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Archive for the 'Human Rights and Equality' Category

Wonderful Women Of The World: TedxWomen Part 4 – ReImagine

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 27th December 2011


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Good morning!

Well…this is part 4, the last of this series. I HOPE you have been able to watch them all…enjoyed them…and more importantly I HOPE that you were not only informed of something new and exciting, but perhaps someone, some Wonderful Woman Of The World,  inspired you enough that you’ll incorporate what you learned into your life, and possibly the lives of others. How delightful that would be.

Again, click on each speakers name to watch their video.

ReImagine

How women and girls imagine a better life – and a better world – and make their vision a reality, shaping a brighter future for us all

Hosted by Lisa Ling, Journalist

 

Julia Easterlin is a singer, songwriter, vocalist, pianist, and guitarist who uses a looping machine to build her multi-layered sound. (Performance)

esterlin-julia

Julia Easterlin is a sophisticated musical mind who wields composition, production and performance in one fell swoop. One part siren and one part techy, she uses looping hardware to build a one-woman chorus live on stage.  Trained as a classical pianist and jazz vocalist, Julia began performing at 15. After garnering acclaim from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, the John Lennon Foundation, Downbeat Magazine, and the Gibson/Baldwin GRAMMY Jazz Ensembles, she ventured into underground electronic, experimenting with her voice, manipulating it to mimic electronically generated sound waves. Combining electro/acoustic texture with the musical roots of her classical and jazz training, Julia composed and performed with the assistance of her “magic box” – a loop machine.  This requires her to record, organize, maintain and trigger up to 20 different loops over the course of one song. When asked how she keeps track of it all, she says, “I visualize a song as a series of colors and shapes. Each sound I make has a corresponding shape, and the song form is represented by a pattern of all the shapes moving together. What I see in my head over the course of a song looks like a scrolling quilt or a painting that moves.”

Julia graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston and has performed at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago and the CollegeMusicJournal (CMJ) festival in New York. She received acclaim for her recording of Radiohead’s “There There”. Julia’s currently working with a new band, combining her loop station with two drummers and a bassist (and lots of dancing) to construct a new body of work. She plans to premiere the work in 2012.

http://www.juliaeasterlin.com/

Shahira Amin is an Egyptian journalist, the former deputy head of Egyptian state-owned Nile TV and one of its senior anchors.

amin-shahira

Shahira Amin is a freelance Egyptian journalist who contributes mainly to CNN’s Inside Africa and CNN.com. She also writes for Index on Censorship, a portal for free expression. Amin was formerly Deputy Head of Egyptian state television’s English Language Channel Nile TV but she quit in the height of the uprising in protest at state TV coverage of the developments in her country. Shahira was also a former Senior Anchor and Correspondent for the channel.

Shahira has traveled the world covering major events and conflicts and has interviewed numerous statesmen and high profile figures. She has been recognized by UNICEF for her efforts to improve the status of women and children in her country. Earlier this year she received the American University in Cairo’s Catalyst for Change Award and is also the recipient of this year’s Holmes of the year award from the University of Gotheborg

Piya Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS.

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Named to MIT Technology Review’s TR35 list of the top 35 innovators in the world under 35 in 2011, Dr. Sorcar is the founder and CEO of TeachAIDS, a nonprofit social venture founded at Stanford, which creates breakthrough software used in over 50 countries. Funded by UNICEF, Barclay’s, Google, Yahoo, and other organizations, the TeachAIDS software addresses numerous persistent problems in HIV prevention, and provides the most effective HIV education tools to schools, governments, and NGOs worldwide – for free.

Dr. Sorcar began the research to develop TeachAIDS in 2005 as part of her graduate work. Today, she leads a team of world experts in medicine, public health, communications, and education, to develop versions of the software for new languages and cultures. She is the author of numerous articles and has been an invited speaker at many universities, including Caltech, Columbia, Tsinghua, Utrecht and Yale. She holds degrees in Economics, Business and Journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an M.A. in Education and Ph.D. in Learning Sciences & Technology Design from Stanford University.

Google Science Fair Winners:

Shree Bose (winner in the 17-18 yrs. category)

google-girl-shree

For Shree, there is no end to learning. As a kid playing in sprinklers, each droplet of water held a fascination for her and every bug she ran shrieking away from had a story. She has been participating in science fairs since her first project—she turned spinach blue—to her recent project on drug resistance in ovarian cancer. Shree’s scientific journey is about more than gaining knowledge, it’s about holding onto awe and a sense of wonder in her approach to problems. This awe led to her interest in biology and the study of life, and to her involvement in cancer research at age 15. She believes that it will be the same awe that will help her to achieve her dreams of becoming a medical researcher and physician.

Her supervised research for her award-winning project involved the study of a particular protein, AMP kinase, of interest in cancer cells. Through tests on inhibiting this protein’s activity, her research determined its extreme importance in the development of chemotherapy resistance. She proposed a new way to treat resistant patients when they no longer respond to the chemotherapy drug. For the over 240,000 patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer, this research will reduce the recurrence rates in patients treated with particular chemotherapy drugs.

Shree was recently honored as the Grand Prize winner of the Google Global Science Fair, and has showcased her research to President Obama, NIH directors, and as a speaker at the Google Zeitgeist Conference in Phoenix. She is a recipient of the GDIAAC Youth Achievement Award given by the Indian Minister of Commerce and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 21 Amazing Women of the Year in 2011.

Naomi Shah (winner in the 15-16 yrs. category)

google-girl-naomi

“W-H-Y” was Naomi’s first word. Her countless questions range from flubber and the Internet to organic chemistry and nuclear energy. Her interest in science and technology was sparked at age five when she visited camps at the local science museum (OMSI) and competed in LEGO Robotics. Today, her dream is to become an inventor and entrepreneur focusing on environmental public health. Her passion for environmental health and improvement of the human condition has been fueled by her recent research.

Naomi’s research, executed independently in a two-phase project, involves the relationship between air quality and the lung health of asthmatic patients. It involved studying 103 subjects, statistically analyzing the data, and developing a novel mathematical model to quantify the effect of the airborne pollutants on the lung health of asthmatics. This work is pertinent to society—over 160 million people suffer from asthma worldwide, resulting in about 1.2 million deaths a year. People spend over 90 percent of their lives indoors where the air quality, a top environmental risk, is two to five times greater than outdoors.

Naomi has been invited to present her research to the Respiratory Therapist Conference, American Lung Association OTS Chest Disease Conference, Google Zeitgeist Event, Washington DC (presented to President Obama, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, Directors of NIH, and others), and the National Environmental Health Association Conference.

