Saturday, April 23, 2011

KFC Cruelty to chickens - This actually happened!

Timeless Quotes From the Buddha

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Women, men and the world of professions

        From a young age girls and boys are indoctrinated into having gender congruent professions and follow gender stereotypes, when choosing what to study and even where to study. A women’s mind plays tricks on her, she believes her destiny is to aspire towards her role model, her motherly figure. Enclosed, trapped and thought to believe its how their life should precede, unknown to the brainwashing implanted in their heads from the first day of birth. Television and movies display the role of a ‘women’; ‘‘the hot new secretary, with a cute bum’’. Beauty, fashion, the world of glamour, its all an attempt to lower women’s profession in the world, a world dominated by males. A women who manages to creep through a dark passage and enter into the male dominated professions, would find reaching high and succeeding, doesn’t come without men displaying their chauvinistic behaviours. 

        Girls and boys are told they don’t share similarities, that they were born to do and be different in life. Women would be more reluctant in choosing a career pathway that would lead to increased danger, hazardous assignments, unpleasant environments, long-distance travelling or other. This is clearly because of the fact that women have priorities and on the top of that list are their families. Caring for their children means that women would not place themselves in any risky or endangering situations. Men on the other-hand would find no trouble in choosing a job requiring these activities and/or risks. Is this simply because men are stronger and women are weaker? Or is there something deeper here?

        Are men more money hungry then women and in turn, would they give up more fulfilment and relaxation for their career? Its true, women are more likely to seek a career that is flexible and safe, but this only results in a lower pay to compete with fulfilment. Women would only make a decision to enter a profession which would allow her to have flexible hours, making sure her children would always come first. Women tend to see their life as a timeline, education (if lucky), marriage, and children. This way of thought has women sub-consciously thinking about where their life may lead them and by having this closed minded out-look towards life they tend to choose a profession which would cater for it.

        Women from a young age are taught to have a sensitive, nurturing, loving side that prevails throughout their life. It’s this side of women that makes them believe they would be too fragile to be a builder or work in a mine. Women succeed in professions such as customer services, due to their capability of being able to multi-task, combining technical expertise with people skills, required in sales and other arenas.     

        This gender inequality refers to females and males. There are plenty of jobs that women would be more suited too. Jobs like being a school teacher or personal carer, men are most likely going to find it more difficult to find work in these areas. Embedded ideas about the jobs women and men are to be doing, known as, ‘‘occupational segregation’’. The government needs laws to reduce the pay gap and tighten gender equality in sectors of society. Concentration of men and women in different jobs is an issue and enabling women and men to move towards non-traditional roles should be a priority. The need for the removal of stereotypes placed in certain sectors of society, the enhancement of women and men crossing over. Actions are needed to ensure women’s work is valued, and the closing of the pay gap is implemented.


Websites with articles revealing CIA activities

storming the Ashraf refugee camp - The ''better'' Iraq, after the US occupation


Camp Ashraf or Ashraf City is situated northeast of the Iraqi town of Khalis, about 120 kilometers west of the Iranian border and 60 kilometers north of Baghdad, and is the seat of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (an Iranian opposition group) in Iraq. The city of Ashraf was named in commemoration of Ashraf Rajavi, a famous political prisoner at the time of the Shah. Camp Ashraf is currently an Iranian refugee camp in Iraq. On January 1, 2009 its control was formally transferred from the U.S. military to the Iraqi government. The Camp has been attacked several times the last being on April 8, 2011 when Iraqi security forces stormed the camp and killed as many as 31 and wounded 320 residents and also on 17 October 2010 on the eve of Maliki's visit to Tehran.

UN Secretary General in his quarterly report to the Security Council of 14 May 2010 pursuant to Resolution 1883, Ban Ki-moon, stressed the rights of residents of Camp Ashraf, Iraq, for protection against arbitrary displacement in Iraq or forced extradition to Iran.

Transition to Iraqi control

On January 1, 2009 the U.S. officially transferred control of Camp Ashraf to the Iraqi government. According to a press release from U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the U.S. would maintain a military presence at the camp and the Iraqi government would ensure that all residents were treated according to Iraqi law. A State Department spokesman said the Government of Iraq had promised both humane treatment of people at Camp Ashraf and that none would be relocated to a country where they would have "a well-founded fear of persecution".

