un.int , swaziland@un.int , malawiu@aol.com , myanmarmission@verizon.net , nauru@onecommonwealth.org , cuba_onu@cubanmission.com , uruguay@un.int , tzrepny@aol.com , uk@un.int , tuvalu@onecommonwealth.org , turkmenistan@un.int , tto@un.int , tongaunmission@aol.com , timor-leste@un.int , thailand@un.int , slumission@aol.com , slovenia@un.int , ethiopia@un.int , stp1@attglobal.net , saudi-mission@un.int , seychelles@un.int , sierraleone@un.int , tajikistanun@aol.com , mission@newyork.mfa.sk , sweden@un.int , somalia@un.int , pmun@southafrica-newyork.net , slpmny@aol.com , sudan@sudanmission.org , suriname@un.int , svgun@aol.com , singapore@un.int , zimbabwe@un.int.org , yemen@un.int , vietnamun@vnmission.com , venezuela@un.int , vanunmis@aol.com , usa@un.int , vertretung-un@nyc.rep.admin.ch , blzun@belizemission.com , niger@nigerun.org , delun@mfa.no , poland@polandun.org , sanmarinoun@hotmail.com , senegal.mission@yahoo.fr , syrianmission@verizonmail.com , uno_us@mfa.gov.ua , german-mission-consulate-gic-1@n... , un.newyork@mfa.no , support@glocksoft.com , ask@israel-info.gov.il , mission@bahamasny.com , nzmissionny@earthlink.net , unmission@belembassy.org , newyork.rp@mae.etat.lu , delgaliviaonu@hotmail.com , delbrasonu@delbrasonu.org , cotedivoiremission@yahoo.com , cromiss.un@mvp.hr , equatorialguineamission@yahoo.com , sanomat.yke@formin.fi , mission@greeceun.org , honduras_un@hotmail.com , india@un.int , indiaun@prodigy.net , imission@nyc.rr.com , kuwaitmission@msn.com , mission.un-ny@mfa.gov.lv , mission@nyc.rep.llv.li , newyorkun@diplobel.be -----------------

COUNTRIES

Government, Politicians and People of the nation

Please STOP GENOCIDE IN GAZA, STOP INFENTICIDE IN GAZA.
We are meant to maintain peace. Ask nations to mount pressure, send peace keeping force to Gaza, if it needs. Explel itruders from Gaza.
We can not tolerate more, stop the barbarism

Tell
United Nations
Please place this plea to your people, politicians.
Stop triggering humans.

ই-মেল :

presec@presec.tirana.al , postmaster@minjash.tirana.al ,
dragc@gg.dz , pmo@candw.ag , spyd@presidencia.gov.ar ,
president@president.am , premier@dpac.tas.gov.au , vklima@spoe.or.at ,
bcc@btl.net , foreign@barbadosgov.org , infogrp@president.gov.by , info@belgium.be ,
celcom@camnet.cm ,
pm@pm.gc.ca , altatalk@gov.ab.ca , pcmbrava@mail.cvtelecom.cv ,
webmaster@presidencia.cl , ceo@ceo.gcn.gov.hk , pastrana@presidencia.gov.co , rherrera@ns.casapres.go.cr ,
admin@president.hr ,
pioxx@cytanet.com.cy ,
president@hrad.cz ,
stm@stm.dk ,
pmoffice@cwdom.dm ,
correspondencias@presidencia.gov.do ,
lpolanco@serex.gov.do ,
webmast@mmrree.gov.ec ,
webmaster@presidency.gov.eg ,
presidente@casapres.gob.sv ,
sekretar@vpk.ee ,
valitsus@rk.ee ,
info@fiji.gov.fj ,
paavo.lipponen@eduskunta.fi ,
presidentti@tpk.vn.fi ,
office@presidpress.gov.ge ,
mail@primeminister.gr ,
homerule@gh.gl ,
alvaroarzu@guate.net ,
Viktor.Orban@meh.hu ,
cfwang@hlhg.gov.tw ,
david@althingi.is ,
webmaster@taoiseach.irlgov.ie ,
ask@israel-info.gov.il ,
staff@relay.regione.abruzzo.it ,
jpm@kantei.go.jp ,
info@nic.gov.jo ,

vice_president@whitehouse.gov ,
comments@whitehouse.gov ,
consultassre@gmail.com ,
chancery@president.lv ,
info@lp.gov.lb ,
gidirg@president.lt ,
kanceliarija@lrvk.lt ,
admin@foreign.gov.mv ,
statepas@intnet.mu ,
foreignaffairs@mail.fm ,
Elbegdorj_TS@prime.pmis.gov.mn ,
iczmerc@iafrica.com.na ,
provincie@flevoland.nl ,
odin@ft.dep.telemax.no ,
prime.minister@ministers.govt.nz ,
presidente@presidencia.gob.ni ,
www@cm.gov.nc.tr ,
cfwang@hlhg.gov.tw ,
frank-fhp@maf.org ,
govspkmn@mozart.inet.co.th ,
presoftt@carib-link.net ,
cankaya@tccb.gov.tr ,
ddlbsl@tccb.gov.tr ,
mofa@starcom.co.ug ,

number10@petitions.pm.gov.uk ,
postmaster@ribbon.kiev.ua ,
oda@mail.gov.if.ua ,
prime_minister@tavrida.crimea.ua ,
ens@odsadm.odessa.ua ,
press.nio@nics.gov.uk ,
comexpri@bolivar.funmrd.gov.ve ,
slobodan.milosevic@gov.yu ,
state@zamnet.zm ,

