Category: International


The first and highly controversial conviction of a Guantanamo prison detainee under President Obama’s watch occurred today, with Canadian Omar Khadr’s confession at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.

The strange outcome of this extended ordeal has created a human rights and international law conundrum that is likely to lead to more confusion when it comes to bringing terrorists and militants to justice. Few single events bring together so many of our gravest concerns.

There is much to do, and your actions on this trial matter now because it is setting a precedent for the future.

Here are just four of the many troubling issues the trial has raised.

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An international “Contact Group” of dozens of countries and global organizations has been created to support the shift from an Afghan war strategy to an Afghan peace strategy.

As previously reported on Change.org, this momentous event in the progress of peace in Afghanistan has already been diligently underway for months, but has left observers very confused.

No one is clear about what a “Contact Group” actually is or does, but among its members are United Nations, the European Union member-states and NATO. Having more countries and their resources invested in the peace process will hopefully help it along, but too many cooks in the kitchen can also become a hindrance.

There are a couple of surprise invitees in the group. One is the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), which rarely makes the Western press despite representing more than 50 nations and promoting Muslim solidarity worldwide. The OIC wasn’t present at the first Contact Group meeting held in Rome last week.

The second invitee, however, was. That country is Iran.

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Bluefin Tuna in Hot Water

Spicy tuna rolls may taste delicious, but the flavorful sushi treats create some pretty massive environmental destruction. Atlantic bluefin tuna are seriously overfished, with population numbers plummeting by up to 85 percent in recent years. According to a new article, the tuna situation may be even more bleak than environmentalists ever thought possible.

As the New York Times reports, member countries of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) will meet in Paris next month. What’s decided at the meeting could make or break bluefin tuna’s survival.

The ICCAT meeting establishes yearly catch limits for the threatened fish. Scientists say that if nations stick to 2009’s catch limit — 13,500 tons — the overfished bluefin stand a 60 percent chance of bouncing back by 2019. But based on fishing nations’ past history with illegal and underreported catches, it seems like the odds of survival are stacked against the struggling bluefin.

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Dear fellow Humans,

It is now clear, that the greatest threat to mankind and Earth itself comes from overpopulation, which is growing at an exponential rateas underlined in a recent UN Study: Slower Population Growth To Help Environment

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j74yWpJ1atBwCsu78IVj2VOABDzg

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As we all well know, the population of a given country is to be considered in relation with the available territory, the resources, the state of, interaction with and impact on the environment, the flora and fauna, and this all with regards to the modes of social and economic productions and the standard of life, which are therethrough responsibly achieved or made potentially realizable.
This is as true as the fact, that this planet forms a rather homogeneous eco-system, wherein not only all the elements are interdependent and interconnected, but also one, in which each of these elements is equally important and necessary to the preservation of the whole.
Human societies are not exempt from these natural principles and in the current world view and international practice, whereby the notions of integration and globalization are the motto, it is practically impossible to render proper measure of overpopulation in national or regional terms or to approach it exclusively in such a context. No country is an exception.

Overpopulation is a worldwide issue.
Overpopulation is an all-human tragedy and, as such, it requires a worldwide understanding and solution.
The situation may of course differ from one country to another, but this does not substantially change the global picture, for, also the less overpopulated areas would eventually face it and taste it through immigration and the effects of overpopulation on the overall state of the climate, the environment, the resources and the globalized economy as well as on world peace and stability.
Besides, without tackling overpopulation, all measures, which would be taken to ensure the growth of the economy and provide a given population of a given country with a higher quality of life, would only be postponing, shoving the problem onto future generations?? -? as if “killing our grandchildren to feed our children.”, to quote one wise man.

Overpopulation and its consequences on our evolution and our security as well as on the sustainability of this planet?are definitely a source of great concern: there are just too many of us? -? think of the amount of garbage alone, which seven billion Humans produce! Daily.

It is also obvious, that our planet is subject to far-reaching changes.
The consequences of these changes could be catastrophic, if we do not re-adjust our ways of thinking and doing, also with regards to reproduction and population.

Our world is extremely overpopulated; our legitimate demands of food, energy, water and other goods of first necessity weigh heavily on the available resources, the environment, the flora and fauna. This is no longer sustainable.

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A worldwide, rational, responsible, democratic ( applicable and mandatory to each and all! ), scientific and rigorously monitored Birth Control is the only logical, mature and ethical answer to this unprecedented, but largely foreseen challenge.