Lauren Hodge (winner in the 13-14 yrs. category)

google-girl-lauren

Lauren enjoys a variety of activities, but has a special passion for science. Every year since third grade year (at age 7), she has completed science fair projects since mainly for her own educational benefit. She was named grand champion at her school many times, and has participated in Envirothon and Mathcounts.

A thirteen-year-old sophomore honors student at Dallastown High School, she takes summer college classes at York College and Penn State York and attends rigorous summer camps. In her spare time she plays violin and piano, reads, does puzzles, and draws. She attended a District Orchestra for the past two years and was selected to perform a piano concerto with her high school orchestra in May. She hopes to do an undergraduate degree in science and music, and then pursue a doctorate degree.

She said that completing this science research has been a journey—the knowledge and experience gained along the path, the opportunity to collaborate ideas and the potential to improve our quality of life is her ultimate goal.

Shamila Kohestani is captain and founder of the first female soccer team in Afghanistan.

kohestani-shamila

Shamila is entering her senior year at Drew University and will graduate in June 2012 with a major in political science and a minor in women’s studies. Ten years ago Shamila was beaten by the Taliban, deprived of any education from age 8 to 13, and confined to her home in Kabul.

Shortly after the Taliban were removed from power, she began to play soccer. Her soccer involvement and position as the captain of the first Women’s Afghan National Soccer Team, led to receiving the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the 2006 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. During that trip to the U.S., she had the opportunity to attend the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership program in New Jersey. While at the program, she met a teacher from Blair Academy who convinced the school to provide a one year scholarship to Blair, a leading boarding school in New Jersey.

From Blair, through the help of the Afghan Girls Financial Assistance Fund (www.agfaf.org), Shamila was awarded a four year scholarship to Drew University. While at Drew, she has continued to play soccer, been an advocate for Afghan women and was named to the Dean’s list. During summers, she has been a volunteer counselor at the Julie Foudy Leadership Camps in Chicago, San Francisco, and New Jersey and this summer interned for three weeks at a program in Washington, D.C. called, I Live to Lead: Leadership Summit. She has also been a speaker at numerous elementary and high schools to tell young people her story and educate them on Afghanistan.

Her experiences and her education have prepared her to begin working toward her goal of being an effective contributor in the struggle to advance human rights for women.

Ivy Navarrete and Shayna Welcher, former LA gang members, are learning the restaurant trade at Homegirl Café.

navarette-ivy

Ivy Navarrete grew up in the Rampart District of Los Angeles and after years of running the streets, she found herself at Homeboy Industries in search of a second chance. She has been working at Homegirl Café since April 2011 and within months became a lead within the Farmers Market department. She has been clean and sober for eleven months now and has been helping other homegirls through their sobriety.

Ivy has been reunited with her three-year-old son and is working towards getting her own apartment and vehicle. She would like to pursue a career as a legal secretary.

welcher-shayna

Shayna Welcher came to Homeboy Industries after being incarcerated. Her mother met Father Greg while she herself was in jail. Once Shayna was released, her mother brought her to Homeboy and Shayna started her journey working at Homegirl Café. Shayna has been clean and sober for over two years. After becoming a leader in the Café she would proudly show off her smile and good attitude to everyone she served.

In February 2011, Shayna flew the Homeboy Industries coop and began an externship at the Black Cat Café in the Miracle Mile. After three months, they hired Shayna as a full-time employee. Should you ever visit the Black Cat Café, Shayna is usually at the front register sharing her smile and enthusiasm with everyone in the place. She loves to recommend food and gets positive energy from her interactions with the customers.

http://www.homegirlcafe.org

Tiffany Shlain is a filmmaker and founder of the Webby Awards.

shlain-tiffany_bw

Honored by Newsweek as one of the “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” Tiffany Shlain is a filmmaker, founder of the Webby Awards, and cofounder of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. A celebrated thinker and catalyst, Tiffany is known for her ability to illuminate complex ideas in culture, science, technology, and life through her unique films, dynamic talks, and projects. She delivered the commencement address at UCBerkeley and her films and work have received 48 awards and distinctions. Her last four films premiered at Sundance, including her new 2011 acclaimed feature documentary, Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology, which the New York Times hailed as “Examining Everything From the Big Bang to Twitter,” and the Atlantic called, “an intensely personal exploration of what human connection means in our modern technology-obsessed world.” Her previous two award-winning films, include Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness, about reproductive rights in America, and The Tribe, an exploration of American Jewish identity and the Barbie doll. Her films have shown in theaters and on TV all over the world and her team at the Moxie Institute is known for their groundbreaking work combining their films and new technologies and conversational tools and live events to engage people in new ways. They just have begun a new film series called Let it Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change. Tiffany is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a visiting professor at the University of Wales, a member of the advisory board of M.I.T.’s Geospatial Lab, and she was among a group of technology leaders selected to advise Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on role of Internet in society.

twitter @tiffanyshlain

http://www.tiffanyshlain.com

Jackie Wilson has the kind of unique voice you get when you blend the talent of Whitney Houston, the savvy of Joss Stone, the heart of Mary J Blige, and pepper it with the soul of Aretha Franklin. (Performance)

wilson-jackie

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Belicia: I wanted to respond to you yesterday but didn’t have time. I ask myself that same question a lot. The racists have a way of pitting the OTWs against each other and making false promises to OTWs, so as not to lose their voting numbers. I’m HOPEing someday soon that strategy will see its end of days.

Holly: Why can’t the guy just shoot himself and leave his family alone? Another selfish, gutless wonder.

Doug: And I thought you were describing this fine ass. :) Oh well…it was definitely interesting. Howie: Can you say anything about this?

Rawlings: Yes, you have opened your eyes by making the statement that, “…Obama has shown that he is more than capable of running the country”.  Now. if closing your eyes and remembering that Obama’s mother is white inspires you to vote for Obama, then by all means close your eyes. There are too many racist ignorant people, their eyes closed, voting for the “just-us” candidate anyways, so you might as well close your eyes too, and vote for the “capable” candidate, the only one who supports all people in this country. And why stop there? How about spreading your vision amongst your peers?

Dianne: I can not comply with your request. Everyone needs to know that these racists are out there. They’re not crawling out from under any rock, but in plain site verbalizing their true thoughts here. And It doesn’t get any more real than here. I’m grateful to know what we’re up against. My advice it to heed Grace’s advice.

Anonymous: If you can call that logic. But yep, uh huh, you got that right.

Alycedale: Sadly, nothing else does matter to many.