primeminister@pak.gov.pk ,
postmaster@mininfo.pna.org ,

presssecy@alpha.nic.in ,
presidentofindia@rb.nic.in ,
manmohan@sansad.nic.in ,

ofasin@presidencia.gob.pa ,
primeminister@pm.gov.pg ,
oppto_martin@pres.gob.pe ,
inka+@qenqo.rcp.net.pe ,
erap@erap.com ,
ppdoadn@butuanonline.com ,
capitol@bgo.cyberspace.com.ph ,
listy@prezydent.pl ,
cirinfo@kprm.gov.pl ,
guv@kappa.ro ,
president@gov.ru ,
secretariat@tatar.ru ,
pmoffice@candw.lc ,
ppo@seychelles.net ,
tomaz.lovrencic@vlada.sigov.mail.si ,
darinka.ilovar@up.sigov.mail.si ,
communications@po.gov.za ,
premsa@iafrica.com ,
for_min@sri.lanka.net ,
burpres@sr.net ,
ppcu@realnet.co.sz ,
regeringen@regeringen.se ,
peter.w.frey@ag.ch ,
info@sip.etat.lu , president@albd.org , postmaster@mx.parliament.govt.nz , postmaster@ag.ch , postmaster@maf.org , postmaster@ag.ch , paavo.t.lipponen@gmail.com , homerule@g.gh.gl , homerule@gh.gl , postmaster@presidencia.gob.do , postmaster@maf.org , postmaster@serex.gov.do , ask@israel-info.gov.il , postmaster@mininfo.pna.org
israel: ask@israel-info.gov.il
palestine: postmaster@mininfo.pna.org


white house: comments@whitehouse.gov
vice-president@whitehouse.gov

GRAZIE

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/188714?recruiter_id=21288242

http://causes.com/stopwar


Shobuz Bhai

http://causes.com/stopwar

আর কত মেরে থামবে শিকার, গণচিঠি দিন দেশে দেশে

http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/kakshalikgangchil/28898192


(কিছু মন্তব্য দেখে নীচের দিকে কিছু কথা যোগ করতে বাধ্য হলাম। এই পোস্টে এমনহলে মূলসুরটাই কেটে যায়। অনুরোধ করছি, সেই ধরনের কথা,মনোভাব বর্জন করার।অন্যকথাও কিছু আছে)

আমরা ব্লগ থেকে সংগঠিত হয়ে গিয়ে নিজেরা সরিয়ে আনতে পারিনা মৃত্যুর কোলের শিশুদের, মানুষদের। চাইলেই ট্যাঙ্কগুলোকে লাগাতে পারিনা চাষের কাজে। এইগুলি হতে পারে না আ্যাম্বুলেন্স।
যারা চাকরি করতে এসে গুলি ছুড়ছে তাদের মনে করিয়ে দিতে পারি না, বন্দুক ফেলে দাও কিংবা একবার ঘুরিয়ে দেখ মুখ নির্দেশকারির দিকে।
শিশুরা যারা মিসাইলে লেখে ভালবাসার কথা, তাদের বুঝিয়ে দিতে পারি না, তোমাদের বুকে কেন বোনা হচ্ছে ঘৃনার বীজ,শত্রু কোথায়।আমরা হয়ত নিজেদের জায়গার একটা মিছিলও করতে পারি না, পারি হয়ত।

আজ পুঁজিবাদের এই আগ্রাসনে, রাস্ট্রায়ত্ত পুঁজির স্বার্থ কী নিদারুন চেহারা নিচ্ছে আমরা তা বুঝতে পারছি অনায়াসে। নিজের সন্তানের মুখে চোখ রেখে অন্তত আমরা শিউরে উঠতে পারি সেই প্রতিফলনে, গাজার শিশু, ইসরায়েলি শিশু তার বাবা-মায়ের সাথে আমাদের কোন পার্থক্য নেই।

বাংলাদেশের যুদ্ধাপরাধীদের বিচার চেয়ে এই ব্লগাররা অনেক সংঘঠিত ভাবে কাজ করছেন। গনস্বাক্ষরে চাইবেন বিচার। এখন কিন্তু সেরকম সময়ও আর নেই , গাজার জন্য।
নীচে চিঠি রাখলাম সঙ্গে পৃথিবীর প্রায় সবদেশের কতৃপক্ষের ই-মেল আই ডি, রাস্ট্রসংঘের টা এবং তাদের বিভিন্নদেশের অফিসগুলোর ঠিকানা।
আমরা অন্তত তাদের প্রত্যেকদিন মেল করে মনে করিয়ে দিতে পারি ভয়াভয়তার কথা।
যারা অন্য ব্লগগুলোতেও যান, তাঁরাও এইগুলি নিয়ে সেখানে পোস্টদিন।
ঠিকানাগুলো সব ইন্টারনেট থেকে সংগৃহিত, পরীক্ষা করে দেখা হয়নি তবে যতদূর সম্বভ অফিসিয়াল সাইট থেকেই নেয়া হয়েছে।

রাস্ট্রসংঘের মহাসচিব এবং তাদের বিভিন্ন দেশের কর্তাদের দিচ্ছি
এই চিঠি। এখানে সব সদস্যদেশ এবং অন্যদু'একটি দেশ রয়েছে এতে আমরা প্রায় সব দেশেই পৌঁছব। যতটা পারি ভাগ ভাগ করে দি্যেছি কপি করার সুবিধার্থে।

United Nations

Please STOP GENOCIDE IN GAZA, STOP INFANTICIDE IN GAZA.
You are meant to maintain peace. Ask nations to mount pressure, send peace keeping force to Gaza, if it needs. Explel itruders from Gaza.
We can not tolerate more, stop the barbarism

United Permanent Missions
Please place this plea to your concerned country-authority, its people, politicians.
Stop triggering humans.