Clashes with Iraqi Forces

In late July 2009 conflict erupted when Iraqi forces attempted to enter the camp to establish a police station without the consent of the MEK. Accounts of the conflict differed. Residents claimed that Iraqi forces used violence, including gunfire, water cannons and batons, killing eleven people and injuring about 400. Videos taken by Ashraf residents show these scenes. Iraqi authorities denied using violent methods, but said unarmed residents used stones, knives and sharp tools to protect themselves and to fight security forces that tried to enter the camp. Journalists were excluded from the area.
Video has surfaced purportedly showing Iraqi forces trying to repeatedly run down residents with vehicles.Amnesty International in its March 1 report regarding human rights situation in Iraq wrote, "On 28 July 2009, Iraqi security forces stormed Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, home to about 3,500 Iranian refugees and detained 36 residents. The 36 were subsequently reported to have been tortured, including by being beaten with batons and guns. Several people needed medical treatment for their injuries.' 'The Iraqi government has continued to threaten Iranian refugees living in Camp Ashraf with forcible removal from the camp. On 28 July Iraqi security forces raided and took over the camp, in Diyala Governorate, which houses some 3400 members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition group."
In its report of 27 April 2010, various aspects of violation of human rights in Iraq entitled as “Iraq, Civilians under Fire”, Amnesty International revealed and condemned violation of Ashraf residents’ rights by Iraqi government on July 28 and 29, 2009. 
On December 26, 2010, Iraqi forces made another assault on the residents of the camp injuring dozens and forcing them out of the hospital of the camp.
On January 7, 2011, a number of Iraqi agents hired by Iranian embassy in Baghdad attacked the camp resulting in 176 wounded. Iraqi forces prevented the wounded, 91 of whom were women, to go to the hospital for treatment.Brutal assault on camp Ashraf
On April 8, 2011, Iraqi security forces in bulldozers and Humvees stormed Camp Ashraf. 34 residents were killed and scores wounded in what RFERL called "circumstances that are not clear. MKO says camp residents were killed by Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government, however, says it believes about 30 people were shot dead by guards at the camp." However according to Amnesty International video clips of the April 8 clashes uploaded to YouTube by the MKO "appear to show Iraqi soldiers indiscriminately firing into the crowds and using vehicles to try and run others down.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Abortions in NZ

Abortion in New Zealand is currently legal in cases where the pregnant woman faces a danger to her life, physical or mental health, or if there is a risk of the fetus being handicapped, in the event of the continuation of her pregnancy. This is demoralising towards women as it puts childbirth before life and these laws are often imposed by men who have 100% no experience with childbirth themselves. Additionally, it makes it apparent that all women are to always leave their life goals and aspirations to cater for an unborn fetus in which it took two make. It would be interesting to observe the hypocrisy of men, if they were placed in the same situation. Perhaps men wouldn't be in power.  


Regulations in New Zealand require that abortions after 12 weeks gestation be performed in a 'licensed institution,' which is generally understood to be a hospital. Abortions must be approved by two doctors (referred to as "certifying consultants" within the legislation) — one of whom must be a gynaecologist or obstetrician. This process is costly and ineffective, and is just extra steps in preventing and prolonging the abortion. 




Abortion was criminalised in New Zealand by the UK Offences against the Person Act 1861, adopted in New Zealand in 1866. The 1893 Criminal Code Act made the punishments for illegal abortion a maximum of seven years imprisonment for the women and life for the doctor. Illegal abortions continued to occur, however, and it was generally understood that abortions performed in good faith to protect the life of the woman or her mental or physical health would not lead to prosecution. This was not only pointless, but slanderous towards those most vulnerable. The 1936 Committee of Enquiry headed by D.G. McMilland reported that one in five pregnancies in New Zealand resulted in an induced abortion. Some pregnant women died, were injured or infected, or abused by practitioners of illegal abortion. In the 1940s, the discovery of antibiotics made infection less likely, which also meant some doctors were more likely to assist. In 1983, pro-lifers lobbied Parliament to try to pass a pro-life private members bill, the Status of the Unborn Child Bill. It was defeated 48-30.