Robert, Rt: I got so much out of your comment. Thank you. Your first two sentences say it all, and the body of your comment backs up those statements very nicely.

I want to address “spanking”. I was reprimanded, grounded, and yes spanked as a child, and I think I turned out pretty damn good in spite of Dr. Spock saying that spanking “destroys their (children’s) fragile personality”. I pushed my limits with my parents, but I also knew them. Or perhaps I should say, they reminded me of them when I pushed them too far. I had boundaries that showed they loved and cared for me. And I am grateful.

I rarely see a well-behaved child these days, and I am shocked when I see a child get away with such rude and/or abusive behavior and the parents do  nothing. I once had a friend’s young child pour juice on my new suede shoes. I was so pissed and the parents barely said a word. In fact the wife was more upset that I was upset about my shoes than what her son had done. And then…get this, the son still wanting attention, pulled out his dick and pissed on the wall right in front of us. What did the parents do? Sent him to a room for a “time out”. This was about 10 years ago and I’ll not be surprised if I read about him in the news some day, caught for committing some horrific crime.

Akira: Yes, you can still be a girlz.

Social Butterfly: My pleasure. And unfortunately, I too feel your angst. I am like you, and I too am a big label reader, and have thrown away many a food from discovering something in them that was not to my liking after I had bought it and learned. It is getting harder and harder these days to eat isn’t it?

Readers: That is it for me today. What’s on your mind? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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Posted in Health & Well Being, Human Rights and Equality, Wonderful Women Of The World | 33 Comments »

Wonderful Women Of The World: TedxWomen Part 3 – ReBirth

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 17th December 2011


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Good morning!

More Wonderful Women Of The World +* - I HOPE that you have been enjoying these as they are fantastic. I urge you to take the time, watch these women (and men) , and honor their achievements. This is part 3 of the 4 part series.Correction: Last Wednesday my Head title for the 3rd part I named “Recovery” when it was supposed to be titled “Relationships”  - I don’t know where I picked that up as it is in no part of the series. Oops – my bad.)

Again, click on each speakers name to watch the video.

ReBirth

How extended health, longevity, and an untapped potential is redefining women in their third act

Hosted by Jane Fonda, Actress, Author, Producer, Activist, and Exercise Guru

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(Host: ReBirth Session) Jane Fonda is an actress, author, producer, activist, and exercise guru. Outspoken and committed, she supports environmental issues, peace, and female empowerment. She founded the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, and established the Jane Fonda Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health at the Emory School of Medicine. She cofounded the Women’s Media Center, and sits on the board of V-Day: Until The Violence Stops, a global effort to stop violence against women and girls. She is a former Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund.

Jane’s remarkable screen and stage career includes two Best Actress Oscars (Klute and Coming Home), an Emmy (The Dollmaker), a Tony Award nomination (33 Variations) and an Honorary Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival—she is one of only three people to receive this honor. Her producer credits include Nine to Five and On Golden Pond. Off stage, she revolutionized the fitness industry in the 1980s with Jane Fonda’s Workout—the all time top-grossing home video. Jane has once again turned her attention to fitness with the release of a DVD set in 2010, with more releases scheduled for 2011, all under her Prime Time brand, aimed at the boomer generation. She has written a best-selling memoir, My Life So Far, and Prime Time, a comprehensive guide to living life to the fullest, particularly for boomers. In 2010, she made two new films: a French comedy, Et Si On Vivait Tous Ensemble, and Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. Jane is an avid reader, writer, hiker, fly fisherwoman, and meditator.

http://www.janefonda.com

Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo is a Nigerian-American poet and musician. (Performance)

iyeoka-2

Iyeoka (ee-yo-kah) Ivie Okoawo is a first generation Nigerian-American award-winning poet, recording artist, and TED fellow. As a singer, drummer, activist, and educator, she channels her cultural and ancestral influences to access the power of the moment and deliver an authentic and inspiring message of healing.

In 2010, Iyeoka released her third studio album, SAY YES, whose single “The Yellow Brick Road Song” is the theme song for the USA Network series Fairly Legal.

Iyeoka is currently promoting her latest initiative, Lyrics For Literacy, a project that creates a bridge of awareness and action to encourage the preservation of the Esan language, an endangered native dialect of Edo State, Nigeria, through storytelling, proverbs, and music.

http://www.iyeoka.com/

Laura Carstensen is a member of the Psychology Department at Stanford University.

carstensen-laura

Dr. Carstensen is Professor of Psychology and the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy at Stanford University, where she is the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, which explores innovative ways to solve the problems of people over 50 and improve the well-being of people of all ages. She is best known in academia for socioemotional selectivity theory, a life-span theory of motivation, and has co-authored and published more than 125 articles on life-span development. Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging for more than 20 years. In 2009, she authored A Long Bright Future: An Action Plan for a Lifetime of Happiness, Health, and Financial Security—an updated edition will be released in 2011.

Dr. Carstensen is a fellow in the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association and the Gerontological Society of America; has chaired two studies for the National Academy of Sciences, resulting in The Aging Mind and When I’m 64; and is a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on an Aging Society. She has won numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Distinguished Career Award from the Gerontological Society of America. She received her BS from the University of Rochester and PhD in clinical psychology from West Virginia University.

Michelle Warren is the founder and medical director of the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders and Women’s Health since 1997.

warren-michelle

Dr Warren is the founder in 1997 and Medical Director of the Center for Menopause, Hormonal Disorders and Women’s Health at Columbia University Medical Center.  She is professor of obstetrics and gynecology and medicine. A pioneer in the effects of eating disorders and athletics on the menstrual cycle, Dr. Warren was the first to identify skeletal problems, including scoliosis and stress fractures that occur in young women as a result of menstrual irregularities.

Over a lifetime of practice focusing on women’s health, she has written numerous articles and textbook chapters and lectures and teaches extensively on menopause, oral contraceptives, anorexia nervosa, menstrual irregularities, amenorrhea in athletes, and osteoporosis. She has published a book on sports and hormones. She conducts clinical trials and medical research in the field of eating disorders, hypothalamic amenorrhea, osteoporosis, and menopause and has been awarded multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health. She has published over 200 articles and book chapters in her field. She has been named best doctor by NY Magazine and named best doctor in America since 2004 and holds an endowed professorship in Women’s Health at Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Warren earned her medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. She is board-certified in internal medicine and in a subspecialty in endocrinology and has trained in reproductive endocrinology.