প্রথমটা আই ডি টা মহাসচিবের
inquiries@un.org,

afgwatan@aol.com, albania@un.int, algeria@un.int, andorra@un.int, themission@angolaun.org, argentina@un.int, armenia@un.int, australia@un.int, azerbaijan@un.int, bangladesh@un.int, bahrain@un.int, info@bruneimission-ny.org, prun@foreign.gov.bb, belarus@un.int, blzun@aol.com, bihnyun@aol.com, botswana@un.int, bulgaria@un.int, bfapm@un.int, burundi@un.int, cambodia@un.int, canada@un.int, capeverde@un.int, caf@un.int, chile@un.int, colombia@colombiaun.org, congo@un.int, costarica@un.int, cuba@un.int, pmccyprus.un@verizon.net, un.newyork@embassy.mzv.cz, dpr.korea@verizon.net, drcongo@un.int, nycmis@um.dk, djibouti@nyct.net, domun@onecommonwealth.org, drun@un.int, egypt@un.int, elsalvador@un.int, mission.newyork@mfa.ee, fiji@un.int, france@un.int, gambia@un.int, germany@un.int, ghanaperm@aol.com, grenada@un.int, guatemala@un.int, missionofguinea@aol.com, guyana@un.int, haiti@un.int, hungary@un.int, unmission@mfa.is, iran@un.int, ireland@un.int, italy@un.int, jamaica@un.int, mission@un-japan.org, missionun@jordanmissionun.com, kazakhstan@un.int, kenya@un.int, lesotho@un.int, libya@un.int, lithuania@un.int, repermad@verizon.net, malawinewyork@aol.com, malaysia@un.int, maldives@un.int, nicaragua@un.int, sknmission@aol.com, rusun@un.int, misiune@romaniaun.org, unmoldova@aol.com, korea@un.int, portugal@un.int, misunphil@aol.com, onuper@aol.com, paraguay@un.int, pngmission@pngun.org, emb@panama-un.org, mission@palauun.org, malionu@aol.com, oman@un.int, samoa@un.int, netherlands@un.int, nepal@un.int, nauru@un.int, namibia@un.int, myanmar@un.int, mozambique@un.int, mongolia@un.int, monaco@un.int, fsmun@fsmgov.org, mexico@un.int, mauritius@un.int, mauritania@un.int, marshallislands@un.int, pakistan@un.int, swaziland@un.int, malawiu@aol.com, myanmarmission@verizon.net, nauru@onecommonwealth.org, cuba_onu@cubanmission.com, uruguay@un.int, tzrepny@aol.com, uk@un.int, tuvalu@onecommonwealth.org, turkmenistan@un.int, tto@un.int, tongaunmission@aol.com, timor-leste@un.int, thailand@un.int, slumission@aol.com, slovenia@un.int, ethiopia@un.int, stp1@attglobal.net, saudi-mission@un.int, seychelles@un.int, sierraleone@un.int, tajikistanun@aol.com, mission@newyork.mfa.sk, sweden@un.int, somalia@un.int, pmun@southafrica-newyork.net, slpmny@aol.com, sudan@sudanmission.org, suriname@un.int, svgun@aol.com, singapore@un.int, zimbabwe@un.int.org, yemen@un.int, vietnamun@vnmission.com, venezuela@un.int, vanunmis@aol.com, usa@un.int, vertretung-un@nyc.rep.admin.ch, blzun@belizemission.com, niger@nigerun.org, delun@mfa.no, poland@polandun.org, sanmarinoun@hotmail.com, senegal.mission@yahoo.fr, syrianmission@verizonmail.com, uno_us@mfa.gov.ua, german-mission-consulate-gic-1@netlink1.net, un.newyork@mfa.no, support@glocksoft.com, ask@israel-info.gov.il, mission@bahamasny.com, nzmissionny@earthlink.net, unmission@belembassy.org, newyork.rp@mae.etat.lu, delgaliviaonu@hotmail.com, delbrasonu@delbrasonu.org, cotedivoiremission@yahoo.com, cromiss.un@mvp.hr, equatorialguineamission@yahoo.com, sanomat.yke@formin.fi, mission@greeceun.org, honduras_un@hotmail.com, india@un.int,indiaun@prodigy.net, imission@nyc.rr.com, kuwaitmission@msn.com, mission.un-ny@mfa.gov.lv, mission@nyc.rep.llv.li, newyorkun@diplobel.be ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
এটা দিচ্ছি রাস্ট্রগুলোকে
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Government, Politicians and People of the nation

Please STOP GENOCIDE IN GAZA, STOP INFANTICIDE IN GAZA.
We are meant to maintain peace. Ask nations to mount pressure, send peace keeping force to Gaza, if it needs. Explel itruders from Gaza.
We can not tolerate more, stop the barbarism

Tell
United Nations
Please place this plea to your people, politicians.
Stop triggering humans.

ই-মেল :

presec@presec.tirana.al, postmaster@minjash.tirana.al,
dragc@gg.dz, pmo@candw.ag,spyd@presidencia.gov.ar,
president@president.am, premier@dpac.tas.gov.au, vklima@spoe.or.at,
bcc@btl.net, foreign@barbadosgov.org,infogrp@president.gov.by, info@belgium.be,
celcom@camnet.cm,
pm@pm.gc.ca, altatalk@gov.ab.ca, pcmbrava@mail.cvtelecom.cv,
webmaster@presidencia.cl, ceo@ceo.gcn.gov.hk, pastrana@presidencia.gov.co, rherrera@ns.casapres.go.cr,
admin@president.hr,
pioxx@cytanet.com.cy,
president@hrad.cz,
stm@stm.dk,
pmoffice@cwdom.dm,
correspondencias@presidencia.gov.do,
lpolanco@serex.gov.do,
webmast@mmrree.gov.ec,
webmaster@presidency.gov.eg,
presidente@casapres.gob.sv,
sekretar@vpk.ee,
valitsus@rk.ee,
info@fiji.gov.fj,
paavo.lipponen@eduskunta.fi,
presidentti@tpk.vn.fi,
office@presidpress.gov.ge,
mail@primeminister.gr,
homerule@gh.gl,
alvaroarzu@guate.net,
Viktor.Orban@meh.hu,
cfwang@hlhg.gov.tw,
david@althingi.is,
webmaster@taoiseach.irlgov.ie,
ask@israel-info.gov.il,
staff@relay.regione.abruzzo.it,
jpm@kantei.go.jp,
info@nic.gov.jo,