The Status of the Unborn Child Bill caused a schism within the New Zealand pro-life movement. Christchurch SPUC (now Right to Life New Zealand) was expelled from SPUC (now Voice for Life) for continuing to advocate passage of the Status of the Unborn Child Bill, when National SPUC had decided that there was insufficient support to do so within Parliament, and had decided on incremental anti-abortionist tactics.
In the eighties, New Zealand pro-lifers frequently followed the lead of their United States counterparts. For example, Chicago-based conservative pro-life activist Joseph Scheidler visited New Zealand in the mid-eighties, prompting the formation of namesake "Pro-Life Action Groups" in Christchurch and Wellington. In the late eighties, conservative pro-life activist Mary O'Neill was largely responsible for importing Randall Terry's direct action "Operation Rescue" pro-life tactic to New Zealand, but it faced resistance. In Christchurch and Wellington, pro-choice activists mobilised against Operation Rescue New Zealand, and ultimately, family stresses, heavy fines and lack of more conservative pro-life support ended the existence of Operation Rescue (its parent organisation is now known as (Operation Save America).


After a Royal Commission on New Zealand abortion law, Parliament passed the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977. The law caused much confusion over the demarcation of certain restrictions as to when an abortion would be legal, and led to a series of amendments that were passed in the following year to clarify the Parliament's intentions.
In 1983, pro-lifers lobbied Parliament to try to pass a pro-life private members bill, the Status of the Unborn Child Bill. It was defeated 48-30.

It is obvious that religion plays an important role, increasing the lack of evolution of ideas. The world population is currently estimated to be 6.91 billion by the United States Census Bureau. The world population has experienced continuous growth since the end of the Bubonic Plague around the years 1348-1350. The highest rates of growth—increases above 1.8% per year—were seen briefly during the 1950s, for a longer period during the 1960s and 1970s; the growth rate peaked at 2.2% in 1963, and declined to 1.1% by 2009. Annual births have reduced to 140 million since their peak at 173 million in the late 1990s, and are expected to remain constant, while deaths number 57 million per year and are expected to increase to 80 million per year by 2040. Current projections show a continued increase of population (but a steady decline in the population growth rate) with the population expected to reach between 7.5 and 10.5 billion in the year 2050.

As you can see, our world is far too over populated and these laws are clearly outdated! 73% of anti abortion activists are men?! 
The Abortion Supervisory Committee is appointed by Parliament, under the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977-http://www.abortion.gen.nz/asc/index.html

What is wrong with McDonalds?

  • McDonald's promote their food as 'nutritious', but the reality is that it is junk food - high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and vitamins. A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Their food also contains many chemical additives, some of which may cause ill-health, and hyperactivity in children. Don't forget too that meat is the cause of the majority of food poisoning incidents.
  • Workers in the fast food industry are paid low wages. McDonald's do not pay overtime rates even when employees work very long hours. Pressure to keep profits high and wage costs low results in understaffing, so staff have to work harder and faster. As a consequence, accidents (particularly burns) are common. The majority of employees are people who have few job options and so are forced to accept this exploitation, and they're compelled to 'smile' too! Not surprisingly staff turnover at McDonald's is high, making it virtually impossible to unionise and fight for a better deal, which suits McDonald's who have always been opposed to Unions.
  • Vast areas of land in poor countries are used for cash crops or for cattle ranching, or to grow grain to feed animals to be eaten in the West. This is at the expense of local food needs. McDonald's continually promote meat products, encouraging people to eat meat more often, which wastes more and more food resources. 7 million tons of grain fed to livestock produces only 1 million tons of meat and by-products. On a plant-based diet and with land shared fairly, almost every region could be self-sufficient in food.
  • Forests throughout the world - vital for all life - are being destroyed at an appalling rate by multinational companies. McDonald's have at last been forced to admit to using beef reared on ex-rainforest land, preventing its regeneration. Also, the use of farmland by multinationals and their suppliers forces local people to move on to other areas and cut down further trees.
  • McDonald's are the world's largest user of beef. Methane emitted by cattle reared for the beef industry is a major contributor to the 'global warming' crisis. Modern intensive agriculture is based on the heavy use of chemicals which are damaging to the environment.
  • Every year McDonald's use thousands of tons of unnecessary packaging, most of which ends up littering our streets or polluting the land buried in landfill sites.
  • Children are lured in (dragging their parents behind them) with the promise of toys and other gimmicks.
  • Instead of everyone sharing the world's resources for the benefit of all, multinationals like McDonald's just want to use these resources to make profits for themselves.
  • There Representative is a clown
  • Thanks to Globalization McDonalds has thousands upon thousands of establishment’s worldwide. 6 out of the 7 continents have McDonalds, I am sure if Antarctica was not covered in ice that they would have one there too.
  • They use a lot of packaging that is cooled down using chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which can actually damage the Ozone layer .
  • Any establishment (like all fast-"food" establishments) owned by a group of people, whether they are shareholders or whether it is privately owned by individuals, if they are not local but are going into an area that is not their home and extracting money from the locals while at the same time taking business away from local establishments to concentrate this money into their own hands elsewhere, is evil.
  • Everything you see in a print ad is fairly accurate-provided you ignore the 20 odd hours spent in retouching every major print ad campaign they make. Removing brown lettuce, discoloured saauce, burnt meat.