*Mehmet Oz is the host of the Emmy Award–winning The Dr. Oz Show and a renowned cardiac surgeon.

oz-mehmet_bw

Dr. Oz, host of the Emmy Award–winning The Dr. Oz Show, is a renowned cardiac surgeon, vice chair and professor of surgery at Columbia University, and director of the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has authored seven New York Times best sellers including, YOU: The Owner’s Manual; his most recent book,YOU: Stress Less, was released in 2011. He has a column in TIMEAARP,Esquire, and O, The Oprah Magazine, and is author of over 400 publications, book chapters, and medical books. He was the featured health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show, chief medical consultant to Discovery Communications, and has appeared on many television shows.

http://www.doctoroz.com

Suzanne Braun Levine is a writer, editor, and nationally recognized authority on women and family issues and media.

levine-suzanne-braun

Suzanne Braun Levine is a nationally recognized authority on women and family issues and mediaShe was the first editor of Ms. magazine and the only woman to edit the Columbia Journalism Review. She produced the Peabody Award-winning documentary She’s Nobody’s BabyAmerican Women in the Twentieth Century. Levine writes and blogs regularly on Feisty Side of Fifty,The Transition NetworkThe Third AgeVibrant NationSheWrites and other popular sites for women, and is a contributing editor to More magazine. She is on the Board of Civic Ventures, a nonprofit think tank on boomers, work and social purpose.  She is the author of Inventing the Rest of Our Lives: Women in Second Adulthood and Fifty Is the New Fifty: Ten Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood. How We Love NowSex and Intimacy in Second Adulthood,her newest book will be published by Viking January 2, 2012. A lecturer and advisor to several women’s organizations dealing with midlife issues, she has appeared on OprahCharlie Rose, Today, NPR and numerous other television and radio programs. Her previous books include Father Courage: What Happens When Men Put Family First (Harcourt, 2000) and an oral history of Bella Abzug (with Mary Thom) published by Farrar Straus & Giroux in 2007.

http://www.suzannebraunlevine.com/

Gloria Steinem  is a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. Interviewed by Salamishah Tillet.

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Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. She travels in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles, and child abuse as roots of violence, nonviolent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. She now lives in New York City, and is currently at work on Road to the Heart: America As if Everyone Mattered, a book about her more than thirty years on the road as a feminist organizer.

http://www.gloriasteinem.com

Salamishah Tillet.

tillet-salamishah

Dr. Salamishah Tillet is one of the rising feminist activists and academics of her generation. In 2003, Salamishah and her sister, Scheherazade Tillet, cofounded A Long Walk Home, Inc., a 501 (c) nonprofit that uses art therapy and the visual and performing arts to end violence against girls and women. She is the writer of Story of a Rape Survivor (SOARS), an award-winning multimedia performance that tells her own story of reclaiming her body, sexuality, and self-esteem after being sexually assaulted in college. She cocreated The Girl/Friends Leadership Institute, an art-based, feminist boot camp for African-American adolescent girls who have been impacted by violence in Chicago. She was an associate producer for Aishah Shahidah Simmons’s groundbreaking documentary, NO!, A Rape Documentary and is in the Cambridge Documentary’s award winning film, Rape Is… In 2006, Ebony Magazine named her one of America’s top 30 Black leaders under 30 years old. In 2010, Salamishah and Scheherazade were finalists for Glamour Magazine’s “Women of the Year” award for their work to end violence against girls and women.

Salamishah has appeared on CNN and NPR and written for The Nation on issues of race, gender, and popular culture and is a regular contributor for theWashington Post magazine, The Root. Her book, Sites of Slavery: Citizenship, Racial Democracy, and the Post-Civil Rights Imagination examines how contemporary African-American artists represent slavery to challenge present-day racial inequality and model a more democratic American future. She is currently working on a book on the black feminist icon, Nina Simone. She earned her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from and A.M. in English and American Literature from Harvard University. She is an Assistant Professor of English and Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

http://www.alongwalkhome.org

Mary Catherine Bateson is a writer and cultural anthropologist

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Mary Catherine Bateson is a writer and cultural anthropologist. She taught at Harvard, Amherst College, George Mason University, Northeastern University and Spelman College. She has lived in the Philippines and Iran.  Bateson’s original research interest was in the Middle East. More recently she has been interested in how women and men work out distinctive ways of adapting to culture change, learning from those around them and improvising new ways of being. This has led her to work with life histories and other types of first person narratives, literary and ethnographic, focusing on learning in contexts of cultural difference.

She has written and coauthored many books and articles, lectures globally, and was president of the Institute for Intercultural Studies in New York City from 1979 to 2009. Her books include early academic work on Arabic linguistics; a memoir of her anthropologist parents Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, With a Daughter’s Eye; Composing a LifePeripheral Visions: Learning Along the Way; and Full Circles, Overlapping Lives: Culture and Generation in Transition.  Her more recent book, Willing to Learn: Passages of Personal Discovery, brings together essays and occasional pieces, written over the course of her career and previously unpublished or unknown. It explores many topics, including contemporary United States and issues of life stages and gender; and belief systems, change, and conflict between cultures, especially in the Middle East. Her latest book, Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom (2010), describes a new life stage, Adulthood II, before old age, which is characterized by health, energy, continued learning and spiritual development that builds on years of diverse experience.

She lives in New Hampshire, where she writes, and is a visiting scholar at Boston College’s Center on Aging and Work.

http://www.marycatherinebateson.com

Girl Up is an innovative campaign of the United Nations Foundation which gives American girls the opportunity to become global leaders and channel their energy and compassion to raise awareness and funds for United Nations programs that help some of the world’s hardest-to-reach adolescent girls. Project Girl Performance Collective performs on behalf of Girl Up. (Performance) Project Girl (projectgirlperformancecollective.org) is a performance collective of American girls using their talents and voices to shine light on critical global challenge women and girls face worldwide.

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♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Readers: “GIrl up” ! – Don’t you just love it?

Happy Saturday! – Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Health & Well Being, Human Rights and Equality, Wonderful Women Of The World | 34 Comments »

NDAA Bill Signed: Don’t Blame Obama

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 16th December 2011


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Good morning

I know I’m posting late but I wanted to get my stats, and information correct and finding it all wasn’t easy.

Okay, so I’m not happy with Obama signing the NDAA Bill. But really…what could he have done? What choice did he have?  He did what he could. For those of you who want to blame Obama – you gave your rights away when you cast your vote in November 2010-  - If you want to blame anyone blame yourself – this is your fault. Not Obama’s. Don’t bitch at Obama; kick yourself. There was nothing he could’ve done – and unfortunately as much as I don’t like it, this is just the way it is. Remember…Obama is the Executive branch not the Legislative branch.