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Some, however, speak of free energy, as the ultimate remedy to this crisis.
Truly, technology alone is not a panacea in human matters.
Lasting food security, development in sustainability thus, could hardly be realized without absorbing into the equation the determining factor of human population and its diverse legitimate demands, both of which will be growing exponentially.

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Others may still say, “multiply yourself” orders The Bible.
Genesis 1:22: “God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”.”

Well, we certainly shall argue here, that reason is also given to us, so that we can know, judge and decide when we ‘have multiplied enough’.

And again, the Commandment could have as well been: “multiply yourself with wisdom and reason and humaneness and knowledge and care and management.”
Besides, if we keep procreating the way we now do, there wouldn’t be much animals, fish, trees, “birds” left “on the earth”!

Overpopulation has indeed a deeper spiritual dimension and, besides,? the following summary makes convincingly the case for a serious struggle against overpopulation, even if one is to consider?the issue?from a solely practical point of view:

Fewer Humans = smaller petroleum demand = less carbon dioxide/monoxide produced by cars and industry

Fewer Humans = reduced food demand = fewer trees cut down for farmland (e.g. Brazilian rainforest)

Fewer Humans = reduced demand for everything which results in a reduced price/cost for everything (education, well-being, housing, energy, food…)

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We are already causing drastic climate change; species are going extinct and fellow Humans are starving to death en masse which means that the population is obviously already too high.

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Do please endorse us and most importantly, do strongly advocate a rational, democratic and scientific birth control, at home and abroad; empower Women, add your influential voice to ours, help us promote a humane and just solution to this tragedy!

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Thank you and may reason and wisdom prevail.

Overpopulation Awareness & Birth Control

10 August 2010 %u2013 Ethiopia has recently decided to take a new approach to Eritrean refugees by allowing them to live outside camps, a move welcomed by the United Nations refugee agency.

Under the so-called %u2018out-of-camp%u2019 scheme announced last week, Eritreans who can sustain themselves financially or have relatives or friends who commit to supporting them no longer have to stay in camps.

The policy shift is due to discussions between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ethiopian Government.

%u201CGiven the fact that Eritrea and Ethiopia were a single political entity before the 1993 referendum, the new policy is also a response to refugees%u2019 wishes and needs for strengthened people-to-people relations between the two countries,%u201D UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.

More than 60,000 Eritrean refugees have crossed the border into Ethiopia since the border conflict in the late 1990s between the two countries.

I am really proud of what our Ethiopian brothers and sisters have done. This decision is great. I hope other countries will follow Ethiopias decision to allow refugees to live outside camps.
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Your Excellency Prime Minister ? Melles Zenawi, i am really proud of what you did. As you always say, Governments will pass but not people of the two sisterly countries. We have same religion, same culture, same ancestry and so on.
?You are playing a great role and i want to thank you for that on behalf of the Eritrean people, and the Organizations to which i am a member of; Student World Assembly, Amnesty International( Voice Ambassadors), TakingITGlobal, Care2, One.org, World Youth Alliance, African Youth Foundation and others……
Currently i am a Human right Activist and i hope to meet you in person so as to thank you for everything you are doing to our Eritrean brothers and sisters.
? Thank you again your Excellency and hope you will continue to help Eritrean refugees.

???? Thank you
Thank Ethiopia For allowing Eritrean Refugees to Live Outside Camps

Tomorrow, August 21, is the 19th annual International Homeless Animals’ Day. It’s not widely-observed enough to stop mail service, but it’s still a nice reminder that it’s not just human beings who go without homes in the country.

In many ways I feel that homeless animals, if you count strays and shelter animals and maybe even farm animals shuffled into inhumane factories, get more attention than homeless people. I hope that animal advocates who work to protect and care for animals in need will remember that homeless pets are called “pets” exactly because they’re owned by individuals who own so little else. (Prep your tear ducts before clicking on this link to see 30 photos of homeless dogs.)

Animals often provide an important lifeline for the homeless population. Bringing dogs into homeless shelters, for instance, is a proven method of therapy for both children and adults. In San Francisco earlier this year a homeless man named Daniel Harlen lost his pug-nosed Himalayan cat, Samantha. “She keeps me calm, and she helps me out,” he told the local paper while offering a reward for her safe return. He wept tears of joy when they were reunited days later.

