The fashion model the media can't handle - Media Criticism - Salon.com

The fashion model the media can't handle - Media Criticism - Salon.com: "There are always those who'd prefer gender to run in neat lines, as clearly delineated as the icons on a public bathroom door. But for many, it's more fluid. It doesn't mean that a pretty boy necessarily longs to be a girl, nor does it sabotage the heterosexuality of anybody else. And Pejic's lingerie model joke was an obvious bit of sarcasm directed at a reporter who asked – with a straight face -- if he'd 'consider a complete sex change.' 'If I was offered a Victoria's Secret contract… you'd kind of have to, wouldn't you?' he'd joked. And then he added, significanly, 'I'm comfortable with the way I am.' It doesn't matter if you're wearing a dress or trousers. Pejic -- unlike the clowns at B&N and FHM -- knows what counts most in life is how secure you are in your own skin."

Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'? - CNN.com

Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'? - CNN.com: "A big reason for the difference is that paid time off is mandated by law in many parts of the world.
Germany is among more than two dozen industrialized countries -- from Australia to Slovenia to Japan -- that require employers to offer four weeks or more of paid vacation to their workers, according to a 2009 study by the human resources consulting company Mercer.
Finland, Brazil and France are the champs, guaranteeing six weeks of time off."

'Genderless' Child Ignites Firestorm in Canada - FoxNews.com

'Genderless' Child Ignites Firestorm in Canada - FoxNews.com: "A Toronto couple raising their 4-month-old without identifying the child as a boy or a girl have created a media firestorm in Canada, where some have likened the scenario to a 'bizarre lab experiment' that seeks to undo thousands of years of social evolution.

Kathy Witterick, 38, and David Stocker, 39, are raising their third child, Storm, to be free of societal norms regarding gender. Is Storm male or female? The parents won't say, so no one knows except Storm's older brothers, Jazz and Kio, as well as a close family friend and two midwives who helped deliver the baby, according to the Toronto Star."

BBC News - Yemen: Anti-Saleh Hashid rebels seize public buildings

BBC News - Yemen: Anti-Saleh Hashid rebels seize public buildings: "Members of Yemen's most powerful tribal group have taken control of several public buildings in Sanaa, say reports.

Witnesses say hundreds of people are fleeing the capital on the third day of violence between the Hashid tribal fighters and security forces."

BBC News - Nigeria population: Sachs' three-baby plan 'tricky'

BBC News - Nigeria population: Sachs' three-baby plan 'tricky': "A Nigerian family planning expert has told the BBC it would be difficult to implement the suggestion that Nigerians should only have three children.

Isaac Ogo pointed to the tradition of polygamy and the belief that the children were seen as a 'gift from God' in a male-dominated society.

Recent UN figures suggest Nigeria's population could jump to 730 million by 2100 - behind only India and China."

Glaxo to reinvest £3.5 million of Africa profits in healthcare | Society | guardian.co.uk

Glaxo to reinvest £3.5 million of Africa profits in healthcare | Society | guardian.co.uk: "Andrew Witty, CEO of the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline, is making good on his promise to reinvest 20% of the corporation's profits from LDCs back into African healthcare. It's a small pot of gold, but growing. Should other big companies that are active in Africa follow suit?"

FT.com / Global Economy - OECD looks to measure the ‘better life’

FT.com / Global Economy - OECD looks to measure the ‘better life’:

"By Chris Giles in Paris
Published: May 24 2011 09:05 | Last updated: May 24 2011 09:05
It is time to move beyond gross domestic product when measuring the success of societies, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, has concluded in a change of mission for the international organisation."

America's $24bn subsidy damages developing world cotton farmers | Glenys Kinnock | Global development | guardian.co.uk

America's $24bn subsidy damages developing world cotton farmers | Glenys Kinnock | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "President Obama will no doubt focus on many matters of great international importance. I think cotton should be one of them. I have seen for myself just how vital cotton is for millions of farmers in west Africa and the damage caused to their livelihoods by developed country subsidies. I have pressed for EU reform, but action from the United States is critical.

President Obama could, and should, take a lead in addressing this.

The US government continues to subsidise its cotton farmers – $24bn (£15bn) over the past 10 years – despite the World Trade Organisation ruling some of these subsidies illegal. And when the WTO backed Brazil's case that the subsidies were damaging, the US government simply offered to pay subsidies to Brazilian farmers too."