Just like the complaints we hear against Obama, such as:  ”He can’t fix the mess.” (this is the mess the republicans left him in: A bankrupt economy.) And “He is giving the money to the banks.” We now have,  ”He signs our rights away with the NDAA Bill.” —– They are all phony because his hands are tied. Just like in the the first two, now with reference to the NDAA, the complainers are the ones responsible for allowing enough republicans to get elected to block any reform or stance Obama wants to make.

Obama couldn’t veto what would have been overridden. Also note that if Obama did veto the bill and it was re-written who knows what else they would have added in – the Bill could be worse than it is now. At least Obama was able to put in some provisions before he signed it.

Count your blessings he got the provision put in the NDAA Bill by the republicans removed that would have authorized the SOD (Secretary of Defense) to be the person to decide what American citizen could be detained by the military without a warrant or right to a lawyer.  Obama had it changed to only the President could make that call and that the arrest had to be initially made by the FBI thereby giving the American citizen the right to counsel.

If I could find the other provisions I would post them here, but I can’t do all the homework – do the research and be informed before you bitch. Because after the vote last night, all I keep reading is about people bitching at our president for signing, when  his hands were tied. You’ll see what I mean – Keep reading please.

Here’s the breakdown:

With a vote of 86 to 14 in favor in the Senate, again, Obama had little choice but to sign the bill, because a veto would have been overridden. A bill needed a mere 66% to override a Presidential veto – the bill passed with an 86%. (See the breakdown below)

The House vote - 283-136 vote: 190 Republicans and 93 Dems voted YEA  43 Republicans and 53 Dems voted NO (Unfortunately I can’t find the breakdown of who voted YEA or NAY – not even on “ontheissues.org” )

So am I still upset? Yes, I’m upset…of course I am. This is disasterous. But I’m not upset with Obama. I’m upset with those who put us in this position…those of you who didn’t vote or voted the wrong way, put in the representatives who voted so overwhelmingly for NDAA (86% in the Senate – 74% in the House), any veto power that the President could have had against this bill was lost.

For those who may still be confused, Civics 101:

The House or the Senate needs only a 66% majority to over ride a Presidential veto!

I know I’m being redundant but sometimes I feel the need….

As noted from a comment I read on a blog:

Here’s a little civics lesson for those that want to blame Obama. A 2/3 vote of the Senate and House can override a Presidential veto. The Senate voted *88% in favor, far more than the 66% needed to override a veto, and the House voted **75% in favor, again, far more than the 66% needed to override a veto. 

* Actually  86% in favor and **more likely 74% in favor.

THE 86 SENATORS THAT TOOK AWAY YOUR RIGHTS:


YEAs —86
Akaka (D-HI)
Alexander (R-TN)
Ayotte (R-NH)
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT)
Begich (D-AK)
Bennet (D-CO)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Blunt (R-MO)
Boozman (R-AR)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Brown (R-MA)
Burr (R-NC)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Coats (R-IN)
Cochran (R-MS)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Coons (D-DE)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Enzi (R-WY)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Hagan (D-NC)
Hatch (R-UT)
Heller (R-NV)
Hoeven (R-ND)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Inouye (D-HI)
Isakson (R-GA)
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD)
Johnson (R-WI)
Kerry (D-MA)
Kirk (R-IL)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lugar (R-IN)
Manchin (D-WV)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
McConnell (R-KY)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Portman (R-OH)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Roberts (R-KS)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Rubio (R-FL)
Schumer (D-NY)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Shelby (R-AL)
Snowe (R-ME)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Tester (D-MT)
Thune (R-SD)
Toomey (R-PA)
Udall (D-CO)
Udall (D-NM)
Vitter (R-LA)
Warner (D-VA)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wicker (R-MS)

The 13 Senators that stood their Ground for your Bill of Rights

Note the piece of shit that tried to have it both ways and was “too busy” to vote
Cardin (D-MD)
Coburn (R-OK)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Durbin (D-IL)
Franken (D-MN)
Harkin (D-IA)
Lee (R-UT)
Merkley (D-OR)
Paul (R-KY)
Risch (R-ID)
Sanders (I-VT)
Wyden (D-OR)

One was apparently too busy to vote: Moran (R-KS)

*********

And finally a note to the Dems in both the House and the Senate. Perhaps you should be sitting in this seat!

Thoughts? Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Human Rights and Equality, Political Powwow | 11 Comments »

Call Congress TODAY – Stop SOPA

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 15th December 2011


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Good morning!

This is the latest on Stop OLine Piracy Act - SOPA. SOPA would imbue the federal government with broad powers to shut down whole web domains on the basis that it believes them to be associated with piracy. That would not only mean “bye bye to my blog” but every other blog out there, including Rachel Maddow’s blog and the Huff Po which is considered one of the biggest blogs, not to mention so many other blogs that we all read and count on to get the current!  And really this is not just blog but any website – This is not good and we need to actively stop this from passing.

This is a long…very long article. I am only posting the first two pages. Click on the title below to read the rest. And I suggest you do. And then click here to take action. I already havePlease everyone follow suit- You must do this TODAY!

Stop the firewall of America 

This Thursday, a bill that would create America’s first Internet censorship system is going to a full committee for a vote, and is likely to pass. This week, millions of us will protest censorship, censoring our own posts and asking you to call Congress. We need your help – please make a call right now.

SOPA: Washington Vs. The Web

Ryan Grim contributed reporting

WASHINGTON — A month ago, Google lobbyist Katherine Oyama absorbed one of the more unusual congressional tongue-lashings in years when she appeared before a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee. Rep. Tom Marino (R-Pa.) joked that Oyama had walked into a “lion’s den.”

After praising representatives of drug giant Pfizer and the Motion Picture Association of America for their aggressive efforts to combat online piracy of American products, a bipartisan cadre of committee members spent much of the hearing berating Google, and Oyama personally, as corrupt, compromised and selfish.

“One of the companies represented here today has sought to obstruct the Committee’s consideration of bipartisan legislation,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said.

“In my experience there’s usually only one thing at stake when we have long lines outside a hearing as we do today, and when giant companies, like the ones opposing this bill, and their supporters start throwing around rhetoric like, ‘This bill will kill the Internet,’” said Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), glowering at Oyama. “That one thing is usually money.”

It’s not unheard-of for corporate representatives to pay public penance on Capitol Hill, but Google seemed a strange subject for abuse: Unlike recent corporate target MF Global and congressional villain Goldman Sachs, Google’s shaming wasn’t preceded by massive public outcry.