Unfortunately, pets are often what keeps people from accepting offers of assistance. Between five and 10 percent of the homeless have pets, but just a handful of pet-friendly shelters exist in the entire country. Pets are also a barrier in the search for housing, as many landlords slap “no pets” labels on their listings.

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If you’re looking for a hot new summer read that plugs into your passion for ending human trafficking, check out the new comic book Borderland. Borderland uses graphic art to tell the story of seven different human trafficking victims in a fresh, unique way. And you can help get copies of Borderland into the hands of teens at-risk for human trafficking.

Borderland is the first comic book based on multiple human trafficking story lines intended to edu-tain teens and young people about the dangers of human trafficking and how to protect themselves. It was created as a joint project by Olga Trusova, a Fulbright Fellow from Stanford University and Dan Archer, a comic artists/journalist. Trusova spent her fellowship researching human trafficking and collecting victims’ stories in Eastern Europe. Borderland is the result of their combined talents.

The International Organization for Migration recently announced they would fund the distribution of Borderland to 136 schools in the Ukraine. But Trusova and Archer want to be able to distribute it here in the U.S. as well. If you’d like to help get Borderland to American teens, you can contribute to the Kickstart campaign (which, incidentally, also has a great video explaining the process of making the book). They need $8,000 by Sept. 28 in order to make their goal, and anyone pledging at least $5 will get a free PDF copy of the comic.

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One positive outcome of the outcry against what right-wingers have dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque,” an Islamic community center a couple blocks from the site of the World Trade Center in a former Burlington Coat Factory, is that it has brought mainstream media attention to harassment and opposition faced by mosques and Islamic centers across the country.

As Laurie Goodstein writes in the New York Times, construction on mosques and Islamic centers in communities geographically far removed from the site of the 9/11 attacks have been met by protests and harassment, in locales from Tennessee to California to Wisconsin. In Temecula, CA, protesters brought dogs because they say Muslims hate the canines — but the bigger impact of this is to increase the intimidation factor against Muslims attempting to practice their faith.

In Murfreesboro, TN, a Republican primary candidate for Congress, Lou Ann Zelenik, has been using criticism against an Islamic community center to drum up support, to which Talking Point Memo’s Evan McMorris-Santoro snarkily responds, “There’s already a mosque in Murfreesboro, so Zelenik is stuck with being outraged over just the after-school programs and classrooms part of the equation here.” Kyle on Right Wing Watch writes about protesters screaming at Muslims coming to prepare for Ramadan at a Connecticut mosque; one of the harassers shoved a placard at a group of young children and yelled, “Murderers.” Police were called to intervene, and Muslim leaders are concerned about escalating attacks during the Ramadan holiday. There was also bombing of a mosque in Florida adds to such worries.

And, of course, the anti-Muslim hostility continues in less direct forms of confrontation, such as designating 9/11 “International Burn a Koran Day.”

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Returning home as a veteran can sometimes be the most challenging tour of duty a soldier must face, especially if they take that journey alone.  Air Force veteran Dwight Radcliff – who died earlier this week of a heart attack at age 55 – understood all too well the challenges of returning to civilian life and the importance of finding a strong support network.  After overcoming his own struggle with substance abuse and homelessness, Radcliff went on to help thousands of veterans find jobs, homes and counseling as president and chief executive of United States Veterans Initiative, the non-profit that helps veterans in five states and the District of Columbia.  The sudden and early loss of someone who has made a vital difference in so many lives is upsetting, but Radcliff’s commitment to helping returning vets will surely serve as an inspiration for nationwide efforts to end veteran homelessness.

Only a few weeks ago, Radcliff attended a ground-breaking ceremony for a new $34.9-million affordable housing development near Los Angeles International Airport designed for low-income veterans.    Joined by U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, Senator Barbara Boxer, and veterans from each branch of the Armed Services, Radcliff commented on the importance of the new project:

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We Asian Supernatural fans are at a disadvantage when it comes to attending conventions of our favorite television show because there are no Supernatural conventions organized in our respective countries or other neighboring countries at the moment. The Supernatural convention held in Australia is the closest to us but the travel expenditure is too expensive for most of us to make that trip. So we sincerely hope that The Hub Productions would consider organizing a convention in Asia, we are not choosy about the exact location of the convention. Since many of us are from Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia, it would be nice to have the convention in one of these countries as it would be easier for us to travel there instead. We also would like to appeal to international fans all over the world to sign our petition and help us in making our wish come true. Thank you.
Supernatural Convention in Asia

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