vice_president@whitehouse.gov,
comments@whitehouse.gov,
consultassre@gmail.com,
chancery@president.lv,
info@lp.gov.lb,
gidirg@president.lt,
kanceliarija@lrvk.lt,
admin@foreign.gov.mv,
statepas@intnet.mu,
foreignaffairs@mail.fm,
Elbegdorj_TS@prime.pmis.gov.mn,
iczmerc@iafrica.com.na,
provincie@flevoland.nl,
odin@ft.dep.telemax.no,
prime.minister@ministers.govt.nz,
presidente@presidencia.gob.ni,
www@cm.gov.nc.tr,
cfwang@hlhg.gov.tw,
frank-fhp@maf.org,
govspkmn@mozart.inet.co.th,
presoftt@carib-link.net,
cankaya@tccb.gov.tr,
ddlbsl@tccb.gov.tr,
mofa@starcom.co.ug,

number10@petitions.pm.gov.uk,
postmaster@ribbon.kiev.ua,
oda@mail.gov.if.ua,
prime_minister@tavrida.crimea.ua,
ens@odsadm.odessa.ua,
press.nio@nics.gov.uk,
comexpri@bolivar.funmrd.gov.ve,
slobodan.milosevic@gov.yu,
state@zamnet.zm,

primeminister@pak.gov.pk,
postmaster@mininfo.pna.org,

presssecy@alpha.nic.in,
presidentofindia@rb.nic.in,
manmohan@sansad.nic.in,

ofasin@presidencia.gob.pa,
primeminister@pm.gov.pg,
oppto_martin@pres.gob.pe,
inka+@qenqo.rcp.net.pe,
erap@erap.com,
ppdoadn@butuanonline.com,
capitol@bgo.cyberspace.com.ph,
listy@prezydent.pl,
cirinfo@kprm.gov.pl,
guv@kappa.ro,
president@gov.ru,
secretariat@tatar.ru,
pmoffice@candw.lc,
ppo@seychelles.net,
tomaz.lovrencic@vlada.sigov.mail.si,
darinka.ilovar@up.sigov.mail.si,
communications@po.gov.za,
premsa@iafrica.com,
for_min@sri.lanka.net,
burpres@sr.net,
ppcu@realnet.co.sz,
regeringen@regeringen.se,
peter.w.frey@ag.ch,
info@sip.etat.lu,president@albd.org, postmaster@mx.parliament.govt.nz,postmaster@ag.ch,postmaster@maf.org,postmaster@ag.ch,paavo.t.lipponen@gmail.com,homerule@g.gh.gl,homerule@gh.gl,postmaster@presidencia.gob.do,postmaster@maf.org,postmaster@serex.gov.do,ask@israel-info.gov.il,postmaster@mininfo.pna.org

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ইসরায়েল আর প্যালেস্টাইনের দু'টো আলাদা করে দিলাম । ইচ্ছা হলে আলাদা করে লিখতে পারেন।
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ইসারেল:ask@israel-info.gov.il
প্যালেস্টাইন: postmaster@mininfo.pna.org
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হোয়াইট হাউস: comments@whitehouse.gov
vice-president কেও লেখা যেতে পারে।
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সংযোজিত: কয়েকটা মেইল বাউন্স করতে পারে মেইল বক্স ভর্তি না অন্যকারনে, সেগুলিতে মনোযোগ দেয়ার দরকার নেই,ঐরকম অধিকাংশ ক্ষেত্রেই দ্বিতীয় কোনোও আই ডি জুড়ে দেয়া হয়েছে পোস্টে।
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যে সব দেশের সরকারের ঠিকানা ২য় চিঠিতে আছে সেগুলি হল

Afganistan, Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, AzerbaijanBahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin,Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China,Colombia, Comoros, Congo (Dem. Rep.), Congo (Rep.), Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic,Denmark, Djibouit, Dominica, Dominican Republic,Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia,Fiji, Finland, France,Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana,Haiti, Honduras, Hungary,Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran,Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast,Jamaica, Japan, Jordan
Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan,Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg,Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta,Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar,Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Cyprus, North Korea, Norway

Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu,Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,Vanuatu, Vatican City, Venezuela, Vietnam,Western Samoa,Yemen, Yugoslavia,Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Oman,Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru,Philippines, Poland, Portugal,Qatar,Romania, Russia, Rwanda,Saint Kitts And Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, San Marino, Sao Tome And Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka,Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria

ই-মেল এ কপি করতে অসুবিধা হবে বলে পাশাপাশি দিলাম না

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এই পোস্টে কিছু মন্তব্য দেখে, এই অংশটি যোগ করছি :

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গাজার মানুষ বাঁচুক, তা সে মুসলিম না অন্যকিছু তার খবরের দরকার নেই। গাজার মানুষ বাঁচাতে গিয়ে ইসরায়েল মানুষ পাল্টা নিধনে মারা যাক, তা চাই না। উপরেও সেটা লিখেছি।
এই পোস্টি দয়া করে কোন ধর্মীয় গোষ্ঠির উপর আঘাত এই দৃষ্টিকোন থেকে লেখিনি। দয়া করে সেরকম কোন বিচার থেকে কোনো কমেন্ট করবেন না, যাদের কাছে মানুষ মারা যাচ্ছে, শুধু এটাই কোন পয়েন্ট না, সাথে অন্য অনুপান চান, তারা দয়া করে এখানে লেখা বিরত রাখুন। কারন এতে মূল উদ্দেশ্যটাই মার যায়। এইরকম রেসিস্ট অনিভবের ফসলই কিন্তু আজেকর গাজা। মূল শত্রু কারা সেটা চিন্হিত ও বর্জন করুন, সেটা পুঁজিবাদি আগ্রসান যারা ধর্মকে একটা অস্ত্র হিসাবে ব্যবহার করে।