So what raised the committee’s ire? An extremely technical, low-profile bill that isn’t being covered by cable news, but has nearly 1,000 registered lobbyists officially working on it: the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA — a bill with the power to fundamentally reshape the laws governing the Internet.

SOPA would imbue the federal government with broad powers to shut down whole web domains on the basis that it believes them to be associated with piracy — without a trial or even a traditional hearing. It would provide Hollywood with powerful new legal tools to stifle transactions with websites whose existence worries the movie industry.

The bill’s supporters, which also include major record labels, trial lawyers and pharmaceutical giants, call SOPA a robust effort to curb piracy of American goods online.

Opponents, however, have castigated it as an unparalleled attack on free speech online. Civil liberties advocates say SOPA would give the U.S. government the same censorship tools used in China. Those in the technology sector warn that the bill creates enormous new barriers to entry for web startups, threatening innovation and job creation. Farther afield, librarians say that under the letter of the proposed anti-piracy law, they could be jailed for simply doing their jobs.

But with buy-in from powerful members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, SOPA’s backers had hoped for few roadblocks en route to a Thursday committee vote and, from there, the House floor. The bill’s future is in greater doubt, however, given unexpectedly strong opposition from bothgrassroots organizers and corporate players with a vested interest in maintaining the Internet’s status quo.

In fact, SOPA and its companion Senate bill, Protect IP, have splintered the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s preeminent business lobby. In October, Internet portal Yahoo publicly withdrew from the Chamber — an extremely rare move for a big U.S. business. Google lobbyists tell HuffPost they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the leading search giant soon followed Yahoo out the door.

The opposition has succeeded in slowing legislative momentum. Sources in Congress and on K Street now say that Senate is unlikely to vote on its measure by the end of the year. And the bill’s prospects become much slimmer in 2012, an election year in which members will spend much more time away from the Hill.

Yet in the meantime, other legislation has been left sitting idle, including bills to maintain current Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors, renew the payroll tax cut for the middle class and maintain the flow of unemployment benefits. So how has a bill this arcane occupied so much congressional attention?

Grassroots lobbying has been a factor, but the SOPA war in Congress has mostly been waged between different corporate elements, each with deep pockets. While bipartisanship has been hard to come by in Washington this year on high-profile issues, it’s been easy to find on SOPA and the other corporate disputes that have taken much of the legislature’s time this year – banks vs. retailersSilicon Valley vs. Big Pharma. But unlike previous corporate spats on Capitol Hill, voters would quickly see the impact of the year’s final congressional action if the government uses it to give their favorite websites the ax.

* * * * *

Movie studios, cable companies and major record labels have been railing against copied songs and films for decades. In the ’20s, record labels required musicians to sign contracts promising never to appear on a new medium called “radio.” Nearly a century later, the Recording Industry Association of America sued a 12-year old girl for downloading children’s TV theme songs on her parents’ computer. And for the past decade, they’ve hammered Capitol Hill with the same demand: Stop online piracy.

“Hollywood and the recording industry have a one-item agenda. You can’t say to them, ‘If you go softer on this, I’ll give you that,’ because there’s no ‘that’ for them,” says Gigi Sohn, president and Co-Founder of Public Knowledge, the leading nonprofit on Internet freedom issues, and a staunch opponent of SOPA.

The top target has been the Judiciary Committee, a powerful circle of lawmakers that is responsible not only for intellectual property rules, but judicial appointments, bankruptcy law and scores of issues involving constitutional rights.

In recent decades, the line between Hollywood and the Judiciary Committee has blurred. In the early 1990s, then Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.), of Sonny & Cher, drafted a bill for the Judiciary Committee that extended the length of copyright protection by an additional 20 years. Bono’s Southern California district was very close to Disneyland, and the copyrights on Disney’s oldest Mickey Mouse cartoons were nearing their expiration. Bono’s efforts ensured that Mickey’s first appearance in “Steamboat Willie” would not enter the public domain until 2023.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-Vt.) is Hollywood’s current favorite son in Washington. His top two career campaign contributors are Time Warner and Disney, according to data compiled by Center for Responsive Politics; Time Warner has even given him cameo appearances in Batman movies, an experience Leahy talks of proudly.

Another committee member, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who has repeatedly called net neutrality “the most important free speech issue of our time,” is a co-sponsor of the new anti-piracy legislation.

An aide to Franken says that the issue is personal: “He is … a copyright holder and he has worked with creatives and copyright holders.” Franken has written several best-selling books, and was a longtime star of NBC’s Saturday Night Live.

On the Republican side, former Judiciary Committee aides Allison Halataei and Lauren Pastarnack recently signed on as lobbyists for the entertainment industry, as Politico has reported.

According to an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan government transparency nonprofit, a full 16 former House Judiciary Committee staffers are now lobbying on intellectual property issues, with all but a handful pushing to enact SOPA.

In May Leahy introduced Protect IP, declaring that it “will protect the investment American companies make in developing brands and creating content and will protect the jobs associated with those investments.”

The bill would give the Department of Justice the power to bring down foreign websites “dedicated to infringement” without going through the hassle of a trial — or even a traditional hearing. All DOJ has to do is convince a judge to approve the department’s view that a site is in fact “primarily dedicated to infringement”; the law doesn’t require the judge hear any defense from the website’s operator.

Currently the government can only shut down domestic websites, and only if it plans to go to trial; taking down a website can only occur if a judge is shown probable cause that the site was used in the commission of a crime. The new bill doesn’t require criminal activity for a takedown — only that the DOJ believes the site be “primarily dedicated to infringement.”

Even with its existing powers, the government has improperly shuttered legitimate websites. In late 2010, Immigration and Customs Enforcement brought down dozens of websites with names like “boxedtvseries.com” and “dvdscollection.com.” Most of those sites quickly moved their operations to identical sites with different domain names. But in the same sting, ICE also knocked out a handful of quite popular music blogs that artists frequently leaked songs to as a promotional tool.

On December 8, 2011, after more than a year, one of those websites, dajaz1.com, went back up. ICE, which declined to comment for this article, decided not to prosecute.

Under Leahy’s bill, the government would have no obligation to ever even pretend to be proceeding toward a trial in order to keep a site suppressed indefinitely.

“Can the government be trusted to get this stuff right?” Asks Andrew Bridges, a lawyer with Fenwick & West who represented dajaz1.com throughout the proceeding. “I think the obvious answer is no. There’s a reason why we have trials.”