Julian Assange: Why the world needs WikiLeaks | Video on TED.com

Monday, April 18, 2011

Alien Life Forms

We are not alone in the universe — and alien life forms may have a lot more in common with life on Earth than we had previously thought.
A photograph taken through a scanning electron microscope of a CI1 meteorite (right) is similar in size and overall structure to the giant bacterium Titanospirillum velox (left), an organism found here on planet Earth, a NASA scientist said.

That’s the stunning conclusion one NASA scientist has come to, releasing his groundbreaking revelations in a new study in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology.
Dr. Richard B. Hoover, an astrobiologist with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, has traveled to remote areas in Antarctica, Siberia, and Alaska, amongst others, for over ten years now, collecting and studying meteorites. He gave FoxNews.com early access to the out-of-this-world research, published late Friday evening in the March edition of the Journal of Cosmology. In it, Hoover describes the latest findings in his study of an extremely rare class of meteorites, called CI1 carbonaceous chondrites — only nine such meteorites are known to exist on Earth.
Though it may be hard to swallow, Hoover is convinced that his findings reveal fossil evidence of bacterial life within such meteorites, the remains of living organisms from their parent bodies — comets, moons and other astral bodies. By extension, the findings suggest we are not alone in the universe, he said.
“I interpret it as indicating that life is more broadly distributed than restricted strictly to the planet earth,” Hoover told FoxNews.com. “This field of study has just barely been touched — because quite frankly, a great many scientist would say that this is impossible.”

SIGN TO STOP THE TORTURE

Dear friends,

Right now, Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning is being tortured in a US military prison. Manning is subjected to utter isolation that can drive many people insane, with short periods each day where he is stripped naked and abused by jeering inmates. 

Manning is awaiting trial for releasing secret military documents to Wikileaks – including a video of US soldiers massacring Iraqi civilians. And his brutal treatment appears to be part of an intimidation campaign to silence whistleblowers and crack down on Wikileaks. The US government is split on this issue, with diplomats publicly criticizing the military for Manning's treatment, but President Obama has stood aside so far. 

Obama cares about the US' global reputation - we need to show him that it's at stake here. Let's build a massive global call to the US government to stop torturing Manning and uphold the law. Sign the petition below -- our message will be delivered through hard-hitting ads and actions in Washington DC as soon as we reach 250,000 signatures: 

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bradley_manning/97.php?cl_tta_sign=e715ac7b3dbfead7cf2df440ff78a6e3

On paper the United States opposes torture. The US Constitution forbids “cruel and unusual punishment". And, along with almost a hundred other countries, the US has signed an international convention promising to treat all prisoners “with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person”. But today Bradley Manning is utterly isolated in a cell without sheets, not allowed to exercise and is being subjected to brutal humiliation that is causing serious mental harm. This violates US and international law. 

Bradley is being held under 'prevention of injury' status despite 16 reports from military mental health professionals that he should be removed from these severe conditions. His lawyers are trying to enforce his basic Constitutional and international human rights in court, but so far the military tribunal responsible for Bradley’s fate has ignored his suffering. 

There has been a crack down on Wikileaks since the explosive revelations of US military crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many speculate that this brutal pressure on Bradley is intended to force him to implicate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. But Obama promised Americans and the world that he would protect, not persecute, whistleblowers: 

"Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled." 