কোন কেয়ামত চাইনা আরও কী ধ্বংস দরকার। কিসের পর কী কেয়ামত আসে বলে কেউ বলেছেন।কোন বিতর্ক করে এই পোস্টির মূল ভাবনাটা ঘুরিয়ে দিতে চাই না, আপনারাও বর্জন করুন প্রতিক্রীয়াশিল মোনোভাবের মন্তব্যগুলিকে।
হিব্রু'র উত্তর দিতে পারি কিন্তু তার আগে দরকার শিশুদের, মানুষের মৃত্যু বন্ধ হওয়া।মৃত্যু নিয়ে না হয় ধর্ম নাই হল। মৃত্যু মানে সবার কাছেই এক, গাজার শিশু, ইসরায়েলি শিশু তার বাবা-মায়ের সাথে আমাদের কোন পার্থক্য নেই।
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১৮ ই জানুয়ারী, ২:৩০
ইসরায়েল সিসফায়ার করবে বলে মুখে বলেছে, ৩০ মিনিট আগে নাকি তা শুরু হয়েছে কিন্তু সেনা,বন্দুক,গোলা-বারুদ নিয়ে বসে আছে গাজাতেই , তাদের প্রোয়োজনে আবার শুরু করবে বলে । আগ্রাসন। এ কেমন সিজ -ফায়ার !!!!! ভাঁওতা মনে হয়, আসলে মানূষ মারতে আরও ছুতো সাজানো হচ্ছে।
জেনেভা কনভেনসনের কিছুই মানা হচ্ছে না।
আমরা এখনই চিঠি লেখা বন্ধ করছি না। আরও দুটো লাইন যোগ করছি তাতে।মানুষ মারাই লক্ষ্য।
পৃথিবীতে যুদ্ধ বন্ধ হোক।



Collected by

Shobuz Bhai ( http://causes.com/stopwar )

from somewhereinblog.net

(Written for SAWNET, http://sawnet.org/books/reviews.php?Aids+Sutra)



Today there are approximately 3 million Indians living with HIV and AIDS, a number that masks the human faces behind a disease that has been reviled and misunderstood as the worst plague in human history. A disease often considered to afflict only those regarded as the dredges of society, AIDS has the potential both to expose the dark underbelly of society, and also to inspire triumphs of human compassion and perseverance.
AIDS Sutra, funded by the Gates Foundation, is a compilation of 16 vibrant essays about Indians living with HIV by some of South Asia’s most gifted authors, including Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, and Kiran Desai. Several of the essays are narrated directly from the authors’ home communities; others are the fruition of their travels to the vastly different regions of India.

Siddharth Deb’s poignant account, “The Lost Generation of Manipur,” brings him to a remote corner of India bereft of employment opportunities and constantly on edge due to communal violence. Uncontrolled injecting drug use in the region puts young people of working age especially at risk for HIV infection.

Salman Rushdie’s piece on the politics and culture of the hijra (intersexed and/or transgender) community is a concise account of a population that defies society´s common [mis]perceptions around gender and HIV risk. Rushdie interviews a transgender AIDS activist named Laxmi, who lives in a constant duality of gender- going as a man by day and living with her parents, and transforming into a woman at night and on the weekends. Her advocacy on behalf of this distinct community in India has helped to distinguish hijras as a third gender- with different needs and challenges than men who have sex with men.

Other stories included in the book examine the lives of truck drivers, sex workers, and devadasis, women traditionally given to god, and nowadays women who choose or are forced into sex work as a means of income generation. In Sunil Gangopadhyay’s essay, “Return to Sonagacchi,” the author returns home to Kolkata to compose a compelling account of the lives of sex workers in Sonagachhi, narrating both the deprivation they face and also their power as an organized movement fighting for their rights as sex workers to safety, health services, education for their children, freedom from police persecution, and dignity.

Bill and Melinda Gates give the anthology’s introduction, and its insightful forward is written by the Nobel Prize-winning economist and author of Development as Freedom, Amartya Sen. Sen revolutionized the traditional economic paradigm by asserting that development is not simply about increasing per capita income, but rather “a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy.” His examination of the economic effects of AIDS in India is nuanced in its consideration of both the beneficial impact of Indian pharmaceuticals in producing affordable antiretroviral drugs for much of the world, and the irony that income disparity in India prevents the majority of Indians living with HIV from accessing treatment, quality medical facilities, shelter, employment opportunities, and community support.

Sen argues that stigma is the primary fuel of the epidemic in India, where widespread ignorance pervades about how HIV is—and is not—transmitted. Among young Indians just reaching working age, knowledge how HIV is spread is dismally low at 25% of the population according to UNAIDS (20% comprehensive knowledge among women and 36% among men). Because many Indians still believe that HIV can be transmitted through touch, sharing food, or through aerosol transmission, Indians living with HIV face discrimination in schools and workplaces, ostracization, rejection from their families, and in many cases, violence and even death.

India’s uncomfortable and often times paradoxical relationship with sex and sexuality is often at the root of ignorance and discrimination against HIV, with 87% of new infections in India occurring through unprotected sexual intercourse each year according to India’s National AIDS Control Organization. Despite an ancient culture rich in celebration of natural human sexuality, imperial-era taboos surrounding sex continue to create a stifling conservatism that limits access to scientific information about sexually transmitted infections, reproductive health, and the rights of women and sexual minorities.

In Amit Chaudhuri’s essay, “Healing,” he remarks that “The troubling ambiguity of sex through history— the fact that it bestows life and pleasure, and also, in a way that can’t be entirely explained by morality, confuses and shames— have converged in a new way upon this disease.” His interviews with Alka Desphpande, an AIDS researcher and physician in India’s first AIDS ward, reveal the challenges faced even by the medical community in becoming educated about HIV. Large numbers of Indian health care workers still believe that HIV is transmitted by touch, and widespread denial of treatment and discrimination against people living with HIV is common.