Leahy’s bill would also empower corporations to demand that payment processors, advertisers and search engines stop doing business with sites the companies believe to be dedicated to infringement. A Hollywood studio could claim a website is “dedicated to infringement,” and tell Google to stop registering the website in its search results. If Google protested, the company could haul Google into court.

This new set of corporate liabilities — known as a “private right of action” — prompted resistance from Wall Street. Both JPMorgan Chase, which operates a major global payment processing business, and the Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group representing the nation’s biggest banks, began pressing Congress to reject the bill, arguing that it was unfair to hold banks accountable for the sins of others. Banks and payment processors didn’t want to have Hollywood telling them who to do business with.

* * * * *

In 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasted China’s Internet censorship as an “information curtain.”

But the way Protect IP tries to cut off foreign pirates’ access to resources within the U.S. mimics many of the Chinese government’s methods. Even former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), now chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, invoked China’s methods when challenging Google’s claim that it couldn’t block access to specific websites on its search engine.

“When the Chinese told Google that they had to block sites or they couldn’t do [business] in their country, they managed to figure out how to block sites,” he told Variety.

The government’s ability to shut down sites would involve federal tampering with the domestic Domain Name System — a basic Internet building block that links numerical addresses where Internet data is stored to alphabetical URL addresses that people actually type into web browsers. The Chinese government censors the Internet for its citizens by engaging in DNS blocking, restricting access to certain domains.

Tech experts warn that giving the U.S. government such powers could hinder the functionality of many web applications, severing the connection between domain URLs and numerical data addresses that many programs rely on. It would also hamper efforts to introduce a new security system known as DNSSEC, which national security programmers have been developing for years.

“The Act would allow the government to break the Internet addressing system,” wrote 108 law professors in a July letter to Congress. “The Internet’s Domain Name System (“DNS”) is a foundational building block upon which the Internet has been built and on which its continued functioning critically depends. The Act will have potentially catastrophic consequences for the stability and security of the DNS.”

Leahy’s bill has whipped Internet advocacy groups into a frenzy. Dozens of nonprofits, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and The Center for Democracy and Technology, issued strong statements condemning the bill. Fifty venture capitalists sent a letter to the Hill warning lawmakers that Leahy’s bill could cripple tech startups with absurd legal fees prompted by Hollywood.

“Either they don’t understand the basic fundamentals of the Internet,” says Fred Wilson, referring to the broad congressional support for the bill, “or they’re just doing this to get the MPAA and the [Recording Industry Association of America] off their backs.” Wilson is managing partner with Union Square Ventures, the New York-based venture capital firm that seeded Twitter, among others.

By the fall, things would get much worse for tech companies. Amid intense lobbying pressure, the House would expand Leahy’s bill, giving the U.S. Attorney General the power to shut down domestic websites without any intent to proceed to trial. Once that news became konwn, a slew of U.S. web companies, including Twitter, eBay and HuffPost parent company AOL, significantly ramped up lobbying efforts against the legislation.

But during the spring and early summer, the response from tech companies to Leahy’s bill, though negative, was relatively muted. Most tech giants simply did not believe that such an extreme bill would ever really pass, according to lobbyists who worked against the legislation and staffers for Senators who oppose it. Leahy had introduced a previous Hollywood anti-piracy bill, known as COICA, in September 2010; that attempt had floundered for six months before he rewrote it as Protect IP. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) responded to pressure from online activists by quickly putting a hold on Protect IP, preventing it from coming up for a vote indefinitely. Tech-friendly lawmaker Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) was tasked with drawing up the House version, which Silicon Valley was assured would be far narrower in scope than Leahy’s effort.

But over the summer, Hollywood ginned up support anywhere it could.

“Hollywood is really putting the screws to just about everybody they do business with. Netflix, the Writers Guild — they’re all coming to me and saying, ‘Can’t you say something good about this?’ ” says Public Knowledge’s Sohn.

Several unions associated with the entertainment industry endorsed the bill, including the Teamsters, a decidedly non-celebrity trucking union that works with Hollywood loading and transporting films and supplies. And since courts would ultimately have to decide what constitutes a site “dedicated to infringement,” Leahy’s bill would create a whole new realm of legal disputes, offering trial lawyers their own slice of the Internet.

The result was a perfect agglomeration of traditional Democratic Party constituencies, enabling Leahy to quickly round up 21 Democrats as co-sponsors — including some of the most progressive and Internet-friendly members of either chamber. Top members of the Democratic leadership, including Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), signed on alongside progressive stalwarts, like Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), to the chagrin of Internet freedom groups who had once counted all of them as allies.

All 22 Democratic co-sponsors of Protect IP previously voted to protect net neutrality, a policy that prevents corporate telecommunications giants from dictating the accessibility and functionality of individual websites.

NBC Universal is one of multiple television behemoths lobbying in support of the bill, as is News Corp., the parent company for both Fox Pictures and Fox News. In the past six months, Fox News, Fox Business, MSNBC and CNBC have remained silent on Protect IP and SOPA, the house equivalent, according to a HuffPost review of cable TV records. Both Fox and NBC declined to comment for this article. News Corp. Chief Rupert Murdoch has personally lobbied Congress on Protect IP, meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) among others.

AOL Inc., HuffPost’s parent company, is lobbying against the bill; CEO Tim Armstrong has personally met with President Obama.

* * * * *

While Washington has demonstrated little enthusiasm for taking substantive action on the jobs crisis, lawmakers always try to portray to whatever else they’re working on as jobs-oriented. Obama heavily touted a Bush-negotiated free trade pact with Korea as a job-creator, though the government’s own numbers on Korea imply a “negligible” impact on American jobs.

Even in inter-corporate fights, jobs remain the focus of every legislative pitch a lobbyist makes, and piracy provides a natural hook: stopping foreign websites from pirating U.S. goods would create American jobs!

The Motion Picture Association of America — a lobbying group for the dominant Hollywood studios — is pushing that line harder than anyone else in the fight. But amid epic unemployment, few voters are interested in prioritizing the complaints of silver-screen celebrities over the American middle class. So former Sen. Dodd, now the chairman of the MPAA, has embarked on an ambitious lobbying and PR campaign emphasizing the many less glamorous jobs involved in the film industry. During the last Congress Dodd moved more large and complex legislation through Congress than any Senator in modern memory, taking a lead role in the Wall Street overhaul and credit card reform, among other bills. If anybody can lead SOPA through this Congress, it’s Dodd.

“Behind Hollywood’s red-carpet image lays a blue-collar reality. Most of those 2.2 million jobs are held by middle income families and small-business owners, men and women whose names will never appear on a theater marquee, but whose efforts are critical,” Dodd said in a Nov. 16 speech before the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, the organization responsible for the “Hollywood Walk of Fame” honoring film and music celebrities.