Bradley's cruel treatment does the opposite and sends a chilling message to others who may want to expose important information. Let's act quickly to put massive international pressure on the United States government to honor its commitment to human rights and the protection of whistleblowers and end the shockingly cruel treatment of their own citizen. Sign the petition below: 

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bradley_manning/97.php?cl_tta_sign=e715ac7b3dbfead7cf2df440ff78a6e3

Sunday, April 17, 2011

The 10 most important WikiLeaks revelations

The AP has concluded that there is nothing "particularly explosive" so far in the archive of State Department cables that has begun to be released by WikiLeaks. That assertion is debatable in itself. But anyone who takes time to browse through the documents will find both fascinating and solidly new and newsworthy information about U.S. foreign policy and international relations.
WikiLeaks says the documents will be released in stages "over the next few months," so much of what we know now comes through the filter of the handful of media organizations who had access to the full archives. Only a few hundred cables have been released. Here are the top 10 revelations so far:
  • Diplomats as spies: As part of an intelligence gathering effort, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2009 ordered diplomats overseas and at the U.N. to collect personal information on foreign officials including credit card and frequent flier numbers and biometric information. While this may not be shocking to foreign policy wonks, it is certainly embarrassing for the United States and calls into question how much -- and how frequently -- the role of diplomat and spy has been blurred.
  • Secret war in Yemen: The Obama administration has secretly launched missile attacks on suspected terrorists in Yemen, with the Yemeni government taking responsibility and consistently lying about it. While the attacks have drawn relatively little public attention, dozens of civilians along with some suspected terrorists have reportedly been killed. The January 2010 cable describing a meeting between Yemen's president and Gen. 
  • Iran and North Korea: American intelligence believes Iran has received 19 missiles from North Korea with a range up to 2,000 miles, making them the longest-range missiles in the Iranian arsenal. The Times says it did not publish the cable at the request of the Obama administration. It has not been posted by WikiLeaks.
  • Gates skeptical on Iran attack: Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, in a meeting with his French counterpart in February of this year, said that "he believed a conventional strike by any nation would only delay Iranian plans by one to three years, while unifying the Iranian people to be forever embittered against the attacker." 
  • Saudis want U.S. to bomb Iran: Several Arab leaders have privately urged the U.S. to launch an attack on Iran to stall or stop its nuclear program. Most memorably, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is reported to have "told you [the U.S.] to cut off the head of the snake," according to a Saudi diplomat . 
  • Israel bluffing on Iran threats? The government of Israel, which has been publicly vocal about the possibility of launching airstrikes against Iran's nuclear program, was not considering such an attack, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his Russian counterpart on a trip to Moscow in June 2009. 
  • Fears of uranium in Pakistan: The U.S. has since 2007 tried to get enriched uranium at a Pakistani nuclear reactor out of that country, fearing that the uranium could fall into unfriendly hands and be used to make a bomb. The effort has been unsuccessful. 
  • Fatah had warning of Gaza invasion? Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told an American congressional delegation that Israel had asked Egypt and Fatah, the Palestian movement that governs the West Bank, "if they were willing to assume control of Gaza once Israel defeated Hamas" prior to Israeli's devastating attack on Gaza in late 2008. 
  • Afghan corruption: The U.S. government deals regularly with a brother of President Hamid Karzai whom it believes to be corrupt and a drug trafficker. That's the conclusion of a cable from October 2009 about Ahmed Wali Karzai, who has also been reported to be on the CIA payroll. This does not come as a shock, but it amounts to official recognition that a U.S. partner in Afghanistan is implicated in criminal enterprises. 
  • Undiplomatic name-calling: This is probably less important than the revelations above, but it is already making waves in the international press: Several of the cables have U.S. diplomats describing foreign leaders in unfriendly terms -- from comparing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Hitler to calling Russia's Vladimir Putin "alpha-dog" and French President Nicolas Sarkozy "the emperor with no clothes." 

HOME

The movie HOME is an extraordinary insight into our world. It discusses the connection humans have to the world as a whole and displays most things people wouldn't have even known about. Its an amazing movie and is all packed into a short time space for convenience purposes. An Hour out of your life to become aware of your world isn't asking much. You'll love it, the footage is awesome! Its very inspirational.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU


Just click above and sit back and watch,
Leave a comment and tell me what you loved about it. 

Killer Coke Movie

Socialism vs. Capitalism. (Part One)

Marxism made Simple