The first essay “Mister X Versus Hospital Y” by Nikita Lalwani tells the story of a Dr. Tokugha who is infected with HIV and becomes an important activist when his results are disclosed to his family (and bride-to-be’s family) before he himself is made aware of his status, just days before the wedding. His lawsuit against the hospital’s breach of his privacy sparked controversial debate and the release of his name in newspapers all across India. The court ruled against him, “decreeing that the hospital’s release of the information to the minister without his consent had ‘saved the life’ of Toku’s proposed fiancée. The essay forces us to consider the complexities behind forced disclosure of one’s HIV status. Not only was Dr. “Toku”’s right to self-disclose taken away from him, the judge tacked on a devastating addition to the ruling, that suspended the right of HIV positive people to marry. The laudable human rights organization, The Lawyers’ Collective, fought for years to restore this basic human right to people living with HIV, succeeding in 2002. Since then, Dr. Toku has become a prominent physician in the field, and goes above and beyond by arranging matches between people living with HIV.

Discrimination and national legislation intersect most brutally in India with the penal code provision 377 that makes homosexuality a criminal offense. Drafted in 1860 during British Rule, the anachronistic law fines and imprisons Indians caught in the act of sodomy and even oral sex for between ten years and a lifetime in jail. The law has served to drive homosexuality “underground” where men having unprotected sex with men cannot be reached for HIV awareness raising, sexual health services, STI screening, or recourse for police persecution and demanding of bribes.

One story included in the collection was strikingly disappointing— to the point of giving offense. Shobhaa De’s “When AIDS Came Home” reveals the author’s ignorant, discriminatory and classist lack of understanding of HIV and AIDS. Her account of how her driver becomes infected with HIV and gradually dies from AIDS is peppered with comments about her “repulsion” that he had spent so much time with her children, speculations about his involvement with sex workers and his sexuality, and self-congratulatory accolades when she provided occasional money for a doctor or medicine.

De’s piece examines her misconceptions about AIDS and vaguely suggests that she has seen the error in her was (perhaps simply because it would not be politically correct to admit otherwise), but still fails to include what lessons she has learned. Indeed, to conclude her story Shobhaa marvels that “Although they are such an intimate part of our lives, how little we really know about the people who work for us… it took Shankar’s death to see him as a human.” She concludes by lying to her children and telling them that the driver was infected through a blood transfusion because the reality that many men purchase sex is too shocking to bear.

By far the most thought-provoking inclusion in the anthology, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi’s “Hello, Darling,” diverges from the book’s overall focus on more “marginalized” populations of sex workers, drug users and truckers, to recount the life experiences with HIV of an upper-class homosexual film director whose pseudonym is given as “Murad.” Openly flamboyant, driven to success, and yet still slow to “come out” about his homosexuality, and later, HIV status, Murad escapes the confines of Bombay and moves to New York City. He is unable to move in the local film circuit and returns to Bombay years later, where he eventually succumbs to AIDS.

Shanghvi’s piece is particularly well-researched and deeply-felt; his account considers early chronicles of the impact of AIDS on art and artists in Edmund White’s “Esthetics and Loss,” and the strange phenomenon of how AIDS “got noticed,” as explained in Urvashi Vaid’s “Virtual Equality,” in which she observes “how the passing of an entire generation from AIDS helped give rise to the modern idea of homosexuality: thousands of men had to die, in fact, to have to be seen as alive in the first place.” Shanghvi’s inclusion was particularly important and contrasted sharply with De’s story. “Hello, Darling” should serve as a wake-up call to elites believing in their infallibility, since the risk behaviors that propel the spread of HIV in India are by no means limited to lower socioeconomic echelons of society.

Overall, the anthology is an important, moving, and transformative read. Each story is relatively brief and gives a taste of the authors’ diverse and prolific literary talents. Some tales, such as De’s, are clearly geared toward upper class Indians who are beginning to understand the complexities of the AIDS epidemic in India. Still others delve into economic, political and human rights aspects of the disease. Till now, literature and artistic works on AIDS in India have been limited and relatively unknown. AIDS Sutra gives voice to communities and individuals that have been destroyed, silenced, affected and transformed by AIDS in a jarring and yet deeply meaningful manner.

We all know I'm a big fan of technologies and gadgets... so when I read last week in the New York Times that one of the more innovative genetic mapping companies (23andme) had reduced the price of its Genetic Mapping service (which many companies sell for up to $2-3,000) from $999 to only a few hundred dollars, I decided it was an amazing amount of information and education to be able to get access to for that amount, so I took the plunge and signed up.

A day later, FedEx delivered a Spit Kit to my house, which requires about 10 minutes of spitting into and mixing together with a solution, and your DNA sample is ready to send back! And off it went to Los Angeles, California to a laboratory today. Funny enough, the FedEx Pak they provide specifically says "do not send liquids" on it :)

So in 6-8 weeks, I'll know where my ancestors are from, whether I'm genetically lactose intolerant, whether or not I love broccoli because I can't taste the bitterness in it, and whether or not I'm a bit more likely than average to get certain diseases or be susceptible to certain conditions in my lifetime, along with dozens of other interesting facts. For less than the price of a university course in genetics, I can view and learn much of the world's most up-to-date knowledge on the relationships between genes and personal/medical conditions personalized to my specific genetic data. How cool is that?

You can make a case against "messing with your life" this way (I had an interesting discussion about this with someone just the other night), but I think that given the great power we have as humans to be intelligent and understand life in a way that no other species can, we then have a responsibility to use it to maximize the potential of our lives. Right? I guess it's also just a bit of an extra motivation knowing that you're slightly more at risk than average to do something about it! (from 1-2 times more or less likely than the generally population, in most cases)

I'll check back in with the results in a few months!

I headed off in the morning to the Australian Science and Math School, hosted at Flinders University. The school is only a few years old, and is built with an open concept -- no classrooms, but instead a number of large spaces with desks and chairs that reconfigured in many different ways to foster teamwork and collaboration. We had a large group - about 50 teachers and school leaders, and had a really interesting day -- when I showed the "Are you listening?" video, a whole bunch of students gathered upstairs in the area overlooking where I was speaking to watch - I think they were really curious that so many teachers were learning about their way of using technology!