Dodd’s 2.2 million jobs figure, however, exaggerates Hollywood’s contribution to the American economy. According to supplemental data provided to HuffPost by MPAA, only 272,000 people work for movie studios and television companies. The lobby group claims that an additional 430,000 people work in related “distribution” jobs dependent on Hollywood, legal web streamers like Netflix, the few remaining video store clerks and cashiers checking out DVD purchases.

Readers: Click here to continue.

Thoughts? Concerns? Rants? Blog me. Did you sign and make your phone calls yet? Thank you. 

******

R: I like what you had to say as well. I too believe that women are the key to peace…through the sexual liberation of women, the collaboration of women, the equal status of women etc…

Hanan: That is wonderful news about Gulnaz. No surprise the rapist went free. Thanks for reporting.

Zen Lill: I knew you’d get a laugh and have something to say – by the way – Nicely said. Especially the line: “…well my egoistic darling males, make way : ) bc there are some women of ‘tone’ coming your way ; )” Love it.

Kelly: I just briefed the Huff Po and came across an article that was quite shocking to me. U.S. Stats: 1 in 4 women are attacked by an intimate partner. 

Doug: Thank you. And thanks for posting the links.

Leon: That is screwed up. I am assuming it is the reason that when some report the unemployment rate they sometimes say that it is skewed and is actually higher. Now I know why – thanks.

Hahaha!!. I just had to stop for a minute and laugh at the sexy side conversation happening amongst all of this serious stuff. Thanks to those that gave me a moment to lighten up.

Another Real Friend: Thanks for chiming in. My thoughts exactly with respect to the loose-lipped men with no common sense – of course common sense would take some thought and care about what comes out of their mouths would be a start – but I’m not counting on the simple idea of thinking before you open your mouth. I know it’s tough for some men. But women are smarter, so yes, I ask myself that same question. This is where women should be sticking together.

Robert,RT: I hear you loud and clear.

Peace out. 

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Human Rights and Equality | 29 Comments »

Women And Their Right To Human Rights

Posted by Michelle Moquin on 10th December 2011


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Good morning!

Today is Human Rights Day.  No, actually today is the observance of Human Rights dayEvery day should be Human Rights Dayevery day each and every person should be born free and equal in dignity and rights. But unfortunately we are far from it.

Human Rights Day 2011

On December 10th, the world observes United Nations’ Human Rights Day.

On December 10th, the world observes United Nations’ Human Rights Day.  The date was chosen to commemorate the adoption, by the UN General Assembly in 1948, of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: the first global enunciation of human rights.

Having just lived through the horrors of the Second World War, the founding countries of the UN resolved, at the Organization’s birth in 1945, to never again allow such atrocities to occur.  Three years later, the UN General Assembly stated in the ground-breaking Universal Declaration of Human Rights that respect for human rights and human dignity “is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”.  The first Human Rights Day Observance took place in 1950.

2011 is notable as the year that people across the Middle East stood up to demand their rights.   What began in Tunisia as a protest against unemployment, corruption, abuse and repression soon swelled into a nationwide demand by Tunisians for their rights as citizens and human beings.  Before long, their neighbors: Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen took up the cry.

But ultimately, it is not national movements but rather the actions of individuals, of each citizen of the world, that will ensure that each human being should, and must, be seen by the law and by his or her fellows as a “human being born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

As former First Lady and First U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination.

“Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

Readers: I blogged the other day about Hillary Clinton – The highlight then was on LGBT’s and their right to human rights. I stand strong in support of Clinton and my support of LGBT’s, and their right to human rights.

Because of my strong love and support of  ”women and girls” their right to human rights is my focus today. Because as well all know violence against women in the form of physical abuse, torture, rape, and murder is pandemic throughout the world.

This write says it best for me this morning:

Violence Against Women Violates Human Rights

Violence against women and girls is a crime, not something private or cultural.

Bangla woman whose husband threw acid in her face. [AP]

“Violence against women and girls leaves all of our communities poorer.” –Ambassador Melanne Verveer

Between International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25th and International Human Rights Day on December 10th, thousands of organizations and activists all over the world are working to highlight the global scourge of violence against women and girls.

As Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues Melanne Verveer said, “Striking a blow against a woman is a blow against human rights:”

“Gender-based violence is a global pandemic.  It cuts across all borders. It is not just a women’s problem. It affects all of us – men and women, girls and boys.”

Violence against women and girls is not only a moral challenge and a human rights violation, said Ambassador Verveer.  It also carries with it a terrible economic consequence and undermines productivity. “Violence against women and girls leaves all of our communities poorer. Businesses close, incomes shrink, families go hungry, and children grow up internalizing behavior that perpetuates the cycle of violence.”

The negative consequences on health are significant as well. “The health costs to women include not only the detrimental impact on their physical well-being, such as increased susceptibility to HIV infection, but also mental health costs for both women and their children.”

In addition to the myriad chores women do in the household, including raising and teaching their children, many also work in the informal economy, earning a living selling market goods or as domestic workers. As a result, when a woman cannot work because of injury, the cost is often hidden.

That is why investing in the prevention and prosecution of acts of aggression against women may cost money upfront, but it pays off in the long run.

“Prevention, protection and prosecution are essential and we must add a fourth “P” as well: combating gender-based violence must be a priority,” said Ambassador Verveer.

“We must end the impunity that too often leaves the most egregious perpetrators unaccountable for their crimes.  Violence against women and girls is a crime, not something private or cultural. We must redress the low status of women and girls around the world that renders them undervalued and vulnerable,” she said.

“We must support the inclusion of men and boys in addressing and preventing violence and changing gender attitudes, increase accountability and commitment by community and government leaders on this issue, as well as highlight and promote effective programs that are already successfully at work.”

“No country can progress by leaving half its people behind. . . . The consequences are simply too great for us to not act.

♥♥♥♥♥

Readers: What will you do today? What steps will you personally take to ensure that all human beings, no matter what race, gender, sexual preference, etc., are treated equally, with respect, and the right to Human Rights? Blog me.

Prism Princess and Howie: Thanks to both of you for chiming in and sharing. As always the information is so welcomed by me and my readers…not to mention that reading about space travel is just a cool read in general.  The way you described space in comparison to the ocean is so logical. In this case, bigger is always better. And I’m happy to hear that Luc is okay.

Time for me to sign off…your turn.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the “Donate” button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my “Donate” page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2008-2011


" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Posted in Human Rights and Equality | 32 Comments »