BBC News - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara inaugurated

BBC News - Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara inaugurated: "Alassane Ouattara has been inaugurated as the president of Ivory Coast in the capital, Yamoussoukro, after months of violence and political turmoil."

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage

For First Time, Majority of Americans Favor Legal Gay Marriage: "PRINCETON, NJ -- For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages. The increase since last year came exclusively among political independents and Democrats. Republicans' views did not change."

African economic growth fails the hungry

African economic growth fails the hungry:

"Bill Gunyon
OneWorld Guides
Posted 5/16/11

Latest world polls conducted by Gallup find that 57% of sub-Saharan Africans periodically lack sufficient money to feed their families. Gallup says the recent surge in global food prices could make matters worse.

This assessment will disturb the perception that African economies are performing well. “Growth in sub-Saharan Africa rebounded strongly in 2010,” declared Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank Managing Director, at the MIT Sloan Africa conference on Friday. “There are serious investors who are seriously interested in Africa. It is now Africa’s time!” she said.

Polling results for Ghana and Malawi in particular will baffle experts. Ghana is considered to be an African tiger. Last month’s IMF mission predicted that 2011 economic growth could rocket to 13%. Yet the Gallup poll found 53% of Ghanaians to be in difficulties with basic food security."

Gay rights are human rights | Philip Dayle | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Gay rights are human rights | Philip Dayle | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk: "When it comes to human rights protection for lesbian, gay and bisexual people, the gap between western liberal democracies and the countries of the global south is widening. Uganda has put its infamous anti-homosexuality bill on hold, which at one point sought the death penalty for certain offences. At the same time, same-sex civil partnerships are by and large the norm within the countries of the European Union."

Unintended Pregnancies Cost Government $11 Billion a Year - WSJ.com

Unintended Pregnancies Cost Government $11 Billion a Year - WSJ.com: "WASHINGTON -- To the list of hot-button ideas for reducing the federal government's budget deficit, add one more: stopping unwanted pregnancies.

Unintended pregnancies likely cost the federal and state governments more than $11 billion a year, estimated a study published Thursday from the Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public-policy organization."

The War on Contraception Goes Viral | RH Reality Check

The War on Contraception Goes Viral | RH Reality Check: "Not that there haven’t been attempts at using “pro-life” arguments to fight not just abortion but contraception. Some anti-choicers have floated the idea that contraception leads to abortion---claiming that women wouldn’t have abortions if they didn’t get it in their silly heads that they should be able to have sex for pleasure instead of procreation. (Never mind that women throughout history have attempted abortion by all sorts of means, whether their cultures had contraception or not.)"

AFP: US legislation would slash subsidies to oil companies

AFP: US legislation would slash subsidies to oil companies: "'It's really a no-brainer,' Reid continued. 'Let's use these savings from the taxpayer giveaways to drive down the deficit, not drive up oil companies' profits.'"

Guernica / Noam Chomsky: My Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death

Guernica / Noam Chomsky: My Reaction to Osama bin Laden’s Death: "We might ask ourselves how we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos landed at George W. Bush’s compound, assassinated him, and dumped his body in the Atlantic."

Measles Outbreak Triggered by Unvaccinated Child - US News and World Report

Measles Outbreak Triggered by Unvaccinated Child - US News and World Report: "MONDAY, March 22 (HealthDay News) -- What began as a family trip to Switzerland in 2008 ended up as a public health nightmare in California.

The family's 7-year-old boy, who was intentionally unvaccinated against measles, was exposed to the virus while traveling in Europe. When he returned home to San Diego, he unknowingly exposed a total of 839 people, and an additional 11 unvaccinated children contracted the disease."

Five Steps to Make Our Aid More Effective and Save More Than $2 Billion : Center for Global Development : Publications

Five Steps to Make Our Aid More Effective and Save More Than $2 Billion : Center for Global Development : Publications: "This brief details how the new Congress could save more than $500 million annually by eliminating unnecessary regulations currently in place that are incredibly wasteful, anticompetitive, and make it harder to carry out effective development programs abroad."

Food insecurity means few would mourn the death of Doha | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Food insecurity means few would mourn the death of Doha | Global development | guardian.co.uk:

"Officials at the WTO and leaders of several governments have launched what is said to be a 'last-ditch effort' to save the Doha development round of trade negotiations from what is seen as imminent collapse. Will it collapse? And does it matter if it does? Or in other words, what is the likelihood of such a deal, and how much would it benefit developing countries? The brief answers are: low and very little.