After a fantastic dinner by the water with a group of curriculum developers, I headed to sleep -- because I had to catch a 6:40am flight to Canberra!

I made it to the nation's capital early in the morning, and it was freezing! 0 degrees but it warmed up as the sun rose... I had a few hours to fit the gym and have lunch before heading to Canberra University -- the group in Canberra decided to have an evening workshop (4-9pm) with dinner. Although everyone had a full day of work before showing up, we still had a lot of active participation, and after wrapping up at 9 and getting back to the hotel around 10, it was time for sleep for another 6:45am flight back to Sydney for the last workshop of the trip!

Arriving in Sydney in the morning, with my 32kg on-the-dot bag faithfully appearing on the carousel, I headed off to Parramatta right on time, and arrived 3 minutes before the workshop was to begin! We had the biggest crowd of any session -- around 60 people, and so a lot of the interactive sections took a lot longer than usual, but they had great ideas and a large group of schools approached me after and wants to deeply engage their entire district with TIGed, which is exciting! After wrapping up and chatting with a bunch of the attendees, I was off to one of my favourite hotels in the world -- the Westin Sydney, to relax, enjoy their great gym, and have dinner with Jenny, who had the whole series of workshops organized, to debrief on the experience (yum, Tasmanian lamb!). After that, I met up with Jarra and Nick, and headed to Micky's for dessert (Banana Pancakes and Ice Cream!) to catch up and for me to celebrate the completion of 10 sessions in 11 days in 5 cities!

I'm writing this now on the flight to Vancouver -- I managed to get right to sleep after lunch on the 10am flight, which will hopefully mean I can work through the North American day and head to sleep at a proper time tonight. Saturday, we head to Quebec City for the World Youth Congress to meet TIG members from all over the world. I've also agreed to head to Brisbane on the 19th to speak at the Queenland Government's e-learning summit, and after that, I'll be ready to just settle down at home and enjoy the rest of the summer in Toronto :)

Now that I've been away a full week, I forced myself to carve out some time to reflect on the intensity of the time so far before kicking off the second stretch.

As always, our summers at TakingITGlobal are quite busy -- generally for the education "industry", most conferences are held during the summer when teachers have school holidays. This summer, as a follow-up to my keynote at last October's ACEL (Australian Counsel of Educational Leaders) conference (which was apparently quite good even though I was quite sick at the time), I was invited to be a "Traveling Scholar" for ACEL, presenting 5 full-day workshops on TakingITGlobal to school leaders and teachers across Australia. In addition, I started off the trip by keynoting a leadership conference at Melbourne Grammar School, and today keynoted the International Middle Years conference in Adelaide... so I've made quite good use of two weeks!

Sunday - Wednesday: Melbourne

After the trek from Toronto to Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, I knew the first thing I needed to do to keep my sanity was to spend a good amount of time at the fitness center at the Westin. What a great idea - it helped me refresh, have a fantastic swim in the beautiful infinity pool, and after a brief stroll that was quickly canceled when the rain started, I got to sleep at a reasonable hour.

On Monday, I woke up nice and early and arrived at the charming greened campus of Melbourne Grammar, one of Melbourne's oldest and most respected private schools. To their enormous credit, they had invited students from a broad cross-section of Melbourne to attend the conference, in addition to a grade of their students. I was brilliantly introduced by one of their capable students, and my keynote was well-received - with more questions from students than we had time for. Following the keynote, a panel including a futurist, scientist, and Aboriginal leader Patrick Dodson, who cited my presentation several times as they discussed issues of leadership in the 21st century and challenged students to act on the issues they felt challenged by. In the afternoon, I ran several hours of hands-on workshops guiding a small group of students through the TIG site and beginning the Guide to Action as a tool for action planning.

Tuesday morning, I visited Kilsyth, a suburb of Melbourne, and ran a 3 hour workshop with a group of teachers across that region looking at TIG and especially with an interest in Health education... it was a good challenge because we didn't have Internet except for a very slow 2G connection, so I was able to get well prepared and experiment with some activities for the following days' sessions!

That evening, I traveled to Mooney Valley Racecourse (home of Australia's best race - the Cox plate, worth $3 million!) and presented our work at TIG to about 150 principals, who also had some great questions, and I enjoyed meeting a teacher who grew up in Mississauga and had spent his recent years enjoying and exploring Australia's wilderness.

On Wednesday, I spent from 9 AM to 3:30 PM with an enthusiastic group of teachers and principals learning about TIG, exploring global issues, and understanding how to fit our programs and ideas at TIG into the curriculum and everyday use in their classrooms. I also shared our Best Practices on Global Education resource with them... and then I was off to the airport, heading to my next destination: Tasmania!

Thursday - Saturday: Hobart, Tasmania

On Thursday, I woke up and did it all over again, in a beautiful setting amongst Lemon trees at Lateare Gardens in Hobart with a fire burning to keep us all warm and cozy from the cold outside! I think the goals of what we do at TakingITGlobal really connected closely with some people - one teacher was literally in tears sharing how wonderful she thought what we did was... it's really a special opportunity (as exhausting as it is) to be able to share our work with people that are also dedicating their lives to helping young people develop. I think sometimes we all forget the power and opportunity we have to impact the lives of others - and I feel like a few people really felt reconnected to that opportunity, which is really an amazing opportunity to be able to stimulate.

After a short 2 hour break to refresh and do some e-mail, I headed off to the Hobart Yacht club, where I addressed about 50 high school principals, who weren't able to attend the day's workshop because they were having a leadership retreat. I had to pack 90 minutes into a 30 minute before dinner speech, so I think it was overwhelming, but many of them were quite excited by what we do... and I had delicious local Salmon which was a bonus!

The next day was my main day off. I decided not to head off to my next destination right away, but to stick around in Hobart and see some of the beautiful wildlife Tasmania has to offer. So I signed up for a Tasman Island Eco Cruise - having no idea how much of an adventure it would be! After a scenic bus ride to Port Arthur, one of the main convict colonies from the 1800s, we boarded a powerful boat (675 HP) that they describe as a 4x4 of the sea. Initially the ride was quite smooth - and we discovered some caves and amazing rock formations on the coast. The "swells" were only about 1 meter, and so it was just like jumping waves on a boat at home.

However, once we got out to the Tasman Sea, things got a lot more interesting. The waves and the winds were coming strongly from an unusual direction, and 2-3 meter waves and swells gave us quite a ride! I had chosen to sit in the 4th row (moved from the 2nd) and for close to an hour, we jumped waves and it felt like we were on a roller coaster as we plunged down after riding a wave.... but I stuck with my seat - a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

We arrived at two areas with Australian and New Zealand seals, and at a cove where dolphins chased our boat around until we had to leave - amazing to lean over and watch them at the water and bow of the boat jumping up playfully! A number of albatross with their huge wingspans also provided us with an amazing show - watching them fish and gracefully glide across the sky with nothing around us but huge rock and menacing water... or what looked menacing in my book. In 1998, however, the water was so rough that in the annual Sydney-Hobart race, five boats sank and six sailors were killed.

On Saturday morning, before heading to the airport, I spent a few hours enjoying the Salamanca Market, with hundreds of stalls offering delicious local treats and art and coffee and everything needed to pass a few hours and take in the culture of a place!

Sunday - Monday: Adelaide, South Australia

Now I'm here in Adelaide, where this morning I keynoted the International Middle Years of Schooling conference, and was again introduced by a fantastic student duo! I gave out dozens of bookmarks afterwards, with many many people promising to check out the site and connect their students into TIG. I was also followed by an excellent presentation by Professor Erica, who gave a talk on creativity that linked really perfectly and built on top of many of the themes I covered.

Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Science and Mathematics School to do another day-long workshop, and then heading to Canberra the next morning... I'll be sure to check in soon with more! And I'll be editing this entry in about 2 hours with photos once they upload.

G'day for now, Mike

Click the lInk for details

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/90_25.php

Moderate quake hits northeastern Bangladesh
2 hours ago

A shallow, 4.9-magnitude earthquake hit northeastern Bangladesh early Sunday, meteorologists said.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake was centred 115 kilometres (70 miles) north of the capital Dhaka at a depth of 5.2 kilometres and struck at 12:51 am (1851 GMT Saturday).

There were no reports of any damage or casualties, but the tremor was felt in Dhaka and a police spokesman in Mymensingh, the district nearest the epicentre, told AFP it sparked panic there.

A meteorologist at Bangladesh's Storm Warning Centre said it had measured the quake at 5.6 on the Richter scale, according to local media reports.

Bangladesh last month announced plans to step up its earthquake response contingency plans.

The South Asian nation sits on active tectonic plates and is frequently jolted by tremors. The last major earthquake struck in 1896.


AFP- Report

Collected by
M.S.A. Shobuz

Italy declares state of emergency over immigration

Saturday, 26 July , 2008, 16:40

Rome: The Italian government announced a nationwide state of emergency on Saturday in reaction to a phenomenal increase in illegal immigration to the country's south.

The Silvio Berlusconi government's move is to provide local authorities with greater means to deal with the rising tide of illegals arriving by boat.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni plans to build new intake centres throughout the country, the daily La Repubblica reported.

Also in the news: Anxiety in Bangalore a day after terror blasts | Column: Heroes of a devil's democracy

According to the interior ministry, nearly 11,000 people illegally migrated to Italy in the first half of 2008, twice as many that came in the same period in 2007.

The Italian government called a state of emergency with a wave of refugees in 2002 and it was renewed annually - even under the centre-left government of Romano Prodi. As the intake centres in February 2008 seemed sufficient, the Prodi government limited the emergency measures to the three southern regions of Calabria, Sicily and Puglia. The Berlusconi government at the behest of the Interior Ministry has now widened the powers to the entire country.

Warning of the introduction of a "police state," the country's opposition attacked the measures sharply, calling them abhorrent. "Italy does not need inhuman and extraordinary measures," said parliamentarian Rocco Buttiglione, the Turin-based newspaper La Stampa reported on Saturday.

In response, Maroni criticised what he claimed was the opposition intention to make the state of emergency seem like an entirely new development, and called the opposition position "the worst Italian politics."

The Interior Minister is to face Parliament on Tuesday.

Berlusconi, who was elected Prime Minister in April, had declared the fight against illegal immigration a priority. A first step was the passage this week of a package of new security laws brought forward by the conservative government.

The number of illegal immigrants in Italy is estimated at around 650,000. Tens of thousands of refugees attempt the dangerous journey in less-than-seaworthy boats from North Africa into southern Europe each year.

Overnight another 73 would-be immigrants arrived in two boats at the Italian island of Lampedusa.



Collected By
M.S.A. Shobuz

I'm speaking tomorrow at PUSH, an interesting conference here in Minneapolis, MN

The first session that just wrapped up was quite interesting - Chandran Nair took us through a look at the world's problems and how many misconceptions there are about what can solve them. What I found striking was the comparison of world problems to spending on trivial/much less meaningful things:

Health & Nutrition ($13B) : Petfood Spending in the USA ($17B)
Water and Sanitation ($9B) : Ice Cream in Europe ($11B)
Education ($6B) : Cosmetics in the USA ($8B)

Jonathan Greenblatt, one of the co-founders of Ethos Water, also gave us a compelling look into the world of Water and how simple and cheap ($25/person) it is to solve. The one thing I don't get - on a $1.79 bottle of water, Starbucks (which acquired Ethos) donates 5 cents (10 cents in Canada oddly). They were founded on the basis of donating 50% of profits... I can't believe profit on that bottle of water is only 10 cents! (considering how much cheaper other bottled water is). Anyway, he now works with a new magazine - GOOD - which has a unique subscription model of giving away the $20 subscription fee to a charity of your choice.