So far, the finger-pointing for the failure has been directed either at the US (in which domestic politics suggests little appetite for external trade negotiations), or the newly significant large emerging economies such as China, Brazil and India (that are less willing to accept what are seen as unequal terms), or the overall impact of the 'Great Recession' (which has made more countries wary of trade openness that could undermine domestic production and employment)."

U.N. Forecasts 10.1 Billion People by Century’s End - NYTimes.com

U.N. Forecasts 10.1 Billion People by Century’s End - NYTimes.com: "The population of the world, long expected to stabilize just above 9 billion in the middle of the century, will instead keep growing and may hit 10.1 billion by the year 2100, the United Nations projected in a report released Tuesday."

Time to avoid the dictatorship v democracy debate in Africa | David Booth | Global development | guardian.co.uk

Time to avoid the dictatorship v democracy debate in Africa | David Booth | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "Thanks in part to Iraq and Afghanistan, we are, decades later, backing off from this self-confident universalism. Warnings against, for example, staging elections when an inclusive elite bargain has not yet been established are now getting a hearing. In and around the World Bank, there is recognition of the dangers of a one size fits all approach to reforming institutions. We are getting accustomed to the idea that countries need to discover their own routes to progress, and that well-wishing outsiders should start by understanding country systems better"

Osama bin Laden is dead. One Buddhist’s response. — Susan Piver

Osama bin Laden is dead. One Buddhist’s response. — Susan Piver: "“…when you do not produce another force of hatred, the opposing force collapses.”– Chogyam Trungpa"

“In the Shambhala warrior tradition, we say you should only have to kill an enemy once every thousand years.” –Chogyam Trungpa

So, Osama bin Laden is dead. We killed him. There really was no choice. We were clearly in an “us or them” situation and if we didn’t kill him, he was going to continue to do everything in his power to kill us.

As Buddhists, we are supposed to abhor all killing, but what do you do when someone is trying to kill you? Obviously great theologians have pondered this question for millennia and I’m not going to try to pile on with my point of view, which would be totally useless.

Instead, I’ll pose this question: How do you kill your enemy in a way that puts a stop to violence rather than escalates it?

Strangely, I keep coming back to the same rather ordinary conclusion: the answer is in our ability to face our emotions. When we know how to relate to our anger, hatred, despair, and frustration fully and properly, they self-liberate. When we don’t, when we can’t tolerate them and therefore act them out, we create enormous sorrow and confusion.

Look at your own reaction this morning.

Was there even a hint of vengefulness or gladness at Osama bin Laden’s death? If so, that is a real problem. Whatever suffering he may have experienced cannot reverse even one moment of the suffering he caused. If you believe his death is a form of compensation, you are deluded.

There has been an outpouring of misdirected jubilation, as if a contest had been won. Nothing has been won. Unlike winning a sporting event, this doesn’t mean that our team has triumphed. Far from it. There is only one team and it is us.

One of us is gone, one apparently horrific, terrible, vicious one of us…is gone. I don’t feel regret for him or about this. I’m regretful for the rest of us who are now left thinking that this is a cause for celebration. It is not. It is a cause for sorrow at our continued inability to realize that there is no such thing as us and them; that whatever we do to cause harm to one will harm us all.

When we hate, we cause hate. When we think we have won by vanquishing our enemy, we have lost. In killing Osama bin Laden, “they” lose because one of their leaders is gone. But we lose too, because we have deepened the causes and conditions that lead to more hatred and its consequences. This is not over.

Then, what to do? I don’t really know, but for me, rather than cheering on this day, I’m going to rededicate myself to the idea of brotherhood towards all, even those that want me dead—and not because I’m some kind of really good person. I’m not. Because I know it’s the only way to stay alive—in the only kind of world I want to inhabit.

Perhaps the way to kill your enemy as a way of putting a stop to violence rather than escalating is to shift our view of “enemy” altogether. Our enemy is not one person or country or belief system. It is our unwillingness to feel the sorrow of others—who are none other than us.

So take aim at this enemy completely and precisely. Feel your sadness for us and them so fully and completely that all boundaries are dissolved and we are left standing face to face, human to human, each feeling the other’s rage and despair as our own, one world to care for.

response

“I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

BBC News - Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden dead - Barack Obama

BBC News - Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden dead - Barack Obama: "Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.

Bin Laden was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August."